A history of Texas and Texans, Part 47

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 47

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James R. Harper received his early education iu the public schools of Denton county, the same being followed by a course in the University of Texas where he took the junior course in law. Upon leaving college he re- turned to his home town and there resumed the study of law, gaining admittance to the bar in 1590, when he came to El Paso and took up the practice of his profes- sion. El Paso has from that day represented his home and the scene of his principal legal activities and he has gained a name and fame far in excess of that which is accorded to the average aspirant for legal honors.

Two years after locating here Judge Harper was elected to the office of Justice of the Peace, in which he continued for one term. In 1896 he was elected county Judge. in which office he served until 1902. He was in the latter year chosen for the office of District Attorney, in which he continued until September, 1904, when he was appointed District Judge to fill an unex- pired term. He was elected to the office of district judge at the succeeding election, so well did he acquit him- self in the discharge of his duties, and served until December 1, 1912, when he was appointed to the post of chief justice of the court of the Eighth Supreme Judi- cial District, again to fill out an unexpired term. This appointment resulted in his election to the office at the next election, and he is now serving on the bench as Chief Justice of the district. In his various offices Judge Harper has dispensed a quality of justice that has ad- mitted of no questionings, and he has proven the calibre of his judgeship to be of the highest order.

As a Democrat, stanch and true, he has taken an active interest in local and state politics, and has been fore- most in the political battles that have been waged in his district since he came to be a voter and a man of affairs. By reason of his early initiation in the realm of public office, Judge Harper maintains little or no private practice, the duties of his office restraining him from giving attention to private matters.

Judge Harper is fraternally identified with the Bener- olent and Protective Order of Elks and is a member of the Christian Church, although Mrs. Harper has member- ship in the Presbyterian Church of El Paso. The marriage of Judge Harper took place on June 30, 1910, when Clara Belle Deason, the daughter of Mrs. Mary B. Deason, of Denton county, Texas, became his wife. Two children have been born to them, Mary Elizabeth and Frank. Mrs. Harper is prominent socially in El Paso, and has a leading place in the club life of the city, while she takes a wholesome interest in charitable and philanthropie work in her home community, and is president of a local school organization.

Judge Harper has naught but the kindest of things to say for the state of Texas, and regards it as a place where honest effort will never fail of its material reward. He lays especial stress upon the abundant opportuni- ties that are open to the man who is upon farming bent, and sees for such men the brightest possible future.

JOHN K. WEBSTER, M. D. To a profession which probably has the largest range of social service, Dr. Webster has given his energies and talents for a period of over twenty years, and since 1907 has been active in practice at Athens, in which neighborhood he was reared from childhood. Dr. Webster is well qualified for the work of a physician, and though a quiet, unassuming gentleman, has often exercised his influence for the welfare of his home town and county.

Dr. John K. Webster was born at Carthage, North Carolina, February 6, 1867. The original ancestor in America was Simeon Webster, who came from Ireland to the colonies about thirty years before the Revolution. It is believed that he and all his sons then old enough fought as soldiers in the colonial army, and Simeon is said to have been killed in the Battle of Monmouth. The father of Dr. Webster was William J. Webster, who was a member of a family comprising also the sons Thomas, Richard, Henry and George. All these served as Confederate soldiers, and George and Henry gave their lives to the southern flag at the battle of Gettysburg. William J. Webster was born at Pitts- boro in Chatham county, North Carolina, in 1833, and was reared upon an old-time plantation with its many slaves to perform the heavy duties of both field and household. William J. Webster was a mechanic, a man of active mentality, had a fair training in the local schools, and developed his special bent by work as car- penter before the war. When that conflict between the

Teog, Bucky.

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states broke out he enlisted as a Confederate, and was commissioned an officer of his company some time dur- ing his service. Later he was detached from his com- mand for special duty in his state, and at the final sur- render he and his comrades disbanded and left the field. The disappointment he suffered at the termination of the war told upon him throughout his life, and he seemed to have experienced little satisfaction in the political or social sphere of our national life thereafter. He took no part in Confederate Veterans' reunion, and as little interest in politics as an observant of the ordinary proprieties would sanction. His strong prejudices would have made him a Democrat even if his ideas as to pub- lie policies had not themselves drawn him into the ranks of that party. He served as a member of the first board of aldermen at Athens, and aided in starting the machinery of local government. He was also an elder in the Presbyterian church.

