USA > Texas > A Twentieth century history of southwest Texas, Volume II > Part 22
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dents of Pleasanton with two exceptions. Mr. Martin also has other land and business interests and is recognized as a man of resolute purpose and strong determination. He brings sound judgment to bear in his com- mercial and financial interests and is thus meeting with creditable success.
Mr. Martin was united in marriage to Miss Ella Mansfield, a daugh- ter of F. M. Mansfield, and they have two children, Hugh and Mable Martin. Having spent his entire life in Pleasanton, Mr. Martin of this review is thoroughly familiar with its history and has watched with interest its progress and development, co-operating in many movements for the general good. He belongs to that class of enterprising, resolute men who are the real factors and promoters of a community, for the upbuilding of any town or city depends upon the character of its repre- sentative citizens.
EDWARD MAYERS, now filling the position of justice of the peace at Rossville, Atascosa county, has a history which identifies him with the picturesque past with its hardships and privations, its exciting adventures and its tales which now in the prosaic present when modern civilization has conquered every acre of territory in Texas seem almost like a work of fiction. He was born in the city of Guelph in Brunswick, Germany, in 1841, his parents being Edward and Wilhelmina (Seitz) Mayers. The parents lived and died in Brunswick. There are many chapters of military history in the annals of the family, for during several generations various representatives of the name fought in different wars. A brother of our subject who died recently was a German soldier in the battle of Sedan and a nephew of Mr. Mayers', now in Germany, is a line officer in one of the regiments of the Prussian army.
Edward Mayers acquired a good education in the schools of his native country and was a student in the cadet school up to the time when he left the fatherland in 1862 to come to America. From that time for- ward for many years his life was filled with adventure and experience as a soldier, Indian fighter, ranger and pioneer, such as falls to the lot of but few men and if written in detail would furnish a story more thrilling than any work of the novelist. In the summer of 1862, not long after arriving in America, Mr. Mayers enlisted for service in the Civil war in defense of the Union cause, becoming a member of Company H,, Thirty- ninth New York Infantry, which was popularly known as Garibaldi's regiment from the fact that a colonel of the regiment had served under Garibaldi in Europe. This command formed a part of the third brigade, third division of Hancock's second army corps, and was one of the crack organizations of the Federal army. Mr. Mayers took part in all of the great battles of the Army of the Potomac, including the hotly contested engagements at Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Mine Run, Chancellorsville, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, the fighting around Petersburg and the campaign leading up to the surrender at Appomattox, his regiment being about eight miles to the left of Appomattox at the time when General Lee gave to General Grant his sword, the formal signal of surrender. He also participated in the grand review at Wash- ington, the most celebrated military pageant ever seen on the western hemisphere, and was mustered out in New York.
In 1866 Mr. Mayers made his way westward to Ohio and there en-
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listed in the regular army for service in the Indian campaigns, joining the Seventh United States Cavalry under the distinguished Indian fighter, General Custer. He remained with that cavalry organization for some time and on account of its effectiveness the regiment was in constant serv- ice against the Indians throughout all of the west where the red men were making trouble-in Colorado, Kansas, the Dakotas, Wyoming and the Yellowstone country of Montana, also in the Pan Handle of Texas and New Mexico and in western Texas in the vicinity of Fort Davis, El Paso and other points. Mr. Mayers remained with the Seventh Cavalry until 1872, in which year he came to Southwestern Texas and entered upon active service as civilian employee scout under General Mackenzie who at that time had charge of the Federal forces that were contending with the Indians in this part of the country. One of the most notable expeditions of these troops was in pursuit of the Kickapoo Indians across the border into old Mexico ( 1873), whither they had fled after committing several atrocious depredations and where, on foreign soil, Mackenzie's men had a serious fight with them in the Santa Rosa mountains. Sub- sequent to this time Mr. Mayers was with the Fourth Cavalry Regiment in the Indian service in northern and northwestern Texas beyond Fort Griffin and out to the foot of the Llano Estacado or staked plains ( 1874). He was under command of Generals Mackenzie and Shafter for sixteen months.
