USA > Texas > A Twentieth century history of southwest Texas, Volume I > Part 56
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of the Indian troubles and the most daring of the outrages committed by the thieves and desperadoes, together with the feuds and warfare which constituted a feature of the live-stock business. The southwest frontier of Texas in those days was the scene of many a bloody conflict that, from the standpoint of the law officer, required the utmost courage and skill to grapple with. As a result of his services in those days Captain Van Riper leaves as a heritage a name that is synonymous with bravery and intrepidity scarcely equalled in the history of frontier warfare. The old-time stockmen and citizens generally speak of him with fond affec- tion and respect because of the prominent part he took in ridding the country of desperadoes and the lawless element, which felt in not the slightest degree the sacredness of life and property. The tales that his old-time friends and associates tell of his courage and unruffled coolness in the face of the most thrilling dangers form a series of stories of true frontier life that are fascinating in the extreme. He was oftentimes placed in positions where escape seemed scarcely possible but his ready adaptability and quick, alert mind, enabled him not only to save his own life but to capture many notorious criminals and to bring about in South- west Texas a reign of law and order that has been the most important element in promoting civilization in this part of the country.
Captain Van Riper's wife, who survives him and to whom he was married in 1870, is Mrs. Kate (Jones) Van Riper, a native of Bexar county and a daughter of the late A. D. Jones, a prominent pioneer of this country who died in 1906. The Jones farm, seven miles north of San Antonio, is one of the best known places in the county. In the family were three children: Charles, Albert and Marie. The elder son was born on the Van Riper farm but was educated in the schools of San Antonio. For nearly twelve years he has been a police officer of this city and is now a member of the city detective force, and, like his father, has made an enviable record for skill and efficiency. He is married and has four children: Corinne Thelma, Garry Paschal, Guy Owen and James Mortimer Van Riper.
CAPTAIN WARREN D. DRUSE, chief deputy city assessor and ex- chief of police of San Antonio, was born at Waterloo in Monroe county, Illinois, the son of Harrison and Agnes E. (Cockshott) Druse, both of whom are now deceased. The father, who was originally from New York and located at Waterloo at an early day, died there in February, 1906. He was a prominent citizen of Monroe county and filled the office of county commissioner. His wife was of direct English ancestry, her people having come from Yorkshire to the new world.
Captain Druse was reared and educated in the place of his nativity and there received his business training. In 1883 he came to San An- tonio and this city has since been his home. Soon after his arrival here he became connected with the police department as a special officer, con- tinuing in that position until December, 1887, at which time he went into the sheriff's office, under Sheriff Nat Lewis, as deputy. He afterward acted as deputy sheriff for four years under Thomas P. McCall, and in the fall of 1892 he was appointed chief deputy district clerk under Henry Umscheid, who was elected to the office in that year. In the spring of 1893 Hon. George Paschal was elected mayor of San Antonio and in
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March of that year he appointed Mr. Druse city marshal and chief of police. Captain Druse remained in this position during Mayor Paschal's administration and during the succeeding administration of Mayor Henry Elmendorf, thus acting for four years altogether as city marshal. Two years subsequent to his retirement from the office, when Mr. Hicks was elected mayor, Captain Druse was again appointed city marshal and served throughout that administration. In 1902 he was appointed chief deputy in the city assessor's office, which position he has since held. Throughout his entire life he has been in public service and is a trust- worthy official, readily recognizing the duties that devolve upon him and performing all with a sense of conscientious obligation and with earnest effort for the public welfare.
Mrs. Druse, to whom the Captain was married at Waterloo, Illinois, bore the maiden name of Emma Tolin and belonged to a well known family of Waterloo. They have one son, Claude Druse, who is now a student at Washington University in St. Louis.
OLIVER S. NEWELL, superintendent of the Pullman Company at San Antonio, Texas, is a native of central New York and was reared and educated in the vicinity of Utica. He is descended from the Scotch-Irish family of Newells in Massachusetts, founded in that state in colonial days, while another branch of the same family was established in Loui- siana. After completing his education Mr. Newell came to the west and entered the service of the Pullman Company in an official capacity at St. Louis, where he remained for four years. He then resigned and came to Texas in 1876, here engaging in ranching in Kinney county. He remained in that business until 1888, when he again became connected with the Pullman Company, being appointed to the position of super- intendent with headquarters at San Antonio. He has filled the position continuously since, his jurisdiction covering the interests of the com- pany in southwestern Texas and northern Mexico.
