Roosevelt Part 2

admin — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 00:19:07 +0000

Roosevelt Part 2

Roosevelt, Texas Part 2

To properly record the history of Roosevelt, it is important to include the early history of this part of Kimble County by reflecting on the 1852 route of the Fort McKavett to Fort Clark Military Road, variably known as the Mackenzie Trail. The route was located near the present site of the Roosevelt post office, and the historical marker located nearby states: “The location was selected mainly because it had water available. It served as a route for freight and mail, 1868. When forts were reactivated, over it went troops, supplies, a few immigrants, and pioneer ranchers. It was noted also for the passage of forays of Col. R. Mackenzie against hostile Indians to the Northwest. After forts were abandoned in 1883, ranchers drove cattle to market over parts of the road.”

Within the area of Roosevelt was the military road known as the San Antonio to Fort Terrett 1852-1854. An historical marker erected in 1966 relates “In the 1850’s, two-thirds of Texas was held by Comanches or threatened by raids. Posts such as Fort Terrett stood from the Red River to the Rio Grande for protection..The army closed Fort Terrett in 1854, but settlers used the route as their main road.”

A previous post office in the near vicinity preceded Roosevelt. John McNicol, a native of Scotland and a frontier surveyor, established Nicolia eighteen miles west of Junction City. The site was 200 yards south of the North Llano River on the east side of Maynard Creek. The application was dated March 30, 1881, but we are unable to locate any info on the length of time the post office was active.

Large ranches were being established in the area creating the need for local post offices. John F. Gardner homesteaded near the head springs of Maynard Creek in 1879, later selling the holdings to James Paterson in the 1880’s. Mr. Gardener then founded another ranch downstream on Maynard Creek. During his lifetime, he was to accumulate some thirteen sections of land.

On May 2, 1905, shortly before a brief closure of the Roosevelt post office, Moritz deCloudt bought one-half acre of land from W.B. Waggoner. Mr. deCloudt received his appointment as Postmaster on November 20, 1905, and the post office has been continuously active for well over one hundred years. Moritz deCloudt, whose nickname was “Joe” was born in 1859 and died in 1926. His wife Celia died in 1932; both are buried in the Copperas cemetery.

In 1907 Edward B. Landrum, a Civil War veteran, became postmaster. He died in 1914 while operating the Roosevelt store and post office. He also is buried in the Copperas cemetery.. The late C.C. Watkins, who was born in 1905, recalled the Landrum store was housed in a box-type wooden building, and that mail came by horseback. The store kept candy in barrels; in fact, everything was shipped in barrels and had to be weighed on scales. All goods had to be freighted overland to Roosevelt. The water supply for the community came from a nearby spring. The Watkins family lived four miles west of the town, and transportation was by burro or horse. Mr. Watkins related in a 1987 interview memories of barbecues, picnics, the Gardner-Holland-Adams goat ropings, baseball games and Christmas parties in the community. He also recalled box suppers to raise money for the school and also remembered a bounty was paid for rabbit ears. The one room school was taught by a Mr. Cottingham.

Next week more on the Roosevelt schools.

The post Roosevelt Part 2 appeared first on Connie Sue Low.

Roosevelt, Texas Part 1

admin — Thu, 13 Apr 2023 23:50:08 +0000

Roosevelt, Texas Part 1

Roosevelt Post Office and General Store

At this site, in the picturesque valley of the North Llano River and almost on the western fringes of Kimble County, Texas, the village of Roosevelt had its humble beginnings in 1898. It is generally surmised its name perpetuates the exploits of Theodore Roosevelt, who was said to have made expeditions with his Rough Riders into this backcountry while stationed at San Antonio prior to the Spanish -American War.

The earliest history of the more than a century old Roosevelt post office began when Alice Clara Ella Wagner sent an application (duly authorized and signed by Junction Postmaster Frank Vickery) to the Postmaster General in the spring of 1898. She requested that a postal office be established at this site. The application was approved on June 15, 1898, and Mrs. Wagner received her official appointment August 22, 1898.Family legend relates Mrs. Wagner preferred “Roseville ” because of her love of roses. Nevertheless, the “powers that be” in Washington, D.C. wrote the name “Roosevelt” in bold script across the top of the application.

Alice Clara Ella McDonald was born July 6, 1861 in Jackson Parish, Louisiana. Her father died during the Civil War. Alice’s husband and helpmate, William Benton Wagner, grandson of a veteran of the American Revolution, was born in June, 1843,in Moultrie County, Illinois. The Wagners moved to Kimble County in 1885 after purchasing ranch land on the North Llano River on November 30 of that year.

Alice died July 7, 1919, and her husband outlived her four years before his death in 1923. Both are buried in the Junction cemetery.

A Wagner great-grandson, Larry D. Kirkpatrick of San Antonio, Texas submitted a brief family history for publication in FAMILIES OF KIMBLE COUNTY in 1985, and the following is quoted from his information: “William Benton Wagner was a freighter and brought goods for the store by wagon. He was noted for walking long distances; even in his very old age, he would walk to Hext to visit his sons. William kept the kitchen of his house in the old style, a completely separate building removed from the rest of the house. He kept roses growing on both sides of the walkway to the kitchen. The storm cellar was used every time the storm clouds came.”

W.B. Wagner did not acquire title to the post office until May 12, 1902 . Peter Menges deeded it over.

In the Roosevelt Roundup column dated November 13, 1958 an item related that “some of the Peter Menges family who lived here fifty years ago were back recently for a visit.”

The late J. Marvin Hunter in 1954, recalled an occurrence in 1898 prior to the founding of Roosevelt. In the company of Rev. W.F. Gibbons, Mr. Hunter, then a young man, traveled from Junction to Sonora and we quote a portion of his recollections: “The road was not much more than a cow trail. I remember we went up the North Llano for twenty miles, crossing that beautiful stream many times. It was in the month of March, and while glorious Spring had not yet burst forth, the scenery was entrancing, and the rippling waters and overhanging crags presented a grandeur that cannot be described by my pen. Twenty miles above Junction about where the village of Roosevelt now stands, lived an old Texan by the name of Black…He was not home, but his good wife, in true Texas style, invited us to spend the night. Here we were given a full measure of that frontier hospitality which all old Texans boasted of. When Mrs.Black found out that Gibbons was a Methodist preacher, she asked me to run down a fine yellow-legged rooster, and we dined on fried chicken, cornbread baked in a skillet, sweet milk, fresh butter, and wild honey. About 8 o’clock the next morning we resumed our journey to Sonora, following the North Llano River up to Fort Terrett.”

Check in next week to continue the journey…..

The post Roosevelt, Texas Part 1 appeared first on Connie Sue Low.