Cherokee County History Page: 491
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American War; (4) Henry Costillar, b. Sept. 18, 1877, d. April 12,
1946, m. Cora Nelson McCarty, b. 1876, d. 1945, both buried in
Mt. Vernon Cemetery in Houston County, Tex. (see family his-
tory); (5) Clara Indiana, b. 1878, d. 1926, m. Calvin Monroe Tolar
Aug. 28, 1895; (6) Laura Allen, b. 1880, d. 1971, m. Keen Webb; (7)
Robert Byron, b. 1883, d. ca. 1905; (8) Martha Almira, b. 1885, d.
1887; (9) Myrta Mae, b. 1887, d. 1972, m. Abner Williford, m. Jim
Allison in September, 1953; (10) George Lorenza, b. 1888, d. 1915,
m. Lucille Brady; (11) Emma Samantha, b. 1891, m. Tom Sims.
Walter Lafayette and Robert Byron were shot and killed by a
drunk intruder at a dance in their home.
Children of Edward Burrell and Frances Clay Rudd: (1) James
D., b. 1845; (2) Martha J., b. 1847; (3) George Washington; (4)
Margaret, b. 1853, m. Aaron Helmer; (5) Elmer B., b. 1854, d.
1884, buried at Town Bluff, Tyler County; (6) Malassa, b. 1858; (7
and 8, twins) Lorenza D. and William P., b. spring of 1860; (9)
Charles D., b. 1862, m. Lula Johnson; (10) Fannie V., b. 1864, m.
William Robert McCarty on Jan. 11, 1885, in Tyler County, and
m. Henry Waller second; (11) Kenneth, b. 1868; (12) Umphrey, b.
1870. - Kathryn Hart Wood.
Henry Costillar Rudd Family
When Ratcliff, Houston Co., Tex., was at its peak, Henry Cos-
tillar Rudd (b. Sept. 18, 1877, d. April 12, 1946), son of George
Washington and Jane P. Wilson Rudd (see family history), was
the Superintendant of the Central Coal and Coke Co. mill. The
town was bustling with people and business. There were electric
lights and running water in the more affluent homes.
Mr. Rudd's home had imported, stained, leaded glass panels on
each side of the decorative double front doors. There was a formal
dancing room for entertaining, and lots of kitchen and pantry
space as well as a special smoke house for storing meats. Fruit was
shipped in from mysterious places that small children could only
dream about.
Henry Costillar Rudd m. Cora Nelson McCarty (b. Nov. 1876,
Sinclair Ala., d. 1945) in 1900, daughter of Jim and Delia Hodges
Nelson. Cora Nelson Rudd had walk-in closets filled with beauti-
ful dresses of rustling taffeta and silk. On occasion, she could be
coaxed into lifting her skirts and doing a fancy dance for her
wide-eyed children. Mr. Rudd and his family were active members
of the Baptist Church. He was Worshipful Master of the Masonic
Lodge. These were the glorious days their daughter, Katy Irene,
remembered.
Ratcliff, named for pioneer resident, Jesse H. Ratcliff, was in a
rich, virgin pine forest and the mill furnished work for the towns-
people. The railroad and the wagon trains rolled. In fact, it was a
32-wagon train which rolled west from Georgia in 1875 that
brought Jesse Ratcliff and others to this fertile, evergreen pine
eastern section of Houston Co., Tex. He built the first sawmill in
1885. The post office was established in 1889, and Ratcliff became
the first postmaster. He gave his name to the office. There was
plenty of water for a mill pond and wild game was plentiful.
Around the turn of the century, Mr. Rudd, his wife, Cora, and
two small children moved to Ratcliff from Keith, La.
Children of Henry C. and Cora Nelson Rudd: (1) Claude b. May
25, 1895, Keith, Vernon Parish, La., d. at age seven of a congestive
chill, was buried at Antioch, southwest of Ratcliff; (2) Katy Irene
b. Aug. 16, 1896, Keith, La., d. May 8, 1968, m. George Sanford
Hart on Sept. 9, 1916, (see family history); (3) James Coss, b. Oct.
4, 1904, m. Josie Hager on Feb. 17, 1923; (4) Cora Mae, b. July 25,
1907, d. Feb. 18, 1969, m. Clayton Ashby in 1925, no children, lived
at Ratcliff all their lives where they ran the general store for years
before they retired; (5) Cecil, b. 1909, d. 1965, m. Cantrell
Childers, first, and R. J. Byers, second, (see family history); (6)
Robert Nelson, b. Dec. 14, 1914, m. Ethel English, first, and Alice
Mae Meraux, second, (see family history).
Clayton Ashby, b. 1905, d. 1983, husband of Cora Mae Rudd,
was a son of George Washington Ashby, b. 1877, d. 1923, and
Annie Lou. His grandparents were Thomas Jefferson, b. 1855, d.
