[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 106 (Monday, July 26, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1652]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        MAYS FAMILY IN ROBSTOWN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. SOLOMON P. ORTIZ

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 26, 1999

  Mr. ORTIZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a family that 
has been a large part of the history of my hometown, Robstown, Texas, 
for the better part of the 20th Century. Next week, the Mays Family 
will hold a family reunion in the Omni Bayfront Hotel in Corpus 
Christi, Texas.
  I am honored to know this fine family, and I want to let my 
colleagues in the House of Representatives know about these pioneers. 
Riley and Ella Mays moved to Robstown from Kosse, Texas, in 1912; they 
were the first black family to live in Robstown, which is a largely 
Hispanic enclave west of Corpus Christi in Nueces County in the Coastal 
Bend of Texas.
  The Mays family is a distinguished and respected family in the 
community and in the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, which was 
founded by Riley Mays. Both Riley and Ella saw the need for a Baptist 
church in the area, so they acquired a building which doubled as a 
church and as the first black public school in the area.
  Riley Mays was the first Deacon there and a Sunday School teacher 
until his death. Ella Mays was a nurse and the first president of the 
Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church's missionary society. They both 
directed the school there.
  To commemorate the first black family to settle in Robstown and to 
honor the family patriarch, the city named a street in Riley Mays' 
honor. Shortly, a historical marker will be established at the Mt. Zion 
Missionary Baptist Church to pay tribute to the Mays family as well. 
The great and lasting legacy left to their family by Riley and Ella 
Mays is that the strength of the United States is found in the family 
unit.
  This is the tradition that their descendants celebrate each day and 
it is the tradition that they will celebrate en masse August 6-8, when 
they hold their family reunion. Riley and Ella Mays had 14 children, 
and today have over 450 descendants who are active in their 
communities, schools and churches all over Texas and the United States.
  I ask my colleague to join me in wishing them well as they gather to 
commemorate their families' tradition of service to community and 
country.

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