A history of Texas and Texans, Part 124

Author: Johnson, Francis White, 1799-1884; Barker, Eugene Campbell, 1874-1956, ed; Winkler, Ernest William, 1875-1960
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 906

USA > Texas > A history of Texas and Texans > Part 124

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Elmer E. Winn was born in Hancock county, Indiana, May IS, 1863. His father, Ira Winn, a native of Vir- ginia, from Indiana moved to Wayne county, Iowa, in 1865, where he was long engaged in farming. He had no taste for political affairs, though he was a lifelong Democrat. He belonged to the Methodist church. His death occurred in 1907 in Kansas, to which state he had removed in 1905. He married Maria A. Mack, who was born in Indiana, where she was married. There were six children. The mother died at Plainview, Texas, while on a visit to her son Elmer, on January 13, 1913, at the age of seventy-two. She is buried beside her husband at Burlington, Kansas.

Elmer E. Winn, who was the third of the children, was educated in the public schools of Wayne county, Iowa, and his early life was spent on a farm. He began his own career as a farmer, purchasing some land in Adair county, Iowa, where he was a prosperous farmer for twenty years. In 1908 he came to Texas, locating at Plainview, where he established himself in business in buying and selling lands and in loaning money. From his previous acquaintance with the people of Iowa he has become instrumental in bringing a large number of families from that state and from other states, and has located them comfortably and prosperously in the Pan- handle of Texas.

Mr. Winn is a Democrat, belongs to the Plainview Chamber of Commerce, and is a member of the Metho- dist church. He was married in Wayne county, Iowa, in January, 1887, to Miss Alice Brown, who was born in Illinois, a daughter of Washington P. Brown. The seven children born of their marriage are Mabel, Alda, Fern, Virgil, Elger, Merlin, and Margaret.

WILLIS H. FLAMM, M. D. Each profession or voca- tion has its prominent men, some made such by long membership, others by their proficiency in their calling. Dr. Willis H. Flamm, president of the Hale County Medical Society, and one of the leading physicians of Plainview, Texas, is made conspicuous among the medi- cal men of this section, not because of the length of time he has devoted to his profession-for he is as yet a young man-but because of the eminent success he has already attained therein. Dr. Flamm was born in Jef- ferson county, Nebraska, July 13, 1882, and is a son of Philip and Anna (Mosley ) Flamm.

The Flamm family originated in Germany and was founded in this country by Nicholas Flamm, the pa- ternal grandfather of Dr. Flamm, who settled in Pennsyl- vania and later moved to Illinois. In the latter state was born Philip Flamm, who moved to Nebraska about the year 1878, and was there engaged in agricultural pursuits until his retirement from active affairs in 1909. In that year he came to Texas, and is now living quietly at Plainview. He was well and favorably known among the farmers and stock raisers of Nebraska, owning a fine tract of land in Jefferson county. His political faith is that of the Republican party, and in religious belief he is a Presbyterian. His wife, Anna Mosley, was born in England and came with her parents to the United States when still a child. She still survives and

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is the mother of three children, of whom Willis H. is the youngest.

Willis H. Flamm secured his early education in the public schools of his native county, and supplemented this by attendance at the University of Nebraska, from which he was graduated at the age of twenty-one years. In order to pay for his tuition, he worked throughout his college period, turning his hand to whatever hon- orable employment appeared. He subsequently decided upon a professional career, and again went to work to earn the means to take him through St. Louis Medical College and Creighton Medical College, Omaha, gradu- ating from the latter in 1908 with his diploma and de- gree. After serving for some time as interne in St. Joseph 's Hospital, Omaha, Dr. Flamm began practice in that city, where for eighteen months he served in the capacity of police surgeon. In 1910 he came to Plain- view, Texas, and here he has continued in the enjoyment of a large and representative practice to the present time. Possessed of a kindly, genial nature, great ability, and a natural taste for the various branches of medical work, it may be said of Dr. Flamm that he is one of those men who have chosen well. In addition to bis large private practice, he is examining physician for a number of the old line life insurance companies, and is the owner of a quarter section farm located not far from Plainview, although he lives in the city, where he is the owner of his own home. He belongs to the Hale County Medical Society, the Texas State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association, and is president of the first-named.

