The Widow Rife and her Children, 1895–1900

Thomas Rife and Francisca Saenz’ Church Wedding. They were married in San Fernando Church in San Antonio on March 17, 1891. The record of their civil marriage in Fort Stockton in 1872 was lost. Mexican War Pension Application Files, 1887-1926, NARA.

Francisca Eduarda Saenz y Cobos was from an old Chihuahua family.

Francisca was born October 18, 1854, in Parral, Chihuahua, Mexico. Her parents were Mauricio Saenz and Andre Cobos.1

Francisca’s ancestors settled in the Valley of San Bartolomé before 1660. They were farmers and artisans. They raised wheat and cattle, which they sold to gold and silver mines in the region. Indians worked the ranches as either slaves or paid employees. A thirty-year war between Apaches and settlers began in 1770, from which the farmers of San Bartolomé were mainly sheltered. There were seventeen Saenz families living in the village of San Bartolomé by 1779.

The region prospered during a time of peace from 1810 until 1831. Chihuahua was unaffected by the Mexican war of independence and paid no attention to the insurrection of Miguel Hidalgo. However, the expulsion of the Spanish mine owners in 1827 and 1829 closed many mines. Cross-border trade came to a halt when the new government announced a commercial blockade of North Americans and their merchandise. The Indian missions were leaderless. Provincial troops had no resources, and taxes were uncollectible.

After 1822, the Comanche Indians and the Mexican settlers began a war of mutual extermination and, in 1831, the Apaches rebelled once again. The war with the Indians lasted fifty years. Mines in the nearby towns of Parral and Santa Bárbara were closed or curtailed. All men were placed under arms and required to attend weekly drills. Deserters from the militia were executed, and men who did not answer roll call were sentenced to ten years service on the frontier.

In 1845, the same year that Francisca's parents were married, civil war broke out in Chihuahua between liberals and conservatives. United States troops from Missouri invaded Chihuahua the next year. The residents of Chihuahua were fighting against two sets of invaders: Troops from North America and Apache raiders.

After the Mexican War, commerce with El Paso declined. High tariffs raised the cost of trade goods and impoverished the region’s inhabitants. Indians continued to cross the international border to raid into Chihuahua, and small towns militarized to protect themselves. Many farmworkers migrated to Durango, seeking safety, or to the United States, seeking economic opportunity. Francisca was baptized in San José Church in Parral in 1854. That year thousands of Mexican citizens crossed the Rio Grande to live on the American side.

The decline in cross-border trade weakened the economy of Chihuahua. Many mines closed, and by 1861, Francisca's parents had left the Valley of San Bartolomé and moved north to Santa Rosalia, (now called Ciudad Carmargo, Chihuahua.) It appears that they continued to move north and were living near El Paso before 1871. They were not in San Bartolomé when French troops burned the town in April 1866 or when the Apache War ended in 1880. In 1871, Francisca met and married Thomas Rife in El Paso County, Texas. Her mother may have died in El Paso, Texas, in 1914.2

Thomas Rife’s widow qualified for a Widow’s Pension.

On January 30, 1895, Francisca applied for Thomas Rife’s accrued pension as his widow.3 At a San Antonio City Council meeting on January 7, 1895, less than two weeks after her husband’s death, Francisca Rife appealed to the City Council to give her husband’s job to her oldest son, William.4 Although Will Rife undoubtedly knew as much as anyone else about the history of the old Alamo church, it was, considering Will’s history with the courts, a futile appeal.

On January 31, 1895, with the help of Rife’s friends and his old employer, George Giddings, Francisca Rife applied for a Mexican War Widow’s pension.5 She stated that she was 40 years old, suffered from asthma and general debility, and was unable to earn her living from her labor and owned no property, as evidenced by her absence on tax rolls. On April 1, 1895, she was awarded a Federal pension (Widow’s Certificate Number 9578) as a Mexican War widow based upon her husband’s service in Walter P. Lane’s Company, Texas Mounted Volunteers.6

Thomas Rife’s older sons became lawbreakers.

