Rockport Texas

Rockport Texas
Best beach around!

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Fulton Turtle Cannery

 

More for the History Buffs ... Fulton Turtle Cannery, of Rockport, Texas
Joel Henry Rickel
Company G, 24th Ohio Infantry
Chanute Daily Tribune, Monday, June 30, 1924, Pg. 1
GEN JOEL H. RICKEL DEAD
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Funeral Services in First Baptist Church at 10 Tomorrow Morning
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PAST COMMANDER KANSAS GRAND ARMY
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He Was a Member of Commission Which Erected State Memorial Building
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A Resident of Kansas Since 1878, He Had Lived Here Twenty-Eight Years
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 Gen. J. H. Rickel, past commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, Department of Kansas, died at 7:40 o'clock last evening. The funeral services will be held in the First Baptist church at 10 tomorrow morning. The G. A. R. will have charge and the clergyman will be the Rev. Percy R. Atkins, pastor of the First Christian church, a former service man.
 Mr. Rickel was born December 8, 1844, on a farm near West Salem, O., where he spent his boyhood days. During his young manhood he lived in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. He came to Kansas with his family in 1878, settling near Eskridge, Wabaunsee county, where he maintained his home until he moved to Chanute in 1896.
 General Rickel is survived by his widow, his brother, J. M. Rickel and family of Chanute; his sister Rebecca Jane Peck of Tower Hill, Illinois, and his five sons, Edgar of South Dakota, Milton of Gridley, Kan., H. E. of Eskridge, Kan., B. G. of Kansas City, Mo., and Willard H. of Topeka.
Soldier and Citizen.
 General Rickel was a veteran of the Civil War, enlisting May 28, 1861, in the Twenty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He served more than three years was engaged in twenty-three battles and was wounded three times. As a distinguished mark of honor he was elected by the full vote of his regiment, while suffering from a wound received in the battle of Stone River, the "100 Veterans Regiment" to be placed on the roll of honor.
 In public life he served on the treasury board of examiners of Wabaunsee county, Kansas. In 1881; was assistant state treasurer examiner in 1883; commissioned as quartermaster general in the Veteran State Organization with rank of brigadier general in 1885; served on the staff of four national G. A. R. commanders and six departmental commanders; was department commander of the Kansas Grand Army of the Republic in 1909, and on the commission that erected the Memorial Building in Topeka--the only marble building ever erected by the state.
Widely Traveled.
 His life was one of ceaseless energy. He was always active, always thriving. He had traveled extensively, there being but few world ports at which he had not touched. During his travels and marine research work, he accumulated a vast store of curious, souvenirs, fossils, and deep sea specimens, much of which he voluntarily donated to the exhibit at the Soldier's Memorial Home in Topeka.
 Although hampered more than most men by physical disabilities, he was actively engaged in the affairs of life up to the hour when he was stricken. His life may aptly be compared to a huge wave that surges amid the floods and beats against the grand cliffs of the North Atlantic, gradually diminishing as it hurls its foamy crest against the rock-bound shores of New England, finally to break into tiny peaceful wavelets upon the sandy beaches of far-famed Florida, so he, from an active, aggressive life on this earth, passed into that of the infinite future with a scarcely preceptible change in the transition--the end was simply the unconscious drifting into eternal sleep.
His Views on Infinity.
 At the time of his death he was not a member of any church organization, but if "religion consists of man's duty to man," General Rickel marched in the advance column. His views on death and an immortal life are perhaps shown by quoting from an extraordinarily patriotic address delivered by him in Chanute on Memorial Day in 1898. In that address he said:
 "The history of all the generations of men fully establish the eternal fact that no human being can escape the final dissolution of all earthly ties; that each and every individual of our race must sooner or later close this earthly career and bid adieu both to friend and foe and close his eyes on the great panorama of human experience.
 "At the witnessing of such scenes the mind naturally soars to the height of imagination and roams through the infinity of eternal space beyond the human knowledge, seeking a final abode for our departed friends. Then it delves down into the unfathomable abyss to ask of some unpictured being if there, is some ordeal through which our friends must pass before they can be admitted to the Celestial Home beyond the river, and when imaginative speculation has run the height and depth, length and breadth, of its scope, it then wanders back to the sphere of human comprehension, and, while we seem to be confronted with realities we cannot fully explain or for which we can give no satisfactory reason, we are compelled to say, there is a Power that doeth all things well and we will trust the interests of our loved ones in His hands."
His Work for Community.
 If the measure of a man's citizenship, if the measure of his worth to the community , consists in the results of his life's work, then General Rickel's work for Neosho county and Chanute will rank high. To mention but one of his many activities will serve to place him in the front rank of pioneer builders. He more than any other one individual, was the prime instigator and worker in the movement that equipped the car of the Neosho county exhibit that, with flaming banners, on its way to Washington, D. C., proclaimed to the world the wonderful resources of our county and city.
 General Rickel was loyal to his county, city and state. He was loyal to the country, and to the Grand Army of the Republic. He was aggressively human, having comrades as well as many friends, but all who knew him will admit that he had many virtues that he who survive him will do well to emulate.
From volume 4, pages 2082-2083 of A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, written and compiled by William E. Connelley, Secretary of the Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, copyright 1918
JOEL H. RICKEL. Among the citizens of Chanute, one who has had a most interesting career is Joel H. Rickel, a resident of this city since 1896, and now the owner of a carriage and repair shop and the owner of a valuable farm. Mr. Rickel is a veteran of the Civil war, and has been a prominent figure in Grand Army circles, being a past commander of several posts in Kansas and a past department commander of the State of Kansas. He was born in Ashland County, Ohio, December 8, 1844, and is a son of John S. and Jane (Fulks) Rickel.
The Rickel family, which originated on the Rhone, Germany, was founded in this country during Colonial times, and three bearing the name fought with the Patriot army during the war of the Revolution, one meeting his death at the battle of Brandywine. Michael B. Rickel, the grandfather of Joel H. Rickel, was born in 1776, in Tuscaraugus County, Pennsylvania, and became a pioneer into Ohio, where, in Ashland County, he entered a farm from the Government. There he passed the remainder of a long and industrious life, and died in 1868. John S. Rickel was born in Ashland County, Ohio, in 1813, in the same house in which was born his son, and was reared and educated in the community. He was a millwright by trade and a civil engineer by profession, and in 1841 went to Kosciusko County, Indiana, where he cleared a farm from the heavy timber. There he spent the remainder of his life, and died in 1853. He was a whig in politics and a member of the Masonic fraternity. Mr. Rickel married Miss Jane Fulks, who was born in 1813, in Wayne County, Ohio, and died in Kosciusko County, Indiana, in 1858, and they became the parents of three children: Joel H.; Rebecca Jane, who is the widow of Dick Peek, who was a farmer, and resides in Shelby County, Illinois; and J. M., president of the Chanute Tank Company, of Chanute, Kansas.
Joel H. Rickel was reared on his father's farm in Kosciusko County, Indiana, until he was ten years of age, at which time he returned to Ashland County, Ohio, and was there given a common school education. After the death of his father he resided on the farm of his grandfather until he was fifteen years old, at which time he struck out for himself, but his career was interrupted by the outbreak of the Civil war. In 1861 he enlisted in the Twenty-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until June 19, 1864. During this period he saw some of the severest fighting of the entire war, taking part in no less than twenty-two engagements, including such notable battles as Shiloh, Corinth, Murfreesboro and Chickamauga. At Stone River, Mr. Rickel was shot through the right foot, and September 19, 1863, he was again wounded, this time seriously, three ribs being broken. He was unconscious when found, and his comrades thinking him dead, prepared for his burial. He laid on the funeral pile for fourteen hours, when they discovered that life was not extinct. He was five months recovering from this injury, but rejoined his regiment as soon as he was able. Mr. Rickel's war record was one of which any man might well be proud. He was courageous in battle, earning the admiration of his comrades, and his faithful performance of whatever duty was imposed upon him gained him the respect of his officers.
At the close of the war the brave young soldier returned to Ashland, Ohio, but he had seen enough of the outside world to desire to see more, and also felt that the West held out opportunities that his home community could never give him. Accordingly, in 1866, he went to Blackhawk County, Iowa, where he engaged in farming for three years, and in 1869 located on a farm in the vicinity of Flora, Illinois. After one year of agricultural work, he moved into the town, where he followed carpentry for three years, and in 1873 first came to Kansas, settling in the vicinity of Emporia, where he farmed with some degree of success for two years. At the end of that time he went to Wabaunsee County, Kansas, and during the next ten years was engaged in the real estate and loan business, an enterprise in which he met with success. Mr. Rickel's love of adventure, however, remained unsatisfied, and at that time he went to sea, fishing for turtles, under a contract with the Fulton Turtle Cannery, of Rockport, Texas, which called for all the turtles weighing over 200 pounds that he could catch. In this capacity he fished all along the coast of Mexico and Central and South America and his catches were phenomenal during the three years of his contract. While thus engaged he brought many strange fish and curios to the surface of the waters, and eventually decided to make a collection of curios, which he brought back to the United States. These included a dolphin whale, a hammer-head shark, a man-eating shark, a black shark, and a mammoth sawfish twenty-one feet long and weighing 2,500 pounds. All of these he had mounted by a taxidermist, and a large collection of radiates, zuphites and molusca, which were subsequently placed on exhibition in Texas, Arkansas and Kansas, and finally were established at Chanute. Many of these curios have since been sold to exhibitions, museums and dealers, but Mr. Rickel still possesses 800 of the smaller specimens, including rare and valuable species of the finny tribe, which form a most interesting collection and have been viewed by thousands of people, many of whom came from long distances solely to see them. Mr. Rickel has added other features to the collection, including a piece of rosewood veneering which was taken from the first piano (or spinnet) ever shipped to America.
Mr. Rickel came to Chanute in 1896, and here has since been the proprietor of a carriage and repair shop. He is also superintending the operations on his farm, which lies one mile west of the limits of Chanute, a handsome property which has been brought to a high state of cultivation and yields a good income. He likewise owns other real estate, including a brick flat building at No. 318 East Main Street. Mr. Rickel is a stand-pat republican, and cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, since which time he has given his ballot to every presidential candidate of his party. He is a member of the Odd Fellows and the Triple Tie, and stands high in the councils of the Grand Army of the Republic, being a past department commander of the Grand Army of the State of Kansas. He is now a member of Chanute Post No. 129, of which he is past commander, as he is also of two other posts in the state.
Mr. Rickel was married in December, 1890, at Guthrie, Oklahoma, to Miss Mary A. Hardy, daughter of William and Ann (Garrity) Hardy, farming people, both of whom are now deceased. By a former marriage Mr. Rickel had three children: Henry E., who is the editor of a newspaper at Eskridge, Kansas; B. G., who is a contracting painter at Portland, Oregon; and Willard H., who is engaged in the real estate and loan business at Eskridge, Kansas.

