A history of Texas and Texans, Part 30

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 30

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Colonel Young was three times married. His first marriage was to Sophie Thomas Gleaves, and of the chil- dren of that marriage one, Captain John G., is now a prominent retired resident of Sherman. By a second marriage Colonel Young had two other children. His third wife was Mrs. Annie Black, who bore him two children: Simpson Morgan and Margaret, who married J. B. Davenport.

RUSSELL H. KINGSBURY. A successful business law- yer, Russell H. Kingsbury has been engaged in the prac- tice of law at Waco since 1880. The years that have fol- lowed have brought him ample practice and high repu- tation, and he has long been regarded as one of the lead- ers at the bar of MeLennan county.

Judge Kingsbury is a native of North Carolina, born in the town of Oxford, January 29, 1860, a son of Rus- sell H. and Elizabeth L. (Gilliam) Kingsbury. His father, who was born in Albany, New York, in 1822, when a young man moved to North Carolina, met and married Eli: abeth L. Gilliam, who was born at Gaines- ville in that state in 1829, and in 1872 they settled at Waco. Texas, where the father was engaged in mer- chandising until his death in 189S. The mother died in 1908. There were five children, namely: Henry P .. of the Eighth Cavalry. U. S. A., now inspector general of the Department of Lakes: William G., a retired farmer. ranchman and capitalist at Temple, Texas; Katherine S., who is the wife of J. H. Brown, of Dallas; Russell H .; and Frederick H., also a lawyer of Waco.

The career of Russell H. Kingsbury has been a sin- gularly active and interesting one from earliest boyhood. His literary education was begun and completed at Horner & Webb's Academy at Oxford. North Carolina. He entered that institution when but five years of age, and completed his training there at the age of eleven. Professor Webb was for a time a United States senator from Tennessee. Mr. Kingsbury was between eleven and twelve years of age when the family settled in Texas. He became interested in journalism, and when fourteen years of age was editor of a little publication at Waco. His venturesome spirit led him a year later to become a Texas ranger, in the command of Colonel John B. Jones, and his service with the Texas state troops lasted one year. He then took up the study of law under the

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preceptorship of Judge Clark, was admitted to the bar when twenty years of age, and at once opened his office at Waco and began the practice which has engaged him with increasing success ever since.

A Democrat of the old school, Judge Kingsbury be- lieves in a "good old-fashioned democracy and good government for Texas." During the Clark-Hogg cam- paign he was an ardent Clark man and campaigned the state from end to end in Judge Clark's hehalf. For two years he held the office of city judge of Waco. He takes no active part in politics, believing that the primary sys- tem of selecting candidates is a failure, and longs for the time to come again when the people will have an opportunity of a voice in determining who their official representatives shall be. He is just an old-fashioned Democrat without any prefix, or affix, believing that the people are best governed when least governed. Mr. Kingsbury is a member of the Episcopal church, and belongs to the Young Men's Business League of Waco.

ERNEST W. TOWNES. Few of the younger members of the legal profession in Texas has begun their careers with better inheritance of professional tradition and ability, than Ernest W. Townes of the firm of Carlton, Townes & Townes, whose offices are in the Stewart Build- ing at Houston. Mr. Townes has been a member of the Texas bar for more than ten years, and has acquired a position of distinction through his successful practice during this time.

Ernest W. Townes is a grandson of Judge Dick Townes, who was chancellor of the northern district of Alabama, and who in 1854 brought his family to Texas and settled upon a large plantation in Bastrop county. He later moved to Travis county, where in addition to his farming operations he conducted a law busi- ness. He was honored with election to the legislature and was also a member of a constitutional convention and took a very prominent part in organic law of the state.

Mr. Townes was born in Travis county in 1875 and is a son of John Charles and Kate (Wildbahn ) Townes. His father born in Alabama, was an infant when the family came to Texas, and later for some years was judge of the forty-sixth judicial district comprising the counties of Travis and Williamson. He is now one of the most honored members of the Texas bar and is dean of the law department of the University of Texas.

