A history of Texas and Texans, Part 98

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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In Crowell in 1904 Dr. Hill married Edna Mae Thacker, a daughter of M. F. Thacker of Foard county. They are the parents of two daughters, Frances Adelia and Helen. The doctor's religious preference is for the Bap- tist faith, while his wife is a Methodist. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Blue Lodge of Masonry, also the Knights Templar and Commandery, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Wood- men of the World, and the Modern Woodmen of America.

He belongs to the Foard County Medical Society, of which he has served as secretary, and also the State Medical Society. In politics he is a Democrat, a voter only. During his professional career he has served both as city and county health officer. Like many progressive and ambitious physicians, he has interrupted his practice at different times in order to take post-graduate courses in New York City and Chicago. The doctor is fond of hunt- ing, enjoys outdoor life in all its phases, and is a pro- found student both in his profession and in general lit- erature.

J. FRANK COLES. Prominent among the real estate firms in El Paso is that of A. P. Coles & Brothers, deal- ers in real estate, of which J. Frank Coles of this review is one of the members. It is only in recent years that Mr. Coles formed this business association with his brothers, but since that time the firm has made splendid progress with its work in this community, and is properly ranked among the more important establishments of its kind in the county. It was in 1892 that Mr. Coles first came to Texas, and since that time he has been chiefly identified with the fortunes of El Paso. He has been connected with numerous lines of enterprise in this see- tion of the country. He was born in Lebanon, Tennes- see, August 12, 1870, and is a son of J. F. Coles, Sr., of Lebanon, Tenn.

The early education of Mr. Coles was attained in the public schools of Lebanon, and he later took up a pre- paratory course at the university in that city. When he left school he for a time identified himself with farming activities, and so continued until he left his home in 1892 and came to El Paso. In 1896 Mr. Coles formed a partnership with his two brothers, A. P. and O. C. Coles, and the present business which they are con- ducting in El Paso is the result of that combination. They have come to be recognized among the most promi- nent business men in their line of enterprise and have given every proof of exceptional business ability. They are successful and prosperous and exercise good business judgment in all their business dealings. Mr. Coles him- self is especially known as a leader in public enterprise in the city. Not only is he always found on the right side on subjects pertaining to the progress and develop- ment, but he is usually found as a promoter instead of a follower. He is eminently a leader, and is regarded as one of the most practical citizens of the city.

The firm of A. P. Coles & Brothers has had a prom- inent place in the best development of the various en- terprises of El Paso and vicinity and as such the broth- ers are particularly deserving of some mention in a work of this character. Their work in the business an- nals of El Paso is one of the cleanest and most pro- gressive character and each member of the firm has added his full quota to the development and progress of the community.

Mr. Coles is a Democrat and takes considerable interest in affairs of that nature in and about the county. He at one time served as city treasurer and gave to the city a most admirable administration in that capacity. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and was one of the directors of that association during 1912. He is also a member of the Country Club, and served as vice president and director of the Coltec Club. Fraternally he has membership in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and is now holding an office in that order. His principal recreation he finds in hunting and fishing, and despite the heavy demands upon his time which his business interests makes, he finds occasion at intervals to indulge himself in the pleasure of hunting and fishing.

Mr. Coles is one of the most enthusiastic converts to the faith in Texas and he believes it to be the coming state of the nation. He holds himself ready at all times to answer any inquiries that may be presented to him with regard to opportunities which the state presents.

In October, 1907, Mr. Coles was united in marriage

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with Miss Adele Fewel, who is a daughter of Major and Mrs. W. J. Fewel of El Paso. To them have been boru two children, a son and a daughter, William Fewel Coles and Katherine Hunt Coles. The family are members of the Methodist church and active in the work of the va- rious departments of that body.

ORPHUS YORK, M. D. In the career of Dr. Orphus York, of Panhandle, Texas, is presented an excellent ex- ample of the success which may be attained through the exercise ot determination and ambitious effort. Leaving home in his youth with no financial support, he so well directed his energies and took advantage of his op- portunities that he was able not only to prepare himself for a career of useful endeavor in one of the higher call- ings, but to contribute materially to the support of his parents. The struggles and self-sacrifices attending such a course of action are obvious, but they have resulted in the gaininig of a position among the substantial men of his calling as well as in bringing that sense of ap- preciation which may only be realized by those who have won their own way, unassisted, to success. Dr. York was born March 15, 1875, at Harrison, Boone county Ar- kansas and is a son of J. A. and Samantha Caroline ( Watkins) York.

