A history of Texas and Texans, Part 88

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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IGNATIUS GEORGE GAAL. His position as superintend- ent of the County Hospital at El Paso, which he has held since 1899, is only one of many relations of interest and value which Ignatius G. Gaal sustains to West Texas, and particularly El Paso county. He is one of the real pioneers of that district, having located there before the advent of railroads, and his own life story is an important chapter in the local history of that part of Texas.

Mr. Gaal was born at Somolnok, in the Department of Sepeshi Varas, Hungary, July 13, 1847. His parents were Frank and Elizabeth Gaal, his father a tanner by trade. His early training for life was unusually varied and efficient. For a time he studied medicine under Dr. Jacob Heidel, who was later one of the able corps in the General Hospital at Vienna. His commercial ex- perience included work in general merchandising and in the drug trade, and at the age of eighteen, in 1865, he came to America. A short time was spent in New York looking for work, and from there he went to Cleveland, Ohio, and for some six months was employed in a furniture factory. Having acquired considerable familiarity with the English language, he then bought a wagon and team and began selling goods as a peddler over Northern Ohio. With a Mr. White as partner, he was for several years head of the firm of Gaal & Com- pany, wholesale liquor dealers in Cleveland.

The career of Mr. Gaal has led him into many states and sections of America, and in 1869 he became one of the pioneers of Washington county, in Northern Kansas, locating in the valley of the Little Blue when there were very few neighbors in that region. While in that section of Kansas he helped to lay out the town of Hanover and part of the town of Waterville. After two years of residence in Kansas, he went to St. Louis in 1871, and later in the same year set out for California. After a brief residence in San Francisco, he located at Sacramento and became connected with the Central Pa- cific Railway, now a part of the Southern Pacific system. Mr. Gaal acquired large and valuable real estate inter-

ests in the vicinity of Sacramento and Humboldt county and continued to prosper as a resident of the Pacific coast until 1880.

It was in 1880 that Mr. Gaal first became identified with West Texas and with the vicinity of El Paso. El Paso as a city had not yet begun. The village of Franklin was all there was to distinguish the locality. The Southern Pacific Railway had not yet been com- pleted to the town, but was finished in 1881. On coming to West Texas, Mr. Gaal bought 6,000 acres of land in El Paso county, but first gave little attention to its management or development, and lived in town and had charge of the construction work on the Southern Pacific car shops until the shops were completed. For about a year he managed the furniture store of Robinson & Car- rico, on San Antonio street, and thus became identified with some of the very earliest enterprises of the pres- ent city of El Paso. At that time the county seat of El Paso county was Ysleta, and in the summer of .1883 Mr. Gaal bought some property in that town and estab- lished a general store there. It was the largest town in El Paso county, and largely due to the commercial leadership and the civic enterprise of Mr. Gaal it de- veloped into a city, and he was instrumental in chang- ing its public free school into an independent free school district. With the prospering of his business, he extended his operations to include general contracting for the Southern Pacific Railway. He sold the com- pany thousands of cords of wood, and besides a good deal of work along the Rio Grande River in protecting the road from wash-outs, he built twenty-one miles of railroad tracks when the line was changed from the river valley to the foot hills.

Mr. Gaal is a veteran whose reminiscences cover every detail of the early political life of El Paso county. He first entered actively into politics when it was proposed to move the county scat from Ysleta to El Paso, and naturally enlisted himself with all his energy and en- thusiasm to keep the seat of justice at his home town. The ensuing election, however, resulted in the removal of the court house to El Paso in 1885. Mr. Gaal, on locating in Ysleta in 1883, found that his position in politics was practically unique. A Republican, he was able to find only one other citizen of his political faith in the town. That was a Mexican named Pablo Ro- mero, who confessed to Republican principles, but was afraid of his life if his politics should become a part of public knowledge. Mr. Gaal has always been a man of convictions and did not allow considerations of per- sonal danger or partisan prejudice to influence him, and for several years was active in promulgating and spread- ing his political belief, and reformed a good many Dem- ocrats into Republicans, and by 1886 had a following of several hundred men of that party. As a leader of a large section of citizenship, in 1886 Mr. Gaal's name was presented as candidate for county commissioner on the Republican ticket, and his defeat was due to a very small majority. In 1888 he was elected mayor of Ysleta and county commissioner by a Republican majority of six to one over his opponent, and was elected mayor again in 1890 and also in 1894.

