A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I, Part 50

Author: Paddock, B. B. (Buckley B.), 1844-1922; Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing co.
Number of Pages: 968

USA > Texas > A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I > Part 50

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When the Civil war came on Mr. Jowell en- listed, from Palo Pinto county, in February, 1862, in Captain Cleveland's troop of cavalry, which later became a part of the Fourteenth Texas. They were hurriedly sent north into Arkansas to relieve General Van Dorn at Pea Ridge, but did not reach there till the battle was over. Nearly all the Confederate army in that vicinity was then sent across the Mississippi, but the Fourteenth Texas was kept for service in the Trans-Missis- sippi Department. Under Colonel Alexander they went south to help in repulsing the Banks expedi- tion up Red river, and gave a good account of themselves in checking this Union movement, especially at the battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill. Mr. Jowell was in the service in Louisiana

and Arkansas until the close of the war in 1865, and from a private in the ranks he was promoted to a first lieutenant, with which rank he returned to his home in Palo Pinto county, where after his long Civil war experience he was yet for some . years to come, as mentioned above, to continue fighting the Indians.

Mr. Jowell left Palo Pinto county in 1882 and took his cattle to Stonewall county, where he re- mained until 1887, maintaining his cattle on the free range which no longer exists. In 1887 he came to the extreme western border of Texas, and in what is now Deaf Smith county established his home on Terra Blanco (or Castro) creek, five miles east of the present town of Hereford. He took up some sections of choice land, much of which he has since sold, but he still owns between four and five sections, and conducts a general stock-farming business.

No citizen has been more interested in public affairs and taken a more active part in all the work of development and progress in Deaf Smith county than has Mr. Jowell. Upon the organiza- tion of the county he was elected the first county assessor, and held the office three terms. For sev- eral years he also served as county surveyor. When the Pecos Valley Railroad was built through the county and the town of Hereford started, he interested himself, and got others in- terested, in seeing that the town was kept a clean, respectable community, without saloons, gam- bling and similar evils, but should have such home, church and school facilities as would appeal to persons who were seeking a place in which to rear their children, in an atmosphere of education and religion. This worthy ideal, thus set before the citizens at the beginning, has been adhered to- with great success, with the result that Hereford has grown into a flourishing town with all the desirable features that its founders wished, and is today one of the most attractive communities in the Panhandle for high class, law abiding and substantial settlers. Mr. Jowell has given especial effort toward obtaining good educational institu- tions, not only for his own children but for those of his fellow citizens. Besides the common schools the chief educational crown of the county is the Panhandle Christian College, which has

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been in successful operation for several years and is one of the most progressive institutions of learning in the state. Not long after the town started Mr. Jowell offered, free, one hundred and sixty acres of land to his old friend, Professor Randolph Clark, of Waco (one of the founders . and his long experience together with his first- of the Texas Christian University at that place), if the latter would come to Hereford and, inter- esting himself in the schools, see what could be done toward founding a college. This offer was accepted, and it was through the influences thus set going that the excellent college above named has been established by the Christian denomina- tion, in which church and related institutions Mr. Jowell is an active worker. Mr. Jowell also took a prominent part in starting the public school at Hereford. ¿lass executive ability is no doubt largely respon- sible for his constantly enlarging success. He was not more than fifteen years old when he be- gan making trips to St. Louis, Chicago, and other cities, buying the raw material for the factory. In 1885 he left Illinois and went out to Kansas, securing a position as night clerk in the agent's office of the Santa Fe Railroad at Wellington. He was rapidly promoted becoming agent at Wellington, and later at Kiowa, which at that time was the terminus of the southern Kansas division of the Santa Fe. That road, however, was even then being extended down into the Texas Panhandle. Kiowa was the headquarters of the construction work, and during Mr. Hill's continuance in the office of agent about three hundred men were on the payrolls.

Mr. Jowell was married in Palo Pinto county to Miss Leanna T. Dobbs, a daughter of Chesley Dobbs (who was killed and scalped by Indians in 1872), and a member of an old Texas family. Mrs. Jowell died in 1898, leaving six children, Mrs. Lela Murchison, Mrs. Edna Johnson, Rat- liffe (ex-sheriff), Connor, Lura, and Mrs. Rob- ert Lee Ball.

