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IN
REMEMBRANCE OF Mr.
John D. Johnson “The
Father of the American Bulldog” The
obituary that was provided to us, by the Earle Rainwater Funeral Home,
read: January
17, 2008 [John
D. passed away on this date.] JOHNSON…
Mr. John D. Johnson, age 83, of Hinton Street, Summerville,
Georgia, passed away Thursday at his residence.
He was born on Friday
morning, January 18th, our kind and dear friends, Ann &
Hoyett Crews, “Crews American Bulldogs”, of As
soon as we received the news of John’s death, we immediately wired
flowers to the funeral home, on behalf of the ARF, the ARF Staff, and in
behalf of all our ARF American Bulldog members, both national and
international. Also, I sent
a poem, that was written by ARF’s Founder, Mr. Tom Dromgoole
Stodghill’s Aunt, Will Allen Dromgoole.
The poem is entitled, “The Bridge Builder”, and it read thus,
I quote: “An
old man going a lone highway, The
old man crossed in the twilight dim, ‘Old
man’ said a fellow traveler near, The
builder lifted his old grey head; The
chasm that was as nought to me Yes,
Mr. Johnson was a “Bridge Builder”, too, even though his obituary
did not proclaim it. However, I know this to be a fact; for more than
thirty-odd years I held many long conversations with John, discussing
the many facets of a gem that is known to us all as the American
Bulldog. However, our [ARF]
relationship began, when both John, and his wife, Mildred, called upon
us to provide a rare breed survival registration program for his
American Bulldogs. In those
early years, the recognition of the American Bulldog went rather slowly;
people saw the name “American Pit Bulldogs”, and confused them as
being “American Pit Bull Terriers.
As a matter of fact, even Mr. Stodghill, ARF’s Founder, at
first thought an “American Pit Bulldog” as being an “American Pit
Bull Terrier”. As Mr.
Johnson and Mr. Stodghill became close friends, they removed the word
“Pit”, as it was creating all the confusion in the bulldog world,
and, therefore, Mr. Stodghill removed the word “Pit” out of the
“American Bulldog” name, since we all know that a “Bulldog” is
not a “Terrier”. Afterwards,
the ARF was the first to recognize and register the “American
Bulldog”. As
much as Mr. Johnson loved his American Bulldogs, and other animals, he
recognized that the dog was but only one of God’s many
“creatures”; and, he testified to me that he loved Jesus Christ, the
Creator of all things, even more. And,
as much as John could tell you about the history of his dogs, and
pictures of his dogs which covered the walls of his home, he loved his
Bible and the many promises that it contains for the Christian, who is
looking unto Jesus, as the Author and Finisher of their faith.
Therefore,
I believe if John could speak to us now, he would say, “I’m going to
rest now, so dry your tears. However,
in the resurrection morning I will expect to see you in the Now
that John has passed the torch on to Scott and Suzie Weaver, to keep
alive the “John D. Johnson American Bulldog” tradition, as well as
to all the wonderful people who have purchased American Bulldogs from
John’s kennel, in past years; for this, we say, “God bless you all,
for being ‘Bridge Builders’, for the next generation of young
people!” We
have been honored to have John D. call use his friends. Al
& Jean Walker, in loving memory of our friend, John D. Johnson.