For a year and a half after their father’s death, William and Thomas stayed out of the newspaper crime reports. However, beginning in May 1896, Will was involved in a series of petty crimes. Police arrested him for stealing money left on the counter at a saloon on Laredo Street.7 In the following year, he appeared three times in the newspapers. In February, police arrested him for smoking opium at Quong Lee’s opium den.8 Then in June, he and Tom were severely cut in a bar fight that sent Tom to the hospital for two days.9 In December, police arrested Will for causing a disturbance in a barroom.10 He was ultimately arrested on April 7, 1898, with Dan Peñalosa, for defrauding Ida (Waco) Douglas.11 This last episode resulted in his banishment from the City of San Antonio.12

In May 1898, Rife’s second son, Tom Jr., was charged with petty larceny and released on bond.13 In March of the following year, a grand jury indicted Lawrence Rife, Leandro Esqueriño, and Jesús Hernandez for burglary with intent to commit theft.14 Lawrence pled guilty and was sentenced by the 37th District Court to two years in the penitentiary.15 His name did not appear in the newspapers after his release from prison, and he spent the remainder of his life working at the Ursuline Academy in San Antonio.16

In April 1900, Mrs. Rife was living on San Saba Street. When she did not pay for furniture she purchased on installment, the owner’s agent, W. T. Neely, attempted to remove it from her house. Not knowing the Rife family, he was unprepared for the resistance they offered. In the resulting disturbance, Mr. Neely was arrested and later convicted of disturbing the peace and fined $10.17

In the Federal Census of June 4, 1900, Francisca was living at 816 South San Saba Street near S. Laredo Street, with seven children ranging in ages from 8 to 25.18 William was 27-years-old at that time and was not enumerated at this address. Mary Jane (age 25) and Anna (age 22) were already married, and Ruth (age 9) was probably with her Godmother and future adopted mother, Josephine M. Flores. The San Antonio City Directory for 1899-1900 listed the widow and three sons, Will, Thomas Jr., and Morris, living at 116 El Paso Street.19

Francisca Rife died in 1900.

On August 10, 1900, Francisca Rife signed an Adoption Deed to place nine-year-old Ruth Rife under the protection of her Godmother, Josephine M. Flores.20 In 1900, Miss Flores was a single woman, aged 36, who earned her living as a dressmaker and lived with her brother, a 27-year-old mail carrier.21 Francisca, who was ill, was trying to provide for her children before she died. On August 4, 1900, Francisca received her last Mexican War Widow’s pension of $8. The next check would have been paid on November 4, 1900. She did not live long enough to get that quarterly check. Francisca died on August 13, 1900, of Tuberculosis22 on San Saba Street and was buried the next day.23

Neither Thomas nor Francisca had any known relatives in San Antonio. It is not known who cared for Fred/Federico, age 15; Peter, age 14; Jack/Jacinto, age 11 and Lucy, age 8 until they were old enough to provide for themselves. They probably lived at the house on 116 El Paso Street as long as their older brothers lived there, although the publisher of the San Antonio city directories did not list children until they were 18 years old.24

None of the Rife’s grandchildren were named after their grandparents (Thomas Collins Rife and Francisca Eduarda Saenz Cobos). Jack Rife named his second daughter Josephine, but he probably chose that name because his older brother Morris’ wife was named Josephine. Except for Miss Josephine Flores’ adoption of Ruth, there is no evidence that any of the many godparents of Rife’s children took any of the children into their homes after their parent’s deaths.

Little is known about some of Thomas Rife’s children after Francisca’s death in 1900

Most of the Rife children eventually left San Antonio to marry or for employment opportunities. As far as is known, only one of the eleven children left the State of Texas to live. The older boys, Will and Tom, may have gone to Mexico, but evidence to support this has not been found.

