A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I, Part 66

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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Joel Dowdy was born in North Carolina and married Miss Sina Haggard, a native of Tennes- see. They, too, were farming people, died in comparatively early life, the father in 1866 and the mother in 1870. The father had six chil- dren: Robert, who is living in Stoddard county, Missouri; Alice, the wife of D. A. Hill, of Dunk- lin county, Missouri, and John, who died in childhood. These three are of the first marriage and there were also three of the second marriage, namely: Henry F .; Jane, who married James Patrick and is deceased, and Joel W., of Stod- dard county, Missouri.

Henry F. Dowdy had no permanent home after the death of his parents until he made one of his own. His chief stopping place and the

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

place he called home the oftenest was with an aunt, Rebecca Nichols, and while with her fam- ily he managed to get some knowledge of books. At about sixteen years he found it incumbent upon him to begin the battle alone and he worked a year for a farmer for a bale of cotton. Follow- ing this he hired at thirteen dollars per month for the crop season and he spent the remainder of the year in school. The succeeding winter he passed with his uncle Nichols and with a part of his wages, and with a large element of "time," he purchased a team and began farming on his own account.

He used the element of "time" about this junc- ture and arranged for a piece of land. The rais- ing of corn and potatoes was successfully en- gaged in and his place soon became his own farm. February 10, 1890, he sold out, having decided to come to Texas in the hope of finding health, and perhaps with the result as above in- dicated.

He came to Clay county in 1890 and while at Weatherford casting about for the right place to locate, he chanced to hear of a town lot sale at Wichita Falls, which he witnessed later, and while prospecting the country from that point it was that he found the neighborhood to which he has since been attached, Charlie. He boughta tract south and west of the Charlie and Hen- rietta road and spent three years upon it, selling it at a profit, and a year later coming nearer to the village and purchasing a farm which cannot be duplicated for twice the money. His culti- vation of this one hundred and fifteen acres has been the means of his adding to his land area un- til he is now the owner and possessor of three hundred and sixty-five acres of as fine soil as ex- ists anywhere in North Texas. His efforts are devoted to the growing of the flimsy staple grain and stock. While not physically robust for some years, the climate of this section has restored him to his original vigor, and a day's labor in the field now means as much as it did in the vigor of youth.

In Stoddard county, Missouri, February 18, 1886, Mr. Dowdy married Amanda, a daughter of Joseph A. Hamilton, a Missouri settler from Tennessee. Mrs. Dowdy was of Missouri birth

and lived happily with her husband till a horrible death overtook her November 3, 1900. In an at- tempt to trim a lamp wick on this fatal morning, and while holding the lamp over the stove in which was a bed of coals, the bowl of the lamp divided and let the oil onto the coals, with the result that she was instantly covered with oil and flame and horribly burned. Eight children were the result of their union, namely: Joseph Joel, Frank, Robert, Albert, Claud, Thomas, and Mari- on and Amanda, twins, the latter of whom died young. March 9, 1902, Mr. Dowdy married in Stoddard county, Missouri, Laura Denington, a daughter of F. H. Denington.

R. O. BRASWELL, M. D. In the history of North and West Texas, Palo Pinto county has been the scene, from the fifties, of the most rep- resentative activities of the cattle industry, and the rugged hills and picturesque valleys of the Brazos were particularly fitted for that industry. The progress of civilization, without making the county any less appropriate for stock ranching has, however, brought other enterprises and in- stitutions into the foreground and given Palo Pinto a reputation other than a magnificent range country. In the early eighties the railroad crossed the county, bringing its attendant im- provements and changes. About the same time thefirst mineral well was sunk on the site of the now famous city of Mineral Wells, and, as the medicinal properties of the water became known outside of its restricted locality and as other wells were sunk, a center of population was formed there which rapidly grew into the me- tropolis of the county. All North Texas now turns to Mineral Wells as its best known and most popular health resort-which, with its nat- ural allies of modern medicine and surgery, is destined to permanent growth and substantial fame in proportion to the progress of North Texas.

