USA > Texas > A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I > Part 54
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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.
Lubbock after making the latter town his place of residence. To some extent he has farmed and handled cattle, and he improved and sold ยท several nice residence properties in Crosby and Lubbock counties. One branch of his activity that has been of large value to the country in general has been his enthusiastic efforts in demonstrating the adaptability of the soil of this section of the state to the growth of fine fruits, vegetables, etc., both with and without the aid of irrigation. He has been a resident of Lubbock since 1890, the year the county was organized. Mr. George M. Hunt's wife, Lina (Taylor) Hunt, died at Lubbock in 1903.
Mr. I. L. Hunt commenced his active career in West Texas when a boy, beginning as a freighter, and later got into the cattle industry and worked as a cowboy and a "fence rider." He came to Lubbock about the time the town and county were organized, in 1890, and made this the seat of his activities until 1905. For nearly seven years he was in the mercantile business at Lubbock, and for about six years held the office of postmaster. While postmas- ter he had his store in connection. Later F. E. Wheelock came into the business as partner, under the name of Hunt and Wheelock, and the business was then enlarged and became the principal general store of the county. In 1901 they sold out to other parties and retired from the business. On May 1, 1902, the bank at Lubbock, with which Mr. Hunt had been connected since March, 1902, was nationalized as the First National Bank, and Mr. Hunt was its cashier until October, 1904. November I, 1905, the Canyon National Bank opened its doors for business with Mr. Hunt as cashier.
It might be mentioned in this connection, as a noteworthy fact in the history of this part of the state, that Lubbock county at the time of the present writing has the reputation of having the largest per capita wealth of any county in the state. Although the county is as yet thinly settled, its people are of a progressive and enterprising character and are very pros- perous and noted for their high financial integ- rity.
Mr. Hunt is a Royal Arch Mason, being a
member of Lubbock Chapter. He was married at Lubbock to Miss Etta Green, and they have three children, L. Earl, Carl and Glen.
WILLIAM C. BAIRD, rancher and public- spirited citizen of Canyon City, is, though not a native son by the narrow margin of three months, a typical Texas product in all other es- sentials and characteristics, and one of the most thoroughly practical and successful cattlemen, having experienced all the ups and downs, hardships and pleasures, of that fascinating pursuit, through all its departments, since he first climbed into the saddle and helped make his first round-up, something like a third of a century ago. Energetic, diligent, a shrewd manager and director of affairs, he has de- servedly prospered in his private business, and as a public-spirited citizen has accomplished much that pertains to the substantial growth and progress of his adopted town and county.
Born in Hickman county, Tennessee, Octo- ber 17, 1853, where his parents, S. M. and Sarah (Totty) Baird, were also natives, he was when a babe of three months taken to Texas, the fam- ily home being located in Cooke county. In that then new country his father developed a farm, and some years later moved to Grayson county, but finally located in the northeast cor- ner of Wise county, not far from his originai home in Cooke county, where he died in 1888, and his good wife has also passed away.
Farming pursuits were the principal theme of Mr. Baird's early life, but almost as early as he can remember he was also associated with the cat- tle industry. Reared for the most part in Cooke county, he there began to learn the cattle busi- ness, for which he showed a natural aptitude, and he was soon a full-fledged cowman. With his brother, Ed Baird, he secured employment as a cowboy with the well known cattle firm of Gunter and Munson. In the early eighties Ed Baird came up to the Panhandle with the Gunter and Munson outfit, and in 1884 William C. also came up and joined him. Gunter and Munson's ranch was the well known "T Anchor" ranch, which then embraced an immense tract in the central Panhandle, their headquarters
Wade. He Walked
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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.
being on Palo Duro creek near where Canyon City now stands, and the old log house at the headquarters is still standing at the head of the canyon. Mr. Baird has followed the trail all over this country, and, beginning at the bottom, he has advanced to his present position of pros- perity by his own energetic efforts and capable business management. In 1891 he quit working for others and with his brother Ed established the Baird ranch in Randall county ten miles west of Canyon City, which is one of the repre- sentative ranches of the county, and they raise and handle large numbers of cattle each year. In addition to the ranch Mr. William Baird him- self owns half a section on the creek adjoining the town of Canyon City, and this is his home- stead. He has been very successful since going into business on his own account, and is recog- nized as one of the substantial, reliable men of his county.
