A history of Texas and Texans, Part 42

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 42

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Mr. Clayton is a staunch supporter of the principles of the Democratic party, and he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has a host of friends in his native county and as a citizen he maintains a liberal and public-spirited attitude.

In August, 1885, Mr. Clayton wedded Miss Georgia Pannill, daughter of Major Henry Pannill and Maggie (Jones) Pannill, her father having come to Texas from Virginia and having been an officer of the Confederate service in the Civil war. Mr. and Mrs. Clayton became the parents of two children,-Maggie E., who is the wife of Charles H. Highnote, of Corsicana, and Joseph P., who died in 1912, at the age of seventeen years.

EVERETT OSCAR VAUGHAN. A veteran railway man, learning telegraphy in his native Virginia and coming to Texas over thirty years ago, Everett O. Vaughan is the agent of the Houston & Texas Central Railway at Corsi- cana, and has lived in this state since 1882.

Mr. Vaughan came to Texas direct from Halifax county, Virginia, at South Boston in which county he grew up. He was born in Amelia county, Virginia, February 2, 1558, and his childhood was spent in town.

His father, Adolphus Vaughan, a mechanic, was also born in Amelia county, about 1828, and spent his time as a saddler, and died in 1878. The father married Mary Haskins, who died before her husband. Their children were: Albina, who married Hiram Carter and lives in South Boston, Virginia; Edgar H., who died in Virginia; James O., of Paces, Virginia; Henry T., who died in Navarro county, Texas, leaving one child; Rosa, who married W. H. Shepherd of South Boston, Virginia ; Everett O .; Joseph, who died at South Boston; and Aaron H. of South Boston.

Everett O. Vaughan was educated in the public schools and as a boy learned telegraphy with the old Richmond and Danville Railway Company at South Boston. During his residence in his native state he continued in the em- ploy of that company, and while there met the young woman to whom he gave his heart and hand, and after their marriage they came to Corsicana in 1882. Mr. Vaughan at once began work as an operator with the Houston & Texas Central Railway Company. After five years in that position, employed by both the Houston & Texas Central and the Cotton Belt, he was transferred to the Missouri, Kansas & Texas aud Texas & Pacific Railway Company's joint office in Dallas. After a year there, in 1892, he returned to Corsicana and resumed work with the Houston and Texas Central. He was operator, bill clerk, car clerk, cashier and agent, and in 1911 succeeded E. L. Gibson, deceased, in the office of agent, at one of the most important stations in Texas.

Mr. Vanghan has never identified himself with offi- cial affairs in Corsicana, and has given all his time to railroad work and his family. He and his wife are members of the Baptist church. On June 11, 1882, he married Miss Blanche Mullins, daughter of Seth G. Mullins, a Baptist minister who moved to Texas from Crystal Springs, Mississippi, and spent his remaining years in Corsicana. His death occurred in 1913, at the age of seventy-nine, and for fifteen years he had been pastor of his church in Corsicana. Rev. Mullins married Ophelia Tillman. Mrs. Vaughan was among the young- est of a family of eight children. Her brother, Dr. Edgar Y. Mullins, is president of the Baptist Theolog- ical Seninary at Louisville, Kentucky. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Vaughan are: Frank Edgar, who died in San Francisco, California, as a commercial operator, and was unmarried; Everett Oscar, Jr., an accountant with the Western Pacific Railway at San Francisco, and Al- myra, wife of C. A. Gordon of Corsicana.

HON. JAMES HENRY MCCULLOCH. No more pronounced study in contrast is found available among the upbuild- ers of Navarro county than that presented in the career of James Henry McCulloch, mayor of Dawson. Mr. Me- Culloch's present status is represented by the possession of large and important business holdings, by his promi- nence in the business and public life of his section, and by the general high esteem in which he is held by his fellow citizens. When he first came to Texas he did not even own a horse with which to till his land. Between his labor-enslaving and poverty-clouded days and those of the prosperous present have occurred many varied and developing experiences, the very existence of which stamps him as a man of courage, initiative, and re- source.

