A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I, Part 55

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

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July 31, 1855, William Freeman married Emily J. Grimes, who died in 1883, and in 1894 her hus- band followed and both are buried in the family plot near where they reared their family and where their useful lives were spent. Their chil- dren were: Richard C., our subject; William Robert, a leading citizen of Newharp community ; Mollie, deceased wife of Buck Lovelace; Frank, a farmer of the Freeman valley ; T. Madison, s11C- cessful among the farmers of Denton creek; Thomas L., whose record is that of a successful business man and farmer of the favorite neigh- borhood, and Alice, wife of William Reeves.

His frontier environment in early life caused William Freeman to grow up without an educa- tion. He was barely able to write his name as he passed through life, yet he successfully conducted a business running up into the thousands of dol- lars annually for more than a quarter of a cen- tury, contesting every point of the journey with all comers and bringing himself out on the "profit

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

side" of the ledger every time. He embarked in Master after the fashion of the "good old times of the stock business with about as little bluster long ago." as a man without capital could reasonably make Richard C. Freeman, our subject, was born in Dallas county, Texas, August 29, 1856, and was thirteen months old when his parents brought him to Montague county. His earliest home was in a rude log hut just back of where the store at Newharp now stands and about its portals his boyish years were passed. There was no such in- stitution as a public school and only as a self- proclaimed teacher would come into the com- munity and gather up a few scholars for a few months was there any semblance to a school. Any sort of a building that was unused served as a schoolhouse, and reading, writing and a little figuring constituted the sum total of an edu- cation among the pioneers. and in time he could count as his own two cows to Dan Waggoner's one. His herds were market- ed in Kansas and elsewhere, as was the custom in the early time, and he was numbered, in the early eighties, among the wealthy men of his county. As the range began to contract by reason of the encroachment of settlers he saw the doom of his business approaching and he decided to close out his stock and engage in farming. He sold his herd to William McDonald, receiving two thousand of the fifteen thousand purchase price, and, having already disposed of the stock, the balance of thirteen thousand McDonald neg- lected and refused to pay.

The financial loss incident to his sale of cattle was an embarrassment which Mr. Freeman never fully recovered from. He accumulated consider- able real estate on the creek and made some mon- ey at farming, but his working capital had been stolen from him and it served somewhat as a brake upon what might otherwise have been a brilliant industrial career. He had suffered pre- vious losses by having his horses driven off by the Indians, but he knew the treachery of the Indian and took such losses as a matter of course, but the perfidy of the white man was a revelation to him and the beginning of a new era of things where common honesty was at stake. The business in hand alone claimed his time and attention. He had no ambition beyond success in his ventures and eschewed politics entirely. He was a man of strong determination and when he felt a certain thing ought to be done, wherein he was interested, it was done. When he learned that his little son whom the Indians had carried away was still alive he decided to stake his life on the rescue of his child, and his efforts were successful. He had many encounters with the red man and on one occasion the artery of his left arm was severed by an arrow and rendered him somewhat of a crip- ple for life. He served in the Confederate army during the war and did what he could toward maintaining the supremacy of the southern cause. He was a believer in Holy Writ and served the

When he learned to ride a pony young Rich- ard was placed with the cattle to watch the herd. He became an expert with a horse and was as reliable and useful as a man in caring for his fa- ther's interests. In 1867, in company with John Bailey, an orphan boy a little older than him- self, whom the family was bringing up, they were holding the cattle on a small opening in the timber just east of their home when a bunch of six Indians cut them off, gagged the boys, tied them on behind two Comanches and carried them off, passing within sight of their home. The finding of a saddle by the family convinced them that the boys had been murdered and they were given up as dead. After nearly a year some citizens of Montague county happened into the vicinity of the Comanche camp up in the Ter- ritory and discovered and recognized young Bai- ley and bought him from his captors and brought him home. His entrance to the Freeman home was the sudden announcement to the family that he and "Dick" were yet alive. Against the pleadings of his wife and many of his friends the father decided to recover his boy and arming himself heavily, mounting his finest horse and taking a neighbor of known bravery with him, he rode to the Indian camp on the head of the Washita river and found the boy. To all ap- pearance he was an Indian. Painted face, brace- lets on and with rings in his ears and master

