Pirie (Family : Bexar County (Tex.))

Jessie Lee Pirie was born in Bexar County, Texas, on 1878 September 20. Her family had a close relationship with their neighbors, the Sinclairs, and Jessie corresponded with brothers John Lang and William Sinclair. She never married and lived her entire life in Bexar County, where she died on 1959 March 25 at the age of eighty.

Jessie’s brother Wallace Dunbar Pirie was born on 1894 April 29. He resided in his family’s 1882 home his entire life. Pirie regularly lectured and gave speeches on his good friend John Lang Sinclair. Wallace and his wife, Elizabeth Schultz Pirie, had seven children. He died on 1982 April 27. Daughter Scotti Pirie was born in Elmendorf, Bexar County, on 1923 September 7. She married William F. Krebs in 1942 and spent the next thirty years living in various places, retiring to San Antonio in 1971. Scotti was an active member and held offices in various organizations, including the Alamo Mission Chapter, Daughters of the Republic of Texas. She died on 2000 January 2.

Alexander (1851-1908) and Agnes Lang (born 1851) Sinclair, neighbors of the Pirie family, were natives of Scotland. They were married in Scotland on 1876 January 28 and their first child, William, was born in Yorkshire, England, on 1876 December 28. Two years later, the family immigrated to Texas, settling near Comfort, where another son, John Lang, was born on 1879 November 26. The Sinclairs moved east of San Antonio in 1883, moving again three years later to Sayers, a town in eastern Bexar County where they owned and operated a dairy.

While a student at the University of Texas (1899-1904), John Lang Sinclair was a member of the band, served as editor of the campus literary magazine and the literary section of the yearbook, and played football. As a member of the Glee Club, he wrote the song “The Eyes of Texas.” Set to the tune of “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,” it became the official song of the University. After graduating from UT, Sinclair tried farming near Artesia Wells in La Salle County. He returned to his family’s dairy farm following his father’s death in 1908. Around 1923, Sinclair moved to New York City, where he became a partner in a tax and investment advisory service and, in 1945, married Stella C. Anderson (1888-1959) of San Antonio. Sinclair died in New York on 1947 January 4 and is buried with his wife in the Masonic Cemetery in San Antonio.

John’s brother William worked with his father and brother on the family dairy farm. One of his projects, for the U.S. government, involved importing different types of cactus from around the world and testing their efficacy as cattle feed. This work took him to Australia, where he later started a farm and sold produce, and eventually died.

References

Scotti Pirie Krebs biographical file, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas.

John Lang Sinclair biographical file, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas.

Pirie and Sinclair Families Papers, 1899-1981, Col 10649, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas.