A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I, Part 73

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 73

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).

In 1874 Colonel Marr removed to northern New Mexico, where he was engaged in the sheep-raising business, and subsequently he went down the Rio Grande with his flocks and in 1877 established his home in El Paso, bring- ing his family here in 1878, three years before the building of the railroads. In 1880 he found- ed the El Paso Transfer Company, now the Pomeroy Transfer Company, and while manag- ing that concern was, under municipal authority,

in charge of the opening up of some of the principal streets of El Paso, including Oregon, San Antonio, Myrtle and El Paso streets. In 1884 he was the contractor who built the orig- inal street car line, in which enterprise he was associated with Judge Magoffin and other prom- inent citizens.

Colonel Marr was a man of great versatility and superior talents, not only for the successful conduct of public and private business interests, for he also won fame as an accomplished, pains- taking and entertaining writer. He was for some time editorial writer of the El Paso Herald and not long preceding his death he penned a series of reminiscent historical articles concern- ing life in El Paso and the southwest. In the early days of the city's growth he was also the author of a great many pamphlets and folders setting forth the advantages of El Paso, and he probably did more than any other man in the community to herald abroad the information which has resulted in the city's wonderful growth and prosperity. He was custodian for the gov- ernment property at Fort Hancock after that place was abandoned as a military post, and in 1898 he entered the customs service at El Paso, being thus connected at the time of his illness and death, which occurred April 4, 1903.

Colonel Marr led a most active, useful and honorable life, filled with important and far- reaching effort. His labors covered a broad field and many times made him a factor in exciting incidents and adventure. He was throughout life a pioneer and belonged to that class of representative early settlers to whom the west owes its great development and splen- did improvement. He won many firm and true friends, and if he had enemies they respected him for his eminent, civic and personal attri- butes. He was fearless in honor, faultless in con- duct and stainless in reputation and his life record furnishes an example that is indeed well worthy of emulation.

James L. Marr, the elder son of Colonel Marr, was reared and educated mainly in El Paso, where he received a good business train- ing. At the age of seventeen he entered the

JOHN W. GRIFFIS

435

HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

First National Bank in a minor capacity and days. He belonged to the Missionary Baptist was gradually promoted from one position to .. church and was a Royal Arch Mason, his life being in harmony with his professions in con- nection with those two organizations. He was strictly honorable himself and had no use for a man who would not tell the truth. His wife died in 1863. She was a daughter of John Pow-

another until he became receiving and paying teller, acting in that capacity for several years. In the spring of 1905 he resigned his position there to enter into partnership with his father- in-law, William H. Austin, in the real estate business under the firm style of Austin & Marr. : ell of North Carolina, who removed at an early This is a prominent firm, mention of whom is . made in connection with the sketch of Mr. Austin on another page of this volume.

Mr. Marr was married in El Paso to Miss Lucy Austin, and his social prominence, as well as his business position, entitles him to repre- sentation in this volume with the leading citizens of El Paso:

JOHN W. GRIFFIS. In business and politi- cal circles John W. Griffis is well known, suc- cessfully conducting private interests as a stock farmer, while in connection with public affairs he is serving as marshal and deputy sheriff. His birth occurred in Choctaw county, Ala- bama, on the 21st of December, 1849, and he was reared to farm life, while a common school education prepared him for the practical and responsible duties that have come to him in later years. His parents were Harrison and Margaret (Powell) Griffis, natives of North Carolina. Their marriage, however, was cele- brated in Alabama. The father was born and reared in North Carolina and then as a young man went to Alabama, where he owned land and followed farming. Later he removed to Mis- sissippi, where his remaining days were passed, his death occurring in 1897. He was an exten- sive and prominent planter and slave owner, having many colored people upon his place. The number exempted him from war service and he was, in fact, an opponent of the war, foreseeing the result from the beginning. His attention was devoted entirely to agricultural pursuits, in which he prospered until the war caused the loss of his slaves and greatly impoverished his estate. Before his death, however, he had largely re- cuperated his lost possessions and was in com- fortable circumstances in the evening of his

day to Alabama, where he successfully carried on farming and distilling. He owned a number of slaves and was among the most widely known men of his locality. He held member- ship in the Baptist church and died in Alabama, at which time he was possessed of a very grati- fying fortune that had been acquired through his capable management. His children were: David, a farmer, who served in the Confederate army; Susie; Margaret, who became Mrs. Grif- fis ; Esther ; Dolly; and Eliza. Harrison Griffis had no brothers but had several sisters. To Mr. and Mrs. Harrison Griffis were born six chil- dren: Mrs. Mary A. McCastell; John W .; George W., living near Waco; Jesse P., whose home is also in the vicinity of Waco; B. Frank- lin, who died in childhood; and Margaret F., the wife of G. Walker.

