A history of Texas and Texans, Part 45

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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wound. He finally made his way to the home of his uncle, Abraham S. Nail, in Mississippi, where he recu- perated and where he remained several months after the close of the war. He arrived at his home, in Kaufman county, Texas, in September, 1865.

Mr. Lewis' first occupation after the close of his military career was in the gathering of seed for hedges, and this product he sold to northern hedge-growers at a good price. By this means he acquired his first cash capital. He then obtained employment on the Daugh- erty stock ranch, in Kaufman county, and for two years he represented this extensive ranch in the marketing of cattle at Shreveport and Jefferson. He then engaged in agricultural pursuits, on a small tract of land near Forney, and to this line of enterprise he continued to give his attention until 1880, when he established him- self in the general merchandise business at Forney. He became one of the most successful and popular merchants of this part of Kaufman county and long controlled a substantial and representative trade. He continued his mercantile business until 1910, when be sold the same, and he has since lived virtually retired, though he finds ample demands upon his time and attention in the gen- eral supervision of his fine landed estate, lying adjacent to Forney. He here owns a tract of more than six hundred acres, and the practical work of the place is given over to desirable tenants. Mr. Lewis bas made the best of improvements upon his estate and has made the same one of the model places of the northeastern part of Texas. In 1910 he erected his handsome resi- dence, which is of the bungalow type, with spacious rooms and wide galleries encircling the building, and this ideal home is known as a center of gracious but unostentatious hospitality.

Mr. Lewis has not only achieved distinctive success through the medium of his own ability and well directed efforts, but he has also shown marked civic loyalty and public spirit. He has been prominently identified with the upbuilding of the town of Forney, where he has erected a number of business buildings, which he still owns, as does he also other local realty upon which be has made excellent improvements. He is a director of the cotton-oil company at Forney, which owns the light and ice plants in this village, and is also a stockholder of the Farmers' National Bank. Mr. Lewis has inviolable place in the confidence and esteem of the community that has long represented his home, has served as a member of the board of aldermen of Forney, and from 1878 to 1884 he held the office of county commissioner, the county court house having been completed and furnished within the period of his service as a member of the board of commissioners. He has ever been ready to lend his co-operation in the furtherance of measures and enterprises projected for the general good of the community, and in politics he is aligned as an uncom- promising supporter of the cause of the Democratic party. He is one of the substantial capitalists of Kauf- man county, is a representative citizen of this part of the state, is genial, sincere and kindly in his associa- tion with his fellow men, and he has reason to be well satisfied with the results of his many years of earnest endeavor, as well as with the gracious conditions that compass him now that he is permitted to enjoy the rewards of worthy and productive effort.

In 1867 Mr. Lewis wedded Miss Leona Dunnica, who was born in Cherokee county, this state, in 1850, and who is a daughter of the late John Dunnica, an honored Texas pioneer who came to this state from Kentucky during the Republic of Texas. In conclusion of this sketch is entered brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis: Edward C., who died in Kauf- man county, married Miss Sallie Kelley, who survives him, as do also two children-Emma, who is the wife of M. G. Vernon, of Strawn, Palo Pinto county, and Jennie, who is the wife of Wallace E. Jones, of Forney. Frank, who is a representative business man of Forney,

wedded Miss Elizabeth Dice. Miss Kate Lewis remains at the parental home. Jessie is the wife of Madison Brooks, who is engaged in the insurance business in Forney and who is a member of the board of county commissioners at the time of this writing, in 1914. John A., who is a prosperous farmer in Van Zandt county, married Miss Lillian Pendleton. Frederick M., who is engaged in the insurance business at Forney and who was graduated in the law department of Cumber- land University, at Lebanon, Tennessee, married Miss Laura Foster.

GEORGE J. COOK. The only proper way to measure success in life is to estimate the obstacles overcome. Measured by these standards, there are few more suc- cessful men in Texas than George J. Cook, of Eustace. Some of the details. of his business career to be set down in a later paragraph, illustrate how men may often gain an exceptional success at a vocation for which they have absolutely no previous training, and in which apparently all the probabilities are against them.

