C.E. BARRICK’S ANCESTRY

C.E. Barrick’s great grandfather was Frederick Barrick who was born in 1792 and married Mary Iler.  Frederick’s son, Peter Barrick, who was C.E. Barrick’s grandfather, was born in Pennsylvania in 1816 and married Margaret Patterson.  The Barrick Family left Pennsylvania and moved to Ohio for a while and then in 1856 they went to Indiana by wagon.  Two years later Andrew Jackson Barrick was born in 1858.  He later married Sena Nixon and they were the parents of Charles Emery Barrick.

CHARLES EMERY BARRICK IS BORN

 Charles Emery Barrick was born June 21, 1881 in Clay County, Indiana.  His father, known as Jack, and mother, Sena, had nine children and lived in Harrison Township, which was near Coal City, Indiana.  Unfortunately, his mother, Sena, died in the early 1890s before he was in his teens.  This left his father a widower with a large family to support as a Mine Inspector.  C. E. Barrick’s siblings were brothers: Oliver, Marshall, Dewey and Fred who died at 15.  His sisters were Margaret (Maggie) Crist, Nellie Bridges, Edna Gilbert and Mary who was unmarried.

C.E.BARRICK AS A YOUNG MAN

As a young man, Emery, as he liked to be called, was determined not to follow his kinfolk who worked in the coal mines.  Instead, he made a living as a clerk in Cheney’s Mercantile store in Coal City, Indiana.  He was a man of many talents as he repaired shoes, made stove pipes, and sold goods in the store.  He also became an expert harness maker which was necessary in those days when horses were used to pull carriages and wagons before the automobile came to this small town.  Emery was a studious man and enjoyed reading with a passion.  He decided he was well suited to become a school teacher.  He attended what then was called a “normal school” most likely in Terra Haute, Indiana.  Here he graduated after two years with a Teacher’s Certificate and started teaching school in Coal City.  In education he found a life-long calling.

Along with the other talents mentioned, Emery had a strong singing voice and he learned to be a song leader at the local Church of Christ under the tutelage of Isaiah Harris who was a school teacher and farmer. Later Isaiah became the County Tax Assessor.  The exact circumstances are not known, but before long, Emery married Isaiah Harris’ daughter, Hester Idella Harris, known as Della, who was also a member of that church.  They were married June 2, 1901 in Brazil, Indiana, a larger town not far away.  Emery was twenty at this time and Della was twenty-two.  They settled down in Coal City and a year later their first son was born.  He was named Dale Larimore Barrick after a Church of Christ preacher.  Dale described Coal City in this way, “It wasn’t much of a town with a few businesses, a church, and a school.  Maybe a couple hundred people lived there including the ones who lived on nearby farms.  We lived in a nice one-story house with no electricity and no plumbing.  We used an outhouse disguised by a grape arbor that was nearby.  Maple trees were also near the house and the Barricks used the sap to make syrup and maple sugar.” 

In 1905 Emery and Della had their second child, a girl named Madge Deering Barrick, who was named after the preacher’s wife.  Since teaching school was not well paid in Coal City, Emery continued to work at the Mercantile store on weekends.  He made Dale a small wagon that was a model for the large wagons sold at the store.  He also made a little stove that was a model of one sold at the store.  This little stove was used for pretend “cooking” that Madge did as a young girl in a playhouse made for her in the yard.  The children also had fun with a pet goat named Nanette for which Emery had made a harness.

C.E.BARRICK MOVES TO TEXAS

Times were hard back then and not many opportunities were available for young men in small towns.  There came a time Emery heard of a job in Pearland, Texas as a principal.  Emery and Della had heard of a land deal in Texas and went on a developer-sponsored train trip in 1910 to check it out.  Evidently they liked Texas enough to make the big decision to move.  In 1911 they and all their worldly possessions moved on the train to Pearland, Texas.  Pearland was another small town on flat land between Galveston and Houston.  The weather there was much warmer than Indiana, especially in winter.

