The C. A. Lawler Family

By Mrs. Ida Mae Byrd

C. A. Lawler was married to Miss Eva I. Long in Mt. Enterprise, Rusk County, Texas, in 1883. They moved to Jacksonville that same year. The family home was located at 518 East Cherokee Street. The house still stands.

Mr. Lawler's oldest sister, Mattie Lawler Allen, and her husband, Ben Allen, were among the first settlers in old Jacksonville. They later moved to Athens and opened a boarding school, which Mr. Lawler attended before moving to Jacksonville. It was through their influence that he decided to make Jacksonville his home.

Mr. Lawler's father was a merchant, having moved from Tennessee to Mt. Enterprise. He was a devout Christian gentleman, and when Major Penn, an outstanding evangelist, came for a camp meeting, he closed his store and along with his wife and six children attended the services. All six of his children were converted during these services.

As a young man, Mr. Lawler tended a herd of sheep for his father on a ranch near Uvalde. With his earnings, he bought a lot on Main Street in Jacksonville, south of the old First National Bank. Here he built a frame structure and ran a grocery store for many years. Later this building was replaced by a two-story brick building, and was the location of Whitaker Drug Store, with office space upstairs. This building was sold to the First National Bank in 1960, and at present is a part of the site of the Austin Building.

C. A. Lawler was Postmaster in 1913 and 1914, worked with A. Y. Shoemaker in the produce business, and later dealt in real estate.

Mr. and Mrs. Lawler were active members of the First Baptist Church, which was organized in 1882. He served as Sunday School Superintendent and Church Clerk for a number of years. He was a member of the Woodmen of the World, and Mrs. Lawler a member of Woodmen Circle.

To the family were born six children, —four sons and two daughters. It might be interesting to note that when the Lawler family went for a visit with relatives in Mt. Enterprise, a distance of 40 miles, the trip was made by wagon, from sun-up to sun-down.

The Lawler children were:

Roy, a railroad clerk in Houston; Tom, a conductor for the T&P Railroad in Ft. Worth; Hix, a conductor for T&NO Railroad in Jacksonville; and Ike, a produce dealer in the Rio Grande Valley. Elizabeth graduated from North Texas Normal in Denton in 1909. She taught in the Italy, Wichita Falls, Jacksonville and Dallas schools. After retiring in 1950, she made her home in Jacksonville until her death in 1970. She was an active member of the First Baptist Church and Eastern Star.

The only surviving member of the Lawler family is Ida Mae Byrd of 532 Nacogdoches Street in Jacksonville. She graduated from high school in the class of 1909. There were six girls in the graduating class, with George Barber as the teacher. The girls were Juanita Taylor (Mrs. Tom Dean), Lillian Holland (Mrs. A. Kelly), Opal Hart (Mrs. Fair), Cleo Sharoock, Mary Wood Francis and Ida Mae Lawler. Ida Mae then attended Baptist College majoring in speech. She was married to Homer William Byrd in Jacksonville in 1913. To this union were born three children including Evalyn Elizabeth Bedford of Dallas, Homer Hilton Byrd of Lufkin and Markrel Lawler Byrd of Jacksonville. There are two grandchildren: Billy Byrd Bedford, a design architect living in New York City, and Carol Sue Bedford, teacher in Spring Branch School System of Houston.

C. A. Lawler in a photo taken during his latter years.

Taking a spin in their 1913 vintage automobile.

Mrs. C. A. Lawler and her daughters, Elizabeth, right, Ida Mae Lawler Byrd, left.

Out for an afternoon of real lawn tennis in earlier days of Jacksonville. The Lawler home, in background, still is standing on Cherokee Street and is used as a residence.

Oil City Steam Laundry (Jacksonville Branch) delivery vehicle.

Ad clipped from 1902 "The Southland" publication furnished by Albritton family.