John W. Griffis was born in Alabama and re- mained under the parental roof until 1864, when at the age of fifteen years he entered the army as a member of Joseph E. Johnston's command. He joined the regiment at Meridian, Missis- sippi, went to Georgia and afterward to Golds- boro, North Carolina, and acted in the capacity- of a courier for Colonel Harrison. He was sent inside the Federal lines, executed the task that was assigned him and returned in safety. He has had some narrow escapes from capture, but was never wounded nor taken prisoner. The Fourteenth Mississippi Regiment, to which he belonged, followed Sherman on his march to the sea and Mr. Griffis noted the great destruction of property and the devastation of the country. He was near Raleigh, North Carolina, at the time of General Lee's surrender.

When the war was over Mr. Griffis returned home and resumed work, remaining in Alabama until 1868, when he came to Texas. He first

436

HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

settled in Grimes county and afterward went to Hayes county, where he was employed as a farm hand, but when a year had passed became a cow- boy on the plains and made five trips with large herds of cattle to Kansas. Following his mar- riage in 1871 he rented a farm for a year in McLennan county and got together a bunch of cattle. In 1873 he took his stock to Cooke county, where he pre-empted land, made improvements and spent several years, but by a dishonorable transaction on the part of another he lost his property. He then bought other land and again began the work of improving a farm, spending five years upon that place. He at first had five hundred acres, but added to the original holding until his landed possessions aggregated twelve hundred acres. There he remained in the suc- cessful management of his farming and stock- raising interests and he yet owns over five hun- dred acres of land in Cooke county and carries on farming and stock-raising interests. He like- wise has cattle and horses in the Indian Terri- tory. In 1892 he bought a small tract of fifteen acres near the depot in Saint Jo and has lived thereon since. He farms this land and has erected a commodious frame residence, to which he has added many modern comforts, and he has also planted an orchard, giving his attention to the cultivation of fruit and cereals and to the raising of stock, which he raises for the family's support. He has lived in Western Texas in pioneer times, the Indians making several raids after he took up his abode in this part of the state. He has watched the entire developinent of Cooke and Montague counties and has co- operated in many movements that have largely promoted the general good.

Mr. Griffis was married in 1871 to Miss Edna Evans, who was born in Logan county, Illinois, and is a daughter of Tilford B. and Elizabeth (Creekur) Evans, both of whom were natives of Kentucky, in which state they were married. Subsequently they removed to Illinois, where the father followed farming for a number of years, and then went to northern Missouri. In 1861 he became a resident of Fannin county, Texas, and in the fall of that year joined the Confed-

erate troops and served until the close of the war with the Trans-Mississippi department in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. He was twice granted furloughs, and with the exception of these brief periods was always on active duty, being often found in the thickest of the fight. When the war was over he returned home and soon afterward moved to McLennan county, where he purchased land and improved a farm, remaining there until his death in 1889. In his political views he was a stanch Democrat and in religious faith was a Missionary Baptist. His widow yet resides upon the old family homestead at the age of seventy years and she, too, is a member of the Baptist church. In their family were the. following named: Mrs. Eliza Ed- wards ; Mrs. Edna Griffis; Verona, the wife of G. W. Griffis; James W., a farmer ; Thomas B., a barber; Sally, the wife of G. LaFoon; Rufus B., a farmer; and Marietta, the wife of S. Owens.

