1922 :: Death of Joe Bratcher

Joe Bratcher, colored, died in the home of his aunt, Melisa Sanders, Monday night and was buried here Wednesday. Deceased was in the faithful employ of Mayor H.C. Meyer for many years, continuing in his service up to the time he was stricken with the malady that eventually caused his death. Joe belonged to a sturdy pioneer generation whose parents are fast becoming thinner and fewer. Rockdale Reporter, April 6, 1922

1875 :: Name Change

On June 14, 1875, the city council, under the guidance of the first mayor, Alfred A. Burck, passed an ordinance changing the name of the town of Rockdale to the City of Rockdale, in accordance with the town's increase in population and corresponding legislative act regarding the incorporation of cities of one thousand or more inhabitants.


A History of Rockdale, Texas 1874-1974

1892 :: Death of F A Hill

Rockdale, Tex., Jan. 26. -- Colonel F.A. Hill, born in North Carolina, and for forty years a prominent practicing lawyer in Texas, eighteen years of which he lived* in Rockdale, died here Sunday afternoon of la grippe in the 70th year of his age, surrounded by a large circle of relatives and friends. The Galveston Daily News, January 27, 1892

*Mayor Rockdale in 1877

1906 :: Mayor Snively Stricken with Paralysis

Rockdale, Texas, January 20. -- Captain H.F. Snively, an old and highly esteemed citizen and at present mayor of this city, suffered a slight stroke of paralysis last night, which deprived him of the power of speech. Otherwise his physical condition seems to be good, and his friends, which means everybody in Rockdale, feel hopeful that he may fully recover in a short time. His energy and personal appearance do not indicate his age, which is 74, and but for that fact no serious apprehension would be felt. Houston Post, January 21, 1906

1921 :: Collapse of Water Works Standpipe

The Rockdale water works standpipe collapsed under pressure of a full head of water about 9:00 o'clock Tuesday night. The standpipe was 110 feet high, and consisted of 22 sections of 5 feet each. The break occurred on the 9th section, and the thirteen top sections fell with a crash that was heard all over town. 

In falling the tower pointed north and partially wrecked the W.E. Gaither warehouse, formerly occupied by the old Rockdale Commission Company. While the tower proper did not reach the warehouse the volume of water carried by the falling portion dealt the building a blow that wrecked the rear portion and scattered its contents promiscuously. Mr. Gaither's damage amounts to several hundred dollars to building and contents.


Some damage also resulted to the old City Cemetery, a number of monuments and gravestones being displaced and broken, shrubbery uprooted, etc.


In falling the connection water main was broken, thus draining the section of the standpipe left standing, and causing a shortage of water over the city which was not relieved until nearly noon next day.


The loss to the city is really not very great, as the standpipe was known to be almost worthless and its collapse was not unexpected. It was erected in 1890, and was therefore 31 years old and had served its allotted time and many years over. The city council only recently authorized the purchase of a new water tower to take its place, and Mayor Meyer has since been busy getting bids and prices on same, and was about ready to place the order when the collapse occurred. The order was placed Wednesday morning by wire.


Until the new tower can be erected the waterworks will be conducted by direct pump pressure from the plant into the mains. The nine sections of the old standpipe still standing will be kept full and ready for emergency use in case of fire.

Mayor Meyer asks The Reporter to state that no time will be lost in replacing this tower, and that under the system of direct pumping there will be an abundance of water in the mains at all times for all purposes.


The new water tower will cost $10,000, and will be paid for out of the water works plant fund accumulated from the earnings of the water works plant. This fund on October 1st contained $8,454, almost enough to pay for the new water tower.


In this connection the citizens should not confuse the water works plant fund with the water works bond fund. The bond fund is the sinking fund provided for the retirement of the water works bonds and is accumulated from the tax payments. This bond fund now consists of $654 cash in bank and the ownership of $7000 worth of other city bonds, bought as an investment for the water works sinking fund, and drawing interest therefore.


No city bonds of any kind have been bought with the water works, plant fund, which, as above stated, is an accumulation of profits from the operation of the water plant. These profits amount of approximately $300 per month, in addition to which the town receives free water for schools, drinking fountain, street sprinkling and fire protection -- a service which formerly cost the city $100 per month. Cameron Herald, October 20, 1921

1929 :: Rockdale Has White Way

Rockdale, Milam Co., Texas, June 3. -- The latest step for Rockdale during the administration of the new Mayor, W.E. Gaither, is the lighted White Way in the business section and other installations of modern lights in the residential sections. Twenty-four ornamental granite posts with 150 candlepower soft white lights attached in the business district and sixty street lamps in the residential sections have been erected. Dallas Morning News, June 4, 1929

1875 :: Election of Municipal Officers

At the election of municipal officers at Rockdale, the following were the successful candidates: A.A. Burck, Mayor; H.L. Witcher, Marshal; F.A. Hill, Joe King, W.B. Ayers, C.B. Hall, Alderman. Galveston Daily News, April 13, 1875 

1990 :: C.R. Smith, Pioneer of Aviation As Head of American, Dies at 90

Note . . . Mr. C.R. is the son of Marian Smith nee Burck . . . who was the first president of the Rockdale Homecoming Association . . . and is a daughter of A.A. Burck . . . who was the first mayor of Rockdale . . . 
 
