PAUL RETTIG

The following bio was taken from page 359 of the book entitled “Rusk County History” compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

 Transcribed by Claudia Schuster

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

 Paul, eldest son of Conrad Rettig, was born in Arkansas in 1839, but spent most of his life in Rusk County. After serving as a Confederate soldier in Arkansas and Indian Territory, he returned home and in 1866 married Martha, daughter of William Moss Zuber, postmaster at Minden.  Martha, a native of Oglethorpe County, Georgia, came to Texas with her parents when she was twelve.

 As a wedding gift from his parents, Paul received one hundred acres of land, but the lines were not surveyed, and after clearing a house site, he learned that he had cleared a neighbor’s land.  In disgust he sold the land and decided to settle in Minden on land acquired from Martha’s parents.  One son, Charlie, was born in the Zuber home, but soon Paul finished a small house, which proved to be the birthplace of ten other children.  The family was too large for the house, but it was not until 1887 that a better house was begun.  Several of the sons who were old enough helped their father and paid a carpenter to build the house of heart pine, hand-planed lumber.  This house was home to the Rettigs for almost one hundred years.

  Paul and his sons – Charlie, Ralph, Louis, Guy, Ed, Frank, Bruce, and Sam – operated the farm and ran a cotton gin, a gristmill, and a syrup mill.  In addition to cotton, corn, and ribbon cane, the farm produced peanuts, vegetables, and fruit.  There was a small herd of cows plus horses and mules.  Like the men, Martha and daughter Flora were busy; for besides caring for the house, washing, making clothes for the family, cooking, and canning, they managed to have beautiful flowers.

As concerned citizens, the Rettigs helped with community causes.  Rock Hill Institute, a school recognized throughout East Texas, was on land donated by the family.  They and others worshipped at a little Cumberland Presbyterian Church, likewise on land given by Paul and Martha.  In 1879, they buried a son near the church, thus beginning Maple Grove Cemetery, also on land provided by the family.

 Joseph and Bertha died young, but eight sons and one daughter lived to be very old.  Three spent their lives in Rusk County.  Charlie lived first in Minden, but later settled in Henderson.  Sam and Flora spent more than ninety years on the family farm.  Flora never married, choosing to spend her life caring for her parents and being useful in Minden.  During World War I she and Sam’s family devoted much time to bond drives.  Ralph, Guy, and Frank left the county but returned.  Louis lived in California, and Bruce called Fort Worth home.

 My father, youngest of the family, married Gertie Jarrell, daughter of W.J. and Sallie Hays Jarrell.  Sam and Gertie helped care for their elderly parents, operated the farm, and reared their two daughters.  After he was older, Sam worked as a carpenter and painter and cared for a small herd of cattle.  Among his public services were many terms on the Minden School board and on the Maple Grove Cemetery committee. 

Submitted by Florence Rettig