A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I, Part 63

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 63

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It was in such times and in such a country that Dr. Yeager's early practice was begun, and he had perhaps more than his due quota of dan- gerous experiences. Consequently, his practice, mostly in the country and extending thirty or forty miles west and northwest of Veal's Station, as far as Jacksboro, in Jack county, entailed long drives, over a rough, wild and unsettled region, and these trips were fraught with many dangers and exciting incidents, and more than once he had gun fights with the natives. His stories of ad- ventures in those days are interesting in the ex- treme, and some of them have been published in the local press as a real contribution to the his- tory of North and West Texas. His career of professional activity has thus covered both the pioneer and the modern period of this section of the state, and he has practically grown up and kept pace with the country.

Veal's Station remained his home and the cen- ter of his work for nearly three years, during which time he was in partnership with his brother- in-law, Dr. Akard, another Parker county pioneer. After that he moved to Fort Worth and became a partner in practice with Dr. M. L. Woods, a prominent old-time physician of that city. In 1880 he again went out toward the frontier, lo- cating this time at Mineral Wells in Palo Pinto county, and this has been the scene of his broad and useful endeavors ever since. In the year 1880 Mineral Wells was all hope and little ac- tuality, the visible evidences of its prosperity

being a few tents and board shacks inhabited by persons who had come to test the value of the re- cently discovered medical waters. The thera- peutical value of these waters had already been recognized by Dr. Yeager, and he was not slow to see the future of the embryo town and take advantage of its opportunities by establishing himself as one of its first citizens. The wisdom of this move has since been proved by the growth of Mineral Wells to a town of over three thou- sand, among whom are many wealthy citizens, and as a health resort it ranks among the foremost of the state. During the season visitors from all parts of the Union frequent the city, as many as fifty thousand being a number recorded during one season of those who sought the medical waters and other advantages. In the important work of upbuilding which has thus taken place Dr. Yeager has been foremost, and his public- spirited activity has been manifest in various di- rections. He has built, among other structures, the two-story brick and stone Yeager block at the corner of Mesquite and College streets. He is also president of the Lithia Wells Company, which owns one of the leading mineral wells of the vicinity. His professional work extends to a general medical and surgical practice, and this, in connection with his business interests, makes him indeed a busy man. Since coming to Texas he has supplemented his already broad professional ex- perience by study at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Baltimore, one of the recognized first grade medical schools of the country, and he was graduated from that institution with the class of 1884. The firm of which he is at pres- ent a member is Yeager, Beeler & Yeager, con- sisting of himself, Dr. B. R. Beeler, and his son, Dr. Robert L. Yeager, who is also a physician of prominence in this section of the state, being a graduate of Vanderbilt University and of the medical department of the University of Texas, and is also proprietor of the Yeager Drug and Book Company in the Yeager block. Dr. Yea- ger is a member of the Palo Pinto County and the Texas State medical societies.

Dr. Yeager was first married at Veal's Station in 1871, to Miss Sue L. Akard, of Johnson City, Tennessee. She is now deceased, having been

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

the mother of four children, three of whom are still living: Dr. Robert L. Yeager, Ben Yeager and Miss Ada Yeager. Dr. Yeager's present wife was Miss Eddie Austin, and they are the parents of six children: Edward, Marguerite, Abraham, Mary, Cornelius and a little daughter as yet un- named. Dr. Yeager's sister, Mrs. Fannie Tyle, also makes her home in Mineral Wells.

CAPTAIN CHARLES DAVIS, mayor of El Paso, is fortunate in that he has back of him an ancestry honorable and distinguished and that his lines of life are cast in harmony therewith. A native of Arkansas, he was born in Eldorado, Union county, in 1847, his parents being Judge William and Malvina (Henderson) Davis. In the paternal line he comes of the same ancestry as Jefferson Davis. This branch of the Davis fam- ily is an historic one. His uncle, General Reuben Davis, of Aberdeen, Mississippi, was a member of the United States senate, while another uncle, General James Davis, succeeded General Samuel Houston as commander of the Army of Texas.

