Milam County Historical Commission
Milam County, Texas
Milam County, Texas
Looking Back
100 Years Ago...
Interesting headlines and recaps of articles
from the
Rockdale Reporter
100 years ago
Compiled weekly by the Reporter staff
100 Years Ago...
Interesting headlines and recaps of articles
from the
Rockdale Reporter
100 years ago
Compiled weekly by the Reporter staff
2015-12-31
100 YEARS AGO
Pee Wee Fannin of Rockdale and Oscar Strickland of Bryan battled to a draw in a one hour, 47-minute wrestling match. A
rematch was being scheduled.
Rev. R. A. Steel of South Carolina was named speaker for the 1916 reunion of Hunt’s Confederate Brigade, to be held in
Rockdale.
County Judge John Watson was granted a two-week leave of absence by commissioners to spend the holidays in Alabama with
his mother.
Commissioners took exception to a grand jury report that Milam County was $200,000 in debt, pointing out the majority of
that sum reflected continuing payoffs of bonds which financed the courthouse and jail in the 1890s.
********************
2015-12-24
100 YEARS AGO....
For the second time in two weeks, a Rockdale hunter became lost on a South Texas trip. Tom Murray was rescued in Kerr County.
The Frank Allen home on West Cameron sustained fire damage but was saved “after some hard work by the hook and ladder crew
and bucket brigade.”
The “blind staggers” disease was costing Milam ranchers. H. F. Smith reported he had lost 12 head of work stock at his place
in the Little River bottomland.
Commissioner E. R. Reese reported convicts would be used to repair and build Milam roads.
********************
2015-12-17
100 YEARS AGO....
Six prominent Rockdale men went deer hunting in South Texas. Andrew Perry became separated from his companions and was
lost for 33 hours before he was found.
R. F. Kayser of Thorndale sustained a badly broken leg when his team of horses spooked and overturned the surrey he was
driving.
Dr. I. P. Sessions resigned as president of Rockdale State Bank. S. G. Hodge was elected temporary president by the board of
directors.
The Reporter reported: “commissioners court is in session but little of interest has been done.” (The story was still
12 column inches.)
********************
2015-12-10-
100 YEARS AGO....
Twenty-three boxes were sold at the Sand Hill School box supper, bringing a total of $9.35, but the apparent highlight was when
“an old lady criticized the teacher for her lack of corporal punishment.”
R. C. “Doc” Wallis was in San Antonio, site of the latest Texas oil boom., where he had leased 35 acres and was in
the process of setting up drilling contracts.
Courtney Hunt of Haskell bought the entire stock of the former Modern Dry Goods in Rockdale and promised to keep
the business going.
Ernest Wilton Perry wrote the first Santa letter of 1915 submitted to The Reporter, during the season asking for “books, if
there are any left over.”
********************
2015-12-03
100 YEARS AGO....
Reporter Publisher John Esten Cooke took a Milam County Grand Jury to task for all the indictments returned against
Rockdale residents. The headline: “Grand jury report constitutes unjust reflection upon Rockdale.”
Opponents of a successful road bond election won the first round in court when Judge J. C. Scott ruled a witness could
testify how he cast his vote. Original ruling had been that since ballots in the election had been destroyed, no testimony
on how any individual voted could be allowed.
The Reporter printed the words to “America,” referring to it as “our national anthem.” (“The Star Spangled Banner” did
not officially become the national anthem until 1931.)
B. Y. Aycock, principal of the Rockdale school for African-Americans that would one day bear his name, was elected
president of a statewide educational organization including 400 schools.
********************
2015-11-26
100 YEARS AGO....
A settlement in a lawsuit over a successful Milam road bond election sent the matter to appellate court after it was
determined ballots from that election more than a year previously had been destroyed.
Henne & Meyer Co. purchased the inventory of the bankrupt Skinner Mercantile Co. of Rogers.
Southwestern Bell announced “wireless telephone” technology had been developed and would soon be put into practice.
The Reporter lamented the current high price of cotton was keeping farmers from diversifying their crops.