During the many years of his residence in San Antonio Mr. Newell has become thoroughly identified with its best interests and its growth and development. He owns a beautiful and costly home, Newell Place, at the corner of Avenue A and Newell street. He also has valuable and extensive mining interests in Mexico, principally at Jimulco, in the state of Coahuila, and in the states of Durango, Zacatecas and Jalisco.
Mr. Newell was married to Miss Lola Stribling, a daughter of the late Judge Thomas H. Stribling, an old-time citizen of San Antonio and one of the most distinguished representatives of the legal profession here. To Mr. and Mrs. Newell were born a son and a daughter: George S., now a mining engineer ; and Ruth. The wife and mother died in June, 1906, her death being deeply deplored by all who knew her. For many years Mr. Newell has been a prominent representative of the Republican . party in Texas and although never a candidate for office himself he is one of the men who have always labored for the maintenance of the highest standard in connection with the work of the republican organi- zation in this state. He is a broad-minded man, well versed on all the questions and issues of the day, political and otherwise, and manifests a public spirited devotion to the general good in an active, practical and helpful co-operation in many movements which have had direct bearing upon the welfare of the city.
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JOHN H. AFFLECK, engaged in the real-estate business in San An- tonio, was born at Natchez, Mississippi, in 1850, his parents being Thomas and Anna M. (Dunbar) Affleck. The father was born in Dumfries, Scot- land, and on coming to America settled first in Philadelphia. Later he removal to Indiana, where he engaged in business for a few years and then came to Natchez, Mississippi. Here he established. the only com- mercial nursery in the south at that time and also entered business life as a planter on an extensive scale. Realizing that the war was coming on and that the lower Mississippi river would be the hotbed of conten- tion he decided to sell out his interest at Natchez and come to Texas. He arrived in the state in 1857, bought land in the old historic Washing- ton county and in 1858 brought his family from Mississippi, taking up his abode at the new home which he had prepared. He had always been successful in business and continued so in Washington county as a planter. He also conducted a cotton gin and a grist mill and engaged in the manufacture of lumber. He made it his aim to attain the highest perfec- tion possible in all that he undertook and he carried forward to success- ful completion these various interests. His grist mill was the only one in Texas for a number of years. During the war his saw-mill manufac- tured wheelbarrows, wagons and other implements from lumber for the Confederate army. One of his sons, I. D. Affleck, was a soldier of the southern army, serving throughout the war in Terry's Texas Rangers. The father died at his home in Washington county in 1869 and the mother passed away there in 1871. She was a descendant of the English branch of the Dunbar family which settled in Virginia and Maryland prior to the Revolution. The maternal grandfather of John H. Af- fleck was a colonel under Washington in the Continental army and it is on his mother's side that he is related to Jane Long, who is accredited with being the first white woman in Texas. She was the wife of the noted Colonel Long, the leader of the revolutionists, who, before the general Texas revolution of 1836, tried to wrest independence from Mexico. Colonel Long was captured and shot by the Mexican authori- ties in the city of Mexico because of his efforts to attain independence for Texas.
John H. Affleck was reared at the family home in Washington county but early in life decided that the environments of an agricultural community were too limiting, especially when the fascinating life of the great open cattle range of west Texas was before him. When still a youth he joined a cow camp and for many years was in the cattle busi- ness, making several trips over the great trails to the north before the days of the railroad. As early as 1870 he was out in New Mexico and Arizona. For about fifteen years he was in the cattle business on his own account, his ranch being in Uvalde county. In 1893 he located permanently in San Antonio and since that time has been mostly engaged in the land business, operating extensively in real estate in San Antonio and Southwestern Texas. He has built up a substantial real estate busi- ness in city and outside property since the beginning of the present great growth and development in Southwestern Texas, and in fact has mate- rially assisted in advancing the interests of this section of the state.
