Nice to meet ya: Sally Gravenor

Being born in Henly in the early part of the twentieth century and living there most of her life, Sally Gravenor has plenty of first hand stories about the town and the changes she has seen over her last 94 years, back when Henly was just as big as Dripping Springs.

Born without a doctor or midwife, her father delivered her at home on their farm, although the only doctor in town, Dr. Shelton did check on her. She was the baby of the family, 10 years younger than her sister and brother. Named after her father Joe and mother Sallie, she was named Sally Jo.

On the farm

Being raised on a farm, hard work was required. “I was always accused of not doing anything, like picking cotton. It was a penny a pound. You had a sack you put over your shoulder. It’s quite a hard job,” Sally said.

Her dad grew vegetables for the animals, goats and cows, and the family. Tomatoes were the big cash crop for all of Henly. There was a processing shed to bring your tomatoes to.

“Henly was known for their tomatoes,” Sally said. “There was just something abou the soil that made the Henly tomatoes exceptional. They had a packing shed there and people would bring their tomatoes. My brother in law had a big truck and would take them to San Antonio to sell them... It was quite an experience to pack the little baskets with tomatoes.”

Her mother, Sallie, was known for her dairy products. “She would take cream and how many pounds of butter she had made and take it to Blanco to sell on Saturday. Everybody wanted some of Miss Sallie’s butter.”

Her father would go about once a month to Austin to buy provisions like flour and sugar, things they couldn’t grow, in 100 pounds sacks. “I had lots of dresses made out of those sacks, feed sacks,” Sally said. All women at that time, the Depression, became good seamstresses out of necessity.

Life in Henly

As for education, a three-room schoolhouse in Henly housed elementary through junior high. The first schoolhouse burned down. Although Sally graduated from Johnson City High School, school only went to the 11th grade.

As for U.S. 290, “it ran in a different direction. It used to be just one lane eac way,” she said.

Social events were also quite different. They had box suppers, where the boys would buy a picnic lunch prepared by one of the girls. “Those were exciting times,” Sally said. Especially when a young pilot lands in Henly and you’re a young 16-year-old girl. It was dark and foggy and an airplane circled overhead, lost from the rest of the other training planes.

“The men decided that the pilot wanted to land. There was an open space between my house and the Henly store, a field,” she said. “So they show their car lights on the field... He was training. He got lost and he was out of San Antonio. My mother made him a sandwich and fixed a bed for that night... Early the next morning, someone in authority came by to get him back to San Antonio. He probably got in a lot of trouble.”

Years later the pilot inquired of the Dripping Springs paper trying to find the spot he landed. “He wasn’t near as good looking as the last time,” she said. They were both in their 70s.

Life after the farm

After graduation Sally went to secretarial school in Austin and stayed at the YWCA, and then got a job located on Congress, near the State Capitol.

Her husband, Charles Gravenor Jr., was also from Henly, four years older than her. They had been dating for about six months in 1944. “He came home from the Navy one day and said ‘I’m being deported to Japan.’ I wanted to get married before he left.” Her mother and neighbors finished her wedding dress and then in a few short days, Charles was off.

He was in the Navy, got out, and joined the Army, which became the Army Air Corps as an airplane mechanic. After the war, her husband built the house they lived in that is still in use by Sally’s daughter on their farm in Henly. They raised four children there. He passed away in 1989.

An active volunteer

Sally was very active in her community. Here are just some of the community’s organizations she was involved in:

Dripping Springs PTA, Johnson City ISD, the Hill Country Senior Citizens in DS, the Thrift Shop for 30+ years. She helped the Hill Country Care become a reality. Sally also served on the Johnson City Hospital Board for about 15 years, and the Henly Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary. She was a columnist for the San Marcos Record writing “The Henly News.” Sally attended the Henly Baptist Church, and in the 1960's she ran her own beauty shop.

A life well lived, helping the community and striving to make it the best it could be, spanning time from horse-drawn tomato-filled Henly wagons, to the exploration of other planets. Living a very successful life, Sally is now a resident of Ledgestone Assisted Living. Still active, she runs her own Facebook account and even hosts Zoom meetings with her family weekly.