***************
2015-11-19
100 YEARS AGO....
“Rockdale was deserted, with virtually all businesses closed” as a trial to determine the fate of a road bond
election began in Cameron. The bonds had passed by five votes and opponents were challenging the results.
An appellate court granted a new trial for former law enforcement Eugene Marshall, convicted of murder in connection
with a death during an arrest.
Bell County voted “dry” by a margin of 500 votes, interpreted as a rebuke to Gov. Jim “Pa” Ferguson.
Scarbrough & Hicks was selling a suit with two pair of pants for $15.
**********
2015-11-12
100 YEARS AGO....
Rockdale defeated Belton 28-0 and The Reporter’s lead sentence was: “with her backs dum-dumming Belton’s line until
the carnage was nauseating....”
Rev. B. B. Blaylock, who recently resigned as pastor of First Baptist Church, stated his reasons in a front-page article.
(He said he was being “led by the Lord into higher fields of opportunity.”)
The Reporter didn’t think much of the recent repair job on the Little River bridge near Cameron. “The man who bossed
that job ought to have a leather medal,” Publisher John Esten Cooke wrote.
The A-101 Ranch Wild West Show was coming to Rockdale featuring “Sioux Chief Iron Tail, whose portrait is on the new
nickel.”
********************
2015-11-04
100 YEARS AGO....
The city council discussed purchasing an “automobile fire truck” for volunteer firefighters and—tongue-incheek— designated
Mayor H. C. Meyer and Reporter Publisher John Esten Cooke as “goats” for “butting into the council’s business.” Meyer and Cooke
had been urging purchase of a motorized fire vehicle.
Farmer J. H. “Munn” McCloud was in serious condition in the Cameron sanitarium after he was run over by his own, fully
loaded, cotton wagon.
Construction began on the new J. E. Coffield “mansion” on Ackerman Street. It was expected to cost $4,000.
Convicts, under the direction of County Commissioner W. A. Allcorn, were building a road from Tracy to Rockdale.
********************
2015-10-29
100 YEARS AGO....
In the second serious accident involving horses in two weeks, Jason Wilson was in critical condition after being hurt by
two horses at the family ranch 12 miles south of Rockdale.
District Clerk Sam Wilson resigned and Penn Wolf of Rockdale was appointed to fill out his turn.
City Marshal John Banks warned “boys with bicycles” that city ordinance prohibited them from riding on sidewalks.
Rockdale beat Rogers 32-0 in football. Rogers failed to score on four successive downs even through the football was
“half across the goal line.” (Rules were different in 1915.)
*******************
2015-10-22
100 YEARS AGO....
Eleven-year-old Frances Camp was dragged to death by her pony as she dismounted to open the gate leading to her home.
R. V. Arnold of Rockdale was elected state president of Hood’s Brigade, composed of Confederate veterans who served
under
Gen. John Bell Hood.
Milam County’s Boys Corn Club was second to Van Zandt County in competition at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas.
The Reporter quoted The Cameron Herald editor who noted a daily paper had published a photo of a man looking longingly
at a bottle of whiskey: “He must be from Rockdale, no Cameronite would content himself with merely taking a look.”
********************
2015-10-15
100 YEARS AGO....
A 26-year-old Lexington man died when he slipped and fell under the wheels of the passenger train he was running to catch.
In a front page story, The Reporter commented on the ongoing First Methodist revival: “So far, the preaching of
Rev. W. D. May has been ‘digging about’ in the religious condition of his hearers.”
Ira Perry Jr. purchased the Model Tailor store from Louis Walden and said he would keep the store in business at its
present location.
Frank Wanoreck of Bowens was in Rockdale looking for cotton pickers. Wanoreck previously farmed in the Rockdale area
from 1872 to 1910.
********************
2015-10-08
100 YEARS AGO....
Tragedy struck as a Milano child was “very critical” after being accidentally shot in the head while playing in his home.
