A history of Texas and Texans, Part 15

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 15

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).

Up to the time of the war W. C. Kelly was occupied in the position known as second or "Mud" clerk on a boat plying along the Chattahoocheeiver. On April 9, 1861, he enlisted in the Tuskegee light infantry, Third Alabama Regiment, under Captain "Gube" Swanson. Sent to Norfolk, Virginia, he was placed in General Hughes' division and remained in the infantry service. At Malvern Hill on July 1, 1862, he was wounded and was sent home for ninety days. At home he obtained a transfer and in November, 1862, he joined Forrest's famous cavalry and served under that notable cavalryman throughout the war. His first fight of im- portance was at Drury's Bluff, where the cavalry sup- ported the land batteries in repelling the Union gun- boats which were attempting to come up the James River. He was then sent to Richmond and attached to the army under Joseph E. Johnston, remaining in John- ston's command until that general was wounded at Seven Pines, after which Lee assumed the supreme com- mand. Besides the engagement at Seven Pines Mr.

Kelly also took part in the terrific engagement which marked the Seven Days' battles.

Joining Forrest's cavalry at Pulaski, Tennessee, Mr. Kelly went to Murfreesboro and from that time was on the move all the time. Every one who is at all familiar with the history of the Civil war is aware that the l'orrest cavalry was one of the chief factors in the Confederate army, and its brilliant and aggressive fighting has never been excelled in the history of any nation. Forrest about this time was given a separate command and transferred to north Mississippi and west Tennessee, and most of his campaigns were made through this region. At the end of the long struggle the Forrest command was surrendered to General Canby on the Tom Bighee River in Alabama May, 1865, and was disbanded.

On returning home to Tuskegee, Alabama, Mr. Kelly became connected with the hotel business. There, on April 6, 1866, he married Miss Addy Moore, a daughter of Ed Moore, who was a merchant, a native of Virginia, while her mother was a native of Alabama. There were nine children born to Mr. and Mrs. Kelly and the eight now living are: George E. of Giddings, Texas; Mrs. J. J. Doyle; Mrs. H. L. Beard; Mrs. O. C. Jersig; Ernest; Mrs. C. E. Wolf of Austin; Charles of Los Angeles, California, and Felix of Sherman, Texas The four whose residence is not noted are residents of Houston. The deceased child was James Norman Kelly, who died in Houston at the age of thirty-one. The mother of these children died at Austin in 1905.

After 1866 Mr. Kelly went to West Point, Georgia, where he was appointed United States inspector of dis- tilleries for the second district of Alabama. In this public service he continued up to 1868, at which date he came to Texas. His first location was in San Saba county and in 1869 he came to Hockley, in Harris county. During the seven years of his residence at Hockley he was acting as agent for the Houston & Texas Central Railroad. In the same capacity he was then sent to Leadbetter, where he was stationed for seventeen years. For five years after that he was agent at Waxahachie and then for three years was agent at Manor, and the last two years of the thirty-four years of continuous rural service was spent as claim agent for the Houston & Texas Central Railroad at Austin. In 1907 Mr. Kelly moved to Houston, where he has since lived retired.

He is adjutant of Dick Dowling Camp, No. 197, U. C. V., and a member of the Baptist church. He is a fine type of the Southern gentleman and possesses the intelligence and courteous manners which are always associated with the true man of the South. His military record is one of which he is justly proud and he enjoys the thorough esteem of his many associates among his old comrades. Mr. Kelly bears a striking resemblance to General Robert E. Lee, whom he knew personally and was also a friend of General Forrest.

R. O. REED. At the end of a career of more than half a century spent in Texas, Mr. Reed reviews with satis- faction and pleasure a lifetime of accomplishment and experience such as are the lot of few men and such as can never happen again in the story of mankind. He has always been a loyal and true citizen, was a brave and capable soldier in the times when the south most needed such men, and has been true in all the varied relationship of a long and prosperous career.

