USA > Texas > A Twentieth century history of southwest Texas, Volume II > Part 62
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She always bore a most lovely Christian character and and was greatly beloved by all who knew her. Her morther's maiden name was Eliza- beth Mebane, daughter of David Mebane, whose father was Alexander Mebane of Orange county, N. C., who was in 1776 a member of the Halifax Constitutional Convention, in 1783 a member of the house of commons (and repeatedly afterwards), and in 1793 a member of Con- gress at Philadelphia.
William Mebane, of Mason Hall, N. C., and James Mebane, of Cas- well county, N. C., were sons of Alexander Mebane above named. Many members of the Mebane family' were prominent figures in the history of the "Old North State" as lawyers, preachers, statesmen and soldiers.
Hon. Anderson Mitchell, an uncle to Mrs. Crisp, was a graduate of the University of North Carolina, a member of United States Con- gress, and a distinguished lawyer and judge of the highest courts of that state. Robert Mitchell, a brother of Judge Anderson Mitchell, was a prominent physician in North Carolina.
Mr. Albert Gallatin Mitchell, brother of Mrs. E. A. Crisp, was of a high order of scholarship, a graduate of the University of North Caro- lina at Chapel Hill and was severely wounded in the Civil war. Mr. Mebane Mitchell, another brother of Mrs. Crisp, died while a soldier in United States army in the war of 1845 with Mexico, and his remains were buried in Mexico.
The family of Dr. D. H. Crisp comprised eleven children-ten now living, all grown, named as follows: John Claybourne, William Mebane (of Bexar county, Texas), Elizabeth (died at two weeks of age), Annie Eliza (Mrs. A. P. Harris of Temple, Texas), Mary Lee (Mrs. D. W. Barnhill of Uvalde, Texas), Albert Sidney (proprietor and editor of Cuero Star, daily and weekly, Cuero, Texas), Anderson Mitchell ( secre- tary and treasurer of F. A. Piper Company at Uvalde, Texas), Bettie Alice, Martha Francis (Mrs. J. J. Spier of El Paso, Texas), Kennie Lillian, David Hardee, Jr., a member of the mercantile firm of Crisp & White of Uvalde, Texas.
J. C. Crisp, subject of this sketch, was born in Tippah county, Mis- sissippi, near Holly Springs, August 8, 1857, and was reared on his father's plantations in Mississippi and Texas. In 1876 he entered the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, at Bryan, being one of its "original six" matriculants. In his senior (or fourth) year he was prevented by failing health from obtaining his coveted degree of A. B.
After leaving college, J. C. Crisp was principal of the public schools of Columbus, Texas, which were first organized into the graded system by him. Failing health compelled him to abandon his first chosen pro- fession, that of educator, for which a liberal and classical education emi- nently fitted him. His education also included the German language, which he spoke and wrote fluently and taught successfully to both Amer- ican and German pupils. He moved from Columbus to Uvalde for the benefit of his health. He served as deputy county and district clerk and deputy tax assessor of Uvalde county, whose tax rolls were written up by him for two successive years. Newspaper work next engaged his attention. In 1885 he established the West Teran of Uvalde, which was
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destroyed by fire in 1886 and was succeeded by the Uvalde News estab- lished by him, with which he also consolidated the Uvalde Hesperian, the first paper established in Uvalde county. In November, 1887, he was promoted in his second chosen profession to be proprietor and general manager and managing editor of the Waco Examiner (daily and weekly), which under his management was one of the leading dailies of Texas, and during that time is said to have been one of the best daily papers Waco ever had. During his career as newspaper man Mr. Crisp was an active and influential member of the Texas Press Association, on some of whose leading committees he served and which he represented in 1889 as a delegate to the National Editorial Association, whose annual meeting was held in Detroit, Michigan. The first editorial work done by our subject was on The Texas Collegian, a literary magazine published at the A. & M. College, he being a member of its editorial staff. Mr. Crisp has been a liberal contributor to the leading papers of his state and nation. On abandoning newspaper work he was elected an honorary member of the Texas Press Association at its meeting held in Dallas in 1888, and received many most complimentary personal mentions in the press of Texas.
