Burford King Isaacs 22 Sept 1883 to 19 Dec 1946
and
Lyda Mae Rester Isaacs 01 Mar 1895 to 07 Jan 1947
I do not know a lot about my maternal grandparents. My grandfather was born and raised in Rockdale, TX and my grandmother was born and raised in Waco, TX. They married in 1918 and moved to Fort Worth. They had two children, Burford King Isaacs Jr (now Burford Isaacs King), born on 10 March 1919, and my mother, Muriel Annabeth Clarkson, born on 18 August 1922. They both passed away in Fort Worth, Texas away before I was born. My grandfather died from lung cancer and my grandmother was said to have died of a broken heart. What I do know is what I have pieced together from various bits and pieces of held onto family information, much the same way I pieced together a little knowledge about my grandfather's parents, who were Leonard M. and Annie Letcher King Isaacs. My grandmother's parents were Napoleon Owen Rester and Bettie Bond Cook Rester. I was fortunate and actually knew my great grandfather N. O. Rester.
Leonard Isaacs and Annie Letcher King Isaacs
Napoleon O. Rester and Bettie Bond Cook Rester
Houses my mother and her parents lived in after they were married:
1212 Dorothy Lane
1212 Dorothy Lane was their first house that I am aware of after they were married. I believe there may have been an earlier house that they lived in for a short time after moving from Rockdale but I do not know where it was or if it is still in existence today. This is the house my mother was actually born in.
Tis is how the house looked in the early 1920s not too long after it was built.
This photo was taken a number of years later, possibly around 1945.
This photo is a high dynamic range photo that was taken in Sept. 2012.
(for more information click on the address)
The Tarrant Appraisal District shows the house as being built in 1918. I have not located any information on the original owners or the original architect. Before moving in, my grandmother had the house remodeled to her specifications. When she completed the project, her work on the house was given an honorable mention in Home Beautiful Magazine in 1931. They lived in this house until their deaths in 1946. My mother told me that when they owned the property, it extended down to the Trinity River. She said finding copperheads and water moccasins in their yard and trees was a common occurrence.
This photo was taken while the 1931 for sale sign was still displayed in the yard.
Taken after remodeling was completed
A 2nd photo of the completed remodeling around 1931
This is an HDR color photo was made in Sept 2012.
This is a piece of a plan sketch I found in while searching boxes of papers kept by my mother, who passed away on April 1, 2014. After my mother's death, we were cleaning out"stuff" from the attic when my daughter, Kristie, found the plans dated July 28, 1933 by Joseph Pelich, Fort Worth Architect, for the remodeling of the house that would later be recognized by House Beautiful magazine.
The house has obviously been maintained very well over the years. After the death of my grandmother Isaacs, my mother and uncle sold the house on Feb. 26, 1947 to the Broadway Baptist Church to be used as a parsonage. I do not know any history of the house after that.
My grandfather, Burford King Isaacs, was a lawyer in Fort Worth for over twenty years. He sold out or retired (not sure which) from law around 1932. He then built and ran one of the nicest lodges in Fort Worth, with air conditioning in all rooms in the mid 1930s.
The above post card is all that I have found that shows what El Patio Lodge looked like. The phone number is 6 digits which probably puts the post card in the 1940's. Going by the picture on the card and the description of services, his lodge would have been nice by today's standards. He owned and managed the lodge until his death. It was at this lodge that my mother found her first job in her teenage years. After his death, my mother and uncle sold the lodge. It has since been torn down and newer motel has replace it.
