A Hero of the Galveston Hurricane

I found another Monroe link to the Galveston hurricane of 1900. Cecil Polk, son of Thomas Polk, lived in Monroe in the 1880’s. He worked here as a Civil Engineer. The Polk family eventually moved to Morehouse Parish (where a lot of them are buried) and Cecil moved to Texas. According to Texas and Louisiana newspaper accounts, during the Galveston hurricane of 1900, Cecil was living in the community of Seabrook, TX, just outside of Houston and northwest of Galveston. He set out in the storm to help people and it is estimated he rescued about ten people. Unfortunately, during the rescues, he managed to step on a nail. He ignored the wound. The young man developed lockjaw, which eventually killed him. Cecil was buried in Evergreen cemetery in Houston. He left behind a wife, a daughter and several siblings.

Another little tidbit I found in the Shreveport Journal, September 18, 1900, Page 5 was that the African American residents of Monroe were organizing and fundraising to help the “colored” Galveston victims.

White citizens of Monroe put on a baseball game to raise Galveston aid money.