USA > Texas > A history of Texas and Texans > Part 11
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Captain Herring was married in Clay county, Texas, November 21, 1883, on his twentieth birthday, to Miss Blalock, daughter of Jesse R. Blalock. To their mar- riage have been born the following children: Ennis T., a farmer of Madison county, who married Margaret Hardin; Leslie, wife of J. A. Sowel of Madison county; Robert B., who lives at Midway and married Annie Gresham; Inez, who married John Price of Madison- ville, and Jacob A. Jr., who is in school at Houston.
Captain Herring's father was Rev. Jacob Herring, and the maiden name of his mother was Rhoda J. Jackson. The father came to Texas in 1849, settling in Cass county, and was originally from Wayne county, North Carolina, where he was born in March, 1812. His early education was supplied by the common schools, and forty-two years of his life were spent as a Baptist min- ister, and it was in that calling that he did his chief work, and never had any military or public service rec- ord. He was a southern Democrat. His death occurred in 1880, and his wife passed away in 1910, at Hunts- ville, Texas. Their only child was Captain Jacob A. Herring. The Herring family is of colonial stock, and the name was spelled originally with one r, instead of two. Mr. Herring's great-great-grandfather was per- haps the first to leave old England and settle in the Colonies, and secured a patent for land from King George III in Wayne county, North Carolina. Both the great-grandfather and grandfather bore the name of Jacob.
A. A. FIELDER. It is practically thirty years since A. A. Fielder engaged in the lumber business in Sherman, and he is still active and prosperous in that field of en- terprise. Prior to that time he had been variously iden- tified with business activities, but it remained for him to make the success of his life in the field to which he has so long devoted himself. Mr. Fielder is a native Mis- sissippian, born in Iuka county in 1850, and he is a son of A. R. and Louise (Dean) Fielder.
A. R. Fielder was a slave-holding planter of Mis- sissippi and Alabama. He served in the Confederate army through the Civil war in the command of General Breckenridge, and was present at the battle of Shiloh as a participant. He continued in service until near the close of the war, when he was discharged and sent to his home on account of failing health. He was at that time a resident of Alabama, and in 1866 he left that state and moved to Texas, locating in Smith county, and identifying himself with farming and stock raising up to the time of his death in 1887, and enjoying a generous degree of success in the work. His widow survived him until 1908. They were the parents of ten children, nine of whom are now living, and A. A. Fielder of this review is the eldest of the number.
A. A. Fielder had his early education, which was extremely limited because of the Civil war and resultant conditions, in the district schools of his community, but though his actual attendance at school was very slight, he is by no means an uneducated man, for he has applied himself to study along general lines and is well informed on many topics, with a good, sound knowledge of funda- mentals as an aid to continued self-improvement.
The first business activities of the young man was teaming and freighting from Jefferson, Marshall and Shreveport before the day of the railroad. In 1870 he accepted a position as a clerk in a dry goods store at
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Tyler, Texas, and in 1875 he went on the road as a trav- eling salesman for a St. Louis wholesale grocery house. In 1880 he engaged in the retail grocery business in Sherman, and in 1884 he changed his line, embarking in the lumber business, which enterprise has since held his undivided business attention.
Mr. Fielder has been a lifelong Democrat, and as a member of the Sherman school board he has done excel- lent work for the advancement of the school system. In 1896 he was induced to accept the.candidacy for the office of mayor, and he was elected to the office by a flattering majority, the people retaining him at the head of the affairs of the city for the next ten years, or dur- ing five consecutive terms of office.
Mr. Fielder is a member of the Masonic fraternity, the Woodmen of the World, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the United Friends of Work. He was Grand Marshal for the state in the Odd Fellows order, and has held numerous offices in the other fraternal societies men- tioned here. He and his family are members of the First Baptist church of Sherman.
In 1879 Mr. Fielder was married in Sherman to Miss Bell Light, a daughter of Col. D. W. Light, who was long a prominent stockman in Grayson and Denton counties, this state. He was an officer in the Southern army during the war and died in about 1907.
One child of Mr. and Mrs. Fielder, D. R. Fielder, is living, and he is associated with his father in the lumber business. He is a capable and progressive young busi- ness man of about thirty years, and had an excellent standing in business and other circles of Sherman.