Key Allegro Channel

Key Allegro Channel

In an act of defiance bordering on criminal, new residents of Key Allegro refused to be incorporated into Rockport township proper. In retaliation, Rockport began depositing its garbage on the Key Allegro shores, only to have the Key Allegrans launch it deep into the Rockport interior with palm tree catapults. Finally, a truce was declared, signified by this rusting old anchor which, yearly, is moved symbolically between Rockport and Key Allegro.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Historic info on business in Rockport

Home of Judge John HynesJohn Hynes moved from Beeville to Rockport in 1867. He purchased this lot in the center of town. In 1874 he built a 1-1/2 story Victorian style home on this site. The long leaf pine was shipped to Rockport by schooner (fishing vessel of the 1940s) from Calcasieu, Louisiana. The home went through several owners. It was used for Catholic Services conducted by traveling priests. It was also used as a hotel and boarding house. In 1906, it was moved to its current location at 801 South Church Street. C J's Sign & Crane Services is on this site today.

Aransas HotelOn August 22, 1888, the Rockport City Council read and approved an ordinance to sell the tract of land known as Merchants Square to the Aransas Pass Land Company for $500.00. Merchants Square was the block bounded by Austin, Wharf, Water and Main streets. The purpose of the sale was to build (within one year) a hotel on the square. The hotel was to be “four stories high including the roof story.” The Aransas Hotel opened in 1889. It was open all year and could house 300 guests. In the 1890s, it was the hub of Rockport social life. There were parlors where guests visited and played cards while orchestras performed. Dances were held nightly during the summer. Later the name was changed to the Hotel Del Mar and became nationally famous. The building burned in March 1919.

