Mears, Mildred Watkins

Mildred Watkins Mears (25 August 1888- 7 October 1975), known as Minnie, was the daughter of a pioneering family who, in 1867, settled in Pidcoke Texas, a small town in Coryell County, Texas . In 1894, after the death of Mildred Mears ' father, her mother, Rosa Belcher Watkins, remarried and, in 1902, the family moved to nearby Mound, Texas . In Mound, Mears ' interest in the historic past of the area was nurtured, as she spent time during her childhood exploring the ruins of the old Fort Gates .

The Mears family relocated to Gatesville after Mildred Mears ' step-father won a seat in the State legislature, and sold the farm in Mound . Thus, though Mears began her formal education in a one-room school in Pidcoke, she ultimately graduated valedictorian of the Gatesville High School class of 1909. After graduating from the University of Texas, Watkins returned to Gatesville to teach mathematics, a position she held from 1910 to 1925.

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