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Ohio native Joseph French Green arrived in South Texas after the building of the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad. During a lawsuit in 1886, the opposing counsel, David Sinton, was so impressed by Green that he hired him to manage the 224,000-acre Catarina Ranch near Gregory. Four years later, Sinton appointed Green the manager of the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company, which spanned Aransas and San Patricio counties. Green was responsible for renovating the ranch by introducing new farming methods, crops and cattle breeds. Joseph Green married Mae Mathis, the daughter of Thomas Mathis, a founder of the Coleman, Mathis, Fulton Cattle Company. Green built his new bride La Quinta mansion in 1906-07. The home was a three-story mansion overlooking Corpus Christi Bay three miles south of Gregory. The mansion was built large enough to accommodate guests to the ranch, with twelve bedrooms and six baths. The second floor included a gallery, and the top floor had an observation deck. President William Howard Taft, half-brother to Charles P. Taft, majority owner of the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company, was one of the first guests to stay at La Quinta. During his stay in Oct. 1909, the ranch hosted a rodeo and barbecue in his honor. On Nov. 20, 1926, Joseph Green died from surgery complications. At the time of his death, he was president of the Taft Bank and the First National Bank of Gregory, and on the board of both the Odem and Sinton banks. He was laid to rest in the Taft Cemetery. La Quinta was the core of the region, and was known as the “White House of the Taft Ranch.” In Jan. 1938, the mansion was ruined by fire. (2013) |