Mr. Crisp now changed from the profession of Journalism to that of the law, and was admitted to the bar at Hillsboro, Hill county, Texas, after two years spent as a law student, his tutor being Judge B. D. Tarl- ton, then of the firm of Tarlton & Tarlton, and now professor of law in the State University of Austin. Since entering the legal profession he has been a member of the Texas Bar Association and most of the time a member of its most important committees. While on its committee of Legal Education and Admission to the bar, he labored a number of years in the endeavor to raise the standard for admission to the profession, and the present state of the Texas laws on that subject are largely the result of his reports and debates on that subject in the association.
The Texas Reports and legal reports of the country contain reports of a number of important cases in which Mr. Crisp appeared as counsel. His practice has been limited solely to civil cases and mainly to cases in- volving the law of real estate, in which he enjoys an enviable reputation as a specialist in connection with many of the large landed estates of his section of the state.
Our subject is a fluent and forceful public speaker and has made speeches in Texas and other states in all kinds of meetings and gather- ings-political, industrial, literary, religious, etc., having made speeches in the cities of Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, as well as in Texas cities.
While a college student he became a member of the Presbyterian church, the church of his ancestors, and since the organization of the Beeville church has been one of its ruling elders, its clerk of session, and much of that time superintendent of the Sunday School and teacher of a Bible class. He has served often as representative to Presbytery and Synod, and twice as commissioner from the Presbytery of Western Texas to the General Assembly in its meetings at Macon. Georgia, and Atlanta, Georgia, serving at Macon on the judicial committee and at Atlanta on the committee on bills and overtures.
On July 31, 1901, Mr. Crisp was married to Miss Rebecca Boone
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McCoy, who was reared in Hot Springs, Arkansas, though born in Mis- sissippi, where her parents both died when she was about three years of age. Mrs. Lucy Johnston, of Auburn, Alabama, an aunt of the little orphan, took charge of her and kept her until she was twelve years of age, when she was again left an orphan by the death of both her foster- parents, who left her to their son, Oscar A. Johnston, of Hot Springs, Arkansas, who with his wife reared and educated her, with whom she lived until her marriage to the subject of this sketch. She bore the name of her great-great-grandmother, Rebecca Boone, wife of Daniel Boone, of Kentucky. Her great-uncle, James McCoy, was one of Colonel Fannin's men, massacred by the Mexicans at Goliad, Texas, in 1836, in the war with Mexico for the independence of Texas. Handsome monu- ments to the memory of Fannin and his men have been erected in the town of Goliad, and other Texas cities, and their deeds of valor will illumine the pages of history forever.
To Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Crisp three daughters have been born, viz. : Julia Mebane, Delia Boone, and Frances Elizabeth.
Calhoun County.
F. V. GENTRY has long been closely identified with the interests of Port Lavaca, and he stands to-day at the head of one of the leading industrial concerns of the county. He is the pioneer fish and oyster shipper of Port Lavaca, and his prestige has been won through marked executive force, keen discrimination, sound judgment and unfaltering energy. He was born in Adair county, Kentucky, February 12, 1840, a son of John B. and Sally O. (King) Gentry, both also natives of that commonwealth, where they were married, reared their family and died. The paternal grandfather, Richard Gentry, was a native of England, but came to the American colonies at an early day and participated in that long and memorable struggle for independence, the Revolutionary war. Later he went to the new. Eldorado of Kentucky, where he cast his lot with the early pioneers, and assisted in laying the foundation for its subse- quent development. He made a permanent settlement in the Blue Grass state, there reared his family and passed to his final reward, his remains now resting at old Crab Orchard. During the war he was several times wounded in battle, at one time a ball, passing through both hips, imbedded a portion of his clothing in the wound. His name was prominently asso- ciated with the early history of Kentucky, and he was well known and honored for his many sterling characteristics. In his family were the following children : George, who was one of the early pioneers in Texas, but his residence is not now known; Samuel L., who died in Kentucky ; John B., the father of our subject, and Amazon, a daughter who died before marriage.