The hull house of Thorndale Cotton Oil Company was destroyed in a fire. Officials said a strong south wind kept the
fire from spreading and burning down the entire plant.
Jeweler and optician B. Regenbrecht returned to Rockdale after a several month hiatus living in California and resumed
both businesses.
Twenty-two entries were received for the Milam County Corn Club’s competition in Rockdale, according to County Agent
George Banzhaf.
********************
2015-10-01
100 YEARS AGO....
A 15-year-old boy died after a target rifle accidentally discharged in the Tanglewood community.
As “The World War” raged in Europe, Rockdale and area children were donating clothing to send to Belgian refugees.
Rockdale had a new automotive repair shop as B. T. Cantwell opened a garage in the Coulter Building.
Capt. B. V. Arnold reminded Rockdale-area Confederate veterans the next meeting of Hood’s Texas Brigade was to be in
Floresville in two weeks.
********************
2015-09-24
100 YEARS AGO....
Turkey Creek farmer A. G. Hinds went to his wagon and discovered thieves had stolen 400 pounds of cotton seed overnight.
It took an hour but Pee Wee Fannin of Rockdale defeated Young Braswell of Bryan in a wrestling match.
The Reporter was publishing a list of people who purchased new automobiles. T. B. Kemp of Rockdale was driving around
in a new Maxwell.
After 24 years, hotel owner Anton Wolf resigned as the local agent for two San Antonio breweries. He was replaced by
J. A. Stein.
********************
2015-09-17
100 YEARS AGO....
The sheriffs of Milam and Lee Counties theorized Tanglewood-area farmer N. J. Lumpkin had been killed and “put away
somewhere.” Lumpkins disappeared July 10.
Estimated loss was $1,500 after a barn owned by C. C Stigall burned at Ellison Ridge, five miles north of Thorndale.
Enrollment on the first day of 1915-16 classes in the Rockdale School District was 349 with 102 in the high school.
Educator Polk Webb of Cameron was enrolling area schools in the new University Interscholastic League, which already
claimed 52 districts as members.
*********************
2015-09-10
100 YEARS AGO....
Night watchman Joe King was credited with saving an entire block of downtown Rockdale after discovering five gallons of
kerosene were poured at the rear of Model Market and set ablaze.
In the wake of that incident, the Rockdale City Council offered a $100 reward for information leading to the arrest and
conviction of any arson inside the city limits.
Rockdale school trustees bought a tubular fire escape for the elementary school “into which the kiddies can be deposited
safely.”
J. E. Cherry, president of the Milam County Anti- Road Bond League, called a meeting of that organization for the Farmers
Union Building in Rockdale.
********************
2015-09-03
100 YEARS AGO....
An attempted murder charge was filed against a Gause tenant farmer who, in the words of The Reporer, “took a fancy shot
at his landlord, but whose lack of marksmanship caused him to reverse the pistol to beat him over the head and face.”
Sheriff Allen Hooks was going to have two opponents in the upcoming Democratic Primary, Constable C. V. Huffman and
R. R. Tyson.
A $100 reward was issued in connection with the disappearace of N. J. Lumpkin, who disappeared from his home south of
Rockdale.
Rockdale Mercantile Co., which had filed for bankruptcy, was purchased by the Crawford & Magee firm and re-opened.
********************
2015-08-27
100 YEARS AGO....
Still coping with the aftermath of hurricane remnants which moved through Rockdale, City Health Officer
H. T. Coulter urged residents to clean up alleys to avoid breeding mosquitoes.
Every oil derrick in the Thrall Field, save one, was blown down by the winds, along with two loading racks.
“They saved all the dry holes,” Reporter Publisher John E. Cooke noted.
County School Supt. Jim Chadwick, in his annual report, noted there were 15 high schools in Milam County.
E. M Scarbrough, 69-year-old co-owner of Scarbrough & Hicks in Rockdale, swam across Lake Austin (Colorado River),
a distance of 1 1/2 miles.
