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WILLIAM N. NYE & FAMILY
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William N. Nye
was born in Maine in 1805, and died in 1844, when his ship was lost
in Matagorda Bay. He emigrated to the county in January of 1835, and
received land certificate #146 for one league and labor of land.
He
married Elizabeth Duncan on October 18, 1837, at Matagorda. She was
the daughter of James Duncan, who came from Pennsylvania in 1835.
Elizabeth was born on August 1, 1813, and died December 4, 1844. Her
funeral services were held in Christ Church
at Matagorda.
William and
Elizabeth had two sons: William Maynard, born October 13, 1841, and
Thomas Carter, born May 17, 1844. William M. died at Refugio in June
of 1890, and Thomas at Laredo. On July 22, 1866, Thomas married
Frances Elizabeth Schultz, daughter of Ferdinand and Sarah E.
Schultz. Frances was born February 9, 1848, and died in 1912. She
was baptized in Christ
Church, Matagorda. Her
parents were from Prussia
and had two other daughters and two sons: Mary Ann, born 1850; Alice
L., born 1853; Albert, born 1854; and Henry, born 1857.
After William
and Elizabeth died, their two sons were baptized in Christ Church,
and Elizabeth Harvey, a native of Russia petitioned the court to
allow her to raise Thomas Carter. Elizabeth died on May 6, 1882, and
was buried at Matagorda, where she lived with Thomas and his family.
During the
Civil War, both William and Thomas served in Company D, Sixth Texas
Regiment of the Matagorda Coast Guards, which had been formed in
1861 to patrol the coast around Matagorda.
Thomas and
Frances had seven children: Walter H., born October 5, 1867, died
July 14, 1874; Thomas Nye, born January 20, 1870, died January 21,
1870; Frank William, born January 8, 1871; Henry, born October 31,
1872, died January 8, 1881; Annie Elizabeth, born July 19, 1873;
Abel Pierce, born April 11, 1878; and Florence Elizabeth, born
August 27, 1880, died April 2, 1882.
Matagorda
County Tribune,
February 27, 1914
Reprinted in the Matagorda County Genealogical Society Quarterly,
Oak Leaves, August 1977
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Photographs provided by Randall LaGrange / F. R.
Nye Jr. Family
From Left Side:
Frank William Nye with Ollie Callum Nye From Right Side: Thomas
Carter Nye, wife Fannie Schultz
Easter Sunday 1912
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INTERESTING SKETCH OF COL. TOM C. NYE
Experience in Army, on Range, as Farmer,
by
Former Orphan Boy of Old Matagorda.
(S. M. Lesesne in
Galveston News.)
Laredo,
Texas, Feb. 23.--Colonel T. C. Nye, the "father of the onion
industry" around Laredo, was born in Matagorda, Texas, in 1844, while Texas as
a republic was flying the flag of the "Lone Star." He was reared
an orphan in that county, both his father and mother having died
during the year of his birth. Miss Elizabeth Forrester, an
elderly English lady, reared him to maturity. There were no
public schools there during his boyhood. Miss Forrester was
highly educated and it is to her that he is indebted for all the
"book education" that he received.
When the
Civil War developed Colonel Nye went from the cattle ranges on
the coastal plains into the army of the Confederate States. He
joined the Sixth Texas Infantry, under the command of Colonel
Garland. He with his regiment was captured at Arkansas Post, but
was soon exchanged. He was again captured at Missionary Ridge
carried to Rock Island, Ill. and held as a prisoner there until
after the surrender at Appomattox. In the Rock Island prison his
rations were scanty, and he suffered much from the extremely
cold weather.
Here
the daily rations of the prisoners were cut to one-half. The
Federals stated this cut was made in retaliation for the
treatment which they said their captured soldiers were receiving
in the Libby and Andersonville prisons.
Returning
home after the cessation of hostilities, Colonel Nye again
engaged in the live stock industry, not knowing, as he stated,
anything else that he could do. He continued this vocation until
1898, when he gave it up to engage in farming.
Speaking of
antebellum days, Colonel Nye said:
"People
then lived as friends and neighbors. The people were sociable
and hospitable, and every house was open to the stranger and the
traveler. Food and entertainment were gladly given in country
homes for company."
