A history of Texas and Texans, Part 134

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

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John T. Threadgill was a youth attending the work on his father's farm while the war of the Rebellion was being waged. He entertained Union sentiments, in har- mony with his father and grandfather. Such education as he received came to him in the school at Crucipher, and he reached his majority while yet sharing in the shelter of the parental roof. He married in 1870, and in that year, when he was twenty-two years old, set ont upon an independent career. In beginning their wedded life, Mr. and Mrs. Threadgill each possessed a horse and a cow, and the customary feather bed and a

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bureau were a part of their first possessions. Although his industry was ably supplemented by that of his faith- ful and willing young wife, the ten years that they passed in diligent attention to the soil of their native state, little return rewarded their labors save a bare living, and they came to Texas without possessing suffi- cient capital to make them owners of the smallest kind of a farm. They made the trip by train, stopping at Detroit to pay a visit to Mrs. Threadgill's brother, who made his home there, and soon after established their home upon a tract of land that they were able to ar- range for the purchase of. The story of the sixteen years spent upon that farm is one of practically unre- warded effort, for it is a.fact that more lean years than fat ones fell to their lot and portion. The result was that they finally decided to become renters upon the much vaunted black land of the state, having become sufficiently acquainted with the sandy soil after sixteen years of disappointment. Accordingly they moved into the Deport community, rented a farm just east of the town, and settled down to work. Mr. Threadgill avers that the four years he worked that black dirt farm brought him more actual money than he had ever before possessed, and he straightway acted upon the suggestion that his good judgment prompted and bought a farm of his own. This place, his first real home in Texas, lies three miles east of Deport, and comprised originally one hundred and fifty-nine acres, with what might be termed frontier improvements. Corn and cotton raising has solved the problems of finance for Mr. Threadgill, and, with his own labor, he has marketed cotton below four cents a pound and yet made some money. The cul- tivation of his farm with its added acreage and the vast changes that have been brought about by the erection of substantial and even costly buildings, has been the dream and the accomplishment of Mr. Thread- gill. His seven room residence, with its four galleries, his fine barns and sheds, his seed house and buggy shed, all point to a climax of a successful career and suggest eloquently the contrast between the first sixteen years of his Texas farming experience and the last period of a similar duration. Mr. Threadgill has sold cotton at less than four cents, as has been stated, and as high as $14.90 a hundred; he has produced his own meat and other stuff that he required for family use, and he has learned the way to independence in the truest sense of the word. His change from one location to another has put him in the class of farmers who hold shares in banks and other fiduciary concerns, and he is financially interested in the First State Bank of Deport and in the Western Casualty and Guaranty Company of Dallas.

In December, 1912, Mr. Threadgill had so far ad- vanced in the scale of prosperity that he felt justified in withdrawing from his active farm interests, and left the farm to take a residence in Deport, where he is now located and here he takes an important part in the civic life of the town. He is a member of the Methodist church and a trustee of its official body. His fraternal interests are represented by his membership in the Ma- sonic order, of which he has been a member for some time and in which he has a wholesouled and intelligent interest.

On September 8, 1870, Mr. Threadgill married Miss Elizabeth C. Brooks, a daughter of Aaron S. and Nancy (Russell) Brooks. The father of Mrs. Threadgill was born in Tennessee and his wife in North Carolina, and they became the parents of eight children, named as fol- lows: Elizabeth, the wife of Mr. Threadgill; Jerry, who died single; Sena, married to George E. Turner; Wil- liam; George; Harriet, the wife of W. G. Thomas; Wes- ley, a resident of Oklahoma, and James, of Red River county. William, George and Mrs. Turner are all re- siding in Lamar county.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Threadgill reared a fine family of nine children, all of whom have come to oc- cupy useful places in life. They are as follows: Dora,

the wife of William Handley; Mary, who married Guff Slayden; Nannie married Eliza Green Morgan; Bessie, now Mrs. Charles Gifford; Newton, who married Nora Martin, of Wichita Falls, Texas; Allen, who mar- ried Rosa Davis. All of the above reside in Red River county. Joe married Susie Davis, and they live in Gur- ley, Alabama; Claud, a farmer of Red River county, who married Annie Talley; Marshall, the youngest born, is the only one of the nine who still clings to the family home.

