MARION COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES
"R"
RAINEY, Jefferson
Rogers - Well known in the East Texas area as a rancher
and banking affiliate, Jefferson Rogers Rainey owned and operated
a two thousand acre estate in Fannin County and also, served as
president of the Rogers National Bank in Jefferson.
Mr Rogers was born in Jefferson on February 12, 1886, the son of
the late wright and Ida Rogers Rainey. Wright Rainey, a native of
Clarksville, Texas, was one of the early cattle raisers in Tom
Green County, Texas, and owner of X.Q.Z. Rancy for fifty years.
He was also identified with the banking field in Greenville,
Jefferson and Bonham. He was the son of Stephen Decatur Rainey, a
native of Georgia. After Texas was made a state, he settled in
Jefferson, Texas, where he married Mary Jane Russell of Jefferson
City, Texas. He departed this life in 1916, at the age of 67
years. Ida Rogers Rainey was the daughter of Thomas Jefferson
Rogers, who established the present Rogers National Bank in 1896.
This institution was first known as T J Rogers and Son, bankers,
and was nationalized in 1904, with Mr Rogers as president, which
post he held until his death. He was succeeded in the presidency
by his son-in-law, H A Spellings, and upon the latter's death in
July 1935, Jefferson Rogers Rainey, grandson of Mr Rogers, became
the third president that this bank had in the first 42 years of
its existence.
Jefferson Rogers Rainey attended the public and high schools at
Bonham, and later enrolled at Texas Agricultural and Mechanical
College, being a member of the class of 1905. For the next
fourteen months he served as a cowhand on a ranch in Tom Green
County, and then became associated with the First National Bank
at Longview, remaining as assistant cashier for a period of six
years. He then purchased his large ranch on Red River in Fannin
County, and operated this tract, having about five hundred acres
in cultivation, the remaining fifteen hundred acres being used as
pasture land. Mr Rainey maintained his banking interests, having
served as cashier of the Fannin County National Bank at Bonham
from 1923 to 1929, and then taking over the presidency of his
late grandfather's bank in Jefferson in 1935.
Mr Rainey was a member of the Baptist church, a loyal Democrat,
an active member of the Rotary Club, and an affiliate of Lodge
No. 13, Free and Accepted Masons at Bonham, Bonham Commandery,
Knights Templar, and Hella Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of
the Mystic Shrine at Dallas.
He was married in 1908 to Annie Bob Brown of Longview, daughter
of R G and Flora Crutcher Brown, and descended from old Virginia
Stock who settled Texas before the Civil War. Mr and Mrs Rainey
were the parents of four children: (1) Ida Lee, a graduate of CIA
at Denton and a teacher at Longview, Texas; (2) Bobbie, wife of C
R Sublett of Tyler, Tx; (3) Virginia, attended the University of
Texas; (4) J Rogers Jr.
If you would like to add any information, or suggest any corrections, you may contact Angela Hartman county coordinator.
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