The Cook family have been residents of Texas for many years, and was founded in this state by Joab Cook a Hardshell Baptist preacher in Rusk County. He sub- sequently moved further to Henderson, where he was also a pioneer, and died in Athens before the Civil war. He was the father of twenty-two children by two wives. Several of the children of his first marriage died before maturity, and the others are mentioned as follows: Thomas, who died in Henderson county, leaving a family; George, who also left a family at his death; John, who died in Texas with a family; Francis M., mentioned in the following paragraphs; Becky, who married James Simmons, and died in Navarro county, Texas; Hettie, twin sister of Becky, who married Dr. Glover, and is now deceased; Emily, who married a Crosby, and died in Nacogdoches. By the second wife of Joab Cook, the following children were born: Benjamin, who died in Hill county, Texas, left a family there; Stephen, who has his home in Nacogdoches county; Joseph, who died and left a family; Margaret, wife of William Box of Henderson county; Cumile, who died the wife of Mr. Jess Davis in Henderson county; and Hannah, who married Amos Etheridge and resides in Navarro county.

Francis M. Cook was born in 1831. The circumstances of his childhood and youth prevented his getting even the first elements of book learning. He went through life without knowing the letters of the alphabet or being able to write his name. Notwithstanding that handicap he competed successfully with his fellow men, and at his death, November 21st, 1910, left a good estate. He was very sagacious in the barter and exchange of com- modities, and by close attention to details gained a generous prosperity. He brought under cultivation some two hundred acres of land in the vicinity of Eustace. He was a staunch Democrat and stood for righteousness in business as well as in society. Because of physical weakness he was unable to carry a musket during the war, but he was loyal to the Confederacy and did some important work within the boundaries of the state. He never missed an election and voted the Democratic ticket from early manhood until late in life. Francis M. Cook married Miss Catherine Star, a daughter of John Starr, who came from Illinois to Texas, Mrs. Cook having been born in the former state in 1839. The Starr family moved to Texas in 1843 and settled in Cherokee county. Francis M. Cook and wife had the following children: Thomas, who died in childhood; Jane, who married F. M. Leach, and resides in Henderson county; Catherine, who died in infancy; Ellen, who married John A. Owen, and lives in Henderson county; M. W., whose home is in Navarro county; Henrietta, who married James E. Rogers of Henderson county; John, whose bome is in Navarro county; George J., of Eustace; Robert, who died in childhood; Albert J., of Eustace; Cora, wife of R. S. Carpenter, of Jones county, Texas; Edward, also

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in Jones county; Edgar, a twin of Edward, who died as a child; Emily Ann, who died in infancy, and Jesse C., whose home is in Jones County.

It was in Tarrant county that George J. Cook was born January 18, 1867. His home and business activities have been centered about Eustace all his career. When a boy he started in to bear the share of the family burdens, and he did so much work on the home place that he had practically no time to attend school, and his education gave him only the ability to spell out the words and read very slowly and stumblingly, to work the four general rules of arithmetic, and display a very poor hand åt penmanship. He had never written a letter when he started out as a merchant, yet in spite of those adverse conditions he has made a useful citizen and a financial success in life. Mr. Cook remained with his parents until he was twenty-two years of age, at which time he began farming for himself, and by four erops gained a capital of five hundred dollars. At Payne Springs, he established a store with a stock of goods valued at one hundred and fifty-three dollars. The bills submitted to him by the wholesale house showing cost of articles and indicating prices for selling were as so much Greek to him. For a time he sold goods at half what they cost him or double the amount, as the case happened to be. He worked over his bills, made a study of his business like a child learning his letters, and mastered the situation after great mental strain and much embarrassment in correspondence. He knew nothing of literary composition, spelled poorly, and his capitalization was in hit or miss fashion. Persistency and hard work will conquer many difficulties. At first his business little more than paid its way, and he helped out hy chopping cotton and pulling fodder while watch- ing his store and training himself for merchandising. At the end of ten years he had gained a success prob- ably much above his original expectations, and he sold out his stock of goods at five thousand dollars, that amount representing his net earnings during his ten years. In 1903, Mr. Cook moved to Eusface, and estab- lished a store there. He was a member of the firm of Cook & Campbell, whose establishment at the end of one year burned out with a net loss of six thousand dollars. With the insurance money of three thousand dollars the firm resumed business and after several months Mr. Cook purchased the interests of his partner, and continued alone for six years. Nearly twenty years of close atten- tion to business had proved a severe strain upon his energies, and he then sold out and retired from general merchandising. In order to get more of outdoor employ- ment, in November, 1912, he bought the lumber busi- ness of his father-in-law, the enterprise which he still has. Mr. Cook's net capital when he began business has already been stated. His preparation for a commercial life has been briefly suggested, and something of the suc- cess he has attained may be inferred from the sub- stantial interest he now owns in Eustace. He built one of the best pressed-brick stores in Eustace, has a home ample for the comforts of his family, and also consider- able property besides the stock of his lumber yards. He is vice-president and a director of the state bank of Eustace.

