Mary Maude Cummins Baxter


Mary Maude Cummins was born August 15, 1867 in
Pottsboro, Grayson Co., Texas. At the age
of 3, the family moved to Cass Co., Missouri for
several years. By the age of 5, her family
had returned to Denison, Texas. She was 22
years of age when her father died and two years
later she married William Simeon "Willis" Baxter
at Pottsboro, Grayson Co., Texas. To this
union two sons and three daughters were born.
The family resided in the Grayson County
towns of Denison, Whitesboro and Sherman.
Mary Maude died just one week after her
mother's death in December 1936.
The
Sunday Gazetteer
Sunday, January 27,
1901
NEW MUSIC
The Gazetteer
is in receipt of a new piece of music, "The Gate
City Waltz," dedicated to Denison. The
piece is composed by a former Denison girl, Mrs.
Maude Cummins Buster of Whitesboro. Mrs.
Buster is a sister of Alex and Hum Cummins and
grand-daughter of the late Dr. Morrison.
She grew to womanhood here and received
her musical education in this city.
The composition, in
B flat, is quite pleasing and not very
difficult, and the Gazetteer takes pleasure in
recommending the "Gate City Waltz' to all lovers
of good music, as it is sure to please.
Send for a copy and try it for yourself.
Price 50 cents.
Address, G.W.
Taylor, Whitesboro, Texas.
The Denison Press
Thursday, August 13,
1936
...Life of
Denisonian's Daughter Includes Varied Fine Arts
...music, poetry
and...occupy the interest of ...Mrs. W.B. Buster
of Sherman, her...hobby is home life. Mrs.
Buster was educated in what is said to have been
the first public free school in Te4xas, the old
Denison high school which stood on the site of
the present modern high school structure in this
city. She also attended St. Xavier's
academy in Denison and later taught music at
that Catholic school. For many years she
has been a member of the XXI club, Denison
literary organization for women, the Texas
Poetry society and other clubs. Her
mother, Mrs. Helen A. Cummins, who was 95 years
old in May. is at present a resident of Denison.
As Maude Cummins,
Mrs. Buster was born August 15, 1867, at Bonnie
Dixie Farm near Pottsboro, daughter of the late
Judge James Hunter Cummins and Mrs. Helen A.
Cummins. Her maternal grandfather, Dr.
Alexander Morrison was a native of Scotland and
came to America when 17 years old. He
married Miss Harriet DeVos of New York and they
came to Texas before the war between the states.
Dr. Morrison joined the Confederate forces
and was a surgeon in the Southern Army.
Mrs. Buster's great-grandfather, John
DeVoe of Courtland county, New York, was a
private in the Revolutionary War and the
Daughters of the American Revolution on Memorial
Day dedicated a monument to Commemorate John
DeVoe and his wife, Helen Godwin DeVoe. On
one side of the monument their names and birth
dates are carved, and on the opposite side of
the stone are the names of their 4
grandchildren, including that of Mrs. Buster.
Her great-great-grandfather, Henry Godwin,
was in charge of a company of soldiers of the
5th Regiment of New York state during the
Revolutionary War.
Mrs. Buster's father
was born in Missouri, joining the Confederate
Army when he was 19 years old. His first
service was with Hurst's Regiments, though he
was afterward transferred to Price's Army of
Missouri and because of failing health was
forced to retire from active service and was
made paroling officer of Lamar County, which
position he held until the war closed.
In 1891 she was
married to W.S. Buster of Kentucky, who came to
Texas in 1888, and together they reside in
Sherman. They have 4 children, including
J.D. Buster, Sherman city recorder and an
attorney of Sherman; Miss Maude Buster and Mrs.
Fred Mooty of Sherman; and Mrs. W.A. Roberts,
Tipton, Oklahoma.
"The Gate City
Waltz,", a composition which Mrs. Buster
dedicated to the city of Denison 50 years ago,
was her first original composition. This
was published by a Dallas music house, but the
copyright was re-purchased by Mrs. Buster,
She has composed various other pieces of
music in addition to numerous poems, among them
"Texas" and "Blue Bonnets."
Inheriting their
mother's artistic temperament, 3 of Mrs.
Buster's children are musicians. J.D. Buster is
a violinist and a tenor and has long been
identified with music in Sherman churches, Miss
Maude Buster, a contralto, frequently is heard
in radio programs from Dallas stations, and Mrs.
Roberts, the former Miss Helen Buster, is a
pianist, giving much of her time at present to
evangelistic music, assisting her husband, a
Baptist minister. - - - Sherman Democrat

CUMMINS FAMILY
Biography Index
Susan Hawkins
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