B: 6 Oct 1859 Kaufman, Texas D: 25 Mar 1858 Royse City, Rockwall, Texas

Transcription

1 Alfred Agee Reese B: 6 Oct 1859 Kaufman, Texas D: 25 Mar 1858 Royse City, Rockwall, Texas

2 This was retyped with certain facts edited, from The Greenville Banner Monday May 28, 1956 Editorials by Herman Scott Greenville, Texas, and Julie s notes from genealogy records on the Reese family in the Fort Worth Public Library (source not cited). Royse City (Rockwall County) didn t exist when this town s oldest citizen was born more than 96 years ago. A. A. (Alf) Reese, who will be 97 on Oct 6, remembers when the area embraced by Royse City was prairie land, and all around were elm thickets, maybe a mile-long and 200 yards wide. He saw the Katy railroad come it, and witnessed the birth of this busy town, which was named after Al Royse. Mr. Reese hasn t been very active in the past five or six years, but he has lived a busy life that has been marked by activity in a number of fields ranging from ranching to banking. He too, was on of the earliest merchants in Royse City. Nowadays, when the weather is pleasant, the town s oldest citizen will be seen on his front porch in his wheel chair, chatting with members of his family and neighbors, and watching the traffic move by. He usually stays out of bed several hours a day but the condition of his health demands that he get considerable rest. Rockwall County was created and organized in 1873, and Mr. Reese was 14 years old then. He was born on Oct. 6, 1859, at McLendons, six miles south of Rockwall, and technically he is a native of the county, although when he was born McLendons was in Kaufman County. I came to Royse City 76 years ago, said Mr. Reese. My father Charlie Reese (John Charles Galloway Reese), went to the Civil War from here, he added. When Mr. Reese landed in this community only a few families lived here, and as he says, there wasn t a sign of a store, The grade for the Katy railroad was being constructed, and later he watched workers lay the rails from Hunt County to Dallas. Like other old-timers of this section, Mr. Reese gives the Katy credit for Royse City s existence. After the railroad came through the town sprang up, and it made some pretty fast growth, he commented. Mr. Reese helped Al Royse build the first store in Royse City, and for a while was a partner with him in the ownership of the business. Later he sold his interest to a brother of Mr. Royse. When we build our store, we hauled lumber from Terrell, and got our merchandise from Dallas, Mr. Reese recalled. It was a general store and business was brisk from the beginning. Mr. Reese wasn t too interested in merchandising; he preferred ranching, and the banking business also appealed to him. For many years he owned and operated ranches in various Texas localities, and also in Oklahoma. I was at Dalhart for several years,

3 and also had a ranch below San Angelo, he said. He also acquired considerable farm holdings in the Royse City vicinity. The nonagenarian has been the vice president of two different banks in Royse City, the First National and the First State. He helped to organize the First National about 1900, and later on when First State was formed he took some stock in it and served as an official. Mr. Reese said that the Citizens State Bank in Royse City, which is headed by Joe Van Cleave as president, is the outgrowth of the old First State Bank. He once was a stockholder in the bank now in operation. Although he was born near Rockwall, Mr. Reese was raised at Poetry in Kaufman County. It was called Turners Point then, he said. Besides his ranching, farming and banking interests, Mr. Reese operated a hardware store in Rockwall for a good long while. He said he had built two or three homes in Royse City, but my ranching interests kept me away from here most of the time. Once he lived in Greenville and fed cattle at the oil mill. My oldest children went to school there, he said. I was in Greenville when the Texas Midland Railroad was run through there, he added. Greenville didn t have near as many people then as it did now. Mr. Reese recalls that he handled cattle with the late Uncle Bill Arnold, a pioneer Hunt County citizen who lived to be 105. I once asked Uncle Bill how old he was and he told me that was none of my business, he said. Uncle Bill must have been pretty close to 100 then, but he was mighty active. The first railroad Mr. Reese ever saw was the Texas Pacific, which ran through Terrell. That was before he watched the Katy inch across the prairie in the Royse City community. For 10 years Mr. Reese was president of the school board in Royse City, and was instrumental in helping the school system to grow. We built some new schools, and when we saw the need of a Negro school we put that up too, Mr. Reese said. There was only one small school in Royse City when Mr. Reese settled in the community. I have always tried to help in anything good for the community, Mr. Reese declared. He is a member of the Baptist Church, which is just across the street from his home, and attended services regularly before he had to start making his way around in a wheelchair. Mr. Reese has been married twice, and his second wife is still living. I have been the father of 16 children, eight from each marriage, he said. He thinks that about 10 of his children are still living. They are scattered all over the state, he said. I don t know how many grandchildren I have, said Mr. Reese. If I tried to tell you it would be just a wild guess.