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In Remembrance Of
TOM DRUMGOOLE STODGHILL Tom Drumgoole Stodghill was born in Mart, Texas, to Uriah and Ada Stodghill, August 30, 1903. He was one of six children born to this union. His two brothers were Woodrow and George and his three sisters were Hattie Mae, Nora Belle and Juanita. Growing up on the farm, he followed in the footsteps of his mother's brother, Dr. Edward B. Drumgoole [DVM], taking a keen interest in animal husbandry, which included various breeding techniques, animal production, care and maintenance. After working a number of years with his uncle, he began to write pamphlets for the General Feed Stores; these were "How to Produce and Raise Cows, Chickens, Horses, Goats, Pigs, etc." Also, in those pamphlets, he included his name and mailing address so that interested individuals could contact him, if they had a special need. As a result of his "How to" pamphlets, he began corresponding with Ms. Garnett Palmer, from Ada, Oklahoma. In 1927 they married and from this union four children were born; Will-Allen Stodghill-Jameson, Mary Helen Stodghill-Stogner, Thomas Clinton Stodghill and Nora Jean Stodghill-Walker. During the 1930's, when American was in a great depression, Tom and Garnett went forward in their animal-raising activity so that, in 1934 at the Chicago World Fair, he and Garnett won first place with the introduction of their "Crimson Dawn Broad-Breasted Turkey". Unfortunately, the depression years were hard on his family and as a result, Garnett divorced him after nineteen years of marriage. Tom did everything to get his wife back, but this was not to be. Afterwards, in 1947, Tom married Ms. Eunice Wilson, of Kaufman, Texas. In that same year they established the "Animal Research Foundation [ARF]" and the "English Shepherd Club of America [ESCOA]". For the next thirty-seven years, both he and Eunice traveled across America's farmland, promoting ARF business. In 1951, Tom coined the phrase "Cowdog Rodeo" and held the first Cowdog Rodeo that took place in the USA - the event was held in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Later, for the next thirty-seven years, he held an annual Cowdog Trials at Stodghill Ranch, Quinlan, Texas, where all breeds of cowdogs could compete for trophies and cash money. Also in 1951, Tom coined the phrases "Stockdog" and "Cowhogdog", referring to the "Catahoula", and its ability to track and bay both wild cattle and hogs. From circa 1953, Tom published his "Animal Research Foundation Magazine" ["ARF Cowdog Magazine"]. His magazine was circulated into every state in the United States of America and many foreign countries. With each magazine he produced, he carried a "Classified" section that was highly sought after by the farmer/rancher/stockman, looking for working stock dogs. [Tom said, "With a four-footed 'hired hand', you never have to worry about your 'hired hand' coming to work drunk, or bailing him out of jail." "Four thousand years ago Moses said to his people, 'Pick up your shovels, load your Camels, mount your asses, and ride with me to the Promised Land.' Four thousand years later, Stodghill said to the people, 'Send old Shep after the cows, set in your rocking chair, light a Camel, this is the Promised Land.'"] Also, as Editor of the "ARF Cowdog Magazine", he personally answered letters regarding questions that his readers had for him. Tom was always very busy; however, he could always count on his wife, Eunice, to help him fill out his many customers' ARF Registration Papers, but, in 1980, at age 76, Eunice had a stroke. Although Tom had his son, Clint, and daughter, Jean to help him, his time was divided in taking care of his sick wife and running his ARF business. However, in 1984, his wife and help-mate of thirty-seven years passed away. In 1986, Tom married again, to Ms. Jessie Smith of Terrell, Texas; he was 83 and she was 84. Never were two people more in love as these two; they were inseparable. You never saw one without the other. Together they both worked to further the ARF and its ideals but sadly, on October 16, 1988, Tom's son Clint was involved in an almost-fatal car accident. From that time forward, Clint never was able to help his father again as his ARF Manager. As a result of this, more pressure was placed on Tom and his wife. On June 14, 1989, as both he and his wife were on their way to Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport to ship a Border Collie, they both lost their lives as their automobile was swept off the road by high flood water. During Tom's lifetime, his work has been published in many books, both inside and out of the United States. For a number of years, Texas A&M sought his advice on both breeding and training working dogs, and, after fifty years of research, in 1983 he published the first book ever written on the history of the Catahoula Leopard Cowdog. The last 42 years of his life, Tom dedicated all his abilities toward the advancement of the ARF; and, I once heard him say, "The ARF is often imitated, but it is never duplicated." This is true, for we know of over thirty registries who have tried to take over our operation, but without success. This is due, I believe, to ARF's stability; there are not many people who can claim that they have been around for the past sixty years. Even though Mr. Tom, as he was affectionately called, is no longer with us, he was the Founder of the ARF; and he, Eunice and Jessie helped forge the future for our organization. Today, we are thankful for all his children as they, too, have a devoted interest in seeing ARF continue into the 21st Century. Al Walker, Son-in-law and
