William T. Wroe & Sons Saddlery & Harness Company, 1890 - 1920s, Austin, Texas
The Wroe Family owned various Saddle & Harness businesses in Austin, Texas in the later part of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. There were two separate Wroe Saddleries operating in Austin, Texas in the early 1880s - one was operated by W. R. Wroe and the other was operated by B. J. Wroe.
It is unclear if the two saddleries merged or if one simply closed, but by 1886, only one Wroe Saddlery was operating in Austin, Texas that was operated by Barshea J. Wroe, or B. J. Wroe, which was managed by his son William T. Wroe.
It was in 1890 that the saddlery was renamed W. T. Wroe and Sons Saddlery & Harness Company with William T. Wroe's sons, Hiram A. Wroe and Thomas B. Wroe, and with three men working at the saddlery, which had become very well established in Austin, Texas.
The William T. Wroe & Sons Saddlery & Harness Company operated until shortly after the Mexican Revolution and World War I. By the early 1920s, the saddlery had closed, as many did, due to the invention and popularity of the automobile.
