USA > Texas > A history of Texas and Texans > Part 99
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Judge Powell grew up on a farm and in the whole- some atmosphere of country life. His entrance into the field of the law came only after a number of years of hard preparation and much time spent in earning his own livelihood and in securing the means for his higher studies. After completing the course of the common schools, he won a first grade certificate as a teacher, and spent several years in that interesting and valuable vo- cation. His studies in the law were conducted in the law department of the University of Texas, where he was graduated LL. B. in the class of 1888. Returning to his native county, he opened an office at Jasper, to which town he had moved in 1887. Since then his home has been continuously at the county seat, and he has not only enjoyed a large, generous practice, but has been frequently honored by positions of trust and responsi- bility. He was elected and served as district attorney during 1901-02. In 1904 he was elected judge of the First Judicial District, and by re-election in 1908 served continuously for eight years, his term concluding in 1912. The First Judicial District comprises six counties-Jas- per, Newton, Orange, Tyler, Sabine, and San Augustine. On leaving the hench, Judge Powell resumed private practice as a member of the firm of Powell & Lee, in Jasper. For several years past Judge Powell has had an affliction of the eye which seriously affects his sight, and for this reason his work as a lawyer is largely of an advisory and consulting nature. He owns a couple of good farms in Jasper county, and for many years has been practically interested in agriculture. Judge Powell has membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and fraternally is affiliated with the Masonic Order.
He has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Rosa Althea Henderson, a native of Jasper county and of an old family in this locality. She was the mother of six children, mentioned as follows: Lloyd B., Mrs. Ruby R. Stone, Miss Bertha Powell, Paul Powell, Mrs. Mary Roark, and Miss Rosie Powell. For his second wife Judge Powell married Miss Mary A. Ward, who was reared in Jasper county, though her people came from Mississippi. Of this second marriage there are four children-Ward B., Myrtle, William Richard, and Marjorie Powell.
FRANK BOZEMAN KING, Ph. G., M. D. Success iu what are properly termed the learned professions is the legi- timate result of merit and painstaking endeavor. In commercial life one may come into possession of a lucra- tive business through inheritance or gift, but professional advancement is gained only by critical study and con- seentive research long continued. Proper intellectual dis- cipline, thorough professional knowledge and the posses- sion and utilization of the qualities and attributes essen- tial to success made Dr. Frank Bozeman King, of Houston, Texas, eminent in his chosen calling and for many years he has stood among the scholarly and enter- prising physicians and surgeons in a community loug dis- tinguished for the high order of its medical talent. Dr.
Frank Boymean King, DRg, M.
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King's name will be held in lasting honor as one of the ablest surgeons that ever gave loyal service in behalf of suffering humanity in the city of his residence, for his life has been characterized not only by the most adroit professional ability, but also by the most profound human sympathy which overleaps mere sentiment to become an actuating motive, for when a youth he realized that there is no honor not founded on genuine worth, there is a vital purpose in life and that the best and highest accomplish- ment must come from a well trained mind and altruistic heart. Those who know him well are unstinted in their praise of his genial disposition and his superior ability. Older men in the profession here rely on his judgment and younger ones frequently seek his counsel, all admit- ting his eminence. The large success which is crowning his life work, coupled with his ripe experience and kind heart, enables him to bring comfort, hope and confidence to the sick room and he brings sunshine into many a home. He is a plain, unassuming gentleman and uni- formly courteous.
Dr. King was born in Milam county, Texas, January 21, 1864. He is a son of Kenneth A. and Bettie (Letcher) King. The father was a native of Tennessee, where he spent his earlier years and received such educational training as the times afforded, and from that state he removed to Texas in 1858, locating in Milam county on a farm on which he spent the rest of his life, successfully engaged in general farming and stock raising. His death occurred on September 6, 1898. The Doctor's mother was born in Alabama. Her death occurred on May 6, 1902.
Dr. Nathan Bozeman, the famous surgeon of Montgom- ery, Alabama, now deceased, was Dr. King's great uncle. He founded, in conjunction with Dr. J. Marion Sims, the Bellevue Women's Hospital in New York City.