Mr. Baird took a prominent part in the or- ganization of Randall county, in July, 1889, and he was one of the first county commissioners. At the present time he is a school trustee, and has taken an active part in the erection of the fine twelve thousand dollar public school in Canyon City, and is one of the typical spirits who have made Randall county a model educa- tional center. He is a member of the Christian church.
Mr. Baird was married in Grayson county to Miss Nannie Baird, and they have three chil- dren, Avis, Clyde and Clara.
WADE HAMPTON WALKER, M. D. Since the building of railroads through the northern tier of Texas counties many centers have reached a place of first importance which twenty years ago had only a nominal existence. One of these is Wichita Falls, whose three rail- road lines give the town more facilities of trade and transportation than any other point west of Gainesville. A growing and live town, it is a good place for professional men to locate, and Dr. Walker has found here an excellent field for his work and during the past five years has been constantly growing in popularity as a physician and surgeon.
Dr. Walker was born near Lancaster, Ken- tucky, in Garrard county, December 1, 1876, a son of Daniel Bates and Tabbie (Burnside) Walker. His father a life-long farmer, and more than ordinarily successful in that pur- suit, now resides at Iowa Park, the flourishing village a few miles to the northwest of Wichita Falls. Dr. Walker was educated till twelve years of age in the schools of Garrard county, Kentucky, and then for four years, his parents having moved to Kirksville, a village near Rich- mond (Madison county) in the same state, he attended Elliott's Institute in that place. After pursuing a full course in Draughon's Practical Business College at Nashville, Tennessee, he returned to Kirksville as salesman and book- keeper for the firm of J. B. Walker and Brother, remaining with them three years. It was at the conclusion of that period, that he came to Texas for the purpose of visiting his uncle, Dr. S. H. Burnside, at Wichita Falls. Like many thou- sands of now contented and loyal Texans, he came here only to be conquered by the possi- bilities of the state and has remained here prac- tically ever since. He began the study of medicine with Drs. Burnside and Coons, and in the win- ter of 1897 entered the medical department of Fort Worth University, from which he was graduated in the spring of 1900 with the de- gree of M. D. After graduation he was ap- pointed and served one year as house surgeon in St. Joseph's Infirmary at Fort Worth, his superiors being the well known surgeons Ba- con Saunders and F. D. Thompson. Thus equipped, he returned to Wichita Falls and be- gan practice, being the junior member of the well known firm of Burnside and Walker. They are the chief surgeons for the Wichita Valley and Wichita Falls & Oklahoma rail- roads, and the local surgeons for the Fort Worth and Denver City. Besides, they are medical examiners for nearly thirty old line. and fraternal life insurance companies which of itself indicates the high professional stand- ing of the firm. Dr. Walker was the physician and surgeon for the company which constructed the irrigation dam near Wichita Falls in 1901, this being one of the enterprises which have
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brought great increase of productive wealth to this part of the country.
Dr. Walker has been a member of the Pres- byterian church since he was twelve years of age. He affiliates with Wichita Falls Lodge No. 635, A. F. & A. M .; also with the Wood- men of the World, the Modern Praetorians, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Knights of the Lone Star.
JOHN G. HARDIN, the well known and wealthy farmer and stockman, in Wichita county, residing at the little station which years ago re- ceived the name of Nesterville from the cattle- men, is a fine type of the North Texas men of enterprise. Even in a state whose greatest re- sources have always been considered to lie in the ability and heroism and sagacity of its citizens, Mr. Hardin is held to be an un- usual example of one who began with nothing and acquired great wealth in a legitimate and honorable manner simply from the profits in crops and cattle. Likewise does he deserve mention in this history as one of the earliest exponents of Northwest Texas, of its agricultural and live stock possibilities, and during the past twenty-five years he has been steadily on the rising road of prosperity in all things, not least in the esteem of his fellow citizens.