Magnolia Service StationFrom the 1930s until about 1964, J. Ed Moore’s service station was at this location. From the August 18, 1938 Rockport Pilot: “The Magnolia Service Station is being remodeled and modernized this week. It will also be enlarged with new electric pumps and more space for cars.” In 1964 the service station was torn down and a new United Savings Association building went up. This building is now the home of Victoria’s Gold.

Del Mar GrillThe Del Mar Grill was the home of “Dorothy’s famous crab cakes.” It was also the first home of the famous big blue crab. The 18 ft. wide paper mache crab perched on the corner of the building overlooking the intersection of Austin and Main streets. The restaurant closed in 1965, and the crab was moved to the harbor. Many people had their picture taken while standing beside it. By the late 1970s the crab had deteriorated and was laid to rest. Efforts are currently under way to “bring back the big blue crab” with a more durable fiberglass replica. Popo’s Art Studio is now located at this site.

Finish SaloonThe Finish was a gambling house and saloon, which was famous in South Texas. It was supposedly called the “Finish” because many cattlemen “finished up” a drive by gambling and drinking at the saloon. One famous story is that when the Methodist Church needed $500.00, the minister (old and blind Uncle Myers) went to the saloon and asked the patrons for the money. They gave him the money, and he invited them to church. They all went. Another, more colorful, version of this story is that one of the parishioners rode into the saloon on his horse and passed his hat to collect the money. The First National Bank of Rockport was in a three-story building on this site for many years. Today it is a vacant lot.

Sorenson-Stair BuildingSimon Bulrup Laurits Christian Sorenson, a native of Denmark, bought a wooden two-story store on this site in the late 1880s. The Finish Saloon (see number 5) was located to the east of the Sorenson store. In 1890, the Finish caught fire and many wooden buildings in that block, including the Sorenson store, burned with it. Simon Sorenson rebuilt his business in a new two-story brick building. In 1895 another devastating fire raged through downtown Rockport, and the store was damaged. This time, Sorenson rebuilt the store as a one-story brick building. At this time, the business was called Sorenson & Hooper. In 1913 the business became Simon B. Sorenson, Sr. & Sons. In 1935 the name was changed again to John C. Sorenson & Sons. Three generations of Sorensons displayed weather warnings in the store windows and hoisted weather signal flags on a tower behind the store. The building was badly damaged by Hurricane Celia in 1970 and the business finally closed. It was sold to local artist Estelle Stair and, beginning in 1978, the Estelle Stair Gallery and the Rockport Art Association were housed in the building. This building became a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 2008, and is currently undergoing restoration.

Bruhl’s Drug StoreA. L. Bruhl moved to Rockport during the boom years of the early 1890s and opened a drug store. The original building was destroyed by the 1919 hurricane and was rebuilt. In 1946 the business was sold and became the Ballard Drug Store; and then Roaten Drug Store, which later moved to the southwest corner of Austin and Wharf. A fire destroyed the building in 1959, and it was again rebuilt. Today it is St. Charles Art Gallery.

Rio TheatreThe Rio Theatre was built on this site in the late 1920s. The old building was replaced with a new one in 1936. During the 1940s, it was renamed the Surf. On Saturday afternoons, local kids could go watch serials and then stay to see Tarzan, Roy Rogers, or Gene Autry. Evening movies were well attended. Later, in the 1950s, a drive-in movie was built south of town.

Johnson’s Drug StoreJohnson’s Drug Store was at this site for many years. The soda fountain was a popular hang out for the high school crowd. When the Aransas County Emergency Corps was formed in 1938, Joe L. Johnson offered the land behind his drugstore as a location for a fire hall. The structure that was both fire hall and City Hall is gone now, but the Johnson Drugstore building is still there. The Austin Street Gallery is now located in that building.

Historical info on Berry Merchant

Link: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSsr=441&GScid=1765668&GRid=13994707&



The Autobiography of Berry Merchant
...March 18, 1878 Rockport, Texas

The subject of this sketch was born in Williamson County, Tennessee, near Franklin in middle Tennessee on November 7, 1819, and his father's name was Edward A., a son of James Merchant (Marchant) of South Carolina. Berry Merchant's mother's name was Elizabeth, a daughter of Benjamin Little. Berry Merchant's father was a soldier under Jackson in the Creek War and took part in the battle of Horseshoe Bend and Fort Williams. Afterwards, he married and lived in Maury, McNairy, Bedford, and Davidson counties of Tennessee. Twenty miles below Nashville on the Cumberland River and from the last named place, my father went to Texas in 1829; and my mother with myself and one sister went to Bedford County where we stayed one season with grandfather Marchant and grandfather Little.

When my father returned from Texas, we moved to Franklin County in north Alabama where my father's brother, John D. Merchant lived. After a residence in Alabama for nearly two years, Father and family consisting of wife and three children (myself and two sisters), Uncle and wife and four children (two sons and two daughters) and Uncle's brother-in-law, Z. C. Walker, in the year 1832, emigrated to Texas, taking to water at Florence, Alabama on board a flat boat bought for the purpose. Thence we traveled down the Tennessee, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers to Natchez whence we disposed of our boat and took a steamer for New Orleans, thence up the Red river on the steamer ''Warsaw'' to Natchitoches where we hired teams and went to Texas, crossing the Sabine River at John Lathim's Ferry. We settled in what was afterward called Shelby County on March 2, 1832. During the summer of the same year, war broke out between the Mexicans and the Texans, and there resulted a battle at Nacogdoches, forty miles west of where we lived. My father and Uncle John D. and Z. C. Walker participated in the fight against the Mexicans which resulted in a victory for the Texans. Again in the fall of 1835, the war cloud hovered, and my father and Uncle John, with other citizens volunteered and went to San Antonio where the Texan army met and defeated the Mexican Army and garrisoned the place with the immortal 150 men headed by Travis, Crockett, and Bowie who gloriously fell in the defense of their country. When again in the early spring of 1836, another call for troops came loud and long, we armed and marched to the west. My father had just returned home from a campaign; and, being a poor man having to provide for the family, I petitioned my father to let me go, which he did. Consequently, I served a campaign under General Sam Houston, Commander-in-chief for which service I now draw a pension. Returning home I engaged with my father on the farm until the crop was made. Later I was employed by William W. Landrum (who was afterward Coe Landrum) as clerk in his store in Shelbyville where I remained until the fall of 1837. I became enamored with a nice girl of fourteen summers, just from Mississippi, by the name of Nancy Phillips, and we were married on the 22nd day of September 1837. We lived happily together until in 1856, she fell asleep in Jesus after giving birth to ten children (five sons and five daughters). She died in Cook County, Texas and was buried at Indian Creek camp ground with her two youngest children by her side.

