1889 :: News from Rockdale

Rockdale Messenger
(Rockdale, Tex.)
Vol. 17, Ed. 1 
Thursday, June 20, 1889

Mr. Frank Mundine of Lexington was in town Monday. He informs the Messenger that he will begin the work of rebuilding his hotel here next week. . . . The Texan says: . . . Rockdale pursues the even tenor of her way; she has no boom but is steadily and surely improving. Several new stores are contemplated; the Mundine hotel will be rebuilt at once; a large cotton shed and platform will be ready for the coming crop. A large number of town lots have changed hands and a private citizen is now building one of the finest residences in the county.

1913 :: Two Trainmen Killed

The Temple Daily Telegram 
Temple, Tex.
Vol. 6, No. 160, Ed. 1 
Friday, May 23, 1913

Engineer and Fireman Crushed 
When S. A. & A. P. Engine Turns Over.

YOAKUM, Tex., May 22. -- The wrecker on the S. A. & A. P. railway left herre [sic] at 1 o'clock for Lexington on the Waco branch where a freight wreck occured [sic] at 11 o'clock this morning.

The engine turned over and Engineer E. D. Waterwall and Fireman Bradley were instantly killed. Waterwall lived at this place and leaves a wife and small children.

1913 :: Wreck on the SAAP

Rockdale, Tex., May 22. -- A southbound freight train on the San Antonio and Aransas Pass was wrecked near Lexington, about fifteen miles south of here, this afternoon. Engineer Wardlow [sic, i.e., Waterwall] and his fireman, were both killed. Six cars of cattle were ditched. The wreck was caused by spreading rails, it was said. The engineer and fireman were caught under the engine, which turned over. The engineer was taken out of the wreckage alive, but died from scalds. Dallas Morning News, May 23, 1913 

1891 :: Work on the Aransas Pass

Dallas Morning News, July 12, 1891. Says the San Antonio Express: Receiver Yoakum announced yesterday that on the 20th of the month the station of Rockdale would be completed and opened for business on the Waco branch of the Aransas Pass road. The tracks will reach Rockdale on Saturday. Work was started on June 22, and when the tracks reach Rockdale seventeen miles will have been completed from Lexington in nineteen days. This is swift work and shows that the contract will be completed before the time. On July 13 the Aransas Pass will open for freight and passenger traffic the station of Portland, seven miles this side of Corpus Christi. It is said that the station-house there is the most handsome on the line of the road.

1906 :: Perry Farm for Sale

FOR SALE -- 520-acre farm near Lexington, or will trade for stock of merchandise or other desirable property. J.W. PERRY, Rockdale, Tex. Dallas Morning News, February 17, 1906

1932 :: Mrs. Mary L. Perry Is Buried at Austin

Mrs. Mary L. Perry Is Buried at Austin. From the Austin Bureau of The News. Austin, Texas, April 14. -- Funeral services were held Thursday for Mrs. Mary Lucinda Perry, 89. She was born in Starkville, Miss., April 7, 1843, and married to J.W. Perry Oct. 25, 1866. After her marrige she moved to Texas and settled at Lexington, Lee County, and later in Caldwell and Rockdale, where she lived for thirty-nine years. Fourteen years ago Mrs. Perry moved to Taylor, where she made her home with a daughter, and nine years ago she came to Austin. Surviving are six children, Ira Perry and Mrs. John Landis of San Antonio and E.H. Perry, Mrs. L.B. Baker, Mrs. E.E. Shropshire and Miss Rosalie Perry, all of Austin. Six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren also survive her. Dallas Morning News, April 15, 1932