USA > Texas > A Twentieth century history of southwest Texas, Volume II > Part 45
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Upon his return from the war, Mr. Butler once more resumed his stock raising interests. He did but little farming but raised some corn for feeding purposes. As the country became more thickly settled he began buying tracts of land, which he fenced off, owning farm lands in both Karnes and Live Oak counties. He has since disposed of some of his land, and of his remaining possessions he has about two hundred acres under cultivation but devotes the greater portion of his land to ranching purposes. Since locating in Karnes county he has seen a wonderful transformation, as the land has been taken up by the settlers and improved and the work of development and progress has been carried on along the various lines. When he first located here the land was very dry and he has lost his stock by the thousands from lack of water and feed, but all these conditions have since been changed as the work of irrigation has been carried on and the land has been made more valuable for farming and stock-raising purposes. He has erected on his place a fine two-story frame residence, his farm being situated one mile from Kennedy. His place is located on a natural elevation and therefore commands a good view of the city and surrounding country. Mr. Butler has always been a staunch Democrat but opposed Bryan and free silver. He has never aspired to public office but prefers to do his duty as a private citizen. He is a worthy member of the Masonic order, having attained the Royal Arch degree.
Mr. Butler was married in 1858 to Miss Adeline Burris, who was born in Ohio, just across the river from Parkersburg, West Virginia. Her father, Benjamin Burris, took up his abode on Galveston island, in Texas, in 1840, and was there engaged in truck farming, and also raised some stock, being thus engaged until the time of his death. He had a family of eight children, who after his death drifted west, and four of them settled in Karnes county. The record is as follows: Johnson, Basil, Jackson, B. F., Elizabeth, Adeline, Harriet and Lavina.
To Mr. Butler and wife have been born eight children: Newton G., who was engaged in the stock business and died in 1895, leaving five children; Helen, the wife of A. M. Nichols; Mrs. Louisa Adams ; Emmett, who died when a youth of eighteen years; Sikes, a stock far- mer; Cora, who is yet with her parents; Theodore, a stock farmer, and Hemis W., who is married and yet resides on the old homestead farm. The mother is a worthy member of the Baptist church.
JOSEPH D. NEWBERRY has since 1896 made his home on a farm adjoining the city limits of Kennedy, and from an early period has been a leading factor in the development and progress that has been made in Karnes county. Mr. Newberry was born in North Carolina, April 7, 1833, but was reared in Alabama. His parents, James and Nancy (Freeman) Newberry, were both natives of North Carolina, where they were married and followed farming, there remaining until after the birth of several of their children, when they removed to Alabama, where the father purchased and settled on a farm. He filled the office of justice of the peace and tax collector for several years. He was a man of sterling integrity and worth and his conduct was ever above question. He continued successfully in farming operations in Alabama until the time of his death, which occurred there in 1863. He was too old for
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active service in the war but used his influence for the Confederacy. He was in early life identified with the Freewill Baptist church but later joined the Methodist church. He was three times married, the children of his first marriage being Edwin, deceased, John, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Laurence. By his marriage to Nancy Freeman there were eight children: Joseph D., whose name introduces this record; Benja- min; James, who died from the effects of a wound received in battle ; Abraham ; Harrison; Parmelia; Nancy, and Sarah. The father was married a third time to Miss Gibson, by whom he had five children. Ten sons of the family served in the Confederate army.
Joseph D. Newberry, the eldest child of his father's second mar- riage, was reared in Alabama. He remained with his father, assisting him in his stock-raising interests until he had reached the age of seven- teen years; when, in 1853, he came to Texas. In this state he educated himself, first settling in Galveston. At Galveston he was employed in unloading from a vessel the first railroad iron that came into the state. He later made his way to near Indianola, in Victoria county, where he secured employment on a farm, where he was employed for two years. He then pursued a course of study in the Presbyterian school at Goliad, where he fitted himself for the profession of teaching, which he followed for many years, being numbered among the pioneer educators of South- western Texas. In 1857 he came to Karnes county, where he continued
First School in Karnes County.