· Judge William Davis, father of Captain Davis, was a native of Georgia and for many years was a very prominent lawyer in his home town, Holly Springs, Mississippi, where he was. a part- ner of Roger Barton, distinguished as one of the. greatest criminal lawyers of Mississippi. In 1846 Judge Davis removed to Eldorado, Union coun- ty, Arkansas, where he lived for some time, but later he gave up law practice and in 1852 took up his abode near Bryan, in Brazos county, Tex- as, where he became an extensive planter and successful business man. In fact his plantation was one of the largest in southern Texas. A great deal of his estate is still in possession of the family, and Captain Davis of this review owns several of the old Davis cotton farms in Brazos county. Judge Davis was also one of the promoters of the Houston & Texas Central Rail- way and other enterprises of great importance to the state as well as to the individual. In 1881 he came with his son Charles to El Paso, where he died at the age of seventy-nine years. Captain Davis speaks of him as the greatest man he ever knew because of his splendid business qualities and his high character and superior attainments.

His wife was born in Somerville, Tennessee, a daughter of Colonel Henderson, who represented his district in congress in 1852. In her home city she remained until she gave her hand in marriage to Judge Davis. Their son, the late Judge Ben- fett H. Davis, who died in El Paso in 1897, was one of the notable members of the Texas bar and is referred to by all as a gentleman of exceptional character and ability, greatly beloved throughout the entire community and held in particularly high esteem by the representatives of the legal profession. He was born and reared at Holly Springs, Mississippi, studied law at Hanover College and came to El Paso in 1881, splendidly equipped for the profession which he made his life work and in which he continued actively un- til his demise.

Captain Davis of this review was reared at and near Bryan, Texas, where he attended school. He likewise spent some time as a student in 'Waco, and following the close of the war he spent three years in Washington and Lee Uni- versity, Virginia, which was then under the pres- idency of Robert E. Lee. On the expiration of that period he returned to Bryan and spent his life there in active business until 1881, when he came to El Paso, the year in which the city had secured its first railroad and the year which marked the beginning of its rapid and substan- tial growth. His labors in El Paso have made him prominent and have also made him a capital- ist of success and wealth. Moreover he is public spirited and has done much to promote the growth of the city and the surrounding country.

Captain Davis was married to Miss Alice Wil- son, a daughter of Colonel T. D. Wilson of this state, but her death occurred in El Paso county early in 1882. There were three children of that marriage: Charles Davis, Jr., James Lamar Davis and Miss Alice Davis.

Although prominent in Democratic circles and frequently importuned by his friends to become a candidate for office, he never held an elective position until April, 1905, when he was chosen for the mayoralty of El Paso. He is giving to the city a thoroughly business-like administra- tion, has surrounded himself by competent heads in every department of the city service, and his

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HISTORY OF NORTH `AND WEST TEXAS.

labors have been most effective in promoting the substantial welfare and improvement here. Pre- vious to this time, during President Cleveland's administration, Captain Davis was appointed and held the office of collector of customs for the El Paso district. He served as a captain in the Texas state militia on Governor Ross' staff and was aft- erward colonel of militia. He is a prominent Mason, being a past grand commander of the Knights Templar for the state of Texas, the highest office in Masonry in the state. He has a wide and important acquaintance among the rep- resentative men of Texas in various walks of life and he is today one of the most distinguished res- idents of El Paso with important business, fra- ternal and political connections.

FRANK D. THOMPSON, M. D., was born in Monroe county, Alabama, October 27, 1852. His father was born in the same county; his grandfather was also born in Monroe county. His great-grandfather helped to build Fort Clai- borne, in Monroe county, where his family, with others of that part of the country were housed, while the men were out fighting the Indians.

He received his literary education at the Mon- roeville Academy. During the first years devoted to the study of medicine he attended the Medical Department of the University of Alabama at Mobile, the Louisville Medical College at Louis- ville, Kentucky, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York.

He has practiced his profession two years in Wilcox county, Alabama ; twelve years in Sher- man, Texas, and seventeen years in Fort Worth, Texas.

