A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I, Part 84

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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Mr. Parker had been a resident of this city for about six months when he was elected city engineer and for six years he filled the office

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in a most satisfactory and capable manner, his official services being commended by all con- nected with this department of the city's ser- vice. During the latter part of his term he began the preliminary work on the first sewer of El Paso. At a later date he was elected county surveyor and successive elections con- tinued him in office for fourteen years. He was first chosen in 1890. No higher testimo- nial of his loyalty and efficiency could be given than the fact that he has been retained in office for such long periods. In recent years his principal activities have been in connec- tion with the department of the mining indus- try in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, where he has some valuable mining properties, spend- ing considerable of his time there in the su- pervision of that department. He also follows civil and mining engineering, maintaining an office in El Paso for that purpose. He owns about eighteen hundred acres of the rich val- ley land that will come under irrigation upon the completion of the great Engle dam now in process of construction under government su- pervision. In 1904 Mr. Parker was one of the organizers of the El Paso Pioneers' Associa- tion and he is interested in all that pertains to researches concerning the early history of this section of the state. He has made a creditable record in an official capacity and as a business man stands as a splendid type of the enterpris- ing citizen who is contributing so largely to the rapid progress and development of this portion of the state.

SAMUEL M. DANIEL. The farming in- terests of Wichita county find a worthy repre- sentative in Samuel M. Daniel, whose life indi- cates what it is possible to accomplish through farm work in this section of the state. He came to Texas a poor man and today he is numbered among the substantial citizens of his community. Born in Coffee county, Ten- nessee, in 1851, he is a son of L. T. and Caro- line (Riggin) Daniel, who were also natives of Tennessee, in which state they spent their en- tire lives, the father devoting his energies to

agricultural pursuits. Upon the old home farm there Samuel M. Daniel was reared, working through the summer months in the fields, while in the winter seasons he attended school, and by acquiring a fair English educa- tion he laid the foundation for his success in business. He was early instructed concerning the value of industry and enterprise in the active affairs of life, and his perseverance, self- reliance and unremitting diligence have formed the basis of his prosperity. In 1874 Mr. Daniel arrived in Texas with only ten dollars in money, locating first in Travis county, near Austin, where he worked on a farm about one and one-half years for wages and then rented land until 1880. It was his intention to engage in farming and establish a home in this state, but railroad construction had just been begun in this part of the Union and Mr. .Daniel became identified with the great ac- tivity manifested in that way. When he first started railroad building he had a team and fifty dollars in money. The first railroad was the Santa Fe, on which he worked for two years and on different roads until 1888. He worked as foreman on pile driver at Austin, and assisted in the grading of the Austin and Northwestern road. He was afterward em- ployed in Southeastern Texas and in other por- tions of the state and finally became a con- tractor with the grading outfit on construction work. In 1887 he took a contract for the build- ing of a portion of the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad and graded ten miles. Mr. Daniel was worth five thousand dollars when he quit rail- roading.

He made his home in Travis county for a time; he came to Bell county in 1876 and re- sided near Temple. In September, 1888, he bought his first three hundred and twenty acres of land and worked that up to eight hundred and fifty acres. In September, 1888, he re- moved to Wichita county, where he has since made his home. That he has prospered in his undertakings is indicated by the fact that he is now the owner of eight hundred and fifty acres of valuable land, located about ten miles

ALLEN BLACKER

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north of Wichita Falls, where he is successfully engaged in general agricultural pursuits and the raising of stock. A part of his land has. been placed under a high state of cultivation and yields him good harvests. He has also made excellent improvements upon his farm. and it is equipped with modern conveniences, and the latest improved machinery that is of value in facilitating farm work.

Mr. Daniel was married November 23, 1890, to Miss Hattie Bennett and they have two sons, Bernard and Charlie, who are at home. Bernard is ten years of age and Charles is eight. In everything pertaining to the upbuild- ing of his adopted county Mr. Daniel takes an active part and is a liberal contributor to the enterprises which insure its progress. He is also a self-made man in the fullest sense of that oft misused term, his prosperity in life be- ing due to his industry and integrity. His career is a living illustration of what ability, energy and force of character can accomplish and Wichita county has been enriched by his example. It is to such men that the southwest owes its prosperity, its rapid progress and its advancement.

