𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗕𝗟𝗘 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗢𝗙 𝗠𝗥𝗦. 𝗝.𝗔. 𝗕𝗘𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗧𝗧, 𝗧𝗛𝗘 "𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗟 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗢𝗟𝗠𝗜𝗧𝗢," 𝗯𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝗻𝗲 𝗧𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗲𝘀

In 1949, Lenore Uribe introduced us to an “angel” that lived amongst. The story she wrote and published by the Brownsville Herald acquainted the readership of then to the charity work of Mrs. J. A. Bennett. Who was this lady, so incredible according to Uribe, that her life story should have been in the reels of Hollywood?

In or about 1910, Mrs. Bennett left her native Ohio and made her way to Olmito, Texas where she soon made friends with the people next door, at the time, miles away. She was a practical nurse, a profession that was much needed during these brush country days.

It was obvious to her that among the rural population of this region there were many that did not have the advantages that she had—specifically health care.

Uribe wrote,” Ever since her arrival in Olmito she’s been a nurse, doctor, welfare worker, and ‘mother- confessor’ to countless of people whose lives she has brightened and sometimes saved. “

I remind you that this was an era when to get a doctor it was necessary to ride your horse into town and find one of the few that would be able to return with you.

Mrs. Bennett was the alternative to the doctor, in many cases her home became the emergency room until help could arrive. Sometimes it never did and she was forced to carry on alone.

Aside from nursing the sick and wounded, she estimated that she delivered over 1,000 babies—of which many were at-risk pregnancies. And because she was able to improvise an incubator, the preemies under her care got to see the light of day.

Her work was strictly voluntary. Speaking then she said, “I help people who are too timid, or too proud to seek medical or financial aid elsewhere. “

They come to me, she explained, “Because I’ve never entered a home with my head in the air, or tried to give orders. I’ve done all I could and made suggestions, but the approach is what really counts. I don’t believe you can train people to do charity work—they have to be born to it. “I guess the only explanation is, “she added, “You’ve got to love people to want to help them.”

After 40 years of service to others, her volunteerism attitude never wavered. When asked if she’d everwas embittered by the attitude of some of the people she’d helped, she shook her head, emphatically, “I can count on the fingers on one hand,” she answered, “those who weren’t genuinely grateful, and even they—well, I like to think of them as just misguided.”

A special touch for special children…

While visiting Port Isabel she came across a 13 year old boy, who was overlooked by those around him, but not by Mrs. Bennett. She found him in a beach shack, too weak and nervous to feed himself, but after she took him in and provided the proper food and care; he was able, within days, to return home with a smile in his face.

Regardless of the situation and/or illness—nobody was denied care. Although her training was of a practical nurse, to the people that depended on her—there were no limits to what she could or could not do. Especially to the parents of a 2 ½ year old girl who had been released from the county hospital as a hopeless paralytic. The little girl was taken to Mrs. Bennett’s home and after two years under her care, she miraculously had full use of her arms and legs.

The angel from Olmito did not always do it alone. In the situation of six years old boy who from birth had never spoken a word, it necessary to solicited help from a local club, which she got. After a simple procedure was performed, the boy was completely normal.

When a child required a specialist, like the unfortunate little girl who was born with neither palate nor upper lip, she found a way to get help. She took four trips to Galveston with the child for treatment and an operation, for which the county paid. After several operations and years of therapy, the little girl, grew up to be an attractive high school student with no trace of her former handicap.

It did not take long before everyone in this area knew about Mrs. Bennett and her work of kindness. It was like her house was a destination marked for all that needed help. She even took in the homeless.

Uribe wrote “tongues wagged when Mrs. Bennett took into her home, to raise as a daughter, described by Bennett as, “a good girl with a bad start.”

When the days of hitchhiking were safe and common—a 13 year girl arrives in Brownsville and was not according to the ladies of the community, someone to ‘take into the family circle. Mrs. Bennett commented, “The ladies were wrong, however, for the girl justified the faith placed in her. As years progressed under a caring environment, the hopeless hitchhiker had a fine family and Mrs. Bennett was then called a Grandma.

The toughest juveniles ever to be placed in a Brownsville jail turn out to be “just another boy who needed someone to take an interest in him. After Mrs. Bennett took him under her wing, later she was able to report his conduct as “model.”

“All of these incidents, and perhaps a thousand more, plus nursing a community through an influenza epidemic, making coats for needy children, and last but not least, being Mrs. Santa Claus, have been part of this remarkable woman’s fabulous life,” wrote Uribe.

When Christmas rolled around, the Bennett home transformed into a candy and toy factory as she prepared to do what she had done for over three decades, distribute gifts to the needy. In the beginning she carried on the work by herself—but later she was assisted with donations of money and goods by Brownsville businessmen and the church federation.

“Leave the driving to me!” It was a yearly ritual to load toys, cakes, candy, fruit and sometimes cloth, into her car and follow the usual route that extended from Olmito to Russeltown, and south from San Pedro to Southmost. The children of the sleepy rural villages of then sparkled with joy at the sight of Mrs. Bennett; they gathered to wait for her arrival like a commuter waits for the train.

When Lenore Uribe interviewed her in 1949, Mrs. Bennett was still active as a practical nurse and almost every penny she earned went into to her charity work. When she was asked why she gave so much of her time and herself to help others, she politely interrupted with a story of a little boy whose family she had helped.

She never answered the question and went on to say, “He was fishing when I drove up the other day,” she said, “but he dropped his pole to come over and greet me. Imagine, a little fellow dropping his fishing pole to come and say hello to me!”

Perhaps the most amazing thing about her life—was that she managed to raise her own family of nine without interrupting her work schedule.

In order to do justice to her story, it would take several volumes and a number of sequels to describe all the good work that she did.

“That charity which longs to publish itself, ceases to be charity.” (Hutton)

Note: excerpts from this story were taken from an essay written by Lenore Uribe