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Biographies of Individuals in Texas History
3
Note: We try and put folks in their county of residence, so please check there
also.
VICTORIA.
As strange as it may appear, nevertheless, it is a fact, that despite the rapid civilization and development of the West, and the close commercial and social relations between Texas and the rest of the world, the circulation of newspapers and books descriptive of the country and its resources; many, the majority we may say, of the people, North and East, and especially, in other countries, have but a faint conception, or none, of the cattle interests and its details, in this pre-eminently cattle country. They have heard of ranches, and ranges and herds, and of "cattle kings," etc., but we dare say, few of them have an adequate idea of the possessions of a real live Texas "cattle king."
We present them, therefore, in the following pages, the details in the life of a typical cattle ranchman, a many-times-millionaire, who is "native to the manor born," and also, an outline of his father's career—a cattle king by his unaided exertions. Few, we dare say, ever dreamed in the "ould country" where O'Connor came from, of the possibilities for a poor boy, afforded in this glorious sun-kissed land; possibilities turned into achievements, by this son of the Emerald Isle, and his sons, who aptly illustrate the typical Texas ranchmen, and "successful men of Texas."
Thomas O'Connor, father of Dennis, the subject of this sketch proper, arrived in Texas, from Waxford, Ireland, in March 1834, and located in Refugio county. He served in the Texas war for independence, and was the youngest man in the battle of San Jacinto.* After the war was over, Mr. O'Connor returned to Refugio, and engaged in raising cattle, on a small scale, and manufacturing saddle-trees. He invested all his earnings in cattle, while the country was still open, and range free and unlimited.
*See affidavit affixed at foot of sketch.—Ed.
In 1873, to the great astonishment of his neighbors, O'Connor suddenly sold his cattle, and at a low price, and invested the proceeds in land! Land was so plentiful and so cheap, and range free, that it was a matter of surprise that he should think of buying, much less of making a sacrifice to do so; but the sequel proved the sagacity of his foresight, and justified the step; he foresaw that those broad rolling prairies could not always afford free grass, that the country would fill up, and such lands have a value. All the money he could get, then, he invested in stocking his possession; and as his capital permitted, he invested in more land, and more stock. Then he began fencing. He fenced the first ranch ever enclosed in Refugio county, comprising about ten thousand acres, though he owned much more at the time. He continued to build fences,—and let it be remembered, it was before the fence problem was solved, and that commodity made cheap by the introduction of the barbed wire,—until he had more than five hundred thousand acres enclosed. Think of over half a million acres of land under a rail, or any other fence, with upwards of one hundred thousand head of horned cattle dotting its emerald surface, and sufficient grass to feed and fatten them! This fine body of land, and his other pastures, lay in the counties of Refugio, Aransas, Goliad, San Patricio, McMullen and LaSalle, and is unsurpassed for grazing purposes, by any under the sun, not even excepting the broad savannahs of Brazil and Bolivia. Its estimated value was approaching four and a half million dollars, at the time of Mr. Thomas O'Connor's death, October 16, 1887. He was 68 years old, and this, and his other property, descended to his sons, Dennis, the subject of the following biography, and Thomas O'Connor, Jr. Besides this, he left $50,000 to Mrs. Mary Patterson. The business is still carried on by the two brothers, who have added several thousand acres of land. Mrs. O'Connor, wife of Thomas O'Connor, and mother of the two sons just mentioned, came from New York with her parents—the Fagans—in 1829, and settled in Refugio, where she married Thomas O'Connor, ten years later, in 1839, she having to ride to San Antonio on horse-back for the purpose. She died November 17, 1843, in Refugio, leaving two sons.
Coming now to the subject proper of this sketch—Mr. Dennis Martin O'Connor. He was, as we have said, eldest son of Thomas O'Connor of Ireland, and Mary Fagan; was born in Refugio, Texas, October 9, 1840. He was early placed at school, the best the country afforded, at Ingleside, in San Patricio county, where he received a fair English education. He also studied Latin, but the war coming on, his studies were interrupted, and his education left incomplete. In 1867-8-9, he essayed the life of a merchant, selling goods, with indifferent success, for two years or more. Not finding this business to his taste, he abandoned it, and engaged with his father in stockraising, and the management of his vast monied interests. When the war came on, Mr. O'Connor promptly enlisted as a private soldier, in 21st Texas Cavalry, and participated with that command in several smaller battles in Missouri and Arkansas. At present he is a member of the banking firm of O'Connor & Sullivan, of San Antonio, where, and in his cattle and land interests, he has, invested two millions of dollars, and as he is yet in the prime of life, there is no telling what he may be worth in the course of time.
Mr. O'Connor married in Montgomery, Ala. His wife's maiden name was Mary Virginia Drake, and they have had seven children; three of whom died young, to-wit: Thomas, Josephine and Virginia; and Thomas, being the revered name of the father and founder of the family, a second son was named for him: and there are now living Thomas, Mary, Martin and Joseph. In religion, Mr. O'Connor is a devout Catholic, and like many of that faith, he gives liberally and abundantly of his substance to the church, and to the support of indigent widows, the education of orphan children, and other benevolent purposes. Being, politically, a Republican, though never taking an active part in politics, or desiring any political honors, he has nevertheless contributed liberally to the campaign funds of his party when called upon to do so. He is at present Deputy United States Marshal of that district.
In point of physique Mr. O'Connor is not above the average size of men, being five feet, nine inches in height; he has a pleasing and prepossessing appearance, and in any assembly of citizens would be observed as no ordinary man. He is a man of decided character, strong in his attachments, and devoted to his friends, amongst whom he is noted for benevolence, and kindness of heart. He has dark hair and beard, not yet frosted by time, though he is at the present writing, entering his fiftieth year; and his clear, blue eyes denote vigorous intellect, and a gentle and sympathetic nature, never deaf to the cry of distress, nor blind to the merits of the deserving, who stand in need of a friend. There is no man in Texas, who more strikingly exemplifies and illustrates this work as a "type" of his class than Dennis Martin Connor.
AFFIDAVIT.
The State of Texas,)
Victoria County. )
W. L. Davidson being duly sworn, says, that he was long and intimately associated with the late Capt. R. J. Calder, and that just before his death he gave affiant the foregoing as a complete copy of the last muster roll of his company, and requested him to give it to the late Thomas O'Connor, stating at the time that the list of his company had lately been published, in which the name of J. O'Connor appeared instead of T. O'Connor. He also stated that Mr. O'Connor was the youngest boy in his company, and did his duty faithfully and well.
[Signed] W. L. Davidson.
Sworn to and subscribed before E. A. Perrenot, county clerk, Victoria county, Texas, 1888.
AFFIDAVIT.
The State Of Texas,
( Transcribed by Patty Robichaud)
CORSICANA.
If Mr. Jester is not, like the Hon. Elijah Pogram,—"one of the most remarkable men this country ever produced" his career certainly is a very remarkable one; but an impartial history of this time, and of this remarkable State, would furnish many similar to it, all illustrative of what a clear head, on a strong young body, and guided by strong will and perseverance, may achieve; illustrative of the trite saying that "the battle is not always to the strong, but to the active, the vigilant, and the brave." History, and especially that of the new West, teems with instances where such men have, taking their lives in their hands, and subjected to every species of privation and danger, carved out fortunes, colossal in their proportions, but comparatively few are the instances in more recent times, and amidst an advanced civilization, in which a poor boy, coming, a stranger to a strange land, without any advantage, whatever, except that afforded within himself, and especially cumbered, as was the subject of this sketch, has overcome mountain-like obstacles, achieving in the brief period of twenty years, both fortune and fame!
George Taylor Jester was born on a farm in Macoupin county, Illinois, August 23, 1847. He is a son of Levi and Diadema Jester. His father died in 1851, leaving the mother and six children, the oldest, ten years of age, and the youngest, an infant in arms, of only a few months. He left but little property, and this little served to support the family, and keep away the wolf from the door, until the oldest son and George, the subject of this biography, were old enough, and able to do something toward the family support. This begun when George was only ten years of age.
His grandfather, Hampton McKinney, had. in the year in which this grandson—George—was born, (1847), removed from Illinois to Texas, and had settled at Corsicana; he built the first house—a log cabin—in that now city. On the death of Mr. Jester, in '58, his wife gathered up her six little children, and made her way—somehow—to her father's cabin in Corsicana; since which time—31 years—the family have continually resided in that part of the State—at Corsicana. Mr. Jester, in speaking of that time and of the trip and his subsequent trials, says:
"This was before the days of railroads in Texas, and we came, all of us, and all we possessed, loaded in a two-horse wagon. I think, when we landed, I had the soil of every state between my toes, from Illinois to Texas. At that time Corsicana contained but few inhabitants. Soon after we arrived, the county commenced building a brick court-house, the first brick house ever erected in that section of the country, and I secured employment in bearing off brick, and hauling, at fifty cents a day. My brother and myself supported the family, and I attended a day school occasionally. All the education I received at school, was in Corsicana. I was 14 years old when the war of 1861 commenced, and during the war the schools were poor, and irregular. At 17 years of age I read law, when not at work, and at night, but abandoned it before I was prepared to receive license, on account of not being able to educate myself, and support my mother and sisters. At 18 years of age, I joined Hood's 4th Texas Regiment. That was the last year of the war, and before we reached Richmond, Lee had surrendered. During a part of the war, I worked on a farm for wages, receiving twelve dollars per month, and part of my duty was herding cattle. At the close of the war I worked hard, and made enough money to buy a wagon and two horses; and for two years I followed wagoning, and trading in horses and hides, on a small scale. At about 20 years of age, I concluded I had some ability which fitted me for better things, and accordingly, I sold my wagon and horses, and obtained a "situation" in a dry goods store in Corsicana, at $20 per month to begin with, and boarded myself. I clerked three years, my salary being increased, until it reached $125 per month; when I abandoned the place to commence business on my own account."
"I commenced merchandising in 1870, and continued until 1880, with success; during the time, for five years, I was engaged in buying cotton of the farmers, and shipping it direct to the spinners. Up to 1875, the spinners purchased their cotton only at the ports; not coming nearer the interior than Houston. I conceived the idea of buying direct from the producer, and shipping direct to the spinner, in New England. I visited the mills, and showed the owners how they could buy cotton cheap; and at the same time the farmers would get a better price for their cotton, as it would save the expense of the commission merchant, freight, etc., at the ports. I succeeded admirably, and introduced the system of buying direct from the planter, which, today is general; in fact the spinners buy most of their cotton from interior towns."
"In 1881 I retired from merchandising and cotton buying, and engaged in the banking business,—under the firm-name of Jester Bros., the firm consisting of myself and my two brothers, C. W. and L. L. Jester. In 1887 our bank was converted into the Corsicana National Bank, with a capital surplus of $125,000.00. Of this Company I am president and manager. The business is steadily increasing.''
Here is a remarkable record of success from the smallest beginnings. It is the result of hard, unceasing labor, directed by a shrewd mind and an indomitable will. Mr. Jester is at the present time, December, 1889, only forty-two years of age, and yet has amassed a large fortune, by his own unaided exertion, in twenty years. The example is a noble one, well worthy of study and emulation; a lesson to young men, and a terrible rebuke to that class who whine over their misfortunes. It reads like a fairy tale.
In addition to his banking business, Mr. Jester is engaged in farming and in raising "Shorthorn" and Jersey cattle. He owns three thousand acres in farms and pasture lands. Amongst them is the Valley Hill Stock Farm, near Corsicana, which embraces 1,100 acres, and is stocked with "Shorthorn" and Jersey cattle. The breeding of fine stock is a passion with him, and his leisure hours are spent at his rural home, surrounded by all that makes a country life pleasant. In 1882, Mr. Jester purchased some thoroughbreds in Kentucky, and established this farm. He has now a large herd of fine blooded cattle, second to none anywhere; and it is a matter of pardonable pride, and of which the State should be proud, that Mr. Jester has demonstrated the fact that Texas can grow other than the "longhorn" steers of ante-bellum days, and as cheaply. To him is due the credit of having improved the cattle of that section of the State to a wonderful degree, and more than any other man.
His whole life having been passed at Corsicana, and his career, of course, known to all the people, it may well be supposed they readily accord to Mr. Jester high social and business position, and value him as a citizen. He is a leading man among them, taking an active part in all public enterprises. Evidence of this appreciation is afforded in the fact that he is a Director and Treasurer of the Navarro County Bible Society; of the Corsicana Relief Association; of the Navarro County Fair Association; of the Corsicana Board of Trade; a stockholder in the Corsicana Street Railway Company, and in the Corsicana Manufacturing Company.
He is a member of the Methodist Church, and was lay-delegate to the General Conference that met in Richmond, Virginia, May, 1886, at which Conference Bishops Duncan, Calloway, Hendricks and Key were elected.
In politics, Mr. Jester is a staunch Democrat, as might be expected, but seems to have no political aspirations; for though repeatedly urged to become a candidate for the Legislature, as Representative or Senator, he has never permitted his name to be used, and has never held political office. He has, however been chosen a delegate to some four or five State Democratic Nominating Conventions, always without solicitation, and has participated with interest, if not zeal, in their deliberations.
Mr. Jester has been twice married. In 1871, he was united in marriage to Miss Alice Bates, who died in 1875, leaving him two children, a son, Claude Jr., and a daughter—named for her mother—Alice Bates. In 1880, five years after the death of his first wife, Mr. Jester married again, this time to Miss Fannie P. Gordon, and another son, Charles J. Jester, has been born to them. Both these ladies were beautiful and accomplished; and it is due to Mr. Jester to say that his present handsome fortune is the result of his individual and unaided labors, and that not a dollar of it was either inherited, or came through his marriage contracts.
In the natural course of things, it is reasonable to hope and believe that the subject of this sketch, who has done so much for the community in which he lives, and as for that, for the State of Texas, building up such a career and a fortune, will live many more years; and if the past be taken as presaging the future, he will be one of the money princes of Texas, and will go down to posterity thoroughly identified with the progress and development of the State.
( Transcribed by Patty Robichaud)
BROWNSVILLE.
James B. Wells, a well-known lawyer of Southwestern Texas, is the only son of James B. Wells and Lydia Ann Hastings, and was born at St. Joseph's Island, in Aransas County, Texas. His father, James B. Wells, Sr., was an officer in the United States Navy in 1836; and at one time, was master of the Texas Navy Yard, and a warm personal friend of the lamented Albert Sidney Johnson and Sam Houston. He received a thorough collegiate education in Boston and New York, and died in Aransas county, Texas, in 1880, at the advanced age of 70 years. Mrs. Wells, Sr., died in the same place in 1878. The subject of this sketch was educated at the University of Virginia, where, in addition to his literary and classical studies, he took a course in law under Jno. B. Minor, in the class of 1874-5, graduating with distinction. Later he prosecuted his studies in the office of Messrs. Gresham & Mann, of Galveston, taking at the same time a course in commercial law.
Removing to Rockport, Mr. Wells entered the practice of his profession, and has signally succeeded, distinguishing himself amongst his colleagues as a lawyer of more than ordinary ability. At first he was associated in practice with Judge Powell, who died in 1882. After which time he has practiced alone, until recently. His fame has extended beyond the limits of the State, and his practice embraces many counties within her borders. Like the majority of lawyers, Mr. Wells is an active politician, and has taken a conspicuous part in political affairs from the first; notably in the heated contest over the subject of Prohibition, Mr. Wells being an opponent of the measure, made speeches all over his district, and doubtless helped to lay that specter of discord forever in its little grave. He was Presidential Elector on the Cleveland and Hendricks ticket in 1884, and is, at present, a member of the State Democratic Executive Committee. He was also a delegate to the National Convention (Democratic) that nominated Hancock for President in 1880. Mr. Wells has no "war record," he being too young to have participated in that memorable struggle.
In religious belief Mr. Wells is a staunch Catholic.
He is Vice-President of the Southwestern Immigration Association, and takes a deep interest in the development of the State, and all that pertains to the welfare of his native Texas. He is a strong advocate for "deep water" on the coast, and was chosen by Governor Ross as a delegate to the recent (1889) Deep Water Convention at Denver.
Though desiring no political honors, Mr. Wells has served his party by representing his District in most of the State, County, and Senatorial Conventions since 1875, and has taken an active part for Democracy in every canvas, contributing both time and money to the cause. Notably he was active and efficient in the contest between Crain and Rentfro for Congress, and in the Schleicher and Ireland canvas, as a supporter of the former. At present Mr. Wells is one of the distinguished law firm of Wells, Stayton & Kleberg, at Brownsville and Corpus Christi. This Mr. Stayton (R. W.) is the only son of Chief Justice Stayton, of the Supreme Court, and the other member of the firm is Mr. R. J. Kleberg. Mr. Wells was married to Miss Pauline J. Kleber, a daughter of Joseph Kleber, of Brownsville, whose grandfather was Marshal Kleber, one of Napoleon's favorite Generals.
