Heathcock Genealogy Database - Person Sheet
Heathcock Genealogy Database - Person Sheet
NameMary Belle McKenzie 
Birth24 Aug 1885
FatherJoseph Milton McKenzie (1857-1938)
MotherSarah “Sallie” Stanfield (1862-1895)
Spouses
Birth5 Nov 1876, Menger Hotel, San Antonio, Bexar Co TX
Death24 Aug 1936, La Jolla, CA2041 Age: 59
MotherMary Etta Harris
Notes for Mary Belle McKenzie
Mary Belle was an active member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. The following is from Jennifer Mangold Bohannon, granddaughter of Flora McKenzie Mangold: “My dad said that Mary Belle and his mom would talk about it and they were very much advocates for the restoration and upkeep of the history of San Antonio - they must have attended meetings and what not. Mary Belle especially was not afraid to speak her mind and let you know how it was, according to my dad.”1966
Notes for Pleas Leasel (Spouse 1)
“He was famous for developing the Ozona area and an organizer of the Ozona National bank. Unfortunately, he died August 24, 1936 (age 59) of pneumonia in LaJolla, CA while on vacation with family. His first wife was Nellie Henderson and she died in 1934, they had several children together. I haven't found any information on Mary Belle's death yet though. I do know she lived in the Menger Hotel here in San Antonio and it's my understanding (but haven't found any proof yet) that Childress was an owner of the hotel. She was a school teacher at St Monica's Guild.”2041
1930 Census of Crockett TX
Name Age
P L Childress 52
Nellie Childress 49
Ethel Childress 19
Ples Childress 16
John Childress 9
1920 Census of Crockett TX
Name Age
L Pleas Childress 43
Nellie Childress 38
Elizabeth Childress 15
Ethel Childress 9
L Pleas Childress 6
West Texan Dies On Vacation Trip2043
SAN ANGELO, Aug. 24. (/P)—Pleas L. Childress, 59, of Ozona, Crockett county rnnchman and president of the Ozona Nnlionni bank, died early this morning in a hospital at Lajolla, Calif. He was stricken with pneumonia three weeks ago while on a pleasure trip with members of his family. The body will reach Del Rio Wednesday morhing and burial will be made at Ozonn at a time not yet set.
Childress had been identified with the development of Ozona and its territory since 1900 when he came from San Antonio, his birthplace, and joined his father, the late William Childress, in livestock raising. He was one of the organizers of the Ozona National bank and for many years was an executive committeeman of both the Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers' association and the sheep & Goat Raisers' association of Texas.
Childress' first wife died in 1934. The fallowing year he married Miss Mary Belle McKenzie, still principal of one of the San Antonio public schools. Other survivors are two sons, John and Pleas Childress Jr., of Ozona, and two daughters, Miss Ethel Childress of Ozona, and Mrs. Grady Mitcham of San Angelo.
1930 Census of Crockett TX
Name Age
P L Childress 52
Nellie Childress 49
Ethel Childress 19
Ples Childress 16
John Childress 9
1920 Census of Crockett TX
Name Age
L Pleas Childress 43
Nellie Childress 38
Elizabeth Childress 15
Ethel Childress 9
L Pleas Childress 6
West Texan Dies On Vacation Trip2043
SAN ANGELO, Aug. 24. (/P)—Pleas L. Childress, 59, of Ozona, Crockett county rnnchman and president of the Ozona Nnlionni bank, died early this morning in a hospital at Lajolla, Calif. He was stricken with pneumonia three weeks ago while on a pleasure trip with members of his family. The body will reach Del Rio Wednesday morhing and burial will be made at Ozonn at a time not yet set.
Childress had been identified with the development of Ozona and its territory since 1900 when he came from San Antonio, his birthplace, and joined his father, the late William Childress, in livestock raising. He was one of the organizers of the Ozona National bank and for many years was an executive committeeman of both the Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers' association and the sheep & Goat Raisers' association of Texas.
Childress' first wife died in 1934. The fallowing year he married Miss Mary Belle McKenzie, still principal of one of the San Antonio public schools. Other survivors are two sons, John and Pleas Childress Jr., of Ozona, and two daughters, Miss Ethel Childress of Ozona, and Mrs. Grady Mitcham of San Angelo.
Notes for Pleas Leasel (Spouse 1)
HOMESTEAD: THE CHILDRESS RANCH2044
By Jerry Lackey
Published Sunday, April 20, 2008
OZONA - When the severe drought of the 1950s gripped Crockett County ranchland, forcing ranchers to supplemental feed or sell livestock, Pleas Leasel Childress Jr. pledged not to exhaust his life savings. He went searching for greener pastures.
