USA > Texas > A history of Texas and Texans > Part 44
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Robert Monroe White was born at White's (or Turtle) Bayou, Chambers county, Texas, in 1856, and James Taylor White was born in 1854. Their parents were James Taylor and Amanda (Speght) White. James Taylor White was likewise born at Turtle Bayou in 1829 and all his life was spent in Chambers county, where he died in 1905. He was a son of James Taylor White, who was born in Louisiana, came from that state to Texas in 1819 and at that time located in what. is now Chambers county, establishing his home on Turtle Bayou, which, because of the prominence and long residence of the family, has also been known as White's Bayou. The original place settled upon by Grandfather James Taylor White more than eighty years ago is still owned and occupied by the family. The ranch at White's Bayou consists now of about six thousand acres, and is owned by Robert M. White and his brother, James Taylor White. There are few old homesteads in Texas which have longer associations and memories for one family. After the battle of San Jacinto, in 1836, the Mexican General Santa Ana, while being escorted as a prisoner on his way to New Orleans and thence to Mexico, was kept overnight at the White home and Grandfather James T. White furnished a pilot for trans- porting the party across the Sabine River into Louisiana.
Besides the home place mentioned above Robert M. White and J. T. White are owners of the famous White's Ranch in Chambers and Jefferson counties. That is one of the largest and finest cattle ranches in Texas. Eighty thousand acres comprise the broad domain over which the White cattle range and few estates are now left in Texas with such a princely acreage. Travelers over the railroad through Chambers county are familiar with White's Ranch Station, located about seven miles south of Stowell, and the ranch adjoins this station. Mr. White, like his father and grandfather before him, has been engaged in the cattle business since boyhood and from it has acquired his wealthy and influential position.
Mr. White married Miss Mattie Smith, who was born in Orren county, Texas. Their four children are: J. Cade White, Forrest White, Anna White and Lillie May White. In 1902 Mr. White established his residence at the town of Stowell, on the Gulf & Interstate Railroad,
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where he has a beautiful and commodious home, sur- rounded by every comfort and convenience.
ARCHIE N. JUSTISS. As postmaster of the city of Corsicana, Navarro county, Mr. Justiss is known as an able and popular public official, but further than this he is one of the representative members of the news- paper fraternity in Texas, as editor and publisher of the Corsicana Courier-Light and Weekly Observer, and has been a recognized power in the councils and political manoeuvers of the Democratic party in the Lone Star State, which has been his home since early youth. He is one of the progressive and public-spirited citizens of northeastern Texas and his character and achievements entitle him to specific mention in this history of the state.
Archie Norris Justiss was born at Lebanon, Wilson county, Tennessee, on the 19th of January, 1866, and is a son of John and Rachel (Debou) Justiss, both natives of Wilson county, Tennessee, and representatives of old and honored families of that state. John Justiss continued his residence in Tennessee until 1885, when he came with his family to Texas, settling first at Alva- rado, Johnson county, and removing thence to Hills- boro, Hill county, where he died in 1895 at the age of seventy-one years. He was born in 1823 and was a son of Samuel Justiss, who was a native of North Caro- lina and an early settler in Tennessee, where he became a prosperous planter and the owner of a considerable number of slaves. He continued to reside in that state until his death, and it is worthy of special note that three of his sons were found enrolled as valiant soldiers of the Confederacy in the Civil war. Mrs. Rachel (Debou) Justiss was a daughter of Bird Debou, who was the most extensive planter in Wilson county, Ten- nessee, where the family was long one of much promi- nence and influence. The old homestead plantation of Bird Debou was situated between Lebanon and Hunter's Point and he was the owner of sixty-five slaves at the time when the Emancipation Proclamation deprived him of this property. He had distinctive business ability and was able to retrieve to a large extent the financial loss which he encountered as a result of the Civil war, after the close of which he accumulated a large and valuable estate. The death of Mrs. Rachel Justiss oc- curred in the city of Waco, Texas, in 1888, and her memory is revered by all who came within the compass of her gracious influence. Of the children the eldest was Robert, who was a resident of Collin county, this state, at the time of his death; Millie, who married, was survived by one son, who died in Tennessee. Her other son, J. Morgan, was a resident of Hubbard City, Texas, at the time of his death, the result of an auto- mobile collision; Bird, who is survived by a son and daughter, died at Hillsboro, Texas; Archie N., of this review, was the next in order of birth, and Mary, who became the wife of Henry M. Fowler, died at Waxa- hachie, Texas, being survived by three children.