Dr. King was educated in the common schools of Milam county, and when a boy he assisted his father with the general work on the home farm and early in life deter- mined upon a medical career. With this end in view he entered the Louisville School of Pharmacy, at Louisville, Kentucky, from which institution he was graduated in 1884. He also prosecuted his studies at the Kentucky School of Medicine and the Louisville School of Medicine, and was graduated from the same with the class of 1885, having made an excellent record in both schools.
Thus well equipped for his chosen life work he re- turned to Milam county, Texas, and began practicing at the town of Davilla, but after a short time moved to Rockdale, then to Burnet, Burnet county, where he was surgeon to Gus Wilke's camp of convicts, when they quarried the granite of which the state capitol at Austin was built. Later Dr. King established himself at Lam- pasas, Lampasas county. In 1888, while residing at Bur- net, he was appointed by Judge Blackburn, of Burnet, president of the Board of Medical Examiners and Phar- maceutical Examiners of the twenty-seventh judicial dis- trict, which position he held from 1888 to 1894 in a manner that reflected much credit upon himself and to the eminent satisfaction of all concerned.
In 1895 Dr. King moved to Houston, where he soon took his position in the front rank of his professional brethren and he has continued in the practice here to the present time with great success, especially as a surgeon, until today he enjoys a very large, rapidly growing and lucrative patronage. While carrying on a general prac- tice he has specialized, for some time, to some extent, in surgery. He is the physician and surgeon of St. Joseph's Infirmary, located in Houston and lecturer at St. Joseph Training School for Nurses. Remaining a profound student of all that pertains to his vocation he has kept well abreast of the times.
Dr. King is a member of the American Medical Asso- ciation, the Texas State Medical Association, the Harris County Medical Association, the South Texas Medical As- sociation and the Clinical Congress of Surgeons of North America.
Vol. IV-21
On December 21, 1887, Dr. King was united in mar- riage to Miss Elizabeth Winston, a representative of a well known family of Quincy, Illinois. To this union one child has been born, a daughter, Anne Winston King, now the wife of Morris J. Sullivan, of Detroit, Michigan, and they have one child, Morris J. Sullivan, Jr.
HON. EDGAR HUBBARD CARTER. The present roll of the Texas State Senate contains no ahler figure as a public spirited legislator than Hon. Edgar Hubbard Carter, who comes from Shelby county. Mr. Carter was elected to the state senate in 1910, and by his studious attention to affairs and his thorough grasp of current economic and political questions has made himself an important factor in the work of legislation during the last two sessions. Senator Carter prepared and intro- duced in 1913 one of the most widely discussed measures of the session, the law making it a penitentiary offense for any person to make unlawful use of a weapon car- ried on his person. This is a stringent piece of legisla- tion, but has been thoroughly approved by the better class of citizenship, and there is hardly any doubt that its general result, if properly enforced, will be broadly beneficial. The bill was passed by both houses and, having received the governor's signature, has become a law.
Edgar Hubbard Carter is a native Texan, born at Caledonia, in Rusk county, in 1875. His parents were Hubbard and Mandeville (Garrison) Carter. His father, now deceased, was born in Alabama, from which state he entered the Confederate army, and served throughout the war. Afterwards he moved to Texas, locating on a farm near Caledonia, in the southern part of Rusk county. The mother, who is still living, was born in Georgia and is a sister of Hon. T. S. Garrison, of Timp- son, Texas, a prominent banker and planter and former member of the Texas legislature, in which he served as chairman of the finance committee.
The family having removed from Rusk county to Timpson, in Shelby county, Edgar H. Carter attended the public schools there and studied law at Crockett, in Houston county, under Col. Earl Adams, one of the prominent lawyers of East Texas. His admission to the. bar came in 1897, and in September of the same year he took up the active practice of his profession, the county seat of Shelby county, which has since been his home. For six years Senator Carter served as county attorney, from 1900 to 1906. He was elected state sen- ator in 1910 for the regular term of four years, and has represented his district ably and faithfully. In the ses- sion of 1911 he was vice chairman of the judiciary com- mittee No. 1, and in 1913 was chairman of the committee on cities and towns. He has been a working member of various other committees. As a lawyer Mr. Carter has made a very successful record, and is senior member of the firm of Carter & Walker, engaged in both civil and criminal practice.