his profession, teaching the first school in this county, and in 1858 he settled on a farm, which he operated in season, while in the winter months he engaged in teaching. In this way he became established in raising horses and other stock, in which he successfully engaged until 1862, when he enlisted for service in the war, becoming a member of Company G, Thirty-second Texas Cavalry, with Colonel Dr. P. C. Wood. The company was assigned to duty in western Texas and was engaged in patrolling the coast and western border, and were later ordered east, where they joined the forces of Kirby Smith at the mouth of the Brazos river, where there was a large force and fortifications made of sand bags to protect the men from Federal gunboats on the coast. Later they were ordered to Mansfield, Louisiana, where a battle ensued and the Federal army was repulsed and retreated from the field. They then went into camp for the winter. Returning to San Augustine, going from there to Bellview, Mr. Newberry was granted a furlough of thirty .days, which he spent at his home. He once more rejoined his regiment and remained in active service until the close of the war.
Following the close of hostilities Mr. Newberry again returned home and resumed his farming pursuits during the summer seasons, while in the winter he engaged in teaching. He accumulated a goodly number of horses and later engaged in raising mules, for which he found a good market. In 1871 he made a trip north with cattle, and continued his stock-raising pursuits on his ranch for many years. In 1875 he abandoned the profession of teaching. having then accumulated such a large amount of stock that it required his entire time and attention. In 1878 Mr. Newberry purchased the old Martinez ranch containing
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four thousand acres, a part of which he divided among his children, while he still retains possession of two thousand acres. He made his home on this ranch until 1896. During the period of his residence there in addition to raising horses, cattle and mules he also raised some sheep and hogs and cultivated a portion of his land which he planted to cotton. He now has about five hundred acres under cultivation, which he rents to both whites and Mexicans and on his ranch there are several tenant houses.
In 1896 Mr. Newberry purchased forty acres of land adjoining the corporation limits of Kennedy, to which he removed. He has made many substantial improvements upon the property, this being situated on an elevation which commands a good view of the city and surround- ing country. He has some sheep on his place, keeping the South Down breed, but he makes a specialty of hogs, having the Poland China and English Berkshire breeds. He has ever been an enterprising, public- spirited and progressive citizen and through his capable business manage- ment and well directed efforts he has accumulated a competence that now enables him to enjoy all the comforts of life. He is familiar with the history of Texas from the early days of excitement which here pre- vailed and the settlers were constantly being harassed by the Indians, until the present age of peace and quiet, when the country is settled with progressive, enterprising and law-abiding citizens. Mr. Newberry is independent in politics with Democratic tendencies. He is a warm admirer of Roosevelt. He served as county commissioner for eight years, during which time the court house and jail was erected, and dur- ing his administration there were also many iron bridges built through- out the county which made a good start toward the development and improvement that has since been carried on and has made Karnes county one of the foremost sections of the Lone Star state. He was justice of the peace for sixteen years. He became a member of the Methodist church in 1855, and has continued to support that denomina- tion.
Mr. Newberry has been twice married. He was first married in 1858 to Miss Elizabeth Butler, who was born in Mississippi in 1841. She was a daughter of Burnal and Sarah (Ricks) Butler, both natives of Mississippi, where they were married. In 1851 they removed to Texas, settling in Karnes county, where the father was engaged in stock farming, in which he continued successfully until the time of his death, which occurred in 1871. His children were as follows: James, a resident of Atascosa county : Woodard; Mrs. Susan Johnson ; William, who makes his home near Kennedy; Mary Ann, who first married A. Hinton but is now the wife of a Mr. Fowler; Mrs. Ruth Burris ; Eliza- beth, who became the wife of Mr. Newberry ; Robert, deceased; Pleas B., and Albert, both of whom are engaged in the stock business; Hulda ; Lafayette ; Washington ; and Daniel.
To the first marriage of Mr. Newberry there were born five child- ren : Sarah, the wife of A. Sheffield : Salome, the wife of A. Williams; Cornelius, who is engaged in farming; Joseph M., who is a stock farmer; and Virginia, the wife of F. Gant. The wife and mother passed away in 1882, in the faith of the Methodist church. In 1901 Mr.
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Newberry was again married, his second union being with Sarah A. McLain, the widow of James McLain, who was a prominent farmer and influential citizen of Karnes county. He served as justice of the peace and filled other public offices. Mrs. Newberry is the mother of one son by her former marriage, Norris McLain, who is married and is now engaged in farming pursuits.
Gonzales.
