BEXAR COUNTY HISTORICAL COMMISSION
ORAL HISTORY PROGRAM
INTERVIEW WITH: Bernardine Rice
Interviewer: Clyde Ellis
Date: August 11, 1977
Place: 401 South Presa, the home of Miss Rice
E: Bernardine, you were telling me a little bit about your house .. the
history of it.
R: This property was owned by my grandfather Walter Tynan and his
brother, Edward Tynan. And they sold it to my grandmother after she
married my grandfather in 1869. In 1883, Grandpa built the house.
Grandma thought she was getting a two-story house but he didn't have
enough money for that so he just built a one-story house.
E: How did they happen to own the property to begin with if they sold it
to your grandmother?
R: They had bought it sometime. They had been here since the 50's, you
see.
E: Had they come here from Ireland?
R: My grandfather came to settle his oldest brother's estate . . Dennis Tynan.
E: Here in San Antonio?
R: Yes.
E: How did they happen to come to San Antonio?
R: Dennis Tynan came from Ireland before the Republic. He had a mule
train that went from New Orleans to Brownsville. And San Antonio was the
middle section. He settled property at that time. Then when the Republic
was organized, he went up to Illinois to visit with his brothers.
Married up there and had a very short married life because he contracted
one of the epidemics of that time; I don't know which it was. And died.
2.
Bernardine Rice
His wife wrote to her mother-in-law and said, 11 I'm not interested in the
Texas estate. You may have it. 11 And so my grandfather was the youngest
of the family and the only one at home so grandma sent him.
E: Well now, Bernardine, this is interesting because the Republic was
in 1836?
R: Yes, and most people think that the great wave of the Irish immigra­tion
came to this country ... wasn't it the 1850's?
R: Yes.
E: With the hard times in Ireland ... the so-called potato famine. They
came very early. Were they just out seeking their fortune or ...
R: I don't know how Dennis happened to come to San Antonio. Other than
business reasons. He was a well-educated man and ...
E: I mean, to have left Ireland to begin with at that point in time. It
was quite an achievement.
R: It wasn't very interesting staying in Ireland when you couldn't do
the things you wanted to do, I think. And he kept all his booksin Latin.
E: Oh, really! Do you have any of them?
R: No, I haven't any of that. That's what one of the family stories is
that he was well-educated and kept all his books in Latin.
E: So that after he died, his wife did not want to maintain the Texas
part of the estate so then your . . .
R: Walter Tynan was sent to Texas to settle the estate and come right
back to Ireland. But he found when he got here it wasn't that easy and
so he was in the construction business and so he was doing work on the
old Ursuline Convent. My grandmother was there at the time and they
were finally married in 1869.
Bernardine Rice 3.
E: Who was your grandmother before she married your .. ?
R: Johanna Hassett from Waterford, Ireland.
E: So they were both Irish?
R: Oh, yes.
E: Do you know anything about her family and how they came to be here?
R: She came over here to be a postulant in the Ursuline Order. It was
said when she came to New Orleans, crossing the Mississippi River, that
was the water she was going to have to drink in Texas. So she was ready
to go back home. But she decided to come on and see for herself. So
when they got to the Convent, a 11 the recreation a 1 reading \'las done in
French. And she knew no French . So she was very unhappy. She went to
Sister Patrick who had brought her from Waterford, Ireland and she said,
11 I want to go home, when you go home. 11 And Sister Patrick said, 110h,
I 1ll never go home. 11 And Grandmother said, 11 I think you will and r•m
going with you when you go. 11 So they went to Rev. Mother and told her
the situation and she said, 11No, if you take your vows here, you will
stay here. 11 So Grandma said, 11We 111 see about that. 11 So she went to
the Chaplin, Father DuBois, later Bishop and he said, 11My daughter, if
you•re not happy, you have taken no vows, you don•t have to stay. 11 And
so she heard there was an Irishman down in the garden. She went down
and said,(1Which one of you is going home? 11 And my Grandfather said,
11 I am. 11 So she said, 11Well' I 1m going with you. II And he said, 11 I 11l
take care of you. 11 So she got into San Antonio, and got a job with
Mrs. Bowen, who was the Postmistress at the time. And she made enough
money to go back home. And my Grandfather was a postman between Sister
Patrick and herself. And he begged her to marry him, and she said,
11 No, I 1m going home. 11 So she left and got as far as New Orleans, and
Bernardine Rice 4.