Ernest W. Townes was graduated from the Univer- sity of Texas in 1898 with the degree of A. B. and then continued his preparation for the law in the same institution and was graduated in 1900, LL. B. Admitted to the bar in the same year, he began the practice of his profession at Austin, where he remained for three years, and then moved to Houston, where he has since had his office, with the exception of a short interim while asso- ciated with Mr. L. A. Carlton in Beaumont, and enjoys a generous share of the legal business in this city. In 1911 he became a partner in the firm of Carlton, Townes & Townes, when that combination opened its Houston office. Mr. Townes is a member of various Masonie bodies and also belongs to the Beta Theta Pi fraternity of the University of Texas, and to various clubs and other organizations. In 1906 he married Miss Adele Verleye of Chicago. Their home is at 3017 Brazos street.

J. Ross BELL. The office of county attorney of Cottle county has been filled since July, 1912, by one of the ablest young lawyers of the Cottle county bar. His services in the office have won the approbation of the public, and both as an official and as a lawyer he has proved his efficiency and popularity.

J. Ross Bell was born in Flatwoods, Tennessee, Feb- ruary 22, 1884, a son of Joseph and Delphia (MeLemore) Bell, both parents natives of Tennessee. The father,

who was a farmer and planter, was a resident of Ten- nessee throughout his life and died in July, 1901, at the age of forty-four. The mother now lives with her chil- dren in Paducah, Texas, at the age of fifty-two. The county attorney was the oldest of four children. His brother, Joe D. Bell, is a graduate of Cumberland Uni- versity, in Tennessee, in 1912, and is now a practicing lawyer. The sister, Mary V. Bell, was born in Tennes- see. One child, Brownie M. Bell, is deceased.

J. Ross Bell spent his early life in Tennessee, attended schools in Spring Hill and Scott's Hill, and took both his literary and law courses in the Cumberland Univer- sity, at Lebanon, where he was graduated in law in 1910. In the same year he came out to Paducah, locating in that town in July, and since that time has enjoyed a lib- eral share of local practice. He was elected county at- torney in July, 1912, on the Democratic ticket. Mr. Bell is a Royal Arch and Knight Templar Mason and is senior warden of his Lodge. He is also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Woodmen of the World, and his church is the Methodist. He is unmarried, and all the family live in an attractive home in Paducah. Both brothers are very fond of outdoor life and are among the most progressive young citizens of Cottle county.

CHARLES F. HOFF, a prominent Texan, a resident of Rockport, Aransas county, dates his birth at Yorktown, DeWitt county, Texas, September 22, 1861. He was reared on his father's farm in that county and at the age of twenty-one left the parental home to seek his fortune in the West, Tucson, Arizona, being his ob- jective point. At Tucson he lived almost continuously up to 1909, excepting one year spent in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California. Since November, 1909, he has been a resident of Rockport.

In Arizona Mr. Hoff was in the mercantile business and always an energetic worker in the Tucson Board of Trade. In 1890 he installed the telephone system, which is still operating under the same franchise. In 1897 he installed the present street railway system in Tucson, which is now one of the finest electric systems in the West. Being the controlling owner he disposed of his interest in this system in exchange for his present hold- ings in Texas, chiefly in Aransas county.

All his life Mr. Hoff has taken an active interest in public affairs, paying a great deal of attention to politi- cal affairs of the Territory. He took a leading part in organizing the Democratic party in Arizona, as presi- dent of the Arizona Association of Democratic Clubs, and has acted as chairman of the Democratic state, county and city committee, also secretary of the state, county and city committees. He was national vice presi- dent of the National Association of Democratic Clubs for four years. He was secretary of the Statehood con- vention and also secretary of the Statehood committee and he, with Ex-Governor Murphy, was appointed dele- gate to Washington in the interest of Statehood. In 1891 he was made chief clerk of the House of Repre- sentatives and in 1893, the Arizona Senate being a tie, he was selected as a compromise candidate for secretary of the Senate. In 1892 Mr. Hoff was unanimously nomi- nated for mayor on a progressive platform, but was counted out by the Republicans' election board. In 1895 he installed a telephone system at Nogales and while there took part with thirty Americans in driving the Yaquis out of the Mexican custom house, of which they had taken possession, killing seven gnards in order to do so. The Yaquis, who were in the custom house. were armed with Springfield rifles, but after an hour's fighting the Americans drove them out of the city with- out any casualties, while the Yaquis left seventeen dead.

