Leila Elizabeth Downs

Notes:

Shown on the transcription of the San Augustine City Cemetery as a daughter of Capt. Edward Dennis DOWN and Susan O. TROTTI. Newton County Historical Committee, "Glimpses of Newton County History," (Nortex Press, Burnet, Texas, c. 1982) notes that E. D. Downs was a colorful figure in Newton County affairs, from Talbottom, Georgia. He served as County Commissioner, sheriff and tax collector.He was said to have been one of the best sherrifs in East Texas. He went into the logging business with Ed Ellington and T. J. Trotti, and they sold out to Kirby Lumber Company in 1901, at which time moved to San Augustine and engaged in the mercantile and banking business with his son-in-law, John D. Clark.

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JN7G-29X
name: Leila Elizabeth Clark
death date: 09 Jul 1975
death place: San Augustine, San Augustine, Texas, United States
gender: Female
race: White
death age: 94 years
estimated birth date:
birth date: 21 Oct 1880
birthplace: Texas
marital status:
spouse's name:
father's name: E D Downs
father's birthplace:
mother's name: Sisie Trotti
mother's birthplace:
occupation:
place of residence:
cemetery:
burial place:
burial date:
additional relatives:
film number: 2240268
digital film number: 4005485
image number: 00112
reference number: 54394
Collection: "Texas, Deaths, 1890-1976," Leila Elizabeth Clark, 1975

Family/Spouse: John David Clark. John was born on 29 Sep 1869 in Newton County, Texas; died on 21 Dec 1941 in San Augustine, San Augustine County, Texas; was buried in San Augustine City Cemetery, San Augustine County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JF7P-Q94
name: Herman Clark
death date: 13 Aug 1949
death place: Galveston, Galveston, Texas
gender: Male
race:
death age: 51 years
estimated birth date: 1898
birth date:
birthplace:
marital status:
spouse's name:
father's name: John D. Clark
father's birthplace:
mother's name: Dela Downs
mother's birthplace:
occupation:
place of residence:
cemetery:
burial place:
burial date:
additional relatives:
film number: 2223536
digital film number: 4005463
image number: 1468
reference number: cn 46236
Collection: "Texas, Deaths, 1890-1976," Herman Clark, 1949

Notes:

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K3XS-ZXW
name: Leola Clark Butts
event: Death
event date: 22 Nov 1971
event place: Houston, Harris, Texas, United States
gender: Female
marital status: Married
birth date: 30 Dec 1900
birthplace: , Texas
father's name: John D Clark
mother's name: Leila Downs
certificate number: 79817
film number: 2223437
digital folder number: 005145951
image number: 02202
Collection: "Texas, Deaths (New Index, New Images), 1890-1976," Leola Clark Butts, 1971

Family/Spouse: Bryan Jennings Butts. Bryan was born on 3 Nov 1896 in Rusk County, Texas; died on 14 Mar 1989 in San Augustine, San Augustine County, Texas; was buried in San Augustine City Cemetery, San Augustine County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

From FindAGrave:

Prominent statesman, banker and lawyer Edward A. Clark - a part of the Texas and national political scene for more than 60 years - died Wednesday of heart failure at St. David's Hospital. He was 86.

A memorial service for Clark - former ambassador to Australia and Texas secretary of state - will be at the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church at 2 p.m. today. A second service will be at 2 p.m. Friday at the Christ Episcopal Church in San Augustine.

Clark will be buried in San Augustine, the small East Texas town where he was born in 1906.

"I'll remember him as a man with good common sense, genuine compassion," said George Christian, White House press secretary under President Lyndon B. Johnson. "He was a loyal, outstanding lawyer. He had a rich, filling life. He touched so many lives."

U.S. Rep. Jake Pickle said of Clark , "No one shaped Texas civic, business or political action more than this man. I could rely on his friendship as I could depend on the rising sun. I have lost my second father."

Clark attended Southwestern University in Georgetown for two years and received an undergraduate degree from Tulane University in New Orleans in 1926. He married Anne Metcalfe in 1927 and received his law degree from the University of Texas in 1928.

From 1932 to 1935, Clark served as Texas assistant attorney general and from 1935 to 1937 as assistant to Gov. James Allred. He was then appointed Texas secretary of state in 1937 at age 30.