In stature, Mr. Wells is nearly six feet, and weighs 195 lbs.; tall, erect, and of commanding appearance; he has dark hair and eyes, and is characterized by a courteous and affable manner, which makes him the idol of his friends, of which he has an ever increasing host. He is one of the most active and stirring men of the time, and his friends predict a brilliant future for him, should he be spared. Mr. Wells, though actively engaged in business and public affairs, as we have said, is devoted to his family, and spends most of his leisure in the sanctuary of a happy home, surrounded by his accomplished wife and three interesting children.
( Transcribed by Patty Robichaud)
BEEVILLE.
Captain Allen Carter Jones is one of the best known and most popular men in Texas. He is, too, a self-made man; like so many of the hardy sons of Texas—having had no advantage in early life. His success is due to his unaided efforts, a keen business sagacity, and a prompt and decisive way of taking hold of things.
His parents were A. C. and Mary June Jones, and his grandfather, Jacob Jones, was a Captain in the revolutionary war, ('76.) He was born in Nacogdoches county, in 1830, and reared on the very borders of civilization. His boyhood was spent among scenes of privation and danger, when every man had to labor and fight. Of course, he had but little advantage in the way of education, only such as was afforded by country schools, irregularly and imperfectly conducted; and what education he has, is the result of after-study and reflection.
Captain Jones began life as a farmer and stock-raiser,—with a capital of $2500, at the age of 22; and now he has over $100,000 invested in business, lands and cattle. He removed to Goliad early in life. In 1858, 1859 and 1860 he served as Sheriff of Goliad county; later, was Treasurer of Bee county, which position he held some six or eight years; was elected to the Legislature, but his friends claim that he was defrauded of his seat by one Thos. A. Blair. In 1854 he married Miss Margaret L. Whitby, by whom he had three children, Martha M., William W. and Clara F. S. Their mother died when they were very young,— November 1, 1861.
On the breaking out of the civil war, in 1861, Mr. Jones enlisted as a private soldier, in Company E, Waller's Battalion, in Gen. Dick Taylor's command; and after eighteen months of hard service, was promoted to a Captaincy. He was then ordered to report for duty to Col. Santos Benavides, in West Texas, but falling in with Jno. S. Ford's command, on the San Fernandez, he went with them to Rio Grande City, and remained on duty with that command until the last gun of the Confederacy was silenced. As a soldier, Capt. Jones was noted throughout the army as a popular and influential officer, and held many positions of trust. The war being over, Mr. Jones retired to his home, and in 1871 began merchandising. This he followed until 1884, successfully. In those years he made the greater part of his fortune. After the death of his Wife he remained a widower up to 1871, when he married his present wife, Miss Caroline Jane Fields, of Goliad. She has given him no children. Capt. Jones attributes much of his success to the advice and wise counsels of his present wife. It is a matter of pride with the Captain that he was the first man to build a pasture fence in Bee county. He owns vast tracts of land in that county, and the town of Beeville is surrounded by his pastures. He takes great interest in stock raising, and has built many miles of the new style of fence, and consequently, when fence-cutting became an epidemic curse in Texas, and had spread all over the State, even to the borders of Bee county, and was threatening his and his neighbors' possessions, he took a bold stand in opposition to its further invasion. In this he was backed by the entire community of intelligent and law-abiding people, and to him Bee County, and adjacent counties, are indebted for the arrest of the plague, on their very borders, without loss to them. To-day he has more than 30,000 acres of fine pastures, around Beeville, stocked with fine graded Durham, and other blooded cattle. His family residence is in Beeville, and if he is not "monarch of all he surveys,"—he cannot, at least at one view, survey all of which he is lord and master.
Politically, the Captain is, of course, a Democrat, and though never desirous of holding any political office, nevertheless he has not kept altogether free from the contagion engendered in heated political campaigns, and once was so enthused as to "stump" the district (85th) for his favorite candidate. He is an old Mason, and has taken all the degrees up to the Commandery of Knights Templar. He takes an active interest in the advancement and development of the State and of his section; and it was due to his influence and exertions that Beeville was made a station on the S. P. R. R. and the Aransas Pass R. R.
The Captain stands six feet in his shoes, and is a man of dignified and commanding appearance. He has auburn hair and beard, streaked with gray; bright blue eyes, with a kindly light, and not infrequently a merry twinkle, as he recalls some incidents in his varied career; weighs 196 pounds, and is as erect as a young Kentuckian of twenty-five; a good neighbor, a warm friend and a God-fearing and law-abiding citizen.
( Transcribed by Patty Robichaud)
DALLAS.
This gentleman is of the sanguine-nervous temperament; full of energy, and not easily "dashed" or discouraged; failure does not dampen his ardor, nor make him lose faith in God nor in his own powers. He has known success and reverse, and, profiting by the latter, he is pursuing a career in which he has reached already, at an early age, distinction as a business man, and is valued as a citizen and a friend. His career has not been otherwise remarkable. Too young for a soldier, he has no war record; and like many whose lives are recorded in this work, he is a self-made man, who had little advantage in early life. That he has hope and ambition, is fully demonstrated in his record as a business man. He is, moreover, a native Texan, and a good type of her hardy and indomitable sons.
Born in LaGrange, Fayette county, he was placed at school early in life, and was grounded in the elements of an English education. Later he was placed in school at Houston, where, in addition to English, he studied French, German and Latin, but not thoroughly, and says himself now—"he has no knowledge of them." He left school at the tender age of 14 years, and set out in the world to make his fortune. His predilection being for the banking business, he made it his profession. He resided in Houston the greater part of his life, having passed twenty-six years in that city, whence he removed to Lampasas, residing there five and a half years. At Lampasas, Mr. Longcope was assigned the position of Assistant Cashier of the First National Bank of Lampasas. The Directors, observing his eminent fitness for the banking business, and appreciating his fidelity to their interests, soon advanced him to the responsible position of Cashier; from this, he became President of the bank. He is also President of the McCulloch County Bank, at Brady, and Secretary of the Texas Bankers' Association, a position of honor, if not of emolument; and is also Cashier, at present, of the Central National Bank at Dallas, having been elected to that high and responsible post in September, 1889. Mr. Longcope has had fourteen years banking experience, and may be regarded as illustrating, strikingly, the class to which he belongs—Texas bankers. Included in his experience, we should not forget to mention five and a half years service as secretary of a Loan Association, in Lampasas. In 1883, he lost everything he possessed, by fire, but he has gone on, undaunted, and fully recovered his losses in successful business.
In politics, Mr. Longcope is a conservative Democrat, "not a Bourbon," he says, and inclines to Randall's views on the tariff; takes little part in political campaigns, preferring to give his leisure hours to his interesting family, amidst the enjoyment of a happy home. As he expresses it, he is not "one of the boys." In his personal appearance, there is nothing remarkable. He is five feet, eight or nine inches in height, has light blue eyes, and wears a light blonde mustache.
In religion, Mr. Longcope is a Methodist. He is not a member of any secret society,—does not believe in such organizations. His parents were Charles Septimus Longcope, and Courtney W. McAshen. His wife was Miss Madeline Beall, a daughter of Judge William Beall, of Lampasas, and they have two children, both girls—aged respectively two and four years—Courtney and Amy, the idols of his heart and household. Mr. Longcope is justly regarded as one of the foremost citizens and business men of North Texas.
( Transcribed by Patty Robichaud)
BASTROP.
H. M. Garwood is a son of C. B. and F. B. Garwood, and was born in the town of Bastrop, January 11, 1864. He received a thorough literary and classical education at the University of the South, at Sewanee, Tennessee, graduating with distinction in the class of 1883. He chose the profession of law, for which his talents and education eminently fitted him, and entering at once upon the dreary routine, undaunted by difficulties, and undismayed by the formidable appearance of volumes upon volumes which he must master, he applied himself with commendable diligence, under the able and kind pupilage of Hon. Joseph D. Sayers, present Congressman from the 10th District. In November, 1885, he presented himself for examination, was duly licensed, and admitted to the bar. Beginning practice at once in his native town he has, for once at least, falsified the trite saying about a prophet in his own country, for he has now both honor and distinction, unusual for a man of his few years in the profession. The citizens of Bastrop, recognizing Mr. Garwood's talent, and having had him under their eye from his infancy, appreciated the stuff of which he is made, saw in him, at once, the qualities which, as a Legislator, would reflect credit upon them, and give them an able and working representative, sent him by a handsome majority to the session of the Twentieth Legislature. Here he took prominent place at once, and was appointed on the Judiciary Committee No. 2, of the House, and on the Committee on Constitutional Amendments, and as a special trust, he was put on the special committee to whom all the educational bills of the House were referred. In 1888 Mr. Garwood was elected County Judge of Bastrop county; is a member of the State Democratic Executive committee.
In religious faith Mr. Garwood is a staunch Episcopalian, having been brought up and educated under the aegis of the church, He is a member of the Knights Templar, and an Odd Fellow.
Mr. Garwood's career, though brief, has been full of honors. We doubt if there is, within the limits of the State, a man of his years who has, in so short a time, risen to the prominence he has, politically and socially, or achieved the distinction accorded him in a profession so crowded with brilliant men. His talent is recognized upon every occasion, and he is put forward as a representative man of his section and people. At the dedication of the State Capitol, he was chosen to deliver the Masonic address; a duty which he discharged with great honor to himself. In the House of Representatives, Mr. Garwood, having introduced an amendment to Senate Bill No. 219, known as the Land Bill, made a speech, which, for eloquence and sound logic, has rarely been excelled within those classic halls, and which won for him, new and imperishable laurels.
Politically, Mr. Garwood is a thorough Democrat, but takes a conservative view of State and Federal Government. In form and feature he has a prepossessing presence, being of medium height and of slight, but compact build. His features are chaste, and decidedly intellectual, denoting strength of character, purpose and resolve, his manners are easy and graceful, and decidedly impressive.
Mr. Garwood has fixed his aim high, and should he be spared, his friends predict for him a career of honor, fame and usefulness. There are few, if any young men of the present time who give richer promise or greater hope of success in the broad arena of politics than this gentleman—the youngest Representative in the Twentieth Legislature. He is unmarried.
( Transcribed by Patty Robichaud)
SAN MARCOS.
Daniel A. Glover, son of William and Martha Glover, was born in Granville county, North Carolina, in 1830, but was removed to Tennessee with his father and family in 1839.
At the death of Daniel's father, his relatives took charge of him and sent him to school at Despores, St. Louis County, Mo., where he received a liberal education, but when he was about fifteen years of age he was placed in business in St. Louis where he received the training and groundwork for his subsequent successful conduct of business.
In 1856, he located at Redgely, Platte County, Missouri, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits and farming on a cash capital of three or four thousand dollars.
After residing nine years at Redgely, and with moderate success in business, he removed to Princeton, Kentucky, where he became associated with his brother, J. L. Glover, in general merchandise. This firm was very successful and soon accumulated handsome fortunes for both partners.
Mr. Glover closed up his business in Kentucky in 1876, and removed to San Marcos, Texas, and forming a partnership with L. W. Mitchell, under the firm name of Mitchell & Glover, established a banking house at that beautiful and flourishing town. This firm conducted the business for two years, when it was succeeded by D. A. Glover & Co., T. H. Glover, son of Daniel, being a partner.
In 1884 the business of this firm becoming so successful and extensive, it was merged in the Glover National Bank, with D. A. Glover as President, and T. H. Glover as Cashier.
In addition to his interest in the bank, Mr. Glover has large private means that are constantly augmented by conservative and safe investments.
Mr. Glover has been twice married; the first time to Miss Martha Dunlap, of Platte county, Mo., by whom he had three children, only one of which, Thomas H., survived his mother, who died in 1862.
In 1866 he was again married, to Miss F. H. Mitchell, of Henderson, Tenn., by whom he had one son, Frank D., who is a student at a Western College.
Mr. Glover has long been an active member of the Methodist church, and in politics he is a Democrat, and while he manifests the proper interest of the citizen in all public affairs, he has never been a politician or candidate for office.
He is now (1890) in his 60th year of age. He is five feet nine inches in height, and is compactly and well built. He has a fair complexion, gray eyes and beard.
Mr. Glover is an enthusiastic sportsman and is one of the best shots and expert anglers in the State. He enjoys life, but is a remarkably well preserved man, and his excellent health and genial nature give him the promise of a green old age.
In the list of successful men there are none who have more enviable surroundings and prospects than he.
( Transcribed by Patty Robichaud)
GALVESTON.
Leon Blum is a native of Alsace, at one time, a department of France, at another, a part of the German Empire. He is the son of Isaac and Julie Blum, and was born at Gunderschoffer, in Alsace, in the year 1837. He is therefore, at the present time, 52 years of age.
Mr. Blum received instruction in his native land in the industrial branches, and served an apprenticeship with a tinsmith, it being a law in that country that all males, without distinction of rank or social position, shall learn some useful trade. But this pursuit not being congenial, he did not follow it as a means of livelihood. He had a laudable ambition to fill a loftier position in the affairs of life, to take a higher and nobler part in the world's work than was afforded within the narrow confines of a village tin-shop, and believing himself capable of succeeding in mercantile life, for which he had an aptness and a preference, as well as a degree of qualification imparted by his early methodical training, he at once made the venture; and correctly assuming that he would find a broader field for operation in this blessed land of liberty, he emigrated in the spring of 1854, settling in Richmond, Texas. Here his ventures being carefully managed and watched, were eminently successful; here he became, as it were, thoroughly trained in the elements of trade, and practically acquainted with all its principles and details; and his capital having augmented in a corresponding degree, he felt the need of a broader field. Accordingly he selected Galveston for his future home, it being the chief seaport and shipping point for the staple products of the State of Texas, a commodity which he handled very largely; and being impressed, no doubt, with the belief that the city would some day become the metropolis of the southwest.
Closing up his business therefore at Richmond, Mr. Blum removed to Galveston in 1869. Here he at once widened his operations, until his trade reached into the remotest portions, not only of Texas but of the Southwest. He became at once the largest importer of dry goods in the State, supplying the merchants of the interior throughout this and adjoining States; and receiving in return immense shipments of cotton, became one of the largest exporters also.
It must not be inferred from the foregoing that the subject of this sketch is a mere shop-keeper; he is an importer in the largest and broadest sense, his operations reaching into every field of industry, into every country where goods are manufactured to supply the wants of man. This requires not alone capital and business capacity, but also a knowledge of men, of human nature, combined with a high degree of executive ability. He must, necessarily employ vast numbers of men; he must understand them, and know not only their best, but their weak points, and how to train and govern them so as to make them best answer his ends, and to harmonize all to one grand purpose, success.
Mr. Blum has invested largely in lands in Texas, and engaged in cultivating them; and yet, with all these complications of business affairs, under his able generalship, everything runs smoothly, and without friction or discord.
In ----, Mr. Blum was married to Miss Henrietta Levy, of Corpus Christi. They have two children, both daughters, to-wit: Cecile, now Mrs. Aaron Blum, and Leonora, the wife of F. St. Goar, Esq., of New York.
In political faith Mr. Blum is a Democrat, but he does not participate actively in political affairs; he is a member of the Masonic fraternity.
It is to be assumed that ample means are at his command, but it is impossible even to approximate the amount of money which he has constantly employed in his business, or to estimate what he is worth in worldly goods. He is blessed with an ample fortune, all of which was made by his unaided effort, in honest and honorable trade, and being so blessed, he is not unmindful of the misfortunes of others, never blind to the merits of the deserving but unsuccessful, nor deaf to the appeals of the unfortunate; for he is a liberal giver of his store to the worthy, a generous friend in need to those in distress. Not only is he noted for his private charity and good deeds, but being an earnest and ardent advocate of general education, he has donated large sums of money for school purposes, and given with a lavish hand to all church enterprises, without regard to sect or denomination; in fact, he is identified prominently with every public, especially if it be a benevolent enterprise.
At this writing, Mr. Blum is at the zenith of his prosperity. Texas is justly proud of her foster son; he represents and illustrates in his career the highest type of her successful men. His example is wholesome; he has contributed incidentally largely to the growth and development of the commerce of the State; thousands of his countrymen, encouraged by his example, have followed him to these hospitable shores, and constitute to-day, an important element of our thrifty population.
In personal appearance, Mr. Blum is of the Saxon type; he is five feet and eleven inches in height, with fair complexion, and bluish-gray eyes; his physique is well proportioned, and he is what one may call a fine looking man.
For more than a decade Leon Blum has ranked as the leading merchant in Texas; and his commercial standing has never at any time been other than the very highest and best.
( Transcribed by Patty Robichaud)
GALVESTON.
This gentleman so well and favorably known throughout Texas, and identified with public affairs, is essentially a "selfmade-man." He is still a comparatively young man, and if the past is to be taken as indicative of the future, a brilliant and enviable career awaits him. Walter Gresham was born in Kings and Queens county, Virginia, and came to Texas in 1866, settling in Galveston on the last day of that year. His father was Edward Gresham, and his mother Isabella Mann. He received every advantage in the way of education, having gone through the University of Virginia, in both literary and law departments.
Although very young at the breaking out of the war, he enlisted as a soldier in the Confederate cause, joining "Lee's Rangers;" he afterwards served in Company "H," in the 24th Virginia Cavalry.
