USA > Texas > A history of central and western Texas > Part 39
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In 1903 Charles L. Alderman became one of the organizers and in- corporators of the Western Telephone Company, which installed ex- changes at Big Springs, Stanton, Midland and Roscoe, and which has established toll lines from Odessa to Abilene, and from Big Springs to Garden City, Gail and Lamesa. This company, giving one of the most valuable public-utility services in this part of the state, strung the first copper wire circuits and built the first standard exchanges and toll lines in western Texas, thus affording facilities that have had much influence in furthering progress along commercial lines, to say nothing of the con- venience and domestic value of the service. Of this important company Mr. Alderman is secretary and general manager, as has already been noted. His progressive ideas, liberality and high civic ideals have been potent influences in connection with the social and industrial development of this section of the state, and it is largely due to the interposition of the Alderman family that Big Springs has become one of the splendid little cities of the Lone Star commonwealth. Charles L. Alderman donated the first legally established road in Howard county, and every enterprise and measure that has tended to foster the best interests of his home city and county has enlisted his zealous support. He was one of the first to fence the farming and grazing lands of the county, where he has a valu- able landed estate, besides being the owner of much valuable realty, both improved and unimproved, in Big Springs.
In politics Mr. Alderman gives his allegiance to the Democratic party, but he has had no predilection for the honors or emoluments of public office. He and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Epis- copal church. In the Masonic fraternity Mr. Alderman is one of the ap- preciative and prominent representatives in Texas, as is measurably in- dicated by the fact that he has been granted the ultimate and honorary thirty-third degree in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, in which his affiliation is with Dallas Consistory. He has shown the deepest interest in the work of all departments of the time-honored fraternity, is a past officer in all of the local bodies of the York Rite and has represented his lodge and chapter in the grand lodge and grand chapter of the state, in which latter he is at the present time (1910) incumbent of the office of grand king and in line of succession for the office of grand high priest.
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He is a charter member of Dallas Consistory, of Sublime Princes of the Royal Secret, and in the same city is identified with Hella Temple, An- cient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; the Royal Order of Scotland; and St. Mark's Conclave, Order of the Red Cross of Con- stantine. He was a member of the committee that was primarily instru- mental in securing the erection of the Masonic Temple in Big Spring,- one of the finest and most complete of the kind in the entire state.
At McConnelsville, Ohio, on the 22d of November, 1882. was solemnized the marriage of Charles L. Alderman to Miss Lizzie M. Stanbery, who was born and reared in that state, and they are the parents of five children, -- Stanbery, Blanche, Carmen Sylva, Justus and May- delle, all of whom were born in Ohio except Maydelle, who is a native of Big Springs. The family is prominent in the best social life of the com- munity, and the home is a center of refined and gracious hospitality.
GEORGE D. LEE is the mayor of Big Springs, being the first to hold that office after the incorporation of the city in 1906, and having been honored by re-election in the municipal election of 1908. Mr. Lee takes much pride in the progress of Big Springs since he became the executive head of the city, and it is very gratifying that so many improvements have been inaugurated during his administration. Previous to the time it became a city Big Springs lacked many of the public improvements which have since been pointed to with much pride by the citizens. The construction of a two-story, fireproof stone city hall and fire station, the extension of the water works, the purchase of the first combination auto fire engine sold in the state of Texas, the grading of the streets, and other public works have brought many changes in the appearance and convenience of the city. These changes, though the result of public spirit and enterprise, have likewise reacted for increased prosperity in the city. This is seen in many new and handsome business blocks along Main street and in the number of new residences, all indicating a sub- stantial volume of new business and population that have found a center at this point. The mayor has been an active worker in behalf of all these improvements, and the citizens express thorough satisfaction in their choice for a municipal head.
Mr. Lee came to Big Springs as a railroad man. He was born in Weedsport, Cayuga county, New York, and was reared and educated at Clyde, Ohio. He came west while still young, and after learning teleg- raphy found a position as night operator in the Santa Fe railway station at Walton, Kansas. For seven years he was operator and train dispatcher for that road in Kansas and Colorado, and in 1889 came to Big Springs as train dispatcher for the Texas and Pacific Railway. Later he was pro- moted to chief train dispatcher, and held that position until his resignation in 1906 to engage in the general insurance business. He is a prominent Odd Fellow and Mason, being a Knight Templar and Shriner and secre- tary of Big Springs Chapter, No. 178, R. A. M. He has four children : Bernice E., Myrle F., Naomi E. and Hazel P.
