Family Stories
NOBLE
From the book, HISTORY OF TEXAS- HOUSTON AND GALVESTON (written around 1900) More than a century ago three brothers of the name Noble came from England and settled in Virginia. One of these had a son named Stephen who after marriage moved to Georgia and subsequently to the Mississippi country, settling on Pearl River near the present town of Gallatin. He was a pioneer in that region, a man of means, and an Indian fighter, one of those stalwart, sturdy characters, to whom civilization on this continent is so greatly indebted. He was twice married and the father of a large family of children, five of whom, three sons,- Edward P; Stephen F and Abram W., and two daughters,- Bitha and Asenith (Tillman),- bacame early settlers of Texas and have many descendants now living in this state. Stephen F. Noble, the first of the number to come to Texas, came out in 1836 being then on a tour of investigation. After looking over the country he decided to locate, and , trading his horse for a league of land, he returned to Mississippi for his family, which he brought out in the fall of the following year and settled near Nacogdoches. He resided in Nacogdoches county until 1842, when he moved to Chocolate bayou in Brazoria County, and thence in December of the same year, to Houston, reaching this place on Christmas day. Thus, though not one of the first, he was one of the early settlers of this city, and the forty remaining years of his life which he spent here entitles him to a fair share of space in this work. Stephen F. Noble was born in Georgia in 1806, and was reared in Mississippi. In 1833 he married Martha Bohanon , then residing in Hines county, MS, but a native of the Crab Orchard country of Kentucky. With her and their two children, Curtis W. and Frank, they moved to Texas in the fall of 1837 as noted above. He came to this country with some means, his father having left him several slaves and some personal property, to which he had added by his own industry and good management. After locating in Houston he purchased lands on the Trinity River and opened plantations, which he conducted profitably with slave labor for several years before the war. He was also a contractor on the Houston and Texas Central Railroad, building most of that road from Houston to Hempstead and grading it from Hempstead to Navasota. Like many others, he lost heavily in the war, but his last years on earth were passed in peace, and in the enjoyment of the confidence and good will of those among whom he had so long lived. On settling in Houston, Mr. Noble had purchased property on the north side of the bayou, in what is now 5th ward and there he lived during the forty years of his residence in this place. At the time he settled in that locality, however, there was no 5th ward. That section of the city was a wilderness of pine trees and thick undergrowth. There are still old settlers living who used to hunt wolves and deer in the heart of what is now fifth ward. Mr. Noble saw the city grow from a straggling village to one of the best and largest cities in the state. Literally emerging from the mud, he saw it assume such proportions as gave abundant evidence of what it is destined to be: the railway center and chief commercial emporium of Texas. He witnessed many changes, political, social and material, in the country, and was not an uninterested spectator in what was going on around him. He had but little to do with public matters, his attention centering chiefly on his business pursuits, but like all old Texans he watched the polital aspect of the times with great interest, and was always solicitous for the welfare of the country. Mr. Noble lost his wife in this city, in 1852, after having ten children, two of whom, Curtis W. and Jackson B., are still living. Edward P. Noble, the eldest brother of Stephen F., came to Texas in 1838, and accompanying Stephen F. to Chocolate bayou in 1842, came the following year to Houston, where he spent the remainder of his life, dying in 1880. He was married in Mississippi previous to his removal to Texas and left two sons and two daughters, Edward P. of Velasco; Stephen F, of Fort Worth, Mrs. Kate Fredricks of Velasco and Mrs. Mary Graves of Houston. Abram W. Noble, the younger brother of Stephen F., came to Texas in 1840, settling in Nacogdoches county, whence after a residence of a few years, he moved to Billum's creek near Tyler County, thence in 1849 to Houston and in 1865 to Kaufman county, where he died in 1893. He left one son, Edwin A. Noble of Houston and four daughters, Aramintha, who was married to A. Wettermark of Nacogdoches, and is now deceased; Mrs. Emily