The home of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Griffis was blessed with thirteen children: Mary F., the wife of L. Gephart ; Betty M., the wife of F. Price; Jesse A .; John A., who is raising cattle in the Territory; Harvey H., living near Waco; Burrell F., on the home ranch; H. Clay, also in the Territory; Edna E., the wife of G. May; Piner, who is on the home ranch; Lazora, who died at the age of eight years; Dora, Hazel and Harrison, all with their parents. Of the family of thirteen children all but two are living and five of the number are married, and there are now fifteen grandchildren. Both Mr. and Mrs. Griffis are devoted members of the Baptist church and in his political faitli he is a strong Demo- crat. Although without aspiration for office, his fellow townsmen have called him to positions of public honor and trust and he has served as city marshal and also as deputy sheriff, filling both positions at the present time. While in the army he witnessed many deaths, but none with such sorrow nor with such feelings of loneliness as when his friend and only acquaintance was shot and killed while on his first trip with cattle north, the murder being committed about six miles from Waco by the son of the owner of the

RICHARD E. CARTER, SR.

437

HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

herd. Mr. Griffis laid his friend on the grass, jamin Harrison, late president of the United stayed with him all night and sent to Waco to .. States, were descendants of another branch of get a man to bury him. The man who shot him was never arrested for the crime. The follow- ing day Mr. Griffis had to resume his journey northward with the herd, but on the entire trip his mind dwelt on that incident. He is familiar with the pioneer history of this part of the state and has rejoiced in the changes that have oc- curred and the progress that has been made, as Montague county has put aside the environments of frontier life and taken on all of the advan- tages of an improved civilization. the Carter family. Still another branch has Anna H. Carter, who married General Harry Lee, father of General Robert E. Lee. Her father, Charles Carter, of Shirley and. Edward Carter, of Blenheim, Virginia, grandfather of : Champe Carter, father of Richard E. Carter, were brothers, and were both sons of John Carter and Elizabeth Hill of Shirley. About fifty of the ex- governors of the various states are represented on this family tree. The mother of Richard E. Carter, of Abilene, bore the maiden name of Mary Wright Ellis Montgomery, and was born in Amherst county, Virginia. Her mother died in Virginia, being on a visit there, while her husband, Judge Thomas Montgomery, was representing Kentucky in Congress from Stanford. Being left an infant she was reared by relatives, the Ellises, in Virginia, and she was married to Champe Carter in the Old Dominion. She was the mother of ten children-eight sons and two daughters -and six of these sons served in the Con- federate army, four in the Fifteenth Texas Volunteer Infantry and two in Parsons' Texas cavalry. Champe Carter was a lawyer by profes- sion and practiced in Virginia, Kentucky and Texas. He removed to Kentucky in 1847 and the latter state in 1859, settling at Milford, Ellis county, and he died at the home of his son, Rich- ard E. Carter, of Chappel Hill, Washington county, Texas, in 1873, while on a visit there.

RICHARD E. CARTER has been an active factor in the upbuilding of Abilene, since the founding of the town and is today a prominent real estate dealer here. He is a typical American business man, forming his plans readily, executing them with determination, and so controlling his interests by sound judgment, that his labors are attended with gratifying financial reward. A native of Virginia, he was born in Amherst, coun- ty, May 1, 1842. The Carter family has a com- plete geneological tree of the paternal ancestry, called the "American Carter tree." It dates from 1642 and extends down ten generations. Accord- ing to this tree the founder of the family in Amer- ica was John Carter, who came from England, and settled in Corotoman, Virginia. He was mar- ried five times, but only had children by one wife, Sarah Ludlowe. His son, Robert Carter, called "King Carter," married Judith Armistead, and then Betty Landon, and was the father of nine children, one of whom became the wife of George Braxton, of Virginia, and his son, Carter Braxton, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Inde- pendence. A great-great-grandson, A. C. Brax- ton, of Staunton, Virginia, was one of the com- mittee sent to notify Judge Alton B. Parker of his nomination for the presidency, in the campaign of 1904. Another descendant of Robert Carter was Anne H. Carter, the mother of General Robert E. Lee. General and President William Henry Harrison, and his father, who was at one time governor of Virginia and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, together with Ben-

Richard E. Carter, reared under the parental roof, was a young man of twenty years when at the beginning of 1862 he offered his services in defense of the Confederate cause and became a member of Company E, Halberts' Company, Fif- teenth Regiment of Texas Volunteers, McCul- loch's, Walker's and Moulton's Divisions. There were four brothers in this company: E. H., of Waco; Champe, of Franklin, Texas; Powie E., of Waco, and R. E., of Abilene, all from Milford, besides Reverend Thomas M. and Charles Lee, in Parsons Cavalry. A re- markable fact is that although he and two brothers were wounded and more than two-thirds of mess No. 7, composed of fourteen soldiers,

438

HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

were wounded, and although they marched about eight thousand miles as infantry and suffered all the hardships of war, each member of the mess, numbering fourteen, returned home alive. At the Dallas and New Orleans reunions Mr. Carter was made Adjutant General of Mount's Division Organization, with the rank of General.