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

of the Comanche tongue, yet Dick recognized his father on sight and was anxious to go with him. The tribesmen had formed such an attach- ment for the boy that they were at first unwilling to give him up but they were finally persuaded to part with him for the fine horse and all the money the father carried with him ($500), and with the demonstrated threat that if they ever caught him out in after years they would kill and scalp him (the father), passing their knives about his head in illustration of the manner of his possible future death. There was not only joy in the Freeman household when Dick re- turned, but for weeks the neighbors and people from afar came in to see the lost boy and to hear his Comanche tongue and see his Indian pranks and antics. Suddenly he became con- scious of the great wrong that had been done him by the tribe and he threw off all their habits and dropped the language itself and discouraged any attempt to draw him out on the subject of his captivity.

In the conduct of his father's extensive cattle business Richard Freeman was a prominent fac- tor. He accompanied the herds to market often and on one occasion he drove a bunch to Vicks- burg, Mississippi, where it was sold to meat deal- ers of the south. When he married he set up for himself on his father's place and the prosperity which came to him for years was gradual and permanent. He maintained his residence in the valley until 1901, when he bought a site on Nel- son mountain and erected a commodious and at- tractive residence on its point, above the sur- rounding community and an ideal place for a southern home. He owns five hundred acres in the valley of Denton creek, one of the finest tracts of land anywhere, practically all under cultiva- tion, and its operation is producing him substan- trial results. He owns the stores-two of them- at Newharp, and under the management of his oldest son the mercantile interests of "Harptown" have come to be considerable and important.

James F., Newharp's merchant and a young man of energy and integrity; Maggie, deceased wife of William Wheeler; Myrtle, wife of Archibald Cox, of Newharp, with a child, Effel; Miss Jes- sie, yet with the paternal home, and Durlin. December 19, 1890, Mr. Freeman married Miss Ruth Bryan, a daughter of Fad Bryan and a niece of Sheriff Bryan of Montague county. Mrs. Freeman was born in the town of Mon- tague in 1879 and is the mother of: Barney, Arthur, David and Flint.

' Richard C. Freeman has manifested little more interest in politics than did his worthy father, devoting himself strictly to his private business. He is regarded among the successful and influ- ential citizens of his favorite valley and when any reference is made to the men who do things about Uz or Newharp the knowing and familiar ones say without hesitation "Dick Freeman is the man." He is an Odd Fellow, a Woodman and a Democrat.

CURTIS WILLIAM KELSAY. The dis- tinction of being a pioneer Texan belongs to the subject of this review, for it was in 1853 that his lot was cast with the state and his time since has been divided between the counties of Denton and Wise almost equally year for year. Save for the period of the Civil war he has passed a life void of exciting events, and first the store and then the farm have provided a field for his efforts during the forty years of his business life. A quarter of a century has passed since he pur- chased his home on the Marshall University sur- vey on the Decatur and Bridgeport road and he has been busied with its cultivation and im- provement ever since.

In Tippencanoe county, Indiana, in the city of Lafayette, Curtis W. Kelsay was born March 4, 1838. The family had made its way westward from Milton county, New York, by separate stages, it having left the Empire state proba- bly during the first quarter of the nineteenth century in charge of Thomas Kelsay, grand- father of the subject of this sketch. Its first stop was made in Ohio, where its founder died and where his few children grew up. He mar-

Mr. Freeman was married in the month of November, 1875, to Miss Curley Valentine, a daughter of William Valentine, who came to Texas in an early day from Missouri. January I, 1889, Mrs. Freeman passed away leaving ried a Miss Brown and their issue were: Maria

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Burns ; William R., our subject's father ; Nancy Wilson; and David A., who died at Linden, Crawford county, Indiana ; there were six daugh- ters in all.

William R. Kelsay was born in Milton county, New York, in 1810, fought the Indians during the Black Hawk war and learned the brick and stone mason trades, as well as shoemaking, when young in years. For many years he followed the former in summer and the latter in winter, but he turned his attention to farming after reaching the Lone Star state. About 1836 he moved out to LaFayette, Indiana, and, in 1840, he went south to Cape Girardeau county, Mis- souri, and passed thirteen years of his life, com- ing then to Texas and entering a tract of land near Roanoke, upon which he died in 1867.