Mr. Affleck was married to Miss Sophia E. Baylor, who is a daugh-
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ter of the distinguished Confederate soldier, General John R. Baylor. They have four children : Mrs. Anna D. Taylor, Frances Baylor, Thomas and Ruth. The family is prominent socially and Mr. Affleck is recog- nized as a business man who while successfully controlling individual interests also manifests a public spirited devotion to the general good and gives active and loyal support to many movements and measures which have direct bearing upon the community and its welfare.
I. D. Affleck, brother of John H. Affleck, and a resident of San Antonio, is a noted historian. For many years past he has devoted all of his time to deep study and research into all of the varied phases of Texas history with the result that he is now considered an accurate au- thority on all historical matters pertaining to the Lone Star state. He has accumulated from his own pen a mass of valuable historical matter, both printed and in manuscript, that constitutes prized contributions to the history of this state. He has investigated and disentangled from ob- scure data and records many facts on topics that have heretofore baffled less erudite writers. His history of the missions is an authority on this interesting subject and his history of the flags under which Texas has been governed is a record as fascinating as a romance. His accounts of the early conflicts between the Texans and Mexicans, the invasions of Mexicans into Texas territory and the Indian history all show an ex- penditure of much time, painstaking labor and extended investigation.
CREED MATHIAS CLICK, a stockman and a real estate operator liv- ing in San Antonio, was born at Paris, Texas, in 1856, his parents being John D. and Mary (Wortham) Click. He comes of a family of his- toric prominence in Texas, different generations having lived under the four flags which have floated over this state, representing different na- tional supremacy. His grandfather, Mathias Click, came from Bristol, Tennessee, to northern Texas in 1830 when it was a part of Mexican territory. He afterward returned to Tennessee and brought his family to this state in 1833. The father of our subject was born, probably in Arkansas, while the family were en route here in an ox wagon. Mathias Click and three of his sons were in the battle of San Jacinto which won Texan independence in 1836. John D. Click, who was a Confederate soldier, is still living, his home now being at Mill Creek, Indian Terri- tory. He is better known as Davy Crockett Click, from the fact that for several years he owned a "lizard" or tree fork that had long been used by Davy Crockett in his camp outfit. This relic of the noted fron- tiersman was lost in a fire at Mr. Click's home in Paris, Texas, in 1876. Mrs. Click died during the period of the Civil war.
Creed Mathias Click was reared in his native city and in 1876, when twenty years of age, left Trinity University at Tehuacana, Limestone county, where he had been studying and went to the west as a buffalo hunter. Previous to this time, however, in 1874, he had gone to west Texas and remained with a company of rangers at their camp in Cole- man county known as Mud Springs camp. He helped to fight the In- dians from that camp in 1874 and again in 1875. On returning from the buffalo range in 1877 he bought a bunch of cattle and located them in Callahan county, but the water became scarce there and he drove his stock into Palo Pinto county, where he followed ranching for nine
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Oui, Click
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years. He was one of the founders of the town of Mineral Wells in that county, a place which has since become famous as a health resort. He established the first postoffice there, was appointed the first postmaster and in other ways was connected with its public interests and develop- ment. Leaving Mineral Wells, he went to Gainesville, where he was post- master for three years, from which position he was appointed to the railway mail service. In 1888 he was crippled in a wreck on the road and then took a position as bookkeeper and cashier for the Tennessee store at Gainesville, where he remained for two years. In December, 1890, during the administration of Governor Hogg, he was appointed to the position of patenting clerk in the general land office at Austin. Re- signing he went to Abilene, Texas, where he represented the Security Mortgage & Trust Company, a Dallas financial institution, for which he loaned money. Later he became a cotton buyer at Abilene and exported the first bale of cotton from Abilene to Liverpool. On account of his daughter's delicate health he took his family to Boise, Idaho, and lived there for four years, after which he returned to Abilene, where he re- mained for a year. He next went to the Creek Nation in the Indian Territory and engaged in the cattle business, his headquarters being at Broken Arrow. In December, 1905, he bought a fine ranch in Bandera county, Texas, established a home and removed his family thither. While maintaining his home in Bandera county he makes his business head- quarters in San Antonio, his office being at No. 13312 Soledad street, from which point he conducts a general land and live stock business.
