I’m often on the lookout for train books and ephemera. The books are the easy part. The transitory objects (like tickets, passes, etc) are a bit harder to find.

A while back we were in a local antique shop when I came across a small bag of assorted railway trinkets. In there was a bit of Texas history.

Conductor Certificate

Above is a Conductor Certificate for the Southern Pacific Lines (Texas and Louisiana). It’s dated May 1, 1924 and is for “R. S. Roberts (T&P)”.

This is to Certify that on this date R. S. Roberts (T&P) was examined on the rules and regulations of the transportation department and was found to be competent to perform his duties of Conductor.

Texas And Pacific Railway Pass

Also in the pack was a 1931 railway pass for the same R.S. Roberts and his family:

The pass lists the family information:

Mr. R.S. Roberts, wife, Sons Bob (16) & Jack (8) & Dtrs. [daughters] Jewell (14), Marguerite (11) & Louise (9).

Interestingly, the “e” in Louise was marked out with a pencil. I wonder if it should have been “Louis” instead? The card also notes that Mr. Roberts had “Over 15 years service” at the time of the card (1931) and was good for “Stations on Fr. Worth Divn”.

The back of the card is signed, with an address of “Longview, Tex” [Texas].

The Research

I did a bit of searching but couldn’t find much of anything on R.S. Roberts. It looked like some of the daughters might have died more recently, but the birth dates I found didn’t seem to line up. Either they were different people, or the dates are off. Unfortunately, only the daughters had more unique names (Marguerite and Jewell), but being daughters they were more likely to give up their maiden name, making my search more difficult.

The one clear mention I did find of Mr. Roberts was in a legal document regarding his mother. It seems that Mr. Andrew J. Roberts (his father) died on February 27, 1908. The father was a Civil War veteran (Confederate) and so his wife was eligible for his pension (after a law change in 1909). Mrs. Mary O. Roberts (his mother) was 72 at the time of the petition (May 28, 1913).

Later in the documents was information on Mary Roberts’ death, on February 26, 1933 — 25 years after her husbands death — at the age of 97 (if my math is correct).

The original request for petition was done by a Mr. F. F. Roberts, identified as her son. So, I would assume that my Mr. R.S. Roberts had a brother F.F. (I sure wish I knew why the sons kept abbreviating their names. It’s made my search that more difficult.) Looks like F.F. lived in Wills Point, Texas and was in the Spanish American War. R.S. and his mother appeared to have lived in Longview all their lives.

You can read more about the pension here: Confederate Pension Petition for Mrs. Mary O. Roberts

If there are any surviving family members who know more about this story, please let me know.