A history of Texas and Texans, Part 38

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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Anthony M. Bryant was born in Kentucky and was there married to his first wife. He came to Texas with his two children in 1852, they being a daughter, Mariah, who died in 1859, and a son, Judge David E. Bryant, who was a prominent lawyer of Sherman for many years, served as federal judge of the Eastern District of Texas for twenty years, his first appointment to that position coming from President Harrison, and died in February, 1911. Anthony M. Bryant married for his second wife Susan S. Binkley of Tennessee and they became the parents of four children, of whom three are now living: Charles W., of this review; C. B., president of the First National Bank of Whitewright, and Mary, the wife of W. H. King, who has been postmaster of Whitewright for the past twelve years, and at this time is a director of the First National Bank. On coming to Texas the father settled in Grayson county and here continued to be engaged in farming and stock raising up to the time of his death, October 3, 1889, the mother passing away April 11, 1900. He served as county judge of Grayson county for two terms and at all times took a great in- terest in matters pertaining to the welfare of his state and county, being known throughout this section as a helpful and useful citizen, as a man of the highest per- sonal integrity and probity and as one who had the regard and esteem of those with whom he came into contact.

Charles W. Bryant has spent his entire career in agri- cultural pursuits and has made a success of his ventures. He was educated in the public schools of his native county and as a youth adopted the tilling of the soil as his field of labor, and in later years has had no reason to regret his choice of occupations. He has been an eyewitness to the wonderful advancement of his com- munity, where he has lived for more than a half a cen- tury. He remembers the founding of the town of White- wright, about the year 1880, and recalls the time when goods were freighted hy ox teams from Jefferson and Galveston to this point. But few families resided in the community and land sold at from five to fifteen dollars an acre that now commands from $120 to $135 an acre and is steadily advancing in value. He has prospered with the prosperity of his section, through hard and energetic labor, and is now living in quiet and comfort- able retirement in his handsome Whitewright residence, a modern structure worth in the neighborhood of $8,000.

Mr. Bryant is a Republican in politics, but is liberal in his views and often votes rather for the man than the party. He has served efficiently as mayor of the city and his administration was marked by consecutive ad- vancement and progress. Fraternally he belongs to the Masons, in which he has attained to the Knight Templar

degree. With his family he belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of which he has been a member of the board of stewards for twenty years.

On December 15, 1881, Mr. Bryant was married in Grayson county to Miss S. F. Fitzgerald, daughter of G. S. Fitzgerald, formerly of Virginia, and later of Grayson county, where he served as county commissioner for a number of years. He died in 1893. Mr. Fitzgerald in the Confederate army, served on the western frontier during the Civil war up to the time of General Lee's surrender. Mr. and Mrs. Bryant have had seven chil- dren, of whom six are now living: James Monroe, who has for two years been engaged in the drug business at Whitewright; Albert and Alberta, twins, the former a farmer and the latter the wife of E. F. Everhart; Mrs. Fannie Fielder, who died in November, 1912; George Fitzgerald, aged twenty-one years, who is engaged in farming in Grayson county; Charles W., Jr., aged seven- teen years, in the Carlyle Military Academy at White- wright, and Marvin B., aged sixteen years, also a student in that academy.

After a long period identified with the best interests of his county, Mr. Bryant is now enjoying a well-merited rest, well merited because it has come to him as a direct result of his own labors, his close application and his careful business management. His clean and wholesome life and his many sterling traits of character have at- tracted to him a wide circle of warm friends and ad- mirers, and few citizens of Whitewright stand in higher general esteem.

THOMAS B. WILSON. There passed away at his beautiful home, a short distance north of MeKinney, on September 3, 1913, one of the best beloved of Collin county. Thomas B. Wilson had lived in north Texas since boyhood and since pioneer times, had fought with the Confederate troops in the great war, spent his busi- ness career as a farmer and stock raiser, acquired a generous prosperity and used his ample means in many ways to promote the happiness of others and to develop the resources of his community. His life was extended beyond the time of three score and ten, was filled with kindly deeds and energetic accomplishments in every- thing he undertook and it was in the spirit of sincere affection and esteem that so many hundreds of his old friends and neighbors gathered to pay their last tribute to his memory at the time of his death.