Emery was pleased to be hired as a Teacher-Principal at the Pearland School.  He had the reputation as an outstanding teacher, of all ages, but preferred teaching the older students.   The Barricks lived in a two-story white frame house on the upper floor.  The lower floor was the Pearland Post Office.  It was in this house that Emery and Della had their third child, Nolan Ellmore Barrick in 1913.  In Pearland the Barricks and some friends had founded a Church of Christ.  Both Emery and Della taught Sunday School and were leaders in the church.  Frequently Emery filled the pulpit and became a popular lay preacher known as a Bible scholar and effective speaker.   The Methodist Church often dismissed their service when Emery was preaching and members came down the street to hear him speak.  Lois Bundy of Pearland writes, “C.E. Barrick with his preaching abilities was a soft spoken, mild mannered man whom everyone in the community loved and respected.”

Although they loved their life in Pearland, Emery was always looking for advancement in his career and to better support his family.  When an opportunity came up in the “big city” of Houston, the Barricks moved there in 1915.  They moved into another two-story house near downtown at 308 McKinney.  This is the spot where Houston’s Heritage Park is at present.  Emery accepted a teaching job in Houston and soon became a principal.  During this time near the center of downtown, the Barricks helped to found the Central Church of Christ.  Emery was very active as song leader at times and as Bible Teacher, Elder, and lay preacher.  This early church group met in the old City Auditorium in the Banquet Room.

C.E. BARRICK FURTHERS HIS EDUCATION

In 1917 The Barrick family moved to a home on Alston Street in the Houston Heights and a year later bought a home at 1235 Rutland in the Heights where they lived for many years. After being at Helms Elementary School and then at Harrisburg High School, Emery found that advancement would be easier if he completed more personal education.  He received his B.A. degree in 1928 from Sam Houston State Teacher’s College and was elected President of the Student Body his senior year.  In about 1931 he was made the Principal of Luther Burbank School, a large new school on Tidwell Road in north east Houston.  It was a combination elementary school and junior high with vocational agriculture as part of the program.  This was a very nice promotion and he loved his school as well as working with the community.  Emery continued his education with graduate work in Austin at the University of Texas in the summers and received his Master’s degree in 1934.  He always stressed the value of education and that people should make something of themselves.  Listening on the radio to Classical music was another hobby of his as well as reading his books and studying the Bible.  He remained active in the church which had moved to Drew and Albany Streets, but it retained the Central Church of Christ name.  Later the church moved to Montrose Boulevard and built a fine, brick building which still stands today as a Branch Library for the Houston Public Library.

C.E. BARRICK’S FAMILY

In 1932 Emery and Della became grandparents for the first time.  Their daughter, Madge, and her husband, Jesse Madden, had a baby girl named Barbara Dell Madden.  Both Madge and Jesse had followed in Emery’s footsteps and had become teachers on graduating from Rice in 1927.  Jesse Madden later became a principal and Madge taught for 43 years in the Houston Independent School System. Madge and Jesse also had a son named Barry E. Madden who became a dentist in Houston. Their daughter, Barbara, also became a teacher years later after her marriage to Richard Chapman.  Emery’s son Nolan was in education as well, following the family tradition.  After graduating from Rice and serving in the Navy as a lieutenant he became an Associate Professor of Architecture at Iowa State University and later at the University of Texas.  In 1953 Nolan moved to Texas Tech University as Chairman of the Architecture and Allied Arts Department.  He became Dean of Architecture at Texas Tech and retired in 1979.  Emery’s older son, Dale, had a successful military career serving in the U.S. Army and reaching the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.  Dale and his wife Bebe had two sons, Harley Barrick and Noel Barrick.  Nolan and his wife Rosemary adopted two children, Bruce Watkin Barrick and Anne Hester Barrick.

When Emery’s two sons went off to fight in World War II in 1941, neither realized they would never see their father again.  He died of cancer August 14, 1942 at his home on Rutland Street.  He was only 61 – far too young to die.  It was a terrible loss to the family and to the community.  In 1949 he was honored by the Houston Independent School District and by the community he had served while at Burbank School.  The newest elementary school in the area was named for him – C. E. Barrick Elementary School.  It was a lovely tribute to a wonderful man and was greatly appreciated by the family and all who loved him.