A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I, Part 72

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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settled in 1853, at about eighty-five years old. Among his sons was Thomas Prater, our sub- ject's grandfather, whose life followed the channel of his immediate ancestor and who died early in life, in 1840. His wife was Julia Browder, who bore him: Benjamin F., James, Urias, William, John J., and Nannie.

John J. Prater was born in Roane county, Tennessee, in 1828, and many years of his life he devoted to the ministry in the Methodist church, but not to the exclusion of farming, which vocation he has always maintained. Eight children were born to him and his wife, who took their stations as honorable men and women in the world's affairs as they came to maturity, and they are again alone in their de- cline, surrounded by loving friends and the substantial comforts of life. Enumerating their children we have: John T., our sub- ject, Mary A., Adelia, William F., George L., Alvah, Julia and Nannie.

John T. Prater was born June 1, 1855, and at sixteen years of age he accompanied the family on their overland trip from Ten- nessee to Texas. He learned the cardinal prin- ciples of farming from his father, and the ele- ments of an education were acquired within the walls of a country school-house. It was as a farmer that he began life independently, and when he came into Montague county he had accumulated a few hundred dollars. He bought a quarter section of Jack county school land and with no difficulty paid it out. By wage-working, stock-raising and farming he acquired other real estate as the years have passed. In 1897 he moved his family from his original location on the west county line to Stoneburg's suburb, from which place he con- ducts the affairs of his varied interests.

November 7, 1878, Mr. Prater married, in Grayson county, Miss Elizabeth Ansley, a daughter of J. R. Ansley, who came to Texas from Georgia in 1865. Mrs. Prater was born in Georgia October 16, 1857, and is the mother of : Sidney Marcellus, Effie, Eva, Jeffie, Adelia and Bettie.

John T. Prater has maintained himself a plain, industrious stock-farmer and man of rural affairs and with what degree of success has already been pointed out. He is an Odd

WTMStraughy.

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Fellow and he and his son are Masons and Democrats.

C. B. STRATTON. C. B. Stratton repre- sents the progressive spirit and enterprise which have been at the botton of Cleburne's rapid development during-a few years from a small town to an important commercial center of fourteen thousand population. He has been : engaged in the real estate business at Cle- burne for the past ten years, and in many ways has exerted a powerful influence for the prog- ress of his city.

Born at Galveston, Texas, in 1875, he is a son of William H. and Mary Lou (Baker) Stratton. His father, who was a native of Athens, Geor- gia, served through the Civil war as a Confed- erate soldier, and, moving to Texas in 1873, spent the remainder of his life at Galveston, where he was a member of the wholesale gro- cery firm of Moore, Stratton and Company, and for many years was one of the prominent business men of that city. Mr. Stratton's mother, who lives in Cleburne, was born at Chapel Hill, this state.

Mr. Stratton's education was received in the schools of Galveston and at Randolph- Macon College, Virginia, and since 1894 he has been located in business at Cleburne. He is prominent in the real estate business, buy- ing and selling direct and transacting no com- mission business. Although a young man, he is looked upon as one of the leading citizens in all that pertains to enterprise and public spirit. He represents the second ward in the city council, having been elected to that body in 1902, and as councilman has rendered espe- cially valuable services to the city in the mat- ter of pushing street improvement.

Mr. Stratton married, at Cleburne, Miss Bec Ragsdale, daughter of J. M. Ragsdale, manager of the Cleburne Hardware Company. Mr. and Mrs. Stratton have one son, James Ragsdale Stratton.

W. F. McGAUGHY, sheriff and tax collector of Nolan county and a resident of Sweetwater, comes of Scotch lineage, and his ancestors at an early day were residents of northern Alabama. His father, J. B. McGaughy, was a native of

northern Alabama, where he spent the days of his boyhood and youth, but about the time of the close of the Civil war removed to western Ten- nessee, locating near Paris, the county seat of Henry county. He was a physician and surgeon who practiced his profession with success in Ten- nessee until the fall of 1871, when he came to Texas, locating in Hood county. In 1884 he took up his abode in Brown county, this state, and is still actively engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Brownwood. He married Miss Ellen Stephenson, who was born and reared in Alabama, and died in Brownwood, Texas, in 1903. They were the parents of five sons and one elaughter who are yet living, and they lost one son in youth.

