Descendants: Hettie May Biggio
Mary Woessner (Wrather) was born in Germany. She came to Texas in 1845 when only three years old. Her parents were John M. Woessner and wife.
They brought their two sons, John, Jr. and Martin Woessner, to Gavleston, Texas, where they lived two years, coming to Corpus Christi in 1847. Mary was then five years old and no doubt had few playmates at first owing to the fact that there were only nine white families in the town at that time. When Taylor’s army left Corpus Christi in 1846, the tent city vanished, and the adventurers went along or departed for other fields. There were Indians here then also. I also remember hearing my grandmother tell of the old negro man who carried her across the water from the boat to the shore as there were no wharves on the bay at that time.
The old Woessner home was located on Mesquite Street, about where the Crescent Bakery now stands. Grandma Woessner always had a cow and little vegetable garden. She had the yellow fever in 1867, but recovered and lived until October 20, 1889, when she passed beyond.
May Woessner was a fine student and attended the excellent school conducted by the scholarly Colonel Lovenskiold. As a young girl she was considered quite a belle and beauty. When only 18, she was chosen to present the Confederate flag to the first company of soldiers organized in Corpus Christi. The flag was presented by her from the old courthouse steps. She was dressed in sheer white and surrounded by her schoolmates. W. B. Wrather, captain, received this flag on behalf of his company. Captain Wrather had sold his fine horses to outfit this company of soldiers. This first Confederate flag was fashioned by the ladies of Corpus Christi.
On August 14, 1861, Mary Woessner and William Baker Wrather, a native of Bedford County, Virginia, were married in Corpus Christi by the Rev. S. S. Davenport, rector of the Episcopal Church. For a few years they lived at Lagarto, Live Oak County, Texas, where Mr. Wrather was engaged in the ranching business. To this union were born six children, three sons and three daughters, namely: George (Dick), Mary Lee (Mollie), Annie, Hattie, William and John Francis (Frank). All of this family have passed to the great beyond except one daughter, Annie, now Mrs. John A. Clark of Rockport. Mrs. Wrather was a devoted member of the Episcopal Church and an active member of the Dorcas Society of the church. She was a great lover of flowers, and all who passed her home on Chaparral Street stopped to admire and enjoy her garden of old-fashioned flowers. Mrs. Wrather lived to make others happy during her 80 years. Born the 20th of July, 1842, she died in the same month, July 7, 1922. She was buried in the old family plot in the old Bay View Cemetery, which is the military cemetery established by General Taylor on the beautiful bluff when she was three years old and two years before her parents moved to Corpus Christi.
Her living descendants are: Mrs. John A. Clarke, Rockport, Texas, daughter; Mrs. William J. Biggio, Corpus Christi, granddaughter; William Wrather Clarke, West Columbia, Texas, gradson; Miss Katie Lee Clarke, Rockport, granddaughter; Ray Anderson Crossley, great-grandson; Willie Lee Biggio, 912-1/2 Chaparral Street, Corpus Christi, great-grandson. — Ref. Times, apr. 3, 1936.
Source:
DeGarmo, Mrs. Frank. Pathfinders of Texas, 1836-1846. Austin: Press of Boeckmann-Jones, Co., 1951.
Transcription by: Rosa G. Gonzales