A resident of Sherman since the year 1876, Mr. Fielder is especially well prepared to express an opinion as to the growth and prosperity of the city, for he has seen it emerge from a small village to a fine little city of about 20,000 inhabitants. He has seen the city grow in popu- lation, in wealth, in prominence and in power in this section of the state, and he believes that it is not yet at the zenith of its progress.
ARTHUR B. HAMM. The vice president and manager of the National Live Stock & Commission Company of Texas, at Fort Worth, Mr. Hamm is a stock man from the ground up, began his career without education, and from boyhood has had a skillful and accurate knowledge of all the practical details of stock raising, which his energy and enterprise has since enabled him to make use of in his promotion to one of the most important posts in the live stock business of the southwest. Probably no successful man in the stock industry in Texas has more completely won his success strictly on merit than Mr. Hamm.
The National Live Stock Commission Company, as may be stated for the information of readers not identi- fied or familiar with the live stock business, is one of the largest concerns of its kind in America. Its vari- ous branches are located in Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis, Omaha, St. Joseph, and Fort Worth. The gen- eral officers are Charles Kelly, president; A. B. Hamm, vice president, and Fort Worth manager; A. F. Crow- ley, vice president; Edgar E. Overstreet, vice president ; Walter H. Abernathy, secretary and treasurer; and George Beggs, loan agent. The offices at Fort Worth are at the stock yards and in the Live Stock Exchange Building.
Arthur B. Hamm is a native of Mississippi, born at Baldwin, March 18, 1869. The parents were Captain J. T. and Eva Hamm, and they came to Texas in 1873, locating in Van Zandt county, settling on a ranch. Thus from the age of four years, Arthur B. Hamm was reared in the atmosphere and environment of the stock busi- ness, and has never known other occupation and cer- tainly his success is largely due to the concentration of his energies upon one end. His early education would agree with one of the most important definitions of education, that it is a preparation for life, and he pre-
pared for his career in the old-style fashion, when boys learned to do by doing, but so far as book learning was concerned Mr. Hamm had a minimum of that sort of training.
When only a boy he was in the saddle riding the range, and learned all the practical methods of tending and raising cattle and hogs. He was only a young man when he came to Fort Worth and established himself in business with the firm of Thomas, Hamm & Dupee, in the buying and selling of cattle, hogs and sheep. A year later he was given charge of the sales department of the Cassiday-Southwestern Commission Company, spending the next two years in selling hogs and sheep for that concern. He then associated himself in the same business with Mr. W. D. Davis, under the firm name of Davis & Hamm, and they were among the well known commission traders in Fort Worth for five years. At the end of that time they joined forces with the National Live Stock Commission Company, and he has since been vice president and manager of the Fort Worth branch. The National Live Stock Company in 1913, handled more than 5,000 cars of live stock.
Mr. Hamm has the reputation of being probably the finest judge of hogs and sheep in the business. From his long and thorough experience he has been able to do much. more than merely buy and sell, and has also used his influence in promoting the live stock industry in various ways. As an illustration of this it may be remarked that Mr. Hamm has always advocated and endeavored to persuade Texas ranchers to raise maize and kaffir corn as feed for their hogs. The value of this advice has only recently been emphasized in prac- tical fashion to Texas farmers. In November, 1912, the National Live Stock Commission Company bought a number of "razor back" hogs and shipped them to George L. Simms, at Panhandle, Texas. These animals were fed milo-maize exclusively. When put in the feed- lot they averaged eighty-five pounds in weight, and when shipped to Forth Worth and sold to Armour & Company, on February 5, 1913, they averaged two hundred and forty-five pounds apiece and topped the market. More- over, Armour & Company pronounced the meat of most excellent quality.
Mr. Hamm was married to Miss Bettie Gilchrist, daughter of H. A. Gilchrist of Wills Point. They are the parents of three sons, Angus, Joe and Jack.
DR. HENRY F. STEVENS. A resident of Denison since 1905, Dr. Stevens is established here as a veterinary surgeon, and has shown such capacity for his work as to give him an almost constant practice in the city and in the country for thirty miles around.