To co-operate with the remedies of bountiful nature and the soul-satisfying climate and restful scenery of Mineral Wells, institutions of the nature of sanitariums have been established there, and of these the Braswell Sanitarium, for the care of patients undergoing or recuperating

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

from surgical operations, is one of the most con- spicuous. It is a five-story brick building equipped with all the conveniences for modern surgical practice and therapy, and is an adornment to the city and in keeping with the splendid progress that Mineral Wells has experienced in upbuilding and population during the last few years.

Dr. Braswell, proprietor of this institution, was born at Decatur, Alabama, September 19, 1867, a son of D. B. and Jane Braswell, the father, who during his lifetime was a prominent lawyer, being a native of South Carolina and the mother a native of Georgia. Spending his boy- hood days in his native state, where he attended the public schools and then the Southern Uni- versity of Alabama at Florence, he began his preparation for his chosen career of medicine by entering the Physio-Medical College of Indiana, where he was graduated with the class of 1896. Thoroughness of equipment was the early and has been the constant aim of Dr. Braswell, and also the real foundation of his success. After his graduation as an M. D., he took a course in the New York Polyclinic, this being followed by a post-graduate course in Rush Medical College of Chicago. Coming to Texas, he began practicing at Dallas, where he remained till 1900, at which time the splendid prospects of Mineral Wells induced him to locate there. Possessed of youth, vigor, almost unlimited energy, and great nerv- ous power, his professional career has been al- most ideally successful. His practice has tended more and more to surgery, and his skill in this specialty, manifested in many difficult yet success- ful major operations, has given him a reputation throughout the state of Texas and also into ad- joining states. It was to care for this increasing number of patients that he erected his sanitarium and thus added to the prestige of his city. Here he cares for the majority of his patients, though the demands made upon his skill often call him out into the state or even beyond its boundaries.

Dr. Braswell is a member of the ancient or- der of Masons, and as a Shriner he belongs and takes part in the activities of Hella Temple at Dallas, which is probably the most select organi- zation of its degree in the south, and although a very busy man the doctor takes time to attend all

its functions. His fraternal relations also identify him with the Odd Fellows and the Elks at Min- eral Wells. As a member of the Mineral Wells Commercial Club Dr. Braswell is one of the most enthusiastic and energetic of that group of men who are bending their efforts to the rational and substantial upbuilding of their city. The basis of the club is the advancement of the material social and civic welfare of Mineral Wells, and with so much enthusiasm and push behind it there is hardly a doubt that its purpose will be fulfilled along every line. With the proper de- velopment of municipal and transportation facili- ties, the famous water of Mineral Wells cannot fail to make this one of the few famous resorts of America, and it is already mentioned as the "Carlsbad of the South," a reputation that the Commercial Club has done much to establish and that all visitors who have experienced the healing of the natural waters and who have been restored to health in such institutions as the Bras- well Sanitarium will amply justify.

Dr. Braswell married, in 1900, Miss Mamie, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. M. J. Mckinnon, a prominent Dallas family.

JOHN W. MOOAR. The lives of many men contain elements that border largely on the field of romance. Some approach this nearer than others. At times the story reads almost like a fable or it may be tinged with experiences of hardships that give to it a permanent practical value from which many lessons may be gleaned and many ideas taken that may well serve as a source of emulation for others. Carlisle has said that biography is the most interesting as well as the most profitable of all reading, and the life his- tory of such a man as Mr. Mooar cannot fail to awaken the attention of those who have regard for the value and sure rewards of character, as it indicates what may be accomplished in the face of opposition and in spite of obstacles. His life work has been closely interwoven with the an- nals of the early development in Texas, and in fact forms a component part in its history.

The Mooar family is of Scotch descent and its progenitors in the United States arrived here about the beginning of the seventeenth century.

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

John Mooar, the grandfather of John W. Mooar, removed from Massachusetts to Vermont, becom- ing one of its early residents, and there he estab- lished and operated one of the first tanneries in that state.

