A history of Texas and Texans, Part 96

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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TEXAS AND TEXANS

1903

States Volunteers as a private, being elected lieutenant of his company during his first week in the service. He was with these troops throughout the period of the war and on being mustered out was offered a commission as lieutenant in the regular army, but refused this promotion on account of his approaching marriage.

After the war Mr. Yates resumed newspaper work, and for three years was at Refugio, after which he became owner and editor of the Crony at Corpus Christi, and while in the latter city was also editor of the Daily Herald. From Corpus Christi he came out to Alpine and bought the Avalanche, a journalistic enterprise which had been established some years before. Under his management he has made the Avalanche a paper of much influence and with an excellent circulation through- out this part of the state. The plant has a good equip- inent and does much business in general job printing.

Mr. Yates at Goliad, Texas, on November 21, 1898, married Miss Jennie Merriweather, daughter of George W. Merriweather of Goliad. They have no children of their own, but one adopted child, Lucile Rives, who is a daughter of Mrs. Yates' sister. The family worship at the Episcopal church, and Mrs. Yates is president of the Ladies' Guild in that church, Fraternally Mr. Yates is affiliated with the Elks, the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Woodmen of the World and the Eagles. At Corpus Christi he was worthy president of the Eyrie of the Eagles, is a past chancellor commander of the Knights of Pythias, and past exalted ruler of the Elks. For more than twenty-seven years Mr. Yates has been an ac- tive member of the International Typographical Union. He also has local membership in the Alpine Commercial Club, and is much interested in Democratic politics, not only in his home county but in the state. For two years he was mayor of Goliad, and served for a term as police judge at Corpus Christi. Mr. Yates is a follower of basehall and is an ardent supporter of this recreation in his home town and follows the game of the state and larger leagues.

R. WAVERLEY SMITH. If the city of Galveston wished to express in the character of one citizen its best ideals and achievements, probably no one man could represent it so broadly and fully as R. Waverley Smith. Mr. Smith is now, as he has been for upwards of twenty years, one of the vital forces in the progress of this community, and none will deny that Galveston in what it stands for and in what it has achieved, owes a great measure of gratitude to the broad capacity and ability of Mr. Smith.

Mr. Smith is at the head of one of the largest banks, and is officially connected or otherwise with perhaps a dozen well known corporations. However, his most last- ing distinction will always consist in the prominent part he took in originating and perfecting the "Galveston Idea," resulting in the Galveston plan of commission government for the city, an idea and form which has since been adopted by hundreds of American cities, and which only recently has been proposed and is now being seriously discussed as the proper solution for the in- adequacies of state government. The best brief out- line of Mr. Smith's work during the great storm at Galveston, in 1900, and the subsequent rebuilding of the city and the origin of the commission plan is con- tained in a pamphlet written by E. R. Cheeseborough, and published by the Galveston Tribune Company on Decem- ber 31, 1909. A portion of this article is quoted as follows:

"After the storm of 1900, it was suggested that the first step necessary to a complete rehabilitation was a thorough reorganization of the city government. It was seen and understood, as every keen observer knows, that an efficient city government encourages the people, stimulates them to activity, invites capital and creates prosperity. The Galveston Deep Water Committee, there- fore, decided that there was an imperative necessity that

the charter of the city be completely overhauled and application made to the state legislature for a new charter along broader and better lines, and that some action should be taken looking to a compromise with the holders of the city's bonds, as to the interest on the outstanding bonds for a period of five years.

"Mr. R. Waverley Smith, president of the First Na- tional Bank of Galveston, a lawyer by training, and who for four years prior to that time, had held the of- fice of city attorney, and who was then a member of the Deep Water Committee and now its chairman, sug- gested the appointment of a committee from that or- ganization to thoroughly revise and rewrite the city charter. Accordingly a sub-committee of three from said organization was appointed, consisting of Mr. Smith, Col. Walter Gresham, a lawyer and a former member of Congress and Mr. F. D. Minor, a lawyer of high character and splendid ability. This sub-committee procured copies of the charters of a number of cities, including the law governing the city of Washington, District of Columbia, a copy of the Act creating the Tax Commission for Memphis, Tennessee, after the great yellow fever epidemie of 1878, and a copy of the so- called Model Charter of Baltimore, Maryland.