Fraternally, Mr. Carter has membership with the Ma- sonic Order, the Knights of Pythias, and the Woodmen of the World. He was married in Center to Miss Ernie Crawford, who was born in Shelby county. They are the parents of one daughter, Iris.
JOHN W. WILLIS. A merchant of Plainview who has conducted his business with an excellent combina- tion of conservatism and progressiveness, who is thoroughly familiar with the wants and desires of local patronage, and who takes pride in maintaining the best stock and the best store in the drug business in the town or county, is John W. Willis, the well-known druggist and citizen of Plainview.
John W. Willis is a native of Memphis, Tennessee, where he was born on Christmas day, 1873. His parents were R. F. and Margaret (Cox) Willis, the former a native of Virginia, and the latter of Mississippi. The father came to Texas from Tennessee in 1880, settling
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in Robertson county, where he has been a farmer and stock raiser for many years, and is still living there at the age of seventy-two years. During the Civil war period he went to the front as a Confederate soldier, and as a member of General Longstreet 's division fought in Virginia and Maryland, was wounded at the battle of Antietam, and, after his recovery, rejoined his regi- ment and fought until the final surrender. The mother, now sixty-eight years of age, was born in the northern part of Mississippi, and her children comprise seven sons and one daughter, of whom the Plainview merchant was third.
John W. Willis as a boy attended school at Franklin, Texas, and had one year of tuition at Paris, Texas. A clerkship in a drug store at Franklin, which he began when a youth, proved to be the route along which his career would be directed during his business life. He remained in the employ of one firm for eleven years, an exceptional record for a drug clerk, and then worked in various places for four years. He acquired a thorough knowledge of pharmacy and the commercial side of the business, and when he came to Plainview, in 1908, he was thoroughly equipped for conducting a successful business. In this town he joined Mr. Wyckoff, and they established the store which has been conducted to the present time. It was under the joint proprietorship for three years, at the end of which time Mr. Willis bought out the other interests and became sole proprietor. In the compounding of his drugs and prescriptions he em- ploys none but expert pharmacists, and accuracy and care and reliability he has made the mottoes of his establishment. In connection with the drugs he carries an up-to-date line of jewelry and stationery. Mr. Willis is a Democrat in politics and his fraternal affiliations are with the Knights Templar Masonry and the Mystic Shrine, with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias. At Franklin, Texas, February 12, 1896, he married Miss Eva Marris, a daugh- ter of John M. Marris, of an old family of Robertson county. The one child of Mr. and Mrs. Willis is Mar- guerite, born in Franklin, September 7, 1901. and now a student in the Wayland Baptist College at Plainview. Mr. and Mrs. Willis reside in a pleasant home of their own in Plainview and he is the owner of other property in the city.
WILLIAM J. B. ADAMS. Sixty-five years has come and gone since William J. B. Adams was brought to Jasper county a child of four years. He is one of the greatly esteemed pioneer citizens of the county, and his nu- merous friends consider him a part of the county's in- teresting history. His early life was spent among the pioneer conditions, and before he reached manhood he was a dashing cavalryman in the service of the Con- federacy, and later for a long period of years held a foremost position in local trade and commerce.
William J. B. Adams was born in Thomas county, Georgia, in 1845, a son of Abel and Elizabeth (Para- more) Adams, both of whom were also natives of Georgia. In 1848 the family accomplished its removal westward to Texas, locating in Jasper county. There has been the home of William J. B. Adams ever since, and the parents also spent the remainder of their lives there. Their home was about three miles south of Jasper on a farm, and it was in such an environment that the son was reared to manhood.
He was about sixteen years old when the war broke out, and some time later he enlisted for service with Company E of the First Texas Legion, in Ross' Brigade, Jackson's Division of Cavalry. Towards the close of the war he was in Forest's Cavalry. His service was largely in Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee, and he was in the great Atlanta campaign, after which his brigade covered Hoods' retreat from Atlanta to Nash- ville. While he was a soldier he participated in some of
the most sanguinary and hard-fought battles of the en- tire war.