FRANK H. HILL, merchant, stock farmer and foremost business man of Panhandle, has had a career of unusual activity and successful prosecution of varied business undertakings, and his prominent identification with the Panhandle since the pioneer days gives him great considera- tion in a history of the men who have been most active in the commercial making of that country.

Mr. Hill was born in Norwich, Connecticut, in 1858, a son of Frederick and Jane (Armi- tage) Hill, both natives of England, whence the former came to this country at the age of six years and the latter when she was sixteen. The father grew up in the state of Connecticut, be- ing practically reared in the woolen manufac- turing business. In 1858 he brought his family to Washington, Tazewell county, Illinois, where he established a factory for the manufacture of woolen goods. He continued in this business dur- ing the active period of his life, and still lives in Washington, although now retired from busi- ness.

Mr. Hill was reared in Washington, Illinois, whither he was brought at the age of five months, and lived there, connected with his father's busi- ness, until he was twenty-seven years old. He began his business career at a very early age,

During the last days of December, 1887, the southern Kansas division of the road was com- pleted as far as Panhandle, Carson county, Texas, and Mr. Hill came to the newly started town on the first train run along the road. He became agent of the new town and had charge of the Santa Fe's interests here for two and a half years. Panhandle had, like many new towns, grown very rapidly, and within a year from its beginning was the metropolis of the Texas Pan- handle and the headquarters of all its business. It was a much larger town that it is now, as it subsequently suffered from the competition of other towns started on the Fort Worth and Den- ver Railroad.

Mr. Hill left the railroad to embark in the mercantile business at Panhandle, and at the same time began the accumulation of large tracts of land in the surrounding country. For these enterprises he started in on borrowed capital, but his great faith in the future of the country and in his investments has long since been re- paid and justified. Through energetic and fear- less business methods his mercantile interests grew rapidly, and are now extensive and impor-

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tant. He is sole owner of the F. H. Hill Mer- cantile Company (dry goods and clothing), is a partner in the firm of Hill and Sellars (hard- ware), and a partner in the Hill-Hoffman Lum- ber Company, all in Panhandle and all large and flourishing business institutions.

Not the least profitable, and certainly most ab- sorbing and interesting, of Mr. Hill's enterprises, whose variety suggest the expansiveness and ver- satility of his resourceful abilities, is his stock farm of a thousand acres which adjoins the town of Panhandle on the east. Here he has his home, and in 1903 completed what is probably the finest and largest residence in the Texas Pan- handle, an imposing looking place, furnished and finished in splendid style and with a liberal hand, such as one will not often find outside of urban communities. The barn and other buildings for stock are substantial and costly, and there is every modern convenience and equipment for what Mr. Hill intends this insti- tution to be-a model fancy stock farm, equal to any in the north or east. He breeds thorough- bred shorthorn cattle, and in fact the place is to be a thoroughbred stock farm exclusively, all the stock not being kept on the range during the winter but being fed and stabled throughout the season. In connection with his cattle inter- ests he is a member of the Panhandle German Coach Horse Company, and makes a specialty of breeding fine horses.

Mr. Hill is a first-class business man, with nerve, pluck and enterprise, and is thoroughly interested in building up the section of the coun- try in which he has made his home. A notable characteristic of his, and one that impresses the casual acquaintance as well as the fast friend, is frankness and sincerity, and his business has al- ways been conducted on the lines of strictest honor and integrity.

Mr. Hill married Mrs. Lucile Stanhope Stone, a lady of many graces of character and of high- ly cultivated intellectuality. She is of a Ken- tucky family. Her son DeWitt C. Stone, having acquired a competent business education and training, is assistant to Mr. Hill in the mercantile enterprises.

HENRY B. SANBORN, founder of Ama- rillo, is a character in the modern development of the North and West Texas country who requires more than cursory mention, for the results of his work have been of inestimable value to the en- tire state during the past period of thirty years. As a man of state importance his greatest work was performed in the role of an energetic and courageous "Yankee drummer." If the Texas cattle industry is particularly indebted to one facility more than another it is to the barb-wire fence, which has, in truth, revolutionized the industry and enlarged its scope beyond all com- prehension. It should be generally known in a Texas history that barb-wire was first intro- duced and sold in this state by Henry B. San- born, and had it not been for his persistent work in the face of many obstacles and violent prejudices against the "new-fangled" contriv- ance, the present generation in this state would not be so familiar with that style of fence, which now networks the entire country from east to west.