"My dad said he could either buy feed and throw it off the pickup end-gate to starving sheep and cattle or find pasture grass somewhere else," recalled son Charles Childress Sr. "He looked for land in East Texas and Arkansas and finally found a ranch for sale near Mount Vernon, Mo., with plenty of grass."
The elder Childress returned to Ozona, rounded up all the livestock and drove them about 40 miles by horseback to Barnhart and the shipping pens of the Santa Fe Railroad. The approximately 12,000 head of Rambouillet sheep and a small cattle herd were shipped to Missouri.
Childress learned to fly in 1943 and flew his own plane between Mount Vernon and Ozona. During shearing time in Missouri, he would fly in sheep shearing crews from Texas to harvest the wool.
Although Childress considered the ranching business in Missouri and Texas' Crockett and Mills counties his major focus, he also carried on a family tradition in banking.
"My great-great grandfather, Leasel B. Harris, was president of the First National Bank of San Angelo and my great-grandfather, William F. "Billy" Childress, helped organize the bank, even served as vice president and cashier at the time," Pleas Childress III said while reviewing family archives in his Ozona residence recently. "My grandfather, Pleas Sr. was president of Ozona National for 25 years."
Pleas Childress Jr. served Ozona National Bank as director and chairman of the board, and, at the time of his death, was chairman emeritus. In 2002, he was honored by the Texas Bankers Association for his 50 years in banking.
Standard-Times: How did your family get into ranching?
Pleas Childress III: My grandfather, Pleas Childress Sr., first partnered with his brothers, Walter, Hugh and Lee, before he purchased 16,000 acres on his own in 1920. The land would become known as the Turkey Roost Ranch.
My father, Pleas Childress Jr., operated the Turkey Roost and ranches in Mills County and Mount Vernon, Mo.
The Turkey Roost Ranch remains in the Childress family. After my father died in April 2006 at 92 years of age, my brother and two sisters and I divided the property, but hold a co-ownership on the old ranch house headquarters.
Our mother, Mary Geniece Hardberger Childress, is 91 years old and lives in Ozona, where her and dad lived most of their life together.
What keeps you in the business?
Like other West Texas ranchers, we like the lifestyle and enjoy a love for the land.
What's the most unique feature of the ranch?
The old ranch headquarters on Turkey Roost Creek is a special place. The original house was moved there by my mother and father from another part of the ranch. My siblings and I have renovated the old house and re-rocked the exterior with native stone.
The turkeys still roost in the liveoak trees at the creek near the house the way they have for decades.
Thanksgiving is a special family time when we all gather there with our extended families (50 to 60 people now) for a reunion, feast and fellowship at the old headquarters.
How have you diversified the operation?
We try to take better care of the deer, and feed and work with seasonal hunters to manage them and the turkeys.
My dad believed in taking care of the land and water, and had a lifelong interest in plants and conservation. He passed that pride to us, and we are forever working with a mesquite and cedar control program. However, half the ranch is rolling hills and deep draws with liveoak and the other half is located on the divide with mostly tobosa grass and mesquite cover.
What's the family brand?
It is an open A without the crossbar, and more like a V. Each branch of the Childress family turned it sideways or upside down to mark their particular cattle herd. All were branded on the left hip.
Pleasant "Pleas" Leasel Childress was born Nov. 5, 1876, at the Menger Hotel in San Antonio. His parents were William Francis and Mary Etta Harris Childress. Before he was 1 year old, he moved to West Texas with his parents and his maternal grandparents, the Leasel B. Harrises, to Coke County.
Pleas Childress married Nellie Henderson Jan. 11, 1904. They had four children: Elizabeth Childress Mitcham, Ethel Childress Smith, Pleas Jr. and John.
Pleas Leasel Childress, Jr. married Mary Geniece Hardberger Sept. 5, 1937. They had four children: Genelle (husband Ronald Berry), Pleas Childress III, Elizabeth Lucille "Lucy" (husband Joel R. Huff), and Charles Grady Childress.
Pleas Leasel Childress III married Sandra Lynn Ellis. They have two children: Martin Leasel Childress, 36, and Julie Ann Harrison, 31. They have five grandchildren.
Childress Ranch
Founded: In 1900, by Pleasant "Pleas" Leasel Childress Sr.
Owner: Pleas Childress III, Genelle Berry, Lucy Huff and Charles Childress Sr.
Location: 15 miles northeast of Ozona, which is 82 miles southwest of San Angelo.
Livestock: Sheep and cattle.
