WILLIAM THOMAS ELDRIDGE

J HE character and capacity of men are almost uner­ ringly revealed by their achievements. In rare instances untoward circumstances or calamities against which no foresight can provide, and the results of which no extent of endeavor can avoid, may make the highest measure of efficiency of no avail, but though the standard is often hard, illogical and unjust, yet the fact remains that "success is the test of merit." When a boy of twelve, without means and with only a limited education, starts out upon his career in life handi­ capped by self-assumed family burdens and, without the aid of any political or financial influence, assistance or prestige, rises before he reaches the meridian of life to a recognized position of power and success in the business world, he has avouched him­ self as being dowered with inherent natural capacity for great achievements. On September 9, 1862, William Thomas Eldridge was born in Washington County, Texas, and at twelve years of age became self-supporting. Dependent upon his own resources, whether resting 'neath fortune's favors or her frowns, he was always brave, resourceful and self-reliant. Mere energy, unassociated with intelligence, is not a weapon wherewith success is won, but when it is coupled with a vision which reaches far, imagination that fashions future achieve­ ments, and intelligence which enables the possessor to translate visions into realities, his success is assured. W. T. Eldridge, before he attained his majority, moved to Eagle Lake, Texas, a town surrounded by a marvelously rich territory, and identified himself with every enterprise and interest of the community. Lie engaged successfully in merchandising. The town was served by railroad communication running east and west, but by none extending southward to the sea, so he organized and built a line extending from Sealy in Austin County to Matagorda in Matagorda County. In 1906 he became identified with the City National Bank of San Antonio. In 1907 he financed an enterprise for the production of sugar and its byproducts. He organized the Imperial Sugar Com­ pany of Sugar Land, Fort Bend County, Texas, twenty-five miles west of Houston. The Imperial Company took over the property of the Cunningham Sugar Company. He built up the industries at Sugar Land to a measure of efficiency in various lines which continues unto this day. The sugar refinery is an immense plant, and there is also pro­ duction of sulphuric acid, vinegar, stock feed, etc. It is the home of the Sealy mattress, the fame of which is co-extensive with the nation. It is the perfection of skill in mattress manu­ facture. While W. T. Eldridge is no longer actively connected with the Imperial Sugar Company, all its varied and valuable activities give evidence of his foresight and executive ability. In 1909 he purchased the Sugar Land Railway and is now its President. There is not a more fertile or productive territory on earth than that which the Sugar Land Railway traverses, and the landed estate of the Imperial Sugar Company is one of the most magnificent and valuable pieces of property devoted to agriculture in the world. From the top of the refinery can be seen 14,000 acres of land under cultivation, every acre of which is as fertile as the famous valley of the Nile. Hundreds of thousands of tons of raw sugar are imported every year from Cuba. It is all refined at Sugar Land, while the mill is equipped to grind the cane produced on farms owned by the State and by individuals. The raw Cuban sugar is landed at Galveston and carried thence by rail to Sugar Land, part of the way over the Sugar Land Railway. If W. T. Eldridge had done nothing else in the field of business than to establish the great industries at Sugar Land, his native State would have been largely his debtor. They are the chil­ dren of his brain, the fruits of his vision, the products of his enterprise and rare business efficiency. He has caused comfortable houses to be constructed for his employees and has established a bank and a large merchandise establishment, while there is also in operation a thoroughly equipped system of public schools. Any man by whom such works are wrought is more than a business man. He is a public benefactor.—By Judge Norman G. Kittrell, member of Appeals Commission, Texas Supreme Court. William Thomas Eldridge belongs to the Virginia Eldridges who are descendants of Pocahontas and John Rolfe and also of the famous Boiling family of Virginia, through the marriage of Martha Boiling and Thomas Eldridge in 1729. Martha Boiling was a great-great-granddaughter of the In­ dian princess and John Rolfe of Varina, Virginia, and Heachem Hall, Norfolk, England, whose marriage took place in 1614 and whose romantic story is too well known to need repetition on these pages. It will be remembered that Thomas Rolfe, only son of John Rolfe and Pocahontas, who was born on the ancestral Rolfe estate—Heacham Hall, England—came to America, the home of his mother's race. He resided in Virginia where he married Jane Poythress by whom he had one child, a daughter Jane. Jane Rolfe lived but about a year after her marriage to Col. Robert Boiling but she left one son, John Boiling, to carry on the Bolling-Pocahontas line. The Boiling family is of extremely ancient English lineage. Boiling Manor, in Bradford, England, was bestowed upon the Boiling family by King John, for services rendered to his majesty by the head of the house. The mansion erected was a fine type of monastic architecture. It was reconstructed in the eighteenth century and is now the home of the West Brad­ ford Golf Club. Robert Boiling, who married Jane Rolfe, was born in 1646, son of John and Mary Boiling of Allhallows, Barkin Parish, Tower Street, London, whose family was a branch of the ancient Boilings of Boiling Hall and Manor. At the age of fourteen years Robert Boiling emigrated to America, probably in the company of friends or relatives. He settled at Kippax, or Smoaky Hill, in Prince George County, where he traded with the Indians and the English, acquired large grants of land, be­ came a planter and amassed a fortune. He is called Robert Boiling, gent., in the records of his day. In the military and civil life of Virginia he played a prominent part. His home was in the part of Charles City County that later became Prince George County. He represented the former county in the House of Burgesses in 1688, 1692 and 1699 and the latter in 1704. He was colonel of the Prince George militia in 1705. His last land grant was dated in 1706 and his death occurred in 1709, at the age of sixty-two years, six months and twenty-one days. He acquired much more land by purchase than by grants although by the latter he obtained one thousand, seven hundred and sixty acres in Bristol Parish, Charles City County, fifty acres in Hen­ rico County, and one thousand, nine hundred and seventy-three acres in Prince George County. By his second wife, Anne Stith, whom he married five years after the death of his first wife, Col. Robert Boiling had five sons, ancestors of many present-day Boiling families of distinction. It is with the descendants of John Boiling, son of Col. Robert by his first wife, Jane Rolfe, that this record is concerned. Major John Boiling of Cobbs, only child of Col. Robert and Jane (Rolfe) Boiling, was born in 1676, the year in which his mother died. At the age of nineteen years he was married in Henrico County to Mary Kennon, daughter of Sir Richard Kennon of Conjurer's Neck, the oldest Virginia seat still extant. He was a merchant and planter in Henrico County, and was a member of the House of Burgesses for his home county at most of the sessions from 1710 to 1726. The family seat, called Cobbs, is now in Chesterfield County. The colonel was the father of six children, John, Jane, Mary, Elizabeth, Martha and Anne. The Eldridge interest centres in the fifth child, Martha Boil­ ing, born in 1713 and married in early maidenhood, in 1727, to her cousin, Thomas Eldridge, Jr., son of Thomas Eldridge, Sr., and Judith (Kennon) Eldridge, the latter a sister of Mary (Kennon) Boiling, who was mother of Martha Boiling. Judith Kennon was born in 1692 and was married to Thomas Eldridge, Sr., before 1711, in which year she and her husband witnessed a deed from Judith's brother William to another brother, Richard, Jr. In this same year Thomas Eldridge, Sr., received by deed from his brother-in-law, William Kennon, a tract of land, six hundred and seventy-five acres in extent, called Roxdale, and located in Henrico (now Chesterfield) County. Thomas Eldridge later removed to Surry County, where his will was drawn up on August 17, 1739, and proved May 20, 1741. In the document he mentions his wife Judith; sons, William, Thomas and Richard; daughters, Judith, Mary, Ann and Martha; and grandchildren, Thomas and Jane Eldridge. Richard received Roxdale in Henrico; William, the plantation in Surry after the death of his mother; and Thomas, some lands, all his father's law books, and certain silverware. Thomas Eldridge, Sr., was practising law in Henrico County by 1709 and in 1716 was made deputy clerk of that county. He was a descendant, probably grandson, of Thomas Eldridge, gentleman, who was attorney for the King in Virginia in 1636. Up to the present time the will of Thomas Eldridge, Jr., has not been discovered, and is supposed to have been destroyed with many other of the Prince George County records. The genealogists therefore have failed to agree as to the exact number of his and Martha Boiling's children. Some state only John, Mary, Judith and Rolfe; others add a Sarah to the list. They strangely leave out the two chil­ dren whose existence and relationship are definitely established by Boiling wills, namely Boiling Eldridge and Jane Eldridge. Col. John Boiling, brother of Martha Boiling, in a codicil to his will dated September 4, 1757, gives to "my nephew, Boiling Eldridge," "400 acres in Bedford County, on the branches of Rock Island Creek," in the same location where he had assigned "1200 acres to my son, Archibald." Edward Boiling, son of John Boiling, also made a bequest to Boiling Eldridge in 1770, naming him "Cousin Boiling Eldridge." The relationship of Boiling Eldridge is thus doubly established and proves him to have been the son of Martha Boiling (sister of Col. John Boiling) and Thomas Eldridge, Jr., and thus a brother of the well-known Rolfe Eldridge of Buckingham County. That 8 there was a sister Jane is established by the will of Jane (Boiling) Randolph, daughter of Major John Boiling and Mary (Kennon) Boiling, in 1748-50, who bequeathed to her "neice, Jane Eld­ ridge," "a black walnut press," and loaned her for life certain negroes, which were to become her property if she married and had issue. Jane Eldridge was older than her brother, Boiling Eldridge, as she was mentioned in the will of her grandfather, Thomas Eldridge, Sr., in 1739, together with another of his grandchil­ dren, Thomas, probably another of her brothers, named for his father and his grandfather. Thus the fact is established that Thomas Eldridge, Jr., and his wife, Martha (Boiling) Eldridge, had certainly Thomas, Jane and Boiling in addition to the John, Mary and Judith (twins) and Rolfe usually named by the genealogists. Although the bulk of Major John Boiling's estate went to his son John, handsome bequests were made to his other children, and the home plantation of Cobbs—six hundred acres—was as­ signed to his wife, Mary, during her life. Martha Boiling, wife of Thomas Eldridge, received lands at Flat Creek and certain slaves, as did her sister Ann. Her husband was a lawyer, as his father had been before him. He practised in Amelia County and later in Prince George County, where he was made justice in 1745. From this line descended Boiling Eldridge, ancestor of William Thomas Eldridge, his name sufficient proof of his vital connec­ tion with the line that united Rolfe, Boiling, Kennon and Eld­ ridge blood, and his lineage so well established in his own mind and that of his friends that assurance bred carelessness either in the making or the preserving of the record of his parentage. Son of Boiling Eldridge and grandson of Thomas and Martha (Boiling) Eldridge he must have been, as his name, the date of his birth, his place of residence, his wealth—all furnish evi­ dence that cannot be gainsaid and that the records will sub­ stantiate, if such can be found. Sussex County was torn asunder from Surry; Albemarle Parish, where the records of Thomas' and Martha's family were preserved, went out of man's memory; even the name of the Halifax hamlet, near which Boiling Eldridge at first lived, was changed. There is little wonder that later seekers groped for the desired facts. Inevitable changes, too, came to the family with the years. Several groups went to the beckoning West. Boiling and one of the Richards alone remained faithful to Hali­ fax County. Born in 1790, Boiling Eldridge, grandfather of our subject, grew to maturity during the inspiring years when the new republic was emerging from its swaddling clothes. He had one of the fine old-time families, a group so nunierous that it was fully able to provide its own social life. The home was in Halifax County, Virginia. The mistress of this lively home was Mildred Gaines (Baker) Eldridge. She was of one of the best and wealthiest families of the South. After the very brilliant wedding at her parents' home in Charlotte, Virginia, the young Virginians settled down to the business of living. It was a typical Southern menage with slaves and young masters and mistresses always a swarming part of it; with means for royal Southern hospitality; with neighbors and friends and kindred of its own type. Exclusive as to the outside world, it undoubtedly was, but within its own educated, well-born and influential circle, it was warm, generous and wholly delightful. Boiling Eldridge was the owner of more than one hundred slaves and a rich and extensive plantation, which he cultivated successfully. He died in 1850, and all his children inherited land and slaves. His will was dated June 12, 1850, and probated June 24, 1850. His wife Mildred and eight of his children were mentioned in his will. The latter were Caleb B., Daniel B., Ellen M., Richard F., Alfred B., Henry B., John C, and Sarah Ann Eldridge. To his wife he left 930 acres of land, thirty slaves and all his personal property. To each of his children he gave ten slaves. The inventory of his estate recorded in November, 1850, showed him to have been worth upward of sixty-four thousand dollars. In the following June personal property to the amount of fifteen hundred and thirty dollars was shown to have been sold. Besides the children mentioned in the will there were a son William and a daughter Clementine. William had COPYRIGHT 1921 BY B. F. JOHNSON. Inc.

J BIOGRAPHICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY SKETCH

OF

WILLIAM THOMAS ELDRIDGE

MEN MAKE THE STATE What constitutes a State ? Not high-raised battlements or labored mound, Thick wall' or moated gate; Not cities proud with spires and turrets crowned; Not bays and broad-armed ports, Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride; Not starred and spangled courts, Where low-browed baseness wafts perfume to pride. No! men—high-minded men, With power as high above dull brute endowed, in forest, brake or den, As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude; Men who their duties know, But know their rights, and knowing, dare maintain. —Sir William Jones.

For private circulation only B. F. Johnson, Inc. City of Washington, U. S. A. 1921

1 K^

10 removed to Montgomery, Alabama, married a Miss Bibb and taken up the practice of his profession as a physician. He had been provided for prior to his father's death. Of Clementine nothing further is known. Lapped in luxury, given the advantages of good education, raised in an atmosphere of affluence and cultivated refinement, most of this family had reached years of greater or less maturity when Boiling Eldridge died. William and Henry had chosen the profession of medicine; Alfred Buckner that of the ministry; John C. was first a merchant and then a planter; Caleb, Richard and Daniel were youths with their future careers still un­ determined. The transplanting of this family from Virginia to Texas had even then begun, both Henry and John having located there, the former in 1847 during the Mexican War and the latter in 1849. John C. Eldridge, who was born in 1811, and who went to Texas in 1849, settled at Independence, Washington County, on Christmas Day. He had been a merchant in Virginia but on reaching Texas took up his new life as a cotton planter. He married Miss Amanda Turner and was the father of seven children. His four sons served in the Confederate Army. Two of them, Boiling and Frank, were boys in school when war broke out, but they volunteered and became members of the famous Hood's Brigade, serving throughout the war, and surrendering with the remnants of General Lee's army at Appomattox in 1865. After the war these two brothers were associated in the grocery business in Brenham, Texas, for a number of years, a business which Boiling Eldridge still carries on (1920). His brother Frank retired from the firm and from 1892 to 1896 was post­ master at Brenham. He died in 1901, leaving several children, one of whom, Rupert Eldridge, is cashier of the State Guaranty and Trust Company of Dallas, Texas. In 1854, two of the other brothers, Alfred, twenty-seven years old, and Caleb, twenty-one, went to Texas from Virginia. Caleb took fifteen negro slaves with him and became a Texas planter. He married a Miss Daniels in 1857, and several children were born to the couple. 11