there a letter caught up with her from her brother notifying her that the
father had died in Ireland. And that meant that a step-mother and half­brothers
and sisters were left in Ireland. And so she said, 11I won•t
go back ... So she came back to Galveston, and was there during the Civil
War. And missed a trip with her brother, John, who was the engineer
that went around the \'lorld when Mark Twain wrote Innocents Abroad, and
he wanted Grandma to go with him on the trip. But she. missed that letter,
and so they didn•t get together on the trip. So then Grandmother married
a Mr. Moriarity, James Moriarity, and they lived in Houston. And he had
a business there, mercantile business. And he and Jimmy, the little boy,
both contracted one of the epidemics of that time, and died. My Grand­father
heard she was a widow and went down and got her. Married her.
E: He was patient. Well, that was very interesting. So then, tell me
now again about the house, and tie them into the house.
R: All right. Then Grandpa at that time, in 1869, he and a Patrick
Walsh were building the San Fernando cathedral as we know it. And we
have the original copy of the specifications of the cathedral. Then he
built other places in San Antonio, other houses in San Antonio. In
1883, Grandma said, 11The property there on Pres a St., we might as we 11
build a house ...
E: Do you know where they were living before?
R: Over on Water St. And it•s now in Hemisfair. You know where the
Goliad St. used to be? Goliad went this way and Water crossed it. Well,
their house was the second one south from Goliad St. And the little
house on the corner is still being used in Hemisfair.
empty lot and that•s where Grandma and Grandpa lived.
And there • s an
And tften, they
Bernardine Rice
built this house, and rented it for, tne first family tnat had it were
just renters. Then when they moved, Grandma said, 110ur family is bi.g
enough, \lie might as we 11 take it over ourse 1 ves. 11 So tney came down
here and lived in the house . And my Grandfather died in 1892, and my
Grandmother stayed in the house.
E: Did your Grandfather have a brotner who lived here?
R: Edward.
5.
E: Edward, O.K. Now, so then. Do you remember any of the other projects
he had besides the cathedral?
R: He built.
E: You mentioned the Incarnate Word, or Ursuline.
R: Ursuline . He did work in the garden. He didn't build any of the
buildings, but he did work in the garden. And then, I don't know that
you remember that house the Denmans lived in, where the Tropicana is now.
That property over there. The prettiest old house back in there. Well ,
he had built the original part of that.
E: Had that been the Denman home?
R: Yes.
E: Because I always think of the one up on Frencn and Main Ave.
R: Oh, no! This was the Gilbert Denman's. That one on Main Ave. was
the other family- Leroy ... That part of the building he did ... And then
they said, he, also, built the house on Goliad St. where the Coyne
family lived.
E: Did he build this house himself?
R: Yes.
E: And this was what year?
R:, 1883.
Bernardine Rice 6.
E: And the, they lived on here for how long? Was it always in the family?
R: Always in the family. It was rented when Mother and Daddy married,
they went to Europe. And when they came back, the house they had rented
had been sold. So, there was a shortage of rent houses at the time,
and my Grandmother said, 11You take 401, and Lizzie and I wi 11 go and get
an apartment. 11
E: And who was Lizzie?
R: My mother's younger sister.
E: O.K. Let me ask you. How many children did your grandparents have?
R: Three . Mother was the oldest, Kate Tynan, Edward Tynan was her
brother, and Lizzie Tynan was the baby sister.
E: 0. K. Is there any relationship there between Connie Jones and Mariam
Jones' family?
R: They are on my father's side.
E: O.K. Because, Kate and Liz ... I have heard those names mentioned from
them, too. So, then, who did your mother marry?