Mr. Gresham came to Galveston a young lawyer, with nothing but his education, his pluck and determination to win, a stranger. His early days were a hard struggle; but talent is never long without proper appreciation in an intelligent community, and when conjoined with certain other elements of success which this man possessed in an eminent degree, it is only a matter of time and opportunity when it will assert itself successfully. The bar at Galveston at that time contained many brilliant men; there were Ballinger, Jack, Mott, Sherwood, Royal T. Wheeler, Frank Spencer, George Mann, and others, contact with whose intellect sharpened the wits, and stimulated the energies of the aspiring young solicitor. He devoted himself heart and soul to the study of the law, the methods of practice, the rulings, etc., and posted up on decisions and precedents. In a short time he was recognized as a "foeman worthy of the steel" of the ablest among his distinguished confreres. The possession of qualities which eminently fitted him for the position, legal ability, sterling integrity, a genial and winning manner, was soon recognized by the bar and the people; he begun to make himself felt and feared as an opponent, and was successful in his pleadings. At the instigation of many of the older members of the bar, he became a candidate for District Attorney. He was elected in 1872 to that responsible position, and served three years. He left the office with an excellent record. He represented his constituents in the Twentieth Legislature. Here, too, he made a brilliant record, taking a leading part in all important measures, and aided in shaping many of the wise and much-needed laws that were enacted by that body. He was placed on the most important committees, and served as chairman of that of Ways and Means. It is needless to say Mr. Gresham is a Democrat.
The judicious investment of his earnings at a time when the growth of Galveston was unprecedented, the purchase of outlying lots, and the subsequent purchase of what was called "wild-lands," has made Mr. Gresham a rich man. He early took an active interest in railroad projects, being, we believe, one of the prime movers in the building of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe road. He invested in stocks. The road became a pay-investment, and thus augmented his already large fortune. He became a director of, and soon thereafter, the Second Vice President of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe railroad.
Mr. Gresham is short of stature, being five feet, eight inches in height, with blue eyes, and light brown hair. He is slightly inclined to corpulence, and weighs 170 pounds.
He does not believe in secret orders, and is not a member of any of the many organizations of the day.
His wife, we believe, is a kinsman distantly removed, bearing his mother's maiden name, Mann. In 1869 he was married to Miss Josephine C. Mann, of Galveston, a sister of Hon. George Mann. They have seven children,—Essie, Josephine, Walter, T. D., Frank S., Beulah, and Philip.
Mr. Gresham resides in his elegant home, the fruits of his unaided labors, surrounded by a happy young family, to whom he is devoted, and is universally esteemed by a large circle of friends.
( Transcribed by Patty Robichaud)
KYLE.
Col. Robert J. Sledge is one of the most extensive planters and stock raisers in the State of Texas, and every enterprise, public or private, that has come within the reach of his grasp and aid has received the impress of his versatile genius and indomitable energy. Of vast mental and practical resources and wonderful combination of executive powers, he has contributed as much or more than any one man to the splendid development of his adopted State. This may seem mere hyperbole to a casual observer, but after he has ascertained the different capacities in which Col. Sledge has served public and private enterprise and industry, it will not seem an exaggeration but a due meed of praise for his services, and one to which he is properly entitled.
Robert John Sledge is the son of Robert and Frances Sledge, his mother having been a Miss O'Brien, whose grandfather was the identical O'Brien who lead the Irish rebellion of 1798.
The subject of this sketch was born in Warren county, North Carolina, on the 31st of July, 1840, and educated at the celebrated private school of Ebenezer Crocker, at Whitis Creek Spring, near Nashville, Tenn.
The teachers of these ante-bellum schools were fully competent to teach the entire college curriculum, and it was their pride to send out to the world the best educated young men. Young Sledge took advantage of his opportunities and entered the conflict of life fully equipped with a thorough English and classical education.
He came to Texas in 1865, and settled first at Chapel Hill, Washington county. At that time the H. & T. C. railroad had just commenced to reach out its iron arms to gather in the carrying trade of Texas. Col. Sledge was employed on the Central branch of that road for two years, and at the same time was engaged in farming.
He soon perceived that he could enlarge the scope of his operations by resigning his railroad employment and removing farther into the interior of the State.
In 1875 he purchased 10,000 acres in Hays county, which has turned out to be the very best ranch for his purposes in Texas. He has since somewhat curtailed its area to give it better and more convenient proportions. The ranch is known over the State as the "Pecan Springs Ranch." Its splendid grass and cereal capacity has enabled him to develop stock raising to great perfection; especially has he paid attention to breeding and raising mules, and such has been his success, it may be regarded as a mule ranch. His mules equal in muscle, sinew, bone and size the celebrated Kentucky mules, and he has been able to realize an average of $400 per pair for them.
He also has herds of fine cattle of imported origin that command the highest prices in the market as superior stock.
Col. Sledge was a Confederate soldier during the inter-state conflict, and served with Gens. Polk and Cheatham. As a soldier in every position in life he did his duty faithfully and gallantly.
On the 25th of July, 1867, he married the daughter of Col. Terrell Jackson, of Washington county, Texas.
Outside of his private enterprise he has been a representative man of the agricultural interests and development of his adopted State.
For the last eight years he has been the Texas representative in the "Farmers' National Congress," of which Col. Beverly, of Virginia, is President. This body is composed of the wealthiest and most intelligent farmers from every agricultural section of the Union, and by its co-operation and publications has done more than any body of men to elevate farming into a science, and crown the efforts of the most modest farmer with success. It has codified and applied the great laws of nature and chemistry to the highest producing power of the different soils.
Col. Sledge was a member of the Congresses that assembled at Atlanta, Nashville, St. Paul, Indianapolis, Topeka and other points, and has been an enthusiastic and most useful contributor to its literature. Under his management, as has been generally admitted by the representatives from other States, Texas is better organized than any other State represented in this Congress.
He is also a member of the Board of the National and State Alliance, and he has contributed a majority of the stock to the establishment of the Economic Publishing Company of Washington, D. C , which company publishes a weekly newspaper with that name, devoted to the furtherance of the interests of the order and the promulgation of scientific facts connected with the culture of the soil, of which company he is President.
Colonel Sledge is also one of the three who composed the National Cotton Committee, and was one of the active founders of the New Orleans Exposition.
It would not be in the design and compass of this work to deal in detail of all the services rendered by the distinguished gentlemen whose biographies compose it. Many of them, as the subject of this sketch, deserve, and will doubtless receive posthumous biographical honors more worthy of their services, but it will be seen that the busy life of an active brain has been used largely by Colonel Sledge for implanting those truths of science that relieve to such a large extent the manual labor of the farmer and yield him larger and more remunerative crops for the market.
Such a man it has been attempted to give an idea of; wide in mental scope and purpose, earnest, zealous and intelligent, he spares no work or energy to elevate and bring to perfection the independent life of the farmer, and to make him what he ought to be, not the slave of the plow, but the intelligent and philanthropic country gentleman, whose ideal has so often been realized, especially in our glorious Southland, and of whom Colonel Sledge stands forth a prominent and conspicuous member.
Colonel Sledge has no political ambitions; the halls of legislation have no charms for him, and he can only be found there when some member needs information, or bills proposed for the welfare of the farming interests of the country are to be prepared by him for some member to introduce and have all the honor pertaining to it.
Colonel Sledge is six feet three inches in height, compactly built and well proportioned, erect and imposing in appearance, and highly cultivated in the amenities and manners of social intercourse. He is a fluent and piquant controversialist, and able by his ready powers to lead the subject of discussion, and by his fine intelligence to control the minds of his auditory. He has a large head, ample brow, keen eyes and prominent features, and would be remarked upon in any assembly of gentlemen, however distinguished.
He is in the vigor and prime of physical and intellectual maturity, and stands to-day the foremost man in his occupations and designs in the State of Texas, the embodiment and illustration of the independent farmer.
( Transcribed by Patty Robichaud)
TAYLOR.
J. J. Thames, the subject of this brief biography, illustrates what a man may do in this country, even unaided, and in spite of adverse circumstances; how a man of energy and intelligence may succeed, from small beginnings, in building up a fortune and a name, by the right kind of application and determination. He had few advantages in early life, and no money, yet to-day, after a residence of only six years in Texas, he has one of the largest and best paying drug businesses in the State, and a host of friends.
Mr. Thames is a native of Mississippi, and is a very young man to be so well and favorably known in business circles—being only twenty-eight years of age. He is a son of Joseph Thames and Mary Lavinia Green, of Mississippi, and was born May 9, 1861. His mother was a member of the Green family, so well known in Mississippi, and who came to that State as early as 1842, settling on what is known as "The Purchase," east of Pearl river. To his mother, who was a woman of uncommon intelligence and worth, Mr. Thames is indebted for his success in life, which was due to his early and careful training at her hands. His father was killed in battle at Iuka, Miss., and the subject of this sketch, then an infant, was left with his mother. To the raising and training of her only child this good woman devoted herself, and the foundation of his education he received at her hands. Later, he had the advantage of attending the High School at Crystal Springs, Mississippi. At the age of seventeen she gave him a small start in business. Placing $500 in his hands he was told to make his fortune. This sum he invested in drugs and opened a little store at Wesson, a small manufacturing town on the Illinois Central railroad, in Copiah county, Miss.
Becoming dissatisfied with the very limited scope for business afforded in so small a community,—although he made money,— it being impossible to enlarge his business, Mr. Thames closed up his affairs and immigrated to Texas, settling in Taylor, Williamson county, in January, 1883. Before leaving Mississippi, however, Mr. Thames had become interested in one of the fair daughters of old Copiah, and winning her, brought her to share his fortunes in the new home which he should build up for her in Texas. Her name was Cynthia Bennett, a member of one of the oldest and most aristocratic families of Mississippi. They have one little child, Charles Egbert Thames, the light of the household. Mr. Thames, upon his arrival at Taylor, purchased property, and immediately begun the sale of drugs. He has prospered, and at present has $10,000 invested in business, which sum he is turning over and over with the prospect of becoming one of our richest, as he is one of the most successful men of the day. In politics he is a staunch Democrat, but has no political aspirations,—preferring to pursue the even tenor of a quiet life. He is a member of the Baptist church; is a Mason, and a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
( Transcribed by Patty Robichaud)
GALVESTON.
The Hon. George P. Finlay is a fine specimen of intellectual and physical manhood. He is six feet four inches in height, and measures fully up to that standard in mental strength. He is a leading lawyer at one of the finest and strongest bars of the country, that of the courts of Galveston, Texas.
His grandfather and grandmother were natives of North Ireland, and in 1770, they emigrated to this country, and settled in North Carolina. Here, together with a large family they reared, James Finlay, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born. He exhibited the traits of his lineage, Scotch-Irish, for from his youth he was remarkable for enterprise, sound judgment and intrepidity. He fought in the Seminole war, and as a pioneer of civilization, he found a home in Mississippi.
The mother of George P. Finlay was a native of South Carolina, of a revolutionary family. She was a Miss Cada Lewis, before her marriage to James Finlay, daughter of Joel Lewis, a highly respected citizen of Brandon, Mississippi, and a sister of Everett and Hugh Lewis, of Gonzales county.
George P. Finlay has two brothers, Luke W. Finlay, a lawyer, of Memphis, Tennessee, and Oscar E. Finlay, a lawyer, of Graham, Young county, Texas.
George P. Finlay was born in Augusta, Perry county, Mississippi, November 16, 1829. His parents moved to a farm about two miles south of Brandon, Rankin county, Mississippi, the same year, where he was raised and educated. He took a thorough collegiate course, and was graduated from Brandon College in the class of 1850. He then entered the law office of E. H. Lombard, Esq., of Brandon, and attended law lectures at the Louisville, Kentucky, Law School, from which he was graduated in 1852.
He taught school for a while, in Mississippi, to obtain the means to settle and commence the practice of his profession in Texas.
He came to Texas in 1853, and settled at Lavaca, Calhoun county, where he was engaged in an extensive practice of law, in partnership with Hon. J. J. Holt, one of the most eminent lawyers in the State, until 1873, when he removed to Galveston.
Geo. P. Finlay was married to Miss Carrie Rea. in Lavaca, November 16, 1854. His wife was a native of Booneville, Missouri, and was born May 13, 1836. She was the daughter of Horsley Rea, who was accidentally killed in 1848, west of San Antonio, while on his way to California, with his family, and Pamelia Ewing, who was the daughter of the Rev. Finis Ewing, the founder of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and a sister of United States Senator Ewing, of Illinois, and of Judge Ewing, late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri.
The mother of Mrs. Finlay, Mrs. Pamelia Ewing Rea, died in Austin, Texas, in 1881. Mrs. Carrie Rea Finlay has three living sisters; Mrs. Mary Forbes, who married Robert M. Forbes, a Texas veteran, and member of the Texas Constitutional Convention of 1846, who died in 1887, and his widow now resides with her son-in-law, Colonel Wm. G. Sterrett, at Dallas, Texas; Mrs. Florence Glenn, wife of Major John W. Glenn, of New Orleans, and Mrs. Jessie Evans, wife of Wm. E. Evans, of Galveston, Texas.
Mr. and Mrs. Finlay have three children: Julia, wife of Hart Little, born August 27, 1854, who has two children, Julia, born in 1882, and George Finlay, born in 1885.
Quitman Finlay, born July 21, 1865, a lawyer practicing in partnership with his father, at Galveston.
Virgilia Octavia Finlay, born March 12, 1870, unmarried.
George P. Finlay was made a Mason in 1854, and became Master of a Lodge of A. F. and A. M., and is now a Knight Templar. In 1861-2, he was State Senator of the Texas Legislature, representing Victoria county, the Twenty-fourth Senatorial District. He also represented the same district in the Thirteenth Legislature, 1873. He was a member of the House of Representatives, representing Galveston in the sixteenth and seventeenth sessions of the Legislature, 1879 and 1881. He served as Chairman of Judiciary Committee of the Senate in 1873, and Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives in the sixteenth and seventeenth sessions of 1879 and 1881.
He was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Public Schools of Galveston from 1881 to 1887. He organized the system, and is known as the father of the Public Schools of Galveston.
WAR RECORD.
In 1846, George P. Finlay joined the First Mississippi Rifles, the celebrated regiment commanded by Colonel Jefferson Davis, and served through the Mexican war with that regiment.
In 1862, as soon as the Senate adjourned, of which he was a member, and without waiting to serve the second session of the Senate, he volunteered in the Confederate States service, and was commissioned as Captain of a Company in the Sixth Texas infantry, commanded by Colonel Garland and Lieutenant-Colonel Scott Anderson. He was captured with his regiment at Arkansas Post, January 11, 1863, and was confined, first in the prison at Columbus, Ohio, and afterwards at Fort Delaware. He ' was exchanged at Richmond, Virginia, May, 1863.
He served in Georgia under Generals Bragg and Johnson, and the last year of the war he served in the Trans-Mississippi Department, under General Kirby Smith, as Judge Advocate.
Mr. Finlay, it goes without saying, is a Democrat, and was the nominee of that party for Congress in the Seventh Congressional District of Texas, in 1882, but was defeated.
He was City Attorney for Galveston in 1878, 1885, 1886, 1887, 1888 and 1889.
Mr. Finlay, his wife and three children, are members of the Episcopal Church.
He is six feet four inches in height, and has earned the sobriquet of the "Tall Sycamore." His appearance is commanding, and aids in impressing his fine oratory upon his hearers. He has a fair complexion, gray eyes, dark brown hair and beard, now slightly silvered with gray. He has a large head, is full chested, stands straight, a fine open countenance, and intelligent and expressive features. He ranks with the first in his profession, and as a man and citizen he has the esteem and confidence of all who know him. He is genial, courteous and benevolent, and now, with a splendid constitution and robust health, he has promise of many years of usefulness to his family and to his State.
Quitman Finlay was married to Miss Alice Josephine Downs, at Waco, Texas, on the 6th of November, 1889.
( Transcribed by Patty Robichaud)
R. M. Page.FORT WORTH.
The subject of this sketch, R. M. Page, of the growing city of Fort Worth, Texas, whose portrait is herewith presented, is a native of old Virginia; and was born near Orange Court House, Orange County, Va., on the banks of the swift-running waters of the historic Rapidan, January 1, 1842. Later on, his parents, R. F. and Sarah W. Page, with others of quite a large family, removed to Greene county, of which Stanardsville, Va., is the seat. It was here he acquired an elementary English course of education, which served to qualify him in a manner for the stubborn conflicts of life, which in warp and woof partake of the real nature of knightly tourneys and battles hotly waged for the many prizes to be won. Viewed in the light of his hard-won successes, considering the narrowness of his early training, Mr. Page may, with sincere and unaffected pride, point to his career and record as substantial evidence of the fact of his being a man of affairs, alike shrewd and keenly observant, and withal one of ostensibly superior merit. To an ambition to forge ahead and achieve vantage-ground in commercial life, is due in no small degree whatever of fortune he enjoys. Habits of industry, economy and sobriety, have been to him as he claims, no mean aids and props in helping to achieve important triumphs, and in assisting to garner up and preserve their beneficent fruits. A religious regard for and the observance in strictness, of sound principles of business, and the contraction of simple habits of life has, as may be imagined, held sway, as it were, over his mind, and guided his energies in the acquisition of his large fortune. As a result, he is now in the enjoyment of a princely income, which secures to him a life of luxurious ease and cloyless independence. Unaided by the accidents of fortune or adventitious circumstances, he may be fairly cited as exemplifying in his business methods and habits, what, truly is possible of attainment at the hands of the aspiring and resolute young men of the rising generation. In view of his broad acquirements in diverse fields of useful knowledge, he is justly esteemed the architect of his own fortune; and is rightly racked off and grouped with that remarkable galaxy of pushing, aggressive busy-bodies, most fittingly entitled the world over "self-made men." Confessedly, to this class of stalwart organizers, mankind is largely indebted for that foresight, and energy of mind which inaugurates wholesome innovations and blazes the way for each advance step in the direction of the development of the world's boundless material resources.