A few years passed away after the war during which he was chiefly interested in farming, and about 1872 he got a start in the mercantile business at Jasper, the county seat. For many years he was one of the town's most prominent and successful merchants. Since about 1910 he has practically retired from active affairs, al- though he still conducts a store on the public square, but more for the purpose of a restful occupation than with the object of making money. Besides other inter- ests and investments, he has a nice farm south of town, that being a portion of the homestead on which he was reared, and he is president of the Citizens' National Bank of Jasper.
Mr. Adams married Miss Matilda Scurlock. Their seven children are named John R., Mrs. Mary Hart, Mrs. Alma Stone, Will J., Mrs. Matilda Jolly, George T., and Miss Lulu.
ALFRED D. ARMSTRONG. The Armstrong Transfer and Storage Company is the only establishment of its kind in Amarillo and has been built up by a specially ener- getic young business man, who left a position as travel- ing salesman about six years ago and entered into com- petition with others who were then occupying the field at Amarillo, and has since outdistanced all competi- tors and now commands the situation.
Alfred D. Armstrong is a Tennessean who came to Texas and found in this state, and particularly at Amarillo, the opportunity to satisfy his ambition. He was born in Columbia, Tennessee, April 9, 1870. His father was Elias J. Armstrong, also a native of Ten- nessee, who died in 1905 at Clearwater, Florida, at the age of fifty-seven. He was a farmer by occupation, a Democrat, and a Presbyterian. During the Civil war he had given four years of service in the Confederate army. The maiden name of the mother was Elizabeth Walker, daughter of Thomas C. Walker, and a native of Ten- nessee. She is now living at Clearwater, Florida, and became the mother of seven children.
The second in the family, Alfred D. Armstrong, re- ceived his education at Columbia, Tennessee, in the common and high schools, graduating from the latter in 1891. His early life was spent on his father's farm, and, on leaving high school, he took up his career as clerk in the hardware firm of Dobbins & Ewing, at Columbia. Four years of this experience fitted him for his next move in life, and he then came to Texas, first locating in Dallas in 1895 and becoming a travel- ing representative over this section of the Southwest for the MeCormick Harvester Company. He remained on the road until 1907, and then abandoned traveling life to locate in Amarillo. On September 1, 1907, he established the Armstrong Transfer and Storage Com- pany, starting on a small scale, with only a few wagons and with inadequate storage facilities. He has in- creased his business steadily, and now occupies the field alone. In December of 1912, due to the increasing growth of his enterprise, he erected on the corner of First and Lincoln streets a large and commodious ware- house and storage plant covering a space 100 by 140 feet, of two stories and basement, thoroughly fireproof and equipped with elevators and all other facilities for this line of business. At the side of the warehouse is located trackage connecting with all the railroad lines at Amarillo.
Mr. Armstrong is a Democrat in politics and is now a member of the city council. He is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the United Commercial Travelers, and the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce. His church is the Presbyterian. At Fort Worth, on October 28, 1908, he married Miss Frances King, a native of Texas, born in Fort Worth, and a daughter of Porter King, of an old Texas family. Their home is located at 800 Tyler street.
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FINLEY HOLMES. The ability to become a success- ful merchant often runs in one family just as the ability to become a lawyer or doctor, and this would seem to be true in the case of the leading merchant of Toyah, Texas, Finley Holmes, for his father was a merchant be- fore him and all of bis brothers are making successes in mercantile lines. Mr. Holmes is the owner and manager of the largest mercantile establishment in the town of Toyah, and he began this store in a very modest way, its growth being entirely due to his business ability and to the energy and perseverance with which he managed affairs.
Finley Holmes was born at Dumas, Arkansas, on the 21st of March, 1872. His father was Abercrombie Holmes and his mother was Lethia (Pickett) Holmes, both of his parents having been born in Mississippi. His father was a leading business man iu Walnut Lake, Arkansas for many years, later removing to Dumas, where he spent the last thirty five years of his life. He was a soldier in the Confederate forces during the Civil war, serving in the army until the close of the struggle. He was a man of fine character and highly respected in the community. His death occurred in 1891, his wife having died in 1886, and both of them are interred in Dumas.
Four sons were born to Abercrombie Holmes and his wife, of whom Finley Holmes is the eldest. Abercrombie Holmes, the second son is a prominent merchant in Lind- sey, Oklahoma, and Burke D. Holmes is associated with his brother, Paul K. Holmes, in the mercantile business in Maysville, Oklahoma, where they own the leading mercantile establishment.
