Ralph ENGLAND May 3, 1911 - June 2, 1951 You are here: Photo Albums • ENGLAND • Ralph Related Categories: ENGLAND Brothers Truck Line • Ralph ENGLAND Newspaper Articles Ralph England was born on a farm near Ratcliff, Arkansas in 1911. He was the 11th of 12 children born to John Henderson and Candace Irene (Mosley) ENGLAND. I am not sure if it is true but I have been told that he did not have a middle name because he was one of the younger children and his parents ran out of names! Ralph lived with his brother, Marshal Monroe ENGLAND, most of the summer months working on his farm. In 1928, when Ralph was 17 years old, Marshal loaned him $30.00 to go to California. Ralph had found a job with a dairy before he left Arkansas. The job at the dairy paid $30.00 a month and his room and board. Ralph paid his loan back in 3 months. Since Ralph spent so much time at Marshal's farm, he became like a brother to Marshal's son Roger. On August 9, 1995, Roger wrote the following about Ralph: "Ralph would stay at our house several weeks during the summer. When I was in the Navy in Millington, TN near Memphis, he would come and get me, and we would pick up Ruby (Roger's wife) and go out for dinner. He would loan Ruby and I his car for two or three days. He brought Dad to see me when I was in the Navy hospital for back surgery. Ralph liked to help people. He would get Christmas gifts for all of his and our children, and his other brothers' and sisters' children. He would deliver them on Christmas morning. The best story I have ever heard was, he was going to Little Rock and had a lawyer with him. They were near where you turn off to go to Shaver where Ralph grew up on the mountain. The lawyer asked Ralph where he went to college and Ralph told him Shaver since that sounded like a good college name. This is a great story." Ralph met Erma Laree MOORE while he was in California. It happened that she was also from Arkansas. They fell in love and were married on November 8, 1931 in Hueneme, California. Ralph and Erma went on to have 3 children; two daughters and a son. While Ralph was in California, his brothers Mays and Sherman started a business called ENGLAND Brothers Truck Line in Fort Smith, Arkansas. They started the business with only one truck. Wanting to expand their business, they asked Ralph to return to Arkansas and join them because Ralph had $200.00 and they needed the money to make a down payment on another truck. Ralph and Erma came to Fort Smith in 1932. The first terminal was a service station located on Townson Avenue. It had a small dock in the back side where they loaded and unloaded freight. Ralph took care of the gas pumps and helped handle the freight. In about 1935, Ralph bought out Mays and Sherman for $1,100.00. Mays stayed with Ralph as a salesman until 1938 or 1939. Ralph helped Mays financially to purchase a new car dealership called Hudson Teroplane. Roger ENGLAND joined the Navy in August 1942, and was stationed at Millington, Tennessee, near Memphis. When Ralph went to Memphis on business, he would call Roger at the base and invite him and his wife out for dinner. He would also loan them his car if they needed it. Ralph always wanted Roger to go down to Goldsmith's with him to get clothes for his family. He sure did like to shop for Erma and the kids! Here's another story I heard about Ralph. I was told this story by Ralph VEST who is the grandson of Ralph's sister Esthel (ENGLAND) VEST. "Ralph ENGLAND named me! My dad (Daniel Webster VEST, Ralph's nephew) was working for Ralph when I was born. Ralph told dad, "If you will let me name your baby boy, I'll pay your doctor bill." This was in 1939 before Ralph had a son. One can only assume he believed he might not ever have a son, so he asked my dad to name me Ralph. This became my name and Ralph paid the doctor bill just like he said he would." Ralph had it all, a beautiful wife, 3 lovely children, and a business that was booming. Then on June 2, 1951, Ralph and his son, John, drove from Fort Smith to Tulsa, Oklahoma to pick up his neice Alma (ENGLAND) SATTERFIELD who had flown from Los Angeles. Alma's father, Marshal, was ill at his home in Caulksville, Arkansas and Ralph was driving her there to see him. About 6 miles west of Sallisaw, Oklahoma, Ralph's car was hit head on by an Army truck that was travelling on the wrong side of the highway. According to witnesses, Ralph was killed immediately. He had turned 40 less than a month before his death. His son and neice sustained serious injuries but eventually made full recoveries. Click Here to see some of the newspaper articles written about Ralph after he was killed. More Photos of Ralph >>

Jump to any section!-------------------------------------- Home Surname IndexPhoto AlbumsWhat's New?Sign/View GuestbookDownload GEDCOMAboutContactWeb Design     Birth: 3 May 1911, Franklin Co, Arkansas Death: 2 Jun 1951, Oklahoma, in an automobile accident Burial: Fort Smith, Arkansas - Forest Park Cemetery Social Security Number: 431-54-2864, issued in Arkansas Religion: Methodist Occupation: Owner of ENGLAND Brothers Truck Line Father: John Henderson ENGLAND Mother: Candace Irene MOSLEY Siblings: Marshal Monroe ENGLAND Bertie L. ENGLAND Leslie ENGLAND Esthel Ada ENGLAND Elyet B. ENGLAND Sherman Savoy ENGLAND Mays Lillian ENGLAND Ruth Agnes ENGLAND unknown (baby) ENGLAND John Raymond ENGLAND Ruie Jane ENGLAND Marriage: Erma Laree MOORE - 8 Nov 1931, Hueneme, California Children: Ann Laree ENGLAND John Lee ENGLAND Mary Elaine ENGLAND   Ralph owned and operated ENGLAND Brothers Truck Line, starting with one truck and growing his fleet up to about 100 trucks.     Many news articles like the one below were written about Ralph's untimely death. Click the newspaper above to read more.

Ralph ENGLAND is Marty's grandfather. Marty ENGLAND > John ENGLAND > Ralph

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