Milam County Historical Commission
Milam County, Texas
Milam County, Texas
2011-12-29
100 YEARS AGO....
Rockdale, who won the first football game one month previously, traveled to Cameron and defeated what
Reporter Publisher John E. Cooke referred to as “their mumblepeg team” 13-0.
“Miss Nannie Slater eluded her friends and was quietly married at the Baptist parsonage to Lester Tanner.”
Rockdale merchants year long “Popular Contest” ended with Sipe Springs School winning a pipe organ and Bessie
Joyner winning a diamond ring.
Leading the grand march at the annual Young Men’s Christmas Ball at the City Hall Auditorium were E. L.
Dunnington and Irma Dunnington.
******************************************
2011-12-22
100 YEARS AGO....
A man identified as a “Bohemian farmer,” living 12 miles north of Thorndale, was charged with attempted
murder after beating his wife with a buggy whip and hitting her in the head with a flat iron.
Reporter headline: “City council finally masters the sewer ordinance.”
J. W. Perry added four rooms to his Cameron Avenue residence, bringing the structure to 12 rooms and
“probably the biggest house in Rockdale.”
Farmer Katie Scott sold 109 turkeys reporting sales totaling $121.
*****************************************
2011-12-15
100 YEARS AGO....
J. H. Boyer’s Famous Shows was bringing a Jesse James Wild West Tent Show to Rockdale with 30 participants,
including a 15-piece orchestra.
Rockdale Catholics were constructing a new church and hoped to have it completed in time for Christmas
masses.
Legendary baker J. A. Stein announced his retirement.
From Reporter Publisher John Esten Cooke: “C. L. Tanner, the dried-up, dyspeptic, measly little booster of
the Granger News was in Rockdale the other day, taking notes on how a good town is built.” (The two men were
good friends and Tanner was a former Publisher of the Reporter.
****************************************
2011-12-08
100 YEARS AGO....
Milam County Treasurer James Pate sustained a broken leg, and several other serious injuries, when he was
trampled by a mule near Cameron.
Rockdale defeated Cameron in football. The exact score was not reported but The Reporter made it clear the
game was a shutout, noting “Cameron returned home only with a bunch of goose eggs which will never hatch.”
A movie of “Dante’s Inferno” at Rockdale’s Crystal Theatre, preceded by a scholarly lecture on the subject by
Professor Charles Long, who was traveling around the country with the film.
Concrete sidewalks were being poured at the entrance to Rockdale High School.
****************************************
2011-12-01
100 YEARS AGO....
Three members of a San Antonio & Aransas Pass (SA&AP) railroad crew were injured, one seriously, when a
freight train derailed three miles south of Rockdale.
A man charged with swindling, identified only as “Foxy Grandpa” in The Reporter, received a fine of $50.50,
or “100 days at the county farm.”
W. A. Robinson of Minerva was set to ship five of his prize Poland China hogs to Panama where they had been
sold.
A Thanksgiving barbecue at the home of “Uncle Amos” Hairston included three pigs, six turkeys and 14 possums.
****************************************
2011-10-27
100 YEARS AGO....
Signed ad on The Reporter’s front page: “All persons are warned not to give, or cause to be given, any
intoxicating liquors to my husband.”
Thorndale area farmer Henry Irby was killed with a shotgun blast on a road near the Nile community. The
shooter was apprehended and taken to Cameron where a grand jury was in session. Grand jurors issued a no-bill
(refused to indict) and the shooter returned home.
That grand jury did indict four Thorndale man accused of lynching a teenaged boy in that city earlier in the
year.
Fire destroyed the Stewart Hotel in Milano, which contained the family residence and a doctor’s office.
************************************
2011-10-20
100 YEARS AGO....
Rockdale Mayor H. C. Meyer inspected the city’s new sewer system and pronounced it “working perfectly.”
J. S. Parks was elected president of the new Milam County Truck Growers Association.
Jack Kyle of Forest Grove sustained a severely cut arm when it was caught in saws at a cotton gin.
Reporter Publisher John Esten Cooke: “Dr. D. R. Wallis was the busy man Wednesday, being called upon to
officiate at the reception of three new and lusty-lunged settlers.”