William/Guillermo Wallace Rife Will was born April 6, 1873, and baptized as Guillermo on May 22, 1973.25 From the time he was fifteen years old, he appeared in the San Antonio newspapers many times for petty criminal activity.26 Ten days after his father’s death, Francisca appeared before the city council asking for Will to be appointed custodian of the Alamo. He may have been knowledgeable on the subject, but his history of petty crimes would have been held against him.27 He registered to vote on January 10, 1895, probably for the first time and received a certificate of citizenship.28 He was last mentioned in the press on April 7, 1898, when he was arrested for fraud and ordered by the recorder to leave town by the following Monday.29

Three months later, Will enrolled in Company F, 1st Texas Volunteer Infantry Regiment for the Spanish-American War. He mustered in at Miami on June 28, 1998. His unit spent three months in Cuba. He spent March 15-22, 1899, in a hospital before being discharged in Galveston, Texas, in April. He was a corporal on the date of his discharge.30 The railroad gave the discharged soldiers “a half-rate to all points in the State.”31 He did not appear on the June 1900 Census in his mother’s household.32 The San Antonio City Directory for 1901-1902 lists him sharing a house at 116 El Paso Street with his brother Tom.33 Nothing else is known of him.

Thomas/Tomas C. Rife, Jr. Thomas was born July 16, 1874, and baptized as Tomas on September 13, 1874.34 The 1900 U.S. census shows him living with his mother and six siblings at 816 South San Saba Street when he was almost 26 years old. There are no known records of Thomas after the San Antonio City Directory for 1901-1902 lists him sharing a house at 116 El Paso Street with his brother Will. In a letter to her sister Mary, Anna wrote shortly after her father’s death that Thomas “has not got his right mind. He can not work.”35

Mary Jane Rife Mary Jane was born December 26, 1875.36 When she was 18, Mary Jane married Orrin A.V. Burr Jr. at Trinity M.E. Church in Bexar County on December 4. The family moved to El Paso, Texas. She had four children: Orrin, Wade Hampton, Ida Belle, and Olive. She died in El Paso on February 16, 1935, at age 59 of a ruptured aorta. She is buried at Concordia Cemetery in El Paso.37

On July 21 through August 18, 1906, an advertisement appeared in the Dallas and Austin newspapers seeking the whereabouts of Mary Jane and her sister, Anna. The executor in Bolivar, Mississippi, implied that they had inherited some property there,38 from Thomas’ brother, William W. Rife, who died in 1905. Although deaf and partially paralyzed, “he had accumulated a considerable estate.”39 Mary Jane responded to Mr. Burrus on February 10, 1909, and received a letter in return inviting her and Anna to visit in Benoit, Mississippi.40 William Rife’s will left them one-third of one-quarter of the proceeds of his estate equaling eight and one-third percent. It is not known if they visited or if they received the inheritance. They were living in El Paso and Del Rio, respectively.

Francisca Eduarda Rife Francisca was born March 3, 1877,41 baptized on May 29, 1879, by Father Louis Genolin and died at two years old on June 3, 1879, of smallpox.42

Anna Rife Anna was born June 3, 1878, and baptized on December 10, 1878. Her godparents were Andres Garza and Serafina Marquez.43 She worked as a chambermaid at the Menger Hotel in 1897 and 1898 before and as a servant in the household of John W. Newton in Rock Springs, Texas, in June 1900.44 The following year she married the eldest son, George E. Newton, and moved to Del Rio. In 1910 she was living in Del Rio, Val Verde County with two children, Winnie and Bessie. She died there on March 2, 1968, and is buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery.45

Lawrence/Lorenzo Wade Rife Lawrence Wade was born November 19, 1879, and baptized on January 6, 1882.46 He was in the penitentiary at Huntsville when Francisca died. He had been charged with burglary and sentenced to two years in prison on April 5, 1899.47 He was released on February 11, 1901, after serving one year and ten months.48 He may have been visiting his brother Morris when he was arrested on January 5, 1906, and fined $5 for riding on a train in Beaumont. “In one car alone, the officer found thirty-one tramps and hoboes. But most of them succeeded in getting away.”49 On September 12, 1918, he found employment as a laborer at the Ursuline Academy on Augusta Street, San Antonio. He lived on the grounds of the Academy in 1920 and 1930. In 1938 he was living at 1104 Navarro Street. He worked as a yardman at the Academy his entire adult life. On April 27, 1942, at age 63, Lawrence was 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighed 108 pounds with brown hair and eyes and a dark complexion.50 He died on January 12, 1962, at 82 years old, having never married. He is buried in the convent’s plot in San Fernando Number 1 Cemetery.51