Thomas B. Wilson was born November 22, 1840, in his seventy-third year at the time of his death. His birthplace was at Gallatin, Tennessee. His parents were Addison and Ann (Moore) Wilson. His father was a Tennessee farmer, held slaves before the war and in 1849 made the long overland journey with wagons and teams across the country to Texas. At that time Thomas B. Wilson was nine years of age and had a very distinet recollection of the many incidents of the journey. The family located in Collin county, which was then on the northern and western frontier of civilization and in developing a farm they performed a pioneer service in the progress of that locality. The father lived there until his death on December 28, 1868.

The late Thomas B. Wilson grew up in Collin county on the old farm six miles north of Mckinney and, as might be expected from the conditions which prevailed in that part of the state during its period of early settlement, his education was very limited so far as school attendance was concerned. It is said that he attended a country school for only three months. How- ever he had a mind of unusual capacity, was eager for knowledge, spent all his leisure time at home in study and was what is called "a graduate of a pine knot college. " A self-made and self-educated man, he rendered himself capable in many ways, was a practical man, and while prospering himself did not neglect his duties to his home and state. During the war, while in the vigor of his young manhood, he served a short time

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in the Confederate army, but was discharged on account of ill health. By practical experience he prepared him- self for the profession of surveying and served for twenty years as county surveyor, first appointed by the governor of the state and later by the people of Collin county. Later for about the same length of time he was deputy sheriff of the county. In the meantime he had applied himself with his characteristic energy and with marked success to the business of farming and stock raising and acquired large possessions and was regarded as one of Collin county's most successful men. For a number of years during the latter part of his life he was in the abstract business at Mckinney and that business is now continued by his son, A. G. Wilson.

The late Mr. Wilson from the time of his majority until his death always supported and was a valued worker in the Democratic party, serving as a member of the County Democratic committee at the time of his death. After an illness of only three days he passed away at his commodious home, two miles north of MeKinney. The funeral was held at his residence on September 5 and hundreds came to bear testimony of their respect for the deceased, the house, porches and the yard being filled with the concourse of those who had known him in life. His body was laid to rest in the Pecan Grove cemetery of Mckinney and the funeral was preached by the Rev. C. C. Young of the Methodist Episcopal church, Those who knew him best speak with admiration of his progressiveness as a citizen, his will- ingness to lend his support to every worthy enterprise for the benefit of his community, his friendship to the poor, his helpfulness as a neighbor and the singular devotion and affection which he lavished upon his family. Perhaps with a keen sense of his own early handicaps in the way of education, he provided liberally for the training of his children, and believed in the substantial comforts of the world and erected in his later years a beautiful residence as the most conspicuous feature of his splendid farm north of MeKinney. His home cost about five thousand dollars and his widow and two youngest children still occupy it.

At Dallas, Texas, December 23, 1882, Thomas B. Wilson married Miss Etta Eastes, a daughter of George W. and Eliza Eastes. Her father was one of the sur- viving veterans of the war with Mexico during 1846-48, was for many years an active farmer at Collin county and died March 3, 1891, while his wife passed away October 20, 1909. To the marriage of Mr. Wilson and wife were born three children, two daughters and one son: Pauline B., the wife of J. L. MeEntire, a farmer of Collin county; Miss Estelle H., who lives at home with her mother, and Addison G., who lives at home, carried on the abstract business founded by his father and also the farm and the settlement of his father's estate.

DR. FRANK LITTEN. One of the successful and promi- nent physicians and surgeons of Austin is Dr. Frank Litten, a lifelong resident of this city, where he was born on September 8, 1863. He is a son of Dr. James M. and Mary L. Litten, natives of South Carolina and Tennes- see, respectively. The father came to Austin in 1852 and was occupied in the general practice of medicine until the time of his death, on March 31, 1900. He was a man of prominence here, successful in his profession and highly thought of in all walks of life. The mother is yet living and has her home in Austin. For years Dr. James M. Litten was physician to the State Lunatic Asy- lum and Blind Institute in Austin, and he was also local surgeon to the Federal troops while they were stationed here after the Civil war. He was of English descent, tracing his ancestry back to the Pilgrim Fathers of early American settlement.

