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 Sessia Wyche, Sr., Camp Cook |
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Austin Wyche, a blacksmith born in Virginia in 1827, came to Texas in 1863 with his wife, Emma. Their son Joshua Wyche was born in Texas in 1866. In 1885 Joshua married Julia Stewart (photo at right). The minister was Orange Doss. They lived on their farm in the Live Oak Community, and he made his living as a farmer and a camp cook. Their seven children were born at Live Oak, Matagorda County. Their children were: Hattie, Sessia, Suddie, Ira, Molly Bell, Jake “J. D.,” and Joshua. Sessia Wyche was born on October 18, 1888, in the Live Oak Community, and at the age of twenty-seven, he married Nona Lue Dale, the daughter of John Lewis and Pinkie Yancy Dale. Sessia became a farmer and a camp cook like his father before him. He had his own farm, and he began cooking for the Poole Cattle Company as a side job in 1912. This job of camp cook was held by him for forty-four years until his death on June 13, 1956. Well-known by cattle men all over Matagorda County, Sessia was much in demand for special barbecues, and his chuck wagon biscuits were a favorite fare for church suppers. Several interesting incidents are recalled by Donald Poole and Dr. Mark Poole, about Sessia and his chuck wagon. One particularly amusing incident is about a time when the cattle company was swimming cattle across Chinquapin Bayou. The Bayou is narrow, but deep. The chuck wagon, pulled by two mules, was on a flat boat, and in crossing the mules got to “cutting up” and sank the boat. Sessia could not swim, and when asked how he got out of the bayou he said; “I just hit bottom and walked out, and when I got to the bank I kept going. The Lord really helped me out that time!” People for whom Sessia worked said that he was a fine Christian, devoted to his church, family, and employers. He was a member of the Vine Grove Christian Church. Nona, his wife, was a seamstress. She sewed for her children, and for other people in the community. Sessia and Nona had four children, and these children had to take care of the home. It was during the depression when cattle business was down that Sessia did W. P. A. work. The children walked to the Grapevine School, situated about a mile from their home. In order to finish school, the children had to go to Kendleton, Texas, and pay room and board. Sessia, Jr. was drafted into the army in 1943. He received anti-aircraft training and was sent to Guadalcanal where he did guard duty. He was also at Henderson Field, and was discharged in 1945. That same year, he married Leslie Stephney, daughter of Daniel and Easter Law Stephney, They had nine children: Sessia Wyche III, Yvonne, Odell, Vicky, Sandy, Gery, Agurnette Leslie and Godwin. Later, they adopted one of the grandchildren, Quiana Lasha, daughter of Agurnette. Five of their nine children had college degrees—eight attended college. Sessia III received a Master’s Degree in Math from Texas A & I University and was a staff manager for Southwestern Bell Telephone. Yvonne attended Prairie View A & M and Texas A & I University where she received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education and taught school in Houston. Vicky attended Pan American University and was graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education and taught in Robstown and Progresso, Texas. Sandy attended Texas A & I University where he received a degree in Math and worked for Southwestern Bell Telephone. Gery attended Texas A & I University and was graduated with a Master’s Degree in Art, and taught at Van Vleck Texas Sessia, Jr., recalled some of the pleasant memories of his childhood in the Live Oak community. On weekends, they went to the Live Oak Creek to fish. At one particular spot on the creek, they would gather arrowheads and various bones from an Indian burial ground. They would try to piece the bones together. They also found pieces of an old cotton gin and tried to place these in order. The fields were cultivated, and after a rain the children would find many things to collect as hobbies. They were told by their grandparents that Indians had lived along the creek and that a war had broken out with the Indians in that particular area. Through the years many people came to the creek bank looking for money and treasure with their metal detectors. This little community of Live Oak was an isolated community for many years. In the 1940s the community received its first electricity, and the first hard-surfaced road to that area was in 1938.
Historic Matagorda County, Volume II, pages
571-572 |
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 Cattle Drive Near Sargent - 1920s l to r: Leslie Chiles, Steve Perry, T. J. Poole, Jr., Bart Morrow, Unknown, Unknown, Sessia Wyche |
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Sessia, Wyche, age 67, who has been a camp cook for the Poole Cattle Company for 44 years, died in Matagorda General Hospital June 13 as the result of a stroke. He had been ill only a short while. He was the son of Josh Wyche, also a camp cook in the Poole family, and the death of Sessia marks the end of an era that goes back to the Chisholm Trail. His mother was Julia Wyche. Well known by cattle men all over Matagorda County, Texas was much in demand for special barbecues, and his chuck wagon biscuits were favorite eating fare for church suppers, too. The past few years an all night graduation party has been given by mothers of high school seniors, climaxed by a chuck wagon breakfast, and Sessia has helped with those, too. A life long member of the Vine Grove Christian Church, Sessia will be buried in the Vine Grove Cemetery at Live Oak on Sunday, June 17, at 2 p. m. He is survived by three sons and three daughters. Several interesting incidents are recalled by Donald Poole and Dr. Mark Poole, about Sessia and his chuck wagon. One particularly amusing incident is about a time when the cattle company was swimming cattle across Chinquapin Bayou. The Bayou is narrow, but deep. The chuck wagon, pulled by two mules, was on a flat boat, and in crossing the mules got to “cutting up” and sank the boat. Sessia could not swim, and when asked how he got out of the bayou he said; “I just hit bottom and walked out, and when I got to the bank I kept going. The Lord really helped me out that time!” People for whom Sessia worked will tell you he was a fine Christian, devoted to his church, family and the people for whom he worked. The First Presbyterian Church in Bay City will miss him, too, because he always did the cooking for “church family nights.” With the mechanization of ranching and farming, the well known mule-drawn chuck wagon is almost becoming a thing of the past. But the cattle men will still remember the camp cooks, such as Sessia was, for years to come. And in recalling the years of service put in by Sessia and his father, Josh, it is a tribute to their loyalty and devotion to remember that between the two of them almost 100 years of camp cooking experience will be handed down as generations to come pass on the stories of cattle trails that wind back through the years.
Matagorda County Tribune, June 23, 1956 |
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Visitation will be until 9 p. m. today at Green's Mortuary and from 10 to 11 a. m. Saturday at the church. Mr. Wyche was born March 21, 1923, in Matagorda County, Texas to Sessia and Nona L. Dale Wyche Sr. and died June 10, 1987, at Matagorda General Hospital He was a World War II veteran. Survivors include his wife, Lillian Wyche of Live Oak; nine children, Sessia Wyche III of Harlingen, Yvonne Denmon of Houston, Odell and Geri Wyche of Live Oak, Vic Wyche of Mercedes, Sandy Wyche of Desoto, Aquonette Brooks of San Antonio, Leslie Wyche of Bay City and Godwin Wyche of Harlingen. Pallbearers include Abel Rutherford, Herman Brooks, Russell Dale, Thomas Wyche, Roland Simmons, Lloyd Stephney and Harold Brown. Honorary pallbearers include Sessia Wyche III, Odell W. Wyche, Vickey D. Wyche, Sandy A. Wyche, Geri G. Wyche, Leslie B. Wyche and Godwin D. Wyche. Arrangements are with Duncan-Roberts Funeral Home.
Daily Tribune, June 11 or 12, 1987 |
Funeral
services for Sessia Wyche, Jr., 64, of Bay City will be held at 11:30 a.
m. Saturday at Enterprise Baptist Church with the Rev. A. H. Pointer
officiating. Burial will be in Eastview Cemetery.