"The commission features of the new charter were suggested and drawn by Mr. Smith, and the controlling idea was the creation of a governing body which should conform as near as possible to the organization of a great business corporation, providing the duties, carefully defining the responsibilities, and through the heads of the various departments concentrating both power and responsibility.

"In presenting the proposed charter to the legislature for adoption, the Deep Water Committee issued a re- markable address, setting forth in strong language the urgent needs of Galveston. This address which was written by Mr. R. Waverley Smith, stated in part: 'We believe that municipal government, as it has been ad- ministered in this community for the past twenty years is a failure. It did not require the storm to bring a realization of this fact, but it brought it home . with greater force upon us. We are seeking relief from the municipal destruction and despair which is staring us in the face. It is a question with us of civic life and death. This committee has labored diligently and earn- estly to prepare and present to the people of this city, and to the legislature, remedial legislation adequate for the grave emergency confronting us. Months have been given to its preparation. It is hoped that the central idea of the new charter-that of a commission- embodies the practical solution of that hitherto un- solved problem; "How to govern, cheaply and well, a municipal corporation." We are asking for a charter, placing the entire control of the local government in the hands of five commissioners, designed to benefit the peo- ple, rather than to provide sinecures for politicians." The passage of the Commission charter bill through the legislature was accomplished only after a long and bit- ter fight, and as a two-thirds vote in favor of the bill was not secured, it did not go into active operation, un- til ninety days after the legislature had adjourned. It was just twelve months after the great storm of Sep- tember 8, 1900, before the city government passed into the hands of the new board of city commissioners, the new charter becoming effective September 18, 1901.

In the years which have passed since the inception of the commission government at Galveston, the importance of Mr. Smith's public spirited citizenship has suffered no decline. He is as alert today in behalf of all mat- ters effecting Galveston and the state of Texas as he was in the crisis of 1900. He is a big civic leader, a man who enjoys the thorough confidence and respect of his fellow citizens, and is one of that group of business men who have been laying a solid foundation in recent years for the greater and better Galveston, shaping all forces and plans to a realization of the possibilities

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which will come about when Galveston becomes in truth and in fact the greatest port city on the continent.

R. Waverley Smith is a native of Virginia, born in Buckingham county, August 10, 1865. His father, Rob- ert B. Smith was born in Tennessee, and during his resi- dence in Virginia, was an extensive tobacco planter. The mother Mary (Taylor) Smith was born in Vir- ginia, a daughter of Rev. W. H. Taylor, a distinguished Baptist minister. The family moved to Austin, Texas, in 1880, and the mother died in 1884, and the father in 1905. R. Waverley Smith was fifteen years old when he came to Texas, and from 1883 to 1887 was a student in the literary department in the University of Texas, graduating in the latter year, A. B. He then be- gan the study of law at the University, but in August, 1887, came to Galveston and continued his law studies under private instruction. His admission to the bar came in 1889, and he was engaged in private practice in this city until 1895. He was then elected city attor- ney, and held that office until 1899, his service contin- uing almost to the time of the storm.

In 1900, Mr. Smith was diverted from his career as a lawyer to finance and business, by his election as presi- dent of the First National Bank of Galveston, an insti- tution of which he has been the head ever since. He is president of the Real Estate Loan company, of the Gal- veston Development Company, of the Security Land and Trust Company, and is president of the Galveston Clear- ing House. The office of vice president is held by him in connection with the following corporations: The Gal- reston Tribune Company, The Galveston Hotel Company, builders and owners of Hotel Galvez, with the Gal- veston Gas Company, the Texas Industrial Development Company. Mr. Smith is treasurer of the Cotton Con- centration Company, of the Galveston West End Com- pany, and of the Texas & Gulf Steamship Company. He is also one of the board of Pilot Commissioners of the Port of Galveston. Mr. Smith has been a member of the Galveston Deep Water Commission since 1899, and after the death of the late George Sealy, in 1901, be- came chairman of the committee, a place which he still holds.

Mr. Smith has membership in the Aziola Club of Gal- veston, the Oleander Country Club, the Galveston Garten Verein, the New York Yacht Club, the Columbia Yacht Club, and many other social and civic organizations. In 1896 he was married to Miss Etta Jane Sealy, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Sealy of Galveston. They have no children. Mr. and Mrs. Smith reside at 822 Tremont street in Galveston.