JOHN C. JONES, late of Gonzales, was born in Lawrence county, Alabama, March 10, 1837. His parents, Tignal and Susan Jones, were born in North Carolina, and descended from ancestry who came in early days from Scotland and Wales. They emigrated to North Ala- bama, and were among the pioneer settlers of that wealthy and refined community that peopled the Tennessee valley in antebellum times. He received his academic education at LaGrange College, Alabama, a noted institution of learning in those days, where he had the advantage of such instructors as Hardy, Wadsworth and Rivers, celebrated educators of the south. Having taken the degree of A. M., he came to Texas in 1856, joining his parents who had previously located in San Antonio.
After a few months' preparation in reading, he went to Scotland and entered the University of Edinburgh. He remained there four years, taking the degree of M. D. The university then was in the zenith of its fame, and numbered among its officers Sir William Gladstone and Lord Brougham; in surgery, Sir James Syme, of whom it was said; "He never spoke an unnecessary word, nor spilt an unnecessary drop of blood." Sir James Simpson, to whom the world is indebted for the invaluable boon in the discovery of chloroform, conferred upon Dr. Jones a special diploma in obstetrics. He also took a special course in surgical pathology and operative surgery, under Sir Joseph Lister. Graduating at Edinburgh, he went to Dublin, and was appointed resident student in the Rotunda Hospital, one of the most extensive and renowned maternity institutions in Europe. While there he attended the clinics of Stokes and Corrigan, also the eye clinics of the talented Sir William Wilde. From Dublin he went to London, taking the surgical courses of Ferguson, Erichson and Paget, attending the eye clinics of Bowman and Critchett at Moorefield Eye Hospital. Leaving London, he went to Paris and continued his studies. in the hospitals under Velpeau, Nela- ton, Joubert, Trousseau and Chassaignac. During his studentship in Edinburgh he spent his vacations in visiting all the places of historical interest in Great Britian and on the continent, embracing a tour through the Alps on foot.
When the first notes of war between the states were sounded across the Atlantic in 1861, he returned at once to his native land, and on the personal recommendation of the late President Jefferson Davis, was assigned to duty in the army of Northern Virginia, and served as sur- geon in the famous Hood's brigade until the surrender at Appomattox. He attended the brigade in all its numerous battles and skirmishes, with- out a day's absence, endearing himself to his comrades. As the result of those gigantic conflicts in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, he had a rich field in which to put into practice the sound surgical knowledge that he had imbibed from his masters in Europe, and soon became known
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as one of the most skillful operators in the army of Northern Virginia. He was selected to take charge of General Hood, when that gallant commander was desperately wounded at Chickamauga, and had him carried by faithful litter-bearers a distance of sixteen miles, to a farm house, where he remained with him until he was restored. At the close of the war, Dr. Jones made his way back to Texas upon the steed that had borne him through all his campaigns, and located in Gonzales, where he continuously resided and practiced medicine till his death. He served on all the examining boards of his judicial district; was county physician and health officer of Gonzales ; was a member of the Texas State Medical Association, and was elected one of its vice-presidents and chairman of the section on surgery, and was also a member of the American Medical Association, and of the Ninth International American Congress. He was one of the first physicians and surgeons in the state to successfully open the abdomen for the relief of intestinal obstructions and for the treatment of wounds of the intestines. It had also fallen to his lot to be called upon to perform the important operation of lithotomy upon his own father, a feat that no other surgeon, the writer knows of, has performed. Some of the most successful and honored members of the medical profession in Southwestern Texas have read medicine in his office.
Dr. Jones was married in 1867 to Miss Mary Kennon Crisp, daugh- ter of Dr. John H. Crisp, a wealthy planter of Colorado county, Texas, and formerly an eminent practitioner of West Tennessee and North Mississippi, who emigrated to South America at the close of the Civil war, and died in Brazil, July 8, 1888, in his ninetieth year. Dr. Crisp witnessed the abolition of slavery both in the United States and Brazil. Dr. Jones' family consists of his wife, three sons, Samuel, John Curtis and Robert Elliott, two daughters, Mrs. R. S. Dilworth and Miss Kennon Jones.