It will illustrate some of the vicissitudes of early political life in that section of Texas to recount what has already been published concerning Mr. Gaal's ad- ministration as mayor of Ysleta. His last election to the office in 1894 was in the nature of a vindication of his previous work. Mr. Gaal was engaged on the recon- struction of the Acequia Madre irrigation ditch of Ysleta for the use and benefit of the citizens of that corporation, and as mayor of the town had many men in his employ. That was in 1890. In this irrigation project a number of people were opposed to him, giving their support to another company who sought to construct another ditch. The matter was largely one of politics rather than one of engineering or busi- ness judgment or opinion. The troubles between the two factions kept growing until they almost resulted

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in civil war. Mr. Gaal went on regardless of personal safety, and at one time was barricaded in his own home with his family for several hours, while his enemies fired thousands of shots, but the siege was finally raised by the friends of Mr. Gaal. Out of the turmoil and ex- citement Mr. Gaal came with the complete respect and esteem of all better classes of citizens, and for his course had the indorsement of county officials and many promi- nent men. Many of those who were his bitterest oppo- nents in those days have since become convinced that his way was the right way, and have given him their warm friendship and regard.

While his business interests have always been im- portant, Mr. Gaal has been more or less closely identi- fied with public affairs ever since coming to El Paso. In 1891 he was appointed inspector and deputy collector of customs, in charge of Ysleta under Webster Flanna- gan, who was then the chief collector of customs for the El Paso district. He held that position until 1895. He also served as president of the school board of Ysleta for seven years, and in 1899 was chosen super- intendent of the County Hospital at El Paso. His ad- ministration of the hospital for fifteen years has been one of economy and efficiency, and, while never neglect- ing his duty in any way to the inmates, he has regu- lated the fiscal affairs of the institution in such a way as to constitute the least burden upon the taxpayers.

Outside of business and public life, Mr. Gaal is also prominent in connection with fraternal affairs. Several of his relations with the older orders were begun during his residence in California. At Sacramento he joined Industrial Lodge No. 157, I. O. O. F., and also Lodge No. 11 of the Knights of Pythias at Sacramento, hav- ing become a member of both lodges in 1873. He is also a member of the Veteran Knights of Pythias Asso- ciation of Sacramento. Since June 28, 1905, he has been a life member of El Paso Lodge No. 187, B. P. O. E., and since 1910 has had affiliations with El Paso Lodge No. 289, T. F. B. He has a position on the executive committee of the Pioneer Society of El Paso, and belongs to the El Paso Club and the Cactus Bowling and Athletic Club of El Paso.

On May 29, 1878, at Sacramento, California, Mr. Gaal married Frances Concordia America Rademacher. She was born in Willimantic (Connecticut). The names of their children and brief record are as follows: Rose Gaal, born in Arcata, Humboldt county, California, on Lincoln's birthday, February 12, 1879, died the same day, that date being also the birthday of her grand- father, J. C. Rademacher; Charles Bismarck Gaal, born in Arcata, Humbolt county, California, April 16, 1880; Ignatius George Gaal, Jr., born in El Paso on the Mc- Kinley birthday, January 29, 1882, died Angust 10, 1882; Lillian Mary Gaal, born at Ysleta, El Paso county, December 16, 1885, on the birthday of her grandmother, Maria Rademacher; Frank Felix Gaal was born in Ysleta January 14, 1888; George Washington Gaal was born at Ysleta, February 22, 1895, that being the birthday of his aunt, Mrs. B. Ostendorf.

LANDON CLAY CHAMBERS. A member of one of the leading families of Liberty and Southeast Texas, Lan- don Clay Chambers is a nephew of Gen. Thomas J. Chambers, who was the Alcalde of Texas under Mexi- can rule, and the only judge of a superior court in this province while Texas remained under the jurisdiction of Mexico. General Chambers raised a regiment of sol- diers at his own expense for service in aid of Texas independence, and equipped the regiment with two can- non, guns which now stand at the entrace to the capitol in Austin. Chambers county was named for this eminent Texan.

