Part 4 in a series by Andy & Sherri Weeks
Dodd City, Texas -- Part 2 of the last article continues here…. The Stephens’ family came to Fannin County, Texas in the mid 1840s and became a big part of Fannin County and Dodd City history. We will continue the story of Hugh R. Stephens and his daughter, Mary Texalina aka Texie who married Benjamin Logan Royce in 1871.
B.L. Royse contracted typhoid fever in 1884 and died Dec 18, 1885 and is buried in the Smyrna cemetery east of Lannius. After he became sick Texie operated the store and hotel for a number of years as the May 11, 1888 Ad in the Dodd City Weekly Spectator has shown us. This was no easy task for a woman, or anyone to do as the Nov 11, 1884 issue of the Spectator had ads for FIVE other stores selling similar items in town i.e. - Wolfe & Co, Sadler & Sweeney, Howell & Moore, Kincaid & Co, Glover, Lee & Co and one in Stephensville called Crawford & Wolfe.
According to research by Millard Brent, Benjamin and his father-in-law Hugh Stephens were co-partners in the hotel and store. Hugh had also built a new livery stable in 1880 according to the Christian Messenger May 5, 1880 ad. Benjamin bought Hugh out in 1884 as Hugh was liquidating assets so he could invest in property in California as he had relocated there by 1883. This sell-out included the businesses, several town lots, and 69 acres of land out of the James Sadler survey near Stephensville. According to records Hugh took $30,000 in cash and notes with him to California stating his net worth at the time was about $125,000 (About $3.5 to $4 million today). Hugh’s first wife, Amanda, divorced him on grounds of abandonment in 1888. They had four children. Hugh married his second wife in California with whom he had one child, divorced, then moved back to Fannin County about 1900 and married a third time (no children). Hugh died on Feb 16, 1906 and was buried in the Smyrna cemetery after making history for 83 years.
Mrs. Royse ran the business herself until about 1890 when she sold the business and goods to John Biggs and John Organ retaining the property which was later sold to Mr. Biggs. He razed the buildings and built his residence and two other houses from the material located on the same lot. By 1979 the property with one house and a small garage remained. Johnie Hilliard purchased it and razed the house. The usable lumber was stored in the small garage. Johnie and his family used this lumber for years. As the photos show he used some of the lumber for shelving in his business, Hilliard Farm Equipment, and the authors of this article made shelving to store canned goods and whatnots. What a surprise it was to read in Millard Brent’s The History of Dodd City where this lumber came from! Little did we know we were using lumber from some of the first buildings built in the new railroad town of Dodd City. We are still using this shelving today. Just a little history hanging on for 150 years!
In 1891 Texie remarried to a New Yorker named Joseph Starling. The 1900 census shows her with her husband Joseph, her mother Amanda, and daughter Vista all living in Ft. Worth. It appears from census records they were quite well off as they owned their home and could afford a servant. They lived the rest of there lives in the Ft Worth area and are buried in the Greenwood Memorial Park and Mausoleum. For seventeen years the Royse’s owned and operated a hotel and store in Dodd City which was a vital part of a growing town on the Texas Pacific Railroad.
More in Millard Brents new book, The History of Dodd City, Texas available at Fannin County Museum of History. More info online: fannincountymuseum.org & Fannin GenWeb: txfannin.org
If you would like to share any history, photos, stories, or comments for The Dodd City Collection email: DoddCity1873@gmail.com