1932 :: The Passing of J.M. Luckey

With the passing of J.M. Luckey . . . another name has been added to the list of long-time residents of this section who have left the ranks for a more fulsome life and entered into "the joy of their Lord." . . . In 1871, at the age of 20 years, he came to Texas, making the trip from New Orleans to Houston by boat, and from Houston to Brenham by train, where he took passage in an ox-wagon for this section of the state. There was no Rockdale on the map or railroad then in Milam county. . . . The famous Sandow lignite property is now on his old homestead. . . . Mr. Luckey was buried in the family burial plot in Pleasant Hill cemetery, near the community where he had lived so long. . . . Here he rests in peace, after living out his life of more than four score years in helpfulness to his fellowman. . . . The Rockdale Reporter and Messenger (Rockdale, Tex.), Vol. 60, No. 34, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 6, 1932 Page: 2 of 4

1956 :: Death of Annie Talbot Gladdish

Dallas Morning News. Mart, June 25 -- Funeral services will be held here Wednesday for Mrs. Annie Talbot Gladdish, 93, a Mart resident for many years who died Sunday from injuries received in a fall last September. Mrs. Gladdish died at the home of a daughter, Mrs. J.L. Baird, in Marked Tree, Ark. Her body will arrive in Mart Tuesday morning. Services will be Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the Littlepage Chapel, Bishop F.T. Goddard of Tyler officiating, burial in Mart Cemetery. Mrs. Gladdish was born Feb. 10, 1863, in Norfolk, Va. She moved with her father to Texas after her home was burned during the Civil War. After graduation from Professor Estill's Academy in Brenham, Mrs. Gladdish moved to Rockdale and worked in the post office. She was married to Henry Allen Gladdish in Rockdale and in 1905 moved to Mart. Mr. Gladdish died in 1930. Mrs. Gladdish was a member of the Episcopal Church. She was a member of the Daughters of the Confederacy until the organization disbanded. She is survived by six daughters, Mrs. P.A. Moore of Taos, N.M., Mrs. E.L. Pierce and Mrs. J.L. Baird of Marked Tree, Ark., Miss Ethel Gladdish of San Antonio, Mrs. G.M. Knebel of Scarsdale, N.Y., Mrs. J.D. Tonahill of Mart; six grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren. The Waco News-Tribune (Waco, Texas), June 26, 1956, Page 18 

1939 :: Death of E.B. Phillips

Dallas Morning News. September 2, 1939. E.B. Phillips, 67, Died; Leader at Rockdale. Special to The News. Rockdale, Texas, Sept. 1. -- E.B. Phillips, 67, widely known businessman of this city, died in a hospital at Brenham Thursday night. Funeral services will be held here at 10 a.m. Saturday. 


Mr. Phillips was born in Alabama, but came to Texas when a young man and had been active in the progress and development of Rockdale, Milam County and this section of Texas for forty years. He taught school in his early years. He had served as trustee of the Rockdale School Board and had been president of the Milam County School Board many years, holding that position at the time of his death.


His varied career had included the hardware business, coal mining and farming. He also was a mortician and for the past several years had devoted most of his time to that work. He was president of the Burial Associations Union of Texas.


Mr. Phillips is survived by his wife, Mrs. Minnie Perry Phillips; two daughters, Mrs. Laurence Warren of El Paso and Mrs. J.B. Newton of Rockdale, and one brother, R.K. Phillips of Weatherford.