By Jerry Lackey
Published Sunday, April 20, 2008
OZONA - When the severe drought of the 1950s gripped Crockett County ranchland, forcing ranchers to supplemental feed or sell livestock, Pleas Leasel Childress Jr. pledged not to exhaust his life savings. He went searching for greener pastures.
"My dad said he could either buy feed and throw it off the pickup end-gate to starving sheep and cattle or find pasture grass somewhere else," recalled son Charles Childress Sr. "He looked for land in East Texas and Arkansas and finally found a ranch for sale near Mount Vernon, Mo., with plenty of grass."
The elder Childress returned to Ozona, rounded up all the livestock and drove them about 40 miles by horseback to Barnhart and the shipping pens of the Santa Fe Railroad. The approximately 12,000 head of Rambouillet sheep and a small cattle herd were shipped to Missouri.
Childress learned to fly in 1943 and flew his own plane between Mount Vernon and Ozona. During shearing time in Missouri, he would fly in sheep shearing crews from Texas to harvest the wool.
Although Childress considered the ranching business in Missouri and Texas' Crockett and Mills counties his major focus, he also carried on a family tradition in banking.
"My great-great grandfather, Leasel B. Harris, was president of the First National Bank of San Angelo and my great-grandfather, William F. "Billy" Childress, helped organize the bank, even served as vice president and cashier at the time," Pleas Childress III said while reviewing family archives in his Ozona residence recently. "My grandfather, Pleas Sr. was president of Ozona National for 25 years."
Pleas Childress Jr. served Ozona National Bank as director and chairman of the board, and, at the time of his death, was chairman emeritus. In 2002, he was honored by the Texas Bankers Association for his 50 years in banking.
Standard-Times: How did your family get into ranching?
Pleas Childress III: My grandfather, Pleas Childress Sr., first partnered with his brothers, Walter, Hugh and Lee, before he purchased 16,000 acres on his own in 1920. The land would become known as the Turkey Roost Ranch.
My father, Pleas Childress Jr., operated the Turkey Roost and ranches in Mills County and Mount Vernon, Mo.
The Turkey Roost Ranch remains in the Childress family. After my father died in April 2006 at 92 years of age, my brother and two sisters and I divided the property, but hold a co-ownership on the old ranch house headquarters.
Our mother, Mary Geniece Hardberger Childress, is 91 years old and lives in Ozona, where her and dad lived most of their life together.
What keeps you in the business?
Like other West Texas ranchers, we like the lifestyle and enjoy a love for the land.
What's the most unique feature of the ranch?
The old ranch headquarters on Turkey Roost Creek is a special place. The original house was moved there by my mother and father from another part of the ranch. My siblings and I have renovated the old house and re-rocked the exterior with native stone.
The turkeys still roost in the liveoak trees at the creek near the house the way they have for decades.
Thanksgiving is a special family time when we all gather there with our extended families (50 to 60 people now) for a reunion, feast and fellowship at the old headquarters.
How have you diversified the operation?
We try to take better care of the deer, and feed and work with seasonal hunters to manage them and the turkeys.
My dad believed in taking care of the land and water, and had a lifelong interest in plants and conservation. He passed that pride to us, and we are forever working with a mesquite and cedar control program. However, half the ranch is rolling hills and deep draws with liveoak and the other half is located on the divide with mostly tobosa grass and mesquite cover.
What's the family brand?
It is an open A without the crossbar, and more like a V. Each branch of the Childress family turned it sideways or upside down to mark their particular cattle herd. All were branded on the left hip.
Pleasant "Pleas" Leasel Childress was born Nov. 5, 1876, at the Menger Hotel in San Antonio. His parents were William Francis and Mary Etta Harris Childress. Before he was 1 year old, he moved to West Texas with his parents and his maternal grandparents, the Leasel B. Harrises, to Coke County.
Pleas Childress married Nellie Henderson Jan. 11, 1904. They had four children: Elizabeth Childress Mitcham, Ethel Childress Smith, Pleas Jr. and John.
Pleas Leasel Childress, Jr. married Mary Geniece Hardberger Sept. 5, 1937. They had four children: Genelle (husband Ronald Berry), Pleas Childress III, Elizabeth Lucille "Lucy" (husband Joel R. Huff), and Charles Grady Childress.
Pleas Leasel Childress III married Sandra Lynn Ellis. They have two children: Martin Leasel Childress, 36, and Julie Ann Harrison, 31. They have five grandchildren.
Childress Ranch
Founded: In 1900, by Pleasant "Pleas" Leasel Childress Sr.
Owner: Pleas Childress III, Genelle Berry, Lucy Huff and Charles Childress Sr.
Location: 15 miles northeast of Ozona, which is 82 miles southwest of San Angelo.
Livestock: Sheep and cattle.