R: Mother married Hugh Bernard Rice . And he was the nehpew of Mrs. Peter
Gallagher, who lived behind the Alamo. My grandfather and grandmother
Rice had come from Ireland in the 50's. He was an engineer. They were
living in Alexandria, Virginia, and the two boys, John and Hugh Bernard,
my father, were born in Alexandria. And when the Civil War was start­ed,
my grandfather went with Lee's Army to build bridges with Lee's
Army. And also, he was in charge of the Manasis Gap railroad. And we
have copies of letters, that he wrote about that railroad, and that he
hadn't been paid for a railroad engine that he had bought. And so they
said, that my grandmother was the world's worst rebel, and so he shipped
Bernardi ne Rice
her and the two boys to San Antonio to get rer out of the war zone. So,
that is how Grandpa and Grandmother came to San Antonio, with her four
C~roM~
sisters that were living here: Mrs. Peter Gallagher; Mrs. Carlon, who
was Connie•s grandmother.
C..f* ,.a Iff"'
E: Is that the way they say 11 Garlon 11? He was mayor?
R: Yes, he was the mayor.
E: They were Irish, also.
7.
R: Yes, and Mrs. Ryan, and Mrs. Conroy•s mother was Mrs . Edward Gallagher,
nephew of Peter Gallagher. See, she was a Miss Gallagher.
E. And that is Edward Conroy•s background?
R: Yes.
E: 0 . K.
R: So, then my grandmother lived here with the two boys and her si sters
during the Civil War. Then, when my Grandfather got away from . .. when
the war was over, he came to Houston to make the first survey of the
Buffalo Bayou. And we have seen the original report, and have a copy of
it. He advised, at that time, things to do on the Buffalo Bayou, that
were done many, many years later. And, so then, he was making a home
for the family to join him. And my Grandmother died very suddenly, and
he died in 6 months. So the two boys were raised here in San Antonio.
E: Do you have a clue why they left? Ireland? They left much later than ..
R: They left in the 5o•s .
E: So that was during the rough time there?
R: Yes.
E: I wanted to ask .. . you were talking about your Grandmother Tynan who .. .
the older child of hers was your mother. Do you know where they went to
Bernardine Rice 8.
school and what kinds of things they did while they were growing up here?
R: My mother and Aunt Lizzie went to the Ursuline. And mother was there ..
her eyes failed her when she was about 16 and she didn•t ... as we say ...
finish high school. She got right up to the point I suppose and then had
to give it up. And then she finished her education as a teacher. In
those days they used to take courses at horne you know ... sort of. And
then she took a test.
E: Correspondence ...
R: Kind of like that.
E: Do you remember any tales or anecdotes or stories that your mother
used to tell about things that happened to her when she was a little
girl here or growing up or any of her friends and what they did?
R: They lived at the ranch, the Tynan ranch, out on Bandera road. Near
Bandera. She said she always rode a horse to school. And Mrs. Conroy
was Elise Gallagher and they lived at the old Gallagher ranch and so
mother and Mrs. Conroy were particular friends.
E: Were they as far out as the Gallagher ranch?
R: Oh, yes, the Tynan ranch was across the road.
E: Oh. Did they come into school every day?
R: No. When they were in school out there it was a little country school.
And my grandmother said that she hated travelling out to the ranch. And
she always acquired a (?) jefe ... so she didn•t like the ranch. But
Mother said she rather enjoyed it and she said one time she and Mrs .
Conroy were playing paper dolls and they got my father•s ... who was Mrs.
Conroy•s cousin .. almost like a big brother to her ... they got his razor
and cut paper dolls. And my mother said, 11And he rubbed his old cheek
Bernardine Rice 9.
to make me realize he didn 1t want me to use his razor. 11
E: Wouldn 1t blame him. Well then, did they come in and go to the Ursuline
when they got to school age?
R: Oh, no they came in earlier than that I think ... I think Grandmother
realized they should be in town. And so she brought them into town.
They must have lived on Water Street until they built this house.
E: Do you remember your mother talking about any other of the girls who
were at the Ursuline at that time? Or any other family ...
R: Kate Clavin was mother 1s particular friend. She became a nun. I
knew her as Mother Frances .. at the Ursuline. Mother used to tell tales
about her. She said one time they came out and she saw a NEW STAR in the
sky so she ran and called Mother Ursula who was teaching Astronomy and
she said, 11LOOK THERE 1S A NEW STAR IN THE SKY 11 and Mother came out and
looked and said, 11 Kate, that is a new light from San Antonio. 11
E: What was Ursuline like at that time?