Soon after my marriage, war broke again on us in 1838, and I volunteered into service against the Cherokees and Creek Indians and the Mexicana combined under Old Bulls, Cherokee chief and Cardoway's Mexicans. After an unsuccessful campaign, we were discharged and returned home to the great joy of my wife, but the next year they came again and the army was again called out. This time my father, as the year before, went into the service; I, being sick, stayed home. At the Cherokee Village, the Texans, under General T. J. Rusk and Col. W. W. Anderson and other officers, met the enemy in battle and killed Bowls, their chief, and many others and dispersed the balance and again returned home to enjoy the quietude of domesticity. I settled down to farming and stock-raising and was remunerated for my labor.

In 1840 at a quarterly meeting of the Methodist Church held near a stream called Flat Fork, eight males best of Logansport, Louisiana, with Frank Wilson presiding Elder and Nathan Shook, preacher in charge, myself and wife both embraced religion and joined the church, and, feeling that I was called to preach, very soon began to exercise in public, and my labors seemed to be attended with wonderful power and blessing of Heaven.

In the fall of 1844, 1 sold out in Shelby County and, together with my father and family and an Uncle Price and family, moved to northern Texas to Titus County and settled between Big Cyprus and White Oak near the line of Hopkins County and here again I began to till the soil and raise stock and vas bountifully repaid. Soon I licensed to preach and greatly enjoyed that field of labor.

Some tine about the year 1854, I was ordained Deacon at Marshall by Bishop Andrews. In 1849, I was in partnership with Joseph Shup (brother-in-law) selling goods. In 1856, my health having partially failed, I sold out in Titus and moved to Cook County, northwest Texas where I soon lost my wife and two children as above stated. I then returned to Titus County and bought my old place back and in September of the same year married my present wife who was the widow Coke. Her maiden name was Bennett, daughter of Thomas Bennett of Pickens County, Alabama, and again 1 was restored to conjugal and domestic happiness. All went well for some time and again my health gave way and I was forced to breakup and leave a bountiful and happy home under the advice of my family physician and friend and moved south and, after spending the year of 1859 on the E1m Fork of the Trinity in Denton County (where I had a stock ranch at what is known as Sparks Lake). Here, by the way, I greatly enjoyed myself hunting deer, turkey, geese and ducks, having a daily supply of wild meats all through the winter. On the l0th day of May of 1862, in company with T. L, Bennett (brother-in-law) and J. F. Prescott (son-in- law), we rolled out for southern Texas and landed on the Medio in Bee County about the first of June 1860. T. L. Bennett did not unload his wagon but went back to Denton County. The balance of us remained and settled on a creek called Piasto or Map Creek seven miles below the town of Beeville where I took a preemption of 160 acres of land. I went on to improve my place until the time expired for obtaining a patent. Then I sold out and moved to Beeville and there in 1863 went into partnership with G. W. McClanahan in a store, but on going to Brownsville I contracted yellow fever. When I returned home I found that my family had contracted what was termed the camp fever, and the result was three of my family died. Those who died were a married daughter, a step-son of nine years and an infant daughter, and I came near losing my wife and several more.

During my residence in Beeville I and my family had enjoyed ourselves greatly, and I had accepted and traveled the Beeville circuit and had been elected Justice of the Peace besides. We had good schools and society.

But when the great war came and the very roots of society were uprooted, I sold out and moved off and finally settled in San Antonio and remained there until the war closed in 1865. In 1867 I went to the Guadalup River nine miles above the town of Gonzales, where in connection with J. C, Thompson, we made a crop of corn and cotton. After gathering and disposing of the crop we moved west of the San Antonio River and settled in Wilson County, thirty miles south of San Antonio in the immediate neighborhood of which lived my eldest son, S. W. Merchant and son-in-law J. F. Prewett. Here again we had for a time pleasant times and good society and again I entered into farming and stock raising on a small scale. However by this time I bad been reduced from a competency down to nearly nothing. but nothing abashed I pushed ahead and made plenty. I took charge of the Pleasanton circuit in which the Lord greatly blessed my labors in the salvation of many precious souls for which I give glory to God to this day.

In 1871, I sold out again and came to this place (Rockport) with comparatively nothing. Here I bought a lot, and built a house upon it, and enclosed it, after which I took charge of a lumber yard for E. W. Richards, which I ran for two years. In the meantime, I was elected Justice of the Peace in Precinct No.2, and afterward to No. 1. and also to the office of City Assessor and Collector for three years. At the beginning of the present year (1878), I was elected mayor of the city and held at the time a position in County Commissioners Court as Commissioner of Precinct no. 4. Monday the 18th instant, I was duly elected Chief Justice of the County by the County Commissioners Court to fill the unexpired term of Hon. A. H. Abbey, Resigned. 0n the first day of January 1875, I opened a grocery store of family supplies on Austin Street at the foot of St. Mary's Street in Rockport. After having bought this house and lot and paid for it, I have added another story to my store house and also bought another house and several lots as a family residence. All of this is paid for.

Here on Aransas Bay, where we have the magnificent Morgan Steamers and other vessels plying regularly, is beyond doubt one of the best and balmy climates I ever saw. Nearly a1l of our timber growth is evergreen, and we seldom have frost, and vegetables of all kinds grow to perfection. For instance, I raised a turnip in my garden this season that measured 40 there in circumference and weighed 21 pounds and many others nearly as large. My present wife whose name is Martha has borne me 5 children_3 sons and 2 daughters.
B. Merchant

Monday, August 8, 2011

History in a Pecan Shell - Lamar

History in a Pecan Shell

Founded in 1839, Lamar was a rival to the then thriving Aransas City, Texas which was just across Copano Bay at Lookout Point. Aransas City had the customhouse which guaranteed prosperity. Lamar became the first coastal town in (what was then) Refugio County.

