A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I, Part 58

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 58

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

John L. Cunningham came to this state with his parents in 1868, when a lad of ten years and lived in Cherokee county until 1873. He had acquired a good education under the instruction of Professor Patton in Jacksonville and in the academy at Lebanon, Tennessee, making a specialty of the study of mathematics, intend- ing to make surveying his life work. He did not advance as far in this science, however, as his brother Daniel L. Cunningham, who be- came a civil engineer. In 1873 John Cunning- ham and his brother Daniel came to Western Texas in connection with the right-of-way and engineering departments of the Texas and Pa- cific Railway Company, which was then making plans for the construction of its road through Texas west to El Paso. Daniel Cunningham was an engineer under chief engineer O'Neal of the Texas and Pacific Railroad Company and the brothers went with a surveying party as far west as the plains, stopping for some time in Palo Pinto county. Subsequently John Cun- ningham returned to Jacksonville but his brother remained in Palo Pinto county and in fact made his home practically in the county after 1873, the only exception being the time when he returned to Cherokee county and lo- cated the line of the railroad from Rusk to Jack- sonville. He then returned to Palo Pinto coun- ty and in 1875 was appointed surveyor of the Palo Pinto land district, comprising a large sec- tion of the state, including Palo Pinto and Young counties and extending west for a tier of two counties all the way to the New Mexico

line. In 1876 he was elected to the same posi- tion to which he had been appointed in 1875.

John L. Cunningham returned to Palo Pinto in 1880 and with his brother established the firm of Cunningham Brothers, real estate and land agents. They prospered in this undertak- ing, obtaining the confidence of the people of the county to such an extent that they were called upon to do a banking business, receiving the deposits of the people and handling their financial affairs. Although they had not or- ganized at that time a regular bank, this busi- ness became so important and extensive that in 1889 they established a banking business under the firm style of Cunningham Brothers, bank- ers and real estate dealers. Daniel Cunning- ham died November 7, 1894, but there has been no change made in the firm name, which since 1897 has been the banking house of Cun- ningham Brothers; the real estate department was discontinued in that year. This is the old- est bank in the county and is a highly prosper- ous one. Mr. Cunningham is very popular among the cattlemen, ranchers and farmers throughout the county. He makes himself one with them, having the old-fashioned liberality and hospitality, and when they enter his bank they always feel at home. The business inter- ests of the brothers were not divided at the time of Daniel Cunningham's death and Mr. Cunning- ham of this review is in connection with the estate of seven thousand acres of good land ad- joining Palo Pinto on the east and north. He also owns individually a farm of eight hun- dred acres on the Brazos river, also an excep- tionally fine farm of twelve hundred acres ad- joining the town of Gordon in the southern part of the county. As the years have passed he has become a wealthy man and he now owns an interest in the cotton gin at Palo Pinto and in other enterprises here.

Mr. Cunningham was married in Stephens county, Texas, to Miss Henrietta Evans, a na- tive of Canada, and they have three children : Grace Helen; Littleton E .; and David Wynn. Mr. Cunningham is prominent in Masonry, be- longing to the lodge and chapter. He is also a Woodman and he belongs to the Presbyterian

348

HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

church, in which he is serving as elder. The cause of education also finds in him a warm friend and he was at one time school trustee. Mr. Cunningham is a man of energy and ac- tivity. He has been tried by his fellow citizens and they know his worth. He has become a man of broad, general information, and of liber- al and progressive views, and in his life he has made an untarnished record and unspotted reputation as a business man.

JOHN F. ORDENER. The settlement at Windthorst is locally a notable one, and on the borders of both Clay and Archer counties are many substantial and worthy representatives of the sturdy German stock of which the colony is made up. Some forty-six families are num- bered among the flock, and their schools and their church are the intellectual and moral safe- guards of their rising generations. Among those whose influence counts much and whose right to be counted a native Texan can not be questioned is John F. Ordener, the subject of this biographical notice.