During the next quarter century, Clark co-founded the Austin lawfirm of Looney & Clark , served as a captain in the U.S. Army in World War II and was chairman of the board of Texas Commerce Bank.

The law firm later became Clark, Thomas, Winters & Newton.

"He was an uncommon man in his commitment to his friends," said Jon Newton, one of Clark 's law partners and former Texas railroad commissioner. "He had a strong vision. He represented some of the most powerful corporations."

In 1965, Johnson named Clark ambassador to Australia.

"President Johnson appointed him because he wanted someone in Australia he was particularly close to," Christian said. "He became, almost overnight, a well-known figure in that country. Clark demonstrated then that he was a lot more than a Texas lawyer."

Former U.S. Sen. Ralph Yarborough said that as ambassador, Clark "was talked about all over Australia."

"Ed Clark was such a stunning success as ambassador to Australia that his name has become synonymous with the word ambassador in Texas," Yarborough said.

"Australians have the fondest memories of him and the particular Texas style he brought to the U.S. Embassy in Canberra," said Laura Wilson, spokeswoman for the Embassy of Australia in Washington, D.C. "He is still remembered for his many efforts to forge close relations between our two countries."

Clark became an executive director of the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, D.C., in 1968 and was part of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency committees.

He had a keen interest in higher education. He served six years as a University of Texas System regent and a trustee at both Southwestern University in Georgetown and the University of Texas Law School Foundation.

He raised millions of dollars for both UT and Southwestern.

"Ambassador Clark was a great supporter of the University of Texas System," said UT System Chancellor William Cunningham. "His commitment to the fundamental principles of democracy and his engaging sense of humor helped to make him one of the state's most influential leaders.

"His understanding of Texas and particularly the needs of higher education made him an invaluable resource to the university and to the higher education community," Cunningham said.

Proud of Texas history, Clark was an honorary lifetime member of the Texas State Historical Association. "He was one of the most active members of our association. He deeply cared about Texas history," said Ron Tyler, head of the association.

"He knew the state so well that his advice would always be considered in the broader sense," Tyler said.

Clark and his wife donated a priceless 24,000 volume collection of Texana to Southwestern in 1965.

In addition to other tributes, the Edward Clark Centennial Professorship in Law at UT was established.

Clark is survived by a daughter, Leila Clark Wynn of Greenville, Miss., his sister, Kathleen Clark Fisher, and four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Weed-Corley Funeral Home of Austin is handling the services.

Published in the Austin American-Statesman 9-17-1992

Family/Spouse: Ann Elizabeth Metcalfe. Ann was born on 19 Apr 1909; died on 14 Jan 1989; was buried in San Augustine City Cemetery, San Augustine County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Kathleen Clark Fisher of Beaumont, Texas died peacefully in her home the morning of September 8, 2009. Mrs. Fisher, a native of San Augustine, Texas, was preceded in death by her mother, Leila Downs Clark; father, John David Clark; sister, Leola Monique Butts; and brothers, Herman Downs Clark and Ambassador Edward Aubrey Clark, all members of a Texas pioneer family. She was married to the late United States District Judge Joseph J. Fisher. She is the mother of five children, the late Leila Fisher Thomas; Joseph J. Fisher, Jr. of Beaumont; John Clark Fisher of San Augustine; Guy Cade Fisher of Austin; and Anne Fisher Winslow of Beaumont. She was also blessed with 16 grandchildren, 35 great grandchildren and 2 great, great grandchildren.

Mrs. Fisher graduated from Southwestern University in Georgetown and was elected by the alumnae association to receive the Distinguished Alumnae Award in 1982. She was a dedicated member of Trinity United Methodist Church and a past member of the Trinity Day School board. Her commitment to community involvement is evidenced by her service to and long-standing membership in the Magnolia Garden Club; the Col. George Moffett Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution; the Beaumont Chapter of the Colonial Dames of America; the Art Museum of Southeast Texas; the Beaumont Heritage Society; the Texas Gulf Historical Society; the Zeta Tau Alpha, Lamda Chapter; the Jasper Civic Club; the Texas Historical Foundation; the Texas State Democratic Committee; and the San Augustine Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.