On August 2, 1904, Dr. Flamm was married at Fair- bury, Nebraska, to Miss Mattie B. Blagrade, who was born in that state, daughter of T. E. Blagrade. To this union there has come one son, Harold, who was born at Fairbury, Nebraska, June 19, 1906. Dr. Flamm is a Republican, but has taken little more than a good eiti- zen's interest in affairs of a publie nature. His fra- ternal connections include membership in the local lodges of the Elks, the Odd Fellows, and the Woodmen of the World, and he is also connected with the Chamber of Commerce. He has done much to advance the interests of his community in numerous ways, and few men are more highly esteemed in professional or social circles.

LUTHER FINLEY COBB. A resident of any one of the middle states who has a considerable attendance with its people extending over a period of years bas frequent occasion to use the phrase in referring to former neigh- bors-"Gone to Texas." In a central section of Mis- souri, about the town of Odessa, "Gone to Texas" is often spoken of a one-time popular and successful busi- ness man of that locality, now equally, if not more, popu- Jar and successful business man of Hale county in the Panhandle, where he is proprietor of several grain ele- vators and is so well satisfied with this new country that he states with conviction, when asked, that nothing could induce him to return permanently to his native common- wealth.

Luther Finley Cobb was boru in La Fayette county, Missouri, May 9, 1857, a son of Alfred L. and Louise (Hoskins) Cobb. North Carolina was the native state of his father, whence he came to Tennessee when a young man and later to Missouri, in which state he arrived in time to take up a homestead direct from the govern- ment in La Fayette county in 1836. That continued to be his home until his death in 1873 at the age of fifty- seven. The mother was born in Tennessee, was edu- cated and married there, and after marriage she and her husband fitted out a wagon drawn by ox-teams, trav- eled across the country, crossing the Mississippi at St. Louis in a ferryboat, that being many years before the first bridge was constructed, and thence continued on to the central portion of the state. An incident of that journey still preserved among the family traditions is that the father and mother stopped at St. Louis and

bought supplies for the rest of the journey, and one of the articles purchased was matebes, then a rare com- modity, and for which they paid five cents apiece. The mother died at the Missouri home in 1891 at the age of sixty-eight.

Luther F. Cobb, the third of seven children, when a boy attended the Missouri schools, but at a very early age, when no more than twelve, began working in the fields of a Missouri farm, receiving wages of fifteen dollars per month. He continued in that way up to his twenty-fifth year, when he moved to Odessa, and en- gaged in the grain business and as a dealer in mules. He has had from early years rare judgment in this line of business, and developed a large trade with Odessa as his headquarters.

Selling out his interests in Missouri in 1906, Mr. Cobb came to Texas and established an elevator at Hatty. This elevator he subsequently sold, and when the rail- road was built into Tulia he was in advance of enter- prise by establishing an elevator there in association with his son-in-law, Mr. Elliott. Since then the firm has been known as Cobb & Elliott, and they are among the largest grain dealers in the Panhandle country. With the development of the business they built another ele- vator in Plainview, in Hale county, and still another at Lockney. The elevator at Plainview has a capacity of twelve thousand bushels, and that of Lockney has eight thousand bushels capacity, and the one at Tulia five thousand. In connection with the Plainview business, the firm has extensive coal yards and engages in milling.

Mr. Cobb is a member of the Masonie bodies in the York Rite through all the degrees, and belongs to the Shrine. He also is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and in polities is a Democrat. His church is the Presbyterian.

In his home county of La Fayette, Missouri, be was married November 21, 1883, to Miss Lulu Hughes, who died at Odessa in 1895. Her father was Colby Hughes, of La Fayette county. Mr. and Mrs. Cobb have two children-Mrs. Elsie Elliott, born at Odessa in 1885, married John F. Elliott, a member of the firm of Cobb & Elliott, already mentioned. Their home is at Plainview. The one child of Mr. and Mrs. Elliott is Carl Finley Elliott, born at Plainview, Texas, in 1910. The second child of Mr. Cobb is Mrs. Opal Hocker, who was born at Odessa in 1888, is now a resident of Kansas City, and bas one daughter, Elizabeth B. Hoeker, born at Kansas City in 1909. Mr. Cobb resides in the home of his son-in-law and daughter at Plainview.

HON. FAYETTE RATLIFF. The attraction and force to be found in biographical reviews of those men who, through individual ability, have attained merited dis- tinetion in American law, commend them to every sound thinker. It is but natural to feel an interest in tracing the footsteps of those who have reached elevated posi- tions in publie confidence, and have wielded their influ- ence for public good; who have undeviatingly followed the dictates of truth and integrity. Such records are calculated to raise the ministrations of law in public estimation, and are guides for the junior members of the profession in their pursuit of reputation, distinction and position. Among the distinguished members of the Carson county bench is found the Hon. Fayette Ratliff, judge of the county court, the soundness and equity of whose decisions have been rarely questioned, a man of high scholarship, with a well-poised mind, ever ready with his legal knowledge. He has occupied his present position since 1910, and has demonstrated his fitness to maintain the best traditions of the Carson county bench.

