Peter Molyneaux was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on April 18, 1882 to James Molyneaux and Rosana Lawler Molyneaux and was the oldest child of the couple. There is not a lot of biographical information available regarding his parents but his father James was listed as a day laborer in the 1900 census. Peter was one of two sons and five daughters in the family.
Peter is not known to have had a great deal of formal education early on, but began to work in the newspaper business while he was still in his upper teens. By 1898, he was working for the New Orleans Daily News and soon became a reporter for that publication. Molyneaux later worked for other local publications including the New Orleans Item and Daily States.
In the 1900 federal census, Peter was living with his parents and five siblings. In April, 1906 he was married to Etna Esther Ellzey, formerly of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Their only daughter, Lillian Steen Molyneaux was born in Louisiana in 1907.
The September 25, 1908 issue of the Meadville, Pennsylvania Evening Republican, under a headline “From Press To Pulpit” noted that Molyneaux had come to study at Meadville Theological School, a Uniterian institution. He was 26 years old and had been in newspaper work for six years, the article added. There is no documentation regarding him being ordained as a minister, but he appears to have preached in Texas churches on several occasions. He worked for a short time in Pennsylvania for the Philadelphia Record before relocating permanently to Texas.
For some time, he worked for the Houston Post, but his first recorded mention in the Post was a letter to the editor, published on December 11, 1911. His letter was in support of the work and efforts of “club women” in Texas life, a subject that would later factor into his career. Peter and their daughter Lillian possibly suffered from respiratory ailments. Some mention is made of the family living in Tom Green County around that time, possibly to benefit from the dry climate. Their daughter Lillian died at the age of four years and nine months on March 29, 1912 in San Angelo from complications of a pulmonary ailment.
Molyneaux is mentioned as a correspondent of the San Antonio Express in 1913. In one newspaper article, he is reported to be on assignment in Mexico City. This would have been during the period of the Mexican Revolution. Molyneaux filed at least two long analyses from Mexico City. He had returned to the Houston Post by 1914 and was filing articles in his capacity as staff correspondent. Many articles from that period seem to be related to political matters out of the state capitol.
Also during this period Molyneaux began a periodical called “Texas Club Woman” which was described as a weekly publication “devoted to a furtherance of the purposes and ideals of the federated mothers’ and other women’s clubs of the state.” It had sections including music, art, drama and literature. Molyneaux was listed as president and editor, Charles G. Norton as vice president, Leo R. Sack as secretary and treasurer. It was said to support issues of particular importance to women including compulsory education and women’s suffrage (their right to vote). One newspaper article noted the significance of the organizers being male. Its first issue came out in 1914 and it ceased publication some months later. Molyneaux continued to work as a newspaper correspondent during its existence.
One newspaper column was written in early 1915 profiling the first few months of the term of the recently elected governor James E. “Pa” Ferguson. Molyneaux’s column pointed out Ferguson’s performance on issues of interest, including penitentiary reform, his opposition to prohibition, support for Texas farmers and the like. He continued to report on Ferguson though calls for the governor’s impeachment and resignation in late August, 1917. By then, Molyneaux was staff correspondent for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
At some point, Molyneaux left the Star-Telegram and settled in Dallas, writing columns for the Dallas News. Archived articles by him appear in online news archives until at least 1951.
In 1924, he began to publish another periodical first called Texas Weekly and then later known as Southern Weekly. This was his longest running periodical project. His reputation was widely known and articles he wrote appeared in newspapers and other publications nationwide. Southern Weekly was continuously in service until May, 1952 citing the costs of publication. Though it was probably unknown at the time, Molyneaux was also ill. A North Texas newspaper editorial said of the periodical, “Texans who believed that all wisdom was not necessarily concentrated in Washington will miss The Southern Weekly.” Counting its predecessors not operated by Molyneaux, the life of the publication amounted to 52 years.
In addition to these projects and his log newspaper career, he wrote two books, The Romantic Story of Texas (1936) and The South’s Political Plight (1947). The latter volume dealt with political issues peculiar to the southern United States in the 20th century.
In an interview, Molyneaux had this to say about the project just as The Romantic Story of Texas was about to be released. “Many years ago I resolved to put the romantic story of Texas into a book which would appeal to the general reader – a book that would make pleasant and entertaining reading and yet one that would be complete and accurate in every respect. The place to begin this, it seems to me, is in Texas and among Texans. And there could be no better time to begin than the Centennial year of Texas independence.” Released in time for the Centennial, it included the years of Spanish colonialism, Mexico and the Texas Revolution, annexation as a state, the discovery of oil and other key events.
Also completed and released in connection with the Texas Centennial, Molyneaux wrote an article as part of an 80 page soft cover booklet called A Century of Texas Cattle Brands. The article was entitled “Brief Outline of Texas History.” The booklet included a forward by Amon G. Carter and an article by the editor, Frank Reeves, followed by a listing of cattle brands and the owners’ names by county. It sold for 50 cents at the time. It also included illustrations by Texas artist Harold Dow Bugbee.
From his home in Highland Park, Molyneaux continued to do a lot of public speaking. He died of metastatic cancer at the age of 70 in Dallas’ Medical City Hospital on January 9, 1953, and was buried in the Molyneaux family plot at Saint Patrick Cemetery No. 1 in New Orleans on upper Canal Street. His widow, Etna Esther Molyneaux survived him about 9 years and is buried in Greenwood Memorial Park in Fort Worth along with a number of her Ellzey family members.
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