Of more immediate prominence is Mr. San- born's connection with the Panhandle and Ama- rillo in particular, and the part he played in the founding of this town is a story of fascinating interest, throwing much light on the indomitable spirit of the man whose work and worth can- not be overestimated in its results in this por- tion of the Lone Star state. Mr. Sanborn has been for a number of years and remains the foremost citizen of Amarillo, commanding uni- versal respect and esteem, and his life history forms one of the most edifying and interesting chapters in this work.

He is of New England stock and ancestry, imbued with the hardy qualities of that race. He was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, September 10, 1845, and his father, Edmond San- born, was born in Bath, New Hampshire, April 16, 1812, and his mother, whose maiden name was Harriet White, was born in Lisbon, New. Hamp- shire, February 23, 1821. His parents took up their residence in northern New York in 1843, and remained there through their long and use- ful lives. There were five children in the family.

A. Santoni

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The father engaged in the lumber business in winter, and farming in the summer.

Mr. Sanborn was next to the youngest child. He was educated in the common schools and academies of St. Lawrence county, and improved his opportunities thoroughly, continuing in at- tendance at the various institutions until his twentieth year. Then, well prepared as far as educational equipment and home training go, he left the parental roof and his familiar associa- tions and went west to seek his fortune. He ar- rived in DeKalb, Illinois, in June, 1864, and for a short time made his home with Mr. J. F. Glid- den, since permanently known to the world as the inventor and patentee of barb-wire. In the fall of the same year Mr. Sanborn went to Min- neapolis, Minnesota, and remained as an em- ploye of his uncle there in the milling and lum- ber business for a year, after which he returned to DeKalb and his home with Mr. Glidden. His first business enterprise here was the manu- facture of wooden eve-troughs, and he contin- ued this with reasonable success for several years.

In 1872 Mr. Sanborn made a shipment of two carloads of horses to the market at Denver, Colorado, and thus began an enterprise which he carried on in partnership with Mr. Judson P. Warner very successfully until 1875. This business was only given up that he might em- bark on an enterprise of larger scope and the one which proved of monumental importance both to the career of Mr. Sanborn and to Texas as well.

During these years Mr. Glidden had been con- ducting the experiments which resulted in the production of barb-wire, and it is worth while to turn aside and give in some detail the history of the invention which has meant so much to Texas. The first patent covering his invention was secured and bore date November 24, 1874. Smooth wire had already been used to a con- siderable extent for fencing purposes. It was cheap and answered the purpose. to a certain extent, but it was by no means proof against cattle, and in consequence smootli-wire fences were constantly in need of repair. It was while replacing wires that had been torn from the

posts by cattle that Mr. Glidden noticed some staples hanging to the wires, and from this con- ceived the idea of attaching barbs or points firmly to the wire at regular intervals, in this way preventing cattle from exerting pressure on the fence. It was at first only an idea, and there were many things to overcome in per- fecting it, but it continued prominent in Mr. Glidden's mind, and after considerable thought he began experiments in perfecting a style of barb and firmly attaching it to the main wire. He made his first perfected coil barb by the use of an old-fashioned coffee mill, of which he turned the crank by hand. Later on he devised better and more substantial machinery for this purpose, and would then string a number of barbs on a wire, placing them at regular inter- vals, and laying another wire without barb by its. side, twist the two together by the use of an old horse-power. Thus by the twisting of the wires the barbs were permanently held in place, and the result obtained in this primitive way was sufficiently satisfactory to convince him of the ultimate success of his invention. In the fall of 1874 Mr. Glidden gave, for a nominal sum, a half interest in his patent to Mr. I. L. Ellwood, of DeKalb, and a factory was erected in that city for the manufacture of the new wire. Machinery was designed with which the barbs were at- tached to a single wire and then a smooth wire twisted with it, to a length of 150 feet; this length was then wound on a reel and the process continued until the reel was filled. Soon after- ward a machine was made which coiled the barbs upon one wire, twisted them together and wound the finished wire upon the reels ready for ship- ment, each machine having a capacity of twenty reels daily.

