Milam County Historical Commission - Milam County, TX
Statue of Ben Milam at Milam County, TX Courthouse
Old Junior High School Building, Rockdale, TX
Milam County Courthouse - Cameron, TX
Preserve America
2015-10-28
John E Melde
bjmelde(AT)comcast(DOT)net
1020 Dark Horse Dr W
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO  80919
71nine-five98-two42eight

Can you please send me a good, detailed hardcopy map of Milam County?

*****

2015-10-28
Email forwarded to MCHC & MCGS members.

*****

2015-10-28
Mr Melde,

The Milam County Historical Commission would be happy to fulfill your request. Three maps will be mailed to
you via USPS, first thing tomorrow morning (10/29/2015).

Map #1 may not be quite as detailed as you would like, but it is an interesting brief historical overview of
Milam County. The project was funded in part through a Certified Local Government Grant from the National
Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, as administered by the Texas Historical Commission.

Map #2 "Rockdale Texas" consists of a detailed  Rockdale city street map with a county map on the back side.
A Publication of the Rockdale Chamber of Commerce.

Map #3 "Cameron, Hometown Texas" is similar to the above but a detailed Cameron city street map. Funded by
the Cameron Economic Development Corporation and Cameron Industrial Foundation.

Should you require more detailed or specialized maps of the county, i.e. topography, soil conservation and
etc. I'm sure that they would be available for a nominal fee. If you have the need, I would be happy to
research that more thoroughly for you and advise.

We hope that this means that you intend to visit Milam County and, if so, we would like to extend a warm
Texas and Milam County welcome to you and yours. 
Respectfully,
Jack Brooks

*****

2015-10-29

Mr. Melde,

The USPS Tracking # for your maps is 9500 1140 0912 5302 0321 22 . Anticipate delivery Monday, 11/02/2015.

You'll note when you receive the package, that I suspected that you might have family or heritage in Milam
County. I was curious if the 21 interred Melde's in the St. Paul's Lutheran Cemetery in Thorndale might 
happen to be some of your ancestors. Thorndale and the surrounding small communities in this area have a
heavy Czech, German and Wend influence. That's why I also included the Williamson County map which places
the nearby community of Noack and their paralleling Wend heritage.

I'm particularly interested in Thorndale since I'm affiliated with the local Chamber and attend a church
there. A recent award stated that Thorndale was one of the 10 friendliest cities in the Austin area.

Should my above leap of faith suspicions be valid, I'd like to recommend a book and a movie that you might
enjoy if you're not already aware of them. The book is titled "Vengeance in a Small Town" by George Nielson
and is available on Amazon for about $10 plus shipping. It is a true story about an event, and the author
goes into great depth explaining how the makeup of the community and their thought processes caused it to
occur.

The movie, a true story filmed in Thorndale, is titled The Rookie, starring Dennis Quaid. It was filmed in
2002, directed by John Hancock and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. Also available at Amazon for less than
$10. (I have no personal interests in Amazon.) A good solid family movie. There doesn't seem to be enough of
them anymore.

Regards,
Jack Brooks

*****

2015-10-30

John/Barb Melde

Thanks for the great, newsy email.

I'm probably related to everyone in the St. Paul's cemetery in one way or another.

My direct line is:

Andreas Melde (of Fedor) (1825-1903)  =>  John Andreas Melde (1863-1954)  =>  Henry Ludwig Melde (1891-1952) 
=>  John Edward Melde (1917-1980)  =>  John Edward Melde III (1940- now age 74)

They all attended St. Paul's. My Dad, John, graduated from Thorndale High School in the late 1930s. He had
three brothers: Gus, Leon, and Albert (who still lives in Texarkana).

If you know of any Meldes around Thorndale or anywhere else who would have an interest in Melde heritage, I
would definitely like to get in touch with them. I have a lot of Melde information that I could share,
including details of the Melde line back in Germany going back to the 1700s.

I'll look forward to the Williamson County map, and I'll check into Noack which I was not familiar with.
Also, thanks for the book and movie tips. I had actually heard of "The Rookie", but had not seen the movie.

If you of any other sources for interesting Thorndale information that I could research, please let me know.

Again - many thanks!!!

John Melde

*****

2015-10-30

John,
 
Aha, my suspicions were right. Thanks for sharing some of your family linage with me.

The below attachment lists the Melde's that are shown in the Taylor and Milam County Red Telephone
Directory.

I personally don't know any of the Melde's but have heard the name in conversation in the past. I'm a
relatively new member of the TACC board which is comprised of many generations of members of the community
(which I'm not). I'll throw the hook out with Melde as bait and see what I may catch.

As you probably already know, small town's like Thorndale don't need a newspaper, radio or television
station to spread the word. They have their own amazingly fast communication network that makes fiber optics
seem slow. If someone's sick, the next day the refrigerator door won't close because of all the food that
well wishers brought. The following day the mail box door won't close because of the get well cards. If it's
a very serious issue, they'll have a benefit lined up within a week!. You'll also be on numerous church
prayer lists. That's the beauty of Thorndale, and all the other cities of Milam County because they're all
of a size that the community may easily network(sound like a Chamber of Commerce member, don't I).
 
I just checked the Lucy Hill Patterson Library, on line book index, and don't see any Melde heritage books
listed in the genealogy section. There might be something under the church listing or at the Thorndale High
School library.

Take care, and if I may be of any future assistance please don't hesitate to call on me. My business card is
attached to the maps that you'll be receiving.

Jack Brooks
Milam County Historical Commission
Milam County, Texas
Requests for Info
Received via Website

Meldes in Thorndale TX
.