In 1866 the widowed mother of these sons followed them to Texas and made her home with her eldest son, J. C. Eldridge. She died the following year. Her younger sons, Richard and Daniel, joined the family group in Texas in 1868. Thus, the Eldridge family background, for the majority of Boiling Eldridge's line, became Texas in place of Virginia, and a new generation knew, as had an older one, the thrill of life in a rapidly developing State, emerging in giant strides from the wilderness of pioneer days. Alfred Buckner Eldridge married Epsie Randle, daughter of William Randle, and one of a family that had both social position and abundant wealth. High-spirited and high-souled as well she made a fitting mate for the young Methodist pastor, who is said to have accepted no money for his service as he was a wealthy planter, and joined in his work with eagerness and devo­ tion. Death brought her earnest young husband's life to a close soon after the Civil War had ended, through disease con­ tracted during service in the army. Says one who knew him, "He was a grand specimen of noble manhood, greatly beloved and honored by all who knew him." Epsie Randle, mother of Willima T. Eldridge, was the daugh­ ter of William Randle. The latter was one of the thirteen children of William Randle, born in 1757, and his wife, Eliza­ beth Graves. William had a twin sister, who later became Mrs. Daniels. On the death of her brother's wife, Mrs. Daniels brought up his motherless little family, one of those under her care being Epsie, mother of the subject of our sketch. The Randle family to which Mrs. Eldridge belonged was of the aristocracy of Virginia and Georgia, and alliances were made with prominent families of these and other States. Willis Randle. brother of William Randle, married Mary F. Boone, a descendant of Daniel Boone. Miss Boone's maternal uncle, Julius S. Alford, was known during his life as the "war horse of Georgia." This couple moved to Aberdeen, Mississippi, and thence to Independence, Texas, which they reached two years after John Eldridge, uncle of William T. Eldridge. had settled 12

there. Eight children were born to them, one of whom, Julius Alford Randle, was a major in the Confederate Army in the Civil War, and raised a battalion for Hood's Brigade. Willis Randle died in 1863, honored and wealthy. He had represented Washington County in the State Legislature in the 1850's. Another brother of William Randle was Dr. I. G. Randle, a leading physician in Texas for twenty-five years. William Randle, father of Epsie Randle, was commonly known as Captain Buck Randle. He was of the wealthy planter class and was a prominent resident of Burleson County, Texas. His family was related to the Colquitt family of Georgia, which gave one governor to that State and another to Texas. Captain Randle's daughter, Epsie, wife of Alfred Buckner Eldridge and mother of William T. Eldridge, was of the highest type of Southern womanhood. Her sterling qualities were in­ herited by her son who holds his mother's memory in the pro- foundest respect. The name Randle is akin in origin to that of Randolph, being derived from the old Norse form "Rondolfr" which meant "shield-wolf." In Anglo-Saxon it became Randolf and Randulf, and in abbreviated form appeared as Randel, Randall, Randle and other similar spellings. In many old records the names Randle and Randolph are used interchangeably referring to the same person. Various branches of the Randle and Randall families are therefore justified in laying claim to a share in the pride the present generation takes in the annals of the ancient Randolph family. The Randolphs were early seated in Sussex County, England, where they were of the gentry. The Randolphs of Warwickshire were a famous branch of the Sussex family and sent representatives into Virginia—William Randolph of Turkey Island and Henry Randolph of Henrico County, the former an uncle of the latter, and both clerks of Henrico County in the seventeenth century. William had the greater honor of membership in the House of Burgesses, and won as his bride the daughter of Llenry Isham, Speaker of that august legislative body of colonial Virginia. 13

This Randolph line, like the Eldridge line, became united, through different marriages, with the Boilings. Jane Boiling, aunt of the first Boiling Eldridge, married Richard Randolph of Curies who was a son of William Randolph and Mary Isham. John Randolph of Roanoke, one of the brilliant figures in early American history, was a grandson of Richard and Jane (Boiling) Randolph. Richard's brother John was knighted in England. He married Susanna Beverly of the Virginia Beverlys, and was father and grandfather of prominent Virginians. His son Peyton was President of the first Continental Congress, while his son John was Attorney General of Virginia. The latter's son Edmund became Governor of Virginia, Attorney General, and Secretary of State of the United States. In the early half of the eighteenth century there was living first in Brunswick County, Virginia, and later in Montgomery County, North Carolina, a Randle family that was clearly a branch of the early Randolphs, as shown by the given names of its children, the most significant of which were Isham, Peyton and Edmond. The first appears in various generations and in lines descended from brothers. In addition to these are found the more common but none the less typical .Randolph Christian names of William, Richard, John, Thomas, Mary and so on. Descendants of this family are now scattered throughout the West and Southwest. Among them are the Randies of Texas, to which line Mr. Eldridge's mother belonged. Such was the parentage of William Thomas Eldridge—a birth­ right of inestimable richness, conferring exhaustless possibilities of development upon its possessor. On this foundation Mr. Eldridge has built, as has been shown, a life structure that is a credit to his ancestry, a source of pride and inspiration to his contemporaries, and a heritage of worth and of incentive to his descendants. Against the background of affluent, slave-served Virginia, Georgia and Texas ancestors, the story of the struggling boy­ hood of William T. Eldridge stands out in strong contrast. There was for him none of the ease of plantation life, the opportunity 14 for education, for recreation, for the acquiring of culture, such as had characterized the youthful life of his father and his father's forbears. Hard, stern, unremitting, lowly toil was the companion of his childhood. The fortunes of his family had been depleted by the Civil War and the Reconstruction period, and the removal of his father's guiding hand hastened the com­ ing of days of poverty. At an early age he was separated even from the influence and care of his mother, who married secondly a Mr. Jenkins. Failure on the part of his stepfather to respect the lad's right to his own hard-earned savings caused William Eldridge to determine to leave home. He revealed his purpose to his mother who was deeply grieved. "I'm going," said the boy, "but I'll come back for you"—a promise he redeemed not many years later. Born on September 9, 1862, in Washington County, Texas, Mr. Eldridge was twelve years of age when he started out to hew his way to better things. He turned his hand to any task that promised the means of livelihood. Selling apples and freshly caught and cooked fish, working in the fields from dawn till dark, carrying the mail for ten dollars a month—such were some of the early activities of the boy, and in the midst of it all he fashioned candles with his own hands that he might study at night and "acquire such education as would make possible a suc­ cessful business career." The story of Mr. Eldridge's early fishing days is well told in a biographical sketch written by Mr. C. B. Gillespie, who states that after fishing in the San Gabriel River, young Eldridge "moved on to the Colorado, and camped along its meandering course from the San Saba to Eagle Lake. He did some fishing in the Brazos, but the Colorado knew most of his trot lines, his throw lines and his set hooks. He made a success of fishing, just as he has made a success of larger, if not more adventurous un­ dertakings. He knew the deep pools and the shoals, the rocks and the quicksands of the river, and he still greatly enjoys re­ counting the hardships and the adventures which those early days brought him. "From the rocks and cedars north of Austin the Colorado by 15 easy stages flows to a land shaded by magnificent hardwoods, wherein the pecan predominates. From being a fish merchant in the spring and summer, Mr. Eldridge, still a minor, turned his hand to trading in pecans in the fall. He studied the pecan market, and found that having access to quotations elsewhere was of great advantage. He therefore built the first telephone line ever known in Wharton and Colorado counties, and used this quick means of communication to tremendous advantage in the purchase of pecans. He laughingly says that the nearest he ever came to taking undue advantage of competitors was while he was handling pecans. Those were the days, however, when 'caveat emptor' formed the law of business. "From being an itinerant pecan buyer, Mr. Eldridge grew rapidly into the business of general merchandising. Each initial success was quickly succeeded by another and a larger one." Once, on passing a group of pecan trees, Mr. Eldridge said to a friend: "Under those trees I stretched my tarpaulin and es­ tablished my camp as a dealer in pecans. With a six-mule team I hauled pecans to the Southern Pacific at Eagle Lake. The rail­ road company allowed me twenty-five cents the hundred rebate for my part of the freight. This gave me a handsome profit on the business, even if I sold the pecans at cost. It gave me a vision of the possibilities of railroading." This vision soon became a reality. From an itinerant pecan buyer Mr. Eldridge grew into a merchant. He established five stores, one at the Strickland place, another at McNeil, the third at Eagle Lake, the fourth at Bonus, and the fifth at Eldridge. The last one still runs, under the name of the Faber Mercantile Company, with Charles Davis as secretary and manager. William T. Eldridge next advanced into the realm of railroad­ ing. The story of his initial venture in the new field is most interesting as related by Mr. Gillespie. "Mr. Eldridge owned an entertainment pavilion at Lakeside on the shore of Eagle Lake. Twenty years ago it was widely known as a resort for picnickers, campers and excursionists. Mr. Eldridge helped finance the rice mills, which made possible the marketing of this new, and at times, wonderful crop. But rice takes a large amount of water, 16

and the pumping plants at Lakeside, one dry year, took so much water from the lake as to make it undesirable as a pleasure re­ sort. Mr. Eldridge had an untenanted resort on his hands and the Southern Pacific had one mile of most unprofitable track. "W. G. Van Vleck, an official of the Southern Pacific, had been ordered to have the track removed and the material sal­ vaged. Half in jest he proposed to sell the abandoned roadway to Mr. Eldridge. The latter became interested in the proposal, and accepted an invitation from Mr. Van Vleck to ride to Hous­ ton on board his private car 'Texas.' During the ride negotiations for the railroad debris were renewed, with the result that Mr. Eldridge purchased it for $800. Mr. Van Vleck estimated that it represented salvage to that amount and that the company would save the cost of taking up the track by the deal. "Having bought his first railroad, Mr. Eldridge needed equip­ ment. Could the Southern Pacific supply that? It could and did. A dilapidated engine and two freight cars, much the worse for long use and lack of repairs, were sold. They cost $1,500, which was a substantial sum of money in those days. Thus was forged the first link in what was destined to be the Cane Belt Railroad, now an important division of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe, running from Sealy, through Wharton and Bay City to Matagorda. "Mr. Eldridge at once sought to incorporate his railroad for $10,000. He got Charles Bedeker, now of Houston, to help in the preparation of office supplies, and immediately began operations. Before a new rail was laid the road had earned more than $5,000. A dray line was organized to connect with the rail line at Lakeside for the overland transfer of freight to and from Bonus. The rails carried the freight over what had been a roadway impassable in wet weather, and the drays carried it the balance of the way. There was an abundance of tonnage, and the new line at once became popular with the merchants of Eagle Lake. It enabled the large mercantile establishment at Bonus, largely owned by Mr. Eldridge, to receive and ship sup­ plies in all kinds of weather. It also converted vast amounts of farm products into railway tonnage. 17

"In connection with the sale of the mile of track, Manager Van Vleck entered into a twenty years contract with the Eldridge line for trackage and terminal rights at Eagle Lake for the nominal sum of $1 per annum. "Thus it came about that Mr. Eldridge began his career as a railroad owner and executive on an investment of less than $2,500 at the time operations started. The railroad service from Lakeside to Bonus was augmented by ninety mules and twelve wagons. Six mules represented the minimum team power, and the special lot in which the ninety mules were kept was called the 'roundhouse' by the drivers, who borrowed railroad phrases to describe their part of the transportation operations." The reestablishing of this little spur track was but the begin­ ning of Mr. Eldridge's railroad and industrial achievements. His travels as a fisherman and as a pecan merchant in his youthful days had caused him to know his State like a book. He was fully cognizant of its needs and its possibilities, and he proceeded to satisfy the one and develop the other. "One of the world's richest agricultural sections from the standpoint of soil lies between the Brazos and the Colorado River in southwestern Texas. This favored region was little developed when, twenty years ago, Mr. Eldridge began the larger operations of his remarkable business career." One of the causes of this lack of development was the treacherous character of these great rivers which at times of high water overflow their banks, destroy crops and make railroading difficult and many times dangerous. Thus it was that the section needed transportation, irrigation, drainage and industries, and these things Mr. Eld­ ridge set out to achieve. He built the Cane Belt railroad through the richest portion of the valleys to touch the corn fields of "Egypt" in Wharton County, the cane fields of Old and New Caney, and the then potential rice fields, which, beginning at Eagle Lake, now extend beyond Bay City, more than fifty miles to the south. "To make enlarging the cane area worth while," says Mr. Gillespie, "he promoted a sugar mill at Lakeside, which cost $440,000. To stimulate rice production, he helped finance a rice mill at Eagle Lake. To provide financial machinery he 18 helped in the organization of banks. Through the Lincoln Trust Company of St. Louis, with which Mr. Eldridge established financial connection, a stream of money poured through a virgin territory, which boomed and boomed. Lands, once worth fifty cents an acre, advanced to fifty dollars an acre, and the fame of the Eagle Lake and Wharton sections was carried far and wide. Lakeside, which had played out as a resort, blossomed into in­ dustrial life, and modest dwellings dotted the landscape. Bonus, ten miles to the south, became the junction point for the Garwood branch of the Cane Belt, and here a flourishing community sprang into being. "During these operations he was forced into conflict with the great Southern Pacific Railroad, which came to see in him a serious competitor in railroading and in its control of the rich southwestern Texas lands. "When W. T. Eldridge built the Cane Belt into Wharton, the Southern Pacific began to sit up and take notice of the man whose earlier efforts as a railroad builder had not been taken seriously. Collis P. Huntington, the presiding genius of the Southern Pa­ cific, was at the zenith of his power. His Victoria division of the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio, and his control of the San Antonio and Aransas Pass gave him transportation dominion over the rich river sections of southwestern Texas. He did not want either a rival or a competitor. Accordingly, through Texas representatives of the Southern Pacific, Mr. Huntington began negotiations looking to acquiring the Cane Belt, or to paralleling it to the south. An offer was finally made which would have given W. T. Eldridge and associates a profit of $400,000 on their railroad building operations. This offer was handled by W. G. Van Vleck, always the friend and well- wisher of Mr. Eldridge. Mr. Van Vleck was very frank in say­ ing that if the offer were not accepted the Southern Pacific would build a branch south from Wharton through the territory into which the Cane Belt was heading. He assured Mr. Eldridge that the proposed branch would spell ruin to the Cane Belt. He made good on his threat or his promise, whichever it may have

19 been, and built the Palacious line of the Southern Pacific first to Van Vleck. "Mr. Eldridge declined to sell, and he also declined to change his building program. He and Mr. Van Vleck talked the matter over. 'All I ask you to do,' said Mr. Eldridge, 'is to follow the survey as you have made it, keeping near the Old Caney and leaving the prairie to me.' Van Vleck replied: 'You can have the prairie. There is no tonnage except along Old Caney, and your line will starve.' Thus the rival lines went forward, Van Vleck backed by the Huntington millions, the Cane Belt backed by the courage and confidence of W. T. Eldridge. "The Cane Belt won the race to Bay City, stringing ties along the prairie without the formality of grading. By rapid work it saved a substantial bonus offered by the Bay City and the Pierce estate. Terminals were established with remarkable rapidity. When the Southern Pacific arrived it sought to cross the Cane Belt at the busiest part of the terminals. The Cane Belt obtained an injunction, and the Huntington road finally had to make a wide detour in order to get into Bay City. "The Cane Belt went on to Matagorda, the Southern Pacific to Palacious. The Huntington road had the farm tonnage from the Old Caney, but the Cane Belt had the cattle tonnage from the prairies in the beginning, and the rice tonnage that followed with great rapidity. The Cane Belt prospered despite the pre­ dictions of disaster so freely made. The latter road subsequently encountered the heavy hand of the Southern Pacific which has fought it at every turn on 'divisions,' and has at times defied the authority of the State railroad commission in its efforts to 'put something over Eldridge.' Mr. Eldridge still holds the fort, strongly if not serenely, and some of the Southern Pacific officers have privately admitted that he is a master of railroad strategy. "For several years now (1920) Mr. Eldridge has been fighting the Brazos River as he earlier fought the Colorado, having gotten under way vast projects at Sugar Land, Fort Bend County, which adjoins Wharton County on the northeast. Important drainage and irrigation plans are being carried out. Huge levees have been erected, more than twenty miles of canals and laterals are 20 being connected up, and a still greater program of irrigation and conservation is ready to be unfolded. Its completion will mean that the prodigal waters of the Brazos will be carried to more than two hundred thousand acres of now raw prairie lands, giving the largest irrigation area in Texas. Operations by Mr. Eldridge have demonstrated that the farmer who gives intensive cultiva­ tion to a very small acreage of Brazos bottom lands can win larger returns each year than are to be obtained in any other line of endeavor. Under his instructions experiments in the growing of spinach, celery, cabbage and cucumbers have shown annual net returns of more than $2,500 from a single acre. It is his ambition to see several thousand acres owned at Sugar Land by himself and associates subjected to this kind of intensive cultivation." Right here it will be interesting to state some of Mr. Eldridge's ideas as to the agricultural future of his State and his beliefs as to how its present prosperity is to be made secure and increased for the future. He is no less a pioneer in many ways than were his forbears, and no less courageous than they in overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles, whether of material things or of prejudice. "Fighting two rivers for twenty years taught him that the large farmer cannot succeed. He is free to admit that had his farm operations not been propped by manufacturing and commercial lines, he would long ago have given up the fight. With the knowledge gained by two decades of bitter contests with the Brazos and the Colorado," says Mr. Gillespie, "he is determined that the rich food crops these valleys ought to produce shall not be lost to the world. The truck farmer, bul­ warked by the white-faced cow, with the advantages of drainage and irrigation, and backed by good roads and railroad transpor­ tation, is sure to win a final victory in the long fight against the rivers. It is a victory well worth winning. "Mr. Eldridge believes that perhaps never again can labor be mobilized in sufficient quantity to make cane growing possible. The growing of such staple crops as corn and cotton are annually made more difficult by encroachments on the part of Johnson and Bermuda grass, with some cocoa grass thrown in for good 21 measure, or rather for bad measure. The time of decentraliza­ tion is at hand, and the successful farmer of the future will be the individual farmer, meaning the farmer who with the strength of his own hands, not hired hands, is able to cultivate the soil. Such farming necessarily will be limited as to acreage, with in­ tensive cultivation producing more from a few acres than slipshod methods have produced on many. The steam engine concentrated the manufacturing business, housing many units under one roof. The gasoline motor and the electric current are gradually but none the less surely decentralizing the business of manufacturing. The individual motor in time will mean the individual rather than the corporate owner of the means of manufacture. Irriga­ tion and intensive cultivation by small farmers will mean widely distributed ownership of land." The great influence of a master hand, not only on the wel­ fare of individual industrial enterprises but also on the prosperity of an entire community, has been well shown by the backward trend of the Cane Belt section since W. T. Eldridge transferred his energies to the Sugar Land region. Mr. Gillespie, who for twenty years was managing editor of the Houston Chronicle, recently (1920) took a trip through the region with Mr. Eldridge himself, and thus tells the story: "Accompanied by Mr. Eldridge, I visited Lakeside and Bonus and other places on the Cane Belt which had known great pros­ perity under the electrifying touch of his executive ability. There is scarcely anything left at either place to indicate the activity of twenty years ago. The $440,000 sugar mill has been up­ rooted and transported to Haiti. The sugar mill at Glenflora has been moved to Donna in the Brownsville section. Rice alone, of the activities which Mr. Eldridge helped to originate along the Cane Belt, retains the vitality with which his operations endowed the region. The entire landscape looks discouraged, and once fertile fields are now overgrown with Johnson grass, arch foe of the river bottom agriculturist. Even the pecan yield, out of which Mr. Eldridge made his initial capital, is being more and more restricted. I was told that the cotton boll weevil fancies the young pecan, and that failure of the trees to fruit in recent 22 years is in part due to this predatory insect. I asked an old timer what the matter was with the country. He replied: 'First they plowed up the cane to plant potatoes; then they plowed up the potatoes to plant cotton. Now I think they will have to plow up the cotton and return to cane.' An acute labor shortage, how­ ever, argues against this process of evolution or involution. "It is my guess that this section will ultimately return to the cow—not the long-horn of the old days, but the white-faced horn­ less Hereford of the present era. Traveling with Mr. Eldridge, I waited for him to suggest a solution of the difficulties which beset the section that he opened to cultivation, to transportation, and to prosperity. He had surveyed a six-thousand-acre farm which he owns at Eldridge, and found the terrible Johnson grass in almost complete possession of the land. In conversation, the farm manager had made various proposals for rescuing the land from the all-pervading grass and restoring it to agriculture. Cane planting was discarded because labor cannot be obtained. Rice planting was considered too hazardous because of the short­ age of labor and the uncertainty of suitable weather at harvest time. These are the only summer crops that are capable of crowding out and subduing Johnson grass. Mr. Eldridge finally suggested spinach for the winter crop and limited areas of po­ tatoes, which mature sufficiently early to escape the smothering influence that the Johnson grass exerts as midsummer approaches. Then Mr. Eldridge remarked: 'I think the white-faced cow for the Johnson grass, the goat for the shrubs and brambles, and the sheep for the cockle-burs and weeds will prove the best invest­ ments here.' At first, for a brief moment, I wondered if he had found the correct solution for difficulties of the present, and then I felt absolutely sure that he was right. His announcement was not the result of impromptu conclusions, but was due to months and years of study. In his forehanded way, he had faced the problem long before it became acute. I was therefore not sur­ prised to find that already his riverside farm at Eldridge has been stocked with more than 700 head of Hereford and Brama cattle. He has fought that river with cane, corn and cotton, and with transportation, and now he is starting all over again to fight it 23 with cattle. He is fighting the river, although just last spring it overflowed, and more than half of his cattle had to be shipped to the highlands, while his levees sustained damage totalling thou­ sands of dollars." William T. Eldridge is a financier of the highest type and has achieved success where many a man would have reaped only dismal failure. Though never sparing of legitimate expense for construction, development or maintenance of his projects, he never allows waste in any of these fields. Mr. Gillespie in dis­ cussing this phase of his career said: "Prior to the purchase of the one hundred and seventeen miles of Cane Belt line by E. P. Ripley for the Santa Fe railroad, an audit was made which reflected its construction costs and its ex­ penses of operation. The auditor who made the report wrote into it the opinion that construction and operation showed the most economical methods he had ever encountered. It was in 1903 that the Santa Fe purchased the line for $1,600,000, a figure which gave Mr. Eldridge and his associates a profit of $640,000. The line, with the exception of the track from Eagle Lake to Lakeside, purchased from the Southern Pacific, was all built under Mr. Eldridge's personal direction. He was the general manager from the time the first spike was driven at Lakeside until the road passed to the dominion of the Santa Fe. "There is much more in railroading than right of way, ties and rails, rolling stock and time-tables. It is a business of com­ plicated strategy, of combination and counteraction. Trunk lines frequently find their traffic uncertain and their earnings meager. There are railroads in Texas at present running for hundreds of miles which are spending at least $1.25 for each dollar they take in. The more fortunate of these are under the protection of a strong line. The others are in the hands of re­ ceivers. They failed for lack of strategy. Failure is written larger on the face of the short-line roads. Few of these have succeeded. Most of them are sorry apologies, eking out a sort of existence, and hoping, Micawber-like, that something will turn up. These conditions merely emphasize the railroad sagacity and strategy of W. T. Eldridge. 24

"It was this railroad strategy which doubtless gave Mr. Eld­ ridge his first insight into possibilities of Sugar Land, where huge industries have arisen, all of them freight producers. A train- load of freight is the daily production of the Imperial Sugar Com­ pany, the Sealy Mattress Company, the sulphuric acid plant, and the stockfeed mill. By a combination of his own rails and those of the Columbia tap of the International and Great Northern, Mr. Eldridge's line reaches Houston each night with a train of loaded cars. These cars are delivered to connecting lines at Houston, and the divisions thereon have made the Sugar Land line one of the most important and prosperous short lines in the entire country. A short line that originates more than one million pounds of freight each twenty-fours hours is an im­ portant feeder to the trunk lines, and as a rule the connecting lines are glad to maintain friendly relations with the Sugar Land line. This has been almost universally true of every line except the Southern Pacific, which, beginning more than twenty years ago, has consistently fought the Eldridge railroad enterprises. It has been a strange contest, this combat between the en­ trenched millions of a huge continental line and a struggling short line, created largely out of the nerve and energy of one man. The varying stages of the contest involved such techni­ calities of division sheets, connections and interline rates as to make them too complicated for recital. They have included about everything, from the construction of a parallel line to re­ fusal to deliver freight to the Sugar Land Railway. Each time the Southern Pacific has gone to the mat with W. T. Eldridge, it has lost. Arbitrators and regulatory bodies have each time de­ cided the contest in favor of the railroad strategist who has serenely pursued the even tenor of his way and refused to turn aside or abate one iota. "Perhaps the most striking example of Southern Pacific methods is that of the 'midnight rate sheet.' Just prior to the passing of the trunk lines from governmental to private control an official of the Southern Pacific, serving the United States Railroad Administration, caused the issuance of a division sheet, which was issued in direct violation of agreements, was retro- 25 active for a period of nearly two years and reduced divisions to an extent which would have meant near-receivership, if not utter failure, for the short line. It was not until the matter had been turned over to the attorney general that the Southern Pacific receded. To save an obdurate competitor Mr. Eldridge then im­ portuned the Railroad Commission to drop the suit, which was done after the following telegram had been sent: " 'Sugar Land, Texas, July 1, 1920. " 'Hon. Allison Mayfield, Chairman, " 'Railroad Commission of Texas, Austin, Texas. " 'The Southern Pacific has resumed interchange of freight with us, clearing up the situation completely. We trust this is done sufficiently in advance of any action on the part of At­ torney General Cureton that the matter can be dropped without any penalty accruing to the Southern Pacific lines. While our line was inconvenienced it has sustained no actual loss of moment and in view of their present attitude we most respectfully ask that all further action be dropped against them. " 'W. T. Eldridge, " 'President, Sugar Land Railway Company.' "The spirit of Mr. Eldridge in dealing with the Southern Pacific is well set out in this paragraph of a letter recently sent to Mr. W. R. Scott, president of the Southern Pacific Railroad: " 'Summing up, these practices show a consistent policy di­ rected against us that has been very harmful, and, by reason of the power of a large line, very difficult to overcome. But I feel that I can say in all candor, that unless it is presumptuous to con­ tend for one's rights, the Sugar Land Railway has never been guilty of any improper act against the Southern Pacific to merit the treatment it has received, nor will it resort to any wrongful methods to secure its just dues, so long as I am able to direct its policies.' "W. T. Eldridge is still in life's prime. He is one of the ablest and most versatile of the South's big men. Long the architect of big things, his greatest work is yet ahead of him, and that he will achieve the things hinted at in the beginning of 26 this narrative none who know him will doubt. By his associates he is affectionately known as the big chief, a title that seems to fit him with peculiar accuracy. Like many men who do big things, he lacked the education which the schools impart, but he had vision and industry, ambition and determination. With these rich endowments he has made himself foremost in finance and manufacture, in agriculture and transportation. Let the mature as well as the young draw inspiration from his achieve­ ments, tremendous in the past, greater in the future." Best of all Mr. Eldridge has never allowed the zeal for material progress to dwarf or crowd out the bigger things of the spirit. His mind is keen but his heart is tender, his sympathies easily roused, his generosity unfailing. Hospitals, schools, churches, charitable organizations, needy relatives or friends, all have known the benefits of his philanthropy. So modest and retiring is his attitude in regard to his gifts that many of his nearest friends have no conception of the extent of his benefactions. Though he left home at the early age of twelve years, as has been stated, he never forgot his mother or the promise he made her that some day he would come back for her. At the age of nineteen he redeemed this promise and provided a home for her and his three half-sisters—a home where his gently reared mother was safe from the hardships she endured for years after the death of Mr. Eldridge's father. She did not live to see his greatest success, a fact that has always grieved him exceedingly. At one time he discussed the matter with his friend, Mr. Gillespie, who states: "Mr. Eldridge started in to tell me how keenly he regretted the fact that his mother did not live to know of his larger success and" to participate in the ease, comfort and luxury which would have been her portion. He spoke only a few words. I listened for a further statement, not wishing to disturb the thread of his narrative. Then I looked up. He was silently weeping, but the tears were those of resignation, not of resentment, and I knew the mother, gone home these many years, was with him. I withdrew without disturbing him, with the feeling that after 27 long years of acquaintance, I had never known my friend until that moment." The surnames Eldridge and Eldredge are of Saxon origin, having come from the personal name Eldred, a name borne by several Saxon kings in the eighth and ninth centuries. One Eldred was Saxon Archbishop of York and Canterbury when William the Conqueror invaded the Island kingdom and is said to have laid the curse of the church upon the Norman and his followers. Burke refers early to Eldred, Lord of Kendal. The name de­ veloped from Eldred to Aldred, then to Eldredge, Eldridge, Eldrich, Aldrydge,.Aldryche and Aldrich. The survey of South Britain returned that there were fifteen holders of lands in Sussex, the list beginning with King William himself and including the Archbishop of Canterbury, two abbots, the bishops of Chichester and of Exeter, three earls and several others besides Eldred or Aldred, who "holds Epinges of the King." John Eldred, of Great Saxham or Saxham Magna in Suffolk, who was born in 1522 and died in 1632, was for many years a director of the Virginia Company of London. This John Eldred was in later life Alderman of the City of London. A merchant of the Levant, full of enterprise and ability, he "voyaged to Tripolis by sea, and from there by land and river to Babylon," this journey beginning in 1583. He bought Saxham Magna be­ cause of the tradition that it was the ancient seat of his ancestors when princes of Britain. In 1592 a grant of arms was made to this John Eldred and in this grant he is named as the fourth son of John Eldred of Buckenham in Norfolk, and third from John of Knattshall in Suffolk. Dethick King-at-arms, or "Dethick Garter," as he styled him­ self, proclaimed publicly in part: "Others for their vertues and deserts bee knowne * * by these escocheons of honour * * . Wherefore, being solissited and by credible report informed that John Eldred, who is descended of antient lineage * * and being requested to make declaration and testimonie for his arms 28 as may best agree with the recordes and proofe shewed in my office, I * * doe signifie, conferme, blazen and exemplifie this sheild or coat of armes to the said John Eldred, as rightly discending unto him from John Eldred his father and other of his auncestors before named." Thus confirmed in their title and position, this Eldred group could go on with the business and the pleasures of life, both of which depended so much on gaining and holding this special right. Here we have thus early London, Suffolk and Norfolk as the locale of the Eldreds. We may bracket with this John another Eldred, Thomas of Ipswich, in Suffolk, some sixty miles from London. This an­ cestor of later Eldreds, known as "Thomas the Navigator," was a contemporary of John of Saxham Magna. He sailed with Cavendish around the world. Thomas and John were either brothers or cousins, probably the latter. In 1802 one Ard, F. R. S., "featured" Thomas by exhibiting to the Society of Antiquaries, London, three trophies. These relics of this early Eldridge were: First, a globe with an in­ scription recording Thomas Eldred's circumnavigating voyage; second, a family portrait, in ruff, vandyke and mustaches, dis­ playing an equinoctial dial recording 1620; third, an engraving of a ship, doubtless representing the one in which Thomas sailed. The inscription on the globe reads: "Thomas Eldred went out of Plimmouthe the 9th of September, 1588. What can seeme great to him that hath seene the whole world and the wondrous works therein, save the Maker of it and the World above it?" A copy of the portrait thus exhibited can be seen in a set of archaeological tracts published by the Antiquarian Society of London, of which a copy is in the U. S. Library of Congress. In this print the forefinger supports a pendant dial with face presented to the sun, "that, by his beams darting through small pin holes made for that purpose, the hour of the day or night may be found." Such dials were most used by seamen whose way lay through changing latitudes. We may now look more closely at the Saxham Magna lines of Eldreds. This manor lay in western Suffolk and had often been W T ELDRIDGE.3H2

29 a desired prize. Since before historic time began there remain precious records from tomb and will and Royal Grant. Scattered items tell of John Eldred and Reginald, both of Gnateshall, as "seized of lands there lying" certainly as early as 1515. John of New Buckenham is of special interest. He died in 1558. But, before consecutive dates can be had, we know that the succession was from "Johannes Eldred de Knatshall, in com. Suffolk," and that Willielmus, a second Johannes, and a Johannes, Junior, fol­ low. The last betakes himself to County Norfolk, there to found a new branch, as he is designated as "of Nova Bucken­ ham." But his son, still a Johannes, succeeded to old Saxham Magna. The will of this last Johannes was written in 1630, and proved in 1632. His years were eighty. This places his birth at 1552. Four succeeding Johns tread closely in his path, the first of whom marries Charity, the daughter of James, heir to the Earl of Rivers, of Chafford. In Great Saxham church chancel, at the upper end, is a bust in stone placed underneath an inscription: "Memoriae Sacrum, John Eldred. New Buckingam in Norfolke was his first being; in Babilon he spent some parte of his time; and the rest of his earliest pilgrimage hee spent in London and was Alderman of that famous Cittie. His age ) LXXX." His Death ) Beneath the above is a raised monument with a black marble at the top "very neatly inlaid with brass," having the one-third size figure of a man in ruff and furred gown, "well engraven in brass," and carrying the arms of Eldred; of Revett; of the City of London; and of the companies of East India, Turkey and Russia merchants. At his feet is a sixteen-line inscription on three plates of brass. In comment, the historian says: "This Rivett Eldred was created a baronet in 1641, and seems to have thought he could never do too much to the memory of his father in a monumental way, for the bust, portrait, and all the inscrip­ tions seem to be for the same person." Rivett Eldred was of the sixth generation from the earliest John. His mother was Mary Rivet or Revett. He married 30

