USA > Texas > A Twentieth century history of southwest Texas, Volume I > Part 53
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He was born on his father's farm near Cleveland, Ohio, to which city his parents had removed from the vicinity of Watertown, N. Y. Mr. Weeks is purely a self-made man, and as the architect of his own fortunes has builded wisely and well. He had the advantage of only brief schooling, and for a man of his years has crowded a vast amount of practical experience into his life, which has indeed been a busy and useful one. When only a young boy he became a messenger of the Western Union Telegraph Company in the station of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway at Elyria, near Cleveland, Ohio. Subse- quently he became telegraph operator, dispatcher, train master and super- intendent successively, all on different railroad lines,-his service begin- ning in the east and continuing in the west. In the '8os, while still a young man, he entered the service of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad at Pueblo, Colorado, as dispatcher. He was afterward connected with the Fort Worth & Denver Railroad, which was then being built by Mor- gan Jones and Gen. G. M. Dodge, from Denver to Forth Worth. He established the first superintendent's office of that line at Trinidad at the time the track was connected at Texline. being the first superin- tendent of the division between Texline and Pueblo.
Since retiring from the field of railroad operations in 1890, Mr. Weeks has given his attention to manufacturing interests in the east, most of which interests were in connection with his own inventions. He promoted, built and equipped with machinery, largely of his own de-
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sign, one of the finest factories in Pennsylvania,-located at Franklin, which was built expressly for the manufacture of articles of his own invention. His interest in this plant after it was completed and equipped and in good running order, was disposed of at a comfortable fortune. That did not end his operations, however, or stay his ambition. Many other successful inventions are credited to his inventive genius. Even since coming to San Antonio he has invented a "form-letter" typesetting machine which has given great satisfaction, and the right to use it was readily bought up by one of the largest printing firms in that line in the United States.
In the conduct of his business he has been highly successful finan- cially. His careful management and keen business discrimination bring- ing him large pecuniary reward.
We have had many great inventors, but few of them have had the financial ability to reap the full benefit which is justly theirs. During the period of Mr. Weeks' operations in the east his office and headquar- ters were at the world-renowned No. 26 Broadway, New York city, which place seems to be productive of successful men.
In 1901, his health having declined somewhat on account of his close application to business, he spent some time in traveling over the country, and in the course of his journeyings visited San Antonio, where he decided to make his home,-choosing Southwestern Texas as a loca- tion on account of its climate being most suited to his needs. Here he built a beautiful residence after the old Mission style of architecture. Later he built another near it, which is one of the most elegant homes in the city, containing seventeen commodious and comfortable rooms, with patio, in West French Place on Laurel Heights. This residence, although slightly suggestive of the Spanish-Mission style, is also de- signed to carry out to some extent the idea of the Indo-Arabic style of architecture, with touches of the Venetian; all blending and combining into a most attractive main. The Moorish sentiment seems to predomi- nate however, and these splendid premises, from the lower garden in the rear enclosed with a stone colonnade with wrought-iron gates, to the cool roof garden, furnish a home that is luxurious and at the same time is practical and comfortable in every sense. His home is presided over socially by his sister, Mrs. A. W. Marsh, and his daughter, Miss Laura E. Weeks. Becoming through his residence here somewhat in-
Railroad to Port O'Connor.
terested in the Southwest, Mr. Weeks, early in 1906, organized the Texas Railway Company, which he promoted for the building of a new line of railroad from San Antonio through the counties of Bexar, Guada- lupe, Gonzales, Dewitt. Victoria and Calhoun,-the general direction being a little south of east,-and terminus being Port O'Connor in Cal- houn county on the Matagorda Bay of the Gulf of Mexico, with a branch from Gonzales to Smithville, where it would connect with the M. K. & T. R. R. The predominating idea of this enterprise was to make a deep-water port of Port O'Connor on Matagorda Bay by the deepening
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of Pass Cavallo, the entrance to the Bay, to bring about the desired result.
