A memorial and biographical history of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon counties, Texas from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 46

Author:
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 954

USA > Texas > Henderson County > A memorial and biographical history of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon counties, Texas from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens > Part 46
USA > Texas > Freestone County > A memorial and biographical history of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon counties, Texas from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens > Part 46
USA > Texas > Leon County > A memorial and biographical history of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon counties, Texas from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens > Part 46
USA > Texas > Anderson County > A memorial and biographical history of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon counties, Texas from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens > Part 46
USA > Texas > Limestone County > A memorial and biographical history of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon counties, Texas from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens > Part 46
USA > Texas > Navarro County > A memorial and biographical history of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon counties, Texas from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens > Part 46

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He was married in 1863, to Miss Lucy, a danghter of William O'Neal, and they have had five children, namely: Annie, wife of Thomas A. Kindred; Q. L .; Mar- cns L .; Katie, wife of C. A. Beckham; and Myrtle. Socially, Mr. McDonald is a member of the Masonic fraternity, in which he has taken the Chapter degree.

JUDGE D. M. PRENDERGAST, senior mem- ber of the banking firm of Prendergast, Sinith & Company, of Mexia, Limestone county, Texas, is the oldest lawyer at the Limestone county bar, and one of the wealthiest and most highly respected citi- zens of the county. As such, it is emi- nently fitting that some personal mention of him be made in this work, and the facts in regard to his life are herewith presented.

Judge Prendergast is a descendant of Irish ancestors. His great-grandfather Prendergast came from the old country to America in colonial times and settled in North Carolina, where John Baker Pren- dergast, the father of the Judge, was born. John B. Prendergast went to Tennessee when a young man and there married Miss Rhoda King, of Sumner connty, that State. She died in Madison county, west Tennes- see, when the subject of this sketch was a boy. Years afterward Mr. Prendergast came to Texas, and his death occurred in Limestone county in 1846, about a month after his arrival here. He was a plain, substantial farmer, a man of good jndg- ment and of quiet, unassuming ways. They had a family of four children that reached maturity, the gentleman under consideration being the only one of that number now living. An older brother,

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Judge Luke Baker Prendergast, an early settler of Limestone county, died here some years ago. A younger brother died in this county in 1846, shortly after mov- ing to it, and an older one, Samuel, died in Tennessee before the father's removal to Texas.

Judge D. M. Prendergast was born in Shelbyville, Bedford county, Tennessee, December 26, 1816, and was reared in Madison county, that State, fromn liis eighth year. He received his preliminary education in local select schools and took a collegiate course at the East Tennessee University at Knoxville, graduating in the spring of 1841 with the degree of A. B. In the fall of that same year he came to Texas and began reading law at old Franklin, Robertson county, under the instruction of James Raymond. He was admitted to the bar at Booneville, Brazos county, before Judge R. E. B. Baylor, in 1845, having read law, taught school and hunted Indians during the preceding four years. He was elected Chief Justice of Brazos county nuder the old regime and hield the office for one year. In the spring of 1846 he returned to Tennessee and brought his father to Texas, settling, in December of that year, in Springfield, then the county seat of Limestone county, and then and there entered upon the prac- tice of his profession. He was elected Chief Justice of Limestone county in 1848 and filled the office one term. He con- tinned in active practice until the opening of the war.

In the fall of 1861 he raised a company in Limestone county, was elected its cap- tain, and as a part of the Tenth Texas

Infantry entered the Confederate army, serving until the fall of 1862, when, on account of an injury received, he was com- pelled to resign and come home. He was discharged on account of disability.

Resuming the practice of his profession, he became deeply engrossed in the same, also giving some attention to farming, until 1873, when he was appointed by Governor Coke to fill a vacancy in the office of district judge of the Thirteenth Judicial District, which vacancy was caused by the death of Judge Banton. He com- pleted this term, about three years, at the end of which time the district was changed, a new one being created out of the coun- ties of Navarro, Limestone and Freestone, of which he was elected judge, and served as such four years.

