USA > Texas > A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I > Part 83
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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.
After remaining in Kansas for about two years Mr. Gaal went to St. Louis, Missouri, in 1871, but later in the same year started for Cali- fornia. He first located at San Francisco and subsequently at Sacramento, where he was con- nected with the Central Pacific (now the South- ern Pacific) Railroad. He also acquired valua- ble real estate interests in the vicinity of Sacra- mento and also in Humboldt county. He con- tinued successfully in business in California un- til 1880, when he came to El Paso, Texas, then known as Franklin. The Southern Pacific Rail- road, which was the first line to reach this city, had not then been completed to the town but was extended to El Paso in 1881. Mr, Gaal purchased six thousand acres of land in El Paso county, but continued to make his home in the town and for some time had charge of the work of the Southern Pacific car shops; in fact, con- tinued in charge until the shops were completed. Subsequently he resumed the management of the furniture store of Robinson & Carrico of San Antonio street, adjoining the State Na- tional Bank, conducting the business for about a year. That was in the pioneer days of the city. In the summer of 1883, Mr. Gaal pur- chased some property at Ysleta, then the county seat of El Paso county, and located in that town, establishing a general store there. Ysleta was then the largest town in El Paso county, Texas; out of said town he afterwards made a city, and changed the public free school into an indepen- dent free school district. His business pros- pered and he extended his operations to include general contracting for the Southern Pacific Railway. To that company he sold thousands of cords of wood and also did general construc- tion work for the corporation along the Rio Grande river to prevent the road from being washed out. He there built twenty-one miles of railroad track when the line was changed from the valley to the foot hills.
When it was proposed to change the county seat from Ysleta to El Paso, Mr. Gaal for the first time entered actively into politics for the purpose of fighting for the interests of his home town and took an active part in the exciting
election, which, however, resulted in the re- moval of the court-house to El Paso in 1885.
Since 1883, when Mr. Gaal located in the town of Ysleta, he being a Republican looked around town and vicinity to find out if there were any other loyal Republicans there, but to his great surprise found only one man by name of Pablo Romero, a Mexican, but an American citizen, who declared himself to be a Repub- lican, but was afraid of his life if known publicly; so Mr. Gaal went to work unceasingly, regard- less of danger, and reformed old Democrats into young Republicans, and by 1886 had several hundred young Republicans following and sup- porting him. In 1886 Mr. Gaal was urged to become a candidate for county commissioner on the Republican ticket, but was defeated by a very small majority, owing to a combination of candidates against him. In 1888 he was · elected mayor of Ysleta and county commis- sioner by an overwhelming Republican majority, six to one, against his opponent, and again elect- ed mayor in 1890 and again in 1894. His third election was certainly a vindication of the course which he pursued during his former terms and which proved an exciting chapter in his life history. Mr. Gaal was engaged on the recon- struction of the Acequia Madre irrigation ditch of Ysleta for the use and benefit of the citizens of the City of Ysleta, and in his capacity as mayor he had many men in his employ. This was in 1890. He was opposed in this irrigation project by a number of people in the vicinity of Ysleta because of the fact that another com- pany was about to construct another irrigating ditch. The opposition was a political scheme, concocted by the opposing party. The contro- versy between the contending parties grew, bit- ter feeling was engendered and at length trouble of a revolutionary character broke out. At this time Mr. Gaal exhibited great courage and reso- lution. He was barricaded in his own home with his family for several hours and his ene- mies fired thousands of shots, but were finally put to flight by the friends of Mr. Gaal. The details of this affair and the proceedings which led up to it would fill a long chapter, showing
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the open disregard of his opponents for the law. but Mr. Gaal knows that all good citizens feel that he did his duty in every respect. He had the endorsement of county officials and many citizens. A large number of the best citizens became mixed up in those riots in which Mr. Gaal several times narrowly escaped death. When time brought calmer judgment and less biased opinion many who had opposed him saw that his course was correct and the warm friend- ship and regard which is uniformly extended him today indicates that he was right in the stand which he took. His election in 1894 was an indication of the popularity and the confi- dence reposed in him by his fellow citizens. Iv 1891 he was appointed inspector and deputy collector of customs in charge of Ysleta under Webster Flannagan, who was then the collector. of customs for the El Paso district, and con- tinued to discharge the duties of the office in addition to the management of his general busi- ness interests at Ysleta until 1895. He was president of the school board of Ysleta for seven years. In 1899 he was elected superintendent of the County Hospital at Ei Paso, which posi- tion he is now filling. His family, however, continued to make their home in Ysleta. He is extensively interested in farming and was for some time engaged in the milling business. He is a man of resourceful ability, carrying forward to successful completion what- ever he undertakes, and he has won a creditable measure of prosperity in his private business interests.