J. A. York was born in Polk county, Tennessee, and was there reared on a farm. He was but a lad of four- teen years when the struggle between the North and the South began, but early succeeded in enlisting in the Con- federate service, becoming a private in Company E, First Regiment, Tennessee Volunteers. His first important trial under fire came at Manassas Junction, and during the four years that followed he was a participant in some of the most sanguinary engagements of the war. He was in the commands of Gen. Stonewall Jackson, Gen. John H. Morgan and Gen. Albert S. Johnston, at different times, all of these great commanders being killed in bat- tle, but was himself never wounded, although the youth- ful soldier was invariably found in the thickest of the fight. He was in the trenches at Vicksburg for forty-nine days during the siege, and was present at the surrender. After Appomattox Court House, he was mustered out of the service, with an excellent record for bravery and faithful discharge of duty. In 1869 Mr. York removed to Arkansas and took up his residence on a farm near HIarrison, in Boone county. There he continued to carry on operations until his death in 1910, when he was sixty- seven years of age. He was married in Arkansas to Samantha Caroline Watkins, who was born in Alaculsy, Murray county, Georgia, and was brought to Arkansas by her parents in 1859, locating in Boone county, where she was educated, reared and married. She is still living at Harrison, being now sixty-three years of age. She has been the mother of eight children: Ottis, who is a practicing physician of Harrison, Arkansas; Orphus, of this review; Dr. Onns, who is engaged in the practice of medicine in Calgary, Canada; Mrs. Ora Sands and Mrs. Ova Garvin, both residents of Harrison, Arkansas; and three children who are deceased.

The early education of Orphus York was secured in the public schools of Boone county, Arkansas, and during the summer months he devoted himself to assisting his father on the home farm. He early decided to embark upon a career of his own, although when he left the parental roof his cash capital consisted of twenty-five cents. He was possessed of sturdier resonrees, however, to fall back upon than those represented by mere monetary advan- tages, and, making the most of his opportunities, was able to attend the State University of Arkansas, from the literary department of which he was graduated in 1897. Several years of unremitting struggles followed, but he was eventually able to enter the College of Phy- siciaus and Surgeons, and in 1904 graduated at the head oť a class of 150 pupils. During this time, in addition to paying for his own tuition, he had sent $1,100 home for the support of his parents. Dr. York commenced

practice at Alco, Arkansas, after his first year in the medical college, and continued there during the ten years that followed. In 1908 he came direct to Panhandle, Texas, where he became the first physician in the growing town and where he has continued to remain with con- stantly increasing success. His practice extends far into the surrounding country and few physicians can boast of a more representative clientele. He has served as county physician of Carson and as local surgeon for the Santa Fe Railroad. A close and careful student, he keeps him- self fully conversant with the developments and discov- eries of his profession, and has taken a keen and active interest in the work of the various organizations, being a member of the Potter County, Southern and Texas State Medical Societies and the American Medical Asso- ciation. His fraternal connections are wide and varied, and inelnde the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Woodmen of the World, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Tribe of Ben Hur, the Pretorians, the American Yeomen, the Royal Neigh- bors and the Columbians. With his family, he attends the Presbyterian church.

On August 31, 1902, Doctor York was married at Alco, Arkansas, to Miss Bertha Richardson, daughter of F. M. and Cynthia Richardson, the former of whom is still liv- ing at Alco in the same house in which he was born sixty- six years ago. The mother is deceased. Doctor and Mrs. York have had four children, namely: Thelma Lucille, born in May, 1905, at Alco, Arkansas, now attending the Third Grade of the Panhandle public schools; Joseph Farrell, born in February, 1907, at Alco, who, although but six years of age, is also a student in the Third Grade; Mildred Ophelia, born April 15, 1909, at Panhandle; and Justin Orphus, born July 28, 1911, at Panhandle. Doctor York is a great lover of home, and is the owner of a handsome modern residence in his adopted place.

