Cynthia Woehl Fulton
.25 linear ft. and 18 photographs
A2017-063
1890-1945 (unknown)
Cynthia Woehl Fulton grew up in Victoria, Texas. Her grandmother, Annie Fox, was a direct descendent of German pioneer, Adolf Fuchs. Fuchs was a Lutheran minister, musician and teacher. He and his wife, Louise Johanna Rumker, had a total of nine children. In Adolf Fuchs' congregation in Hamburg one of his congregation members was a man named Frederick Lueders. Lueders sailed to New Orleans where land speculators were actively recruiting soldiers to join the Army of Texas. Luedes ended up fighting at San Jacinto. For his service to Texas, he was awarded a large land grant, but Lueders had already sailed home and did not want to return. Lueders gave his land grant to his pastor, Adolf Fuchs.
The family sailed for the coast of Texas arriving sometime around 1835. The land grant would one day become Lueders, Texas but was unsettled Indian Territory when they arrived. The Fuchs settled in the Marble Falls area among other German settlers. One of their sons, Conrad Fuchs, fought in the American Civil War. He had a son, Benjamin Ulysses Fox who was the father of Annie Fox. Ben Fox went to tune the piano of the Knippa family of Uvalde where he met Effie Pridgen, a DeWitt County orphan, who had been taken in and raised when her parents were killed. He later married Effie Pridgen. They settled in DeCosta, where Effie's brother Lynn lived.
Ben and Effie opened a general merchandise store. In 1899 Annie was born. Ben Fox continued to travel as a piano turner and Effie ran the store. In that area of Texas experimental Japanese rice farms were nearby. The workers shopped at Fox's Cash Grocery. Annie was always with her mother at the store and came to know the Japanese people. They would give Annie little gifts such as the triptych and the book in this collection. There was strong sentiment in the area against the rice farms and the Japanese farmers left. Annie Fox was an avid reader and people gave her books. She created a lending library at Fox's General Mercantile in Da Costa.
Annie grew up and married Ralph Calhoun in Victoria, they had a child, Jean Calhoun who grew up in Victoria, Texas, was an honor student, went to Victoria Junior College for one year and then attended Texas College of Arts and Industries. Jean pledged the Theta Sorority and was a Lantana Lady, an Aggie Club Sweetheart and a member of the choir. She graduated in 1942 and accepted a position at the Exxon Corporation (Humble Oil) in Corpus Christi. The president of the university, John L. Nierman, had recommended her for the position.
The collection includes the Dallas Morning News, 1939 issue about World's Fair in Dallas; Japanese memorabilia from DaCosta; Iwaya's Fairy Tales of Old Japan; a handwritten memory of time by Annie Fox Calhoun; Trilby by George DuMaurie;, diploma for Jean Calhoun from Texas College of Arts & Industries; 1940, 1941, 1942 El Rancho Yearbooks; a gold charm; photos of Texas A&I; and a travel diary of Annie and Jean created on a trip to the Pacific Northwest.
The materials are arranged in four Series: Series I: Books Series II: Travels Series III: Texas College of Arts and Industries Series IV: Photographs
South Texas Archives, James C. Jernigan Library, Texas A&M University-Kingsville
Open for Research
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Cynthia Woehl Fulton: Fox-Calhoun Collection, A2017-063.XXXX- South Texas Archives, James C. Jernigan Library, Texas A&M University-Kingsville
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A2017-063 – Gift from Cynthia Woehl Fulton
A2017-063 was processed and finding aid created by Lori Atkins, photos digitized, records uploaded, and EAD created by Daniel Thacker in 2017.