★★★ -Speight, Joseph Warren

Joseph Warren Speight:​

Born: May 31, 1825

Birthplace: Greene County North Carolina
Father: U.S. Senator Jesse Speight 1795 – 1847
(Buried: Friendship Cemetery Columbus Mississippi)
Mother: Mary Grimes “Polly” May 1795 – 1826
1st​ Wife: Josephine S. Prewett 1829 – 1867
(Buried: Oakwood Cemetery Waco Texas)
2nd​ Wife: Mary A. Bolton Dockery 1841 – 1886
(Buried: Oakwood Cemetery Waco Texas)
Children:
Florence Josephine Speight McKenney 1847 – 1922
(Buried: Oakwood Cemetery Waco Texas)
Rosa Speight 1849 – 1853
(Buried: Oakwood Cemetery Waco Texas)
Jessie Speight Jenkins 1851 – 1928
(Buried: Oakwood Cemetery Waco Texas)
Sallie Speight Kendall 1854 – 1918
(Buried: Oakwood Cemetery Waco Texas)
Josephine Speight 1856 – 1858
(Buried: Oakwood Cemetery Waco Texas)
Mary Speight Massey 1870 – 1950
(Buried: Oakwood Cemetery Waco Texas)
Maria Speight Sellers 1875 – 1940
(Buried: Oakwood Cemetery Waco Texas)
Elizabeth Speight 1877 – 1959
(Buried: Oakwood Cemetery Waco Texas)
Jesse Speight 1879 – 1958
(Buried: Oakwood Cemetery Waco Texas)

Occupation before War:
Attorney in Aberdeen Mississippi
Grandmaster of Mississippi Freemasons
Farmer near Waco Texas

Civil War Career:
1862: Lt. Colonel of 1st​ Texas Infantry Battalion
1862 – 1864: Colonel of 15th​ Texas Infantry Regiment
1864: Resigned as Colonel on April 15th​ due to bad health (diarrhea)
1864 – 1865: Cotton Agent in Texas

Occupation after War:
Alderman in Waco Texas
Bridge Owner in Waco Texas
1865 – 1866: President of Waco University
Newspaper Owner in Waco Texas


Died: April 26, 1888
Place of Death: Waco Texas
Age at time of Death: 62 years old
Burial Place: Oakwood Cemetery Waco Texas

 

[Polloco]

Part of the Baylor University Campus in Waco sits on what was Speight's home grounds.

 

[Polloco]

At the time of its building the Suspension Bridge in Waco was the longest single span bridge west of the Mississippi River.Steelwork on the bridge was from John A. Roebling and Son, later builders of the Brooklyn Bridge. 6 leading citizens were instumental in getting the legislature to charter the bridge but Speight was the one who introduced the project.

 

[Polloco]

In January of 1863 the 15th Texas Infantry under Speight temporarily joined Camille de Polignac's Brigade.