A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I, Part 51

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 51

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Since the above was written the five years have come to an end, and the lone court house on the prairie stands deserted. The court house has followed the town, and is located on lands formerly the property of the "pasture man."

Mr. Sanborn's interest in Amarillo has never faltered. He has given the town an extensive water-works system, with several miles of mains, and has been at the front in all measures for the public good. And he did this while at the same time devoting his personal attention to his other colossal interests. His varying real estate holdings in this state have aggregated an enor- mous figure, and as a rancher and stockman and all-around business man he still retains pre- mier rank in Northwest Texas. In 1887 he bought, fenced and stocked over seventeen thou- sand acres in Clay county, and this formed one of his most profitable investments. In January, 1892, he purchased the Hutchins House prop- erty in Houston, and after expending $45,000 in repairs made it one of the principal hotels of the city. His joint ownership with Mr. Glidden in the Panhandle lands was finally dissolved,

Mr. Sanborn retaining the town property and twenty-five thousand acres of the grazing lands. In disposing of his Grayson county ranch Mr. Sanborn received in exchange some valuable Kansas City property, including one of the fin- est residences of the city, a costly structure of granite and Massachusetts brownstone. About 1893 he removed from Texas to Kansas City and took possession of his elegant home, with- out giving up, however, his interests in Amarillo and this state. In October, 1902, he returned to Amarillo to live. He has built a beautiful residence in this city, according to his own de- signs and at a large cost. The interior finish- ing and woodwork, the furniture and fittings, and everything in connection with this home, are such as to show unusual refinement of taste on the part of Mr. and Mrs. Sanborn. Mr. San- born has a private stable of fine driving horses and carriages, in which he takes supreme de- light, and his elegant four-in-hand elicits the ad- miration of all.

While making his home with Mr. Glidden dur- ing the years of his young manhood, Mr. San- born met there Miss Ellen M. Wheeler, who was also a resident in that home. On February 20, 1868, these two young people were married, after which they continued to make their home with Mr. Glidden for some time. August 16, 1869, their first and only child was born, being named Ellwood Bradley Sanborn. He was given ex- cellent advantages, graduating with highest hon- ors from the Michigan Military Academy at Orchard Lake, in 1888, being captain of his company. He was lieutenant of the company of cadets selected from this school who entered and won the first prize of one thousand dollars given at the national prize drill at Washington, May 30, 1887. He was a young man of ex- traordinary promise and of many excellences of character that endeared him to friends and fami- ly. After his graduation he interested himself in his father's varied business, and was propi- tiously started upon his individual career when he died, after a short illness, on December 1, 1890.

In resume of Mr. Sanborn's life it may be said that few men have accomplished more of

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practical worth and value or been more tireless in their everyday pursuits. He must always be remembered for the part he played in intro- ducing barb-wire into this state, for that has meant much to the principal industries of the state, and his perseverance and triumph in spite of obstacles deserve all the rewards that come > ments, is heated by steam, has fine culinary serv- from material affairs. He has also been a fore- most factor in elevating the standards in stock- raising, introducing and proving the profit in raising the finest grades of cattle and horses instead of the inferior animals so common in the early days of Texas. From his earliest days he has been possessed of definite purposes and an indefatigable energy, has given himself unre- servedly to the working out of the details of mas- ter plans, and thereby has earned a well deserved success ; and as the founder of Amarillo and the most effective influence in the working out of its destiny his memory and place of esteem in the history of Northwest Texas is secure for all time.

