Pioneer Businesses/Families in Reagan-1870's

According to William P. Jones who was one of the initial Reagan settlers, the first stores in Reagan were owned by Sam and Andrew Peyton, Captain Johnson and Dr. McDowell had a drug store. Some of the initial Reagn families included:Harper,Robbins, Fountain, Boyles, McCoy, Cotton, Rankin, Hayes, Hagens, Rogers, Guffy, Davidson, and J. E. Davis. Mr. Guffy lived in the Log Cabin just north of the Reagan school.

Other early-day Reagan business included Wardlaw & Rogers, established by David Lewis Wardlaw (in partnership with his in-laws, the Rodgers family) and a sore run by the Baptist Minister, Rev. Tubbs (the post office was also located in his store).

Reagan Texas Businesses in the 1890's

By 1890, James F. Newberry was a partner with Thomas C. Hagens in a cotton gin, land speculation, and farming in Reagan. At one time, James owned 850 acres of land and 13 lots in Reagan, Falls County, Texas.

Reagan Businesses in 1932

Some of the Reagan businesses that advertised in the Baptist Newspaper for Reagan and Cedar Springs in 1932 included the following:

Reagan Garage, Texaco Products and Accessories, S.E. Alexander, Mechanic; Clarence B. Heathering, Proprieter; Reagan, Texas

E.W. Shaunfield, Minimax Store, Minimum price, Maximum quality; Phone 10, Reagan, Texas This photo taken in the late 1930's shows the interior of the E.W. Shaunfield store located at the corner of the block next to the post office. Shown here are Joe Dudley Shaunfield, salesman, and owner E.W. Shaunfield. Front view of the E.W. Shaunfield Grocery Store. Joe Dudley Shaunfield, Dub, and E.W. Shaunfield.

M.E. Courville, Good things to eat; Pay Cash, Pay Less, Your Trade Appreciated; Reagan, Texas

The Reagan Gin Company; Custom Ginners; Dealers in Seed Cotton, Cottonseed; Cottonseed Hulls and Meal; Reagan, Texas

J.H. Matthews; General Hauling; Bonded and Insured; Phone 62; Reagan, Texas

G.B. Robbins and Sons;Blacksmith and Hardware; Your Business Appreciated; Phone 26; Reagan, Texas

Moore Drug Company; You are always welcome at Moore's; Phone 13; Reagan, Texas

Buell's Garage; General Repairing; Goodyear Tires and Tubes, accessories and parts; P.O. Box 55; Phone E40; Reagan, Texas

Curry Drug Store; Phone 6; Reagan, Texas

Bargainer & Kirkpatrick; Lumber, Farm Implements, Feed: We Deliver the Goods; We are now carrying a stock of Field Seed, Red top cane, Hegari, Sudan, Darso, Millet, etc. This ad and 10 cents entitles you to a quarter pint can of new improved DUCO and a brush with which to apply it. Try new and improved Duco today.; Phone 25; Reagan, Texas

Moore's Service Station; Reagan, Texas

Photo of Mr. Will Winzer, a settler and builder in early-day Reagan (built the Moore Drug Company building that currently houses the Reagan post office). This great photo was sent to us courtesy of Will's granddaughter, Patricia Ruth Kelly Gandy, another former Reaganite.

OTHER STORES AND BUSINESSES IN REAGAN

Allen's Grocery Store
Operated by Mr. and Mrs. Hoss Allen



Mr "Lige" (E. R.) Anderson drove a mule powered scrapper to build up the road berm up by Big Creek when they were building Highway 6.


Danford Dairy
Operated by Mr. and Mrs. Ismond Danford

Davis Barbershop
Operated by W.T. Davis in the early 1900�s)



Reagan Branch of Bell Telephone Office
Operated by Mr. and Mrs. Stephen (Bea) Davison.The Reagan phone office was located next door to Scoggin's Grocery on the school street. Mrs. Bea kept the switchboard in the living room which Jessie Wyatt, the Baptist preacher's daughter remembers "was no larger than an extra tall upright piano with many plugs connected to wires waiting to be plugged into a specific connecting hole above. We all had Party lines, our ring was one long and two short. Our wooden based crank phone was wall mounted".