William J. Webster brought his family from Carthage, Moore county, North Carolina, to Texas, in 1872. The trip to Texas was made by boat as far as New Orleans, and then by a river boat up to Shreveport, whence they followed the Texas and Pacific Railroad to Hall- ville, which was then its terminus. From there they took a wagon overland to Palestine, where the family lived one year, and in 1873 reached Athens. At Athens, William J. Webster resumed his trade, and for a num- ber of years was busy with the construction of many homes and other buildings in Athens and vicinity. Such has been the material growth of the county seat in re- cent years that few of those buildings stand. His death occurred at Athens when seventy-two years six months of age, and his wife died in 1896. Her maiden name was Isabel Kelly, a daughter of Angus Kelly of North Carolina. Their children were: Daniel; Dr. John K .; Nannie, the wife of Mr. Adams of Athens; and Mollie, who married a Mr. Weaver.

Dr. Webster was eight years of age when the family moved to Athens, and after getting a common schooling, his first experience was in working under his father at carpentry, and also at farming. He later entered the Kentucky School of Medicine at Louisville, where he was graduated M. D. in the class of 1891. Returning to Texas he began his practice of Malakoff, where he re- mained and enjoyed a large and prosperous patronage until 1907. In that year he moved to Athens, opened his office, and has since enjoyed the best of professional connections. In 1900 Dr. Webster took a post-graduate course in New Orleans Polyclinic. He is a member of the County and State Medical Societies, and has served as president of the Henderson county society. Through his profession he has also given some public service, chiefly through the office of health and county physician. His polities are revealed only when he votes the Democratic ticket. Dr. Webster is an elder in the Presbyterian church.

In February, 1897, was celebrated the marriage of Dr. Webster with Miss Mattie Smith, a daughter of W. C. Smith, of the mercantile house of Smith & Smith at Malakoff in Henderson county. Mrs. Webster's family are old and respected residents of this part of Texas. The children of the doctor and wife are Mary Belle, born in 1898; Flora, born in 1903; and William Smith, born in 1906. The family home is on Tyler Street in Athens.

FREDERICK J. BURKEY. Thirteen years of continued residence in Houston have brought to Frederick J. Burkey a prominence among the more solid citizens of the community of which he is well worthy. In these years he has been active in the veterinary field and with his son, Fred H. Burkey, carried on a widespread prac- tice as a veterinary surgeon of especial ability. Though a resident of Texas since 1890, it was not until the year of the Galveston disaster that he located in Houston, his first ten years in Texas being spent in Galveston.

Mr. Burkey, it should be said, is a native son of Illinois. He was born in Jonesboro, that state, on October 21, 1859, and is the son of John B. and Eliza- beth (Von Thierstein) Burkey, both natives of Switzer- land, who came to the United States in about 1859. They made their first American home in Illinois, and became citizens of genuine worth. The father, in fact, gave his life for the best interests of his adopted country, for when the war broke out he enlisted in the Union army, and later died in Cincinnati as a result of wounds received at the battle of Fort Donelson.

The boyhood of Frederick Burkey was one attended by a good many hardships, his orphaned state being an unenviable one, and his early education was of such an order as to be an almost negligible factor. Of schooling he had but little, and it might be said with all propriety that he secured his education in the well known school of "hard knocks." He was not one to submit easily to the ill winds of Fortune, and it is much to his eredit that he was, through various means, able to make his way through the Chicago Veterinary College, from which he was graduated in 1890.

In the year of his graduation, Dr. Burkey came to Texas, locating almost immediately in Galveston, where for ten years he gave himself to the work of his pro- fession. During that time he spent four years as a special student at the Medical Department of the Uni- versity of Texas, at Galveston, devoting his studies mainly to microscopical work in that institution and furthering his professional efficiency greatly as a result thereof. In 1900, when Galveston was destroyed by the great tidal wave that inundated the city, Dr. Burkey came out of the disaster financially ruined. Precisely speaking, he possessed fifty cents in actual coin of the realm when he began to look about him after the blow fell. Thus it was that Dr. Burkey began life over again after ten years of faithful work, but this time he took up his professional labors in a new field, Houston being the city of his choice.

