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Sydna Davis Arbuckle wrote about the Culp brothers during World War II, in “This and That in Elgin History.” The brothers trained as pilots in Canada because Jack being five years younger than Powell was too young to join the U.S. Air Force. However, when World War II began in 1941, they transferred to the U.S. Armed Forces.
The Culp brothers were the sons of Elgin banker Powell Culp, Jr. (18921946) and Mary Reed Hays Culp (1898-1986). Sydna wrote that the parents were well known.
“Mr. Culp was vice-president of the bank and Mrs. Culp was a beautiful and very active woman. I was a young child under 6, but the Culps were in the same church as my family and I remember so welt the reports we would receive at various times about their children. The Culps had built a very nice home on Taylor Road which is still there and has been the home for the W.E. Arbuckle family for the last 50 years.” W. E. Arbuckle was the brother of Ronny Arbuckle, Sydna’s husband.
Mr. Culp died Nov. 17, 1946, at age 54. Sydna wrote, “Mrs. Culp got a job with Baylor University in Waco as a dorm director and she later married Mr. Merritt of the Merritt, Schaefer and Brown men’s store in Austin. The Merritt marriage took place Nov. 26, 1951.
Merritt, Shaefer and Brown, men’s clothier was started by Frank Merritt, A. O. Schaefer, Walter Finis Brown and Verno Blomquist at 611 Congress Avenue in Austin in 1941. It carried medium to high-end men’s apparel, as well as military uniforms for bomber pilots according to the Austin History Center.
Mary Reed Hays Culp Merritt died Oct. 26, 1986, at 88, and is buried in Elgin.
Prisoners of War
Both Culp sons became prisoners of War. Powell Culp, III (“Powell”) was imprisoned by the Japanese in the Philippines and Jack, in Germany. Sydna wrote that Powell Culp was shot down after 47 missions as a P-47 pilot before the fall of the Philippines. He was taken prisoner with the fall of Corregidor on May 6, 1942 and he was in the Bataan Death March. He said that he lost 62 pounds in that march. Like Scott Satterwhite, he was transferred by the Japanese to Osaka.
There were many caves in the Philippines used by the Japanese and Americans. Sydna wrote that five copies of American newspapers, including the Elgin Courier, were found in one of them. This particular cave at Morong is a part of the Bataan National Park. It was used as a hospital and ammunition depot by the Japanese during the war. Other caves, tunnels, and underground complexes held Yamashita’s gold, Japan’s war loot. In 1992, Imelda Marcos claimed that it accounted for the wealth of her husband, Ferdinand Marcos (19171989), controversial post-war president of the Philippines.
Captain Willis Powell Culp III was 54 when he died in Austin, Texas Aug. 25, 1972. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Charlene Hanson Jordan wrote the above narrative as the latest in a weekly column based on new research which does not appear in her books. Each story along with photographs and also articles about local Swedes and Germans will appear in Charlene Jordan’s soonto- be-launched Patreon website. Ask for details at [email protected].
Her latest book, “NOTES & RECOLLECTIONS, Post Oak Island & Elgin, Texas, is available at the Elgin Depot Museum where exhibits, photographs, and books on local history are also available. The museum is open on Fridays & Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. and during Sip, Shop, and Stroll on the first Thursday of each month. Watch for notices.
“Notes & Recollections” may be purchased from the Niswanders at the Elgin Farmers Market in Veterans Memorial Park.
The book is also available at the Elgin Courier office, 105 N. Main Street, Elgin, call 512-285-3333 during business hours or from Charlene at 512856-2562 or charlenehansonjordan@ yahoo.com.