Admired by many for her strength and character as well as her warmth, grace and humor, Mrs. Fisher loved to entertain and published a cookbook in 1962 entitled Justice in the Kitchen. Guests were often given autographed copies, and her family remembers happily feasting on many of the delicious recipes at holiday meals and family gatherings. Mrs. Fisher was a formidable bridge opponent and Life Master. In quiet moments she loved gardening, growing beautiful roses, sitting on the porch of her beach house in the Gulf breeze, and spending summers at Fisher's Hut in the mountains of Colorado with her family. Mrs. Fisher celebrated her 100th birthday last October surrounded by her children and grandchildren, as well as hundreds of friends from Beaumont, San Augustine and beyond. The joy in her face upon seeing all the lives she had touched over a century was a gift to all who were there to share such a special day. The family thanks Gloria Ramos and Edna Morris for their years of dedication and loving care.

A visitation will be held Friday, September 11, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Broussard's Mortuary located at 1605 Major Drive, Beaumont, Texas. Funeral services will be Saturday, September 12 at 10:00 a.m. at Trinity United Methodist Church located at 3430 Harrison Ave., Beaumont, Texas. A graveside service at 4:00 the same day will be held at Liberty Hill Cemetery three miles north of San Augustine on Highway 147. Serving as pallbearers are Mrs. Fisher's grandchildren Kathleen Dies Munger, Robert Howard Dies, David Jefferson Fisher, Elizabeth Fisher Monroe, Martha Fisher Ruff, Mary Fisher Barber, John Clark Fisher, Jr., Guy Gladstone Fisher, Joseph Jefferson Fisher II, Mary Cade Fisher Evans, Edward Downs Fisher, Jefferson Park Winslow, Kathleen Winslow Morgan, Clark Thomas Winslow, Caroline Winslow Heinz, Thomas Fisher Winslow, Amy Clark Munger, Kathleen Anne Freeman, and Elizabeth Seymour Munger. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial contributions be made to Trinity United Methodist Church P. O. Box 5247, Beaumont, Texas 77726. Complete and updated information may be viewed at broussardsmortuary.com

Published in The Beaumont Enterprise from September 10 to September 11, 2009

Kathleen married Drayton Edward Pratt before 1928. Drayton (son of George Edward Pratt and Sarah "Sallie" Gellatly) was born on 16 Sep 1899 in Texas; died on 21 Jul 1966 in Sabine County, Texas; was buried in Hemphill City Cemetery, Hemphill, Sabine County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Kathleen married Judge Joseph Jefferson Fisher, Sr. after 1930. Joseph was born on 16 Apr 1910 in Bland Lake, San Augustine County, Texas; died on 19 Jun 2000 in Beaumont, Jefferson County, Texas; was buried in Liberty Hill Cemetery, Bland Lake, San Augustine County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Ms. Helen (Butts) Tipps, age 82, of Austin, passed from this life on Tuesday evening, June 4, 2013, in Austin, Texas.

Helen was born to Leola (Clark) Butts and Bryan Butts on January 9, 1931, in San Augustine County, Texas. She was a graduate of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where she was a life-time member of the Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority. She was employed in the Banking Industry having worked for Texas Commerce Bank in Houston for 20 years, and a member of the First United Methodist Church in San Augustine.

Visitation will be Thursday, June 6, 2013, 5 til 7 P.M., Wyman Roberts Funeral Home. Funeral Services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, June 7, 2013, in the First United Methodist Church in San Augustine. Rev. Jim Moss will officiate. Interment will follow in the San Augustine City Cemetery in San Augustine.

Her survivors include Daughters: Helen Watkins and her husband, Sandy of Austin; Mary Tipps of Austin; Son: Clark Tipps of Austin; Grandchildren: Maggie Watkins, Will Watkins and fiance, Jena Brooks, and Elizabeth Garrett and her husband, Jacob; Great-grandchildren: Elise, Katherine, and Anna; Sister and Brother-in-law: Sue and Ray Neil McEachern of San Augustine.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Leola (Clark) Butts and Bryan Butts, and a sister, Eleanor Cade.

Pallbearers will include Steve McEachern, Ray Bryan McEachern, Edward McEachern, Will Watkins, Sandy Watkins, David McEachern. Honorary Pallbearers will include Bob Roper, John Mathew Cartwright, and Curtis Haley, MD

The Sabine County Reporter
June 12, 2013, page 14