************************************
2011-10-13
100 YEARS AGO....
The Reporter quoted the neighboring Thorndale Thorn as reporting that two cousins from Salty attempted to
practice a musical number but the rehearsal ended in a knife fight, sending one to the hospital.
Reporter Publisher John Esten Cooke got plenty of feedback about leaving out some stories the previous week,
due to the high volume of ads. However, Postmaster Ben Loewenstein put things in perspective: “Those ads are
evidence of prosperity and a healthy community.”
Farmer George Doss reported corn was making 55 bushels per acre and cotton one-fourth bale per acre.
Rockdale residents were calling for a flagger to staff an I&GN railroad crossing near a new downtown
building.
***********************************
2011-10-06
100 YEARS AGO....
Postmaster Ben Loewenstein said Sept. 30, 1911, was the busiest day in the history of the Rockdale Post
Office. Loewenstein said the facility had become overcrowded and was hoping to move to a larger building.
A three-night debate on socialism and prohibition, between G. G. Hamilton and Walter Smith, was scheduled for
City Hall.
The housing shortage in Rockdale was so severe that anyone contemplating moving here was urged to “bring a
tent or the money to build a house.”
Publisher John E. Cooke wrote: “Our advertisers have made heavy demands upon our space this week with the
result that our news is necessarily curtailed.”
***********************************
2011-09-29
100 YEARS AGO....
A dispute between a doctor and a Thorndale man ended with the man receiving 11 stab wounds, none of which
were believed to be life-threatening.
The Matinee Musical Club met at the Cawthorn home to hear “White Butterfly” sung by a trio composed of
“Mesdames P. H. Perry, A. P. Perry and S. B.Perry.”
H. H. Coffield purchased Rockdale’s Pantatorium (dry cleaners).
Reporter Publisher John Esten Cooke: “We have located only one genuine hard-shelled, moss-backed knockerin
Rockdale since we have been here... We would have shot him on the spot but the fellow was so small we
couldn’t find the spot.”
**********************************
2011-09-22
100 YEARS AGO....
Plans were announced to extend the downtown Rockdale sewer system as far east as “Dr. Coulter’s office” and
as far west as Rockdale High School.
Brick work was beginning at the new Rotan Building downtown and a December completion date was forecast.
Reporter Publisher John Esten Cooke: “Hen’s teeth are plentiful compared with rental houses in Rockdale. R.
E. Thweatt has moved into the freight depot until he can find a place to rent.”
Bond was denied in the case of three Thorndale men accused of lynching a teenaged boy in June.
*********************************
2011-09-15
100 YEARS AGO....
Although a public gathering to discuss the grim financial situation of the Rockdale Fair was not well
attended, “enough was seen to determine the Fair would be perpetuated.”
Rockdale had a new sanitary code, adopted by the city council, covering the regulation of “privies, garbage,
dead animals and slaughterhouses” within the city limits.
A page ad sponsored by 31 Rockdale businesses asked farmers to bring their cotton to Rockdale and support the
businesses of the city.
A new phone company was in Rockdale, with a new switchboard expected to be installed with the capacity of
serving 900 customers.
********************************
2011-09-08
100 YEARS AGO....
Final figures for August showed that the 11 lignite mines in the Rockdale district shipped out $30,000 worth
of coal on rail lines during the month.
Ground was broken across from the Wolf Hotel for the new Rotan Wholesale Grocery building.
The Rockdale City Council hired Zeke Polk as the town’s new “scavenger,” replacing Robert Tinnon. Salary was
$50 per month.
The Reporter reported Sheriff Allen Hooks arrested a Cameron couple for “stealing $1,250 from Mrs. Gillis, a
Bohemian lady living six miles from Cameron.”
*******************************
2011-09-01
100 YEARS AGO....
Over 2,000 cotton bales had been carded in Rockdale facilities with more on the way, according to local
growers.
The Rockdale Fair was in financial difficulty and organizers were asking the public to share some of the
expenses of the annual event.
Vote leaders in The Reporter’s Popularity contest were the Sipe Springs School and Miss Louise Timmerman. At
year’s end the top organization would receive an organ and the top individual a diamond ring.
Norris Willis, new music teacher at Rockdale High School, asked students to gather in the music room on the
first day of classes.
