Husband of Louise Estelle Stolz. Married in 1920, they raised 4 sons and 1 daughter.
"A STORY OF A VERY SHORT PERIOD OF MY LIFE - WRITTEN IN 1997- SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS" In the year 1913 while living in Rockdale, Texas, I was working at my trade as a plumber, when early one morning someone came to my house and said, "Suess, we are getting together a relief party to go to the Brazos to help marooned people and try to get telegraph and telephone lines together. There is an Engine and one Baggage Car, on the way from Taylor, which will be here any minute. I was told to get you if I could". Just then I heard a train whistle which we had not heard in several days. I told my family goodbye, not knowing if I would ever see them again, rushed to the station and climbed into the Baggage Car. I asked God to send me, to give me the necessary courage and spare my life. [I would like to mention that I was not a good Christian; I lived in sin. But, there was one thing that I never failed to do and that was to pray. My Mother taught me that and I thank God for my little Mother. I was the only one that, at the moment she passed out of this temporary life, heard her last statement, "I am going home to Jesus".] While just creeping over the water washed railroad tracks, we often thought the Engine would urn over; but, soon we landed at the scene...a scene that I will never forget. There was a raging torrent of red muddy water as far as the eye could see; I heard the crying out of people who were in tree tops and atop shacks that would not stand the water much longer. There were a good many people there; some had come from Taylor and Rockdale in the Baggage Car while others had walked there. We took the only little boat out of the Car and I noticed it did not even have oar locks and was constructed in a very fagile manner. The first thing I did was to make oar locks from wood; when this was done, we carried the boat to the water's edge and I got in it. Some said, "Suess, you will never make it." The distance to Valley Junction was about four miles; the railroad tracks were gone. I heard that, The General Manager of the I&GN Railroad had been stranded there with is private train. He had attempted to go north towards Hearn in a boat with another man...both were drowned. I got there too late to warn them. While on my way across, I was caught in a stiff swirl of current several times which, of course, would cause me to face the place that I had left...it was then that I saw men kneeling and praying for my life; praying that God would take me and use me to rescue some people's lives. This gave me new courage and I promised God that if He would help me to save people, that I would try to save souls. For about two hours, I battled with the water and the little boat. Sometimes my oars would slip out of the homemade locks I had made, and I would turn over backwards and loose the distance that I had made...just to go with the current and do it all over again. But, thank God, He certainly blessed me with a very stong and healthy body which could take any amount of suffering. Certainly, I did suffer as this was the hardest battle for life that could be made. Landing at the depot in Valley Junction, I headed my boat for a window in the telegraph office and went through the glass landing on the instrument table. I had used up every bit of my strength and knew that I was soon to collapse. The telegraph operator laid me down on the table for a few minutes until I could regain my strength and pull my boat into the hotel entrance. The first floor was under five feet of water; on the second floor entrace was a mother pig, with her little ones, along with chickens, dogs, cats, and naked people. Someone had built a fire and I was certainly glad to get to it on this 12th of December, 1913; my clothing was nothing more than a pair of torn blue serge pants. A Fireman from the General Manager's private train, was a strong man of tender heart. He went with me to rescue people from treetops and tops of houses; we rescured several before dark. In some places we let our boat drift down to the place where the person was by means of a long rope; as in some places the current was stronger than at others and we could not handle the boat with oars. Throughout the night, we heard the call of distress. A fresh Norther blew up. The sky cleared and a beautiful moon came out but, it seems to warm my nearly naked body. Friends, have you ever heard the call of a human being in distress? If you have not, once you hear it the sound can never be forgotten. We worked all night and part of the next day. My body was torn from briars as I had to get out of the boat and swim in some cases. The people we rescued were all Negro people, as they were the ones who lived in the valley...men, women and children; mostly naked and not knowing it. I was amazed at their patience and their behavior. We piled them into the boat like sticks of wood and took them to a two-story barn that was strong and hoisted them up into the hay loft where they could get warm. We made our way back to where I had started the day before. On attempting to get out of the boat, I fell over into the water; with no strength left I did not care whether I drowned or not...the quick action of someone with a rope saved my life. By this time, a special train had arrived from Austin; I was bandaged up and made to rest. The next day, I came near to losing my life again by a man with a gun who claimed that I had let his two brothers drown the day before. I had seen the two heading toward a very dangerous current...we hollered at them to come back. But, they were going to a saloon for whiskey. I did not see them carried away, but we missed them all at once...there was nothing we could do except to wait and recover their bodies. The quick action of a bystander, saved my life again. "
