1927 :: Death of Mrs. U.P. Melton

The body of Mrs. U.P. Melton, who died Sunday in Del Rio, was brought to Rockdale Monday afternoon on the Sunshine Special under escort of her husband and his friend, Mr. York, and tenderly conveyed to the home of old friends, Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Isaacs. . . . interment was made in the Old City Cemetery. . . . Mr. and Mrs. Melton lived in Rockdale twenty-odd years ago, when Mr. Melton was with the old firm of Isaacs & Lockett. . . . It was while here that they lost their only child, a bright nineteen months old baby boy. The mother was laid to rest beside him . . . The Rockdale Reporter and Messenger (Rockdale, Tex.), Vol. 55, No. 32, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 29, 1927

1903 :: Free Parking!

Rockdale Reporter. (Rockdale, Tex.), 

Vol. 10, No. 34, Ed. 1 

Thursday, September 24, 1903

---

Free wagon yard just back of our store.

ISAACS & LOCKETT

Page: 4 of 10

---

Mistrots' Free Wagon yard

  Page: 5 of 10

1877 :: A Prosperous City

Rockdale - A Statesman Attache Takes a Glimpse at the Place and Some of its Business Men.

Weekly Democratic Statesman, 
Austin, Texas
Thursday, June 21, 1877

Rockdale, Texas, for a long time the terminus of the International and Great Northern Railroad, is a prosperous city of nearly two thousand inhabitants and is the shipping point for most of the cotton and other produce raised in Cameron and the adjoining counties.

A representative of this paper spent a very pleasant as well as a profitable day, last week, in this pretty little city, and was astonished at the amount of business done, as well as the large stocks carried by the merchants.

Everybody looked happy, and the prospects for trade were never better.

We will only mention a few of the principal merchants and business men and do up the rest at some future time.

Rockdale has only one bank, under the firm name of J.S. Perry & Co. The business is managed by Mr. E.E. Wynne. This firm does a general banking and exchange business and is reliable.

H.P. Hale & Co. carry a full stock of general merchandise under the management of Mr. E.M. Scarbrough.

Mr. H. Goldsticker, the wholesale and retail dealer in liquors, cigars and tobacco, can be found on the corner of Main and Cameron streets, and he is always pleased to serve his friends with the best of whisky, wine and lager beer.

Mr. John Redding is the largest saddle and harness dealer.

The firm of Giles & Wolf keeps a large stock of hardware, stoves and tinware; they sell as low as the lowest.

Mr. J.O. Sitman carries a stock of groceries that will please those wanting good and fresh goods at living prices.

The Grangers run a grocery and feed store on the corner of Main and Milam streets, opposite the depot. Mr. J.A. Hargrove is in charge and assisted by the "Louisiana tiger." This house is very popular.

Mr. Solon Joynes, the commission merchant, deals very largely in all kinds of farm and mill machinery. He also buys produce, paying the best prices.

Isaacs & Coffield are wholesale and retail druggists, and have a well selected stock of goods.

The Osborne Brothers run the lumber yard near the depot.

W. Max & Co. are now the owners and proprietors of the Max House and restaurant. Mr. George B. Randle, late of Austin, is in charge, and knows how to keep a hotel. The table will compare with the best in Texas. "Slim Jim" is the chief cook, if not bottle washer, and does things up in brown style.

J.J. Mosely keeps a first-class livery and feed stable, and fits people out either for the city or country.

Messrs Witcher & Co., retail liquor dealers, carry a full stock and do a live business.

Mr. A. Kaiser does the leading business in clothing, dry goods, boots, shoes, etc.

Dr. W.A. Brooks is the proprietor of the "Brooks House." His rooms are good and the table first-class.

M.L. Kritser's livery and feed stable and wagon yard are convenient to the Max House. He carries on an open and shut game; that is, he opens to many customers, treats them well, and shuts down on much filthy lucre.

Mrs. E.S. Lapper [sic, i.e., Loper] presides over Rockdale's most fashionable millinery and dressmaking establishment, and puts to shame many city emporiums.

Only one paper -- a wonder to be told -- is published in Rockdale. Mr. Enoch Breeding is publisher of the Messenger, and he makes it a live, newsy paper.

The leading physician of the city is Dr. A.C. Walker, who is besides a pleasant gentleman.

Rockdale has passed through the period that distinguishes new railroad towns, and is now as quiet and law-abiding a place as any in Texas. This fact is to be attributed both to the character of its citizens and the excellent administration of Hon. F.A. Hill, its mayor.

Once in a while some one of the Statesman will take Rockdale in, and its resources and progress will be more extendedly noticed.