JUDGE PEYTON FORBES EDWARDS has left the impress of his individuality upon the legislative and judicial history of Texas and his name is also inseparably interwoven with its pio- neer development. So closely have his interests been allied with the commonwealth that he is justly regarded today as one of the leading repre- sentative men of the Lone Star state and this volume would be incomplete without mention of him. He is a native of Nacogdoches, Texas, born September 28, 1844, his parents being General

Haden Harrison and Sarah M. (Forbes) Ed- wards. The Edwards family of which he is a representative originated in Wales, and with a Scotch mixture has made a strong race, repre- sented by many distinguished men. John Ed- wards, the great-grandfather of Judge Edwards of this review, was a pioneer in Kentucky region of Virginia before the former state was cut off from the Old Dominion. He was also prominent in political and governmental affairs of those early days.

Haden Edwards, the grandfather, also became a distinguished man of his day, and in 1824 made his way westward to Nacogdoches, Texas, ac- companied by his wife and children. They set- tled in Nacogdoches county and several of his brothers also went to the same locality. Texas was at that time a part of Mexico, and the sec- tion in which the Edwards family lived was not receiving proper treatment from the Mexican government in the minds of Haden Edwards and his family, as well as many of their neigh- bors, so that in 1826, ten years before Texas be- came a republic, Haden Edwards started a revo- lution and undertook to organize the republic of Fredonia at Nacogdoches. His brother, Benja- min Edwards, was appointed dictator of the new and short-lived republic and Haden H. Edwards afterward took a prominent part in the success- ful Texas revolution of 1836, whereby the state became an independent republic. Benjamin Ed- wards went to Mississippi, became a candidate for governor of the state and was elected, but died before the returns from the election were received, owing to the slow means of communi- cation in those days.

General Haden Harrison Edwards, father of Judge Edwards, was born in Winchester, Virgi- nia in 1812 and was therefore a youth of twelve years when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Nacogdoches county, Texas. Perhaps no other family mentioned in this volume was at so early a period connected with the state. Gen- eral Edwards took a prominent part as a soldier in the events marking the achievement of the independence of Texas and in its history as a republic. He first volunteered with "old Ben Milam" and was in nearly all the fightings of the

ID Thompson, Mul.

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

war for independence. He was rapidly promoted and at the close of the war held the rank of brigadier general. He died at Cincinnati, Ohio, after the close of the Civil war in August, 1865. He was prominently connected with the develop- ment of railroad interests in eastern Texas, and a newspaper gives the following account of his work in this direction.

"The first man to conceive the idea of building a railroad north and south through the almost trackless pine woods of East Texas was General Haden H. Edwards of Nacogdoches. Haden H. Edwards conceived that a railroad built from some point on the gulf to some point in the grain- producing territory of the north would develop into a great trunk line and would in addition set- tle up the country through which it passed and cause many an industrial enterprise of more or less importance to spring into existence. At that time, 1858, there was not a single trunk line run- ning, north and southwest of the Mississppi river. With a prophetic mind, Edwards saw that the great west and southwest, as well as the coun- · try commonly called East Texas, would one day, however distant that day might be, become the seat of a mighty commonwealth, and the home of tens of thousands of happy and progressive people. It was his hope and desire, therefore, to build such a road and leave it as a monument to the people of his day and time, as well as those who came after him. With this idea in view he took into partnership Robert Neyland of Tyler county, Alex Muckleroy of Nacogdoches and a few others, incorporated, and drawing a line straight from Sabine Pass to Henderson, in Rusk county, commenced work in 1858. When the war broke out in 1860 the road had reached a point near Pine Island bayou, in Jefferson coun- ty, not far from the present crossing of the Beau- mont-Dallas division of the Texas & New Or- leans railway. Beaumont was at that time an in- significant village, whose principal business was the lumber trade on the Neches river.

"During the progress of the war a considerable quantity of the railroad iron was taken up and used in fortifying Sabine Pass, and it is a matter of fact that this iron assisted Dick Dowling and

'his heroic comrades in their gallant defense of that place in 1863. The first locomotive that was ever used on the road was called the General Ed- wards.

"The war demoralized the building of the rail- road, and at its close General Edwards went to Cincinnati for the purpose of securing means with which to continue the building of his road, but while in Cincinnati he sickened and died, and the road was abandoned for a time. Later it fell into other hands and was finally built to Rock- land, where it remained for a period of twenty years. Four years ago it became the property of the Southern Pacific Railway Company and was built through to Dallas. It was not the original intention of Edwards and his associates to build westward, but to carry the road to the north, to Sherman, Texas, and if it could have been carried to such completion years ago it would no doubt have caused the railroad map of East Texas to appear quite different from what it does today."