R: It was THE school for girls. And of course, St. Mary 1s was THE
school for boys. My Uncle Edward went there. And the girls went to ..
E: We were talking about your mother going to Ursuline. What did she
do after she finished at the Ursuline?
R: She worked to get her certificate to teach. And she taught in the
San Antonio system. My father said he would have married her ten years
before but he was afraid to ask Grandma Tynan. And then when he asked
her it was the easiest thing he could have done. They were married and
she didn 1t teach after that.
E: They had known each other for a long time?
R: Oh, yes. He was a big boy when she was a little girl. Then he was
in business ... he went into the insurance business with Mr. Conroy ...
Bernardine Rice
Conroy and Rice Insurance Company.
E: Your father, then had grown up in San Antonio? Where did he live
and where did he go to school?
R: He lived with Mrs. Gallagher back of the Alamo.
E: Have you heard him talk about that? I•ve seen pi ctures of their
house there on the grounds of the Alamo. Did you ever see it?
R: I loved that house. Oh, sure. We used to play there all the time
with the Conroys.
E: What was it like?
10.
R: It was a big, beautiful two-story house. A typical house with a hall
in the middle and the big staircase going up and the parlors on both
sides .. there were double parlors: library on one side and parlor on the
other and the dining room. The kitchen was in t he L.
E: What about the piece in your living room. The tall bookcase . .. did tt
come out of that house?
R: Yes. Mrs. Conroy gave it to mother and daddy.
E: Where did he go to school, living down there?
R: He went to St. Mary's College.
E: Do you remember him talking about any of the people he knew or the
things that they did for fun and that kind of thing? When he was grow­ing
up . . .
R: Not so much. He knew everybody of course, in San Antonio. That•s
how we happen to have as many friends as we have.
E: Do you remember who any of his particular friends were?
R: His best man was Dr. Withers.
E: He was related to the Dwyers, wasn•t he?
Bernardine Rice 11.
R: Yes. And his sister married General Bullis. And so Dr. Rooert Withers
and Daddy were particular friends.
E: I know that the Kampmanns and the Mavericks lived over there where
the Scottish Rite Cathedral is .. which wouldn•t have been too far away.
Do you remember him ever t alking about them?
R: No.
E: Do you remember much said about the other Irish families around at
that time?
R: Let•s see. The Gallaghers, Peter Gallagher had two nephews who
came from New York . One Gallagher family, Edward Gallagher, married
Mrs. Gallagher•s niece Elise Gallagher.
E: You mean a Gallagher married a Gallagher?
R: Yeah. They were no kin. But they were married. He was the young­est
nephew. And then the other nephew brought his family to San Antonio.
And they were Miss Molly, Miss Bessie, daughters of the family and then
the sons were, let•s see, there was an Eddie and a John ... I forget ...
but it was a good-sized family and we always felt that they were part
of the family, too. They ca 11 ed her 111 itt 1 e Mrs . Ga 11 agher. 11
E: Did you all used to go out to the Gallagher Ranch?
R: Not as children. You see they had sold it by the time ... my father
sold it for his aunt, Mrs. Peter Gallagher. The desk that we have in
this den was the present- well, the only thing he got out of selling
the ranch and it wasn•t from Mrs. Gallagher but from the man who bought
the ranch.
E: Do you remember who it was?
R: No.
Bernardine Rice 12.
E: Do you remember the size of the ranch?
R: No.
E: Besides the Gallaghers, who were some of the others? The Callaghans ..
did you ever hear anybody talk about the Callaghans?
R: Mother said she knew Bryan Callaghan ... the original Callaghan ... And
she said that he was a wonderful, wonderful man and if he had left
liquor alone, he would have been president of the United States.
E: There•s a story aboat him and a Mexican lady. Do you know that story?
R: No •..
E: You don•t?
R: I don•t think I do.
E: I don•t remember it too well. Something about if he won an election,
he would marry her and he won and he did.