Morris/Mauricio Wade Rife Morris was born on February 28, 1881, and baptized as Mauricio on January 29, 1883.52 In 1900, Morris, at 14 years old, was a driver for T. Bruni, a grocery/hardware store owned by a San Antonio merchant, rancher, and city politician53 two days a week. In 1900, nineteen-year-old Morris lived with his mother at 816 S. San Saba Street, a mere block away from where Josephine Tafolla was living with the Maldonado family.54 Morris was working in Port Arthur as early as May 31, 1902, when mail was held for him in the Beaumont Post Office.55 He married Josephine Tafolla in Port Arthur on July 20, 1903, when he was 22 years old.56

Morris was in communication in 1909 with his uncle William’s lawyer, Mr. Burrus, in Benoit, Mississippi, concerning a possible inheritance.57 It is not known what the outcome of this possibility was. Morris and his family lived in rented houses in Port Arthur. He died on the job while working as a stillman at an oil cake plant at the Gulf Refinery.58 In 1918, he was of medium height, a slender build with brown eyes and black hair. His family lived nearby at several addresses on W. 18th Street.59 He had six children, of whom five survived to be adults. The children were Mary, Angeline, Morris Gilbert, Eva Francis, and Ruth Evelyn. Morris died on July 13, 1921, at age 40, of a pulmonary hemorrhage, perhaps an occupational hazard.60 Morris was a member of the “Woodmen of the World” whose members served as pallbearers at his funeral.61 He is buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Beaumont. The children grew up and lived in either Port Arthur or Galveston, Texas.

Fred/Federico Rife Fred was born in 1885. Nothing is known of Fred Rife except that he died at age 28 years of pulmonary tuberculosis on March 31, 1913, in San Antonio. His last occupation was said to be that of a janitor. He was buried in the City Cemetery Number 7, San Antonio’s pauper’s cemetery.62 In 1944, the city removed his remains to San Jose Burial Park.

Peter/Pedro Gaye Rife Peter was born November 30, 1886, and baptized on June 9, 1887.63 He lived for a time in 1917 in Weld County, Colorado, as a laborer. During WWII, he lived in San Antonio. He was described as being 5’8” tall, weighed 130 pounds had gray eyes and black hair with a light brown complexion.64 He died on August 20, 1972, in Lutheran General Hospital of natural causes and is buried in San Fernando Number 1 Cemetery in San Antonio. When he died, he was 86 years old and had never married.65 According to the Catholic Archives of San Antonio, he was living near Pipe Creek in Bexar County when he died.

Jack/Jacinto Rife Jack was born April 21, 1889, and baptized as Jacinto almost ten years later on January 21, 1897, by Father Juan Munos. His Godparents were brother and sister, Antonio and Josefina Flores.66 He died on March 21, 1978. Sometime before 1910, Jack moved to the community of Von Ormy in Bexar County, where Medio Creek joins the Medina River at Quintana Road. In June of 1917, he was working at the Gulf Refinery and living near his brother Morris in Port Arthur.67 He remained in Von Ormy for the remainder of his life; at some point, he was a taxidermist. In the 1910 census, he was listed as a railroad worker.68 He married Beronica Benetiz69 and had six children: Carolina, Josephine Melissa, Jack Stephen Jr., Roy Rubin, Alice Grace, and Eloisa A. On May 28, 1915, Jack and his wife, Beronica, inherited her parent’s (Modesto Benitez) land. Beronica and her sister, Juanita, divided the inheritance. Each heir got ½ acre on the Medina River.70 At age 53, Jack was described as 5’5” tall, weighing 170 lbs. with hazel eyes, brown hair, and a ruddy complexion.71 He died in Von Ormy on March 21, 1978, at 89 years old and is buried at San Jose Burial Park, San Antonio.72