*****************************
2011-08-25
100 YEARS AGO....
A school enrollment-based estimate of Milam County residents put the population at 58,620! (The 1910 Census
had counted 36,780).
Trustees of the Sipe Springs school were to auction off the former school building to the highest bidder on
Sept. 2.
O. P. Lagrone, president of the Milam County Truck Farmers Association, estimated 1,000 acres of tomatoes
would be planted in the Milano area.
“The Reporter has a large number of subscribers who are in arrears,” Publisher John Esten Cooke wrote. “And
to be perfectly frank with you, we need the money.”
*****************************
2011-08-17
100 YEARS AGo....
A car driven by Walter Felton, returning from a camp meeting (revival) on the San Gabriel River plunged
through the Turkey Creek railing and overturned in the water 20 feet below. There was no serious injuries but
Felton termed the vehicle “pretty badly torn up” and estimated the repair price at $100.
Mrs. James Clark of San Gabriel sent a letter to the editor urging that women be given the right to vote.
A Chicago firm signed a contract to install a sewer system in downtown Rockdale.
The Rockdale City Council passed an ordinance requiring all property owners “within the Rockdale Fire Zone”
to install concrete sidewalks.
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2011-08-11
100 YEARS AGO....
A “difficulty” in Ben Arnold ended with three persons being stabbed, one fatally, and two seriously wounded.
A fall from a “gallery” in a large farm home near Thorndale resulted in the death of a Thorndale man.
Still smarting from their recent statewide defeat at the polls, pro-Prohibition forces in the Texas
Legislature introduced a bill to stop saloons from offering free lunches with the purchase of alcoholic
beverages.
J. B. Raymond of East Bernard was opening a dry good store from the room he had rented in the J. E. Coffield
house.
***************************
2011-08-04
100 YEARS AGO....
J. J. Hillin and Emil Timmerman brought the first bales of cotton to Milam County gins from the 1911 crop.
“Dry” forces petitioned Gov. O. B. Colquitt for a “stringent investigation” of the recent statewide election
which was won by the “wets.”
Rev. H.A. Wells ofthe Rockdale circuit AME church announced a camp meeting was beginning on the banks of the
San Gabriel River at Liberty Hill and continue “12 to 15 days.”
The Cameron Commercial Club petitioned the Milam County commissioners for a bond issue to improve roads in
Precinct 2.
**************************
2011-07-28
100 YEARS AGO....
The “wets” won the statewide prohibition election. A majority of Rockdale voters sided with the “dry” forces.
Reporter Editor John Esten Cooke urged Rockdale residents to put the election behind them. “Forget the bitter
things which have transpired within your personal horizon and work together to build a more radiant
Rockdale,” he wrote.
The Rockdale area’s African-American farmers were hosting a county fair at Fair Park, complete with a parade,
exhibits and carnival.
Two scam artists from McGregor toured Rockdale, selling material, promising to tailor it into clothing and
then skipping town.
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2011-07-21
100 YEARS AGO....
Rockdale’s fourth annual Fair wrapped up as a “tent city” of campers departed from Fair Park .
The Fair parade included circus animals, elephants, tigers, gorillas, bears and more.
A wall collapsed overnight at First Baptist Church, caused by excavation at the site for a new Sunday School
building. Damage was estimated at $300.
E. A. Doss raised the Fair’s grand champion watermelon, which was then served to an “elite gathering of
ladies and gentlemen.
************************
2011-07-14
100 YEARS AGO....
The 1911 Rockdale Fair, believed to the be the third largest Fair in Texas, was under way with a giant
parade, horse racing, exhibits and competitions.
Robert Potts, Texas A&M professor, was due in Rockdale as part of a trip from the Red River to the Gulf of
Mexico, highlighting the need for a new “truck highway” in Texas.
A statewide prohibition election was planned for later in July. Both sides took out large ads in The
Reporter.
Not all the news was large scale. Jack Daws of Brazoria slipped on a banana peel upon arriving in Rockdale on
an I&GN passenger train, slipped and broke his collarbone.
***********************
2011-07-07
100 YEARS AGO....
An anti-prohibition rally at City Hall drew a huge crowd extending down the stairs and into the street. “All
the saloons closed their doors for the occasion,” The Reporter noted.