Mr. Click was married, in Palo Pinto county, in 1879, to Miss Sarah S. Taylor, a daughter of Dr. Sylvester S. Taylor, a well known citizen of that section of the state. They have eight children: Mrs. Sue Ina Querry ; Creed Mathias, William B., Val. W., Zachary T., Mary Eleanor, Norma Beatrice and Jack Julian Jerome Click. There is also one grand- son, William Creed Querry.
The history of Mr. Click, if given in detail, would present a correct and interesting picture of the frontier experiences of Texas, for he was upon the open plains when there were large herds of buffalo in this coun- try. He has had, too, close connection with business interests in various parts of the state and his labors have been effective factors in advancing general improvement and progress. In his own business career he· has displayed energy, keen foresight and unfaltering perseverance-qualities which have resulted in winning him a gratifying measure of success.
CAPTAIN HERMAN F. F. KARBER. Among the citizens of German birth who have been closely identified with the interests of San Antonio to the benefit of the city as well as the south, is numbered Captain Her- man F. F. Karber. Born in Prussia he came to the United States in 1858, being a seaman and sailing out of New York city for several years. He in early manhood enlisted for volunteer service in the Civil war, becoming early in 1862 a private of the Fourteenth New York Cav- alry. During the period of hostilities he distinguished himself as a brave and efficient soldier, winning successive promotions to the rank of sec- ond lieutenant, lieutenant and captain. With his regiment he did active service in Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and Texas, participating in many skirmishes and battles, including the engagements at Fort Pickens, Don-
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aldsonville, Mount Pleasant, and other battles fought during the Banks' expedition up the Red River, the siege and capture of Fort Morgan (Mobile) and others. In Louisiana he was under the command of Bri- gadier-General Edmund J. Davis, who later became the reconstruction governor of Texas.
After hostilities had ceased Captain Karber came to Texas with his regiment in command of General Wesley Merritt, whose forces had been assigned to duty in this state with headquarters at San Antonio, the De- partment of Texas at that time being part of the command of General Phil Sheridan. With this organization Captain Karber arrived in San Antonio, August 2, 1865. His regiment, the Fourteenth New York, had in the meantime been consolidated with the Eighteenth New York and was known by the latter name. Captain Karber engaged in frontier service against the Indians of Texas and was mustered out at Victoria on the 3Ist of May, 1866.
Locating in this city he has since retained his residence here and for many years was a brewer, being one of the pioneers in this industry, which is an important source of the city's revenue. For several years past he has been connected with the Lone Star Brewing Company, An- heuser-Busch and the San Antonio Brewing Association (the City Brew- ery) as general business agent and collector, in which connection he com- mands a large trade.
Captain Karber was married in San Antonio to Ida Vogt. He was one of the organizers and first members of the Beethoven Maennerchor, of San Antonio, a famous singing society, and for a number of years has been and is yet widely known as a singer, who has been greatly interested in musical events of the city and is a prominent factor in musical circles. For years he has acted as president of the Beethoven Society.
Captain Karber has always been prominent in connection with civic and military affairs since taking up his abode in Texas. In the fall of 1872 he was elected chief marshal of San Antonio and served in that capacity during the administration of F. Giraud, mayor-elect. Subse- quent to this time he was appointed chief of the fire department, occupy- ing that position for some time. Formerly he was appointed by Gover -. nor Edmund J. Davis colonel of the Fifth Texas Militia, which organiza- tion was later disbanded; then by Governor Coke he was appointed cap- tain in command of the Alamo Rifles, a famous military organization of those days and known far and wide as a crack organization. On the occasion of public celebrations, parades or any military feature of the city Captain Karber is always called upon to head the procession, being a man of typical military appearance and bearing. For many years he has been each year chosen chief marshal of the parades of the annual flower carnival of San Antonio. His residence in this city covers forty- two years and his acquaintance embraces all of the prominent and repre- sentative citizens here, while many of the leading men of San Antonio and of Texas are numbered among his staunch friends.