Having been reared in the north and being conversant with conditions there and the abund- ant resources at its command, he opposed seces- sion, when the war issue came on, and predicted the outcome of the struggle just as it terminated after four years of sacrifice of life and property. Notwithstanding his position he held the friend- ship of the great body of his neighbors and made no objection to two of his sons joining the Con- federate army.

When the Kelsays settled in New York is a matter of conjecture, but it is felt that old Eng- land furnished America with the founder of the family. In LaFayette, Indiana, William R. Kel- say married Eliza Smith, a daughter of Jacob Smith, from the state of Ohio. Mrs. Kelsay died in Fort Worth, Tarrant county, Texas, in 1900, at eighty-one years, the mother of Curtis W., our subject ; Quitera, wife of William Bur- nett, of Tarrant county ; Bruce, of Jack county ; Margaret, wife of Dr. McCoy, of Fort Worth, and Walter, of Tucumcari, New Mexico.

The trip to Texas by wagon in company with several families, the sparsely settled prairie of Denton county and the new and untamed condi- tion of the landscape all about are well remem- bered by Curtis W. Kelsay as a boy of fifteen. The first settlers of the county had come there only ten years before and it was less than a day's drive to the haunts of the buffalo and the wig- wam of the red man. With his parents he made

his home until after the war, in fact called it home till his marriage three years after its close. He joined Captain McKitrick's company and the Seventeenth Texas Cavalry in 1862, and his regi- ment under Col. Darnell became a part of the western army in the Trans-Mississippi Depart- ment. His duties were largely in the transporta- tion department and Mr. Kelsay was thus pre- vented from taking part actively in the engage- ments of his command. He had charge of Col. Taylor's headquarters during the battle of Mans- field where the General was killed, and when the battle was imminent asked the commander whether he should go to the front with a gun or stay with headquarters, and the General re- quested him to remain behind. The Seventeenth had returned to Texas when spring opened in 1865 and was at Richmond when the breakup. finally came.

Among the first acts of his career as a civilian after the war was to help drive a herd of cattle to Centralia, Illinois, for Major Walden. Re- turning, he farmed one year and then took a position as a clerk in old Elizabethtown and was so connected for five years. In 1868, he married and moved to a small farm in Denton county and for twelve years applied himself to. the task of acquiring property through the agri- cultural route. For two years subsequent to his. advent to Wise county he rented land, when the quarter section which he has made into a com- fortable and productive home was purchased and has since served him as rampart and castle ..

Mr. Kelsay's first marriage occurred Septem- ber 28, 1868, and his wife was Anna, a daughter of Dr. J. T. Barkwell, known by the early set- tlers of Tarrant and Denton counties. Dr. Bark- well was born in Tennessee but en route to Texas. stopped in Sevier county, Arkansas, where his. daughter, Anna, was born in 1849. Mrs. Kelsay passed away near Bridgeport in 1894, the mother of Myrtle, wife of William Thompson, of Wise county ; Albert, of Fort Worth; Mary, wife of Lon Phillips, of Wise county; Edith, who mar- ried Walter Arlege, of Wise county; Guy, of Ninniekah, Indian Territory; Walter and Effie, at the parental home. In the month of October, 1900, Mr. Kelsay married Mrs. Emma Hill,.

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widow of Newton Hill and a daughter of J. P. and Nacy (Strait) Free. Mr. Free came to Texas from St. Clair county, Illinois, in 1876 and died in Jones county in 1890, his wife having passed away in 1872. Of their ten children those surviving are: Mary C., wife of A. L. Bell, of Manor, Texas; Marjorie, widow of W. A. Man- ville, of Manor ; Mrs. A. L. Beakmier, of Wichi- ta, Kansas; Mrs. Kelsay, born in Washington, Illinois, April 6, 1850, and John P., of Austin, Texas. W. W. Hill, of Krum, Texas, is Mrs. Kelsay's only child.

While the earlier members of the Kelsay fami- ly were lined up with the Whig party, the events of the war made Democrats of the Texas branch and to this party our subject has given the sup- port of his vote. He believes in the teachings of the Good Book and holds a membership in the Christian church. .