James Henry MeCulloch was born August 15, 1859, in Morgan county, Alabama, a son of Thomas D. MeCul- loch. Samuel McCulloch, his grandfather, passed his life as an Alabama farmer and died during the period of the Civil War. He married Hester Dannell, who died in ad- vanced age, and they became the parents of the follow- ing children: Samuel, Richard, Harvey, Jobn, Thomas, Lee, Mary, who married Houston Knapps, and Martha, who became the wife of J. H. Kitchens. Thomas D. Me- Culloch was born in Morgan county, Alabama, and in young manhood adopted the calling of farmer, which he followed until the time of his enlistment in an Alabama

Poste Rall

1729

TEXAS AND TEXANS

infantry company for service during the Civil War. Wounded at the battle of Day's Gap, Alabama, he was captured by the enemy and taken a prisoner to Rich- mond, and there his death occurred. His widow subse- quently married William N. Oden, but they had no chil- dren. Mr. and Mrs. McCulloch had two children: James Henry and William Thomas, who came to Texas with their mother and settled in the Dawson neighborhood. Mrs. Oden died at the home of her son Thomas, in Stam- ford, Jones county, in 1908.

James Henry McCulloch received his education in a typical log schoolhouse in his native county, and lived with his mother until he was married, at which time he engaged in farming on his own account. He was a lenter for ten years, and at the time he and his wife started their married life he did not even own a horse to help him in his work. He was married in his native county, and came to Texas by rail, it taking about all he had made in three years of steady work to bring the family here. Resuming farming, he rented a place near Dawson until he was able to purchase 120 acres of land, aud this became much more valuable by his labor and improvement, so that subsequently he purchased some property in Dawson, upon a part of which he erected the MeCulloch gin, this succeeding the gin erected by Akers Brothers. His gin plant is a six seventy-saw Mun- ger and is one of the four gins of the town.

Mr. MeCulloch has been identified with some of the leading and successful business enterprises of Dawson, and through his capable management and wise direction has developed them into prosperous ventures. He built the original telephone exchange at Dawson, assisting Mr. Duke, whose first efforts marked the development of the telephone system here, and Mr. McCulloch operated the plant for some ten years, and in 1913 sold it to J. W. Pruitt. He assisted in the organization of the First State Bank of Dawson, and since its inception has held a place on its directing board. Mr. McCulloch was one of the incorporators of Dawson, was an alderman for a time, and has been mayor for two years, during which time he has been instrumental in securing numerous greatly needed municipal reforms, giving the people a clean, businesslike administration. He has also served as a trustee of the school board, and at times has filled various offices in political, fraternal and social life oť Dawson. He is past master of Dawson Lodge, No. 155, A. F. & A. M., and a member of Hubbard City Chapter, R. A. M., and also holds membership in the Odd Fellows. With his family, he attends the Methodist church, has been a supporter of its movements, and for several years has acted in the capacity of steward.

Mr. McCulloch was married August 12, 1877, to Miss Jane Roper, daughter of Nelson and Taddy (Carter) Roper of Alabama. The children born to this union have been as follows: William Henry, an engineer at Daw- son, married Zelia Whitener and has two children, De- lora and Janie; Hettie, the wife of W. Carroll of Lan- caster, who has three children, Winnie Lois, Jenice, and Eloise; Lonnie of Dallas, a bookkeeper with the Times- Herald, married Miss Vera Roddy and has a daughter, Evelyn; Lee, connected with the First State Bank of Dawson, married Letha Sims and has one child; and Ar- thur, Allie, and Mabel, who reside with their parents.

JUDGE ROBERT L. BALL. During the last thirty years it is doubtful if any Texan has been more distinguished for influence and success, whether as a lawyer, banker, and in civic affairs, than Judge Ball of San Antonio. He made his reputation years ago as an attorney of exceptional skill among the scattered population and semi-frontier conditions of Western Texas, and during his residence at San Antonio has represented some of the most important litigation originating among . the livestock interests of the state. In the bar of Texas, especially among jury lawyers, Mr. Ball ranks second to none of his contemporaries, and his ability and stand-

ing may be estimated on terms of easy relationship with any of the more prominent lawyers and jurists of the state. Though in recent years much of his attention has been devoted to banking, Judge Ball still holds a place of large prominence in the legal profession. The famous Fant-Sullivan case of a few years ago, which was carried to the highest courts, and in which Judge Ball recovered over a million dollars for his client, is but one incident in many others of large cases in which his services have been retained. The legal affairs of extensive ranch and other property interests throughout Southwest Texas are in his charge; and as an executor, the settling up of some of the wealthiest estates of this section has been entrusted to his care.