Mr. Weeks, while now somewhat impaired in health physically. still leads as he has always done a very active and busy life, and while his inventive faculty and skill in promoting industrial enterprises have carned for him a fortune, there is no doubt but that much of this success is due to his genial and optimistic nature and his frank unassuming cour- tesy toward everyone with whom he is brought in contact. San An- tonio is justly proud of numbering Mr. Weeks among its worthy citi- zens who are rapidly bringing this city to the forefront as the metropo- lis of the Southwest.
JOHN COTTER SULLIVAN, an attorney of the San Antonio bar, was born in Indianola, Calhoun County, Texas, December 24th, 1875. His father, Daniel Sullivan, now a banker of San Antonio and one of the
Daniel Sullivan.
wealthiest citizens of Texas, was born on December 24th, 1845, just thirty years before the birth of his son, John Cotter. Mr. Daniel Sulli- van was just sixteen years of age when, in 1861, he enlisted in the Con- federate army and although so young served as a member of the First Texas Cavalry with great courage and distinction throughout that con- flict in Louisiana and Texas. He was with his regiment at Brownsville, Texas, during the yellow fever epidemic there in 1863 and was one of the few members of that regiment that escaped the ravages of the dis- ease. He acted as provost marshal at Brownsville and was in a number of important battles in Louisiana, notably, the engagements of Mansfield and Yellow Bayou, and in Texas at the Battle of Sabine Pass, arriving there with his regiment, after forced marches from Brownsville, just in time to see Dick Dowling and his handful of sixty brave comrades com- pel Gen. Franklin to beat a hasty retreat towards the Gulf with 17,000 tried veterans. Following the war, Daniel Sullivan turned his attention to merchandising and banking in managing the merchandise and bank- ing business of his uncle, also Daniel Sullivan, at Indianola, Texas. Their interests there grew rapidly into a large establishment. They con- ducted both a wholesale and retail grocery house with banking depart- ment. Daniel Sullivan, the uncle, died in 1871, since which time Daniel Sullivan, his nephew, has been at the head of the Sullivan interests which are now very extensive throughout Southwestern Texas. He is a man of resourceful business ability and marked enterprise, who has readily recognized and improved opportunities and has extended the scope of his business undertakings until his efforts, crowned with splendid suc- cess, have made him one of the capitalists of Texas. In 1882 he re- moved his headquarters from Indianola to San Antonio, and, discon- tinuing the mercantile business, concentrated his energies exclusively upon banking, which he is still carrying on under the firm name of D. Sullivan & Company, private bankers, at the corner of West Commerce and St. Mary streets. His efforts have been so discerningly directed along well defined lines that he seems to have realized at any one point of progress his possibilities for successful accomplishment at that point, and, today, ranks among the foremost bankers of the state of Texas.
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John Cotter Sullivan, his son, attended St. Mary's College at San Antonio, from 1883 until his graduation in the class of 1893. In 1893 he matriculated at Rock Hill College in Ellicott City, Maryland, gradu- ating therefrom in June, 1896, with the degree of A. B. His choice of a profession fell upon the law and he thereupon in October, 1896, entered the Harvard Law School, at Cambridge, Mass., where he remained until 1899, graduating in that year with the degree of B. L. Following his graduation he devoted a year to extensive travel in Europe, gaining thereby the knowledge and culture which only travel can bring. On his return to San Antonio, in 1900, he was, at once, admitted to the bar and since has continuously practiced his profession in that city. He has a large and distinctively representative clientage and, while one of the younger, is also recognized as one of the ablest attorneys in this dis- trict. His land and cattle interest in Southwest Texas are very exten- sive, and besides that holds large interests in various mines in Mexico. While without political ambition, he was honored with the appointment to the position of fire and police commissioner of San Antonio, January 8th, 1906, without his knowledge, and when absent from the city. He actively interests himself in public affairs and participates earnestly ill any effort to propagate a spirit of patriotism and of loyalty to the Ameri- can institutions. He is well versed in all departments of the law, and though preferring to continue in the general practice of his profession, his large commercial, banking and land practice tends rather to make him an authority in those fields of the law.