R: I knew his children, Adele Muegge is his great niece. And of course,
we•ve knowhthe family always.
E: What about the Dwyers ... did you know the Dwyers?
R: Mother and Daddy knew them of course, I didn't know them too well.
~~~~
E: And the 6areli~s?
R: He was the mayor and he married my grandmother•s sister. Mrs. Kate
Jones was their daughter. And Lilly. Lilly was the mother of Kate
and Jack Butterfield. You knew Kate Martin?
E: Yes.
R: She•s Kate Butte rfield Martin.
'-'
E: !remember Jack Butterfield, too. He died not too long ago.
R: Yes.
E: Well, tell me any other Irish family names you remember.
R: Hmmnunm
Bernardine Rice 13.
E: Can't think of any? I wanted to know what sort of things that they
used to do for fun. Weren't the Irish kind of clannish?
R: A lot of the Irish lived off North Alamo Street, you know.
E: Was that where they called the Irish Flats?
R: The Irish Flats.
E: Would this house be called an Irish Flat architecturally?
R: Yes .
E: I think this is the term.
R: But Grandma said she didn't want to live up that way. She wanted
away from them so that's why we're down here. And this was HAY OUT in
San Antonio.
E: Do you remember as a child any ... well, you 're famous for your yearly
open house ... what were things that they did then and who would come?
R: They always had open house on New Year's Day. New Year's Day was the
visiting day for all the gentlemen to go and visit all the ladies in the
neighborhood. Daddy always kept that up and I was his chauffeur so I
met all of his friends. One particular friend he used to go call on was
Mrs. John James, who lived on Cameron Street. And Laura James and the
Engelke girls were usually there, when I'd come, so they tell the story;
they went running into Mrs. James and said, "Here comes Bernardine and
Mr. Dine."
E: What customs or activities did they have that you would associate with
the Irish peculiarly. Do you remember? What about food? Was there any­thing
in particular that would have been indigenous to the Irish?
R: Bread. Irish bread . My grandmother made Irish bread. Mother used
to make nut bread. And now I've taken ap the custom of making bread, too.
Bernardine Rice
When we were in Ireland .. . oh! that bread and butter over there is just
fabulous.
E: I know the Germans had certain traits that they would follow ... they
served certain foods at different times of the year. Do you remember
any of those customs at all that the Irish crowd would do?
R: Not especially.
14.
E: I wanted to ask you about ... you used to live on the corner of Olive
and Nolan didn't you?
R: Mother and Daddy built that house.
E: Tell me about that house. And why you all were over there . Was that
prior to being over here?
R: Oh, no, no, no. We lived here. I was born in this room I'm living
in now and my sister was born here. And then Mother and Daddy built
their house on Nolan Street and we lived there.
E: That's an unusual house. Does it have a flat roof?
R: Yeah, a flat roof. And Leo Diehlman was the architect. He wasn't
married at the time but he was engaged to the girl and mother said to
him, .. Now, if you don't do this and this and this, I'm going to tell
her things about you ... 110h, Mrs. Rice, please don't ... Anyhow, they
were always good friends . And mother thought, when she moved from here,
she could take all the pictures hanging on the wall and just hang 'em
up and they would all be right. But these are 12 foot ceilings and Leo
Diehlman had made our ceilings 13 feet. And so he had to put new wire
on all the pictures.
E: . .. a bit too tall. Who were some of the people who lived over there
then? The Fredericks ...
Bernardine Rice 15.
R11 The Fredericks lived across tne street. And tne Hilgers lived next
to us on Nolan Street and the Hiljes lived across Olive Street from us.
E: Did you know the Weidenfelds?
R: Oh, sure . They moved up there, I think, right after mother and daddy
built their house. I'm not sure when they built it. But, we've known
the family always.
E: That's an interesting house they•re in.
R: Yes.
E: And who lived in that house down there on the corner ... the house on
the corner?
R: The house on Olive Street, at the corner of Burnet was one of the
Dignowity sons.
E: Tell me about that because you know they refer to it as Dignowity
Hill.
R: Yes. Well in the Dignowity Park was the original Dignowity house.
