"Rockdale, my hometown, is Texas' heart and significant part of its soul," George Sessions Perry wrote in his book, Texas: A World Unto Itself. Perry wrote with lifelong affection about his hometown, first as a novelist and later as a magazine journalist. He describes the pioneers of Rockdale as typical of restless Southerners who hitched their wagons and moved to Texas after the Civil War. . . . Clay Coppedge . . .
Showing posts with label Williamson County. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Williamson County. Show all posts
Thursday, February 9, 2012
1874 ::Birth of Rockdale
Hence, it is with pleasure I hail the birth of Rockdale, the future distributing point for Milam, Bell, Williamson and Burleson counties ... by the completion of the Brazos bridge is connected with the outside world ... it is in the heart of one of the best agricultural districts in Texas. The town already contains from twenty to thirty houses, and is rapidly growing. Being the present terminus of this immense (rail)road, situated in a most healthy and convenient locality ... what is to prevent Rockdale from becoming one of the most important points in the interior? ... Rockdale is destined to become the great shipping point for Texas stock. Galveston Weekly News, February 9, 1874
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
1893 :: Suicided on the Northbound Train
The Galveston Daily News
Wednesday, January 11, 1893
Cut His Throat on a Train.
A Witness in the Sheriff Olive Assassination Case Commits Suicide.
Taylor, Tex., Jan. 10. -- A man named Young, between 40 and 50 years of age, and a witness for the state in the Armstrong and Olive murder trial at Georgetown, suicided on the northbound International and Great Northern at 11 o'clock this morning as the train was pulling into the Taylor yards by cutting his throat with a pocket knife. He had been to Georgetown yesterday as an attached witness in the case, and was at Echo in Bell county on the night J.T. Olive was assassinated. Soon after the train left Hutto, eight miles south of Taylor, deceased was sitting on a seat in the smoking car with Sheriff Brookshire of this county, and telling him what he knew about the case. Just before the train reached Taylor, Young left his seat, going into the closet, where the deed was committed. Young's family lives five miles north of Cameron, in Milam county. He had three or four sharp pocketknives and some silver change in his pocket when discovered.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
1878 :: The Notorious Ache
The Galveston Daily News. Friday, July 19, 1878. Milam County. Rockdale Messenger: On Saturday last an officer came down the International with the notorious Ache, against whom there are 32 indictments. He hails from Williamson county, and had taken refuge in the Cherokee nation, where he was captured. He has broken jail and escaped from officers more than once.
The Galveston Daily News. Friday, August 22, 1879. The Hanging of Bunk Ake Tomorrow. Austin, Aug. 21. . . . There is general interest about the hanging; people are coming in from all directions to see it. The gallows which was erected in the jail yard was taken down this afternoon and disappeared. This mystifies the sight-seers. The sheriff proposes to track the law which requires privacy. The governor this afternoon was again interviewed in Ake's behalf, and wll read the papers to-night. Ake stiffens his neck and declines to be converted. A colored preacher of his acquaintance wanted to pray for him, which service he declined, charging the reverend parson with having taught him to steal.
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