ELLIS DOUTHIT has been an active member of the bar of West Texas since 1891, when he established himself at Big Springs. He is a successful lawyer, and a man of high standing both professionally and personally. In 1896 he had the honor of succeeding the Hon. H. Cowan
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to the office of district attorney, and he made a record during his four years' incumbency of that office. Mr. Cowan, his predecessor, is one of the distinguished Texans of the present time, and Mr. Douthit, previous to his election as district attorney, had been associated in practice with him.
Mr. Douthit was born in Lexington, Missouri, but has lived in West- ern Texas almost continuously since 1883, when the family home was established in Sweetwater. Between 1907 and 1909 he had a temporary residence in southern California. His higher education was obtained in the University of Texas, where he studied law and was graduated from the law department with the class of 1891. In Masonry he is a Knight Templar, a Shriner, and a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite. In 1910 he moved from Big Springs to Sweetwater, where he is an attorney for the Texas Pacific and the Santa Fe Railroad Companies.
On January 12, 1898, Mr. Douthit married Miss Mary Kennedy. from Colorado, Texas, and their three children are Mary E., Helen F. and Ellis K.
JOHN D. BIRDWELL, of Big Springs, is a pioneer West Texan, includ- ing in his many experiences life as a ranger, sheriff, cattleman, banker and property owner. His life began in Walker county, Texas, where he was born October 1, 1848. His father's career was even more remarkable than his own from an historical standpoint. William Birdwell (father) was born in Tennessee, February 15, 1808. That state was also the birth- place of Sam Houston, and perhaps for this reason or for some other. equally natural he came to Texas in 1833 and during the next three years followed the fortunes of the struggling Texans in their battles for inde- pendence from Mexico. He was both friend and associate of Sam Hous- ton, and at a later date was a soldier of the United States in the war against Mexico.
For the first twenty years of his life John D. Birdwell lived in his native county, and then went to what was then the frontier, where for three years he pursued the variable career of the cowboy. His work was mainly in Southwest Texas, engaged in rounding up cattle for the trails leading to the north. His next adventure was as hotel clerk and stage agent at Waco, and he then lived for a while in Fort Worth when that town was just beginning to grow in population and notoriety because of the coming of the railroad.
Before the herds of buffalo were swept from the great plains of Texas, Mr. Birdwell played a part in their extermination. He left Fort Worth, February 14, 1877, on a buffalo hunt which took him to Blanco canyon, at the headwaters of the Brazos. This was an industry that en- gaged hundreds about that time, though it did not last long. His expedi- tion after buffaloes led him to old Fort Griffin, where he was engaged as town marshal during the summer of 1880. In the fall of 1878 he enlisted in the ranger service and helped patrol the frontier until 1880. His record as a ranger has given him high esteem among that body of public serv- ants, and it with extreme pleasure that he recalls that period of his life.
Mr. Birdwell became a resident of Big Springs in the fall of 1880, about the time the railroad was built and the town started. After being engaged in the cattle business for a few years he was elected, in 1886, sheriff of Howard county. That office was a difficult one at the time,
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Ino Roberts
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since Howard county was then the judicial center for a number of unorganized counties (Glasscock, Borden, Dawson, Terry, Yoakum and Lynn ), and the sheriff's jurisdiction extended over all this territory. Also, the duties of tax collector were at the time combined with those of sher- iff, and in the performance of these double duties the sheriff-collector spent six arduous years in office. There were placed to his credit some notable achievements. An example of which that might be mentioned was the capture of a notorious negro, Jim Toots, who had killed Policeman Waller in Fort Worth. For his efficiency and accuracy of accounts as tax collector he received a letter of commendation from the state comp- troller.