In the
years gone by Colonel Nye says, he has seen the streets of
Indianola lined for a mile with Mexican mule teams that were
hauling hides, wool and ores from, and goods, implements, etc.,
back to Mexico. In those palmy days times were lively in the
ill-fated old town. Everybody had money and want was unknown.
After the
Civil War and previous to the days of wire fences and enclosed
pastures, he remarked that an unbranded calf, if not following
its mother, was regarded as common property by most men, and
some of them would brand it, even if it was following its
mother.
"My best
luck," said Colonel Nye, "Was when I caught a girl, and my worst
luck came when she died in 1912, after we had lived together 46
years."
In speaking
of the onion industry he said: "The onion statistics show that
it takes an average of two acres to make one carload. The
industry has not been a bonanza because growers have not
followed proper methods. I have never made a failure. I have
done much 'book farming.' I take many agricultural journals and
when I see a good idea or suggestion I follow it. I use my mind
to sift the good from the bad. In all of my farming I have never
plowed a furrow.
"In 1913 I
and my youngest son, C. W. Nye, from thirty-two acres secured a
yield of thirty-eight carloads, or 16,880 bushel crates. Eight
of the thirty-two acres did not belong to us, so what we made
came from twenty-four acres, and he and I realized a net profit
of $6,780, which we divided between us. One of my son's boys
made $1,340 from four acres. But we planted, worked and handled
our crops right. I have a Negro on my place who has been with me
twenty-four years. I do not pay him any salary, but I give four
acres and water for irrigation gratis, and he pays me in work,
and he works as if he was being paid cash for his services. From
his four acres he made 2,440 crates, but I do not know how much
money he made."
"To make a
success in the onion industry is no easy matter. It is necessary
to understand thoroughly the planting, the cultivation, the
harvesting and the marketing of the crop. Out of fifteen crops I
have sold all of them by contracting them before their maturity,
and some of them before the onions were planted. In the spring
before the onions ripen I become so anxious about them that I
forget to shave and when you see me shaved you may know that the
crop has been harvested and sold."
In speaking
of his worldly success, he stated that he has never got rich but
that he is well satisfied; that he has been able to start his
four boys and one daughter in business, and does not owe any man
anything save good will. "What more," he remarked, "should I
want?"
He has a
well improved farm four miles from town, with a comfortable
dwelling supplied and equipped with all necessary comforts and
conveniences. He has his own pumping plant, and on his well kept
place are fig trees, dates, a beautiful grove of bearing olive
trees, and splendid crops of growing cabbage and onions. He has
in his possession a chart of Matagorda Bay that was made by his
father.
Incidentally he remarked that he had been reared under the
"Never leave home after night" rule, and he thought it was still
a good one to follow.
Editor's
Note: [Carey Smith]
The editor of The Tribune happens to know of a very
interesting story of the Forrester family. A sister of this Miss
Forrester married Thomas M. Harvey of England. Some years after they
came to the old town of Matagorda, he was elected county clerk of
this county and amassed considerable property. In England, the
landed estates descended to the oldest son. The male line of the
Forrester family became extinct, and its estate was left to Thomas
Harvey on condition that he change his name to Forrester. He
procured an act of the second Texas legislature in 1848 changing his
name from Thomas M. Harvey to Thomas Harvey Forrester, and lived
here under that name for many years. Finally he returned to England;
and having business across the channel in Paris, he was caught there
in the siege of that city by the Germans in 1871, and a letter he
wrote to friends here stated that food was so scarce he, with many
others, were subsisting on rats.
He died before
the city capitulated.
Historic Matagorda County,
Volume I, page 81
Reprinted in the
Matagorda County Genealogical Society Quarterly, Oak Leaves,
August 1977
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Death of Mrs. T. C. Nye
  The many friends in Matagorda of the Nye family
were grieved on last Saturday to learn of the death of Mrs. Fannie
Shoultz Nye, wife of Mr. T. C. Nye which occurred at the Nye home
near Laredo, October 25.