Next week was to be the prohibitionists turn with a rally at City Hall. Speakers were to include local
physician Dr. I. P. Sessions.
Bond was denied for four Thorndale men arrested in the lynching of a teenaged boy.
The new Rockdale Women’s Club - Gussie Rowlett, president - promised to beautify cemeteries and procure more
books for Rockdale’s library.
*********************
2011-06-30
100 YEARS AGO....
Four men were arrested following the lynching of a Thorndale teen after a stabbing death in that city. A
court of inquiry was looking into the situation.
Nine meetings in support of the prohibition movement were scheduled in the Rockdale area, capped off by a
countywide gathering at Rockdale City Hall.
The San Antonio & Aransas Pass (SA&AP) railroad was offering excursion fares to the upcoming Rockdale Fair.
Prices ranged from 25 cents (Minerva) to $1.40 (Waco.)
New Reporter Publisher John Esten Cooke: “(People have said) ‘I didn’t know you could print pictures in the
newspaper’ to me numerous times. Well, we are doing it!”
*********************
2011-06-23
100 YEARS AGO....
Thorndale merchant Charles Schelzank was fatally stabbed by a teenaged boy in downtown incident. Before the
boy could be jailed in Cameron a mob hung him from a lamp post.
The “worst storm in the memory of Cameron residents” struck the town destroying businesses and homes, causing
an estimated $85,000 in damages.
Reporter Editor John E. Cooke received “the finest basket of tomatoes I’ve ever seen,” courtesy of Y. A.
Gjedde.
With the 1911 Rockdale Fair approaching, 1910 Fair Champion Farmer George Doss was prof iled. Doss, noted for
his expertise in seeds, had a farm nine miles west of Rockdale
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2011-06-16
100 YEARS AGO....
The Rockdale City Council okayed a plan to “build a new calaboose (jail),” and that’s exactly what Publisher
John Esten Cooke called it in the story and headline.
A new city ordinance instituted a $75 fine for anyone “delivering any public speech, address, sermon or
lecture on the streets of Rockdale.”
Ed Kone, Texas Agriculture Commissioner, was booked as the featured speaker of the 1911 Rockdale Fair.
Rockdale’s African-American residents also wanted a fair in 1911 and formed a fair association with W. M.
Nelson as president and B. Y. Aycock as secretary.
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2011-06-09
100 YEARS AGO....
A “number of young men in Rockdale” were in the process or organizing a band. Director was to be Louis Diehl.
The Rockdale Fair Association was searching for a couple who wanted to be married on the Saturday night of
the 1911 Fair. They would receive a number of prizes by agreeing to the public wedding.
New Reporter Publisher John Esten Cooke announced all subscribers to the newspaper would receive “National
Monthly,” a glossy magazine comparable to the “Saturday Evening Post.”
Harry Perry and Cora Bethea had the leads in “A Gibson Family Reunion,” a play presented by the MIP Library
Association in the City Hall (today’s police station) auditorium.
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2011-06-02
100 YEARS AGO....
Prohibitionists gathered in Rockdale for a county-wide meeting. Reported The Reporter: “There was plenty of
ice water on hand.”
More than 100 members of the Milam County Boys Corn Club received free Ingersoll pocket watches, courtesy of
Rockdale merchants.
What was described as the Rockdale area’s first major automobile accident, west of town, “left three women
upon beds of suffering” in a Taylor hospital and a Rockdale man hurt.
Mrs. A. P. Perry hosted the Matinee Musical Club, assisted by her mother, Maie Van de Venter, later to be
immortalized as “My Granny Van” by grandson George Sessions Perry
********************
2011-05-26
100 YEARS AGO....
Rockdale residents asked Milam County commissioners to place a new iron bridge on the San Gabriel River at
the Kolb Crossing, six miles downstream from the Cameron crossing location preferred in a 500-signature
petition from the San Gabriel-Thorndale area.
Rockdale area farmer J. S. Walden sold his farm for $40,000 after a lignite deposit was discovered in the
property.
T. S. Henderson of Cameron was to speak at a large Prohibition meeting at the Randle Building in Rockdale.
The Thorndale Agriculture & Commercial Club warned Milam residents that “grafters and skin game workers” (con
artists) had swindled money from several area residents.