John B. Gentry was reared amid the pioneer scenes of the Blue Grass state, and after his marriage he there located on a farm of his own, where he later built a merchant mill on Little River, continuing its operation successfully for a number of years. During the later years of his life he studied medicine, making a specialty of the diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat and became a talented and successful optician. Some time after the death of his wife, which occurred in 1845, he sold Vol. II. 30
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his mill property and located at Frankfort, Kentucky, where he con- tinued in the practice of his profession for many years, dying at the home of his daughter in Richmond, Kentucky, in 1885. During the war of the rebellion he had passed the age to engage in active service, but his sympathies were with the Confederacy, and four of his sons participated in the conflict. During the time he traveled over several of the southern states. In his early manhood Mr. Gentry was a Clay Whig, but later became a strong Crittenden Democrat, and being a fluent and ready speaker he was an active worker in the political campaigns, but never cared for the emoluments or honors of office. He was a consistent and worthy member of the Christian church, an active worker in the cause of Christianity, and was also a member of the Masonic fraternity, widely known and highly respected for his sterling integrity and honor. Mrs. Gentry was a daughter of Richard King, of English descent and an early pioneer in Kentucky, where he was an extensive slave owner and farmer, owning large tracts of land. He became prominently identified with the early history of his adopted state of Kentucky, and his death occurred on his old plantation in that commonwealth. His four children were: Jack, Herbert, Adeline (Mrs. Forbes) and Mrs. Gentry. The fol- lowing children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Gentry: Richard K., who was a physician, served as a lieutenant in John Morgan's command dur- ing the Civil war, in which he saw hard service and was later trans- ferred to a Mississippi command and was killed at the battle of Mission- ary Ridge; Mary S., now Mrs. T. P. Dudley ; Flavius V., whose name introduces this review ; Napoleon B., who served as captain of a cavalry company in the Confederate army, but later became a recruiting officer for the Federal army, and located at San Francisco, California, where he lost his all in the earthquake of 1906, and is now conducting a fish and oyster plant in Rockport, Texas, in the interest of his brother Flavius ; John B., who also served in the Confederate service during the Civil war and was killed in Louisiana.
Flavius V. Gentry spent the early years of his life in his native com- monwealth of Kentucky, but being a delicate youth he was indulgently reared and for a short period clerked in a store. It was not until after his services in the Civil war that he gained his strength, having enlisted in 1861 in Company K, Sixth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel J. B. Lewis, and was consigned to the Army of the Tennessee in J. C. Breckenridge's Division and Roger Hanson's Brigade, with old Gen- eral Bragg in command. His first battle was at Little Spanish on Brier creek, and after the engagement at Fort Donalson he received an honor- able discharge on account of disability and went to Athens, Tennessee, where he remained until his health was restored, when he entered the headquarter's department. At the battle of Cynthiana, Kentucky, he was made a prisoner of war, and was detained at Louisville, that state, until the close of the struggle. During his military career he was often in the thickest of the fight, undergoing the hardships and deprivations which are the common lot of the soldier, but he only received some slight flesh wounds and returned from the service stronger than ever before.
Remaining at home for a short time after his return, Mr. Gentry . then spent one year in Cuba, and in 1869 came to Indianola, Texas, and
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engaged in the hide and wool business for two years, on the expiration of which period he went to Victoria and resumed the same occupation, and in 1882 went west to embark in prospecting and mining. After two years spent in the west he returned to Victoria, Texas, and resumed the hide and wool business, thus continuing successfully until 1890, when he came to Port Lavaca and opened the fish and oyster business in which he has since become so well known, but his operations were begun in a small way, gradually increasing his operations until he now stands at the head of one of the leading industries of the kind in this section of the state, his trade extending throughout the entire northwest, old and New Mexico and in many other sections of the Union. His sales now aggregate nearly one hundred thousand dollars annually and he furnishes employment to about four hundred men, many of them the heads of large families in Port Lavaca. He also has about forty sail boats in the service, and in 1905 he started a branch institution at Rockport, Texas, the busi- ness of which is also rapidly increasing and now furnishes employment to about seventy-five men. He also has a large plant on the beach in Port Lavaca, also large warehouses with railroad switches for the ship- ping of his product, and his business is under the supervision of six com- petent men, which relieves Mr. Gentry of much hard labor and close con- finement. He has always retained his hide and wool business, and has invested a portion of his surplus money in farms, which he rents, and finds this a profitable source of income. He also owns numerous rental properties in the city, and is agent for the Waters Pierce Oil Company, a stockholder in the Cotton Gin Company and was president of the Port Lavaca Pavillion Company for the entertaining of excursionists. His beautiful and commodious residence overlooking the bay is of modern architecture and is one of the lovely homes of the city.