Ruth Rife Ruth was born May 18, 1891, and baptized on January 17, 1897. Her godparents were brother and sister, Antonio and Josephina Flores.73 She was nine years old on August 10, 1900, when her godmother, Josephine M. Flores, adopted her.74 On May 5, 1908, Ruth Rife’s adopted mother, Josephine M. Flores, revoked the adoption deed because Ruth “on or about the 17th day of December 1906” abandoned Miss Flores and “has failed and refused to return.” Ruth was 15 years old at the time she left Miss Flores.75 She gave birth to Gwendolyn when she and Walter Beavers were living in Oakland, California. On November 25, 1911, she married Walter Beavers in San Antonio.76 She and Walter separated while he was in France during World War 1, and Walter brought home a war bride, Adele Dancley.

After several years in New Jersey, Ruth married H.L. Campbell and returned to San Antonio. She lived and worked as a masseuse in her own home in San Antonio for thirty years. She died on July 4, 1975, and is buried in Roselawn Park in San Antonio.77

Lucy Rife Lucy was born in 1892.78 She was eight years old when her mother died in 1900.79 Nothing is known of her after that date. On September 22, 1936, a seamstress named Lucy Rife died in Houston. This citation may or may not refer to “our” Lucy. In 1982, Morris Rife Jr. of Groves, Texas, told the authors that his aunt Lucy married and moved to California, but he may have been confusing her with her sister Ruth. It is also possible that Lucy Rife did not exist and was named as a result of an error by the census taker.

Five of the eleven children of Thomas and Francisca Rife produced grandchildren.

Descendants of five of the eleven Rife children are known to the authors. The known children of Mary Jane, Anna, Morris Wade, Jack, and Ruth are as follows:

Children of Mary Jane Rife Mary Jane was born December 26, 1875, Married Orrin A.V. Burr, Jr. on December 4, 1893, and died on February 12, 1935. She is buried in Concordia Cemetery in El Paso. Orrin A.V. Burr Jr. was born on August 5, 1863, and died on December 22, 1954. He is buried in El Paso.80

  • Orrin A.V.Burr III was born on February 22, 1896, married Mildred Betz and died on May 12, 1970. He is buried in Laredo City Cemetery, Laredo.
  • Wade Hampton Burr was born on February 17, 1895, married Susan Marie O’Sullivan on April 6, 1923, and died in January 1977.
  • Hazel Burr born in October 1902 and died on April 29, 1906. She is buried in Concordia Cemetery in El Paso.
  • Olive Burr was born March 11, 1910, in El Paso and died on August 21, 1998.

Children of Anna Rife Anna was born June 3, 1878, married George E. Newton in 1901 and died on March 2, 1968. She is buried In Sacred Heart Cemetery in Del Rio, Texas. George Edgar Newton was born on September 1, 1895, and died March 1, 1950. He is buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery in Del Rio, Texas.81

  • Winnie Mae Newton was born on February 26, 1901, married Willard Lane, and died April 28, 2002. She is buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery in Del Rio, Texas.
  • Bessie Newton was born in 1907, married J.A. Turner on August 26, 1916

Children of Morris Wade Rife Morris was born on February 28, 1881, in San Antonio. He married Josephine Tafolla on July 20, 1903, and died on July 13, 1921. He is buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Beaumont, Texas. Josephine Tafolla was born in October 1886 and died on July 19, 1935. She is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Galveston.82

  • Mary Rife, who was born March 4, 1904, married 1) George N. Mullins and 2) Manuel Arthur and died on July 11, 1967, She had two children (George and Robert Mullins, both deceased). She is buried in Galveston Memorial Park in Hitchcock, Texas.
  • Angeline (Angela) Rife was born on April 6, 1906, married Miguel (Mike) Ferrino on August 26, 1922, and died on November 29, 1958. She is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Galveston.
  • Morris Gilbert Rife was born on October 1, 1910, married Beulah Randall and died on November 24, 1987. He is buried in Oak Bluff Memorial Park in Port Neches, Texas.
  • An unnamed female child was born on September 22, 1912. She did not survive to adulthood.
  • Eva Frances Rife was born on September 9, 1914, married Andrew Gomez Castro August 26, 1922, and died May 20, 1997, in Port Arthur, TX. She is buried in Forest Park East Cemetery in Webster, Texas.
  • Ruth Evelyn Rife was born on March 19, 1916, married 1) Victor Flores and 2) Jessie Mejia and died on March 06, 1986, and is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Galveston.
  • Paul Apolinar Rife was born on September 13, 1922, 14 months after Morris’ death. The father was Paul Apolinar, 13 years younger than Josephine. He is buried in Lakeview Cemetery in Galveston.