In 1896 Mr. Hoff was elected County Treasurer. He served two years and declined a renomination. In 1899 he came back to his old home and married Miss Helen

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Eckhardt. They lived in Tucson until they moved to Rockport. Mrs. Hoff has been a leading spirit in all civil work and is a most enthusiastic worker in the Mothers' Club of Rockport. Four children have been born to them, as follows: Carol, Charles F., Jr., Rosalie and W. H. Barnes Hoff.

From 1906 to 1907 Mr. Hoff served as City Council- man in Tucson and in 1908 the county convention of his county, composed of 120 delegates, unanimously in- dorsed him for National committeeman, but at the State convention he was defeated by the corporation tools, who controlled the convention. He went to the Denver con- vention and there worked with Charles Bryan, Mr. Allen, James C. Dahlman and others for the Bryan cause, and after the convention suggested the plan of financing the Democratic campaign, which was adopted by the National committee, and the first time in its history the National committee had a surplus after the cam- paign. Mr. Hoff was also a delegate to the last Grover Cleveland convention, and in 1912 he was elected a delegate and served in that capacity in the Democratic convention at Baltimore. Also in 1912 he was elected president of the Rockport School Board. In 1910 he was made a member of the executive committee of the Commercial Club and delivered an address before the United States board of engineers upon the definite loca- tion of the harbor. In 1911 he was made chairman of the Prohibition Association for Aransas county. He was made president of the Commercial Club in 1911, is still the incumbent of that office and has proved him- self the right man for the place. Rockport feels a just pride in its leading citizen, Charles F. Hoff.

WILLIAM D. SANDERS. Among the citizens of Titus county none have displayed greater enterprise and energy in the development of the best resources of the home county than William D. Sanders. Mr. Sanders has long been known in the public life of this section and has in recent years turned his attention to the de- velopment of the oil and gas deposits of the county. He was known among his associates as a man of re- markable push and energy and whatever he undertakes he usually carries through to a successful conclusion. He represents one of the prominent old families of Titus county and the name of Sanders has for many years been identified with business enterprise and sterling character in this vicinity.

William D. Sanders was born in Titus county in 1874. His parents were Thomas J. and Lou J. (McClure) Sanders. The father, who was born in the state of Alabama, with several of his brothers emigrated to Texas during the early fifties and he located a ranch on Sulphur Prairie in the north part of Titus county. Among the old-time cattle men of Texas, Thomas J. Sanders was one of the best known. He was one of the developers of the industry before the Civil war and in those days went up to the Pease River country in northwest Texas, taking a large bunch of cattle with him to the open range, and being one of the first to take domestic cattle into the country which for centuries had been the home of the buffalo and the wild Indian. Among his early day associates was Dan Waggoner, one of the best known of Texas cattle men. His efforts before the war resulted in fine success and he accumu- lated a large number of cattle, being recognized among the most prosperous men in the cattle business of that period. When the war came on he enlisted in the Con- federate service and went through the entire conflict as a soldier of the south. With the close of hostilities he returned to Titus county and then going into Northwest Texas tried to collect the herds which had been scattered during the previous years, in which he was largely un- successful. The Indians, who had before the war been as a rule peaceful, began almost constant raiding and hostilities after the rebellion and the Indian 'depreda-

tions, together with other misfortunes, operated to his disadvantage in such a manner that he was never able to regain his old time prosperity in the cattle business. A portion of his later life he spent in Oklahoma, but died in Titus county. His wife, who also represented a pioneer family in Titus county, was born in Georgia and died at Mount Pleasant at the age of twenty-nine.

The early life of William D. Sanders was spent on a farm, where he received all the training which was neces- sary for his active career. For six years he filled the office of constable, then resigned and became claim agent for the Texarkana & Fort Smith Railroad at Texarkana. From this position he took an appointment as special agent for the Cotton Belt Railway and while employed in that capacity in 1906 was elected sheriff of Titus county. By re-election in 1908 he served the county efficiently for four years. Since retiring from that office he has served as city alderman and is now city marshal by appointment.

Since 1910 Mr. Sanders has been largely identified with the real estate and allied interests. The develop- ment of the oil and gas possibilities in Titus county has been the object of his most ambitious work. He organized the Titus County Oil & Gas Company, of which he is manager, being associated with Mr. A. Reed. This company has under lease about twenty-five thousand acres of land in the county, all situated in what is con- sidered the oil and gas belt. In 1912, under the direction of Mr. Sanders, his company began drilling an oil well on a portion of its holdings some three and a half miles south of Mount Pleasant. Drilling in other locations has since then been inaugurated. Mr. Sanders married Miss Nannie Edwards, a native of Titus county. Their one daughter is named Hazel Sanders.