Mr. T. C. Nye and Miss Fannie Shoultz were
married in Matagorda July 12, 1866, and during their happy married
life of eighteen years here, five children were born to them. But
Mrs. Nye becoming a sufferer from lung trouble, Mr. Nye disposed of
his large cattle interests here and moved west hoping to benefit her
health. Her life was prolonged for 28 years but the end came
peacefully last Friday, surrounded by the devoted family. The
deceased was 64 years of age, and is survived by husband and four
sons, A. P., Frank W., Grover C. and Chester W., who live in and
near Laredo, and Mrs. Frances E. Collins of San Antonio, and one
brother, A. Shoultz of Bay City, and other relatives. Deceased was a
devoted member of the Episcopal church.
In compliance with the request of the deceased,
her remains were brought to Matagorda for interment besides the
graves of her father and mother. The funeral service at the
Episcopal Church was conducted by the rector, Rev. John Sloan, and
the remains followed to the cemetery by a large concourse of
sorrowing friends.
The remains were accompanied from Laredo, by the
sorrowing husband and sons, A. P. and Frank W. and wife. From Bay
City were Messrs. A. Shoultz and wife, Roy Shoultz and wife and
Chas. Cookenboo.
Matagorda News, November 1, 1912
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Father of Onion Industry Passed Away This Morning
Thomas Carter Nye, Native Texan, Aged 73 Years
Came to Laredo Nineteen Years Ago and Subsequently Made Laredo
Bermuda Onion a Famous Edible
 Thomas Carter Nye, aged 73 years and a native of
Matagorda county, Texas, the pioneer onion grower of the North
Laredo section and who was the man who nineteen years ago made the
Laredo country famous for its abundant crops of Bermuda onions by
planting the first extensive acreage of the bulbs and creating a
market that today makes the onion growing industry one of the most
extensive and profitable grown in Texas, died at his home in North
Laredo this morning at 4:40 o'clock after an illness of several
weeks which gradually enfeebled him and made his dear ones despair
of his recovery.
The deceased, a native Texan, was reared in his
home county of Matagorda and was one of the old-time residents of
fair Indianola, the most important city on the Texas coast long long
ago, but which swept by the fury of destructive storms was
practically deleted from the map. Leaving his home county he moved
to the Cotulla section and there remained a number of years being
engaged in the cattle raising husbandry and being a successful
stockman. Nineteen years ago last February the subject of this
tabloid sketch, accompanied by his wife and five children moved to
Laredo from Cotulla and Mr. Nye purchased the old Taylor farm in
North Laredo, which had been used for the extensive growing of
grapes and was a cultivated vineyard. He planted Bermuda onions, as
he was satisfied that the odorous bulbs would grow here and prove
profitable if a market was created for them. For two years or more
he devoted his efforts to making the onion industry a recognized
asset of this section, and the result of his work was the
popularizing of "Laredo onions" throughout the country to that
extent where a great demand was created for them and today Laredo
onions are popular everywhere. Thus Mr. Nye not only was the first
farmer of this section to plant Bermuda onions on an extensive
scale, but it was he who created a market demand for the great crop
which now brings in gross receipts of practically $2,000,000 to the
farmers of this section --in fact, that was the extent of the
business last spring. Mr. Nye continued in the onion business
throughout the following years and was often referred to in the
newspapers as "the father of the onion industry in Laredo," for
while he was not the first to plant onions, he was the first to let
the outside world know that the savor of the Bermuda onions grown
here surpassed those of other sections.
During the past nine months Mr. Nye, in a feeble
condition primarily due to the encroachments of old age, had been in
failing health, but only during the past six weeks has his decline
been such that his family realized his condition was critical. This
morning just before the dawn of a new day was ushered in, and while
his family stood vigil at his bedside, he closed his eyes in that
long slumber which is never disturbed and which comes as a surcease
from earthly labors and brings repose to the tired souls of this
early sphere.
Deceased was preceded to the grave by his beloved
wife five years ago, and when he left this transitory vale to join
his life companion on the silent shores of eternity, he left behind
four sons, Frank W., Pierce, Grover and Chester Nye, besides one
daughter, Mrs. R. A. Collins of Uvalde, and several grandchildren,
all of whom have the sympathy of their many friends in their
bereavement. The funeral takes place at 4 o'clock tomorrow afternoon
from the home of Frank W. Nye, with interment in the Odd Fellows
plot in the city cemetery.
