Riddle and Eagar Families

The roots of the Eagar family go back to the early days of Anglo-American settlement in San Antonio, Texas. Wilson I. Riddle, born in Ireland about 1812, immigrated to the United States as a child with his family and settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Riddle moved to Tennessee and from there went to Texas in 1839, working as a merchant and land speculator. He returned to Tennessee briefly in 1840 and while there married Elizabeth Mary Menafee (1820-1890). The couple returned to Texas, where their two children Sarah Elizabeth (1842-1947), reputedly the first Anglo child born in San Antonio, and James W. Riddle were born.

Wilson Riddle was taken prisoner during the invasion of San Antonio by a Mexican force under Adrian Woll in 1842 and was imprisoned in Mexico until 1843. His health damaged by the experience, he died in San Antonio in 1847. His widow married Harvey Canterbury in 1851 and had at least three more children: John W., Mildred L., and Harvey Canterbury. Elizabeth's second husband died in 1859.

In 1866, Sarah Elizabeth Riddle married Robert Eagar (1830-1883), a native of Canada who had lived in San Antonio since 1850. The couple's three children, Fannie and twins Florence and Blanche, were born in a house on South Alamo Street that would remain the family residence for over one-hundred years. Robert Eagar was involved in real estate, freighting, and other business ventures in San Antonio prior to his death in 1883.

The Eagars were socially active and involved in a number of organizations. Mrs. Eagar and her daughters were early members of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas (DRT) and active in the organization. Florence Eagar was one of the first Custodians of the Alamo after the DRT was granted custody of the site in 1905. Her mother, Sarah Eagar, took over the position when Florence married Major Harris L. Roberts in 1907 and followed her husband to his assignment in the Philippines. Roberts' Army assignments later took him to Ft. Bliss in Texas, Hawaii, and Detroit before his death in 1918. Harris and Florence Roberts had one child, Robert Pierpont Eagar Roberts.

Both Sarah Eagar and Florence Roberts remained active in the community throughout their long lives. Mrs. Eagar died in 1947 at the age of 105. Mrs. Roberts lived in the family home until the HemisFair project forced her to move in 1967. She died in 1969 at the age of 102.

From the guide to the Riddle and Eagar Families Papers Col 7426., 1840-1945, (Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library at the Alamo, San Antonio, Texas)