USA > Texas > A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I > Part 89
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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.
Thomas Trammell, whose name introduces this record, was born in Arkansas, June 22, 1848, and was reared upon a ranch surrounded by all the environments that go to make up a typical western country. His knowledge of the range and the best methods of handling cattle was ac- quired in early life, and for many years he fol- lowed that pursuit with its attendant excitement, thrilling experiences and interests. As a cow- boy he was in the camp and on the trail and thus acquired a knowledge that proved the founda- tion of his future business success. His father at one time was a well-to-do man and the owner of many cattle and negroes, but as the result of the war he lost all of his property and the family was greatly reduced in financial circumstances. Following the death of his father, Thomas Tram- mell, being the eldest son, assumed the man -. agement of the home place and the care of his mother and the younger children of the family. Later he managed through some of his dealings to obtain possession of a small herd of cattle and thus made a start in life for himself.
In 1872 was celebrated the marriage of Thomas Trammell and Miss Mary J. Newman, a daughter of Martin Newman of Nolan county, Texas. During the first year of his married life he made his home with his father-in-law and afterward bought and improved a place of his own. He resided in Navarro county until 1881, when he came to Nolan county, settling in Sweetwater in 1883. In that year he sold his place in Navarro county and transferred all of his interests to the new locality. In the early summer of 1883, in connection with R. L. Mc- Caulley and Joe Bunton, he organized a private bank in Sweetwater, under the firm name of Thomas Trammell & Co. This institution has continued to do business in Sweetwater to the present time and is one of the leading banking institutions in the west. Mr. Trammell, how- ever, has always considered his banking inter- ests as a side issue because of the extent and scope of his other business interests. He has been extensively engaged in the cattle business, and has also invested and dealt largely in land. He is recognized as one of the large cattle deal- ers of this portion of the state and his ranch property amounts to about eleven thousand acres
in Scurry and Borden counties. He likewise has a ranch in New Mexico which covers a great area and is devoted exclusively to cattle. Be- side this he has valuable business and residence property in Sweetwater.
Another business enterprise of Mr. Trammell, which has been of great value to the country as well as to himself, is his railroad interests. He and his partner, Mr. McCaulley, came into pos- session of the Colorado Valley Railroad in the fall of 1898, and the following year made a con- tract with A. E. Stilwell, of Kansas City, presi- dent of the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Rail- road, by which agreement this road became a part of the Orient system. Mr. Trammell is a director of the Orient company in Texas, and is treasurer. The Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railroad begins at Kansas City and extends southwest, passing through Wichita, Kansas, and crossing a portion of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and the republic of Mexico, its terminus being at Topolobambo bay on the western coast of Mexico, a total distance of sixteen hundred miles. It is about five hundred miles nearer from Kansas City by the Orient road to the Pacific than it is from that point to any other port on the Pacific coast. It thus opens a new highway to the ocean and is a short line for the Orient trade-China, Japan and the Philippine Islands. For years it has been the dream of railroad promoters to build a road opening up the great southwest and it was A. E. Stilwell who evolved the great plan and carried it for- ward, great benefits accruing to the state of Texas from the construction of this important line of commerce. The value of this road to the southwest cannot be over estimated and time alone will demonstrate its full worth. All who have been instrumental in helping to secure an enterprise of this magnitude and carry it forward to completion deserve the grateful consideration of the people of the west.
Mr. Trammell makes his home in Sweetwater and his residence is a model of architectural beauty and modern improvements. It is taste- fully and even luxuriantly furnished and is a most happy home. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Tram- mell have been born three sons: J. P., who is now in Jones county; W. T., who is cashier of
531
HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.
the Trammell bank of Sweetwater; and B. A., who is manager of his father's ranch in New Mexico.
