James Lockhart Autry II 1859-1920
Autry’s widow, Jeannie Autry and a very young James Jr moved from their plantation in Holly Springs to Cuomo, Mississippi. She supported her son by becoming a teacher in the local school. James L. Autry, Jr earned a scholarship to the college preparatory program at Sewanee (the University of the South) . His mother remarried a Capt. Isaac Brown, an outstanding and well-recorded officer. Autry objected to the remarriage, and unwilling to live with his stepfather chose to leave Sewanee in November 1876 at the age of 18 and head for Corsicana, Texas and the land granted to the heirs of Micajah Autry.
Once in Texas, Autry read law under the guidance of Judge Richard Channing Beale. He was elected enrolling clerk in the Texas House of Legislature in 1879 and again in 1881-1882.
He passed the bar in 1880 and became Beale’s law partner. He was very active in legal societies and helped organize the Texas Bar Association in 1882. He remained an active and vocal member of the Texas Bar Association throughout his life. In 1883, he succeeded Beale as Judge of Navarro County. He entered into a new partnership with William J. McKie.
He married Allie Belle Kinsloe on June 24, 1896. Their first child James Lockhart Autry III was born on May 15, 1899 and their daughter Allie May was born on July 5, 1903.
The Autry household in Corsicana included Jeannie Autry Brown who moved in with Autry after the death of her second husband and “Tap” Lucy Waller, a household servant who remained with the family until her death.