Children of Jack Rife Jack was born April 21, 1889, married Beronica Benitez on February 10, 1911, and died on March 21, 1978. He is buried in San Jose Burial Park in San Antonio. Beronica Benitez was born November 25, 1890, and died November 1, 1982.83 She is buried in San Jose Burial Park in San Antonio.

  • Carolina Rife was born on April 7, 1912, married Alex Treviño and died on October 19, 2000.
  • Josephine Melissa Rife was born June 02, 1916, married Alfred Ruiz, and died in Pasadena, Texas, in 1997.
  • Jack Stephen Rife Jr. was born on January 1, 1919, married Dorothy Mann on November 1, 1944, and died on May 27, 1989.
  • Roy Rubin Rife was born March 11, 1922, married Antonia Ruiz and died on May 9, 1944, of a gunshot wound. He was buried at San Fernando Number 2, in San Antonio.
  • Alice Grace Rife was born November 26, 1924, married Joseph W. Schuahardt, and died on May 22, 2007.
  • Eloisa A. Rife was born in 1928, married William Garnett, and died in San Antonio on November 28, 2016.

Children of Ruth Rife Ruth was born May 18, 1891, married first, Walter Beavers on November 25, 1911, and second, H.L. Campbell, about 1942. She died on July 4, 1975, in San Antonio. Walter Beavers was born in Olney, Illinois, on November 5, 1877. He died in Phoenix, Arizona, on March 31, 151, and is buried in Greenwood Memorial Park.84

  • Gwendolyn Beavers, born October 5, 1910, in Oakland, California. She married Unknown De Wolfe, George S. Peele, and in 1950, Russell J. West. She died on January 25, 1969, and is buried in Laurel Land Cemetery in Fort Worth.

  1. San Fernando Cathedral Record, Case Files of Mexican War Pension Applications, RG 15, NARA ↩︎

  2. Andrea Saenz, Certificate of Death, Texas State Department of Health-Bureau of Vital Statistics, September 9, 1914 ↩︎

  3. Application for Accrued Pension, Mexican War Pension Application Files, 1887-1926 ↩︎

  4. San Antonio Daily Light, January 8, 1895 ↩︎

  5. Mexican War pension records, Thomas Rife File ↩︎

  6. Virgil D. White, Transcriber, Index to Mexican War Pension Files, (Waynesboro, TN: The National Historical Publishing Company, 1989), 442; Widow’s Brief, Records of the Bureau of Pensions, Mexican War Pension Application Files, 1887-1926, ↩︎

