Mr. PIC. No, sir; it was not the Davy Crockett. It was another school.
Davy Crockett is where we entered in September. We meanwhile went to
summer school.
Mr. JENNER. I see.
Mr. PIC. If you can give me a map of Dallas?
Mr. JENNER. You never heard of it?
Mr. PIC. Give me a map of Texas and I can show you where approximately
the school was and I will show you where it was.
Mr. JENNER. You did, after that summer school period in the summer of
1944, enter grammar school in Dallas?
Mr. PIC. That is right. Davy Crockett Elementary School. I entered the
7th grade and Robert entered the 5th.
Mr. JENNER. Let's see, Lee is now almost 5 years old. Did he enter Davy
Crockett at that time?
Mr. PIC. To the best of my recollection, no, sir.
Mr. JENNER. At that age he would be going to kindergarten anyhow. All
right, you and Robert then entered Davy Crockett?
Mr. PIC. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. You continued on at Davy Crockett in the fall semester?
Mr. PIC. Just a moment.
Mr. JENNER. Yes?
Mr. PIC. This house we went to in Dallas.
Mr. JENNER. Yes.
Mr. PIC. My mother owned it and rented the rest of it or she owned one
side of it.
Mr. JENNER. It was a duplex?
Mr. PIC. Right.
Mr. JENNER. Myrtle Evans testified that she recalled visiting you,
the family, on a trip she made to Dallas on one occasion, on a buying
trip or something or accompanied a friend of hers, it was on a ladies'
apparel buying trip and she remembered it as what she called them,
two-place houses. To me they are duplexes.
Mr. PIC. Right; duplex.
Mr. JENNER. So her recollection is fairly good then. Does that affect
your recollection that it was a four-apartment building rather than it
was a two-apartment building?
Mr. PIC. I am pretty sure it was four apartments.
Mr. JENNER. Okay; go ahead.
Mr. PIC. Well, I was under the impression and always have been that she
owned the house, and there was some arrangement with Mr. Ekdahl as to
how she got it or something. She was renting to one couple upstairs, I
know; is this right?
Mr. JENNER. Yes.
Mr. PIC. We are in Davy Crockett Elementary School, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Carry on.
Mr. PIC. Well, that would be September 1944. In the summer of 1945 she
married Mr. Ekdahl. I think you dated that as March or April.
Mr. JENNER. She married him, in fact, on May 7, 1945. I said March
before; I misspoke. It was May 7, 1945.
Mr. PIC. I have got summer. It is pretty good.
Mr. JENNER. Did he then move into the 4801 Victor Place?
Mr. PIC. Yes, sir; she took a short honeymoon for a day or two and came
back and moved in.
Mr. JENNER. In the summer of 1945 did you and Robert continue on
at--through that summer in Dallas?
Mr. PIC. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. That following September, however, you transferred to some
other school; did you not?
Mr. PIC. Yes, sir; and we were aware of this school before the school
session ended in 1945. I knew before we left Davy Crockett we were
going.
Mr. JENNER. What was the name of that?
Mr. PIC. In September 1945, sir, Robert and I entered Chamberlain-Hunt
Academy, military school for boys, Port Gibson, Miss.
Mr. JENNER. And you were aware of that--that that was forthcoming?
Mr. PIC. Yes, sir; as early as May 1945 I think.
Mr. JENNER. And what were the circumstances?
Mr. PIC. Mr. Ekdahl had to travel and so we were going to boarding
school.
Mr. JENNER. I exhibited to you earlier, and you identified a letter of
your mother's dated February 1, 1945, to the Bethlehem Orphanage, John
Pic Exhibit No. 4 in which your mother is petitioning the Bethlehem
Orphanage for the return of you two boys to the orphanage.
Mr. PIC. I don't think I was aware of this letter.
Mr. JENNER. You were not aware?
Mr. PIC. No, sir.
Mr. JENNER. So circumstances that you can recall now of the possible
relationship between your mother and Ekdahl that might have led to her
seeking to do this?
Mr. PIC. No, sir.
Mr. JENNER. She says in her letter she is thinking in terms of
returning you to Bethlehem because she is going to be traveling with
her husband when she does marry him--that is Mr. Ekdahl. There was no
discussion in your presence that you can recall on that subject?
Mr. PIC. Not returning to Bethlehem, no, sir; not that I remember. I
have to find Victor Street and from there I can just about guess where
the school was. I am lost on this map. I can't find Victor Street and
where I lived.