Such was the inventing and manufacturing side of it. But, as has been the case again and again in the history of machinery, a really ex- cellent device may be lost to the world because sufficient aggressiveness has not been employed in its introduction to the public. The man se- lected by Mr. Glidden to show up the merits of his barb-wire was Mr. Henry B. Sanborn. The latter was already prosperously started in busi- ness with Mr. Warner, and it required a great

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deal of persistent urging on the part of the in- ventor to get him to enter upon this new enter- prise. However, he finally became convinced of its worth and possibilities, and he and his partner made a contract with Glidden & Ellwood by which Sanborn and Warner were, for a period of two years, to introduce and sell exclu- sively the entire barb-wire product of the fac- tory. Late in the fall of 1874 Mr. Sanborn started out with a sample panel of barb-wire fence to introduce the invention to the hardware trade, first in the towns adjacent to DeKalb. Conservatism, if not prejudice, worked against the first sales of this article, only two or three reels being sold at Rochelle, Illinois, and some small orders coming during the following months. In the spring of 1875 Mr. Sanborn and Mr. Warner both set out to introduce the wire into the southwestern and western states, where its field of greatest usefulness lay. In the meantime a half interest in the DeKalb plant was transferred to the well known wire manu- facturers, Washburn and Moen Manufacturing Company of Worcester, Massachusetts, the con- tract with Sanborn and Warner being reaffirmed by the new partnership.

In September, 1875, Mr. Sanborn made his first invasion of Texas territory in the interest of the barb-wire industry. He soon found out that fencing material was much needed in this great cattle country, but the prejudice against the use of barb-wire seemed to be very strong. As a sample of the objections, one large cattle owner told Mr. Sanborn that the barb-wire fence would never do; that the cattle would run into it and cut themselves, thus causing endless trouble from the screw worm, which invariably attacks cat- tle in Texas when blood is drawn. But Mr. Sanborn was proof against all such discouraging sentiments, and he knew that, once get a wedge of sales entered, the entire people would be in time brought over to the new fence. He had a carload of the wire shipped to various points in the state, had Mr. Warner to come on and help him, and then took the field in the country for the purpose of introducing it to the actual consumers. At Gainesville he sold the first ten

reels of barb-wire ever sold in the state. Thence he went to other towns, and during a trip of eleven days in a buggy he sold sixty reels; Mr. Warner was at the same time in the country west of Dallas and selling as much or more. At Austin Mr. Warner sold a firm the first full carload ever disposed of in the state, and at Rock- port Mr. Sanborn sold to a firm of ranchmen for their own use the first carload sold to consumers. The aggressive work of the partners soon intro- duced the invention to many towns and outlying districts, and after a month or so of effective drumming and advertising they returned to the north. In January, 1877, they made a ncw con- tract with Washburn and Moen Manufacturing Company for the exclusive sale of the Glidden barb-wire in the state of Texas, and established their office and headquarters at Houston.

By this time barb-wire had reached the im- portance of an issue among the people of Texas. Its sincere friends were many and daily increas- ing, but many more from self-interest as well as conservatism opposed it most vehemently. The lumbermen were unfavorable because its introduction would mean a decrease of the use of wood material for fencing purposes, and the railroads allied themselves with the lumbermen whose shipments would thereby be diminished. Injury to stock was common ground for oppo- sition, and bills were even introduced into the legislature prohibiting its use, but happily a rallying of the friends of barb-wire defeated the inimical measures, and the entire agitation worked for the welfare of the wire fence move- ment. In a few years the barb-wire sales of Sanborn and Warner in this state ran well up toward the million dollar mark. Messrs. San- born and Warner continued their partnership until 1883, when the former purchased the lat- ter's interest, the name Sanborn and Warner, however, being still retained. The contract with the Washburn and Moen Company continued until the expiration of the original Glidden patent in 1891, since which time the company has continued its Texas business from their branch office at Houston. Long before this, however, the work of introduction, so thor-

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oughly undertaken by Mr. Sanborn, was com- plete and the trade Luilt up to a steady and per- manent demand.