HON. JOHN H. KIRKPATRICK. The substantial yet rapid growth of San Antonio in recent years has furnished excellent opportunity to the real estate agent and operator. To this class belongs Mr. Kirkpat- rick, whose business insight and enterprise have enabled him to secure a large clientage and conduct a business of extensive and profitable pro- portions. He was born in Titus county, Texas, April 12, 1864, his par- ents being John and Mary ( Maddox) Kirkpatrick. The father was born in Ohio, while the mother belongs to the well known Mississippi family of Maddox. The birth of their son John occurred during the temporary sojourn of his parents in Titus county when they were on their way from Mississippi to Southwestern Texas. The father, having been dis- charged from the Confederate army in Mississippi for disability on ac- count of wounds received, started to Southwestern Texas to establish his home. Shortly thereafter they located in Austin, where John H. Kirkpatrick spent his childhood and youth. His parents are now living in San Antonio.
In the public schools of Austin, Mr. Kirkpatrick acquired his early education and when fourteen years of age he went to north Texas, lo- cating at Decatur in Wise county, where he continued his studies to the age of seventeen years, when he began teaching school there. He fol- lowed the profession for two years in Wise county and then went to Ohio, spending about a year in college at Lebanon, that state. Follow- ing his return to Wise county he was elected as its representative to the twenty-second session of the state legislature in 1890-91. The two win- ters which he spent in Austin in this capacity he further improved by
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studying law in the law department of the state university, from which he was graduated.
In the meantime Mr. Kirkpatrick was married to Miss Alice Wood, of Titus county, a daughter of Colonel Wood, a prominent citizen of that locality, and to them was born' a son, Oran Gould Kirkpatrick. With his wife and son Mr. Kirkpatrick removed from Austin to San Antonio and began the practice of law in this city. He was highly successful from the start, so much so that he was offered a salary of two hundred dollars per month to go to California and manage a corporation there, which position he accepted, spending three years in the Golden state. He then returned to Texas for a few months, after which he went with his wife to Honolulu in the Hawaiian Islands and from that point started on a four years' trip around the world, which time was spent not alone in recreation but in serious study of history and of the life, habits and customs of the people in the different countries which he visited. Following his return to his native land he delivered sixty-eight lectures on his travels. These were given in Texas and were highly appreciated by the large audiences that heard him and were widely complimented by the press. He possesses a retentive memory and a keen insight that enables him to look beyond the mere surface of things and determine the cause from the effect. He presented not only a clear picture of the modes of life among different peoples in foreign lands, but also the causes producing results. After his lecture tour was over he formed a part- nership with Jay E. Adams in the real estate business in San Antonio. This has since been recognized as a successful firm, operating in real estate on an extensive scale not only in this city but throughout South- western Texas. The firm has taken a leading part in the present great colonization and development work which is being carried on in trans- forming Southwestern Texas from mammoth cow pastures to thickly settled farming communities.
Mr. Kirkpatrick is continually before the public in one capacity or another, his gifts of oratory, his ability and his fitness for leadership causing constant demands to be made upon his time and attention. He is many times called upon to deliver public addresses and was selected by the city council for this purpose to deliver the address of welcome to President Roosevelt on the occasion of the chief executive's visit to this city in the spring of 1905. He often speaks before the Business Men's Club, of which he is an officer and prominent member, particu- larly on the subject concerning the advertising of the city abroad and upon the efforts that are and can be made to secure immigration for Southwestern Texas. He is a leader in the Carnival Association and in fact in all public-spirited movements and his efforts have been of direct and immediate serviceableness on many occasions. With the desire to bring about public improvement, he became a candidate for and served two years as alderman from the fourth ward, during which time he was chairman of the committee on public improvements and in this way was very useful in pushing forward the wheels of progress. His efforts were largely instrumental in securing for the city improvements in the way of sewers, paved streets, etc. He frequently attends the conven- tions of his party as a representative of San Antonio and his opinions
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carry weight in its councils. Mr. Kirkpatrick is a prominent Elk and in most ways is a leading factor in public life, touching the general inter- ests of society. He was selected to pose as a model for the Confederate monument at Paris, Texas, as a typical southern man, and is also the subject of one of the best known busts of the sculptor Coppini. In his public work he regards not glittering generalities but always has an eye to practical results. His mind is eminently judicial in cast and free from the bias of animosity: Although strong and positive in his democ- racy his party fealty is not grounded on partisan prejudice and he enjoys the respect and confidence of all of his associates irrespective of party. Well grounded in the political maxims of the schools, he has also studied the lessons of actual life, arriving at his conclusions as a result of what may be called his post-graduate studies in the school of affairs. Such men whether in office or out are the natural leaders of whichever party they may be identified with, especially in that movement toward higher politics which is common to both parties and which constitutes the most hopeful political sign of the period. His efforts have been far reaching and beneficial, for he has combined the practical with the ideal in his labors for public progress.