HON. YANCEY W. HOLMES. A former member of the Texas legislature, and one of the leading lawyers of Hale county, Yancey W. Holmes gained entrance to this learned profession by dint of hard study at night, and at every leisure moment, and during the past fifteen years has enjoyed a place among the best in his profession.

Yancey W. Holmes was born at Leesville, Texas, No- vember 22, 1872, the seventh among the eleven children born to William Francis Marion and Matilda Y. (Brown) Holmes. A native of Tennessee, the father came to Texas when a young man, settling in Upshur county, where he was a farmer and continued actively in his chosen voca- tion for many years. His death occurred in Gonzales county, at the age of seventy-four, in 1903. During the Civil war he served as a private in General Walker's Texas Division, and went through this service without wound. The mother was educated and married in Texas, and her death occurred at the age of thirty-five in 1875.

Mr. Holmes as a boy attended the country schools in Gonzales county, and finally prepared himself both in studies and in financial means, to enter the University of Texas in the Academie course, graduating in 1898. He took his studies in law in a night class, and was admit- ted to the bar in the same year he graduated from the Academie department of the University. He began his practice in Gonzales, where he remained nine years, and then practiced for two and a half years at Amarillo. His next location was at Hale Center, where he remained a year and a half, and since 1911 has had his office and practice at Plainview. He is secretary of the Hale county Bar Association. Mr. Holmes represented his county in the twenty-ninth legislature, and has been very active in Democratie polities, being now Democratic chairman of Hale county. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Woodmen of the World, and his church is the Presbyterian.

In December, 1907, at Carrizozo, New Mexico, he mar- ried Miss Hattie E. Chenault, a daughter of S. Chenault, her parents both being deceased. The two children of

Dr Orphee york.

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Mr. and Mrs. Holmes are: William Harold Holmes, born at Amarillo in 1909, and Janet Ellen Holmes, born at Plainview in 1912. Mr. Holmes owns his residence and other property and is a very prosperous man.

ROBERT W. BAIRD. Losing his father when a child of six years, early forced to assist in contributing to the support of his widowed mother, steadily and energetically working his way upward, and today the owner of 4825 acies of Texas land and the incumbent of the office of sheriff of Deaf Smith county-such, in brief, has been the career of Robert W. Baird, one of the best known men in Western Texas. It is not within the province of this review to give in detail the numerous interesting ex- periences of Mr. Baird's long and varied career, but to briefly sketch the steps by which he has risen from poor and obscure boyhood to a place of prominence and influ- ence in a section where strong men are not lacking.

Robert W. baird is a Texan by nativity and training. Born in Grayson county, October 12, 1865, he is a son of Joseph A. and Mathilda J. (Reeves) Baird, the fifth in order of birth of their seven children. His father, a na- tive of Tennessee, came to Texas in an early day, and at the outbreak of the struggle between the North and the South enlisted in a Texas regiment under the command of Capt. Randolph, and served gallantly throughout the four years of the war. His army experiences no doubt hastened his death, which occurred in IS71, when he was forty-nine years of age. Joseph A. Baird married Ma- thilda J. Reeves, a native of Arkansas, who removed to Texas as a child with her parents, and her death oc- curred in 1904, while on a visit to her son, Robert W., and was buried in Grayson county in the cemetery do- nated by Col. W. S. Reeves, one of the early settlers, the land having formerly been a part of the old Reeves homestead.