In Reagan in the late 40's, if a family had a phone at all, it only had one phone. Many families did without phone service in Reagan. The Reagan school had a crank-type phone near the north entrance.

According to Donovan Kirkpatrick, Mrs. Bea's husband, Stephen was nicknamed "Uncle Step" and of course Miss Bea. However, the nickname that stuck was "Mutt" after the Comic strip "Mutt and Jeff" I think "Jeff" was Harrison Burke. If you stood the two of them side by side you would understand provided you were familiar with the comic strip!



Claude Buell Garage; Later Dees Garage and Service Station
Operated by Son R.J. Dees ran the Dees Garage and Service Station after his dad's retirement in the late 40's. Mr Dees,R. J. 's dad, was a very successful farmer but went broke during the depression; then bought the garage from Claude Buell who had earlier moved the business from Tarbox.

Guy Turnipseed worked with R.J. for many years. As a kid, I can remember many catepillas, graders, and tractors going to the shop for repairs.


R.J. Dees and Guy Turnipseed, two great mechanics in Reagan. Kubiak's Honky tonk and Blacksmith shop in the background. The post office was just up the street from Lonnie Robbins Hardware Store.




R.J. Dees on his wedding day.

While R.J.'s mother, Mrs. Dees was not a business owner, she did provide a lot of paying jobs for the kids of Reagan such as myself, my brother, Dan and Milton Turnipseed shown hoeing Mrs. Dee's garden in the following photo. Mrs. Dees lived adjacent to our place in Reagan and a frequent guest in the Kubiak home. During the year when my Dad was laid up with a broken leg from an automobile accident, Mrs. Dees kept me employed when I wasn't in the cotton fields. I helped plant and hoe the garden, clean cemetery plots at the Waite Cemetery, gather potatoes, pick berries and mowed her lawn on many an occasion.


As you can see from this old photo, Mrs. Dees always had a lush garden with corn reaching up to the sky and delicious black berries around the perimeter of the garden. Leaning on his hoe in this picture is Milton Turnipseed. Milton played basketball at Marlin and graduated from Baylor; currently lives north of Georgetown.



Mr. and Mrs. Drusche (Worked on the Danford Dairy)



Dunhams Grocery Store
Owned and operated by Mr. and Mrs. Frank Dunham



Norman Dunham ran Dunham�s store in the 1930�s.



Mr Earls ran a barber shop on one side of Boyles grocery. Mattie Lou Earls is their daughter. I can remember a seeing people get a haircut there.


Reagan Fire Department.
Reagan never had an official fire department but a siren on a pole next to the telephone office always alerted to town to a fire and volunteers would come running. Most of the time, the volunteers battled grass fires on the school grounds using wet toe sacks. A water trough at the Kubiak place provided the water for the toe sacks. As a kid, I was in many of these volunteer fire fighting groups. Now that was hot work and we always went up to Pete Saxon's place to cool down with a soft drink (Pete always gave out free cold drinks to the fire fighters!



The First National Bank of Reagan was on the other side of the grocery. Sibyl Burnett, elementary teacher in Reagan and Methodist Church sunday school teacher was married to J.R.Burnet who was president of the old Reagan Bank at one time. J.R. and Sibyl later divorced and J.R. Burnett moved to Cisco where he became a judge.

Donovan Kirkpatrick remembers that Horne Kirkpatrick ran the First National Bank in Reagan in the depression years. Some of the cotton farmers in Highbank claim they could not have made it through the "Depression" had he not helped them out. Donovan remembers going into the bank when Ruth worked there as a teller. Ruth later married Walter Kirk Burke and had daughter India Ruth Burke.
India Ruth Burke Thompson (india47@sbcglobal.net) sent me this clarification email.

I'm writing about the paragraph on the bank..My name is India Ruth Burke Thompson and my father was Walter Kirk Burke...His mother was Ruth Flowers Burke, not his wife...Walter's wife was Betty Sue Crump Burke...Maybe there is some confusion about Ruth...She could have worked in the bank, I'm not sure...

My maternal grandmother was Nadine Winzer (Crump) McCollum...I remember, as a little girl, coming to visit during the summer...I loved Reagan...Nadine worked part-time at the phone company..I remember Papa Mac taking me over to pick her up and letting me out to tell her we were there...I jumped out into a big patch of stickers...