To hundreds of persons who have traveled up and down the line of the Texas and Pacific, Mr. Birdwell is best known as the former pro- prietor of the railroad station dining room at Big Springs. This was his principal occupation for nineteen years, until he retired in 1907. He is owner of ranch and town property, and now devotes most of his time to the management of those interests. He is one of the directors of the West Texas National Bank. Mr. Birdwell's home, built without regard for expense and equipped with all modern conveniences, stands on a sightly location at the southeast edge of town. Mrs. Birdwell, his wife, is a native of Tennessee, and her maiden name was Annabelle Green. They have six children: Mrs. Lillian Mills, Annabelle, Dan. Banton, Maydelle and Johnnie. Mr. Birdwell is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, a Shriner, and belongs to the Dallas Consistory,
JOHN ROBERTS owned at his death a ranch of about twenty-nine sec- tions in the southeast part of Howard county. He was one of the pioneer cattlemen of Western Texas. His success in business and his extensive dealings and large ownership of lands gave him much prominence as a citizen, and at Big Spring and elsewhere in the state he was held in high esteem.
Mr. Roberts was a resident of West Texas from 1877, in which year he came to Mitchell county. He was a cattleman then as in his late years, having been brought up in that pursuit, his earliest experiences having been connected with the range and trail. Renderbrook Springs was his headquarters for a time, and from 1885 to 1891 his cattle ranged over the plains in the vicinity of Midland. From the latter year his home was at Big Springs. The Roberts ranch is one of the best equipped and improved in this part of the state. Part of it has been converted to farming land. and the orchards and grain fields are both a profitable and pleasing fea- ture to distinguish this from the once monotonous range country.
Mr. Roberts was born in Lamar county, Texas, in 1849. Through his father, whose name was also John, he claims connection with Texas for almost a century. According to all accounts. John Roberts settled near the Red river in the Texas country in 1818. To better appreciate how early a date this is in Texas history from the standpoint of its Amer- ican settlement, it will only be necessary to state that in 1818 Texas was still a province of Spain, that the Republic of Mexico had not yet been established, that Stephen Austin had not yet begun the colonization of Texas, and that nearly twenty years passed before Texas achieved its in- dependence at San Jacinto. This pioneer Roberts was born in South
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Carolina, and after the settlement along the Red River some of his brothers were killed by the Indians.
Mr. Roberts spent his youth at the family home in Lamar county, but at quite an early age began life on the frontier. The cattle business had already assumed importance as the principal industry, and in a few years he accumulated enough to get an independent start, and was a cattleman all his life.
Mr. Roberts married Mrs. Dora (Nunn) Griffin, whose two children by her former marriage, Dochia and Mittie, are now part of the Roberts household at Big Springs. Mrs. Roberts is a native of Alabama, but was reared in Texas. Mr. Roberts was a Mason, being a Knight Templar and Shriner, and also an Odd Fellow. His death occurred on the 28th of September, 1909, and in his passing away Howard county lost one of its most honored pioneers and business men.
ROBERT D. MATTHEWS, the vice-president and manager of the West Texas National Bank at Big Springs, is a native of Huntsville, Alabama, where he was reared and educated. His family had lived for several gen- erations in northern Alabama. His grandfather was an old-time planter of wealth and prominence, and owned many slaves and a large planta- tion, most of which property disappeared in the ravages of the war.
A youthful ambition of Robert D. Matthews was to live and gain his success in the west. This led him to Texas in 1885. He was book- keeper in a store at Belton, Bell county, for three years. The turn of for- tune next opened for him a place as accountant in a mercantile house at Boca del Rama, in Nicaragua. A short time in the uncongenial tropical climate endangered his health, and on his return he spent a year on a ranch on the southern plains.