Henry F. Stevens was born November 7, 1876, in the State of Iowa, a son of V. F. Stevens and Mrs. Almira Stevens. The father was born in Ohio, but the mother was a native of Iowa. V. F. Stevens followed the trade of blacksmith, and during the Civil war went out from Iowa in Company F of the Thirteenth Iowa regiment of Infantry, and was away fighting for the flag of the Union four years, or until the close of the great war. He was in active fighting in many of the most fiercely contested battles and campaigns, and at Gettysburg his clothes were pierced with seven bullet holes. His death occurred in May, 1909, while his widow is still living and makes her home with her son, Dr. Stevens, at Deni- son. There were seven children and Henry was the third in line.
His early education was acquired in the public schools of Nebraska, the family having moved to that State when he was about five years of age. From an early age his inclinations for handling live stock opened the way for a professional career, and he finally entered the Univer- sity Veterinary College of Kansas City, Missouri. He took a full course, and was graduated in 1905. He quit with ample experience and a diploma and at once came south and located at Denison. Since beginning practice
H & Struend U. S.
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in that city in December, 1905, he has increased his facilities, and has made himself a fixture and affords a very competent service to all stock owners in the vicinity. He has a barn at 217-219 West Chestnut street, equipped with all the operating facilities, and he has spared no expense in getting the best material for sup- plementing his professional skill.
Dr. Stevens affiliates with the Woodmen of the World and the Royal Highlanders, and is an active member of the Chamber of Commerce. In politics he is a Republi- can of the progressive brand. At Denison in June, 1910, occurred his marriage to Miss Phyllis S. Heath, a daughter of Milton Heath, who is sales manager for W. D. Collins, manufacturer of bank fixtures. Dr. Stevens and wife have two children: Earl, born April 6, 1911, and Irene, born June 24, 1912. Their home is at 408 West Day street.
MARCELLUS E. KLEBERG. It has been well said that in the American state the great and good lawyer must always be prominent, for he is one of the forces that move and control society. Public confidence has usually been reposed in the legal profession, and no political preferment, no mere place, can add to the power or in- crease the honor which belongs to the pure and educated lawyer. A great and true lawyer in every sense of the phrase was the late Marcellus E. Kleberg, of Galveston. To conspicuous ability and services in his profession he added the distinction of a fine and disinterested public spirit, and a remarkable talent as an orator. Through a career of forty years in the law he directed an effective influence in behalf of the city in which he had his resi- dence for a long period of years, and among those to whom most honor is due in supporting Galveston during its era of "sturm und drang," the name of Marcellus E. Kleberg must always be prominent.
Marcellus Eugene Kleberg was born in Meyersville, DeWitt county, Texas, February 7, 1849. The Kleberg family was among the earliest of the German colonists in Texas. Their arrival is set some ten years before the great immigration of the early forties. The parents of the late Mr. Kleberg were Robert Justus and Rosa (von Roeder) Kleberg. R. J. Kleberg was born in 1803 in the town of Hertselle, Westphalia, Kingdom of Prus- sia. He graduated from the Gymnasium of Holzminden and received his degree of Bachelor of Laws from the University at Goettingen. Being a man of democratic ideas, and not an admirer of monarchical government, he emigrated to America in 1834. In the fall of that year he married Rosa von Roeder, and they with some of her brothers and sisters came to America. At New Orleans they chartered a boat and sailed for Brazoria, Texas. Caught in a storm, they were shipwrecked on Galveston Island. Here Kleberg left his people, and with a few men went exploring the land. After reach- ing the mainland of Texas they went on foot to San Felipe, where they met Captain Moseley Baker, who informed them that their advance party had settled at Cat Springs, which was not fourteen miles distant. Kleberg on his arrival at Cat Springs found that two of his brothers-in-law had died. After a few days he re- turned to Galveston, and encountering a stormy voyage up the bayou, landed with his company at Harrisburg. The city of Houston had not yet been established and Harrisburg was one of the most prominent centers in that section of Texas, and soon afterwards became for a brief while the capital of the province. After living a few months at Galveston, the Kleberg party went to Cat Springs to start their little settlement. Not being able to move all of their furniture at once, a great many valuable articles were left in Harrisburg. These about a year later were burned when Santa Anna and his Mexi- can army arrived at Harrisburg.
