A history of Texas and Texans, Part 66

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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editorial departments, and typographically, that he has a large circulation, not only in Seymour and Baylor counties, but also in this entire section of Texas and in many of the near-by states. Mr. Harrison's establish- ment is well equipped for job printing and he has much business of this class. In another year he expects to erect a new building to house his paper in. Through the columns of the Banner he is a tireless advocate of the up-building of Texas in general and Baylor county in particular, and all movements toward civic improve- ments or advance in any direction find him an ardent supporter.

Mr. Harrison is a member of the Democratic party and has taken an active interest in politics, being one of the original Woodrow Wilson men in Seymour. In religious matters Mr. Harrison is a member of the Bap- tist church.

In Waco, Texas, on the 18th of September, 1907, Mr. Harrison was married to Miss Marguerite Surratt, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Polk Surratt, of Waco. Her mother lives in Seymour. Mr. Surratt died some years ago. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Harrison, Olin Cedric and Margaret.

BARNEY W. FIELDS. Upon the death of his honored father, Thomas W. Fields succeeded the latter in the office of postmaster of the City of Greenville, one of the most important industrial and commercial centers of northern Texas, and he served under appointment as act- ing postmaster for a few months, after which, in May, 1910, he was formally appointed to the office by President Taft. Mr. Fields is one of the progressive citizens of Greenville, and here he has secure vantage ground in popular esteem, the while he is widely known by reason of his official preferment, so that his circle of friends has become specially wide. He has proved most zealous and effective in the administration of the local post- office service, and in connection with the Greenville office is retained a corps of five city carriers, besides the office force of about twenty-nine persons. From this head- quarters also emanate six rural free delivery routes, and the office is one of the most important in the state.

Barney W. Fields was born in Henderson county, Ten- nessee, on the 16th of September, 1875, and is a son of Thomas W. and May Margaret (Sheffield) Fields. Thomas Wright Fields was born near Center Point, Hen- derson county, Tennessee, on the 14th of June, 1856, and was there reared and educated. He there served nine years in the office of justice of the peace and for several years was associated with the operation of the postoffice in the village of Sardis, that county. In his native county, on the 18th of December, 1874, was solemnized his marriage to Miss May Margaret Sheffield, a repre- sentative of one of the sterling families of that county, and they continued to maintain their home in Henderson county until the spring of 1895, when they came to Texas and established their home on a farm in Hunt county, near the village of Celeste. Two years later they removed to another farm, near Salem, this county, where they continued to reside four years, at the ex- piration of which they established their permanent home in the city of Greenville. Here Mr. Fields became a successful contractor and builder, and in this line of enterprise he erected several of the best residence build- ings of the city, besides an appreciable number of busi- ness structures of modern type. He gained the inviolable confidence and esteem of the community, was liberal and public-spirited in his civic attitude, and was a zealous supporter of the cause of the Republican party. In April, 1909, he was appointed and commissioned post- master of Greenville by President Roosevelt, and within his brief administration he gained the unqualified com- mendation of the community, his regime being cut short by his untimely death on the 12th of December of the same year. He was known as a man of excellent business and executive ability, was animated by the highest prin-

ciples of integrity and honor and well merited the high regard in which he was uniformly held. He was affil- iated with the Masonic fraternity and was a zealous and consistent member of the Baptist Church, as is also his widow, who still maintains her home in Greenville, where she is a popular factor in the social activities of the community. Of the children four sons and daughters survive the honored father.

To the public schools of his native state Barney W. Fields is indebted for his early educational discipline, and in 1891 he was graduated in the Sardis Normal Col- lege, at Sardis, Tennessee. He put his scholastic attain- ments to practical test and utilization by turning his attention to the pedagogic profession, and for several years he was a successful teacher in the schools of Hunt county, Texas, whither he came in 1894, a short time prior to the removal of his parents to this state. For four years he was identified with the government bureau of education in the Philippine Islands, where his service met with high commendation. When his father assumed the office of postmaster at Greenville, Mr. Fields became assistant, and when his father passed away he was made acting postmaster, his experience, though of limited dura- tion, proving sufficient to make him a most efficient head of the local service, with the result that he gained strong support and was made the regular incumbent of the office in May, 1910, through appointment by President Taft. He has shown marked circumspection in the administra- tion of the multifarious affairs of this important office and popular approbation has not been denied, with the result that he is considered a model executive. His term of office will expire in May, 1914. In politics Mr. Fields is found arrayed as a stanch advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party.

