A history of Texas and Texans, Part 167

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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WILLIAM H. BROOKS. A very successful architect. whose business headquarters are in Waco, but whose practice has extended into many diverse quarters of the state, is William H. Brooks, who has been a permanent resident of the state during the last thirty years and has devoted most of his time to building construction and to his profession as an architect.

William H. Brooks was born at Tehuacana, in Free- stone county, Texas, November 9, 1862. His father, William Brooks, born in November, 1832, came to Texas when a young man, about 1858, and before the war was a ranch man and after the struggle between the states was engaged in merchandising. During the war he fought on the Confederate side as a member of a Texas regiment, and when the Southern troops returned to their homes he moved from Texas to Butler, Alabama, locating at Greenville, where he was an enterprising merchant up to 1879. His health failed in that year, and his oldest son, William, then had to leave school and take charge of the store until 1884. The father passed away in 1888, having been fairly successful as a business man and leav- ing a worthy name to his descendants. The mother was Mrs. Annie E. MeCann, who was born in Butler county, Alabama, in 1844, and who died in 1907. Their six children were named William H., Charles L., Louis, Lil- lian, Edward and Hubbard, both of whom died in in- fancy.

William H. Brooks was three years old when the fam- ily returned to Alabama, and his schooling was acquired in Butler county of that state until he was seventeen years old. He continued a resident there until 1884, having for several years had the actual management of his father's store. On his return to Texas at the age of twenty-two, he located in Falls county, and spent the first five years in agricultural pursuits. The designing and planning and construction of buildings has been a nat- ural gift and almost a passion with him since childhood, and at the end of his farming experience he entered actively upon his profession, and has made of it an ex- cellent success. His headquarters were at Marlin, Falls county. up to 1903, in which year he moved to Waco. In that city he was employed by other architeets until 1911, when he set up in business for himself, and now enjoys a good practice and a growing reputation. He has been commissioned as architect for a number of publie and business structures in outside cities and towns. He drew the plans for the courthouse, the First Baptist church and the high school building at Anson, in Jones county. Mr. Brooks is a single man, is affiliated with the Woodmen of the World, a member of the Methodist church, and in polities a loyal Democrat. Besides some property in Waco, he owns his former residence in Mar-

lin, Falls county. With him his business is his chief interest, and he occasionally takes his pleasure in a fish- ing or hunting trip.

CORNELIUS MONROE HEARN. When Mr. Hearn first became a resident of Kaufman county in 1868, he was a boy of about fourteen, and the remainder of his youth was spent in the then pioneer condition of this section of Texas. He eventually became a farmer, a successful one at that, and from prosperity as a tiller of the soil and producer of crops gradually extended his enterprise to local industry and business, and is now one of the leaders in the community of Mabank in Kaufman county.

Mr. Hearn belongs to a very old and prominent family in southern history. There is sufficient data to prove the family line in consecutive order back to the year 1066, in English history, the date when William the Conqueror beat down the ancient Britons and established a new era in the life of the English Isles. A number of genera- tions later, one of the descendants immigrated to Amer- ica, and established a home during the colonial epoch. Elijah Hearn, the great-grandfather of the Mabank business man, had a family of children at the time the war for independence was fought. Elijah Hearn died in Morgan county, Georgia, the father of sixteen children. He was nearly one hundred years of age when his death occurred, and thirteen of his children reached mature years and spent their lives in Georgia. William Hearn, the grandfather, was born in Essex county, Maryland, in 1791, was married in West Moreland county, Virginia, and early in his married career settled in Georgia, where he died in 1851, in Alabama. He was the youngest in the large family of sixteen children just mentioned, and took part in the war of ISI2 in General Floyd's com- mand. He lived a quiet and industrious life, was de- voted to agriculture on the one hand, and to the min- istry of the Methodist church on the other, until his death. William Hearn married Martha Stephens, who died in Autauga county, Alabama. Their children were Malinda, who married Jephtha Yarbrough, and died in Autauga county, Alabama; Zina, who married D. L. Bunn. and spent her final years in Randolph county, Alabama; Elizabeth, who married W. R. Thompson, and died near West Plains, Arkansas; Martha, who married Jackson Harris, and also died in the same locality of Arkansas; Jon C., who died in Au- tauga county, Alabama; Thomas S., who died in Geor- gia ; Elijah, who died in Alabama; William, who died in Arkansas near West Plains; Benjamin, who died in Georgia; Rachel, who spent her last years in Autauga county, Alabama; James Henry, father of the Mabank business man; Sarah A., who died in Georgia as Mrs. Johnson; Lucy Jane, who married Samuel Ware, and died in Autauga county. Rev. Hearn, the father of these children, married for a second time Catherine Snell, who had one son, Joshua, whose whereabouts since the war between the states have not been known.

