1933 :: Sale of Henne & Meyer

The stock of the Henne & Meyer company was sold by the trustee at public auction here on Wednesday morning, and was bought by the McLendon Hardware Company of Waco. The sale included stock, fixtures, notes and accounts. Rockdale Reporter and Messenger, March 16, 1933

1922 :: Death of J.D. Hamilton

J.D. Hamilton Instantly Killed 
in Storm of Wednesday Night. 

Another Rockdale citizen meets tragic death by coming in contact with high powered electric light wire of Texas Power & Light Co. 

J.D. Hamilton, Rockdale citizen and business man and former constable of this precinct, was instantly killed about nine o'clock Wednesday night of this week when he came in contact with a fallen electric light wire on East Cameron Street near SAAP Depot. 

Mr. Hamilton had been in Cameron on the Grand Jury and has just returned home on the evening SAAP train, which was late on account of the storm. The storm had broken the high voltage electric wire immediately in front of the residence of Dr. C.E. Wisecup. This wire had fallen in such manner to catch on the paling fence, thus forming a loop across the sidewalk. Mr. Hamilton, after waiting at the depot a few minutes for the rain to abate, started walking up town. His foot caught in the fallen wire, and the full charge of 2300 volts passed through his body, killing him instantly. He fell in such manner that the wire continued in contact with his leg, and it was therefore necessary to cut off the power at the sub-station before his body could be moved. 

A Mexican named T.V. Rincon of Rosebud, was just behind Mr. Hamilton and witnessed his fall. This Mexican stated that he at first thought Mr. Hamilton had slipped and fallen and he started to take hold of him and help him up, but received such a shock he immediately realized the situation. He then gave the alarm and in a few minutes a number of citizens were at the scene, among the first to arrive being Dr. Wisecup, W.E. Gaither and Dr. Coulter. 

As soon as the body could be extricated it was removed to the Henne & Meyer Undertaking Parlors, it being impossible to reach Mr. Hamilton's home on account of high water in Ham Branch. Examination disclosed that one of the dead man's feet was completely burned off, the entire lower limb, from shoe top almost to the knee, being almost entirely consumed. 

This is the second death in Rockdale by electrocution in two weeks, and it is a singular coincidence that the other death -- that of little Velma Ashby on San Jacinto Day -- occurred in Mr. Hamilton's yard. The Rockdale Reporter and Messenger, Thursday, May 4, 1922

1934 :: Lignite Deposits at Rockdale Sold

Rockdale, Texas, June 8. -- Increased interest in Texas lignite coal, which is found over a large area but has not been mined very extensively, is indicated by the sale of 800 acres three miles southeast of here to H.H. Coffield this week. Much of the land formerly was owned by the Henne & Meyer lignite interests and deposits are untouched. Prices were not announced but cash was paid and purchase made outright, with the price understood to have been large. Purchase was made with the idea of ultimately developing the project and establishing production, Mr. Coffield said, in the belief that the lignite industry is coming back within a few years. Deposits are about seventy feet underground and will be mined by the shaft and hoist method when operations are started. Dallas Morning News, June 9, 1934

1946 :: Rockdale Undertaker Dies

Dallas Morning News. August 14, 1946. Rockdale Undertaker, P.E. Luckey, Dies. Rockdale, Texas, Aug. 13 (AP). -- P.E. Luckey, 67, senior partner of the Phillips & Luckey funeral establishment here, died at his home Tuesday. Burial will be here Wednesday afternoon. Survivors include his wife, four sons and a daughter.

---

Perry Emmett Luckey, the son of John Millard and Rachel Garner Luckey was born February 28, 1879 in the Millerton Community of Milam County. The old Luckey homestead was located on much of the land where the Sandow Strip mine is now located. On June 1, 1902, he was married to Mary Draper Carter. Her parents were Sinclair Blake and Tennie Love Carter who immigrated to Texas from Mississippi in 1877 and settled in the Tracy Community of Milam County. Mr. Carter was a Confederate veteran and he and his wife had experienced much hardship during the Civil War.


The Luckeys were parents of four sons: Darrell Emmett, Harold Milton, Donald Carter, Edward Earle; and one daughter, Bertha Lucille. The Luckeys were members of the Methodist Church. For a number of years, Mr. Luckey was associated with Henne and Meyer Hardware and Undertaking Company in Rockdale. These two men were pioneers in the burial insurance business and worked toward the enforcement of having burial insurance legalized in Texas. Later they founded the Phillips and Luckey Burial Association.


Mr. Luckey was a quiet and unassuming man and he had a steadfast devotion to principal. His heart was supercharged with love for his fellowman. He was a greatly beloved citizen of Rockdale.


From Matchless Milam, History of Milam County Texas, compiled and edited by Milam County Heritage Preservation Society, A Texas Sesquicentennial Edition.