Floyd Elton Rees; Jewell Griffith Rees
6 linear feet; 1000+ photographs; 650 books and journals
A1985-017; A1986-050; A1986-050.AD1; A1989-043
1890-1945 (unknown)
Floyd Elton Rees was born in Yoakum, TX on December 31, 1907. His parents had moved to Kingsville, TX in 1906 but returned to Yoakum because of the lack of medical facilities in the young town of Kingsville. He graduated from King High School and started working for the railroad just two days later on May 26, 1926, as a laborer in the roundhouse. He followed two of his brothers and his father in working for the railroad. He advanced to fire builder then to fireman and ultimately was promoted to engineer in 1942. He retired on November 4, 1972, after forty-six years working for the railroad. Floyd Rees and Jewell Griffith had known each other all of their lives. She lived on a farm outside of Kingsville and graduated from high school a year after Floyd, in 1927. Jewell spent most of her adult life in California, where she had a career in social work. Floyd and Jewell were married on March 22, 1970 and shortly after returned to Kingsville. Floyd Elton Rees was a professional railroad man and avid amateur historian who traveled throughout the country seeking books on the history of Texas in the Civil War and on the development of the railroad in the West. He collected well over 1200 books and pamphlets, some rare, on his research topic. He further photographed the development of the railroad industry in South Texas including the changing railroad cars, and the depots along the South Texas railroad routes. Mr. Rees' railroad career was the impetus for his collection of railroad materials. His interests rapidly expanded to include other topics, such as the Confederacy, Texas and Mexican History, and related subjects. Floyd and Jewell Rees donated their collection to the South Texas Archives in order to keep the materials together and to make them available to students and scholars.
The Floyd Elton & Jewell Griffith Rees Collection is rich in history of Kingsville and the railroads that created many of the small and medium towns in South Texas. The St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico Railroad, called the “Browny” brought people and supplies to the growing town of Kingsville in the first half of the 20th century. Many photographs of the railway cars, damaged locomotives after accidents and railway terminals of South Texas are included. The towns of Harlingen, McAllen, Brownsville, and Alice are highlighted. Private railroad cars such as the “Wanderer” and “St. Elmo” are discussed in Rees’ correspondence. Many books and pamphlets in the Rees Book Collection include information on the Civil War and the Confederacy.
Pamphlets include: Battlefields Around Fredericksburg, The Influence of Henry Clay upon Abraham Lincoln, “Bulldog” Longstreet at Gettysburg and Chickamauga, and many more. Sources for Texas history included books and pamphlets detailing the history of the Regulators and the Moderators and the Shelby County War, the annexation of Texas, and the skirmishes with Mexico. Correspondence between Rees and J.L. Allhands include personal letters sharing information about railroad development in South Texas. Legal documents include purchase of property, birth certificates for Bessie Rees Milliken; discharge papers and a marriage license. Notes on historical research of the railroads by Rees are among these documents.
This collection is arranged in the following series:
Series I. Books
Series II. Photographs
Series III. Railroad Materials
Series IV. Correspondence
Series V. Legal Documents
Series VI. Financial Documents
Series VII. Maps
Series VIII. Miscellaneous
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.
Floyd Elton & Jewell Griffith Rees Collection, A1986-050.XXXX, South Texas Archives, James C. Jernigan Library, Texas A&M University-Kingsville
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Gift from Floyd Elton Rees
Daniel Thacker created the Finding Aid in 2016. and EAD document created by Daniel Thacker in 2016.