James Alexander Reddick (1845-1892) was an interesting fellow. B. C. Murray wrote on more than one occasion that he was the unofficial leader of the sporting community in Denison in the 1870s and 1880s. He was one of the original owners of the three White Elephant Saloons located in Denison, Fort Worth, and San Antonio. He also owned interests in saloons in El Paso and Tucson, AZ. While he was living in Denison, he traveled frequently to all those cities, as well as to Kansas City, MO, and Hot Springs, AR. He was apparently a good friend of J. B. McDougall.

Reddick said in the dictation that he was born in La Grange, TX. The 1880 Census says he and his parents were born in Tennessee. Both Texas and Tennessee have towns named La Grange located in counties named Fayette. One of his obituaries says he was born in Brenham, which is not far from La Grange. The first occurrence I find of him in the Denison newspapers is in a list of recent arrivals at the Alamo Hotel in May of 1875. It says he came from Flatonia, TX, which is not far from La Grange and Brenham.

Several months after the Reddicks arrival in the new town of Denison, he begins his business adventure with partner Mr. Berleiner in the operation of  the Le Grande Saloon.

The nine known children of James Alexander and Mary Elizabeth Wright Reddick:

   1874-1920: Alexander Leon
   1876-1944: Alfred Wright
   1876-   ?   : Corrine (aka Carrie)

   1878-1879   : Mabel Green 

   1881-   ?   : Leo
   1883-   ?   : Roland (or Rowland)
   1885-   ?   : Volney
   1887-   ?   : Mary
   1888-   ?   : Earnest


Of the six with unknown death dates, Corrine, Rowland, Mary, and Earnest were still alive in the 1900 Census. The only grandchild I found was Alexander Leon, Jr., who was born ca 1907.

In the spring of 1879 Alec Reddick rented a building and proposed to enter the restaurant business.  
One of the cities which Mr. Reddick liked to visit for gaming was Hot Springs, Arkansas.

On July 4, 1879, Reddick was among the group of about 30 people who dined at the Nelms home for the special day.  However, soon Constable Nelms was murdered, of which Reddick was an eye-witness.
 In the July 30, 1879 edition of the Denison Daily News, it was reported that Alec Reddick left for Dodge City, Kansas and that he had sold his farm to Con Campbell, located northwest of Denison.  (Denison Daily News, Wednesday, July 30, 1879, pg.4)  Late August 1879 the family of Alec Reddick left Denison for Austin on physician's recommendations that a "change in air" for Mr. Reddick's child would be beneficial.  (Denison Daily News, August 27, 1879, pg. 4)  A little over two weeks later the local newspaper reported the death of the child in Austin.  (Denison Daily News, September 13, 1879, pg.4)  The following day the local newspaper reported that Alec Reddick returned to Denison from Kansas City. (Denison Daily News, September 14, 1879, pg.8), apparently not present at the death and burial of his daughter, Mabel Green Reddick, who died at the age of 19 months and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Austin.  (FAG Memorial #67179977)

In the spring of 1880, Alec Reddick made the decision to retire from the banking business and concentrate on farming.
The family attended the funeral of Mr. and Mrs. Euper's child in August 1880.  During the trip, Leon Reddick was hurt in an accident.

James A. Reddick's place of birth is not the only factual discrepancy in the files.The 1934 death certificate of his wife, Mary Elizabeth Reddick, says she was the widow of Alexander L. Reddick. That's actually the name of their firstborn son. Both father and son went by the name "Alex." James A. Reddick's place of death was reported in one newspaper to be Mineral Wells. It's more likely that it was Wootan Wells near Marlin, where his daughter lived. There are other minor discrepancies of dates and names. One head-scratcher is the August 14, 1880, clipping that reported Reddick's and B. C. Murray's return to Denison after attending the 1880 Democratic convention. That convention ended on June 24 in Cincinnati.
The Republican convention ended earlier the same month in Chicago.  Why did Reddick and Murray not make it back to Denison until more than seven weeks after both conventions had ended?

By 1883 Alec Reddick lived in San Antonio where he was conducting a saloon business and returned to Denison every three months to visit his family.
The following year Alec Reddick had expanded his saloon business by opening a White Elephant Saloon in Ft. Worth.  Notice was also given in the March 1, 1884 issue of the Ft. Worth Daily Gazette, that 9:00 was the hour that lunch would be served at the White Elephant that evening.

However, by the fall of 1884, Alec Reddick and his partners dissolved their partnership.
In the fall of 1884 the two oldest sons/children of Alex & Mary Elizabeth Reddick were attending a new school in Denison; Alexander was about 10 years of age and Alfred about 8 years of age.
Owning several properties in Denison, Alec directed his attention to the improvement of his real estate.  

During the Victorian era, owning and/or living on a corner lot was considered a sign that the residents were wealthy.

By 1886 Alec was once again involved in the sporting business in El Paso.

Note that Mr. and Mrs. Reddick were on opposite sides of the prohibition issue. As a saloonkeeper he was obviously against it. He said so in the 1887 interview about the recent election results. But Mary Elizabeth Reddick was reported to be a WCTU member as early as 1890, two years before her husband died. After his death she stepped up her involvement to edit the organization's Texas newspaper. She was still active in the WCTU as late as 1915, twenty-three years after Alex's death.

In 1888 Alec had again opened a gambling house and saloon in San Antonio but found himself in the midst of an all out effort by the Sheriff to close all such businesses.
In September 1889 Alec moved his family to San Antonio where they were to make their future home.  (The Sunday Gazetteer, September 1, 1889, pg.4)  Alec died in the spring of 1892.  Although the newspaper notice below states that he was buried in Denison, the location of his grave is unknown at this time.


Mary and the children continued to live in Denison at 500 W. Gandy until ca1907. They went to Fort Worth for a while. She spent some time in Beaumont and perhaps other places. The second son, Alfred, was managing a hotel in Wichita Falls in 1910. That same year Mary was working as a housekeeper in Kansas City along with her daughter-in-law, Daisy, wife of Alexander Leon.  A. L. and Daisy Terrell of Denison married in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in 1905 and were divorced before 1916 when Daisy Terrell Reddick married a Kansas City doctor named Howard W. Swan. Leon Reddick obviously remarried as well before his death in 1920 where his surrviving spouse was listed as Margaret B. Reddick.  
Leon, following in his father's footsteps, engaged in businesses of amusement and sport in the early 1900s.

The death certificates of Mary Elizabeth and her son Alfred say they were both buried in Mt. Washington Cemetery in Kansas City. Alexander Leon's death certificate says he was buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Kansas City. James Alexander Reddick was reportedly buried in San Antonio.