1961 :: Death of Edmund Wolf

A message received by Mrs. A.E. Ryan Wednesday from California informed her of the death of her uncle, Edmond Wolf, a former Rockdalian. Wolf was the son of Mr. and Mrs. A. Wolf, who came to the United States from Vienna, Austria, when the son was a small child. Soon after they located in Rockdale. Wolf had been in business with his father when a young man, and before going to California in the early 1920's, he operated the Wolf hotel, located on the corner where the American Legion building now stands. Rockdale Reporter and Messenger, March 16, 1961

1922 :: Carlyle Post #358

CARLYLE POST NO. 358 (Researched by Louis Rinn) 

Carlyle Post 358 was organized May 2, 1922. The name Carlyle was selected to honor two local fallen comrades, Hicks Carlyle and James W. Carlyle. The two brothers were killed the same day, October 8, 1918, only thirty days before Germany raised the White Flag of surrender. The Carlyle brothers resided in the Hamilton Chapel Community which is four miles southwest of Rockdale. 

The first meeting of Carlyle Post 358 was held in an upstairs room of the Dr. H.T. Coulter Building at the corner of North Main and West Cameron streets. Later a meeting place was furnished by the city at the City Hall. 

At the first meeting of Carlyle Post the following men were elected as officers of the Post: Dr. C.E. Wisecup, Post Commander; Percy Diehl, Vice Commander; H.H. Turner, Post Adjutant; John T. Hale, Finance Officer; Fred Eads, Post Historian; Dr. I.P. Sessions, Post Chaplain; and C.U. Cates, Sergeant at Arms. 

The following men were also charter members of the Post: H.E. Blenden, Robert H. Floyd, Dr. H.T. Coulter, Max Ferrari, William F. Vogel, Clyde Franklin, Dr. T.E. Crump, J.P. Horton, Alvin M. Johnson, and Ralph Larrieu. 

In 1935 Carlisle Post purchased the Wolf Hotel at the corner of North Main and East Milam Streets. Plans for a new home were soon drawn by Clyde Franklin. This home was completed in the early forties. 

1952 was the peak year for membership. The total membership for that year was 326. W.P. (Red) Hogan was commander of the Post at that time. 

Carlisle Post has sent at least one boy to Boys' State in Austin each year since it was organized. The Post has sponsored the American Legion baseball team and has participated in civic affairs that have taken place in the city of Rockdale. A History of Rockdale, Texas 1874-1974

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According to a Rockdale Reporter article dated Nov. 15, 2001 . . . In 1935, Post 358 purchased the former Wolf Hotel, one of Rockdale's most historic turn-of-the-century structures. The hotel, at the corner of Main and Milam, was renovated and served as Carlyle Post's home for more than 60 years. Carlyle Post has been through periods of inactivity but still retains some membership and has plans for a new building. The old Legion building (Wolf Hotel) has been razed. That project was completed earlier this year.

1918 :: Death of Carlyle Brothers

Hicks Carlyle and James W. Carlyle lived in the Hamilton Chapel community just southeast of Rockdale. They died in action in France on Oct. 8, 1918, just 30 days before Germany's surrender ended the war. Carlyle Post first met upstairs at the Coulter building, corner of Main and Cameron. Later the post met at City Hall. In 1935, Post 358 purchased the former Wolf Hotel, one of Rockdale's most historic turn-of-the-century structures. The hotel, at the corner of Main and Milam, was renovated and served as Carlyle Post's home for more than 60 years. Carlyle Post has been through periods of inactivity but still retains some membership and has plans for a new building. The old Legion building (Wolf Hotel) has been razed. That project was completed earlier this year. The Rockdale Reporter, November 15, 2001

1918 :: Death of Captain John B. Wolf

Cameron, Texas. Feb. 10 . -- Captain John B. Wolf, an old resident of Milam County, died Friday night. He was born in Arkansas in 1840; enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1861 as a private and served four years, coming out as Captain. In 1869 he moved to Milam County and had lived here ever since. In 1878 he was elected Sheriff and Tax Collector. When these two offices were separated he was elected Tax Collector, and held this office for more than twenty years. He was one of the founders of the old Knights of Honor in Texas and for years was a grand officer. He was also a prominent Mason. He leaves a wife and seven children, all of whom were with him at the last, except one son. Dallas Morning News, February 11, 1918.

1885 :: Death of Dr. Milton Antony

On this date in the history of our hometown . . . the 25th day of January . . . in the year 1885 . . . Dr. Milton Antony dies in Rockdale, Milam County, Texas. He is buried in the Old City Cemetery, which is just out of sight at the bottom edge of the postcard in this collage.


Dr. Milton Antony, Jr. was a Confederate Surgeon in Brazoria County, Texas during the war between the states, then relocated to Milam County, Texas where he was the third Postmaster in Rockdale, serving 06 June 1876 to 26 April 1877 (which was one month after the entire wooden portion of Rockdale burned). He was a practicing physician in both Cameron and Rockdale. A Henry family reunion write-up in a 1931 edition of The Rockdale Reporter states that --

On Oct. 3, 1876, the Henrys [i.e., William Paschal Henry (1836-1912) and Josephine Wingfield Henry nee Davis (1842-1899)] arrived in Rockdale to visit a sister and family of the Mrs. Henry's, it being Dr. and Mrs. M. F. Anthony, who at that time had the post office and drug store combined on the corner where the Wolf Hotel now stands.