The President of the Republic was petitioned by a group of settlers to move the customhouse from Aransas City. Their forceful argument that the new town was twice the population of Aransas City convinced the President - who just happened to share the same name of the town. The change was made and the worse fears of Aransas Citizens became a reality. Aransas City virtually disappeared.


Lamar's star rose and its prosperity surpassed that of its former rival - that is until the town was destroyed by Union forces during the Civil War. Only a few shellcrete foundations remained.

Lamar found itself in Aransas County when that county was established in 1871.




The cemetery, said to be the oldest in the territory, remains relatively unchanged and is one of the more picturesque coastal cemeteries in the state. It has been designated a historical landmark.

A list of all interments has been made available through the Lamar Cemetery Association. Authored by Mary Lou Brannon the information is available at the Aransas County Public Library and at the cemetery itself.

http://www.texasescapes.com/MikeCoxTexasTales/Rockport-Ships.htm


Rockport Ships
by Mike Cox
Mike Cox

All but forgotten today, in the early months of World War II a Rockport shipyard sent two dozen wooden-hulled subchasers down the ways to face iron-plated German U-Boats in the North Atlantic. The subchasers came to be called the "Donald Duck Navy" but a sailor with a penchant for poetry got closer to the truth when he dubbed the service the "Splinter Fleet."

Similar to wooden hulled subchasers used in World War I but better armed, the vessels extended 110 feet, displaced 95 tons and could make 12 knots. Called SCs, the warships (smallest in the American fleet) had a high, sharp prow and an elegant deck line, but a plain-Jane deck house.

As gunner's mate O. E. Moore rhymed in 1942:

They sing the praises of the battleship,
The carrier is queen of the sea,
The cruiser is tops on the sailor's lists
For a fighting ship is she.

The destroyer sails the sea with pride,
The submarine's work is neat,
But we are the legion of forgotten men,
The sailors in the SC fleet.

In 1939, a graduate student at then Southwest Texas State Teacher's College in San Marcos did her thesis on the history of Rockport. She noted, "There are two small shipyards located here both of which turn out boats from skiffs to sailboats, most of which boats are used in Aransas Bay."

That soon changed.

With German submarines playing havoc with Atlantic shipping, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered a massive U.S. re-armament. Eventually, U.S. 39 shipbuilders got defense contracts to produce the subchasers at $325,000 each.

Westergard-Rice Brothers and Co. of Rockport landed one of those contracts. The first Rockport-built Navy vessel splashed into Aransas Bay on July 4, 1941, a little over five months before the Japanese attack on the American Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor.

By the summer of 1942, the Rockport yard had hit its stride, building a warship every six months, sometimes two at a time. "Tenth Sub-Chaser Launched Saturday" the banner headline in the Aug. 20, 1942 Rockport Pilot proclaimed.

A poster-size image of that front page, now displayed in Rockport's Texas Maritime Museum, noted that the launch of the SC 1042 (the vessels got only numbers, no names) had followed the launch of SC 1041 by only two days.

"These two ships will soon be out at sea doing their part toward keeping the shipping lanes free of subs," said Rob Roy Rice, one of the shipyard's owners.

An earlier Rockport-built vessel, the PC 498, had recently been featured in Business Week Magazine, the newspaper article continued. A picture of the ship, which had been under the command of Capt. U.V. Martin when it left Texas waters, showed it "bristling" with weaponry.

"Production is on schedule," Rice told the Pilot. "Ten on the water and ten to go."

Obviously understanding the importance of recognizing his employees, Rice continued: "We are appreciative of the way the workmen cooperate in the job we are doing. They want to work and they want to turn out a good ship, every man realizes that he is a producer in the war effort and they deserve the thanks of the company and the whole country."

The men who went to sea in those wooden ships also deserved thanks. The sailors got only six weeks of training. And with a compliment of 24 enlisted men and three officers, a subchaser's crew had a living space about the size of a refrigerator.

The enemy submarines they hunted were faster, heavier and better armed than the U.S. surface vessels. The only hope the SC sailors had was that enough of the depth charge-carrying warships could keep a submarine below periscope depth - destroying its ability to accomplish its deadly mission if not destroying the submarine itself.

If a U-Boat captain chose to surface and fight, the subchasers amounted to sitting ducks, perhaps the origin of the fleet's Walt Disney-inspired nickname.

Most of the Rockport-built subchasers survived the war, but not the government surplus property salvage process. Only a few of the 438 subchasers are still afloat, and so far as is known, none of them had their keels laid in Rockport.

Jennifer Rogers, the Maritime Museum's education director, says the museum - which has several other Texas-specific vessels in its collection -- hopes to someday get one of the subchasers and have it restored to its World War II appearance.

"I don't know if we'll ever find one of the ships," she said, "but we would certainly like to hear from anyone who worked at the shipyard here or served on one of the sub-chasers."

One of those sub-chasing sailors, the poet Moore, deserves the last word on the subject:

Wooden ships with iron men,
Is a tradition centuries old,
We live up to that in the Splinter Fleet,
When on convoy and patrol.

History in a Seashell

History in a SeashellA timeline of important and significant events.
1865: Development of Rockport began right after the Civil War as a cattle processing and shipping port
1867: Col. George Ware Fulton, namesake of Fulton, Texas, returns from Maryland
1870: Rockport incorporated as a town
1871: the year Aransas County was demarked from Refugio County
1880s: boat building and fishing industries develop
1886: The San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway arrives
1890: The First National Bank of Aransas Pass opens - town gets electric lights.
1914: Population 1,382
1919: Hurricane nearly obliterates Rockport
1920s: Shrimp industry develops
1935: Harbors built at Rockport and Fulton WWII: shipyard established
1941 built submarine-chasing speedboats.
Present: Fishing, shrimp and tourism
remain the town's major economic factors.

