The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 66, July 1962 - April, 1963 Page: 511
641 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Decimus et Ultimus Barziza
business at the northwest corner of Main and Franklin, in
Houston. It is reported they opened with only $6,ooo in cash.'"
Barziza was quite active in the affairs of the business.
In addition, he was in great demand as a criminal lawyer. In
spite of a tendency to stutter in general conversation, he was
fiery and eloquent at the bar. A nephew, Phillip Dorsey Barziza,
told his children" of how, as a child, he was taken to court to
hear his "Uncle Dessie" plead a case. He said that on this
occasion, "Uncle Dessie" was so eloquent and convincing the
prosecutor, in effect, withdrew, and the jury decided for ac-
quittal without leaving the box.
After such trials, it was customary for the lawyers to gather
at a bar, or in a private home, and celebrate their victories or
drown their sorrows at defeat. According to family stories,
Decimus et Ultimus participated in these celebrations with great
enthusiasm. The only way his wife" could persuade him to leave
the party and come home, was to send his small nephew, Phillip,
whom they had adopted and whom the lawyer adored, for him. It
is told'" that little Phillip would go in to his Uncle and say:
"Uncle Dessie, it is time to go home."
The uncle invariably would reply: "All right, little man, let's
go," setting down his bottle and taking his leave.
Decimus et Ultimus Barziza died at his home at the corner of
San Jacinto and Walnut Streets, in Houston, on January 3go, 1882,
"after a lingering illness."" He was then forty-three years of age.
He was buried with full honors from Harmony Lodge No. 861,
Knights of Honor, and Webb Encampment No. 13, IOOF."
Pallbearers were members of the Houston bar."' Burial was in
the Barziza family plot, in Glenwood Cemetery.
"'Houston Chronicle, May i, 194o.
48J. H. Barziza, Sr., 909 West 23rd St., Houston, to R. H. S., September 16, 1962.
"Former Patricia Nicholas of Buckingham County, Virginia, whom he married
in March, 1869.
"J. H. Barziza, Sr., told R. H. S., September 16, 1962, that his father, the late
P. D. Barziza, Sr., who was the nephew and "adopted son" of D. U. Barziza, often
told him these stories.
"Galveston News, January 31, 1882.
0J. H. Barziza, Sr., says the Houston Light Guards, which D. U. had com-
manded, also attended en masse.
e1J. C. Hutcheson, E. P. Hill, W. C. Oliver, S. Taliaferro, W. B. Botts, Major M.
Looscan, J. W. Jones, and E. P. Turner.511
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 66, July 1962 - April, 1963, periodical, 1963; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101196/m1/549/?rotate=90: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.