A descendent of Texas pioneers, Ethel Johnson (1878-1963) was born to postmaster Samuel M. and Helen Ogden Johnson in San Antonio, Texas. In June 1910, she married Ralph Rogers Ogden of Kimball’s Bend and moved to Cahuila, Mexico, where Ralph owned a plant that extracted wax from candelilla shrubs. Shortly after their arrival, revolution broke out, the plant burned, and the couple escaped to Texas with what they could carry. After several more failed investments, Ralph made his fortune wildcatting in the oil boom of the 1920s. Helen was an active member of the Philanthropic Educational Organization, the Daughters of the Texas Revolution, and the United Daughters of the Confederacy. In the early 1940s, the Ogdens commissioned a monument to wild Texas mustangs for the University of Texas, which was completed after Ralph’s death in 1945.
Source:
“Ogden, Ralph R. (Mrs.).” Vertical Files, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.
Newspaper clippings, a speech, deeds, and notes comprise the Mrs. Ralph Rogers Ogden Papers, 1839-1963, documenting the historic interests and family history of Ethel (Mrs. Ralph Rogers) Ogden. Deeds and notes from property owned by Moses and Samuel M. Johnson in Calhoun County, Texas, during the 1930s and the life of Moses Johnson. Clippings from San Antonio newspapers concern the National Civil Service Reform League, early history of Masonry in Texas, the Sanford Church estate in Buffalo, and the first Fiesta Days celebration in San Antonio in 1891. Additionally, the collection contains a speech supporting A.W. Houston’s campaign for Congress in 1894 and an obituary for Mrs. Ralph Ogden.
This collection is open for research use.
Mrs. Ralph Rogers Ogden Papers, 1839-1963, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.
Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s