John A. Mooar, son of John Mooar, was born in Vermont and at an early day in the history of Michigan took up his abode in that common- wealth. There he established a sawmill in the midst of the primeval forest of Saginaw county. It was his intention to leave his family there and make the place his home, but he suffered a stroke of paralysis and subsequently returned to Ver- mont, his active career being thus ended. He was a man who capably controlled large affairs and he speculated to a considerable extent in both land and lumber in Vermont and Michigan. Notwithstanding the ill health which overtook him he lived to the advanced age of eighty-one years, passing away about five years ago. He married Miss Esther K. Wright, a daughter of Josiah Wright and a descendant of Silas Wright, once a prominent factor in political life in New England. They became the parents of four chil- dren, of whom J. Wright Mooar of Scurry coun- ty, Texas; Mrs. John W. Combs of Pownal, Bennington county, Vermont, and John Wesley Mooar of Colorado, Texas, are now living. The two brothers in Texas maintained a continuous partnership under the firm style of Mooar Broth- ers from 1870 until July 15, 1905, or a period of thirty-five years, and then by mutual consent de- cided to divide their interests largely for the pur- pose of having their affairs in shape so that the estate could be easily settled if either were called from this life. The firm of Mooar Brothers, how- ever, was through more than a third of a century a conspicuous factor in business life in Western Texas.

John W. Mooar was born in Pownal, Benning- ton county, Vermont, June 12, 1846. He worked on his father's farm in the summer months and during the winter seasons attended school until fourteen years of age. He then went in 1861 to New York city, where he became errand boy for Randall II. Green & Son, brokers at 98 Wall street. Subsequently he was in the employ of the grocery firm of E. K. Scranton & Company and

later was employed by J. J. and J. M. Richards, extensive manufacturers of jewelry, at the corner of Broadway and John street. While living in New York Mr. Mooar perfected a baking pow- der, being about the third man in the United States to concoct such a culinary article. It is now found in every well regulated kitchen, but was then comparatively unknown. He manufac- tured his powder and sold it at leisure hours while still in the employ of the firm of J. J. and J. M. Richards.

When he had been in New York for about ten years he received a letter from his brother, J. Wright Mooar, who was then at Fort Hays, Kansas, stating that he and a man named White had shipped to John W. Mooar some raw buffalo hides and for him to investigate the matter of finding a possible market for them. Accordingly he started out on his mission, not knowing any- thing about such hides and probably doubting if he could find any one who did. He made his way to the firm of J. J. Bates & Company, the oldest hide house in the country. The senior partner was an old man and had been in the hide business all his life, but when asked what buffalo hides were worth replied that he had never seen one and that such a thing as a flint buffalo hide had never before been on the market. Mooar ex- plained the situation to Bates, who asked that the hides be brought to him and if found de- sirable he wanted the reputation of making the first sale of buffalo hides. Mooar informed him that the shipment would be stored at 91 Pine street and could be seen there. In the meantime the hides arrived in New York and were being hauled down Broadway to Pine street, where they were to be stored. They attracted the atten- tion of many people on the street, among whom was a tanner from Pennsylvania, who followed the wagon to its destination. Two hours later two gentlemen appeared at the place of storage to examine the hides, both being tanners from Pennsylvania, one of them the man who had fol- lowed the load as it passed down Broadway. In the course of the conversation that followed the tanners said there was no market price that could be put on them, but as they wanted the hides to experiment with offered to give Mr. Mooar three

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dollars and a half each or fourteen cents a pound for the entire lot. He accepted the former price, and thus to him belongs the honor of having made the first sale of buffalo flint hides ever on record. The purchasers shipped the hides to their tanneries in Pennsylvania, and after making practical experiments with them sent in an order for two thousand more. Mr. Mooar, foreseeing what all this meant and that it would prove the inauguration of the greatest buffalo slaughter that the world has ever known, resigned his posi- tion with the Richards house and immediately joined his brother, J. Wright Mooar, at the pres- ent site of Dodge City, Kansas.

