Confederate Vet. Buried
Kerens,Tex, April 28(Special).--
Funeral services for George W. Speed, 96, Confederate veteran, were held from the First Baptist Church in Kerens Monday. Burial was in the Kerens Cemetery. He died at his home in Kerens Sunday.
A native of Mississippi, Mr. Speed resided in the Black Hills community northwest of Corsicana before going to Kerens many years ago. He was an extensive landowner before his retirement several years ago.
Surviving are eleven children, Mrs. Lillie Lindsey, Joe Speed, J.W. Speed, Mrs. W.L. Bain, Sr., C.C. Speed, E.B. Speed, Mrs. W.D. Arnett, Mrs. J.C. Spurger and Rev. John B. Speed, all of Kerens; Mrs. Ernest Bain, Kennedy, and Mrs. Henry Sheppard [Mrs. J. R. Hayes, Cameron].

Johnson, Francis White, et al. “George Washington Speed” entry in A History of Texas and Texans. v. 4 (of 5). Chicago: American Historical Society, 1914. pgs. 1935-1936.
The careers of few Texans have more marks of real business accomplishment and achievement over obstacles than this well-known farmer and banker of Kerens. He grew up under conditions which made the obtaining of an education difficult, was a solider during the close of the War Between the States, lived for a number of years in close intimacy with hardship and poverty, and finally moved out to Texas to begin life anew.
It was in 1876 that Mr. Speed settled in Navarro county. His first home was on Mill Creek, north of Blooming Grove, where he began with exceedingly limited resources and bought a small and scarcely improved tract of land on time. When he arrived he owned one mule, and his wife and four children had come out from Mississippi on a wagon owned by his brother. It was a journey of six weeks, and the trip had the usual spice of little incidents to break its monotony.
It was from Covington county, Mississippi, near Williamsburg, that Mr. Speed set out when he determined to seek a new home in Texas. He was born there April 11, 1846, and grew up in that locality. The time which would have proved most valuable in securing an education was spent in the army. He enlisted in 1864 in Stubbs’ battalion of Woods’ Brigade in the Confederate army, and was a river guard on the Mississippi river between Natchez and Yazoo city. There was no fighting of any consequence, and after the surrender of Lee his command was disbanded. He then returned home and assisted his father in farming. After the war he managed by hard efforts to acquire a year of schooling, and that proved exceeding valuable to him later in life.
On December 1, 1869, he was married, and began housekeeping on a poor little farm from which he managed to drag the living until he left that state. When he moved away he left both the farm and the furniture of the little cabin which stood upon it. His total resources on leaving Mississippi amounted to about two hundred dollars, and on arriving in Navarro county he paid all the money he had, twenty dollars, toward the purchase of the little Mill Creek farm. With his single mule he managed to make two crops, and from the second one paid the six hundred and fifty dollars which still incumbered [sic] the land, and then bought a team. After four years on his first place, he made a purchase and a trade and acquired a farm on Black Hills, nearer in and northwest of Corsicana. That was the scene of his activities for twenty three years, and his activities there laid the basis for his business prosperity. When he sold out he was the owner of seven hundred and seven acres, well improved and in a fine state of cultivation. His first purchase had been two hundred and thirty-six acres, and the rest of it he had added from time to time. It was by concentration of effort that he prospered, and though a popular citizen and frequently urged to go into local politics, he declined until his prosperity was securely laid and he could afford the leisure for public efforts.
Mr. Speed has been a resident of Kerens since 1899, and in 1901 sold out his lands at Black Hills and invested extensively in land about Kerens. The land in Elm Flat was cheap at that time, and some of his purchases were secured at less than five dollars an acre while for others he paid as high as twenty dollars an acre. All the land which he bought was improved and brought up to cultivation, and for some time he was one of the active farmers in this vicinity. Out of the various purchases made Mr. Speed still owns more than a thousand acres, and over half of this amount has come under cultivation through his own efforts or under his direction. Throughout his career in Texas he has been more or less engaged in the stock business, and in later years has done a great deal of feeding and has handled improved grades of cattle and horses. He has also helped local business enterprise by subscribing stock for two cotton gins. On the organization of the First State Bank of Kerens Mr. Speed was one of the large stock holders, became second president, now vice-president and a director. Fraternally his relations are with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Fraternal Union, and his church is the Baptist.
Mr. Speed married Miss Elizabeth Burkhalter, daughter of Joshua Burkhalter, a Mississippi farmer whose wife was Martha Harvey, and they were the parents of ten children, six of whom grew up. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Speed are: Martin L., a real estate dealer and farmer at Beasley; John B., of San Jose, California; Lillie, widow of Joseph Lindsey of Kerens; Maggie, who married W. D. Arnett of Kerens; Martha, wife of J.C. Spurger of Kerens; Joseph and Joshua, twin sons, both of whom live in Kerens; Josephine, who married Thomas Stockton of Kerens; Elmo, who died a young man after his marriage to Miss Stockton;; Georgie, wife of W. Bain of Kerens; Charles C., of Kerens; Essie, wife of E.C. Bain; Elijah B.; and Trudie May. Mr. Speed has become the father of seventeen children, and thirteen of them are still living. While his business career has been one of increasing prosperity, he should also be honored not less for his value to the community as the father of a large and useful family.
Brief reference should also be made to the earlier generation of his family. The Speeds were Scotch-Irish and early settlers in America, and all were loyal adherents of the cause of the colonies during the Revolution and several male members served as soldiers in that war. Grandfather William Speed moved from South Carolina to Mississippi, and was a planter. He married a Miss Lawrence, and their children were: James Monroe; Benjamin; two by the name of William, one being W.L., and the other W.W.; Mrs. Craig; and Mrs. John Jolly. James Monroe Speed, father of the Kerens business man, was born in the Anderson district of South Carolina in May, 1808, and died in December, 1887, in Covington County, Mississippi. His life was spent as a farmer, he owned slaves before the war, and favored the secession of the South. Four of his sons went out and wore the gray as Confederate soldiers. Those of his children who grew up were: William; James; Elizabeth, who married Thomas Bigland; George W.; Joseph; Benjamin; John; Martin Luther; Martha, who married William Keys; Josephine, who married Warren Knight; and Meshack. Of these children, Benjamin and George W. both became permanent residents of Texas.
Though in his earlier years Mr. Speed declined participation in politics, he has proved a most useful member of the community at Kerens. He served four years as alderman, and for a similar period was a member of the council. When first in the council the streets were graded and plank sidewalks built, although at the time he urged the building of cement walks as cheaper and more durable article. Since he returned to the board this improvement has been carried out. He is one of the substantial advocates and supporters of the movement for instituting waterworks, and that proposition was submitted to the voters of that community in 1911, and carried. In his relation to the school, Mr. Speed has served as a trustee, while at the Black Hills he served his district almost continuously, and in Kerens was a member of the board of education two years. Having been unfortunate in his educational experiences, he understands what the loss of proper schooling means to men and women, and has exerted his efforts not only in behalf of his own children but of all those in the community where he lives. At different times he has been a worker in the local conventions of the Democratic construction of the Baptist church at Kerens he was a member of the building committee, and has always given liberally of means to anything of consequence in his locality. He took up the cause of good roads, and while a worker in this direction has never found it convenient to attend the various conventions and meetings called to consider that proposition and other commercial causes. It should be stated that while Mr. Speed has been distinguished by his ability as a constructive business man, he has never tried to keep every dollar, and has used his means wisely and public spiritedly.