ARTHUR INGERSOLL LOCKWOOD, a retired business man, who since 1865 has made his home in San Antonio, is now serving for the seventh term as alderman and stands for a spirit of lofty patriotism and fidelity to American institutions and principles without partisan bias. In local office he is found as an ardent opponent of misrule in municipal affairs, but brings to the discharge of his duty the same alert and enterprising spirit, keen discrimination and sound judgment which ever characterized his business interests. He was born at Ossining on the Hudson in West- chester county, New York, August 21, 1835, his parents being Judge Albert and Eliza (Arthur) Lockwood, both of whom represented old families of Westchester county. On the paternal side the ancestry is particularly distinguished. The Lockwood family was founded in America in 1630 by Robert Lockwood, and Arthur I. Lockwood is of the eighth generation of the family in the new world. The name of Lock- wood is of ancient origin in England, where it appears in the Domesday Book over eight hundred years old. The coat of arms has come down from the Rev. Richard Lockwood, rector of Dingley, Northampton, England, in 1530 and bears the motto, "Tutus in Undis" (secure against the waves). Of the Lockwood family in America descended from Rob- ert Lockwood, the progenitor, many have become distinguished in the professions and in the army and navy, the name figuring prominently upon the pages of history. Among the leading representatives of the family have been Brigadier General Henry H. Lockwood, of Civil war fame ; Commodore Samuel Lockwod of the navy, who won distinction during the Mexican war and again in the Civil war, one of his noted exploits in the latter being the attack upon Fort Macon, April 20, 1862, in which he commanded the flotilla of vessels representing the Federal navy; Lieutenant James Booth Lockwood, U. S. A., who was with the Greeley expedition to the far north and in whose honor Lockwood Islands in those regions was named. Going back to the period of the Revolutionary war the records show that a total of one hundred and fifty-
Vol. I. 26
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six members of this Lockwood family were engaged therein in defense of American liberty, holding rank from brigadier general down to private and gunner.
Silas Lockwood, the great-grandfather of Arthur I. Lockwood, was an officer of the American army in the war for independence. The grandfather was Stephen Lockwood and the father Judge Albert Lock- wood. The latter was a prominent . lawyer and county judge of West- chester county, New York, where he died in 1852, while his wife, Mrs. Eliza (Arthur) Lockwood, passed away in 1850.
Arthur I. Lockwood was left an orphan when less than seventeen years of age and because of this failed to enter upon the career of a lawyer which had been marked out for him. He probably would have taken up the study if his parents had been spared, but the necessity of providing for his own support led him into mercantile fields and for about a year and a half he was employed as a clerk in a store in New York city. In 1854, attracted by the discovery of gold on the Pacific coast, he started for California, making the trip around Cape Horn on the noted clipper ship, Flying Cloud. His first venture in mining was in Tuolumne county and from there he made his way at different times to other mining camps as gold would be discovered in various parts of the state and the seekers for the precious metal would flock to these various localities. He thus visited many portions of California and also Oregon and in 1859 went to Crescent City, Oregon, from whence he made his way to Jacksonville, that state. Later he returned to Cali- fornia by way of the Shasta Butte and Yreka. He spent considerable time in Amador county and was very fortunate in his mining opera- tions there just prior to the outbreak of the Civil war.
