A history of Texas and Texans, Part 16

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 16

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In 1882 Mr. Taliaferro married Miss Rosalie Heath Palmer, who was born in Houston, daughter of Judge Edward A. Palmer of Houston, her father having located in Texas in 1844. The two children of Mr. and Mrs. Tahaferro are Thomas Sinclair Taliaferro, who is a part- ner with his father in the practice of law, and Bettis Milby, wife of William A. Sherman, vice president of the South Texas Cotton Oil Company of Houston. The Taliaferro home is at 1218 Walker Street.

JAMES V. MEEK. Among those who have lent honor to the legal profession in the State of Texas, a place must be accorded to James V. Meek, whose identity with Hous- ton dates back to 1895, and who maintains offices in the Prince Theatre Building.

Mr. Meek was born at Warsaw, Alabama, November 29, 1863, son of James T. and Mary C. (Weston) Meek. James T. Meek was educated with the practice of law in view, and was a graduate of a law school, but he never identified himself with the profession. Instead, he en- gaged in merchandising in Alabama, and was thus occu- pied when the Civil war broke out. A Southern man and with the interests of the Southern cause at heart, he was among the first to enlist his services in the conflict, and he remained in the field until the surrender. He organ- ized the Alabama Rifles, from which he was subsequently transferred to the Thirty-sixth Alabama Regiment as captain of Company A. At the time of Lee and John- ston 's surrender he was with his command, fighting in the vicinity of Mobile. His death occurred in 1866. The mother of James V. Meek was a daughter of Elizabeth (Geiger) Weston, a descendant of the Geigers of Revo- lutionary fame. She died in September, 1912.

James V. Meek was reared and educated in his native state to the age of nineteen years, his advanced studies having been pursued at Howard College, Marion. In 1882 he came to Texas and took.up his residence at Richmond, Fort Bend county, where, while otherwise occupied, he had in view the profession of law. In 1884 and 1885 he was a student in the law department of the University of Texas, and following which he was admitted to the bar by the district judge of Fort Bend county, and at once began practice at Richmond. At Richmond he was jus- tice of the peace, and later county attorney, and he continued his residence there until November, 1889, when he moved to Paris, Texas. At the latter place he rep- resented the Santa Fe Railroad Company as counsel. In May, 1890, he moved to Carson county, and in August, that same year, to Claudia, Armstrong county, where he remained two years, during which time he served as county judge having been elected to the office in Novem- ber, three months after his settlement there. In the latter part of 1892 Judge Meek formed a partnership with Temple Houston, youngest son of General Sam Houston, under the firm name of Houston & Meek, and they moved to Fort Worth, where they were associated in a law practice for about three years. At the end of that time Judge Meek moved to Hartley county, where, however, he remained only a short time, and from whence he came, in 1895, to Houston. This city has since been his home, and during the nearly twenty years of his practice here has had several law partners, men of stand- ing in the profession and sterling worth as citizens. He has practiced successively under the firm names of Meek & Taylor. Baldwin & Meek, Meek & Sam and Meek & Highsmith, and since February, 1912. he has conducted practice under his own name. While Mr. Meek has never been an office seeker, he filled the office thrust upon him in a manner that reflected credit upon himself. Through- out his practice he has maintained high standards and has lent a dignity to his chosen profession. Among the

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fraternal organizations which claim him as a worthy member are the F. and A. M., K. of P., B. P. O. E., Eagles and Turn Verein.

In November, 1889, Mr. Meek married Miss Rosalie Carlton, daughter of James E. and Melissa (Taylor) Carlton of Columbus, Texas, and they have four children : Weston, Hennie, Rosalie and Mildred. He and his family reside at 3704 Garrott street, West Moreland, Houston.

ARTHUR P. YARBROUGH. In Arthur P. Yarbrough the Byers Herald has found a publisher and owner who makes the most of the possibilities offered by such a plant, and since he bought the establishment early in 1913 it has made considerable progress of a pleasing order. The policy of the paper is one that is designed to boost Texas in general and Byers in particular, and the spirit of the publication is one that is altogether praiseworthy and at the same time productive of excellent results. Mr. Yarbrough has been a resident of Texas only since 1895, but in the years of his identification with the state he has become thoroughly imbued with the spirit of the great southwestern commonwealth, and he has as great a pride in the state and in his particular community as has any native born Texan.