Archie N. Justiss acquired his preliminary educa- tion in the schools of his native state and was about · nineteen years of age at the time of the family removal to Texas, in 1885. He continued his studies in the public schools of Hillsboro and thereafter he completed an effective course in Hill's Business College, in the city of Waco. After his graduation in this institution Mr. Justiss removed to Corsicana, which city has been his home since September, 1889. Here he assumed the posi- tion of city circulator for the Corsicana Daily Light. and during the long intervening years he has continued to be actively identified with newspaper interests in this thriving Texas city, where his influence has constantly been given to the furtherance of high civic ideals and progressive policies. He soon won promotion to the position of reporter on the Daily Light, and for several years he was also a correspondent for the Dallas News.
He finally purchased an interest in the Daily Light and in 1895 he effected the consolidation of this paper with the Daily Courier. He has been editor and publisher of the Courier-Light since 1900 and has made the paper a power in political affairs as well as a most effective exponent of local interests in general.
Mr. Justiss has been most actively identified with Democratie politics in Texas from the time when the Terrell election law became operative. He first served as precinct chairman of the Democratic committee of his ward and thereafter he held for four years the posi- tion of secretary of the county committee of his party in Navarro county. In 1908, by election, he was made chairman of the county committee, and of this office he continued the valued and efficient incumbent for four years, his duties thus including work in the national campaign of 1912, in which he so aided in maneuvering the forces at his command as to make Navarro county fall into line with a strong plurality in favor of Presi- dent Wilson. He became also a member of the senatorial and congressional committees of his party, and for six years he served as chairman of each of these committees in his district. He has been a delegate to virtually every Democratie state convention in Texas for the past score of years, and from 1904 to 1906, inclusive, he was a member of the state executive committee of the party. It is worthy of note that after the nomination of Presi- dent Wilson Mr. Justiss started in Navarro county a popular subscription to aid in the ensuing campaign, the result being that about $1,500 were raised in the county and added to the national campaign fund. He was ap- pointed by Governor S. W. T. Lanham as a member of his personal staff and holds a commission from Gov- ernor Lanham with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. This was in the year of 1903 and 1904.
Mr. Justiss is a charter member of both the Booster and Commercial Clubs of Corsicana, the former of which he assisted in organizing in 1894 and he has given hearty support to their measures and enterprises projected for the general good of the city. After the campaign of 1912 Mr. Justiss became a candidate for the office of postmaster of Corsicana, and he won the commission, not- withstanding there were twenty-six applicants for the same. He circulated no petition for support or com- mendation, but gained the voluntary support of a host of loyal friends, with the result that he assumed the duties of office on the 1st of April, 1914. At the State Postmasters' Convention held at Austin in May, 1914, Mr. Justiss was elected secretary and treasurer of the association for the ensuing year, a pleasing compliment to a young member over so many older members at the convention. This is an important office. Mr. Justiss is affiliated with the Woodmen of the World, the Praetorians and the Mystic Circle, in which last he is worthy ruler, and he and his family hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
In Corsicana on the 12th of October, 1893, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Justiss to Miss Katie M. Frost, daughter of Judge Sam R. Frost, a pioneer of Navarro county and one of the leading legists and jurists of the Texas bar. Judge Frost wedded Mollie Winkler, a daughter of Judge C. M. Winkler, and nine children were born of this union. Mr. and Mrs. Justiss have two sons, Archie Frost and Alton Norris. The elder son is a member of the class of 1915 in the Corsi- cana high school and his intention is to prepare himself for the legal profession. His association with one of the leading law firms of Corsicana has brought from one of its members the following high tribute to the aspiring young man, the statements being those of R. S. Neblett: "I cannot resist the temptation to express to yon my good opinion of your son Archie. He is a boy of whom you may well he proud. I value his friend- ship and count him among my friends. I am always glad to have his association and find him a boy of
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splendid character, good intelligence, ambitious and industrious. He constantly reminds me of my former partner, his grandfather, Judge Sam R. Frost, in his amiable disposition and well balanced character. If he does not, even in early life, attain positions of honor, prominence and influence, I think it will be due to some extraneous circumstances that operate from this time forward to carry him away from his present well formed ideas aud aspirations. I think he should be stimulated to pursue his scholastic work, which will unquestionably not only give him culture but also the breadth and depth necessary to the practice of law and valuable in any pursuit. "
ADDISON PERRY MOORE. The commercial life of Tyler, Texas, has since 1880 known the influence and activities of Addison Perry Moore, and the part he has played in the industrial and financial progress of the city has been no insignificant one. As president of the Moore Grocery Company, a wholesale house with branches at several points in East Texas, his operations are wide in their scope in that field alone, and as vice president of the Guaranty State Bank he maintains a position of importance in financial circles of the city.