After the inauguration of hostilities between the north and south Mr. Lockwood put aside all business and personal considerations, went to San Francisco and enlisted in the Federal service at Presidio on . the 18th of August, 1861, as a private of Company C, First California Volunteer Infantry. This organization was sent to the vicinity of Los Angeles to break up the rumored attempt of citizens of that portion of the state to place California in the Confederate ranks, but finding that there had been more talk than action in this matter the regiment was ordered across the desert through Arizona and New Mexico to join General Canby in repulsing General Sibley's expedition into western Texas and New Mexico. Upon arriving in New Mexico, however, they found that General Sibley had retired down the Rio Grande and after completing his three years' term of enlistment in New Mexico, Mr. Lockwood was honorably discharged there at Los Pinos. With about forty of his comrades he went to Fort Union and from that point they accompanied a train of ox teams across the Santa Fe trail to Leavenworth, Kansas, furnishing protection from the Indians to the train in return for having their outfits hauled east.
From Leavenworth, Mr. Lockwood went to Little Rock, Arkan- sas. and there meeting with his former colonel. Joseph R. West, who in the meantime had been promoted to brigadier general, in charge of the Seventh Cavalry Division, he was engaged by General West to accompany his troops to New Orleans, whence they had been ordered
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to join an expedition with Texas as the objective point. While they were there news of General Lee's surrender was received, but an army of occupation was required to go to Texas and accordingly an expedi- tion was fitted out for this purpose and went up the Red river to Shreveport and thence to San Antonio, where Mr. Lockwood arrived with this command August 2, 1865. He has since been a resident of this city. In coming with this expedition to Texas he had charge of the subsistence train under General Wesley Merritt, who had been assigned to the command of the army in this section. After arriving at San Antonio he held several different positions in the quartermaster's department. including that of master of transportation and forage mas- ter, remaining in the service until early in the spring of 1867.
After retiring from military life Mr. Lockwood was successfully engaged in business in San Antonio for a long period, but for a few years past has been retired from active commercial or industrial inter- ests. He takes a very active interest in civic affairs, however, and is regarded as one of the prominent factors in public life in this city. The first office that he held in San Antonio was that of city marshal, to which he was appointed by Governor E. J. Davis, serving for one year. He was also mayor in 1893 by election of the city council and gave a public spirited, businesslike administration, characterized by many movements of reform and improvement. He is a prominent member of the San Antonio city council, now serving for his seventh term, rep- resenting the fifth ward, which, however, was the third ward when he was first elected in January, 1879. With the exception of one term he has served successively in the city council to the present. He has exercised his official prerogatives in favor of all worthy public improve- ments and bond issues and in favor of short hours and good wages. He is chairman of the gas, water and electric light committee and the as- sessment committee. Each question which comes up for settlement re- ceives his earnest consideration, for he has the best interests of San Antonio at heart and his public spirit and loyal citizenship stand as an unquestioned fact in his career.
He was a delegate to the first Democratic convention that nomi- nated James S. Hogg for his first term as governor, and has been a delegate to other state and county conventions. In politics he is abso- lutely independent, holding to the theory that a citizen should have individual judgment and change parties if necessary to carry out his convictions. His first presidential vote was cast in California for Stephen A. Douglas, and in 1864, at Leavenworth, Kansas, he supported Abra- ham Lincoln. Since that time he has exercised his individual right in each campaign in support of candidates whom he thinks best qualified for office and who will best advance the interests of city, state or nation.
Mr. Lockwood was married in San Antonio, October 10, 1870, to Miss Mary Stevens, a sister of John J. Stevens, now postmaster of this city, who is represented elsewhere in this work. Mrs. Lockwood died February 28, 1888, while one of their daughters, Nettie May Lockwood, passed away in 1883. John S. died at Kansas City, July 4, 1906. There are two living children: Albert S. and Mrs. Addie Isabelle Leighton. The youngest son was a graduate of the law department of the state
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