Dr. Burkey has never had occasion to regret his choice of a new location, for he has prospered most happily in this city. He has an excellent following in his profes- sion, and is highly regarded among well known veteri- nary surgeons of the South.

Aside from his professional duties, Dr. Burkey has found time to devote to other affairs, and he is today one of the most prominent Masons in Texas. It is worthy of mention that he has gained his high position in the old and honored order as a result of his actual labors in the interests of the society. For several years past he has been chairman of the Board of Masonic Relief, and he devotes a generous portion of his time to this work, which is among the most important branches of its activities. His titles and offices in the Masonic order may be briefly mentioned as follows: Past Worshipful Master of Gray Lodge, No. 329, A. F. & A. M .; Past High Priest of Washington Chapter, No. 2, R. A. M .; Past Eminent Commander of Ruthven Commandery, Knights Templar; Past Wise Master of Lodge of Perfection, A. & A. S. R. He is also a mem- ber of El Mina Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., and a member of Texas Consistory, No. 1, being a Mason of the thirty-second degree. His most recent Masonic honor was conferred upon him on October 21, 1913, when he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Court of Honor of the Supreme Council, A. & A. S. R. This last honor is directly due to the excellent work Dr. Burkey has done in his varied important Masonic connections, and comes as a Reward of Merit, as one might say, at the hands of his Masonic brothers. As such, it is a distinction of which he may well be proud, and it is undeniable that he has added not a little to the excellencies of the manifold activities of the order in this state.

In the year 1877 Dr. Burkey was married to Miss Anna Grunert, who was then a resident of Milwaukee,

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Wisconsin. Three children have been born to them. Emma, the eldest, is the wife of F. M. Whitman, a resident of Houston, while Fred H. and Frances are still members of the family home circle. The Burkey residence is maintained at 1711 Preston avenue.

D. LEON SANDERS, M. D., of Wills Point, where he has been engaged in practice since 1906, is the repre- sentative of one of the oldest families in the south, members of the family having been identified with affairs in Alabama, North Carolina and Texas for sev- eral generations past.

Born in Ben Wheeler, Texas, on October 2, 1871, Dr. Sanders is the son of Levi L. Sanders, a retired mer- chant and farmer of Ben Wheeler, himself the son of Benjamin Sanders, a blacksmith of Jackson county, Alabama. The latter was killed by the Federals dur- ing the war of the sixties. He was born in North Caro- lina, and was the son of an Irishman of that state, who died in Alabama when he was more than one hundred years of age. He had two sons and six daughters, and one of his sons was Levi L., the father of Dr. Sanders of this review.

Levi L. Sanders was born in Jackson county, Alabama, in 1837, and he learned something of blacksmithing from his father while in his youth. He became dissatis- fied with his home while yet a mere boy and ran away, thinking to better his conditions and for a time he was employed on a Mississippi River Steamboat. When he reached Texas in 1848, he found a home with Rev. Nels King, of Rowlett, Dallas county, and he stayed there until he took unto himself a wife, Miss Susan Collins, who was a daughter of William and Minerva Collins. Our subject's mother had three brothers, Leon, Van and Tom, who were Texas Rangers and who were stationed at Ft. Worth with Gen. Worth, who was in command of the fort, Ft. Worth being named in honor of him. And it was through the three brothers' influ- ence that the Collins family came to Texas in the pio- neer days, and Collin county was named in honor of some of the Collins boys. Levi Sanders was a settler to Texas from Alabama. In Oak Cliff, Dallas county, he established his home. The town was then in embryo, and he opened a shop, engaged in blacksmithing, and continued there for a few years. He moved then to Brownsboro, in Henderson county, going there prior to the war, and after four years of residence there he joined the Confederate army as a mechanic in the com- pany of Captain Bridges, Company O, Sixth Texas Infan- try Regiment in General Ross's Brigade, and he was made brigade blacksmith by General Ross. He served through- out the war without accident or untoward happening, and when peace was restored he returned to his place at the anvil, moving his shop to Ben Wheeler, in Van Zandt county, continuing there in his trade until about 1870, when he established himself in the merchandise business in Ben Wheeler, continuing in that enterprise until 1905. During the passing years he prospered, in whatever line of business he was engaged in, and he acquired con- siderable farm lands thereabout and developed a num- ber of fine farms, at the same time engaging to a greater or less extent in the business of stock raising. He was well in the advance of his community in the introduction of blooded horses and cattle and in the breeding of fine mules, as well, and the influence he had thus spread abroad over a considerable portion of the country. He has ever been an active man in the Methodist church, and is a Master Mason. He is a Democrat, and as a veteran of the Civil war is an enthusiastic member of the Con- federate Veterans of the South.