He was born in Tippah county, Mississippi, in 1854, a son of George W. and Eliza (Bills) Hardin. His father was born and reared in Tennessee, moved to Tippah county, Mississip- pi, but later in life returned to his native state and lived in Dyer county, in West Tennessee. He was a farmer by occupation. He followed his son John to Texas and located three sec- tions of land here, although he never had his residence in this state, and he died in Ten- lessee, where his wife is still living.
Mr. John G. Hardin spent his early years on the farm in Dyer county, where he had moved with the family at the age of three years. He lived there till he came out to this state. His first location in the Lone Star state was in Johnson county, and in the fall of 1879 he went into Wichita county and bought a
pre-emption of one hundred and twenty-four acres, which formed the foundation of his for- tune. He was a poor man then, young but aspiring, and his ambitions rapidly came to realization. He has never changed from his original location, thirteen miles northwest of Wichita Falls, where for several years he con- ducted a small store in addition to running his farm. The cowboys who did their trading there gave it the name of Nesterville, by which it is still known. Mr. Hardin's real estate hold- ings have increased until he now owns be- tween four and five thousand acres of land, and is among the wealthy farmers and stockmen in this section of the state.
Mr. Hardin has been identified with the pub- lic welfare of his county, and for several years served as county commissioner of Wichita county. He has given a large ranch to a young man, Oran L. Clark, whom he took to live with him and who is considered as one of the family. He has also been equally generous with his nephew, Egbert E. Hardin, and his niece, Miss Edna E. Hardin.
JAMES CHAMBERS SCOTT is a lawyer of fine ability and with a large practice at Fort Worth, where he has been an esteemed resi- dent for the past thirty years. He has con- fined his practice almost entirely to civil law, and his extensive clientage have come to rely absolutely on his judgment and counsel, which have been well approved during so many years of success. Mr. Scott became a citizen of Fort Worth when it was a small town in North Texas, and has been prominently identified with all its subsequent stages of growth and development.
His career from the time he left his good Mis- souri home has known many changing fortunes, and he had hardly reached the years of maturity when all the strength of his nature was put to test by the war of the rebellion, in which he bore the courageous part of one devoted to a cause in which he believed. Besides this period of the strenuous life vicissitudes were not unknown to him, but his broad and generous gifts of nature reinforced by his perseverance and steady indus- try soon after the war brought him to the bar,
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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.
and since then he has made a record of consistent progress to a rank as a foremost lawyer of the great Lone Star state.
He comes of a family of long and distin- guished ancestry, beginning with the years of colonial settlement in this country. He himself was born in Cooper county, Missouri, on May I, 1841, but it was fully a century and a quarter be- fore that date when the family first became Amer- ican. Among the paternal ancestry of his father were two brothers, residents of the south of Scot- land, who settled in America in 1720. One of these, the direct ancestor, located in Pennsylva- nia, and his grandson, Dr. William Barclay Scott -the grandfather of Mr. James C. Scott-mar- ried Miss Ruhamah Chambers, a daughter of Colonel James Chambers. This Colonel Cham- bers, who was accordingly a great-grandfather of Mr. Scott, was a very remarkable man. He was born in Pennsylvania, at Chambersburg, in 1742. During the French and Indian war he served in the English army as a lieutenant. In 1776, during the early months of the war for independence, he raised a company of one hundred and twenty-five men, armed and equipped them at his own ex- pense, and received a commission as captain in the continental army. On March 7, 1776, the con- tinental congress promoted him to lieutenant colo- nel. He rendered distinguished services through- out the entire war, and was actively engaged at the siege of Boston, in the battle of Long Island, at Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, Stony Point, White Plains, West Point and other con- flicts along the Hudson. He not only gave de- voted service to his country, but also gave largely of his private means, and on this account returned home after the winning of independence a poor man in purse, although rich in lasting esteem of his fellow men both then and of the future. He built the first Masonic temple at Chambersburg, and was the first master of the lodge there. Ben- jamin Chambers, the father of Colonel Chambers, and the youngest of four brothers who came from England to America in 1726, settled at Con- ococheague, Pennsylvania, and this branch of the family founded the town of Chambersburg. Ben- jamin Chambers was the son of James Chambers, who was born in 1650, was a major in the Eng-
lish army, and for distinguished service at the battle of the Boyne was granted an estate by King William.