Landon Clay Chambers, who was born at Culpepper Court House, Virginia, June 6, 1842, is a son of Landon G. Chambers, an educator who was born in Culpepper county about 1785 and died in 1853. His father, an Eng-

lishman, was the founder of the Virginia family of the name and among his nineteen children was Gen. Thomas J. Chambers above mentioned. Landon G. Chambers married Mary G. Allen, a daughter of William G. Allen, a Virginia auctioneer. Of that marriage there were nine children, and the family are briefly mentioned in- dividually as follows: Judge William Chambers, who came to Texas at the age of twenty years, spent the greater part of his long life in Chambers county and Liberty county, was a lawyer by profession, served as district judge, and was for some years intimately asso- ciated with his uncle, Gen. T. J. Chambers. Judge Wil- liam Chambers married Bettie Keys and their two chil- dren were L. G. Chambers, of Galveston, and Mrs. Mary Evans of Shreveport, Louisiana. Jane, the second of the children, married Rev. Phelps, and spent her life in Virginia. Caroline married James Wood and also lived and died in her native state. Columbia A., wife of W. L. Herr, died in Virginia. Sallie, who married James D. Skinner, now lives in Galveston. Cumberland C. spent his life in Texas from early manhood, died at Liberty, was a farmer and public official, and married Fannie De Blanc. Thomas Jefferson Chambers, who was the eighth child of Landon G. and wife, has been for more than fifty years engaged in the newspaper business, and is probably the oldest newspaper man still active in his profession in the state.

Landon C. Chambers, the youngest of the family, grew up in his native county until he reached the age of sixteen years. He received a very limited education and had entered as an apprentice in the office of the Blue Ridge Republican, at Culpepper Court House, Vir- ginia, edited by G. M. Garland, before he left his state. Mr. Chambers' trip to Texas was made with his mother, oldest brother and youngest sister, and they made the trip by mail to New Orleans and by ship to Galveston, and again hy boat up the Trinity to Liberty Landing, within a mile of the court house at Liberty. Here Mr. Chambers entered in with his brother, T. J. Chambers, Jr., in the editing of a weekly paper caller the Liberty Observer. He was embroiled in it with the rest of his family as a Confederate. He enlisted in Wall's Texas Legion, in 1861, as a private soldier, doing service in the eastern department of the Confederate government. He belonged to Pemberton's army, and his first engage- ment was at Yazoo, following which came Big Black and skirmishes all the way from the Yazoo River to Vicksburg. He was cooped up in the city for forty- eight days and nights and surrendered with his army comrades July 4, 1863, and was paroled. After about sixty days the regiment was exchanged and came to the Trans-Mississippi Department, and Mr. Chambers fin- ished his army experience on this side at Mud Island, thirty miles west of Galveston, being located there when the war ended, and concluding his long experience with- out wounds.

Taking up civil life again, Mr. Chambers resumed newspaper work with his brother at Liberty. He was married in 1868 to Miss Mary Elizabeth Day, a daughter of Isaiah C. Day, a prominent stockraiser of this lo- cality. In 1870 Mr. Chambers entered the mercantile business at Liberty, and continued therein for nine years. During his career as a merchant he was elected county treasurer of Liberty county as the successor of W. S. Partlow, and continued in that office until twenty- two years had passed, with some interruptions. While so serving he was appointed postmaster of Liberty by the Harrison administration, and filled the office for four and one-half years, being succeeded by Mrs. Jo Morgan. Retiring from that office, Mr. Chamhers com- pleted several years of his long service as county treas- urer, and left the public arena in 1900.

In politics, nationally, Mr. Chambers is a Republican, hut in state and county affairs he has always voted with the Democrats. He was repeatedly elected to office upon his merits rather than upon his political views. He was

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in several of the state Republican conventions and was nominated once for state treasurer on that ticket and received about 28,000 votes out of about 45,000 cast by the party in Texas. In his town Mr. Chambers has been alderman many times and is present secretary of the council. He belongs to only one fraternity, the Masons, in which he is past master of Liberty Lodge.

Mr. Chambers was married January 28, 1868, his wife being a native of Liberty county. Her father came from Memphis, Tennessee, where he was born June 12, 1812. He married (first) Alice D. Stuart, July 27, 1835, and had some issue to reach mature years. His second mar- riage was to Rachel Whitlock, August 31, 1842, and to this union there were born children as follows: Amanda, who married Young L. Ridley and resides at Hillsboro, Texas; Mrs. Chambers; and James C., who died in Liberty without a family. Mr. Day married a third time, his wife being Mrs. Martha Orr, and there was a daughter by this uuion, Mrs. Mattie E. Davis, of Day- ton. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Chambers are: Thomas Day, who is constable and with the Texas & New Orleans Railway Company here, and Mittie P., wife of Joseph F. Richardson, of Liberty.