Born in Jackson county, Missouri, in 1861, Robert L. Ball rose to prominence out of conditions and environ- ments which would naturally handicap any person not possessed of unusual determination and ambition. His parents, Robert Austin and Constance (Rose) Ball, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Virginia, were among the early settlers of Western Missouri in Jackson county, their home being only six miles from the Kansas line. Judge Ball became an orphan at the age of six years, and the results of the bitter border warfare during the *60s in Western Missouri and East- ern Kansas added to the adverse circumstances of his youth. Reared on a farm, with toil and struggle as his lot, he made his own opportunities and won success in spite of his early destiny. His first important venture was at the age of sixteen, when he rented one of the largest farms in Johnson county, Kansas, got credit for sufficient equipment to operate the land, and by several years of hard work accumulated a few hundred dollars. His ambition was to get a college education, and in pursuance of his plan he invested his earnings in a course at the University of Kansas from 1878 until 1880. Having finished his college work, Judge Ball went to Galveston, Texas, and read law under Major Frank M. Spencer until admitted to the bar in 1882.

The scenes of his early successes as a lawyer were laid in the midst of the open-range cattle country. Locating, in 1883, at Colorado City, he soon established a good and growing practice, was elected city and county attorney, and for six years was president of the Colo- rado National Bank. The firm of Ball & Burney, of which he was the senior partner, were the first general attorneys for the Texas Cattle Raisers' Association of Texas, and incidentally a large amount of individual practice came to the firm through this relationship. In that time and locality the chief sources of business were the conflicting interests of individual cattlemen and criminal cases. As a trial lawyer as counsel for the defense in criminal cases, Mr. Ball probably had no equal in a large section of country, and gained a repu- tation for his successful defense of numerous noted murder cases.

Judge Ball has often been referred to as the "cow- man's lawyer '' of Texas, and it was his growing prac- tice as attorney for leading cattlemen that eventually caused him in 1894 to locate in San Antonio, which city has now been his home for the past twenty years. For several years he was a partner of the late Hon. Tully A. Fuller. Besides his · professional business, of which a mere record of cases would hardly be appropriate for this article, Judge Ball has gained large business inter- ests at San Antonio and vicinity, and is well known as a banker. He was one of the organizers in 1903 and the first vice-president of the National Bank of Com- merce, later served for some years as president of the bank, and is now chairman of the board of directors, having at all times been active in the direction and management of the bank's affairs. The National Bank of Commerce of San Antonio bas in ten years made a remarkable growth, and is now one of the strongest banks in South Texas. Plans have already been pre-

1730

TEXAS AND TEXANS

pared for the erection of a new bank building on the northwest corner of West Commerce and Soledad streets.

Judge Ball has taken a prominent part in Masonic circles, is a Past Master of Alamo Lodge, A. F. & A. M., Past High Priest of Burleson Chapter, R. A. M., and Past Eminent Commander and now Grand Captain- General of the Grand Commandery of Texas Knights Templar. In 1892 occurred his marriage to Miss Ma- rian Cooke, who was born and reared in Washington county, Texas. Their three daughters are Constance, Marian Ellen, and Hallie Cooke Ball.

BENJAMIN WINSLOW DUDLEY HILL, M. D., of Daw- son has been identified with this locality since 1886, when he came here as a young physician, newly graduated from the medical department of the University of Tennessee. Since that time he has steadily advanced in his profes- sion to a leading and recognized position, but his strength as a citizen is based not only on his successful and hon- orable record as a medical practitioner, but as a business man, a financier, and a thoroughly useful and helpful citizen who has steadfastly allied himself with those movements which have made for civic betterment and general progress. Docfor Hill was born in Warren county, Tennessee, January 3, 1863, and is a son of Jon- athan and Vesta (Scott) Hill.