Dr. Frank Litten was educated in the public schools of Austin in the matter of his early training, after which he attended Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia,

in 1887, graduating therefrom with his M. D. degree. Immediately the young doctor engaged in practice in com- pany with his father, and that association was terminated only by the death of the elder man. They were success- ful in their concerted work, and had a wide practice in the city, which Dr. Frank Litten has retained since the passing of his father, successfully carrying on the worthy work long ago inaugurated by the senior member of their professional combination.

Dr. Litten is a member of the Local and State Medical Societies, and is active in the work of both bodies.

On June 15, 1904, Dr. Litten was married to Miss Mildred Reese of Waco, Texas. She was a daughter of Major E. F. Reese, long active in the carriage manufac- turing business, but now retired. He was Sergeant- Major in the Confederate Army, Hapgoods First Regi- ment of South Carolina, and served throughout the entire war, having enlisted at Charleston when the first gun of the war was fired. He came to Texas in 1869, establish- ing himself in business, and here he has since continued, having long had a prominent place in business and other circles of Waco, where the family home has been located.

Dr. and Mrs. Litten are socially prominent in Austin, and the doctor is highly regarded in professional circles of the city and county. The home of the family is at No. 116 West Seventh Street.

GEORGE W. Fox. In Collin county the first wholesale grocery house established was due to the enterprise of George W. Fox, who for a number of years was identified with the business and has since been in the real estate and loan business at Mckinney. His record as a busi- ness man and citizen is well known in that part of Texas and he has spent all his life in Collin county and has made his career one of value hoth to himself and to his community.

His birth occurred on a farm in Collin county March 30, 1867. His parents, S. H. and Sallie (Barnes) Fox, were both natives of Missouri, came from that state to Texas and were early settlers of Collin county, where the father followed farming throughout his active career. During the war between the states he volunteered for service in the Confederate army, participated in a num- ber of the strenuous campaigns of the war and though wounded several times continued in the service until the end. After the war he resumed farming and stock raising, and is now living at the age of about seventy- eight, retired from business, in Mckinney, enjoying the fruits of a well spent career. The mother is also still living.

George W. Fox, who was the sixth in a family of fourteen children, seven of whom are living, was educated in the public schools of Collin county, took a business course at Dallas and had his first regular experience as a clerk in a department store at Mckinney. From that he transferred his enterprise to a retail grocery house, was in business eleven years as a retail grocer and then organized the Fox Wholesale Grocery Company, which, as already stated, was the first establishment of its kind in Collin county. Mr. Fox remained its president and general manager about six years, then bought out the rest of the stockholders and continued in business under the name of G., W. Fox. Wholesale Grocer. Ill health compelled him to retire from the grocery trade in 1911 and since then he has given his attention to real estate and loans.

In political matters Mr. Fox can be found in the regular ranks of the Democratic party, but has not sought any public office. He is none the less an active worker for local progress, is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and is secretary and treasurer of the good roads organization of Collin county. His fraternal affiliations are with the Masonic Order and the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, and his church home is the Christian denomination.

At Mckinney in 1889 Mr. Fox married Miss Lula

Frank Lillen. M. N.

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Lillard, who lost both her father and mother when she was a child and was brought up an orphan. Of the four children born to their marriage the two now living are: Grace, who married Edgar Mckinney, who is secretary of the Home Relief Association at MeKinney, and Miss Maude, aged thirteen, and now attending school. The business office of Mr. Fox is on Kentucky street, in the Masonic building, and his home on North College street.

THOMAS WATER WILEY, M. D. The tangible result of years of effort, intelligently directed by a thoroughly trained mind, are substantially gratifying to the in- dividual who has devoted his life to carrying out the highest ideals of a certain chosen calling. No man can be greater than his appreciation of the responsibility he owes the world, and the professional men who rise highest are those who endeavor to aid humanity and to contribute to the achievements of the science which has enlisted their efforts. One of the distinguished medical men of Texas, whose career has been characterized by high achievements and steadfast devotion to exalted aims, is Dr. Thomas Water Wiley of Mckinney, where for forty-eight years he has been engaged in constant practice.

