Contact

When you need more information about our Historical Society or for more information on area history, please contact Peggy [James] Weyel at PWEYEL@SBCGLOBAL.NET.

WHO IS PEGGY (and what could she possibly know about Somerset?)

My dad, Jesse Columbus James, was born and raised at Bexar. He was a 1942 Somerset High School grad. My mom, June Edith Pike James, taught school here in the early 1940s but I am a San Antonio person. I attended North East ISD schools (Robert E. Lee HS), then graduated from San Antonio College (A. A. degree). I completed my B. A. degree at Incarnate Word College (B. A. in Social Sciences and Education) then attended University of Texas at San Antonio for my M. A. in Education/History. Finally, I got to visit Texas A&M College Station regularly to earn my Doctor of Education degree in Educational Leadership.

I taught United States and world histories, world geography, government, economics, and current social issues, for more than 27 years in a North East ISD high school. For twenty-five years I was privileged be a Master Instructor and Area Chief for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Hunter Education Program. I also worked with TPWD and National Rifle Association’s international Youth Hunter Education Challenge program. Currently, I enjoy being our Somerset Historical Society’s secretary, historical newsletter’s (Crossings) writer/editor, and now this blog’s writer.

PEGGY’S OTHER SOMERSET AREA CONNECTIONS

IRELAND

Somerset connections begin with Irish relatives, the Kenneys and McCoys who arrived to settle with other Irish folk in the southwest corner of Bexar County (think: Kinney Road, McCoy Road, McConnell Road) in the late 1840s. The venerable Iglesia Santissima Trinidad (Church of the Holy Trinity Catholic Church) at the Paseo de las Garzas or Garza’s Crossing was the wedding site for great, great grandparents John McCoy and Bridget Kinney’s marriage. In 1882, my great, great grandma’s brother Patrick Kenney donated some of his land to build St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in the Bexar Community. In the early 1950’s, as a “kidling,” I attended Sunday Mass at St. Pat’s with relatives on 3 occasions before it was closed.

CAROLINAS

Crawford and Rutledge family members were some of my great great grands. Both were farming and ranching families who came from Alabama and the Carolinas to northern Atascosa County near Poteet. The Rutledges settled at “Rutledge Hollow” and Crawfords at Sand Branch in the late 1840s.

MISSISSIPPI

Two James brothers, John and Jesse were late comers. Great great grandpa Jesse Columbus James arrived from Mississippi with his brother John William James in January, 1880. They settled near the Irish colony that included those Kenney’s and McCoys.

It has been a chore, but a fun one, chasing these folk down. There is so much more to learn about them and this beautiful, tough country they all chose to settle in. Join me in that fascinating exploration.