JOHN MCCLURE. When John McClure passed away in October, 1908, Gainesville lost one of her biggest men, and one who had occupied a prominent place in the community for many previous years. He was one of the well-to-do farming and stock men of the county, and for sixteen years he had served as a member of the board of county commissioners of Cooke county, an office that he continued to fill with increasing ability and to the utmost satisfaction of all from his first in- cumbency thereof until he was obliged to relinquish all earthly activities.

Born in Marshall, Clark county, Illinois, in 1842, John McClure was the son of Samuel and Caroline (Kitchens) McClure, the mother of Tennessee and the father of Kentucky, respectively. The father was sheriff of Clark county for many years. The paternal grand- father was an Indian fighter of note, whose two children were massacred by Indians.

John McClure was reared on the home farm of his parents, there continuing up to the age of twenty years, when he went to Nevada and worked in the mines. He reached the position of an overseer and continued in that work for ten years, then returned home and paid a visit. He returned to Nevada after a short time, and continued there for another period, this one of four years' duration. It was then that he came to Gaines- ville, and here he established a home of his own, settling on South Denton street, and engaging in the cotton business. He had most of the land now representing the town site of Gainesville for a range for his cattle in those early days, and he prospered most pleasingly in the business. There were no railroads penetrating the country then, and Mr. McClure hauled with mule teams the lumber with which he built his house, from the town of Sherman. He later purchased four hundred acres of land and engaged in farming in genuine earnest, putting three hundred acres of the place under the plow and reducing it to a crop bearing condition. He followed the cattle business until 1888, then moved to Gainesville, where he was shortly after elected county commissioner from Precinct No. 1, and in that capacity he served

Barry W Fields

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repeatedly, sixteen years in all. He died in 1908, just as he was about to enter upon another term of service in that capacity.

Mr. MeClure was practically retired from all business at the time of his death, being devoted then chiefly to the interests of the public, but his private affairs had been set aside some time previous. He was a Democrat, but not politically ambitious, and the only office he ever held was that of commissioner. As to bis churchly relations, it may be said that he was a member of the Baptist church, and that his example in life was in every respect consistent with his professiou of faith. He was one of the public spirited men of his community, and always manifested a wholesome interest in any activities that pertained to the advancement of the public weal.

Mr. MeClure on the 21st of January, 1875, in Paris, Ill., married Miss Louise Snedeker, who was born in Ohio, September 14th, 1846, and was of Pennsylvania and Virginia stock. Both her parents were Ohioans, and the father ended his days in Illinois, where he settled after the Civil war and engaged in farming. He died in April, 1912, having reached the patriarchal age of ninety-one years. Mrs. McClure is one of the eight children of her parents who were named as follows: W. M., deceased; Garrett, a resident of Paris, Illinois; Charlotte, deceased; Louis L., of Paris, Illinois; Jabus, a resident of Astoria, Illinois; Oscar, of Darwin, Illinois; Darthuly, the widow of Clement Forsythe, of Terre Haute, Indiana.

Mr. MeClure himself was one of eight children, brief mention of them being made as follows: Mary D., the widow of Wm. Snedeker, the latter a brother of the widow of subject, and now living in La Mesa, Cali- fornia; Wilson is a resident of College, Kansas; Albert, who lives in Gainesville; Susie, the wife of Washington Clapp, of Appleton City, Missouri; Eliza, Cecelia, and Andrew, all deceased.

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. McClure was solemnized on January 21, 1875, and to them were born three chil- dren. Caroline E., the eldest, is unmarried and is engaged in teaching in the public schools at Wichita Falls, Texas. She was educated in the public schools of Gainesville, and finished her training in Oxford, Mississippi, Dunton Normal School, and a special course in Knoxville, Tennessee. Ella Gay was educated in Gainesville, Texas, and remains at home with her mother. Willie O., is the wife of H. M. Buchanan, of Amarillo, Texas.

Mrs. McClure makes her home at No. 709 North Dixon street, Gainesville.

JAMES HARVEY JONES. One of Gainesville's best known and most successful citizens was the late James Harvey Jones, who died in 1908. Mr. Jones had lived in North Texas from the age of two years, was a farmer and stockman, conducted a mercantile business in Gaines- ville, and was also honored with official position in the county.

James Harvey Jones was born in Lebanon, Missouri, in 1856, and was fifty-two years of age at the time of his death. His parents were Milton and Rhoda (Liz- enby) Jones, both natives of Illinois and the father a farmer by occupation. The ten children in the family were: Lucy Ann, deceased; Clora, deceased; Melissa, deceased ; Elvira, deceased; Louis, deceased; Lucinda, widow of MacVining of Gainesville; Leouard, a grocer in Gainesville; Walter, in business at Gainesville; James H .; and Madora, deceased.

In 1858 the parents moved to Texas and bought a farm in Cooke county, where the father was engaged in farming until his death, at the age of sixty-five. His home was near Gainesville, and with the exception of three years spent in Grayson county he had his home in Cooke county until his death. The late James Harvey Jones grew up on his father's farm in Cooke county, attained his preliminary education in the Gainesville public schools, and at the age of sixteen years the man- .

agement of the home place devolved upon him owing to the death of his father. From that time he was actively identified with farming and the cattle industry. A stroke of paralysis caused him to give up active outdoor work, and he then moved into Gainesville. For five years he was in the grocery business in that city, and during that time built up from small beginnings one of the best establishments of its kind in Cooke county. In 1897. he was elected to the office of tax collector, in which served two terms or four years. After that he once more engaged in farming, managing his business while a resident in Gainesville. His farm comprised two hundred and twenty acres, and he succeeded in making it a profitable enterprise even though an invalid. He had to be rolled about in a chair during the latter period of his life, and it is a tribute to his remarkable energy that he persisted in his close attention to business in spite of the physical handicap.

Mr. Jones was married March 7, 1883, to Miss Nannie T. Howeth, a daughter of Harvey and Susan (Dorsett) Howeth, the mother a native of Texas and the father of Tennessee. Harvey Howeth was a farmer who came to Texas at an early day, buying land and continuing its operation until his death. He lived in Rusk county for some time, but after moved to near Gainesville, which re- mained his home until his death, in 1897. Mrs. Jones was one of a family of twelve children, namely: Mel- vina, deceased; John F., deceased; Willia, deceased; Jef- ferson, a farmer in Oklahoma; Ellen, deceased; Andrew, deceased; Harvey, Jr., of Oklahoma; Susan, wife of John H. Williams of Montague county, Texas; Mrs. Jones; Joseph of Oklohoma; Betty, wife of C. J. Gilliam of Gainesville; and Lula, wife of J. H. McDaniels of Okla- homa.

The ten children born to the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Jones are mentioned as follows: Guy F., of Richardson, Texas, a Methodist minister, and the father of one child, named Richard; Granville, unmarried, and a practicing attorney at Gainesville; Earle, who is the Methodist min- ister at Greenville, Texas, and has one child, Gertrude; Wade, in the furniture business at Muskogee, Oklahoma, and unmarried; Fay, wife of W. H. Perkins, a railroad clerk at Gainesville; Lee, who is employed on a Gaines- ville newspaper; Florence, a son, who is now taking a business course in the Gainesville business college; Ruby, in the high school, and two that died in infancy.

The late Mr. Jones was known in his community as a man who spoke out his mind on all matters, and accord- ing to what he regarded as right. He was a man of influence, and did his part by all civic and moral move- ments. He took an active part in the affairs of the local Methodist church, and in politics was a Democrat. The only office he ever sought was that of tax collector, in which he served for two terms. He was particularly fond of his home, and seldom sought diversions outside of his family circle. During his residence at Gainesville he bought and opened an addition to Gainesville, known as the "Burrus addition, " now one of the popular resi- dence districts. The family home is at 1305 East Cali- fornia Street, in Gainesville.

NATHANIEL TERRY BOMAR. A pioneer doctor is a fig- ure unadorned and plain in the annals of human activ- ity, but with a character in which the spirit of service makes many more conspicuous actors seem petty and insignificant. It was as an old-time doctor-the kindly, understanding, strong man of helpful skill, whose name is a grateful memory in many a household-that the late Nathaniel Terry Bomar was best known in north Texas during a period of activity extending from pioneer times until a quarter century ago.

Nathaniel Terry Bomar was born in Wilson county, Tennessee, a son of William Johnson and Elizabeth (Terry) Bomar. His father was a Christian minister, and was also a large planter and slave owner in the state of Tennessee. The mother was a descendant of

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the noted Terry family, one of her ancestors having been "Fighting Joe Terry, " of the Revolution, and other members of the Terry family having been noted as sol- diers and citizens in Tennessee. Among the ancestors of the late Dr. Bomar was Sir William Johnson, of colonial American history. Dr. Bomar was one of a large family of children, his father having married four times. There were six children by Elizabeth Terry.