Mr. Matthews has been a resident of Big Springs since 1892. When he arrived he had but thirty-two dollars, and his first experience was as clerk in a store. He was later one of the organizers of the Matthews- Wolcott Company. Their store was one of the largest and best in Big Springs. As a partner in the business Mr. Matthews applied himself closely to the management and detail work for ten years, and was largely responsible for the success of the firm. Ed. S. Hughes of Abilene was also a member of the firm, and since the retirement of Mr. Matthews and Mr. Wolcott the business has been conducted as the Stokes-Hughes Com- pany, a familiar establishment of the city. Mr. Matthews retired from the mercantile business in 1903 and became one of the organizers of the West Texas National Bank. He was cashier of the bank until January, 1909, and has since been vice-president and one of the active managing officers. The record of the West Texas National has some unusual features of success. Since the bank was established, the stockholders have been paid dividends amounting to fifty-two per cent, in addition to an accumulation of one hundred per cent in surplus and profits. The credit for this show- ing largely belongs to Mr. Matthews, who has acquitted himself as one of the most successful bankers of the state. He gives the same care and attention to the conduct of the bank as he does to his own private business affairs. Although still a young man he has laid the foundation for a comfortable fortune, which he has earned in straight, legitimate business transactions, void of any phase of speculation. He never takes a step in any direction until the foundation has been laid for it.
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Another interesting fact about his business connection with Big Springs is that he bought the first cotton and built the first gin in the town, thus giving a start to a department of agriculture which up to a few years ago was hardly considered feasible in this portion of Western Texas.
Mrs. Matthews, his wife, was before her marriage Miss Sallie Bour- land. Her father, Rev. Dr. H. A. Bourland, now of Dallas, is a dis- tinguished minister and educator. There are two children, Frances and Wilbur Matthews.
STEPHEN AUSTIN PENIX became identified with the Howard county bar in 1902. He was a successful young lawyer, and his record as county attorney for nearly four years is still fresh in the memory of Howard county people. His natural equipment and training are ideal for the suc- cessful lawyer, and he has built up a gratifying practice. He studied law for the most part in the office of Captain W. M. Veale, of Palo Pinto, where he obtained his admission to the bar in 1901.
Mr. Penix is a Missourian by birth, born in Osceola, St. Clair coun- ty, but from the age of three years was reared at Palo Pinto, his parents establishing their home in Palo Pinto county at that time. In addition to attendance at the local schools he was a student in Add-Ran College at Thorp Springs, and began the study of law after his college career.
His marriage connected him with a prominent family of West Texas. Mrs. Penix was formerly Miss Flora A. Lindsey, whose father, J. J. Lindsey, has been actively identified with West Texas affairs for many years and who is practically the father of the thriving town of Lamesa, Dawson county, where he lives. Mr. and Mrs. Penix are both interested in Masonry. The former is a Knight Templar and now (1910) general- issimo of the local commandery, while his wife was worthy matron of the local Eastern Star lodge in 1909, and also occupied the position of grand Esther in the grand lodge of that order in the state during that year. Mr. and Mrs. Penix have two children, Chauncey Edward and Lindsey Stephen.
PETE JOHNSON, of Big Springs, is a native of Scotland. When he was six years old his parents came to America, and he was reared in their home in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania. His life work for many years was in connection with railroading, and he began this when he was young. This finally brought him to the southwest, and he was engaged in the track repair and construction work of the Texas and Pacific Rail- road, west of Fort Worth, since 1886. He has made his permanent home in Big Springs since 1897, and has charge of the track department of the ten mile section east and west of this town, five each way from town.
Since becoming a citizen of Howard county, Mr. Johnson has gained a well merited position of influence in public affairs. He was elected and served as county commissioner for two years, from 1906 to 1908, and at the city election of April, 1909, was chosen a member of the city council. His stock ranch three miles east of town is an enterprise in which he takes much pride. His Durham cattle are of the highest grades to be found in West Texas. The ranch contains four sections of fine land, and its value is one of the evidences of his successful career in business. His home is in town, the ranch being worked by tenants. Mr. Johnson is a Knight Templar Mason and Shriner, and his wife is treasurer of the local
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order of the Eastern Star. Mrs. Johnson is a native of Fannin county, Texas, her maiden name being Zora Patterson. They have five children in their family, named as follows: Mary, James, Vivian, Ruth and Monroe.