I remember going to the gym over by the school...I seem to remember going skating there..My best memories are of Reagan, summers and holidays...I would cry when I had to leave Mammy and Papa to go back home...Papa was actually my step-grandfather (I didn't know this until I was practically grown)...His name was Claude McCollum, a wonderful man...Mammy was Nadine McCollum, a precious lady...Pat Gandy is my second cousin...My great grandfather was Mr. Will Winzer...My mother, Betty Burke and Pat are first cousins...

If I can be of any help, please contact me...
India

india47@sbcglobal.net


The First National Bank of Reagan was later consolidated with the one in Marlin and Ben Jefferson rented the old bank building for his Bar B Que place and beer joint. With the beer joint came the inevitable Saturday night crowds, knife fights and loud music.

Eventually, J. V. Scroggins, who lived right behind the beer joint complained about the noise and beer drinking and the citizens of Reagan got up a petition to close him down. Ben moved his business to Marlin and his son R. C. ran a Bar B Que place there for a while in the vicinity of Wood street.




Ernest Boyles. Grocery Store. They lived up that gravel road North of Reagan in a 2-story house.



Heflin's Gulf Service Station
Operated by Hy and Willie Mae Heflin.
You could also pay your gas bill here and get your car tags. I remember the building seemed small, just room enough for a desk and a couple of chairs! As a kid, it was convenient to buy a soda pop for a nickel!

Mrs Willie Mae Heflin ran the gas sation. Hy Heflin drove a school bus for Reagan and farmed as Donovan Kirkpatrick recalls. They had two daughters. Billie Hy and Mayme. Billie Hy married Hedrick Maxwell from Marlin who sold hats on the road. Their son is a Colonel in the Air Force and currently a Professor of Air Science at Texas A&M.



Mr. and Mrs. John Howell.
John Howell was Sheriff in the 40's, early 50's



Thagard K. and Mary Kirkpatrick
T.K. Kirpatrick ran the TK Lumber yard on the west side of HW6 for many years and Mary taught school at Reagan. When the Kubiak's built a home and barns in Reagan in 1946, the lumber came from Thagard's Lumber Company.

John Kubiak operated the Kubiak Garage and Blacksmith in the blacksmith shop formerly operated by Lonnie Robbins.

As a kid, I spent many hours watching my dad operate the forge and heat metals that he pounded into shape on his anvils. The most interesting part of the shop was a series of electric hammers, drills, saws and grinders all belt driven from a single 5 horsepower electic motor.

One of the neatest things My Dad did at the shop was take a bunch of left over automobile parts and build a tractor that we used to plow the garden and plant hay out back.

We always had folks stopping by the house to have Dad take a look at their car. With points and condensers, that was generally the problem and most of the time Dad wouldn't charge for his services. These were his friends and neighbors and relatives!

The Kubiak family also operated the Kubiak homestead raising most of their own food. This came in particularly handy when John Kubiak was laid up for a year recovering from an automobile/Truck accident in the early 50's.


Dan Kubiak raised show Pigs and the homestead always had lots of ducks, geese, turkeys, cows and occasionally a goat or two. Eggs, fresh milk, butter and a big garden and orchard.

Dan Kubiak holding a handfull of hay which grew upwards of 6 foot tall. The Kubiak barn and Reagan Methodist Church and school in the background.

Hand-me down clothes were a way of life. Most folks were poor in Reagan by todays standards but extremely rich in other ways! L-R. Dan Kubiak, L.B. Kubiak, and Leonard Kubiak. Two of the three became State Representatives, One Became an Engineer and Writer. A PHD in Education, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and a Degree in Electrical Engineering and Math between them.



James Decary and Jocie Mae Johnson McCaleb
James McCaleb was the Reagan school custodian and drove the school bus for many decades. I remember helping him strip the finish from the gym floors one summer (we used the gym for practically every event including roller skating!).