Memorial page to those we have lost since High School

https://www.facebook.com/groups/266841046664313/doc/?id=268483113166773

Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris
Does anyone know who all we have have lost since high school?
Laurel McMeredith Andreasen Roxanne Walker, Marcy Wendell and Linda Ovingdon and another girl who drowned at Fulton Beach, can't recall her name.
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris Peggy Taylor drowned the summer between 7th and 8th grade....it was very sad... we were best friends.
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris Yes I remember Roxanne and Marcy and Linda passed away around our freshman year.
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris and David Daws
Laurel McMeredith Andreasen Didn't know about David. Flo Lara told me about Marcy and he lost his brother.
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris I found out about him a few years back.......
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris I seem to remember Ricky Valdez ..wasn't he is a car accident?
Laurel McMeredith Andreasen OH, he was so cute.
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris yes he was and a good friend
David Crawford Rick hit a bridge embankment and he, his wife and children were all killed.. dont remember what year but a while ago
David Crawford believe it was around edna
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris wasn't that the railroad overpass before you get into to Refugio coming from Victoria?
David Crawford not for sure
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris I believe David had cancer if I am correct.
Laurel McMeredith Andreasen Anna, what ever happened to Tommy DeForest and Smiley ??
Laurel McMeredith Andreasen David Daws.
Laurel McMeredith Andreasen Elva, but what better way than this to remember them, I sure will miss Roxy. She was so much fun to be around, she even got a speeding ticket in my old white camaro.
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris OMG I haven't thought about Smiley S. in like forever. I remember hearing something about Tommy like 20 yrs ago, his tugboat I think it was sunk and him and his crew were in the water for hours seems like some of them didn't make it but Tommy did (because of his size)
Laurel McMeredith Andreasen Tears...OMG Tears, my husband is looking at me like I am nuts...Anna only you would say something like that... :)
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris ?:I sorry but I remember that is what the news reported
Laurel McMeredith Andreasen Anyway those two would always show up at my house on Key Allegro and my mother didn't like him...said he needed to shave more. Poor guy always had a five o'clock shadow.
Jo Ann Freeborn Martin If you're talking about Tommy DeForest from Key Allegro, he's alive and well!
Jo Ann Freeborn Martin Taylor Blocker, Terry Freeborn:-(
Laurel McMeredith Andreasen Not Taylor! Another really laid back cool dude. Terry too. :(
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris OMG .... *FARKLE*....... I just remember Roxanne saying that.....
Debbie Smith Krenek I can't remember his last name but I believe in 5th or 6th grade we lost Jeff ... He had an amazing voice and I remember best him singing a Christmas song .. Silver Bells.
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris I don't think I remember that name
Debbie Smith Krenek He was a cute young boy.. dark hair and kind of small frame .. I can picture his face but can't think of his last name.
Jo Ann Freeborn Martin We lost Charles Ingersol to Leukemia in Jr. High. He had a sweet older sister too. Can't drag her name out of the fog>
Jo Ann Freeborn Martin Anyone know about Crazy Tony Galindo?
Jo Ann Freeborn Martin He had a nasty monkey!
Bill Beasley Like Elva said... Way too many, way too young. Alice Cater's death nearly killed me!
Mary Harmon Ida Gonzales, Margie Morgan, Melissa Ramirez, Susan Keller....
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris she rolled her car in a ditch with water didn't she? I remember hearing about it after the fact... was really sad.
Jo Ann Freeborn Martin Margie Morgan:-( What happened?
Elva Nava Mark Wright, Debbie Brown, Joe Pina, Abel Salazar, Dennis Neubauer, Valerie Harwick, Rick Peres, Charlie & Pat Nava, Roland "Polly" Flores, Clay Gillis, Andy Crawford, Mellie Flores, Ricky Little, Tony Garcia, Johnny Ray Garcia - to name a fewthat have left us....
Joann McGregor Charles Ingersols older sister also passed, Sandy lives in new mexico, can't think of her name..
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris Oh my I didn't realize all those people had passed on. What happen to Ricky Little
Mary Harmon I don't know what happened to Margie.
Joann McGregor Emily Murph lost in a car wreck going to PA many years ago with her mom in the car? not sure about her mom
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris I remember Johnny Ray had this big clear ruler in 6th grade and he use to chase us with it......lol
Joann McGregor Alice was awful, she had left the pizza place Daddy Georges were i worked an hour before taking her bf home....dropped him off and went into a ditch....awful
Elva Nava Not sure what happened to Ricky Little...
Joann McGregor Nancy Nelslony=cancer
Jo Ann Freeborn Martin Ralph Weekly. Same as Terry:-((((
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris Jo Ann what happen to those 2?
Jo Ann Freeborn Martin Dennis and Kenneth Both. I just herd about Kenneth. How did Dennis Go.?
Bill Beasley Alice had just dropped off a freind, not her boyfriend. We think she reached down to change the channel on her CB radio when she ran off the road. Was not wearing a seatbelt.
Ricky Little had aids. His parents wouldn't let anyone visit him when he was dying. Sad!
Jo Ann Freeborn Martin I thought Nancy Nesloney died a day after giving birth to her beautiful little baby girl. About 1989 or 1990.
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris I remember hearing that that is what Alice did when she rolled her car. And I thought Nance died also after childbirth. How sad that no one got to visit Ricky Little.
Joann McGregor I remember about no seatbelt, changing ch. she was with some guy...thought it was the guy bf,,
Jo Ann Freeborn Martin ?@Anna. Ralph committed suicide in front of Terry. Terry did the same, in the same spot on our ranch about 15 years later. Terry never got over Ralph, but Strawberry's death sent him over the edge:-(((
Kathy Dupnik-swango what happened to polly flores, i didn't know about him?
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris ?@JoAnn that is really sad... I didn't know this.
Jo Ann Freeborn Martin Me neither, Dale and I saw him working at the Lighthouse Restaraunt as a chef the last time. He was doing well. I never herd how. He was a sweet guy also.
