Luminant Mining Co. is not thrilled with the predicament that they are currently facing in Dirgin, Texas. The company wishes to acquire a 9.1 acre plot of land for their business, but has been unsuccessful thus far. This is largely in part to the resistance on the part of Ida Finley and her family. Ida, who is just a few weeks shy of her 102nd birthday, has held on to this land for some time. Ida’s late husband, Adolphus, worked on the land and before that his parents worked on that land as slaves.

Around the end of the 1880’s The slave masters gave 100 acres of land to the parents of Ida’s husband and Luminant says that the family purchased the land from two Confederate veterans. Adolphus’ parents left no will and the land was divided up among their five children. When Luminant’s predecessor came to town, they began ripping up trees and land to get to lignite, a low grade of coal. Adolphus sold 9.4 acres of land to them for $1000, a decision that he regretted for the next two years until his death.

Luminant only offered Kay Moore, one of Ida’s neices, $3,000 for the property that she owns, which they claim is higher than it was appraised for. But surely the mining company did not have the history and the culture of that land appraised with it. Kay says that she will not be able to part with the land. Growing up, she would go on horseback riding trips and she would do meals there with her Aunt Ida.

The law is that when a spouse dies without a will, a surviving spouse may continue to live on the land, but the property itself is passed on to a blood relative. As a result of this law, Ida only owns the house on the property and not the land. Even though her granddaughter Jacquelin is leading this charge, neither party actually owns the land that they are working so hard to defend.