Information requests: Milam County map

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