Mr. R. O. Reed was born in North Carolina, September 5, 1838, and was a son of J. V. and Mary (Jaycocks) Reed, both parents being natives of North Carolina, and married in that state. The family by descent is of mingled Scotch and English ancestry. The father was a planter and owned a considerable number of slaves, and died in 1849, while the mother passed away in 1857. The father was a man of considerable means and a gentleman of the old southern school, and for a number of years

gros Reid

1641

TEXAS AND TEXANS

served in his distriet as a magistrate. On the maternal side the grandfather was a soldier of the Revolutionary war. There were nine children in the family, and of these Mr. R. O. Reed and his brothers, J. V. and D. W., are the only survivors. Two died in infancy, but the others all reached maturity.

Mr. R. O. Reed went to school at Hertford, N. C., until he was about twenty years of age, and had then advanced so far as to enable him to teach school. In 1860, at the age of twenty-two, he moved to Texas, in Bell county, and began his career as a stock raiser. Bell county at that time was in the outermost fringe of the settled county, and his early years there were spent in almost pioneer conditions. In May, 1862, Mr. Reed en- listed in Company I of the Seventeenth Texas Infantry, under Captain J. F. Smith, who is yet living at Galveston. He made an excellent record as a faithful soldier, and remained in the war until its close. He was first sta- tioned at Little Rock, Arkansas, and took part in a number of the skirmishes and minor campaigns over that state, during which he saw some of the hardest and most disagreeable of his military experience. The first engage- ment of importance in which he participated was Mil- ligan's Bend, in Louisiana. Subsequently he fought in the crucial battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, after which his regiment was sent to Saline, Arkansas. He was confined in the hospital by sickness, so that he was prevented from taking part in the Battle of Saline. Soon afterwards occurred his transfer to the engineer corps and for eight months he assisted in the construction of pontoon bridges, fortifications and other military work in Louisiana and Arkansas during the Trans-Mississippi campaign. When the struggle was ended and the south- ern armies set out for home he was discharged at Milli- gan, Texas, and thence returned to Bell county.

In 1867 Mr. Reed moved to MeLennan county, which continued to be his home until 189I. During most of this time he was actively engaged as a carpenter and builder. In 1891 he transferred his business enterprise to Velasco and was in the hardware business at that old town until the great storm on Galveston Bay in 1900. He then returned to the central part of the state and was a resident of Waco until 1903, since which time he has lived retired in the city of Houston.

Mr. Reed in 1862 married Mrs. Nannie D. Reed. Four children were born to their marriage, two of whom died in infancy, and the living are: Nettie Bolton Reed, now the wife of N. J. Kavanaugh of Houston, and Lola Richard, now Mrs. W. M. Stewart of Houston. Mrs. Reed passed away in 1905. Mr. Reed is a member of the Baptist church and is one of the popular comrades of Dick Dowling Camp of the United Confederate Veterans at Houston. His residence is at 410 Fargo Avenue.

RICHARD EDWARD BROOKS. Houston as the commercial metropolis of south Texas has been fortunate in the pos- session of a fine body of citizenship, including men of ability and integrity to direct the large enterprises which have been centered in this city and in this class there is probably none better known or as an individual carrying more important responsibility to the financial and larger interests of this section of the state than Judge Brooks, president of the Producers Oil Company. Judge Brooks is first of all a lawyer, and for many years was prominent in the profession. He has had much experience in public affairs, and for a number of years has been one of the leading factors in the oil development of southeastern Texas.

Judge Brooks represents one of the most historie families of Texas. His mother, Elizabeth (Burleson) Brooks, who is now living in her seventy-seventh year, was an infant during the period of hostilities which freed Texas from the domination of Mexico, and during the invasion of Texas by Santa Anna she was carried by her mother to a place of safety. She was the youngest daughter of James Burleson, whose name will always Vol. IV-4

have a distinguished place in Texas annals. James Burleson came to Texas in 1831, settling in Bastrop county, and taking an active part in the pioneer life of the province and the subsequent Republic of Texas. The most noted member of the family and the brother of Mrs. Brooks was General Edward Burleson, who during the siege of San Antonio in 1835 succeeded Stephen F. Austin as commander in chief of the Texas troops. The father of Judge Brooks was Charles Wesley Brooks, who was born in Alabama and came to Texas in 1854 from that state. He brought to Texas the negro slaves of Judge Dick Townes, and after establishing a farm for Judge Townes in Bastrop county, and after the arrival of the Townes family in that locality, he engaged in farming for himself, and was one of the prosperous and successful men of his community up to his death in 1869.