"A STORY OF A VERY SHORT PERIOD OF MY LIFE - WRITTEN IN 1997- SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS" In the year 1913 while living in Rockdale, Texas, I was working at my trade as a plumber, when early one morning someone came to my house and said, "Suess, we are getting together a relief party to go to the Brazos to help marooned people and try to get telegraph and telephone lines together. There is an Engine and one Baggage Car, on the way from Taylor, which will be here any minute. I was told to get you if I could". Just then I heard a train whistle which we had not heard in several days. I told my family goodbye, not knowing if I would ever see them again, rushed to the station and climbed into the Baggage Car. I asked God to send me, to give me the necessary courage and spare my life. [I would like to mention that I was not a good Christian; I lived in sin. But, there was one thing that I never failed to do and that was to pray. My Mother taught me that and I thank God for my little Mother. I was the only one that, at the moment she passed out of this temporary life, heard her last statement, "I am going home to Jesus".] While just creeping over the water washed railroad tracks, we often thought the Engine would urn over; but, soon we landed at the scene...a scene that I will never forget. There was a raging torrent of red muddy water as far as the eye could see; I heard the crying out of people who were in tree tops and atop shacks that would not stand the water much longer. There were a good many people there; some had come from Taylor and Rockdale in the Baggage Car while others had walked there. We took the only little boat out of the Car and I noticed it did not even have oar locks and was constructed in a very fagile manner. The first thing I did was to make oar locks from wood; when this was done, we carried the boat to the water's edge and I got in it. Some said, "Suess, you will never make it." The distance to Valley Junction was about four miles; the railroad tracks were gone. I heard that, The General Manager of the I&GN Railroad had been stranded there with is private train. He had attempted to go north towards Hearn in a boat with another man...both were drowned. I got there too late to warn them. While on my way across, I was caught in a stiff swirl of current several times which, of course, would cause me to face the place that I had left...it was then that I saw men kneeling and praying for my life; praying that God would take me and use me to rescue some people's lives. This gave me new courage and I promised God that if He would help me to save people, that I would try to save souls. For about two hours, I battled with the water and the little boat. Sometimes my oars would slip out of the homemade locks I had made, and I would turn over backwards and loose the distance that I had made...just to go with the current and do it all over again. But, thank God, He certainly blessed me with a very stong and healthy body which could take any amount of suffering. Certainly, I did suffer as this was the hardest battle for life that could be made. Landing at the depot in Valley Junction, I headed my boat for a window in the telegraph office and went through the glass landing on the instrument table. I had used up every bit of my strength and knew that I was soon to collapse. The telegraph operator laid me down on the table for a few minutes until I could regain my strength and pull my boat into the hotel entrance. The first floor was under five feet of water; on the second floor entrace was a mother pig, with her little ones, along with chickens, dogs, cats, and naked people. Someone had built a fire and I was certainly glad to get to it on this 12th of December, 1913; my clothing was nothing more than a pair of torn blue serge pants. A Fireman from the General Manager's private train, was a strong man of tender heart. He went with me to rescue people from treetops and tops of houses; we rescured several before dark. In some places we let our boat drift down to the place where the person was by means of a long rope; as in some places the current was stronger than at others and we could not handle the boat with oars. Throughout the night, we heard the call of distress. A fresh Norther blew up. The sky cleared and a beautiful moon came out but, it seems to warm my nearly naked body. Friends, have you ever heard the call of a human being in distress? If you have not, once you hear it the sound can never be forgotten. We worked all night and part of the next day. My body was torn from briars as I had to get out of the boat and swim in some cases. The people we rescued were all Negro people, as they were the ones who lived in the valley...men, women and children; mostly naked and not knowing it. I was amazed at their patience and their behavior. We piled them into the boat like sticks of wood and took them to a two-story barn that was strong and hoisted them up into the hay loft where they could get warm. We made our way back to where I had started the day before. On attempting to get out of the boat, I fell over into the water; with no strength left I did not care whether I drowned or not...the quick action of someone with a rope saved my life. By this time, a special train had arrived from Austin; I was bandaged up and made to rest. The next day, I came near to losing my life again by a man with a gun who claimed that I had let his two brothers drown the day before. I had seen the two heading toward a very dangerous current...we hollered at them to come back. But, they were going to a saloon for whiskey. I did not see them carried away, but we missed them all at once...there was nothing we could do except to wait and recover their bodies. The quick action of a bystander, saved my life again. "
Husband of Louise Estelle Stolz. Married in 1920, they raised 4 sons and 1 daughter.
