Howard "Doc" Rand

Birth:  

Family Information:  

Description: Rand was an orator, a master of the pat simile, such as "a bullfrog jumping into a lily pond" or "eyes like large, round, white, pealed [sic] onions."

Pre-Colony History:  

Home in Colony:  

Job in Colony: In October 1930 he was part of the crew at the planing mill that included Cleve Campbell, Kittle, Szpila, Rand, Rickey, Thomas and Parsons.

In 1932 he was working in the machine shop where he and Harry Layer had realized that one of the things slowing up the machine shop was preparing steel and iron in the proper length for the various things to be fabricated.

While working in the shop, he and Milton Maki had re-made, "from a perfect wreck, salvaged from something that seemed to be completely useless", an air compressor capable of running the air pressure up to 125 pounds and then automatically starting when run down to 100. They also repaired an engine, bought by Septer Baldwin for $5. It was taken to the machine shop where Milton and Doc got busy and soon a perfectly new engine was ready to go to work that couldn't have been bought for $1,000.

In July 1932 Cleve Campbell was glad to see Bartlett back on the saw mill construction work. Bartlett, Horney and Mansfield were at that point finishing the log skidways while Layer and Rand were shooting across the mechanical parts.

Other Info: In April 1932 he was functioning grandly as the life of the party at the Social Welfare League meeting. He told the story of how he and some of the boys went to Port Arthur (Texas) to see the fine, old frigate, "Constitution."

They traveled by way of Pullman cars of the side-door variety and soon Mr. Law proposed to chuck them all into the hoosegow. With his nimble wit and fluent tongue, Rand explained that all of the party were respectable citizens of Newllano and regularly employed. He stressed their patriotic zeal, their commendable pride in the fine old square-rigger, etc., etc. and saved them from the ignominy of the jailhouse.

Post-Colony History: He left the colony during one of the rebellions against General Manager, George Pickett -- perhaps the conflict with Ernest Webb and the Welfare League.

In 1936 he married Miss Iola Lou Davis at Memphis. He sent his regards to all his friends in the colony and reported that he was at that time a master mechanic in the plant manufacturing the Rust Brothers cotton picking machine.

Death:  

Sources: "Llano Colonist": October 25, 1930, March 19, 1932, March 26, 1932, April 9, 1932, July 2, 1932, May 16, 1936