ROBERT W. STAYTON. Connected with a profession which has long been regarded as conserving the best interests of people at large, Robert W. Stayton has gained a distinctively representative clientage as a prac- titioner of law at the San Antonio bar. He was born at Pleasanton,
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Atascosa county, Texas, in 1859, his parents being Hon. John W. and Jennie (Weldon) Stayton. His father, who was chief justice of the supreme court of Texas at the time of his death, July 5, 1894, was one of the distinguished citizens of Texas, and the following sketch of his life is taken mostly from the resolutions adopted by the State Bar As- sociation at the time of his demise, embodying a report expressing the sorrow of the association for the death of the chief justice and an estimate of his character and services prepared by a committee of lawyers of the state.
"Judge Stayton came unheralded from a quiet country town, called to the supreme bench of the state. It was soon made manifest that he was a lawyer in deed and in truth. Day by day and year by year he grew and strengthened in the esteem and in the affection of the bar and the people, and when he died all men knew that his exalted position had never been more worthily filled, that never had the ermine fallen on one more fit to wear it and who would more nobly sustain that lofty standard of judicial ability and integrity which has for nearly fifty years charac- terized the supreme court of Texas. He essayed no new departure from the staid paths of the law for the sake of novelty but he hesitated not when truth and dignity led, to often go where the way had not been made plain, nor to place the lights of judicial learning and legal science where they had not been placed before, and whatever position he assumed . he maintained on principle and with a wealth of authority and power of logic, which at once defied attack and baffled criticism. Behind the lawyer and judge was, if possible, the more admirable man, calm, self-possessed. forcible, dignified, yet never austere, with an integrity so lofty and a personal and official purity so spotless, that truth could not and malice dared not assail him. The same courage, ability and persistency that lifted him from obscurity and poverty to exalted position marked his whole career, and in every field of endeavor he was the same brave, earnest, honorable man. He was a man utterly without guile."
John William Stayton was a native of Washington county, Ken- tucky, born December 24, 1831. He was only five years of age when he lost his father, and afterward removed with his mother to Paducah, Kentucky, where he died in 1844. Thus at the age of thirteen years he was left an orphan, and for four years after his mother's death he resided with his grandfather on a Kentucky farm. During this time he eagerly perused every available book and newspaper, gathering treasures of knowledge from every source. At the age of seventeen years he was a well informed youth, moderately well grounded in the fundamental principles of a general common-school education. He then decided to prepare for the bar, despite his poor circumstances, and as a means to this end he engaged himself to a blacksmith and worked at that trade for four years, the masculine exercise giving him a strong physique and sta- bility of constitution. By strict economy he accumulated sufficient means to continue his studies, and at the age of twenty-one years became assistant teacher in a large country school, still pursuing with unquenchable ardor his studious labor in higher mathematics and in ancient languages. In the meantime he had begun the study of law under the written direction of his uncle, Judge Henry Pirtle, of Louisville, Kentucky, and in 1855 he
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entered the University of Louisville as a law student and was graduated therefrom with distinction in 1856. A month later he was married to Miss Jennie Weldon, who survives him, and who throughout his life with a wealth of sympathy and kind encouragement aided him in every under- taking and stimulated him in every effort.
In November, 1856, Judge Stayton removed with his young wife to LaGrange, Texas, on the Colorado river, but he did not have good health there and went to Atascosa county, which was then practically a wilderness. It was shortly after the organization of the county in 1856 that he fixed his residence at Pleasanton, the county seat, where, with his brother-in-law, V. Weldon, he established a blacksmith shop, and in connection with work at the trade entered upon a law practice. In 1858 he was elected district attorney and re-elected in 1860, filling the position but four years. In the fall of 1862 he enlisted in the Confederate army, going out as a private in Captain Lewis Maverick's Company. Shortly afterward, however, he was commissioned to raise a troop of cavalry, which he did, serving throughout the remainder of the war as its com- mander. His troop was mostly in detached service either in Texas or in Louisiana and as scouts rendered valuable and efficient aid to the cause. In 1865 Judge Stayton returned from the war and removed his little family to Clinton, Dewitt county, where he resumed the profession of teaching until the courts of the country should be reorganized and the way open to practice law, which did not take place, however, until twelve months later. In 1866 he formed a law partnership with Samuel C. Lackey, at that time the leading attorney of Dewitt county, and they opened an office in the old town of Clinton, then the county seat. It was not long before Captain Stayton was recognized throughout western Texas in more than a dozen counties, in which he practiced as one of the foremost lawyers of the bar.
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