Tarrant County TXGenWeb - Jesse Zane-Cetti obit

Tarrant County TXGenWeb

Jesse Zane-Cetti Dies
Builder of T.& P. Railroad into Fort Worth

Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Wednesday, February 8, 1922

Jesse Shelton ZANE-CETTI, resident of Fort Worth since 1875, and a prominent figure in the city's history died at his home early Wednesday morning at the age of 78.

Born in Philadelphia of Quaker parentage, Zane-Cetti was sent to Germany when 15 to complete his education. After five years of study at the Polytechnic College of Karisruhe, he entered government service until his return to America in 1870..

Before his move to Texas, Zane-Cetti was involved in railroad building in Alabama and was sent by the governor of that state to Texas to help in the survey of the original line of the Texas and Pacific Railway running it from Jones County to El Paso under escort of United States troops for protection from hostile Indians. Townsite work in the eastern division of the road then claimed his attention and he was in Marshall when panicky conditions caused suspension of railroad construction.

When he first came to Fort Worth he was in real estate business . He assisted in the formation of the Tarrant County Construction Company to obtain completion of the T & P which road was completed into this city in 1876 - it being the western terminus for two years. He was also instrumental in bringing in the Santa Fe and other railroads into Fort Worth.

Zane-Cetti was one of the founders of the Texas Brewing Company in 1895, serving as president until it closed in 1918. Although he did not appear in public life very much, his position as city engineer in the early days being his only public office, Zane-Cetti was a man whose fortune and abilities were used in the building of Fort Worth. He was a founding director of the First National Bank and president of the Texas Cold Storage Company in recent years. He was a Mason and member of the Elks.

Services will be conducted Thursday morning with burial in Pioneers Rest Cemetery. Survivors include three daughters, Mrs. W. H. IRWIN, Miss Louise ZANE-CETTI and Miss Marion ZANE-CETTI, a son, C. H. ZANE-CETTI and two granddaughters, Helen and Zane IRWIN

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