Robert W. Baird was but six years of age when his father died, and the greater part of his early education was secured in the school of hard work, although he sub- seqnently attended the public schools of Grayson county, Prof. Carlyle's private school and the high school at Whitesboro, thus acquiring a liberal training. For some time he was engaged in working on ranches in various sections, and in 1896 entered the employ of Jot Gunter, owner of the T Anchor ranch, and while thus engaged drove cattle across the plains to Kansas, the nearest shipping point. At that time there was not a settler in Randall county ; no house had been erected between Can- yon and New Mexico, and the first settler between this point and New Mexico was J. C. Cox. Ambitious and enterprising, Mr. Baird invested his earnings in cattle, and was soon able to embark upon operations of his own. That these ventures in cattle raising and ranching have proved snecessful may be seen from the fact that today he is the owner of 1680 acres of pasture land, and also leases over 3000 aeres, located eight miles southeast of Hereford, in Castro county, on which great herds of cattle are annually prepared for the market. A Demo- erat in his political views, in 1910 Mr. Baird was the successful candidate for the office of sheriff in Deaf Smith county, and his success in suppressing lawlessness in this section during his first term resulted in his re- election in November, 1912. Both officially and unof- ficially, he is one of the best known men in Western Texas, where he is respected by the law-abiding element and greatly feared by the lawless. He has been fearless in the discharge of his duties, though always just, and Deaf Smith county has had no official who has given the eiti- zens of the county more reason for self-congratulation. Fraternally, he is connected with the Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World, in both of which orders he has passed through all the chairs.

In January, 1889, Mr. Baird was married in Grayson county, Texas, to Miss Dovie J. Bynum, a native of Texas, and a daughter of W. W. Bynum, an old pioneer from Arkansas, and a Confederate veteran who fought

throughout the Civil war. Mr. Bynum died in 1910, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Baird, and was buried at Here- ford. Mr. and Mrs. Baird have had two sons: Fred W., born in 1891, in Grayson county, a graduate of Hereford High school and now attending a business college at Fort Worth; and Horace C., born in Grayson county in 1892, who has charge of the operations on his father's ranch.

JAMES I. HEWITT. Holding well earned precedence as one of the leading contractors and builders of Western Texas, Mr. Hewitt is numbered among the honored and valued business men of the city of El Paso, judicial center of the county of the same name, and has con- tributed in large measure to the development and up- building of this fine city on the border of the Republic of Mexico. He has been the artificer of his own for- tunes, even as he has of innumerable buildings of the most attractive and substantial order, and he is one of the sterling citizens given to the Lone Star common- wealth by the fine old Buckeye state. He is most liberal and public-spirited in his eivie attitude and is at the present time a member of the board of aldermen of his home city, where his circle of friends is coincident with that of his. acquaintances.

Mr. Hewitt was born at Camden, Preble county, Ohio, on the 15th of October, 1849, and is a son of Thomas B. and Eusebia Ann (Huddleston) Hewitt, the former a native of Ohio and a representative of one of the sterling pioneer families of that state, and the latter a native of Virginia, in which historie old commonwealth the Huddleston family was founded in the colonial era. Thomas Brown Hewitt was reared and educated in Ohio and was long and successfully engaged in busi- ness as a contractor and builder at Camden, an at- tractive little village of Preble county, where he died when abont seventy-two years of age. He was twice married. His first wife, the mother of onr subject, died in 1869 and his second wife is still living. The lineage of the Hewitt family is traced back to stanch Irish origin, and that of the Huddlestons to English stock of the stanchest order. He whose name initiates this review is the eldest in a family of eight children, and only one other of the number is now living-Alice, who is the wife of William Overholz, of Oxford, Ohio.

James Irvin Hewitt made the most of the educational advantages afforded to him in the public schools of his native state, and at the age of sixteen years he became associated with his father in the contracting and build- ing business, in connection with which he was employed during the summer months and during the intervening winter terms became a skilled artisan at the trade of carpenter and joiner, and at the age of twenty years he severed the gracious home ties and set forth in the world as a full-fledged journeyman at his trade. After considerable travel through the Middle West, he set- tled in the village of Morning Sun, Louisa county, Iowa, and there, on the 22d of January, 1873, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Katherine V. Huffman, who was born in Ohio and who had accompanied her parents on their removal to Iowa. After his marriage the am- bitious young artisan continued his earnest endeavors as a contractor and builder in that section of the Hawk- eye state until September, 1883, when he decided to make a change of location, as the section of Iowa in which he was living failed to make the substantial progress which he had anticipated. Under these condi- tions he returned to Ohio and established his home at Oxford, Butler county, where he continued operations along the line of his chosen vocation for the ensuing fifteen years, at the expiration of which, in May, 1898, he decided to leave the town in which he had built up a successful business and established a high reputation, as he had erected some of the finest buildings in Oxford and its vicinity and was known as a man of inflexible integrity and as one ever faithful to the terms of every contract into which he entered. He accordingly disposed