Mr. Trammell was made a Mason in Spring Hill lodge No. 155, A. F. & A. M., in Navarro county shortly after attaining his majority, and took the Royal Arch degrees in an old log house in Corsicana, Texas, during the early history of that town. He was also one of nine men who organized the Knight Templars at Texarkana, Texas. He has likewise attained the thirty- second degree of the Scottish rite at Gal- veston, and is a member of Hella Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Dallas. Perhaps the most not- able element in the life record of Mr. Tram- mell is the fact that he has constantly enlarged the scope of his interests, has continually sought out new plans and methods and has extended his efforts until he is now in control of very ex- tensive and important business enterprises. He likewise belongs to that class of representative American men who while promoting their in- dividual success have also contributed in large measure to the general prosperity and progress. Honored and respected by all, there is no man in western Texas who occupies a more enviable position in the regard of his fellow men than Thomas Trammell.
MABEL R. GILBERT. In the subject of this personal notice the reader is brought into contact with a representative of one of the pioneer Texas families, its founder, Mabel Gil -- bert, having settled in the Lone Star state from Tennessee. The latter was the grandfather of our subject and his identity with the business interests of east Texas was as a miller, he hav -. ing a saw-mill and a grist-mill. He had farm- ing interests also, and was a cowman on a modest scale, but in his later life, and prior to the Confederate war, he sought northwest Texas and engaged extensively in the cattle industry. His ranch lay on Red river, north- east of Wichita Falls, and by the settlers of that day the Gilbert ranch in Clay county was well known. He made a success of his ven- ture and died possessed of much real and per- sonal property.
Mabel Gilbert was first married in Tennes- see to Miss Morris, who died in Fannin coun- ty, Texas, having issue: William and Nicie, who died in Fannin county, the latter as Mrs. Hampton; Newton, who died in Cooke coun- ty ; Jasper, who died in the same county ; Rob- ert, a resident of New Mexico; and two other daughters. Mabel Gilbert married, second, Mrs. Rachel Freeman, who bore him Lewis Cass,. of Swisher county, Texas; Mattie, wife of Green Mullins, of Texas; Hettie, now Mrs. Leonard Jones, of Cooke county, Texas ; David B., of Cooke county, as also is Jackson ; Emily married Jack Reinhart; and Lizzie.
Morris Gilbert was a child of Mabel Gilbert and was born in Tennessee. His bringing up took place in Texas, with which state he was identified until he located in Oklahoma and is now a resident of Roger Mills county, Washington, Oklahoma. During the rebellion he was in the frontier service against the In- dians and was severely injured by a comrade during that trouble. He was engaged in farm- ing in Texas subsequent to the war and now runs his cotton gin in his new location. He was married in Fannin county, Texas, to Hannah Thomas, an Indiana lady, and a daughter of Richard and Martha Thomas. The issue of their union are: Mabel R., James E., of Okla- homa; William T., of Colorado, and Mary, widow of H. T. Nixon.
Mabel R. Gilbert passed his youth in Cooke county, Texas, and in the year 1881, became a resident of Clay county. His parents located at Buffalo Springs, where farming was carried on, with our subject as an adjunct, until the attainment of the latter's majority. The com- mon schools sufficed for educating the children and when twenty-one years of age Mabel R. possessed a splendid physique, an unquench- able appetite for work and a full knowledge of the customs of his people. His first year's work away from home was on the Ikard ranch and at the conclusion of this service he bought an eighty acre tract of raw land on time, near Joy, and began its cultivation and improve- ment. The common products of the locality,
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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.
together with stock raising, have employed his time and as his circumstances warranted he made additions to his farm and herd, and now his farm embraces two hundred and fifty acres of land, fenced, well tilled and substantially and conveniently improved.
Mr. Gilbert was married in Clay county, Texas, September 27, 1893, his wife being Pearl, a daughter of E. B. and M. H. Hicks, who settled in Fannin county before the Civil war. April 19, 1899, Mrs. Gilbert passed away, leaving Edith and Clifford as her chil- dren and heirs. August 13, 1903, Mr. Gilbert married Miss Jewell Kilgore, a daughter of J. W. and Tollie Kilgore, settlers in Hunt coun- ty. Mr. and Mrs. Kilgore now reside in Clay county. John Morris Gilbert is Mr. Gilbert's youngest child, the result of his second mar- riage.