At the close of this term of office Judge Prendergast retired from public life and gave up the practice of the profession to which he had been such an ornament. Previous to this event he liad been inter- ested in the banking business with Jester Brothers at Corsicana, and in February, 1882, in company with L. P. and J. L. Smith, J. W. Blake and W. B. Gibbs, he bought out the banking interest of Oliver & Griggs at Mexia and entered actively into this business, becoming the senior member of the firm of the private bank- ing house of Prendergast, Smith & Com- pany. He has since this time given al- most liis exclusive attention to this busi- ness. He owns considerable property in Mexia and some in Groesbeck. He has taken an active interest in all local enter- prises in Mexia and is looked upon as one of the public-spirited men of the place.

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At an earlier day Judge Prendergast was somewhat active in politics in Lime- stone county, being a prominent Demo- crat. He was a member of the Secession Convention in 1861, and was in the Tenth and Thirteenth legislatures of Texas. He left the Democratic party, however, in 1887, on account of its position in refer- ence to the whisky question, and cast his fortunes in the political line with the Pro- hibitionists. He is an ardent friend of temperance, and in 1892 was the nominee of the Prohibition party for Governor of Texas.

Judge Prendergast was married May 16, 1848, to Miss Mary E. Collins, who was born in Lincoln county, Tennessee, in November, 1829, daughter of George and Mary (Hudspeth) Collins, natives of Ten- nessee. Her mother, left a widow, came with her family to Texas in November, 1841, and settled on the Little Brazos river, in Brazos county. She had nine children, two sons and seven daughters. Six of the number reached adult years. In order to educate her children, she removed to Wheelock, Robertson connty, where she spent the residue of her life. Mrs. Pren- dergast was the third daughter of, this fam- ily, and her sisters have all passed away. Her brother, C. C., is a farmer in Harri- son county, and T. B. is a farmer in Bryan, Brazos county. The Judge and his wife have had seven children, five of whom survive, as follows: Ada R., widow of Dr. J. H. McCain, of Mexia; Fannie, wife of Dr. R. C. Nettles, of Marlin, Texas; Albert C., a leading attorney of Waco; Mary, wife of S. H. Kelley, of Mexia, and Annie, wife of J. R. Neece, of Mexia.

Judge Prendergast was made a Mason at Springfield twenty-odd years ago, and has been a zealous member of the order ever since. He is a prominent member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and was one of the founders of Trinity Uni- versity at Tehuacana Hills, the educational institution of this church in Texas, and has been a member of the Board of Trus- tees ever since it was founded.

GROESBECK,

as the post office department has it, or Groesbeeck, as the Central Railway has it spelled, is a railway town and county seat, founded by the Houston & Texas Central Railway in 1870-'71. The road bought about 965 acres of land on both sides of the track and laid out a town plat, also including both sides, with the main streets intended to be those on each side the depot grounds parallel with the track, and then named it after a director of the road -Mr. Groesbeeck. The postal depart- ment's rules providing for simple forms of spelling and the public's general disre- gard for the fine points in a public name have contributed to have it spelled with one less letter in the last syllable as a rule.

The railway's intention regarding the main streets was promptly frustrated by the people, who determined not to pay the prices which they claimed were exorbitant for lots on those streets, and the first busi- ness block was built on the corner of Navasota and Ellis streets. Of course, Groesbeck was now a terminus, and traders from below and the population of north Texas even up beyond Dallas flocked to it with produce and for supplies. The build-

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ings that went up on West Navasota street are too numerous to mention, but among them were A. M. Perry & Co., Block Brothers, G. A. Wheat & Co., Clark & Key, and others. Among the new-comers were a large number of Germans, and the place began to assume city proportions. Indeed, the first mayor was a German.

Of course this terminus feature lasted but a few months, and when it moved to Corsicana large numbers moved with it, and when Mexia was established some lo- cated there. Then again the reconstruction troubles and martial law conspired to cause some to leave that would not have done so otherwise. All these things caused Groes- beck to really begin over again on a more solid foundation, and it has done so, with success.

The arrival of the courthouse in 1874 and the consequent depletion of old Spring- field, which divided itself up between Groesbeck and Mexia, with the larger part to Groesbeck, was a material impulse in the new direction, and by 1880 the census gave it 402 inside to corporate city limits; for it retained its city form of government. Business has clung to West Navasota chiefly with extensions in the direction of the courthouse and depot, and on some other cross streets. The town began build- ing in brick about 1881 with the erection of the old Frisbie block, now rebuilt, and many others have followed it since. The establishment in 1890 of the National Bank and the execution of its fine building, gave both business and brick building a consid- erable impetus, for it showed that capital, in its most conservative form, had confi- dence in the future development of the

place. The population given by the census of that year was 663. The last two years, however, have shown the greatest activity and increase in business, and the organiza- tion of the Building & Loan Association has made a revival of home building that has become quite remarkable. The popu- lation would show a marked increase over the last census now. The establishment of the new fair grounds this year (1892) and the holding of a largely attended and suc- cessful fair has tended to give Groesbeck a greater place in the attention of the public and increased her business. The place has two steam gins.