The folks who lived behind the Sinclair station were Brittian and "Pete" Moore- lived behind the Sinclair station. Pete's dad was the druggist in Reagan, ran Moore's drug store. Donovan Kirkpatrick remembers buying school supplies and ice cream there about 1946.(Beth Boettcher has the soda fountain that once was in the Moore Drugstore).
Later, the Moore's built a restaurant out on HW6 that served as the Greyhound Bus Stop for a while. (burned down in the early 50's)





Reagan Post Office


This building originally housed the Moore Drug Company and became the Reagan Post Office in the 1940's.

Some of the early-day post masters at Reagan included:
Robert S. Harper-June 23, 1873
Thomas P. Harper-May 8, 1876
Thomas P. Harper, Jr.- May 22, 1876
Thomas P. Harper, Sr.- June 15, 1876
Henry A. Keeling, - June 6, 1879
John E. Davis- December 7, 1888
Thomas B. Higgins- August 20, 1889

(anybody have the more recent post masters?).

William (Will) Pickens Winzer,born Dec 21, 1860 in Webster County, Georgia built the 2-story commercial building on Railroad Avenue in Reagan in the 1890's. After Will's house burned down in the late 30's, Will moved to the second floor apartment above the Moore Building (that became the Reagan Post Office).

Early-day residents and their post office boxes:

John Kubiak Post Office Box number- 105
T.K. Kirkpatrick post office box number- 83. (any others?)




The Reagan Railroad Depot was a busy place in the early-days of Reagan.

Donovan Kirkpatrick, son of Thagard Kirkpatrick lived by the railroad tracks across from Hugh Davison's and across the tracks from where Carl Evans lives now. Donovan recalls a Mr. Moore who was in charge of the Section Gang that worked on the railroad with railroad employees Will Hickman, Ed Linton, Mose Rogers and others in the Section gang. Black people who worked on the railroad were well respected in their community. Donovan still remembers trains going by the house at all hours and Blimps flying over (this was during WWll).

George Macdonald recalls that in the mid 1940's, the railroad station was run by Mr. Kelly who lived in the house where the Hughes and Bulls had lived earlier. Mr. Kelly had a daughter Patsy and son Robert and later moved to Waller Texas. Mr. Kelly also ran the telegraph office at the train station.

I got an email from Patricia Ruth Kelly Gandy (Pat) with additional information about the Kelly family. Her dad, Henry Earl Kelly came to Reagan in 1920 and married Ola Lee Winzer, one of six children of Will and Lela Moore Winzer. Henry and Ola Lee Winzer Kelly had two children: Patricia Ruth and Robert Milton. Heny Kelly was the Southern Pacific station agent in Reagan until the Kelly's moved to Riesel in 1940.
George also recalls that during the war there were many occasions when truck loads of German pow's would go by George's house on the way to Highbank to pick cotton. They were always singing and would wave. According to George, "Think they were damn glad to be out of the war. Many of the pilots in training in Waco would fly over and sometimes dogfight much to my pleasure. Occasionly men from the FBI would come by seeking info on one of my grandmother's ex students who had filed as conscientous objector".

George also remembers playing on the cotton bales on the Reagan railroad platform and watching the troop trains go through during the war years. Biggest thrill was the freight cars carrying tanks and other war equipment that rolled through.

Julia Whatley, teacher at Reagan in the 1950's, had her picture taken on the Reagan Depot the day we got a big snow in Reagan (Calvin Whatley, who was Reagan Principal and teacher, is taking the picture and their two Dalmations can be seen if you look closely!)




Willie Robbins was a carpenter and painter in Reagan. He married Pauline Kirkpatrick, an older sister of T. K. Kirkpatrick. They had three girls: Lucia,Edwina and Anna Paul.



E.W. (Pete) Saxon (Track star in the 20's, ran the mile, went to State from Reagan High School; ran Pete's place, a soda pop and ice cream store near the highway during the 40's and 50's; very popular with all the school kids.



L-R: James Wesley Evans, Stephen (Mutt) Davison, Herman Kirkpatrick and E.W. "Pete" Saxon in the back wearing his hat and sunshades!



Joe Short and other local kids in front of the Pete Saxon place. Pete is on the far right in this photo.


J.V. and Edna Scroggins- Ran the Scroggins Grocery Store and ice house just up the street from the Reagan School (they lived across the road). Later J.V. ran a gas station on the west side of HW6 until his retirement.