James Henry Hearn, one of the venerable citizens of Mabank, whose active life as a farmer only closed with ripening old age, was born in Fayette county, Georgia, December 25, 1835. He brought his family to Texas from Elmore county, Alabama, after the Civil war. He was reared in his native county of Fayette in Georgia, and his education came from the old log schoolhouse of the primitive times. His boyhood was spent in Ala- bama in comfort and without special incident until the death of his father, and at that time the ne- cessity for self-support was first borne upon him. Like most of his ancestors he followed the life of the farm, and started out independently as soon as he had married. Settling in Chambers county, Ala- bama, just across the line from Georgia, he lived there three years and then took up his residence in Coosa county, where he lived until after the war. James Henry Hearn made a gallant record as a soldier, dur- ing the war between the states. On February 1, 1862, he

J.H. Horn

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enlisted in the Confederate army as a private in Captain George E. Brewer's Company A, Col. Mike Wood's Forty-sixth Alabama Infantry, in command of Taylor's Brigade of Tennessee Army. His first fight was a small engagement at Tazewell, Tennessee. He was with the army in the defense of Vicksburg, and took part in many of the engagements leading up to the crucial time of that defense. He was at Baker's Creek, Champion Hill, Big Black River, and then was fighting from within the defenses of the city itself. When the city surrendered to General Grant in July. 1863, the paroled soldiers of the Forty-sixth Mississippi were ordered to Demopolis, Alabama, and were there again equipped for further service, and sent north to reinforce General Bragg's army at Chickamauga. They arrived too late to take part in the battle, but went to Chattanooga, and Mr. Hearn fought at Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, and was in the command which faced the Federal advance during the campaign against Atlanta. He fought at Dalton, and other engagements, and at Jonesboro a minie ball from a Yankee gun passed through his right arm into his right side angularly and passed out about four inches to the right of the spinal column. This wound rendered him unfit for further service during the war. He lay in the hospital from the 3Ist of August, the day he was shot, for two months, at Macon, Georgia. He suffered the torments of gangrene poison, and barely escaped with his life. He was furloughed home as an invalid, and had little capacity for hard labor for some years after the war. At his last battle when he received his wound, he was wearing the stripes of a sergeant, being first sergeant of his company.

At the close of the war James Henry Hearn found himself stripped of all his property, and had a small family to provide for. Like many other brave and reso- lute men of the south, he adapted himself to conditions as they were, and sought to build up his fortune on his farm. As the outlook was not promising in the old home vicinity he decided to seek friends and fortune fur- ther west. He journeyed by way of boat from Wetumka, Alabama, around by New Orleans, and finally arrived at Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1868. From there the family journeyed by rail to Marshall, which was then the ter- minus of the Texas and Pacific Railroad, and thence by private conveyance reached College Mound in Kaufman county. When he was finally settled and had his pro- gram well laid out, Mr. Hearn began investing in land in Kaufman county, at prices ranging from one dollar and a half to three dollars and a half per acre. He lived modestly and quietly, kept aloof from politics, im- proved his land and premises, encouraged education by aiding the erection of several schoolhouses, during the thirty two years of residence, and contributed also to the burden of church work and church responsibilities. HE saw his children grow to become men and women, and go out into the world as tillers of the soil with educa- tions obtained in their own community. With such a career behind him, it is not strange that James Henry Hearn has the respect and esteem of all who know hin' and he is one of the best known men in Kaufman county. He is a member of the Missionary Baptist church, and in politics is a Democrat.

