Jamie Carter Bollich of Beaumont will be the guest speaker for the Liberty County Historical Commission, Monday Nov. 16. LCHC will meet at 6 p.m. in the Hartel Building, 318 San Jacinto Street, Liberty. She will share her father’s experiences as a POW of the Germans in World War II.
Keith C. Carter, now 95, grew up in Cleveland, Texas and graduated high school as valedictorian. The college experience he expected was delayed by military service overseas. His book, “Just Another Soldier,” recounts his time in the U.S. Army, including how he survived injuries and his life in a prison camp.
Jamie Carter Bollich is a seventh-generation Texan whose Liberty County roots go back to the 1830s when her Carter ancestors settled here. Other kin arrived soon, including Simmons, Wrights, Formans, Wests, Coles and more. Many lived at Tarkington Prairie. Her dad’s family lived in Cleveland as he grew up.
After serving in World War II and attending college and law school, he met Jamie’s mom at First Baptist Church, Cleveland, when she was working as a librarian and teacher at Cleveland Hight School. The couple moved to Houston and lived in the Spring Branch area with their three children for many years. Jamie graduated from Spring Woods High School and received a journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
For several years she worked at the Beaumont Enterprise and Journal, and after time off to raise four children with husband Andrew, wrote a column on her personal experiences called “Life in the Slow Lane.”
She has become fascinated by history and genealogy and has spoken at the Texas State History Association conference in Austin, the East Texas Historical Association in Nacogdoches, and to various groups in Jefferson, Liberty, Newton, Jasper, and Angelina Counties. Her book “Arvetta,” historical fiction about her Wright family’s history in Jasper County co-written with cousin Herman Wright, was published in 2018.
Meetings of the Liberty County Historical Commission are open to the public and all are welcome. Please wear a mask and health restrictions will be in place. For more information, please contact Linda Jamison, County Chair, at 936-334-5813 or email: lchc318@gmail.com.