"A STORY OF A VERY SHORT PERIOD OF MY LIFE - WRITTEN IN 1997- SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS" In the year 1913 while living in Rockdale, Texas, I was working at my trade as a plumber, when early one morning someone came to my house and said, "Suess, we are getting together a relief party to go to the Brazos to help marooned people and try to get telegraph and telephone lines together. There is an Engine and one Baggage Car, on the way from Taylor, which will be here any minute. I was told to get you if I could". Just then I heard a train whistle which we had not heard in several days. I told my family goodbye, not knowing if I would ever see them again, rushed to the station and climbed into the Baggage Car. I asked God to send me, to give me the necessary courage and spare my life. [I would like to mention that I was not a good Christian; I lived in sin. But, there was one thing that I never failed to do and that was to pray. My Mother taught me that and I thank God for my little Mother. I was the only one that, at the moment she passed out of this temporary life, heard her last statement, "I am going home to Jesus".] While just creeping over the water washed railroad tracks, we often thought the Engine would urn over; but, soon we landed at the scene...a scene that I will never forget. There was a raging torrent of red muddy water as far as the eye could see; I heard the crying out of people who were in tree tops and atop shacks that would not stand the water much longer. There were a good many people there; some had come from Taylor and Rockdale in the Baggage Car while others had walked there. We took the only little boat out of the Car and I noticed it did not even have oar locks and was constructed in a very fagile manner. The first thing I did was to make oar locks from wood; when this was done, we carried the boat to the water's edge and I got in it. Some said, "Suess, you will never make it." The distance to Valley Junction was about four miles; the railroad tracks were gone. I heard that, The General Manager of the I&GN Railroad had been stranded there with is private train. He had attempted to go north towards Hearn in a boat with another man...both were drowned. I got there too late to warn them. While on my way across, I was caught in a stiff swirl of current several times which, of course, would cause me to face the place that I had left...it was then that I saw men kneeling and praying for my life; praying that God would take me and use me to rescue some people's lives. This gave me new courage and I promised God that if He would help me to save people, that I would try to save souls. For about two hours, I battled with the water and the little boat. Sometimes my oars would slip out of the homemade locks I had made, and I would turn over backwards and loose the distance that I had made...just to go with the current and do it all over again. But, thank God, He certainly blessed me with a very stong and healthy body which could take any amount of suffering. Certainly, I did suffer as this was the hardest battle for life that could be made. Landing at the depot in Valley Junction, I headed my boat for a window in the telegraph office and went through the glass landing on the instrument table. I had used up every bit of my strength and knew that I was soon to collapse. The telegraph operator laid me down on the table for a few minutes until I could regain my strength and pull my boat into the hotel entrance. The first floor was under five feet of water; on the second floor entrace was a mother pig, with her little ones, along with chickens, dogs, cats, and naked people. Someone had built a fire and I was certainly glad to get to it on this 12th of December, 1913; my clothing was nothing more than a pair of torn blue serge pants. A Fireman from the General Manager's private train, was a strong man of tender heart. He went with me to rescue people from treetops and tops of houses; we rescured several before dark. In some places we let our boat drift down to the place where the person was by means of a long rope; as in some places the current was stronger than at others and we could not handle the boat with oars. Throughout the night, we heard the call of distress. A fresh Norther blew up. The sky cleared and a beautiful moon came out but, it seems to warm my nearly naked body. Friends, have you ever heard the call of a human being in distress? If you have not, once you hear it the sound can never be forgotten. We worked all night and part of the next day. My body was torn from briars as I had to get out of the boat and swim in some cases. The people we rescued were all Negro people, as they were the ones who lived in the valley...men, women and children; mostly naked and not knowing it. I was amazed at their patience and their behavior. We piled them into the boat like sticks of wood and took them to a two-story barn that was strong and hoisted them up into the hay loft where they could get warm. We made our way back to where I had started the day before. On attempting to get out of the boat, I fell over into the water; with no strength left I did not care whether I drowned or not...the quick action of someone with a rope saved my life. By this time, a special train had arrived from Austin; I was bandaged up and made to rest. The next day, I came near to losing my life again by a man with a gun who claimed that I had let his two brothers drown the day before. I had seen the two heading toward a very dangerous current...we hollered at them to come back. But, they were going to a saloon for whiskey. I did not see them carried away, but we missed them all at once...there was nothing we could do except to wait and recover their bodies. The quick action of a bystander, saved my life again. "
