Stras, Caroline Elliott, 1922-2004.

Caroline Stras was the daughter of Jouett Adair Fall Elliott and Brant Elliott and granddaughter of Albert B. and Emma Fall. Jouett Fall and Brant were married November 20, 1919. Caroline was born January 25, 1922 in Fredericksburg, Virginia and. She was named after her Aunt Caroline Fall Everhart who died in the influenza epidemic of 1918. She spent her childhood in El Paso, Texas, living with her mother and grandparents after the death of her father in 1933. Caroline graduated from business school in North Carolina. She worked for many years in banking in El Paso. She was the first female bank officer in El Paso and when she retired in 1978, she was senior vice-president of operations at the Bank of El Paso. She was married to Beverly W. Stras III, from Tazewell, Virginia, an auditor. Beverly Stras died in 2002. Caroline died April 8, 2004 in El Paso.

Albert Bacon Fall was born November 26, 1861, in Frankfort, Kentucky, to William R. and Edmonia Taylor Fall. Health concerns led him westward as a young man and he settled in the Territory of New Mexico. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1889 and started a practice in Las Cruces, New Mexico. On May 7, 1883, Fall married Emma Garland Morgan in Clarksville, Texas. The couple had four children: a son, John (Jack) Morgan Fall; and three daughters: Alexina Chase, Caroline Everhart, and Jouett Elliott born March 31, 1894. The family owned and operated the Three Rivers Ranch in the Tularosa Basin of New Mexico, until the property was foreclosed by E.L. Doheny in 1929. The Falls also maintained a home in El Paso, Texas. In 1918, both Jack and Caroline died in the influenza epidemic. In the 1890s, Fall was elected to the New Mexico Territorial House of Representatives. He served as an associate justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court and for two terms as attorney-general. Fall also took part in the 1911 convention which framed the constitution for the state of New Mexico. In 1912, Fall was elected one of the first United States senators for the state of New Mexico. He served as senator until 1921 when President Harding appointed him Secretary of the Interior. While in this capacity, Fall was instrumental in leasing government oil reserves at Teapot Dome, Wyoming, and Elk Hills, California, activities that led to conspiracy and bribery investigations and trials from 1924-1929. Fall was convicted and served nine months at the State Prison in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for accepting a $100, 000 bribe from Edward L. Doheny, though his family always maintained his innocence. Doheny was acquitted of the bribery charges brought against him. Emma Fall died in 1943. Fall died November 30, 1944, in El Paso, Texas, after a long illness.

From the description of Caroline Stras collection of Fall family papers, 1808-1984 (bulk 1915-1930). (New Mexico State University). WorldCat record id: 68908578