The Gilberts in politics have all along been Democrats and it was as such that Mabel R. was chosen as county commissioner by the Third district of Clay county in November. 1904, to succeed J. P. Norman. He has but re- cently entered upon his public duties and it is safe to predict a service of such efficiency as to commend him to his constituency for his own successor.
THE STATE NATIONAL BANK of. Denison, for more than twenty years an insti- tution of power in the financial and business circles of northern Texas, whose statements show a constant growth and steady prosperity through all the years of both commercial con- fidence and money stringency, and which at the present time stands at the highest degree of stability and success in its history, was or- ganized in 1883 by Mr. J. N. Johnson, who was the owner for some time of a majority interest in its stock.
On September 22, 1883, the first meeting of the shareholders was held, and the articles of incorporation were signed by them. The first shareholders were: A. H. Coffin, A. R. Collins, Samuel Hanna, E. H. Lingo, W. C. Tignor, Alexander Renney, J. N. Johnson, W. Segar, John C. Waples, W. R. Green. The directors
elected at that meeting were : A. H. Coffin, A. R. Collins, Samuel Hanna, E. H. Lingo, W. C. Tignor, Alexander Renney, J. N. Johnson, W. R. Green, Wilmot Segar; and the first officers were: J. N. Johnson, president ; S. Hanna, vice president, and W. Segar, cashier. The certifi- .cate to commence business was signed by John Jay Knox, then comptroller of the currency, on September 28, 1883, and the number of this na- tional bank was 3058.
The first place of business of the bank was in the rear of what was then the book store of W. G. Hughes, in 200 Block, Main street, and in 1884 the present site on Main and Rusk streets was purchased and the building erected. On June 1, 1887, Mr. Segar resigned as cashier, and N. S. Ernst was chosen his successor. In August, 1889, the controlling interest of J. N. Johnson was bought by Mr. R. C. Shearman, of Bradford, Pennsylvania, and his associates, and on August 13 of the same year the number of directors was increased from six to eight, the additional members being S. G. Bayne, of New York state, and R. C. Shearman, of Bradford, Pennsylvania. On the same day Mr. Johnson presented his resignation as president, and Mr. Shearman was elected in his stead.
On June 30, 1890, Mr. Ernst resigned the cashiership, and was succeeded by G. L. Black- ford. The capital stock which had till then been one hundred thousand dollars, was in- creased on July 29, 1890, to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. October 16, 1890, Mr. Ernst also resigned his place as director, Mr. John Doyle succeeding him.
Ten years after the organization of the bank many of the old directors had ceased their con- nection, from death or other reasons, and at that time the board comprised the following: Alexander Renney, A. F. Platter, John Doyle, A. H. Coffin, J. B. McDougall, W. C. Tignor, A. W. Acheson, D. N. Robb, R. C. Shearman, G. L. Blackford. And the officers: R. C. Shear- man, president ; Alexander Renney, vice presi- dent ; G. L. Blackford, cashier.
January 24, 1899, at a meeting of the stock- holders, the capital stock was reduced from one hundred and fifty thousand dollars to the
533
HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.
original figure of one hundred thousand dol- lars, at which amount it has since remained. On January 30, 1899, Vice President Renney removed to Indian Territory and resigned his office and in the following March his death oc- curred at Pauls Valley, Indian Territory. Mr. A. F. Platter was elected his successor. On July 16, 1899, the bank lost another of its heads in Mr. Shearman, whose death occured at Ex- celsior Springs, Missouri, of Bright's disease. This necessitated several changes, and on the following August 22, J. W. Madden was elected director to succeed Mr. Renney, and G. L. Blackford was chosen president. At the same date Mr. Courtenay Marshall succeeded to the directorship vacated by the death of Mr. Shear- man, and Mr. A. F. Platter was elected first vice president and Mr. Marshall became second vice president, W. G. Meginnis being chosen cashier.