On December 11, 1910, Mr. Cook married Miss Lillie Melton, a daughter of Joab Melton, who was born on the site of the old brick hotel in Athens, Texas, in 1856, a son of Josiah Melton, who came to Texas as a young man and settled in Henderson county. Through several generations the Melton family have been prominent in Texas, but the record does not extend back beyond Josiah Melton, who was an orphan. Josiah married in Henderson county. Miss Emeline MeMannus, a daugh- ter of Joab MeMannus, a pioneer Missouri settler, who lived for a number of years near Athens, and who died in 1906, at the age of eighty-seven. Joah MeMannus married Rebecca Eads, and their children were Emeline and Mary, the latter the wife of John T. Paschal of

Murchison, Texas. Josiah Melton moved to a farm ten miles north of Athens, soon after the birth of his son Joab, and died there in 1859. His widow subsequently married Hamp Phillips, and had children as follows: Thomas, Elijah, Rhoda, wife of O. T. Jeter, and Jacob, all of Henderson county. The children of Josiah Mel- ton were: Leonidas, who died a few years ago at Shrevesport, Louisiana, Joab, and John-both the latter of Oklahoma.

Joab Melton grew up on the farm where his mother now lives and continued farming until he reached his majority, in the meantime getting a country school edu- cation, with also two or three years of training in the Goshen school, which was then an educational center of much importance. He began clerking at Goshen, and subsequently got into store keeping for himself. After twenty years he moved to Eustace in 1900, and estab- lished the lumber business which was conducted with. much success by him until it was sold to Mr. Cook, in November, 1912. Among other interests, Joab Melton has been identified with farm development and increased the material resources of Eustace by the erection of a good home, and in other ways. He served as president of the school board at the time the new school house was erected, and had active control of the work as superintendent. He is an elder in the Christian church. and a Democrat in politics. Joah Melton was married November 9, 1885, to Miss Nannie Whatley, of Bell county, Texas, and a daughter of William Whatley, a farmer from east Texas. The Melton children are: Lottie, now Mrs. Cook; and Clara, wife of Simmons MeLaughlin, of Eustice, the MeLaughlin children being Bueford and Gladys.

To the marriage of George J. Cook and Miss Lillie Melton were born the following children: Lillian Ruth and Oscar Branch.

WILLIAM H. LEASE. Official honors were never be- stowed more fittingly than on William H. Lease, present county and district clerk for Brewster county, with resi- dence in Alpine. Mr. Lease has spent more than twenty- five years in western Texas, and is a product of the old cattle range, and the activities which preceded the pres- ent era of modern stock farming. He was thrown on his own responsibilities when but a child, and began riding the range when he had difficulty in reaching up to the pommel of his broncho saddle. He learned the cattle industry in all of its. details, and this practical and diversified experience was the foundation of the pros- perity which he won for himself. For many years he has been in the cattle business on his own account, and now owns a splendid ranch in Brewster county.

William H. Lease was born in Edwards county, Texas, August 7, 1868. When he was three years of age his father died, and the mother had passed away somewhat sooner, so that he was reared in the family of a step- mother. Such education as he attained was from the country schools at limited periods of attendance, and when he was thirteen years old he began the battle of life on his own account. He took a position with the firm of Hurd, Finley & Kerr at Uvalde, and was quickly initiated into all the activities of the cattle range. He began at a salary of $20.00 per month, and continued working at a salary in different parts of the state until 1886. He then came out to Brewster county, where he accumulated a little herd of cattle, and during the next dozen years or so was energetically engaged in building up a ranch enterprise of his own. He has long since been numbered among the prosperous cattlemen of Brewster county, and his ranch in this county, located about fifty miles from Alpine, is a valuable property, and is still carried on under his non-resident management.