As soon as the news of the fall of the Alamo reached the settlement at Cat Springs, Kleberg's patriotism was stirred, and he went to join the Texas forces. He be- came a member of Captain Moseley Baker's company.
It was a hard and trying moment in his life, for he had to leave a young wife and child to suffer the perils of the vengeance-seeking Mexicans. . From that time on he was engaged in Houston's campaign, and fought in the culminating battle of San Jacinto. He was also in Rusk's command, following the Mexican army as it re- treated beyond the Rio Grande. When the family parted at San Felipe, Mrs. Kleberg mounted her pony, and taking her infant in her arms, started on her journey of safety, thus participating in what is known in Texas history as "Runaway Scrape."
When the war was over the family returned to their settlement at Cat Springs. In 1848, with his family, Mr. Kleberg moved to Meyersville, DeWitt county. Some years later the Civil War began. At that time he was too old to go into military service, but he showed his loyalty to his state by organizing a militia company. He died a soldier, a hero, a patriot, at his home near York- town, Texas, October 23, 1888. He held many offices of honor, and was a noble husband and father. His wife, Baroness Rosa von Roeder, one of Texas' noblest women, died in July, 1907, in her ninety-fourth year. Both are buried in the family burial ground near York- town.
Marcellus Eugene Kleberg received his early education from a private tutor. There were no public schools available during his youth. When he was twelve years of age the Civil War began. Thus it fell to him to help take care of the farm, as his older brothers went to war, and his father had official duties to perform. During this period he herded the sheep, and while thus acting as shepherd, carried books with him and read and studied. Later he attended Concrete College, situated thirty miles from Meyersville. His college career had to be dis- continued owing to financial misfortune which overtook his father. Eighteen years of age at the time he went to Indianola, where for two years he was engaged in teach- ing school. After borrowing money and adding this to what he had earned as a teacher, he set out for Lexing- ton, Virginia, and studied law at Washington and Lee University. There he made a three years' course in two years, and was graduated with honors in the law class of 1872.
Returning to DeWitt county, he established himself as a lawyer. Soon afterwards he was urged to go to the legislature, and was elected to represent his county in the thirteenth legislature of Texas. When his term of office expired he moved to Bellville, Austin county, where he practiced law in partnership with Mr. B. T. Harris.
On October 24, 1875, Mr. Kleberg married Miss Emilie Miller, a daughter of Mr. H. Miller, a well-known mer- chant of Austin county. After his marriage Mr. Kle- berg located in Galveston, and in a short time became recognized as an able lawyer, and one of the influential citizens. He was a member of the law firm of Street & Kleberg, then of Hume & Kleberg, then Kleberg & Neethe, then Kleberg, Davidson & Neethe, and lastly Kleberg & Neethe. Outside of his large practice as a lawyer, he was almost continuously identified with some form of public service. He served as a trustee of the public schools of the city, and for eighteen years was president of the school board. He was president of the board at the time the great storm of 1900 demolished the school building, and it was through his efforts that the New York City public schools gave a large sum of money to help rebuild the local school houses of Galves- ton, and the example of New York was followed by other public schools throughout the United States.
Resigning his office with the schools, Mr. Kleberg accepted the appointment of city attorney of Galveston in January, 1904, and served the city most nobly in one of the most important and trying periods of its history. During his term of office, when the citizens were about to give up the idea of protecting Galveston from over- flows, on account of the lack of funds, his profound knowledge of constitutional and municipal law cleared all objections to the bond that had been issued. He
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went to New York, and succeeded in selling a large quantity of the issue. Some years before he had been one of the chief supporters and advocates of the com- mission form of government. How the community esti- mated his civie service is well stated in summary form by the Galveston Tribune of December 31, 1909, which spoke of him as the "Pilot of the Municipal Ship of State. He is the strongest man in the city government. His value to the city cannot be overestimated." With his work as a public servant accomplished, Mr. Kleberg resigned his position of city attorney in July, 1911, to devote his time to his large private practice.
The late Mr. Kleberg was one of the charter mem- hers of the State Bar Association of Texas, and was the first president of the Galveston County Bar Association. At the 1912 State Bar Convention, held in Galveston, in the summer of that year, he was elected as one of the delegates to the National Bar Association, which con- vened in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Mr. Kleberg served as a regent of the University of Texas, during the governor- ship of Mr. Lanham.
