LL’s Deep Texas Roots

I met my new neighbor the other week. He comes running out of his house when I pull up in my car and says, “You have a package from UPS” as he grabs a small box from his front porch. He points to the name on the box. He says, part question, part exclamation, “You’re a Nalle!?” (I get that in the most random places). “Yes, I am a Nalle, which reputation precedes me this time?” Then he says, “Y’all built the Paramount Theatre.” Yes, one of my ancestors did indeed build the Paramount. My great, great, great grandfather Joseph’s name adorns the top, but it was his son Ernest Nalle who actually built the theatre.

Joseph served as mayor of Austin from 1888-89. Prior to his mayorship, he murdered a man on the steps of city hall, was found guilty by a jury, and then pardoned the very next day by the governor at the time. He then ran for and was elected mayor of Austin. Ernest Nalle, my great, great grandfather, was a successful Austin developer and businessman. He built many buildings around Austin including the Paramount Theatre. He had one son in his first marriage, George Nalle Sr. That’s my great grandfather. We called him Papa, and I have many memories of him as I grew up. (He died in 1989, when I was 11 years old). Papa was married to Ouida Ferguson, who was Miriam and James Ferguson’s oldest (of two) daughters.

Miriam and James Ferguson, also known as Ma and Pa, were homegrown Texan royalty. They served four non-consecutive terms over the span of nearly thirty years as Governors of our fine state of Texas. Miriam was the first woman to be elected to govern a state in the U.S., but she was inaugurated two weeks after Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming who goes down in the books as ‘The First Woman Govenor.’ Miriam and James are known for many things, notably for running the KKK out of prominence in Texas politics, for having the most liberal prison pardon policy ever known of at the time, for hosting Pancho Villa in the Govenor’s Mansion, and of course, for their fair share of scandals, debacles, and disgraces including James’ impeachment during his second term. Miriam stood as the only woman to govern Texas until Ann Richards won the 1990 election.

Papa and Ouida had one child, George Nalle, Jr., my grandfather whom we all called Tex. Tex grew up in and out of the Govenor’s Mansion. He had memories of answering the phone in the mansion (at the time when telephones were still new technology and a novel concept). Tex and Papa started a company in a warehouse downtown called Nalle Plastics (that building was renovated in 1997 and is now home to the Dell Children’s Museum and, up until recently, the Schlotzky’s Corporate Hdqtrs). Nalle Plastics manufactured household goods for a while, then industrial and medical parts, and then the business was sold by Tex sometime in the late 1980’s.

Tex married a woman named Anne Byrd, whom we called Amber. She was dubbed Amber quite by accident, when she introduced herself for the first time to Papa and Ouida, and they mistakenly heard ‘Amber’ when she said “Anne Byrd.” Amber stuck. Tex got his name in a somewhat similar fashion by Amber’s parents. They were from Maryland, and they dubbed my grandfather Tex because he was from Texas. Amber and Tex had three sons, George the 3rd, Alan (my dad), and Bill. My dad married my mom, Lida Lea, the daughter of a prominent art collector from Midland, Texas, and they had three kids, my older brother Alan Jr., me, and my younger sister Camille.

Going even further back, the Nalle’s were one of the very first families to settle in Austin in the mid-1800’s, some seven generations ago. They originally owned and operated the Nalle Lumber Co. and were responsible for much of Austin’s earliest development. Growing up, I heard countless stories about endless escapades and misadventures that allowed me to imagine my ancestors as larger than life characters deeply involved in significant – and oftentimes tumultuous – moments that helped shape the history of my family, my city, my state, and my country.

In addition to their prominence in Austin and Texas history, the Nalles are known for being loud, liberal, excellent hosts and guests at parties, borderline lushes, outspoken, opinionated, moody, no-nonsense shoot from the hip, keenly witted, well-read, and sharply dressed – the women adorned with big jewelry almost (and sometimes, regrettably) to the verge of tacky, and the men in big bolo ties and cowboy boots.

In some ways, I’m a complete anomaly, but in most ways, I’m very clearly cut from the same cloth. When I say I’m proud to be a Texan, I mean it, damnit, partly in spite of my family’s history, but mostly because of it.

Originally written in 2006, with additions made in 2009.
Copyright 2009 Laura Lea Nalle, all rights reserved.