The family history is now transferred from the Atlantic coast and the earlier times of the re- public to the great period of westward expansion, -during which the tide of American people flowed from the eastern side of the Alleghenies to the westward slope of the Rockies. In the vanguard of this great movement, and as one of the path- finders, was William Ludlow Scott, the father of our Fort Worth lawyer. He was born in Warren county, Pennsylvania, but was reared in Cincin- nati, Ohio. He emigrated to Missouri in 1819, two years before the territory was admitted to the Union through the great Compromise, and he was one of the first settlers in Cooper county. He was a farmer and overland trader. He made the second trip to the Rocky Mountains in 1821, be- fore Kit Carson's pioneer venture, so that he saw all that vast part of the Mississippi valley in its primeval wild state. He also made one of the earliest overland trips to California and the Pa- cific coast, and dug gold in California in 1833-34, fifteen years before the opening of the great El- dorado. He died in 1879. His wife was Eliza- beth (Rankin) Scott, who was born at Winches- ter, Virginia, of parents just arrived from Bel- fast, Ireland, and who died in 1854.
Mr. James Chambers Scott was reared in a very religious home, his father being a Presby- terian of the strict Scotch type, and when yet a boy he became an earnest believer and communi- cant of the Presbyterian denomination, and has ever since remained such. He received his early education in the country schools of Cooper coun- ty, and prepared himself for the profession of civil engineer at the Engineering College at Boonville, Missouri. The breaking out of the Civil war materially changed his plans of life and hurried him, while yet almost a boy, from the pursuits of peace into martial surroundings and hardships. Nowhere were the horrors of civil strife more apparent than in the old Compromise state, where friends and neighbors and even mem- bers of the same family were engaged in interne- cine struggle, and the entire state was under mar- tial rule almost from the beginning of the war.
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Mr. Scott was among the first to enlist in the Confederate cause, and fought in the battle at Boonville, his home town, in May, 1861. He then went back to his father's farm and after helping through harvest again enlisted, in Staples' Inde- pendent Battalion, reaching the main army just after the battle of Wilson Creek. There the bat- talion became a part of the Second Missouri Cav- alry, commanded by Colonel Charles B. Alex- ander. Mr. Scott participated in the battles of Big Dry Wood, Pattonsville, Warrensburg and Lexington. He was made a sergeant in command of a squad of sharpshooters, and for brave and intrepid service in that capacity was recommend- ed by his commanding officer for promotion to a lieutenancy. He was captured, however, at the battle of Blackwater December 19, 1861, and on account of cruelties imposed upon him in captiv- ity became disabled and could no longer serve as a soldier. While prisoner he was taken to St. Louis and later to a point in Illinois, and at both places he and his fellow prisoners were al- most starved, in addition to other torments, and it was five months before he was released. His army life was one of peril and hardship, and the warfare in Missouri was noted for its bitterness and personal hatred, which prompted the partici- pants to fiercer enmity in their struggles than those led to war by the more usual motives of patriotism and devotion to duty.
About the close of the war Mr. Scott went out to Colorado, where he taught school, worked in the mines and studied law. In 1873 he came to Jefferson, Texas, where he was soon admitted to the Texas bar. He practiced at that place until 1874, when he came to the then town of Fort Worth, believing this to be a town of wonderful future promise and growth. He has lived here ever since, engaged successfully in the practice of law, and has become the best known lawyer engaged in the civil branch of his profession in this part of the state. He was city attorney dur- ing 1875-76. He is very devoted to his work, and has always conscientiously striven to keep his practice on a very high plane in addition to gain- ing a profitable patronage.
He is vice president of the Old Settlers' Asso- ciation, and is a member of the R. E. Lee Camp,
U. C. V., and of the First Presbyterian church, and also affiliated with the Masonic fraternity. One of his daughters, Laura, is the wife of Ben- jamin Houston, of Fort Worth, while the other two, Misses Ella and Sadie, live at home.
ROWLAND C. BURNS, cattleman, county commissioner and one of the foremost citizens of Lubbock county, is a sure-enough old-timer in this plains country, for he has been all over it, has worked for others and for himself in the cattle industry in West Texas, and in countless ways has been closely identified with this section of the state for the past thirty years, having been of the advance guard of civilization which pushed out and mingled with the departing hosts of the red men and the wild buffaloes.
