Born May 4, 1888 in Weatherford to John Marion Witt and Margaret Jones Witt, she moved to the Texas South Plains in an ox wagon at the age of four. Her father operated a general merchandise store at Emma, county seat of Crosby County, Texas at that time, and also operated the Witt Hotel.
Young Nellie saw the West from behind her father's candy counter and waiting on tables at the hotel. She finished school at Emma with a four year state certificate, attended a summer formal school In Plainview, and spent a summer in Amarillo studying music and shorthand. She attended Panhandle Christian College in Hereford for three months where she took a business course.
The former Nellie Witt was married to Jeff Spikes on December 26, 1906 in Hereford, Texas. The couple had a four day honeymoon in a covered wagon trip to the 640-acre ranch-farm the bridegroom owned in Crosby and Floyd counties.
She wrote a column entitled "As A Farm Woman Thinks", which appeared weekly in the Floyd County Hesperian, Ralls Banner Lorenzo Tribune, The Crobyston Review, and a Lubbock publication, Southwestern Crop and Stock magazine about experiences from her life as a frontier woman. One of her first booklets was EARLY DAYS ON THE SOUTH PLAINS which captured some of the pioneer experiences. She and Temple Ann Ellis, her sister-in-law, co-authored and published A HISTORY OF CROSBY COUNTY honoring the pioneers of Crosby County, which was the only recorded authentic account of the history of Crosby County. Mrs. Spikes' historical writings have been acknowledged by the Texas State Historical Survey Commission and the Texas Historical Foundation in 1969 by Gov. Preston Smith and in 1976 by Gov. Dolph Briscoe making her an honorary member of these foundations. Her latest book is AS A FARM WOMAN THINKS, posthumously authored and edited by Geoff Cunfer, focuses on Ms. Spikes' newspaper columns.
Nellie Witt Spikes enjoyed riding through the canyons south and north of Ralls, Texas, and east of Crosbyton, Texas, while commenting on their beauty and remembering her past experiences. She was always proud to be pioneer as remembered by her granddaughter, Margaret Nell Laminack Lancaster.
Young Nellie saw the West from behind her father's candy counter and waiting on tables at the hotel. She finished school at Emma with a four year state certificate, attended a summer formal school In Plainview, and spent a summer in Amarillo studying music and shorthand. She attended Panhandle Christian College in Hereford for three months where she took a business course.
The former Nellie Witt was married to Jeff Spikes on December 26, 1906 in Hereford, Texas. The couple had a four day honeymoon in a covered wagon trip to the 640-acre ranch-farm the bridegroom owned in Crosby and Floyd counties.
She wrote a column entitled "As A Farm Woman Thinks", which appeared weekly in the Floyd County Hesperian, Ralls Banner Lorenzo Tribune, The Crobyston Review, and a Lubbock publication, Southwestern Crop and Stock magazine about experiences from her life as a frontier woman. One of her first booklets was EARLY DAYS ON THE SOUTH PLAINS which captured some of the pioneer experiences. She and Temple Ann Ellis, her sister-in-law, co-authored and published A HISTORY OF CROSBY COUNTY honoring the pioneers of Crosby County, which was the only recorded authentic account of the history of Crosby County. Mrs. Spikes' historical writings have been acknowledged by the Texas State Historical Survey Commission and the Texas Historical Foundation in 1969 by Gov. Preston Smith and in 1976 by Gov. Dolph Briscoe making her an honorary member of these foundations. Her latest book is AS A FARM WOMAN THINKS, posthumously authored and edited by Geoff Cunfer, focuses on Ms. Spikes' newspaper columns.
Nellie Witt Spikes enjoyed riding through the canyons south and north of Ralls, Texas, and east of Crosbyton, Texas, while commenting on their beauty and remembering her past experiences. She was always proud to be pioneer as remembered by her granddaughter, Margaret Nell Laminack Lancaster.
Born May 4, 1888 in Weatherford to John Marion Witt and Margaret Jones Witt, she moved to the Texas South Plains in an ox wagon at the age of four. Her father operated a general merchandise store at Emma, county seat of Crosby County, Texas at that time, and also operated the Witt Hotel.
Young Nellie saw the West from behind her father's candy counter and waiting on tables at the hotel. She finished school at Emma with a four year state certificate, attended a summer formal school In Plainview, and spent a summer in Amarillo studying music and shorthand. She attended Panhandle Christian College in Hereford for three months where she took a business course.
The former Nellie Witt was married to Jeff Spikes on December 26, 1906 in Hereford, Texas. The couple had a four day honeymoon in a covered wagon trip to the 640-acre ranch-farm the bridegroom owned in Crosby and Floyd counties.
She wrote a column entitled "As A Farm Woman Thinks", which appeared weekly in the Floyd County Hesperian, Ralls Banner Lorenzo Tribune, The Crobyston Review, and a Lubbock publication, Southwestern Crop and Stock magazine about experiences from her life as a frontier woman. One of her first booklets was EARLY DAYS ON THE SOUTH PLAINS which captured some of the pioneer experiences. She and Temple Ann Ellis, her sister-in-law, co-authored and published A HISTORY OF CROSBY COUNTY honoring the pioneers of Crosby County, which was the only recorded authentic account of the history of Crosby County. Mrs. Spikes' historical writings have been acknowledged by the Texas State Historical Survey Commission and the Texas Historical Foundation in 1969 by Gov. Preston Smith and in 1976 by Gov. Dolph Briscoe making her an honorary member of these foundations. Her latest book is AS A FARM WOMAN THINKS, posthumously authored and edited by Geoff Cunfer, focuses on Ms. Spikes' newspaper columns.
Nellie Witt Spikes enjoyed riding through the canyons south and north of Ralls, Texas, and east of Crosbyton, Texas, while commenting on their beauty and remembering her past experiences. She was always proud to be pioneer as remembered by her granddaughter, Margaret Nell Laminack Lancaster.
Young Nellie saw the West from behind her father's candy counter and waiting on tables at the hotel. She finished school at Emma with a four year state certificate, attended a summer formal school In Plainview, and spent a summer in Amarillo studying music and shorthand. She attended Panhandle Christian College in Hereford for three months where she took a business course.
The former Nellie Witt was married to Jeff Spikes on December 26, 1906 in Hereford, Texas. The couple had a four day honeymoon in a covered wagon trip to the 640-acre ranch-farm the bridegroom owned in Crosby and Floyd counties.
She wrote a column entitled "As A Farm Woman Thinks", which appeared weekly in the Floyd County Hesperian, Ralls Banner Lorenzo Tribune, The Crobyston Review, and a Lubbock publication, Southwestern Crop and Stock magazine about experiences from her life as a frontier woman. One of her first booklets was EARLY DAYS ON THE SOUTH PLAINS which captured some of the pioneer experiences. She and Temple Ann Ellis, her sister-in-law, co-authored and published A HISTORY OF CROSBY COUNTY honoring the pioneers of Crosby County, which was the only recorded authentic account of the history of Crosby County. Mrs. Spikes' historical writings have been acknowledged by the Texas State Historical Survey Commission and the Texas Historical Foundation in 1969 by Gov. Preston Smith and in 1976 by Gov. Dolph Briscoe making her an honorary member of these foundations. Her latest book is AS A FARM WOMAN THINKS, posthumously authored and edited by Geoff Cunfer, focuses on Ms. Spikes' newspaper columns.
Nellie Witt Spikes enjoyed riding through the canyons south and north of Ralls, Texas, and east of Crosbyton, Texas, while commenting on their beauty and remembering her past experiences. She was always proud to be pioneer as remembered by her granddaughter, Margaret Nell Laminack Lancaster.
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