On February 16, 1854, James Henry Hearn was mar- ried in Harris county, Georgia, to Miss Burkhalter, a daughter of John Burkhalter, a South Carolina man, a farmer by occupation and an ardent southerner who fur- nished several sons for the army. Mrs. Hearn died August 21, 1899. The children of James H. Hearn and wife are: Cornelius M .; Martha E., of Long Beach, California, who first married Andrew Hunter, and see- ond H. P. Paschal; John, a farmer of Kaufman county; William, of Hastings, Oklahoma; Clinton, who died at Coleman, Texas, in April 1913, and left a family; George E., who died at Hastings, Oklahoma, leaving a family; Mary, wife of David Kerley of Scurry, Kauf-

man county, Texas; David, of Hastings, Oklahoma, and Lee, of Van Zandt county, Texas.

Cornelius M. Hearn, who was born in Alabama, De- cember 24, 1854, grew up at College Mound, and at- tended school there. His elementary schooling had been received in his native state. When he married he settled on rented land and lived there two years, and then moved to the locality three miles north of Ma- bank, where he bought land and made a farm. When he had gained some independence and much experience he became a stock trader, a dealer, and eventually a shipper. At the same time be conducted farming on a large scale, put two hundred and fifty acres under the plow, and ultimately became owner of many more acres. He continued actively with the farm until 1898, when he engaged in the gin business and moved to "Old Lawndale," from which locality he moved to Mabank, in 1900. At Mabank he erected a gin of four stands, seventy saws, having since improved it to a six-stand eighty-saw plant. To the ginning operations he now de- votes most of his time. Mr. Hearn has shown his faith and loyalty to his community at Mabank, in the erection of a fine'two-story residence, the finest home in the town. An immense barn stands near, and both build- ings suggest the substantial character of their owner. Mr. Hearn also assisted in organizing the First National Bank of Mabank.

In politics he is a voter with the Texas Democracy, and belongs to the Baptist church. Fraternally he has been master of his Masonic Lodge at Mabank and be- longs to the Knights of Pythias, but takes only moderate interest in fraternal affairs.

On June 2, 1877, Mr. Hearn married Miss Agnes Aly, a daughter of John Aly. Her father came to Texas from Tennessee and was twice married. Mrs. Hearn was reared in the home of relatives. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Hearn are Dr. Robert E., of Mabank, who graduated in medicine at Louisville, Kentucky; Amy, wife of E. E. Treadwell of Mabank, and has one son, Lawrence W .; Fannie, Neelie and Helen live at home.

THOMAS PIERCE STONE. In a career which has been fruitful in accomplishments and the usual rewards of sne- cess, Mr. Stone has been the chief factor in shaping his own destiny, and as a hard-working and ambitious indi- vidual has progressed from one stage of accomplishments to the next higher until for a number of years he has been regarded as one of the leading lawyers of Waco and also a man prominent in local and state affairs.

Thomas Pierce Stone was born at Lewisville, Arkansas, May 5, 1860. His father, Andrew J. Stone, was born at Greenville, South Carolina, June 10, IS33. In 1866 he moved to Texas and settled in Milam county. A farmer by occupation, he was a man of considerable enterprise and prominence, was a teacher for five or six years in Texas, and served as treasurer of Milam county for six years. His death occurred January 29, 1893. He mar- ried Emily F. Butler, a sister of Gen. M. C. Butler, of South Carolina. She was born at Greenville, South Caro- lina, December 11, 1838, and now lives at the venerable age of seventy five with her son in Waco. The six chil- dren comprising the family were as follows: William B., now deceased; Jessie B .; Thomas P .; Jennie T., de- ceased; Andrew F., deceased; and Nathaniel C., de- ceased.

The early education of Thomas P. Stone was limited and his opportunities for acquiring it intermittent. At odd times, sometimes for two weeks, and then for only two or three days consecutively, he attended country schools in Texas until he was seventeen years of age. As a result of the war between the states his father had been ruined financially, and his health had been so weak- ened that he was seriously handicapped in prosecuting his business, and in consequence his children had to take a hand at an early age in earning their own way and con- tributing to the general family support. Thomas P.

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Stone kept hard at work on a farm until he was twenty- four years of age. Moving to Cameron, in Milan county, he then began the study of law in the office of Judge P. S. Ford. In 1888 he was granted a license to prac- tice in the state courts, and received his admission to the Federal courts in 1889. Even his law education came as a result of hard study in spare time, his days being devoted to business, and his nights to the reading of his law books. While during the twenty-five years of his practice Mr. Stone has tried cases involving all the general principles of jurisprudence, he has specialized in civil law and land titles law, and in that field is regarded as an attorney possessing peculiar qualifications and especial strength, so that he is a valuable ally to his clients. In 1889 Mr. Stone moved to Waco, and has had his home and his business in that city. While his practice has always been the main consideration with him, he has at different times worked for the publie wel- fare, and has acquired some business interests, including a position as stockholder in the Citizens' National Bank of Waco. Mr. Stone has never married and has been de- votedly loyal to his mother, who resides with him.