********************
2015-08-20
100 YEARS AGO....
The remnants of a hurricane slammed into Rockdale causing major damages. The Roof Garden Restaurant was destroyed,
the Lutheran Church was one of many buildings knocked off its blocks and many windows were shattered in downtown
businesses.
Annie Gamble, a clerk at Scarborough & Hicks, was knocked unconscious and sustained a broken collarbone when she
fell down a flight of stairs leading to the business’s office.
Will Parent of Cameron was named chairman of the newly-formed Milam County Prohibitionist organization with
Dr. I. P. Sessions as Rockdale precinct chair.
Catchings Bros. Barber Shop advertised: “Buster Brown haircuts a specialty.”
********************
2015-08-13
100 YEARS AGO....
The Rockdale business community was planning a barbecue for Sept. 1 inviting “all county people of the Rockdale
Trade area.”
The 1916 Fords had arrived at Gaither Motor Co. Owner W. E. Gaither said he had received six town cars and two
roadsters in a shipment from Detroit.
All five cotton gins in Thorndale were operating day and night and a total of 18,000 bales were forecast to come
though that city in the summer of 1915.
C. K. Stribbling told The Reporter his family had returned from a 200-mile road trip in East Texas and “the worst
roads we saw were in Milam County.”
********************
2015-08-06
100 YEARS AGO....
Anti-Prohibition forces won a county wide local option election by 247 votes. Rockdale favored prohibition by 21 votes.
Voting was close in every municipality except Thorndale which overwhelmingly voted against Prohibition.
Rockdale gins recorded 10,607 cotton bales handled from August, 1914, through July, 1915.
The 1916 Maxwell auto was on display at Rockdale Motor Car Company, said owner B. Ashby.
Reporter Publisher John Esten Cooke said friend A. Longmire went fishing at Reed Lake in Bell County. “He fell out of
the boat one night and said when they pulled him in there were 13 fish in his pockets.”
********************
2015-07-30
100 YEARS AGO....
Miss Jean Johnson, “the original oil woman” was in Rockdale on oil speculation business and had taken rooms in the Wolf
Hotel.
Lucile Hale of Rockdale was one of five “Austin area” beauties riding a parade float in the Galveston Cotton Carnival.
Bruce Gentry of Rockdale was elected State Inspector of Mines by the Texas Mining Board.
Rockdale Mercantile Co. was forced to close due to a suit by its creditors and the business then filed for bankruptcy
********************
2015-07-23
100 YEARS AGO....
A huge county-wide prohibition rally at First Baptist Church had a surprise speaker. Former Reporter Publisher
R. W. H. Kennon, an anti-prohibitionist told the crowd he’d been on the wrong side and was changing to the “pro” movement.
Milam County resident John Mode was challenging the July, 1914, election which prohibited pool halls from doing business
in the county.
County Agent Edna Trigg, in Childress to conduct a canning seminar, wrote: “a very pleasant feature here is the absence
of saloons.”
There were 89 oil wells in the Thrall field, pumping 5,635 barrels daily.
********************
2015-07-16
100 YEARS AGO....
Prohibition effort spokesperson Mrs. R. H. Hicks urged all local supporters of the movement to put up a white flag and
fly it until the Aug. 4 special option election.
Gov. Jim Ferguson pardoned Rockdale resident C. C. Bethea four years into his five-year prison sentence for a murder
conviction.
J. H. Copeland was appointed Rockdale fire marshal, replacing Aubrey Rodgers. “There was not one flue fire in Rockdale
during Rodgers’ term,” Reporter Publisher John Esten Cooke commented.
An oil drilling rig had been moved from the Thrall Field to Gee Mountain south of Rockdale.
********************
2015-07-09
100 YEARS AGO....
To avoid the midsummer heat, outdoor “tabernacle” revival services by Rev. Robert Jolly at First Baptist Church were
scheduled for 10 to 11 a.m. and 8:15 to 10 p.m.
The Lyons Drug Store/Woodmen of the World building at Tracy was destroyed in a fire.
Rockdale Women’s Club members, irritated their library was being underused said: “Picture shows and automobiles are
monopolizing the lives of too many people!”