Mr. Sanders is affiliated with several fraternal orders and is a member of the Baptist church.

R. E. PENNINGTON, who has won substantial recogni- tion of his fine legal attainments, his fidelity to profes- sional duties, and his careful conservation of all inter- ests entrusted to his care, is well known to the bar, not alone in his own locality of Brenham, but throughout the state, as a careful, painstaking, profound, and con- scientious lawyer, a thorough scholar, and a dignified and accomplished gentleman, whose connection with impor- tant cases has made him a familiar figure in the courts of the state, as well as the highest federal tribunal-the United States Supreme Court. He is a native of Texas, born at Brenham, May 13, 1865, and is a son of Elijah and Ellen (Me Allister) Pennington.

Elijah Pennington came to Texas with his father, Riggs Pennington, from Galesburg, Illinois, and crossed the Brazos river on the old ferryboat at Washington in December, 1836. He was a Texas veteran and participated in Gen. Alexander Somerville's campaign in 1842, while during the Civil War he served four years in the Con- federate army. Mrs. Pennington was born at Hot Springs, Arkansas, and it was there they were married, in 1845, the trip to Texas being made through a wild country, with no blazed trails part of the way. The jour- ney was made on horseback and consumed three months. Making their home at Brenham, these people attained the advanced ages of ninety and eighty-seven years, re- spectively, and all their long and useful lives were citi- zens who did much good, in a quiet way, for the people about them, and their honorable and upright careers won them universal respect and esteem.

After completing the curriculum of the Brenham public schools, R. E. Pennington attended the Agricultural and Mechanical College, from which he was graduated in 1884 with the highest rank, "Senior Captain," and with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He then took up the study of law in the office of Poindexter & Paddleford, and later in the office of Sayles & Bassett, at Brenham, and was admitted to the bar of Texas in 1888. He at

John D.Griffith

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once entered practice at Brenham, and in 1898 was ad- mitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Pennington was city attorney of Brenham for ten years, from 1890 to 1900, and was county attorney of Washington county for four years. He has become prominent in his profession, and, in addition to a large general practice, has been attorney for the First Na- tional Bank of Brenham for twenty years. He has been connected with many of the prominent civil and criminal cases which have been tried in this part of Texas, in one of which he successfully conducted the case of Mrs. Ad- die E. Kelley against Charles Dillingham, receiver for the H. & T. C. Railroad, an action for damages, and which he contested successfully in the district and state courts and in the Supreme Court of the United States. He has also been eminently successful in many other large and important cases, both civil and criminal. Mr. Pen- nington has always been a Democrat and strictly in line with his party's principles, and for a number of years he served as chairman of the county Democratie execu- tive committee. He has always been a friend of educa- tion, and for six years was a trustee of the Brenham public schools. He belongs to the Masonie fraternity, to Elks Lodge No. 979 of Brenham, and to Brenham Lodge No. 10, Knights of Pythias; has been prominent in the affairs of these orders and has passed through the various chairs of the lodges. Mr. Pennington is a good man in every broad sense that the word implies.

On July 6, 1891, Mr. Pennington was married to Miss May Williams, daughter of H. E. and Isabel Williams of Louisiana. They have no children. Mrs. Pennington's family originally came from London, England, to Rich- mond, Virginia, prior to the days of the War of the Rev- olution, in which members of the family participated. Subsequently the family moved to Louisiana. Mrs. Pen- nington has always been a Democrat and strictly in line Daughters of the American Revolution of Houston, Texas, and of Brenham Tom Green Chapter, Daughters of the Confederacy. Her religious connection is with Giddings Memorial Methodist Church. Mrs. Penning- ton has been doing literary work for ten years and in May, 1914, was elected a member of the Texas Women's Press Association. She is widely and favorably known for her writings, all of which have appeared in the Galveston News among them being: "History of Washington County's Dead Towns," "The History of Old Washington on the Brazos," "The History of the City of Brenham," "The History of Dr. Richard F. Brenham," "The History of the Mai Fest," and a book of poems entitled "Penn Poems." Some copies of this beautiful book were illustrated by Mrs. Pennington, who is not alone skilled as an authoress, but has decided talent as an artist. Her life has been an active and conspicuous one and her labors have ever been directed toward the forwarding of Brenham's interests. A prominent figure in religious, educational, charitable and social movements, she has gained a wide acquaintance among people of culture and refinement, and in her home he displays the graces of gracious hospitality to her iny friends.