That is the Wolf Hotel on the right corner of the Rockdale postcard. The Wolf sat on the northeast corner of the intersection of Main and Milam. According to a history of Rockdale published in 1936, a two-story stone and brick bank building was erected in 1875, which later became the Wolf Hotel, and then, ca. 1935, the American Legion Hall. An 1885 map of Rockdale does show a bank at that location, and on the corner across the street is a post office in the Mundine House.


A year before Josephine arrived in Rockdale to visit her sister, Margaret, the following item appeared in the 12 November 1875 issue of the Galveston Weekly News --

There are street fights occurring (in Rockdale) almost every day and the officers of the law seem to enjoy it, taking their fines, never giving offenders the least word of warning or lecture. Nothing better could be expected when they license women of ill fame for ten dollars a month and receive half of the fines and their compensation. The most disgusting of it is, when they choose, these officers step beyond their authority and utterly disregard the law at pleasure. Every day or two some very interesting scenes occur in the pettifoggeries of Rockdale.

And just a year before that 1875 report, the same paper, in the 09 November 1874 issue, described the brand new city of Rockdale as being --

delightfully located in a thriving section of the county. . . . there are two or three banks, fifty or sixty merchants, and plenty of saloons, and has generally all the appearances of a railroad town. . . . While all is new and in some degree crude, there are some fine stone and brick buildings. . . . Where a population of eighteen hundred now thrive, was ten months ago the home of the deer, and the pleasure ground of the black bear.

For more information about Dr. Antony and his family, see --

• Dr. Milton Antony, Jr.
• His findagrave memorial page
• Dr. Milton Antony, Sr., his father
• Judge Edwin Le Roy Antony, his son
• Antony Roots & Branches, his ancestors & assorted kith 'n kin

P.S. The handwritten paper in the background of the collage is a document from 1864, signed by Milton Antony, M.D. and three other doctors -- requesting the Confederate army to excuse the only druggist in Brazoria County, Texas from being conscripted into the army . . .

Every Family Has One :: My Hometown

My Hometown . . . when I return . . .
the main street still is filled with pleasant faces and glad hellos
with an atmosphere of calm . . . with time for neighborly concern
with joy in sharing another's fortune
or heartfelt words to one who mourns.
Hometown is more than just a town
it is a way of life, a place of peace and quiet
and when I return it is as if I have never been gone
and in my heart I have not.
by
Craig E. Sathoff

Old Rockdale postcard . . .
Main St. north from I & G. N. Depot, Rockdale, Texas

The postcard has been reproduced in multiple Rockdale publications . . .
location / ownership / existence of original unknown . . .
According to a newspaper clipping from the files of my cousin, Peggy (Ferguson) Skeeters, a Henry family reunion was held at the old Hamilton homeplace in Rockdale, Milam County, Texas sometime in 1931. That yellowed and crumbling piece of paper recorded the following about the arrival of my 2nd great-grandpa, William Paschal Henry (1836-1912), and his family in the brand-new town of Rockdale, Milam County, Texas . . .

On Oct. 3, 1876, the Henrys arrived in Rockdale to visit a sister and family of Mrs. Henry's, it being Dr. and Mrs. M. F. Anthony, who at that time had the post office and drug store combined on the corner where the Wolf Hotel now stands.

That is the Hotel Wolf in the lower right corner of the above collage, with an arrow pointing to the same building on the old Rockdale postcard. The Hotel had gone out of business before 1935 when Rockdale's American Legion post purchased the building.

During World War II the building's second story was lopped off and its Main Street front was shortened and remodeled. A stage was added and the hall became the place to be for dances and music for almost 20 years. Rockdale Reporter, 06 Aug 1998

When I was in high school (the 60's), we frequently spent a portion of our weekend hours attending teen dances -- with real live bands! -- in the un-airconditioned bottom-half of this building. My parents were regular fixtures as chaperones at these events.


Directly across the street was McVoy's Grocery Store where my parents shopped weekly. Every Friday, my widowed Grandma, who never learned to drive, had her grocery list ready for Mom or Dad to take with them to McVoy's. There was a large wooden magazine rack near the front door where I would sit and read comic books while Mom checked out. Mr. Galbreath kept the produce stocked and freshly washed, and would give us pieces of fresh sugar cane to chew on. The meat market at McVoy's was where Mom bought steak cutlets for making her infamous chicken-fried steak with cream gravy which NONE of us have ever been able to replicate.


I was back on Main Street in June of 2009 while in Rockdale for the 75th Annual Rockdale Homecoming as well as my Mom's 60th RHS Class Reunion, where I was flattered to be told by numerous people (who had known Mom since the 40s) that, "You look just like your Mom!"


At the Homecoming gathering, one lady said to me, "Aren't you the one who found the snake in the bedroom when you were babysitting Delaine?" That was also during high school in the 60s! I was babysitting for the local pharmacist in his home. The baby and I were sitting in the rocker / recliner in her nursery when I saw a snake come crawling in the room! I got out of the room with Delaine and shut the door (which wasn't much of a barrier since it had such a gap at the bottom) and called my trusty Dad at our home (no cell phones in those days). Dad was there immediately, but it took him a while to find and kill the poisonous copperhead -- it had crawled up into the coils under the rocker / recliner!


Before I left town, we (me & Mom & my sister) visited the Dan Kubiak exhibit at the I&GN Depot, and I also took a few photos of Joy Graham's Bit of History building on Cameron Avenue.


The journey back home to Main Street was nostalgic, while somehow filled with the sweet assurance that at Home we are not forgotten. These people knew me as a child. They knew my grandparents. And in some cases, their parents and grandparents knew my ancestors. And many of the families of Rockdale have somehow managed to climb into my family tree!