Three new oil wells were going down near Rockdale and one had gone through an oil pocket just 180 feet down.
********************
2015-07-02
100 YEARS AGO....
A three-year-old Rockdale-area child was expected to recover after falling into a boiler of hot water.
Backers of a countywide liquor option election withdrew a petition presented to commissioners after they could not agree
on a preferred election date.
More than 300 Taylor Fair backers arrived at the I&GN Depot on a special train and were greeted by a crowd of 600 and a
brass band.
Texas Attorney General B. F. Looney said he would “ignore” a U.S. Supreme court ruling that a Texas law allowing counties,
such as Milam, to ban pool halls was unconstitutional.
********************
2015-06-25
100 YEARS AGO....
Gee Mountain, south of Rockdale, was the newest oil “hot spot” as the Shiloh Oil was formed to begin exploring the area.
On a split vote, county commissioners turned down a petition for liquor local option elections in several precincts.
Supporters vowed to return with a petition for a county-wide election.
A tabernacle was being built at First Baptist Church to handle expected crowds for an upcoming revival by
Rev. Caleb Ridley of Atlanta, Ga.
“War Declared” was the 60-point headline. It was a page sale ad by Modern Dry Goods. World War I was raging but
the
U. S. was not yet involved
********************
2015-06-18
100 YEARS AGO....
Gloom on the oil front as two Rockdale-area wells, one of which was touted as a potential gusher the previous week,
were declared “dusters.”
Thorndale was in shock after a grocery clerk killed himself with a pistol shot to the head at a local hotel.
The Diehl-Hale Orchestra entertained at a lavish 12th anniversary party, featuring a lighted front lawn at the
Mr. and Mrs. R. H. Caldwell’s Twin Oak Farm.
Rockdale and Rosebud’s town teams had each won one game in an afternoon of baseball at Fair Park. But with the
score tied 1-1 in the ninth inning of the rubber game, Rosebud’s team “disputed a decision by umpire Vogel and left the
field.”
********************
2015-06-11
100 YEARS AGO....
A buggy driven by Emerson Thweatt collided with a surrey operated by Walter Farmer. There were no injuries but
The Reporter reported the occupants of both horsedrawn vehicles were “rescued” by Ira Perry, driving his automobile.
Twenty-three Rockdale businesses were to close for the Rockdale-Rosebud baseball game at Fair Park.
An oil well on the Ed Doss farm was the subject of a story in The Dallas Morning News (which thought it was writing
about a different Doss.)
The Oak Hill Oil Company’s first well was in an oil-bearing formation and a “gusher” was anticipated.
********************
2015-06-04
100 YEARS AGO....
Milam and Robertson County officials announced plans for a new bridge across the Brazos River at Port Sullivan to
replace one which was destroyed by flooding.
An ad for the new Maxwell car noted it got 34 miles per gallon at 10 miles per hour and 19 at 40 miles per hour.
Milam County commissioners appointed a “jury” to oversee roadwork in Precinct 8 (Thorndale area).
J. Terry of Minerva said a small child had found a tortoise on which Terry had carved his initials and the date in 1861.
********************
2015-05-28
100 YEARS AGO....
The Rockdale Women’s Club issued in a “new epoch” for local schools by “agitating” successfully for a home garden. The new
facility was dedicated before a “vast assembly.” The exhaustive 31-column inch article in The Reporter was written by...The
Rockdale Women’s Club.
RHS Principal R. L. Grogan left the field of education to study medicine.
“No gushers and no dusters” during the week in Rockdale oil news.
There were four girls and two boys in the RHS graduating class of 1915.
********************
2015-05-21
100 YEARS AGO
Hugh Moon, 22, lost an arm when it was run over by a freight train in the Rockdale International & Great Northern Railroad
yard.
A Milam County Jury returned a 15-year sentence against a deputy constable, accused in the shooting death of a man he was
trying to arrest.
Jim Armstead of Rockdale was killed while concreting the interior of a 90-foot water well at Rockdale nursery when his
safety rope broke.
