USA > Texas > A history of central and western Texas > Part 32
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Fraternally, Mr. Neely is identified with several organizations. He is past commander of Granbury Camp, No. 67, U. C. V., and has mem- bership in both the A. F. and A. M. and the I. O. O. F. of Granbury. being tyler of the former and treasurer of the latter. Politically he is a
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Democrat, and his religious creed is that of the Methodist Episcopal church, South.
ERATH COUNTY
Erath county was created January 25, 1856, from Bosque and Coryell counties. The first county officials were: J. A. McNeil, chief justice ; W. W. McNeil, county clerk; C. Needham, sheriff ; Thomas Cavnack, as- sessor and collector. Settlement had begun in the early '50s, and before the county was organized the town of Stephenville had been laid out. Its proprietors on July 4, 1855, offered land for the county building, provided the county seat was located there, and the legislative act above noted designated that town as the seat of justice provided these donations were made.
The population of the county in 1858 was estimated at 766. Only about 1,600 acres were in cultivation. For twenty years after the county was organized it was on the frontier, and property was never secure from Indian raids. After the war this entire region was in the great cattle ranges, and the county was not settled by a permanent population until the '70s. In 1870 the population was 1,801, but by 1880 this had in- creased to 11,796 (257 negroes). In 1890 the population was 21,594, and in 1900, 29,966.
The Texas Central Railroad, which began building in 1879, was com- pleted through Erath county about 1881. Rapid development followed, a large number of farmers came in and partly dispossessed the range cattlemen, and the raising of wheat, corn and cotton became an important industry. By 1882 the county had four flour mills and four cotton gins. Along the line of the railroad were established the towns of Dublin, Alex- ander and Mount Airy. Stephenville, though twelve miles from the rail- road, still led in population, and had an annual trade of about $400,000. Duffau and Morgan's Mill were other settlements at that time.
In October, 1890, the Fort Worth & Rio Grande Railroad was com- pleted to Stephenville. Within the last few years the Stephenville North and South Texas Railroad has been built from Stephenville south to Hamilton. Also a branch of the T. & P. has been built to the coal region at Thurber.
The assessed wealth of Erath county in 1870 was only $356.916; in 1882, $2,240,917 ; in 1903, $6,456,815 ; and in 1909, $12,579,140.
One of the county's valuable resources, developed in recent years, is coal, Thurber, at the north part of the county, being at the center of the mining region. In agriculture the county has made great progress since the first railroad came. The county has gained distinction for its apple crop, and it is estimated that there are three thousand acres of orchards, besides other fruits and vegetables.
In 1890 the population of the principal towns was: Stephenville, 909; Dublin, 2,025; Alexander, 381 ; Bluffdale, 156; Thurber, 978; Duffau, 263. In 1900 the towns and population were: Stephenville, 1,902; Dub-
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lin, 2,370; Thurber, 1,453; Alexander, 381 ; Duffau, 192; Bluffdale, 436; Lingleville, 242; Morgan Mill, 143; Huckabay, 174.
NICHOLAS D. SMITH, postmaster of Dublin, Texas, is one of the prominent and leading citizens of the town, and has been closely identified with its modern development.
Mr. Smith was born at Springfield, Missouri, in 1866, and when a boy of thirteen came with his parents from that state to Texas, their settlement being at Paris. Subsequently he entered the employ of the well-known cotton firm of Martin, Wise & Fitzhugh, and learned the business in which ere long he became expert and in which he lias ever since been interested. After remaining with that firm eighteen years, he came, in 1896, to Dublin, which has since been his home. Here for a number of years he has represented the great cotton firm of George H. McFadden & Brothers, of Philadelphia, which has branch offices through- out the southern states and also in various parts of Europe.
On May 16, 1907, following a strong endorsement and solicitation of the best business element of the city, Mr. Smith was appointed postmaster of Dublin, which office he now fills. To this position he brought the same earnest efforts and thorough methods that had won success for him in other lines, with the result that the office is now in excellent working order ; it is the distributing point for nine rural routes and the financial depository for a large number of smaller postoffices throughout Central- Western Texas.