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of his property and business at Oxford and came to Texas in 1898, May 2. After due investigation and consideration he established a home in El Paso, where his family joined him shortly afterwards, and here he turned his attention, with characteristic vigor and ability, to general contracting and building, in which his pro- nouneed success soon justified his choice of location, with the result that he has never regretted the action which made him a permanent resident of the Lone Star state. He has been a prominent and resourceful factor in the development and upbuilding of his home city, where many fine and essentially modern buildings stand as enduring monuments to his technical skill and his scrupulous care in all details of work in which his interposition has been gained. Among the many fine buildings erected by him in El Paso is Protestant Episcopal church and the manse, or parsonage, of the Presbyterian church. He also erected the Henry Pfaff residence, one of the finest in the city, and also that of Sen. William W. Turner. He is also the contractor upon whom devolved the erec- tion of the Masonic Temple in El Paso, this being a modern, fireproof building of seven stories. His work in connection with every contract assumed has been of the most creditable order and the result has. been that he has become one of the leading contractors and build- ers of this part of the state, with an unassailable repu- tation for ability and for uprightness and fairness in all dealings.

In polities Mr. Hewitt may be designated as some- what conservative and independent, with affiliation with the Democratic party. In the spring of 1907 he was accorded a definite evidence of popular confidence and esteem in his election as representative of the El Paso board of aldermen, and he has given service of the most loyal and effective order, as it is uniformly conceded that during the municipal administration in which he bas been a valued factor El Paso has had its period of most substantial progress and most determinate ad- vanrement in the line of permanent municipal improve- ments and the expansion of general public utilities. Mr. Hewitt has maintained affiliation with the time- honored Masonie fraternity since 1872, in Iowa, and is identified with the various York Rite bodies in his home city, besides which he has attained to the thirty- second degree in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite and holds membership in the adjunct organization, the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, as well as in the Knights of Pythias. He and his family hold membership in the Presbyterian church, and he is known as a citizen of high civic ideals and of most progressive ideas. He is the owner of his attrac- tive residence property and also other valuable realty in El Paso, and he is known and honored as one of the representative citizens of this thriving border city. Con- cerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Hewitt brief record is entered in the concluding paragraph of this review. Margaret Ann is the wife of Harlan D. Vinnedge, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Colamah F. died at Oxford, Ohio, at the age of twenty years; Fred Austin is asso- ciated with his father in the contracting and building business, under the firm name of Hewitt & Son; Floyd C. is at home; Lueia A. is the wife of George C. Meyser, of El Paso, and James Arthur remains at the parental home. One child died in Iowa at the age of four years.

JUDGE WILLIAM B. POWELL. For a period of twenty- five years Judge Powell has been one of the leading members of the Jasper county bar. Eight years of this time were spent in service on the district bench, and during that service he made a record as a firm, upright, just and fearless judge. Both as a lawyer and on the bench he has demonstrated his ability as a clear thinker, a sound reasoner, and also possesses a qualification so essential to a good judge, the judicial temperament. Judge Powell now does a large consulting practice at the county seat of Jasper county.

William B. Powell, who represents one of the pioneer families of East Texas, was born in 1855 at Jasper, four miles east of the county seat. His parents were Richard Ely and Mary Ann (Gay) Powell. His father, a native of Virginia, came to Tennessee, in which state he was married, and then came on to Texas in 1839, first locating in San Augustine county. He removed with his family to Jasper county in 1841, es- tablishing his home four miles east of Jasper. Both in San Augustine and Jasper counties he was a pioneer and began his activities and residence in this state dur- ing the era of the Republic. Jasper county had only a meager scattering of population at the time of his set- tlement, and Richard E. Powell did his full share toward the development of its early resources and the improve- mient of its citizenship. By occupation he was a farmer and died in 1880.

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A history of Texas and Texans, Part 98

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