********************
2011-05-19
100 YEARS AGO....
Miss Grace Fulcher, later to be Thorndale legend Grace Davis Berry, sang a song at commencement exercises for
the Thorndale High School Class of 1911.
A monument was erected over the grave of Scarbrough & Hicks founder R.H. Hicks in Rockdale’s I.O.O.F.
Cemetery.
From the Salty News: “Two or three families went dewberry picking but to no avail. There is very little fruit
of any kind in this community.”
A large delegation of Milam County residents was attending the Confederate Veterans reunion in Little Rock,
Arkansas
********************
2011-05-12
100 YEARS AGO....
There was no preaching the previous Sunday at the Salty Church “on account of Bro. Watson got into a bog hole
on this side of Brushy Creek and was detained,” the paper’s Salty correspondent wrote.
Torrential rains hit Central Texas. An I&GN passenger train sat in the San Marcos depot for 90 minutes
because the engineer brought the train in and refused to budge.
Because of the weather District Judge J. C. Scott said no farmers would be named to juries “only town folk.”
Joe Worley, H. H. Camp, Gus Newton and Sam Clement presented county commissioners with a 500-signature
petition seeking an iron bridge across the San Gabriel River at the Old Cameron Crossing.
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2011-05-05
100 YEARS AGO....
Cameron City Marshall Tom Parker was acquitted in the death of a suspect he was attempting to subdue while
trying to take the man into custody for evading arrest.
Sheriff Allen Hooks and Deputy Lowe investigated a murder in Gause and made an arrest, wounding the suspect
“slightly in the head” in the process.
Residents of the Sharp, Tracy and Duncan communities were petitioning county commissioners for a new iron
bridge over the San Gabriel River.
H. M. Ralston was named temporary district judge to serve during the illness of J. C. Scott.
********************
2011-04-28
100 YEARS AGO....
Wrote the newspaper’s unnamed Conoley correspondent: “Texas is a great place; it has more cows and less milk,
more clouds and less rain, more preaching and less religion.”
Civil War veteran William Green died in the road of a heart attack at the Henderson Crossing Bridge on Brushy
Creek.
Closing ceremonies at the Salty school featured recitations by “12 little girls dressed to represent the 12
months of the year,” according to teacher Laura Bibby.
Henne & Meyer Co, of Rockdale advertised a full line of (horse poowered) “buggies and planters.”
********************
2011-04-21
100 Years Ago....
Milam County Judge John Watson entertained county commissioners with a turkey dinner.
W. T. Morse & Co., Taylor’s largest department store, was burglarized overnight by someone who took “hundreds
of dollars in gents’ shoes, shirts and underwear.”
The Texas Legislature passed an education bill creating “First Class High Schools” (four years instruction)
and “Second Class High Schools” (three years instruction).
An Austin firm was awarded a $1,350 contract to build a new iron bridge over Elm Creek at the Yarrellton
crossing.
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2011-04-14
100 Years Ago....
A hailstorm that hit first in San Gabriel, and traveled to Rockdale, was so violent that ice a foot thick
remained for more than a day and several injuries were reported.
Milam County Constable Lee Reeder shot a Buckholts barber in a saloon in that town while attempting to make
an arrest. An investigation was under way.
A botched attempt to burn down Taylor’s high school for African Americans was unsuccessful. The same school
had burned in 1905 and 1907.
The U. S. Senate rejected the petitions of New Mexico and Arizona to become the 47th and 48 states. (They
made it the next year.)
********************
100 Years Ago....
2011-04-07
Scams in 1911? You bet. A man got off the train in Milam County, set up on a street corner and offered free
lots in a new development. Lots were free but he would need a $5 “deed fee.” He got back on the train with
$80. The new development didn’t exist.
Eight persons escaped from the county farm near Cameron. Farmer J. S. Williams recaptured one in his barn
but, when he brought the man to the authorities in Rockdale, he escaped again.
A strong spring thunderstorm knocked Davilla Baptist Church off its foundation.
Sandy Ridge rural school closed for the school year because of a measles outbreak.
