Born at Old Brazoria, Robert Edward Lee Stringfellow (1866-1941) began his career on a cattle ranch at the age of 14 and soon acquired his own herd. He opened a Velasco meat market in 1890 and provided beef for workers building jetties at the mouth of the Brazos River. His ranch holdings here in southern Brazoria County grew to 20,000 acres. A philanthropist and civic leader, he was an early builder and investor in the Freeport townsite. After he was injured in the 1932 hurricane, his wife Nannie (Maddox) (d. 1971) operated the ranch and Freeport interests.