William Franklin McGaughy was born in northern Alabama, September 6, 1864, and re- mained with his parents until he had attained his majority, coming with them to Texas in 1871. His education was completed by a thorough course of study at Add-Ran College, at Thorp Springs, Hood county, in the year 1882, and in 1884 he removed to Brown county. There three years later, on the 16th of December, 1887, he wedded Miss Allie Robertson, of Nolan county, Texas.

Mr. McGaughy turned his attention to the cat- tle business in Brown county and from there went with his herd to Nolan county in 1888 and has since made his home within its borders. He was connected with the cattle industry until called to the office of sheriff, and he still handles cattle to some extent. In December, 1899, he was appointed sheriff by the commissioners' court of Nolan county, becoming the successor of P. N. Hall, filling out an unexpired term. He was then elected to the office in 1902, and again in 1904, and has proved a most capable official, dis- charging his duties without fear or favor. While neglectful of no task that devolves upon him in connection with the office he has at the same time become interested in business affairs in Sweetwater and has thus been a valued factor in commercial and financial circles here. In May, IGOI, he assisted in organizing the First National Bank, of which he is a director and stockholder. About the Ist of July, 1905, in connection with

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O. A. Bass, he purchased the livery stable which they are now conducting.

Mr. McGaughy is also greatly interested in educational matters and was a member of the committee that had in charge the erection of the present school building in Sweetwater in 1901. He has since served as a member of the board of school trustees and the cause of education finds in him a very devoted and helpful friend. Frater- nally he is connected with the Masons and the Woodmen of the World.

Mr. and Mrs. McGaughy have two sons, Iven and Felix, the former born September 30, 1888, and the latter December 5, 1896. A most enter- prising citizen of Sweetwater, Mr. McGaughy has co-operated in the formation and adoption of many plans for the general good, and he is more- over an able officer, faithful in the discharge of his duties. Genial and good natured, he has won many friends, while in the business world he has manifested keen insight and unremitting dili- gence. He stands today as one of the most highly respected citizens of his community.

CHARLES T. RACE, M. D., practicing along modern and scientific lines, has become recognized as one of the most capable physi- cians and surgeons of El Paso. A native of Kentucky, he was born August 7, 1851, in Campbell county, about six miles from Cincin- nati. He was reared there and in the adjoining county of Kenton, at Covington, and during the period of the Civil war, from 1860 until 1865, he was a student at Davenport, Iowa, pursuing his education there on account of the disorganized condition of the schools in the south. In those days Davenport was enter- ing upon a period of prosperity as a center of the lumber trade on the Mississippi river and incidentally Dr. Race became acquainted with the lumber business during his sojourn in that city. He had in mind, however, the profession of medicine and pursued his studies at three different periods before he was finally gradu- ated and won his degree in the medical de- partment of the University of Louisiana, now Tulane University, in 1882.

Previous to this time Dr. Race had been en- gaged in the lumber business extensively at

Davenport, Iowa, and Louisiana and Hannibal, Missouri, and at Sherman, Texas, remaining at the latter place for two years. He also lived for several years at Uvalde, Texas. In 1883 he came to El Paso, where he has since engaged in the practice of medicine with con- stantly growing success. For several years, beginning in 1885, he was city physician, his last term in that office continuing from 1898 until 1905. He made a splendid record for his efficiency in warding off epidemics and in keeping the city in splendid condition from a standpoint of public health. He has likewise been accorded a large private practice and is recognized as one of the ablest members of the medical fraternity. Anything that tends to bring to man the key of that complex mystery which we call life elicits his earnest consider- ation, and he ever maintains a high standard of professional ethics. In the diagnosis of a case he is always careful and his judgment is rarely at fault in the slightest degree. Dr. Race was married at Uvalde, Texas, to Miss Carrie Henning, and they have three children, Edgar Race, Mrs. Hattie Blumenstiel and Car- rie M. H. Race. Dr. Race has attained the Knight Templar degree in Masonry and is also a member of the Mystic Shrine, while in the line of his profession he is connected with various medical societies, whereby he is continually broadening his knowledge and promoting his efficiency.

