In the book, “Then and Now – Lea County Families, Vol. 1,” Fred B. Cooper (1915-1996) relates a family story of a lightning strike to his family home on September 27, 1910. The family was sleeping in their home in the Panhandle of Texas when a big electrical storm came up.

Fred writes, “The lightning struck their clothesline wire, one end of which was tied to the house. Lightning followed the line to the house, making its way inside, splitting the lumber and throwing splinters in ever(y) direction over the room. The lightning then passed over a bed where James was lying and jumped to another bed in the same room, setting it afire, then passing near where his wife was sitting, then out the door. The fire was extinguished; another bolt struck a barrel of water at the well.” (1)

The Coopers moved to Jal in 1914 and the above anecdote was part of Fred’s contribution to the book regarding the Samuel Rose Cooper family.

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(1) Lea County Genealogical Society, “Then and Now – Lea County Families, Vol. 1,” Walsworth Publishing Company, 1979.