A history of Texas and Texans, Part 27

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 27

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the nomination because of the free-silver plank in the platform. It is noteworthy that during his term in Con- gress he was one of the few men who voted against free silver in all its phases.

After his congressional career, Mr. Gresham took up the deep-water work and his law practice, and was also associated in the construction of the Galveston, LaPorte and Houston Railroad, now a part of the Southern Pa- eifie system.

Mr. Gresham was a member of the deep-water com- mittee of fifteen members in 1900. After the storm of September of that year, he was one of a subcommittee of three, consisting of himself, R. Waverly Smith and Farrell D. Minor, appointed by the deep-water commit- tee to devise measures and practical plans for relief and reconstruction of the city. It was this committee which originated and drafted the plan of commission govern- ment, which has since been known all over the world as the "Galveston idea." This idea introduced for the first time in American cities on a practical basis the simple form of municipal government comprehended un- der the commission plan. From the time of its origin in the minds of the subcommittee, a little more than a decade ago, the commission form of government, with various modifications, has spread to hundreds of cities throughout the United States. Walter Gresham not only performed a great service in helping to organize a new scheme of government for Galveston, but was a leader iu all the great work of rehabilitation which followed after the storm. Among other things, he drafted the bills by which the state of Texas donated to the city of Galveston the state taxes collected in Galveston county for a period of eighteen years, the proceeds from which were to be used in enabling the city to raise the grade of its general surface, a work which was successfuly car- ried out at a total cost of $2,000,000. The city, through its board of engineers, worked out the plans for grade raising, and then issued bonds to the amount of two million dollars to pay for the work. The cost from the state to the city through the donation of Texas has thus far more than enabled the city to pay the interest and sinking fund for these bonds. Mr. Gresham was also one of the vigorous proponents of the plan for the con- struction of a sea wall, and that undertaking was started and carried out under the auspices of the county of Gal- veston as a part of the protective system for the city and was completed at a cost of $1,500,000. The bonds issued by the county for this purpose, and bearing four per cent interest, were taken up chiefly among the citi- zeus of Galveston. Mr. Gresham and District Judge R. G. Street formulated the law under which the sea wall was built by the county. Mr. Gresham at the present time is a member of the executive committee of the Inter-Costal Canal Commission, is president of the Gal- veston & Western Railroad Company, president of the Senorita Valley Land & Colonization Company, and is one of the active members of the Galveston County Bar Association and the Texas State Bar Association.

On the 26th of October, 1868, Mr. Gresham was mar- ried to Miss Josephine C. Mann, a daughter of William and Esther Mann of Corpus Christi, her parents having been early settlers in that section of Texas. Mr. and Mrs. Gresham have a fine family of children. They are: Esther, who married W. B. Lockhart of Galveston; Jo- sephine C., wife of W. T. Armstrong of Galveston; T. Dew Gresham, an attorney at Dallas; Frank S. Gresham, a civil engineer by profession and now engaged in the flour milling business at Guthrie, Oklahoma; Beulah Gresham, at home, and Philip, in the real estate business at Los Angeles, California. Three children are deceased. The Gresham homestead, in Galveston, is a beautiful and attractive residence at 1406 Broadway.

DREW S. DAVIS, M. D. For many years a successful phy- sician of San Augustine county, and now president of the

First National Bank of San' Augustine, Dr. Davis repre- sents a family which is alike one of the oldest and most distinguished in this section of Texas. Its annals are replete with military and pioneer achievements, and its various members, both men and women, have borne hon- orable and valuable relations to their respective com- munities in many different sections of the country.

Dr. Drew S. Davis was born in San Augustine, in 1868, a son of Ludwill Rector and Mary C. (Polk) Davis, both of whom are still living, at advanced age. Going back as far as possible in the family annals, this branch of the Davis family originated in England and Wales, and its original stock is the same from which the late Jefferson Davis descended. The great-grandfather of Dr. Davis was Warren Davis, who had an eventful career. He had fought in the Revolutionary war for the independence of the American colonies, and even before that time had been on the western frontier. During the French and Indian war he was captured by the Indians. For four years he remained a prisoner, and at the Treaty of Peace between the Indians and the government a parcel of land thirty-six square miles in extent was reserved by the chief and deeded to Warren Davis. This land was in southern Ohio, not far from the site where the city of Cincinnati afterwards grew up. Warren Davis later came, with his two sons, to Texas, about the time the Austin colony was planted in that state, but his own se- tlement was independent of Austin's followers. He lo- cated near what is now the town of San Augustine.