  7. San Antonio Daily Light, May 2, 1896 ↩︎

  8. San Antonio Daily Light, February 20, 1897 ↩︎

  9. San Antonio Light, June 27, 1897; (161) San Antonio Daily Light, June 28, 1897 ↩︎

  10. San Antonio Daily Light, December 16, 1897 ↩︎

  11. San Antonio Daily Light, April 7, 1898 ↩︎

  12. San Antonio Daily Express, April 8, 1898 ↩︎

  13. San Antonio Sunday Light, May 29, 1898 ↩︎

  14. San Antonio Daily Light, March 29, 1899 ↩︎

  15. San Antonio Daily Light, April 6, 1899 ↩︎

  16. Lawrence Rife, Baptismal Records, San Fernando, Vol: 9, p. 228, entry 2136 ↩︎

  17. San Antonio Daily Light, April 1, 1900 ↩︎

  18. United States Twelfth Census (1900) T623, San Antonio, Bexar, Texas, Roll 1611 ↩︎

  19. Jules A. Appler’s General Directory for the City f San Antonio, 1899, 466 ↩︎

  20. Adoption Deed, Historical Deed Records, County Clerk Office, Bexar County, Book 187, pp. 459-60, San Antonio, TX ↩︎

  21. United States Twelfth Census (1900), San Antonio, Bexar, Texas, Roll 1611 ↩︎

  22. Francisca Rife, Death Records 1899-1903, Municipal Archives and Records, San Antonio, Texas ↩︎

  23. San Antonio Daily Light, August 15, 1900; Mexican War pension records, Thomas Rife File; Jules A. Appler’s General Directory of the City of San Antonio, 1901, p. 450 ↩︎

  24. Jules A. Appler’s General Directory for the City f San Antonio, 1892, title page. ↩︎

  25. William Wallace Rife, Baptismal Records, San Fernando, Vol: 9, p.536, entry 3888 ↩︎

  26. San Antonio Light, April 10, 1888 ↩︎

  27. San Antonio Daily Light, January 8, 1895; Letter from Anna rife to Mary Jane Burrus, January 1, 1895, original owned by Susan Majewski ↩︎

  28. Anonymous, 1895 San Antonio Voter Registration List, (San Antonio: Los Bexarenos Genealogical Society, 2007), p. 230; San Antonio Daily Light, January 10, 1895 ↩︎

  29. San Antonio Daily Express, April 8, 1898 ↩︎

  30. U.S. War Department, Texas, Muster Roll Index Cards, 1838-1900, Archives and Information Services and Texas State Library and Archives Commission ↩︎

  31. The Houston Post, April 6, 1889 ↩︎

  32. United States Twelfth Census (1900),T623, San Antonio, Bexar, Texas, Roll 1611 ↩︎

  33. Jules A. Appler’s General Directory for the City of San Antonio, 1901-1902, p. 450 ↩︎

  34. Thomas Rife, Jr., Baptismal Records, San Fernando, Vol. 9, p.26, entry 189 ↩︎

  35. Letter from Anna Rife to OAV Burr, January 1, 1895, original owned by Susan Majewski ↩︎

  36. Mary Jane Burr, Certificate of Death, Texas State Department of Health-Bureau of Vital Statistics, February 12, 1935 ↩︎

  37. Mary Jane Burr, Certificate of Death, Texas State Department of Health-Bureau of Vital Statistics, February 12, 1935 ↩︎

  38. Legal Notice, Dallas Morning News, August 8, 1906 ↩︎

  39. The Weekly Democrat-Times (Greenville, MS), May 15, 1905 ↩︎

  40. Letter from J.C. Burrus to Mary Jane Rife, February 15, 1909, Original owned by Susan Majewski ↩︎

  41. Francisca Eduarda Rife, Baptismal Records, San Fernando, Vol: 10, p.155, entry 1414 ↩︎

  42. Thomas Rife, United States Tenth Census (1880), T9. San Antonio, Bexar, Texas, Roll 26 ↩︎

  43. Anna Rife, Baptismal Records, San Fernando, Vol: 9, p.144, entry 1034 ↩︎

  44. Anna Rife, Certificate of Death, Texas State Department of Health-Bureau of Vital Statistics, Texas State Department of Health-Bureau of Vital Statistics,Texas State Department of Health-Bureau of Vital Statistics,March 2, 1968 ↩︎

  45. Annie Rife Newton, Certificate of Death, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Texas Department of Health, March 2, 1968 ↩︎

  46. Lawrence Rife, Baptismal Records, San Fernando, Vol: 9, p. 228, entry 2136 ↩︎

  47. San Antonio Daily Light, April 6, 1899 ↩︎

  48. Convict Record Ledgers, Penitentiary Records, 1848-1954, Department of Criminal Justice, Reel 4, vol: 1998/038-155, “B” Series, 1898-1902, ARIS-TSLAC ↩︎

  49. Beaumont Enterprise, January 6, 1906 ↩︎

  50. Lawrence Registration Card (Old Man’s Card), 1942, World War II Draft Registration Cards for the State of Texas ↩︎

  51. Lawrence Rife, Certificate of Death, Texas State Department of Health-Bureau of Vital Statistics, January 12, 1962. ↩︎