1878 :: Death by Chloroform

At Rockdale on Tuesday last, Mrs. Isaacs, wife of Leonard Isaacs, feeling indisposed, retired to her chamber and for the purpose of relieving her headache saturated a handkerchief with chloroform and spread it over her face and when an effort was made to awaken her, she was dead. Galveston Daily News, October 2, 1878

1887 :: First Bale at Rockdale

Dallas Morning News, July 23, 1887. Rockdale, Tex., July 22. -- The first bale of new cotton came in last night. It weighed 532 pounds, classed strict middling and was purchased by A. Steinberg for straight $50 and was shipped to Galveston. This cotton was raised on the plantation of Dr. A.C. Isaacs, about five miles north of town, and the owner received an additional $50 as a bonus from the town. This bale is in ten days earlier than the first bale last season. The weather here has been intensely hot for some time and vegetation generally has suffered, but a msot refreshing shower fell this evening, cooling the atmosphere and laying the dust. Cotton is still looking well in this section, but this evening's rain north, south and east has doubtless helped it.

1877 :: Undoubtedly the work of an incendiary

Galveston Daily News. ROCKDALE (March 22) -- A fire broke out here about 1:30 a.m. this morning which destroyed two of the principal business blocks of the city.


It commenced on the corner of the alley, on the outside of Hubert's saddlery house, and was undoubtedly the work of an incendiary.

He threw kerosene on the outside wall of the wooden building and then set a match to it. The fire enveloped the building in an instant and, before the alarm could be spread, it was evident the whole side of the block must go.


Next to the house in which the fire originated was the warehouse of W. Max & Co., stocked with goods, none of which were saved.


Adjoining this was the Rockdale Messenger office which was entirely destroyed. Enock Breeding's (Messenger publisher) loss was $3,000, no insurance.

The fire then went through Bland's bookstore and Branch's establishment and crossed the street.


It is a sad blow to the place but everybody is in good heart and is going ahead immediately to resuscitate. Rockdale is all right. Mr. Breeding will revive the Messenger immediately.


Losses:

• Hubert & Bros., saddlers
  $3000, no insurance
• W. Max & Co., groceries
  $2000, no insurance
• Bland, bookstore
  no insurance
• Branch & Co., groceries
  $3000
• H.P. Hale & Co.
• Masonic Lodge
  $3500
• Henry Montgomery building
  $2000, no insurance
• Baum & Crohn Bros. building
  $1000, no insurance
• John Scott, photographer
  $400, no insurance
• Lumpkin & Redding, saddlers
  $1500, no insurance
• John Isaacs building
  $400, no insurance
• Robinson, building
  $500
• Sojourner building
  $500
• Sigurdson's building
  $500
• Winder building
  $500
• Durham Hotel
  $750
• William Trigg building
  $1500
• Henry Shoap building
  $300
• J.H. Tracy building
  $700
• James Wicks, groceries
  $7000, partly insured
• George Ginder, barber
  $50
• Henry Cone building
  $700
• J.S. Perry building
  $700
• Fitzgerald Saloon
  $500
• H. Block, dry goods
  $3000, partly insured
• B. Loewenstein & Bro., groceries
  $4000, partly insured
• J.O. Litman, groceries
  $1500
• Baxter building
  $500
• J.B. Moore building
  $600
• John Brown Saloon
  $400
• Marx & Kempner, building
  $500
• A. Strelsky, butcher shop
  $400
• A. Holley & Co., groceries
  $250
• Harkretser building
  $700
• L. Box & Co., butcher shop & confectionery
  $400
• Bole's office & City of Rockdale Jail
  $500
• J. Jegedde, shoe shop & building
  $500
• J.H. Tracy building
  $400
• W.H. Cronin building
  $400

The Rockdale Reporter, August 1, 2002

1911 :: Funeral of Dr. Kenneth A. King

Dallas Morning News, January 12, 1911. Rockdale, Tex., Jan. 11. -- The remains of Dr. Kenneth A. King of 117 Wall street, Dallas, who was killed in the wreck near Abbott on the M., K. and T., arrived here Monday morning, and interment was made at 10 o'clock Tuesday morning at the Odd Fellows' Cemetery. The funeral was from the residence of his sister, Mrs. Leonard Isaacs.