TOM HOBEN, a prominent and well known cattleman of the Broadus ranch, was born in New York City, June 7, 1863, his parents being Michael and Hannah (Griffin) Hoben, both of whom were natives of Ireland, in which coun- try they were married. Crossing the Atlantic, they took up their abode in New York City, where the husband and father died, while later Mrs. Hoben removed to Lawrence, Massachusetts, and three years afterward to Chicago, Illinois, where she spent six years. On the expiration of that period she came to Texas and here gave her hand in marriage to William Broadus, who was living near Nocona. For some time after their mar- riage they resided in Gainesville and Tom Hoben spent the winter months as a student in the high school, while the summer seasons were passed upon the farm belonging to his step- father. The firm of Jordan & Broadus had need of trustworthy employes and Mr. Hoben made arrangements to serve them at fifty dollars per month.' He was given charge of an outfit and as his savings accumulated he invested in cattle with the intention of starting in business on his own account, but the dissolution of the firm of Jor- dan & Broadus gave him still better business opportunities, for he was given a half interest in his step-father's business, in which he has since

continued. Success has followed the partnership and the firm has handled large numbers of cat- tle annually. Since 1893 they have engaged in raising Hereford cattle with good results, hav- ing many head of registered stock, including some very fine specimens. Mr. Hoben regards Herefords as the most valuable ranch stock and he is an excellent judge of cattle, having been identified with the industry from early days, so that he is thoroughly familiar with the work. Few men are better informed concerning the cattle trade and its possibilities and he deserves much credit for what he has accomplished, for he began to earn his own living when a boy of ten years at a time when there was a free range. He and other cowboys upon the plains spent many pleasant hours together, although there were hardships, trials and privations to be borne. He had charge of the ranch and all of the business connected therewith long before the death of his step-father and since that time he has 'had full control and is regarded as a most successful farmer. He has some farms for feed- ing purposes only, but when he came to the ranch there was little farming done in the community. Most people believed that the season was too long, hot and dry for the profitable production of cereals or crops of any kind. The firm of Jordan & Broadus, however, held other opinions. Their ranch at one time comprised twenty-two thousand acres, but the company sold out twenty- five farms embracing twelve thousand acres. Most all of the purchasers were people of small means and eventually the payments have been made and many have added to their lands, so that the district has become settled up by a prosperous and contented people, while the value of Texas soil for crop production has long since been dem- onstrated. They raise wheat and oats and some- times short cotton. Mr. Hoben has seen the country developed from the wild and unimproved open prairie to a fine farming district in which the great majority of settlers are meeting with success in their undertakings.

Mr. Hoben has a sister, Molly, now the wife of A. A. Thompson at Corpus Christi engaged in the cattle business. He was born in Alabama and came to Texas about 1880. He belonged

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to an honored old southern family and, following his removal to the Lone Star state, became a leading representative of the cattle industry here.

Mr. Hoben was married in 1899 to Miss Maria Salmon, who was born in Gainesville in 1880, and is a daughter of Dr. G. W. Salmon, who was born in Texas and was a prominent physician of Gainesville. He had a wide and favorable acquaintance, being esteemed by all who knew him, so that his death was the occasion of uni- form regret when he passed away in 1892. His wife, who yet survives, bore the maiden name of Mattie Walker, but little is known concerning her ancestral history save that her parents were from Memphis, Tennessee. Mrs. Hoben was an only child and has no children by her marriage to Mr. Hoben.

It will be interesting in this connection to note something of the history of WILLIAM BROADUS, who was born in Fayette county, Indiana, Feb- ruary 18, 1828, and was reared upon his father's farm, where he was trained to habits of thritt and industry. He afterward spent several years in learning the trade of a harness and saddlery maker. His father, Robert L. Broadus, repre- sented one of the old and prominent families of Virginia and was born in Caroline county, that state, in the year 1794. He was a carpenter and builder by trade and located first in Fay- ette county, Indiana, in 1821. There he took up the business of farming, purchasing a tract of land which at that time was in the midst of the wilderness. He made a creditable military record during the war of 1812 and his life as a soldier was afterward a matter of special pride to him. He was drafted for service, but his mother hired a substitute for him. This arrange- ment did not suit him, however, and he ran away from home and enlisted, serving with honor until the close of the war. Attracted by the dis- covery of gold in California in 1850 he started for St. Joseph, Missouri, where he intended to outfit for the Pacific coast. Two Indiana friends accompanied him and they bought a team which they afterward sold. Mr. Broadus then hired