W. JEFF JOHNSON, M. D. During nearly thirty years of active practice in his profession in North Texas, the services and attainments of Dr. Johnson have ranked him as one of the leading physicians in this part of the state, and he enjoys one of the best practices in Hardeman county, his resident and professional headquarters hav- ing been at Chillicothe since 1906. Dr. Johnson is one of the men who began life with many handicaps. He was a poor boy, but was resolute in his ambition to enter the higher walks of life. In attaininig this purpose, he spent five years in the employ of a regular physician. studying and getting his board for such duties as he performed, which were of a very miscellaneous character. He then taught school in order to get the means to at- tend medical college, and has always been very progres- sive and kept himself by study and by attendance at post-graduate schools abreast of all the advancements in his science and art.

Dr. Johnson was born in St. Frances county, Arkansas, July 16, 1861. the oldest of six children born to A. F. and M. T. (Walker) Johnson. The parents were both natives of Tennessee, the father born in Manry county, July 16, 1832, and the mother in 1937. The father, who was a substantial farmer, came to Texas, November 5, 1478, locating at Cleburne, where he made his home

until his death, June 22, 1911. During the Civil war he was a soldier of the Confederacy, and served under General Price, continuing from the beginning to the end of the long war. At Springfield, Missouri, he was wounded. The mother now makes her home at Fort Worth, Texas.

Dr. Johnson was reared in Tennessee, up to the age of seventeen, and during that time attended the public schools and was also a student in Webb's Institute, in that state. After coming to Texas, he followed the lines of work already indicated, and in 1885 was granted a certificate to practice medicine, and began his practice at Whitt, in Parker county. He also entered the Uni- versity of Tennessee, in the medical department, and was graduated M. D. in 1892. He then continued his practice at Whitt, where he was a physician for fifteen years. In 1900 he moved to Bridgeport, Texas, where he continued in practice until 1906, and in that year established himself at Chillicothe. The doctor is now serving as city health officer and is a member of the County and State Medical Society, the American Medical Association. In polities he is a Democrat. He has served as master of his Masonic Lodge three times, and is also a member of the Royal Arch Chapter. His other fraternal affiliations include the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World, and he and his family worship in the Methodist Church.

At Whitt, in Parker county, on March 14, 1885, Dr. Johnson married Miss Margaret J. Buster, a daughter of John and Katherine Buster, both now deceased. The Buster family came from Arkansas to Texas in 1878. No children have been born to the marriage of the Doctor and wife. In 1903, Dr. Johnson attended the post-graduate medical school of Chicago and he is a physician who seizes every opportunity to advance his attainments and render his services more useful to his patients.

FRANK M. SMITH. The story of the success that has rewarded the efforts of Frank M. Smith, of Brown- wood, is an interesting narrative, the chapters of which mark the way from a little Indiana farm to the head of a great lumher enterprise. Starting from a humble clerkship in a bank, he has reached his present posi- tion by methods which in these days of higher criticism of business practice have never heen assailed. Mr. Smith was born at Acton, Marion county, Indiana, April 20, 1861, and is a son of John S. and Pauline (Doswell) Smith.

The parents of Mr. Smith were natives of Virginia, and following their marriage in that State removed to Marion county, Indiana, where they settled on a farm. There they resided from 1860 until 1871, in which year they came to McLennan county, Texas, and purchased farm lands two miles from the city of Waco, although this property is now included within the corporate lim- its of that city. In 1881 they disposed of their interests there and came to Brown connty, the mother dying here two years later and the father in 1902. There were ten children in the family, of whom four are deceased, the survivors being: R. C., a prominent farmer and public man of MeCordsville, Indiana; Temple D., president of the Bank of Fredericksburg, the Bank of Timpson and the Bank of Carthage, Texas; Brooke, president and owner of the Brooke Smith Bank of Brownwood; Frank M .; N. L., a resident of Los Angeles, California; and Alice L., widow of J. J. Rainey, of Brownwood.