********************
2011-03-31
100 Years Ago....
C. C. Bethea, former Rockdale lawman, was convicted of second degree murder, in connection with the shooting
of J. H. Head in the Rockdale SA&AP Depot and drew a five-year term. “None of the jurors had beards, probably
the first beardless jury ever for a murder case in 37th District Court, San Antonio.”
Early reports indicated 1911 would be a banner year for both cotton and corn in Milam County.
Foot doctor H. Forster of Houston was in Milam County, promising to “cure corns, bunions and other foot
diseases without the use of a knife.”
Andrew Noack of Rockdale opened a bottling business in downtown Thorndale
********************
100 YEARS AGO....
2011-03-24
A defense of “intoxicated, drunk and temporarily insane” was entered by C. C. Bethea, on trial in San Antonio
for the shooting death of railroad employee J. H. Head in Rockdale’s SA&AP depot.
George Braun, who emigrated to the U. S. to work in the California gold fields in 1849, died at his Gay Hill
home.
A St. Patrick’s Day program at the Burlington school drew over 1,000 persons. It was noted “most of the
people around Burlington are Irish.”
T. H. Graves of Lilac planned a new $5,000 home. “The Graves home and that of H. H. Camp in San Gabriel will
be the two finest rural residences in Milam County.”
********************
2011-03-17
100 YEARS AGO....
Work was completed at the new bridge over the San Gabriel River at the Glasscock Crossing which had
reportedly already become a favorite place for “Kodakers” (people with cameras.)
Gov. O. B. Colquitt ordered the clocks in the Texas Legislature set back two hours so he could keep
legislators in session past the scheduled adjournment time.
More than one mile of new concrete sidewalks had been put down in Thorndale by a Rockdale contracting firm.
Cameron residents seeking to change the city government to a commission form were unable to nominate three
persons to serve as commissioners when meeting turnout was so small there were not enough persons to
nominate, second and vote.
********************
2011-03-10
100 YEARS AGO....
Vilas Kennon, 18-year-old son of Reporter Publisher-Editor R. W. H. Kennon and his wife, died of appendicitis
at the family home. Vilas was a senior at Rockdale High School.
Sheriff Allen Hooks and Deputy R. L. Lowe went to a coal mine near Rockdale to investigate a death and
arrested three men, one for murder and two for attempted murder.
A brawl that resulted in a death on a ranch south of Thorndale was investigated by sheriff’s departments from
two counties, was determined to have happened in Williamson County and a suspect was taken to that county to
face charges.
As a result of the civil war raging in Mexico, the U. S. government moved 20,000 Army troops to San Antonio.
********************
2011-03-03
100 YEARS AGO....
Bernard Kamminskey, 37, an engineer on the San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railroad, died in Milam County when he
was thrown from the train’s tender under the engine.
Mayor H. C. Meyer proclaimed March 10 “Cleanup Day” in Rockdale with a “special invitation to ladies and
children to cooperate.”
A new road from Rockdale to Watson Branch was going through the farms of Pink Corzine, Ola Pritchard, Rale
Moore, Eck Conoley, Frank Stiles, Roman Bryant and A. W. Campbell.
Commissioners scheduled an election in Precinct 8 (Thorndale area) to determine “whether cows, sheep and hogs
would be permitted to roam at large.”
********************
2011-02-24
100 YEARS AGO....
Rockdale’s Hopkins General Store filed for bankruptcy and its stock was sold to Rowlett and Webb. Attorney E.
A. Camp was appointed receiver for the bankrupt firm.
Supporters of prohibition rallied in Rockdale and named Dr. I. P. Sessions as their chairman. They also
elected delegates to the county Prohibition convention in Cameron.
Rockdale Fair directors, meeting “in the parlor at Rockdale State Bank,” decided to restore the parade at the
1911 event. No parade was held in 1910.
International Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) chartered a lodge in Tracy with A. J Garner as chief patriarch
********************
2011-02-17
100 YEARS AGO....
Rockdale State Bank was named Milam County’s bank depository by county commissioners on a high bid of 4-1/8
percent on a daily balance.
Mrs. George Walker of Davilla was seriously injured when her horse bolted as she was exiting her buggy,
dragging the woman for several yards.
Redistricting of the Texas congressional delegation favored the state’s senior senator, Joseph Bailey. Six
congressmen who were opposed to Bailey found themselves paired in three congressional districts.