to a company of freighters, the firm of McPike & Strouthers, and eventually reached Salt Lake and the Utah desert. Here the teams gave out and an attempt was made to cross the desert on foot, a very hazardous and difficult undertaking. Mr. Broadus took the lead and the trip was at- tended with great difficulty. Eventually, however, their eyes were gladdened by the sight of the green valleys of California and Mr. Broadus worked in the placer mines for about three years, during which time he saved three thousand dollars. He then returned by way of Central America and the following winter fed cattle in Illinois. He then purchased a farm and was meeting with very desirable success in his undertakings when chol- era destroyed all his hogs and his losses were very heavy. He afterward made his way west- ward to Kansas and to Colorado and in 186g entered the employ of some contractors supply- ing and distributing beef to the Indians at Fort Sill in the Indian Territory. Afterward Mr. Broadus engaged in contracting on his own ac- count and later associated himself with a com- pany working at Fort Sill. He formed a part- nership with D. C. Jordan and together they bought and delivered cattle, making a profit of seventeen thousand dollars during the six months. they held the contract. Four of their employes. were killed by the Kiowa Indians during this. time.

In the spring of 1872 the firm of Jordan & Broadus came to Montague county, Texas, and established a ranch which they began operating with twelve hundred head of cattle. The range was free but soon changes occurred and it be- came essential to own private pastures. In 1881 they began to buy land and shortly afterward controlled twenty-two thousand acres purchased for a dollar and a half per acre. Eventually they sold twelve thousand acres at six dollars per acre and in 1891 the partnership was dissolved by mu- tual consent after a business relationship of twen- ty-two years. The Broadus ranch now contains forty-five hundred acres three miles north of Nocona. The lands and cattle and all personal property were divided at the dissolution of the

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partnership and since that time Mr. Broadus' step-son, Tom Hoben, has had charge of af- fairs.

Mr. Broadus was married in June, 1873, to Mrs. Hannah Hoben, a native of Ireland, and they had one child, but it died in early life. By her former marriage Mrs. Hoben had two chil- dren, Thomas and Mary, the latter the wife of A. A. Thompson of Corpus Christi. Mr. Broad- us departed this life December 20, 1895. He had a wide acquaintance in Texas and was widely and favorably known not only because of his splendid success, but also because of his benevo- lent and charitable spirit, which enabled him to extend a helping hand to many who needed as- sistance. His home was always open to rich and poor alike and no one ever sought his aid in vain. In early days when settlements were few and there were no hotels in this part of the country every new comer to the district enjoyed the hospitality of the Broadus home. Mrs. Broadus still presides at the homestead and is always equal to any emergency that might be made upon her household possibilities and equip- ment. Perhaps there are no two men who de- serve greater credit for opening up this part of the state and proving its value as an agricultural as well as a stock-raising section than Mr. Broad- us and Mr. Hoben and the history of the coun- ty would therefore be incomplete without men- tion of them.

HON. SIL STARK is well known as a man of high attainments and practical ability as a lawyer, and as one who has achieved success in his profession. His prestige at the bar of Jack . county stands in evidence of his ability and like- wise serves as a voucher for intrinsic worth of character. Many important changes have oc- curred in this vicinity since he took up his abode therein, and his reminiscences of the early days here are most interesting and entertaining to a listener. His birth occurred in Vigo county, near Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1849, his parents being John and Ann (Welch) Stark. The father was a native Kentuckian, but removed to Indiana about 1830, at a time when the Indians still inhab- ited that state, and took up his abode in Vigo

county, where he was long a pioneer and suc- cessful agriculturist, being also a brick mason by trade. His death occurred at his home in that county about 1871, but his widow survived until 1892, when she joined him in the home beyond. She was a native of Indiana.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I, Part 55

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