Mr. Burns was born in Nodaway county, Mis- souri, in 1857, a son of Rev. Caleb S. and Je- rusha (Byers) Burns. His father, a native of Andrew county, Missouri, was a minister of the Christian church, but also throughout his active career owned and operated a farm, on which he brought up his children. After living in Noda- way county for some time, he moved in 1861 to Collin county, Texas, and in 1868 to Grayson county, where he died in 1888. His wife was a native of Missouri and died in Grayson county in 1883.
Reared to farming pursuits in Collin and Gray- son counties, which were the scenes of his child- hood days, Mr. Burns, at the age of fifteen, left home, and has ever since been in the cattle busi- ness in West Texas. For a long time he fol- lowed the life of a cowboy on the plains. He came out of the Staked Plains of Texas in 1881, at a time when none of the plains counties were organized-Crosby, the first one, being organized in 1886. In 1883 he took charge as manager of the Llano Cattle Company's ranch in Crosby county, and in 1884 he was made manager of the Nave-McCord Cattle Company's ranch in Garza county, a position which he held to the satisfac- tion of all concerned for about four years. In the fall of 1888 he became manager of the Iowa ranch in Lubbock county, owned by the Western Land and Live Stock Company, and was with that outfit for seven years. Since then he has been in
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the cattle business for himself, in Lubbock county. His ranch, located east of Lubbock, consists of 3,544 acres, between five and six sections, his headquarters being seven miles east of Lubbock. He has a nicely improved place, and raises strictly high-class registered Hereford cattle.
Mr. Burns is an exponent of scientific farming as applied to West Texas, which for so many years was considered totally unfit for such opera- tions. His success, however, is proof positive that many farm crops can be raised in this country without irrigation. He has farmed for twelve years on his place and has never yet had a failure.
For more than eight years Mr. Burns has ren- dered valuable services to his county by serving as county commissioner. He takes an enter- prising citizen's interest in helping to build up and develop the town and county of Lubbock, and assists in all plans for promoting their growth, and is one of the county's substantial citizens.
He was married in Coryell county to Miss Emma Boles, a native of Illinois and a sister of George Boles, who is now one of the representa- tive stockmen of Lubbock county. Mr. and Mrs. Burns have three children. The oldest, Garza Burns, was the first child born in Garza county. the other children are Maud and George.
Mr. Burns enjoys the distinction of having killed the last wild buffalo on the plains, so far as can be ascertained. This occurred in Gaines county in. 1885. While out after cattle, with some boys from the ranch, he ran across a herd of nine buffaloes. They succeeded in cutting out one from the bunch, and Mr. Burns shot it, the others escaping. So far as was ever heard, no other buffaloes were subsequently killed on the Texas plains.
RICHARD C. FREEMAN. The month of September, 1857, marks the advent to Montague county of a family whose head became one of the conspicuous figures in its industrial development, one of the patriarchs among the pioneers and whose posterity have widened and extended the circle of usefulness which his personality estab- lished. This man was William Freeman, the father of the subject of this review. He came hither from Dallas county, Texas, with his little
family and other relatives in search of a wider field of opportunity for the conduct of the cattle industry which he was ambitious to found. On Denton creek, near the southeast corner of the county, he chose his future home, and from this point much prosperity and also much adversity was crowded into his after life.
William Freeman was born in Wayne county, Indiana, October 27, 1834, a son of Joshua and Mary. (Warwick) Freeman and a grandson of Nathan Freeman. The birthplaces of both his father and his grandfather are unknown, but the latter had two children, Joshua and Betsy. Joshua Freeman passed away in Missouri, whither the family migrated from their Indiana home, and about 1846 it came on to Texas and established itself at Basin Springs, Grayson county. William Freeman was the oldest of the children of Joshua and Mary Freeman and then followed Richard, Nathan, Mary J. and Sarah E., widow of Moses Johnson, of Bowie, Texas. After the death of Joshua Freeman his widow married David Vance and they lived together a few years without issue. Mr. Vance died in the Chickasaw Nation and on the 24th of July, 1864, his widow passed away at her home at Newharp, where she had settled seven years before.
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