Mr. JENNER. Was Davy Crockett Grammar School near your home at 4801
Victor Street?
Mr. PIC. About three blocks, sir. Three long blocks.
Mr. JENNER. Describe that neighborhood to us.
Mr. PIC. I think it would be middle class.
Mr. JENNER. A level up from what you had been accustomed back in New
Orleans?
Mr. PIC. Yes, sir. There were fine brick homes; in fact, I had a paper
route out there that I delivered, and easily middle class. Maybe some
upper middle class.
Mr. JENNER. Was your life there pleasant?
Mr. PIC. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. And when Mr. Ekdahl moved in were the relationships
generally among all, now five of you, pleasant?
Mr. PIC. Between Mr. Ekdahl and the three boys they were pleasant, sir.
I think there were some arguments between Mr. Ekdahl and my mother from
time to time.
Mr. JENNER. You were aware of those?
Mr. PIC. Yes, sir. I am going to need a map with a listing of the
schools. This one doesn't seem to have one. This summer school was
about a good 2 miles away. We walked it in the morning.
Mr. JENNER. You and Robert?
Mr. PIC. I think me and Robert. We had other friends that we went to
school with.
Mr. JENNER. Of course.
Mr. PIC. And there were always a group of us. I don't remember if
Robert went or not, sir, to tell you the truth.
Mr. JENNER. I see. When you came around to the fall of 1945, however,
you entered the Chamberlain-Hunt Military Academy?
Mr. PIC. Yes, sir; in fact, the trip to Chamberlain-Hunt was a side
trip because Mr. Ekdahl, my mother, and Lee were on their way to Boston
to visit his folks. And so they dropped us off at the school and then
proceeded to Boston.
Mr. JENNER. Was that a motor trip?
Mr. PIC. Yes, sir; it was in a 1938 Buick.
Mr. JENNER. You remained at Chamberlain-Hunt Military Academy except
for summer vacation, or something of that nature, for how long?
Mr. PIC. Well, sir, you just want a blanket statement. I have got a
whole bunch of goodies while I was at Chamberlain-Hunt.
Mr. JENNER. All right. Go ahead.
Mr. PIC. During Christmas vacation of 1945 Robert and I received money
to go home for the Christmas holidays. We were to take the train from
Vicksburg, Miss., to Shreveport, La. These were instructions and when
we arrived at Shreveport, we were to wait for Mr. Ekdahl to pick us
up. We arrived and he wasn't there. So I think we waited around, I have
an estimate of between 1 and 2 hours, and then he showed up. He then
drove us to Fort Worth, Benbrook, Tex., and we had a house about 15
miles below Fort Worth in Benbrook, it was way out. It wasn't the same
Benbrook house, it was further. This was a brick house.
Mr. JENNER. The first house in Benbrook?
Mr. PIC. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Had you known the family had moved to Benbrook, Tex.?
Mr. PIC. Yes, sir; because we was writing.
Mr. JENNER. Because of correspondence?
Mr. PIC. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. This was your first view of that house?
Mr. PIC. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Tell us what it was; describe it to us?
Mr. PIC. It was rather isolated on one of the main highways. In fact, I
just drove that way recently and I couldn't find the place. When I went
up to Fort Worth in 1962 I was looking for the house, I couldn't find
it.
Mr. JENNER. Was it Granbury Road, Box 567, Benbrook, Tex.?
Mr. PIC. Yes, sir; that sounds familiar. This was a brick house, with
quite a bit of ground. I think way back they told us that one of the
Roosevelt sons had a house out there, that is how I remember. We
arrived there sometime the next day or two; my mother quizzed us on why
we were so late. One reason we were late besides the wait was the heavy
fog, and I informed her we had to wait a while for Mr. Ekdahl, and she
kind of hinted to me, I think I was 15 at the time, did I see another
woman or was there anything shady about it or something. That is all I
have to say about that. She was under the impression years later, she
told me that he had met some woman in Shreveport and they were having
some fun.
Mr. JENNER. You were in Benbrook, Tex., then for the Christmas holiday?
Mr. PIC. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. You and Robert?
Mr. PIC. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Lee was living with Mr. Ekdahl and your mother at the
Benbrook, Tex., home out on the outskirts of Fort Worth; I guess this
is----
Mr. PIC. Yes, sir; that is correct.