The Pages of the "Old Dominion," whose numerical strength make them appear almost ubiquitous, and whose pleasant and hospitable homes are to be found dotting and beautifying the most favored sections of the grand old State, can boast an ancestry of which they may well feel proud. It has been said by some of our best writers that Virginian society was but, in its early stages and mature development, a continuation of the most cultivated society of old England. The most gifted of the ancestral progenitors of this family acted and bore a leading and conspicuous part in the heroic struggle and protracted war for independence. In the crises of her fate, Virginia, ever renowned as being the fairest of the fair, the proudest of the proud, and the bravest of the brave, gladly welcomed such around her council fires. Diligent inquiry discovers, that stations the most exalted, involving the most sacred trusts and the highest honors, were bestowed upon such by the suffrages of their countrymen, in recognition of meritorious services. At the outbreak of the civil war the subject of this sketch was sojourning in Saline county, Mo. Hostilities being begun his instincts naturally led him to enter the Confederate service, in which he enlisted as a private. It was not ordained, however, that he should remain and serve as such very long. His manly bearing as a soldier did not pass unnoticed, as the sequel reveals. In recognition of valuable services rendered Maj.-Gen. Jno. S. Marmaduke, as a bold and daring scout and for other soldierly conduct, he was singled out by him as.one pre-eminently worthy of promotion; and, was accordingly commissioned to recruit and organize a company for the regular service. The dispatch with which this task was set about and accomplished, is much to his credit, and argued well his possession of the highest qualities of a recruiting officer. To his credit in the main was due the organization of Company "A" 10th Missouri Cavalry, C. S. Army, of which he was elected Captain. The conspicuous eminence of the army of Missouri, in all essential virtues which makes for the honor of American manhood, in the rare union of the attributes of fortitude, hardy endurance of privations, daring and courage, is known of all men, and is but simply the fruitage of duty well and heroically performed. The war being fought to an issue, Capt. R. M. Page repaired to Memphis, Tennessee, at which place he engaged in the produce and commission business, which he prosecuted for several years with moderate success. In the summer of 1874, he came to Texas and located at McKinney, at which place he embarked in the lumber business, very much to his profit, with a cash capital of $6,000. As he prospered, a new horizon and a larger field for venture opened before him. He saw the policy of vigorously undertaking new enterprises; and, under the spur of impulses generated, established lumber yards at various other eligible points within the State; seven in all being the number of his plant. Thus he began to feather his nest and to rapidly accumulate under a wise conduct of his extensive enterprises, much additional capital, and to prepare the way for real estate ventures of most singular good luck and fortune. Thus too, was builded the scaffolding from which as from a Pisgah he could behold, not only his advantages, but likewise the virtues and emoluments of the prosperous business of banking. The causes which have most contributed to Capt. Page's pre-eminence in the highest walks of business life and existence, have been outlined above. Today he walks proudly erect, one of the most upright and respected bankers and men of affairs to be met with anywhere within the borders of our imperial State. His investment in the three lines, viz.: lumber, real estate and banking, represent as the outcome of his sleepless vigilance and toilsome labors, the handsome sum of $750,000 capital. He is known to be a confirmed and incorrigible old bachelor, much devoted to his extensive library and an admirer of clean, clever little children, which he regrets, as he informs us, are awful scarce. In politics he is a simon-pure Democrat; and, while disowning the profession of the politician, he sometimes by way of diversion, employs his leisure moments in writing racy, crisp and breezy articles on current political topics, for the press. He accepts as embodying the soul of wisdom, the advice given the youth of Athens by the author of the oration on the crown— Demosthenes—that it was best to eschew politics as a profession. He likewise bears nobly in mind the characterization of public life by the barefooted philosopher of Athens—Socrates—"That it was but a den of wild beasts." His life embodies a lesson and points a moral which may and should be well and profitably pondered and studied.
( Transcribed by Patty Robichaud)
GALVESTON.
In reviewing the record of the lives of successful men of the day and generation in which we live, it is interesting to the writer of such sketches to note from how many standpoints we must consider what may, and what may not be regarded as a successful career, and what is most worthy in such records of preservation, in order that we may present a true photograph of the character and achievements of the subjects of such sketches.
This is peculiarly the case in undertaking the task of inditing, with any consideration for brevity, the political and official life of the subject of this sketch, the Hon. R. L. Fulton, of Galveston, Texas.
From the volumes of matter, in the way of newspaper clippings, carefully pasted in well-bound scrap books, it would be an easy matter to compile a voluminous history of interesting events of more than a quarter of a century, with which he has been a prominent actor; but to condense such a volume into a short biographical sketch, and at the same time preserve every feature of the strong characteristics of his life, is next to impossible.
Roger Lawson Fulton was born in Randolph county, Georgia, in 1839. His father, James H. Fulton, who died when the subject of this sketch was only four years old, was an educator of note in Georgia.
The death of his father left the responsibility of rearing and educating nine children upon his mother, Mary E. Fulton, with only limited means, but she was a woman of extraordinary energy and strong common sense, and she so wisely managed her small means as to give to each of her children a fair education, and to send them forth fairly equipped for the battle of life. Her high character and indomitable purpose seemed to have been impressed upon her offspring, and her influence over them was irresistible up to the time of her death, which did not occur until she was past four score years of age. She died respected and beloved not only by her offspring, but by all who knew her.
The eldest brother of the family, Thomas H. Fulton, removed to Texas in 1852, and settled at Lockhart, Caldwell county, and engaged extensively in mercantile pursuits. Six years later (1858), R. L. Fulton, the subject of this sketch, then only nineteen years of age, by his elder brother's request, joined him in Texas and assisted him in business.
Being, however, in delicate health, and finding sedentary pursuits incompatible with a preconceived spirit of adventure, (which manifested itself before his leaving Georgia in his attaching himself to an expedition that had for its object the dislodging of the Indian Chief Billy Bowlegs from his jungle, in the Florida-Indian war), he concluded that inasmuch as the Mexican bandit Cortina, with a large force of Mexicans, was invading Texas, near Brownsville, to join Col. ("Old Rip") Ford, who was raising a force to drive them from Texas soil.
Cortina, upon the advance of the Texas forces, retired into Mexico, and young Fulton, soon after, with ten gallant and adventurous young men, who had accompanied this expedition, went on horseback by way of El Paso, into Mexico, Arizona and New Mexico, and spent eleven months in those countries, encountering many dangers and difficulties, both from roving bands of Mexicans, and tribes of warlike Apache Indians, in one of which battles twenty odd Indians were killed, and young Fulton was shot through the thigh, with an arrow, from which he still carries an honorable scar.
Ascertaining, while in Arizona, that the Civil War, between the North and South, was in progress, he hastened to his home in Caldwell county, Texas, and joined a cavalry company in the Confederate States service, in which he was chosen a Lieutenant.
Later on he was elected a Captain, and his command being sent to Louisiana, to meet the threatened advance of General Banks into Texas, he saw hard service in that campaign, in which he had two horses shot from under him, and was highly complimented by the officers in command, both for his courage and devotion to duty.
After the surrender (or "Breakup") of the Trans-Mississippi forces, congregated at Houston, Texas, many excesses were committed in Houston by the disbanded Confederate soldiers, half starved and desperate at the result of the struggle in which they had been so long engaged; but Captain Fulton kept his Company together, and using them as a police force, guarded the persons and property of the citizens until every straggling soldier had left the city.
After giving each of his company an honorable discharge, and bidding each of them a sad farewell, he returned to Lockhart, where he again engaged in commercial pursuits, until the latter part of 1867, when he went to Galveston, where he has since resided.
Finding in Galveston many of his old soldier friends, with whom he was a prime favorite, he soon became the leader of the young Democracy of the Southern section of the State, and in 1869 he was put forward by that party as a candidate for Congress of the Galveston district. Nearly every newspaper in the district advocated his claims for the position, but owing to the fact that several other candidates of the same political faith came into the contest, which jeopardized the success of the Democratic party, and threatened the election of an extreme Republican to Congress, Captain Fulton, although the acknowledged favorite, withdrew from the contest for the purpose of securing harmony in the Democratic ranks. Other candidates, on the Democratic side, refusing to follow his disinterested example, caused the election of a Republican in the District.
Upon his withdrawal as a candidate for Congress, a strong pressure was brought to bear upon him by the press and people of the State, to become the Democratic Standard bearer for Governor of Texas, but he steadfastly refused upon the ground that his experience in public affairs was too limited to justify his entering upon such a contest.
Having been, for some years, a writer of acknowledged ability, in some of the leading newspapers of the country, he was, in 1872, employed by Col. Willard Richardson, proprietor of the Galveston News, the leading Democratic paper of Texas, if not of the South, as one of the editors of that paper, and continued in that position until he was nominated by the Democracy of Galveston as a candidate for Mayor, when he sent in his resignation, claiming in that document that he regarded his candidacy for the most important office within the gift of the people, as incompatible with the duties that devolved upon him as an impartial chronicler and commentator of current events in a first-class newspaper.
During his connection with the Galveston News, Capt. Fulton waged a merciless and exterminating war against corruption, both in high and low places, and it was not to be expected that the corporations, combinations and rings that had their grip upon the throats of the people, would submit to his election, if fair or foul means could be sufficiently invoked to prevent it.
All that money could do to accomplish his defeat was done; not only did his enemies induce a man, who was a delegate in the Convention that unanimously nominated him, to become a candidate against him, but by a fabulous expenditure, of money induced the Republicans to nominate their candidate against him.
Because of his late warfare in the News, on capitalistic "rings" in Galveston, his enemies undertook, in the press and otherwise, to make it appear that Captain Fulton was a communist and agrarian by principle, and was seeking to array the poor against the rich, to the detriment of the established order of things, and to the damage of the welfare of the country.
Notwithstanding the falsity of these charges, unsustained by a single utterance he had ever made, they had a certain effect on the more conservative voting elements of the city, and together with the countless thousands of dollars that were spent to debauch voters and judges of election, resulted in his being counted out by twelve votes. The frauds perpetrated, in the vote and the count, became the by-word of all honest citizens, and not even the enemies of Captain Fulton had the hardihood to dispute that he was elected, though he was robbed for two years of the fruits of his well merited victory.
Two years later Captain Fulton was again nominated for Mayor, and although the same influences were used against him, and he was opposed by such a popular candidate as Ex-Governor F. R. Lubbock, he was triumphantly elected, by a majority of twenty-five hundred and thirty-three votes.
In his appointment to office he brought confusion upon his enemies, by appointing such men as forbid the thought that he was imbued with any other than patriotic principles, in his aspirations for place and power. For instance, he nominated for City Collector, his opponent for the nomination, Ex-Governor F. R. Lubbock; for City Engineer, General Braxton Bragg; and for City Attorney, Ex-Congressman and Ex-Supreme Judge A. H. Willie, and others of almost equal repute to fill all the other offices.
With such heads of departments, it was next to impossible for the administration to be otherwise than successful. At its beginning, city scrip was being hawked about the streets at fifty cents on the dollar; at its close all the city's promises to pay were paid at par by the city treasurer. At its beginning the sanitary condition of the city was a stench in the nostrils of the community; at its close, two years later, it was acknowledged by press and people to be better than was ever before known. And so it was in every other department of the city government.
But in other respects he came into office at a fortunate time; at a time when he had an opportunity to do Galveston, Texas and the South, great good by cultivating amicable relations with Northern capitalists and people. In 1875 he received an invitation from the Mayor of Boston to accept the hospitalities of the city during the celebration of the centennial of the battle of Bunker Hill.
He visited Boston and participated with great credit, as shown by clippings from the daily press, in all of the festivities of that extraordinary occasion, and at the conclusion of the celebration, by invitation of the Mayors of New Haven, New York, Philadelphia and other great cities, he was the official guest of many of the largest cities in the country, and by his popular manners, his intelligence and his broad, patriotic views he did much to allay the bitter jealousies and animosities engendered by the war, and invite capital and emigration to the South.
He also in accordance with a resolution of the City Council of Galveston, which resolution recites the fact of his accomplishing much good by a former trip North, visited Philadelphia and was a guest of the city authorities of that City of Brotherly Love, during the Centennial Celebration of 1876, and again by invitation of the Mayors, before mentioned, he re-visited with his family, and was the guest of the cities he had formerly visited.
The complimentary mentions of Mayor Fulton, by the press of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, New Haven, etc., during his sojourn in the North and East, of which his plethoric scrapbook gives abundant proof, is satisfactory evidence of the creditable manner in which he discharged the delicate duties of representing properly, in these centres of wealth, culture and population, the best elements of the sentiment and manhood of Texas and the South.
Upon the expiration of the term of his office, his friends desired that he might again submit his name to the Democratic Convention for a renomination; but he declined to do so, insisting that if the people at large, without regard to political considerations, desired to retain his services, they could do so at the ballot-box, but not through convention manipulations.
Notwithstanding this determination, and the subsequent action of the Democratic Convention, in nominating a most unexceptionable candidate for the position, and the fact of another ex-Mayor running for the office on the Independent ticket, quite a large number of his old friends, regardless of the fact of the certain election of the Democratic nominee, voted for him on election day, as a testimonial of their unwavering confidence and esteem.
* * *
"While the speculating element of the people of Galveston— those who desired to use the city government to further their own selfish schemes for plundering the honest tax-payers of their legitimate possessions—were delighted to see Mayor Fulton retired from the head of the city government, a great number of the best citizens deplored the event, for the reason that they knew him to be the personification of honesty, and that he would permit no jobbery in the administration as long as he could prevent it.
In all the wicked war of vilification and misrepresentation that had been waged against him, by those whose dishonest schemes he had exposed and thwarted, no person or newspaper had ever had the hardihood to so much as insinuate that he was wanting in personal honesty or official integrity.
It is not surprising, therefore, that at the next succeeding election, a large number of persons, who desired to have at the head of the city government a man above suspicion, should seek to induce Captain Fulton to again permit the use of his name for the office.
But he declined for the reason that he knew that the honest elements were not sufficiently solidified to contend with the sinister influences that were at work to get certain legislation of doubtful validity through the council, that it was known Captain Fulton would oppose, to the bitterest extremity, in the event of his election.
For the same reason he was unsuccessful, two years later, in overcoming the adverse tide of "ring" manipulation; but in 1883 —six years after the ending of his first term of office—the honest masses becoming again disgusted with the methods of successive administrations, called in thunder tones for Captain Fulton to again come to the rescue, which he did; and he was elected by nine hundred and eighty-four majority, in spite of the vast amount of money spent to accomplish his defeat.
In 1885, two years later, another similar fight was made against him, and such frauds practiced at the ballot-box, through a lavish use of money, as to cause every honest Gavestonian's face to blush with shame. Fraud triumphed, however, for only a short season, (one month), when it was overthrown by an honest election, and Mayor Fulton was again re-elected, by a majority of eight hundred and twenty-five votes.
In 1887, two years later, another effort was made, by the same influences, to overthrow the ''Old Reliable," as Mayor Fulton has come to be called, but it was no use, as he was again reelected by eleven hundred and forty-six plurality—three candidates being in the field against him.
And again in 1889, with two formidable candidates in the field against him, he was re-elected by a plurality vote of eight hundred and fifty-three, and a majority vote of three hundred and forty-seven over both of his opponents.
Should he live to serve out his present term, it will be ten years he has served as Mayor of the largest and wealthiest city in Texas—a position second in honor, perhaps, only to the Governorship of the State—and when it is considered that four out of five of these terms have been consecutive, and by increasing majorities, it will give some idea of the strong hold he has upon the confidence, esteem and affection of the citizens of Galveston.
And it would be interesting, just here, to consider the peculiar characteristic of this "man of the people" and find, if we can, the secret of the power that he has shown himself able, at all times, to exercise over his fellow-citizens, for the betterment of local self-government and the general welfare of the people.
It certainly cannot be claimed by any one that the influence he has shown himself able to wield comes from the lavish use of money, for it is known to every one in Galveston, and to people generally elsewhere, that Mayor Fulton has been a poor man ever since he entered public life.
Nor has he ever been patronized, in his political undertakings, by the wealthy and powerful of Galveston, or elsewhere, for the reason that all who know him are perfectly aware that he cannot be induced, for any consideration, to do the bidding of any person, company or corporation, in his official capacity, unless he conscientiously believes that what is asked for is for the benefit of the community at large.
