BARTLETT, Thomas Anthony

BARTLETT, Thomas Anthony

Male 1876 - 1951  (74 years)

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  • Name BARTLETT, Thomas Anthony 
    Birth 6 Aug 1876  Rice, Navarro, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Gender Male 
    Residence 1 Jun 1880  Enumeration District 129, Navarro, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Misc 1904  Malakoff, Henderson, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Discovered a way to color brick 
    • In 1904 Mr. Thomas Anthony Bartlett of Malakoff devised a way of coloring brick, touching off a new age of architectural elegance. He took his discovery to the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair and won a Blue Ribbon for his white brick.
      from: http://www.texasescapes.com/TOWNS/Malakoff/Malakoff.htm
    Misc 8 Feb 1921  Dallas, Dallas, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [3
    Bartlett reported that "Malakoff Has Clay." 
    • MALAKOFF HAS CLAY


      "Clay from the pits of Malakoff, in Henderson County, won the bronze metal at the St. Louis Exposition, and in addition we are quite a lignite center." said T.A. Bartlett, merchant and brick and tile manufacturer of that place, who was in Dallas Saturday. "For the last few months the demand for tile and brick has been rather low, but of late we have had inquiries which indicate that business should soon pick up. There has also been an improvement from the mercantile standpoint. So far we have made brick and tile from our clay, but in time everything in the clay line will be manufactured there, I am certain. As the demand in the South grows for clay products our plants can be equipped to manufacture all products. We already have three lignite mines there and a fourth is being opened now. The production heretofore has been about thirty cars a day, but when the fourth mine is completed, the daily shipments will be about fifty cars. There are several hundred acres of the lignite in that district, and the industry should prove to be a very important one wiht the fine quality of lignite that is in the reserve." Mr. Bartlett said he believed there will be a magical change in conditions as soon as the people decide to take their losses as they should and forget about it in going ahead and working for the future. He said that East Texas, in his opinion, exceeds any other part of the State in getting back to normal conditions after a depressing period.
      -------------------------------------

      Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, or Rosebud coal by Northern Pacific Railroad, is a soft brown fuel with characteristics that put it somewhere between coal and peat. It is considered the lowest rank of coal, and is found in the United States, Canada, Greece, and Germany where it is used almost exclusively as a fuel for steam-electric power generation. Up to 50% of Greece's electricity comes from lignite power plants, and 25% of Germany's electricity.

      Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Death 28 May 1951  Navarro Clinic, Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas Find all individuals with events at this location  [4
    Cause: Coronary occlusion 
    • His residence was listed as Malakoff, Texas.
    Burial Athens Cemetery, Athens, Henderson, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [4, 5
    Person ID I18  Pickel_Bartlett
    Last Modified 4 Nov 2019 