Stamford, Texas, has had a marvelous growth in keeping with the spirit of rapid development and progress that has been manifest in Texas during the last quarter of a century and wrought such a wonderful transformation in the state. The first lots in town were sold January 15, 1900, and the Texas Central Railroad was built as far as this place in the early part of the year, so that the first train reached the town on the 8th of February. The town was incorporated in the same month with a full corps of city offi- cers, the first mayor being P. P. Berthelot. A general election was held in April of that year and nearly all of the first officers were elected for a term of two years. The present population of the place is between thirty-five and forty hundred. Progress has been carried on along modern lines and the city has splendid conve- niences and equipments. The city hall was built in 1903 and the public school building was erect- ed in 1900, an independent school district having been organized in that year. The citizens pledged themselves for the amount of four thou- sand dollars and erected the building before a school system could be put in operation, which,

however, was done a year later. The Stamford Inn building was built during 1900 and opened for business in 1901 at a cost of twenty thou- sand dollars. It contains thirty-seven rooms, is built in modern and attractive style of archi- tecture and is supplied with all the latest equip- ice, equal to any in the country, and indeed is the best hotel between Fort Worth and El Paso. It was erected by the Stamford Town Site Com- .pany. The different operative industries of the place were largely inaugurated by the same com- pany. The Stamford Town Site Company was incorporated under the laws of Texas in 1899 with C. Hamilton as president, E. P. Swenson vice president and treasurer and P. P. Berthelot secretary. In January, 1902, S. A. Swenson became president but there has been no change in the other officers. There is an extensive cat- tle feeding plant, in connection with which there are about two miles of track. The plant was erected by Swenson Brothers of New York City. Another industry of the place is an oil mill and mixing plant which was built at a cost of one hundred thousand dollars.

The First National Bank of Stamford was or- ganized September 1, 1900, and its present of- ficers are: W. D. Reynolds of Fort Worth, president ; R. L. Penick of Stamford, vice presi- dent ; J. C. Bryant of Stamford, second vice president ; and R. V. Colbert of Stamford, cash- ier, with Walter L. Orr and H. G. Nold as as- sistant cashiers. The board of directors is com- posed of the following named: W. D. Reynolds ; C. Hamilton of Waco, who is vice president andl general manager of the Texas Central Railroad ; G. T. Reynolds of Fort Worth; D. O. Mc- Rimmon; J. C. Bryant; R. V. Colbert; R. L. Penick; and H. S. Abbott. The capital stock is seventy-five thousand dollars and the capital and surplus amounts to $106,500 according to the last official statement. The bank building. was erected in 1901 and was occupied about July of that year. The cost of the building including the furniture and fixtures is about thirteen thousand dollars and it is the largest and best appointed bank in western Texas between: Weatherford and El Paso.

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

R. V. Colbert, the efficient and popular cash- ier of the First National Bank of Stamford, has been a resident of Texas for twenty-three years. He began his banking career at Anson, where he was proprietor of the Jones County Bank. He is a native of Mount Lebanon, Louisiana, and while living in Jones county he served as coun- ty clerk for four years, having been elected to that office in 1890. He is thoroughly familiar with the business in all of its departments and the success of the institution is attributable in large measure to his efforts.

R. L. PENICK has been identified with the substantial development, progress and upbuild- ing of Stamford since the organization of the town. He has been closely associated with all movements that have contributed to public prog- ress here and may well be accounted one of the founders and upbuilders of the place. A man of excellent business and executive ability, he readily recognizes and utilizes opportunities and in matters of judgment is seldom if ever at fault.

Mr. Penick was born in Johnson county, Mis- souri, August 18, 1862. His father, William B. Penick, was a Kentuckian by birth and in 1857, soon after his marriage, removed to Mis- souri, intending to make that state his future home. It was not long, however, before the Civil war came on and Missouri became a center of contested territory, which made the situation there so unpleasant that Mr. Penick decided to leave and in 1863 returned to his native state. There he continued to make his home for sev- enteen years, principally engaged in the manu- facture of flour. In 1880 he again went to Mis- souri, where he devoted his attention to farming in Johnson county. By this time, however, he had become interested in Texas and was a be- liever in its future possibilities and development. Accordingly in 1892 he came to this state and settled at Anson, Jones county, where he has since resided, living in his later years a retired life. His wife, to whom he was married in 1851, bore the maiden name of Mary E. Bailey and was also a native of Kentucky. They reared a family of six children who reached mature years.