Jo Ann Freeborn Martin ?@Anna, yes, tragic:-(((
Joann McGregor I heard about the guys a few years back, so sorry Jo Ann, Ralph was always so funny at all the parties...
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris Also Billy Miller...he past some years back.
Ellen Weese My best friend Clay Pitman...
Bill Beasley Billy Miller used to help me when I was practicing pole vault. I was shocked to see his grave at the cemetery last year.
Jo Ann Freeborn Martin ?@Joann. Thanks, Ralph was crazy, in a good way too! Lord, his parties in Austin were famous!
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris I ran into his wife in a Victoria hospital when he was in there, I was visiting my father in law......and was shocked he was there then the next thing I heard he had past. :(
Jo Ann Freeborn Martin Clay was a sweetheart. Always kind, and ready to go have fun:-)
Jannet Bardwell Billy miller had complications with gallstones and had problrms with it for a year before the infection got so bad they couldn't do any thing more.. Denzel lost his battle with cancer after 2 1/2 yrs later...
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris What happen to Debbie Brown?
Bill Beasley I think Debbie was involved in an auto accident. Kay Anderson was killed in a motorcycle accident. I think Mark Wright was also killed in a motorcycle ax.
Mike Dupnik What happened to Charlie and pay nava
Brenda Hoffman Pat Anders, my first husband, and his brother, Mickey. So very much missed!!!!!
Elva Nava Pat died in a car accident in '89 on his way to the Aransas Pass Bowling Alley, on the back road, past Dupnik's Curve. Charlie died in Houston in 2003 after complications from liver failure. Really miss 'em...
Brenda Hoffman Elva which Pat are you talking about ?
Alma Cook Yvonne Miller passed away Nov2011 from lung cancer
Alma Cook Debbie Fake from cancer
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris I forgot about Yvonne..... I still have her facebook page on my friends list. :( Some of these names I remember but am having a hard time putting a face to it. :( old age I guess lol
Mary Harmon Patsy Bateman
Alma Cook Alice Carter? She died while we were still in school
Alma Cook Oh I still Have Yvonne on my friends list as well... I won't ever be able to take that off...
Alma Cook What happened to Susan Keller and Margie Morgan?
Brenda Hoffman So sorry, I forgot about Yvonne as well, loved her so!
Elva Nava Brenda, it was Pat Nava. He was 24 years old in '89.
Alma Cook If I remember correct. Alice actually drowned in that wreck, her head was under water in the ditch? I sat in front of her in a class, that was hard to walk into without here there, I still saw her sitting there
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris ?@Alma, a good friend of mine died about 7 yrs ago and I still can't bring myself to take her name off of my contacts list on my emails. Kinda the same with Karen Yvonne Miller Miles
Brenda Hoffman Oh, Elva I'm so sorry , I remember that now. Thanks honey.
John Cobb I think Billy Holt and Pat anders died on a oil rig why working.Johnny Ray Garcia die of a heartattach
Bill Beasley Alice went through the windshield - don't think she was conscious after that. We never did find her purse. I looked for it for hours. She worked at the airport and was going to solo the next day to get her private pilot's license.
Kay Pool Clark Alma, Margie died from some kind of disease. Not sure what disease but, she had to take steriods every day. When her mother died of cancer ,I think Margie gave up on life and didn't take her meds.
Alma Cook ?@ Anna, completely understand, like hanging on to that last strand. I spent the last 6 months of her life going to see her as often as possible, I had never watched anyone struggle or pass away, think that is one of the harder things I had ever done, telling her it was okay to go, She had a good 6 months, sure there were bad days, but all in all.. and let me tell you, her memory was sharper than mine.
Alma Cook ?@Kay, oh my that is so sad
Alma Cook Almost forgot, Mrs Fake also passed away, well she wasn't from class but...
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris ?@Alma I hadn't seen Yvonne for years....but we all grew up together, her parents and mine were really good friends and I can remember billy, yvonne, myself running around outside while our parents played pennie ante poker.....lol till all hours of the night.
Brenda Hoffman Yes John, Pat was electricuted while working on an oil rig. Didn't know Ricky Holt died. How?
Brenda Hoffman Also Wanda Grossman ,don't remember how are when, but was really fond of her. Anyone know where Johnny Grossman is?
Alma Cook ?@Anna, Yvonne had such a memory, so I am sure she remembered you and running around outside.. If she were still alive she would be adding so much to this conversation, there is no doubt! :-)
Janet Johnson We had our 30 year reunion last year and I believe we have lost 6 from the class of 80.
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris ?@Alma.... she did remember...... when we found each other here on fb we had several long talks.....it was great catching up with her. And I miss her too
Donna Franklin Love My brother Kenneth Franklin, and Melissa Ramirez.
Phyllis Sulrzycki Johnny Rowen,
Barbara Baldwin Harder Taylor Blocker, Johnny Rodriguez, Anna Dominguez, Clay, Charles McLead, Charles Ingersol, Becky Arthur, Gilbert Flores, Ricky Vanetter, I'm sure more, but these are the ones that come to mind other than the ones that y'all have already named...
Barbara Baldwin Harder Strawberry
Hallie Adams I was going to say Anna Dominguez. Clay, Charlie, there was also Danie - he worked as a butcher at HEB. Strawberry.
Sandy Cruser Homer Saucedo, he and Elvis (don't recall his last name) died our 10th grade year over in Portland . They were coming back from senior skip day in the middle of the night and fell asleep. They crashed into one of the palms in the median. Remember Jo when we went to see the crashsite and Homer's car? He and Alice Carter were both our class favorites our 10th grade. Both accidents were very tragic for all of their friends and classmates, but esspecially their family. I know it tore Gene up for a long time.
Alice Fields Bubba Grant !!! My Sweeheart
Joann McGregor Jenelle Stewart-died of cancer
Joann McGregor Jenelle and Harold Mundine married , one daughter still lives in Rockport
Jay Dietrich Marcy Wendell
Leticia Amparo Rodriguez Roth Becky West, Cathy Reid, Charles Sprague
Carolyn Prophet Wowo woww wow I didn't know aobut 1/2 of these people had died! Makes me sad but then they are all probable in a better place! I do miss Strawberry and still have pictures of him in my buffet!