Richard Edward Brooks was born in Bastrop county August 2, 1864. His family being among the more pros- perous people of Texas, he was liberally educated, com- pleting his schooling at the Southwestern University in Georgetown, and then read law in the office of Judge John C. Townes. Admitted to the bar in 1885, he at once began practice at Georgetown, at first in partner- ship with Judge Robert John and subsequently with Judge Cochran. In 1895 Governor Culberson appointed him to serve out the unexpired term as judge of the Twenty-Sixth Judicial District, comprising the counties of Travis and Williamson. He was subsequently elected twice to this office and continued as district judge until 1901, in which year he resigned. He then moved to Houston, where he turned his attention to the oil busi- ness in connection with the Hogg-Swayne Syndicate. He later was one of the organizers of the Texas Fuel Com- pany, and this later became the Texas Company, one of the greatest oil companies in the country. Judge Brooks was treasurer of the Texas Company until January 1, 1913, at which time he resigned in order to take the office of president with the Producers Oil Company of Texas.

Judge Brooks was president of the Southern Trust Company at Houston until his resignation on January 1, 1913, but is still a member of the board of directors of the trust company. He is a director of the Bankers Trust Company of Houston, a director of the Union National Bank of Houston, president of the Roywood C'anal & Milling Company, director of the Houston Land Corporation, vice president of the Texas Wagon Com- pany and vice president of the J. W. Carter Music Company. These last and important associations and his striking individual ability makes Judge Brooks one of the foremost men in financial and business life of Houston.

Fraternally, Judge Brooks is a Knights Templar Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine, and also is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. He belongs to the Houston Country Club. On November 28, 1889, he married Miss Frances Booty, daughter of the late J. H. Booty of Georgetown, Texas, one of the prominent merchants of that city. They are the parents of three children- Richard Emory, Clarence Booty and Frances Edwina Brooks. The Brooks residence in Houston is at 2616 Travis Street.

JOHN S. REID. A merchant of Pecan Gap, in Delta county, and the leading factor in local commercial affairs, Mr. Reid has been a resident of Texas since 1878. He was one of the successful teachers in this portion of the State for a number of years, endeavored to take up farming, but found his abilities not adapted to that vocation, and established himself in mercantile business and has found a generous success.

John S. Reid was born in Norfolk, Virginia, July 13, 1845, was educated in a military academy and in the Christiansburg Academy, and was well trained and equipped for the occupation of teacher, which he followed for many years. He was hardly sixteen years of age

1642

TEXAS AND TEXANS

when the Civil war broke out, and as his family and friends were all partisans of the South, he himself was eager to enlist as soon as opportunity offered. He went into Company D of Richardson's Battalion of Light Ar- tillery and went through the war in the Army of North- ern Virginia. His baptism of fire occurred at Sewell's Point in Norfolk, on the memorable day when the battle between the Merrimac and the Monitor was fought in Hampton roads, and his battery of artillery defended Captain Buchanan's command when it sought shelter at Sewell's Point after the disabling of the Merrimac and the wounding of Captain Buchanan. This introduction to actual warfare was so terrible and so abrupt that young Reid was at once stricken with homesickness and wanted nothing so much as to be once more a student in school in the presence of his father. But he was quickly admonished that since he had gotten himself into the predicament he must make the best of it, and his father appealed to his son to become a good soldier and remain steadfast to the end of the contest. Following that duel of the two naval corps off Portsmouth, Mr. Reid's command took part in the historic engagements of Seven Pines, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Win- chester, Gettysburg, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor and in the defense of the crater at Petersburg, after the Fed- erals had exploded their mine in the attempt to capture the fort. Mr. Reid was wounded at the crater, receiving injuries in the shoulder and in the leg and as he fell a piece of shell struck him on the head. Nevertheless, after a ninety-day furlough among relatives in Rich- mond he returned to his command and continued with the army to Appomattox. His battery was captured at Petersburg, with the exception of a small squad, includ- ing himself, who cut their way out, so that he was thus enabled to witness the closing drama of the war.