JUDGE CLEMENT B. POTTER. On October 2, 1912, there passed away a citizen of Gainesville of an ability and character such as that community or any other could ill afford to lose. At the time of his death Judge Potter was just closing his second term of service as circuit judge of the sixteenth judicial district, and was regarded as one of the foremost lawyers and jurists of North Texas. He had spent all his career of forty years in Gainesville, and from young manhood until his death was a prominent factor in local civic affairs.

Clement B. Potter, who was born in Gainesville, August 7, 1872, was a son of Judge C. C. Potter, an eminent attorney, who was one of the pioneer lawyers of north Texas and is still engaged in practice at Gainesville. The maiden name of the mother was Helen R. Bogardus, a native of Illinois, while C. C. Potter was born in Mississippi. Of the six children in their family, the late Clement B. was the oldest, while the others are: Roy T., who is married and is cashier of the Lindsey National Bank of Gainesville; William D., an attorney at Ardmore, Oklahoma; Grace, wife of C. A. Kinnar, an attorney of Seattle, Washington; Harold, deceased; and Ralph, deceased.

The late Judge Potter received his early education in the public schools of Gainesville, and at the age of six- teen went east and entered the preparatory school at Asheville, North Carolina, conducted by Major Bingham, continuing as a student there for three terms, after which he was in the University of Texas for two years. He studied law at the University and received his degree in 1892. Returning to Gainesville he entered the law firm of his father and practiced as junior member of the firm of Potter & Potter until 1906. In 1906 he was ap- pointed to fill out the unexpired term of Judge Barrett, deceased, and on the expiration of that term his record as judge was so satisfactory that he was chosen in the regular election for judge of the Sixteenth Judicial Dis- triet. He held the office for one regular term, and as already mentioned was just about to enter his third term when his death occurred. Both the bar and the citizens of his district have cause for grateful memory of the late Judge Potter, and he stood as one of the leading lawyers of his time. While his attention was devoted to the law, he was also interested in farming and was known all over this section of Texas as a horse raiser. He kept only pedigreed animals, and was a fancier of fine horses. At the time of his death he was the owner of a large amount of farm land, and he and his father together owned and operated a large amount of Texas property. His horses were frequently entered on the race tracks of the southwest, and in the exhibits, and won a number of premiums.

Judge Potter was a Democrat, but never sought any office except the one in which he was serving at the time of his death. He and his wife belong to the Methodist church south and fraternally he was affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Woodmen of the World, and the Maccabees. Though a man of many interests he centered his affections in his home, and found his pleasures in the domestic circles and in the activity of his home city.

Judge Potter married Miss Eva Metz, a native of Sherman, Texas, and a daughter of Charles and Frances (Lilley) Metz, the father a native of Vermont, and the mother of Pennsylvania. The Metz family originally

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came from Germany. Mrs. Potter's father was a busi- ness man and cattle raiser, came to Texas in 1873, and was one of the early merchants of Sherman, where he was in the implement business. In 1887 he moved to Gainesville, and was a furniture merchant there until his death in 1893. His wife died in 1912. Mrs. Potter is one of a family of four children, the others being: Cora, wife of William MeKemie, who is in the ice busi- ness at Gainesville; Stella, wife of C. H. Rives, a banker of Ada, Oklahoma; and William Lee, now deceased. Judge Potter and wife were married July 12, 1899, and five children were born to their union, as follows: Mar- jorie, Evelyn, Zella, Clement, and Francis, the first three being in school. Mrs. Potter since her husband's death, has kept her residence on East Church Street in Gainesville, and is devoting her efforts to the education and training of her children. She is the owner of much real estate in and about Gainesville.

GEORGE WOOTTEN GRANT. Sixty-five years of residence in this section of the great state of Texas entitle George Wootten Grant to every consideration as a citizen, and the further fact that he was born in Red River county establishes him securely in his community. His is a fam- ily that pioneered to Texas while the state was yet a Republic, and from then until now the name of Grant has stood for solid integrity in the state, and suggested a connection with affairs of an agricultural nature that has been of no slight benefit to the communities with which the various members of the family were identified.