If proof of this is wanted, it can be had, in abundance, by a perusal of his many able veto messages that have been written and published from time to time, during his many terms of office, all of which breathe the same spirit of adherence to the political motto be has always acted upon as a public man—"The greatest good to the greatest number of honest and law-abiding citizens."
And it is doubtless to his firm and undeviating adherence to this principle, in political and official life, that he owes most of the success he has attained in public affairs, as well as his long continued popularity with all classes of good citizens in Texas.
It is his pride and his boast, that fortune so cast his lot that he was compelled, in his boyhood and youth, to work hard in the cotton and corn fields of his native State, at all times that he was not attending school, and it is to the experiences of this early training, and his mother's fortitude and example under adverse fortune, that he attributed largely the sympathy he has always felt, and expressed, for the toiling millions whose future, for weal or for woe, so greatly depends upon the statesmanship of the law-makers of this and other governments of the world.
It was the strong sympathy, so often expressed in his public utterances, through the press and otherwise, that brought down upon his devoted head, from the hirelings of capitalistic power, the imputation that his political views were of a communistic and agrarian tendency, and that his utterances on this subject were the conceptions and the voicings of the demagogue.
In defending himself against such a charge, he, in 1879, in an open letter addressed to parties who had written to him upon the subject, so eloquently vindicated himself, in the estimation of all just-minded men, that a biographical sketch of his life would scarcely be complete without giving a brief extract from this letter. It is as follows:
"Whatever political issue I have attempted to make, in Galveston, was not that of 'labor against capital,' but the more comprehensive one of 'honest against dishonest methods' of transacting official and other public business. And in my efforts in that behalf—in organizing the forces to carry out my views of political duty—neither the wealth of the man, the poverty of the man, the nationality of the man nor the occupation of the man, has had anything to do with the estimate I placed upon him, as a factor of the body politic.
"The question with me was, whether or not he was in favor of the perpetuation of the rule of a corrupt, speculating 'ring,' who were adding to their ill-gotten wealth by dishonest methods of transacting official, and other public business? If yea, I wished no further political fellowship with him. If nay, then I desired to have him as a political ally, whether he was rich or poor, learned or unlearned.
"This is my political creed—this is the kind of demagogue I am, if demagoguery you can call it—this is the extent of my communistic sentiments—and this is the 'head and front of my offending' against the capitalists of Galveston."
It is needless to say, that while this letter has a local application—was addressed especially to a Galveston constituency—it is broad enough in its scope to include the whole universe, inasmuch as it is a public warning to all whom it may concern, that the author of it is at war with corruption, both in and out of office, in whatever position he may be placed; and his subsequent career, as the official head of the Galveston city government, proves, to a demonstration, that however well entrenched the enemies of honest government may have been, they have been driven from their stronghold, and forced to an unconditional surrender.
But the influence of Captain Fulton as a public man has not been confined to his connection with the city government of Galveston. It has been his good fortune to fill many places of honor and trust, and always with fidelity to his constituency. He has been chosen as a delegate to almost every Democratic State Convention held since the war, over some of which he has had the honor to preside, and in others has occupied positions on the Committee on Platforms and Resolutions, and at others placed on the State Executive Committee, and at all was an influential factor in shaping the policy of the Democratic party of the State.
He has also, as the representative of the city, filled for eight years the position of Wharf Company Director, and a Director in the City Railroad Company, and for over six years was a Trustee in the Public Free Schools of Galveston. He has also been, for six years, the President of the Board of Health of Galveston, and, for some time, a Trustee of the Texas Medical College and Hospital, all of which positions have given him a great knowledge of men and affairs.
The fame and popularity of Mayor Fulton is not confined to Galveston, or, for that matter, to the State of Texas. Considering the fact that he has never held a State or National office, he is, perhaps, better known throughout Texas than any other public man; and it is doubtful if there are any in Texas (who have not attained to higher official stations) who are more widely known outside of the State. If space permitted, we could give abundant proof of this fact, from letters and telegrams sent to him from the leading public men throughout the United States, congratulating him upon his several elections as Mayor of Galveston, as well as by the great number of complimentary editorial mentions he has received from the leading newspapers of the country, during his public career, which have been submitted for our inspection for such use as we might deem proper, but we must content ourselves with quoting from two leading newspapers— one representing the sentiment of the industrial classes of Texas, and the other the opinion entertained of Mayor Fulton by those with whom he came in contact while a delegate representing Galveston at the Deep Water Convention, at Denver, in 1888.
The Texas Farmer, published at Dallas, Texas, is, to all intents and purposes, the organ of the farmers of the State, and especially so of the Grangers and Patrons of Husbandry.
During the time its editorial management was under the direction of Captain J. F. Fuller, of Belton, Texas, who was at the time also the traveling orator of the Patrons of Husbandry, that gentleman, as the editor of the Farmer, wrote and published the following, as representing the views of the farmers of the State of Texas:
"men Of Mark.
"Honorable John H. Reagan cheerfully admits that he has an ambition to become Governor of Texas. This is not strange, when we remember that such men as Hon. Barnett Gibbs aspire to the same honor. The wisest of our wise men might justly feel proud to occupy the executive office of so great a State, and, judging from the material politicians sometimes suggest for the head of State affairs, it would not be presumptuous for any well informed, practical minded citizen to aspire to such an honor.
"But if the Farmer wanted to name a man for the next Governor of Texas, and it may as well as others, have a weakness that way, there is one name we would suggest—the very synonym of official honor and personal integrity. A man who, in his official career, has done more to reform abuses, expose fraud and vindicate the rights of his fellow citizens, than any man in the State. Possessing to an eminent degree those high qualities of mind and heart that fit a man for executive duties in these days of political flunkyism, his administration would mark an epoch in the annals of Texas history that would at once become the pride of the Lone Star State, and enshrine his name in the affections of his countrymen. Passing through the war with distinction for his brave and generous soldierly qualities, and in the civil service, having evinced those high qualities and civic virtues, moral courage and devotion to principle, he is conspicuously marked as the man of the hour, distinguished in many particulars above his fellows. To mention him is simply to record the name of Hon. R. L. Fulton, Mayor of the city of Galveston. We know no man in the broad limits of Texas more eminently fitted for executive honors and duties than Mr. Fulton. Schooled on the farm in early life to economical habits, and trained in the severe ordeal as Galveston's executive in its conflict with rings and fraudulent intrigues to despoil the city and rob its people, he stands the embodiment of courageous manhood and devotion to duty. Mayor Fulton does not, so far as we know, aspire to gubernatorial honors, and he will not, perhaps, thank us for this notice; they may never be bestowed upon him, and the Farmer but little hopes to be influential in such an issue; but his name belongs not alone to Galveston, but to all Texas, and as a friend to the common people, an unyielding advocate of the greatest good to the greatest number; as an upholder of honest government, an economical expenditure of public money, we exercise the right to mention him as a friend to his race, as an honest man, possessing a strong, vigorous intellect, and a shrewd political sagacity that mark him as one of the most useful public men of the day."
In 1888, Mayor Fulton, with other leading men of Galveston, went as delegates to the Deep Water Convention, at Fort Worth, and a few months later to an Inter-State Deep Water Convention, held at Denver, Colorado, where they met and became acquainted with many of the leading men of all the States and Territories west of the Mississippi.
To show what kind of an impression Mayor Fulton makes upon those with whom he comes in contact, on such occasions, and the reputation he bears outside of the State in which he lives, it is only necessary to quote a brief but significant editorial mention of him, in the Denver (Colorado) News, on the occasion of his fifth election to the Mayoralty, in June, 1889. It is as follows:
"Hon. R. L. Fulton has been re-elected Mayor of Galveston, and enters upon his fifth term. It is seldom that a municipal officer receives so magnificent an endorsement at the hands of the people. In this instance, however, the News is glad to remark that the endorsement is fully deserved. Mayor Fulton is one of the most capable of the public men of Texas, or of the entire Southwest, for that matter. He is a man of high personal character, rare executive ability and fine business capacity. Furthermore, he is a gentleman of courtly manners, a brilliant conversationalist, and a most agreeable companion. He has not only given Galveston an honest, capable and well ordered administration, but has been active in forwarding all the great enterprises in which the city is interested, and on which her future so much depends. Galveston is fortunate in possessing so excellent an official, and in having the good sense to retain him in the difficult position he has so long and so worthily filled."
Captain Fulton was married, October 7, 1870, to Miss Mary Eliza Newby, a daughter of Mrs. S. B, White, with whom he had been acquainted since her early girlhood.
He is the father of four children—two boys and two girls. Walter, the eldest, was born July 4, 1871. Ernest, was born August 22, 1872. Minnie, was born January 11, 1874. Nellie, was born April 9, 1878.
Captain Fulton is about six feet in height, weighs about one hundred and seventy-five pounds, has hair and mustache that were originally as black as jet, but is prematurely gray; is fifty years of age, is an Odd-Fellow, a member of the order of the Knights of Pythias and Chosen Friends.
His scrap-book, from which most of this biographical sketch has been compiled, is filled with the most complimentary notices of his career, from his boyhood to the present time, but want of space has compelled us to leave out much that it would be necessary to publish in order that full justice might be done to his fame, both at home and abroad.
( Transcribed by Patty Robichaud)
AUSTIN.
The lives of quiet and unassuming men are often more beneficial in example to those that come after them, than the biography of prominent and popular heroes. In the quiet walks of life men of sterling virtues and most consistent character are to be found. It is there that all the virtues that adorn humanity grow to the greatest perfection and leave a model worthy of emulation.
The late Edward Christian was neither a very reserved nor aggressive man. He was quiet and unassuming, but when necessary he displayed a force of character and individuality that did not surprise those who knew him best. He was emphatically the architect of his own character and fortune, and he built at an early age upon principle, and in all his life he never swerved right or left, one way or the other, from that settled and fixed rule of honesty and fair dealing with all men; and his word, in a community in which he passed the large part of his business life, was at all times as good as his bond, and that, whether in adversity or prosperity, was as good as gold.
He was the son of Judge John Christian, and his mother, Nannie Christian, was a Miss Patterson. His family are of Scotch-English descent. The family belonged to that large family of Christians of Virginia. Edward Christian was born at Appomattox Court House, Va., January 10, 1833. The family removed from there when Edward was only nine years of age, to the neighborhood of Montgomery, Ala., where both of his parents died within a few weeks of each other, when Edward was left to his own resources, with a number of brothers and sisters. One of his brothers taught school near there, and he obtained from him as good an English education as possible for an earnest sprightly boy to obtain in one year.
At twelve years of age he apprenticed himself to a carpenter, and manifested such natural mechanical talent that when he was sixteen years of age, he was placed by the man to whom he had apprenticed himself, as foreman at the head of an extensive establishment. In addition to his mechanical skill he had established a character for honesty, industry and trustworthiness that promoted him over men of mature years. He conducted himself and the business to the entire satisfaction and profit of his employer.
After serving his time with his employer, he met with another carpenter of industrious habits and good character, Simon Loomis.
They came to the new State of Texas, in 1852, first striking Bastrop, where they resided only a few months, when they came the same year to Austin and formed the partnership firm so well known thereafter as Loomis & Christian, builders and lumber dealers. This business they carried on with varying fortunes until the war notes of 1861 startled the country, and Edward Christian answered the call of the Governor of Texas and volunteered in the Confederate States service, in Company G, Sixteenth Texas Infantry. As a soldier he discharged his duties with the same conscientious fidelity that he had done as a citizen.
He participated in the battles of Milliken's Bend, Mansfield, Pleasant Hill and Jenkins' Ferry.
When the war closed and his company was disbanded, Mr. E. Christian, who had dissolved the partnership, Mr. Loomis remaining in Austin to settle up their business, again entered into partnership with Mr. Loomis. Their extensive shop had been burned, and they commenced again without means, but by prudence and industry they soon rehabilitated their fallen fortunes and made money.
In the meantime, on the 7th day of April, 1875, Edward Christian was married to Matilda Horst, a daughter of Louis Horst, an old and wealthy citizen of Austin, who had settled in this place in 1836.
The fruits of this marriage were three children. Nannie, the eldest, is fifteen years of age (Nov., 1889). She is petite, with a face resembling her father's. She has brown hair, a bright, grey eye and very intelligent features. She is very bright, intellectually, and advanced beyond her years. Her precocity is manifested not only in her studies, but in her attention to her mother and her ladylike entertainment of her guests.
Maggie, eleven years of age, is a brunette, with remarkably beautiful black eyes. She is developing musical talent.
Edward L. Christian is a boy five years of age, active and sprightly.
Mrs. Christian is a native of Austin, having been born there April 28, 1843. She is in the meridian of life, and devotes herself to the care and education of her children, being a very domestic woman.
Mr. Christian died in Austin on the 14th day of April, 1888. No man was more universally lamented than Edward Christian. He was a just, generous and good man. No one ever complained of him who had a business transaction with him. He was domestic in his habits, loving with great kindness his family, his home, his friends and his neighbors. He was not a member of any church, but an attendant of the Presbyterian church. He was, however, a moral, religious man, and his children were taught the cardinal principles of the Christian religion. He was a man of sound judgment and of general intelligence.
He was a member of the Odd Fellow Lodge of this city, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, and the Vice President of the City National Bank of Austin. He was a public spirited man and took great interest in all city improvements and the architectural beauty of the city.
He was about five feet ten inches in height; compactly built weighing about 200 pounds. He had an open, cheerful face, with mild, intelligent features.
Mr. Christian had a great deal of unostentatious energy and purpose in life, and commencing as a boy, without anything, he built himself up a fortune and a high social and business character in a community notable for energy and intelligence. He did it without parade and self-assertion, and solely upon a solid character, built on a solid foundation of principles.
He died and was followed to his grave by the best people of the city and county. His character was without reproach. His charities were unknown to the public, but to the poor and the needy his purse was ever open. He was regarded as one of the substantial men of Austin, and his memory will long live green and pleasant in that city.
( Transcribed by Patty Robichaud)
TAYLOR.
Charles P. Vance is a son of D. and S. Vance, of North Carolina and Kentucky. He is related to the celebrated Vance family of North Carolina, and to the wife of Andrew Jackson. He was born in Grant county, Kentucky, February 21, 1828. He received a good English education in Alabama and Texas, and came to Texas in September, 1846, settling in Houston county, where he resided only one year. He then removed to Williamson county with his family, and resided near Austin all of 1847-8. Here his employment was of the humblest character, but it illustrates the disposition of the man, and shows the indomitable determination to stop at no obstacle in the way of his success in life; he drove an ox wagon for wages. In 1850 he began merchandizing on a small scale in Burleson county. In 1852 he went to Washington county, where he was at one time a partner of A. M. Dodd.
Mr. Vance now has $50,000 invested in lands and real estate.
In 1851, during his residence there, he was County Commissioner of Burleson county; served in that capacity four years; was at one time (in 1851) Deputy Postmaster at Lexington, Burleson county; served as Notary Public two terms in Williamson county.
Mr. Vance was a member of Moran's battery of State troops during the war.
He was married in early life in Hopkins county, Kentucky, to Mrs. A. D. L. Simons. He has three living children, to wit: his daughter, Sallie, is the wife of Mr. McCarty, a member of the firm of J. A. Simons & McCarty; J. A. Simons being his stepson; J. T. Vance, a merchant at Lexington, Ky.; and R. S. Vance, cashier of the Wise County National Bank.
In politics, Mr. Vance is an active Democrat. He takes a part in the local political campaigns, and aids in the canvass for the Democratic ticket.
He is a member of the Christian church, and is a Mason.
He is now retired from active business, and is living on and enjoying his well-earned means. Of this he gives with an open hand to the deserving poor, and is a friend in need and in deed to the schools and churches. He has been mainly instrumental in the founding of more than one church. He is also a public-spirited man, engaging with zeal in any scheme or project which he is convinced is calculated to promote the advancement and welfare of his section or the State at large. To this end he has raised large sums of money to encourage the extension of railroads to his town—Taylor. In order to secure the extension of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroad to Taylor, he purchased with his own means, sixteen miles of the right-of-way which constituted an obstacle. For the extension of the Taylor, Bastrop & Houston railroad, he bought the right of way to the county line. He raised money to build the only school house in the town of Lexington, Texas. One of the subjects upon which Mr. Vance takes strong ground and an active interest is "Prohibition." The large majority by which the town of Taylor was carried "for the amendment," (providing for local option and prohibition), was due in a great measure to his active participation in the canvass.
There is a fact in his life which is significant; that, notwithstanding his long life, and intimate and often complicated business relations with all sorts of men, he never found it necessary to sue but one man; and equally remarkable is the fact that he was never sued. The profession of law would suffer in one of its main branches if there were many men similarly constituted.
Mr. Vance is fifty-eight years old. He has dark hair and eyes, the former being tinged with the frosts of time, and he is tall and erect, carrying himself with the dignity and elasticity of one on whose shoulders half the number of years are rested. He is justly regarded as one of the foremost men of the time, and is much esteemed as a citizen.
( Transcribed by Patty Robichaud)
GOLIAD.
For some years after the civil war Texas offered the best field for enterprise to men of push, energy and sound judgment, and many men who came out of the war without a dollar, had the sagacity and foresight to take advantage of the opportunities offered and succeeded in a few years in accumulating fortunes.