In politics a leader of the local Democracy, he repre- sented his district in the State Senate from 1904 to 1908, during the twenty-ninth and thirtieth legislature. For that office he was nominated and elected without oppo- sition, and his work as senator was highly creditable and of a quality that might well be emulated. Mr. Stone is one of the meu who regard the body of Texas statutes on special laws as sufficiently large, except as special issues arise requiring further extension, and for this rea- son his work as a legislator consisted chiefly in keeping a close watch upon current legislation, preventing and cut- ting out any corrupt measures being added to the statute books, and at the same time perfecting and simplifying the laws already written therein. In religious affairs he is an Episcopalian, is affiliated with the Masonic order, the Woodmen of the World and the Fraternal Brotherhood. Mr. Stone was Commander-in-Chief of the United Sons of Confederate Veterans of the South, having been elected to that office at the Dallas Reunion in 1902, and served until the Reunion at New Orleans in 1903.

WALTER B. ALLEN. One of the concerns to which the city of Amarillo owes its prestige as a center of com- mercial activity is the Waples-Platter Grocer Company, wholesale dealers in groceries and grocery specialties. The manager of the concern, Walter B. Allen, has made himself a distinct factor in the business life of the city, and he has resided here since 1905. He is a Texan by nativity, born at San Felipe, Austin county, August 3, 1872, a son of Benjamin and Catherine (Penn) Allen.

On the paternal side of the family Mr. Allen is of Scotch ancestry, and is a grandson of Benjamin Allen, Sr., a pioneer settler of Austin county, Texas, where his son Benjamin was born. The latter was for many years a prominent stockman and farmer, and is now living at Fort Worth, Texas. During the Civil war he fought in the coast defense service. In politics he is a Democrat, and his religious faith is that of the Methodist church. He was first married to Catherine Penn, a direct de- scendant of William Penn and a daughter of Columbus Penn and sister of Mrs. A. M. Ireland, whose husband, Hon. John Ireland, was at one time governor of Texas. Mrs. Allen was born in Virginia, and was an infant when taken to Mississippi, coming to Texas as a child with her parents, who settled at the old town of Rutersville, near LaGrange. Her death occurred in 1876, when she was thirty-two years of age. She was the mother of two children, Leila L. and Walter B. Two years after the death of his first wife Benjamin Allen married Miss Elizabeth Parker, a daughter of W. A. Parker, who re- sided near the present town of Brookshire, in Waller county, Texas, and to this union there were born three daughters and one son. Both Mr. and Mrs. Allen still

survive, enjoying the fruits of their early years of toil, and honored and respected by all who know them.

Walter B. Allen was but three years of age when his mother died, and during the two years that followed he made his home with an aunt, Mrs. R. L. Penn, but after his father's second marriage he returned to the home farm and was tenderly reared by his stepmother, whom he will ever hold in fond remembrance. Until he was seventeen years of age he attended the public schools of Austin and Fort Bend counties, and his first employment was on his father's farm. After leaving the parental roof he went to Georgetown, where for three years he was employed as a clerk in the establishment of W. Y. Penn, dealer in jewelry, books, and stationery, subse- quently going to Fort Bend county with his father, where for one year they conducted a saw mill, its product being shipped to Houston. Mr. Allen next went to Fort Worth, where for four years he was in the retail grocery business in the employ of others, after which he took charge of the cigar stand in the Delaware Hotel, Fort Worth, for the wholesale grocery and cigar firm of Wa- ples-Platter Grocer Company. After one year his faithful and able services won him a position on the regular sell- ing force of this concern, and he continued as house and traveling salesman until July 1, 1911, when the com- pany opened a wholesale branch of their grocery business at Amarillo, in the Savage Building, at the corner of First and Lincoln streets. At this time Mr. Allen was made manager of this branch, with a traveling force of five men, the equipment of the firm being modern in every detail, with railway facilities and switches and a floor space of about 11,000 square feet. On September 1, 1913, the company leased and moved into the Blair & Hughes Building, at the corner of First and Filmore streets, where they have much larger quarters, their floor space covering about 14,000 square feet. The firm not only has a large and constantly growing trade at Amarillo, but a large tributary business as well, and much of the success of the enterprise may be attributed to the untiring energy and business ability of Mr. Allen, who has brought to his work an enthusiasm that he has been able to instill in those working with him. Among his associates he is recognized as a man of more than or- dinary acumen and judgment, and the success he has achieved has been most gratifying to the officers of the main house, who have placed the most implicit confi- dence in him. He has been interested in other ventures of a commercial nature, and at this time owns a one- half interest in the firm of Horn & Allen, general mer- chants at Channing, Texas. As a member of the Cham- ber of Commerce and the Amarillo Business Men's Asso- ciation he has done all in his power to forward the in- terests of his adopted city, and he has on every occasion shown himself an enthusiastic "booster" for Amarillo and the Panhandle in general. In politics he is a Dem- ocrat, but he has found no time to enter into public af- fairs. His religious connection is with the Presbyterian church.

