Milam County Historical Commission
Milam County, Texas
Milam County, Texas
Stone Mason Helped Construct Historic Buildings
'Milam History' by Joy Graham
Rockdale Reporter - April 12, 2012
Readers of The Reporter, and this column, are in for a real treat. Robert Lee Cummings,
a special former Rockdalean, recalls his early life in Rockdale and the San Gabriel
area in a feature story that begins on page 1A.
Cummings was involved in constructing buildings that have impacted history here.
On April 2, Cummings visited with Deedra Jacob and others regarding the Chamber of
Commerce building on West Cameron.
He is 97 years old, and will be 98 on August 2. He has an identical twin brother, Roy
Clifford Cummings. Both are retired, but live a very active life.
Robert lives in Georgetown while his twin Ray lives just outside Dallas and still
drives his own car.
The twins’ parents were Louis Dean and Zettie Mae Cummings.
The family lived on the Hicks Garner place until the twins were three years old. They
moved from the Garner place to another residence in the Tracy Community south of Sharp.
He left Milam County to move to Bastrop where he learned his trade as a stone mason. He
described his training as “hands on”, learning tricks of the trade.
His first project was helping to build the Bastrop Park Headquarters Clubhouse. He
recalled all the tall long leaf pine trees that were cut down to build the park
buildings.
During this time, he was informed that he was one of two stone masons known to be in
Texas.
Cummings remembers a lot of early Rockdale. He built a stone wall behind a house for E.
B. Phillips, who was a partner of Phillips and Luckey Funeral Home.
Oral histories capture many of “the rest of the story” concepts. The visit with Robert
Cummings is just one of those rare moments, when the right person was in the right
place at the right time.
His oral history of this area will enlighten readers to get a glimpse of what Rockdale
and San Gabriel were like in the 1930’s.
marygraham99@yahoo.com
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Columnist Played Part in Grand Opening History
Milam History by Joy Graham
Rockdale Reporter - April 19, 2012
This is the last in a two-part series on stone mason Robert Cummings, who was profiled
in an article in last week’s Reporter.
Cummings has fond memories of building the San Gabriel School. There are two heart
shaped stones in the building, the large stone on the front and a smaller one on
another wall.
The day he was working on the larger stone, Aileen Faulkner watched until the initials
were finished and then commented to her friend nearby, “He has carved our initials in
the stone, we might get married someday.”
They did.
Her parents lived in Rockdale. Mr. Faulkner was quite a gifted musician who played the
piano at many town gatherings.
Those were the days when families dressed in their best, loaded up the family in their
automobiles on Saturdays, came to town, found a parking place and spent the day.
While radios and telephone did exist there was little other way to communicate and that
day in town was a day to “get the town’s news.”
It was on such a Saturday that Sam Perry’s Hardware, located in the block north of
Cameron Street, celebrated its grand opening.
Perry’s was on Main, north of the alley by Preston Perry’s Radio Shop. Entertainment
for the event was Aileen Faulkner’s father, who played the piano.
Store employees Avis Middleton, Graham Dickerson, and Preston Voyles were busy waiting
on customers and helping to make the event a success.
Jimmy Heap of KTAE radio station in Taylor emceed the event.
The Perrys lived up the street from us and I was asked to sing at the opening. I’ll
never forget standing up in the front store window by Mr. Faulkner, seated on the piano
stool, singing “An Irish Lullaby.”
It was a big day in my life back then. I do remember I was in Louise Sessions’s fourth
grade class and I sang that song all through grammar school on St. Patrick’s Day
thereafter.
Robert Cummings left this “mark” on Rockdale and Milam County.
marygraham99@yahoo.com
.
All credit for this article goes to
Joy Graham and the Rockdale Reporter
Joy Graham and the Rockdale Reporter