TEXAS
DICTATIONS (Grayson County.) 1887.
H.
H. Bancroft Collection
Bancroft
Library, University of California at
Berkeley
Department of
Texas
L.
S. Hatch, Manager
Dictation taken
by J.T. Grayson, Dec. 28th, 1885
Fort
Worth, Texas
1885
Taken of James A. Reddick (1845–1892)
Texas-born, now
living in Denison, Grayson County;
in Confederate
army, 1862-1865; later a farmer; yields
per acre for various crops.
I was born in
LaGrange, Texas, Dec 11th, 1845. My
father’s name was Mills Gray Reddick. He
moved from West Tenn. to Texas in
1843. There were only two (2) children of
us—myself and one sister. She married
N.P. Browning. They live in Brenham, Texas.
I live in Denison, Texas, Grayson
County. I have a wife and seven children, 5
boys and 2 girls.
My oldest boy's
name is Leondas Reddick (10 years).
My
second son's name is Alfred Reddick, age 8
years.
My
3 son's name is Leo Reddick age 4 years.
My
4 son's name is Roland Reddick, age 2 years.
My
5 son's name is Volney Reddick, age 6 weeks.
Served in the
Confederate army in the 21st Texas
Cavl under General Parsons. I entered the
Army in March 1862. And surrendered
to the Federal Troops May 5th 1865. I was
engaged in several battles. The
battle at Mansfield, La., was quite an
important one.
From the Army I
returned to paying some attention to
farming.
Wheat
the average per acre is about 20 bu
Oats the average per
acre is about 70 bu
Barley the average
per acre is about 70 bu
Corn the average per
acre is from 25 to 40 bu
Cotton the average
per acre is about 1/2 to 3/4 B [illeg.]
Fruit. There is no
finer country any where for
fruit. Peaches especially. This is the home
of the peach tree. Apples and pears
do very well too. I have been engaged in
different business pursuits—have been
extensively engaged in the Mercantile
business. I rent my farm out on the
shares now—640 acres, good improvements.
Then I own property in different
sections of the state. I have property here
in Fort Worth, Dallas, San Antonio,
and Denison. I am erecting a nice residence
in Denison, where I prefer living
to any place in Texas. I like the climate
better than any place else in this
state. Then we have four schools where I
educate my children and fit them for
college. I intend giving my children a fine
education. I would rather leave
them that than too much money and not enough
sense.