Fayette Ratliff was born March 20, 1874, in Murray county, Tennessee, and is a son of Noah W. and Martha (Vernon) Ratliff, also natives of the Big Bend state. His father, a well-known southern planter, came to Texas in 1881, locating near Lewisville, Denton county, where he was engaged in rauching and farming for some years.

Famille Patliff

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He is now living a somewhat retired life in Johnston county, Oklahoma, being fifty-eight years of age. His wife, who also survives, has likewise reached her fifty- eighth year, having the same natal day as her husband.

The second in order of birth of his parents' nine children, Fayette Ratliff received his early education in the schools of Parker county, Texas, and was graduated from the high school at Springtown in 1897. During this time he had spent his spare time in working at various employments, and, when he could find the oppor- tunity, in reading law. In 1897 he entered the office of Henry M. Farman, an attorney of Fort Worth, Texas, and after several years was admitted to the bar and formed a partnership with his brother, J. S. Ratliff, at Tishomingo, where he remained until 1907. In that year Mr. Ratliff came to Panhandle, where he opened offices, and this city has since been the scene of his professional endeavors. He at once took rank among the best citizens of the progressive community, his pro- fessional and personal excellencies having made him a leader of sagacity and worth. As a lawyer none had a higher ideal than his of what was due the clients whose cause he undertook and his well-balanced and dis- cerning mind made him almost infallible in the solution of numerous legal complexities. These qualities made him the logical choice of the Democratic party in 1910 for the office of county judge, to which he was elected, and the people of Carson county voiced their apprecia- tion of his conscientious services during his first term when he was re-elected in November, 1912. Judge Rat- liff is a valued member of the Texas Bar Association. His fraternal connection is with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and at this time he is serving as seere- tary of his lodge.

On December 25, 1898, Judge Ratliff was united in marriage with Miss Myrtle McCoy, at Springtown, Texas. She is a native of the Lone Star state and a daughter of the Rev. J. M. McCoy, a pioneer Methodist Episcopal minister now located at Deertown, Texas. Her mother is now deceased. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ratliff, namely: Adele, born at Russett, Oklahoma, August 25, 1900, now attending school at Panhandle; Douglass, born September 10, 1903, at Manersville, Oklahoma, also a public school student here: Elois, born at Tishomingo, Oklahoma, July 5, 1906; Grady, born at Panhandle, Texas, February 1, 1909; and twins, Elwin aud Ysleta, born August 10, 1911, at Panhandle. With his family, Judge Ratliff attends the Baptist church. He continues to be an earnest and assiduous student, is fond of literature of the better class and delights in imparting his knowledge to the young. A man's man, strong in his convictions yet appreciating the rights and opinions of others, he has won a secure place for himself in the esteem of men of all classes and political creeds.

W. C. MATHES. A prominent attorney and vice presi- dent of the First National Bank of Plainview, Mr. Mathes is one of the oldest members of the bar in Hale county, having practiced here continuously for the past seventeen years. He was one of the men who during the '90s had sufficient faith in the future develop- ment of this section of the West to remain through the season of trial and discouragement, and the rewards have come to him as they have to practically all others who had the courage of persistency as early settlers.

William C. Mathes was born in Limestone county, Texas, June 1, 1869. His parents were W. M. aud M. C. (McCarver) Mathes, the former a native of Tennessee and the latter of Texas. The father came to this state during the early '50s, first locating in Parker county, where he was a merchant for a number of years before the war, and subsequently moved to Limestone county and later to Coryell county. Finally he took up his residence in Oklahoma, where he now resides at the ad- vanced age of eighty years. During the Civil war he

was one of the Texas volunteers to the Confederacy and much of his service was in the warfare against the In- dians, and also partly in some of the regular campaigns of the war. He went through without wound, and re- turned as a veteran to take up the pursuits of civil life. The mother, who was reared and educated in Texas, died in Coryell county in 1882 at the age of thirty-five. Of their four children, William C. was the second.

He grew up for the most part in Coryell county, where he attended school. He gained his admission to the bar by hard study in the offices of practicing lawyers, the principal firm under which he studied being Wordeman & White, at Gatesville. From there he moved to Stephens county, where he was admitted to the bar in 1892, but after a short time weut to Plainview in 1896. Due to his ability and his long residence in this county, he has from the first enjoyed a select share of the litigation in the courts of this vicinity.