The first wife of Levi L. Sanders died in 1877, and she left children as follows: Lorenzo Dow Sanders, who died in Smith county, Texas, in 1899, leaving a family: Henry W., died in Leon county, this state, also leaving a family; Mrs. H. J. Craft, of Canton, Texas; Mrs. H. E. Wallace, the wife of Dr. Wallace of Ovalo,

Texas; B. Franklin, a resident of Ben Wheeler, Texas; Josiah, who died unmarried; Dr. Leon, of this review; Mrs. T. C. Sharp, of Leon county, Texas; Levi S. died young, and James F., a merchant of Ben Wheeler, Texas. Later in life Mr. Sanders married Fannie Smith, the daughter of Nick Smith, a German resident of Ben Wheeler, and their children are Morgan G., county at- torney of Van Zandt county, and Grace; the wife of Henry Cates, a farmer of Van Zandt county.

Dr. Leon Sanders was born in Ben Wheeler, Texas, on October 2, 1871. When he had finished the common schools he studied in Alamo Institute, and then took a course in Transylvania University, being graduated therefrom with the degree of B. S. He entered the Kentucky School of Medicine at Louisville and was graduated there in 1894, after which he spent two years in school teaching in the country schools of Van Zandt county. When he was ready for medical practice he located at Edom, and he came to Wills Point in 1906, where he has since continued. Since his graduation Dr. Sanders has taken four post graduate courses in the New Orleans Polyclinic. He is a member of the County and State Medical Societies and the North Texas and the Southern Medical Associations, and is secretary of the county society.

Dr. Sanders is a Mason, with affiliation in the junior orders, and he is a Pythian Knight and a member of the Woodmen of the World.

The Doctor has been twice married. He was married first on July 5, 1893, in Van Zandt county, to Miss Alice Gray, whose father was Dr. A. J. Gray. She died in 1907, leaving three small daughters-Constance, Blanche and Mary Lee. On June 30, 1909, Dr. Sanders mar- ried Miss LaNear Aldridge, a daughter of John H. Aldridge, of Weatherford, Texas. They have no chil- dren. Dr. Sanders is a member of the Methodist church, and has for years been a member of the Texas State Historical Association, and is a member of The National Geographical Society.

HON. EDWIN J. MANTOOTH. It is rare indeed that nature, in the distribution of her gifts, favors an in- dividual with so many and varied talents as are possessed by Judge Edwin J. Mantooth, of Lufkin. Well known in financial affairs as vice-president of the Lufkin Na- tional Bank, prominent in industrial and commercial concerns of this city and at times the incumbent of high official position, he is one of his community's men of power and influence. Also for many years he has been known as one of this section's most distinguished legists, is dean of all the attorneys of Angelina county, and be- cause of his long connection with the bar and with those movements and measures which have had a direct bear- ing upon the welfare and upbuilding of this region, it would be difficult to find an individual who has a more intimate knowledge of the events which have shaped its history and the men who have promoted its progress. He has been a resident of Texas since 1857, and is a son of Thomas Mantooth who brought his family hither from Tennessee, made the journey hy wagon, crossed the Mississippi river at Natchez and located first on the Neches river in Angelina county. He was a cattle man and small farmer and soon located at Homer, then the county seat of Angelina, where he died in 1865.

