May Sherrod Bering Fox Woods hopping into her car,
somewhere in the Humble Oil Fields...
There
were two icons lurking in my grandmother's
bedroom when I was a little boy- icons which
could inspire many paragraphs- For someone who knew the whole stories
of these venerated symbols in my childhood. But I will tell you what
I remember... with some help from Aunt Joy, and that is probably as much as you want to know.
One icon was the old
tattered Confederate flag in a dress box under her bed. It was the
last remnant of the Magnolia Rangers, a Confederate Home Guard unit
from League City, of which my grandmother's grandfather had been
elected the captain, even before hostilities began. We would
sometimes sneak in her room and try to peek at it. It seems like all
I ever remember finding were shirt boxes full of “finger cookies,”
actually just finger-length brownies made in advance for the holidays
by Anna Belle, our wonderful maid.
The second was a beautiful
enlarged photograph of May Bering Fox Woods, which hung right over my
grandmother's bed. In my memory, she was wearing a turban, looking
like some kind of gypsy fortune-teller or Eastern guru. It was about
the only thing hanging in her room, besides a little Cushman Coat of
Arms near the door. Now I know these two images were in constant
battle, as they faced each other, one representing May's interest,
support and spiritual protection of her little sister, whom she had
practically raised, and my grandfather's heritage and pride, which
was slightly less important than his thinly veiled disdain for May.
It seems the two icons almost represented a struggle for Nell's
loyalty and love, a contest never to be resolved.
May was a legendary
character in our family, and yet had died long before us grandkids
came along. She almost held a spell on my grandmother though, who
venerated her about as highly as any person in her life. May had
almost been a mother to her, as their mother had been a kind of “free
spirit.” When she lived up in New York with Henry Fox, her very
wealthy first husband, they sent my grandmother Nell to a girl's
school up there, where she learned all about literature, art, social
graces and life in general. But this life of privilege came to an
abrupt end when May fell in love with a handsome sporting man, and
left her first husband, to marry Palmer Parker Woods. Family legend
says that even after May left Mr. Fox, he continued to care for her,
and to some degree, generously took care of her. He always hoped she
might return to him. Family legend says that she never ruled that
out.
Palmer and May
Palmer Woods was many
things, and almost unbelievable, a true alpha male, a kind of legend
in his own time. Born in Hawaii, and a descendant James Frank Woods
and thus of the Parkers of Native Hawaiian royalty, he became a
fighter pilot during WWI. He was a dashing, handsome war hero when he
arrived in New York and stole May's heart. Palmer was a perfect
candidate to give May hearty, beautiful children. The two had a lot
in common; fun-loving, talented musicians, planted in a foreign
culture, far from home, and a deadly attraction to alcohol. She
apparently wanted very badly to have children, and Mr. Fox had failed
to help her in that endeavor. We (my brothers and I) had been spared
the details, which I still do not completely have a grasp of, even
today. But the upshot of it was that May moved back to Texas with
Palmer in tow, and he became a regular at the better golf courses in
Houston. Among other things, Palmer was a shark.
May gave her fine oriental
furniture and accessories to my grandmother, as a wedding gift, and
started anew. My grandfather's chauvinistic pride was chronically
frustrated by the generous and even luxurious gifts May provided to
him and his wife, but he could not refuse them. At one time, when the
Depression was at its worst, he and grandmother and their three
children had to move onto their property and live in the Woods's
guest house. No matter how much the Cushmans might have disapproved
of the Woods's lifestyle, they would never bite the hands that fed
them.
Palmer had nerves of steel
which aided him in many high stakes golf matches, where considerable
money was wagered- and which he usually walked away with the prize.
According to family legend, he was a lady's man, a hard drinker, and
a successful investor in the oil fields around Humble, Texas. He and
May lived large, partied hard, and probably WWII saved them both from
burning out sooner, when Palmer was made a colonel in the Army Air
Corp and put in charge of Sacramento Air Depot, later renamed
McClellan Air Force Base in California. Here was where the infant
American air force tooled up its fleet to face the Japanese threat in
Hawaii and the Philippines. Over 17,000 civilian air command workers
built or repaired P-39 Airacobra fighter planes there, to be sent to
the South Pacific. Over 4,000 military personnel there were under
Col. Palmer Woods's command.
They lived in Carmel,
California, and members of the family made their way out there to
visit the Woods, and partake of the good life. My grandmother had
already driven herself and her children across the desert several
times, to see her sisters Daisy and Mildred in California, and again
when the Woods moved there. Her independence, and fearlessness was
another frustration for my grandfather, who rarely took a pleasure
trip, and thought life was about work. These adventures no doubt
helped to instill the world traveler in her daughter Joy, who would
visit many countries around the world as an Olympic official.
Ever game, Palmer pitted
his skills against the greatest golfers of Carmel at Pebble Beach,
and met and befriended Bing Crosby there. The two became very good
friends, drinking buddies, and Palmer was often entertained by him.
These were golden times on the California coast with Bing crooning
and Palmer playing his Uke, and everyone singing along. May's and
Nell's mother Ginny moved out to California, where she lived until
she died in 1945.
May entertains young people in her home during
the war...that is her son Parker just to her right.
The Woods children,
(Henry) Parker and Annie, lived there with them but returned to Texas
after the war. In a rare opportunity to return decades of
benevolence, my grandparents gave them a home until they were grown
and married. Uncle Parker became famous for his brilliance and
shocking informality. There was never a gathering where he was
discussed where someone did not remind everyone that he had to be
made to put clothes on, preferring to run around the Cushman
household in his underwear. Parker was always the height of Hawaiian
type elegance and practicality. It will be no surprise that he got
married so many times, and had so many lady friends that we lost
track. Really! Parker had one son, John, born during his last
marriage in Montana, while working as a chemist for Champion Paper
Company.
Parker's sister Annie, my
father's first cousin on his mother's side, married Al Rollins, soon
to be ordained as an Episcopal priest. Al was his first cousin on his
father's side (His father was Al's mother's brother). So their
children, (seven!) were related to us from both sides of his family,
and related to us more like first cousins.
Annie, Parker and a first cousin from the Bering/Durant,
side, Peggy Gray Peterson.
May passed away while in
California, and eventually Palmer moved back to Texas and remarried a
couple of times, rather unsuccessfully. Their swinging lifestyle
eventually caught up with both of them. Meanwhile the mystic picture
of May loomed in my grandmother's room for the rest of her life,
where May's commanding countenance set the tone, and no doubt
reminded my grandfather every day, who was really boss. All my
grandmother would ever say about her oldest sister was... “I loved
my sister May, she was so good to me...” Much later I came to
perceive a silent message coming from that portrait... May was saying
to my grandfather, “you treat Nellie right, or I am coming after
you!”
Thanks to my Aunt Joy Cushman, a witness to these people and events, for much of the info told here...as well as the photographs... and apologies for any glaring mistakes or omissions.