Mr. Gaal was married while living in Sacra- mento to Miss F. C. A. Rademacher, who was born at Willimantic, Connecticut, and they have three sons and a daughter, Charles B., Lillian M., Frank F. and George W. Frater- nally Mr. Gaal is connected with Industrial Lodge, No. 157, I. O. O. F., of Sacramento, and also with the Knights of Pythias Lodge No. II, at Sacramento, California. He likewise be- longs to the Elks Lodge No. 187, at El Paso and to the Pioneers' Society of El Paso, Texas, Mr. Gaal has figured prominently in connection with events that mark the country's progress
and the promotion of its material upbuilding and improvement and in his present office is proving most capable and efficient, carefully conducting the business interests of the hospital and at the same time neglecting no duty toward its inmates.
CORWIN L. MAXWELL, M. D., who in the practice of medicine and surgery has gained an enviable reputation and who as a druggist of Myra., Texas, is also well known in his part of the state, was born in Dade county, Mis- souri, February 2, 1869. His youth was de- voted to farm labor and to the acquirement of an elementary education in the common schools. His parents were Zachariah T. and Rebecca (Mitchell) Maxwell, both natives of Missouri, where they were married. The paternal grand- father was a native of Tennessee and was a de- scendant of an honored pioneer family of that state. He assisted in removing the Indians from Tennessee and later he took up his abode in Missouri, becoming a pioneer resident there in 1840. He was a prominent farmer and slave owner and was numbered among the sub- stantial citizens of his community, devoting his entire life to agricultural pursuits without desire for public office or for preferment along other lines. His children were Henry and Zacha- riah T.
Zachariah T. Maxwell was born and reared in Missouri and after his marriage followed farm- ing until 1872, when he removed to Texas, making an overland trip. He first located in the southwestern part of Cooke county, where he remained for eighteen months, when, on ac- count of Indian depredations, he removed to Collin county, where he was employed by a. stockman in whose services he continued for three years. He next took up his abode in Grayson county, where he rented a farm for six years, after which he settled near Hardy in Montague county, where he conducted farming and also operated a cotton gin and a thresher. He was successful in his business operations there and so continued until 1897, when he rented his farm and removed to Forestburg.
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where he had a cotton gin, continuing this bus- iness successfully until 1901. He then sold his interests in Montague county and removed to Rosston in the western part of Cooke county, where he has since engaged in merchandising, meeting with excellent success, for he now has a large and growing patronage. He is an intel- ligent, enterprising business man, watchful of opportunities and by his utilization of the possi- bilities that have come to him he has gradually worked his way upward to the plane of afflu- ence. In politics he is a strong Republican and is a worthy member of the Masonic fraternity and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. while both he and his wife are consistent mem- bers of the Methodist church. He married Miss Rebecca Mitchell, a daughter of Stephen F. Mitchell, of Tennessee, who owned a farm and slaves in that state. He removed from Tennes- see to Missouri at an early day and purchased a large tract of land, becoming an extensive farmer and stockman there. He was very prominent and was widely known, being re- spected by all who knew him. Early in the '50s he started his son with a large herd of cattle to California, but the Indians stole and stampeded the cattle and the entire herd was lost, so that he suffered greatly financially. He endorsed the teachings of the Methodist church and was classed with its faithful members. His children were: Stephen F., who came to Texas, but later returned to Missouri; Mrs. Tennessee Farmer; and Rebecca, now Mrs. Maxwell.
To Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell were born six chil- dren : Maggie L., who became Mrs. Roberson; Corwin L .; Mattie L., the wife of T. F. Farmer; J. W., a salesman in a hardware and implement store in Gainesville, Texas; Dora A., the wife of A. L. Strong : and Z. T., of Mexico, who is engaged in business with his father at Rosston.
Dr. Maxwell, whose name introduces this re- view, having completed his preliminary educa- tion in the public schools of Texas, began read- ing medicine in 1893 under the direction of Dr. W. C. Roberson, of Hardy, Texas. In the win- ter of 1893-4 he attended lectures at the Van- derbilt University at Nashville, Tennessee, af-
ter which he went before the board of exam- iners and after a sufficient test received the cer- tificate of proficiency that enabled him to begin practice. He then returned to Hardy, where he entered upon the active work of the profes- sion. In the winter of 1894-5, however, he was again a student in the Vanderbilt University, but in the summer once again returned to Hardy, 'where he continued in active practice until the winter of 1897-8, when he resumed his studies in the Vanderbilt University, being graduated from that institution in the spring of the latter year.
Dr. Maxwell then located for practice in For- estburg, Texas, where he remained successfully until 1900, when he located at Myra, where he has since lived. Here he bought out a stock of drugs and in connection with the conduct of his store he has continued to administer to the · needs of the sick and suffering. He also built a commodious cottage here in modern style of architecture and in 1903 he erected a large brick store building, in which he has a large and well selected line of drugs and other goods and he is accorded a liberal patronage, drawing his trade from a large surrounding district, his business having become quite profitable. He also has a lucrative practice and a well equipped office, supplied with all modern appliances. He keeps in touch with scientific research and investiga- tion and is most practical in all his methods. being recognized as a proficient and capable physician and surgeon. He belongs to the State and County Medical associations, also the Med- ical Association of Northern Texas, the North- western Texas and the American Medical Asso- ciations.
On the 12th of June, 1894, Dr. Maxwell was married to Miss Gracie L. Payne, who was born in Tennessee in 1876 and is a daughter of T. J. and M. O. (Green) Payne, both of whom were natives of Tennessee, where they were married. They represented leading and honored old southern families. Mr. Payne served as a sol- dier in the Confederate army from Tennessee and was an able defender of the cause he es- poused, meeting uncomplainingly all the hard-
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ships and privations of a soldier's life. After the close of the war he resumed farming, in which he continued successfully until his later years, when he came to Texas, settling near Hardy in Montague county, where he began farming. After several years thus spent he turned his attention to the life insurance busi- ness, which claimed his attention for some years, when he resumed agricultural pursuits on his place near Hardy. There he yet resides. He is a man of social, genial nature, pleasant to meet and is well known and highly respected. In politics he is a stanch Democrat, but with- out aspiration for political office. In his family were seven children: Emma, now the wife of Professor G. L. Wren; Sarah E., the widow of Dr. W. C. Roberson, who died leaving two chil- dren; Ella, the wife of S. C. Martin; Gracie L., now Mrs. Maxwell; Minnie, at home; John H., who is attending a medical school at Fort Worth, Texas; and Eric, also at home. The mother of these children was a devoted member of the Methodist church.
To Dr. and Mrs. Maxwell have been born two interesting sons, Douglas I., born Decem- ber 12, 1898; and C. L., Jr., whose birth oc- curred March 12, 1900. Dr. Maxwell belongs to Myra Lodge No. 878, A. F. & A. M., and to the Woodmen of the World, and his wife is a member of the Methodist church. They are highly esteemed in the community where they reside and where the hospitality of many homes is freely accorded them.
HENRY SCHLEY ERVAY, the subject of this sketch, was born in Elmira, New York. His father was Mr. Jacob Ervay, a native of Virginia, and his mother was Miss Sophia Schley, of Maryland, her father being Henry Schley of the same family of which Admiral Schley of Spanish-American war fame is a scion ..
Mr. Ervay's boyhood was spent in Pennsyl- vania. When he finished school he joined an engineering corps which went as far west as British Columbia, surveying and exploring. Later he returned to Minnesota, where he en- gaged in the real-estate business in Red Wing.
