Tennessee transplants find new home, love in Kerrville
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| Gregory House Hotel stood at the corner of Water and Sidney Baker Street. It is now known as the Pampell's Building. |
This week, I am going to tell you a love story. It’s the tale of two Tennessee transplants who came to Kerrville in the late 1800s. Many recognizable names in our local history came to Kerr County from Tennessee, among them were Florence Butt, Starr Bryden, the Starkey Family and the Doyle family. However, today’s column involves two people you may have never heard of before, but they are responsible for the existence of one of our iconic downtown buildings.
The story of William Vandyke Gregory and Julia Kernodle is a story I stumbled on while working on a genealogical mystery several years ago. I am not related to either William or Julia, but we do share relatives in common. Some genealogists or history nerds will tell you that they’re often sidetracked or go off on tangents completely unrelated to the subject they’re researching when something interesting catches their attention. I am one of those easily distracted historians, and this couple provided a delightful diversion from the usual family research.
William Vandyke Gregory was born Dec. 12, 1846, in Marshall County, Tennessee. In 1875, at the age of 29, he left his native home and started a new life in Kerrville. Within the first three to five years of his residency here, William proved his entrepreneurial spirit and had established a shoe shop across the street from the Kerr County Courthouse. He also had a horse trading business as a sideline.
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| William VanDyke Gregory |
He was very much a part of the community, and William was remembered in a column by J.J. Starkey in the Aug. 6, 1931, issue of The Kerrville Times, a memoir of life in early Kerrville:
“While going to school at the old building then on the Secor Hospital Corner (now the location of Broadway Bank), the teacher being Professor Ryan, the boys got together their nickels and dimes and bought a round rubber football. A jury, out on a case, borrowed our football and started a game near the old stone courthouse. One of the jurors struck the ball with a stick and punctured it. They had W.V. Gregory, who was a shoemaker then, mend it; but as I remember, the ball never held air so well thereafter.”
In October 1878, Mr. Gregory was a witness to the aftermath of the Dowdy Family Massacre, a deadly raid in the western part of Kerr County, near Mountain Home. Some accounts say the raid was perpetrated by Native Americans, others say it was white men dressed as natives who were guilty of the crime.
A band of men, armed with bows, arrows and guns attacked four children of the Dowdy family, aged 18, 16, 13 and 11, while they were tending sheep. All four children were killed in the raid.
W.V. Gregory was a friend of the Dowdy family. On the day of the massacre, he was riding to the family’s home on Johnson Creek for a visit. He was two miles south of the Dowdy home when he learned of the attack. Gregory raced to the scene and arrived as the bodies of the Dowdy children were laid before the family.
His account of the tragedy was published in the Oct. 7, 1878, issue of the San Antonio Express.
“Alice (the oldest of the four murdered children) lived long enough to recognize her mother — spoke the dear name of ‘Mama,’ and expired,” his account said.
In 1880, Mr. Gregory injured his left knee while working, and the wound became so infected that his leg had to be amputated. The amputation was performed by four doctors, Drs. White, Nowlin and Harwell from Kerrville and one other (un-named) physician from Comfort. The operation and recovery took place in the home of Joe Robinson, a “little residence situated in the southeast corner of the Starkey Farm.” My guess is this home was located close to where Chick-Fil-A is now.
Joe Robinson’s sister-in-law, Julia Kernodle, was born in 1851 in McNary County, Tennessee. The Robinson and Kernodle families, connected by marriage, had recently come to Kerrville. Julia lived in the Robinson home and helped care for Mr. Gregory while he healed. As Julia nursed William back to health, love bloomed, and they were married within a few months.
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| William and Julia Gregory |
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| A close up from the Gregory House Hotel photo above showing William and Julia Gregory. |
After the couple’s marriage in 1880, the newlyweds purchased a lot in downtown Kerrville and built a boarding house. Their business prospered, and the boarding house eventually gained a second story and became a hotel. The couple also branched into the mercantile business. In studying the photo of the Gregory House Hotel that accompanies this article, rooms were $1 a day and meals $.25 per day.
In 1900, the Gregorys sold their hotel to J.L. Pampell, who first used the building as a confectionary. The building is known locally as the Pampell’s Building and currently houses the Il Posto Italian Restaurant.
After their retirement from the hotel and mercantile business, William and Julia built a home on a 20-acre plot of land somewhere near Sheppard Rees road, where they raised chickens and dairy stock. They lived happily there for many years. In 1920, the couple sold their farm and moved back into town. They built their final home on Palmer Street.
On Thursday, Nov. 6, 1930, Julia died of a sudden heart attack at the age of 81. Her obituary in The Daily Times read, “On Tuesday, Nov. 4, at the general election, she accompanied her husband to the polls and cast her ballot. The election officers and others remarked concerning her apparent good health, giving promise of more years of life. Thursday morning she was stricken with heart trouble and passed away about nightfall.”
William died only three months after his “beloved” Julia’s passing, on Jan. 29, 1931. In his obituary, The Kerrville Times said, “He had very little education but was energetic, a keen trader and succeeded better than many men with two legs to walk upon. He was of a kindly and peaceable nature and had many friends.”
Next week, I’ll have a fun story to share for Groundhog Day!
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