JUDGE ANDERSON M. WALTHALL, a practitioner at the El Paso bar, and at one time judge of the district court of this district, was born in Cole county June 10, 1851, near Jeffer- son City, Missouri, a son of William Branch and Matilda (Vaughan) Walthall. The father, a native of Virginia, was a representative of one of the well-known families of that state and as a pioneer went to Missouri, locating there in the early '40s. He became an exten- sive and successful planter, displaying marked ability in the conduct of his important business interests. Both he and his wife died in that state.

Judge Walthall remained upon his father's plantation until about fifteen years of age, be- ing reared in that portion of Missouri which is

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historic with the names of noted men and is Judge Walthall removed to El Paso, where also celebrated for its richness of soil and its he has since made his home. He had been bounteous products. On leaving Cole county . . married to Miss Sallie Harris, a representa- tive of one of the old families of Missouri, and they have a son, Harris Walthall, and two daughters, Mary Miller, now the wife of J. L. Dunn, a resident of Rogers, Arkansas, and Sallie T. Walthall.

the family removed to Callaway county, living on the fine estate adjoining the town of Fulton, which has been a noted seat of learning for several generations. Judge Walthall accord- ingly acquired the greater part of his education in Westminister College, at Fulton, and when . his more specifically literary course was com- pleted he entered upon the study of law in the office of Hoakaday & Flood, at Fulton, the senior partner being Judge Hoakaday, who was later attorney general of the state and served on the Circuit bench. Mr. Walthall qualified for practice in his native state, but did not enter upon the active work of the pro- fession there. Instead he came to Texas in October, 1873, and after visiting Dallas and other places decided upon Parker county as a location, with general headquarters at Weath- erford. He also taught school for several terms near Springtown, in the northern part of Porker county. These were pioneer times, when the Indians committed many depreda- tions and outrages in Parker county and ad- joining districts, and on more than one occa- sion Judge Walthall was compelled to dis- miss his school on account of the threatened invasion of the redskins.

In 1876 Mr. Walthall was licensed to prac- tice in the courts of Texas, and removed to Breckenridge, the county seat of Stephens county, before that county was organized. There he continued in the active prosecution of his profession until 1885, when he made his way still farther west, locating at Pecos, the county seat of Reeves county, where for several years he was recognized as a prominent lawyer of the thirty-fourth judicial district, which in- cludes El Paso county. On the Ist of January, 1898, he was appointed district judge by Gover- nor Culberson to fill out the unexpired term of Judge Buckler, deceased, and after serving for the three remaining years of that term was reg- ularly elected for the full term of four years. He resigned, however, a short time before his term expired, having been on the bench for six years and eight months.

On receiving his appointment to the bench

While living in Stephens county Judge Wal- thall had served as county attorney for sev- eral years. He is today recognized as one of the leading lawyers of the El Paso bar, being the senior member of the firm of Walthall, Fall & Walthall, his partners being his son Harris and Judge Albert B. Fall. Nature bountifully endowed him with the peculiar qualifications that combine to make a suc- cessful lawyer. Patiently persevering, pos- sessed of an analytical mind, and one that is readily receptive and retentive of the funda- mental principles and intricacies of the law ; gifted with a spirit of devotion to wearisome details; quick to comprehend the most subtle problems and logical in his conclusions; fear- less in the advocacy of any cause he may es- pouse, and the soul of honor and integrity, few men have been more richly gifted for the achievement of success in the arduous and dif- ficult profession of the law.

JAMES W. TRIMBLE, the subject of this family record and the founder of this branch of one of Texas' ancient families in Clay county, is a gentleman revered for his manly qualities, a citizen esteemed for his public spirit and air of progress, and a farmer admired for his en- ergy, thrift and expending tendencies and for the businesslike management and conduct of his personal affairs. The time was not when he was not a Texan. His father and grand- father Trimble founded the family in the Lone Star republic away back in the early forties and they were men of standing and wide ac- quaintance in Red River county, where their settlement was made. The patriarchs of that county yet testify to a personal knowledge of Judge William Trimble, an advocate at the bar, who came among them at an advanced age and practiced his profession at Clarksville until his death, about 1853. The latter was our subject's

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paternal ancestor and he emigrated to Texas from Hempstead county, Arkansas, where he won the legal title with which he was afterward honored. He was born in Kentucky, read law and was admitted to the bar there and made his home in Texas about three miles east of Clarks- ville, on his newly-opened farm. Judge Trim- ble's family consisted of David, our subject's father ; Sarah, who married W. J. F. Morgan, and died in Jefferson, Texas; Lucinda, who married Mordaci Fleming, of Red River coun- ty; John, who passed away in Navarro coun- ty; Maria, who became the wife of Thomas Halsell, of Wise county ; William, who died in Red River county; James H., of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Isaac.

