Hearne, May 30. -- The people of this city are again called upon to witness a sad accident in railroad life. The victim is a promising young man by the name of John Cole, a resident of Rockdale, Texas, and lately a brakeman on the I. and G.N. railroad. Young Cole, it seems, was attempting to board a freight train, and missing his hold was crushed beneath the wheels, severing his left arm near the shoulder and crushing his left leg below the knee. Owing to some delays that it seems could not be avoided the patient lost a good deal of blood. Drs. Morrison and Matkin, of this place, and Drs. Horton and Walker, of Rockdale, are in attendance, but up to 8 o'clock P. M. the man is too weak from loss of blood to endure the amputation of his mangled limbs, and but little hope is entertained of his recovery. Galveston Daily News, May 31, 1878
ROCKDALE, Texas, Sept. 3. -- There were 167 masked men in the Ku Klux Klan held here Saturday. The parade drew a large crowd and traffic officers were necessary to keep the parade line open. The best of order prevailed. There was a barbecue at Tourist Park. . . . A speaker from Austin who did not unmask addressed the crowd at the city fountain. The 167 marching klansmen were reported as being from Taylor, Bartlett, Cameron, Granger, Gause, Hearne, Thorndale, Austin, and towns between here and Austin. The Eagle, September 3, 1923
Galveston Daily News. January 11, 1874. The grading on the International and Great Northern Extension, southwest from the Brazos River, is nearly finished to Rockdale, twenty-five miles from the river and thirty miles from Hearne, Texas. The temporary bridge over the Brazos is completed, and track-laying is being pushed forward rapidly. Rockdale is about fifty miles northeast of Austin.
