Joseph Almond (1821-1889) and his bride, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Wade, (1829-1876) from Newcastle-on-the-Tyne, England, arrived in Corpus Christi, Texas in October, 1852. Her parents, John and Mary Wade, and her brother, John, Jr. traveled with them. Fellow passengers included Robert and Maria (Anderson) Adams and their four children.
John Wade, Jr., married in 1861 to Sarah Beynon, daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth Beynon, emigrants from Wales in 1853.
The Almond children born in Texas were Anna Maria (born 1854), John W. (born 1855), William “Willie” (born 1858), Joseph H. “Joey” (born 1860), Robert G. “Robie”(born 1863), Elizabeth (born 1865) and Josephine (born 1867).
The Joseph Almond Diary is truly a work and business record kept by this early Nueces County settler. He recorded names of early citizens as he met them. He noted details of business agreements and employment. When Joseph Almond returned from Nuecestown to Corpus Christi as a carpenter in 1867, he found himself nursing the sick in a yellow fever epidemic. He recorded many names of the deceased, including his own seven year old son, Joseph, Jr.
Later, in the 1870’s, Joseph Almond became a land owner and sheep raiser on his own account. He moved his family to the Palo Hueco Creek area of western Nueces County. His diary noted his sheep flocks, wool shearing, sheep dipping, shepherds, wool buyers, flooded steams, extremes of weather, and scarcity of fuel wood and water.
The hardships of early ranch life can only be imagined. Thankfully, early settlers did work together and helped each other.
The 1870’s were a period in South Texas history that led to the passing of open range and the fencing of private land. It signaled the end of large sheep flocks and sheep camps as a way of life. It became possible to fence in the once wild longhorns and to enlarge cattle herds. The Almond family and their neighbors became cattle ranchers and life was better.
-Joseph Almond Diary