At the end of that time Mr. Mayers, owing to General Shafter's harshness to soldiers, left the employ of General Shafter, then at Ben Ficklin above Ft. Concho, and entered the Texas State Ranger service under Captain L. H. McNally, one of the most distinguished and success- ful of the ranger captains, whose company at that time was most efficient in the state in contending not only with the Indians but more particularly with cattle thieves and desperadoes generally, who occasioned great trouble in the border counties and from the Blanco Country to the mouth of the Rio Grande and as far as San Antonio and Austin and even be- yond by driving off the stock. Nor did they stop at any deed of violence to accomplish their criminal purposes in regard to cattle thieving. It is to Captain McNally's organization more than to any other one force that is due the credit for suppressing this lawlessness of that period, par- ticularly in the case of the celebrated Sutton-Taylor feud, originating in Wilson county and extending over several adjoining counties and in which many men met violent death. This company also spent some time in chasing Ben Thompson and King Fisher, two noted desperadoes, who were finally killed as result of a gambling brawl in a theatre in San Antonio. Mr. Mayers was with this company of rangers for about two years, from 1875 until 1877, during a part of which time they made their headquarters in the vicinity of Brownsville, Laredo and at San Antonio. Every phase of frontier military experience is familiar to him and the ac- counts which to most people are a matter of history concerning the de- velopment of the southwest are to him matters of actual experience. He has borne all the hardships and trials incident to such warfare and has rendered to his country a service the value of which is inestimable and entitles him to the gratitude of all the frontier settlers of the west and southwest.
Vol. II. 11
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In 1878, Mr. Mayers married, with the intention of settling down permanently, but for some time following he was "in the saddle" in the cattle business, being a fence rider in Goliad county. He made his head- quarters in San Antonio for twenty-two years and is quite widely known in that city as a trades union and G. A. R. man, also a member of the A. & N. U. of A. In 1897, however, he located at Rossville in Atascosa county, about twenty-eight miles south of San Antonio, where he has a fine home which is justly celebrated for its genuine and warm hearted hospitality. Mr. Mayers is now serving as justice of the peace in his precinct. He was first wounded while in service on the Platte pro- tecting the Butterfield overland mail line in 1867 at what was then called Fort Morgan in Colorado, eighty miles below Denver. He was again wounded in 1868 at the battle of the Washita on Washita river in what is now southwestern Oklahoma, the battle at that point being recalled as one of the most hotly contested engagements with the red men in all of the Indian campaign. He was again wounded at Bloody Springs about sixty miles from Fort Lyon, Colorado, on which occasion the troop of the Seventh Cavalry, to which Mr. Mayers then belonged, made its noted ride of one hundred and twenty-three miles in twenty-four hours, com- manded by Maj. Penrose, senior officer at Ft. Lyons, near Las Animas and the Purgataire. Through his many years of warfare he was often placed in the most dangerous and hazardous positions and it is said by the friends who were with him in the service that he was absolutely fearless, being one of the bravest men they ever knew.
Mr. Mayers' wife, to whom he was married in San Antonio in 1878, bore the maiden name of Miss Mary Jane Jones, a daughter of W. E. Jones, who was of Welsh ancestry and came from Pennsylvania to Texas, becoming a prominent business man of San Antonio and one of the organizers and stockholders in the Alamo Cement Company. To Mr. and Mrs. Mayers have been born three children who are yet living ; William Jones, Elizabeth and Edward Mayers. One daughter, Clara, who became the wife of L. J. Ross of Rossville, is now deceased. Few men have had a life of such activity as Mr. Mayers and the splendid record which he made for courage and loyalty entitles him to the grati- tude of the country and to the honorable retirement which is now vouch- safed him. He is a most interesting and entertaining talker and when he can be induced to speak of his experiences in warfare the tale is one which commands the deepest and most unflagging attention of his auditors.
ROBERT A. WHITE. Atascosa county has been signally favored in the class of men who have filled her public offices and cared for her busi- ness interests, and among those who are now capably discharging public duties is Robert A. White, county and district clerk. He is a resident of Pleasanton, and a native of Marion county, Arkansas. He was born in 1871, his parents being Jeff Milam and Caroline (Adams) White, both of whom are now living in Pleasanton. The mother was born in Ar- kansas, while the father was a native of Palmyra, Marion county, Mis- souri, born in 1831. His parents were William B. and Rebecca (Massie) White, natives of Kentucky, who removed to Marion county, Missouri, in the earliest settlement of that country. The maiden name of Mrs.