In Dr. Wiley's character are found embodied the best traits of his Scotch and Irish ancestors, as well as those of his English and German connections. He was born November 14, 1838, in Butler county, Alabama, and is a son of J. McCaleb and Elizabeth T. (Duckworth) Wiley, the former a native of North Carolina and the latter of Alabama. His father was for years a dis- tinguished southern legist, a slave owner and a district judge, and died two years after retiring from the bench at about the age of seventy-two years. The mother was related to Sir John Duckworth of the English Navy, who was an officer of the flagship Prince Royal of Admiral Byron, and sailed to the West Indies, where he participated in the engagement with the French fleet. Early in 1799 he was raised to the rank of rear admiral and sent to the West Indies to succeed Lord Hugh Seymour. While in command of the Royal George he forced the passage of the Dardanelles and sustained considerable loss in effecting his return, the Turks having strengthened their position. Sir John Duckworth sat in Parliament for some time as member for New Romney.

To the union of J. McCaleb and Elizabeth T. (Duck- worth) Wiley there were born four children, of whom Dr. Wiley is the third in order of birth and the only survivor. The second marriage of Judge J. McCaleb Wiley was to a Mrs. Taft, formerly Miss Appling, and to this union there were five children. A. A. Wiley, one of the sons, was lieutenant colonel of the Fifth U. S. Infantry during the Spanish-American war, and for meritorious services was appointed by the general in charge in Cuba as law officer of the island. After his return to Alabama he was elected to office as congress- man from the Montgomery District and died while serv- ing his fourth term, being succeeded by his brother, Oliver C. Wiley.

Dr. Thomas Water Wiley grew up in his home locality in Alabama, and there his early education was secured. Like his father he became an owner of slaves and when the war between the states broke out he cast his fortunes with the Confederacy and voted for Secession in 1861. Not content to give only his moral support to the cause, he enlisted in Company A, Sixth Regiment, Alabama Volunteer Infantry, and continued with that company until 1863, in which year he was transferred to Com- pany H, of the Fifty-Fourth Alabama. He was wounded at the battle of Peach Tree Creek, in front of Atlanta, July 20, 1864, and remained on crutches as the result of a broken leg until the latter part of 1865, when he sur- rendered at a hospital in Alabama. As he was penniless he was compelled to make his way as best he could with his crutches more than two-thirds of the way to

his home at Troy, a distance of fifty-six miles. In 1867 Dr. Wiley came to Texas and located at Mckinney and this has since been his field of practice. He has served as health officer for several years, but his reputation has been won along the line of personal achievement rather than in positions of preferment. He was the first surgeon in Collin county to successfully perform hysterectomy and appendectomy, the first to operate ou the stomach for gunshot wounds, the first to remove the lower jawbone for bone disease and the only physician who has performed successfully the Cesarian operation and delivered a crying infant. Keen discrimination in the diagnosis of a case, sound judgment in prescribing methods of treatment, unerring skill in delicate surgical operations and a constant devotion to the highest ethics of his honored calling have won him rank among the foremost practitioners of the state. He belongs to the various organizations of his profession and still con- tinues to be as faithful a student as he was when he first entered upon his career. In Masonry he has at- tained high position, having advanced to the Knight Templar degree, and in Oddfellowship is past grand master of the Grand Lodge of the state and past grand representative from Texas to the Sovereign Grand Lodge of the World.

On December 21, 1859, Dr. Wiley was married to Miss Susan Henderson of Troy, Alabama who died in 1871, leaving five children: James E., of Mckinney ; Etta, who is the wife of James Ball of Dallas; Henry, who is a commander in the United States Navy, and two daughters, twins, one now deceased and the other Mrs. Lela Henderson, living at Jacksonville, Florida. On June 10, 1873, Dr. Wiley was married to Miss Martha E. Hudson, daughter of Richard B. Hudson, a farmer and slave holder of Mississippi prior to the Civil war. Three children were born to this union: Miss Betsy, of Dallas, assistant in the City Library; Walter H., who is a rural mail carrier out of MeKinney in the United States Mail Service, and Mary B., who is the wife of L. F. Carlton, auditor for the Stone & Webster Railroad contractors. Dr. Wiley resides in his comfortable home at No. 205 West Louisiana street, MeKinney.

