DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, if you ever cracked open a pecan and thought nothing of it — just a little gift from the Texas soil — let me tell you about the man who spent his whole life making sure that gift was worth the trouble. Edmond E.
Risien. Born in Dover, England, in 1853. Came a long way to get here, and when he arrived in San Saba County in the 1870s, he apparently decided this was exactly where he was supposed to be.
The 42nd Texas Legislature said it plain, and the public agreed: Risien was a world leader in the pecan industry. That's not campfire talk. That's on the record.
A man born across an ocean, in Dover, England, becoming the guiding hand behind one of Texas's most beloved trees. You can't write that kind of story — it just happens, slow and deliberate, the way a pecan tree grows. And deliberate is the word.
Risien spent a lifetime upbreeding native San Saba pecans. Not a season. Not a decade.
A lifetime. Some of the varieties he originated carry names you might still know: Onliwon, San Saba Improved, and Western Schley. Those aren't just names — those are the results of patient, careful, stubborn work by a man who clearly had something to prove to this soil.
And while he was at it, he also installed the first San Saba water works. The man didn't exactly take afternoons off. Now, standing alongside him through all of it was Mrs.
E. E. Risien — born in Plymouth, England, also in 1853.
She made it to San Saba and she stayed. She died there in 1953. San Saba, it seems, had a way of holding on to the Risiens.
They had four children together: Doris, Norma, Winnie, and a son, E. Guy — who carried on the work with pecans after his father. The legacy didn't stop with Edmond.
It kept growing, the way a good tree does. Edmond E. Risien: 1853 to 1940.
A man from Dover, England, who crossed an ocean, settled in San Saba, and left his mark on every pecan orchard that followed. Next time you reach for one of those little Texas treasures, well — now you know a little more about how it got to be so good.
What the marker says
(1853-1940) Cited by 42nd Texas Legislature and the public as a world leader in pecan industry. Spent lifetime upbreeding native San Saba pecans. Born in Dover, England. Came here in 1870s. Installed first San Saba water works. Some pecan varieties he originated were Onliwon, San Saba Improved and Western Schley. Mrs. E. E. Risien, born in Plymouth, England, 1853, died in San Saba 1953. The Risiens had four children: Doris, Norma, Winnie and E. Guy (son who carried on work with pecans). Erected 1969