Mr. Mathes has been honored with election to the office of county judge of Hale county four terms. He is a director and vice president of the First National Bank, and is otherwise identified with business affairs. Politically, he supports the independent ticket as a rule, and was himself elected county judge on such a ticket. His church is the Methodist.

In Stephens county, June 13, 1894, Judge Mathes married Miss Mai Burke, daughter of Dr. Burke, of Stephens county, now deceased. Mr. Mathes and wife are the parents of five children, namely: Burke, born in Stephens county in 1896 and now in the Plainview high school; John, born at Plainview in 1899 and also a high school student; W. C., Jr., born at Plainview in 1901, and in high school; Curtise, born at Plainview in 1904, and in grammar school, and Maurine, born at Plainview in 1906.

JOHN C. HOOPER. In November, 1912, the citizens of Hale county selected from among their well-known and popular farmers and ranchmen John C. Hooper to fill the office of sheriff for the succeeding term. An effi- cient officer who has a full seuse of his duty to the pub- lie, in this important position Mr. Hooper, by his busi- ness career and his long residence in west Texas, has well deserved all honors that can be paid to him by his fellow citizens.

A native of Cooke county, Texas, John C. Hooper was born August 2, 1867, the third in a family of eight sons and one daughter. James Hooper, the father, was born in North Carolina, was about eighteen years old when he came to Texas, and finally located in Cooke county, where he was a farmer and stock raiser. In 1892 he moved out to Hale county, which was his home and where he engaged in farming and stock raising until his death in March, 1909, at the age of eighty-six years. He was one of the last survivors among the Mexican war veterans in the state, and about fifteen years after he had returned from the victorions passage at arms be- tween the United States and Mexico, he entered the Confederate army and went through the Civil war. He married a Texas woman and she died in Hale county in 1900 at the age of fifty-two.

Mr. John C. Hooper during his early youth attended the schools of Cooke county and then began work on his father's farm. During his twenty-second year he took up farming and stock raising on his own account, which he followed in his native county until 1898. He then moved to Hale county, and in the past year was placed on the Democratic ticket as candidate for sheriff, to which position he was elected by a good majority.

Mr. Hooper was married January 23, 1890, to Miss Addie L. Pierce, of Cooke county. The five children of the marriage are: Clara B., born in Cooke county, Janu- ary 26, 1894, and a graduate of the Plainview high school; Alva H., born in Cooke county, April 17, 1896, and attending high school; James Kelly, born in Cooke county, January 4, 1895, and a pupil of the Plainview

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schools; Robert and Ruth, twins, born at Plainview, April 14, 1904, and both now in school.

When Sheriff Hooper first came out to Hale county there was very little in the way of substantial develop- ment in this part of the state. He has seen both the town and country prosper and grow, and it is his con- viction that this development will continue until west Texas becomes the most prosperous farming and stock raising country in the world. He owns his own home in Plainview and other city property, and is a prosperous, well-known citizen, with many influential friends in different parts of the state.

ROBERT LEE JOINER. One of the leading enterprises of its kind in Northwestern Texas is that of the Joiner Printing Company, of Amarillo, whose founder and present proprietor, Robert Lee Joiner, has been a resi- dent of this city since 1907, and of the state of Texas all his life. For some years Mr. Joiner was well known to the journalistic world of the Southwest as the pub- lisher of a weekly newspaper, but has of late years de- voted himself entirely to his present business. He was born September 26, 1876, on Galveston Bay, Harris county, Texas, and is a son of Robert Hansel and Mary (Hotchkiss) Joiner.

Robert H. Joiner was born in North Carolina and came to Texas during the latter '50s, settling in Harris county, where the greater part of his remaining years were spent in mercantile pursuits. During the Civil war he enlisted as a soldier in the Confederate army and had a brave and faithful military record. Mr. Joiner married Miss Mary Hotchkiss, a member of an English family that emigrated to New York and thence to Texas, born in Nacogdoches county, Texas, daughter of Charles Hotchkiss, a pioneer of Texas and brother of Archibald Hotchkiss, who was provisional governor of Texas prior to the establishing of Texas independence. Two chil- dren were born to Mr. and Mrs. Joiner-Jessie, who died in 1890, and Robert Lee.