Addison Perry Moore was born in Alabama, in De- cember, 1857, and came of a family of slave-holding planters. His father, Frank Moore, was born near Cheraw, South Carolina, and died in Tyler, Texas, in 1897, at the age of sixty-eight. He was married in his early days in Alabama to Miss Alice Silliman, the daugh- ter of a North Carolina man, who died before his family of sixteen children were all reared. Of this numerous progeny twelve were boys, four of whom became doctors, four ministers and four farmers, and each of them ac- quitted himself in his particular field of activity in a mauner that was a distinct credit to the father and mother who called theni into existence. Dr. James Silliman of Palestine was one of the sons, and at his death he left a splendid estate and a son in the same profession who is continuing his father's work and devoting his life to the welfare of humanity.
Frank Moore became a prosperous planter of Alabama in the years prior to the Civil war period, and with the outbreak of the Civil war the loss of his hundred or more slaves gave him a financial blow from which he never quite recovered. He held fast to his farm, however, and enjoyed the comforts of his home place until the weight of years forced his retirement from active work, when he left his Alabama home and moved to Texas in order to be near his sons, and located in Tyler. His faithful wife passed away in 1896, when she was sixty- four years of age. Their children were seven in number and concerning them brief mention is here incorporated as follows: John S., the eldest, served through the war in the Confederacy, he later entered the ministry of the Presbyterian church, moved to Sherman, Texas, where he built the First Presbyterian church and was its honored pastor for almost a quarter of a century before death claimed him. Mary died in Tyler, Texas, as Mrs. Newton Priestwood; Susan is the wife of Mark Sledge of Smith county, Texas; W. R. died in Austin, Texas; Sarah P. married Strother Burke and died in Tyler; Hettie is Mrs. A. G. Boyd of Livingston, Ala- bama, and Addison Perry, of this review, is the youngest of the seven.
Addison P. Moore acquired a liberal education in the Cooper Institute in Lauderdale county, Alabama, and he came to Texas before he had attained his majority. He came to the state in the company of his brother, W. R., now deceased, on the return of the latter from a visit to the Alabama home, and he began his business life and career as a partner of one Mr. Phillips in the grocery business. After a little more than a year in this connection Mr. Phillips died and thereafter Mr. Moore carried on the retail business, with a jobbing de-
partment in connection, and he continued so until 1893, when he embarked in the wholesale business and put two men on the road in his interests. He ran the business under his own name, and though he was young in years he was successful in business and so marked was his success individually that he had no difficulty in securing additional capital for the enlarging of the activities of the firm. He first took a Mr. Starr into the firm and the firm known as the Moore-Starr Grocery Company did business until John B. Mayfield came into the partner- ship, when his name was added, making the firm name the Moore-Starr-Mayfield Grocery Company. Subse- quent developments caused the various partners one by one to withdraw from the business, and in due time Mr. Moore had by purchase come to be the sole owner and proprietor of the establishment, and it was then that the Moore Grocery Company was incorporated for $200,- 000, with A. P. Moore as president, A. F. Sledge as vice president and H. R. Moore of Houston as secretary and treasurer. Branch houses have been established at Palestine, Longview and Pittsburg, and a force of four- teen salesmen wait on the trade of the system, cover- ing East Texas in the most comprehensive manner. They have a well established and ever growing trade in this section of the state, and handle their trade in a manner that is highly conducive to continued patronage and augurs well for the future fortunes of this flourish- ing system of grocery supply.