The boyhood days of R. L. Penick were spent at his father's home in Kentucky and he attended the district schools of the neighborhood until sixteen years of age. He then started out in life on his own account, possessing laudable ambition and strong determination. He secured employment on a neighboring farm at eight dol- lars per month and board, and later on, as a means of developing his business faculties, he obtained a position as clerk in a mercantile store, which pursuit he followed for a year or more. In 1880 he removed with the family to Missouri and devoted three years to work upon his father's farm, but the spring of 1884 found him en route for Texas and after devoting a short time to investigating the merits of the western country he located at Anson, the county seat of Jones coun- ty. There for a brief period he was engaged in the hardware business on his own account but he sold out the following year for the pur- pose of engaging in the cattle industry. This was at a period when cattle brought a high price on the market, but the era of free ranges was fast disappearing, the country becoming settled up by the farmer, who claimed the land and placed it under cultivation. There were some features that were favorable to the busi- ness coupled with a great many disadvantages, so that after devoting eight years to the cattle industry, in which he met with little success, Mr. Penick concluded to devote his attention to other pursuits. In 1894 he once more embarked in the hardware trade at Anson in connection with his father and brother under the firm style of Penick & Company. R. L. Penick acted as man- ager of the business, which was continued up to the winter of 1899 under that name, when the Penick Hughes Company was incorporated with a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars. At that time the firm opened a branch house in Albany, but after a few months it was discon- tinued. When Stamford was founded in 1900 the Penick Hughes Company opened its house in this city and the enterprise is now one of the largest hardware establishments, not only in Stamford, but in Western Texas. The company also owned a private banking institution which

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

became a national bank in the spring of 1900 under the name of the First National Bank of Stamford with Mr. Penick as vice president. In a business way he is also interested in other enterprises of the city, being the president and manager of the Stamford Ice & Refrigerator Company. He is also the president of the Com- mercial Club of Stamford, in which position he has served since the organization of the club in 1900. He is likewise the president of the Stam- ford Railroad Committee and vice president of the Hardware, Implement and Vehicle Dealers' Association of Texas. He also enjoys the dis- tinction of having once served as head of the city government, having been elected mayor of Stamford in the spring of 1903 and acceptably filling the important position for two years.

Perhaps the greatest distinction that has been conferred upon him, and one in which he takes a justifiable pride, is in connection with Ma- sonry. Becoming interested in the order he took his first degree in 1892, since which time he has progressed steadily through the different de-

grees of the fraternity until he has become a Scottish Rite Mason, belonging to the Consis- tory. He has likewise taken the degrees of the York Rite and is a member of the Mystic Shrine. He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias and Woodmen fraternities.

· Mr. Penick was united in marriage in 1886 to Miss Dottie L. Potts, a native of Grayson county, Texas. In their family were five chil- dren, of whom two are now living, a son and a daughter. Honored and respected in every class of society, he has for some time been a lead- er in thought and action in public life of West- ern Texas and has made a most creditable rec- ord. His life has been one of continuous activi- ty in which has been accorded due recognition of labor and today he is numbered among the substantial citizens of his county. His interests are thoroughly identified with those of Western Texas and at all times he is ready to lend his aid and co-operation to any movement calculated to benefit this section of the country or advance its wonderful development.

CHAPTER XI.

STATISTICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES OF THE PRINCIPAL COUNTIES OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

[Note-The matter contained in the following chapter is mainly drawn from the Texas Almanac for 1904, the latest and most comprehensive historical and statistical compilation on Texas that has ever been published.]

To supplement the general description of North and West Texas, a brief review of this part of the state taken in its smaller political di- visions, the counties, will prove useful to the reader in gaining an adequate understanding of the leading features of the country. To this end the following pages contain the important facts concerning the principal counties which are the territorial basis of this history.

TARRANT COUNTY, which is the starting point of our historical survey, and the apex of the great triangle which comprehends the north- ern and western regions of the state, is, relatively speaking, an old and well settled division of the state, having a population in 1900 of 52,376. The population has increased at a rapid rate in the past five years, and Fort Worth alone is now a city of over forty thousand. The county is well watered, and four-fifths of the soil is highly fer- tile. The West Fork of the Trinity river enters the county at the northwest and flows out at the middle of the eastern line, its course on each side being bounded by high rocky bluffs, from which there is a gradual ascent into a high-rolling open country. There are numerous other smaller streams in the county, and the underground water supply is likewise abundant, besides the shallow wells there being a large number of artesian wells. Two-fifths of the county is tim- bered, a belt of woodland ten or twelve miles wide, known as "the cross timbers," running north and south on the eastern side of the county. The soils generally are well adapted to diversified

farming, the principal crops being cotton, corn, wheat, oats, while fruit and truck farming is car- ried on extensively near Fort Worth. All the activities of the county center at Fort Worth, to the history of which city space is elsewhere given. Other business centers in the county are Arlington, Azle, Crowley, Grapevine, Keller, Kennedale, Mansfield, Muriel, Saginaw.

JOHNSON COUNTY, the next south of Tar- rant, with a population in 1900 of 33,819, has an area of 697 square miles, nine-tenths of it being arable. The surface of the county is in the main undulating, but large stretches of level prairie lie throughout its extreme east and middle west- ern section, with rough hilly breaks in the extreme west. The soil has many varieties from the east to the west side of the county, and the timber belt, the "lower cross timbers," running from northeast to southwest, is composed principally of post oak and blackjack. The Brazos river forms the southwestern boundary of the county, and Nolan's river, entering at the northwest cor- ner, flows the entire length of the county, passing out at the southern line. Water from wells is obtainable in all parts of the county, and there are numerous surface springs. Corn, cotton, wheat, oats and varieties of the sorghum family are the principal crops of the prairie portions, and the Cross Timbers belt furnish the sandy soil best adapted to truck farming and fruit growing. The railroads in the county are: Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe; Missouri, Kansas and Texas; International and Great Northern; Dallas, Cle- burne and Southwestern: Trinity and Brazos Valley; and Fort Worth and Rio Grande. Cle- burne, the county seat, with a population of from

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FIRST HOUSE IN WISE COUNTY

First house in Wise county, built in the wilderness nine miles south of Decatur in 1854, by Mr. Sam Woody, who, with his wife, is shown in the picture. The house, which is still standing, was constructed of rough-hewn logs, sixteen feet square, was covered with clapboards, part of which remained at the time the photograph was taken about twenty years ago. This house, being the first civilized home in that part of the state, extended its hospitable shelter to many a weary traveler, as many as eighteen persons hav- ing heen entertained there one night.

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

twelve to fifteen thousand, has the various church denominations, a large school population and fine schools, water works, a Carnegie library, and many fine residences and large business activity. Other towns in the county are Alvarado, Burle- san, Grandview, Venus, Godley and Joshua.

PARKER COUNTY, just west of Tarrant county, population in 1900, 25,823, area nine hundred square miles, was created by the legislature in 1855, and the county seat, Weatherford, was laid out in 1856. The Brazos river flows through the southwestern part of the county, and there are fifteen smaller streams, some of which are tribu- tary to the Brazos and others are on the water shed of the Trinity. Stock water is drawn main- ly from wells by the numerous windmills which may be seen in every direction. Various kinds of trees grow but not in extensive areas, and many varieties of soil tend to diversification of crops, wheat being the staple of the eastern part of the county, cotton, corn, oats in the northern, while hay and sorghum crops will also be found. This is also a good vegetable and fruit county. The railroads are: Texas and Pacific: Santa Fe; Weatherford, Mineral Wells and Northwestern ; Fort Worth and Rio Grande. Nearly a hundred schools, public and private, an excellent system of public roads, numerous industrial plants, and church and social advantages give the county much prestige as a home and business center. Weatherford has a population of five thousand, while other centers are Aledo, Lambert, Millsap, Peaster, Poolville, Rock Creek, Spring Town and Whitt.