Born in Talapoosa county, Alabama, on December 7, 1873, Arthur P. Yarbrough is the son of Thomas J. and Mary A. Yarbrough, and to them were born eleven chil- dren, of which number Mr. Yarbrough of this brief review is the oldest.

Mr. Yarbrough gained his early education in the public schools of Alabama, and remained at home on the home farm until he was twenty-one years of age. Arrived at his majority, he felt himself privileged to try his wings in the business of life, and his first move was to attend the Agricultural College at Albertville, in East Alabama, for a year. In order to do that the young man found it necessary to occupy himself at any employment he might find, for he worked his own way through, and after finishing his studies here he taught school for two terms in his native state and then came to Texas. He first settled in Rice, Navarro county, where he continued for about a year, during which .time he was occupied in ginning, and he then went to Hunt county and remained until 1909. During the years passed there he attended college at the East Texas Normal College, and taught school for some time, after which he went to Dallas and was employed in a clerical capacity with the Texas Pacific Railroad in their general offices., In 1910 he came to Byers and engaged in real estate and insurance activi- ties, but soon gave up the work to become the publisher of the Byers Herald, which paper he bought outright, and has since been editor, proprietor and publisher. The paper circulates in Texas and Oklahoma, with a scattered circulation in certain other states, and is making excel- lent progress under Mr. Yarbrough's management.

No more active worker for the best interests of the town is to be found than Mr. Yarbrough. He is a mem- ber of the Byers Commercial Club, and his fraternal affiliations are with the Masons (Blue Lodge and Chap- ter) and the Woodmen of the World. He has long been the advocate of the teaching of scientific farming in the schools, and while in Alabama he was the first to organ- ize the Farmers' Co-operative Educational Association in that state. As a teacher he recognized the need for adequate instruction in the business of farming among the youth of the land, and did much to create a feeling in favor of the furtherance of that branch of education.

On September 27, 1898, Mr. Yarbrough was married in Commerce, Texas, to Miss Nellie Brown, the daughter of John R. Brown of Hunt county, Texas. To them have been born six children, of whom four died in in- fancy. The surviving children are Lloyd V. and Juanita.

Mr. Yarbrough has no church affiliations, but is liberal- minded and generous in his attitude toward all of them. He is a Democrat, but takes little active part in the political matters of the community beyond the demands

of good citizenship, and is a stout believer in the future of Texas. He is willing at all times to respond to inquiries directed at him in regard to his adopted state. He enjoys the confidence and genuine regard of the rep- resentative people of the community, and, with his wife, has a host of friends in the county.

WILLIAM A. WILSON. As a builder of homes has Wil- liam A. Wilson ofttimes been designated, and no other title applied to him, however high-sounding it might be, could imply so much of genuine character or so aptly depiet the true nature of the man than does that term. For more than twenty years he has been devoting him- self to the real estate business in Houston, and in those years hundreds of homes have been built and sold to families on easy terms, thus enabling home-hungry people to become real owners, who might otherwise never have claimed that privilege, dear to the heart of so many. Other phases of activity have characterized his operations in the realty market, but this one has been the most potent force for good of all his enterprises, and is especially deserving of mention.

A native son of Onondago county, New York, William A. Wilson was born in 1864, the son of William A. and Eliza H. (Arnts) Wilson. The father, now deceased, was a lifelong farmer of Onondago county, and the mother still makes her home in the community where she reared her family. Mr. Wilson as a boy at home enjoyed such educational privileges as the country schools provided and lived the life of the average country boy, in his teens becoming connected with the wholesale meat business in Syracuse, where he continued for some years. He came to Texas first in 1892, being then twenty-eight years of age, and, settling in Houston, he immediately identified himself with real estate matters. He operated independently for thirteen years, aud in 1905 the busi- ness which he had fostered in that time was incorporated under the name of the William A. Wilson Company, with a capital stock of $100,000. In 1907 so well had the business progressed that the capitalization was increased to $200,000, in 1910 to $600,000, and in 1912 to $800,000 -facts and figures that will show conclusively something of the progress and standing of the firm in Houston today. The company carries on a large and exceedingly profitable business, consisting chiefly in the building and selling of modern bomes in attractive subdivisions of the City of Houston, these subdivisions being controlled by the company under proper building restrictions.