Cyrus Rowlett Smith, an aviation pioneer who was the first chief executive of American Airlines and built it over three decades into one of the world's leading airlines, died yesterday after a long illness in Ginger Cove Life Care Center, a retirement community in Annapolis, Md. He was 90 years old and lived for many years in Washington.


Mr. Smith, a folksy native Texan who was known as C.R. and was called Mr. C.R. in the halls of American Airlines, served the company from its beginning in 1934 until 1968, when he resigned to become Secretary of Commerce in the last year of President Lyndon B. Johnson's Administration.


Mr. Smith's management style was distinctive. He would peck out notes, suggestions and criticisms on a typewriter to subordinates. He wrote his own speeches and even some advertisements for American, including a famous one in 1937 that dealt with the sensitive issue of airline safety. It was headed ''Afraid to Fly?'' In the quest for better service, he spent as much time as he could chatting with everyone from ticket takers to pilots.


At 74, Answering a Call
 
In 1973, at the age of 74, after serving several years as a partner in the investment banking firm Lazard Freres & Company, he was called back as chairman of American Airlines to restore economic vitality to the company. He headed it for five months until he found a replacement.


The only other hiatus in Mr. Smith's career at American was in World War II, when he helped organize the Air Transport Command and was its deputy commander.


Mr. Smith was born to poor parents in Minerva, Tex., on Sept. 9, 1899, the oldest of seven children. When Cyrus was 9 years old, his father abandoned the family and the boy began taking odd jobs.


He studied accounting and law at the University of Texas but did not have enough money to finish, his son, Douglas, said.


Mr. Smith, who came of age at a time of open-air cockpits, began his professional career at 16 as a bookkeeper and later worked as an accountant. In 1928, after leaving the university, he went to work as an assistant treasurer of the Texas-Louisiana Power Company. When its head, A.P. Barrett, bought control of an airline that carried mail, Texas Air Transport Inc., Mr. Smith became its treasurer and later financial vice president. Texas Air merged with a group of other small airlines to become American Airways in 1930, and he became vice president of operations.


'The Whole World All at Once!'
 
When American Airlines evolved in 1934, Mr. Smith became its president. Within five years it was one of the nation's leading airlines.
As he became more involved with airline management, Mr. Smith decided to learn to fly; as his son said, if he was going to run an airline he wanted to know about flying. He held a license for many years.


While flying over Arkansas one day in the late 1930's, he later recounted, he forgot to check the emergency fuel tank, ran out of gas and made a forced landing.


"This pilot came after me with a crew of mechanics," he said, "and while they were fixing up the wheel, the pilot politely suggested to me, the boss: 'You run the company, Mr. Smith. Let us pilots fly the planes.'"


In a 1950 interview, Mr. Smith was asked why he became involved in aviation. "The people in aviation made me want to get into it," he replied. "Vigorous people with a sense of humor, their minds big enough to think of the whole world all at once! People whose vision doesn't stop at the horizon."


When Mr. Smith left the Air Corps as a major general in 1945, he was credited with a major role in building the Army's worldwide air transport system. For his wartime service, he received the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit and the Air Medal.
His civilian honors included the Wright Brothers and Billy Mitchell Awards.


Besides his son, who lives in Annapolis, Mr. Smith is survived by two grandchildren; a brother, Burck Smith of Los Angeles, and two sisters, Dorothy Walton of Santa Monica, Calif., and Mildred Muskavitch of Auburn, Calif. The New York Times, April 05, 1990, by George James 

1904 :: Death of Col. N.H. Tracy

Cameron, Tex., Nov. 23. -- News was received here last night from Rockdale of the death there at 9:30 of Col. N.H. Tracy, who has resided in that city for several years and who has been a member of the Milam County bar a long time. He was a member of the Legislature from this county and Mayor of Rockdale for some time. A number of Cameron people left this morning for Rockdale to pay their last respects to the deceased. He was also a soldier in the Confederate Army. Dallas Morning News, November 24, 1904