David Trimble was of Kentucky birth, and in that state and in Arkansas he was reared. He seemed to be the family prodigy, for his hand was adapted to any of the trades, and whether as carpenter, blacksmith, wheelwright or at the lathe his genius for mechanics shown always to his advantage. He served in the Confeder- ate army through the Civil war and spent his later life at his trades in Hays and Wise coun- ties, in which latter he died in 1883. In his political beliefs he was a Democrat and in re- ligious sentiment he professed Christianity and held to the tenets of the Christian denomina- tion. For his first wife David Trimble married Ellen Sims, a daughter of J. W. Sims, who came to Texas from Louisiana and was a farm- er in Red River county. Mrs. Trimble died in early life, leaving children: James W., our subject; Kate; William D., of Oklahoma; and Monroe, who did not reach maturity. For his second wife David Trimble married Cornelia Hopkins, who is yet a resident of Austin, Texas, and has a son, Charles, of San Antonio.

James W. Trimble's boyhood advantages were poor, for he was growing into manhood when the Civil war was on, when there was no thought of anything but "win the fight." His parents lived two years in Austin in his youth and during that period he obtained his chief knowledge of books. Subsequent to his attain- ing his majority he began life on his own ac- count as a cowboy, spending a year with Tom Burton, whose ranch lay in Hayes county. He then returned to the place of his birth, Red

River county, and engaged in farming, and fol- lowed it in a temporary sort of way for eight years. The nucleus of his real start in life was four hundred dollars in gold and a horse and saddle. In 1882 he moved to Wise county, bought land, raw and in the open, improved and cultivated much of it and sold the two hun- dred and fifteen acres in 1889 and invested the proceeds in Clay county land. Here his labors have been satisfactorily rewarded and his es- tate of nine hundred and sixty acres, fenced and cross-fenced, much of it with net wire, and with permanent and comfortable buildings and other fixtures, is one of the centers of interest about Halsell. His place is abundantly stocked, and three hundred and fifty acres of its soil re- spond to the turning process of the plow and yield in season abundantly of the products of a North Texas farm.

July 15, 1871, Mr. Trimble married Sallie Davis, a daughter of Iredell Davis, of Red River county, the ceremony being performed by Rev. Anderson at the home of Mr. Davis. Martha Fleming was the maiden name of his wife's mother and her other children were: Edward, Narcissa, wife of J. H. Trimble; Mary E., the present wife of our subject; Joseph, of Red River county; Abbie, who married Henry Whiteman, of Clarksville; Columbia, wife of Thomas Peak, of Red River county ; and Mat- thew, also of that county. Mrs. Sallie Trimble died November 12, 1879, and on the 23d 01 September, 1880, Mr. Trimble married her old- er sister, Mary E., born July 19, 1844. Three children came to bless the home of Mr. Trim- ble by his first marriage, viz: Polly, wife of W. A. Chowning, of Clay county, with chil- dren Lloyd, Alvis and William A., Jr .; Kate, deceased wife of attorney R. E. Taylor, of Henrietta, left issue at her death, February 29. 1904, Cedrick ; and Abbie Trimble who married J. A. Pierce and died July 5, 1901, being the mother of two children, J. A., Jr., and Abbie. A son, David, was born to the second marriage of Mr. Trimble, but he passed away at two years of age.

In his capacity as a Democrat Mr. Trimble has a record of attendance on county conven- tions of his party, and as a fair-minded citizen he has been called to serve as a school trustee

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more than a third of his natural life. He con- fesses to a firm belief in the Christian religion, is a Methodist and a Blue Lodge Mason.

JAMES L. MARR is a member of the firm of Austin & Marr, real estate dealers of El Paso. He is a young man, alert and enterprising, and his business activity makes him a forceful and valued factor in business circles in this part of the state. He was born in Philadelphia in 1877, and the same year was brought by his parents to El Paso, being then but nine months old. There were only twenty-three American families in this vicinity at the time. His parents were Colonel James S. and Kate (Knight) Marr, and the former died April 4, 1903, in this city. The mother, who is a native of Pennsylvania, still survives and yet makes her home here. Their children are James L., William K., Jose- phine B. Marr, Mrs. F. C. Earle and Mrs. Douglas Gray.