General Haden H. Edwards was married to Miss Sarah M. Forbes, who was born at Cincin- nati, Ohio. Her father, Colonel John Forbes, came to Texas about 1833 and was a "soldier of fortune" and a most interesting character of those early days. He took part in the Texan war for independence and acted as General Houston's commissary general, taking part in the battle of San Jacinto. Later he was commissioner to the Indians and held other positions of prominence. His death occurred in Nacogdoches in January, 1880.

Judge Edwards attended school in his native city and following the Civil war went to Vir- ginia, where he prepared for the profession of law as a student in the law department of the University of Virginia, in which he won the de- gree of B. L. upon his graduation in June, 1867. In the meantime, however, he had made a military record as a soldier in the Civil war. He first en- listed at Nacogdoches in August, 1861, as a mem- ber of the Seventeenth Texas Cavalry and upon its reorganization in 1862 he joined Company H of the Fourth Texas Cavalry of Green's brigade, in which he served throughout the re- mainder of the war in the Trans-Mississippi De-

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

partment, in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas. He was in nearly all of the battles that took place in the region mentioned.

Following the completion of his law course Judge Edwards entered upon the practice of the profession in Nacogdoches and was elected judge of what was then the third judicial district, serv- ing on the bench for four and a half years. His decisions were strictly fair and impartial and his record as a judge is in harmony with his record as a man and lawyer-distinguished by a master- . ful grasp of every question presented for solution and by unfaltering loyalty to the right. He was also elected to the state senate and served as state senator for four years in the fifteenth and sixteenth sessions of the general assembly of Texas. He was likewise presidential elector from Texas in 1884 and was continuously in public office from 1875 to 1885. In April, 1886, he re- moved to El Paso and has since been a prominent member of the El Paso bar and a leading citi- zen here.

Judge Edwards' wife, whom he married De- cember 24, 1867, and who died in Nacogdoches in 1878, was a native daughter here. She bore the maiden name of Miss Ode Arnold and was a granddaughter of Captain Haden Arnold, who came to Texas in 1834 and was in the battle of San Jacinto. Her father, Major James R. Ar- nold, was in command of a company in the Mexi- can war. Her mother's father was Captain David Muckleroy, who came to Texas in 1837. He, too, commanded a company in the Mexican war and was a representative citizen of that day.

Judge and Mrs. Edwards have one son, Peyton James Edwards, who was born in Nacogdoches September 29, 1868, and attended lectures in the law department of the state university, being ad- mitted to the bar at El Paso in 1893. He is now practicing with his father as a member of the firm of Edwards & Edwards, and in addition to the law he has prominent connection with busi- ness affairs in this city. Judge Edwards like- wise has two daughters: Mrs. Leila O. Akin of Houston, Texas, and Mrs. Clara S Goodman of El Paso.

MAX WEBER, the president of the Guaranty Trust Company of El Paso, Texas, whose useful- ness in the field of business activity has been a most important factor in the development of Western Texas and Mexico, has not, however, reached the height of his powers, for in connec- · tion with the irrigation proposition he has insti- tuted a movement the fruition of which will prove of incalculable benefit to the two countries with which he has been so closely associated since leaving his native land of Germany twenty- six years ago. He possesses diplomatic powers as well as splendid executive force and keen commercial insight.

A native of Saxony, Germany, he acquired a splendid university and business education and rendered military service to his country in ac- cordance with the laws of that land. Early in 1880 he left Germany and crossed the Atlantic to New York, where he was engaged by the firm of Ketelsen & Degetau, bankers and merchants of El Paso. Mr. Weber traveled by rail to Deming, New Mexico, then the terminus of the Santa Fe Railroad, and from that point proceeded by stage to El Paso.