A Galveston mystery was revolving around former Milam County farmer William Lange, who had gone to the port
city to embark on a trip to his native Germany. Records showed Lane never boarded a ship and it was feared he
had been murdered.
********************
2011-02-10
100 YEARS AGO....
It wasn’t a good week for Milam County Treasurer J. A. Pate. Someone broke into his home while he slept and
stole his pants, which contained $75 in cash and a $170 note. He got the pants back, not the cash or the
note.
Real estate transfers listed in the courthouse report included: C. H. Yoe to Charles Richter. That’s the Yoe
for whom Cameron was to name its high school.
Owners of a Somerville farm were acquitted of mis-using convict farm labor, holding the men past the time
required to pay off their court-designated fines.
Hog farmer H. H. Camp of San Gabriel sent a railroad car to Houston with “44 of the finest lot of porkers
ever shipped from Milam County.”
********************
100 YEARS AGO....
2011-02-03
Did the ‘Keep Austin Weird’ movement start 100 years ago?
Exact quote, 1-2-11 issue: “Mrs. M---- W---- of Gause has been judged of unsound mind and will be sent to
Austin as soon as a place can be secured for her.”
Ben Loewenstein of Rockdale was in Thorndale installing the latest item in municipal convenience, concrete
sidewalks.
Milam County’s Woodmen of the World chapters were to hold a combined Valentine Banquet at the English Kitchen
restaurant in Cameron.
Several Rockdale and Milam County residents traveled to Austin for a speech by the legendary labor leader
Eugene V. Debs.
*******************
2011-01-27
100 YEARS AGO....
A dusk encounter between two men driving buggies over the one-lane Bear Creek Bridge northwest of Rockdale
ended with one shot in the chest and the other breaking his leg. Authorities said one buggy became stuck on
the railing and the impatient other driver opened fire, hitting the first man and spooking his own horse.
Henne & Meyer offered a “plowing season special” on a walk-behind John Deere cultivator.
Prohibitionists gathered at the county courthouse and elected W. G. Gillis county chair .
A dinner party at the J. G. Moore home in San Gabriel ended with Moore producing full-sized tobacco leaves
and inviting his male guests to roll their own cigars
*********************
2011-01-20
100 YEARS AGO....
James Head, 40, an employee of the I&GN Railroad, died of the wound he received from Rockdale City Marshal C.
C. Bethea at the Rockdale depot earlier in the month. The charge against Bethea was upgraded to murder and he
was taken to San Antonio where Judge Ben Fisk denied bond.
Rockdale Mayor H. C. Mayer was re-elected president of the Rockdale Fair Association.
It was before most forms of refrigeration and a warm spell caused most residents of San Gabriel to lose meat
and sausage they had put up during colder weather.
The estate of R. L. Hicks, cofounder of Scarbrough & Hicks, went through probate court and was valued at
$250,000.
********************
2011-01-13
100 YEARS AGO....
District Judge J. C. Scott denied bail for a Milam County man accused of killing his father after declaring a
hung jury in his murder trial.
Material for the bridge at the Glasscock Crossing on the San Gabriel River had arrived. The
bridge was to be erected “before the river’s spring floods.”
J. B. Ralston of Salty lost his barn and a three-year-old jack (male) donkey in an early morning fire.
The coldest winter weather since 1891 (17 degrees) in the lower Rio Grande Valley, had Milam County merchants
worried about the upcoming citrus crop.
********************
2011-01-06
100 YEARS AGO....
James Head, 40, railroad freight conductor, was in critical condition after being shot by Rockdale City
Marshal C. C. Bethea at the depot. Witnesses said Bethea, who surrendered to authorities, fired after Head
asked him to close a door.
A Port Sullivan man was arrested and charged with shooting an acquaintance in the back with a shotgun. The
victim survived.
New Year’s Eve brought numerous watch parties with noisemakers including whistles, bells and anvils.
In Salty, Will Luckey entertained the young folks with a “snap party” and a “candy breaking.”
************
Looking Back
100 Years Ago...
Interesting headlines and recaps of articles
from the
Rockdale Reporter
100 years ago
Compiled weekly by the Reporter staff