George Wootten Grant was born in Red River county, some three miles west of the county seat, on the 1st day of February, 1848. His parents were Stephen Graut and Margaret (Diekson) Grant. It was Stephen Giant who led the family out of the old state of Tennessee that had long represented the family home, and he was the advance guard of a large contribution of men of that name to the state of Texas, and himself became a most important factor in the affairs of the community in which he settled. He was twice married. His first wife was Margaret Dickson, a daughter of James and Abigail Dickson, and their union was blessed with thirteen chil- dren, six of whom are named: Mrs. Mary Thomas, of Deport, Texas; George Wootten, of this review; Mrs. Nannie Scaff, of Fulbright, Texas; James W., of Bel- zoni, Oklahoma; Samuel H., of Deport, and Nathan W., of Alvin, Texas. Mrs. Grant died, and in later years the father wedded Mrs. Josephine Laura Thomas. The children of their union died unmarried. This wife is also deceased, and Stephen Grant passed from the scenes of life in December, 1889. He was a farmer and a man of importance in his community, and his sons have proved themselves worthy of him in every way, all taking their place in the life of their communities in a manner mani- festly creditable to them and to the parent who reared them.

George Wootten Grant was named in honor of Doctor Wootten, who attended at his birth and concerning whom a sketch will be found elsewhere in this work. The boy came to manhood in the community where he was born, and received his education in the country schools and in MeKenzie College. He remained under the shelter of the parental roof until February, 1869, when he mar- ried and took his young wife to their new home, launch- ing together a successful career in the field of agricul- ture. Two years previous the family had moved to the community of Deport, and the young married couple set out from that point full of hope for the future. The first venture of Mr. Grant in his independent capacity. as a husband and provider was in the purchase of a hundred acres of land in the community where he now resides. The improvements that were visible on the place at that time were limited to a one room box house with a dirt and stick chimney, and a small plot of ground that had known first contact with the plow- share. Into that primitive cabin the young couple

moved their effects, which included even the feed for his team, and there took up their housekeeping operations. That place was the scene of many a makeshift arrange- ment, one of his masterpieces being a wagon that he made by hand from bois des are and white oak. Other obstacles were overcome in a like manner in the early years while the foundations of his future fortunes and prosperity were being laid. After ten years he sold that farm, and the present owners of the place today are Grogan & Clifton.

In 1881, Mr. Grant purchased land on Blossom Prairie and started the community of Rugby. This was then a new and untouched locality, and the nucleus of his pres- ent farm was one hundred and twenty-nine acres of prairie land. The little house he erected upon it served the family, and, with its several additions of recent years, still constitutes a part of the substantial and roomy domicile where he still abides. The planting of the al- ways popular erops of cotton and corn followed the breaking of the virgin sod, and in 1883 the demands of the community for a gin were met by the enterprise of Mr. Grant, who erected a one-stand, ten horse-power sixty-five saw cotton gin. This venture proved to be a most profitable one, and he carried on the business for nineteen years, selling his three-staud plant when he abandoned the field in 1902.

In the years while Mr. Grant was a ginner his main enterprise was still being carried on with strength and profit. His domain extended to three hundred acres of timber land in the vicinity of Red River county, and three hundred and fifty acres of superb black, waxy loam in his home place. His improvements, together with the presence of the gin, attracted the new railroad when it built its line from Deport to Bogata, and a station was located almost at his door, while a sug- gestion of urban life began to pervade the atmosphere. To cultivate his two hundred and seventy-five acres al- ready under plow requires today the aid of six families of tenants, and the homes he has erected for these peo- ple had dotted the landscape with a little group of cot- tages that lends an air of prosperity and growth to the place that is by no means misleading.

