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Note: Living near to Enoch and family in the 1870 census is Enoch's son William
A. Mays in a separate household. He is listed as a merchant, 25, and wife Texana
C., 24, born in Tennessee. William and Texana were married in Grimes County
according to obituary records.
The Dallas County census dated June 1, 1880, indicates that William A.
Mays, age 35, lives in the 59th district and is now farming. He is no longer
working as a merchant. It is likely that William worked with his father in the
family business and when it was liquidated after Enoch died in 1875, William
took up farming. With William is wife Texana C. age 34, and son, Caddie L.
[His full name is believed to be Cadwielder L. Mays named after one of Texana's
brothers. The L might stand for Linton], age 7 and , daughter Ethel , age 2.
There were no servants in the home this census. A notation in the 1881/82 city
directory indicates that Sam R. Mays and W. A. Mays live 1 1/2 miles southeast
of Dallas. This would put them in the Fair Park area. I found a reference in a
city directory that Fair Park was located 1 1/2 miles east of downtown, but this
is probably a matter of semantics regarding the direction from downtown. At some
point [likely in the period 1875-1880], both brothers moved to the Fair Park
area and farmed. In the 1884/85 preface to the city directory is indicated that
the fair grounds are located 1 and 1/2 mile east of the court house. W. A. Mays
lived near the fair grounds but outside the Dallas city limits.He lived in the
incorporated city of East Dallas which was eventually annexed by the larger
city of Dallas. Sam left about 1884 moving to Crowley in Tarrant County, but
William continued to farm in this area until a couple of years before his death
in 1906 when he moved to Gaston Avenue. A reference in a Dallas newspaper
article dated July 21, 1886, states that "W. A. Mays residing near the Dallas
Fair Grounds has raised a large luscious peach this season, which he exhibits
with pardonable pride. He dropped off a basket of them at the newspaper office."
In the 1889/90, Cad L. Mays, son of William A. Mays , appears in the directory. He is working as a clerk for C. H. Sawyer who represents several
manufacturers in the area as a commissioned agent.
In the 1891/92 city directory, William A. Mays makes an appearance in the
city directory residing on the south side of Forest between Vine and Atlanta.
Probably the city limits have been extended to include his farm near Fair Park.
[The city of East Dallas being annexed by the city of Dallas]. Forest Avenue has
been renamed Martin Luther King, Jr. Expressway in recent times. Caddie L.
Mays is not listed but from obituary records he was still alive in 1906 when
William died..
In the 1893/94 city directory, William A. Mays resides on the north side of
Old Birmingham Avenue between Vine and Atlanta. This is in the same area for his
farm as before but a different description of where his farm house is located..
Vines has been renamed since this time, but Atlanta and Birmingham still exists.
This area is located west of the Fair Park grounds. Oakland has been renamed
Malcolm X.
In the preface of the 1894/95 city directory a street listing indicates that
Mays Avenue was located off the 8th Avenue block east of S. Central Avenue and
extends southeast to Warren. This is the general area where W. A. Mays had his
farm.
In 1900, Miss Maranda (Randy) Mays boards with William Mays. Robert K. Mays
is a clerk for the C. F. Garlinton and Company and boards with William Mays.
Garlington Company deals in carriages, wagons, and vehicles. Mr. William A. Mays
is a farmer and resides on the south side of Warren, 1 mile east of Oakland.
Caddie L. Mays is not mentioned in the directory.
William Mays and his family have not been identified in the 1900 Dallas
census. Part of the 1900 Dallas census is unreadable due to the ink fading
badly. Apparently the census taker used an inferior grade of ink which has
faded with time [over 100 years]. The area of the census affected covered the
area of town where William and his family lived.
In the 1902 directory, William Koch lives at 596 Gaston. This is the house
that William and Texana will soon move into after he leaves the farm.
In 1904, William A. Mays, a farmer, is back in the city listing. His address
is listed as being on the northeast corner of Warren and Mays. It is interested
to note that Tex C. Mays his wife is listed that same year as living at 454
Swiss Avenue and their son Robert K. Mays is listed as a feeder for Texas Paper
Company and lives at 454 Swiss. Maranda Mays or Caddie L. Mays are not mentioned
in the listing. It is possible that the family were operating two homes at the
time, the farm near Fair Park, and the new residence on Swiss Avenue. The
distance between the two was less than two miles. Swiss Avenue is located one
block over from the address on Gaston which they would buy and make their home
by 1906. The streets run parallel. Possibly William wanted to sell the family
farm before buying the house on Gaston, they were renting on Swiss and possibly
there were still some crops to harvest before leaving the farm completely and
maybe Maranda was taking care of the domestic duties on the farm. Real estate
transactions indicate that William was working as a real estate salesman during
the later years of his life. There were several court suits associated with this
activity.
The 1910 Dallas County Census dated April 25, lists Texana C (Massey) Mays,
63, a widow, living in precinct 1 in the city of Dallas as head of household.
Living with her are son Robert K. Mays, 24, who works as a pressman for a paper
company, and daughter Maranda "Randy" Mays, 26, who works as a stenographer for
a Real Estate company. Caddie L Mays who would have been about 36 has not been
identified in the census. It is unknown what happened to daughter Ethel Mays [
born about 1878] and deceased by the time of her father's death in 1906 since
she is not mentioned in his obituary.
An article in the Dallas Morning News dated January 8, 1906 covers William's
death when it states �Death of William A. Mays�. �William A. Mays aged 59 years
died yesterday afternoon at 3:30 PM at his home at 596 Gaston. He was born in
Tallahassee, Florida in 1847 and resided in Dallas since 1868. He leaves a wife,
two sons and a daughter. [This means that Caddie L. Mays, Robert K. Mays and
Maranda (Randy) Mays were alive in 1906. Daughter, Ethel Mays born in 1878 and
listed in the 1880 census, has not been found in any document since that time]
Mr. Mays is an uncle of F.M. Hammond (Jr.) of Lancaster.� [At the time, F. M.
Hammond Jr. was operating a dry goods and grocery store in Lancaster. He was
well known in Dallas County because of his involvement in the community] [The
brief obituary does not mention any of William's brothers and sisters known
living at this time, but mentions his nephew. In 1906, Sam Mays, Lula Connor,
Ida Gannon, and Mary E. Hammond were all definitely alive. E. G. Mays Jr. died
November 10, 1898 and D. B. Mays likely was deceased because he has not appeared
in any censuses or documents after 1884.]
William Mays worked as a merchant with his father, when he first arrived in Dallas around 1868. After his father liquidated his business before his death in 1875, Wm Mays moved near the Fair Park area and farmed there until about 1904 or so when he moved into the city to Gaston Avenue in Northeast Dallas. He was in the real estate business briefly which resulted in several court cases for him He may have been selling off his farm as lots. He has a short obituary in the Dallas news that indicates that he was 59 years of age when he died. No death certificate has been located for him. He is listed in the 1901 Dallas city directory as a farmer, living on the south side of Warren Street, 1 mile east of Oakland Avenue. Has not been located in the 1900 census.
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