Autry’s widow, Jeannie Autry and a very young James Jr moved from their plantation in Holly Springs to Cuomo, Mississippi. She supported her son by becoming a teacher in the local school.  James L. Autry, Jr earned a scholarship to the college preparatory program at Sewanee (the University of the South) . His mother remarried a Capt. Isaac Brown, an outstanding and well-recorded officer. Autry objected to the remarriage, and unwilling to live with his stepfather chose to leave Sewanee in November 1876 at the age of 18 and head for Corsicana, Texas and the land granted to the heirs of Micajah Autry.

Once in Texas, Autry read law under the guidance of Judge Richard Channing Beale. He was elected enrolling clerk in the Texas House of Legislature in 1879 and again in 1881-1882.

He passed the bar in 1880 and became Beale’s law partner. He was very active in legal societies and helped organize the Texas Bar Association in 1882. He remained an active and vocal member of the Texas Bar Association throughout his life. In 1883, he succeeded Beale as Judge of Navarro County. He entered into a new partnership with William J. McKie.

He married Allie Belle Kinsloe on June 24, 1896. Their first child James Lockhart Autry III was born on May 15, 1899 and their daughter Allie May was born on July 5, 1903.

The Autry household in Corsicana included Jeannie Autry Brown who moved in with Autry after the death of her second husband and “Tap” Lucy Waller, a household servant who remained with the family until her death.

Texas Company

In 1894, oil was found at Corsicana. Oilman Joseph S. Cullinan moved his operations from Pennyslvania and founded the J.S. Cullinan Company (later renamed the Magnolia Petroleum Company) in 1898 – the first pipeline and refining company in the state.  He further contributed to the Corsicana oil industry by introducing ways to increase oil consumption in the days before widespread use of the automobile. Cullinan became a client of the law firm of McKie & Autry.

When Cullinan moved to Beaumont to follow the oil boom he asked his lawyers to go with him. McKie refused, but Autry agreed to take up all of Cullinan’s legal affairs. The Autry family moved to Beaumont. The Texas Fuel Company was organized with principal stockholders Cullinan, Autry, Arnold Schlaet, James Stephen Hogg, and John W. Gates. It was later reorganized, infused with more capital from eastern backers and renamed the Texas Company under the legal guidance of Autry.

Autry drew up the incorporation papers and from its inception to November 25, 1913, Autry was secretary, director and general attorney. In 1907 the principal families moved to Houston as Cullinan planned to make use of the ship channel. This move helped establish Houston as the epicenter of the oil industry in the southwestern United States.

Texas Company

The directors of the Texas Company were united in the belief that its headquarters should remain in Texas and not have absentee ownership. However, this was never put into writing and in 1913 a proxy fight removed J.S. Cullinan as president and shifted control to eastern stockholders. 

Autry and William C. Hogg resigned and created their own oil company called the Farmers Petroleum Company.  In 1915, Autry suffered a massive stroke and lost most of the use of his right side. He spent the last five years of his life seeking rehabilitation.

Family Life

When the Autry family moved to Houston, they briefly lived in a house on Milam St. This house was a temporary residence while the family built a new home in the new private subdivision Courtlandt Place. Modeled on suburban planning developed in St. Louis and known as the "private place," Courtlandt Place is an example of neighborhoods built as small private enclaves in response to the urban chaos of Houston in the early 1900s. Courtlandt Place centers around a one-block-long, tree-lined, divided boulevard, where eighteen examples of early twentieth-century architectural styles flank the street. The residential enclave began in 1906, when the Courtlandt Improvement Company purchased the land and laid out the subdivision on what was then the southern edge of the city; the first houses were built in 1909.

The Autry residence at No. 5 was designed by influential Texas architects Sanguinet and Staats in 1912. The Neo-Classical Revival home, with a antebellum flavor, wide porches and interiors reflected Arts and Crafts influence. The costs to build the home were $41,000, a considerable sum in 1913 dollars.

Family Life

The family traveled extensively for pleasure. Autry was an automobile enthusiast and shipped his Winton Six, 1910 model car to his destinations, where he would engage local chauffeurs to drive the family.

Family Life

The family was heavily involved in the social and philanthropic scene in Houston. Autry was an enthusiastic sailor and the family spent weekends on Galveston Bay on his yacht, the Aloha.

Rice Institute

Both James Lockhart Autry III and Allie May Autry attended Rice Institute. James, Jr. graduated in 1921 and Allie May in 1925. Every family member was active in supporting the university and created a lasting impact on Rice. Mrs. Autry donated $50,000 toward building and furnishing a permanent community house as a memorial to James Lockhart Autry II on stipulation that it should be operated on a non-sectarian basis, open to both men and women, students, and faculty of Rice Institute.  It was designed by William Ward Watkin and Cram & Ferguson in the Italian Mediterranean style featured on many of the Rice campus buildings. The “Fireside of Rice” was dedicated on November 6, 1921 and quickly became a popular gathering place and hosted partiies, receptions, movies, plays, dances, and Archi Arts balls.

Mrs. Autry was vivacious and enjoyed parties and had friends of all ages. She was very popular on the Rice Institute campus, and the 1927 yearbook was dedicated to her. When she died, classes were suspended during the hour her funeral was held, out of respect to her memory.