Mr. Grant is a man who has ever kept his hands and head alike busy, and has utilized the days of cloud and rain as well as those of sunshine, recognizing all as something to add permanence and value to his estate. He is never to be found with the village loafers during the slow seasons, as many otherwise creditable farmers frequently are, but in those necessarily quiet times he occupies himself in study of his business, or in the study of the bible, or in helpful communing with his family in the sacred precincts of the home. Early in life he began to develop traits and characteristics that never fail to make for exemplary citizenship, and he has all his days been deeply concerned about the publie welfare and about the propagation of those principles that develop patriotie and honorable citizens. As a young man he allied himself with the church, aud he is the sole sur- vivor of the first Cumberland Presbyterian church or- ganized on Blossom Prairie. He was an elder of that church and has officiated in that capacity since 1870. His political support has gone to worthy candidates of the Democratic party, but he has withheld it from men of the party that he deemed unworthy of public trust, thus evidencing his stanch support of honesty and in- tegrity in the political activities of the country. He is a Mason of the Blue Lodge and Chapter, but has no fra- ternal affiliations beyond his connection with that order.

On January 27, 1869, Mr. Grant married Miss Fannie Scaff, whose father, John Scaff, was an early settler of Red River county and a well known farmer of that region. To Mr. and Mrs. Grant have been born the fol- lowing named children: Maggie, who is the wife of W. S. Griffin, a successful farmer near Rughy, Texas; Ty- rena Jane died as the wife of E. M. McBride: Ellen May is the wife of R. M. Bell, of Rugby; Dr. Stephen

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H., of Deport, Texas; Emma, who married J. D. Wood and resides in Tom Green county, Texas; and Florence, the youngest of the family, who is the wife of Dr. H. D. Roach, of Bogota, Texas.

JAMES W. GARRETT. Among the merchants of east Texas who are prospering and whose success has been largely due to their ability to estimate conditions, James W. Garrett, of Athens, is probably one of the most con- spicuous examples. He started in a number of years ago as a clerk, and by always making his ventures and advances in a conservative manner, has prospered stead- ily from the start, and now owns one of the best estab- lishments in the town.

James W. Garrett was born in the Cottonwood con- munity of Henderson county, nine miles north of Athens, on the old Garrett homestead, January 19, 1873. His grandfather, Stephen Garrett, moved from South Caro- lina to Alabama, where he died at the age of about P. Garrett, a retired farmer, now living at Eustace, in Henderson county. He first settled in Texas in 1869, in Henderson county, nine miles north of Athens, and con- tinued as an active farmer and blacksmith there until his retirement. William P. Garrett was a soldier in the southern army during the war. In a sketch of the elder brother of James W. Garrett, published elsewhere in this work, will be found further details concerning this prominent family of Henderson county

James W. Garrett 's life upon the farm was a counter- part of that of other country youths in the time and place, and his education came from the rural college of the same neighborhood, being finally completed by a high school course in Athens. His home remained with his parents until He was twenty-three years of age, when he yielded to the example of his older brother, who had already made a successful start as a merchant in Athens, and himself became a clerk in the house of W. C. Scott & Company, with which firm his brother was a silent partner. He applied himself as diligently behind the counter as he did formerly behind the plow, and made rapid progress toward the time when he could see his own name listed among the commercial firms of Athens. He clerked seven years, and then engaged in the grocery business on the east side of the public square. As a merchant his start gradually ascended until it reached the zenith of prosperity, when he constructed his own business house, a two story double brick structure at the southwest corner of the square. This house he occupied in 1910, and it represents his contribution to the substantial growth of the county seat. In di- mensions it is forty-two and a half by sixty-eight feet, and makes one of the conspicuous corners of the city.

As a citizen of Athens, Mr. Garrett has been content to give his time wholly to his personal business. Poli- tics have not noticed him, and he has confined himself to a quiet and industrious calling of his private affairs. He is a vigorous specimen of physical manhood, and everything he does seems typical of his personality, which is frank and genial and reliable to the last. His name, "Jim Garrett," in big letters on the outside of his store, seems to convey confidence to all who see it.

In the neighborhood in which he was brought up Mr. Garrett was married on October 24, 1895, to Miss Mary Roberson, a daughter of R. E. Roberson and Mary (Wil- man) Roberson, both of whom came originally from Alabama. Mr. and Mrs. Garrett's household contains the following children: Eugene, Elmer, Lillian, Pearl, Robert, Jack, Pauline, and John. Fraternally, Mr. Gar- rett is affiliated with the Masonie Blue Lodge, with the Knights of Pythias, the Knights and Ladies of Honor and the Modern Woodmen of America. His church is the Christian denomination.