Prohibitionists filed a 686-signature petition with county commissioners, seeking to ban the sale of alcohol in five of
Milam County’s eight justice of the peace precincts.
********************
2015-05-14
100 YEARS AGO....
Rockdale’s “oil mania” continued. T. S. Henderson and Dr. R. C. Wallis visited an oilfield on the Bud Richards place near
Rockdale and reported “natural gas was bubbling up through a pool of water like someone had opened a soda pop bottle.”
B. Ashby, Maxwell auto salesman, demonstrated the strength of the vehicle by loading 13 men— weighing a combined 2,118
pounds—into one, then driving up the highest hill he could find.
Supt. C. C. Green was elected to another term in that position by the Rockdale School Board.
Rosebud went “dry” 168- 130 in a local option election.
********************
2015-05-07
100 YEARS AGO....
An oil well on the Ed Doss place began to belch natural gas which, when lit, shot a tongue of flame eight feet into the sky.
Not everyone in Rockdale had “oil fever.” An unnamed contributor to The Reporter urged a town cleanup noting “all the time
spent on oil wells might be profitably used to clean up the community.”
Five-year-old George Sessions Perry, and friends, celebrated his birthday with a trip to the Dixie Theatre to see
“Broncho Billy.”
The Rockdale Women’s Club presented the melodrama “The Orphan” at City Hall.
********************
2015-04-30
100 YEARS AGO....
Rain — an estimated 4 inches or more in 30 minutes, 10 inches during 23 hours — brought flooding and devastation to the
Rockdale area.
Fritz Seelke, whose farm fronted the San Gabriel River rescued two teens, Tol York and Howard Hern, who had been clinging to a
treetop for 14 hours.
Flooding washed away the one-year-old bridge over the Brazos River at Port Sullivan. The bridge had been erected after the
previous structure was washed away in the Great Flood of 1913.
A small tornado struck the E. M. Arledge farm near Rockdale, wrecking several barns and sheds.
********************
2015-04-23
100 YEARS AGO....
After a dry hole, the Rockdale Oil Company was trying again with a new well on the Ed Doss farm, down about 100 feet and
“belching a frothy substance.”
Rockdale’s scheduled cleanup day was postponed “on account of everyone’s attention being directed to other things.”
Rockdale Motor Company was offering the “record-setting Maxwell super car” for $695.
Wedding story in The Reporter: “The marriage of Elizabeth Baxter of Rockdale and Charles Van Oran of Kansas City came
as a complete surprise. It demonstrates the fact that some women, at least, can keep a secret.”
********************
2015-04-16
100 YEARS AGO....
Bad news. Rockdale Oil & Gas Company’s much ballyhooed oil well on the George Doss farm was a “duster” (dry hole).
It was abandoned after reaching 1,700 feet.
At the request of the Rockdale Women’s Club, Mayor H. C. Meyer proclaimed April 23 cleanup day throughout the city.
Reporter Publisher John Esten Cooke proposed an oil well be drilled at Fair Park, noting if water was struck “that
would be okay, too.”
Rockdale’s men’s baseball team’s manager — identified only as “Mr. Poindexter” — said a new grandstand, capable of
holding 300 spectators, had been constructed at the Fair Park diamond.
********************
2015-04-09
100 YEARS AGO....
Reporter Publisher John Esten Cooke: “There was such a low turnout in the Rockdale city election judge Harry Perry and
clerk Ike Pepper had to pinch each other at intervals to stay awake.”
Four teams of Milam County convicts were busy building a new road in the Minerva area.
Constable J. D. Hamilton arrested a Rockdale man for knocking another man unconscious near the I&GN Depot and taking $89
in cash.
Rockdale was selected to host a May meeting of the Texas Farmers Union expected to draw 300 persons to town.
********************
2015-04-02
100 YEARS AGO....
There was starting to be concern over the Rockdale Oil & Gas Co. well which was down 1,050 feet in hard rock and going
slowly.