It was a great big two-story house. I used to always want to go in it
and see it. But the Baptist minister and his family were living in it
at the time we were up tnere. And they were mean .boys and they always
teased us and we didn't like •em. So I didn't get into the house.
E: What did the Dignowity's do?
R: The Dignowitys, I think, were ranchers ... I'm not sure about that
family. But the house that you know there on tne corner was the son's
and I didn't know the old man ... I don't remember him . .. but I knew the son.
No, I don't believe there are any Dignowitys left. But I knew Mary
Dignowity , who had married Eddie. And they lived in that house. When
he died she sold it to Jim Moore.
Bernardine Rice 16.
E: What about the Fredericks who lived in that big house on the corner ..
just west of you?
R: The Fredericks lived across from us .. Nolan, across ... and they faced
south and we faced north.
E: Didn•t one Frederick live in that house west of you, across Olive?
R: No, that family Hilje.
E: Hiljes. What did the Hiljes do?
R: As far as I know, Louis, his father was in ranching, I think. And .
then Louis himself as far as I know was in the banking business.
E: What about the Fredericks that lived to the north of you. What did
they do?
R: They had the Frederick Refdgation. Mr . Frederick used to walk down
to the factory on Commerce Street every day. Walk straight down Olive
Street. Mrs. Frederick had one of those a~ul diseases .. she was turning
to stone. And they built the first elevator that r•d ever seen in a
house .. for her. They put on the back of the house and they used to drive
the big car up to the gate and then rolled her wheel chair to the elevator
and take her upstairs. And mother told us, as children, she said,
11 Now .. (we•d see Mrs. Frederick out in the yard}, if a swarm of bees hit
her she couldn•t do a thing about it. 11 She was frozen.
E: Was there much neighborhood association over there?
R: Olivia Baldesarelli lived across the street from us. And as children,
when we first moved up there, I saw her across the street and I said,
11 Hello, little girl -my mother doesn•t know where I am. 11 And so she
took on my sister and myself and we used to play paper dolls up in their
attic room.
E: What did they do?
Bernardine Rice 17 .
R: Olivia Baldesarelli's father had a bookstore ... sort of abook library,
that type of thing. And cigars and ..
E: Tobacco
R: Tobacco shop
E: Tell me about your house over there. It didn't have a cistern on the
roof did it?
R: No.
E: Flat roof ... interesting architecture.
R: On July the 20th, Daddy's birthday, we always had a watermelon party
up on the roof. And the whole "fam damly" got together. Though the
watermelons weren't any good before July the 20th.
E: That's when you got 'em.
E: Tell me about the window you have in your present house that used to
be in that house.
R: My Aunt Lizzie designed that window and Samuels Glass Factory made it.
E: Do you know the year?
R: 1911, I imagine .. somewhere along in there.
E: And that was made for the Nolan Street house?
R: For the Nolan Street house- in the dining room. This chandelier was
made to complement it.
E: Tell me about the desi gn of it . . . what it represents .
t,J_ ~ t:. -··~ ' .
R: She designed it with the ~ame-1-afalca, that means a hundred thousand
welcomes. And she put the heart in the center and had the broken string.
E: What is the significance of all that?
R: When that string comes together then Ireland will be united.
E: That's very timely, wouldn't you say? Well, this chandelier is
Bernardine Rice 18.
interesting. Did the Samuels Company make that, too?
R: Yes.
E: And it's all done in green which is, of course, the Irish color. And
then did you sell the house on Nolan?
R: Yes. We sold it and mother reserved the window and the chandelier.
We got the chandelier out before we moved. But we didn't get the window.
And from ... mother sold it in '46 and in '50 I fi nally convinced the
old man to let me replace the window with glass of color .. not an art
glass. And so I got it out, had it releaded and packed and it was on
my back porch from '50 to '70 when I finally put it in the bath room.
Of course, it's at the end of the hall and everybody could see it
from the front door. Somebody said, "IN THE BATHROOM''! And I said,
"Everybody can see it."
E: Bernardine, being here close to La Villita, as you are, how has it
been over the years?
R: Oh, as far as I know it was always a slum.
E: Just terrribly run down?
R: Terribly run down.
