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The following excerpt is taken from A History Of Robertson County, Texas, by John Walter Baker, copyright 1970, by the Robertson County Historical Foundation, page 311. Copies of a new printing of this book, which had been out-of-print for several years, are now available. Price is $41 (including shipping). Contact clazhome@msn.com to make purchase arrangements (including credit card sales).
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In 1883, J. R. Collier moved to the valley with his bride, Rachel Bailey Collier, to manage her uncle's store. After a short time, Collier purchased the Phil Peers place and later the Teague tract, and started a career in corn and cotton. The land was good and the Collier family prospered.
Five years after planting his first crop, Collier brought twelve Italian immigrant families to the bottom as sharecroppers to work his land. The industrious new farmers worked hard and in two years some of them brought other Italians to the place. Slowly, they purchased land and became independent farmers. Descendants of the first Italian families now own much of the rich farm land in the Brazos River Valley.
The list of Italians is long and many tilled the soil of the rich Brazos bottom, among them:
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