The men best adapted to the kind of business that promised success were what is known as "self-made-men." Such men have a keenness of perception and self-reliance that triumphs over difficulties before which others with more educational methods would stand appalled.
Such is the character, and such was the training of the subject of this biography, Dillard Rucker Fant, of Goliad, Goliad county, Texas.
He is the son of William A. and Mary A. Fant. William A. Fant held the office of County Judge of Goliad county for many years, and was a most respectable and trusted citizen of that county.
Dillard Rucker Fant was born July 27, 1841, in Anderson, South Carolina, but was removed to Texas with his father and family in 1852, the family settling in Goliad, Goliad county, when he was quite a youth. He received a limited education in the English branches, at Goliad, which, at that time was rather in advance of other places in the State in educational facilities; but early endowed with a desire to become an active business man, this youth did not avail himself of these advantages by prosecuting his studies to a thorough education, but having an eager and retentive mind and memory, he obtained a larger and more profitable fund of information than is contained in books, by association with intelligent men, and whetted by contact with others in the business affairs to which his ambition soon led him.
Mr. Fant followed the example of some of our distinguished statesmen, and commenced business as the driver and helmsman of a "prairie schooner," or in other words, an ox team drawing a freight wagon between Indianola, then an important Texas port, and Goliad. In this occupation he soon discovered the methods and the facilities offered by a new country for an enterprising and industrious man to accumulate a fortune; but just about the time he was in condition by reason of maturity of judgment to branch out in trade the war came on, and he volunteered in the service of the Confederate States government, enlisting in Company "K," Twenty-first Texas regiment, under the command of Colonel Carter, who subsequently commanded the brigade. He attained the rank of Orderly Sergeant in his company in which he served until the close of the war.
When he returned to Goliad he found he would have to commence life over again, and this time as before, with nothing but honest industry and a good name as a capital.
D. R. Fant married Lucy A. Hodges, daughter of Colonel Jack Hodges, who came from Mississippi to Texas in 1838. The fruit of that marriage was a family of eleven children, only one of whom,. an infant daughter, Lucy, of ten days of age, have they lost.
The following are still living to-wit: George N., Virginia B., Dillard R., jr., Ophie, Robert W., Evans G., Lucile, Agnes M., Cooper and Sullivan.
The first year after the war and also the first after his marriage, he commenced farming, but soon enlarged his business to raising, purchasing, selling and trading in stock, and since 1869, he has been an extensive driver and shipper of cattle and horses, with ranches in Idaho, Nebraska, Dakota and Wyoming, and at present in the Indian Territory.
He has been very successful in driving stock North, never losing over three per cent, in any winter, which is attributable to his personal attention to his stock, and extraordinary care taken of his herds.
Mr. Fant has had several contracts to furnish the government with beef, which he has filled to the letter of the contract, and which have been very profitable to him.
Last year, 1889, he drove three herds North, and shipped two herds. A herd is composed of two thousand to two thousand five hundred head of cattle. He has also sent North eighty head of saddle horses.
1884 was a fortunate year for cattle men. That year Mr. Fant drove more cattle North than other driver in the South. He purchased, at an average cost of $15 a head, forty-two thousand head of cattle. He had contracted to sell twenty-two thousand head to one firm in Wyoming—Swain & Bros. He also drove North thirteen hundred saddle horses. The cattle and horses were all delivered in good shape and fine order. The balance of the stock not contracted for by Swain & Bros, were sold in New Mexico, Kansas and Nebraska. The gross amount derived from the sales of cattle and horses, came to near one million dollars. The profits were in great contrast, that year and this. Cattle then were worth $20 a head, for which it would be hard to obtain $5 per head now, in 1890.
Mr. Fant is a man of extensive observation and sound judgment, and predicts that in the course of three years there will a change for the better in the cattle market, and he also thinks that large ranches will be divided up within that time into farms or smaller ranches, but he hardly hopes for the extensive operations again that yielded a fortune in the stock business in one season.
He has, however, been so prudent as to invest in valuable lands that will yield himself and large family, each a fortune, and having made hay while the sun shone, he can afford to take it easy the rest of his days and devote himself to rearing and educating his children.
Mr. Fant has taken great interest in the public school system of the State, and has aided and been instrumental in erecting school buildings as well as railroads in the interest of the development of the vast resources of the State.
He is both a member of a lodge of A. F. and A. M., and an Odd Fellow.
As a citizen, he is public-spirited and patriotic, believing that Goliad is the garden spot of the world; in fact that the town and county combine all the qualities of soil, educational facilities, climate and society, that would invite and captivate the immigrant to Texas, and make his residence there pleasant and profitable.
He is a large man, weighing 262 pounds, Saxon type, blue eyes, light auburn hair and beard; vigorous and healthy, with those social qualities that make the domestic circle delightful and happy—and with the promise of a long and useful life before him in the relations of head of a family and citizen of his county and State.
( Transcribed by Patty Robichaud)
PEARSALL.
Judge Marr is one of the pillars of the judiciary. A comparatively young man, with a brilliant record, and to whom there seems to open up a career of great usefulness and distinction. We cannot say that he is one of the coming men, for at an early age he has already attained a position of eminence reached by few in a long lifetime. As Judge of the 36th Judicial District, his course has met the endorsement and challenged the admiration of his seniors, and he has already been a prominent aspirant to the bench of the Court of Appeals, as one of the Associate Justices. Before the Democratic state convention of 1888, he was a candidate and received 269 votes, together -with the hearty and united support of the entire Southwest (where he resides) for that high office.
Donald Phelps Marr was born October 27, 1855, in Eldorado, Union County, Arkansas. His father was Hugh D. Marr, and his mother Virginia E. Tobin. He was educated at Gordon's Institute, near Lisbon, Arkansas, where he took a course in English literature, ancient languages, mathematics, etc. He afterwards adopted law as a profession, preparing himself at Austin, the capital, where he had access to the valuable libraries and instruction of the ablest lawyers, and was admitted to the bar in 1875; his disability as a minor being removed by the court for that purpose. His preceptor was Judge James A. Shepard. He had, previous to his removal to Texas, taught school to enable him to finish his education.
When Judge Marr first came to Texas, early in 1874, he settled at Austin.
Having completed his legal studies, he removed thence to Pleasanton, Atascosa county, where he located in the practice of his profession and with marked success. In that county and in the year 1878, he married Miss Johnnie Belle Jasper, a native daughter of Texas, and they have one son, Don Julian. Judge Marr was a member of the 17th Legislature, but resigned at the close of its first session, having been tendered by Gov. O. M. Roberts, the appointment of District Judge of the 36th District. He accepted the appointment July 4, 1881, and is the present incumbent. He was at that time the youngest man ever called to that important office in this State. As evidence of his hold upon the popular mind, upon the expiration of his term, he was promptly re-elected to the office, twice consecutively. Of course it is unnecessary to say that he is a Democrat. He is not a member of any secret society. His present residence is at Pearsall, Texas.
Judge Marr is a large, portly man, dignified and of commanding presence, and has dark complexion, jet black hair and eyes and beard, and in his social intercourse he is one of the pleasantest of men. His impartiality, learning and independence on the bench has commended him almost universally to the people and bar of the Southwest. When in 1888, he sought to be one of the Associate Justices of the Court of Appeals (to which we have already referred), it is difficult, considering the magnitude of the office and the age of the aspirant, to find a parallel for the unanimity with which the people and his professional brethren alike, espoused his cause. In Bexar county alone, sixty-four (64) members of that bar, without regard to party and headed by such distinguished names as Thos. J. Devine, Columbus Upson, J. R. Mason and Jno. A. Green, united in an address to the bar and people of the State in his behalf. They declared, among other things, that they "were acquainted with his course on the bench and knew him to be worthy and capable of the office to which he aspired. That his record would compare favorably with any other District Judge in the State. That they believed him to be possessed of the first qualities of a Judge: to hear patiently, decide promptly and enforce the mandates of the court imperatively." No higher endorsement could be given—none more deserved, and we know that Judge Marr profoundly appreciates this just yet spontaneous tribute of his brethren. In concluding, we may briefly advert to a few of the many important decisions rendered by him and which have met the approval of the Supreme Court. In Cotulla vs. Laxson, Judge Marr announced the salutary decision that County Surveyors could not legally purchase the common school lands of the State, the sales of which were largely intrusted to those officers. This was a case of first impression—the precise point not having been previously adjudicated, and his ruling was confirmed on appeal. His charge to the jury on the doctrine of an equitable estoppel, (in Timon vs. Whitehead, 58 Tex.) where a junior survey prevailed over a valid senior covering the same land, after being exhaustively examined by Chief Justice Willie in rendering the opinion, was in all respects approved by the Supreme Court. These decisions and others of like importance, place Judge Marr in the front rank of the jurists of Texas.
( Transcribed by Patty Robichaud)
SAN ANTONIO.
Leonard Garza, the distinguished gentleman who is the subject of this sketch, is a direct and lineal descendant of the original pioneers of Texas and founders of the city of San Antonio.
The first settlement of a colony of Spanish, or Europeans, in Texas, was made in 1731. Prior to that time the Catholic church had penetrated the country with her missions, but the only colony of genuine, bona fide settlers up to that time, was composed of about thirteen families from the Canary Islands; and this colony was headed by a woman, Maria Robaina Betancourt, a direct descendant of Baron Jean de Betancourt, the discoverer of those Islands.
The Viceroy of Mexico, Juan de Acuna, Marquis de Casa Fuerte, in 1723, attempted to induce four hundred families from the Canary Islands to emigrate to Texas, and he prepared vessels for their transportation, but the scheme did not meet with favor; the Spanish settlements in America having been so unfortunate that the country had acquired the pseudonym of "La Lumba de Espana," or The Tomb of Spain.
But in 1730 this magnificent woman, with the blood of the knightly chivalry of Spain flowing in generous currents through her veins, fired by the spirit of romance and adventure, signified to the Viceroy her willingness to organize and transport such a colony from her native isle of Lanzarotte. Hundreds flocked to her standard, but the Viceroy had given up in despair of ever accomplishing the object, and the vessels he had collected for the purpose had been dismissed with one exception, and that was placed at her service. With thirteen families and two young unmarried men, this noble woman, Maria Robaina Betancourt, arrived at the present site of San Antonio, and locating there, named the town, in honor to the heir of the crown, San Fernando; but after the war between Mexico and Spain, and the establishment of the independence of Mexico, everything savoring of royalty was so distasteful to the popular sentiment that the name of the place was changed to San Antonio.
The Viceroy, who was said to be one of the best Mexico ever had, was very grateful to Madame Betancourt; and on her arrival she was met by an envoy from him, conveying his expressions of regard and welcome, and suitable presents, as such a name as hers had given great eclat to his scheme. Some of these presents are still in possession of her descendants. The Viceroy, also, stood sponsor, by proxy, to one of her children, who was named in honor of him, Juan de Acuna.
The Plaza, now known as the Main Plaza in San Antonio, was named by her "Plaza de las Islas," in honor of her native islands, and around this square the first buildings were erected.
When Robaina Betancourt came to America she was a widow, with a large family of children, and by a large majority they were sons. She was styled "La Pobladora," the Foundress.
Soon after the arrival of the colony she married Lorenzo de Armas, one of the young men accompanying the colony. A daughter from this marriage, Antonia de Armas, was the grandmother of Maria Josefa Manchaca, who was the mother of Leonard Garza, the subject of this sketch.
The first one of the Garza family in San Antonio was Geronimo de la Garza, who built the historic house on the corner of Acequia and Veramendi streets, so often mentioned in the history of the capture of Bexar. In 1734, he married Maria Jesusa Cantu, a Canary Islander, by whom he had several sons and daughters, among them Leonardo de la Garza, the father of Leonard Garza.
The father of Leonard Garza was the first man to coin money in Texas, by permission of the government, and the first to use the "Lone Star" as an emblem. He owned an immense landed property and was universally known and respected, proverbially hospitable and charitable, and whose word was trusted with the same faith as his bond. Garza county was named in honor of this pioneer Texan. The engraving of the coin is given:
One side has the initials of Jose Antonio de la Garza, and the reverse has stamped upon it the "Lone Star," just as it was and is used as an emblem of Texas nationality.
Maria Josefa Manchaca Garza, the mother of Leonard Garza, was a worthy descendant of the Betancourt family, and for more than half a century contributed the noble example and influences of a good woman, wife and mother to her children and grand children. She died in 1879, in the 74th year of her age, honored by all who knew her, and loved tenderly by her extensive progeny. She left one son, three daughters, thirty-eight grandchildren, and three great grand-children—the latter being also the only grand-children of the late Edward Miles, the celebrated Texan Veteran, lately deceased.
Descending, as Leonard Garza did, from parents remarkable for intelligence and all the virtues that adorn humanity, independent in fortune, hospitable and liberal in all the charities of a frontier life, it is not remarkable that he should be a man of high character, strictly honest and upright in all his dealings with his fellow-men, polite and courteous in his manners, and a refined and educated gentleman in all his associations.
Leonard Garza was educated primarily in Massachusetts, at Falmouth on the Cape, among the pilgrim sons of the Winslows, Websters, Aldens, Carvers, Crockers, etc., and was graduated from William's College, same State, where the name of the revered martyr President, James A. Garfield, will always remain fresh and a noble example for the emulation of its students.
The incident, by which Mr. Garza received his education in Massachusetts, will be interesting, not only to his own people, but to the descendants of another man who became famous in Texas history, to-wit: the late Nat. Lewis.
In the early part of the century Nat. Lewis left his home, in Falmouth, Massachusetts, when a youth, and with the spirit of his pilgrim ancestry, shipped in a whaling vessel. He was shipwrecked and taken to South America, from thence to New Orleans, and then to Matagorda Bay,—at Port Lavaca, where he landed, and wandered forth aimless and homeless. On this ramble he met with Rafael Calistro Garza; and engaging in conversation, and the latter finding that Lewis had no particular object or home, invited him to mount behind him and go home with him, which Lewis readily and willingly consented to do. It was thus, in charge of Mr. Garza's brother, who died in 1869, that the celebrated Texan soldier and patriot, Nat. Lewis, landed in San Antonio. He became prosperous and very rich, and joined in the Texan war for independence, and was at the Alamo just before the siege, but escaped and went to the Garza Ranch, at the confluence of the Medina and San Antonio rivers, but returning after the fall of the Alamo, he was recognized and sentenced to be shot, but Don Antonio de la Garza interfered and saved his life.
Mr. Lewis had been intimate with the Garza family, and, of course, this strengthened his obligations and affections for them, and he offered to send the youngest son, Leonard, after his father's death, to school in Massachusetts for three years.
Donna Josefa de la Garza accepted the offer, and although then it was a formidable journey from San Antonio to Massachusetts, where was the ancestral homestead of Mr. Lewis, the youngster, Leonard, was too rejoiced at the opportunity to obtain such an education, to be deterred by distance. Mr. Lewis faithfully carried out this offer; and it was from the accident of this meeting of two young men on Matagorda Bay that Leonard Garza received his education in New England.
After the three years was completed, Mrs. Garza continued the education of her son at her own expense, until the civil war interrupted communication between the two sections, and Mr. Garza was unable to obtain funds from home to prosecute his studies, and it was just at this crisis of his life that the true metal of the man was exhibited. He was in a strange land and at college, without the means to meet his expenses. His pride forbade his applying to Mr. Lewis' relations, and he determined to avail himself of circumstances to continue his educational course. The war opened up that opportunity in one way, while it had cut it off in another. He joined the Medical Department of the United States Navy, where he was enabled to earn and lay up a small sum of money with which he returned to his studies at Williams college, and was graduated therefrom with the class of 1865. Some evidence of his self-denial may be gained by the statement of the fact that he had only one hundred and twenty-five dollars to pay his tuition and feed and clothe himself for one year. He spent the severe New England winter, especially severe in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, having on a pair of thin Navy flannel pants, no drawers or stockings, and low quarter shoes, without bed or bedding, and sleeping under the cover of newspapers only. President Mark Hopkins, (who was an honor to American manhood,) often asked him whether he needed anything, and delicately offered his aid, but the proud boy, self-reliant and self-denying, concealing as well as he could, his destitution, always answered these offers with thanks and the assurance that he had everything he needed, and no one knew his circumstances or the hardships he endured that winter on the bleak hills of a New England coast, with the frosty teeth of a northeastern gale biting at his very vitals, but it was an experience that did him a vast amount of good and proved his ability to stand any siege of fortune to which the vicissitudes of life often subject the most prudent. It is such incidents in the lives of men that make biography the most useful reading to the rising youth of the country, and teaches them that there is no obstacle in the way of indomitable purpose of a young man that he may not hew out and clear from the track of his progress.
In justice to his Falmouth friends, it is proper to state that they did not know where he was, or else they would have forced him to accept everything needful that ample means could secure for his comfort.
Leonard Garza at an early age exhibited a specimen of pluck and perseverance doubtless inherited from that adventurous ancestress, who, a widow and with a large family of young children, ventured into the wilderness, among the most hostile and treacherous tribes of Indians, to-wit: the Lipans, Comanches and Musquites, to rehabilitate her fortunes and establish for her sons homes equal in area and magnificence, to the lovely domains of their ancestors.