Oil play was much better in Thrall where six wells were flowing, one of them a new gusher producing 1,400 barrels per day.
An election was being held for Place 3 on the Milam County School Board to replace C. M. Beard of Milano, who had been
elected to the state legislature. R. J. Slone of Sand Grove was the sole candidate.
Construction on the macadam road from Cameron to the Minerva precinct line stopped in the community of Minerva leaving
residents there upset.
********************
2015-03-26
100 YEARS AGO....
Oil-crazed Rockdale now had its second drilling company, the Pecan Valley Oil Company, led by G. M. Ryan, R. C. Wallis, R L.
Hale, H. C. Meyer and Otto Lengert.
Thorndale got into the oil act with the Thorndale Oil Company, led by J. F. Smith, Will Wuensche, L. I. Wilson Jr., J. R.
Ellison, Charles Wuensche and J. S. Gore.
A man from the Harmony community was shot and killed by a special officer representing Milam County law enforcement who was
making a disturbing the peace arrest.
Night watchman Joe King offered a service whereby he would call Rockdale residents during the night, if they desired to be
awoken to catch a night train.
********************
2015-03-19
100 YEARS AGO....
The new Rockdale Drilling Company had an oil well 400 feet down on the George Doss farm and was “going public” with
sales of stock shares.
Thorndale students were set to catch a train into Rockdale for two basketball games and three spelling bees, all in the
City Hall auditorium (today’s police station).
Terms of city aldermen R. L. Hale and W. D. Turner were expiring as Rockdale called for a city election.
Local businessman H. G. Perry sustained facial injuries when he attempted to crank his car and the crank flew off,
striking him in the face.
********************
2015-03-12
100 YEARS AGO....
Oil booming Rockdale has a new business consortium, planning to drill on the George Doss, Richard A. Doss and A. A. Doss
farms.
Reporter Publisher John Esten Cooke predicted Taylor would soon become “only a suburb” of Thrall were an oil gusher had
just been brought in.
Minerva residents were worried a new road coming south from Cameron would stop before reaching their community.
On a motion by Lee County attorney Alexander an indictment against a Lexington man, accusing him of “wearing a bathing
suit while playing basketball” was dropped.
********************
2015-03-05
100 YEARS AGO....
Sheriff Allen Hooks arrested George McAnich and charged him with cattle theft. McAnich was constable of Milam County
Precinct 5.
With oil and gas activity booming, a group of Rockdale men organized an oil/gas company with H. Lockwood as president.
Rockdale residents were organizing in hopes of re-starting the town’s annual fair. No fair was held in 1914 due to poor
agricultural conditions.
Reporter Publisher John Esten Cooke: “Basketball is a fine game, the equal of football, but why do the young men playing
it wear such extreme negligee costumes?
********************
2015-02-26
100 YEARS AGO....
A drilling venture group of Rockdale men struck oil in the Thrall area and maintained “the Thrall Field is now a proven fact.”
A burglar shattered the plate glass window of the Raymon Store downtown and made off with two pair of shoes and work pants.
Reporter Publisher John Esten Cooke, commenting on the World War I stalemate in France, wrote: “One side or the other has
to get someone whipped before peace can be restored.”
Modern Goods downtown sold off its inventory at 40 cents on the dollar then, surprisingly, re-opened as the new owner hired
former owners Copeland and Shaw to run the business.
********************
2015-02-19
100 YEARS AGO....
Rockdale students were to catch a train for Thorndale and have a spelling bee against Thorndale students at a brand new,
$20,000 school building.
Sheriff Allen Hooks arrested a Cameron man and charged with murder in connection with the death of a Cameron resident that
was originally thought to be a suicide.
County commissioners went to Port Sullivan to tour a new bridge across the Brazos River linking Milam and Robertson
counties.
The Dixie Theater “warned” about its upcoming feature, “Thanks for the Lobster,” starring Wally Van: “If it hurts you to
laugh, stay away!”
