Fayette County One Hundred Years Ago, Part II

Footprints Of Fayette

Fayette County is one of the most historic counties in Texas. In this weekly feature from the County Historical Commission, a rotating group of writers looks back at local history.

The following article is Part 2 of a series regarding events that occurred in Fayette County 100 years ago. This installment deals with occurrences during the middle months of the year, some of which involved tragic endings.

The May 6, 1926, issue of the La Grange Journal shed light on another weather event. It was reported that “rain fell heavily in several places, and hail, varying in size from a small marble to that of an egg, fell and did much damage.” Reports of this hail damage were reported from many parts of the county, crop damage obviously being the most mentioned. The May 13 issue of the Journal reported on the tragic death of the Southern Pacific Railroad agent in La Grange: “Saturday night while seated in a chair in one room at his home, C. P. Jones [Clarence P. Jones] was shot and killed, the assassin standing on the outside, and near to a window on the east side of the house, discharged two loads of buck shot close to a screened window… Mrs. Jones [nee Ella Gehrels] … was in her bedroom, preparing to retire when the shots were fired. She ran into the room where Mr. Jones was found … dead. She promptly notified the officers, who responded and proceeded to make an investigation.”

The May 27 newspaper later stated that the Monday morning District Court case of interest was that of “the State [of Texas] vs. Mrs. Ella Jones and Pete Banks, charged jointly with murder.” During her testimony, Mrs. Jones admitted that she “promised [Banks] a sum of money for ‘doing away’ with her husband.” In the end, Governor Miriam Ferguson commuted Ella Jones sentence to five years. Banks had been sentenced to the electric chair, but Governor Dan Moody commuted his sentence to life imprisonment.

Another tragedy was reported in the June 3 issue of the Journal. The article read: Ellinger—in the north section of the town. Samuel Royal, “pistol in hand, had sought to threaten the family of J. F. Martinek…” whereupon “finding no one in the home he went to the home of Ed Martinek and there threatened Mrs. Martinek with the gun.” The newspaper reported that four of the townsmen, informed of the incident, went to the Martinek home and met Royal, who turned the gun on them, compelling the men to hide in a garage. Samuel Royal fired shots into the door of the garage, and the men returned fire at him. Royal was hit by the return fire and fell to the ground dead. He had been regarded to be of unsound mind for some time, but was not considered dangerous, thus making the incident a strange affair to the local citizens.

The June 3 issue also reported that a baby was left in a wood- en box on the front porch of the Hillsman Store in the village of Ledbetter. Passing citizens, returning home from a meeting at about 10 o’clock at night, found the child. It was reported that “the healthy looking child was taken care of by [a local family] until Judge Lueders and Sheriff Loessin of La Grange arrived and … it was decided to take the unfortunate child to the La Grange Hospital.” The same issue also reported that the wholesale business of theAlexander Grocery Company (on the east side of the city of La Grange) was burglarized with an estimated eighty thousand cigarettes stolen. The paper stated that these were mostly of the Chesterfield and Camel brands. The stolen items were carried to a waiting truck, which was believed to have traveled to Houston. Sheriff Loessin, having traveled to Houston, was not able to obtain any information necessary to locate the stolen items.

In the July 29 issue of the Journal, the Winchester reporter wrote of a strange incident in the area. The bizarre incident entailed that of an unfortunate mule, which was running loose in a pasture. The mule was bitten on the jaw by a large rattlesnake. “The snake is reported … as having jumped into the air and buried its fangs in the jaw of the mule, causing the jaw to swell rapidly until it was twice its (normal) size.” It was reported that a witness to the incident did not try to find the snake to kill it.

The August 5 issue of the newspaper contained an ad placed by the Presun Coca Cola Bottling Works. The business was selling Coca-Cola for 5 cents. The von Rosenberg Company was advertising silk dresses, attractive and ready-to-wear, for the ladies at prices ranging from $12.50 to $25.00. In an ad placed by Tietjen Brothers, Chevrolet dealers in La Grange and Rutersville, the Chevrolet Touring/Roadster cost $510 and the more expensive Landau was $765, all with multiple-cylinder performance with Chevrolet Economy. A ½ ton truck sold for $375 and a 1 ton sold truck for $495. (Obviously, quite a difference from the price of any vehicle being driven on present-day roadways.)

Some of these events almost seem surreal and bizarre, compared to our present-day technological society. Yet our ancestors who endured this life with the hardship, the struggles, and tragedy might find our fast-paced present-day lives hard to bear.