The Groesbeck National Bank, as has been said, was established in 1890, and has for its president, Major L. J. Farrar. This is the only bank of the place.

The first newspaper started here was be- gun by T. J. Gibson of Mexia. Groes- beck now has two strong local papers. The oldest of these is The New Era, whose editorial pen is wielded by Mr. House. The other well-edited paper bears the name Journal, and its destinies are presided over by Mr. Morris.

Groesbeck's fraternal instincts show themselves in several societies of an excel- lent order. The old Masonic order was first represented here, and an Independent Order of Odd Fellows also. The Knights of Pythias have a good lodge, and the Knights of Honor. Besides these are tlie Ancient Order of United Workmen, and the Woodmen of the World.

Groesbeck secured a city incorporation as early as 1871, with Mayor Zadek as its first executive, who has been for some time past posmaster at Corsicana. He was suc-

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ceeded by D. M. D. Barkley and O. Wiley, and then the city council and the rest col- lapsed. In later years it was revived again, under Mayor Bradley. The present mayor is J. T. Street. The incorporation's chief work has been the control of its schools, and the recent nndertaking of water-works, which are now in conrse of preparation.

Major L. J. Farrar, the oldest attorney now in active practice in Limestone county, was born in De Kalb county, Georgia, De- cember 27, 1837. He was reared there and educated in the best select schools of Atlanta, and came to Texas in 1858. He settled at Austin, where he began reading law with Judge G. W. Paschal, who was the anthor of Paschal's Digest. He was admitted to the bar Jannary 4, 1859, in the Supreme Court at Austin before Judge O. M. Roberts, James H. Bell and R. T. Wheeler, General Tom Green being clerk.

Major Farrar was the son of Jesse C. and Nancy Johnson Farrar, natives of Virginia and Georgia respectively. He came to Limestone connty, Texas, in 1859, settling in Springfield, then the county seat, on February 14 of that year, and has since been a practitioner of this bar. He has had various partnerships, among the more important being that with Judge Jo Abbott, Congressman, who read law nnder him, and Judge Prendergast, who settled in the county in 1846, and is in point of age and residence the Nestor of the bar, but is not now in active practice.

The subject entered the Confederate army early in 1861, raising a company, the first one raised in Limestone county, which was, however, disbanded in a short time on account of the impatience of the

men to get into the field. He then entered Parsons' Brigade as a private and was shortly afterward appoint sergeant- major, becoming major of the brigade upon the re-organization at Little Rock. He served with this brigade nntil the close of the war, being paroled at Hempstead, Texas in 1865.

At the close of the war our subject re- turned to Limestone connty and began teaching school, following this until 1866, when he was elected district attorney of the district composed of the counties of Hill, Navarro, Limestone, Freestone, Leon, Madison, Robertson and Falls, and served in this capacity nntil he was removed by General Granger in 1867, being deemed an impediment to reconstruction.

Onr subject pursued a general practice during the period of reconstruction, which lasted until 1874, and then he was elected to the legislature for the counties of Lime- stone, Freestone and Navarro, and served in the Fourteenth legislature. This was the session which overhauled and regulated the previous six or seven years of misrule under carpet-bag administration, and was an important one, and before this session came up the International & Great North- ern Railroad, a question which attracted much attention at the time.

Mr. Farrar was elected to the State Sen- ate in 1882, representing Limestone, Free- stone and Navarro counties in the Eight- eenth and Nineteenth legislatures. He took an active part in the proceedings dur- ing both sessions. He has confined him- self to the practice of law for a livelihood, and has not been interested in ontside in- terests, except in the First National Bank

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of Groesbeck, which he assisted in organ- izing, being elected president of it at the time of the organization, which position he has since held. He is a progressive citizen and a man who commands the un- bounded confidence and respect of the peo- ple of Limestone county.