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White's mother was Susan Milam, and she was a sister of Ben Milam, famous in the history of Texas. The Whites, Massies and Milams were all originally from Kentucky although different histories have usually credited Ben Milam to Tennessee, probably owing to the fact that the Milams removed to that state from Kentucky in an early day.
Jeff M. White, father of our subject, was reared on a farm near Palmyra, Missouri, and in 1852 crossed the plains to California, where he lived for two years, being engaged in mining gold at Mormon island on the south fork of the American river. He returned by way of the Nicaragua to his old home and when the Civil war broke out he enlisted in General Price's army in the Confederate service. Participating in the battles of Wilson Creek, Lexington and Pea Ridge and in other fighting in southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas, he thus bravely contended for the cause which he espoused. He went with Price's army from the southwestern district to Tennessee and Mississippi but afterward returned to Arkansas and joined General Joe Shelby's Cavalry, in which service he was continuously engaged during the last two years of the war in north- ern Arkansas and the border country of western and southwestern Mis- souri. When the war was ended Mr. White took up his abode in Marion county, Arkansas, where he lived for eight years, and in 1874 he came with his family to Texas, locating upon a farm in Goliad county, eight miles north of the city of Goliad, the county seat. He lived there until 1886, when the family removed to Pleasanton, Atascosa county, which is their present home.
Robert A. White was largely reared to the occupation of farming and stock-raising and acquired a good common-school education. For four years he served as deputy tax collector under A. M. Avant, sheriff and tax collector, and thus he gained a wide acquaintance over the county. In 1904 he was elected county and district clerk for a term of two years, and in 1906 was re-elected. He has thus been for a considerable period in public office and no word has been uttered against his capability and fidelity by those who have desired able and honorable public service and who do not place partisanship before personal aggrandizement and be- fore the general good.
Mr. White also has business interests of considerable importance. He is secretary and treasurer of the Atascosa County Abstract Company, of which Henry G. Martin is the president, and which is making the only complete set of abstracts there is of this county-a work that is badly needed in the view of the present rapid settlement in this portion of the state. In order to complete its abstracts the company has gone back to the records of Bexar county to get the complete titles as Atascosa was a part of Bexar county previous to the establishment of its separate organization in 1856. Mr. White is also interested in land and real estate in Atascosa county and has some valuable property.
In January, 1903, in Pleasanton, was celebrated the marriage of Robert A. White and Miss Ellice Fuller, and they now have a little daughter, Annie. From the age of three years Mr. White has resided continuously in Texas and possesses much of the spirit of enterprise and progress which are revolutionizing the state in its material growth and business development.
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ROBERT L. BROWN, M. D., engaged in the practice of medicine at Pleasanton, with a patronage which is indicative of the confidence re- posed in his professional skill and ability, was born in Clifton, Tennessee, in 1878, a son of the Rev. Alanson and Catherine (Moore) Brown. His parents removed from Tennessee to Texas in 1879, locating at San Mar- cos. The father, a native of Alabama, became a Methodist minister and devoted his entire life to his holy calling. His wife, a native of Tennessee, still survives and is now living at San Marcos.
Reared and educated in that city, Dr. Brown supplemented his lite- rary education by a professional training received in Nashville Univer- sity, at Nashville, Tennessee, and thus well qualified for the active and responsible duties of the profession he entered upon practice at Pleas- anton, Atascosa county, in 1902. Here he has since remained and has further studied medicine at Baylor Medical College, at Dallas, Texas, from which he was graduated in April, 1905. He follows the general practice of medicine and surgery and has been most successful in his treatment of important and difficult cases. He has also prospered in gen- eral business interests and has been closely identified with the growth of the new town and county. He owns a nice home and business property in Pleasanton, together with a cattle ranch of thirteen hundred and fifty acres on the Tilden road, eight miles south of the city.