Mr. Smith is married and has two daughters, Frances and Olive. Mrs. Smith, formerly Miss Jewel Parker, is a daughter of the late George F. Parker, a well known pioneer of Texas, who died in 1902. Mr. Parker came from Illinois, his native state, with his parents to Texas in the days when it was a republic, and was reared on the frontier. His home and headquarters for many years were in Limestone county and, he was en- gaged in the cattle business. During the Civil war he was a soldier in the Confederate army. He went through life with a keen observation and a retentive mind, and his varied experience on the frontier and in the army furnished him with a vast fund of interesting information. If the stories and experiences he used to relate could now be published they would form a volume of much interest and no small proportions.
Dublin, ideally situated, surrounded by a rich agricultural country, and having many wealthy citizens, presents a fine field for commercial activities. In this work, as a member of the Commercial Club, Mr. Smith has been a prominent factor, and during the past three years has been in- strumental in adding to Dublin many commercial and industrial enter- prises. He has given both time and money, as far as he could consistently go, in efforts toward the upbuilding of the town, and many of his efforts have borne fruit. A single example of this is the beautiful new station of the Frisco Railroad, with its adjoining park, enterprises which are directly the result of Mr. Smith's influence with the officials of the road. Also he was personally active in the campaign carried on during the sum-
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mer of 1909 to secure the establishment in Dublin of one of the State Normal schools. In short, it may be said that he is constantly on the alert on behalf of the city's interest, and is at the head of every movement of importance in this line.
JAMES H. CAGE, one of the prominent and highly respected citizens of Stephenville, Texas, dates his birth in Wharton county, this state, October 29, 1845. His parents, John and Martha (Neal) Cage, the former a native of East Tennessee, born in 1811, and the latter of Alabama, born February 21, 1825, were married in Alabama, and came to Texas in 1840, settling in Wharton. In 1849 the father started to California, by way of Mexico and thence by boat. The boat was wrecked and all on board lost their lives, except two negroes that Mr. Cage was taking with him. In his family were three children, two of whom died in infancy. The mother died in 1894. Thus James H. Cage is the sole survivor of the family. He came with his mother to western Texas in 1857, stopping for a while in Bosque county, and the following year coming to Erath county and settling at Stephenville, where he received his education in the common schools.
In 1868 Mr. Cage began an active career on the cattle range, first gathering cattle for others and driving them to Mexico on shares. In 1869 he settled down to ranching for himself in Eastland county, where he remained six years. At the end of that time he sold out and moved to Stephenville. Here he opened a general store. He erected a stone build- ing, known as the Cage Block, and in it conducted his mercantile business until 1897. During this time he also dealt in cattle. He sold the store in 1897, but retained the cattle interests, and about this time, in company with M. S. Crow, opened a bank in Stephenville, under the firm name of Cage & Crow, which bank is still in operation. For years, Mr. Cage has also dealt extensively in land, and is now interested in railroading. In 1906 Cage & Crow built the S. N. & S. T. railroad from Stephenville to Hamilton, about forty-three miles, and they still retain a half interest in the road.
On November 12, 1872, Mr. Cage married Miss M. J. Boykin, a na- tive of Limestone county, Texas, born November 12, 1855, daughter of Solomon Boykin, one of the early settlers of Limestone and Bosque coun- ties. Of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Cage, one died in infancy and two others are also deceased. Those living are Mrs. F. S. White, Mrs. E. O. McIlhaney, Bruce C., J. D., John M., Barney B., Roxey and Una.
MARTIN S. CROW, M. D .- Not only was Dr. Crow a member of one of the honored pioneer families of the Lone Star state, but it was also his to attain a place of distinction in the exacting profession to which he devoted his attention for many years, ministering with all of self-abnega- tion and much of skill to those in affliction and distress and gaining the affectionate regard of the community in which he long maintained his home. In his death, at Stephenville, on the 3d of May, 1892, Erath county
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lost one of its most honored and influential citizens. His life was one of signal integrity in all its relations and it counted for much in human help- fulness and productive activity. He served as a member of the state legis- lature and held other positions of trust, and from even the foregoing brief statements it is patent that there is eminent consistency in according in this history a tribute to the memory of this sterling citizen of the state in which practically his entire life was passed.