  52. Morris Rife, Baptismal Records, San Fernando, Vol: 9, p. 258, entry 2454 ↩︎

  53. El Regidor (San Antonio), January 22, 1903 ↩︎

  54. United States Twelfth Census (1900) T623, San Antonio, Bexar, Texas, Roll 1611 ↩︎

  55. Beaumont Enterprise, June 5, 1902 ↩︎

  56. Morris Rife and Josephine Tafallo, Marriage License, Jefferson County, Texas, no. 3646A ↩︎

  57. Letter from J.C. Burrus to Mary Jane Rife, February 15, 1909, Original owned by Susan Majewski ↩︎

  58. Morris Wade Rife, Registration Card, WWI, Jefferson County, Port Arthur, Texas, September 12, 1918 ↩︎

  59. Port Arthur Daily News, July 13, 1921; Morris Wade Rife Registration Card, (WW1), Port Arthur, Texas, September 12, 1918 ↩︎

  60. Morris Wade Rife, Certificate of Death, Texas State Department of Health-Bureau of Vital Statistics, July 13, 1921 ↩︎

  61. The Port Arthur News, July 16, 1921 ↩︎

  62. Fred Rife, Certificate of Death, Texas State Department of Health-Bureau of Vital Statistics,March 13, 1913 ↩︎

  63. Peter Gaye Rife, Baptismal Records, San Fernando, Vol: 9, p. 415, entry 3847 ↩︎

  64. Peter Gaye Rife, Registration Card, WWII, (Old mans card) 1942 ↩︎

  65. Peter Gaye Rife, Certificate of Death, Texas State Department of Health-Bureau of Vital Statistics, August 20, 1972. ↩︎

  66. Jack Rife, Baptismal Records, San Fernando, Vol: 10, p.377, entry 3024 ↩︎

  67. Jack Rife, Registration Card (WW1), Jefferson County, Port Arthur, Texas, June 5, 1917 ↩︎

  68. United States Thirteenth Census (1910) T624, Von Ormy, Bexar, Roll 1533 ↩︎

  69. Jack Rife and Beronica Benitez, Marriage License, Bexar County, no. 30993 ↩︎

  70. Warranty Deed, Historical Records, County Clerks Office, Book 460, p. 345 ↩︎

  71. Jack Rife, Registration Card (old mans card) 1942 ↩︎

  72. Jack Rife, Certificate of Death, Texas State Department of Health-Bureau of Vital Statistics, March 21, 1978 ↩︎

  73. Ruth Rife, Baptismal Records, San Fernando, Vol: 10, p.377, entry 3025 ↩︎

  74. Adoption Deed, Historical Deed Records, County Clerks Office, Bexar County, TX, Book 187, pp. 459-60 ↩︎

  75. Revocation of Deed of Adoption, Historical Deed Records, County Clerks Office, Bexar County, TX, Book 1221, p. 100 ↩︎

  76. Ruth Rife, Marriage Records, Bexar County, Texas, Vol: 2, p. 344 ↩︎

  77. Ruth Rife, Certificate of Death, Texas State Department of Health-Bureau of Vital Statistics, July 4, 1975 ↩︎

  78. United States Twelfth Census (1900) T623, San Antonio, Bexar, Texas, Roll 1611 ↩︎

  79. San Antonio Daily Light, August 15, 1900 ↩︎

  80. Orrin Burr, Sr., Certificate of Death, Nevada State Department of Health, Division of Vital Statistics, December 22, 1954 ↩︎

  81. George Newton, Certificate of Death, Texas State Department of Health-Bureau of Vital Statistics, March 1, 1950 ↩︎

  82. Galveston Daily News, July 20, 1935: (627) Josephine Rife, Certificate of Death, July 15, 1935 ↩︎

  83. Beronica Benitez Rife, Texas Death Index, 1964-1998, Bexar County, November 1, 1982 ↩︎

  84. Arizona Republic, (Phoenix) April 1, 1951 ↩︎