Georgia Scroggins often Helped
Run the Family Grocery Store



Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Short Bought the Sinclair Service Station on Highway 6 from Sam Cole and operated it with the help of his sons, Norman and Joe.




Texas Pneumatic Tools, Inc.
Carl Wayne Evans, one of our Reagan elementary school graduates has gone on to form a large company based in Reagan providing products world wide. The company is located just south of Reagan on the left hand side if you're heading to Tarbox! Carl has also placed a gazebo near the location of the old gin tank, our favorite swimming hole in the early 1950's.
Some of the many products produced by Texas Pneumatic Tools, Inc.



Mr Robert Hughs, School Superintendent, lived in Herman Kirkpatrick's house. They had a son Lynn David (Larry) and a daughter. Donovan Kirkpatrick recalls eating supper with the Hughs family and drinking tea out of Mason jars. George S. Macdonald , grandson of Sibyl M. Burnett (taught in the Reagan schools until 1944) and son of her daughter Marian Burnett who graduated from Reagan High School in 1927 recalls getting a good belting from Hughs!

Reagan Telegraph Office. The Reagan Telegraph office was in the Reagan Depot and one of the operator's was Mr. Kelly who also ran the train station.

TEACHERS OF EARLY-DAY REAGAN



TEACHERS AT REAGAN

Mary Kirkpatrick (1953)	Mrs. Tom Kelly, 1950	Berthie Crow (1946)
Coach Greg(1952)	Dorothy Lane(1946)	Sibyl Moorehead Burnett
Dorothy Ruth Lane(1945)	Mrs. Tom Kelly (1945)	Cecil Phillips (1946)

Former Reagan Teacher, Dorothy Lane (Niesen) (1945-1947) (on the left)and fellow teacher, Bertie Crow, the music and 7th and 8th grade teacher.



Reagan Teachers in early 1940's: L-R BACK ROW: Mr Hughes, Mr Lynn, Mr Doyle, Mr Sullivan. MID ROW: Miss McCurry, Miss Creager, Miss Thorn. FRONT ROW: Mrs Burnett, Miss Blain, Miss Brunso.(Photo Curtesy Pauline Nutt Malone of temple)





Reagan Teacher, Miss Dovie Davis (1909)



MINISTERS AND SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN REAGAN

Sibyl Burnett and Eula Young were sunday school teachers at Reagan Methodist Church for many years (20's, 30's and 40's).

Other Methodist Church sunday school teachers included Mrs. Lige (Octilia) Anderson, (later Covington) and Mrs Mildred Joyner. Donovan Kirkpatrick rembers that Mr Lige and Miss Octilia used to take Octilia's sunday school classes to Waco Cameron Park for picnics and outings. Mrs Joyner taught the preschoolers and Miss Octilia taught Jr. High and above.

From the summer of 1947 to the summer of 1951, Rev. William Ray (W. R.)Wyatt was pastor of the Reagan Baptist Church. He and his wife, Dorothy Evelyn Wyatt and five children occupied the Baptist parsonage for four years.


Rev. W.R. and Dorothy Evelyn Wyatt, photo taken in 1947.

Tommy Holcomb
Tommy was pastor of the Reagan Methodist Church and once saved my brother Dan Kubiak from drowning in the lake at Groesbeck where several of us had gone for a church outing.



Rev. Louis and Mrs. Risinger. Methodist Minister in Reagan in the late 1940's and our neighbors across the street (photo taken in 1987). The Risingers lost a young daughter to luekema, a sad event for us all. They also had a daughter my age, my playmate Betty Risinger.




Rev. and Mrs. Gail Williams
Minister at Reagan Methodist Church



Rev. and Mrs. Bates and Daughter
Minister at Reagan Methodist Church



Minister at Reagan Methodist Church



Sunday School Teacher
at Reagan Methodist Church



Mrs. Thagert Kirkpatrick, Sunday School Teacher
at Reagan Methodist Church

Robert Barnes was a Reagan Baptist Minister in the 40's.



WE NEED YOUR STORIES AND EARLY-DAY REAGAN PHOTOS!
THANKS, LEONARD KUBIAK
1264 FM2116
Rockdale, Texas 76567




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