The Hill family originated in Wales, and some of its members came to America during Colonial days, settling in Virginia, and from there drifting to Georgia and later to Tennessee. Ervin Hill, the grandfather of Doctor Hill, died in Tennessee when a comparatively young man, being one of the pioneers of the Volunteer state, where his father, Henry Hill, settled. Jonathan Hill, the fa- ther of Doctor Hill, was born in Warren county, Ten- nessee, and was a farmer of the slaveholding class of (' izenship of that state. He was on detail for the Confed- eracy during the war between the North and the South, and had two brothers iu that service. He also had a brother killed at the battle of Monterey, Mexico, during our war with that country, and another brother died on the gulf while returning from that war. The family has ever been lined up with the Democratic party, and Jon- athan Hill had two uncles who helped frame the consti- tution of Tennessee. One of them, H. L. W. Hill, went to Congress, and another brother, George W. Hill, after whom Hill county, Texas, was named, served as secre- tary of war under President Houston, was one of the congressmen of the Texas Republic, subsequently re- turned to his medical practice in Navarro county, and died in the vicinity of Dawson in 1859 without issue. Benjamin J. Hill, a cousin of Jonathan Hill, was a Confederate brigadier-general. Jonathan Hill was mar- ried in Warren county, Tennessee, to Vesta Scott, who was a daughter of Cooper Scott, a native of North Caro- lina, who moved to Tennessee in boyhood and spent the balance of his life as a farmer. He married Elizabeth McCullom, and they became the parents of a large family. The children of Jonathan and Vera (Scott) Hill were as follows: Ervin L., who is in business as a merchant at Dawson; Lucian C., who died at Hillsboro, was once county judge of Hill county and left a family at his death; Dr. B. W. D. of this review; Lee, a farmer of Dawson; Sue, who is the wife of C. M. Eetter of Waco, and Miss Linda, who is engaged in teaching school at Sacaton, Arizona.

As Doctor B. W. D. Hill grew to manhood, he attended the public schools of his native county, and later was a student at Irving College, and, after leaving that insti- tution, began life as a country school teacher. This he foltowed for ten months in Grundy and Sequachie coun- ties, and then chose medicine as his life work and began his preparation in the medical school previously men- tioned. When he graduated, in 1885, he entered practice at his home place, and was there a year before coming to the West. Doctor Hill came to Navarro county without acquaintances and found Dawson a wooden town with a

good farming frade and with four physicians already here-Kirksey, Dean, Berry, and Meredith, all of whom have since vanished. During the quarter of a century or more that he has been located here he has taken post- graduate work in New Orleans, at Tulane University, in the Post-Graduate School at Chicago, and the Polyclinic at New Orleans. He has been president of the Navarro County Medical Society and is a member of the State and American Medical Associations.

Soon after coming here, Doctor Hill became identified with farming in Navarro county, and, associated with his brother, purchased 633 acres of raw land, which they brought nearly all under the plow, put six buildings upon it, and, after years of cultivation, disposed of it. They also purchased other fracts of land and have given labor to numbers of wage-workers as farmers. Doctor Hill has devoted his farms to cotton raising and grain. He took an interest next in the promotion of the Dawson Cotton Oil Company, of which he was vice president, and was next prominent in the organization of the First State Bank of Dawson, being elected ifs vice president, and in 1909 was elected its president, a position he now holds. The bank was chartered with a capital of $25,000 seren years ago, and now has $85,000 in the surplus and undivided profits. The vice president is J. C. Keitt and the cashier C. O. Weaver, the other members of the board of directors being P. L. Adams, M. L. Berry, J. L. Taylor, F. L. Hill, J. F. Sims, W. N. Matthews, and C. W. Akers, all well known in and about Dawson. In 1913 Doctor Hill purchased the Dawson Supply Company, which he is conducting at this time. This venture is in the nature of a department store, and, with all its de- partments, is the chief business place of the town, handling dry goods, hardware, saddles, harness and implements. Doctor Hill has extended his building in- terests only by the investment of his capital in improved property in Dawson.

In politics, Doctor Hill is a Democrat, and has taken an active part in the success of his party in this county, having served as precinct chairman on several occasions and as county chairman during the Bailey and Johnson fight for delegates to the national convention af Denver. His first state convention was at Waco, and the next at Dallas, when Governor Campbell was nominated, and since that time has been frequently selected as delegate, but has declined the service. He advocated Woodrow Wilson for president at the time the Professor was elected gov- ernor of New Jersey, and has been steadfast in his sup- port. Dr. Hill has served Dawson as city health officer for five years and as president of the school board for a period of four years. Fraternally, he belongs to the Blue Lodge, Chapter, and Council of the Masonic order.

