Moussier Family

Tennessee native, lawyer, and former Alabama legislator De La F. Roysdon (1800-1852) arrived in Texas from Mississippi in 1831 May with his wife Nancy Adeline. He was one of Stephen F. Austin’s colonists and served as Alcalde. Roysdon married a second time, to Mary Eliza Watson (1818-1897), in Rodney, Mississippi, in 1836 June. Watson was a first cousin of Andrew Briscoe, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. De La F. Roysdon and his family resided in Galveston, Texas. In 1860, the widowed Mary Eliza Roysdon was living in Shreveport, Louisiana, with her six children: Mary Adele, Ruth, Alfred, Edward, Ada, and Cecilia. She died in San Antonio, Texas, on 1897 February 23.

Daughter Marie Adele Roysdon was born in Natchitoches, Louisiana, in 1837 August. She married Louis E. Moussier (1835-1887) in New Orleans in 1867 December and had at least three children: Mary Adele, Louis, and Alfred. Marie Moussier died in San Antonio on 1909 February 3.

Louis and Marie Moussier’s daughter Marie Adele was born in Missouri in 1872. She married New York native Thomas O’Keeffe (circa 1867-1943) in El Paso, Texas, on 1900 May 8; the couple had five children: daughters Theresa Peter and Tama and sons Thomas Jr., O’Donnell, and McMurraugh. Marie Moussier O’Keeffe died in Austin, Texas, on 1937 June 23.

Louis and Marie Moussier’s son Louis was born in Texas in 1870 November. He married Estella (or Estelda) de la Zerda in Floresville, Texas, on 1895 April 25. Their oldest daughter Marie Adele Moussier was born in 1898 August. On 1917 August 4, she married Alvin L. Becker, who, with his brother Eugene, co-founded the Handy Andy grocery store chain. Alvin and Marie’s son Charles Lee Becker ran Handy Andy for many years and was also a local politician, serving on the San Antonio City Council (1971-1973) and as Mayor of San Antonio (1973-1975). He was responsible for breaking the Good Government League’s power in city politics and opening city meetings to the public. Marie A. Becker died in San Antonio on 1972 February 23.

Adele Moussier Becker and Theresa Peter O’Keeffe Midkiff were members of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.

References

Moussier Family Papers, 1872-1931, Col 902, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas.

Charles A. Becker biographical file, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas.

Daughters of the Republic of Texas. Founders and Patriots of the Republic of Texas: The Lineages of the Members of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Volume I . Austin, Texas: Daughters of the Republic of Texas, 1963.

Williams, Villamae, ed. Stephen F. Austin's Register of Families . Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing, 1984.