John F. Ordener was born in Austin county, Texas, in the month of January, 1856, and grew up there and at Frelsburg, in Colorado county, Texas. His father, John Ordener, first saw Texas in 1846, but after a brief sojourn re- turned to Louisiana, where he followed his trade as a tailor for three years longer before he be- came a Texan in fact. He then settled at Chap- pel Hill, where he engaged in farming a short time, and then located on the old trail from Nacogdoches to San Antonio at a crossroad, and engaged in the liquor business. As this road was often traveled by the leading men of Texas on their mission to and fro, Mr. Ordener made their acquaintance as they stopped to take a cooling or a warming glass, as the weather conditions dictated, and Sam Houston and many other noted citizens of the Lone Star state became personally known to him. He re- mained in this locality and prospered in busi- ness till the year 1861, when he removed to Frelsburg, in Colorado county, where he has since made his home.

The name of Ordener is of French origin and

John Ordener was born at Metz, France, Au- gust 28, 1819. He served under King Louis Phillip in the French armies, and on leaving his native land came to the United States and made his home for about three years in Louisiana. While plying his trade in New Orleans he made a uniform for General Scott, who was then on his way to Mexico to begin the cam- paign that resulted in the capture of the Mexi- can capital and the end of an international war. It was in the spring of 1849 that he cast his lot permanently with Texas, and when he moved to Frelsburg he joined the first Catholic settle- ment and the second German settlement in the state.

John Ordener had two brothers in Texas, Frank and Peter, who resided in Austin county and left families to perpetuate the name. When the Civil war was in progress he served three years in the Confederate army, being in the Reserves for the most part, and served ex- clusively in the state, General Webb being his division commander.

For his wife John Ordener chose Frederica Shultz, a daughter of a Texas pioneer from Mecklenburg, Germany, and a settler in Grimes county. Upon the latter's death near Anderson his widow removed to Travis, Texas, where she died in 1860. Frederica Ordener was born in Mecklenburg in 1832, still survives and is her husband's companion in Frelsburg and the mother of Kate, wife of Martin Sweet, of Yoak- um, Texas; John F., our subject ; Margaret, of New Ulm, Texas, married H. A. Henkhaus, and Mary, wife of Fritz Kollmann, of Frelsburg, Texas. Two adopted children were also brought up by this venerable couple, viz: Charles Or- dener, of Sweet Home, Texas, with parentage unknown, and Emily Ordener, who remains with her foster parents to bless their declining years.

John F. Ordener secured his education chief- ly in St. Joseph's Institute in Frelsburg, and his father's home was his own until his thirty- second year. He married January 31, 1888, Wilhelmina Schneider, whose father, Bern- hard Schneider, settled in Colorado county, Texas, in 1839, and was a farmer and freighter

349

HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

there in the early days. He married Annie Eg- genmeyer, who is yet a resident of Frelsburg and the mother of Wilhelmina, born June 19, 1865, and Henry, of Windthorst, Texas. Mr. Schneider died in 1869 at about fifty-two years old, and in time his widow became the wife of Henry Bugeler, whose uncle, Philip Bugeler, was in the battle of San Jacinto. By this mar- riage the children are : Philip, of Edgar, Texas : Mary, of Ballinger, Texas; Louise, of Frels- burg, Texas ; Jane, wife of Fritz Wilde, of Fay- etteville, Texas; Julius, of Rockdale, Texas; Louisa and Matilda, of Frelsburg, and Kate, wife of Henry Gerngross, of Ballinger, Texas.

When our subject was first married he lived in Frelsburg and was engaged in the grocery and saloon business. In February, 1893, he moved to Archer county and joined the German colony about Windthorst, where he purchased one hundred and eighty acres of raw and unim- proved land. Of this he has made a farm and a good home, growing grain and cattle, and some cotton, and he is numbered among the substan- tial small farmers of his community.

The issue of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Ordener are: John Leo, born November 15, 1888; Albert Henry, Born July 12, 1891; Felix, born July 20, 1894; Celia, born March 17, 1896, and Eleanor, born April 22, 1900.

Mr. Ordener's experience in Texas and with Texas people has had to do largely with the his- toric section and with the pioneer settlers of the commonwealth. He knew the first German woman to settle on Texas soil. She was Mrs. 'Stoer, who came to the then Mexican territory of Texas in 1827 and acquired a league of land in the Austin Grant. She was as poor as pov- erty and she traded a half interest in her do- minions for a cow and calf and, sheltered by the rudest cabin, she began farming her half, called by her "Industry." The ranchman who traded for the land called his settlement "Indo- lence," and in time the Indians entered these settlements and killed both the cow and the calf at "Industry" and the prosperity of the lit- tle German colony was retarded thereby; but later on became, and is, a very prosperous set- tlement and is known as Industry to this day.

