I have subscribed to the Comanche Chief for a few years now. Hardly an issue goes by that I don’t see a family member’s name in there or read something interesting about our “home” town (no, I never have lived there). Sometimes I don’t get around to the paper until weeks after it has arrived at the house. Today, Christine Tandy Perkins’ picture jumped off the page at me. She is the Chamber of Commerce Executive Director and the chamber is now moving their offices to the renovated Comanche Depot.
I don’t know if it will be open when we have our reunion, but at least we’ll be able to peek in the windows. The dedication ceremonies and celebration for the reopening will be September 15.
I’m sure someone in your family has a reunion story. The depot opened in 1912 and was an active and integral part of the Comanche area until the 50s. My mother (Pat Hallford Williams) remembers being at “JTAC” (Tarleton) when her grandfather Edward Lewis Hallford, who was married to Henrietta Cunningham, daughter of William of the original 12, died of a heart attack in their Newburg home. Mother’s parents lived in Quanah and called before they made their was down. She was instructed to take the train from Stephenville to Comanche and arrived at that Comanche depot for the funeral. Ed and Het Hallford are buried in the Newburg Cemetery, of course.
I’m also thinking about the young men from the Comanche and Newburg communities that left from this train to go serve in World War I and II. I suppose many from our family made that journey. I’ve been working on the stories of our two family soldiers who were killed in France. James Rector Cunningham from the Aaron branch was the first person from Comanche killed in that war and the American Legion Hall is named after him. Bernard Cunningham from the William branch was also killed in France. He lived in the Hamilton community when he shipped out. I hope to soon tell their stories here for you… and see if I can round up all the men in the family named “Rector” after James Rector Cunningham.
The reunion is rapidly approaching. I will be bringing a fabulous photo from a reunion in the early part of the 20th century. You may have seen the photo before, but never with THIS much clarity, I promise. See you soon cousins.
Texas Cunninghams 
By the way, hometown newspapers are a dying breed and Comanche is truly lucky that they have such a good newspaper with such thorough coverage of local events and not just stories from a news wire. You can easily subscribe for $28 a year (outside Comanche County, but in Texas) or $35 outside of Texas. You can now even order online at http://www.TheComancheChief.com. If you don’t want to subscribe, I bet they’d appreciate your advertising dollars even more!