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Can you imagine naming a little baby Decimus et Ultimus Barziza? It seems that Ignatius Barziza and his wife had run out of names when this son was born. Decimus was number ten. He had some impressive relatives - George Washington, Light Horse Harry Lee, the Byrds and the Burrs were Virginia relatives.

Decimus graduated from William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia in 1857 and then headed for Texas. And despite his goofy name, became a leading citizen here. He fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War and was a captain in Hood’s Brigade. He was wounded at Manassas and at Gettysburg where he was captured by Union forces and loaded on a train carry-ing prisoners. He jumped from the window of that moving train and headed for Canada. From Nova Scotia, he went to Bermuda and fi nally made it back to Texas where he was considered a hero.

He made his way to Baylor University where he got his law degree, and then went into poli-tics. Becoming a leader in the Texas Democratic Party, he was soon elected to the state legis-lature from Harris County and had a big part in settling the big dispute between Richard Coke and Edmund Davis. It seems Coke had been elected gover-nor, but his incumbent gover-nor, Edmund Davis, refused to vacate the governor’s offi ce. Davis and his armed guards barricaded themselves on the lower fl oor of the capitol build-ing. No one could get near him - until Decimus showed up - with a committee to examine the election returns. They soon proved that Coke was the real winner and before that day was over, Coke was the new gover-nor of Texas.

Decimus also led a minor-ity movement to block a bill granting an illegal extension of time to Texas and Pacifi c Railroad for complying with requirements for a land grant. Speaking against the bill on the fl oor of the House, Decimus vowed to block the vote by con-tinuing to speak until adjourn-ment time. But being forced by the sergeant at arms to resume his seat, Decimus and others walked out of the legislature - never to return. So Decimus began to practice law.

Ramblin’ Reubene

Reubene Scottnews@community-news.com

Decimus et Ultimus Barziza?

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Your Great-Grandparents loved banking with us.So will Your Great-Grandkids!

by Dominic GenettiThe Community News

As she walks through the halls of Aledo High School, Danielle Keuss appears to be your typical high school student.

She wears her backpack from class to class like all the other teenagers, but as it turns out she’s carrying a lot more weight on her shoul-ders than just a sack full of books.

She’s carrying the responsibilities of being the president of the Future Business Leaders of America for the entire state of Texas.

“I love it,” Danielle said. “For four-thou-sand kids to say, ‘We want you,’… it was excit-ing.”

Exactly one month ago, Danielle was elect-ed president of the FBLA after spending the previous academic year as vice president of the organization’s Fort Worth area, region seven. After some thought and persuasion, Danielle decided to run for the presidency. She made her formal announcement on a Thursday at a local convention and by the time it was over, Danielle was commander-in-chief.

It’s only the second time in the 30 years the FBLA club has been at Aledo High School that a Bearcat took over the reins for the entire state of Texas, but Danielle’s election is different. Probably because it didn’t surprise the organization’s adviser Jan Tonroy one bit that Danielle would be in charge for the 2010-2011 school year.

“She lives and breathes FBLA,” Tonroy said. “She has found her niche and she’s not afraid to talk to people, ask for things, ask for help.”

Tall and thin with long brown hair and wide, pearly-white smile, Danielle has been courted for school dances; however, there’s just no time for the young adult full of desire and ambition for the business world to spare. Originally, she wanted to go into marketing, but that was during her freshman year when she attended Central High School in Keller.

“I decided that’s too girly,” Danielle said with a laugh. “I can’t do that, I need to do something more on the man side.”

When she transferred to Aledo High and discovered the benefi ts of being a leader in FBLA, her personal goals were set.

“I want to be the person making decisions,” she said in a serious yet excited tone. “I tell my mom all the time … ‘I want to quit school and do FBLA all the time,’ that’s all I want to do right now.”

Despite having to answer to a board that has the fi nal say of what goes on for the organization, Danielle does have plans in the works for the approaching year. To start off she’ll attend offi cer training in Dallas next month where she’ll be giving a mini-work-shop on making a workshop.

The networking at the different work-shops, she said, is all part of the fun that

comes of not only being president, but being involved with the FBLA organization.

“We’ll have speakers come in and talk to us about marketing, fi nance, accounting, busi-ness presentation, management, and that’s how we get involved in business,” Danielle said.

Traveling, networking and acting older, is something is what also makes the business world fun for the aspiring student.

“We pull out our business cards and (it’s) like, ‘Hey’,” she said.

For the average student, the school year begins after a well deserved summer vaca-tion, but for Danielle the new year starts now, and it’s an adventure Tonroy said will benefi t Danielle the rest of her life.

“She conducts herself very professionally,” Tonroy said. “She’s so determined … she wants to be the best ever. It’ll be a wonderful expe-rience for her for later in life because she’s essentially running an organization.”

Following senior year, Danielle is looking to major in chemical engineering, maybe get her master’s in business or take a shot at polit-ical science. As far as the institutions she’s looking at, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of North Texas and Louisiana State University.

“LSU is my dream,” she said.

MADAM PRESIDENT

DOMINIC GENETTI/THE COMMUNITY NEWS

Danielle Keuss doesn’t have her own desk yet, nor even an office, but she will someday. She plans to have a career in business after earning a degree from UT-Austin, UNT, or LSU.

AHS junior will lead Future Business Leaders of America in Texas