Finley Holmes went to school in Dumas, but he left school at an early age, and going to Pendleton, Ar- kansas, he went to work as a clerk in a store. He re- mained in this town for four years, clerking in various stores and acquiring a thorough knowledge of the mercan- tile business. He then went to Little Rock, Arkansas, where he began to clerk for C. J. Kramer & Company, one of the large mercantile establishments in the city. He proved so valuable to the firm that he was made bookkeeper and later general manager. He remained here for eleven years, and then, in 1899, the western fever crept into his bones and he determined to try his fortunes in the new western counties of Texas that were then being opened up.
He came to Pecos, Texas, in 1899, and here seenred a position as bookkeeper for the Pecos Mercantile Com- pany, remaining here until 1902. At this time, having carefully laid away as much of his salary as was pos- sible, he found that he had enough to go into business for himself. He therefore came to Toyah, and here organized the Reeves County Mercantile Company, be- coming its secretary and manager and one of its prin- cipal stockholders. It was only a modest beginning, but it has grown into the leading store in Toyah. It is not only a retail establishment, but Mr. Holmes has a large wholesale business also. Seeing the need of more bank- ing facilities in Toyah, Mr. Holmes next organized the Citizens State Bank in 1907, being made vice president. In 1913 this institution was consolidated with the First National Bank of Toyah, assuming the affairs of the latter. Mr. Holmes is the owner of considerable valu- able property in Toyah and also owns his handsome res- idence. He has the entire confidence of the community and is one of the most influential business men in the county.
Mr. Holmes is a member of the Baptist church and is active in church work, being a deacon. He belongs to the Woodmen of the World. On the 6th of June, 1901, he was married to Miss Josephine Bunting, a daughter of Alphonse S. Bunting, and a native of the state of Texas. Five children bave been born to this union, as follows: Joseph Finley, Margie Lee, Annie, Sidney and Ruth.
Mr. Holmes has great faith in this section of the
country, believing that a boom is destined to come be- fore long, on account of the cheapness of the land and the oil and mineral resources which when developed will make this section one of the most valuable parts of the state.
MARVIN P. GARNER. One of the severest tests of the manner in which a public official's services are re- garded by his fellow citizens is made when he becomes a candidate for re-election, for it is then that his record is brought into prominence, his abilities and discrep- ancies are weighed in the balance, and the voters are called upon to judge whether he has kept his promises, taken advantage of his opportunities to further the in- terests of his community, and faithfully discharged the duties of bis office. The confidence aud high regard in which Marvin P. Garner is held by the people of Ran- dall county, Texas, was emphatically demonstrated on July 27, 1912, when he was re-elected county clerk by a majority the size of which left no doubt as to his popularity and standing in the community. Mr. Garner is a native of Texas, born in Montague county, October 15, 1881, and is a son of William Louis and Ursula (Palmer ) Garner.
The parents of Mr. Garner were born in Tennessee and came to Texas during the early '70s, settling in Hunt county, where William L. Garner was engaged in farming and stock raising. Later in life he removed to Randall county, where he now resides, having reached his sixty-fifth birthday February 11, 1913. Mrs. Garner died April 18, 1909, aged sixty years, having been the mother of seven children: J. A., W. F., T. M., Marvin P., Mrs. M. V. Gibson, Mrs. Fannie B. Gates, and Mrs. Kate C. Boykin.
Marvin P. Garner was given only the advantages of a public school education in Montague county, after which he came to the Panhandle country and engaged in farming and stock raising. He was thus employed in 1908, at the time of his first election to the office of county clerk on the Democratic ticket, and on the strength of his admirable services during his first term he was made his party's nominee for the same office in 1910, when, as before stated, he succeeded himself as the in- cumbent of this responsible position. Mr. Garner has formed a wide acquaintance throughout the state, and it is a safe assertion to make that few men are more popular with those who know them. He has ably dis- charged every responsibility imposed upon him and is an excellent type of the self-made Western man. He has taken a pride in the achievements of his adopted community and has done much to forward the interests of Canyon, where he makes his home, believing that the great development of this section in recent years is sure to continue. He is a valued member of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and his religious affiliation is with the Methodist Episco- pal church.
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