Frank M. Smith received only meager educational ad- vantages in the country schools of Marion county, In- diana, and the Waco city schools, and at twenty years of age commenced his career as clerk in the private bank of his brother. Brooke, of the firm of Smith & Steffens, at Abilene. In 1882 he first came to Brownwood, with his parents, and for one year was in the employ of the Brownwood Bank of the same firm, Smith & Steffens. In 1884 he organized the Bank of Anson, in company with

My. Johnson MX 1

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another brother, Temple D. Smith, and this firm also engaged in merchandising at Anson for twelve years. In 1896 Frank M. Smith removed to Timpson, but two years later went to Nacogdoches county, where he re- sided until 1908, and still owns 1,000 acres of farm lands in that county, although he has disposed of all of his other interests. From 1903 until 1908, he was engaged in the sawmill business there, but in the latter year, owing to ill health and the advice of his physicians to seek a higher altitude, he returned to Brownwood, which city has since been his home. In spite of the fact that Brownwood already had several lumber yards, owned by large corporations, Mr. Smith was courageous enough to open an establishment of this nature of his own, on an independent basis, and this, like all of his other under- takings, has proved markedly successful. He is today the largest shipper in lumber and accessories in Brown county, and carries double the amount of stock of any concern of this kind here. His connection with large affairs makes him one of the foremost business men of this section, and he is universally recognized among his associates as a man whose activities are contributing to the welfare and advancement of his adopted community. He has ever shown confidence in the future of the South- west, and, believing that opportunities await men of ambition and energy here, has at all times been willing to give such information as is at his command in regard to conditions in this part of the Lone Star state.

On December 27, 1892, Mr. Smith was united in mar- riage with Miss Mattie J. Brown, of Kentucky, daughter of Dr. M. D. Brown, who is now retired and a resident of Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Six children have been born to this union: Frank M., Jr., a student of the Brown- wood High School, aged nineteen years; Fannie L., who is fifteen years of age; William T., aged thirteen years, and Brooke D., the baby, who is three years of age. Two children are dead. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are mem- bers of the Christian church, in the faith of which all their children have been reared. In politieal matters he is a Democrat, but has never cared for public office, although on one occasion, while a resident of Jones county, he consented to become his party 's candidate for county treasurer, and served acceptably in that office one term. During his long residence in various parts of Texas he has formed a wide acquaintance, in which he has numbered many warm personal friends.

ADDISON YANCEY GUNTER and WILLIAM WASHINGTON GUNTER, of Sivills Bend, Texas. The lives of these two men could not be written separately any more than could those of Damon and Pythias; for all their lives they lived together, and their mutual love and devotion was as great as any fabled heroes of antiquity. Their par- ents, Lemuel Gunter and Rebecca Williams Gunter, re- moved from Eastern North Carolina early in life and, having lost their all in gold mining in the North Caro- line foot-hills, they settled near Jamestown in that state. Here, on April 3, 1826, William Washington Gunter was born. Addison Yancey Gunter was born at the same place on January 17, 1833. These men were only two of a large family, their brothers being Levin, Laertis, Shubert, Ahner, Isaac, Harper, Jot, Charles, and Henry, all now deceased; Jesse, who is a retired farmer and lives near Victoria, Texas, and Martha, wife of John Childers, of Abilene, Texas.

Their father, finding life very difficult in North Caro- lina for a farmer with a large family, decided to try his fortune further west, and, following the easiest route, went sonth into Georgia, where he was induced to settle in Troupe county, near Franklin. Here his son, William Washington, entered the general merchandise store of Mr. Wilkinson in the capacity of errand boy. His in- dustry, affability, and intellect in a few years won him a partnership in the store, when he at once took in his younger brother, Addison Yancey, as a clerk, and from that time on they were never separated for long, and

their business interests were always interwoven. An older brother having gone to Eastern Texas in 1854, the rest of the Gunter family decided to join him in a year or two and enter the mercantile field in the new country. After an arduous journey to New Orleans and up the Red River to Jefferson, Texas, they located in Quitman, Wood county, Texas, where they opened a general merchandise store and quickly amassed a con- siderable fortune, thongh under great difficulties. All goods used in East and North Texas came up Red River to Jefferson by boat. In 1859 the river did not rise and there was no navigation. W. W. Gunter, having left his family and business in his brother's care and gone to New Orleans for a supply of goods, found, after wait- ing for several months, that he could not ship his goods further than Alexandria. There he chartered a small boat, sold passenger fares enough to pay for her hire, loaded his goods aboard, though the insurance companies cancelled all his protection, and started for Shreveport. Cholera broke out among the deck hands and so many died that the passengers had to load woou and do many other menial tasks. Finally he reached his destination and was offered a profit of $20,000 on his goods by mer- chants in Shreveport who had not been able to. get their goods up on account of low water. Refusing this, he journeyed by stage to Marshall, Texas, where he found the saddle horse he had left just six months before, and, after a couple of days on horseback, reached his home in Quitman.