Dr. Brown was married in Pleasanton, to Miss Florence Oden, the granddaughter of Mrs. Eliza (Fountain) Murphy, who yet resides in Pleasanton, and is the widow of the late J. W. Murphy, who died in San Antonio, May, 1904. He was born in Kentucky, September 20, 1836, and has figured prominently in connection with events which have left their impress upon the history of Texas. He came to this state in 1856, settling in San Antonio, and when the war between the north and south was inaugurated he cast his fortunes with the Confederates, becoming a member of General Sibley's brigade and served until hostilities were brought to a close. He was in all of the engagements in which that famous brigade participated and he retained in his possession a sabre which he captured from a Federal officer at the battle of Val Verde. Following the close of the war Mr. Murphy was for a brief period en- gaged in merchandising in McMullen county. In 1867 he married and afterward engaged in a successful ranching business for a number of years, thereby laying the foundation of a handsome competence. For more than two decades he was a capitalist of Pleasanton, living retired from active business save for the management of his investments. His life was ever characterized by frankness, strict integrity and a love for law and order. He was a man of strong convictions and while courageous was gentle as a woman when strong measures were not required. As a citizen and neighbor he had the warm regard of all who knew him and as a business man was respected and admired. He held membership in the Pleasanton Baptist church and his aid proved a factor in the spirit of the church and in the advancement of many interests which have been of decided advantage to the city. In 1867 he married Mrs. Eliza Oden, nee Fountain, whose first husband was General W. Oden and it was one of their sons that was the father of Mrs. Brown. The Odens and Foun- tains, including Mrs. Murphy's father and her uncle, Captain Fountain,
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were among the earliest settlers of Atascosa county. Mrs. 'Murphy came here with her parents in 1856, locating on La Parita creek about twelve miles southwest of the present site of Pleasanton, and since that time she has resided continuously in this county. The Fountains and Odens are well remembered for the part which they took in the warfare against the Indians in Atascosa and the surrounding country and the work which they did as pioneers in reclaiming this vicinity for the white race. It is from such an ancestry that Mrs. Brown is descended. Both the Doctor and his wife are prominent socially in Pleasanton and the hospitality of its best homes is freely accorded them.
G. W. KEY, lawyer and real estate dealer at Pleasanton, was born in Georgia, in 1847, his parents being the Rev. J. N. and Mary E. Key. The father was a native of Jackson county, Georgia, and a member of the family to which belonged the distinguished Francis Scott Key, the author of the "Star Spangled Banner." He came to Texas in 1854, locating in Fayette county, where he lived until 1857, when he removed to Gonzales county, which remained his home for several years. About 1877 he became a resident of Burnet county, which was his home to the time of his demise on the IIth of March, 1901. During all his active life he was a Baptist minister and his influence was far-reaching in be- half of the work and the upbuilding of the church. His son, Judge W. M. Key, is a distinguished jurist of this state. He studied law under Judge Posey at Georgetown, Texas, and practiced successfully there for several years. He was appointed judge of the court of civil appeals at Austin by Governor Hogg, when that court was first established and has held the office continuously since by re-election.
G. W. Key was only six years of age on the removal of the family to Texas, so that he was practically reared in Gonzales county, where he acquired his preliminary education. He finished his literary education in Concrete College, in DeWitt county, under Dr. J. E. V. Covey, and while still a young man studied law and made preparation for the legal profession, but later decided to become a Baptist minister and therefore did not engage in active law practice until his more recent years. Al- though very young, in 1864 he joined Colonel Benavides' Regiment, Captain Pleasant B. Watson's Company, for service in the Confederate army in Texas, and was in that service until the war closed. Having prepared for the Baptist ministry he began his first preaching in a regu- lar charge in Gonzales county in 1879, and subsequently he was the minister in charge successively of the Baptist churches at Stockdale, Wil- son county ; Ballinger, in Runnels county; and Clarkson, Texas, his last charge being at his present home, Pleasanton, where he preached for two years. He then decided to take up the practice of law and ac- cordingly in April, 1903, he was admitted to the bar, since which time he has been actively engaged in law practice with increasing success. He filled out an unexpired term as attorney of Atascosa county and he has a good clientage, for he is an able lawver of analytical mind, who is logical in his deductions and correct in his conclusions. He also conducts a general real estate business in the town, ranch lands, rentals, etc., and is fully in touch with the present progressive movement that is bringing Atascosa county to the front rank in Texas. He seems specially quali-
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fied for success in the law through his mental ability and adaptation and his well known gifts in forensic power.