There the firm of Mooar Brothers was formed in 1870 for the purpose of starting on a great buffalo hunt. Others soon followed their example until in a comparatively short time many outfits, both large and small, were equipped for carry- ing on such a business. The average slaughter amounted to about five hundred thousand buffa- loes a year after the time the value of the hides was proved until the buffaloes were practically exterminated. The Mooars continued in the busi- ness for a period of twelve years. During the Indian outbreak of 1873 and 1874 the disturb- ances were so great and of such a serious nature on the north range in Kansas that the brothers decided to change their base of operation from Dodge City and conceived the idea of flanking the herd. Coming into Texas, they began their oper- ations in what is now Haskell county, thus get- ting them into a country where railroad trans- portation could be reached within four hundred miles and where the Indians were not so numer- ous or hostile as to interfere with their opera- tions. After they left Kansas in 1874, intending to make a straight course across the country, they reached the Cheyenne agency in the Indian Ter- ritory about the time of the Indian outbreak which occurred there. They then turned their course east, crossing the Red river at Denison, Texas, where they took the military trail to Fort Griffin, Texas. Making the fort their base of op- erations they again started upon a buffalo hunt in Texas and did the first extensive killing in this state at a point where the town of Haskell now stands. The first hides ever taken to a Tex-

as market were hauled to Denison and were ac- companied by John W. Mooar and W. H. Sny- der, the lot amounting to about two thousand hides. In making the trip to Denison the strange looking outfit created much excitement and curi- osity, especially at a point near Sherman, Texas, where the party went into camp for the night. A great many people came out from the town to take a look at the hides, including some of the lo- cal hide buyers, who had never seen a buffalo hide and knew nothing about one. After reach- ing Denison Mr. Mooar sold the cargo by tele- graph to Lobenstein of Leavenworth, Kansas. This lot was the only one Mr. Mooar ever sold in Texas, as he soon afterward found a market in New York and shipped all of his hides to that city. The money that was received for the first hides was spent in Denison in laying in a supply of groceries, clothing, ammunition and other things that were needed. These were carried back to the camp in what is now Haskell county at the head of Miller creek. From this time the killing was continued and the Mooars were fol- lowed by many others who embarked in the same line of business and the new enterprise was from that time carried on in a systematic manner until the buffaloes had been exterminated. The tan- ning of hides became also an extensive and im- portant business industry. At first the heavier hides were converted into sole leather and the lighter ones into harness leather. Afterward the best cow hides were tanned and prepared for robes and this process became an important busi- ness enterprise with two leading tanning con- cerns, one in Connecticut and the other in Michi- gan.

It was while engaged in killing buffaloes in Texas that the Mooar Brothers started in the cat- tle business on a small scale. They first pur- chased the Goff cattle, then the only cattle in the country, and started their herd in Fisher county at the mouth of Cottonwood creek. There they built the first house ever erected in that county, which was before its organization, and the build- ing is still standing on section 16, being known as the Cosper place. Afterward the brothers fol- lowed freighting, speculating in property and handling cattle, and have continued in these lines

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of business activity to the present time. They purchased land in block 97, Scurry county, for the purpose of having a tract sufficient on which to keep their stock. John W. Mooar was one of the first settlers of the town of Colorado and is now one of its largest property owners. In 1882 the Mooar brothers established a livery stable in Colorado, which they operated up to the time of dissolution of partnership, and which is now conducted by John W. Mooar, and he also has large ranch interests in Scurry county which occupies much of his time and attention. Mr. Mooar is a public spirited man, he has always taken an active interest in the development of the town and in connection with W. H. Snyder and A. W. Dunn he donated a tract of eighty acres of land to the Texas & Pacific Railroad Company when the stock yards were built in Colorado.

Mr. Mooar was married in Newburgh, New York, January 8, 1885, to Miss Margaret Adams McCollum, who was born there and is of Scotch descent. They have two children : John C., now a student in Eastman's Business College of Pough- keepsie, New York, and Lydia Louise, who is at- tending St. Mary's College in Dallas, Texas.

In connection with the history of their long buffalo hunt of twelve years it may be mentioned that J. Wright Mooar killed the only white buf- falo ever found on the western prairie, and the robe taken from this animal is still in the pos- session of the Mooar brothers and was on exhi- bition at the St. Louis exposition in 1904. The history of Mr. Mooar if written in detail would present a true and accurate picture of life in the west in pioneer times. Great have been the changes and he has been instrumental in in- augurating the work of progress and improve- ment through the establishment of a new indus- try and through active co-operation in many movements formed to promote the public good.