Melanie Murph Harrison Emily Murph...died in 1997 in an auto accident...I miss her everyday:(
Sandy Cruser Do you all remember Ralph Weekley skiing in the raw around the ski basin? I think Terry was driving the boat. 4th of July I think?
Barbara Baldwin Harder Rhonda James
Barbara Baldwin Harder Melanie, I can't even imagine your hurt...I'm so sorry....sisters are the best friends you can ever have.
Donna Franklin Love Patsy Bateman
Mary Harmon Veronica Gonzalez. Cathy Reid...did she have sisters Sue and Brenda? What happened to her?
Sundi Price Johhny Sanchez.....Alvina Sanchez little brother. First good friend I ever lost...really affected me. Motercycle accident with a truck on Key Allegro
Jannet Bardwell Brett Ashley
Patti Bechtol Sundi remember throughing water balloons with Johnny? And when he taught us how to ride that bike at your house?
Jo Ann Freeborn Martin Jay "Strawberry" Alberts. Cancer.
Jo Ann Freeborn Martin ?@Sandy. Lord, I'm glad I missed that!
Janet Johnson In the Class of 1980 we have lost Scott Cory, Rhonda James, Johnny Joe Garcia and Sammy Corpus.
11 hours ago · Like.
David Crawford What happened to Brett? (Red Dog)
Jim Wiest yes, what happened to Scott Cory and Cathy Reid also?
Janet Johnson Not sure about Scott, I think it was a whle back
Jo Ann Freeborn Martin Yes Sandy. I took a photo of that brown station wagon. It still haunts me. Dale was Homer's neighbor. It was horrible:-(
Jo Ann Freeborn Martin Elvis was sweet. They were my surfin' buds. I had made a super 8 movie with all of us surfing. After the crash, someone borrowed it. They never gave it back. I had spent hours splicing it and added Moody Blues music. If you are reading this borrower, time to return it Please?
Joann McGregor melinee.. think of Emily often, went through some old pic albums this year...many of her from church camp....etc.
Joann McGregor what happened Pasty?
Jo Ann Freeborn Martin ?@Donna F. I didn't know you had lost Kenneth. I'm so sorry for you:-(
Brenda Hoffman Bret,(Red Dog) died 2 or 3 years ago.
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris Ellen McElveen also passed away she was sister to Carrie Sue McElveen. cancer
Jannet Bardwell I think he drown in Copano
Donna Franklin Love THANKS JO ANN. IT HAS BEEN 16 YEARS AND IT ISN'T ANY EASIER THAN IT WAS THE DAY IT HAPPENED. I MISS HIM SO MUCH.
Janet Johnson If you are saying Red Dog drowned in Copano that's not correct. He fell off a boat in Copano and was rescued but he died a few years later. He was sick, but not sure what illness
Jannet Bardwell ok I wasn't living here then I just remember about him falling off the boat...
Janet Johnson yep he did and his wife did too, they were floating around for a while but both were found. Now they both have passed away.
Sandy Cruser It is very sad that thye are gone, but thankfully we have memories of them. So they are not forgotten.
Rachel Guerrero My brother Homer Saucedo also died the year he graduated. Automobile accident. He and Steve Lara (Elvis) died that morning together.
Barbara Baldwin Harder Kyle Dietz, Linda Ovendon, and Sandra Watkins
John Hamm ramona vargas, joe forest ,lynn golf, nancy nesaloney,ralph weekly,terry freeborn ,and u might remember jugler. just some i remember.
Buddy St John Robert Spielman, Joe Cavit, Andy Crawford, Mary Lou Johnson are still in my memories. Along With Bubba Grant, and Terry Wishert Roberts, Joe Albert Slaughter, and " Wallygator" Dominguez.There are too many more, but I can't recall them now.
Buddy St John James Benningfield, Ramona Fleming, Margie St. John Lewis, and the list goes on....We await our turn.
John Hamm Bill miller and his sister evan?
Joan Mixon Clay Clifford Mixon RFHS class of 1972 - I miss him everyday
Barbara Baldwin Harder Jeff Goff
Barbara Baldwin Harder Ramona Sanchez Kurtz Jeanie Kleypas
Buddy St John S A D !
Barbara Baldwin Harder I know, I need to quit this line of thinking....and go back to the happier memories....
Buddy St John Yes, and they have all crossed our lives and affected us in one way or another. There have been too many who have died fighting for our country too, but I am sure they would do it again!
Buddy St John ?...we quietly await our turns.
Joan Mixon Clay Quietly - Hell!
Barbara Baldwin Harder Well, I know one thing is for sure, we are all heading in that direction, and you never know what tomorrow will bring....
Sandy Cruser I agree with you joan, i ain't going quietly, and I AIN'T gonna wear a burka!
Barbara Baldwin Harder egads....I said Jeff Golf but I meant Lynn....sorry awful mistake
Anna Schexnider Hudman Morris Seems like that there are quite a few of us that lost our husband or wife way too early in life. Getting married at 17 and thinking you are gonna spend your lives together until one day it all changes. I lost my first husband/high school sweetheart Jimmy Hudman (class of 72) in September 1982. Life isn't always what you expect it to be.
Barbara Baldwin Harder very true very true...
Virginia Harder Price Chuck Ingersoll, Debbie Fake, Ida Valdez from class of 77.
Deanna Solomon Wayne Oakman
Donna Franklin Love ALSO FROM THE CLASS OF 77, PATSY BATMAN, MELISSA RAMARIZ, AND KENNETH FRANKLIN
Marilu Richards McDonald From the class of 1970- Andy Crawford, Jane Rogers, Sandra Watson (who died before we graduated)
Marilu Richards McDonald also James Court
Phyllis Sulrzycki I first came to Rockport when I was in 9th grade, all I remember is people talking about loosing Van.
Renee Tuer Rinehart Roque Garcia from '70. Sandra Watkins.
Jo Ann Freeborn Martin James Court:-(. Anyone heard from Royce?
Jo Ann Freeborn Martin Didn't know about Wayne Oakman. He and Terry and Ralph Weekley were playing in our pasture and Wayne fell backwards. He had a pint of whiskey in his back pocket. Cut his hiney pretty bad, but I guess it was disinfected. Lol

Please feel free to add more names in comments below.

First National Bank

Buddy St John This was during Fox's time as well. Waaaaay before my time. Dr. Wood told us that he had an office upstairs here (Water and Main), before his "new" office was erected on the corner of Market and Austin. Bill Gray, another old timer here, said he rescued people from the 2nd floor here in 1919 storm. Bill was in the RVFD for more than 50 years.

Remember Mr. Earl's little store? I think he and wife lived on the floor above the store. The store was on the way to/from Horton's Pool. Great place to stop for comics after swim lessons.

Buddy St John Earl's Drive In Grocery, South Church St.

Janet Lassiter Holt Used to go there all the time on the way to and from walking to swim!

Debbie Smith Krenek Yep took swimming lessons at Hortons pool ... and made many trips to Earl's Drive In .. they had the first Color TV on the counter, I use to go just to see the color TV