Richard E. Carter was married in October, 1870, to Miss Olivia M. Stanchfield, of Chappel Hill, Texas, whose grandfather, Captain W. J. E. Heard, commanded a company at San Jacinto under General Houston. He was living at that time at Galveston, and afterward removed to Chappel Hill, Texas, where he made his home for ten years. He then took up his home on a plantation below Eagle Lake, in Wharton coun- ty, where his wife died in 1885. She was the mother of four living children. Mr. Carter was again married in 1888 to Ella M. Montgomery, whose parents came from Carolina to Mississip- pi, living in this state prior to removing to Guad- alupe county, Texas, in 1852.

In 1890 Mr. Carter took up his abode in Abi- lene, where he began the real estate business, which he has since conducted. He is thoroughly posted concerning the lands of Western Texas, making a close study of his business, and he is to- day a representative man of Abilene. His busi- ness methods are such as will bear the closest investigation and scrutiny, and he possesses also a strong determination that enables him to over- come all difficulties and obstacles in his path. From his boyhood days he has been a member of the Presbyterian church, and for a number of years has been one of its ruling elders. He is a whole-souled man, whom it is a pleasure to meet, for he ever has a hearty greeting for his friends, and his social qualities, as well as his business activity, have made him a popular and valued res- ident of Abilene.

RANDOLPH TERRY, a practitioner of the El Paso bar, is one of the younger representa- tives of the profession of law in this city, but has already achieved success and prominence that many an older practitioner might well envy. His father, James E. Terry, a contractor and builder of El Paso, who came to this city in

pioneer days, was born in Autauga county, Ala- bama, and is a son of John K. and Comfort (Norsworthy) Terry, who, during the early youth of their son removed from Alabama to Calcasieu parish, in Louisiana, where the mother died. In 1852 the remainder of the family came to Texas, settling in Rusk county, which was then a new country. John K. Terry lived to the advanced age of eighty-two years, passing away in El Paso in 1900. Both the paternal and ma- ternal grandfather of James E. Terry were pio- neer ministers of the Methodist church in Geor- gia and Alabama.

In the summer of 1854 James E. Terry left home and went to Fort Graham, near the pres- ent location of Waco, Texas, in what was then a frontier district. Late in the fall of 1855 he resumed his westward journey in company with a party of young spirits, their object being to join a man by the name of Crabb, who was or- ganizing an expedition to carry out a revolu- tion in the state of Sonora, Mexico. Walter P. Lane, afterward Major Lane of the Con- federate army, who had been to California and was returning, had planned also to join this expedition and it was the intention of Mr. Terry and the party to enter the project under com- mand of Major Lane. They were to rendezvous at Tucson, Arizona, but were delayed in their journey to that place and Crabb became impa- tient and started with a small company of men to Sonora without them. The intrepid leader was killed and the expedition was never carried cut as far as Mr. Terry's party was concerned. He afterward went down the Rio Grande valley as far as Uvalde and Fort Clark, but later re- turned to El Paso in the employ of the old over- land mail line as a driver on the relay entering at this city. The corral of this old stage line was in what is now the heart of the business dis- trict of El Paso, where Krakauer, Zork & Moye hardware store now stands. Another of the old stage lines, the one connecting Santa Fe and San Antonio, had its corral and headquarters where the Sheldon Hotel now stands.

Mr. Terry continued to make his headquar- ters at El Paso until the inauguration of the war

439

HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

between the north and, the south, when he en- Rusk county in 1858. Mrs. Terry has been listed for service in the Confederate army, join- . a most faithful and devoted wife and helpmate to her husband. As the years passed they be- came the parents of ten children, four of whom are now living, namely: Randolph, of this re- view; Mrs. Comfort Fletcher; Mrs. Susan Pat- terson, and Mrs. Mary Spencer. They have also ; reared a number of orphan children and are well

ing a local company, at El Paso. This was un- attached at first. They acted as minute-men un- til General John R. Baylor, a native Texan and frontiersman, came up the Rio Grande valley with the old Second Texas regiment and cap- tured Fort Stanton, New Mexico, from the Federal troops. It was at that time that Mr. . known for their kindness, liberality and benevo- lence-qualities which have won them the love and regard of all who know aught of their his- tory.