It is especially pleasing to contemplate the splendid success of this concern when it is remembered that Mr. Moore came to Texas without capital and without those less tangible assets known as prospects. He had nothing but his innate energy and ability, but they have been suf- ficient to permit him to demonstrate his capabilities as a merchant and made it possible for him to meet in the most telling manner every emergency arising from the demands of trade. His present connection shows him to be a strong factor in the commercial field of the state and his position as vice president of the Guaranty State Bank speaks sufficiently well of his standing as a financier. His home at No. 503 South Fannie avenue, in Tyler, is a handsome one and marks a striking contrast between the man of today and the boy of tender years who made his advent into Tyler iu 1880. Mr. Moore has given valuable public service as a member of the board of education, on which he served for many years, and as au alderman of the city, but he is in no sense of the term a politician, giving but little time to the activities of any of the political factions.
Mr. Moore has been twice married. He was first married on March 17, 1886, in Crockett, Texas, to Miss Mary Aldrich, a daughter of Oliver Aldrich. Mrs. Moore died in 1900, leaving two sons,-Aldrich, now a traveling salesman for the Moore Grocery Company, and Addison. On June 7, 1902, Mr. Moore was married in Nevada City, California, to Miss Rachel Morgan, a daughter of the venerable John T. Morgan, a Welchman, who pioneered to California in 1855 and there became a successful business man and banker. Mr. and Mrs. Moore met while attending the World's Sunday School Convention of the Presbyterian church at Denver, in 1901, both being mem- bers of that deuomination, and their marriage resulted in consequence of that meeting. The home life of this couple has been most idyllic in all its phases, and they have two sons,-John Morgan and William Aubrey. Mr. and Mrs. Moore are both enthusiastic church work- eis and are immersed in the activities of the various departments of their church in Tyler. Mr. Moore is an Elder, and has represented his church and congregation in Presbyteries and Synods at various times, and at- tended the General Assembly of the church at Mobile, Alabama. Their lives have been characterized by a strong religious faith and fervor, and both enjoy the esteem and hearty good will of all who share in their acquaintance and know them for what they are.
Leona A Lewis
fono M Lewis
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JOHN M. LEWIS. One of the substantial and honored citizens of Kaufman county, Mr. Lewis has been a res- ident of Texas since his boyhood days and is a scion of a sterling pioneer family that was founded in the Lone Star commonwealth nearly sixty years ago and about a decade after the admission of the state to the Union. He has marked the passing years with worthy acconi- plishment, has witnessed the development and upbuild- ing of the noble commonwealth that has long been his home, and is one of the representative citizens of Kauf- man county, his attractive home being a fine farm ad- joining the village of Forney, where he was formerly engaged in the mercantile business. Mr. Lewis has been one of the progressive men of Texas, has contributed materially to the civic and industrial advancement of the state, and he further has the distinction of having made a gallant record as a soldier of the Confederacy in the war between the states.
John M. Lewis was born in Marengo county, Alabama, on the 15th of April, 1842, and thus was a lad of four- teen years at the time of the family removal to Texas in the Christmas week of 1855. He is a son of John G. and Margaret (MeIntyre) Lewis, and is a scion of a patrician old Southern family, the name of which has been identified with the annals of American history since the early Colonial era. John G. Lewis was born in Pendleton district, South Carolina, in 1817, and was reared to maturity in Marengo county, Alabama, where his marriage was solemnized. In 1846 he removed with his family to Mississippi, where he became overseer on a large plantation. Finally he determined to come to the new state of Texas, and he set forth with teams and wagons, by means of which he transported his family and a limited supply of household effects. En route he stopped at Shreveport, Louisiana, as he found what promised to be profitable employment in connection with the grading of the new westward line of the Texas & Pacific Railroad. He utilized his teams in connection with the construction work and also lent a considerable sum of money to the contractors by whom he was em- ployed. After several weeks of service he found that his confidence had been greatly abused, as he not only failed to receive compensation for his work but also lost the money which he had advanced to his employers. Literally a poorer but wiser man, he proceeded on his way to Texas, and with the limited remaining funds in his possession he purchased a small tract of land on the east fork of the Trinity river, this embryonic home having been on the bleak prairie and remote fron civili- ration, Indians being the nearest neighbors. Mr. Lewis bravely faced the ordeal of reclaiming his land and providing a home for his family, and he labored with all of energy and determination, the while he endured his full share of the hardships incidental to pioneer life on the frontier. His farm was situated southwest of the present thriving town of Forney, Kaufman county, and there he continued his labors until he went forth in de- fense of the cause of the Confederacy, his life having been virtually sacrificed in this cause. He entered the Confederate service in company with his son, John M., subject of this review, and took part in the early engage- ments of the contending forces in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas, including the battle of Elkhorn. After receiving his honorable discharge he returned to his home, but later he re-enlisted and again went to Arkansas, where he was in service at the time he was stricken with the disease that terminated his life, at Little Rock, in 1864. He was a man of invincible in- tegrity in all the relations of life and lived up to the opportunities that came to him as one of the world's workers, both he and his wife having been members of the Methodist church. His first wife, whose maiden name was Margaret MeIntyre, was a daughter of John MeIntyre, of Marengo county, Alabama, and she was summoned to the life eternal in 1855. Of the children of this union it may be recorded that Elizabeth died, Vol. IV-10
unmarried, when a young woman; John M. is the imme- diate subject of this sketch; Susan became the wife of George Daugherty and was a resident of Texas at the time of her death; Bayless W. died in childhood; Pink- ney G. resides in Forney. Texas; Esther was a child at the time of her death; Christopher C. resides at Seago- ville, Dallas county, Texas; and William Edward died when a boy.