Mr. Lease has one brother and one sister in Texas. Mrs. Mary Kelso is a resident of Sabinal, where her hus- band is engaged in business; and Thomas M. is unmar- ried and is a rancher in Presidio county. At Alpine, on

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November 13, 1898, Mr. Lease married Miss Mollie Shoe- make, whose father, James Shoemake, was a former resident of LaSalle county, this state. Mr. and Mrs. Lease are the parents of seven children, five sons and two daughters whose names are William A., Gladys, Mamie, Thomas M., Clarence A., Henry O., and Norma A. The family worship in the Baptist church, and Mrs. Lease is a member of the Ladies Aid Society of that church. Fraternally Mr. Lease is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World, the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows and the Pretorians. As a good citizen of his community he is an interested member of the Alpine Commercial Club and also belongs to the social club known as the Mountaineers. It was on the Democratic ticket that he was elected to his present office as county and district clerk, but his popularity as a citizen and well known standing in the community were sufficient of themselves to have been honored with such an office. As an old cattleman, he still finds his greatest pleasure in riding out over the country on a good horse and among his cattle. He is particularly fond of a good speech or lecture, and says that he enjoys hear- ing a smart man talk no matter on what subject he may choose.

JUDGE GARLAND SMITH. The public administration of Jasper county affairs is in excellent hands, under the direction of Judge Garland Smith, now serving his first term as county judge. Judge Smith is a lawyer by profession, and represents the fourth generation. of a family which has been identified with Texas since the year of the Revolution.

Judge Smith was born in Gaudalupe county, Texas, in 1882. His parents were Guy French and Mary J. (Johnston) Smith, and his paternal grandsire was French Smith, a native of Virginia and a Texas pioneer who located in this state in 1836, the year in which the bat- tle of San Jacinto was fought, and in which the Texas Republic was established. He located in Gaudalupe county, at a place twelve miles from Seguin and four miles from Belmont, and there he long was resident. One of his daughters, Mrs. Dowdy, still resides on that old farm. French Smith saw service as a soldier in the Mexican war, enlisting from Texas, and was active in much of the strenuous life of early Texas, as many will be found to testify. He was a man of unique and in many ways pleasing characteristics, and much has been written and said of him in Texas publications. An ar- ticle, especially happy in its portrayal of the character of the pioneer Texan, was published in a Seguin paper in 1900, under the caption of "In Old Seguin" and under the initials "S. S. P." This article so faithfully portrays the Colonel in his many little oddities and at the same time depicts his bigness of character, that generous quotation is here made verbatim from the sketch, with due credit accorded to the author, "S. S. P." The ar- ticle follows in part: "Associated with our recollections is the tall form and classic features of Col. French Smith, who was one among the earliest settlers in Seguin -in fact, one of the original shareholders of the town. A Virginian by birth, a gentleman by nature, a man of many oddities, a citizen of many virtues, a man whose mouth was full of strange oaths but whose heart was full of human kindness-such was French Smith.

"Colonel Smith was one of several brothers. Peter, Paris and Anderson are the names of the brothers now remembered by the writer. They came to Texas in an early day and all saw more or less service in the military organizations of the infant republic. French Smith as a soldier was, as in everything else, a remarkable and distinctive character. Though ever ready to go forth to combat in defense of his country and in de- fense of the scattered families of the settlers,. he was never a member of an organized company in Texas. He was a free lance; he sought no leadership himself, but he acknowledged no leadership in any other man as far

as he personally was concerned. He merely asked the privilege of fighting if fighting was to be done. His name was found upon no other muster roll. Were he alive today he could not be placed upon the pension roll of veterans of the Mexican war, yet he participated in many bloody battles with the Mexicans and Indians.

