Who am I now?

Hi! My name is Shelly Mitchell.



I wear many hats and come from a long line of interesting folk. But let's start with the here and now and go backwards...........





I teach sixth grade at Deretchin Elementary School in the Woodlands, Texas. Click here to see where that is.

GO DRAGONS!!!

My students are typically a very scholarly bunch...




but are often a passel of creative goofballs.....














I value that part of them.


Who have I been???

June 13, 1955:

I was born Shelly Dianne LaFour, in Anahuac Texas, to Dalton and Barbara LaFour.












This is my big brother Gary and Me.







1955 was an AWESOME year.

Check out this 1955 Chevy!

Alfred Hitchcock TV show scared the pants off everybody watching!








Disney produced "Lady and the Tramp"

- a true classic.





GUNSMOKE- America's longest running western debuted on CBS. http://deretchin.conroeisd.net/Teachers/sgoodwin/gunsmoke/S0BED71F3?Plugin=Podcast



Dwight David Eisenhower was the 34th President of the good Ole US of A. His vice president was Richard Nixon, who later became the 37th President. Nixon had his troubles in the White House...a little something called Watergate... and narrowly escaped impeachment by resigning the Presidency in 1973.








Back to the History of ME!






The second of three children, being the middle child was the perfect spot for me. My older brother Gary had to be the responsible one. My younger sister, Laurie, got the "baby" attention, and I had the wonderful opportunity to just be me - which meant lots of daydreaming and doing my own thing.

I loved to swim, play football, baseball, Mother-May- I?, Piggy Wants the Signal, Red Light /Green Light, London Bridge is Falling Down, and Army with the neighborhood kids. On rainy days, my Barbie and Ken dolls took fabulous imaginary trips to South Sea Islands and High School Proms.



I was a twirler, then the Drum Major of the Anahuac High School Panther Band, on the Volleyball and Tennis Teams, as well as the Debate Team. On Sundays, I sang in the choir at the First United Methodist Church.
Life was indeed full.

FLASH BACK>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

My Mom's Maternal Grandfather was A.E. Hampton, From DeLeon, Texas. He was the first lawyer West of the Mississippi to be liscensed to appear before the US Supreme Court.

Rumor has it that his (my) family can trace their roots back to Hampton Courts in England.







Our family (through my mom) can also be traced back to Honest Abraham Lincoln!!! Actually to his wife - Mary Todd Lincoln. My family did not always hold old Abe in such high regard, as he was a dreaded Yankee and my folks were Southerners through and through. My Grandmother told it this way....


Mary brought Abe home to meet the family at the plantation home. Number one - he wasn't so great to look at (they thought Mary could do better) and Number two - he was a Yankee. And number three - he was wearing a fake shirt front (made of paper) under his coat. Then to make matters even worse, after dinner he pushed back his chair and burped Real Loudly!!! OMG...Not such a great first impression.......

My great grandmother Nanny Gus' aunt was Mary Todd's mother. They owned a Plantation in Virginia, then came to Texas in wagons after Civil War because their plantation had been burned. (Another reason not to like Abraham Lincoln.) They freed their slaves before they headed west, but they tale goes that the black nurse maid who had raised their children followed behind the wagon train crying, "That’s my babies. Don't take my babies."

A Baptist circuit preacher followed the family to DeLeon, Texas and married my great great Grandma Hilton.

< *************************

My Grandaddy's name was Brown Shaver. His dad, Pete Shaver’s people lived on a river in Tenessee. They harvested river pearls and made mother of pearl buttons for shoes, shirts and dresses.

Nandad (Pete) went to college but as soon as he graduated there was a big depression, so he could only get a job as a railroad engineer. He was bitter about it so he wouldn’t send his son to college, believing it wouldn't do any good anyway.








The French Connection... on Mom's side...

Long, Long, Long ago there was a French King called Charlemagne. He had over 18 children - one of which was my ancestor by way of Grandaddy- which makes me a Royal Princess (Ha Ha!) At any rate, my ancestors were of Noble birth.



On my Dad's side........

Spring forward to the French Revolution (1790s). My people were losing their heads to the guillotine at an alarming rate.


Click here to hear my family's story........

Joseph LaFour's Obituary

This is an article taken from the Anahuac Progress dated 12/21/1983. The Obituary was from March 21,1900.

The nine LaFour brothers were all professional fishermen, hunters and trappers. This came in handy in the Great Depression of the 1930s. They could trade the things they caught and trapped for food and other things they needed, so their families never went hungry.

Pictures from the Great Depression

My Mamaw's family were the Hulens. Her great grandfather was an Irishman straight from Ireland who married a beautiful Cherokee Indian princess in Oklahoma. They then moved to Arkansas. Mamaw's father was a respected businessman to whom people went when they wanted to settle a dispute. He brought my Mamaw (Mabel Hulen) to Wallisville, Texas where she met and married my Grandpappa (Otis Hart LaFour.)

That's pretty much all I know about my ancestry and how I got here. I think it is a Wonderous thing to know who came before me and shaped who I am today. All that's left is for me to pass the knowledge on to my three sons, Travis , Grant and Wade, who will pass it on to their kids, and so on and so on and...................

My descendents...the ones who will help me and our future generations remember "HOW DID I GET HERE???" Keep holding On.