#52ancestors Post Thirty-Seven: Redic E. Bryan was a Member of the Texas Immigration Information Bureau

This week's writing prompt for #52ancestors is closest to your birthday. That means I would need to write about my father's father, Redic Eli Bryan - his birthday was the day after mine. Redic, my grandfather, was born on August 2, 1870 - 85 years before my birth. He died in 1929 so most of what I know about him is what Dad remembered from his childhood or what I read in old newspapers.  

I would have really preferred another topic as I had nothing new, but a search through the photo albums took me to this certificate for the Texas Immigration Information Bureau. Redic was enrolled as a member of the bureau for one term - August 1915 to July 1916. 

According to the certificate, the Bryan family was living in Knox County, Texas close to their longtime home of Baylor County.  Redic spent two terms as Tax Assessor in Baylor County (ending in 1914). He didn't run for a third term. It might be that he believed in rotation of office and had promised to serve only two terms. 

"TRUTH About Texas." contains Texas Land
Bulletin, land laws, and federal farm loan
law protecting land buyers against inflated
values, $2 per year, 25c per copy.
Texas Immigration Information Bureau, Dallas.
Found in The Wichita Beacon (Wichita, Kansas),
December 2, 1916, page 19. 

Was the Texas Immigration Information Bureau Redic's current job in 1915? Further Internet research didn't answer my question. I did learn this bureau was not a government job and had nothing to do with the United States naturalization process. 

A publication of this bureau, Truth about Texas, was found in Southern Methodist University's digital collections. This publication is a promotional booklet, which highlights specific cities, counties, and regions of Texas and describes living conditions. Agricultural, business, and manufacturing opportunities are listed as well as real estate available for sale or exchange.

The Texas Immigration Information Bureau, a state-chartered institution, was formed by businessmen to protect home seekers and investors by presenting statistical, geographical, and other information about properties for sale. 

I suspect Redic may have been paid during his term as Texas Immigration Information Bureau member. Information about land for sale and other county information was needed for each publication. Dissemination of information and publications must also have been a need. 

If Redic was paid, I'm sure it was not enough to support his family. From information found in the Baylor County Banner at The Portal to Texas History, I learned he left Seymour in Baylor County for nearby Vera in January 1915 to open a store.  In August 1915, his wife and children moved back to Seymour. In January 1916, Redic sold his business in Vera to Penick-Hughes of Stamford. He worked for a time in Spur, Texas and made a few trips to other parts of Texas and one to Denver. In June 1916, he opened a store in Seymour where he sold ice and later, produce. I wonder if he finished his term with the Texas Immigration Information Bureau?

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Diana

© 2018

Sources

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Diana Bryan Quinn

The Portal to Texas History. The Baylor County Banner. Web. 16 Sep. 2018. <https://texashistory.unt.edu/explore/collections/BAYCN/>.

The Wichita Beacon. Texas Immigration Information Bureau. Newspapers.com. 1916. Web. 16 Sep. 2018. <https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23783892/texas_immigration_information_bureau/>.

Truth about Texas, Vol. IV, No. 2. Texas - Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints. DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University., Digitized: 2018. Web. 16 Sep. 2018. <http://digitalcollections.smu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/tex/id/2544>.