Thomas Mantooth was born in North Carolina Febru- ary, 1811, and was a son of Thomas Mantooth, who died in the Old North state. He acquired little more than the elemental principles of an education, rather shunned public appearance, but was induced to accept the office of probate judge. He opposed secession until Texas left the Union, when he lent his moral aid to the cause of the South. He possessed strong personal con- victions, expressed them rather decidedly but with con- sideration for the feelings of others and was a man of wide popularity. He was of Scotch blood and was, it is believed, of colonial ancestry. Iu his family rela-

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tions, Thomas Mantooth, Jr., married first Mary Sisk, and they became the parents of the following children: Albert, who died in Lufkin in 1899 and left a family; Eveline, who married Austin Vinson and died here in 1893; John, who passed away in 1859, unmar- ried; and Calvin, who is a retired merchant and an ex- Confederate soldier and resides at Lufkin. For his second wife Mr. Mantooth was married to Miss Lydia Dillon, a Tennessee woman and of Irish blood. She was born in 1829 and she and her husband and a young daughter passed away at the same time as a result of poison administered to them by a quack doctor of the community, who, however, had no intention of commit- ting a crime. Of their eight children, seven grew up, namely: Lafayette, a prominent physician and surgeon, who died in 1911, at Lufkin, leaving a family; Edwin J., of this review; W. Blackburn, who passed away here in 1901 and left children; Florence, who is Mrs. W. H. Bonner, of Lufkin; Hester, who married B. L. Me- Pherson, of Lufkin; and Thomas C., ex-sheriff of Ange- lina county, who also is a resident of this community.

Edwin J. Mantooth was born in Cocke county, Ten- nessee, April 10, 1852, and was educated in the rural schools. His youth was passed as a farmer and at eighteen years of age he took a clerkship at Homer with a dry goods house. As a further preparation for life he subsequently attended an academy at Pennington, Trin- ity county, Texas, and made his law preparation in Cum- berland University, Lebanon, Tennessee, where he was graduated with the class of 1879.

Mr. Mantooth was admitted to the bar at Homer dur- ing that same year by Judge Wood, and upon the recommendation of his examining committee, composed of Judge R. H. Guinn, Judge Sam A. Wilson, H. G. Lane and R. E. Borden. He was elected county attor- ney immediately and tried his first important case in court as the incumbent of that position. He declined a second term and entered the practice alone, and, save

for his present professional association, and his partner- ship with W. J. Townsend, he has practiced his calling alone. He is now senior member of the law firm of Mantooth & Collins, and his practice for years has been largely in land and corporations and in closing up estates of deceased persons, several of which he has handled as executor without bond and which have in- volved property worth from one hundred and fifty thousand to two and one-half millions of dollars.

Mr. Mantooth's business connections are extensive and varied. He owns a majority of the stock of the Lufkin Telephone Company, which he promoted; was one of the organizers of the Lufkin National Bank, and has been its vice-president and a member of its direct- ing board ever since; is a stockholder of several lumber mills of the county and is general counsel for all of them, and his contributions to the building interests of Lufkin have been large, including his personal residence on Ragnet street. Here his grounds are the largest of any private home in Lufkin, and in addition he holds much other valuable real estate in the city.

Among his early appearances in politics was as a dele- gate in the convention that named Horace Chilton over W. B. Herndon for delegate to the National Democratic Convention. He was also a delegate to the state conven- tion that nominated Hogg for attorney general, and to the convention that nominated Throckmorton, Hub- bard and Hogg for governor and supported the latter all through his political campaigns. In the state-wide movement of 1887, Judge Mantooth was in the campaign for prohibition and has been more or less connected with the battles for temperance in the state ever since. He is not connected with any fraternal order, but is a member of the Christian church, and has been liberal in its sup- port.

On May 31, 1874, Judge Mantooth was married at Lufkin to Miss Callie Watson, a daughter of David and Jean (Clark) Watson. Mr. Watson came to Texas be-

fore the outbreak of the war between the South and the North, from Mississippi. He spent his life as a farmer, and reared only one child. Judge and Mrs. Mantooth have had these children: Louis P., who died at the age of thirty years, leaving four children by his wife, who had been Lela Bonner; Edwin Wood, M. D., a graduate of Tulane University, who died in 1910, at the age of twenty-eight years; Dell, who is the wife of W. E. Lanter, of Orange, Texas; Winnie, now Mrs. G. W. Shotwell, a merchant of Lufkin; Milton, of this city; Chloe, the wife of C. B. Collins, law partner of Judge Mantooth; Cleo, who married Kester Denman, a suc- cessful practicing lawyer of Lufkin; Winifred, who died at the age of thirteen years; and Misses Robbie and Mollie, who make their home with their parents.

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A history of Texas and Texans, Part 47

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