W. H. SNYDER has had a most eventful and interesting career, fraught with experiences that do not fall to the lot of the majority of citizens, and he is so widely known that his history can- not fail to prove of interest to many readers of this volume. Every state in the Union has fur-

nished settlers to Texas, and Mr. Snyder is among those who claim Pennsylvania as the place of their nativity. His paternal grandfather was a Pennsylvanian by birth and came of the old Pennsylvania Dutch stock. He was a farmer by occupation and reared a large family, includ- ing Thomas Snyder, who was born in Pennsyl- vania near Lehigh Gap and became a tanner by trade, owning a tanyard about two miles from Lehigh Gap, which he conducted for several years. About 1844 he removed from Pennsylva- nia to New York, settling in the western part of Livingston county, where he engaged in farming for a number of years. He won success in this undertaking up to the time of the Civil war, but during that period when prices were uncertain he met financial reverses. Ere his removal from Pennsylvania he was married to Miss Levina John, a native of that state. He passed away in 1885, while his wife died about 1880. They had a family of seven sons, of whom six are yet liv- ing: Harrison, a resident of Illinois ; Thomas, who is owner of an orange plantation in Florida ; W. H., of this review; Franklin, who lived in Nebraska up to the time of his death in the win- ter of 1904; James, who is division superintend- ent of a railroad and resides in Chicago, Illinois ; LeGrant, residing in Olean, New York; and Charles, a railroad man of Dansville, New York.

William Henry Snyder was born in Carbon county, Pennsylvania, November 29, 1837, and was about seven years of age when his parents removed to New York. He spent the remainder of his youth in that state and, as was the custom in those days, he was allowed the privilege of entering business life for himself at the age of eighteen years. Since that time he has been de- pendent upon his own resources, and whatever success he has achieved or privileges enjoyed are due to his labor and careful management. He made his way to Kansas many years before Hor- ace Greeley uttered the well known advice to young men to "go west" or even before Greeley came very greatly into prominence. Making his way to Manhattan, Kansas, Mr. Snyder took up a claim in the vicinity of that town, securing a quarter section of land from the government. There he remained for about a year and a half,

HD. H. Snyder.

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

when attracted by the discovery of gold in Colo- rado, he made his way to that state in 1859 and engaged in mining in Central City, forty-five miles west of Denver. After mining there with fair success he also spent a large part of the time in prospecting through that section of the coun- try, so that when the Civil war broke out he had more than sixty claims. One of these was on what was known as the Donaldson lead, which paid well on top, and Mr. Snyder took out from the surface ore gold estimated at ten thousand dollars. As the mining was carried on at a greater depth the lead closed and Mr. Snyder spent all of the money that he had previously secured in getting through the cap rock. He would work for a time to earn money to continue his operations on his claim, but after repeated trials was forced to abandon his attempt to get through this cap rock. The miners lived in cab- ins put up near their claims, and so strict were the laws governing them that when Mr. Snyder joined the army he put all of his ropes, tools, powder and other supplies in his cabin and left it without even a lock upon the door. When he re- turned four years later he found everything just as he had left it.

In August, 1862, Mr. Snyder responded to the country's call for aid, enlisting in the Federal army. At that time he, with several others, was working on a good paying lead at four dollars per day, and were two hundred feet under the ground when the government recruiting officer came down and asked for recruits. Mr. Snyder and several of his companions threw down their tools and declared their intention to serve in the Union army. He enlisted in Company D, Second Colorado Volunteer Cavalry. The regiment was sent to Colorado Springs, where the troops were drilled, and thence went to Fort Lyon, on the Arkansas river, where they went into winter quarters. The following spring they were sent to Council Grove, Kansas, where they were sta- tioned to guard a lot of trains bound for New Mexico to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Confederates. Next they were or- dered to Missouri, and while on the way a dis- patch was received that Quantrell with his army

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I, Part 66

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