On October 29, 1902, Mr. Allen was married at Weath- erford, Texas, to Miss Mamie Buster, who was born in Washington county, Texas, a daughter of W. G. Buster, an old settler of Washington county. Mr. Buster died at his home in Weatherford March 8, 1914. Mr. and Mrs. Allen became the parents of three children: Cath- erine Edwina, who was born at Fort Worth, Texas, June 24, 1904; Walter Buster, born at Amarillo, Texas, August 13, 1907, and who died in this city December 13, 1912; and Frank Penn, born at Amarillo, June 13, 1910. The family home of the Allens is situated at 1700 Van Buren street, Amarillo.

DR. HORATIO L. TATE, a retired physician of Lindale, Texas, has been a resident of Smith county for more than three score years and has contributed his part in the progressive activities of this locality.

Dr. Tate was born in Elbert county, Georgia, Septem-

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ber 4, 184I, and in 1850, when a boy of nine years, was brought to Texas. His father, Zimri Tate, emigrated to Texas that year. They made the journey via New Or- leans, where they transferred to a Red River boat for Shreveport, Louisiana, the head of navigation of that river, and at that point Mr. Tate bought a team and with his family started across country to Dallas. Pri- vate conveyance was the only mode of travel for a fam- ily here in that day. When they reached Grand Saline, a break-down in their traveling equipment brought a change in their plans, and instead of going on to Dallas they made settlement in Smith county.

Dr. Tate's father, his grandfather and his great-grand- father were named Zimri. The first Zimri Tate was a Revolutionary soldier and was with Washington's army at Valley Forge during that memorable winter noted for its severity. The second Zimri Tate, a native of Vir- ginia, moved to Georgia, where he was twice married. He was the father of ten children, among them being Zimri, James, Horatio, Jacob and Elias.

Zimri Tate, the father of Horatio L., was liberally ed- ucated, was a close observer of affairs and a participant in local matters. He was a Bible student and an ardent Methodist, and he contributed materially to church and school support in Smith county. For several years he served on the board of County Commissioners. During the latter part of the Civil war he was a quartermaster and assistant commissary in the Trans-Mississippi De- partment, and he furnished a son for the Confederate army. He was born in IS33 and died in 1907. His first wife, Rebecca (MeKinley) Tate, a daughter of Robert MeKinley, died in 1863. Their only child is Horatio L. For his second wife he married Mrs. Nancy Terry. By this marriage there was no issue. His third marriage was to Mrs. Mag Riolehoober, by which union there was also no issue.

Horatio L. Tate spent his childhood at the old home his father established north of Lindale. He attended the public schools near his home and later the Tyler school and the reputable school at Bunker Hill, Texas. After this he taught school a few months, and then began the study of medicine. In January, 1862, he enlisted in Captain Hamilton's company of infantry, Bates' regi- ment, and served with it three months. Then he joined Company E of Colonel Brown's battalion of cavalry. He was in the fight at Matagorda, Texas, where attempt was made to relieve some Confederates threatened with capture, and when the war closed he was with his com- mand at a point near Brenham, Texas.

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A history of Texas and Texans, Part 167

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