An example of this phase of their enterprise may be seen in the Woodland Heights subdivision, opened by them in the autumn of 1907, and they have reduced it from a state of natural wildness to a charming suburban park, dotted by comfortable and artistic homes, which now aggregate something more than two hundred, the place classing as a most desirable residence subdivision. In addition, they have built and sold hundreds of houses in every quarter of the city, from the time when Mr. Wilson first began his real estate operation in Houston. At the present time the company is developing another subdivision of Houston, known as Eastwood, which will be done on the same lines as was Woodland Heights, and will present fully as many attractions to home seekers in the suburbs.

This mammoth company's affairs are directed by a body of the most capable and far-seeing business men in the city, and the personnel of the firm will indicate that fact beyond dispute. Joseph B. Bowles is president of the company, William A. Wilson is vice president and general manager, and these, together with James A. Baker, Edwin B. Parker, Rufus Cage, Baker W. Arm- strong and Guy M. Bryan, constitute the board of direc- tors and other members of the firm.

The William A. Wilson Company has but recently car- ried to completion a new office building, designed espe- cially for their own usage. The building is two stories in height, thirty-seven feet front by one hundred and

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twenty feet in depth, and is located at 910 Franklin avenue. The purchase price of the building was $60,000, and the improvements they felt called upon to make in order to bring the building up to a suitable stand- ard of completeness for their use have advanced those figures very appreciably. The new building, however, enables the company to maintain all their various de- partments of activity under one roof, and is a distinct advantage over previous arrangements.

Other interests and enterprises aside from the real estate business have claimed the attention of Mr. Wilson, and he is now serving on the directorate of the Lumber- quan's National Bank of Houston, of which he has long been a stockholder. He has been president of the board of directors of the Young Men's Christian Association of Houston since 1900, and is now chairman of the Texas State Executive Committee of the Y. M. C. A. His fra- ternal affiliations are with the Masonic order, in which he has membership in Holland Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. He is a member of Central Christian church, and bears his full share of the burdens of churchly responsibility. A citizen of the highest order, he has manifested the finest spirit of civic loyalty in all the years of his identification with Houston, and few there are in the city who have more civic honors to their credit than has this builder of homes.

In April, 1892, Mr. Wilson was married to Miss Mary I. Kinney, the daughter of Rev. Dennison Kinney of Syracuse, New York, who was a Wesleyan Methodist minister of that city, and a man of the highest type of Christian citizenship. Six children have been born into the Wilson home, named as follows: Helen Irene, Flor- ence May, Mary Louise, William A., Jr., Edgar Houston and George Dennison Wilson. The residence of the family is maintained at No. 205 Bayland avenue, Woodland Heights, and is one of the handsome home places of that suburb.

JAMES ROONEY. The career of James Rooney briefly told in the following paragraphs is a story of a man who started out as a boy in subordinate capacity, becoming a clerk and general utility man until he had acquainted himself with every detail of the business, and since then his progress has been such that the Rooney Mercantile Company of which he is the head is the largest estab- lishment of the kind in Pecos county. It is in fact a regular city department store, and offers the people of Fort Stockton and vicinity a larger stock of goods and better selection than can be found anywhere outside of the largest cities of the state. Another noteworthy fact in connection with the career of Jim Rooney, as he is popularly known, is the "good-will" which has been hardly a less important factor in his success than his ability as a merchant. He possesses completely the con- fidence and esteem of every citizen of any consequence in Pecos county, and is a man whose prosperity has never been accompanied by envy on the part of his competitors.