"He claimed on all occasions that he had been in Texas since 'the year one,' and he disliked exceedingly to hear a man styled 'an old Texan' who had only been in Texas twenty-five or thirty years. We remem- ber on one occasion we attended a Democratic barbecue near the mouth of Mill Creek. It was a presidential election year and there were numerous speakers pres- ent. One of them, one of the most gifted orators the county ever possessed, had closed one of his character- istic speeches in which he more than once had alluded to the fact that he was an old Texan, and had lived in Texas twenty-four years. Colonel Smith had not spoken, and with the close of Judge B. 's address, there came calls of 'Colonel Smith! Colonel Smith! A speech!' Slowly the giant form of the old man mounted the rostrum and for a moment his keen blue eyes scanned the vast audience before him. After a few preliminary remarks the speaker launched into one of the most stirring appeals to the people to stand by the Democracy that it was ever our fortune to hear. His speech was an appeal to the friends of good government, denuncia- tion of the party in power, a quaint medley of persua- sive eloquence, savage denunciation, pathos, wit, humor and anecdote. He alluded to the long years he had spent in devotion to the service of his adopted state, Texas, on the battlefield and otherwise, and that he, in truth, was entitled to call himself an 'old Texan.' Turning to Colonel B., who sat near by, Colonel Smith with ridicule in every twinkle of his eye and feature of his face, con- tinued: 'My dear friend, Colonel B., has been pleased during the course of his remarks, to call himself an "old Texan," and to announce to you the fact that he has lived in Texas twenty-four years. Why, fellow citizens, when Colonel B. can say that he has lived in Texas half as long as French Smith, then he can begin to call himself an "old Texan." Seguin is now a thriving town and was a thriving town when Colonel B. first saw Texas. Yet, fellow citizens, old French Smith slept with his saddle under his head in what is now the public square of Seguin when this country was a howling wilder- ness; he has met and fought the wild Comanche Indian in his mountain fastnesses and picked the bones of the buffalo on these western prairies when Colonel B. was a sucking babe.'

"The speaker descended from the platform amidst a burst of laughter and applause, and Col. B., though somewhat taken aback by the quaint comparison of their respective claims to the title of 'Old Texan,' warmly · shook the hand of the old veteran and congratulated him upon his excellent speech.

"On one occasion, many years ago, Colonel Smith vis- ited a neighboring town while district court was in ses- sion, and being, as we suspect, in a somewhat hilarious mood, did, or omitted to do something in the presence of the court which his Honor thought merited a fine for contempt, and forthwith caused the clerk to enter a very heavy fine against the Colonel, and committed him to the custody of the sheriff until the fine be paid. The sheriff, not anticipating that the Colonel would take 'French leave,' was a little lax in his watch, and the Colonel, seeing a good opportunity, quietly mounted his horse and rode away to Seguin, congratulating himself on the easy manner in which he had for the time being got out of a rather bad box. Time passed on and another term of district court was about to convene in the same town, and Colonel Smith concluded it would be well to go over and settle his fine, which he did in the most remarkable way a fine was ever settled before.

"It appears that between times there had been a change of Judge, Clerk and Sheriff. The new Judge

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was to hold his first term of court in the county and he was totally unknown to the sheriff and clerk of the court, as was also Colonel Smith. The Colonel arrived in town and learned that the new judge had not arrived but was expected to arrive and open court at any moment. An idea occurred to the Colonel, and he wended his way with much dignity to the court house. Entering the room he was promptly addressed as 'judge' by the new sheriff and clerk who were in attendance. Very gravely the Colonel assumed the Judge's seat and said, 'Mr. Sheriff, open the court. Mr. Clerk, give me the docket.' After turning the leaves for a while he said: 'Mr. Clerk, I observe that at the last term of court a very heavy fine was unjustly imposed upon Col. French Smith, an honorable and very respectable citizen of Seguin, and I shall exercise my first judicial authority as judge of this district in relieving Colonel Smith of the unmerited stigma upon his character. Therefore, Mr. Clerk, you will enter an order remitting the fine imposed upon Colonel Smith for contempt of court at the last term of this court, and I shall so mark it on the docket. Mr. Sheriff, it is late, and having traveled a long distance, the Court is tired and needs rest and refreshment. Please proclaim an adjournment of this court until to- morrow morning at nine o'clock.' Which was accord- ingly done and the crowd dispersed, remarking that though the session was short, the new Judge graced the bench with much dignity, and that his first official act was one of justice to a much injured individual.

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A history of Texas and Texans, Part 45

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