WISE COUNTY adjoins Tarrant county on the northwest, has an area of 900 square miles, and a population in 1900 of 27,116. The "upper cross timbers" cover two-thirds of the county with wood growth, containing many varieties of trees. The surface of the county, with a general elevation of nearly two thousand feet above sea level, is undulating, with considerable areas broken and hilly. The underground water supply is abundant, accessible, of fine quality, and rain- fall is ample for all agricultural activities. The rich prairie soils in the eastern part are devoted to stock and grain farming, wheat and oats being a favorite crop, while the looser and more sandy

western portions are fit for diversified agricul- ture. Two lines of railroad, the Fort Worth and Denver City and the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf, diagonally cross the county from southwest to northwest, and besides the county seat at De- catur, which is a thriving city of about 2,500, there are the little towns of Bridgeport, Alvord, Chico, Boyd, Rhome, Paradise, Park Springs, and Newark, besides the inland villages and post- offices.

COOKE COUNTY, bordering on the Red river and due north of Fort Worth, is a noted agricul- tural and horticultural county, with a population according to the last census of 27,494. The gen- eral surface of the county is rolling prairies, the soil being adapted to a variety of crops, and is about equally divided between prairie and timber areas. Running streams furnish an abundance of water. The Missouri, Kansas and Texas and the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe are the two principal railroad lines, which cross at Gainesville, the county seat, a city of ten thousand, with various manufac- turing and business establishments, fine schools and churches, and all the municipal improve- ments. Beside the county seat there are some twenty post towns and villages in the county, the more important being Dexter, Marysville, Muen- ster, Rosston, Valley View, Era.

GRAYSON COUNTY, one of the northern tier of Texas counties, is in the very heart of the rich section known as the "river belt," because of it lying along Red river. Area, 968 square miles. Sherman, the county seat, is sixty-three miles north of Dallas. This county was formerly a part of Fannin county, but it became an inde- pendent county, and was formally organized as such. It took its name from the second attorney general of the Republic of Texas, Peter W. Grayson, while the county seat was named for Col. Sydney Sherman, who commanded the Second Regiment at the battle of San Jacinto. Population in 1900, 63,661. Less than one- fourth of the county is now timbered to any ex- tent whatever. The broad rolling prairies are just uneven enough in their elevations to afford magnificent drainage to the hundred or more creeks and brooks that follow the narrow valleys

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to Red river and its tributaries. These valleys are productive of all the oak, pecan, walnut, hickory, hackberry, elm, ash and bois d'arc trees. Of late years the shipment of walnut logs to Germany, the constantly increasing demand for bois d'arc for fencing posts, house blocks, mud sills, paving blocks, etc., and the great popularity of the pecan nut have made the people regretful of the lack of care taken of the young trees years ago and have created a vigilant care of those left, and a nurture of the saplings of the species equals that of any other product of the land and is a notable evidence of "diversification." Mineral and Choctaw creeks practically run all the year, but even at their worst the creeks which are "dry" at times still have in their beds many pools. The industrious farmer has long since ceased to rely for stock water on this source, however, and artificial ponds, or "tanks," are to be found on al- most every farm, and in addition thereto, many windmills lift pure well water for man and beast. Good water is obtainable at a very moderate depth. Fifteen miles northwest of the city, for twenty years a family of flowing wells have spouted an undiminished supply of excellent water, and in Sherman a half million gallons of splendid water is daily pumped into the water mains from three deep wells, in which, however, the water does not naturally rise nearer than sixty feet of the surface. About four-fifths of the area of the county is now under fence as farms and the rest is inclosed as pastures. The day of the range has passed in Grayson. The farms will average about sixty-five to seventy-five acres each. It is the pride of the county that the tax rolls show that most of these farms are owned by the men who till them. The problem of ten- antry is not such a disturbing one here. The prevailing soils are black waxy and dark gray sand, equally adapted to cotton, grain and forage crops. Along the river front and the draws and valleys following the smaller streams, and espe- cially in those sections where timber is most pro- lific, the soil is of a much lighter sand and only fairly productive, except of the tuber crops, im- mense yams, Irish potatoes and artichokes being produced. In this division strawberries, as well as all sorts of fruits, flourish best. Enterprising

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I, Part 51

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