Mr. Daniel is today worth twenty-five thou- sand dollars. Although he was badly injured by a mule when he was young and starting in life, nothing could stop him from work and to persistent industry he owes his success.

JUDGE ALLEN BLACKER. Studied from the standpoint of his connection with the city of El Paso, the career of Judge Blacker, who died in that city December 26, 1905, is a civic and private record that indicates, on the one land, the marvelous growth of the City of the Ford, and, on the other, his public-spirited and intimate identification with its history from pio- neer times to the present.

Born in Ross county, Ohio, February 5, 1832, "Pioneer" Allen Blacker, as he was affectionate- ly called in his home city, was nearly seventy- four years old at the time of the death summons. He was one of the children of Dennis and Rachel (Hotsenviller) Blacker. The father was

born in Virginia and was among others of south- ern ancestry to cross the Alleghanies in the early days of the development of the Western Reserve and become a pioneer to this historic Chillicothe neighborhood, there meeting the Yankee settlers from the New England states who also emigrated to that region about the safne time. Dennis Blacker was a saddler by trade, and was a man of thrifty and sturdy habits, who in his business life placed his depen- dence on close application and untiring energy, and thereby won the success that enabled him to give his children a fair start in life accord- ing to the standards of those days

Reared in his native town of Frankfort, re- ceiving his education in the public schools, on arriving at young manhood, Allen Blacker en- tered the law office of Allen G. Thurman at Chillicothe, Ohio, and studied law under that "grand old Roman." After his admission to the bar he became a partner of his former preceptor. Later he became connected with the firm of Mc- Clintock and Smith, prominent commercial law- yers, with whom he remained for some years, when he entered into parnership with Joe Miller, who was a member of Congress from the Chilli- cothe district. In other relations Judge Blacker was prominently and closely associated with the leading men of Ohio at that day.

On receiving appointment as clerk of the ter- ritorial court of the territory of Nebraska, he removed in 1859 to Nebraska City, where he resided till the breaking out of the war between the states. Sterling P. Morton, afterward a member of Cleveland's cabinet, organized Com- pany D. First Nebraska Cavalry, and Judge Blacker was elected its captain. His regiment was sent to join the Army of the Tennessee, and he was in various battles of that army, among which were those of Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Pittsburg Landing (or Shiloh), the siege of Vicksburg, Arkansas Bluffs, Lexington (Mo.), and many others. Although he partici- pated in twenty-seven battles, he was never wounded, but in one of these his life was saved by a picture of his wife which he carried in the breast pocket of his coat, it protecting him

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from a piece of a shell. While with the army he acted as war correspondent of the New York Herald. He was promoted to major and served on the staff of General Rosecrans. He was afterwards ordered to St. Louis to serve as judge advocate of the court martial organized there during the period of martial law in that city. Afterwards he was ordered to Fort Leav- enworth, Kansas, as judge advocate at that post, where he remained until the close of the war in 1865, when he resigned his commission in the army and again entered into the practice of his profession at Leavenworth.

In 1869 Pioneer Blacker, in company with General Mitchell, who afterwards became gov- ernor of New Mexico, came across the plains on a business venture in Chihuahua, making his headquarters, however, at old Fort Bliss, El Paso then being but a straggling village. He left his family behind until he should arrange his business affairs on a satisfactory basis, when, having become thoroughly impressed with the future greatness of ElPaso, he sent for them and they joined him in the year 1873. From that time till his death El Paso was his home. He filled many offices of honor and trust. In 1875 he was elected judge of the El Paso district, the largest in the world as far as territorial extent was concerned. He was a member of the legislature, and for several terms a member of the El Paso city council. He was recog- nized for a generation as one of the leading men of this section and was always prominent. in public affairs until his health began to break in 1900, when he removed with his family to Cloudcroft, New Mexico, in the hope of win- ning back his failing powers, but always look- ing upon El Paso as the home to which he would eventually return. The change proved beneficial for a few years, but his health again failing and there being no physician in Cloud- croft, he returned with his family to El Paso in March, 1904.