JOHN H. GARRETT. One of the leading merchants of Athens, John H. Garrett, was evidently born with a predisposition to mercantile life, since he has been iden-

tified with merchandising from the early years of his manhood, and his progress has been steadily npward until now he ranks second to none among the business men of Athens and Henderson county. Mr. Garrett is a son of William P. Garrett, a retired farmer of Ma- bank, Kaufman county. The family came to Texas in 1869, settling in the Cottonwood locality of Henderson county, nine miles north of Athens. There the father carried on a modest farm industry, trained his children to traits of honesty and diligence, and retired to his present residence full of years and with the rewards due one who has added a new and earnest element to the citizenship of his county.

William P. Garrett was born in South Carolina, Janu- ary 8, 1838, being one of six children born to Stephen Garrett, a carpenter by trade, who died about 1870, at sixty-five years of age. Stephen Garrett took his fam- ily to Alabama, where William P. was reared and re- ceived such school training as was afforded to the peo- ple of that state in the years before the war. He chose farming as his vocation, and managed his affairs with such industry and enterprise that he always lived well and maintained the social and economic traditions of his house. He married Mrs. Sarah Pool, a daughter of David Cowan. Mr. and Mrs. William P. Garrett had the following children: John H., of Athens; Mrs. Georgie Cook, of Cumby, Texas; Mrs. Mattie Benge of Oklahoma; Mrs. Ella Chandler, of Oklahoma; James W., a merchant of Athens; Jesse, who is engaged in business at Eustace, Texas, and Mrs. Sallie Roberson, of Mabank, Texas. William P. Garrett was a Confederate soldier in General Bragg's army and helped keep back the in- vading forces of the north until overwhelming numbers made the contest so unequal that further resistance was in vain. John H. Garrett was a boy near school age when he came to Texas, and his training on the little farm cultivated by his parents developed in him a sound and vigorous constitution, and at the same time he attended the short terms of school accessible to the chil- dren of that district. He also attended a private school at Goshen, Texas, and his first venture upon his own account was in teaching a country schoolroom. His ex- perience as a teacher was brief, but it gave him confi- dence in himself and provided him with some funds for his first business start. At the age of twenty-three he lett the old home and moved to Athens, to take up com- mercial work. He was fortunate in his first position, and the first enterprise which secured his service was likewise fortunate. At Athens he took charge of the Farmers' store, which had then just been founded, and remained in charge of its affairs for two years. This experience brought him into contact with the traveling representa- tives of wholesale houses and opened the way for enter- ing a new business for himself as a salesman for Ull- man, Lewis & Company, of Galveston, and for ten years was with that house in Texas territory. His earnestness, his industry, his splendid physical endur- ance, and his inherent qualities of salesmanship soon made themselves apparent, and he became an almost in- dispensable man to his friends. . Eventually Mr. Garrett found himself one of the best paid commercial men in Texas. While traveling was an attractive and profitable proposition, it did not appeal to Mr. Garrett as a social success nor as an ideal life for a man bringing up a family. He determined to abandon the road and invest his personal capital in a store of his own. Thus, in January, 1895, he became one of the firm of W. C. Scott & Company, of Athens. He soon bought the in- terest of Mr. Scott and took Dr. R. B. Longmire into the firm, and Garrett & Longmire did business as a firm until January, 1899, when they sold to Wofford & Bar- rou. Then Mr. Garrett established himself in business under his individual name and has since conducted a large general merchandise stock at Athens. He also owns a business in Eustace, conducted as Garrett & Hambrick.

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It will thus be seen that for thirty or thirty-five years Mr. Garrett bas devoted all his time to merchandising. His first venture with the Farmers' Store was success- ful, and from that date to this he has never felt any cause to get out of the channel which he first chose as the direction of his energy. Mr. Garrett is a dynamo of physical and mental energy, weighs two hundred and sixty pounds, and is ruddy and as sprightly as a youth. Fraternally, he is prominent in Masonry and has taken the degrees qualifying him for membership in the Mystic Shrine, his membership being with Hella Temple, at Dallas. He is also a member of the Woodmen of the World, and was brought up in the Christian church, with which he still has membership.

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A history of Texas and Texans, Part 134

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