Fortunately, about the time he graduated a letter reached Williamstown addressed to Leonard Garza. This letter contained a draft on an English bank for forty pounds sterling. This was truly fortunate, and seemed to come as a reward for perseverance and to verify the declaration that when temptation is resisted the tempter will leave and angels will minister to those whose good purpose was not shaken. This draft brought the gold, and that happening in 1865 to be at a high premium, greenbacks sufficient was obtained for it to enable him to travel to his home in Texas in as comfortable a condition as the disjointed affairs of the country at that time would allow, and he arrived at home taking his mother so much by surprise that for a moment she thought it was a brother, Lieut. Joseph R. Garza, who had been killed gallantly leading his company in a charge at the battle of Mansfield. It is due to the memory of his brother, to say that disinterested parties asserted that it was the bold stand taken by Lieutenant Garza, who was that day in command of the company, the Captain being absent, that saved the day to Southern arms, and for a long time prevented the invasion of Texas by the Union armies.
The resemblance between the brothers Garza was very notable, but in point of fact the elder had fought his last battle and gone to that home from which no traveler returns.
From this time the love of Mrs. Garza for her living son seemed to have increased, and she gave him all the assistance in her power to make him successful and happy. After remaining with this kind and loving mother for one year, Leonard Garza made a leisurely tour of Europe, occupying a year, visiting its historical localities, its consecrated spots, its monuments, its churches, examining and studying its architecture and its history, and more especially, studying human nature, mankind, its ambitions, its passions, and its manners and tone, bent and scope of thought, in all its social and political conditions.
Storing away these topics of meditation, Mr. Garza returned to his old homestead, in which he still lives, and which was occupied respectively by his great-grandmother his grandfather and his father, and began the pursuits of life.
As prelude to what has been his greatest earthly happiness, he married, in 1868, Carolina Callaghan, daughter of the successful merchant and useful citizen, Bryan Callaghan, of San Antonio, Texas.
From this union nine children have been born to these parents, named respectively according to age, Josephine, Leonard, Bryan, Rodolph, Carolina, Claud, Jose Antonio, and the twins, Edward and Raphael, all of whom are living and cluster like the olive around the happy old homestead.
Mr. Garza has been the pioneer and founder of many useful public enterprises, to-wit: "Abstract of title office for Bexar county," founder, manager and owner of the first Savings Bank in San Antonio; President of the Occidental Land Company; President, manager and chief owner of the San Antonio State Deposit and Trust Company, the first of the kind in San Antonio; first President of the Cross Town Railroad Company, and a number of other useful and business enterprises that have contributed to the growth and prosperity of his native city.
In religion Mr. Garza is a Catholic, and in politics a Democrat. He is not a member of any secret society. He takes no other interest in politics, than to warrant intelligent action in the affairs of the country.
He still owns some of the ancestral acres left by his father, and is in possession of an ample fortune to educate his children and maintain a refined style of living in accordance with his tastes and acquirements.
He has been highly blessed in his married relations, and in a home of every luxury, surrounded by a growing and contented family, with the respect and esteem of his neighbors and friends and acquaintances, and with a consciousness that he has acted his part in this world in an honest and manly manner, he calmly and serenely awaits the inevitable hour when he shall enter that haven where all is peace and love.
( Transcribed by Patty Robichaud)
BURNET.
It will be impossible, in a brief sketch, to do justice to the merits of the distinguished civilian and soldier, General A. R. Johnson; for if there is one man more than another whose memory should be perpetuated for an example to the youth of Texas, it is the subject of this biography.
Adam Rankin Johnson was born in Henderson, Kentucky, on the 8th day of February, 1834, and received a primary education at the male academy of that city.
His father, a well known physician of Henderson, was Dr. Thomas Jefferson Johnson. He was born in Franklin county, Kentucky. He married Juliet Rankin, of Henderson, and from that union there were seven children, to-wit: Ben., Bettie, Mary, Adam R., Thos. J., William S. and Campbell H. Ben., who was the First Lieutenant in Wilkie's Battery, Confederate States Army, died at Corpus Christi, Texas. Thomas, who was at first a Sergeant in the same battery, and afterwards Commissary on his brother, General A. R. Johnson's staff, died at Burnet, Texas, 1872. Bettie married Peter Rives, and lives in Kentucky. Mary died young. William S., who was a Lieutenant in the Federal army, is now a druggist in Henderson, Kentucky. Campbell was a Second Lieutenant in the latter army, but upon the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, they both resigned. Campbell is a very distinguished Mason, having filled all the offices in the Lodges, and is now a leading Mason in Kentucky.
At twelve years of age, Adam R. Johnson quit school, and commenced to learn the drug business in Delano's drug store, in his native place. He remained in that business for three years, when he engaged in the tobacco business with Burbank & Barret, with whom he remained for four years.
In 1854, he came to Texas, and settled in the town of Burnet, Burnet county, and engaged in surveying and the real estate business, where he still resides, engaged in farming, stock raising and real estate, and where he has been connected with every leading enterprise and the development and growth of the county and town of Burnet.
On the first day of January, 1861, he was married to Miss Josephine Eastland, a native of Eastland, Fayette county, Texas, but at the time of her marriage a resident with her father's family, of Burnet. They have had nine children, to-wit: Bettie, Robert E., Juliet, Adam R., Fannie, Lucy, William, Ethel and Mary.
Bettie married W. H. Badger, son of Captain B. Badger, formerly of Gonzales, but now of Burnet; Robert E. married Miss Lew Williams; Juliet married George Christian. The others are yet single, and reside with their father and mother at their beautiful homestead, in the immediate vicinity of the town of Burnet.
When General Johnson settled in the town of Burnet, it was a border county, subject to frequent forages from the Indians, and he has been engaged in many Indian fights in sight of his peaceful home.
As a surveyor and land agent, he has been specially active in inviting and obtaining a sturdy and intelligent population to the county. He soon ascertained its wonderful resources of granite, iron, and other ores, and was the originator of the Marble Falls enterprise, where, in connection with Messrs. Holloway, Holland, Badger and Ramsdell, forming with him a company known as the Texas Mining Improvement Company, they laid off and have in the course of construction a manufacturing city.
The Marble Falls on the Colorado at this point, offers to enterprise one of the finest and most reliable water powers on the continent. The solid rock dams the stream, and collects above it a beautiful lake, and the flow over the falls is steady and unvarying. It is granite over which the vast volume of water pours, and it has never worn the rock a particle. Nor is this water power subject to overflow or diminution. It is true and safe to say that this is the finest known water power as yet discovered.
The city of Marble Falls has already a number of manufacturing establishments, and many handsome residences and business houses, generally built of granite. The Big Rock, from which the granite was quarried for the material for building the Texas Capitol, is within two miles of the city, and quite near are numerous other granite quarries of equal extent. Iron ore yielding a large percent., and also coal, has been developed near. It is connected with the world by the Northwestern railroad, connecting with the trunk lines of Texas roads at Austin.
General Johnson is President of the company which built the railroad from Marble Falls to Austin. He also gave the Northwestern Railroad Company seven miles of right of way, and seven hundred dollars in money. He is also one of the directors of the Burnet Publishing Company, and the Telegraph and Telephone Company connecting Austin with Burnet and Marble Falls, and thence to Lampasas.
One of the most praiseworthy and commendable efforts of General Johnson, was that of building Burnet High School, which was completed in 1886. He has built a number of houses in the town of Burnet, and opened up a number of farms in that and adjacent counties. He is a man of fine intelligence and indomitable will and energy, and it is impossible to measure the extent of his usefulness to his county and State. He is six feet in height, and weighs now about 145 pounds. Before the war he weighed 160 pounds. He is, perhaps, to-day, the most active and thorough business man of a community of good business men, and although totally blind, both eyes having been shot out in battle, he is at his office regularly, and its vast volume of business flows on with as much ease as if he was fully endowed with his lost sense. His memory and ear are very remarkable for tenacity and distinction of sound. He will address a casual acquaintance he meets on the street, when he hears his or her voice, as readily as if he saw. There is a long, uncarpeted hall leading to his office. He knows the footfall of every citizen of the town and county, as it sounds through this hall.
At the close of the war he had nothing of any importance, and although blind, he has accumulated a large fortune. His residence, near Burnet, is a very handsome home, built in cottage style, and he owns all the broad valley sweeping out in his front —fifteen hundred acres in one body—and he is also the owner of many other farms and ranches.
He belongs to no society or order of any nature, but is one of the best informed men on politics, general literature or business, that one will meet with anywhere.
As noted and distinguished as he has become in peace, he was more notable and distinguished in war. Paladin of old was not more daring and heroic than this Southern knight in the field of battle.
General Johnson's training as a soldier was received in Indian fights in Texas, and the peculiar character of warfare with the Indians when he was a contractor of the Government carrying the mails on the overland route from the Staked Plains Station and El Paso, gave character to the kind of guerrilla warfare he waged so successfully, and from which he gained such celebrity in the civil war. In his early manhood he distinguished himself for bravery and strategy upon the Texas border, and in defense of his home at Burnet. On one occasion, with only a few reliable men, by his cool courage and superior strategy, he outwitted and escaped from a large force of Indians.
He had just closed his contracts with the government and returned with his young bride to his home in Burnet, in 1861, when the civil war of 1861-5 startled the land from Maine to the Rio Grande. Great excitement prevailed at every village and hamlet in the State of Texas. Johnson resisted the natural impulses of his birth and education, and attempted to stay at home, at least until he could get his business in a condition to leave it, but the fever increased too rapidly. Ben. and Thomas, his two brothers, had joined an artillery company, the first as Lieutenant and the second as Sergeant, and had gone to the coast. He found that it would take too much time to arrange his business affairs satisfactorily, and in company with Judge Vontrice, he started for his native State, Kentucky. Arriving at Bowling Green, he found a number of old Henderson friends, who urged him to remain with them, but believing he could be of more service in a country with which he was more familiar, he went to Hopkinsville, and there finding General Forrest, he offered his services to him, which were readily accepted, and he proved to be Forrest's right-hand man. Forrest discovered that Johnson was highly endowed with courage, prudence and judgment, and associating with him another young man of the same stamp, Bob Martin, he used them as scouts. It were impossible to follow these two scouts through their adventures and wonderful escapes, but when it is known that they hovered along the line of march with the enemy, and often spent the night within a few feet of the Federal soldiers, sometimes in the same house, each playing to perfection all the different characters, and they were never captured, it will be readily concluded that Forrest was wise in his choice, and that he received from them the valuable information that enabled him to make his name a terror to the enemy, and that the story of their adventures would read more like a romance, only that romance would not venture to tell facts that really did occur, because seemingly too marvelous for belief.
One incident will show that truth is stranger than fiction: When Johnson and Martin had been ordered, after the battle of Shiloh, to return to Kentucky, raise troops, and harass the garrisons of Federals and home guards, after capturing Henderson, Kentucky, with a few hundred men, he determined to capture Newberg, Indiana, on the opposite shore of the Ohio river, and just above the mouth of Green river where it empties into the Ohio. Arriving, with about thirty men, opposite the place in the night, they hid their horses in the thick woods of the bottom, and upon the wheels and axeltree of an old wagon they mounted a log painted like a ten-pound gun, and stationed it on the bank. Martin crossed, with about twenty men, half a mile above the town. Johnson got in a skiff, and with two men to row him, crossed in the open front of the town. He had been informed where a number of guns, and ammunition, was stored, and deliberately walking with these two men to the storehouse, he found it filled with guns and ammunition. Leaving his two men to guard it, he walked on up to the tavern and entered the bar-room, to find thirty men leveling thirty guns at him. Stepping rapidly forward, he ordered them to surrender, declaring his troops were already in possession of the town, and his battery was trained upon it from the other side, as they could see from the window, and if so much as a gun was fired his battery would shell the town, and his troops would commence an indiscriminate slaughter; announcing, too, that he was Captain Adam R. Johnson, whom they had pictured as the devil with horns. They stacked their arms, and were paroled by Johnson, who got the guns and ammunition across the river to the Kentucky side in the face of a transport filled with Federal troops coming to the rescue, protected by a gun boat. This incident is told by a Federal officer, who was acquainted with all the facts.
Johnson and Martin acted as scouts for General Forrest until after the battle at Shiloh, and were the two men who discovered a way through the swamp by which Forrest escaped with his command the night before the surrender of Fort Donelson, when they were ordered to report, one to General Floyd and the other to General Pillow, to pilot those officers with their staffs to Nashville. It will be remembered that a Confederate transport arrived at Fort Donelson that night, and that General Floyd took possession of it, and with his Virginia troops made his way to Nashville; Johnson had reported to him, and on the way to Nashville, General Floyd offered Johnson a position on his staff, which he declined.
After the disaster at Shiloh, Johnson and Martin were ordered to report to General Breckenridge for special duty; before the completion of this duty, Breckenridge ordered them to Kentucky to raise troops and annoy the garrisons.
They first enlisted one man on their arrival in Kentucky, and these three men crept into Henderson, and got behind a fence, across the street from the Federal garrison, who in the summer evening were cooling themselves under the shade of trees on the sidewalk. Johnson gave the command, and the three opened fire, producing the most dire confusion and dismay, the Federals who were not killed or wounded, rushing into the house and barricading it. They then went to the rear of the building, and finding one sentinel posted, Martin shot him, and the others rushing out to his aid, were met with a volley that drove them back in confusion.
This bold stroke noised abroad the fame of Johnson, and as there were hundreds of young men in Kentucky anxious to do battle in the Southern cause, and only wanted a leader upon whom they could rely, they flocked to Johnson's standard, and he soon found himself in command of a regiment, with the gallant Bob Martin as Lieutenant-Colonel, and after the capture of the arms and ammunition at Newberg, Indiana, they were well organized, and assumed the dignity of an army.
The capture by a small band of Confederates of a small city like Henderson, Kentucky, and a village like Newberg, Indiana, may seem but a small and insignificant matter, while the armies of the Union were sweeping South, but it was mentioned in the London Times and other foreign papers as an evidence of the resuscitating power of the South in organizing new armies and achieving victories in a country supposed to have been conquered by the Federal forces, and it must be remembered that the Southern Confederacy was seeking recognition at that time, and the importance of securing that recognition cannot be over estimated. No man in the Southern army, however high his rank, displayed more military skill and intrepidity than General Adam R. Johnson. Hundreds of miles in the rear of regular Confederate armies, in a territory occupied by the enemy and on a river swept by his gunboats, and in the face of orders subjecting all persons who attempted to recruit for the Confederate army in the State, or who were found with arms in their hands, to a trial by drum-head court martial and a summary execution, he organized a gallant body of troops, captured Hopkinsville, Kentucky, Clarksville, Tennessee, with arms and supplies, and many other smaller towns, occupying at his pleasure any town south of Green river as his headquarters, to which he boldly and publicly invited recruits, and by swift movements engaging in battle and defeating Federal detachments of superior force before they were able to concentrate. He was literally the swamp fox of Kentucky. His forces were daily increasing in numbers and efficiency, and he was daily enlarging the area of his operations, when unfortunately in a battle in Southern Kentucky, he received the serious wound that blinded him for life and put an end to his usefulness as a Confederate partisan ranger. The ball was fired from a covert, to which he presented a side shot, and striking one eye passed under the bridge of the nose, destroying the other in its course.
The people of that section of the State regarded him with the highest admiration and most generous affection, and as the news of the loss of his eyes spread over the country, they were filled with despondency and personal grief for their champion, for he had made it unsafe in that section of the country for the Federals to domineer and hector over Confederate sympathizers, and had enforced upon the enemy the rules of civilized warfare.
One important object was to open up Kentucky to a free and open communication with the Southern army in which the sons of its citizens were serving. General Johnson after having recruited about seven hundred men, conceived the plan of capturing Hopkinsville, on the line of the route to the South, and which was heavily garrisoned, and in that way effect a junction with Colonel Thomas Woodward, another gallant partisan ranger operating along the Tennessee and Kentucky line, and after the combination attack and capture the important city of Clarksville, Tennessee, on the Cumberland river. By a forced march from his headquarters at Madisonville of forty-five miles, he arrived at Hopkinsville just before day, immediately charged the camp of the Federals and dispersed them in utter rout, and holding Hopkinsville he was joined by Colonel Woodward. The two commands moved on Clarksville and captured that place with a large number of stands of arms, ammunition, provisions and a field piece, then hearing by courier that Colonel Shackelford, of the Federal army, was preparing to attack his reserve and headquarters at Madisonville, he detached several companies of his command to accompany, and hastened back to meet Shackelford, whom he met with a superior force near Madisonville and utterly routed him, although the Federal commander was a brave and gallant Kentuckian and a resident of Madisonville. The other companies of his command he placed in charge of Lt. Colonel Martin, who with Woodward in command of the whole, designed the capture of Fort Donelson, which project failed on account of the too great confidence of Woodward.