1927, and S. Frances Ashby, b. 1863, d. 1914. All are buried in Mt.
Vernon Cemetery near Ratcliff.
James Coss and Josie Hager Rudd had (1) Billy Rex, b. Feb. 14,
1924, killed in an automobile accident Feb. 27, 1943, m. Donna
Sue Steed in 1942, one son, Donna m., second, a Mr. Curry; (2)
Betty Jean b. Feb. 3, 1933, m., first, Gary Pegoda, divorced, hadGary, b. 1949, Linda, b. 1953, and Mary Jo, b. 1954, m., second, J.
A. Caston live in Lake Jackson, Tex.
When they were to be married, Irene Rudd and George Sanford
Hart went to her parents, Henry and Cora Rudd, and asked if
Irene were adopted, since Henry Rudd came from Louisiana with
a wife, Cora Nelson Rudd, and two small children when he had not
been away from his family in Tyler Co., Tex., long enough to have
returned with children that old. Mrs. Rudd began to cry. Mr.
Rudd said that Irene had been raised a Rudd and he never wanted
it mentioned again. Irene's marriage and death certificates list her
maiden name as Rudd.
After both Irene and Sanford Hart were dead, their daughter,
Kathryn Hart Wood, began working on the family genealogy. The
biological father of Irene became known. In a letter, dated Nov. 18,
1970, Gracie Belle Tolar Swearingen, b. Dec. 13, 1907, Ratcliff,
Houston Co., Tex., daughter of Clara Indiana Rudd (a daughter of
George W. and Jane W. Rudd) and Calvin Monroe Tolar, told of an
interview with her mother's sister, Myrta Mae Rudd Williford Al-
lison (see George W. Rudd history), who was at that time living in
Warren, Tyler Co., Tex. She explained, "Cora Nelson m. Bob Mc-
Carty and to that union two children were born, Irene and Claude.
After Bob McCarty's death in 1898, Cora Nelson McCarty m.
Henry Costillar Rudd in 1900 and Irene and Claude went by the
name of Rudd. I do not know if they were adopted or not."
Since this information came from Henry Rudd's sister, Myrta
Mae Rudd, Kathryn later visited her and got the information in a
personal interview. Louisiana adoption records still were closed
in 1970.
In the 1900 census of Vernon Parish, La., Henry and F. Cora
Rudd are listed as having been married "6/12 of a year" with son,
Claude, b. May, 1895, and daugh-
ter, Irene, b. Aug. 1896. Henry
Rudd's birth date is September,
1877, age 22, and F. Cora, wife, b.
Nov. 1876, age 23. All dates check
correctly.
William Robert McCarty and
his first wife, Zebma, are shown
on land deeds in Town Bluff,
Tyler Co., Tex., in 1873. To this
union were born two sons, Bob, d.
ca. 1898, and Willie McCarty. Bob
m. Cora Nelson: Their children
were Claude and Irene.
William Robert McCarty and
his second wife, Fannie V. Rudd,
daughter of Edward B. and
Frances Clay Rudd (see George W.
Rudd family history) had three
children who are shown living
with her in the 1900 Orange Co.,
Katy Irene Rudd Tex., census: (1) Zelma, b. Nov.
1885; (2) Steve, b. 1887; (3) Char-
lie, b. 1891. After William Robert McCarty's death, Fannie m.
Henry Waller and their children are Anita and Bob Waller.
Gracie Belle Tolar Swearingen personally knew Steve Mc-
Carty and his wife, Eugenia, when they lived in Beaumont. She
said they were fine people. They moved to Mississippi years ago.
Son of Billy Rex and Donna Sue Steed Rud, Billy Rex Jr., b.
July 1, 1943, m. Janet Petty on July 17, 1965, and had James
Scott, b. and d. in 1966, and Daniel b. 1968.
Henry Costillar and Cora Rudd lived in Wells several years.
Their health began to fail and their daughters, Cecil Rudd
Childers and Katy Irene Hart, cared for them. When Cora Nelson
Rudd d. after a heart illness, Henry, her husband for 45 years,
seemed to lose the will to live. He d. in Nan Travis Memorial
Hospital in Jacksonville about nine months later in 1946.-
Kathryn Hart Wood.
Robert Nelson Rudd Family
Robert Nelson Rudd (b. Dec. 14, 1914, Ratcliff, Houston Co.,
Tex.) m., first, Ethel English (b. Sept. 24, 1914, d. March 29, 1964,
Baton Rouge, La., buried Mt. Vernon Cemetery, south of Rat-
cliff), on Feb. 22, 1934; m. second, Alice Mae Meraux Washenheim
on Nov. 6, 1967.491
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Cherokee County Historical Commission (Tex.). Cherokee County History, book, 2001; Jacksonville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth354360/m1/501/?q=%22jesse+h.+ratcliff%22: accessed June 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Cherokee County Historical Commission.