4 His oldest son is George Reese, Fort Worth rancher, who is 72. His youngest son is Will Reese of Dallas is 34. My children visit me quite often, Mr. Reese remarked. He has a 92-year old sister living south of Cleburne. She is the youngest in the family, he said. Mr. Reese can still sign checks without glasses. His eyesight is pretty good, he said, but sometimes it gets a little dim. A Democrat who has always had a preference in politics, Mr. Royse declared he had never made a fool of myself in politics. Obituary Alfred. A. Reese, 98 County Native Dies at Royse City Reese 98, Rockwall County and native of Royse City for 79 years died at his home there Tuesday after a long illness. Mr. Reese was a retired pioneer banker, civic leader and town builder of Royse City. He was born Oct. 6, 1859 at McLendon when that community was in Kaufman county, before the formation of Rockwall county. He helped build Royse City s first mercantile business, witnessed the construction of the Katy railroad and was organizer of the First National bank in Royse City in He was a member of the Baptist church and Masonic lodge. Mr. Reese was the father of 16 children 10 of who are still living. Funeral services and burial are being planned with the Royse City funeral home Survivors include his wife the former Virginia Lee Fitspatrick; seven sons, George Reese of Fort Worth, Charley Reese of Winnsboro, Walter Reese of San Angelo, Lennie Reese of Houston, Pender Reese of Robintown, Harry Reese of Corpus Christi, Wilkey Reese of Dallas; three daughters, Mrs. Hennie McChord of San Bernadino, California, Mrs. Ruby Adams of Royse City, Mrs. Janette Harris of Eastland. 27 great grandchildren and 33 great great grandchildren and eight great great grandchildren also survive. James Reese and Grady Reese are third cousins. He was the son of JCG Reese Charlie and Patsy Tudor, who came to Texas in They were the parents of Emma, born in 1854, John born in 1857; Alfred born in 1859; Sadie, born in 1863 and Charley who was born in Their son, Alfred Agee Reese married Sophia Bryant in There children were George, Tennie, Charley, Anson, Walter, and Troy. Sophia died in 1889

5 Alfred married Virginia Lee Fitzpatrick in 1900 after the death of his first wife Sophia. Their children were Rubye born 1902; Alfred Jr. born 1904; Lennie born in 1907; Jeanette, born in 1910; Pender born in 1912; Harry born in 1916; Wilson who arrived in 1918.

6 The photo above is from Jim Harris taken about Grandfather Fitzpatrick is to the far left Alfred Agee Reese was born at McLendon s six miles north of Rockwall, technically native of Rockwall, although when he was born, McLendon was in Kaufman County. Raised in Kaufman Co. Turner s Point. Alfred earliest memories were of the civil war. My father Charlie Reese went to the Civil war from here. His father told him of joining a group from old Kaufman County in 1862 staying in the War until the surrender, and then moving to Indian Territory. It was there that he took pneumonia and died. Alfred remembered a friend bringing his father s horse back. That horse later was stolen and an old nag left in it s place by Yankees, who were stationed nearby to see that the slaves were really set free. He had many stories to tell of the slaves Rhodie and Ann, whom they had brought with them from Tennessee. Alfred came to Royce City in He saw Royce City as a prairie. He was working in the field when Al Royce came and told him that Bird Royce has sold the right of way for the railroad. They made plans for a store, hauled lumber from Terrell, Texas and build the store where the First National Bank later stood. Helped Al Royce build the first general store in Royce city and later he sold his interest to other members of the Royce family who came from England the Old Country. The railroad came through in He helped organize the First National Bank in Royce City in 1900 and later served as vice president of that bank and also owned stock. He also served as vice president the First State Bank in Royce City. He served as president of the school board for ten years. He and Mr. Bridgeman and built the first school in Rockwall County for African Americans. It has been claimed that he served as the Mayor of Royce City but this wasn t confirmed with City Records. He also owned and operated a hardware store (could be the same as the General Store). He was a Baptist and a member of the Masonic Lodge for over 50 years. Also, he was a member

7 of the "Over 90 yrs Club." A. A. was the first member that author Zaner Robinson wrote about in the Royse City American who was quoted as saying, "Alfred Reese was a builder of Royse City and truly a pioneer." A. A. Reese preferred ranching and the banking business. He owned and operated ranches at various places in Texas, two of which were in Oklahoma on one south of San Angelo. Once he lived in Greenville and recalled hand feeding cattle with late Uncle Bill Arnold. (Having various ranches could be why Anson Jones was born in Anson Texas). A. A. married twice and had sixteen children, the oldest of who was George Reese, born in 1884 and youngest was Will, born in Alfred s first marriage was to Sophia Bryant in The children or record of are: George, Thomas, Tennie, Charley, Anson, Walter, and Troy. After Sophia s death in 1889, he married Virginia Lee Fitzpatrick in 1900; the children of record from this marriage are: Rubye, Alfred Jr., Lennie, Jeanette, Pender, Harry, and Wilson. (There apparently could be two children missing to account for sixteen, these are all I could find records of.) Alfred Agee's grandfather, John C. Reese was married to Martha S. They were pioneer Texans; who came from Tennessee in It was said that Martha had 5000 dollars sewn inside her petticoat as they made the long journey by wagon trail; there were 9 Reeses in the covered wagons. They settled southeast of Rockwall on the Newell Survey, now known as FM They bought the Newell Survey (640 acres) and paid $640 for the land; the country was wide open when the families bought this land but the few families living there could not cultivate the land with the equipment they had since the black soil was sticky so they moved to a settlement in Poetry, TX (12 miles east of Rockwall)