Dr. Martin S. Crow was born in McNairy county, Tennessee, on the 6th of April, 1833, and was a boy at the time of the family removal to Lamar county, Texas, where his father became a successful farmer and stock-grower. His parents continued to reside in this state until their death, and were worthy pioneers of Lamar county. Dr. Crow was afforded the advantages of the McKinzie school for boys, at Clarksville, Red River county, and as a youth he began the work of preparing him- self for that profession in which he was destined ultimately to attain much of success and precedence. He was finally matriculated in the College of Medicine in the city of Galveston, in which he was duly graduated and from which he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine. Later he com- pleted an effective post-graduate course in one of the leading medical institutions of the city of New Orleans.
. Dr. Crow initiated the active work of his profession at Meridian, Bosque county, Texas, where he remained for a period of five years, at the expiration of which he removed to Stephenville, Erath county, where he established himself in practice in the year 1871 and where he con- tinued to follow the work of his profession, with all of zeal and devotion, until about three years prior to his death, having finally retired on account of impaired health. Dr. Crow ever kept in close touch with the advances made in both departments of his profession and was uniformly recognized as one of the representative physicians and surgeons of this part of the state. His kindly and sympathetic nature gained to him the affection of those to whom he ministered, and his name is revered in many of the homes of Erath county. He served for a number of years as a member of the medical examining board of this district of those applying for ad- mission to the practice of medicine, and had the distinction of being presi- dent of that body. He was identified with the American Medical Associa- tion and the Texas State Medical Society, besides which he was a close student and contributed various articles to the periodical literature of his profession.
As a young man Dr. Crow became affiliated with the time-honored Masonic fraternity, in which he attained the capitular degrees, having been identified with the lodge and chapter in Stephenville for many years prior to his demise. A man of broad mental ken and distinctive public spirit, he naturally manifested a loyal interest in all that pertained to the welfare of his home town and county, and he wielded much influence in local affairs of a public order. He was a staunch adherent of the Demo- cratic party and he was elected to represent Erath county in the state legislature, in which he served one term and in which he made an admir-
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able record as a careful and conscientious public official. The Doctor gained much success of material order and was the owner of a large amount of valuable realty at the time of his death.
On the 27th of January, 1859, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Crow to Miss Mary Jane George, who was born in McNairy county, Tennessee, on the 23d of June, 1843, a daughter of William and Eliza- beth (Chambers) George, both of whom were likewise natives of Ten- nessee, where the respective families were founded in the pioneer epoch of the history of that state. When Mrs. Crow was about nine years of age her parents moved to Texas and took up their abode in Cass county, where she was reared to maturity and where was solemnized her mar- riage. She received excellent educational advantages and is a woman not only of marked culture and gracious personality, but also of much busi- ness ability, as has been shown in her effective management of the large estate left by her honored husband. While Dr. and Mrs. Crow had no children of their own, they reared in their home two boys and two girls. The latter were daughters of Solomon Boykin; the elder, Jane, is now the wife of James H. Cage of Stephenville, and the younger, Bamah, is the wife of Lee Young, of Stephenville.
Mrs. Crow is not only the owner of several well improved farms in Erath county, but is also a successful dealer in real estate, in which line of enterprise her operations have been large and important, in the hand- ling of both town property and farm lands. She is junior member of the firm of Cage & Crow, conducting a successful banking business in Stephenville. She is a zealous member of the Baptist church and is prominent in the best social life of her attractive little home city. Her residence was erected by her in 1893, and is one of the most attractive in Stephenville.
STEPHEN N. BORDERS, D. D. S .- A native son of the Lone Star state and a scion in both the paternal and maternal lines of honored pioneer families of this fine commonwealth, Dr. Borders is a representative mem- ber of his profession in his native county and is engaged in the successful practice of his profession in the thriving little city of Stephenville, where his circle of friends is coincident with that of his acquaintances.