The owner of Indolence was the well known Texas pioneer, Charles Fordtraud, who died a few years back, ninety-nine years and six months old. Mr. Ordener has held several of- fices (unsought) of trust, such as justice of the peace, school trustee, etc .; but never aspired to any higher office.

Mr. Ordener is of the same family whence came the Napoleonic General Ordener, by whose orders the Bourbon prince Duc d'En- ghien, was arrested and executed.

JAMES L. GRAY, cattleman and cashier of the Panhandle Bank, at Panhandle, was born in Washington county, Texas, in 1863, and has spent nearly all his adult years in this Pan- handle country. He is a son of J. E. and Louisa (Gentry) Gray. His father, a native of Tennes- see, came to Texas early in the fifties, locating in Washington county, where he lived until 1892, when he moved to Comanche, Texas, which is his present home. A successful and energetic farmer during his active life, he is now living retired. Mrs. Louisa Gray, the moth- er, was born in Tennessee, and married her hus- band in Texas.

Reared in Washington county, where he was likewise born, Mr. Gray received a good educa- tion, and after attendance at the Agricultural and Mechanical College at College Station was graduated in 1884. He was then at home or in that portion of the state until 1887, in which year he came to Carson county, which early advent makes him, with the exception of Mr. Southwood, who came here about the same time, the "oldest inhabitant" of the county. On coming here he took up land six miles southeast of the present Panhandle, in Carson

county, and still owns these holdings. Alto- gether he has eight sections of land, and is ac- counted among the leading ranchers of this county. He has handled cattle more or less ever since coming here, having given especial atten- tion to high-grade short-horns, of which he has a number on his place. About two hundred acres are cultivated to farm and feed crops.

Mr. Gray took part in the organization of the county in 1888, and has ever since been closely

350

HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

identified with the progress and welfare of the county. When he came here there was not a house on the plains between the Red river and the Canadian. Although his principal financial interests are on his ranch, he lives in town. Since 1899 he has been cashier of the Panhandle Bank, a private institution, of which Judge Paul of Amarillo is proprietor. Previous to his becoming permanent cashier, Mr. Gray had at odd times been called to the bank since 1890 to assist as bookkeeper, cashier and in other ca- pacities. For three terms Mr. Gray served as county surveyor. He was elected county judge of Carson county in 1904 and is now serving in that official capacity. These various lines of work indicate the versatility of his powers and his ability to undertake and successfully carry out divergent pursuits.

Mr. Gray married, in Grayson county, Miss Nannie McGrath, and they have two children, James Millard and Harold Gray.

HARRY G. HENDRICKS, who as a native son and almost lifelong resident has been iden- tified with Northwest Texas from his birth to the present, is now a prominent representative of the Panhandle bar, living at Miami, in Rob- erts county, where for several years he has de- voted himself in his characteristically energetic manner to his profession. He has also owned considerable land in the Panhandle country and as a man still young in years and with great ability the range of his future usefulness and activity in this part of the state is very promis- ing both for himself and his community.

Mr. Hendricks is to be numbered among the early sons of Fort Worth, that phenomenal city which is now the pride of Texas and the entire southwest. He was born in 1867, in one of the well known old adobe houses which tronted the court house square of those days. In mention- ing his parents, H. G. and Eliza Anne (Everts) Hendricks, one speaks of two of the early and very prominent families of Texas. His father, a native of Kentucky, emigrating from there to Missouri, came to Texas in 1844, while Texas was still a republic under the Lone Star flag. He located at Bonham, in Fannin county, and

after living there and in Sherman moved to Fort Worth. He was one of the well known lawyers of the earlier days, and for some years was a law partner of Colonel Peter Smith, now deceased, under the name of Hendricks & Smith. Peter Smith was one of Fort Worth's most noted citizens, and is credited with having done more for the city than any other one man. Mr. H. G. Hendricks, Sr., died at Fort Worth in 1873, and is deserving of mention as one of that city's very prominent pioneer citizens.