Major Farrar was married in Freestone county, July, 1869, to Miss Mattie Star- ley, a daughter of Dr. S. F. Starley, then of that county, a physician widely known and highly esteemed in central Texas. Her birth took place in Freestone county, and two children have been born to Major and Mrs. Farrar, John F. and Irene.

Sidney S. Walker .- The Walkers of Limestone county, of whom the subject of this sketch is the oldest living representa- tive, were among the first settlers of the county and have furnished some of the best citizens the State has ever had. The pio- neer of the family in the county and State was the Rev. Gideon Walker, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, who came to the State in 1835 and settled in Brazos county. He was from Kentucky, in which State his people had been early settlers, moving there toward the close of the last century. They were a pioneer class and were enured to all the hardships of a pio- neer life, skilled in woodcraft and expert in the use of fire-armns, they were at home in the forests and the equal of the Indian in perception, skill and endurance. It was not the savage pleasures of border life, however, that kept them on the frontier, for they were home-seekers and home-builders and the westward progress was made with a view of securing homes for the rising generations.

The Rev. Gideon Walker was weil ad- vanced in years when he came to Texas and took but little part in the making of Texas history ; but his son, Sanders Walker, bore a faithful if not conspicuous part in the war of 1835-'36, and was an early settler, both of Brazos and Limestone counties. He was present at the siege of San Antonio and fought in the battle of San Jacinto. He was but a youth of eighteen, but proved himself a stalwart actor on the stage where true heroes trod. Returning to Brazos county at the close of the Revolution, he engaged in farm- ing and stock-raising and married there, in 1840. Six years later he removed to Limestone county and settled near old Springfield, the then recently located county seat, and here he resided for over forty years, dying there April 13, 1887, aged sixty-nine. He was a quiet farmer, entirely devoted to his personal affairs. Being industrious and capable in manage- ment, he met with reasonable success, in a worldly way. He was well informed and public-spirited, but never possessed any taste for public life, his participa- tion in public affairs being restricted to doing jury service and acting as Con- missioner, Justice of the Peace and the like. He died as he had tried to live, an honest and a law-abiding citizen, carrying with him to the grave the esteem and friendship of those who had known him longest and best. His wife, whose maiden name was Lucretia Middleton, a native of East Feliciana parish, Louisiana, died some years before he did, in 1862, when she was thirty-seven. Both she and her husband were members of the Method-

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ist Episcopal Church. They were the par- ents of three sons, only one of whom, Sidney, is now living. The eldest, Stephen D., was a citizen for almost all of his life of Limestone, county, and died here Decem- ber 13, 1891. William A., the youngest son died in this county, in 1871, just as he was reaching manhood. The widow of Stephen and a family of six children are residents of this county.

Our subject is a citizen of Groesbeck, being one of the representative business men of that place. He is a native Texan, having been born in Brazos county, Sep- tember 5, 1844. He was an infant when his parents moved to Limestone county, and his early years were passed on the old homestead, in the vicinity of Springfield, where his youth was taken up with duties as a farm hand. The schools, as almost all of the old settlers know, were not very good in those days, but such advantages as were enjoyed by other children in the cominn- nity where he grew up were his, and lie managed, by attendance in a desultory sort of way during the winter sessions to master the rudiments of the common En- glish branches. With his natural quick- ness of mind and independent habits of thought he might have done better, had not the war come on and turned his atten- tion in another direction; but his is the history of thousands of boys of his age. He was just entering his seventeenth year when the war feeling swept over this part of the State. The youths of Lime- stone county, particularly the sons of Texan veterans, like himself, who had heard from their infancy the story of San Jacinto, could not be lacking in patriotic ardor and

devotion to the canse which all of them believed to be just. In fact they were too willing to testify that the blood of their heroic sires still ran in their veins and fired their hearts to deeds of honor and renown. Young Walker, actuated by this feeling, entered the service of the Con- federacy, before he was eligible, enlisting April, 1862, in Company I, Second Par- tisan Rangers, commanded by Colonel B. Warren Stone. His command was com- posed of free lancers, who were subject only to the rules and usuages of civilized war- fare. The regiment took part in many of the hardest-fought battles west of the Mis- sissippi river, including the series of fights following Banks' expedition up the Red river, and was in all the engagements carried on under the supervision of the Trans- Mis- sissippi Department, after it was created. Mr. Walker was with it throughout its en- tire term of service and shared its fortunes wherever it was placed. He had the good luck to escape being captured or wounded during his three years' service, but was taken with a malignant fever at Hempstead, in May, 1865, just before the surrender, which was the most trying ordeal he was subjected to. When he recovered he ac- cepted the results of the war with becom- ing grace and went to work to do some- thing for himself and country in a peace- ful way.

