Children of Jerry and Martha Wilkins (Grandfather/Grandmother)

 Children of Jerry Cravin and Martha Wilkins

(1) JAMES HOWARD WILKINS, b 28 Dec 1871, Smithville, Tx, d 5 Jun 1942, Pelly, Tx, 71 years of age.

(2) MARY IRENE WILKINS, b 20 Aug 1873, Bastrop Co Tx, d 30 Apr 1938, Eagle Lake, Tx, 65 years of age.

(3) MANNING BART WILKINS, b 24 May, 1876, Smithville, Texas, d 6 Mar 1947, Waller County, Texas.  71 years of age.

(4) WILLIE WILKINS, b 26 Aug 1878, Bastrop Co, Tx, d 7 Jul 1904, Bastrop Co, Tx. 26 years of age.

(5) RICHARD WILKINS, b 17 Mar 1880, Bastrop County Tx d. 23 Mar 1880, Bastrop Co Tx.  6 days of age.

(6) CHARLIE WILKINS, b 8 Mar 1881, Bastrop County Tx, d 11 Sep 1890 Bastrop Co Tx  9 years of age.

(7) MELLIE WILKINS, b 11 Jul 1884, Bastrop County Tx, d 19 Dec 1964, Houston Harris county, Tx  80 years of age.

(8) LUCINDY WILKINS, b 15 Aug 1885, Bastrop County Texas, d 21 Apr 1886, Bastrop County Tx 8 months of age.

(9) NATHAN LEONARD WILKINS, b 29 Sep 1890, Smithville Bastrop County Texas, d 6 Jun 1969, Baytown Harris County, Tx.  79 years of age.

(10) LEE WILKINS, My father,  was born in Smithville, Texas, Bastrop County on 27 August 1893. He was the youngest of 10 children. He served in the US Army in WWI.  He married my Mother, Daisy Isabelle White who was born on Nov 8, 1904 in Mississippi and raised in Humble, Tx.  My father died on May 18, 1964 in Baytown, Tx at the age of 71 (esophageal cancer)  and is buried in Memory Gardens on

Garth Road

in Baytown, Tx.  My father was an independent grocery store owner and operated stores in Pelly, Tx at three different locations; 2 on Pruitt St and 1 on W. Main.

My mother died on Jul 8, 1962 in Baytown, Tx at the age of 58 (breast cancer).  She is buried beside my dad in Memory Gardens on

Garth Road

in Baytown, Tx.

HISTORY OF PELLY, TEXAS (BAYTOWN)



My father went to live with his brother, Manning Bart Wilkins who was 17 years older than my dad. No recollection of how long my dad lived with Uncle Manning in Smithville, Tex.  In 1920 they moved to Pelly, Texas (Now known as Baytown, Texas).  Dad would have been 27 years of age.

PELLY, TEXAS. Pelly, thirty miles east of Houston in southeastern Harris County, received its name from its first mayor and principal landowner, Fred T. Pelly, a native of London. Pelly and his wife, Lucy (Wiggins), owned a seventy-one-acre tract of land near the Goose Creek oilfield.  On his land oilfield workers and their families settled after a number of gas explosions and oil-well fires in late 1916. Unable to buy land because of oil leasing activities, the oilfield squatters became renters, and the new community adopted the typical look of a rough and temporary oilfield boomtown. The original settlement along Tabbs Bay was known as Old Town, and the new inland village became Middle Town (later Pelly) in 1917, after Ross S. Sterling,  founder of Humble Oil and Refining Company, began developing New Town a mile north alongside his railroad project. When New Town residents decided to incorporate on January 28, 1919, they took the name Goose Creek and asked for a post office. One night they jacked up and moved by wagon the small frame post office in Middle Town, which had been moved there by residents of Old Town. The move was planned and approved but carried out overnight to minimize business interruption. The story was circulated, however, that New Town "vigilantes" had stolen the post office, and over time the story became legend. Fearing it might be devoured by the new settlement, Middle Town incorporated as Pelly on January 19, 1920. At the time of its incorporation, Pelly had its peak population of 7,500. By 1929 the population dropped to 4,000, due to a decrease in oil production. Those who stayed went to work at the new Humble refinery in nearby Baytown and built a permanent community. Reluctant oil companies and landowners finally sold lots to homeowners and businessmen, streets were laid out, and city services furnished. Pine-boarded, single-walled shacks yielded to neat cottages and brick homes, and timid bond issues built schools and paved streets. The oilfield town gained some respectability through the organization of a housing authority, which cleared a slum and provided low-cost housing to its citizens. The community also built a brick two-story city hall and developed a volunteer fire department.

Despite several consolidation attempts the Tri-Cities of Goose Creek, Pelly, and Baytown existed as separate entities until late 1945. Fearful again of being swallowed by its old rival, Goose Creek, which had been annexing territory for five years, Pelly adopted a home-rule charter in December 1945 and immediately annexed the "contiguous and unincorporated" territory of Baytown. A year's court fight ensued over whether a city could annex a water district, since the problem had no precedent. The Texas Supreme Court finally ruled Pelly's action to be legal and in the best interests of the citizens.  

After many meetings and discussions, consolidation elections were held in both Pelly and Goose Creek on February 15, 1947. Consolidation carried by a large majority, and a straw vote showed most citizens preferred the name Baytown for the new city and a new charter. The question of who was to annex whom was decided by a special federal census in the spring of 1947, which showed that Pelly, now including old Baytown, had a population of 11,030 to Goose Creek's 9,928. At that time Goose Creek was merged with Pelly. In January 24, 1948, a new city charter was approved by the voters. Two days later the city of Pelly became the city of Baytown.