Mr. Hendricks' mother, Eliza (Everts) Hen- dricks, was born in Indiana and was also an early settler of Texas by virtue of having come here in 1844 with her parents. Her father, Judge G. A. Everts, is also recalled as one of the prominent early legal practitioners, and his name deserves especial mention in this history as having been a member of the convention which framed the first constitution for the state of Texas in 1845. The Everts family is one of the oldest in American history, connected with Revolutionary and colonial history, and through the Wheelock branch goes back along the ancestral line to Miles Standish.

Mr. Hendricks received his early schooling at Fort Worth, but not being blessed with excel- lent health in his youth, he was sent west to California, and for four years attended the schools of Sonoma county in that state. He pursued his legal education in the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, and in 1892 was admitted to the bar at Fort Worth, and at once began his practice in his native city. He has en- joyed the best of associations during his legal career. At Fort Worth he was the partner of Alex Stedman, and also of Sidney Samuels, who has become noted not only as a lawyer, but as a scholarly and finished orator. Stedman was formerly state railroad commissioner, and is now general attorney for the I. & G. N. R. R.

After seven years of prosperous practice in Fort Worth Mr. Hendricks came to the Pan- handle in 1899, and as a lawyer located first at Miami and then at Amarillo, where he became the partner of Judge John W. Veale (Veale & Hendricks). He remained at Amarillo about two years, and in October, 1904, returned to

DA Nessuno

35 I

HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

Miami to resume his practice, which he has con- tinued to the present time. Mr. Hendricks has found time and opportunity, notwithstanding a busy and interesting professional career, to lay the foundations of a substantial fortune through investment in lands. He owns a fine little ranch on the Sweetwater, in Wheeler county, twenty -. five miles southeast of Miami, and also has about two thousand acres in Roberts county. These are the remains of former more extensive holdings, from which he had sold, up to the fall of 1904, about thirteen sections of land. But these substantial business interests are, after all, but "side issues" with him, for his principal ambitions lie along the line of his profession.

Mr. Hendricks was married in California to Miss Emma Stockman. She was reared in Napa, that state, and is distantly related to her husband through a collateral branch of the Ev- erts family. She has membership in the order of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mr. and Mrs. Hendricks have three children, Florence, Everts and Harrison G.

DAVID BARTON WARREN, M. D., who at the time of his death, June 10, 1905, was the oldest practicing physician of Palo Pinto coun- ty, and one whose skill in his profession as well as his years well entitle him to the unques -. tioned respect and confidence accorded him by the general public, was born in Boone county, Missouri, December 10, 1825, his parents being James and Eleanor (Goodin) Warren. The father was born in Hopkins county, Kentucky, and went to Missouri with A. B. Chambers, who became the publisher of the old Missouri Republican of Saint Louis. James Warren lo- cated in Boone county and lived there for many years but subsequently he removed to Henry county in 1838 and there spent his remaining days, his death occurring in 1893, when he was ninety years of age. Throughout his entire life he had followed farming. He was a man of ear- nest Christian character, of great mental and physical strength as well, and retained his fac- ulties unimpaired up to the time of his death. His wife, who was born in Christian county, Kentucky, died in Henry county in 1850. James

Warren had an uncle, Major Martin Warren, who was a member of Washington's First Reg- iment in the Revolutionary war and in whose honor the city of Warrensburg, Missouri, was named.

Dr. Warren, whose name introduces this record, was reared on the home farm and when still a boy his parents removed to Saline coun- ty and later to Henry county. After receiv- ing a good preliminary education he took up the study of medicine in Warrensburg, Johnson county, Missouri, under the direction of Dr. William Huff, a skillful physician, who had re- moved to Missouri from Lexington, Kentucky. He studied earnestly for three years with Dr. Huff as his preceptor, driving with him to the country as he made his round of visits, and thus obtaining a thorough and practical as well as theoretical knowledge of the science of medicine. After studying for three years he was licensed to practice and was admitted to a partnership by his former preceptor. With him he was thus associated for three years. On the expiration of that period Dr. Warren re- turned to his native county and located at Co- lumbia, the seat of the State University of Mis- souri and the home of many distinguished men. where many opportunities were offered to a young physician. He practiced there until the spring of 1849, when he went to California, at- tracted by the discovery of gold on the Pacific slope and the opportunities which were offered in other lines of business life, owing to the rapid growth of population there. He went by way of the Santa Fe trail down into Mexico. where they crossed the mountains, reaching California at San Diego, and thence proceed- ing northward to Stockton, where he studied medicine. He became city physician there and had charge of the city hospital for four years, while his residence in California covered a period of five years. Returning to Missouri he located in Bates county, where he lived until the beginning of the war. He was a member of the convention at Saint Louis, Missouri, which refused to sanction secession, but sympathizing with the southern cause, he organized a com- pany of state guards of which he became the