Millican was then the terminus of Houston & Texas Central Railway, and the business point of that portion of Texas. Mr. Walker went down to that place and hired as clerk in a mercantile establishment, where he remained until the yellow-fever scourge two years later

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caused a temporary suspension of busi- ness, when he moved to Bryan, but shortly afterward returned to his home in Lime- stone county. He resided on the farm, until 1874, when, the Central railroad having been completed through the coun- try, and the town of Mexia started, he again turned his attention to business pur- suits, taking a position with H. M. Munger in the Inmber business at that place, which he held until 1881. At that date he began business for himself, open- ing a lumber yard at Groesbeeck, where he has since continued. The firm of S. S. Walker & Son is the only one of the kind at Groesbeck; the son of the firmn is Jackson L., who was admitted to partner- ship in 1888. The firm does a large busi- ness, and is one of the financially solid en- terprises of the city. In addition to this interest, Mr. Walker owns considerable real estate, consisting mostly of farms and ranches in Limestone county, between which and his lumber business he divides his time.

On December 6, 1867, Mr. Walker married Mary A. Crabb, daughter of Rev. J. L. Crabb, who moved from Alabama to Texas in 1845. Mrs. Walker was born in Walker county, this State, where her par- ents first settled, and here and in Lime- stone county was this lady reared. Her father was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church and will be remembered by many of the old citizens of Limestone county in connection with his church work in the county. He died here in 1866. Mr. and Mrs. Walker have a family of two sons, J. L. and Saunders, Jr.

Mr. Walker's career has been that of a

business man, strictly. He has never sought public office nor attempted to fig- nre in politics in any manner. Perhaps he lias succeeded financially all the better for this fact. He is in comfortable cir- cumstances and to himself is due the credit of making the bulk of what he owns. One of the handsomest residences and most pleasant homes in Groesbeck claims him for an owner, and he is sur- rounded by an interesting family. His life is all that could be reasonably asked of or expected by a prosperous man of business.

He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. He is a member of the Knights of Labor, has been a member since 1878; also a member of the Legion of Honor and of the Wood- men of the World.

Jonas Dudley Whitcomb, one of the financially solid men of the town of Groes- beck, Limestone county, Texas, was the son of Cornelius S. Whitcomb, who was born in New York, went Sonth when a young man and settled in Holmes county, Mississippi. Here he married Parmelia Ship and engaged in business and became wealthy. He was conducting a bank at Canton, Mississippi, when the war camne on and was broken up by that unhappy struggle. He then went to New Orleans, where he engaged in the cotton brokerage business, and continued to reside there the most of his life. He died in Florida in 1877, well advanced in years. The sub- ject's mother died in 1878.

Our subject was born in Yazoo county, Mississippi, May 1, 1848, and was reared mainly in Madison county of that State. He received a fair education and went to

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New Orleans in December, 1866, and be- gan liis business career as a clerk with his father. He remained there until 1871, when he came to Texas, locating at Galves- ton, and there he clerked for Winter, Walker & Company until 1874. He then came to Groesbeck, Limestone county, where he engaged in the mercantile busi- ness on his own account, and has continued at this place ever since. Beginning in a humble way, his fortunes have steadily risen from year to year until he is now one of the most prosperous men in Limne- stone county. He not only has a large mercantile business, but he possesses large tracts of valuable land in the county. Mr. Whitcomb is a sharp, shrewd trader, an energetic business man, industrious and economical, and while he keeps an eye on the main chance he is honorable and up- right in all his dealings, and a man who commands the esteem and respect of all who know him. His paper is worth 100 cents on the dollar all the year around. He is progressive in his ideas and can generally be counted on to lend a helping hand to every worthy enterprise. He has improved two liundsome places in Groes- beck, thus testifying his confidence in the stability of the place, and owns one of the most elegant homes in the town.

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Author: Publication date: 1893 Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 954

Author:
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 954