"A STORY OF A VERY SHORT PERIOD OF MY LIFE - WRITTEN IN 1997- SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS" In the year 1913 while living in Rockdale, Texas, I was working at my trade as a plumber, when early one morning someone came to my house and said, "Suess, we are getting together a relief party to go to the Brazos to help marooned people and try to get telegraph and telephone lines together. There is an Engine and one Baggage Car, on the way from Taylor, which will be here any minute. I was told to get you if I could". Just then I heard a train whistle which we had not heard in several days. I told my family goodbye, not knowing if I would ever see them again, rushed to the station and climbed into the Baggage Car. I asked God to send me, to give me the necessary courage and spare my life. [I would like to mention that I was not a good Christian; I lived in sin. But, there was one thing that I never failed to do and that was to pray. My Mother taught me that and I thank God for my little Mother. I was the only one that, at the moment she passed out of this temporary life, heard her last statement, "I am going home to Jesus".] While just creeping over the water washed railroad tracks, we often thought the Engine would urn over; but, soon we landed at the scene...a scene that I will never forget. There was a raging torrent of red muddy water as far as the eye could see; I heard the crying out of people who were in tree tops and atop shacks that would not stand the water much longer. There were a good many people there; some had come from Taylor and Rockdale in the Baggage Car while others had walked there. We took the only little boat out of the Car and I noticed it did not even have oar locks and was constructed in a very fagile manner. The first thing I did was to make oar locks from wood; when this was done, we carried the boat to the water's edge and I got in it. Some said, "Suess, you will never make it." The distance to Valley Junction was about four miles; the railroad tracks were gone. I heard that, The General Manager of the I&GN Railroad had been stranded there with is private train. He had attempted to go north towards Hearn in a boat with another man...both were drowned. I got there too late to warn them. While on my way across, I was caught in a stiff swirl of current several times which, of course, would cause me to face the place that I had left...it was then that I saw men kneeling and praying for my life; praying that God would take me and use me to rescue some people's lives. This gave me new courage and I promised God that if He would help me to save people, that I would try to save souls. For about two hours, I battled with the water and the little boat. Sometimes my oars would slip out of the homemade locks I had made, and I would turn over backwards and loose the distance that I had made...just to go with the current and do it all over again. But, thank God, He certainly blessed me with a very stong and healthy body which could take any amount of suffering. Certainly, I did suffer as this was the hardest battle for life that could be made. Landing at the depot in Valley Junction, I headed my boat for a window in the telegraph office and went through the glass landing on the instrument table. I had used up every bit of my strength and knew that I was soon to collapse. The telegraph operator laid me down on the table for a few minutes until I could regain my strength and pull my boat into the hotel entrance. The first floor was under five feet of water; on the second floor entrace was a mother pig, with her little ones, along with chickens, dogs, cats, and naked people. Someone had built a fire and I was certainly glad to get to it on this 12th of December, 1913; my clothing was nothing more than a pair of torn blue serge pants. A Fireman from the General Manager's private train, was a strong man of tender heart. He went with me to rescue people from treetops and tops of houses; we rescured several before dark. In some places we let our boat drift down to the place where the person was by means of a long rope; as in some places the current was stronger than at others and we could not handle the boat with oars. Throughout the night, we heard the call of distress. A fresh Norther blew up. The sky cleared and a beautiful moon came out but, it seems to warm my nearly naked body. Friends, have you ever heard the call of a human being in distress? If you have not, once you hear it the sound can never be forgotten. We worked all night and part of the next day. My body was torn from briars as I had to get out of the boat and swim in some cases. The people we rescued were all Negro people, as they were the ones who lived in the valley...men, women and children; mostly naked and not knowing it. I was amazed at their patience and their behavior. We piled them into the boat like sticks of wood and took them to a two-story barn that was strong and hoisted them up into the hay loft where they could get warm. We made our way back to where I had started the day before. On attempting to get out of the boat, I fell over into the water; with no strength left I did not care whether I drowned or not...the quick action of someone with a rope saved my life. By this time, a special train had arrived from Austin; I was bandaged up and made to rest. The next day, I came near to losing my life again by a man with a gun who claimed that I had let his two brothers drown the day before. I had seen the two heading toward a very dangerous current...we hollered at them to come back. But, they were going to a saloon for whiskey. I did not see them carried away, but we missed them all at once...there was nothing we could do except to wait and recover their bodies. The quick action of a bystander, saved my life again. "
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