In the spring of 1858 he started south. The first stages of his journey were made on the ice of the Mississippi river in a sleigh drawn by Canadian ponies. The remainder of the trip was by carriage and coach. When he arrived in Texas he saw men in the fields harvesting wheat, so great had been the climatic change from Minnesota, and so long a time was neces- sary for the journey at that period.
Mr. Ervay's earliest association in Texas was with the Butterfield Overland Mail Company, which was at that time operating between Saint Louis and San Francisco in competition with the steamship mails. When on trips of inspec- tion for this company he saw much of the wild frontier life which is now but romance and legend. It was not a rare occurrence for the stage to roll into the relay stations but to find the people killed and horses driven away by the hostile Indians. In fact the government was obliged to furnish troops to protect the line for almost the entire' distance ..
Finding this life a bit strenuous and the nov- elty having worn off, Mr. Ervay. at the end of a year, went to Dallas, thus becoming one of the pioneers of a young city. However, before establishing himself there he joined General William Walker, who was forming a company for what has become the historic Walker expe- dition to assist him in his efforts to be reinstated governor of Nicaragua, from which position he had been deposed through one of the revolu- tions of that period. Mr. Ervay joined this company at New Orleans in the spring of 1859. The men were dispatched in small parties and rendezvoused on an island in the Caribbean Sea until General Walker had what he thought was a sufficient number to accomplish his purpose. About two hundred succeeded in effecting a landing at Fort Truxillo, Honduras, and just before daybreak divided into squads, one of which Mr. Ervay commanded. They made a dash for the fort, routed four hundred men, and for one month held the fort unmolested, the na- tives meanwhile not daring to attack them. In July a large sail was discovered on the gulf; it proved to be a British sloop, whose comman-
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der, Captain Simons, sent a lieutenant ashore to demand Walker's surrender. The latter asked until six o'clock the next morning to decide on an answer. As soon as darkness fell the men were ordered to pack their things and started for Mosquito coast. The journey was fraught with great danger, being undertaken in a coun- try filled with natives animated by a savage and murderous hatred of the men belonging to Walker's command. After marching all that night and the next day they reached the Black river, crossed it in canoes just as night came on and camped, with sentinels stationed to warn them if the enemy approached. Early in the morning a large number of natives rushed out upon them from the bushes, but were repulsed by Walker's men and fell back. While making this charge Mr. Ervay was wounded nine times and had to be placed on a pack pony and car- ried on with his companions. This encounter and caring for the wounded had taken the en- tire day and by the time they were again mov- ing night had fallen. Through the darkness they advanced along narrow, ill-defined trails, torn by the thick underbrush and stifled by the heat, until midnight, when the impenetrable darkness forced them to halt. Mr. Ervay's wounds were by this time in such bad condition that he could not be removed from the pony, so the halt proved of little comfort for him. With the dawn they were again on the move and on reaching a village were attacked by the natives from ambush, but these were routed in a half hour. They then entered and at once proceeded to construct a transport to carry the wounded to Roman river. The following morn- ing the British man of war again appeared. The same lieutenant, who had before demanded sur- render, came ashore to repeat the demand, made in the name of Her Majesty, the queen of England. Walker replied that he would sur- render to Her Majesty, the queen of England, but not to Honduras. This answer satisfied Captain Simons and he took all of the Walker party on board his ship, caring for the sick and wounded of their number. England had some
financial claim upon Honduras which was their excuse for interfering.
When the physicians examined Mr. Ervay's wounds they were found so serious that ampu- tation was declared necessary, but to this he so strenuously objected that the amputation of the limbs was not performed. The sloop sailed back to Fort Truxillo, where, in spite of all promises ' to the contrary, Captain Simons turned over General Walker and all his men to the Hondurans, who put them in prison and there they remained for twelve days-days of suffering and agony to Mr. Ervay. He lay upon mats on the floor, where by fanning and keeping cold water upon his wounded limbs he managed to keep alive. Finally the soldiers were notified that the natives intended to shoot General Walker and this was soon carried into execution. Three days later Captain Hinkley came with a British man of war, took all the men on board and sailed for New Orleans. On reaching that city three days were spent in quarantine, after which the wounded were taken to a hospital and there Mr. Ervay passed the entire winter. He paid dearly in suffering and constant exposure to danger and death in a sav- agely hostile country and in a poisonous cli- mate, for gratifying his spirit of adventure.