friend to Tom D. Stodghill
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In Remembrance Of
EUNICE WILSON STODGHILL ARF's First Secretary Eunice Wilson Stodghill was born in Kaufman, Texas, September 23, 1904, and passed away November 23, 1984; however, it is the dash between 1904 and 1984 that tells the events of one's life. Eunice lost her mother at an early age and she left school so that she could help her father in raising his many children. Therefore, Eunice became a "mother figure" to her brothers and sisters until they were grown. Eunice was 43 years old when she and Tom married on October 20, 1947, and this was her first marriage. At that time, two of Tom's children, Will Allen and Mary Helen, had married; his son, Clint, had enlisted into the United States Air Force, and his youngest daughter, Nora Jean, was living with her mother in Amarillo, Texas. Therefore, in October of 1947, neither Tom nor Eunice had the responsibility of raising children, so they were now able to devote their energy into the development of their new enterprise, the A.R.F. Eunice and Tom were a team, and when they were not in the ARF office they operated a little country store known as "Stodghill's Ranch Meat-Grocery Market". Tom raised and butchered the animals that were sold, and he took orders for the hams he smoked. Eunice made sausage from the pork Tom raised, and she sold many special cuts of meat. For many years Tom and Eunice operated the only store and filling station that existed between Greenville and Terrell, Texas. They had a pet, a North American Black Bear named "Sody-Pop", as an added attraction. Through the end of the 1940's and through the 1950's, the 1960's and the 1970's, life was full for both Tom and Eunice. They both worked seven days a week, from can to can't; only taking time off to attend a wedding or a funeral. I remember on our wedding day, August, 1964, Tom and Eunice arrived late, just as we were leaving the church to go to our planned wedding reception. Tom and Eunice joined our reception and watched Jean and me cut the wedding cake. They both welcomed me into the Stodghill family with open arms, and, to express his love for me, Tom shared his dream of expanding the ARF even further. His enthusiasm was so great for the ARF that he totally lost track of time; however, it was Eunice who saved our wedding night. Tom was ARF's driving force but it was Eunice, the woman behind the man, who kept things running smoothly and in order. Each day, after she closed the store, she would go to the ARF office and start processing the mail that had come in that day. Often she would work on into the early morning hours, filling out litter and dog registrations on a manual typewriter. If she made a mistake on an ARF document, she had her liquid white-out to make the correction. To me, Eunice was an amazing woman; even as a diabetic, she did all her own housekeeping, meat processing in the store, kept the grocery store stocked, waited on customers, answered the phone, took dog orders, worked as ARF's first Secretary, and traveled to many dog shows. And, on Saturday night, when all her work was done, she was a television "wrestling" fan; she loved to watch the "Von Ericks". After her stroke in 1980, she still enjoyed watching the rough and rowdy boys wrestle; if there was a wrestling event in Dallas, or in the Fort Worth area, Tom would have me drive them there. In retrospect, going to the Dallas Sportatorium or to the Will Rogers Coliseum in Fort Worth, I don't know who had the most fun; they enjoyed the matches but I enjoyed watching how excited Eunice and Tom became, especially if their wrestler was being caught off-guard. Today, as I look back on Eunice's life as ARF's first Secretary, she did not have the technology that we take so much for granted - no computers, no fax machines, no cell phones, no scanners, no copiers and no data backup systems. For thirty-seven years she hand-typed every ARF Certificate of Registration, and when people needed pedigree information on a dog, she had to painstakingly research, file after file, until she found what the breeder was looking for. Also, there was no email, just snail mail; therefore, a quick response was out of the question. However, she was able to help Tom with his "ARF Cowdog Magazine" and, therefore, provide a printed response that would not only help one individual, but help many others who read the "Magazine". Therefore, Tom and Eunice's "ARF Cowdog Magazine" was the catalyst that helped educate people on their dogs. For those who knew and loved Eunice, she is missed. For all of us who were her family, and her ARF family, she never will be forgotten. ARF owes a tremendous debt in regards to Eunice's ARF's life work; it is upon this Foundation that we are able to serve. Al Walker, Son-in-law and friend
to Eunice W. Stodghill |
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