LORIN S. McDOWELL, of Big Springs, was one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Big Springs. His chief success in business is based upon his activities as a stockman. He is reputed to have one of the finest ranches in West Texas, containing from 25,000 to 26,000 acres. This tract is about eighteen miles southwest of Big Spring, and in area is about the same as an entire township. The land extends partly into Glasscock county. Four hundred acres have been taken from the range and devoted to general agriculture, for the production of such crops as can be readily grown in Western Texas, those grown on the McDowell ranch being cotton, grain, milo maize, kaffir corn and other fodder crops. This ranch is one of the best examples of the modern agricultural enter- prise which is transforming West Texas, and Mr. McDowell deserves full credit for the energy and intelligent efforts which have been needed to bring about the success of his establishment.
Mr. L. S. McDowell was born at Ashland in Ashland county, Ohio, and came to Texas in 1875. For several years he was in the sheep busi- ness in San Saba county, at the time when the sheep industry was the principal live-stock enterprise of southwestern Texas. From 1879 to 1885 his headquarters as a stockman were in Tom Green county, and since then his home has been at Big Springs. His residence on Scurry street is one of the handsomest in this young city. His wife was before marriage Miss Fredonia C. Cunningham, a native of Alabama. They have a son, Lorin S. Jr.
H. CLAY READ, of Big Springs, is a native of Warren county, Ken- tucky, and was reared and educated there. He is a pioneer citizen of Big Springs, and came here almost coincident with the establishment of the first important industry-the railroad. The railroad shops were built here in 1881, and on his arrival in the following year he became timekeeper and has held that position, with faithful service to the company, for the subsequent twenty-eight years. He is engineer and firemen's timekeeper of the Rio Grande division, between Fort Worth and El Paso, the head- quarters of which division are at Big Springs.
During his long residence in Big Springs Mr. Read has been very successful through his faith in local property investments. He has con- fined them almost entirely to city property, and his name is identified with some of the best known extensions and developments of the city. He is owner of two of the best subdivisions-the Earle Addition, in the west part of town, between the railroad property and the city proper; and the Fairview Heights Addition, comprising a level plain in the south part of town.
The Read family was well known and highly respected in their former home in the Bowling Green section of Kentucky. Mr. Read's father was Theophilus Read, who spent the greater part of his life in Warren county. Another son is also a pioneer citizen of Big Springs. This is Charles D. Read, brother of H. Clay. He first came to Big Springs in 1881, the year in which the town was started. Four years later he returned and has
Last Dowell
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since made this his permanent home. He is best known perhaps as presi- dent of the First State Bank of Big Springs, though his chief interests are as a land and cattle owner. He is proprietor of the Iatan ranch, one of the best in this region, located twenty miles east of town, in Howard county.
H. Clay Read married Miss Lillie A. Heckman, of Warren county, Kentucky. Their three children are Earle A., Ethel and Gladys. Mr. Read is a Knight Templar Mason.
JOHN S. CORDILL, proprietor of the J. S. Cordill Storage Company at Big Springs is one of the men of foresight, judgment and enterprise who develop a new country and cause it to realize to the fullest degree all its possibilities. He has believed in as a matter of theory and has advocated practically the development of the Big Springs country as an agricultural center. What he has accomplished in this direction would seem a con- clusive test. In partnership with Mr. R. D. Matthews he has produced on their farm two miles northeast of the city, in a recent season, one hundred wagon-loads of Kaffir corn, and seven thousand bundles of cane was raised on nine and one-half acres of land, the former with only one plow- ing and the latter with no cultivation at all after breaking up the sod and . doing the planting. The Kaffir corn was fed to their cattle and brought large profits through that source. There are about four hundred and eighty acres in the farm referred to, two hundred of which are in cultiva- tion. Mr. Cordill also owns a large body of agricultural land in the northwest part of Howard county. In connection with his warehouse business he has bought and shipped a great quantity of corn. This in it- self is a remarkable proof of the productiveness of this portion of West Texas, since it was only a few years ago that corn was considered a product that could not be adapted to this soil and climate.
Mr. Cordill was born in Howell county, Missouri, and came to Texas with his parents when he was four years old. He spent his boyhood in Hunt county. For about twenty years he was one of the leading business men of Abilene, engaged principally in the grain and lumber business. When he came to Big Springs in 1902 he established a lumber yard but soon disposed of that in order to give his entire attention to his present business. His storage company maintains a large warehouse for the storage of grain and other products, and carries on a wholesale and retail and shipping business in flour, grain, hay, etc.
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