His father, Colonel James Sanderson Marr, had a long, honorable and distinguished career as a soldier and citizen, exerting a strong and beneficial influence on public affairs. He was born at St. Johns, Canada, during the temporary residence of his parents there in 1837. His father was a Presbyterian minister and came of an old Pennsylvania family, his ancestors having lived for several generations at Milton, that state. The Marrs, however, were originally of Scotch origin and the family was established in this country by the son of Robert Erskine, Earl of Mar.

From his early youth Colonel Marr possessed the spirit of the pioneer, who makes his way into new regions and reclaims unimproved dis- tricts for the purposes of civilization. He was given a scholarship at Princeton University, but availed himself of only a portion of his col- lege privileges. He received, however, from his mother, who was a highly educated and cultured woman, fine training. When a youth Mr. Marr entered the services of the Hudson's Bay Company, and in the fur trade traveled all over Canada and the United States northwest, establishing trading posts on both sides of the

border. In the latter fifties he established a post and built the first house at what is now 'Yankton, South Dakota. In 1858 he removed to St. Louis and was there associated with a number of men who have left their impress on national affairs, including General John C. No- ble, Joseph Pulitzer, D. M. Houser and others. In fact, Colonel Marr was peculiarly fortunate 'through the varied vicissitudes of pioneer life 'to make and retain strong friendships with many · of the most prominent men of military and political life in the United States and among the interesting documents which he left to his family was a collection of personal letters from such men, showing their high regard for him.

At the breaking out of the Civil war in April, 1861, Colonel Marr enlisted in the Union army at the St. Louis arsenal, joining the First Regi- ment of Missouri Infantry under command of General Lyon. This regiment took part in the capture of Camp Jackson in St. Louis and Mr. Marr was immediately appointed second lieu- tenant. He served under General Lyon and participated in all of the events of the campaign from Camp Jackson to Wilson Creek and was then appointed first lieutenant of the First Mis- souri Artillery and commanded a battery under General Fremont in his campaign to the south- west and was also under General Pope at Black- water, Missouri, in the winter of 1862. He served next in the Army of the Frontier under Generals Schofield and Herron, and in Decem- ber, 1862, was commissioned captain for gal- lant service rendered at the battles of Newtonia and Prairie Grove. He served at the battles of Shiloh and Corinth and at Vicksburg, was chief of artillery on General Steele's staff of the Seventeenth Army Corps, becoming one of the most skilled artillerists in the service and was assigned to positions of great responsibility in that department. In March, 1864, he re-organ- ized his command as veterans and himself re- enlisted as such. He also served later as chief of artillery under General Reynolds of the First Division, Seventh Army Corps, and in June, 1865, was appointed brevet major by President Andrew Johnson and was honorably discharged

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from the volunteer service August 4, 1865. Throughout the entire period of the war he never relinquished the command of his battery, though frequently on staff duty.

Subsequently Mr. Marr entered the regular United States army in the artillery service and retired in 1868 as major of the Fourth Artillery. The following year he was married to Miss Kate Knight, at Philadelphia. About this time he was appointed supervisor of internal revenue for the large district comprising the states of Missouri and Kansas and the territories of Colo- rado and New Mexico, having under his control between four and five hundred districts and subordinates. It was while in that service that Colonel Marr won everlasting fame for his suc- cessful fight against the great evils which were undermining the internal revenue department in those days-a system that is known in the pres- ent time by the term "graft." In the period be- tween 1868 and 1872 he destroyed the old and powerful whiskey ring in St. Louis-a project which in its operations was almost as odious as the Tweed plundering in New York. He also unearthed gigantic frauds in Kansas, and, in short, became the terror of evildoers against the government in his district, which later embraced the states of Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana. Throughout his public career he was distin- guished for his uncompromising opposition to wrongdoing in public life and under no circum- stances would he yield to the party "organiza- tion" if it opposed his principles in this re- spect. He was ever the champion of righteous- ness and justice in the field of politics as well as in private lift and his efforts are deserving of great credit and commendation.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I, Part 72

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