REV. WILLIAM B. KENDALL, pastor of the First Baptist church of Paris, is one of the stirring and spirited men of the ministry of Texas.

Born at Graysville, Kentucky, July 3, 1874, William B. Kendall is the son of Rev. John G. Kendall, con- nected with the First Baptist church in Waco, Texas, for the past twenty-three years. He was born in Todd county, Kentucky, in 1847, received his education at Greenville, South Carolina, and at an early age engaged in the ministry. He was a son of John W. Kendall of Graysville, Kentucky, born there of North Carolina parents. His mother rode from the old Tarheel state on horseback when a young girl, crossed the Allegheny mountains and settled in the vicinity of Graysville, where she planted the weeping willow switch she cut for a riding crop before she left her native state. It grew into a mammoth tree and shaded her children and grand- children as they grew up and stands today as a monu- ment to the foresight of the young girl who planted it a hundred years ago. John W. Kendall shared in the sentiments of the southern people upou the issues of the Rebellion, and two of his sons were Confederate soldiers, while he himself held some position with the government in aid of its commissary department. He married Miss Margaret Lucrecia Gray, for whose family Graysville was later named, the Grays being one of the first families to plant itself in the wilds of Kentucky. They were related to other families of prominence in the state, among them the Edwards, the Larrys and the Todds, and they belonged to the agricultural slave- holding class. In the family of John W. and Margaret (Gray) Kendall were the following children: Ben E.

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Kendall, who always lived on the old homestead and there is passing his life; William W., who moved to Waco, Texas, in its pioneer days and there passed his life, dying at the age of fifty-five years; Colonel Robert B., of Elkton, Kentucky, the birthplace of the father; Rev. John G., the father of the immediate subject of this review, and Lucy Elizabeth, the widow of Judge J. W. Dawson, of Elkton, Kentucky.

Rev. John G. Kendall married at Verona, Mississippi, in 1873, Miss Mattie Bell, a daughter of David Bell, and the children of their union were: Rev. William B .; Ben. Kendall, a lawyer of Waco, Texas; Miss Margaret, who teaches music in Baylor University at Waco, and Mrs. B. B. MeReynolds, of Waco.

William B. Kendall's childhood days were passed near Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and there he attended the county schools. From the public schools he entered Bethel College, Russellville, Kentucky, and equipped himself for teaching, at which work he continued for a brief time. He came to Texas when he was twenty years old and did his first pedagogic work in this state in the schools of MeGregor. After two years he returned to Kentucky and entered the Southern Baptist Theo- logical Seminary at Louisville. Taking up the work of the ministry his first charge was at Tyler, where he was pastor of the Baptist church. During the two years of his stay there he was ever active and up and doing, and he emphasized his strenuous labors by the building of an addition to the church, a characteristic that he has displayed throughout his ministerial career. He then went to Terrell as pastor of the First church, re- maining for six years, and during that time he was in- strumental in bringing about the building of a splendid brick structure for the Baptists of that place. He came to Paris in 1907 and here has been performing the most effective labor in behalf of the congregation, adding materially to the standing of the church by the erection of a fine new parsonage, reared at a cost of $5,000 and for the past fifteen years has been actively interested in ministerial work. Rev. Kendall was president of the Baptist Young People's Convention of Texas for five years and brought to bear an enthusiasm and zeal in the work of the society that was resultant in much good to the organization throughout the state. The further- ance of the cause in which he labors is the supreme in- terest of his life, and he has given liberally of his surplus and his earnings in the aid of the church aside from his own immediate charge in Paris. He has no fraternal relations, is a member of no clubs or social organizations, his membership in the Baptist church demanding his every energy, to the exclusion of all lesser interests.

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A history of Texas and Texans, Part 38

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