On January 25, 1904, in the midst of those whom he loved best, after a brief illness, Dr. John C. Jones the subject of the above, passed peacefully away. Dr. S. O. Young of Galveston in the Confederate Veteran thus writes of his beloved comrade: "The foregoing records that Texas lost one of her most eminent citizens, one of her most accom- plished scholars, one of her most distinguished physicians, but that is all. It says nothing of what a loyal hearted comrade he was, nothing of the true friend, nothing of his good works, nor of his self-sacrificing Christian charities. His life was a beautiful one, and it is hard to realize that God in His infinite wisdom has deemed it best to bring it to a close. It has been said that he is blessed who maketh two blades of grass to grow where one blade grew before. This being true of him, who adds only to the physical good of mankind, how infinitely more blessed is he who goes through life with willing hand outstretched to raise and help his fellowmen; eager to guide the faltering footsteps of his weaker brothers. To attain such blessing one must possess qualities of heart, mind and soul given but to few men. Yet we know there are such lives, and when we come in contact with them we in- stinctively regard them as beacon lights to guide to higher and nobler things and realize in its completest sense the truth of the Biblical state- ment that 'God created man in His own image,' for truly there is much
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of the Divine in the performance of one's whole duty to God and to one's fellowman. Such was the life of Dr. J. C. Jones. Few men were better equipped for the duties of life than he, and fewer still had it given them to extend so long a life of usefulness over so broad a field. As a physician, as a soldier, as a citizen, and as an earnest and faithful disciple of the lowly Jesus, his field was large, and yet the most critical scrutiny of his life fails to reveal a flaw. He met all of life's duties and when the final summons came it found him prepared-with- out fear and without reproach.
"His life was so full of grandeur and beauty that one scarcely knows which of its phases most to admire. The quiet, earnest conversa- tion of the polished scholar; the skill of the surgeon on the field of battle performing his duties amid the bursting shells and whistling minie balls, with as much delicacy and precision and as coolly as if he were in the operating room of a private hospital; the peaceful physician among his friends and neighbors, loved and respected by all, or the earnest Christian who so let his light shine that others might see and follow in his footsheps to nobler things. His life was full of opportunity. He had many widely diverging duties placed before him, and he met them willingly, uncomplainingly, and performed them all. Had he possessed worldly ambition, had he been less pure-hearted, less earnest in his life work, there are no exalted honors to which he might not have aspired. He was superbly equipped intellectually for aught he might have under- taken. Few physicians are so well qualified for their noble calling as was he, few scholars so deeply read, and few men have a deeper or keener knowledge of their fellowmen than he. He thought not of him- self, however ; selfish ambition had not a place in his composition. He attained eminence in his profession with all its concurrent honors, but those honors came unsought, and he cared little for them. His great skill as a physician, his wonderful influence for good over his fellow men he regarded in the light of sacred trusts placed in his hands for the benefit of others, and not as instruments to be used for his own aggran- dizement.
"The world is better from Dr. Jones having lived, for he belonged to that type of men from whose great hearts all fears and doubts have been driven by an over-weening love for all, leaving naught but ex- ceeding peace behind. It was such a man Leigh Hunt had in mind when he wrote :
"'Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase !) Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace And saw within the moonlight in his room, Making it rich and like a lily in bloom, An angel writing in a book of gold; Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold, And to the presence in the room he said, What writest thou? The vision raised its head And with a look made all of sweet accord, Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord!"
"And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nav, not so," Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low. But cheerily still, and said, "I pray thee, then,
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Write me as one that loves his fellowmen," The angel wrote and vanished. The next night It came again with great awakening light, And showed the names whom love of God had blest, And, lo ! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest.'"