352

HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

captain and which was mustered into service of Company A., Colonel R. L. Y. Peyton's Brig- ade, Rain's Division of the Missouri State Troops. This division was soon taken into the regular Confederate army and Dr. Warren's company was among the first to assemble at Jefferson City at the outbreak of hostilities be- tween the north and the south. Dr. Warren participated in nearly all of the fighting in southern and southwestern Missouri. He was captured in Johnson county and for six months was held as a prisoner of war in Saint Louis. After two years of service he resigned as cap- tain of his company and during the last two years of the war he was surgeon in the medical department, being surgeon of John T. Coffey's regiment, returning from the army when it was disbanded at the close of the war at Shreveport, Louisiana.

Dr. Warren returned to Johnson county, Missouri, where he engaged in practice until 1872, when he came to Palo Pinto, Texas, the county seat of Palo Pinto county. During the first four years of his residence here he was en- gaged in the business of buying and selling cattle, marketing them in Kansas. Later he again took up the practice of medicine and also established a drug store at Palo Pinto, of which he was the proprietor until his death. He was the dean of the medical profession in Palo Pinto county and was greatly revered by all of the physicians of this part of the state as well as by the general public. He always maintained an active, intellectual life, reading a great deal and not only keeping in touch with the ad- vanced thought of medical science but also keeping well informed concerning the best gen- eral literature. He was besides a continuous and devoted student of the Bible. He belonged to the Christian church, in which he was an elder for many years, and his life was in con- formity with his professions. He was also a member of various temperance organizations and belonged to the Masons and Odd Fellows fra- ternities, which are based upon mutual helpful- ness and brotherly kindness.

Dr. Warren was married in Johnson county, Missouri, in 1848, to Miss Jemima S. Snelling,

who accompanied him to California. Their first child, who was named Mariposa Warren and who is now the wife of G. W. McDonald, a prominent merchant of Palo Pinto, was born in a wagon-bed, in California, on Christmas night, 1849. Their other children are: Mrs. Nannie Mayhew and Mrs. Katie Warren Pitts, both of Palo Pinto. Dr. Warren died in the eightieth year of his age, and to almost the end was in active practice and controlled his mer- cantile interests in Palo Pinto. His was a use- ful career in which occurred some exciting in- cidents in connection with his California exper- iences and his service in the Civil war. He was also numbered among the pioneer settlers of this county and not only watched its develop- ment and progress but contributed in substan- tial measure to its upbuilding. Moreover his life was actuated by honorable, manly prin- ciples, gaining for him uniform respect and esteem.

ALBERT S. BLEDSOE, who in the practice of law has gained recognition as one of the capable members of the Cleburne bar, represents a prominent old family of the south, his parents being Major W. Scott and Susan (Harrison) Bledsoe. His father was a pioneer lawyer and prominent citizen of Cleburne and this section of the state. Born in Kentucky, at a very early age he was taken by his parents to White coun- ty, Tennessee, where he was reared. When the war broke out he organized a company for the Fourth Tennessee Cavalry, was elected its cap- tain and later was promoted major of the regi- ment, serving throughout the entire war with distinction.

Following the close of hostilities Major Bled- soe returned to his Tennessee home, and in 1868 came to Texas, locating for a short time at Al- varado, in Johnson county. He had previously studied law and been admitted to the bar and he was there engaged in practice. In 1869, when the county seat was removed from Buchanan to Cleburne, he came to the latter place as one of the first attorneys here. He was a very able man in his profession and soon acquired a com- petency which eventually became a comfortable

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I, Part 58

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