Though the interesting incidents of his early life have caused their recital to be given in these first paragraphs, the story must now be interrupted in order to consider the family of Mr. Reid. His father was George Reid, and his grandfather was also George Reid, both of whom were natives of Scotland. The grandfather settled at Norfolk, Virginia, about 1798. His death occurred in 1894 at the age of ninety-eight years. The maiden name of his wife was Elizabeth Taylor, of Farfar, Scotland. She also attained an advanced age, dying at the age of eighty-seven. Of their children, Charles died in Nor- folk in January, 1901, when within a few months of the age of one hundred years, having been a successful merchant engaged in the export and import trade, and one of the venerable citizens of Norfolk; Crawford mar- ried John Haskell of Baltimore, Maryland; William died in Norfolk in 1857, leaving a family; Robert passed away, also leaving a family, and Andrew died in Balti- more, where he had been a successful importer, and where he had reared his family.

George Reid, Jr., was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, during a visit of his parents to their native city in 1811. He received his education after the fashion of the old school Presbyterian faith and doctrine, and when he arrived at his majority he was excellently equipped in mind and moral and business character. He was brought up in his father's merchandising activities, and later succeeded to the wholesale grocery business, which had been conducted by his father, and for a number of years this business was carried on under the name of Charles and George Reid. At the opening of the Civil war he gave up the business and moved to Richmond. His principal activities during the war times were in block- ade running. He employed a number of men and ships in breaking through the lines of the Federal fleet and in transporting and handling goods and wares which could thus escape the vigilance of the blockade. After the return of peace he engaged in the grain business in Norfolk until his death in 1889. As to the issues which divided the country previous to and at the time of the war, his attitude favored the preservation of the Union

at all costs, but when his State cast its lot with the South, he used his means and his influence liberally in promoting the southern cause, and sent two of his sons into the Confederate army. In the latter years of the war, while General Ben Butler had his headquarters in Norfolk, Mr. Reid was summoned into the General's presence and asked concerning some alleged utterance of treasonable remarks. He at once admitted the substance of the charge, and was then given a pass by the general in order that he might leave the city for his personal safety. During the yellow fever epidemic of 1857 George Reid was designated from among the ranks of business men in Norfolk to take a prominent part in relief work, and did so throughout the period of the scourge. His nobility of character, his active sympathy, and his ready devotion to the welfare of humanity were vital character- isties, actuating him every day of his life, and he lived a life of righteousness and well doing which reflected the highest principles and virtues of his Presbyterian ancestry.

George Reid married Robina Spence, a daughter of John Spence of Edinburgh, Scotland. She had come to America on a visit and while here met and married Mr. Reid. Her mother was a Wallace, a descendant of Sir William Wallace, one of the most noted characters in Scotch history. Robina Spence was born in 1816 and her death occurred before the war. Her brother William Wallace Spence was a prominent Baltimore merchant and banker, being president of the Maryland Trust Com- pany; her brother John lived in London, England, and a sister was the wife of a London merchant. The follow- ing children comprise the family of George and Robina Reid; John S., of Pecan Gap, Texas; Maggie, widow of J. T. S. Reid of Norfolk, Virginia; Richard, who died at Baltimore, leaving a family, and who had served as a soldier of Moseby's Cavalry during the war; and Charles, who is a professional accountant, but who has all his life been a rambler over the face of the earth.

Now returning to the career of Mr. John S. Reid, after the Civil war, he took up work as clerk for J. C. B. Bridges & Co. of Baltimore, a sugar and coffee house. After three years he returned to Norfolk and engaged in the brokerage business as a member of the firm of Smith and Reid. Then in 1872 he started westward for new experiences which eventually brought him to Texas. His first stop was in Corinth, Mississippi, where he was induced to take a place as teacher in the public schools. Six years were spent in that way, and while there he was married. Then in 1878 he came to Texas. For a time in the community of Ben Franklin he taught school, was also a teacher in Giles Academy, and finally abandoned the activities of the school room in 1892. He then turned his attention to farming, but it is noteworthy that he proved so incompetent that after three years he had lived up to all his means except his land, and was then obliged to seek some other more remunerative occupation. He then opened a grocery store at Pecan Gap and entered a business more nearly to his liking and abilities. From a stock of groceries he expanded his enterprise to in- clude a general merchandise stock, and later took in his son as partner, until now the firm of John S. Reid & Son is easily the largest mercantile house of Pecan Gap.

