Nannie, the single daughter of the Dement family when they moved to Driftwood, lived here the longest of the family. She was born in 1884 while her parents were living on Cypress Creek near Wimberley, Texas. She was nearly grown at the time of their move to Driftwood so, was called Miss Nannie by the local populace, and even though she became Mrs. Dave Jacks in later years, she continued to be called “Miss Nannie” as long as she lived here and is still called that by many Driftwood people.
Miss Nannie was a very energetic person and always wanted to be busy at some gainful occupation. She taught school at Driftwood for a short period of time, then obtained employment in San Marcos, Texas. She went from San Marcos to Austin where she worked in the State Home for Retarded children. Here she proved to be a capable and responsible worker and was promoted to a better job within a year’s time. She might have stayed with this work for a long period of time but a set of circumstances brought her back to Driftwood.
This was in the year of 1909 and the then Driftwood postmaster was planning on giving up his position. Miss Nannie felt that her parents needed her at home so she applied for and obtained the position and was officially appointed as Driftwood Postmaster on July 20, 1909. She was the first woman to hold this position at Driftwood.
A small building was erected in her parents’ front yard to be used for the post office and in later years, after her marriage, this building was moved to her home, which was located about one-fourth mile north of her parent’s home.
Miss Nannie married Dave Jacks in 1912. He was the son of one of the early settlers of the Driftwood area. (See Jacks Family). They became the parents of two boys and three girls, all born at Driftwood. They were named Erwin, Terry Lee, Corene, June and Davey Faye.
Mr. Dave was a carpenter and a farmer. He had lost the sight of one eye when a young man and in 1924 lost the sight from the other one through a painful accident. This rendered him incapable of carrying on with his farming and carpenter work. Miss Nannie continued on as postmaster for about two years after this.
In 1926, an election year, she decided to run for the office of County Clerk of Hays County. This was quite a decision for a woman to make as the county offices—excluding the County Superintendent of Schools—were considered a “man’s world”. (The Superintendent’s office was held by a woman, Miss Wilma Allen but since most of the teachers of Hays County were women, this was looked upon as a woman’s job.) However, she won the election and became the first woman to serve in that capacity in Hays County. She held the office for ten years.
One thing that influenced her to run for this office was her desire to give her children a good education and as they would have to live in San Marcos should she win the election, this was a desirable place; San Marcos was and is noted for its good schools. She and Mr. Dave moved to San Marcos with their children and the children did receive excellent educations. Mr. Dave spent the rest of his life there.
Both boys furthered their education at the University of Texas at Austin and Terry received a degree in law. He practiced in San Marcos for awhile and became Hays County Attorney for several years. He went from this position to that of District Judge of District #22, an office which he still holds in 1969. Both boys were in World War II.
After her husband’s death in 1938, Miss Nannie lived in San Marcos for several years, then in Austin, Texas and, is currently living in the Golden Age Retirement Home in Lockhart, Texas. She is in her eighty-sixth year and can look back over the eighty-five plus years of her life and say she has lived a long and fruitful life.
Source, DRIFTWOOD HERITAGE The History of Driftwood, Texas Copyright 1970.