Terry joined John R. Baylor's Brigade as a cavalryman, becoming a member of Company A, and afterward joining the regiment, com- manded by Colonel George Baylor, a brother of General John R. Baylor, while Joseph Magof- fin, of El Paso, who is represented elsewhere in this work, was commissary general. In that command Mr. Terry remained throughout the war in the Trans-Mississippi department and did much active service up and down the west bank of the Mississippi river, participating in all of the battles that were fought in that part of the country. They were opposite Port Hudson, Louisiana, when that place was captured by General Banks, and Mr. Terry was in the army that fought Banks up the Red river, culminating in the battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill. He left the army on a crutch on account of wounds sustained in the service. After the war he went to Fort Graham, but later located far- ther west on the Brazos river, living in Bosque and Hamilton counties until the era of railroad construction was inaugurated in Texas in the early seventies. He then became a railroad con- tractor, being engaged at first on the Houston & Texas Central construction work on its first line and later on the construction westward on the Texas & Pacific Railroad, which brought him again to El Paso, which has since been his permanent home. He is still engaged in the contracting business and his efforts as a gen- eral builder have resulted in the substantial improvement and progress of his section of the state.

Soon after leaving the army James E. Terry was married to Miss Elizabeth Jane Nelson, a native of Shelbyville, Tennessee. She came to Texas with her parents, the family settling in

Randolph Terry, of this review, who is the only surviving son of Mr. and Mrs. James E. Terry, acquired his education in the schools of El Paso, where he was advanced through suc- cessive grades until he was graduated from the high school with the class of 1897. He was then about twenty-one years of age, having been born in Hamilton county, Texas, in 1876. He followed his high school course by a period of study in the University of Texas, at Austin, and was graduated from the academic and lit- erary departments in 1900. He then matricu- lated for law study in the same institution and finished the law course in 1902. Immediately afterward he opened an office in El Paso, where he has since remained, and already he has been accorded a liberal patronage, while his capa- bility and laudable ambition augur well for a successful future.

CAPTAIN JAMES H. WHITE, who, with the exception of Judge Joseph Magoffin, Mr. W. W. Mills, Mr. Sam Schutz and a few Amer- icans who were born there, is the oldest Amer- ican resident of El Paso in years of connection with the city, is so well known here that no history of the locality would be complete with- out mention of his life. His name is not only interwoven with the record of pioneer develop- ment, but in more recent years he has filled important local offices and is now to som- ex- tent identified with the mining interests of this section of the country. His birth occurred in Portsmouth, Virginia, February 15, 1847, his parents being James C. and Argyra (Harrison)

440

HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

White. The father was born in Portsmouth, was a prominent merchant there and at one time was mayor of the city. His wife came of colonial and Revolutionary ancestry.

Captain White, of this review, was a student in the Virginia Collegiate Institute when the war broke out, and although less than fifteen years of age at that time he enlisted in the Confederate army in a company known as the Independent Signal Corps, which later became the second company of a battalion of signal men under command of Captain De Jarnette, while the battalion was commanded by Major James Milligan. Throughout the period of the war Mr. White was connected with Lee's army in Virginia. The men in the signal service per- formed most important duty, oftentimes of a hazardous nature, at Norfolk, Portsmouth and on the James river below Richmond, watching all the operations of the federal army, main- taining a telegraph line and keeping the com- mander at Richmond constantly advised as to the federal movements. Their services were attended with much danger, especially in their movements about Richmond in the spring of 1864. After Petersburg had been invested by Grant's army Captain White's company was put in the trenches armed on the fortified line, and while on this duty Captain White was twice wounded by fragments of shells. Captain White was with Lee's army when it surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse on the 9th of April, 1865, and on the following day he received his parole from D. B. Bridgford, major and prevost marshal of the Army of Northern Virginia (Lee's army), Major Bridgford having been re- quested by General Grant to attend to these duties. Captain White still retains his parole, which is a very interesting historic document, dated at Appomattox Courthouse, April 10, 1865.

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 73

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