Who’s Oscar Riddle? (Part 1 of 2)

By Dusty Williams. Reposted with permission.

When thinking about the beginnings of our quaint little town, Van Alstyne, we are reminded of the railroad and the migration of residents from the nearby town of Mantua. When the iron giant came through in 1873, it bypassed the flourishing town of Mantua, bought land from an orphan boy, William L. McKinney, and created a railroad depot and a new town, Van Alstyne. The town was named for a widow railroad stockholder, Maria Van Alstyne. In January of 1873, the new station was ready to receive freight and according to a February 1, 1873, article in the Dallas Herald, the station had received 300 bales of cotton by the second day of it having been in operation.

As was the case with almost all towns in Texas that the railroad bypassed, the once-blooming Mantua quickly turned into what we now call ghost towns. Residents of Mantua, and some from other nearby communities such as Pilot Grove, began packing up and moving to the new settlement of Van Alstyne, which was situated halfway between the county seats of Grayson and Collin counties. Among the first to move their establishments were Dr. James L. Leslie, and Oscar Riddle.

Dr. Leslie opened his medical practice, and Mr. Riddle became the first merchant in Van Alstyne, supposedly having arrived a few days before Dr. Leslie. The story of Mr. Riddle that has been passed down for generations is as follows.

Mantua had passed ordinances against the selling of alcohol in its town, so in the late 1860s Oscar Riddle opened a saloon southwest of town on the Foster Land. Mr. Riddle promptly moved his establishment to Van Alstyne after the railroad tracks were complete and set up a tent northeast of town along a small creek on the east side of the railroad tracks.

He had not obtained his license to sell liquor, so, it is said that he sold a stick of candy for $1 and would include a quart of whiskey in the bag, along with the candy. Over the next couple of years and throughout the 1870s, Van Alstyne became home to five saloons and two wholesale liquor houses. In 1881, the town voted by local option to go dry, and all establishments still in operation were closed.

So, there you have it. Oscar Riddle, candy and whiskey, a tent, and the first store in Van Alstyne. But there’s more…who was Oscar Riddle? What do we know about this pioneer of Van Alstyne’s businesses? The name should be easy on which to find basic information. After all, it is no John Smith or Mary Williams. However, Oscar Riddle appears to be just that…a riddle. So I’ll ask again; Who was Oscar Riddle?

I (Dusty) am in the final stages of solving this “riddle” of the elusive Oscar Riddle. The mysterious man credited with opening the first business in Van Alstyne. The man who seems to have left no trace of himself in Van Alstyne. A man whose name seems to only first appear in our town history in a 1920 article. Stay tuned for the full story and who knows, you might be surprised with the outcome.

Dusty Williams, 9th Generation Grayson County Resident, Author, Teacher, and local Historian. Alderman for the City of Van Alstyne and Chairman for the Grayson County Historical Commission.

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Category: Van Alstyne News