Spotlight Upon Unsung Heroes:

Anthony Rischer, Sr., County Trailblazer

By Wilbur Thirkield Titus

When considering heroism as the admiration of people for their achievements 
or/and the quality of their character, it occurred to me that Anthony 
Rischer, Sr. was such a person. He lived in the Stewards Mill area of 
Freestone County, Texas during the Reconstruction period following the Civil 
War. Anthony was of Germanic and African extractions. He was six feet tall 
and weighed 250 pounds. He was thought of as a big man with a giant’s heart.
Anthony was known and respected for his stirling character, good work ethic
and humanitarian deeds.

Anthony was born in Mississippi, was brought to the Stewards Mill area of 
Freestone County, Texas when he was eight years of age. There, he grew up and
worked as a laborer.

He married Miss Henretta Cyrus and fathered fourteen Children: Jim, Joe, 
Anthony, Jr., Roosevelt, Hamp Granberry, Betty (Davis), Moriah (Jones), Clara
(Washington) , Mary Lee Johnson, Catherine Perkins, Lula Washington, and 
Eliza(Evans).

The marriage names are in parenthesis.

I marvel at his being able to purchase three hundred acres of land. This farm
is located near Stewards Mill, ten miles north of Fairfield, on the old
Fairfield to Corsicana road. On this land he built his home and raised his 
children . He built a large house and reserved two rooms as guest rooms to 
accommodate white customers who needed to spend the night when traveling
between Fairfield and Corsicana. He built and rented three tenant rent 
houses

Anthony built a store in which he sold all types of groceries and supplies 
which he got from S. A. Pace Wholesale in Corsicana by freight mule train. He 
also contracted to cut cedar, some of the blocks were used to build street
beds of Corsicana.

Anthony farmed. He raised livestock and planted a commercial peach orchard on
the road to Corsicana in the Rhode Island Community.