JUDGE JOHN S. CONWAY, of Gonzales, landed at Port Lavaca in January, 1850, having sailed from Liverpool to New Orleans and thence to Port Lavaca. A native of Edinburgh, Scotland, he was born Septem- ber 5, 1841. He came to the new world with his mother, his grand- mother, Mrs. Margaret Fraser, and an aunt, Miss Isabella P. Fraser, to join an uncle of our subject, S. W. Fraser, who had participated in the struggles of the early days that constitute an important epoch in the history of Texas, having been a member of Henry McCullouch's com- mand of Texas Rangers. This uncle had been a resident of Lockhart, Texas, but he died previous to the arrival of the party in the new world and they in consequence went to Gonzales. Judge Conway's father, James Conway, had departed this life before the family left Scotland. The grandmother, mother, aunt and the future judge all located in Gon- zales, which at that time was a small town built around the plaza, most of the improvements, however, lying to the south and west of the plaza. It was here that Judge Conway acquired his early education. Prior to the war and when yet but a boy he entered the office of the Gonzales Inquirer and served an apprenticeship of about five years as a printer. Later he supplemented his early education by three years' study in Gon- zales College, there remaining until just before the outbreak of hostili- ties betwen the north and south. He then taught school for three months in the forks of the Guadalupe and St. Marcos rivers in the summer of 1861 but in the fall of that year he put aside all business and personal considerations in order to join the army, enlisting in September, 1861, with the Confederate forces as a member of Company C, Sixth Texas Volunteer Infantry. The regiment was organized at Victoria, Texas, and in May, 1862, went to Arkansas Post. It was under command of Colonel R. R. Garland, and the regiment with other regiments became a Texas brigade. The entire brigade was captured at Arkansas Post by Grant's forces on the IIth of January, 1863. It was at that point that the Sixth Texas was attached to General Churchill's command. The attack was made upon them by Sherman's forces on their way to Vicksburg and capture resulted, Mr. Conway being among the five thousand prisoners. The Confederate command was overwhelmed by superior numbers, Gen- eral Sherman having over thirty thousand men. The prisoners were taken up the Mississippi river on transports to Camp Butler near Spring- field, Illinois, where they remained for about three months, receiving good treatment. At the end of that time they were exchanged and sent to City Point, Virginia, in April, 1863. The brigade was then thrown around Richmond for protection against raids at the time of the battle of Chancellorsville. The wife of General "Stonewall" Jackson presented the regiment to which Judge Conway belonged with a battle flag at this time, for since its capture the regiment had never possessed a stand of colors. Later the Sixth Texas Infantry was transferred to General Bragg's army in middle Tennessee, where Judge Conway remained until
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the close of the war. He participated in many important and hotly con- tested battles, including the engagements at Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Ringgold, Dalton, Resaca, New Hope Church, Kenesaw Moun- tain and numerous smaller engagements on the march to Atlanta. He was also in the battles near Atlanta on the 20th and 21st of July, 1864, and in the two days' fight at Jonesboro was in command of the com- pany, for at that time Captain T. L. Flint was commanding the regi- ment. The last fight in which he participated was at Franklin, Tennes- see, on the 30th of November, 1864, where about six hundred of the Confederate army were captured, and taken to Camp Douglas, Chicago. At that place the prisoners did not receive the considerate treatment which had been accorded them at Camp Butler, and much suffering and privation ensued. When the war was brought to a close Judge Conway was paroled on the 15th of June, 1865, and was sent home from Chicago to Gonzales.
For a year and a half after the war ended Judge Conway engaged in teaching school in the forks of the river, after which he clerked at Rancho, Texas, from the summer of 1867 until March, 1868. In April of the latter year he became a student in the law office of Harwood & Harwood in Gonzales, who directed his reading until his admission to the bar in April, 1869. He afterward continued with that firm and in the fall of 1869 became a partner of T. M. Harwood under the firm style of Harwood & Conway. This relation continued until March. 1875, when Mr. Conway withdrew from the firm. He then practiced law alone and in February, 1876, he was elected county judge of Gon- zales county, being the first to fill that position under the new consti- tution. He held the office for five successive terms or ten years, and in 1886 declined to serve longer. He then remained out of public life until the summer of 1890, when he was nominated by the Democratic party to the office of county judge and in the November election was chosen to that position. He remained upon the bench until 1896, when he again retired. During his administration the county jail and courthouse were built, about forty thousand dollars being expended for the former and eighty thousand dollars for the latter. Upon the bench Judge Conway was regarded as a most safe and able jurist, his decisions being strictly fair and impartial, being based upon the law and the evidence and being entirely free from judicial bias. He commanded the entire confidence of the bar and of the general public and retired from office as he had entered it-with the good will and respect of all concerned. In 1900, entirely without his solicitation, he received the Democratic nomination for the state legislature and after serving for one term declined to accept a second nomination. Resuming the private practice of law, he is ac- corded a large and distinctively representative clientage and is accounted one of the foremost practitioners at the bar of Southwestern Texas.
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