Dr. Davis' grandfather was Elias Kincholoe Davis, who was born in Kentucky, was likewise an early settler in eastern Texas, and helped capture the old stone fort at Nacogdoches from the Mexicans.

The venerable Ludwill Rector Davis, who was born near San Augustine in 1828, is now the oldest living resident of that historic community. As a boy of eight years, in 1836 he participated in the famous "runaway serape" from the Mexicans while the army of Houston was slowly retiring before the advancing hosts of Santa Anna. In spite of his youth, he rendered considerable assistance in caring for the women and children when they crossed the Texas border iuto Louisiana. This old pioneer's home is five miles west of San Augustine, on the same farm where he was born. Along with the quiet industry and honorable relations which he has sustained to his community through many years, he has lived an otherwise eventful life. In 1852 he went west, to Cali- foruia, and spent seven years as a gold miner, with head- quarters at Stockton. His return to his native country occurred a short time before the war broke out between the states, and at San Augustine he was one of the first to enlist, in April, 1861, for the Confederate service. As a soldier, he was with the troops under General Johnston and General Hood, and was in many campaigns through Tennessee, Mississippi and Georgia. After the Atlanta campaign, he was with the troops under General Hood, who returned to Tennessee, and was engaged in the bat- tle of Franklin, where he received several wounds. He still carries a minie ball as a memento of that battle. He was carried off the field a prisoner, taken to Camp Chase, Ohio, later to Point Lookout, Maryland, where he was discharged some time after the war. On account of wounds and other delays, he did not reach home until July. 1865. During his mining experience in California he had acquired a start of capital, but it was practically all swept away during the war, and he had to begin life anew. He returned to the old place, west of San Augus- tine, and has been a planter and farmer throughout the rest of his career. He is one of the greatly revered old- timers of San Augustine county.

Mary C. Polk, the mother of Dr. Davis, was born four miles southwest of San Augustine, and was the daughter of the late Judge Alfred Polk, who settled in San Augus- tine county in 1836. This family springs from the same stock that produced President James K. Polk, its history

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going back to the earliest times in Scotland. Alfred Polk was born in Tennessee. For seventeen years during the early history of the county he was judge of San Angustine county. He married Nancie MeKeever, whose history proves that she was a remarkable woman. She reared ten children of her own, two sets of orphan chil- Tren, kept house faithfully for sixty years, and her hus- band's was the first death that occurred in her family. Judge Polk died in 1889. Six of the sons of Alfred and Nancie Polk served in the Confederate army, and one of them was killed in battle.

Dr. Davis was reared in San Angustine county, at- tended the local schools, and in 1893 graduated from the Sam Houston Normal Institute, at Huntsville. Dur- ing portions of six years he taught school, and largely from the proceeds of that work prepared for a medical career. His professional education was received through two years in the medical department of the University of Texas, at Galveston, and by one year of study in Barnes Medical College, now the medical department of the Uni- versity of Missouri, at St. Louis. In 1898 he graduated M. D. at St. Louis. However, by special license he had begun practice in 1895 at Ironosa, in San Augustine county and altogether was in practice there successfully for abont fifteen years. In 1908 Dr. Davis moved his home and office to San Angustine, establishing the head- quarters for a large professional service. In 1902 he had become a stockholder, and later a director, in the San Angustine National Bank. When this was merged into the First National Bank, he continued as director, and in 1912 was chosen president of the First National Bank. Dr. Davis is affiliated with Redland Lodge, No. 3, A. F. & A. M., and he and his family worship in the Presbyterian faith.

Dr. Davis married Miss Effie May Greer, a daughter of L. V. Greer. She is a grandniece of Dr. L. V. Greer and of Lieut. Gov. John A. Greer and a consin of Sen- ator George C. Greer. This is an old San Angustine family, whose members have spread to other states. Dr. Davis and wife have six children: Nellie Vance, Drew S. Jr., Kittie May, Annie B., William Thomas and Eu- genia Angia.