Johnson's plan was to surprise the garrison and storm the works, but Col. Woodward moved up to the fort and demanded its surrender. The commandant asked for an hour to consider. His men at the time were nearly all bathing in the Cumberland river. He improved the hour by getting together his men, manning his works and sending a fleet courier to Fort Henry for reinforcements, and at the end of the hour defiantly refused to surrender, and although the works were gallantly stormed, the shower of grape and cannister proved too hot and destructive to the assailants. Had General Johnson's plan of surprise and assault been adopted, there can be no doubt that Fort Donelson would have again fallen into the hands of the Confederates, and no matter whether they could have held it or not against the gunboats of the enemy, the eclat gained would have gone far to formulate the opinion of foreign governments in favor of a recognition of the Southern Confederacy.
However this may be, General Johnson carried out his secret orders to the entire satisfaction of the authorities, and played as gallant a part in warfare as any hero in an army of heroes.
To most men the loss of sight at his then age, would have been most disheartening, and so discouraging as to encourage inaction and loss of interest in the affairs of life. Not so with Gen. Johnson. At the close of hostilities he returned to his home in Burnet; not the fine residence with thousands of acres of land he now possesses, but an humble home, and commenced most vigorously in repairing his broken fortune, and no man has succeeded more eminently than he has in accumulating fortune, and of having been all along of the greatest importance and the main factor in developing the different material interests of Burnet county; and perhaps no man has led a more cheerful and happy life. His friends in Henderson bewailed the misfortune more on the ground of its deprivation to him of all happiness, but he has demonstrated the fact that he possesses a character so governed by the philosophy of life that a physical deprivation of one of his senses has never clouded his mind with gloom or destroyed the joyousness of his spirits. As he enters into the business affairs of life, he enters into its social pleasures, and is one of the best informed and agreeable conversationalists one will meet with anywhere. In fact he does as other men, and much better than most men even, under his sad deprivation of sight.
He now, in 1890, seems to be in the full vigor and meridian of life, full of energy, enterprise and action, with a promise before him of many useful years to his family and his country.
( Transcribed by Patty Robichaud)
AUSTIN.
Richard M. Swearingen was born in Noxubu county, Mississippi, on the 26th day of September, 1838. He is the lineal descendant of Garrett Van Swearingen, who emigrated from Holland to Maryland in 1645, and the son of Dr. R. J. Swearingen and Margaret M. Swearingen, who settled in Washington county, Texas, in 1848.
His father was a pioneer in the cause of education, and was the projector of the splendid schools that—in ante-bellum days— made Chappell Hill famous throughout the State. His mother was the daughter of Major Boley Conner, of Irish descent, who was an officer under Jackson in the war of 1812. She was a lady of gentle manners, marked individuality and deep piety. In the new town—made by their efforts, and a few congenial friends, a center of wealth, culture and refinement—their children, Sarah Francis, Patrick Henry, Helen Marr, Richard Montgomery, John Thomas and Mary Gertrude were raised and educated.
R. M. Swearingen was growing into manhood when the political excitement of 1860-'61 began to shake the foundation o the government. Fiery denunciation of Northern aggression, and stormy oratory was the order of the day. Reason gave way to passion, and men seemed driven by inexorable forces on to an inevitable destiny.
The voice of Sam Houston rang through the land like an inspired prophet, but was drowned in the whirlwind that heralded the impending war.
The subject of this sketch, nearly thirty years after the guns of Fort Sumpter sounded the death knell of peace, with satisfaction records the fact that he was one among the few who stood with the immortal Houston in opposing and voting against the ordinance of secession. When, however, his State, by an overwhelming majority, went out of the Union, he felt in duty bound to give his allegiance to her, and responded to the first call ever made for troops.
On the 28th day of February, 1861, he embarked at Galveston, under General McLeod's command, for the lower Rio Grande. After a six month's campaign in the regiment of that well-known and gallant old frontiersman, Colonel John S. Ford, the young soldier returned to his home in Chappell Hill. After resting a few days, information having been received that his younger brother, J. T. Swearingen, was sick at Cumberland Gap, Tenn., he started for that place.
J. T. Swearingen had left the State some months before, with troops bound for Virginia, but having been refused enrollment on account of extreme youth, left them at Knoxville, Tenn., and volunteered in Brazelton's battalion of Tennessee cavalry. The brave boy had served under the ill-fated Zollicoffer, in Kentucky, and had won the admiration of his comrades, but the rough campaign had too severely taxed his physical powers, and rest was imperatively demanded. The ordinary methods to secure his discharge having failed, the older brother took his place in the ranks, and for the second time donned the uniform of a Confederate soldier.
The new company joined was commanded by Captain A. M. Gofarth, who, a few months later, was promoted Major of the regiment, and who fell at its head, sword in hand, leading a desperate charge.
About two months after the brothers had changed places, the company was reorganized, and the generous Tennesseans elected the only Texan in the company their first Lieutenant, and in less than six months promoted him to the Captaincy. For nearly three years he commanded this noted company; noted, not only for faithful and arduous services rendered during the war, but for the brilliant successes made by some of its members, after the war had closed. Pryor Gammon, of Waxahachie, Texas, was first Lieutenant; George Moore, of Louisiana, was second, and Sam M. Inman, of Atlanta, Georgia, was third. Mr. D. C. Williams, of Collinsville, Alabama, and James Swann, of the firm of Inman, Swann & Co., of New York, and Sam. Dick, of the firm of S. M. Inman & Co., were Sergeants. John H. Inman, of New York, now one of the railway kings of this continent, was a member of the company. The firms of Inman, Swann & Co., and of S. M. Inman & Co., rank high among the great business houses of the world, and he who commanded the men who made those houses great, through, perhaps the stormiest periods of their lives, gives to history this testimony, "that fame and fortune, for once, found men worthy of their richest offerings.''
During the occupation of Cumberland Gap, while on a scout in the mountains of East Tennessee, Private Swearingen was prostrated with pneumonia, and left in Sneedville, at the house of Mr. Lee Jessee. This trifling episode would not be worthy of record, but for the fact that Mr. Jessee had an accomplished daughter named Jennie, who was very kind to him while sick, and who won his life-long gratitude and affection. During the subsequent years of the war, neither distance nor danger deterred him from seeing that genial, happy family, whenever it was possible to do so. On the 12th day of September, after a rough and perilous journey over the mountains from Sneedville (then within the enemy's lines), to Jonesville, Virginia, Miss Jennie Jessee, in the presence of her brave, sweet sister Sallie, was married to Richard M. Swearingen.
Ten days after the marriage, upon a dark night, Captain Swearingen ventured into Sneedville, to tell his wife and the family good-bye! but before the words were spoken, the house was surrounded by a company of mountain bushmen, and he was forced to surrender. For two weeks he was in the hands of these hard men, suffering all kinds of cruelties and indignities. Once he was tied apparently for prompt execution, and would certainly have been killed, but for the interference of one Joab Buttry, who had once been the recipient of some kindness from Mr. Jessee, his wife's father. Buttry was the chief of the band, and his hands were stained by the blood of many Confederates. He had seen his own brother shot down in cold blood by a scouting party of Confederate soldiers, and the bold mountaineer, then a quiet citizen, hoisted a black flag and enlisted for the war.
During the days of imprisonment, the young wife and her friends were not idle. A written proposition from General John C. Breckenridge, commanding the department, that he would give the bushmen any three men that they might name, then in Confederate prisons, in exchange for their prisoner," was accepted. That same day, the chief of the band, alone, took his captive to the north bank of Clinch river, and released him, with expressions of good will.
Joab Buttry seemed made of iron, but through the dark metal would shine the gold of a noble manhood, that desperate deeds and a desperate life had not altogether obliterated.
After this fortunate escape, Captain Swearingen started on a long hunt in search of his lost company, and found it not a great distance south of Raleigh, North Carolina. The space allotted him in this volume of biographies, will not permit even a casual notice of the incidents and experiences of those eventful years. The company participated in many engagements; was with Bragg in Tennessee, Kirby Smith in Kentucky, Joseph E. Johnson in the retreat through Georgia, with John H. Morgan, when he was killed, with Hood at Atlanta, and again with Joseph E. Johnson in South and North Carolina. To enable the reader to form some estimate of the hardships of the Confederate service, the statement is here made,—that this company the last year of the war did not possess a tent, or wagon, or anything in the shape of a cooking vessel. Their rations of meat were broiled upon coals of fire, and the cornmeal cooked in the same primitive fashion. Notwithstanding these deprivations, the men as a rule were happy, buoyant, capable of great physical endurance, and they wept like children, when among the tall pines of Carolina, their flag went down forever. In obedience to the cartel of surrender. Captain Swearingen marched the company back to Tennessee, before disbanding it.
That last roll call, and parting scene on the banks of the French Broad river, is one of those clearly defined memory pictures, that possible live with our souls in higher forms of existence.
For three years, those men had shared each other's dangers, and under the shadow of a common sorrow, the humiliation of a hopeless defeat, they were to look for the last time upon each other. The commanding officer, whose route at that point diverged from the one to be taken by the company, —fronted them into line,—and tried to call the roll, but failed to do so! he then moved around by the roadside, and they filed by, one at a time, and shook his hand. There was a profound silence—no one attempted to speak a word, and every eye was filled with tears, as the curtain rolled slowly down upon the saddest act in that long, and well-played drama of war.
Captain Swearingen, a few weeks later, assisted by his wife, was teaching a country school at the foot of the Cumberland mountains, in Lee county.
In the autumn of 1865 information having reached him of a requisition from Governor Brownlow, of Tennessee, upon Governor Pierpont, of Virginia, for his arrest and return to Sneedville, the newly installed teacher abruptly closed his prosperous school.
Captain Swearingen was confronted with an indictment for some unknown offense, and the trial of Confederates in East Tennessee, at that time, was on the style of drum-head court-martials, with verdicts prepared in advance. To remain there, only twenty miles from Sneedville, was not to be thought of;—to go elsewhere for safety, and leave his wife, without a protector, and without money, was another dilemma equally as painful as the first. About 10 o'clock the first night after closing the school, while the husband and wife were discussing the situation, a rap upon the door, and an unforgotten voice, announced the arrival of the young brother, who four years before had been found at Cumberland Gap, only a few miles from the place of their second meeting. J. T. Swearingen had heard of his brother's dangerous surroundings, and selling about all of his earthly possessions to get funds for the trip, went to his relief.
The next morning R. M. Swearingen left his wife in safe hands and started for Texas. At Huntsville, Alabama, he awaited (as had been previously planned) the arrival of those left in Virginia, and with bright faces they journeyed on to Alta Vista, where the best of all good sisters, Mrs. Helen M. Kirby, received them with open arms.
The State was then going through the agonies of reconstruction, and the machinery of government was virtually in the hands of military rulers, and reckless adventurers. Old customs and systems, and ties, and hopes, and fortunes, were lost forever! but the old South crushed to earth, with vandals on her prostrate form, and bayonets at her breast, bravely staggered to her feet, and faced a glorious future. The courts were closed, or only opened to make a burlesque of justice and a mockery of law.
In such a reign of anarchy, the profession of medicine was the only one of the learned professions that offered any promise of immediate success, and Captain Swearingen selected it for his life work. He at once commenced the study, and graduated in the school of medicine, New Orleans, March, 1867, delivering the valedictory, and located in Chappel Hill. The friends of his parents and the friends of his youth, received him with great kindness, and when the yellow fever epidemic of that year desolated the town, he was conspicuous as a tireless worker among all classes, and was rewarded with a patronage both gratifying and remunerative. His wife, as courageous as when tried in the furnace of war, would not leave her husband, although urged by him to do so, rendered faithful services to the sick, and survived the epidemic, but her only child, beautiful little Helen, was taken from her.
In 1875 Dr. Swearingen removed to Austin, where he still resides, and where a clientele has been secured that satisfied his ambition and enabled him to provide comfortably for those dependent on him. His family consists of wife, one daughter, Bird, now happily married to E. B. Robinson, their baby—winsome Jeanie—and his wife's niece, Miss Lula Bewley.
When the yellow fever epidemic of 1878, made such fearful ravages in the Mississippi Valley, he responded to an appeal for medical assistance made by the Relief Committee of Memphis, Tenn., and with his friend, Doctor T. D. Manning, reached that city the third day of September. From there they were transferred by the Relief Committee to Holly Springs, Mississippi, where they organized a hospital service, that did effective work, until the close of the pestilence.
The good accomplished, however, viewed through the dim lights of human understanding, seemed dearly bought, for in less than two weeks after they had entered that valley of death, a thousand hearts were sorrowing for the young, gifted and dauntless Manning. The great loss of life, and the destruction of property caused by that wide-spread epidemic, induced the Congress of the United States to enact a law, authorizing the President to appoint a Board of Experts upon Contagious Diseases, consisting of nine men, and directed them to prepare a report upon the causes of epidemics, and also to suggest some plan of defense against subsequent invasions, for the consideration of that honorable body. Doctor Swearingen was a member of that board, and the bill creating the National Board of Health, was drawn in accordance with the plan presented to Congress by that Board of Experts.
January, 1881, Governor O. M. Roberts appointed Doctor Swearingen "State Health Officer," and in 1883 Governor John Ireland reappointed him to the same position. Under the guidance of those two distinguished executives, he controlled the Health Department of the State for six consecutive years He has always been a zealous friend of public schools, and has been a member of the Board of Trustees of Austin City Schools, since the free school system was inaugurated. He is a member of the American Public Health Association, and the President of the State Medical Association, numbering more than five hundred active, progressive physicians.
By his friends he is classed among conservatives, but is positive in his convictions, and was never a neutral upon any great moral or political question.
He has made some reputation as a speaker, but has no aspirations in that line. His last effort, undertaken at the earnest solicitation of old Confederate soldiers, was made in the House of Representatives, December 11, 1889, to an audience of two thousand people. The occasion was the memorial service in honor of Jefferson Davis.
It is Dr. Swearingen's wish to have the address appended to his biography, not on account of any special merit claimed for it, but to perpetuate, and if possible, to make imperishable some evidence of his love and admiration for a pure, a good and great man.
MEMORIAL ADDRESS.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies And Gentlemen:—The unsuccessful leaders of great revolutions loom up along the shores of time as do light-houses upon stormy coasts, all of them brilliant and shining afar off like stars! But few of these men have left behind them substantial evidences, of their greatness, or monuments of their works. Their names are not often wreathed in the marble flowers that glisten upon splendid mausoleums. Tradition tells no story of loving hands having planted above them the myrtle and the rose, and of manly eyes paying to their memories the tribute of tears. History can now write another chapter. Last Friday, when the wires flashed the news to the uttermost borders of civilization that the Ex-President of the Confederate States was dead, a wave of sorrow swept over the fairest portion of the earth. The soldiers of the dead Confederacy were bowed down in grief, and men and women, from the Potomac to the Rio Grande, talked in low, tremulous tones of their old chief, and the glorious record he had made.
This occasion will not permit even a brief review of his illustrious life, nor an analysis of the "why" he formed a new republic, nor the "how" that young republic, after a colossal struggle, went down beneath the tread of a million men.
Jefferson Davis was the ideal Southerner—the highest type of American manhood.
For four consecutive years he was the central figure in the stormiest era of the world's history. Around him gathered the hopes of a nation, and upon his shoulders rested her destinies. At his word legions sprang to arms, and his name was shouted by dying lips upon every field of battle.
Nearly a quarter of a century has passed since the last shell exploded over the contending armies. Green forests have grown up in the rifle pits and in the trenches. An universal charity has thrown a white mantle of forgiveness over the men who fought beneath the Stars and Stripes, and over that gallant few who followed to the death the waning fortunes of that '' bonnie blue flag" we loved so well.
Through all these years the dark-robed reaper has been busy at his work, striking with impartial hand the fearless hearts that formed the lines, and the lofty plumes that led the van.
Lincoln, Grant, Sheridan, Thomas, Albert Sidney Johnson, Lee, Jackson and Bragg have long since passed to the other shore; and to-day the martial form of Jefferson Davis, clothed in a uniform of gray, is consigned to mother earth.
Death never gathered to her cold embrace a purer Christian; the cradle of childhood never rocked to sleep a gentler heart; the fires of martyrdom never blazed around a more heroic soul; the Roman eagles, the lilies of France nor the Lion of St. George never waved above a braver, truer soldier.
On the field of Monterey, wounded and almost dying he bore through fire and smoke the victor's wreath! In the counsels of state he wore the insignia of a leader, and when his official light went out forever, he won the glory of a martyr. Crushed down by defeat, cast into the dungeons of Fortress Monroe, unawed by manacles, unterrified by a felon's death that seemed inevitable, this ideal Southerner, this leader of the lost cause, was still true to his people, and rose above the gloom of his surroundings, tall, majestic and eternal as the pyramids that look down upon Sahara. As bold Sir Belvidere said of kingly Arthur, "The like of him will never more be seen on earth." Farewell, my peerless, unconquered old chief. Your fame will go down the ages as the purest and grandest of mortals; and I do pray that your mighty spirit has found some beautiful spot on the ever shining river, where no beat of drum nor clank of chains shall mar the melody of golden harps when swept by angel fingers; where no prison walls can hide the light of the throne, and where the smile of a loving God will fall around you forever.
( Transcribed by Patty Robichaud)
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