While living at Cloudcroft he filled the vari- ous offices of justice of the peace, postmaster and county commissioner for Otero county, his neighbors and fellow citizens of New Mexico

recognizing in him the same sterling qualities which had distinguished him throughout his long and eventful life in the east and in this state. Under the first administration of Grover Cleveland he was appointed local statistician of the agricultural department in El Paso. He was the author of a treatise on military law which was long recognized as authority on the subject and was adopted as such by the United States government. He was a charter member of the association and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.

In Ohio, on January 24, 1861, Judge Blacker was married to Miss Martha Porter Robinson, of Greenfield, Highland county, that state, by whom he had five children, all of whom and his wife survive. The children are: J. R. Blacker, of El Paso; Lida, Mrs. Reuben Hemingrey, of Louisville, Kentucky; Belle, Mrs. G. S. Thomp- son, of Aguascalientes, Mexico; Mary, Mrs. ·George Haile, of El Paso, and Allene, of El Paso.

Pioneer Blacker was in the best sense a pio- neer of El Paso. Being there before the rail- roads came and before the boom of the eighties, he was not content to sit by and watch idly the progress of events which made a great city ; he was foremost among the determined citizens who made those events possible and whose en- deavors bear fruition in the modern El Paso. Always representing the better element of so- ciety, his influence was uniformly felt on the side of law and order when even normally good men around him were prone in turbulent times to be led into the excesses characteristic of the frontier and to disregard the restraints of law and the sacredness of human life.

Pioneer Blacker had for years calmly regard- ed his approaching dissolution and prepared him- self for it. Only a few months before his death he had closed a public address with this quota- tion :

"So live that when thy summons comes to join the innumerable caravan which moves to that mysterious realm where each shall take his chamber in the silent halls of death, thou go not like the quarry slave at night, scourged

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to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed by an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave like one that wraps the drapery of his couch about him and lies down to pleasant dreams."

And thus he died.

ALEXANDER B. BOREN. The Boren family was established in the republic of Mex- ico in pioneer times in its development and the representatives of the name have been identi- fied with the agricultural and stock-raising in- terests of this portion of the continent, the subject of this review being now a leading stock farmer of Montague county. He was born in Lamar county, Texas, February 2, 1845, and throughout the period of his youth assisted in farm labor. His educational privi- leges were limited but in the school of experi- ence he has received many valuable lessons. He spent his youth in the home of his parents, James and Eda (Bags) Boren, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Arkansas, where they were married. The paternal grand- father, William Boren, of Kentucky, became a pioneer in the republic of Mexico in 1833 and was granted by the government a league and labor of land, which he located in what is now Lamar and Collin counties of Texas. He im- proved farms in both counties, making his first settlement in Lamar county, but later estab- lishing his home in Collin county, where he died at a ripe old age. He owned a large and valuable farm and was regarded as one of the leading agriculturists and substantial citizens of the community. He prospered in his under- takings, although in early days he underwent all the deprivations and hardships incident to life on the frontier. He was wise, however, in establishing the home for his family in a fertile region in Texas, where the new and growing country offered excellent business op- portunities. He was well known and was highly respected for his integrity and honor, which were ever above reproach, so that he left to his children the priceless heritage of an untar- nished name as well as gratifying financial success. He had seven children : James, Israel,