Spence of Montgomery county; Mrs. Eugenia Drew, wife of O.C. Drew, of Houston; and Mrs. Louisa Marsden wife of Charles Marden also of Houston. Mrs. Asenith Tillman, the sister of Edward P., Stephen F. And Abram W. Noble died at Corsicana, in this state, where her descendants reside. The three Noble brothers, Edward P, Stephen F, and Abram W. were men of plain ways, honest, earnest and industrious, faithful in all the relations of life, all of them having served their country in times of war, Edward and Stephen in the early days in Texas taking part in the Cherokee war of 1838, and Abram in the late Civil War, being a captain in the Confederate Army. Curtis W. Noble, Eldest son of Stephen F. and Martha P. Noble, was born at Jackson, MS, Oct. 29, 1835 and was only 4 years old when his parents came to Texas. He was reared mainly in Houston, in which place he has also spent his entire life. His boyhood and youth were passed about the old homestead, and the labors of his youthful days were interspersed with many a wolf hunt and deer drive, in the heart of what is now fifth ward. He remembers when the pine trees were cut from around his father's home for saw logs, and when the largest business house on the public square was a one story shanty, 25 feet front by 50 feet deep. In August, 1861, Mr. Noble entered the Confederate Army enlisting in Company D, Second Texas Infantry, with which he served for six months on the coast of Texas, when his command was ordered, in Feb, 1862 to join the Army forming in Western Tennessee. Beginning with the battle of Shiloh, he was in all the engagements fought by the western army in Tennessee and Mississippi, under Johnston, Price and Van Horn. He escaped capture at Vicksburg by being absent from his command on account of sickness, and soon afterward joining Company E, Ninth Texas Regiment, First Texas Brigade, General Ector, he entered on the Georgia campaign with Joseph E. Johnston's army, joining it at Cassville, and was with it down to Lovejoy's station. He was with Hood on the return into Tennessee, being wounded at Nashville, and surrendered at Mobile, Alabama. Returning to Texas, Mr. Noble married Miss Laura Coleman, of Liberty County in Dec., 1865 and settled in Houston, where he has since resided.
Willie Joseph Rollin was raised in the Pentecostal church and much to his parents dismay he married Rosalie Orsak, the catholic daughter of Czech/German immigrants whose family owned a large farm right down the road. (Her parents were not pleased either, all of their other children married Czech and German catholics.) Willie began an apprenticeship as a painter at a railroad based in Yoakum. When this railroad was bought by Southern Pacific he decided to transfer to Houston. By this time he had 3 children, Bill, Georgie and Jo (my grandmother). They rented a small house on Houston's "Near Northside" in what is now considered the 5th Ward. After a few years Willie went in with his friend Zetler Cude (son of Alexander Cude and Lucy Carraway) to purchase several acres of land just a few miles north of Houston from Zetler's brother Archie. This area is now Houston's Northeast side.
Willie and Zetler had 3 houses built on the land and then, in the 1950's, as Houston expanded northward, they sold the rest for a subdivision and profited. Willie Rollin became a Master Painter with Southern Pacific and retired after 30 years with the company. He continued to live in the house on the Northeast side until 1996 when he and my great-grandma, Rosalie, became too old to easily care for themselves and picked out a nursing home near one of their children to spend the rest of their days in.
My Paw-Paw, Willie Joseph Rollin, died on September 6th, 1997 at the age of 95. My Great-grandmother, Rosalie, still lives in the nursing home, she is 96 years old. They were good people, I lived with them until I was 5 years old and after that I spent every summer with them. Twice a year we would go to Yoakum to stay with my great-grandma's sisters and also visit the Carraway Cemetery in Leesville, TX where Paw-Paw's mother and father are buried. It was my Paw-Paw who taught me how to read, how to plant a vegetable garden, how to paint the house, and how to build a table. My Paw-Paw paid for my braces and gave me my first car. He constantly told stories of his childhood, of how he was so excited when he got a cap gun for Christmas one year and what is was like to work in the copper mines. He was a great man.
Willie Joseph Rollin is buried next to his son, Bill, in St. Anne's Catholic Church Cemetery near Hocheim, DeWitt Co, TX.
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