********************
2015-02-12
100 YEARS AGO....
A movement to back Texas agriculture held a rally at the courthouse. The Reporter’s headline and deck: Cameron Folks Have
Awakened; Movement Brings Our County Capitol Out of its Long Nap.”
Would be safe-crackers broke into the Talley Store downtown but fled after they were unable to open the store’s safe with
hammers.
The city council approved purchase of a new hose and ladder system for Rockdale volunteer firefighters. Specs called for
the equipment to be pulled by team of horses.
Baseball season opened in Rockdale as the Methodist Church’s Wesley class defeated the Baraca class 9-3. “Thompson” was
winning pitcher.
********************
2015-02-05
100 YEARS AGO....
A Belton merchant, apparently despondent over his health, committed suicide while waiting for a train in Milano by
swallowing carbolic acid.
Incumbent State Sen. A. W. McCollom of Waco defeated Rockdale Mayor H. C. Meyer. The Reporter commented: “the big Waco
vote was too much of a handicap” and “despaired of Milam County ever electing a state senator.”
Louis Diehl’s orchestra was to play for a masquerade ball at the Buschdale Community Hall.
The Reporter purchased 40 pounds of Sudan grass, with packets to be given away with each one-year subscription or
renewal.
********************
2015-01-29
100 YEARS AGO....
Seven-year-old Amiel Mitchell of Rockdale died after the boy’s clothing caught fire as he played near the family home
on College Hill.
A quarter-page ad signed by representatives of 52 businesses, virtually the entire Rockdale business community, backed
Rockdale Mayor H.C. Meyer in his bid for the state senate.
The Reporter endorsed an idea to consolidate three rural school districts noting “the concept has worked in Bell County.”
“The Triumph of Science” was the headline on a Southwestern Bell & Telegraph ad which boasted “talking by phone between
New York and San Francisco is now an accomplished fact.”
********************
2015-01-22
100 YEARS AGO....
Arson was suspected as a two-story rent house burned near the SA&AP Railroad Yard in east Rockdale.
Rockdale awoke to an inch of snow. Supt. C. G. Green held the first school bell 30 minutes so “the children could have a
little fun.”
The Reporter reported: “Probably no greater tribute was ever given a bride-elect than the shower last week for
Annie Claire Loper, who will marry R. N. Stitt Jan. 21.”
A meeting was set to consider building a new high school to consolidate the New Salem, Lewis and Brier Branch schools.
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2015-01-15
100 YEARS AGO....
Milam County commissioner upheld the validity of a road improvement election in the Thorndale area.
B. Regenbrecht, longtime Rockdale jeweler, announced he was liquidating his inventory, closing the business and moving
from Rockdale.
Rockdale Mayor H. C. Meyer was running for the state senate post being vacated by H. B. Terrell, who had been elected
state comptroller.
Farmers northeast of Rockdale were asked to bring their plows, scrapers and teams to the John Gamble place for a road
working.
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2015-01-08
100 YEARS AGO....
C. L. Tanner, former Reporter publisher currently at the Alice News, sent Reporter Publisher John Esten Cooke a dozen
roasting ears to prove “we can grow corn in January in South Texas.”
Rockdale’s “Goodfellows” brought Christmas cheer to 24 families and raised $106 in donations throughout the community.
Gertrude Stohlerfolt won the Dixie Theater’s popularity contest and received a diamond lavalliere as first prize.
The Houston-based Texas Creamery Company said it would open a Rockdale sub-agency if pledges could be obtained for milk
from at least 40 “good Jersey cows.”
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2015-01-01
100 YEARS AGO....
Night watchman Joe King apprehended a burglar in the show window of Coffield hardware. King told The Reporter: “He was
neither drunk nor crazy at the time of his arrest.”
The SA&AP Railroad was making Rockdale the southern terminus of two of its daily runs from Waco.
Henne & Meyer Co. of Rockdale was purchasing Hefley Hardware of Cameron.
A Rockdale man convicted of a 2013 murder was pardoned by Gov. O. B. Colquitt and returned home in time to celebrate
Christmas
.