Madison Earle Lewis, grandfather of him whose name introduces this article, was born in South Carolina, in 1789, and he became a prosperous farmer in Alabama, where he also held a contract for the carrying of the United States mail by a stage route. He was com- paratively a young man at the time of his death. He wedded Mary Griffin, and of their children John G. was the eldest. The second son bore the name of Major, and the other children were Joseph, Sarah and Nancy, the elder daughter having become the wife of a man named Modawell and Naney having become the wife of Abrahamı S. Nail, who was a resident of Mississippi at the time of his death. Major John Lewis, father of Madison Earle Lewis, was a member of a staunch old Virginia family and was born about the middle of the eighteenth century. He was a patriot-soldier in the War of the Revolution, in which he served as a member of the Virginia company commanded by Captain Weeks, and he participated in the battles of Monmouth, Brandy- wine, Germantown, and Yorktown, besides the capture of Stony Point. Major Lewis became a citizen of prominence and influence in Rutherford county, North Carolina, where he was a leader in political affairs and where he served as county sheriff, two of his brothers having simultaneously held county office. He finally re- moved to Pendleton district, South Carolina, where he passed the residue of his life. Major Lewis married Annie Earle, who was born in 1763, and they became the parents of several children. Major Lewis was a son of John and Sarah (Taliaferro) Lewis, both natives of Virginia and representatives of old and honored Colo- nial families of that historie commonwealth.
John M. Lewis, to whom this sketch is dedicated, passed his childhood days in his native state and there received his rudimentary education. He was fourteen years of age at the time of the family removal to Texas and he was reared to maturity in the county where he still has his home. He attended the pioneer schools in Kaufman county.
Mr. Lewis was eighteen years of age at the time of the inception of the Civil War, and he promptly mani- fested his loyalty to the Confederacy by enlisting as a private in Company A, Sixth Texas Cavalry, commanded by Colonel Sullivan Ross. He took part in the battle of Elkhorn, Arkansas, and thereafter accompanied his command when its crossed the Mississippi river and went to the aid of Beauregard's army, at Corinth, Mississippi. He took part in the engagement at that point and also in the military operations incidental to the closing of the Vicksburg campaign, after which his regiment be- came a part of the Army of Tennessee, under General Joseph E. Johnstone, and took part in the Atlanta cam- paign, after which the Sixth Texas Cavalry accompanied General Hood's forces back to Tennessee. There Mr. Lewis took part in the battles of Franklin and Nash- ville, and in the engagement at Anthony's Hill he was shot in the left breast, the missile penetrating just above his heart. On the retreat from Nashville he was taken prisoner for a second time, his first capture having been in connection with the Holly Spring raid, in Mis- sissippi, from which state he was taken as a prisoner of war to Camp Douglas, in the city of Chicago. He was released on parole and his exchange was soon afterward effected, at City Point, Virginia. He rejoined his regi- ment in Mississippi and thence went forth as a partici- pant in the Atlanta campaign. After his second capture he was soon released, this action being taken by his captors when they discovered the serious nature of his
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