He grew up on his father's plantation in Tennessee, and from boyhood manifested strong aptitude and indas- try as a student. He had ambitions for professional life, and after his preliminary education in the district schools of Tennessee studied in the office of Dr. Sayle in that state. After a thorough course of reading he was given a partnership with his preceptor, and he and Dr. Sayle practiced medicine together for a number of years. Finally, ou account of failing health, Dr. Bomar moved west and located in the pioneer town of Sher- man, Texas, where he resumed his professional work. In 1854 or 1855 he moved from Sherman to Gainesville, which was then on the extreme western frontier. In Gainesville for a number of years he was in the drug business, until the late seventies, but his principal work was in his profession and he was devoted to its duties until his retirement, in 1890. It is remembered of Dr. Bomar that he uever refused a call by night or day, or in sunshine or in rain; therefore he had a large prac- tice and was one of the best loved men of his profes- sion in north Texas, but was always a poor collector, and his service was never represented by his material accu- mulations. He was not only a practitioner, but through- out his life continued to be an ardent student and seeker for knowledge. The death of Dr. Bomar occurred at his home in Gainesville, October 9, 1898. Outside of his profession he might have been much more active in public life than he was. During reconstruction days he was appointed to the office of county judge. In politics he was a Union Democrat at that time, and throughout the struggle between the states espoused the cause of the Union. He served as county judge for a time, but never again could be drawn into political affairs. He was a charter member of the Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, both at Sherman and at Gaines- ville, and was very much devoted to this fraternity.

The late Dr. Bomar was married before leaving Ten- nessee to Miss Amanda Allison, who was born in Ten- nessee, a daughter of Thomas and Lucretia Allison, the latter a direct descendant of Sir Francis Drake, the lion of the Elizabethian English navy. Nine children were born to the doctor and wife, but only two are now living, the son Edmond and the daughter Miss Douglas.

Edmond Bomar for many years served as president of the Bomar Oil Company of Gainesville, and has been identified with many enterprises, though he is now living retired and merely guarding his investments. Edmond Bomar married Miss Alice L. Gooding, a native of Port- land, Maine. She was a daughter of Captain Gooding, who died at sea. Miss Gooding came to Texas and was reared at Bryan, and their marriage occurred in 1878.

Miss Douglas, who is a woman of great capability, both in business and like her father, a thorough student of books, resides with her brother Edmond in Gaines- ville. For ten years she was identified with school work in the public schools of Gainesville.

Miss Douglas Bomar resides at 315 South Denton street with Mr. and Mrs. Edmond Bomar.

WILLIAM PATA ROBINSON. For the past thirty-five years the family of William Bata Robinson has been identified with Gainesville, where his daughter is Mrs. E. H. Campbell, and his widow has also made her home here for upwards of thirty-five years.

The career of William Pata Robinson began in Fay- ette county, Kentucky, with his birth on the fifteenth of April, 1815. He was a son of Benjamin and Polly (Pata) Robinson, the father a native of Virginia, where the grandfather was a large planter. The father was married in his native state, and then moved to Ken- tucky. William P. Robinson was one of eight children. He grew up in Kentucky, was educated in the district schools, and was given more than ordinary advantages in schooling and was known for his substantial scholar- ship. He never attended college, however, and was en- gaged in farming nearly all his life. In the Mexican war he enlisted in Lancaster, Kentucky, in the first com- pany of the First Regiment of the Company, under Cap- tain Johnson Price. He went south with the troops and participated in the first important battle of the war, at Buena Vista. He went through the war until its close and after his honorable discharge returned to his home in Kentucky, where he was married and where he en- gaged in farming and stock raising. He was in the cotton business at Jackson, Tennessee, at the time of his death, which occurred November 14, 1862. He was a Union man in his sympathies, but did not serve as a soldier, since his death occurred in the second year of the war. He was never a seeker for office, but a quiet, industrious citizen and a man held in the high esteem in all the relationships of life. He was a devout Chris- tian and a member of the Christian church.

Mr. Robinson was married January 10, 1848, to Miss Clara Anderson, who now lives in Gainesville with her children. She was born in Garrat county, Kentucky, a daughter of Alexander and Polly (Edmondson) Ander- son, both natives of Kentucky. However, their families had come from Virginia, and on both sides were of Scotch- Irish stock. Mrs. Robinson was the only child of her pareuts. The six children of Mr. Robinson and wife were as follows: Mary E., is the wife of John A. Hamm of Denton, Texas, and has six children. Sallie B., is the wife of James W. Campbell of Cooke county and has two children. Susie A., is the wife of Joseph H. Garnett, an attorney of Gainesville, and has three children. Clara Ella, is the wife of Elias H. Campbell of Gainesville, who served as a soldier in the Confederate war, was for many years a farmer, and also operated a store in Greenville, being now retired. The three chil- dren of Elias H. Campbell and wife are Lula, principal of one of the schools in Greenville; Clara, also a teacher, and Mary E., who also follows the educational profession. William B. is now deceased, and left two sons. Lula R., is the wife of Charles H. Paddock, re- tired, and living in Pasadena, California, and has one son.