Stephen N. Borders was born in Stephenville, his present place of residence, on the 25th of November, 1872, and is a son of Augustan M. and Sarah (Jordan) Borders. The father was born at Cedartown, Polk county, Georgia, on the 20th of May, 1842, and the mother was a native of the state of Arkansas, where she was born on the 12th of January, 1850; her parents came from Arkansas to Texas just after the close of the Civil war, and her marriage to Augustan M. Borders was solemnized at Meridian, Bosque county, this state, on the 12th of January, 1871. Stephen A. Borders, the paternal grandfather of him whose name initi- ates this sketch, was a native of Georgia and the great-grandfather was born in Germany.
Augustan M. Borders was reared to maturity in Georgia, where he
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received a good common-school education and where also he learned the trade of carpenter. In 1867 he came to Texas and settled in Cleburne, where he remained until the following year, when he removed to Erath county and took up his residence in Stephenville, where he was em- ployed for some time as clerk in a store conducted by the late Dr. Martin S. Crow, of whom a memoir appears on other pages of this work. He was a citizen who ever commanded the highest measure of popular con- fidence and esteem, was influential in public affairs of a local order and served about twelve years as treasurer of Erath county. He was a staunch Democrat in his political proclivities, and both he and his wife held membership in the Methodist Episcopal church. Their mutual de- votion and sympathy made their married life one of signally ideal char- acter, and "in death they were not divided," as Mrs. Borders was sum- moned to the life eternal on the 16th of February, 1899, and he passed away on the 5th of the following month. They became the parents of five children, all of whom are living and of whom the subject of this review is the eldest; Emma O. is the wife of Dan W. Evans, of Mineral Wells. Palo Pinto county, Texas; John B. resides in Mansfield, Tarrant county ; Beulah A. is the wife of George B. Newson, and they reside in Missouri ; and Balma A. is the wife of Lee Williams, of Stephenville, Texas.
Dr. Stephen N. Borders is indebted to the public schools of Stephen- ville for his early educational discipline and in preparation for the work of his chosen profession, which represents both a science and a mechanic art, he attended two courses of lectures in the Louisville College of Den- tistry, in the city of Louisville, Kentucky, after which he completed his technical studies in the Chicago College of Dental Surgery, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1901 and from which he re- ceived his well earned degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. After his graduation he returned to Stephenville and opened an office. Here lie has since been successfully engaged in the practice of his profession, re- taining a large and representative clientage and being known as one spe- cially skilled in both the operative and laboratory departments of his important vocation. His offices are equipped with the most modern ap- pliances and accessories and he keeps in close touch with all advances made in the work of his profession. He is a valued member of the Texas Dental Society and takes an active interest in its affairs.
Though never a seeker of public office of any description Dr. Bor- ders is essentially loyal, progressive and public-spirited as a citizen, and his political allegiance is given to the Democratic party. He and his family hold membership in the Baptist church of their home city, and he is prominently affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, in which he has served as a member of the grand lodge of the state, besides having passed all of the official chairs in John Tarlton Lodge, No. 227, in Stephenville. The family home is a recognized center of gracious hospitality and the members of the household are prominent in the social life of the com- munity.
Vol. 1-21
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On May 17th, 1891, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Borders to Miss Mary Virginia McNeill, who was born in Erath county, Texas, on the 16th of December, 1873, and who is a daughter of Dr. William W. and Elizabeth (Bell) McNeill, the former of whom was born in South Carolina, in 1819, and the latter of whom was born in Missouri, in 1842. Dr. and Mrs. McNeill were numbered among the earliest settlers of Palo Pinto county, Texas, and the Doctor was later the first county clerk of Erath county. He was one of the first physicians and surgeons of this section of the state, was a graduate of the medical department of the Uni- versity of Kentucky and was one of the able representatives of his pro- fession in Texas, where he continued to reside until his death, in 1902, at the venerable age of eighty-three years. He was held in affectionate regard by the families to whom he long ministered with all of zeal and self-abnegation, and his name merits an enduring place on the roll of the honored pioneers of the old Lone Star commonwealth. His wife preceded him to eternal rest, having passed away in 1893. They became the parents of three children.
Dr. and Mrs. Borders have two children: Frances Elizabeth, who was born on the 4th of March, 1892, and Stephen A., who was born on the 2d of July, 1894.