In 1873 Mr. Gentry was united in marriage to Miss Emma Hall, who was born in Victoria, Texas, June 26, 1853, a daughter of Addison F. and Rebecca (Jones) Hall, both natives of Kentucky. After their marriage they came to Texas in 1851, where after traveling through many places they finally located at Victoria. The father, who was a . carpenter and contractor, greatly assisted in the building up of that city, and later he was engaged in the hotel business for a number of years. becoming widely known throughout his community and commanding the respect and confidence of all with whom he had dealings. His death occurred in Victoria in 1886, a consistent and worthy member of the Baptist church, as was also his wife, whose death occurred of yellow fever in 1863. Mrs. Gentry was their only child, and she too was a
devout member of the Baptist church, an earnest Christian worker and a devoted and loving wife. She was called to the home beyond on the 7th of February, 1905, dying without issue. Mr. Gentry is a stanch Democrat in his political affiliations, and was twice elected mayor of Port Lavaca, his administration therein being characterized by devotion to its interests and upbuilding. The people, however, became dissatisfied with the needed improvements which he instituted, and finally voted the cor- porate charter out of existence. He is enterprising and public spirited to a high degree, broad minded and intelligent, and Port Lavaca is greatly indebted to him for the interest he has taken in her welfare and for the
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large institutions which he has inaugurated and which have so greatly enhanced its welfare. In his fraternal relations he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
CHARLES RUBERT, the popular postmaster of Port Lavaca, Texas, also a veteran of the Civil war in the Federal service and a pioneer in the oyster industry of Calhoun county, was born in Prussia, Germany, January 9, 1838, a son of Karl and Dora (Zobel) Rubert, both also natives of that country. They were there married and reared their family, and both were descendants of prominent Protestant families. The father was a mechanic and a contractor and builder, following those occupations successfully in his native land for many years. He never served in the German army, and had no aspirations for political notoriety, giving his entire attention to his business interests, and was well known and respected for his sterling integrity and honor, being a worthy mem- ber of the Lutheran church. In their family were five children: Wil- helmina, Mrs. Schultz; Charles, whose name introduces this review; August; Ferdinand, and Albert, who left home and his residence is not now known.
Charles Rubert remained in the parental home until fourteen years of age, when he boarded a vessel for the East Indies and became a sailor boy. From 1852 until 1858 he roamed over the high seas visiting many ports and finally making the port of New York decided that America should thenceforth be his home. From that time until 1861 he drifted about the many American harbors, and then returned to New York and enlisted for service in the Civil war, entering the Federal service in the Eighty-first New York Volunteer Infantry, which was consigned to the Army of the Potomac with General McClellan in command. His com- mand was soon sent to the front, and he remained in that division until 1863, when on account of disability he was transferred to the invalid corps at New York city and there spent some time in recuperating. Later the corps was sent to Baltimore, Maryland, to relieve others who had been stationed there, and as sergeant Mr. Rubert had charge of a large force of men, thus continuing until the expiration of his term of enlistment. During his three years of army life he saw very hard service, but was ever a faithful and loyal soldier.
After his discharge Mr. Rubert returned for a visit to his native home in Prussia, and in the fall of 1865 returned to New York and for some months thereafter was employed in Brooklyn. In 1866 he came to Indianola, Texas, where later for nine months he was engaged in the lumber business from Florida to that city, having been obliged to abandon the business on the expiration of that period on account of yellow fever. Returning thence to Boston and New York, he later went to St. Louis and Omaha, where the Union Pacific railroad was under construction, and he opened a sutler's store and followed the construction force from 1867 until 1870, when he closed out the business and returned to Indian- ola, Texas. For a few years thereafter he was engaged in boating on the bay, having purchased a boat, but the storms of 1875 and 1886 so im- paired his business that he lost heavily, and in 1887, when the town of Indianola was swept into the sea, he came to Port Lavaca and engaged
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in the wholesale business of shipping fish and oysters, being the pioneer in this industry. In 1891, during Harrison's administration, Mr. Rubert was appointed postmaster of Port Lavaca, continuing to discharge the duties of that important position for four years, when, under Cleveland's administration, he was replaced by a Democrat, and thereafter lived quietly retired until in 1901, when he was re-appointed to the same office, being the present incumbent. He has placed the office in that of the third class, and his services therein have been creditable alike to himself and his constituents.
