One of 89 year old L.D. Bartlett's dreams was to attend the first service in the new Methodist Church
Building.
It would have given Mr. Bartlett a great deal of satisfaction to have known that he did. The first service in the new Chruch were funeral services for Mr. Bartlett.
The aging cowboy, bronc buster and farmer died Wednesday afternoon after a long illness. He suffered a heart attack and died en route to a Plainview hospital.
Funeral services for Mr. Bartlett were held Friday afternoon. Officiating were Rev. R. H. Campbell. Burial was in Olton Cemetery under the direction of Lemons funeral home of Plainview. Pallbearers were Angus Davis, J.B. James, C.M. Moss, A.A. Smith, Tom McGill and Lee Green. Honorary pallbearers included C.T. Mason, C.R. Dobbs, W.A. Schreier, Raiford Daniel, Len Irvin, Troy Martin, E.L. Fancher, A.A. Curry, J.A. Ragle, S.P. McSwain, W.C. Herndon, Bill Thomas, Vernon Jefferies, Lloyd Graham and B.J. Souders.
Mr. Bartlett was buried by the side of his wife, Mrs. Amelia Reeves Bartlett, who preceded him in death in 1940.
Mr. Bartlett was born January 21, 1869 in Tenn. He came to Texas with his parents at the age of eight.
Goodwill toward man was the philosophy of life which Mr. Bartlett credited with aiding him to a long and useful life.
"I've never lived where I didn't like the people," Mr. Bartlett once declared. "I want all the friends I can get and no enemies at all."
The friendship held for him was attested by the crowd which thronged and overflowed the auditorium at Olton Methodist Church Friday afternoon.
On coming to Texas Mr. Bartlett lived with his family in Fannin County and then moved to Grayson County. They later moved to Wise County.
Mr. Bartlett and Miss Amelia Reeves were married Dec. 23, 1890. Mr. Bartlett once said that he and Mrs. Bartlett "raised good crops and good kids and who could want anything more than that."
Mr. Bartlett bought 375 acres of land in Donley County for $3 an acre and two years later sold it for $12.50 an acre. He then bought 400 acres near Plainview and a little later sold it for $33.50 an acre.
In 1907 he purchased a half of section at Wellington. After 21 years in Wellington, he traded his Wellington holdings for a section of land southwest of Olton.
He made his home at Olton until the time of his death.
In 1936, Mr. Bartlett took smallpox. Mrs. Bartlett took the disease and never fully recovered from it. She died in 1940.
After that Mr. Bartlett lived alone in a home in northeast Olton. Independent to the last, he maintained his home, cooked his own meals and kept his house in spite of the entreaties from his children to make his home with one of them.
It was only during his last illness that Mr. Bartlett went to stay with a daughter, Mrs. J.T. Gibson of Springlake.
Mr. Bartlett was of the rough and ready type that built Texas and the Old West. Mr. Bartlett went into the world on his own at the age of 16. With little formal education himself, he once told his wife "I'd work my fingers to the bone to give my kids an education." Papa Bartlett had a great deal of respect for learning.
In his later years Papa Bartlett was a well known figure in Olton. With his striking white mustache and his drooping black hat, he could be seen almost every day on the streets talking to friends.
His outlook remained young. He always looked to the future.
Mr. Bartlett is survived by two sons, Judge Drummond Bartlett of Waco, Bonnie Bartlett of Austin, five daughters, Mrs. Jim Fuller, Mrs J.T. Gibson, Mrs. Ann Blythe, Mrs. Roscoe Thomas and Mrs. Fay Granbery, a sister Mrs Hellen Phillips of Amarillo, a brother Phillip Bartlett of Wellington; 12 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren.