Typed by: Jan Shelfer


FOUNTAIN, JASPER CLUCK

Surnames: FOUNTAIN, DAVISON, KYSER, HAWTHORNE, MCKINLEY, BEARD, WILEY, ALFANO, PAUL, ALBERT, CHEAVENS, PATRICK, PARRISH

Jasper Cluck Fountain, b. October 21, 1871 in Falls County, Texas, d. November 25, 1934 and buried in Calvary Cemetery in Marlin-was a son of Thomas G. Fountain and his second wife, Lydia (Davison) Fountain, who settled in the Hog Island Community of Falls County in 1869.

Jasper Cluck Fountain was married in Falls County, Texas to Lola L. Kyser, b. March 27, 1873, d. May 12, 1953 and buried in Calvary Cemetery-a daughter of William Daniel and Mary Catherine (Hawthorne) Kyser, who married in December 1871, and immediately took up residence in Marlin, Falls County, Texas.

In 1892, after receiving his education out-of-state, Jasper Cluck was a bookkeeper in the Citizens National Bank in Waco, Texas. Subsequently, in concert with Linton Davis and Walton Powers, as fellow officers, the Citizens National Bank of Marlin was established, which operated only a few years before merging with the Marlin National Bank in 1931, which then became the Marlin Citizens National Bank of Marlin. This bank suffered from the economic strain of the Depression, and had to close on February 13, 1933-remaining closed until, with the able and effective assistance of Senator Tom Connally, the bank was reopened April 20, 1934, with different officers. With additional assistance from Senator Connally, Jasper Cluck Fountain was named the receiver of a bank in Brownsville, Texas, and the family moved there-where just seventeen months later, while in the First Baptist Church, he had a sudden heart attack, and died. Lola (Kyser) Fountain moved back to Marlin, occupied the family (now the of a granddaughter's family, Dorothy and Wesley Frank McKinley, Jr., M.D.), until her death.

Jasper Cluck and Lola L. (Kyser) Fountain were the parents of seven children, including a pair of twin daughters:

DeAlva Fountain, b. 1894, d. 1971 and buried in Calvary Cemetery-married Ralph Elbert Beard, b. 1891, d. 1951 and buried in Calvary Cemetery in Marlin. They were the parents of one son, Ralph Elbert Beard, Jr., who married and lived for many years in Eagle Pass, Texas, and is now residing in Fort Clark Springs at Brackettville, Texas. He married Elby (maiden name unknown), and their children were Donna Beard who married, has children, and resides near Austin, Texas; and Ralph Elbert Beard, III (called "Bullet"), who married and has children.

Fredrick Ernest Fountain (called "Jack"), b. October 25, 1896, d. May 17, 1951-married Vera Wiley, and had one daughter, Dorothy Fountain, b. June 8, 1918, who married Wesley Frank McKinley, Jr., M.D., and had Martha Lee McKinley; Wesley Franklin McKinley, III who married Gloria Alfano; and Polly McKinley. They reside in the family of her grandparents, in Marlin, where Frank has had his medical practice for years-being associated with Torbett-Hutchings-Smith Hospital and Clinic.

Jasper Cluck Fountain, Jr., who married Pearl Paul, of Falls County, Texas, and had one daughter, Bertie Pauline Fountain who married Paul Albert, had children, and now resides in Granbury, Texas.

Lula Lee Fountain, d. 1983 and buried in Calvary Cemetery-married Frank Cheavens, alive in 1986, who is a psychology professor at The University of Texas, Arlington. They had two sons: Frank Earl Cheavens, b & d October 13, 1934 and buried in Calvary Cemetery in Marlin; and John Cheavens, who married, and has children.

Ruth Fountain-a twin, b. May 7, 1907-married James Patrick, now deceased, and had two sons: Don Patrick, deceased; and Earl B. Patrick, who married, has children, and resides in Waco, Texas.

Leah Fountain-a twin, b. May 7, 1907-married July 2, 1933 to William Manly Parrish, b. February 8, 1908, and had three children.

Louise Fountain, b. March 22, 1912, d. April 19, 1912, and buried in Calvary Cemetery in Marlin, Texas.

Copyright Permission granted to Theresa Carhart for printing these bio of these Falls County Families to this Web page.
"Families of Falls County," compiled and edited by the Falls County Historical Commission, page 161, column 2.

Member of Falls County Historical Commission