JOHN D. ST. CLAIR, one of the earliest pioneers of Erath county, Texas, has been a retired resident of Dublin since 1904. 'Squire St. Clair. as everybody calls him, was born at Somerville, the county seat of Mor- gan county, Alabama, in February, 1829, and came of Scotch ancestry. He was reared in Morgan county and partly educated there, his education being completed by a two years' course in old Mckenzie college at Clarks- ville, Texas. It was in 1852 that he came to this state. His first year here was spent with an uncle in Lamar county, then followed the two years in college, and afterward he took up his residence in Hunt county. In the meantime, in the early fifties, he made a prospecting trip to the frontier of Texas and visited Erath county, which later was to become his home. During the Civil war he was in the cavalry service in the Con- federate army. As a member of Company D, Stephens' Regiment, he was assigned to duty in the Trans-Mississippi Department, and was engaged in various cavalry and scouting operations in Louisiana and Arkansas, un- der different commanders, among them being Pike, Cooper, Hinman, Price and Kirby Smith. He was in what was perhaps the hardest service of the war.
Returning to Erath county in 1867, Mr. St. Clair established his per- manent home here, and directed his attention to farming and stock rais- ing east of the present city of Dublin, and near where was afterward built the town of Alexander. There quite a little settlement grew up, which was given the name of Harpers Mill. Through his influence a postoffice was established there and he was made postmaster. He was a notary public, too, the only one in those days within a wide scope of frontier ter-
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ritory. Also, for many years, he served as a justice of the peace, and it is for this reason that he has since been called 'Squire St. Clair.
In 1880, when the Texas Central Railroad was built through Erath county, 'Squire St. Clair moved to the nearest point on the railroad, this removal being the beginning of the town of Alexander, which remained his home until 1904. With the completion of the railroad the village of Harpers Mills ceased to exist.
When the reconstruction period came, Mr. St. Clair was elected a county commissioner, in which capacity he served eight years. Also for some years he was tax assessor. Altogether his public service covered a period of thirty-four years, this including the time of the Indian troubles in Erath and surrounding counties. And during this varied service he became widely known, not only in Erath county, but also throughout Cen tral Western Texas. Finally, in 1904, being well advanced in years, Mr. St. Clair sold his farming and live stock interests at Alexander, and re- tired from active life. Since that date he has made his home in Dublin.
Mrs. St. Clair before her marriage was Miss Elizabeth Keith, the Keiths being among the early pioneers of Erath county. Mr. and Mrs. St. Clair have ten children living, namely: John Robert, Mrs. Lula Jor- dan, Charles P., J. Walter, Mrs. Viola Jordan, Mrs. Mollie E. Shelton, Mrs. Ada Clark, Elbert, Mrs. Libbie Houston and Ernest B. Ernest B. St. Clair is president of the First National Bank of Teague, Texas.
BROWN COUNTY.
This county was created by act of the legislature, August 27, 1856, and was not fully organized till the spring of 1858. The legislature directed that the county court should select sites to be voted on as county seat and should also choose the name for the town, but the supplementary act of February 5, 1858, designated the name Brownwood for the county seat. The county was named in honor of Capt. Henry S. Brown, a prom- inent Texan who died in 1834. John Henry Brown, his son, writing in the Texas Almanac for 1859, said of the county: "Held back by Indian depredations, it has still grown rapidly since its first settlement three years ago. Brownwood is the county seat, beautifully located in the center of the county, and on the west bank of Pecan bayou." In 1856 Major Van Dorn had established Camp Colorado on Jim Ned creek, in what is Coleman county, and under the protection of this post the settle- 'ment of Brown county began. In 1859 about 4,000 cattle were assessed in the county. The population was sparse, and the only form of wealth was the few herds that grazed over the range. During the decade of the Civil war many of the settlers were forced to retire, so that the county was practically undeveloped up to 1870. The population in that year was only 544, consisting almost entirely of stockmen and their followers. Several years passed before the danger from Indian raids was over, but during the latter '70's the county received a large immigration, and other industries than stock raising were engaged in on a commercial scale. By
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