1911 :: Dallas Dentist Meets Death

Dallas Morning News, January 8, 1911 -- Dr. Kenneth A. King, who was killed in the Katy wreck at Abbott yesterday morning, lived at 117 Wall street, Dallas, and was secretary of the State Dental College of this city. He was 30 years old and was born in Bavilla [sic -- Davilla], Milam County. He is survived by a widow and infant child, who are visiting relatives in Anson, Tex. Mrs. King will arrive here this morning at 8 o'clock. Other relatives are four brothers and three sisters -- Dr. F.B. King, Houston; Dr. M.K. King and Dr. Ben R. King, Fort Worth, Hon. H.T. King, Abilene; Mrs. Leonard Isaacs, Rockdale, and Mrs. Letcher, Dallas. The body was brought to Dallas at 7:20 o'clock last night and was met at the depot by Dr. Bradford, president of the State Dental College, and a number of students, who escorted the body to the Ed C. Smith & Bros. undertaking establishment. The body will be sent to Rockdale Monday for burial. . . . [his findagrave memorial page]

1925 :: Reporter looks back at 1888

The Rockdale Reporter. 1925. Old Paper Gives Account of Epochal Event in History of Rockdale. 37 Years Ago Mundine Hotel Burned in Rockdale. Through the kindness of Y.A. Gjedde the Reporter editor has been privileged to peruse a copy of the old Rockdale Messenger, published by Enoch Breeding, of date June 7, 1888, in which is printed an account of the burning of the Mundine Hotel in Rockdale. The fire occurred at 4:00 a.m. on Monday, June 4, 1888, and eleven people lost their lives in the flames, as follows:

• Isaac Crown, Rockdale business man
• Pemberton Pierce, a traveling man
• J.F. Brisco, wife and two children. Brisco was a barber and with his family was to have moved to Taylor the next day.
• Mrs. W.A. Brooks and four children. Mrs. Brooks is described in the story as being "a lady who had been a kind mother to all of us for lo, these many years, until we had all learned to love her."

Of the thirteen people sleeping in the hotel that night only two escaped, one being D.M. Oldham, a traveling man, who got out through an upstairs window, and Dr. Brooks, who was rescued by D. Sanford. The account of the fire is written in a somewhat flamboyant style, and the writer was evidently much agitated, the story being rather incoherent. It is not made plain just who Dr. Brooks was. His rescue and the account of the death of Mrs. Brooks and children are treated in separate paragraphs and no connection established between them. 

The style of the writer is entirely different from present-day newspaper style. The story gives little details of property loss, merely stating that the post office and store of T.B. Kemp were destroyed, and that an adjoining building owned by J.R. Rowland was damaged by the falling walls of the hotel. V.B. Orr, a jeweler, is mentioned as having sustained a heavy loss. The story closes with the following paragraph:

"If we have not told all this terrible story, let the conditions and circumstances under which we write suffice. There was only one of those who perished, but was an intimate and a friend of ours. The pen fails to transcribe the words we would write."

Other items contained in this copy of the Messenger, printed 37 years ago, included:

• an account of the marriage of Mr. C.A. Duffy to Miss Dedie Wilson. Mr. Duffy was described as the representative of the Missouri Glass Works, and Miss Wilson as one of Rockdale's most esteemed young ladies
• the death of a child of N.P. Crump
• the birth of boy babies in the homes of Luther Davis and T.J. Woody
• the removal of the post office to the Messenger building, "around the corner"
• the return from Wooten Wells of Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Isaacs [findagrave]
• the visit of R.H. Hicks and G.B. Randle to Galveston
• the receipt by the editor of a 29-inch turnip and six Irish potatoes weighing near four pounds

A perusal of the advertisements showed that:

• bottle beer was for sale at the Rockdale Saloon at 5¢ a glass
• Hawkes' spectacles could be purchased at Douthit's drug store
• board and lodging could be had at J.H. Simmons, six miles south of town, at the rate of $10 per month or $3 per week by those who desired to stop there and drink the mineral water from the well on that place
• Wallace & Company handled lumber
• John G. Brown sold all kinds of good whiskey
• Isaacs & Lockett were dealers in general merchandise
• J.P. Heywood sold millinery and fancy goods
• T.B. Kemp dealt in dry goods and groceries
• Geo. W. Williams sold farm implements
• Wolf & Winterberg were house and sign painters

Another display ad on the front page announced the democratic ticket of Cleveland and Thurman, giving woodcut engravings of each. Among the professional cards were those of:

• Dr. E.W. Allen, dentist
• Dr. J.H. Wilson, physician
• Thos. A. Pope, physician
• Henderson, Henderson & Mcalla, attorneys
• A.G. Wilcox, attorney
• A.C. Walker, G.A. Trott, B.F. Lee, P.A. Horton and J.B. Stone, physicians

Advertising rates were quoted at one dollar per single column inch. (Present-day advertisers take notice.) T.B. Kemp's produce quotations were as follows:

• Butter 12½¢ per pound
• eggs 7¢ per dozen
• chickens, each 10¢ to 16¢
• turkeys, per dozen, $3 to $7
• hides, 3¢ to 5¢ per pound
• corn 60¢ per bushel
• sweet potatoes 40¢ per bushel
• pecans 5¢ pound
  
• J.H. Hill was mayor
• J.R. Arthur, city marshal
• Solon Joynes, R.H. Ames, J.G. Brown and Joe Lowenstein were aldermen
• H.C. Travers was postmaster
  
• Rev. J.H. Stribling pastor of Baptist church
• Rev. N.F. Law, pastor Methodist church
• Rev. T.C. Brittle, pastor Episcopal church
• Rev. W.E. Copeland, pastor Cumberland Presbyterian church

No less than nine separate and distinct lodge directories were given. The paper consisted of four pages of six columns each, and much of the inside space was devoted to politics, including a two-column interview with Harry Tracy on the subject of the Farmers Alliance.


The brittle and yellowed original of the above 1925 newspaper clipping belongs to Iola Avrett nee Christian of Rockdale.

1899 :: An Awful Accident

The Rockdale Messenger
Rockdale, Texas
Thursday, November 2, 1899

Accident - Mrs. W. P. Henry who has lived on the Cameron road, 3-miles from Rockdale for over 20-years left her son’s home on the Dr. A. C. Isaacs farm, about 3-miles beyond her home, to come home and as was her habit, she pushed her buggy animal, a gray mare that she has driven for several years, into a lope.


She drove over the hill at the home of George Banzhaf and turning down the hill, Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Bradly were going from Rockdale to their home beyond Minerva in a light spring wagon, seeing the vehicle coming down the hill near them, pulled their team, a pair of young mules, to one side to give the road, but before the left wheel had cleared the track to the right fore wheel of Mrs. Henry’s buggy struck the hub of the wagon wheel and smashed it.

The woman had probably never seen the wagon or saw it too late to stop, and she was pitched foremost and fell with her dead between the left fore wheel of the buggy and shafts and was so held that her hair was wound around the buggy hub and spindle and she was held there until some young man, met the buggy at the gate near the old Ferguson place, more than a half-mile this side of where the accident occurred.

She was dead when found as her neck was broken. She was buried at the Pleasant Grove cemetery Sunday evening. She leaves a husband and five grown children, three sons and two daughters, all married. Brother Henry does not blame the drivers of the wagon for the accident but thinks they should have ascertained the results before driving home.

1899 :: Deplorable Tragedy

The Rockdale Reporter
Rockdale, Texas
Wednesday, November 1, 1899

Estimable Lady Meets Death Through an Accident

Last Saturday news reached Rockdale that Mrs. W.P. Henry had been killed by her horse running away with her.

When she was found between her home and that of George Banzoff, near the gate that leads to Dr. Isaac’s home, she was lying across the axle dead, with her hair and clothing wound around the spindle of the buggy.

One of the wheels was broken, and the rim of this broken wheel was found near the Murray school house, from which place she was dragged to where she was found.

The road indicated that the horse had been frightened and ran away. The wheel showed that the rim of the wheel had received a wrench and broke it loose from the spokes.

Her funeral took place Sunday at Murray school house, and a large procession of friends and relatives witnessed the ceremonies that consigned her body to its last repose.

She was the wife of W.P. Henry, one of our most substantial and upright farmers and the mother of five children, all grown [plus three who died young].
The Reporter extends sympathy to the bereaved family.



Later Developments

Since the account of the tragic death of Mrs. W.P. Henry, on another page of this paper, was printed, we learned the following details in regard to her death.

As she was nearing the house of Geo. Banzhoff, her buggy ran into a wagon in which were two young men*, Messrs. Bradley and Jenkins.

This collision broke the rim off the wheel referred to in the other account, and evidently she was thrown out of the buggy at that time, as when found her head was caught between the wheel and the shaft, on the side opposite the broken wheel.

The road over which she went showed where her limbs had been dragged from the point where the collision occurred to the place where she was found.
The men state that she was in the buggy as far as they could see, but in this they were mistaken.

The buggy top was raised and it was impossible for them to see a person in the vehicle, and as they saw no one on the ground, they naturally supposed that she had not fallen out.

It is indeed unfortunate that these men did not follow her and rescue the body, when they found out the wheel had been broken.

While they doubtless thought she was unhurt, they should have gone to her and rendered what assistance seemed necessary.

Her neck was doubtless broken by the fall, and while they could not have saved her, they could have carried the body home when the accident happened.