At his first trip into Texas Mr. Sanborn be- came impressed with the fertility of the soil of the state and the vast agricultural and stock-rais- ing resources here. In the fall of 1876 he ob- tained a tract of some two thousand acres in Grayson county, which, owing to a disputed title, cost him about $4.25 an acre, and subse- quent purchases brought his holdings in this one body up to over ten thousand acres. He stocked this ranch with horses and cattle, and intro- duced some of the very finest pure blooded Percheron and French Coach stallions. The ranch was conducted in a most thorough and sys- tematic manner, the enterprise being both a matter of personal pride and recreation as well as profit to Mr. Sanborn, and his varied and choice breeds formed a most interesting exhibit at the fairs. It was a matter of special satisfac- tion to him that his first contention was proved that the prairies of Texas were as well adapted to the raising of high-grade horses as any other section of the country. The business increased in volume until there were something over one thousand head of horses on the ranch, and the annual sale of stock ran from twenty-five to forty thousand dollars.

In 1881 Mr. Sanborn extended his Texas land and cattle interests by forming a partner- ship with his old friend Mr. Glidden and pur- chasing an enormous tract of land in Potter and Randall counties, situated in the Panhandle coun- try. Their first purchase consisted of ninety- five sections, or over sixty thousand acres, and subsequent purchases increased it to one hun- dred and twenty-five thousand acres, which, alternating with the same amount of school land, made in all .two hundred and fifty thousand acres. At that time this tract was two hundred and fifty miles from the nearest railroad station. In 1882 this vast area was inclosed with a wire fence of four strands, the entire construction of which cost over thirty-nine thousand dollars. It was one of the first fenced pastures of any size in the Panhandle, and was known as the Panhandle or Frying Pan ranch. Fifteen thou-

sand head of cattle were turned loose upon this domain.

In 1887 came the Fort Worth and Denver Rail- road through this country, almost bisecting this great ranch. On the east boundary line of the ranch was placed the town site of Amarillo as the county seat of Potter county. Soon twelve hundred people congregated in the town, and it became the principal shipping point of the Pan- handle region. Connected with the early his- tory and the permanent founding of Amarillo is one of the most interesting stories of Texas en- terprise, which, and Mr. Sanborn's part as the founder of the town, is well told in the following clipping from the St. Louis Globe-Democrat :

"Young as she is, Amarillo has had two sites. The original town company located on a slope one mile west of where the town now stands. About twelve hundred people established them- selves there. As is usual in Texas, and some other countries, the first thing the new com- munity did when it felt its strength was to vote about $30,000 for a court house. This was ex- pected to anchor the county seat and the town for all time to come. The court house was built and is a very good one for the money, but a man who owns a pasture of two hundred and fifty thousand acres decided that the town had been put in the wrong place. It was in a 'draw.' The right location was one mile farther east on an eligible elevation of land belonging to the pas- ture man. To the proposition to move, the town said 'no.' The pasture man, however, went ahead and laid out a new site on his lands. He built a hotel that was bigger and cost fifty per cent more than the court house. For a few months there was an interesting game of tug between the court house and the hotel, one mile apart. According to Texas tradition, the court house should have won. A county seat is located by vote on a specified section of land for five years, and there it must stay until the last day of the fifth year. The pasture man was originally from the north, and was determined that Ama- rillo should be put where it belonged, and he did it. After he had built his big hotel, costing $50,000-big for this region-he bought the ho- tel in original Amarillo, put it on wheels, moved

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it over to the new site, located it across a little park, and called it the annex.

"The pasture man's partner is an Illinois barb- wire millionaire. He came down and looked on. He said he did not know much about town- site wars, but he would back the new location. The pasture man bored wells and built houses. Every week or two he drove over to old Ama- rillo, bought a store, put it on wheels and hauled it over to new Amarillo. There was no shouting or hurrahing, but month by month the old town melted away and the new town grew. Today the court house is all that marks the original site. It stands alone on the prairie. It can't be moved under the law; if it could be the father of the new town would have moved it long ago. The county officers walk one mile to the court house and back again each day. As they go over in the morning they often see a beautiful mirage, houses, trees, lakes and the shadow of a city ; when they get to the court house the vision fades, and there is nothing left but bare prairie and the holes where the houses stood."

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I, Part 50

Author: Paddock, B. B. (Buckley B.), 1844-1922; Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1906 Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing co. Number of Pages: 968

Author: Paddock, B. B. (Buckley B.), 1844-1922; Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing co.
Number of Pages: 968