Prisoner of War Hollis Allen Scruggs marched to Bataan along with Scotty Satterwhite in the Spring of 1942. On that march, many were clubbed or bayoneted to death and left lying on the road.
Scruggs came from Taylor. His father was George Harrison Scruggs who was born in Arkansas. His grandfather, was Henry Manville Scruggs (1850-1910) born in Alabama and his paternal grandmother was Laura Josephine Mills. The Scruggs family has deep roots in this country having participated in the American Revolution. Richard “Gentleman” Scruggs (1627-1669) came to the United States from Bedfordshire in England.
Hollis Allen Scruggs’s mother descended from the Lawhon and Allen families at Beaukiss. Ruth Lawhon Bostic was his aunt and the gifted local historian, Norris Burl McCord, was his first cousin.
The Allen family came from Marengo, Alabama, but the Lawhons and Gardners have a long history in Beaukiss and Elgin.
Zera Estella Lawhon, Hollis’ maternal grandmother, was born Jan. 30, 1874. She was the daughter of William Joseph Lawhon (1845-1905) and Rhoda Caroline Gardner. William Joseph was the son of Judge David Ervin Lawhon and Rhoda Caroline Gardner was the daughter of Marmaduke Gardner, the well-known Universalist preacher and pre-Civil-War settler born in South Carolina.
As mentioned in the May 10 Elgin Courier article about the Bataan Death March, Norris McCord said that Hollis Scruggs credited Scotty Satterwhite for saving his life through Satterwhite’s ability to scavenge and steal food. Scruggs and Satterwhite were prisoners of the Japanese in the Philippines at Camp Rukuroshi and in Osaka, Japan. The ordeal lasted for three and a half years. Scruggs was promoted to Sergeant and was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart for his service.
After his return to Taylor at the end of the war in 1945, Hollis worked as a grocery salesman the rest of his adult life. He started working for Cooper Grocery and he retired from Brenham Wholesale Grocery, a firm that delivered groceries and supplies to grocery stores and restaurants.
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 soon-to-be-launched Patreon website. Ask for details at charlenehansonjordan@ yahoo.com.
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 in Elgin, call 512-285-3333 during business hours or Charlene at 512856-2562 or email charlenehansonjordan@ yahoo.com.