H. E. HOOVER. It is a fact which would hardly seem probable, were it not proved by irrefutable evidence, that a majority of the men who today stand at the head of the various professions and in business and financial circles entered upon their careers with few resources other than those with which they were endowed by nature. There seems to be something in the mere fact of original poverty which brings out the latent talents and develops the character of an individual, supplying him with the ambition to do and the ability to perform, where. under different circumstances, the incentive being lacking, the possessor of these rare gifts might have passed his days in mediocrity, unknowing and unknown. Texas fur- nishes numerous examples of those who have fairly won the oft-abused but still honorable title of "self-made man, '' and among them H. E. Hoover, legal practitioner of Canadian, takes prominent rank. A brief review of his career will illustrate the steps by which he has gained his high standing not alone in his profession but in the world of business as well.

H. E. Hoover was born at Murfreesboro, Rutherford county, Tennessee, November 16, 1863, and is a son of H. N. and Amanda (Rankin) Hoover, natives of Ten- nessee. His father. a well-known farmer and merchant of Murfreesboro enlisted for service in the Confederate army during the war between the North and the South, and became captain of a company in the Twenty-first Tennessee Regiment. He was wounded first at the battle of Shiloh and in 1863 received a wound at Island No. 10 which proved mortal, his death occurring at Natchez. Mississippi. A man in the prime of life, only twenty- four years of age, he was a martyr to the Lost Canse, but left behind him a record of which his family has no rea-

son to feel ashamed. Mr. Hoover married Amanda Rankin, who was educated, reared and married in the Big Bend State, and she still survives him and makes her home with her son at Canadian, being seventy-three years of age. Two children were born to this union: Dr. Thomas R., who was a practicing physician at Canadian until his death in 1891; and H. E.

In his youth Mr. Hoover had to be content with such educational advantages as were to be secured in the log school house in the vicinity of his mother's plantation, on which he worked faithfully during the summer months, accepting whatever opportunities presented themselves to gain more learning or to earn extra money. He first came to the Panhandle of Texas April 5, 1886, and lo- cated at Higgins, Lipscomb county, on a section of land, but not long thereafter returned to Tennessee and en- tered the law department of Cumberland University, Lebanon. He was graduated from that institution in the spring of 1889, and almost immediately thereafter re- turned to Lipscomb county, where he was engaged in practice until 1891, that year marking his advent in Canadian. The foresight which made him confident of the future of Texas and the opportunity for achieving success here has since been amply justified, for he is today known as one of the ablest legists in this part of the State. While he is essentially a professional man, he has grasped business opportunities as he has seen them, and today holds directorships in the Santa Fe Railway System, the First National Bank of Canadian, the White House Lumber Company, the Canadian Water, Light and Power Company, the Texas Bonding and Cas- ualty Company, the Lumbermen's Brick and Cement Company of Kansas City, Missouri, and several other large and important enterprises. As a lawyer, during nearly a quarter of a century he has been connected in one capacity or another with many of the leading cases brought before the Hemphill county courts, and his high attainments have made it possible for him to be success- ful in the solving of numerons legal complexities. In him the law has a stanch and unwavering exponent ; his devotion to his profession is evidenced in his placing his clients' interests before his own, while among his fellow- practitioners he is looked up to not alone on account of his deep learning, but because of his strict observance of the unwritten ethics of his high calling.

In 1884 Mr. Hoover was married to Miss L. V. Winset, of Bedford county, Tennessee, daughter of A. M. and Mrs. Winset, both now deceased. Five children have been horn to this union: Daniel B., horn in Bedford county, Tennessee, in 1885, a graduate of Staunton Military Institute of Virginia and of the law department of the University of Texas, and now engaged in practice with his father at Canadian; Thomas L., born in Lipscomb, Texas, in 1890, a graduate of Canadian College. Bailey University at Waco. Texas, and the law department of the State University, a famous sprinter and all-around college athlete, and captain of the track team at Bailey ; Edward, born in 1895, at Canadian, Texas, a graduate of Canadian College who entered the State University in 1913; and Louise, born in 1898, and Vashti born in 1901, both at Canadian, and both now students in Canadian College.

