USA > Texas > A Twentieth century history of southwest Texas, Volume I > Part 54
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university of Texas of the class of 1894 and was a prominent attorney of Kansas City, Missouri.
Mr. Lockwood has a very wide and favorable acquaintance in busi- ness, political and social circles. He has held various positions in the Grand Army of the Republic, both in the local post and in the state organization and in 1894 was aide-de-camp on the staff of National Commander Blackmar. It is known that in his public service he is actuated by a purity of purpose and devotion to the highest and best interests of the city and there have been exhibited in the private and public life of Arthur Ingersoll Lockwood the qualities which ever com- mand respect and confidence, awaken admiration and' win warm per- sonal regard.
FRANCIS M. GIRAUD, city engineer of San Antonio, was born in this city May 28, 1850, his parents being Francis P. and Maria (Treviño) Giraud. The father was born in Charleston, South Carolina, of French parentage and was educated for the profession of civil engineering at Paris. Following his return to America he came to San Antonio about 1847, and on the Ist of January, 1849, became the first regular city engi- neer, the office being created just prior to that election. He served in the position until the Ist of January, 1853. He continued a prominent citizen of San Antonio for many years and was influential and active in public life. He acted as district surveyor for the extensive district extending west to El Paso and at the first charter election of San Antonio following the retirement of E. J. Davis, the reconstruction governor of the state, Mr. Giraud was elected mayor, the election taking place November 13, 1872. He entered upon the second term as mayor under the next elec- tion on January 14, 1873, and served as such until January 19, 1875. His administration was business-like and progressive and was notable for the introduction of various movements of reform and progress. He died in this city May 8, 1877, and San Antonio thereby lost a citizen whom it had come to respect and honor because of his devotion to the general good. His wife died in this city in 1887. She was a lineal descendant of the well known Treviño family of Spanish origin, whose progenitor on this continent came with the original families from the Canary Islands, who in 1730, crossing the Atlantic, established the villa of San Fernando, which was the beginning of the present city of San Antonio. A brother of F. M. Giraud, E. A. Giraud, also a civil engineer, is connected with the New York & Texas Land Company, while another brother, Leon J. Giraud, iş living in Mexico.
Francis M. Giraud acquired the greater part of his education in St. Mary's College in this city and his training for the profession of civil engineering was obtained largely under his father's efficient tutelage. He began active life as a surveyor before he was seventeen years of age and from 1873 until 1877 acted as surveyor with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company in locating its line into San Antonio and through Texas. Subsequently he was for eighteen years connected in prominent capacity with the New York & Texas Land Company, Limited, which was the corporation that purchased and owned all of the land grants of the International & Great Northern Railroad. While with this com- pany his headquarters were at Palestine. He not only acted as civil
J. M Grande
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engineer for the corporation, but was business representative as well, having charge of the sale of its lands and other interests. After severing his connection with the land company he spent five years in Mexico, largely giving his time to mining interests and upon returning to Texas he was appointed right of way agent in locating the branch of the Inter- national & Great Northern Railroad into Fort Worth. He continued with that company for two years, after which he returned to his old home and has since resided in San Antonio, where he is now occupying the position of city engineer. He has done an important work in the line of his chosen profession in the opening up and development of the south- west and has been well qualified by thorough training and experience for the important and responsible positions he has filled.
Mr. Giraud was married in this city to Maria J. Quintana and they have seven children, namely: Frank, Addie, Ralph, Carrie, Joe, Elvira and Ed Giraud. Mr. Giraud has spent his entire life in the southwest and has been an interested witness of what has been accomplished as pioneer conditions have given way before all of the evidences of an advanced civilization.