When the war between the states broke out the six Gunter brothers then living shouldered arms for the Southern canse. William Washington Gunter and his brother Isaac joined Ector's Brigade, Tenth Texas Cav- alry, Company B. They saw service at the siege of Corinth, the battle of Franklin, and the Kentucky cam- paign. W. W. Gunter reached the rank of captain, but the last year of the war he was invalided home and made conscript officer and tithe gatherer. His unflinching dis- charge of his dnty in this capacity made him enemies among the renegades of the country and cansed him much trouble during the reconstruction period.

Addison Yancey Gunter, being in very poor health at the outbreak of the war, acted under the advice of his physician and went to South Texas, where he joined Brown's Battalion, doing coast guard duty on Galveston Island and at the mouth of the Brazos River. He soon reached the rank of first lieutenant. His last official act was the single handed arrest of a bunch of Quantrell's men who had been terrorizing Central Texas.

At the close of the war A. Y. and W. W. Gunter, as the firm had been named, found their comfortable for- tune had vanished and their total available assets to be sixteen bales of cotton collected during the war and saved because of no shipping facilities. The proceeds from this cotton enabled them with their unimpaired credit to open a business in Jefferson, where they did an extensive jobbing business to Sherman, Dallas and other North Texas points. However, reconstruction troubles, dull times, and the health of the family de- cided them to go further West, and also decided A. Y. Gunter to give up the idea of practicing law, for which he had prepared himself directly after the war. Buying land in Sivills Bend, Cooke county, they tried the experi- ment of farming on a large scale, ultimately accumulat- ing some 7,000 acres of land.

The lure of the merchant, however, tempted them again and they opened a big general store in Gainesville. the county seat. All went well till the panic of 1872, which wiped out all their assets except their farmi and gave them years of labor and trouble to readjust and pay their debts. However, the firm of A. Y. and W. W. Gunter payed dollar for dollar and kept their name un- tarnished, as they did their cattle brand, the well-known Diamond Y. Their first agricultural snecess was raising oats for the government troops at Ft. Sill, to which place they sent long trains of ox wagons loaded with grain

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through the unsettled Indian Territory. Later they were particularly known as horse breeders and cotton planters.

Progressive in all things, they brought the first blooded horse to the county for breeding purposes, succeeding so well that the Diamond Y horse (which was a eross be- tween a Kentucky thoroughbred and the native Spanish mustang) was known all over North Texas for his speed, endurance, and natural saddle gaits. They introduced and used the first riding plow, reaper, cultivator, and thresher that ever came to Cooke county. In conjune- tion with their father-in-law, they raised cotton and es- tablished one of the first gins in the county. Bringing the seed from Eastern Texas, they set out extensive orchards and gardens. By giving away wagon loads of fine peaches they proved to the skeptical that good fruit could be raised in a county that has since taken many horticultural prizes. They were also the first to ex- tensively use barbed wire, thus fencing a big pasture. Believing above all things in education, they established a good school, two churches and a Masonic lodge in their community. In 1885 Addison Yancey Gunter was a member of the state legislature. A life-long Democrat, both he and his brother ever took an active intelligent interest in politics. Both A. Y. and W. W. Gunter were men of more than ordinary ability, progressiveness, and energy. Bringing to this new country the old ideal of hearty Southern hospitality, they kept open house for all comers. Their plantation was where the most east- ern branch of the big cattle trails crossed Red River and was known as a place of good cheer for all men on the trail, while many were the busy men of affairs who made the long trip over rough roads to partake of their hos- pitality and enjoy their rich humor, swift repartee, and deep insight into the affairs of the day. To them the bonds of family and friendship were stronger than bonds of steel. No member of the family or friend ever called on them in vain in time of need. Money, time, labor, and often personal safety were readily sacrificed for a brother in distress in these troubled times.

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A history of Texas and Texans, Part 96

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