In October, 1877, Mr. Reid married Miss Nancy Carter, a daughter of John Carter, the maiden name of her mother being Lumley. In the Carter family were the following children: Thomas; Nancy; Mary, who mar- ried Kirby Mask; James; and John. Mr. and Mrs. Reid are the parents of the following children: Grace, who married B. W. Yeager, of Spiro, Oklahoma, and they are the parents of five children; Maggie, the wife of G. O. Shettles, of Pecan Gap, and they have two chil- dren; Lutie, wife of O. L. Scott, a merchant of Pecan Gap, and they have a family of two children; George, a partner of his father, and who married Miss Cornelia Morgan; Bessie, married L. H. West, a member of the Reid Mercantile Company and they are the parents of

1643

TEXAS AND TEXANS

two children; W. W. S., the junior member of the Reid firm, who married Miss Mattie H. Yeager, and they have two children; and Andrew J., who is associated in busi- ness with his father and who married Miss Mollie Mae Sandlin. They have one child, John S., Jr. Mr. Reid brought up his family in the Presbyterian church, is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and politically and in civic affairs is liberal and broadminded, and usually supports the Democratic party.

SINCLAIR TALIAFERRO. A member of the Texas bar since 1875, Mr. Taliaferro has during nearly forty years filled in his career with many activities and achievements as an able lawyer. He is now head of the firm of Talia- ferro & Taliaferro, attorneys, in the First National Bank Building at Houston.

Sinclair Taliaferro was born in Gloucester county, Vir- ginia, December 23, 1852. In Virginia and Georgia and elsewhere in the south, few names are better known and accompanied with more distinction than that of Talia- ferro. The Taliaferros originally settled in the old colony of Virginia about 1662, and from that state its members have spread into various parts of the union. The parents of the Houston lawyer were Thomas Booth and Mary Munford (Sinclair) Taliaferro. The father was a Virginia planter, and subsequently engaged in merchandising in that state.

Sinclair Taliaferro was educated in an old log school house in Gloucester county. The old home was in close proximity to the scenes of many hard-fought battles of the Civil war, and normal existence in such times was an impossibility. He was eighteen years of age when he came to Texas in 1870, locating first in Grimes county, where he remained until 1874. In the latter year, coming to Houston, he took up the reading of law in the office of Captain Joseph C. Hutcheson, one of the eminent members of the Houston bar. He continued his studies with energy and success, and in April, 1875, was admitted to the bar and at once began active practice. In point of years in continuous practice in one community Mr. Taliaferro now ranks as third oldest of Houston attor- neys. He served as city attorney of Houston from 1883 to 1885. In February, 1895, Mr. Taliaferro was ap- pointed by President Grover Cleveland as United States attorney for the eastern district of Texas, and he held that office until February, 1899. Mr. Taliaferro has never been a seeker for political honors and emoluments, but at the same time is interested in political affairs, and has been a worker in every Democratic campaign since 1872.

Though not a politician, Mr. Taliaferro is not ignorant of politics. Political economy, particularly that branch of political economy which deals with the administration of municipalities and states, has been his pet study for years. He will be remembered in Houston as one of the first agitators for the commission form of government. He was visiting a great department store in Nashville one summer, and the administrative features of the insti- tution appealed to him. He saw how, on the commission plan, the same system could be applied to city govern- ment, and how under such a regime a remarkable increase in efficiency could not but result. In a letter written to the Houston Post Mr. Taliaferro outlined his views of the commission form of government, and the publica- tion of that letter started a pressure for a change that eventually gave Houston the present city charter and the present opportunity for civic greatness. To the city of Houston there is no more important enterprise, nor one fraught with greater benefit to the city than the Houston ship channel. A number of local citizens have taken an active part in the improvement and development of the channel from Houston into Galveston Bay, and one of the leaders for many years has been Mr. Taliaferro. Since 1883 he has given much time and attention to the work, and few, in any, men will deserve so much credit for the final successful outcome of the enterprise as Mr.

Taliaferro. It is now a certainty that the large ocean- going vessels will have easy access to and from Houston by the ship canal hy June, 1915, and to no one will the sight of an ocean-going vessel in the Houston Harbor be more gratifying than to Mr. Taliaferro.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

A history of Texas and Texans, Part 15

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