JOHN H. BOLTON, engaged in the real estate business in San An- tonio, has had many interesting and often times exciting experiences in a life of intense activity, which embraces a period of sea-faring existence and active military experience. A native of England, he was born in Oxford, and in September, 1856, when a young boy, left home as an apprentice on one of the sailing vessels of the Green line bound for Australia and sailing thence to the East Indies. He was in Bombay during the time of the mutiny. The favorable reports which he heard concerning America and its opportunities led him to come to the United States and, taking passage on a vessel bound for this country, he arrived at Brooklyn, New York, on the 12th of August, 1857. He continued to follow the sea, however, until September, 1859, when he arrived in Galveston, Texas. He there worked at steamboating for a time and in December, 1859, made his way to Indianola, Texas, while enroute for California. He was making the overland trip, but abandoned this after arriving in San Antonio in January, 1860. He resolved to make this state his home and for a few months following his arrival he was em- ployed on the ranch of Richard Howard.
On the 21st of August, 1860, Mr. Bolton enlisted at San Antonio in the United States regular army, becoming a member of Company I, First Infantry, under Captain John H. King: With that command he left San Antonio for Green Lake, Texas, on the Ist of March, 1861, and soon afterward started with Companies A, H and I of the First Infantry and nine troops of the Second United States Cavalry for the north, proceeding by steamer. This was the occasion of the removal of the Federal troops from Texas at the time of the secession of the state from the Union. Companies A and H remained at Key West. Florida, while the remainder of the troops went to New York city. From that point Mr. Bolton proceeded with his company to Washington, D. C. arriving there three days after Fort Sumter was fired upon. In De- cember, 1861, his command was ordered to Sedalia, Missouri, and from that point went to join Grant's army in southeastern Missouri, partici-
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pating in the battles of New Madrid, Island No. 10, Shiloh, Corinth and the siege of Vicksburg. Mr. Bolton was stationed with his regiment at New Orleans from 1863 until 1869; at Detroit, Michigan, from 1869 until 1870: at Fort Brown, Texas, in 1871, with the Tenth Infantry and remained in the service until May 8, 1880. He avas staff sergeant of his regiment from 1874 until he retired from the army.
At the close of his military life Mr. Bolton made a permanent loca- tion in San Antonio and has since been an active factor in public and business interests in this city In February, 1883, he was elected alder- man from the third ward; in March, 1885, was re-elected to that position and in 1889 was chosen alderman at large, so that he has served for three terms as a member of the city council-a fact indicative of his capable service and his fidelity to the interests of the city In 1885 he became identified with mercantile interests as a furniture dealer and con- tinued in that line of trade until 1890. He then turned his attention to the carpet business, in which he continued until 1902, since which time he has conducted a real estate office and is also interested in investments and insurance and is notary public and pension claim agent. He writes considerable insurance each year and has negotiated many important real estate transfers, keeping well informed on realty values and thus enabling his clients to make judicious purchases and profitable sales as the case may be. He has been prominent in local and state organizations of the Grand Army of the Republic, having been commander of E. O. C. Ord Post, and department commander of the state, and his efforts in behalf of this organization have been far reaching and beneficial. His life history if written in detail would furnish many a thrilling chapter in its sea-faring and military experiences. He is now devoting his time and energies to the pursuits of civil life, but manifests the same sterling qualities of citizenship that he displayed when on southern battlefields he defended the stars and stripes.
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GEORGE L. SIEBRECHT, who has recently retired from the office of United States marshal and makes his home in San Antonio, is a native of Hanover, Germany, and came to the United States in 1865. The year 1870 witnessed his arrival in Texas, at which time he took up his abode in Galveston. After about two months he removed to Fayette county and has been recognized as a prominent and influential factor in Republican politics in the state since 1872. For many years he has been one of the most potent forces in maintaining a respectable Republi- can organization in the state. From 1874 until 1880 he was deputy sheriff of Fayette county, which is famous as a Texas county that has been carried by Republican majorities several times since the recon- struction period, largely through the efforts of such men as Mr. Sie- brecht. He was postmaster of LaGrange, the county seat of Fayette, during the four years of the Harrison administration.