John, Richard, Mack, Henry and Miriam, the wife of Wilson Daniels, both deceased

James Boren was born in Kentucky and spent some time in Arkansas, where he was married. He afterward came to Texas when his father settled in this part of the country in 1833 and his attention was also directed to farming interests in Lamar county He did not improve the opportunity, however, of securing a large tract of land but contented himself with a smaller farm, which he cultivated throughout his remaining days. His death occurred, however, when he was in middle life, in 1848. His wife survived him and married again, becoming the wife of Hugh Woody, a prominent pioneer farmer, whose worth in the community was widely acknowledged. He lives in Collin county. His wife, the mother of our subject, passed away in 1863. The mar- riage of Mr. and Mrs. Woody was blessed with one son, John Woody, who is now a resi- dent of Oklahoma, while by her former mar- riage Mrs. Woody had four children : William, who served in the Confederate army and after- ward engaged in farming near the present home of our subject; Isom, who was killed at Millikan's Bend while serving in the Confed- erate army ; Alexander B., of this review ; Ma- tilda, who became Mrs. Lisonby and had one child, while after the death of her first husband she married a Mr. Wilkison and had six chil- dren. The mother, Mrs. Woody, was a de- voted and loyal member of the Christian church, interested in its work and the extension of its influence.

Alexander B. Boren was only three years old at the time of his father's death, after which he was reared by his paternal grandfather, spending his youth largely in farm labor. He received in that home good moral instruction but had no opportunity for the acquirement of an education, as there were no schools in the neighborhood, the homes of the settlers be- ing so widely scattered as to make public edu- cation an impractical matter. However, ex- perience and observation have taught him many valuable lessons and in business life he

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has gained much valuable knowledge. He re- mained with his grandfather until sixteen years of age, when he enlisted for service in behalf of the Confederacy as a member of Company I under Captain Wordan with Fitzhugh's cav- alry. The regiment was sent to Arkansas and he participated in the cotton plant fight. There he became convinced that he did not want any more military service and because of his youth he was able to get his discharge. Later, how- ever, he joined the state militia and was de- tailed to the commissary department, being assigned to the duty of driving beef cattle for the army and in that capacity he served until the close of the war.

In May, 1865, Mr. Boren was married, at which time his possessions consisted of a horse, saddle, bridle and about three dollars in money. His grandfather Boren, however, gave him twenty-five acres of land, whereon he built a log cabin and started out in life with the carn- est determination of establishing a good home and securing a competence. He began raising hogs and was meeting with fair success when, in 1868, he was accidentally shot in the leg and this caused the amputation of the member. For two years he was in very precarious health, never worked, and he thus lost everything he had save his courage. Finally, however, he re- covered from his injuries and resumed the ac- tive work of the farm, continuing to reside there until 1871, when he traded his little home for the claim upon which he now lives. It was then an unimproved tract of land of one hun- dred and sixty acres. He had some difficulty about the claim but finally recorded it as a homestead and secured a good title to it. With characteristic energy he made the improve- ments, placed stock upon the farm and con- tinued the work of cultivating the soil. Just prior to his arrival here the Indians had been very hostile and the Red River valley was the scene of much distress and trouble to the few settlers. Mr. Boren, however, kept a close lookout for the approach of the Indians and although he saw many raiding parties of red men running stock from interior counties and

crossing the river he was not molested, his only loss being one horse. In 1872 Mr. Broadus assigned him a herd of cattle to raise on shares to run for five years, at the end of which time his share of the herd was four hun- dred and sixty head. He found, however, that he owed Mr. Broadus seven hundred and fifty dollars, but Mr. Broadus did not force him to make the payment and at the end of another year and a half, so prosperous had he been, Mr. Broadus owed Mr. Boren five thousand dollars for cattle which he had bought from him. Thus he. got a start in the cattle business which as- sured him a successful future. He has over been very grateful to Mr. Broadus for his len- iency in money matters in those early days and his memory is enshrined deep in the heart of Mr. Boren, who believes that no better man has ever lived on Texas soil. He continued his farming operations and added to his land as fast as possible until he had over seventeen hundred acres. He has given each of his nine children a farm and a start in the cattle busi- ness and he still owns his homestead place of four hundred and eighty acres, of which one hundred and forty acres is under a high state of cultivation. He yet owns a good bunch of cat- tle and flock of sheep, also good hogs, mules and horses and he has a park containing native deer. He has given his undivided attention to the cultivation of the soil and the raising of stock and his efforts have been attended with success.