In the spring Mr. Ervay, being enabled by that time to walk on crutches, went to Galves- ton, Texas, but for two months lay ill with fever in that city. On recovering sufficiently he made his way on horseback to Dallas.
In 1862 he married and in the fall of 1863 he enlisted in the Confederate service and was made assistant quartermaster. His wounds which he had sustained in the Honduras expe- dition had prevented him from shouldering a musket.
At the close of the war he embarked in the live stock and real-estate business. He was also active and influential in community affairs, serving as mayor for two terms. About that time Governor Davis, who had been continued in his office by General Reynolds, in charge of the military forces of the state, concluded that
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Mayor Ervay was not sufficiently loyal and is- sued an order removing him and appointing another in his place, but the civil government . having been reorganized and Dallas having re- ceived a new charter from it, Mr. Ervay acting
the people, refused to yield. District Judge Hardin Hart issued a mandate commanding him to surrender the office, but Mr. Ervay positively refused to do so. Thereupon he was committed to and locked up in jail. It so happened that just at this crisis a decision arrived in Dallas, made by the supreme court of the Governor Davis regime, in a precisely similar case, ruling that the governor did not possess the power of removal, whereupon Judge Hart hastened to unlock the prison door and Mr. Ervay stepped out a free man to resume his duties as mayor and enjoy the increased respect of the people. His conduct through this trying affair deserved and received the warmest approval of his fellow citizens, who further showed their appreciation of his manhood and official capability by con- tinuing him in the offices of mayor and alder- man for about ten years. During his service the street bearing his name was opened and is now a prominent street of Dallas.
A little later he, in company with his brother, F. M. Ervay, entered the wholesale implement trade, in which they were pioneers in Dallas, being the first to ship in carload lots, and they paved the way for the present pre-eminence of Dallas in that industry, theirs being the largest implement and vehicle distributing point in the southwest. Since 1888 Mr. Ervay has not been directly interested in business in Dallas, al- though he still retains important real-estate holdings there.
At this time Mr. Ervay took up mining as his chief interest. He was one of the pioneer mine owners of Cripple Creek, making his home in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he had previously made heavy real-estate investments. Mr. Ervay was president of several mining com- panies in Cripple Creek and was actively inter- ested in the growth and development of the
camp for many years. He still retains large in- terests there.
In January, 1903, Mr. Ervay with his family removed to El Paso, where he has since made his home, coming here partly for the purpose both under legal advice and a sense of duty to , of finding a milder climate than that of Colo- rado, and partly for the purpose of enabling him to 'supervise more closely his mining interests in Sonora, Mexico, which he has acquired in later years.
Mrs. Ervay bore the maiden name of Louise Hickman and is a representative of the Lewis and Hickman families of Virginia and Ken- tucky. Her grandfather, Captain James Lewis Hickman, was born in Culpeper county, Vir- ginia, and during the Revolutionary war com- manded a company under General Washington.
Mr. and Mrs. Ervay have two children, Mrs. Maude Ervay Fagin and Henry Schley Ervay, Jr. The latter was graduated from the Virginia Military Institute, at Lexington, Virginia, in the class of 1899.
ADOLPHUS H. PARKER, a civil and min- ing engineer of El Paso, was born at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, and in his youth came with his parents to America in the early '50s, the family home being established in Lebanon, Warren county, Ohio, where Mr. Parker attended school. His attention was. directed in the line of surveying and civil en- gineering and early in the '6os he went to Cal- ifornia by way of the isthmus of Panama, locating at San Jose in the Santa Clara valley, where he was elected surveyor before he had attained his majority. He lived in California for about seventeen years, engaged in civil and mining engineering, and afterward spent two years in the mining regions of Utah and Arizona. In 1882 he located in El Paso, where he has since resided, being one of the pioneers of this city and is now a member of the Pioneer Association.
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