In January, 1898, Mr. Siebrecht was appointed United States mar- shal for the western district of Texas by President Mckinley and was re-appointed by President Roosevelt in January, 1902. He filled the office under this appointment until the second term of four years ex- pired in the spring of 1906, when he retired from the office and became identified with business interests in San Antonio. He is now moving to
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his fine ranch in the southern part of Bexar county near Elmendorf. He removed to this city upon his appointment as United States marshal in 1898. His old congressional district, which included Fayette county, has the distinction of being the only district in Texas to send a Republi- can, Hon. R. B. Hawley, to Congress for two successive terms. Mr. Siebrecht has been one of the powers in the Republican party in this state, a hard worker for its success through open, clean methods as op- posed to machine organization or one man power. His retirement from the office of United States marshal was the subject of keen regret on the part of a large number of the best citizens of both Republican and Demo- cratic faith. He actively interests himself in public affairs and partici- pates earnestly in any effort to advance a spirit of patriotism and of loyalty to American institutions and wherever there is an attempt to drive corruption or other unworthiness out of office he is to be found working with the leaders of the movement. He stands as a high type of American chivalry and manhood and over the entire record of his public service there falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil.
JUDGE C. C. CLAMP. Texas has always been distinguished for the high rank of her bench and bar. Perhaps none of the newer states can justly boast of abler jurists or attorneys. Many of them have been men of national fame and among those whose lives have been passed on a quieter plane there is scarcely a town or city in the state but can boast of one or more lawyers capable of crossing swords in forensic combat with any of the distinguished legal lights of the United States. While the growth and development of the state in the last half century has been most marvelous viewed from any standpoint, yet of no one class of her citizenship has she greater reason for just pride than her judges and attorneys.
In Judge Clamp we find united many of the rare qualities which go to make up the successful lawyer and jurist. He has in an eminent de- gree that rare ability of saying in a convincing way the right thing at the right time. His mind is analytical, his deductions logical, his argu- ments strong and forceful. He is now practicing at the bar of San An- tonio with a clientage that is of a distinctively representative character and on the bench of the state he has done able public service.
A native of Texas, Judge Clamp was born at Georgetown, William- son county, in 1856, a son of C. A. D. and Asenath (Davis) Clamp, both of whom are still living at Georgetown, where they have resided for more than a half century. The father was born in Berlin, Germany, where he was reared, his father being of German birth, while his mother was of English birth. When a youth C. A. D. Clamp came to America, settling in Texas, and for a long number of years was a prominent and successful merchant of Georgetown, but has now retired from active business life and is resting in well earned ease. He is particularly well known as one of the old settlers of Williamson county, belonging to the Old Settlers' Association, and his historical reminiscences should be of great value in connection with the history of that county. His wife was born and reared in Macon. Georgia, a member of the well known Davis family of that state, and they were married in Houston, Texas.
Judge Clamp was reared and educated in his native city and was
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graduated from Southwestern University in the class of 1873 having as classmates a number of young men who have since become distin- guished, including Judge H. C. Fisher, who became a partner of Judge Clamp in the practice of law and who is now chief justice of the court of civil appeals at Austin. After completing his literary education Judge Clamp entered at once upon the study of law and was admitted to the bar at Georgetown when he was twenty years of age. He opened an office for practice in that city and subsequently lived for twelve years at Brackettville, the county seat of Kinney county, practicing law all over the West Texas country, which brought him in close and intimate touch with the great cattle interests which are still his principal branch of litigation in his legal practice. He was appointed judge of the dis- trict court by Governor James S. Hogg, at which time the district com- prised Kinney and several of the western counties. He made a splendid record on the bench, in Edwards county particularly. When he first went there to hold court he found the docket overburdened with cases that had accumulated from an unbusinesslike and dilatory policy resulting in piling up costs to the county and placing the finances of that county at a very low ebb, its scrip selling away below par. Judge Clamp prosecuted the business of the court with great vigor, holding sessions both day and night continuously, with the result that the docket was cleared and that the finance's of the county were placed upon a more creditable plane, and in a short time its scrip and bond issues were commanding prices equal to those of the best counties. Subsequently a petition signed with a great number of names was presented to Judge Clamp asking that he become the district judge by regular election, but his private practice had assumed such magnitude that he declined further honors on the bench.