At Indianola, Texas, in 1873, Mr. Rubert married Miss Addie H. Cloud, born in Washington county, this state, and a descendant of a very prominent and highly respected parentage, her father having been an Episcopal minister of wide reputation. Three children have blessed the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Rubert, namely: Edgar C., engaged in the fish and oyster business; Rebecca, an assistant in the post office ; and Dora M., who is housekeeper for her father. In 1884 the wife and mother was called to the home beyond, she having long been a member of the Episcopal church, as is also her husband. Mr. Rubert has mem- bership relations with the Masonic order, and is a Republican in his political affiliations. The government recognizes his valuable services as a soldier, and he receives a moderate pension in compensation for his services. He is deeply interested in the affairs of his city and county, has advocated the measures which have advanced their welfare and has labored for their improvement and progress.
JUDGE WILLETT WILSON. A prominent representative of the bar of the Lone Star state, Judge Wilson, of Port Lavaca, is honored and respected in every class of society. His name is a familiar one in political, professional and business circles throughout this portion of the state, and by reason of his marked intellectual activity and superior ability he is well fitted to aid in moulding the policy of the state, to control general interests and to form public opinion. He is a native son of the common- wealth, born in the city of Jefferson on the 10th of September, 1873, a son of Dr. W. F. and Sally (Burnside) Wilson, the former a native of Alabama and the latter of Kentucky, but their marriage was celebrated in Texas. The paternal grandfather, Dr. Ben F. Wilson, was also a native of Alabama, where he became a prominent and well known citizen, and for two terms served as a member of the state senate. In his family were the following children: W. F., the father of the Judge : Ben, a railroad man of Houston, Texas; Trudy, the wife of C. E. Gilbert, of Austin, where he is serving as state superintendent of buildings ; Ellen, now Mrs. Durrum, and Julia, Mrs. Hill.
Dr. W. F. Wilson spent the early years of his life in his native com- monwealth of Alabama, where he received an excellent literary educa- tion, and was a cadet in the United States Academy at West Point. At the opening of the Civil war he resigned his position and returned home, but soon afterward entered the Confederate navy and spent four years in the service, being on the Merrimac in its memorable battle with the Monitor. After that engagement the naval crew was transferred to land service, and Mr. Wilson was with the force in front of Richmond who were taken prisoners and sent to Johnson's Island, where they remained
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until the close of the conflict. Mr. Wilson was yet a prisoner of war at the time Lincoln was assassinated, and after his release he returned to his home in Alabama. He was a valuable member of the Confederate navy department when they most needed him, was faithful to the cause, and suffered the many hardships and deprivations which are the common lot of the soldier. After his return Mr. Wilson began the study of medi- cine under the. preceptorship of his father, but later graduated from a medical college, and in 1866 came to Jefferson, Texas, where his ability in his chosen calling enabled him to become the possessor of a large and valuable practice. In 1880 he located on a farm in Ellis county, Texas, near Waxahachie, where he successfully continued in the practice of medicine and the work of his farm until 1895, the year of his removal to Port Lavaca. He has gained distinction in the line of his chosen calling in Calhoun county, has ever been an earnest and discriminating student, and his name occupies a leading place among the medical practitioners of Southern Texas. He is a stanch Democrat in his political affiliations. In this state Dr. Wilson was united in marriage to Miss Sally Burnside, a descendant of an honored old Kentucky family, where her father was a prominent agriculturist and where his death subsequently occurred. In his family were five children, namely: Sally, the mother of the Judge ; James, a farmer of Kentucky; Nannie, Mrs. Campbell; Mattie, Mrs. Montgomery, and Mary, Mrs. Alderson. The following children were born to Dr. and Mrs. Wilson: Eagan, a farmer of Calhoun county ; Willett, whose name introduces this review; Gatewood, also an agricul- turist in Calhoun county ; Ben F., in a railroad auditor's office in Browns- ville, Texas; William, who died at the age of eighteen years; and Bessie, the wife of Dr. N. G. Peterson, county health officer of Calhoun county. Mrs. Wilson, the mother, is a consistent and worthy member of the Methodist church.
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