CAPT. JOHN W. VANN. Now chief special agent for the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Company, with head- quarters at Dallas, Capt. John W. Vann has a notable record in public affairs, both as a civil and criminal officer, covering a long period of years. Whether as executive officer of county and district courts or under the jurisdiction of the federal courts, as special agent of the federal government in different capacities, or as an employe of corporations, Captain Vann has shown both efficiency and courage in every emergency, and he is easily one of the best known officials of justice in the Southwest.

During the old days of the Texas frontier Edmond Bomar served as a Texas ranger, and had many adven- tures as an Indian fighter. He grew up in what was then west Texas, and during his early life was identified with real estate and merchandising lines. He went back to Tennessee for some time, and was in the grocery bnsi- ness at Paris for six years. Finally in Gainesville he organized the Gainesville Cotton Oil Company, of which he became president, and later acquired the controlling interest and changed the name of the concern to the Born in Fayette county, Texas, March 19, 1860, John W. Vann is a son of W. W. and Margaret L. (Bishop) Bomar Oil Company, one of the largest enterprises of the kind in the state, of which he has been at the head. . Vann. His father, a native of Tennessee, came to

W Vann

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Texas in 1854 and became a pioneer settler in Fayette county, but in 1869 moved to Kerr county, taking up his residence in the mountain region northwest of San Antonio. He died in 1908. Mrs. Vann, who was born in Illinois, is still living, her home being in Austin.

John W. Vann was reared in Kerr county, Texas, edu- cated in the local schools, and he entered publie life when elceted a county commissioner of Kerr county. Following that he was deputy sheriff of the county under F. M. Moore, and succeeded that gentleman as sheriff and tax collector, an office which he held continuously for ten years, being elected every two years until his resignation, when he was permitted by the county judge and com- missioners to select as his successor J. T. Moore, his cousin, and who is now occupying the position. During that time Captain Vann was president of the Sheriffs' Association of Texas, serving two terms, and he became personally acquainted with every sheriff in the state dur- ing that time.

The most noteworthy distinctions of his career were gained during his federal service. Captain Vann re- signed the office of sheriff of Kerr county to accept the appointment, in July, 1902, as deputy United States marshal under W. M. Hanson, with headquarters at Galveston. Among the many duties performed by him as deputy marshal special interest attaches to his work in connection with the famous Dodge-Morse divorce case. That was one of the sensational cases which occupied the attention of the papers and the public of the country for many months. It will be recalled that early in De- cember, 1904, Charles F. Dodge was arrested at Houston, Texas, and after a long fight over the extradition was taken to New York and turned over to District Attorney Jerome. During Dodge's residence at Atlanta, Georgia, his wife had divorced him and had subsequently married C. W. Morse, a New York banker and head of the ice trust, who subsequently came into unenviable publicity as the wrecker of a New York bank. It appears that Morse's uncle, who was strongly opposed to the marriage of his nephew to a divorced woman, had secured the services of Abe Hummel, a noted New York lawyer, to secure an annulment of the marriage. Hummel brought Dodge to New York, induced him to sign an affidavit that the summons in the divorce proceedings had never been served on him, and on that ground the courts an- nulled the decree of divorce, so that it became a question whether his former wife was Mrs. Dodge-Morse or Mrs. Morse-Dodge. Charges of perjury were subsequently brought against Dodge and, with the powerful financial backing of Hummel and his client, Dodge fled to 'Texas and there made a vigorous fight to prevent extradition and return to New York. It was, of course, in Texas that Captain Vann first became connected with the case, when he was one of the parties specially designated by Federal Judge Walter T. Burns to convey Dodge to New York and turn him over to District Attorney Jerome. It was to Captain Vann that Dodge made his confession that he had perjured himself in making the false affidavit, and this story he subsequently repeated to Mr. Jerome, and on that officer's recommendation was released. Most people will remember that Abe Hummel, the lawyer who had engineered the entire deal, was subse- quently convicted of conspiracy and served a term in the federal penitentiary.

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A history of Texas and Texans, Part 66

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