The firm of Ketelsen & Degetau is one of the largest in this section of the country, doing busi- ness as wholesale general merchants, importers and bankers, with houses at Juarez and Chihua- hua and a branch office in El Paso. In 1890 Mr. Weber was made general manager of the busi- ness and remained as such until 1900, when he was compelled to resign on account of ill health and make a trip to Europe. In 1902 the sale of the street car system of El Paso, of which he was president, brought him back to the city, since which time he has devoted much energy and effort to consummating the international irriga- tion dam project, of which he has been the pio- neer and moving spirit. In October, 1905, Mr. Weber succeeded Mr. Hilsinger as president of the Guaranty Trust Company of El Paso. Mr. Weber is now engaged in putting this institu- tion upon a solid foundation of prosperity and success. Among the non-resident stockholders of the company are General Luis Terrazas, of Chi- huahua; Mr. Paul Morton, president of the

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

Equitable Life Assurance Society of New York; T. P. Shonts, chairman of the Panama canal commission ; S. M. Felton, president of the Chi- cago & Alton Railway Company ; Governor E. C. Creel, of Chihuahua ; Fernando Pimental Fago- aga, director general of Banco Central, Mexico; Harrison B. Smith, of Charleston, West Virginia, and many other prominent people.

Mr. Weber has acquired very large tracts of land in Chihuahua and early in the nineties, see- ing that the agricultural industries of the Rio Grande valley were deteriorating on account of the shortage of water caused by the immoderate use of the same for irrigation purposes to the north in Colorado, he considered that it would soon be necessary to have a settlement of the question of water supply from the Rio Grande between the two governments of Mexico and the United States. Eminent lawyers employed by the Mexican government had advised that the United States government had no right, in jus- tice to the citizens of Mexico and also the citi- zens of our own country along the lower Rio . Grande in Texas, to allow the people of Colora- do to use so much of the Rio Grande headwaters for irrigating canals, as such procedure was bringing poverty and ruin to the farmers and land owners of the lower valley. It was at this time that Mr. Weber began his studies of this situation and the prosecution of his efforts to- ward the solution of the vexatious problem that now, after fifteen years, is about to result in success. At the time referred to he went to Washington on one of his business trips east and discussed the subject with Hon. Matias Rom- ero, who was then Mexican ambassador at Wash- ington, and suggested the construction of the dam projected by General Anson Mills free of cost to Mexico. Mr. Romero was pleased with the suggestion that the United States govern- ment should build the dam for storage of water and encouraged Mr. Weber to see President Diaz and present the matter to him. As soon as Mr. Weber returned from the east he went on to the City of Mexico and through his lawyer, Hon. Andres Horcasitas, ex-judge of the Mexican su- preme court, laid the matter before the president, who immediately favored the project and re-

quested Mr. Romero to take up the matter with Mr. Olney, then secretary of state, who at that time was endeavoring to settle the vexatious wa- ter question. In a few months an agreement was reached whereby a commission was appointed to `ainvestigate the whole subject. In this connection Mr. Weber was instrumental in having the mat- ter put in charge of the International Boundary Commissions of the two countries, with head- quarters at El Paso, under whose auspices subse- 'quent investigations were conducted.

It soon developed that a private corporation already had in view the possibilities of the irri- gation question and had started operations on the work at Elephant Butte, New Mexico, purely as a private speculative enterprise. As this would have nullified and made impossible the interna- tional enterprise, Mr. Weber strongly opposed the movement of the private concern and with the assistance of his friends continued his oppo- sition until the company was put out of business, which gave the government project a free hand to go ahead on the Elephant Butte work known as the Engle dam. Legislation to construct this under federal control was passed by the last congress, as related elsewhere in this work.

When the National Irrigation Congress met in 1904 Mr. Weber was sent as a delegate thereto and tock an active part in its proceedings. It has been his constant endeavor to so shape the preliminary arrangements for this great enter- prise that the Mexican rights shall be fully pre- served so that there will be no troublesome in- ternational complications in the future, and to this end he has kept constantly in touch with the seats of government of both countries. Various obstructions have at different times been thrown in his way, but he has gone patiently forward, building step by step till the adjustment of the Mexican rights are now assured, giving to the farmers on both sides of the river their full rights. In this work Mr. Weber has spent prob- ably twenty thousand dollars of his private for- tune. He has always been deeply interested in the welfare of the farmers along the Rio Grande valley, many of whom have for some years re- mained poor on account of the shortage of wa- ter supply from the river. The successful com-

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I, Part 63

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