That the late Mr. Kleberg was one of the most elo- quent and forceful orators of Texas and the nation has been abundantly testified. His influence as a speaker was increased by his fluency in the German as well as the English language. One of his first great speeches was that on the "Review of the Bloody Battles of the Texas-Mexican War," a speech delivered in Galveston April 21, 1896. It was at the time, and has since been referred to as a masterpiece of oratory. He was not only noted for his formal addresses in commemoration of historie deeds and great events, but used his ability many times to move and mould public opinion in behalf of current needs of his state and city. When Galves- ton was in its crisis and sorely needed the help of the state, he made the appeal at Dallas which brought the Democratic Convention to Galveston. In his address on that occasion he displayed such eloquence that when the vote was taken on the question no one was found to oppose it. On March 2, 1902, Mr. Kleberg delivered an address to the students of the University of Texas, and that was regarded as a peculiarly effective example of oratory. His power in this direction was recognized much beyond the limits of his home state. The Union League Club of Chicago invited him to make the address on Washington's birthday of 1910. The cheering and ap- plause at the close of his speech were said to have been more enthusiastic than had greeted any speaker in the history of the Chicago Auditorium. It was on that day be established himself as one of the orators of the nation.
Marcellus E. Kleberg died March I, 1913, at the age of sixty-four, leaving a widow and six children, namely : Robert M. Kleberg, a printer; Marcellus Kleberg, county judge of Runnels county; Walter Kleberg, physician and surgeon and present city health officer of Galveston; and Misses Rosa, Emilie, and Alice Kleberg.
The late Mr. Kleberg was a patriotic citizen, a knightly gentleman, devoted to his family and friends. He was distinguished as a lawyer, a man of philosophical and high ideals which placed him at the head of his profes- sion. His wonderful intellect and intelligence made him a benefactor to his city, above what he accomplished in its behalf through his professional capacity. He was a patriot, orator, and legislator of first rank, and his name and good deeds are fitly honored in any history of his home state.
WILLIAM JACKSON FLESHER. A member of the Canyon City bar since 1909, Mr. Flesher has been successful in practice, has been honored with official promotion, and is one of the enterprising and public spirited men of Randall county.
William Jackson Flesher was born at Reedy, Roane county, West Virginia, September 14, 1882. On his father's side his ancestors came from Germany, and his mother's ancestry was Irish. The father, Andrew L.
Flesher, was a native of West Virginia, and his grand- father John Flesher was an old West Virginia farmer, and when the Civil war came on, enlisted with Brecken- ridge's mounted troopers, and served from the West Virginia campaign, early in the war, until the sur- render of Lee at Appomattox. His death occurred soon after the war, partly a result of the wounds and hardships which he had undergone as a soldier. Andrew L. Flesher, the father, who now resides at Rock Island, Texas, brought his family from West Virginia to Mis- souri in 1888, and in 1900 came to Texas. He is a con- tractor and builder, and in polities is a Democrat. The family are Methodists in religion. The maiden name of the mother is Henrietta Summerville, who was born in Jackson county, West Virginia, and has been the mother of seven children, three deceased, and the four now liv- ing being residents of Texas.
William Jackson Flesher had his early schooling in Sullivan county, Missouri, and spent one year in the Kirksville Normal in that state. When eighteen years old the family came to Texas, and from 1902 to 1904 he was a student in the Texas State Normal School at Denton. His early career was spent on a farm and in the fall of 1900 he filled his first regular position as a teacher. He taught a country school in Colorado county for three years, resigning to enter the State Nor- mal at Denton, and from there moved out to Mason county, Texas, where he was elected superintendent of schools. He filled that important office for three years. He had depended upon his own exertions to advance his education, and early in his career it was his ambition to become a lawyer. With the means acquired as a teacher he finally entered the law department of the University of Texas, and after studying two years was admitted to the bar in the fall of 1908. In June, 1909, he opened his office in Canyon City, and was soon recog. nized as one of the rising young attorneys of the Ran- dall county bar. In November, 1910, he was elected to the office of county attorney, and by reelection in 1912, still holds that office. Mr. Flesher is also a stock holder and director of the First State Bank of Canyon.
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