Mr. Hoover is a Democrat in his political views, but has not entered actively into the struggles of public life. He is interested fraternally in the Odd Fellows, being a charter member of Canadian Lodge No. 349.

JAMES M. POTTER. The strongest financial institution between Fort Worth and the Red River is the First Na- tional Bank of Gainesville, an institution with a con- tinnous history of thirty years, and with which either under its original form or with another bank which is now a constituent part of the First National, Mr. James MI. Potter has been identified from the beginning.

Mr. Potter is one of the oldest and ablest bankers of north Texas, and his career is one that does credit to a

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vocation considered to be among the most important of those assigned to men of action.

James M. Potter is a native of the state of Missis- sippi, born in Pontotoc county, in 1852, one of a family of ten children born to Cincinnatus and Mary Ann (Cas- teel) Potter. Mr. Potter's brother, Judge C. C. Potter, is one of the eminent lawyers of the north Texas bar, and a resident of Gainesville; and the only other living member of the family is his sister Dixie, wife of L. H. Mathis, an attorney of Wichita Falls, Texas. The father, whose vocation was farming, moved from Mississippi to Cooke county, Texas, in 1858 and was one of the early settlers along the north Texas border. The following year he bought a small tract of land, which he in- creased by subsequent purchases, and eventually became one of the large land holders of Cooke county. He was known all over the county as.a man of exceptional education, and for his generosity and publie spirit in community affairs. He held office in the county gov- ernment and during the frontier days had command of a company of local militia or minute-men, who were given the responsibility of keeping the Indians away from the Forder. Later he was elevated to the rank of major in the state militia.

James M. Potter, who was six years old when the family came to Texas, grew up in Cooke county, attained his schooling in the country, and in an academy in Gainesville, after which he was sent to the University of Missouri at Columbia, where he took a Normal course and was graduated in 1877. Like many other men of success and prominence in affairs, he began his career as a school teacher, in Cook county, and continued work in that capacity until January 1, 1883.

At the last-mentioned date he entered the employ of the First National Bank, which then opened its doors for business. He was a book-keeper at the beginning, and during his service was promoted and served in dif- ferent capacities. Later was organized the Red River National Bank, and he joined the new institution, in which he served with credit and was finally elected presi- lent of the bank. In 1903, when the Red River National was consolidated with the First National, he was chosen active vice president of the First National Bank. Those who have most familiarity with banking affairs in Cooke county attribute much of the progress of the First Na- tional Bank during the past ten years to the capability and judgment of this active vice president. In that time the capital stock has been increased to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and the name of the First National Bank of Gainesville stands among the larger institutions of the entire state. Mr. Potter gives all his time to banking and his success has been due to the fact that he has concentrated his efforts along one line of business.

In politics he is a Democrat, but has never taken any part in party matters. He is a member of the Methodist church and is affiliated with the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks. In matters and organizations · more directly affecting the welfare and material improve- ment of his community Mr. Potter is never behind hand with his support and cooperation. He is vice president of the Commercial Secretaries and Business Men's Asso- ciation of the state. He is also one of the executive committee of the Chamber of Commerce of Gainesville. He has membership in the rural life association of Cooke county, an organization whose object and work are especially worthy of commendation, since they relate to the general betterment of country life conditions in the county.

Mr. Potter was married in 1879 to Miss Ella Lee, a native of Missouri, and a daughter of L. W. and Mary Ann (Fryer) Lee, her parents now living at Valley View, Texas, were both natives of Missouri. Of the six children of Mr. and Mrs. Lee only two are now living, Mrs. Potter's sister being Zoe, wife of Roy E. Mann, of Denver, Colo. The two children of Mr. and Mrs.

Potter are: Ora, wife of J. B. Hilton, a merchant of San Diego, California ; and Hugh Morris, who was born in 1888, and having completed his law studies in the University of Texas, is now engaged in practice in Hous- ton, Texas.