JOHN O. MATHEWS, M. D. For nearly a quarter of a century Dr. Mathews has practiced his profession in Grayson county, and for several years has been located at Sherman, the county seat. Most of his practice in the earlier years was in the country. He is a product of the best schools and in his ability and attainments would suffer none by comparison with the leading city physicians.

John O. Mathews was born in Collin county, Texas, November 27, 1857, a son of Owen and Annie (Oyler) Mathews. His parents were both natives of Kentucky, coming from that state to Texas about 1851 and locat- ing in Collin county. The parental ancestor is English . and the maternal is Irish. The doctor's father was a surveyor, a teacher and a farmer, and during his active career became well known in Collin county. In his de- clining age he lived largely retired, devoting his atten- tion to the supervision and oversight of his farm. When the war broke out between the states he volunteered for service with the Confederate army, and was a member of Hood's Brigade, and saw service in many important battles. He was once slightly wounded, but his service from beginning to end was practically uninterrupted by sickness or wounds. He died at his home in Collin county in 1910, while his wife passed away in 1886. They were the parents of nine children, five sons and four daughters, seven of whom are still living.

Dr. Mathews, who was the second in order of birth, received most of his education in private schools, taught by his father, and later was student in the admirable institution at Thorp Springs, known as Add-ran College, where he was graduated with the degree Bachelor of Art. On leaving school he taught for three years in this state, and thus paid for most of his professional training. En- tering the medical college of Louisville, Kentucky, he came out with the class of 1886, getting the degree of Doctor of Medicine and being graduated valedictorian. His first practice was at Allen, Texas, and in 1887, he moved to Pauls Valley in the old Indian territory, now Oklahoma. He returned to his native state in 1889, and for the following twenty years he practiced at Howe in Grayson county. Since 1909 Dr. Mathews has been located at Sherman, and now enjoys a large city practice. In 1905 he took post-graduate work at Louisville, and during his residence at Howe he served as local surgeon for the Houston and Texas Central Railroad Company.

Dr. Mathews has always been a stanch voter for the Democratic party, and fraternally is affiliated with the Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Woodmen of the World and the Knights of Honor. His church is the Christian.

Dr. Mathews was married in February, 1888, at Me-

Kinney, Texas, to Miss Antha Coe, a daughter of John A. Coe, who came from Kentucky to Texas during the early days, and was a substantial farmer at this date. During the war he was a Confederate soldier, and fought from 1861 until toward the close of the great war. He is now living retired at Allen, Texas. Mrs. Mathews was liberally educated and was a successful and popular teacher until her marriage. Mr. Mathews and wife are the parents of three children: Maidee, the wife of J. L. Mitchell, manager of the Texas Seed Breeding Farm of Grayson county, at Sherman; Miss Helen Mathews, who is a member of the senior class of the Sherman high school; John O. Mathews, Jr., twelve years of age and attending school.

In the course of his residence in north Texas, Dr. Mathews has witnessed many notable changes. One illus- tration of this is that when he was a boy his father sold 100 acres of land at a dollar and a half an acre. The doctor protested against this sale, predicting that some day the land would be worth fifty dollars au acre, and as a matter of fact his prediction has been doubly fulfilled, since the land would now sell for from one hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and fifty dollars per acre. Dr. Mathews is too busy a man to take a vacation, and for many years has rendered capable and efficient service in his professional capacity, and is one of the liberal and public spirited citizens as well. His home is at 1220 South Crockett street, in Sherman.

JACOB J. BARKMAN, No. 1608 West Eighth street, Texarkana, Texas, was born in Bowie county, this State, in 1866, and is a representative of one of the pioneer families of the Southwest.