James Rooney is one of the oldest native sons of Pecos county, where he was born September 27, 1573, about seven years before the first line of railroad was con- structed through this portion of Texas, and several years before the Indians had finally ceased their hostilities in west Texas. His father, Francis Rooney, was a pio- neer whose name deserves to be long remembered in Pecos county. Francis Rooney was an Irishman by birth, and when a young man came to Texas in 1868, went out to the extreme west frontier, and became iden- tified with cattle raising and farming in Pecos county. Throughout his career there he was active politically and at one time served as county commissioner. He was a loyal member of the Catholic church and popular both as a business man and citizen. He was a mem- ber of the first commissioners court of Pecos county, and during his administration the first jail and court- house were built in the county. He was an Indian fighter. Residence in this section of Texas during the

sixties and seventies necessitated service as a militia- man, and more than once he joined the state rangers in pursuit and battle with the raiding savages. His death occurred in 1890 when he was sixty-three years of age, and he was buried in Pecos county. He married Miss Jennie McCarthy, who was also a native of Ireland, but they were married in Texas. She makes her home in Fort Stockton with her son James, and is a venerable old lady, and a devout member of the Catholic church. Of the eight children in the Rooney family, six are now living, all married and all having their homes at Fort Stockton or vicinity, as follows: John Rooney, in the drug business; Frank Rooney, who is county and district clerk; William Rooney, cashier of the First State Bank of Fort Stockton; Mrs. Joseph Richardson; Mrs. H. H. Butz; and James.

James Rooney has been a resident of Pecos county all his life, and his early education was attained in the local schools, after which he entered St. Mary's College at San Antonio. Returning from school to Fort Stock- ton, he began his career as a school teacher, an occupa- tion he followed for two years, and at the age of twenty took a place as clerk with Mr. H. Koehler, and remained a salesman in his store for about one year until the proprietor's death. He then went to Alpine and worked for C. H. Larkin in a similar capacity for another year. Returning to Fort Stockton he and H. H. Butz formed a partnership and bought the old Koehler store, con- ducting it under the firm name of Rooney & Butz until 1904. In that year Mr. Rooney bought out his partner, and continued the establishment alone until 1910. In that year was organized and incorporated the Rooney Mercantile company, easily the largest concern of the kind in this part of the state. The Rooney Mercantile Company occupies with its stock of goods a floor space and warehouses, including many thousand square feet, employs a large number of clerks, and other workers and does an extensive retail and wholesale business. Everything to be found in a first class city depart- ment store is included in the stock, and the policy of the concern which has brought it so much success is the giving of an adequate service in return for every purpose. Mr. Rooney besides being the head of the Rooney Mercantile Company is also vice president of the Fort Stockton State Bank.

He was married in Fort Stockton to Effie McDonald, of Pecos county. Their three sons and three daugh- ters are: Phillip M., Annie B., Jennie L., Donald W., Dorothy, and James, Jr. Mr. Rooney is a broadminded and liberal Catholic in religion and gives his support generously to all religious and philanthropie enter- prises. He is affiliated with the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, the Woodmen of the World, the Masons from Blue Lodge to Chapter, and is president of the Fort Stockton Commercial Club. A worker for Demo- cratic success, Mr. Rooney has the distinction of being the first citizen chosen to the office of the city of Fort Stockton, and he is now mayor as the first and only ex- ecutive of the city. He has served as a member of the school board and has also been on the board of county commissioners. Among the diversions he is very fond of baseball, and enjoys everything in social life that is wholesome and entertaining. He is owner of large real estate properties in the city and vicinity and without doubt is the most influential man either in business or public affairs in Fort Stockton.

THOMAS W. HOUSE. The latest important distinction to be accorded a member of the House family of Texas was the appointment of President Woodrow Wilson of Thomas W. Honse as postmaster at Houston. This occurred more than seventy-five years after the name first became identified with the Texas Republic. Through- out this time the larger commercial affairs of Houston have enjoyed the stimulating activities of several genera- tions of this family.