    Father BARTLETT, Thomas Smith,   b. 1 Oct 1843, Hempstead, Waller, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 3 Nov 1922, Malakoff, Henderson, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 79 years) 
    Mother EDMUNDSON, Sallie,   b. 12 Apr 1847, Huntsville, Walker, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 15 Apr 1895, Corsicana, Navarro, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 48 years) 
    Marriage 1 Sep 1870  Corsicana, Navarro, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [6
    Residence 1 Jun 1880  Enumeration District 130, Navarro, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Farmer 
    Family ID F10  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family BROYLES, Willie Erasmus,   b. 12 Dec 1877, Rural Shade, Navarro, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1 Apr 1950, Malakoff, Henderson, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 72 years) 
    Marriage 9 Oct 1897  Rural Shade, Navarro, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Residence 17 Jun 1900  Becks Chapel, Henderson County, Texas Find all individuals with events at this location  [7
    Farmer 
    Residence 23 Apr 1910  Malakoff, Henderson, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [8
    Superintendent of brick plant 
    Residence 3 Jan 1920  Belton, Bell, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [9
    General merchandise 
    Address:
    900 Main Street 
    • Listed as T.A. and W. E. Bartlett
    Residence 26 Jan 1920  Malakoff, Henderson, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [10
    Merchant, general merchandise store 
    Residence 11 Apr 1930  Malakoff, Henderson, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [11
    Brickyard manager 
    Residence 1 Apr 1940  Malakoff, Henderson, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [12
    Brick manufacturer 
    • Listed as T.A. and Willie E. Bartlett
    Children 
     1. BARTLETT, Tharell Anthony,   b. 21 Jan 1899, Corsicana, Navarro, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 23 Feb 1978, San Antonio, Bexar, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 79 years)
     2. BARTLETT, (infant son),   b. 17 Apr 1900, Rural Shade, Navarro, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 17 Apr 1900, Rural Shade, Navarro, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 0 years)
     3. BARTLETT, Theora Willie,   b. 20 Aug 1901, Athens, Henderson, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 7 Mar 1996, De Leon, Comanche, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 94 years)
     4. BARTLETT, Thelma Artie,   b. 27 Jul 1903, Henderson County, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 3 Aug 1903, Henderson County, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 0 years)
     5. BARTLETT, Theressa Artie,   b. 30 Oct 1904, Malakoff, Henderson, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 18 Dec 1989, Belton, Bell, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 85 years)
     6. BARTLETT, Theretta Lena,   b. 5 Apr 1909, Malakoff, Henderson, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1 Jul 1995, Dallas, Dallas, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 86 years)
     7. BARTLETT, Therma Missie,   b. 1 May 1913, Malakoff, Henderson, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 4 May 1987, Athens, Henderson, Texas, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 74 years)
    Family ID F9  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 16 May 2022 

  • Photos
    Thomas Anthony of Malakoff, around 1910, age 30
    Thomas Anthony of Malakoff, around 1910, age 30
    -
    Thomas Anthony Bartlett, c 1900
    Thomas Anthony Bartlett, c 1900
    T.A. Bartlett of Malakoff, Texas, c. 1930
    T.A. Bartlett of Malakoff, Texas, c. 1930
    Local merchant, brick plant manager, cotton grower and civic leader. Founding member of the Malakoff Lions Club, a Mason and member of Kora Shrine Temple.
    Thomas and Willie Bartlett
    Thomas and Willie Bartlett
    Standing in front of their house in Malakoff, Texas in 1947
    Bartletts in Palestine
    Bartletts in Palestine
    Willie and Thomas Bartlett with daughters, Therma Parnell and Theretta Pickel on the back porch of Theretta's home in Palestine, c. 1945.
    Papa, c 1915
    Papa, c 1915

    Headstones
    Thomas Anthony Bartlett
    Thomas Anthony Bartlett
    1876 - 1951

    Histories
    BARTLETT - The Malakoff Man
    BARTLETT - The Malakoff Man
    Thomas Anthony Bartlett presented "The Malakoff Man" to the University of Texas.
    BARTLETT - History of Henderson County, Texas
    BARTLETT - History of Henderson County, Texas
    BARTLETT - T. A. Bartlett Home in Malakoff, Texas
    BARTLETT - T. A. Bartlett Home in Malakoff, Texas
    Malakoff Brick Plant
    Malakoff Brick Plant
    This article is about the plant supervisor during the 1930's.

    Albums  Thomas and Willie Bartlett Family Photographs (13)
    This is a collection of photographs of Thomas and Willie Broyles Bartlett and their children.

  • Notes 
    • Thomas Anthony Bartlett


      Thomas Anthony Bartlett, a native of Navarro County, was born in the town of Chatfield, Texas, on August 6, 1876. He was the son of Thomas Smith Bartlett and Sally Edmundson. At the age of 21, he was united in marriage to Miss Willie Broyles, daughter of Erasmus R. Broyles and Artimissa Ingram, in Rural Shade community in his home county and moved with his new bride to the city of Corsicana where he worked for the ice company.

      At the turn of the century, Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett moved to Henderson County and settled for one year on a farm in what is known as Beck’s Chapel community, near Malakoff, where Mr. Bartlett was the first and only postmaster of the community. In 1901, the Bartletts moved to Athens where Mr. Bartlett operated an ice business and meat market. In 1903, they moved to Malakoff where both were destined to finish their days.