E: Were most of the little houses that are now there, there in .. .
R: Oh, yes. They've added to, you know. Other little houses put in
there. And when Maury Maverick became mayor in '39, he cleaned it out.
And it's a joy now.
E: It was a sort of WPA project, wasn't it?
R: Yes.
E: During the war?
R: Yes . He got all those boys in there and cleaned it up and made i t what
Bernardine Rice 19.
it is. Then the Foutrells had a store right there on the corner of Nueva
and Presa. And that little house the Conservation Society have just
bought was their home .
E: Wasn't there a school in La Villita? For colored girls?
R: I don't know.
E: And then that Joykist candy business .. that was recently uncovered . .
Who were some of the families that lived around here, in this neighborhood,
do you remember?
R: The Patricks had a place in the 300 block . ..
E: Was that Erin Patrick?
R: No, it was a different family entirely. The Lytels .. Zuleme Amen's
grandparents. And the two sisters that helped raise the Lytle girls
were teachers in San Antonio, Miss Lizzie and Miss Nellie. Their
brother owned the Texas theater and all the movies ... he was the movie
man of the 20's.
E: San Antonio is a very Catholic community. Were most of the people
in this neighborhood Catholic?
R: On the whole, I think we had a sort of mixture.
E: But most of the Irish have always been Catholic. Was that one of the
attractions for San Antonio?
R: Yes.
E: Who were some of the really interesting characters that you know?
I mean, that we could talk about . .. Some of the prominent people or people
that had been active in the city.
R: My cousin, Walter Tynan, was quite a politician, very good politician.
He was the district attorney. And Maury Maveri ck, his friend, was the
tax collector and Tim Groesenbach was ... well, anyhow, those three men,
were particular friends and they changed the court house politics.
Bernardine Rice 20.
E: In what way were they characters? You remember any of the odd things
they did? What stands out in your mind when you think of Maury Maverick?
R: t~aury was ... he always said what he thought. He was very, very fond
of my mother and I can hear him come down the street, 11Hello, Aunt Kate. 11
But he was really .. . he did an awful lot for San Antonio that is now
being appreicated. Walter was a good friend of his and Tim Griesenbach ..
E: What did Tim Griesenbach do?
R: He was .•. ! think real estate. I'm not too sure. I knew the family
but I didn't thi mk about what Tim did.
E: Did you happen to know the McAllisters?
R: I knew them. I know Walter, of course. And his cousin . r· knew t he
McAllisters because the families were in San Antonio. San Antonio has
a little city and it was wonderful to know everybody around.
E: Bernardine, when you were growing up and you all were living on Nolan
Street, where did you go to school?
R: Ursuline. And we rode our bicycles.
E: You did?
R: Yes.
E: I guess at that time people were not going up to Incarnate Word?
R: Well . . oh, yes, it was there then and so was Our Lady of the Lake.
E: But the Ursuline was the one that everybody had known for ever and
their mothers and grandmothers had gone there. And that's why they
wanted .. . to use that. Did you go through all your public education
there?
R: Through high school. Then I went to Incarnate Word College.
E: And so then what did you do?
Bernardine Rice
R: And then I began teaching.
E: Have you seen any change since you've been teaching?
R: I'm glad I'm not in it now.
21.
E: I wish I could say the same. How were teacher's salaries in those
days?
R: Oh! Boy, I didn't make much.
E: It was a labor of love.
R: Yeah, it sure was ... a labor of love.
E: This concludes my interview with Bernardine Rice on South Presa Street.
END OF INTERVIEW
t.
.,.
" ..
RICE, BERNARDINE ~e. "'3,.'(' ,.,~ I
Irel and and the Iris h,2,6,7,
11-14,17,19
LaVilli ta, l8,19
people and places,9-12 , 14-17,1 9,20
Rice,Hugh Bernard,6 ,7,9-11
INDEX
San Fernando cath 3dral ,4,5
Tynan,bi ographical ,1-9, 19
Ursu l ine Convent , 9,20
The intent of this interview was to throw some light on the early
Irish settl ers who came to San Antonio in the nineteenth century and
stayed on to become a part of the mix that was and is San Antonio .