Johnny Barkman, the grandfather of Jacob J., was a Virginian who, in early life, emigrated to the South- west and settled at Lost Prairie, Arkansas, where he remained for several years, and from whence, in 1840, he removed with his family to Bowie county, Texas, and took up his residence on what became known as Barkman's Creek, twelve miles northwest of the present city of Texarkana. Here he spent the closing years of his life and died. While the Barkman home was at Lost Prairie, in what is now Clark county, Arkansas, James W. Barkman, the father of Jacob J., was born in 1825. He came with other members of the family to Texas, and for fifteen years continued a member of the home circle on the Bowie county farm. He studied medicine at Tulane Medical College, New Orleans, where he graduated in 1848, after which he entered upon the practice of his profession at Arkadelphia, Arkan- sas. A few years later he returned to his old home in Bowie county, and here he passed the rest of his life, and died in April, 1906, having rounded out more than half a century in the practice of medicine. Few citi- zens, if any, of his locality were better known or held in higher esteem thau Dr. James W. Barkman. One of his younger brothers, Jerome B. Barkman, was at one time sheriff of Bowie county. He died in 1892.

Jacob J. Barkman was born and reared at the old home place on Barkman's Creek, and has been a farmer all his life. He now operates three farms in Bowie county. In 1908, for the educational benefit of his children, he moved into the city of Texarkana and es- tablished a home at No. 1608 West Eighth street, where he and his family have since resided.

Mr. Barkman married Miss Laura Joues, who was born in Tennessee and reared in Bowie county. They have three children, a daughter, Charlscie, and two sons, Morris S. and Rollin J.

HARRY W. MCGEE. Both through his own family and by his marriage, Mr. McGee represents some of the old- est and best known families of northeast Texas. The McGee family has been honorably known in this section of the state for considerably more than half a century. Mr. McGee himself represents a younger generation and

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has for a number of years been one of the active and progressive business men of Marshall.

He was born in Panola county, Texas, in 1870, and is a son of Dr. John C. and Laura (Anderson) McGee. An honored pioneer physician whose service was given to many of the early settlers, and who always held a high place in their esteem. Dr. McGee was a native of Tennessee, from which state he came into Texas in the early fifties, settling in Panola county, and in 1871 brought his family to Marshall, in Harrison county, where he died. His wife was born in Panola county in 1833. The Anderson family, as this date would indi- cate, were among the earliest of American families to locate in this part of Texas. The late Dr. McGee served throughout the war between the states in the Confed- erate army.

Harry W. McGee was reared in Marshall and received most of his education in Colonel Bass' school, and now for some years has been successfully engaged in the land business. He handles his own property exclusively and does no brokerage business. The business which has been under his efficient management for some years, is perhaps the oldest of its kind in northeast Texas, and was founded by the eminent Dr. James H. Starr at Nacogdoches, in 1842, during the existence of the Republic of Texas. The business was transferred to Marshall in 1870. A more complete account of this interesting enterprise and of the career of Dr. Starr and his family will be found in succeeding paragraphs.

Mr. McGee was married in Marshall to Miss Sarah Clapp Starr, daughter of the Dr. James H. Starr above mentioned. The four children in their home circle are named Sallie Starr MeGee; Harry W. Jr., Laura Jane and Frank Starr McGee.

DR. JAMES STARR. Among Texas families who be- came identified with this state preceding the time of the Revolution and independence from Mexico and who have been continuously identified to the present time, none has been more prominent in affairs of Northeast Texas than that of Starr, whose founder was Dr. James H. Starr. His distinguished career is to a large extent a matter of history in every thorough and comprehen- sive account of this state, and his is one of the names that is familiarly associated with the founders of Texas' liberty and the organization of its Republican govern- ment. He was for many years associated with such men as Lamar, Houston, and others whose names are household words in this state. Dr. Starr was born at Hartford, Connecticut, December 18, 1809. His fam- ily is one of the oldest of the New England states, and he was directly descended from Dr. Comfort Starr, who emigrated from Ashford, England, in 1635, settling in the Massachusetts colony in the vicinity of Boston. Dr. Starr's grandfather was Nicholas Starr, a settler in Connecticut, who resided at Groton and was one of the citizen volunteers who fell in the defense of Fort Griswold, on September 6, 1781, when that fort was stormed and captured by a British expedition under the command of Benedict Arnold. James Starr, the father of Dr. Starr, was born in Connecticut, where he married Miss Persia Shaw, a daughter of Jabez Shaw. Their home was for some time in New Hartford, Con- neeticut, but from that place the family in 1815 emi- grated to Ohio, settling near Worthington, in Franklin county, where James Starr died in 1824.

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A history of Texas and Texans, Part 88

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