      After moving to Malakoff and establishing Malakoff’s first brick company – the Malakoff Pressed Brick Company in 1904, Mr. Bartlett’s interests and enterprises were wide and varied. He was prominent as a retail merchant, ginner, industrialist, farmer-stockman, and it was he who pioneered the town’s first water system, back in 1913, when he put down a shallow well to serve the needs of his own house and a few rent houses, which he had acquired. He continued to enlarge that small plant through the years, adding other residential and business customers to his lines. In 1927, he drilled a deep well to better serve the needs of the community and continued to operate the water works on a larger scale.

      Mr. Bartlett owned a grocery store until the late 1930s, and he also had interests in cotton gins in Cross Roads, Trinidad, and Malakoff.

      But it is the Malakoff Pressed Brick Company for which Mr. Bartlett is best known. In 1904, Bartlett devised a way of coloring brick, touching off a new age of architectural elegance. He took his discovery to the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair and won a Blue Ribbon for his white brick.

      The brick company operated under several different names during the years. During the first period of operation, each brick had the word MALAKOFF pressed into it. From 1926 – 1929, the name of the plant changed to Evans and Howard. The bricks had EVANS-HOWARD pressed into them on one side and ST. LOUIS pressed into the other side. The plant had to close down for about six months during the Great Depression but soon reopened. Mr. Bartlett, was the superintendent of the plant from its founding until his retirement in 1942, when he sold his share of the business.

      Thomas Anthony Bartlett was a Freemason for over 45 years, having been raised a Master Mason in Athens Lodge No. 65 in 1901. He later became a member of Hella Shrine of Dallas and was a charter member of Karem Shrine in Waco. He was also a Knight Templar in the York Rite Order of Freemasonry.

      Mr. Bartlett was the first president of the Malakoff Rotary Club and held the position of vice president of the Citizens State Bank. Mrs. Bartlett was very active in the Order of the Eastern Star, the Methodist Church, and the civic work of the community.

      The Bartletts had the following children:

      Therral Anthony Bartlett
      Theora Willie Bartlett
      Theressa Artie "Tess" Bartlett
      Theretta Lena Bartlett
      Therma Missie Bartlett
      Thelma Artie Bartlett (born and died in 1903)
      an infant son who died in 1900

      Thomas Anthony Bartlett died on May 28, 1951 in Corsicana. He is buried in Athens City Cemetery.

      From The Malakoff News, Friday, June 1, 1951 and from The History of Malakoff by Edna Hanson Evans

  • Sources 
    1. [S346] Birth Certificate, Dated 26 Aug 1942.
      This is a strange document in that it was created in 1942, and the affidavits were signed by Mrs. R. M. Langham and Dr. Hugh Sloan of Rice, Texas. Their signatures were notarized by H.C. Bartlett who was a cousin of T.A. Bartlett.

    2. [S70] 1880 Federal Census, ED 129, Navarro, TX ED 129 Page 1 Dwelling 6.

    3. [S49] Dallas Morning News, 2/8/1921, Page 8, "Roundabout Town and Hotel Lobbies".

    4. [S338] Death Record, State File 26047.

    5. [S109] Find-a-Grave website, MEMORIAL ID: 19840063.

    6. [S64] Bartlett, Loop, Fortson, Walker and other Families.

    7. [S73] 1920 Federal Census, Precinct 2, Henderson, TX ED 56 Page 3 Dwelling 48.

    8. [S74] Ancestry.com, Malakoff, Henderson, TX ED 21 Page 8A Dwelling 140.

    9. [S73] 1920 Federal Census, Belton, Bell County, Texas ED 4 Pg 2B Dwelling 38.

    10. [S73] 1920 Federal Census, Malakoff, Justice Precinct 8, Henderson, TX ED 162 Page 5B Dwelling 107.

    11. [S72] 1930 Federal Census, Justice Precinct No. 8, Henderson County, Texas ED 27 Page 8B Dwelling 144.

    12. [S427] 1940 Federal Census, Justice Precinct No. 8, Henderson County, Texas ED 26 Page 1E Dwelling 17, 1940 United States Census.