WILLIAM R. HATCHER. Among the prominent young native horn business men of this section of the state of Texas, William R. Hatcher, as president-treasurer of the W. R. Hatcher Construction Company, takes a lead- ing place among the business men of Dallas. He was born at Peoria, Hill county, Texas, in 1876, and is a son of Jerry M. and Mary Jane ( Williams) Hatcher.

Jerry M. Hatcher was a native son of Virginia, who came to this state when very young, in company with his widowed mother, three sisters and three brothers. They settled in Hill connty, where being reared to man- hood, he gave up the work of the home farm for the carpenter trade. He married Mary Jane Williams in young manhood, she being a daughter of an Arkansas family who came to Texas in the early days, and being born in Hillsboro, Texas, or near that city.

William R. Hatcher received a common school educa- tion in his boyhood, and learned the carpenter's trade under the instruction of his father. He was eighteen years old when in 1894 he left home and went to Waco, Texas, where he settled down and engaged in the con- tracting business. After some time spent in independent business there, he moved to Bosque county, Texas, where he married, and continued in the contracting business until 1900, in which year he moved to Dallas, Texas. Here he formed his present business firm, known as the W. R. Hatcher Construction Company, and he has since carried on a thriving business in building and contracting. Among the many prominent structures that have been reared under the supervision of his concern may be men- tioned the Coliseum at the State Fair Grounds, which cost $135,000; the Dallas Transfer Company's ware- house, a four story fire-proof building, containing ninety- seven thousand feet of floor space; and the Sonnenthiel building, which compares favorably in size and construc- tion with the others. The business of the company in 1912 exceeded $450,000, with every prospect of passing the half million mark in the present year.

Mr. Hatcher is one of the leaders in business circles in Dallas, and is president of the Dallas Builders' Ex- change. Socially he is a member of the Dallas Auto Club, and his fraternal affiliations are with the Masonic order, in which he has membership in the Scottish Rite body, wherein he has taken the thirty-second degree; Hella Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; Dallas Chapter No. 47, Royal Arch Masons, and Oak Cliff Lodge No. 705, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons. He is also a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows of Dallas.

In 1887 Mr. Hatcher was married to Miss Lee Maxey, daughter of Rice Maxey, of Bosque county. She is a member of an old Texas family that had its first estab- lishment here prior to the Civil war period. They have one son, Maxey M. Hatcher. The family home, which is a center of many social activities in the city, is at 224 Sunset avenue.

JUDGE WILLIAM W. BOGEL. That citizenship is a duty as well as a privilege is the keynote in the career of Judge Bogel of Marfa, for the past twelve years county judge and ex-officio county superintendent of public schools in Presidio county. It is upon the social character and publie spirit of its members that the prosperity and advancement of a community depend, and in Judge Bogel Presidio county has had one of the vital forces in its progress.

William W. Bogel was born in Goshen, Ohio, July 23, 1855, a son of Augustus J. and Julia W. Bogel. As a boy he was given the advantage of private school- ing, after which he entered the Louisiana State Univer-

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sity at Baton Rouge, where he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1874. His father was a druggist, and after leaving college he entered the store and spent a few months as a clerk. That was in 1875 when he was ahout twenty years of age, and he has been a resident in this state ever since. His first settlement was in Frio county, which at that time was a part of the great South Texas cattle range, and he remained there for about five years and was engaged in sheep raising. He then brought his stock out to Marfa, and was one of the earliest sheep meu in this portion of West Texas, and continued actively in that industry, and was one of the largest producers of wool in this region until 1897. In that year he retired from the sheep industry and turned all his attention to cat- tle, and is still one of the large stockmen of Presidio county. His fine ranch is located twelve miles from Marfa. At San Antonio on February 15, 1882, Judge Bogel married Miss Sarah Newton, daughter of Col. S. G. Newton of San Antonio. Seven children have been born to their union, five sons and two daughters, named as follows: Jessie, wife of Harry J. Hubbard, a resident in Rosario, Old Mexico; Augustus J., who is unmarried and lives in Presidio county; William W., Jr., who is married and lives in Marfa; Galitzen N., who is unmarried; Edward L., single and at home in Presidio county ; Amos G., who is in Presidio county and Gene- vieve, who is in the family home at Marfa.

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A history of Texas and Texans, Part 27

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