Robert Lee Joiner attended the public schools until he was sixteen years of age, at which time he was ap- prenticed to the trade of printer and for some time served in the offices of newspapers in Waco and other cities of Texas, until 1897, when he entered the news- paper business on his own account as the editor and publisher of the Caldwell News-Chronicle, a weekly pub- lication, with which he continued eleven years, but in 1907 came to Amarillo and organized the Joiner Print- ing Company, of which he has been the directing head to the present time. Mr. Joiner is a printer who has ample facilities to undertake every work, large or small; a printer who has had the experience and who recognizes his patrons' own needs as thoroughly as they themselves do. He is prepared to design the copy, lay it ont, print, bind and deliver it, all under one roof and one manage- ment, and is doing this for many large and most exact- ing advertisers. In polities Mr. Joiner is a Democrat, but he has not taken an active part in political matters since coming to Amarillo, although during his newspaper davs he was active in the support of his party.

Mr. Joiner was married at Caldwell, Texas, in 1902, to Miss Alma Lampkin, a native of Burleson county, Texas, whence her parents had come from Virginia at an early dav. and to this union there has come one daughter-Alma Lee, born January 27, 1905. The pleas- ant family home is situated at No. 806 Fillmore street, while the offices and shop of the Joiner Printing Com- pany are located at No. 317 Polk street, Amarillo.

ALLEN N. WEEMS. Few examples could be found that better illustrate the fact that perseverance, industry and determination, wisely directed. will eventuate in success, than the career of Allen N. Weems, proprietor of the Electric Gin, at Cameron. When he arrived in Cameron. some twenty years ago, he was a man of family, and was possessed of a cash capital of less than a dollar,

but was not discouraged by his prospects, disheartening as they might have seemed to a man of less courage and strength of character. Content to start upon the lowest Inng of the ladder, he steadily worked his way upward, and today occupies the proud position of one of the lead- ing and influential business men of a community which is in no way lacking in strong, forceful men. His life should prove an encouragement to those who feel them- selves handicapped by the lack of financial resources.

Mr. Weems was born in Cherokee county, Alabama, April 4, 1868, and is a son of Allen and Martha (Powers) Weems. His father, born July 3, 1827, in Polk county, Georgia, was a farmer by vocation, went to Alabama in young manhood, and in February, 1895, came to Texas, where he died in August of the same year. Mrs. Weems was born in Union District, South Carolina, December 23, 1827, and survived her husband six years, dying in Texas in 1901. They were the parents of ten children, of whom five are living: Joel C., Jake H., Starlin, Acie A. and Allen N. There was nothing in the boyhood of Allen N. Weems which would tend to give him an advantage over the other youths of his day. From the time he was able to do the simplest duties he worked and worked hard, and his education was obtained when he could be spared at odd times from the farm. How- ever, it is often under the most adverse circumstances that our latent abilities are developed and this early strenuous training may have had much to do with Mr. Weems' later success in life. When he was nineteen years of age he left the parental roof and accepted a position as a railroad laborer, later became a worker in a blast furnace, and subsequently accepted whatever honorable employment presented itself until 1893, when he decided to try his fortunes in the rapidly growing community of Cameron. In the meantime he had been married and become the father of four children, and had been unable to save from his earnings more than enough to pay the family railroad fare to his new field of activity. As a result he arrived in Cameron with the princely sum of ninety cents, but was willing and in- dustrious and almost immediately secured employment as a farm hand on the farm of W. T. Watts, in Milam county. Later he became a clerk in the Gaston-Sprinkle Mercantile Company's store, at Cameron, and in 1908, in company with J. B. Cavitt, built a cotton gin, and continued to operate it in partnership until 1913, in which year he purchased Mr. Cavitt's interests, moved to his present place, and erected the new Electric Gin, at a cost of $18,000. This now has a capacity of 100 bales for a day of twelve hours and is constantly growing in scope and patronage. While his rise has been rapid and has been marked by the grasping of every oppor- tunity, Mr. Weems has never taken advantage of the misfortune of another, so that his standing among busi- ness men is exceptionally high. His gin occupies a tract of eight and one-half acres, in addition to which Mr. Weems owns a half block in Cameron and his own resi- dence and two others which occupy an entire block in this city. His straightforward dealing, his strict in-

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A history of Texas and Texans, Part 124

Author: Johnson, Francis White, 1799-1884; Barker, Eugene Campbell, 1874-1956, ed; Winkler, Ernest William, 1875-1960 Publication date: 1914 Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society Number of Pages: 906

Author: Johnson, Francis White, 1799-1884; Barker, Eugene Campbell, 1874-1956, ed; Winkler, Ernest William, 1875-1960
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 906