Henry and Myrtle Gordon were Mary Ann's grandparents, Mack's parents. Henry and Myrtle had twelve children. Henry had Evie, Hollis, Mae, and Johnny by a previous wife. Myrtle had Wesley ‘Wes’ by a previous husband. Henry and Myrtle had seven more children: Dovie, Mack, Dennis, Howard, Maureen, Ellen Irene, and Ollie.

Henry, Myrtle and family lived in Rockford, Texas. That’s in Lamar County about twenty miles southeast of Paris, Texas. In 1937 Henry had a sister named Kate Eaton who lived in Knoble, Arkansas. She was a good friend of Mary Jenkins and a lady preacher named Sister Virgie Hunter (later to be Sister Virgie Temple). Sister Virgie held a four week revival in Knoble and Mary played the piano for her.

Sister Virgie was asked to come to Taylortown, Texas to hold a revival so she asked Mary, now nineteen years old, to go also and play the piano for her. Her parents, Thomas and Mada Jenkins were reluctant to let her go but finally said that she could go. Kate Eaton went with them to see her brother, Henry Gordon. The three ladies took the train from Knoble to Paris, Texas.

Henry sent two of his sons to Paris to meet the train at the station. One of the young men was Mack Gordon. When the three ladies stepped off the train Mack saw Mary and thought she was very pretty. He whispered to hs brother and said jokingly, “I’m going to marry that girl!”

Sister Virge held a six weeks revival under a brush arbor at the Gordon Shed. (Later a church was built there called, The Union Church.) Mack Gordon was not a Christian at this time and didn’t have much interest in the revival. But he stood back and watched Mary as she played the piano.

After a brief courtship of only one month, they were married. On September 19, 1937 they drove over to Albert Walkers house, the local J.P., and honked the horn. He came out and married them as they sat in the car. (I think drive-in weddings were kind of new at that time.) Mack’s father, Henry Gordon, was with them and told Albert he would come by and pay him later. He came by later and paid him with a hog. He told him that it would be for Mack and Mary’s wedding and for Howard, (another son) and Susie who were soon to be married.

After the revival closed Sister Virgie and Kate Eaton took the train back to Knoble and Mary stayed there. Thomas and Mada Jenkins met the train expecting to see Mary. When they told them that she had gotten married they nearly fainted. In a few months, Feb. 1938, they moved to Rockford, Texas, not far from Taylortown. They just had to be close to their little girl.

This was during the depression and times were hard. Mack built them a house out of old lumber. It had a sheet iron roof. There were cracks in the floor and walls and the cold air came in. He ran out of lumber and never did finish the ceiling.

Their first child was born, June 22, 1938; a girl and they named her Mary Ann. Their second child, another girl, was born in 1940 and they named her Joan.

Mack went to the Army in 1944 and was sent to Fort Chaffy, Kentucky for his basic training. Mary took the two girls and went by train to Fort Chaffy and stayed until Mack had finished his training. This was during WWII and he was sent to the Philippine Islands. While he was there the war ended but there Japanese gorillas in the jungle that did not know the war had ended. Mack told this story, “One day some of us men went swimming in the ocean. We hung our close on an old wrecked plane that had been shot down on the beach. We left our guns there also. While we were swimming some Japanese gorillas came out of the jungle and started shooting at us. We had to run back to the plane and dodge the bullets.”