In 1892 Judge Clamp removed to San Antonio, where he has since practiced his profession continuously, representing litigants in many of the large cattle, land and ranching enterprises of Texas, which is his specialty in the practice of law. He is vice president and general attor- ney for the Childress Cattle Company, one of the largest in the country ; also vice president and attorney for the North Texas Town Lot Com- pany ; attorney for the Fish Cattle Company and other similar cattle and land interests. He is likewise general attorney for the Piedra Blanco Cattle Company, which owns one of the largest cattle ranches in Mexico in the state of Coahuila. Judge Clamp has throughout his connection with the bar been a thoroughly industrious, hard-working lawyer and constant student, and these qualities combined with an able mental fac- ulty, uncompromising honesty, adherence to ethical principles and a thorough knowledge of the law have brought him success.
Judge Clamp was married in 1880 at Brackettville, Texas, to Miss Louisa Arnett, a daughter of Judge W. W. Arnett, who died in that town at the age of eighty years. He was one of the best known and most highly esteemed citizens of Southwestern Texas, having for a long number of years been prominently and honorably identified with the cat- tle interests of that portion of the state. He was credited with being one of the most distinguished men of his locality and he had personal characteristics that endeared him to all. Mrs. Clamp was reared in
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San Antonio, Uvalde and Brackettville. They have four children : Laura, the wife of 'Henry T. Phelps, a prominent architect of San Antonio ; Agnes, Charles C. and Yadie Clamp, who are at home with their parents. The judge and his wife are members of the First Christian church of this city, of which he has for several years been the legal representative and he was one of the promoters in building the present fine structure of that congregation on Main avenue. He has led too busy a life to take a very active part in politics, although he was for ten years the chairman of the Democratic executive committee of Kinney county. The practice of law has been his real lifework. With a thorough and comprehensive knowledge of the fundamental principles of law he com- bines a familiarity with statutory law and a sober, clear judgment which make him not only a formidable adversary in legal combat but also gained him distinction while on the bench. Upright, reliable and hon- orable, his strict adherence to principle commands the respect of all. The place he has won in the legal profession is accorded him in recognition of his skill and ability and the place which he occupies in the social world is a tribute to that genuine worth and true nobleness of character which are universally recognized and honored.
FRED B. GAENSLEN, the architect, who has an office and is practic- ing his profession in San Antonio, was born in that city in 1869, his parents being Dr. John J. and Mary Bowen ( Peacock) Gaenslen. The father, a native of New York city, became a prominent physician, and at the outbreak of the Civil war was a surgeon in the Union Army but upon the outbreak of the war resigned and joined the Confederate army in the same capacity and at the close of the war came to San Antonio. When the war was ended he located permanently in that city, where he died in 1879, having been a prominent practitioner and resident here up. to the time of his demise. In the maternal line Mr. Gaenslen is con- nected with one of the most prominent characters in the history of San Antonio. His mother is the niece and adopted daughter of John Bowen, a well known early settler of this city, who was of an old Philadelphia family and came to San Antonio about 1844. It is a matter of interest that the original name of Mr. Bowen was Ralph William Peacock, and he changed his name to John Bowen after receiving proper legislative authority subsequent to his arrival in Texas. It came about in this way.
. Mr. Bowen was born of his mother's second marriage, which was to a Mr. Peacock, an Englishman, and therefore his lawful name was Pea- cock. His mother's first husband, however, was a Mr. Bowen, and by that union there was one son, John Bowen, who from his father inher- ited a valuable plantation in the English colony of Jamaica. Becoming ill, he made the request that if he died one of his half brothers, Ralph William Peacock, or George S. Peacock, should take his name and pre- serve it for future generations as he (Bowen) was an only child and his father being dead, he would be the last of the race. As a mark of affection for his half brother, who died soon afterward, Ralph William Peacock complied with his request and was thereafter known as John Bowen. As stated, he was born in Philadelphia of English parentage. and had a talent which amounted almost to genius for conducting busi- ness affairs, and he was also connected with many daring adventures.
