A Guide to the Rockwell Brothers Records, 1883-1947

Biographical Note

James Morton Rockwell (1863-1931) was a lumberman and partner in a family lumber business in Texas, Rockwell Brothers & Co. Rockwell also served as president of Waxahatchie Lumber Company. He began working for the M. T. Jones Lumber Company in Albany, Texas when he was 20 years old, and he soon became the manager of the yard. In 1893 he was appointed manager of all the M. T. Jones lumber yards, and in 1895 acquired the M. T. Jones yards located in West Texas and New Mexico on behalf of the company. When Jones died in 1898, Rockwell moved to Houston where he helped to manage the Jones estate. Rockwell also served as delegate to the 43rd Annual Convention of the Lumbermen's Association of Texas meeting in Waco (1929), and as American delegate to the 20th Annual Convention of the Associated Advertising Clubs of the World meeting in London, England (1924). He was married to Sarah Wade Richardson.

The Rockwell Fund was established as a charitable trust in 1931 via a portion of the income from the estate of James M. Rockwell as provided in his will, and was incorporated in Houston in 1949. A second foundation, the Rockwell Brothers Endowment, was incorporated in 1960 and later merged with the Rockwell Fund. Major contributions of the fund have been made to arts and culture, education, community improvement, health and human services, religion, and other charitable causes, with preference given to Houston-area organizations.

Sources: Rockwell Fund, Inc. "A Brief History of Rockwell Fund, Inc." http://www.rockfund.org/about/index.shtml (accessed June 3, 2010).

Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "Rockwell Fund," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/RR/vrr3.html (accessed June 3, 2010).

Scope and Contents

The Rockwell Brothers Records, 1883-1947, relate to the lumber career and delegate activities of James Morton Rockwell as well as to Rockwell Brothers & Co. (Houston) retail lumber yards in Texas. The records include correspondence, post cards, telegrams, journals, ledgers, cash book, musical scores, canceled checks, and photographs. The collection also documents the familial, personal, social, and religious interests of Sarah Wade Richardson Rockwell, Methodism in Texas, prohibition, Women's clubs, and the Women's Christian Temperance Union. Additionally, the records concern Texas libraries, Texas authors, the political career of Jesse Holman Jones, and music.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

Unrestricted access.

Use Restrictions

A portion of these records is stored remotely. Advance notice required for retrieval. Contact repository for retrieval.

Related Material

Separated Material

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Rockwell Brothers Records, 1883-1947, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

Detailed Description of the Papers