Calvin and Margie Brown
836MB 2 oral histories with 28 phots and documents
A2018-029
1890-1945 (unknown)
The Calvin Brown Family would start their lives in Rivera, Texas in 1923 when Ignatius Loyola Underbrink came from Illinois to sell land for the Koch Land Company. Theodore Koch persuaded the Catholic Church to encourage some of its members to move to Texas with the promise that Koch would build them a church. They arrived and settled in what is now called Vattman, Texas. Many of inhabitants returned to Illinois after the hurricane of 1916. Orlando Underbrink, the son of Ignatius, continued living in Rivera, Texas. He bought land and created a community at Loyola Beach in the 1930’s. Orlando named the beach after his father and later what would become the King’s Inn, a famous fish market, and cabins. Margie Underbrink, the daughter of Orlando married Robert Brown who worked at King’s Inn and invented their world famous tartar sauce. Robert and Margie had four children, one of them being Calvin Brown. Calvin started fishing at a very early age, by the age of 17, he was fishing full time. Calvin fished the bay and offshore his entire life passing the profession on to one of his sons, Jason Brown, now a fisherman and his other son, James Brown, builds bulkheads and piers.
The information for the historical note came from two oral interviews: one with Margie Brown and one with Calvin Brown. Both Margie and Calvin lived their lives in Rivera, Texas. In their interviews, they tell what the area was like and how it has changed over time. There are 28 photographs and documents in this collection, the majority of these are from Calvin. They portray the early days of Loyola Beach, King’s Inn, fishing in the bay, and the older structures of the area.
The Collection has 3 series: Series I: Oral Histories Series II: Advertisements and Publications Series III: Photographs
South Texas Archives, James C. Jernigan Library, Texas A&M University-Kingsville
Open for Research
Permission to publish, reproduce, distribute, or use by any and all other current or future developed methods or procedures must be obtained in writing from South Texas Archives, James C. Jernigan Library, Texas A&M University-Kingsville. All rights are reserved and retained regardless of current or future development or laws that may apply to fair use standards.
Calvin Brown Family Collection A2018-029.XXXX., South Texas Archives, James C. Jernigan Library, Texas A&M University-Kingsville
Need assistance with citing our materials? Contact us or visit our research help page!
A2018-029 Gift from Calvin and Margie Brown
Daniel Thacker processed the collection, created the finding aid, and EAD in 2018