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He went to South America, and in Argentine he acquired a great cattle ranch, which property he lost, however, in one of the revolutions that afflicted that country. His business, however, was more specifically a wholesale commission business in the city of Rio de Janeiro, and he also had large holdings in lands and other business interests in Brazil. About 1845 he returned from South America. landed at New Orleans, and in search of a location in which to start in business life anew, he decided upon Texas, which at that time was a republic. Here he became very successful in his business affairs, buying up large tracts of land, prin-
Origin of Pleasanton.
cipally in Atascosa county, where he established cattle interests and it was in this way that he laid off the county seat of the county-Pleas- anton-in 1858. He established the town on his own land and donated every alternate lot to the new municipality. He was one of the first postmasters of San Antonio, the office being then on what was Quinta street. now Dwver avenue, a location which by many of the citizens was then regarded as too far out of town for the postoffice. He also conducted a mercantile business for a time after coming to San Antonio. Bowen Island, one of the famous beauty spots in the San Antonio river, was named in his honor. Although he was a strong admirer and sym- pathetic friend of the southern people among whom he had cast his lot, he was a unionist and an anti-slavery man from principle, and re- mained loyal to his convictions during the war. He possessed superior talents, marked energy. keen insight and unfaltering determination, and these qualities made him not only a successful business man but gave him leadership in public life and enabled him to do much for his adopted state as well as for his individual interests. He died in San Antonio in 1867.
Mr. Gaenslen's mother was reared as a daughter in the home of John Bowen. and did not know until her mature years that her own father had died at Port Lavaca. He was George Stemitz Peacock, a full brother of John Bowen by the second marriage referred to above. He was closely associated with his brother, Mr. Bowen, in business and was his partner and companion in South America. After his marriage to Miss Murphy, also of Philadelphia. G. S. Peacock came to Texas and died of cholera at Port Lavaca. His daughter, who was christened Marv Bowen Peacock. was born at Lavaca and has spent her entire life in Texas. She still survives her husband. Dr. Gaenslen, and by her marriage she had two sons. one being George Ralph Gaenslen, a gradu- ate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, now a mining engi- neer of distinction in the mining districts of Arizona, his headquarters being at Globe, Arizona. The mother of Mrs. Marv Gaenslen was Elizabeth Allen (Murphy) Peacock, who was born in Philadelphia, and died in San Antonio, at the age of eighty-five years. There are two sons of John Bowen living in San Antonio: Dr. George R. Bowen, a phy- sician : and Francis R. Bowen, an architect.
Fred B. Gaenslen acquired his preliminary education in St. Mary's College in San Antonio, and was trained for his profession in the Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology at Boston, where he was graduated as
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an architect in 1889. For about five years thereafter he lived in Phila- delphia, where he practiced his profession and thence came to San An- tonio, which has since been his home and where as an architect he has won his place to a foremost position in the ranks of the representatives of that calling. He has made a specialty of ecclesiastical architecture for the Roman Catholic church and has drawn the plans and designs for a number of churches of that denomination, also for St. Mary's rectory, the beautiful home of the Oblate fathers on St. Mary's street in San Antonio. In addition to this he does general architectural work in resi- dences, school buildings and business blocks and his capability in the line of his profession has gained him a prominence and a patronage sec- ond to none in this part of the state.
Mr. Gaenslen was married while living in Philadelphia, to Miss Neva Fisk, a grand niece of Stephen A. Douglas, and thus their little daughter, Mary Gaenslen, is a descendant of two former candidates for the presidency, for the mother of Mr. Gaenslen was a relative of Gen- eral George B. McClellan. Mr. and Mrs. Gaenslen are prominent so- cially, having a very wide and favorable acquaintance in San Antonio, where with the exception of the few years spent in the north Mr. Gaens- len has spent his entire life.
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