Anne Blackwell or Bleckey, and as he died without issue the Lady Anne's sense of justice saw to it that the title and the estates went back to the family. She devised the manor to the grandson and heir of John Eldred, next brother of Sir Rivet. He held his first court there in September, 1672. Other gifts of Lady Eldred were her fee farm and lands in Chevington to John's younger brother, and lands in Lincoln to Thomas Eldred. But New Buckenham went to a cousin of another surname. Young Thomas died under age, and John, as heir, received these estates also. After the death of John and his wife Elizabeth, Great Saxham passed to H. Hure, Esq., who made many changes. One Thomas Mills bought it in 1807, the Mills family being long in possession. The great mansion built by John was burned in 1779, but an engraving of it is shown in the older prints. Johannes (brother to Rivet), who carried on the line, had a son Thomas, the first who appears in the grouped Visitation lineage as published. His date does not appear, but his nephew, son of Charity (Rivers) Eldred, was born in 1665, which might place Thomas as born near 1640. Peter Eldred, son of John of Buckenham, was a London tradesman in 1633, and his son Peter bore the arms of Eldred of Saxham, "with a mullet for dif­ ference." "Of this family," say the records distinctly, "was Thomas Eldred of Ipswich," the companion of Cavendish's voyages in 1586. Thomas married Margery Stud of Ipswich, but his son John, in 1634, was "of Colchester and Olivers, in Essex," and his arms were wholly different from the earlier coat. This, of course, means a special grant. John, the heir of Thomas, was born August 30, 1691, and died March 23, 1746; a sister Dorothy was born in 1689, and baptized "near Saxham Magna." That the story of the Eldridge family in England persists from very early times is clearly shown by wills listed in formal records. In one group a series of such wills is named, beginning with that of Thomas of Cholsey, under date of 1549, and run­ ning irregularly for nearly one hundred years, but averaging one for every five years. More than one-third of these are wills of various Thomas Eldridges, while Richard is the name second 31 in favor. Seven of the list are of Cholsey, and we have no difficulty in recognizing these as neighbors and probably kindred of the romantic group of bell founders of early England—those Eldridges who were the only family of Surrey bell founders "of any continuance." The marriage chimes, the curfew and the knell have rung from these brazen throats throughout the period of systematic English history, and the famous work of Eldridge of Surrey grows more famous and more romantic as time rolls on. The first of the Eldridge artificers was Thomas, who was justifying his existence by casting church bells as early as 1565— flawless bells which made him famous for all time. He was of Wokingham, in Berkshire, as was also his son and successor, Richard Eldridge, whose bells bear dates from 1592 to 1623. For a time Richard had a small branch foundry at Horsham, over the border in Sussex. On these bells the name appears as "Eldridg." Richard's earliest bell in Surrey bears the inscrip­ tion in black letters: "In trouble and adversitie, the lord god heare thee." The name of Richard's later associate and successor, his son Bryan, appears on bells from 1618. His will is extant, and in it he bequeathed his "Bell house scituate in Chirtsey" to his son Bryan, who carried the business forward twenty-one years. The younger Bryan's will, also, is known, as well as that of his brother William, who followed him during fifty-three years. William's son William, born in 1667, then carried on the business. One Surrey bell testifies : "Gulielmus Eldridge me fecit, 1667"; another, "Brainus Eldridge me fecit, 1625," the words being separated by heart-shaped stops. William, Senior, like others of the main line, had a son Thomas. The son died in 1708. It is stated that more than fifty bells still exist in Surrey, the pro­ duction of the two Williams. Thomas the Navigator is regarded by many now living as the key man in the Eldridge pedigree. He did not forget America in his travels and he comes down to us "as one of the founders of Virginia." The common ancestry of the English landed Eldridges is taken for granted. Great Saxham sheltered the 32 most important group, perhaps, though the Saxham family spread to seat after seat in several counties. Anna Belle (Traylor) Foote, born at Chappell Hill, Texas, March 9, 1879, is one of Boiling's descendants and has been vitally interested in the lines of descent. Her mother, Ida Mil­ dred Eldridge, was the daughter of Caleb Baker Eldridge (Jan­ uary 20, 1834—November 24, 1916) late of Waco, Texas. An­ drew Cunningham Traylor (June 11, 1825—May 21, 1875) lived at Chappell Hill, Texas, where his son, John Andrew, father of Anna Belle, was born, and lived a part of his life, dying at Bren­ ham, Washrington County, Texas. His wife was Amelia, daugh­ ter of Paschal Traylor. Anna Belle Traylor, daughter of Andrew and Ida Mildred (Eldridge) Traylor, married William Grayson Foote, son of William G. Foote and Zuleika (Weims) Foote. The marriage took place in Christ Church, Virginia, October 8, 1904. She is a soft-voiced but eager little lady, a graduate of Chappell Llill Female College, devoted to music, which she studied under Sher­ wood; yet she became a teacher of shorthand and typewriting at Temple Business School in Washington, D. C, where she makes her home. She also taught music at Cananche, Texas, during three years. A Methodist, a Democrat, an advocate of parks, and more parks, a firm believer in the League of Nations, a club woman of many years standing and many offices on Columbia Heights, Mrs. Foote has strong views on all public questions. "I believe," she says, "that immigration should be restricted, compulsory edu­ cation really enforced, and stenography and typewriting taught in all schools, beginning at the age of twelve." Mrs. Foote reads everything from Grecian mythology down, but finds biographies and periodical reviews most helpful. She has written both articles and movie plays. She delights in the "real claim to distinction" of her cousin, William T. Eldridge. On June 13, 1904, an appreciative article concerning the life of William Thomas Eldridge, written by Hon. Harry Haynes, was published in the Houston (Texas) Chronicle. In this article the writer stated: 33

"The tragic features in the life of Mr. W. T. Eldridge of Eagle Lake during the past two years in connection with his success in railroad construction, and founding and successfully managing a great farm, rice mill and sugar plant, have brought him to the front and given him prominence in Texas enjoyed by very few men. "He is descended from two of the most prominent families that ever lived in Texas. "His father, Mr. Albert Buckner Eldridge, was a prominent Washington County planter before the war, brother of John C. Eldridge, also a wealthy planter, and Dr. H. B. Eldridge, who lived at Independence for years, and moved to Austin, where he died. "These three brothers, William, John C. and H. B. Eldridge, were all fine Virginia gentlemen, and not only prominent in social and financial circles, but enjoyed the confidence of the people in the very highest degree. "William T. Eldridge's mother was the daughter of Captain Buck Randle, a wealthy planter living in Burleson County. He had three brothers, Colonel Willis Randle, Dr. I. G. Randle and Lack Randle. Colonel Willis.Randle represented Washington County in the state legislature in the fifties, and Dr. I. G. Randle stood well toward the front of the medical profession in the county for 25 years. "He has numerous cousins in the first degree living in Austin, Brenham, Houston and Dallas who are among the first people in these four cities. "About midway between the two old towns of Independence and Washington and two miles south of the public road between these places, and two miles southwest of the town of William Penn, on a hill, surrounded by a grove of pin oak and post oak trees, stands a comfortable farm house erected some years before the war, but still in good condition. "William T. Eldridge was born in the neighborhood of forty years ago. His father enlisted in the army of the South during the civil war and laid his life on the altar of his country during that sanguinary struggle in another State. Will was the merest AUG 181970

34

child when his father died and was not only deprived in young manhood of his counsel but the society of this noble man and can have, in the very nature of circumstances but little, if any recollections of him. His father's ample estate, deprived of his good judgment in its management, shared the same fate and fortunes of war shared by thousands and tens of thousands of other Southern planters. Without means and coming on during the hateful period of reconstruction, Will was deprived of the advantages in youth for which the Eldridge brothers were celebrated in giving their children, regardless and irrespective of the cost or sacrifice. "He was made of the right kind of metal, the right kind of blood coursed through his veins and he stepped out to face these untoward circumstances like a Spartan and to fight life's battle like a Trojan. He commenced the struggle at 14, and while his success has been varying, his courage has never wavered or weakened, and his purpose has never fallen or faltered. "The fact is, Will Eldridge has displayed as fine manhood while traversing the valleys as when standing his full stature on the mountain's summit. In defeat he has been as unconquered as Napoleon; in victory as modest as R. E. Lee. "The business battles he has fought and won are too well known to be mentioned, the success of his various enterprises are also matters upon which the people have all the facts. His administrative, executive genius is of a high order, and the world has not up to this time witnessed his best effort, nor has his most brilliant victory been recorded."