On January 17, 1893, Docfor Hill was married at Daw- son to Miss Cynthia Adams, a daughter of Peter L. Adams, M. D., who practiced medicine near Dawson, and came here prior to the Civil War from Tennessee, and served as a soldier in that struggle. Ten children have been born to Doctor and Mrs. Hill, namely: Ermine, Mark, Annie, Ada, Robert, Virginia, Joe, Evelyn, Lynn, and Benjamin Winslow Dudley, Jr.

LEVI FRANKLIN GABLE. The life history of Levi Frank- lin Gable, now one of the most prosperous and highly es- teemed residents of Dawson, is lacking in no detail that makes interesting biography. Beginning life handicapped by lack of educational or other advantages, a soldier when still in his early 'teens, thrown upon his own re- sources before he had reached man's estate, a pioneer in a new and untried country, gradually fighting his way upward in spite of the most discouraging circumstances, and finally winning financial independence and the re- spect of his fellow men-such are the salient points in a career crowded with interesting events and character- ized at all times by a faithful adherence to high princi- ples.

Mr. Gable has been a resident of Navarro county since

1731

TEXAS AND TEXANS

September, 1885, when he came hither from Tishomingo county, Mississippi. He was born in Anderson District, South Carolina, July 29, 1847, and in 1852 his parents left that locality and moved to Mississippi, where he secured scarcely any education, the struggle between the South and the North coming on at his most critical school period. His father, Henry Gable, was a small farmer, and became captain of the Home Guard during the Civil War. He was born also in South Carolina, and died in Tishomingo county, Mississippi, at past eighty years of age, while the mother, Martha Hanks, a daugh- ter of George Hanks, passed away at the age of sixty- five years. Their children were as follows: J. Asberry, who died while in the Confederate service; Eveline, who married Paul Finch of Tishomingo county, Mississippi; George, who contracted a disease at Ft. Donaldson as a wearer of the gray and died at Granada, Mississippi; Stacy, who passed through the war in the Confederate service, but died soon after the close of the struggle, in Pemiscot county, Missouri; Levi Franklin of this review; Elizabeth, who married Henry Pitts and resides near Dawson, Texas; Jane, who married William Vinson and lives at Dawson; Cordie, who married Jonathan Bolden of Lomesa, Texas, and Tina, who married Jack Tank- ersley of Mississippi.

Levi F. Gable joined the Confederate army in 1864, enlisting in the Seventh Alabama Cavalry, Moreland's regiment and Forrest's command. He saw service in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi, and took part in a lot of skirmishing; also at Athens, Alabama ; Pulaski, Tennessee; Sulphur Trestle and Decatur, Ala- bama; Monte Valley, and on down to Selma. The com- mand was demoralized during the last campaign, and scattered, and Mr. Gable, with others, made his way home. He never surrendered and never reported to a Federal officer for parole. After the war, Mr. Gable went out to Pemiscot county, Missouri, and remained for three years, accepting such honorable employment as presented itself. He then returned to his home, but again went back to the West, at Fort Smith and the Indian Nation, and one year afterward again went back home, without having accomplished anything worth while. Soon after going home, October 5, 1874, Mr. Gable married Miss Elizabeth Milford, a daughter of John and Frances R. Kay Mil- ford, who was originally from Anderson District, South Carolina.

Mr. Gable began about as humble a married life as could be imagined. He possessed one pony, and rented land on shares, and during the first fall gathered his erop and came out about even with the world. His first home was a log house, furnished with primitive furniture, worth perhaps twenty-five dollars. He was without a cook-stove, a sewing-machine, or a rocking-chair, and for a wagon he spliced in with a neighbor and made a team and vehicle. When he found himself at the close of business the first year just where he started, in the spring he proposed to his wife that they wear their old clothes and eat corn bread and thus stay out of debt the next year, and this she agreed to do. They lived on the same place again, and his record established for paying as he went has been maintained ever since, save for in- debtedness made when he purchased his first home in Texas. When he left Mississippi, Mr. Gable sold all of his property and came away with $350. Mr. Gable came out to Texas on a prospecting tour first, at the sugges- tion of his wife, and, after looking over much of the black-land region of North Texas, as well as the central portion of the state, selected Navarro county, and re- turned and informed his wife that he could do better in Texas than in Mississippi. She consented to come, and they located at Dawson, the best place he had found on his exploration, and here he achieved his first success.

Mr. Gable's first work on coming to Texas was as a cotton picker on the black land for W. T. Moore at fifty cents a hundred and board for himself and family, while

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

A history of Texas and Texans, Part 42

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