Mr. Boren was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Wilkinson, who was born in Iowa, September 4, 1846. She has shared with her husband in the hardships and trials of frontier life and been an able assistant to him. She is a daughter of Noah H. and Sarah (Van Winkle) Wilkinson, both of whom were na- tives of Ohio, whence they emigrated to Iowa and afterward came to the Republic of Texas, settling in Grayson county, where Mr. Wilkin- son secured from the government a claim of six hundred and forty acres of improved land. He was a prominent and well known farmer, highly respected by all who knew him and

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both he and his wife continued their residence upon the old homestead where they located in pioneer days when Texas was an independent republic. They were devoted members of the Methodist church. In the family of this worthy couple were a daughter and a son: . Mary E., now Mrs. Boren ; and M. B., of Okla- homa. Mr. and Mrs. Boren have become the parents of ten children: Alice, who married J. Mars and died, leaving one child; Isom, who died in childhood; Ruhamer, the wife of G. R. Presly; Belzora, the wife of W. Ketchum; Sadie, who married R. Southworth; Alonzo, . who follows farming; May, the wife of T. Campbell; Mattie, the wife of C. Peveler ; Samuel, an agriculturist; and Nellie, the wife of E. Gayden.

Mr. Boren exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the Dem- ocracy and keeps well informed on issues of the day but has never sought or desired office, preferring to give his undivided attention to his business interests, which have been care- fully managed and have therefore brought to him a gratifying measure of prosperity. Al- though handicapped by his crippled condition he has displayed an energy and resolution of purpose that are indeed commendable and throughout his life has won not only success but also an honored name.

WILLIAM J. CAPS, a farmer and land owner of Cleburne whose prosperity has in- creased from year to year, making him one of the wealthy citizens and tax payers of the county, now owns about eight hundred acres of valuable farming land beside realty in the city. Since 1882 he has maintained his resi- dence in Cleburne, while prior to that time he lived on the original claim which he secured on his removal to Johnson county in 1870.

Mr. Caps is a native of Davidson county, Tennessee, born January 16, 1833, and his par- ents were Caleb and Tabitha (Fowler) Caps .. The father was born in North Carolina and with his parents came to Tennessee when the state was a new country in which the work of

improvement and progress had scarcely been begun. He became a prosperous agriculturist and well known horseman of Davidson county, where he died of typhoid fever during the period of the Civil war. He was known as one of the substantial citizens of that rich portion of the state and his genuine personal worth gained him the regard of all with whom he was associated. His wife was born in Vir- ginia and in early girlhood days was brought to Tennessee. She passed away in her eightieth year at the home of her son, William, in Cle- burne, Texas, having for a long period sur- vived her husband.

William J. Caps was reared to farming and. stock raising and for fifty years resided upon a farm, handling stock as well as the product of the fields. In 1860 he removed from David- son to Dickson county, Tennessee, forty miles west of Nashville, where he resided for three years and during the period of the Civil war he served as a constable and for a time was with Ross' regiment of cavalry.

In 1867 Mr. Caps came to Texas. His fam- . ily, like hundreds of others in the war-devasta- ted districts of the south, had lost much that they formerly owned and all the property that Mr. Caps possessed at the time of his removal to this state was a wagon and span of mules. He lived for three years at Fort Graham in Hill county on the Brazos river and in 1870 he removed to Johnson county, where he has since made his home. Purchasing a small place on the Nolan river, eight miles south of Cleburne, he began his farming operations here. The rich black soil of that section could then be purchased for three dollars per acre, but the appreciation in land values has now made the same property worth from fifty to one hundred dollars per acre. Mr. Caps was successful in his farming operations from the beginning of his residence here and his mate- rial prosperity increased from year to year until he is now one of the wealthy citizens and tax payers of the county, his farm lands aggre- gating about eight hundred acres in addition to his town property. He still owns his orig-

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I, Part 84

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