From Matagorda County History & Genealogy page
Austin Wyche, a blacksmith born in Virginia in 1827, came to Texas in 1863 with his wife, Emma.
Their son Joshua Wyche was born in Texas in 1866.
In 1885, Joshua married Julia Stewart.
The minister was Orange Doss. They lived on their farm in the Live Oak Community, and he made his living as a farmer and a camp cook.
Their seven children were born at Live Oak, Matagorda County. Their children were: Hattie, Sessia, Suddie, Ira, Molly Bell, Jake “J.D.,” and Joshua.
Sessia Wyche was born on Oct. 18, 1888, in the Live Oak Community and, at the age of 27, he married Nona Lue Dale, the daughter of John Lewis and Pinkie Yancy Dale.
Sessia became a farmer and a camp cook like his father before him.
He had his own farm, and he began cooking for the Poole Cattle Company as a side job in 1912.
This job of camp cook was held by him for 44 years until his death on June 13, 1956.
Well-known by cattlemen all over Matagorda County, Sessia was much in demand for special barbecues, and his chuck wagon biscuits were a favorite fare for church suppers.
Several interesting incidents are recalled by Donald Poole and Dr. Mark Poole, about Sessia and his chuck wagon.
One particularly amusing incident is about a time when the cattle company was swimming cattle across Chinquapin Bayou.
The Bayou is narrow, but deep.
The chuck wagon, pulled by two mules, was on a flat boat, and in crossing the mules got to “cutting up” and sank the boat.
Sessia could not swim, and when asked how he got out of the bayou he said; “I just hit bottom and walked out, and when I got to the bank I kept going. The Lord really helped me out that time!”
People for whom Sessia worked said that he was a fine Christian, devoted to his church, family, and employers.
He was a member of the Vine Grove Christian Church.
When he died in 1956, it marked the end of an era that went back to the Chisholm Trail.
Nona, his wife, was a seamstress.
She sewed for her children, and for other people in the community.
Sessia and Nona had four children, and these children had to take care of the home.
It was during the depression when cattle business was down that Sessia did W.P.A. work.
The children walked to the Grapevine School, about a mile from their home.
In order to finish school, the children had to go to Kendleton, and pay room and board.
Sessia, Jr. was drafted into the army in 1943. He received anti-aircraft training and was sent to Guadalcanal where he did guard duty.
He was also at Henderson Field, and was discharged in 1945.
That same year, he married Leslie Stephney, daughter of Daniel and Easter Law Stephney.
They had nine children: Sessia Wyche III, Yvonne, Odell, Vicky, Sandy, Gery, Agurnette Leslie and Godwin.
Later, they adopted one of the grandchildren, Quiana Lasha, daughter of Agurnette.
Five of their nine children had college degrees - eight attended college.
Sessia III received a Master’s Degree in Math from Texas A&I University and was a staff manager for Southwestern Bell Telephone.
Yvonne attended Prairie View A&M and Texas A&I University, where she received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education and taught school in Houston.
Vicky attended Pan American University and earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education and taught in Robstown and Progresso, Texas.
Sandy attended Texas A&I University where he received a degree in Math and worked for Southwestern Bell Telephone.
Gery attended Texas A&I University and received a Master’s Degree in Art, and taught at Van Vleck.
Sessia, Jr., recalled some of the pleasant memories of his childhood in the Live Oak community.
On weekends, they went to the Live Oak Creek to fish.
At one particular spot on the creek, they would gather arrowheads and various bones from an Indian burial ground.
They would try to piece the bones together. They also found pieces of an old cotton gin and tried to place these in order.
The fields were cultivated, and after a rain the children would find many things to collect as hobbies.
They were told by their grandparents that Indians had lived along the creek and that a war had broken out with the Indians in that particular area.
Through the years many people came to the creek bank looking for money and treasure with their metal detectors.
This little community of Live Oak was an isolated community for many years.
In the 1940s the community received its first electricity, and the first hard-surfaced road to that area was in 1938.
Historic Matagorda County, Volume II, pages 571-572