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The present Houston postmaster, Thomas W. House, was born in Houston in 1846. It was his father, Thomas W. House, Sr., who first gave distinction to the name in this state. The Senior House was born in England, came to the United States about 1830 and after some years spent in New York City, arrived at Houston in 1837. Houston was at that time hardly a year old and the first business activities were struggling to get established along the sluggish waters of the Bayou, the chief prestige of the locality resulting from its position as capital of the Republic. Mr. House was one of the first merchants of the little capital city and his name was continuously identified with the general merchandise trade there until 1880. He was one of the men who after the capital was removed to Austin, upheld and fortified the position of Houston as the chief com- mercial center for all of South Texas. His name might be found in connection with a great many of the busi- ness and semi-public enterprises of his time. During the early days of the Republic he served in the Texas army under General Burleson and was engaged in the campaigns of those days against the Mexicans aud the Indians. Some years later, when quite an old man, in the war between the states, the Confederate government employed him, under the general direction of General Magruder to carry cotton to Havana and West Indies, and bring in supplies for the Confederacy. He was thus engaged in one of the most hazardous and at the same time invaluable services to the Confederacy. The wife of Thomas W. House, Sr., was Mary (Shearn) House and her death occurred in 1870. Among their children is E. M. House of Austin, Texas, and New York City, prominent in public affairs and an intimate friend of President Wilson.

Thomas W. House, Jr., received his education in the schools of Houston. During the war he was sent abroad and spent four years in completing his education in England. On returning from England in 1867 he entered his father's general mercantile business and was closely identified with that old and solid establishment known under the name and title, "T. W. House," for thirty years. He continued and developed the business founded by his father and added to the many business attain- ments already associated with the name.

In 1897 Mr. House sold out the mercantile business and for the following seven or eight years was engaged as a private banker. During the last fifteen or twenty years the sugar industry in southern Texas has ex- perienced a great revival and perhaps to no one in- dividual has this been due more than to the efforts of Mr. T. W. House. He owns a large sugar plantation and sugar mill in Fort Bend county and his operations in that line are well known to all who keep in touch with sugar growing and manufacture in South Texas.

Mr. House's appointment as postmaster of the city of Houston came on August 27, 1913, and he has since been at his office in the Federal Building, and no choice could have met with more general approval from the local citizens than that of Colonel House. For six years, from 1880 to 1886 he was a member of the Houston City Council, during the administration of Mayor William R. Baker.

In 1869 Mr. House married Miss Ruth Nicholson, a daughter of James Nicholson of Bastrop, Texas. Her father was of English birth and came to Texas about 1840, being one of the pioneers. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. House, as follows: Mary, wife of J. C. Lamkin, an attorney at San Antonio; Ellen, who married W. L. Howze of Houston; Edith House; Thomas W., Jr., in the real estate business in Houston; James H. B., also in the real estate business. The youngest son is a graduate of Princeton University and his diploma was the first to be signed by Woodrow Wilson, then president of Princeton and now President of the United States. The House residence is at 1010 Louisiana street.

WILLIAM GRASTON LOVE. One of the more successful attorneys of Houston is William Graston Love, a native product of Texas and a resident of Houston since 1891, where he carries on a general law practice and is one of the leading men of the city and county. As mayor of Houston Heights for two terms he demonstrated the high order of his citizenship, and in his position as president of the Houston Heights school board he did excellent work for the educational advancement of the community. His career thus far has been characterized by the utmost usefulness and his future promises much in the way of advancement and success.

Born in Dallas county, Texas, on January 17, 1869, William Graston Love is the son of William E. and Hulda (Graston) Love, natives of South Carolina and Tennessee, respectively. During the Civil war William E. Love was a member of General Longstreet's staff and served with him throughout the war. In 1869 he brought his family to Dallas county, where he engaged in farming and stock raising until 1877, in which year he moved to Salado, Texas, and engaged in farming and merchandising. His success was of a fair order and he continued in business until his death, which occurred in 1903.

William Graston Love received his education in the common schools and the Salado College, later attending the law department of the University of Texas, from which he was graduated in 1889 with the degree of LL. B. In the same year the young attorney was ad- mitted to the bar of Texas and he soon after began his legal career in practice at Luling, Caldwell county, where he remained until 1891. In that year he came to Houston, where greater opportunities were afforded for advancement in the profession, and he has since continued in the general practice of law.

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A history of Texas and Texans, Part 16

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