Laredo Times, September 2, 1917
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Funeral of T. C. Nye
Large Concourse of Sorrowing Friends Followed Remains to Last
Resting Place in City Cemetery
The funeral of the late Thomas Carter Nye, the
pioneer onion grower of the Laredo section who died at his home in
North Laredo on Wednesday morning, took place from the home of his
son, Frank W. Nye, yesterday afternoon at 4 o'clock, the obsequies
being conducted by Chaplain Vincent of the Thirty-seventh Infantry
and a large concourse of sorrowing relatives and friends following
the remains from the house of sorrow to the place of interment in
the Odd Fellows plot in the city cemetery.
During the day many beautiful floral tributes
were sent to the Nye home and many friends called to gaze upon the
features that lay still in death and to pay their last respects to
the dead. Mr. Nye, during his residence of nearly twenty years in
the Laredo section, had made numerous friends who recognized in him
a man of keen business acumen, an agriculturist of ability and a
personality that made friends whenever they encountered him. As a
valuable asset he left to Laredo the profitable onion industry he
had brought out from the experimental stage to that status where
today it is one of the most extensive and profitable in the state,
and which is the source of income for hundreds of thrifty farmers.
The funeral yesterday afternoon, attended as it
was by citizens of prominence of Laredo, attested the high esteem in
which the deceased was held in this community. The following acted
as the active pallbearers; Mr. Ryman, Ed Denkike, S. V. Edwards, T.
A. Austin, F. M. Ramsay and Fritz Werner.
Laredo Times, September 2, 1917
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A Card of Thanks
We take this method of returning our sincere
thanks and appreciation to the many friends who came to our
assistance in the hours of sorrow caused by the death of our father,
T. C. Nye, and also those who sent floral tributes and assisted at
the funeral. Words are inadequate to express our thanks to all.
THE NYE FAMILY
Laredo Times, September 2, 1917
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Nye was two miles north
of Laredo in southwestern Webb County. It
was named for Thomas C. Nye, who introduced
the Bermuda onion culture into the area in
1898. In 1906 500 carloads of onions were
shipped from Nye Spur on the
International-Great Northern Railroad. A
school began operating about 1900, and
during the 1907–08 school year it had an
enrollment of forty-two. The area has been
gradually absorbed by neighboring Laredo,
and in the early 1990s only a few older
dwellings still marked the site of the
former settlement.
Christopher
Long - Handbook of Texas
Postmasters
NYE
(Webb)
Delbridge,
Thos. E., 4 May 1905
Davis, John H., 13 July 1906
Discontinued 15 Nov 1906; mail
to Laredo
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Broke the Record
Mr. T. C. Nye, now of Laredo, but formerly of
Cotulla, broke the record several years ago by selling out his ranch
interest, moving to Laredo and going into the truck business
exclusively. Mr. Nye made over $150 an acre last year on four acres
of onions, and this year he has in fifteen acres, besides other
truck.--Truck Farmer
Laredo Times, April 7, 1900
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Who would have ever even dreamed ten years ago when T. C. Nye
experimented on his irrigated grape farm at North Laredo by planting
a small crop of Bermuda onions, that old Webb county today would
have risen to be one of the banner agricultural counties of the
state.
Laredo Times, May 26, 1909
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Matagorda County Court Minutes, Monday,
October 20th, 1845, p. 59
Called meeting for purpose to authorize County
Clerk to make advertisement in three public places of the County,
for purpose of procuring some person to take charge of and support
and comfortably clothe the orphan child of the late W. N. Nye and
the person taking charge will receive payment from county. The child
is to be boarded out at public auction to the lowest bidder per
month.
A. Wadsworth, Chief Justice
Wm. J. Maynard
Seth Ingram
Matagorda County Court Minutes, October 21, 1845,
p. 59
There being no person at the auction of the 20th
inst. willing to take charge of the orphan child, Thos. Nye, we the
undersigned commissioners entered into an agreement this day with
Elizabeth Harvey to take good charge of [to?] clothe and feed the
said orphan at the rate of Twelve Dollars per calendar month to be
paid out of the first money collected by the County Treasurer.
A. Wadsworth, Chief Justice
Wm. J. Maynard & Seth Ingram, County Commissioners
Matagorda County Court Minutes, January 6, 1846,
p. 62
On Motion, Resolved that the account of Elizabeth
Harvey for the sum of $58 be audited and allowed for the charge of
the orphan child, Thomas Nye, and that the County Treasurer pay the
sum when in funds.
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