Wittich Chiles DuBose (1881-1929)

Portrait courtesy of "Mineola and its Mayors", published 1976.

    Several years after the conclusion of Mayor Garrone Stardi Northcutt's term, the city of Mineola, Texas elected another peculiarly named man as its mayor, one Wittich Chiles DuBose. The son of Methodist minister Charles Betts DuBose, Wittich Chiles "Witt" Dubose was born in Pensacola, Florida on August 20, 1881. Left fatherless at an early age due to his father's death in a yellow fever outbreak, Wittich DuBose spent a portion of his early life in Alabama, having been sent there by his father to lessen the chance of exposure to yellow fever. The young man would experience further tragedy with the death of his mother Eugenia and following her passing was sent to live with relatives in Mineola, Texas.

   DuBose would attend schools local to Mineola and later studied at Draughn's Business College, located in Dallas, Texas. He married in 1906 to Mamie Chappell and later had one son, Wittich "Witt" Chappell DuBose (1908-1993). After concluding his studies at the Draughn Business College DuBose became engaged in the used furniture business in Mineola, and would later partner with J.W. Cage. In addition to furniture sales, DuBose and Page added funeral supplies to their business, and DuBose himself would attend the Dallas School of Embalming and Funeral Directing. 

   Wittich DuBose continued to operate his furniture and undertaking business in Mineola well into the 1920s and also served as the vice president of the Texas Organization of Funeral Directors. The 1976 history of "Mineola and its Mayors" also relates that prior to 1918 DuBose's company transitioned to a motorized hearse, having previously used a horse-drawn coach for funerals.

  In addition to his business, DuBose also gained prominence as Mineola's fire chief, serving in that position for several years. In August 1924 he took office as Mayor of Mineola and during his two terms in office, a number of improvements were made to the city's infrastructure, including the renovation of the local sewerage disposal plant in 1926. In the following year, work began on a plan to supply Mineola with natural gas, and by late 1927 the city's homes had been supplied with gas lines, with service taking effect in November of that year.

Wittich C. DuBose during his time as mayor, from "Mineola and its Mayors".

   DuBose's second term concluded in 1928 and for the remainder of his life maintained activity in several fraternal organizations, including the Masons, the Knights of Pythias, and the Lions and Elks Clubs. In early November 1929, the former mayor was afflicted with appendicitis and was rushed to a Dallas sanitarium to undergo an operation. DuBose died shortly after the operation on November 9, 1929. Just forty-eight years of age at the time of his death, Dubose was returned to Mineola for burial at the Mineola City Cemetery. He was survived by his wife Mamie and son Witt, who died in 1973 and 1993 respectively.

Garrone Stardi Northcutt (1888-1969)

From "Mineola and its Mayors", published 1976.

    The city of Mineola, Texas has elected two oddly named men as mayor during its century-plus history, and the first of those men, Garrone Stardi Northcutt, is profiled today. Northcutt served one term as mayor of Mineola in the early 1910s and later removed to Sacramento County, California, dying there in 1969, shortly before his 81st birthday. Born in Longview, Texas on March 5, 1888, Garrone Stardi Northcutt was the son of Jeremiah Elijah (1860-1896) and Minnie Madeline Lindsay Northcutt(1867-1930). Northcutt's primary education occurred in the public school system of Longview and was also a student at the University of Texas at Austin. 

   Following the completion of his schooling, Northcutt dabbled in advertising and in 1912 opened a movie house in Mineola. He would be affiliated with its operation until 1914 when it was sold to the Hooks family, who later renamed it the "Star Theater". 1914 proved to be an important year for Northcutt, as he married in January of that year to Clara Lee Graham (1892-1932). The couple would become parents to five children: Evelyn Northcutt Hustmyre (1914-2011), Jerre Everett (1923-1942), Ermanie (birthdate unknown), Robert Graham (birth-date unknown) and Ann Northcutt Ferguson (1926-1998).

  In April 1914 the twenty-six-year-old Northcutt took office as Mayor of Mineola. Having had no previous experience in elected office, Northcutt's one term saw a number of civic improvements made to the city, including that of new water mains being purchased from the Mineola Ice, Light and Water Company. The city also purchased a pump and engine from the same company, with Mayor Northcutt having "personally supervised the construction of a building to enclose the equipment."

   Late in Northcutt's administration, the city of Mineola began work on a new sewer system (with work being completed during his successor's administration), and after leaving office in 1916 removed with his family to Dallas. Northcutt would later relocate to Sacramento County, California in the early 1930s where he was employed as a salesman. Widowed in 1932, Northcutt survived his wife by nearly 40 years, dying in Carmichael, California on February 18, 1969. He was later buried at the Sacramento Lawn Memorial Cemetery.