Newsom T Shows, Sr

as Remembered by Rheba Kramer Mitchell

Newsom T. Shows, Sr. was a Southern Baptist preacher.  His parents were Norvel Webster and Emily Taunton Shows.  The family of 10 moved around a great deal and they had very little money. Newsom had a marvelous sense of humor, twinkling eyes and an infectious chuckle.

Once when daughter Gracie was visiting home from Dallas and had to go to the bathroom at night (the older Shows’s had only an outhouse for most of their lives) and was unable to talk anyone else into going with her. Finally, she grew desperate and Lucille consented to go with her. Gracie was in the outhouse with ‘Cille standing outside when ‘Cille suddenly saw this white apparition coming toward them from around the house. "Cille screamed and yelled "Run Gracie, it’s a ghost!!" Gracie, screaming as loud as she could came running out of the outhouse, only to find her dad had put on a sheet and come out to scare them.

One of the reasons ‘the girls’ may have had ghosts on their minds is because people during that time period often told ghost tales is if they were true. Newsom told of someone his Dad knew who was plowing his field and looked up to see his uncle in the sky, and found out later his uncle had just died. Newsom told the tale as if he believed it as an unexplained phenomenon.

Newsom was a jolly, gentle man who was much loved by his children.