Mr. Key has had a most interesting life. He was deputy sheriff of De Witt county during the noted Taylor-Sutton feud. He has been all of his life a strong, uncompromising, unchangeable Democrat, with equal fidelity to the Baptist faith.
Mr. Key was first married in 1869, in Gonzales county, to Mrs. Maggie Hall, who died August 4, 1896, at Stockdale, in Wilson county, and was buried there. She was the mother of Mr. Key's nine children, all of whom are living, namely: Mrs. Jennie Skinner, Mrs. Nettie K. Deacon, J. N., J. G., Edward K., Maggie E. Mrs. Sallie H. Taylor, Jeffie and Kate W. Key. There are also fourteen grandchildren. June 30, 1897, at San Antonio, Mr. Key was married to Miss Sallie Johnson, a native of Mississippi, but reared in Washington county, Texas. She is a graduate of the Baylor Female College. Mrs. Key is of distinguished ancestry of Celtic origin, her father, Edwin Ruthven Johnson, being re- lated to the famous Dr. Johnson, on the Irish side, and to the Ruthvens of Scotland. Her mother, Mrs. M. A. Johnson, was of the fine, old Welsh family "Llewellen," noted for strength of mind, and moral and religious force, of talent as musicians, and brilliancy as writers. The English side was that of the paternal, Elisha Williams, a grandfather being a man of stern integrity, of broad views, and cultivation of mind. He distinguished himself as a patriot and a soldier during the war of the Revolution. Mrs. Key is also related to the Martyns of England, and from them inherits her non-conformist conscience and deep religious ardour. She spent almost two years in Mission work in Brazil under the foreign mission board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Mrs. C. H. Wede- meyer of Belton, Texas, Mrs. T. H. Lipscomb of Temple, Texas; Mrs. R. H. Sommerville of San Antonio, are sisters of Mrs. Key. Mr. and Mrs. Key are widely and favorably known and the hospitality of the best homes in Pleasanton is cordially extended them. In his business career he is conscientious, active, faithful and persevering, and his success is attributable to these qualities.
GEORGE M. MARTIN, engaged in the practice of law at Pleasanton, Texas, was born in San Antonio, in 1857, a son of George M. and Martha Julia (Merrick) Martin. The father was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, and in 1848 came to Texas, locating in San Antonio, where for years he was known as a successful business man, dealing largely in real estate. In his later life he went to Benton Harbor, Michigan, where he died in 1871. His wife, who was born in the state of New York, was the daughter of Morgan Lewis Merrick, a distinguished civil engineer, who first in New York state was associated with the Van Burens and other prominent families. In the days of early mining excitement in California he went to the coast and laid off the city of Sacramento. In 1851 he came from California to Texas, settling at San Antonio and became surveyor of the Bexar land district. His daughter Julia was at that time sixteen years of age, and became the wife of George M. Martin, Sr., in 1853.
The son and namesake, George M. Martin, Jr., was reared in San Antonio and obtained his education in the schools of this city. His earliest business experience came to him as a newsboy in that city, and
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when about thirteen years of age he was apprenticed to the printer's trade on the Herald under Colonel Logan. Later he went to Austin, and was connected with the composing room of the Austin Statesman, beginning with the first issue of the paper when it was changed from the Republi- can about 1873. Soon thereafter he went to Galveston, and for a time was connected with the mechanical department of the News of the latter city. Returning to San Antonio he became one of the organizers and was chosen president of the Express Publishing Company, publishers of the Express, which soon became the leading metropolitan daily newspaper of Southwestern Texas and has maintained that position ever since. He continued as president of the Express until 1878, when, on account of his health, not feeling able to continue longer in the busy life of the newspaper publisher, he sought a more quiet home and occupation and located in the town of Pleasanton, the county seat of Atascosa county, which has been his home since 1878. He became editor of the local weekly newspaper here and has also figured somewhat prominently in public life. He served as justice of the peace, later was elected county treasurer and also filled the office of postmaster in the early '80s.
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