GEN. JOHN S. GRIFFITH. In that galaxy of brilliant stars whose effulgence yet lights the memory of the 'ong struggle between the North and the South none .hine brighter or with a steadier glow than that conse- crated to the name and fame of John Summerfield Griffith. Where gallant soldiers contended for the plaudits of fame and when individual heroism was the daily rule, it would seem invidious to make distinctions. But all the honors that are due to this gifted son of exas may well be accorded to him, with disparage- ment to none. His personality represented a man of unselfish characteristics, of patriotic impulses and a brave commander and a sagacious military counsellor. He lacked, it is true, the strength of body to endure prolonged hardships of war, and he resigned his

commission at the moment of his greatest success and brightest promise. He ever demonstrated a real genius for military plans and the courage and audacity for their execution. He was the central figure in many of the leading activities of the war, and gave to the South a service that none of ber sons could excel in patriotism and gallantry.

Gen. John Summerfield Griffith was born in Mont- gomery county, Maryland, on June 17, 1829, and is a son of Michael B. Griffith and a grandson of Capt. Henry Griffith of the Revolutionary army, and a lineal descendant of Llewellyn Griffith, who came from Wales to this country prior to Revolutionary days. Michael B. Griffith devoted his life to mercantile pursuits for the most part, but misfortune pursued him and he was re- duced gradually from a state of comparative affluence to almost indigeney by the time he reached Texas. He left Maryland in 1835, stopped in Jefferson City, Mis- souri, thence to Portland, Missouri, and at both those points his funds steadily were dissipated. When he reached Texas in 1839 he possessed only a thousand dollars. He settled at San Augustine, and there the three sons and three daughters of the family grew up. Mr. Griffith married Miss Lydia Crabb, a daughter of Jeremiah and Elizabeth Crabb. She was a lady of rare attainments and dominating her were those qualities needed for the rearing of a family in adversity on the frontier. Her culture and accomplishments were not mere outward show, but were a part of herself, and were stamped indelibly upon her children. Her hopeful view of things under dark and foreboding conditions was a strong factor in surmounting the many obstacles the family encountered in those lean years, and to her many excellent qualities General Griffith attributes what- ever of success in life he has himself achieved.

John Summerfield Griffith received his education chiefly in the home of his parents, and he entered life with a knowledge of the English branches equal to a common school education of today. In 1850 he became a clerk in San Augustine and the next year he engaged in business for himself at that place, borrowed capital making possible the venture. He prospered, to state the matter briefly, and in 1859 he moved to Kaufman county, there established himself in merchandise at Rockwall, and identified himself in the live stock in- dustry as well. He continued in active business until the opening of the war in 1861, when he sprang to the defense of the Confederacy, becoming Captain of Com- pany B of the Sixth Texas Cavalry, commanded by Col. Warren B. Stone. His company was raised at Rockwall and was tendered to Colonel Greer of the Third Texas Cavalry, but was declined, although the Captain offered to bear the expense of the company for three months on condition of acceptance. Upon the organization of the Sixth Regiment, Captain Griffith's company was ac- cepted, and he was elected Lieutenant-Colonel of the organization. The first real engagement occurred with Federal Indians at Chustenahalah, where Colonel Griffith was in command of a battalion of his regiment. Colonel MeIntosh placed the Sixth on the right of the line and ordered its commander to await further orders, but, see- ing the opportune moment for striking the enemy, he moved his troops against the enemy without orders, charged over a deep gulch and was the first man to engage the Indians in a hand-to-hand encounter with pistol and sabre. Three times this charge was repeated by Colonel Griffith before the stubborn enemy fled the field, and an inventory of his own casualties showed the Colonel to have received a blow on the head from an Indian's gun, a horse shot under him, a tuft of beard shot from his chin, and his clothing perforated with minie balls.

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A history of Texas and Texans, Part 30

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