In January, 1900, the following board was elected: A. W. Acheson, E. H. Lingo, J. W. Madden, W. W. Elliott, J. B. McDougall, A. F. Platter, D. N. Robb, W. C. Tignor, Courtenay Marshall, G. L. Blackford. Mr. Marshall be- came actively associated with the affairs of the bank at this time, and continued so until 1902, in which year he moved to Beaumont, Texas, to become secretary and treasurer of the Secur- ity Oil Company, who erected there the largest refining plant in the southwest. On leaving Denison he resigned the position of second vice president, and this office has since been discon- tinued.
The present board of directors of the State National are : A. F. Platter, J. B. McDougall, A. W. Acheson, D. N. Robb, W. W. Elliott, . E. H. Lingo, J. W. Madden, P. H. Tobin, Elihu B. Hinshaw, G. L. Blackford-all men of the highest integrity and financial reliability.
The sworn statements of the bank as issued from time to time convey graphically the best idea of the status of this instituion in Grayson county and northern Texas. In the first of- ficial statement published December 31, 1883, the bank showed $48,288.29 on deposit, with an undivided profit and surplus of $475. By De- cember, 1885, the deposit's had increased to
$121,000, with $16,000 in undivided surplus and profits. Two years later the deposits were $168,000, with $45,000 of undivided surplus and profits. At the close of 1889 the deposits were $509,000. When Mr. Johnson's controlling in- terest was purchased in that year the larger part of the surplus and divided profits were dis- tributed among the stockholders. On Decem- ber 2, 1891, $508,000 was on deposit, and the profits and undivided surplus was $43,000. De- cember 19, 1893, the corresponding accounts showed $580,000, and $52,000, respectively. This year it will be remembered, was the begin- ning of the hard times, when so many banks large and small throughout the country went to the wall. December 13, 1895, the prosperity of this institution was evidenced as shown by the figures, $705,000, deposits ; $48,000, surplus and profits. September 15, 1897, under the same heads were $674,000, and $40,000; on Deceni- ber 2, 1899, $675,000, and $27,000; on December 10, 1901, $893,000, and $38,000; and on Novem- ber 17, 1903, $822,000 and $81,000. On Sep- tember 6, 1904, the statement shows deposits to the amount of $814,000, and the surplus and undivided profits to be over $92,000. On De- cember 31, 1905, deposits were $1,026,000, with surplus and undivided profits of $100,000. The officers are now G. L. Blackford, president : A. F. Platter, vice president; W. G. Meginnis, cashier ; George Rue and T. F. Foley, assistant cashiers-young men connected with the bank for some years past, who were promoted to fill these positions on account of its increased business. The total assets therefore foot up to over a million dollars.
The State National Bank is the United States depositary at Denison, and its affairs through- out have been conducted by men of such high financial and business standing and with such due regard to the importance of the institution as a factor in the life of Texas that its reputa- tion is as substantial and men rely up its acts as confidently as upon the government itself.
WILLIAM LUTHER BUCHANAN. The greater part of the rural development of a fron- tier community is brought about by individual
534
HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.
efforts of the moderate farmer and when the re- stilts of these efforts are summed up a glance over them discloses the fact that, inconsiderable and inconspicuous as he may be as a unit of force, as a whole the power of the moderate. farmer rules the world.
When William L. Buchanan, of this review, cast his lot with Montague county his circum- stances and enfeebled finances assigned him to the humble small farmer class. The practice of industry, with the lapse of time, and the coi- stant, though slow, moss-gathering process ulti- mately made him a member of the moderate farmer class, and in both stations he has had a share in the gradual and sure development of his county which has taken place.
In the fall of 1882 Mr. Buchanan came into the county from Falls county, Texas, and con- tracted for a quarter section of Hill county school land two miles east of Bowie. With his very limited resources he has converted it from a mere garden spot into a farm and has dug out of the ground the sinews with which this con- version was accomplished. Corn and cotton have both been king with him, and the labor in their production was all that he was obliged to furnish. Upon his farm his little family was born, and upon it they have been nurtured and trained to occupy places of honor and usefulness in society.
William L. Buchanan was born in Falls county, Texas, October 24, 1858. His father, William Luther Buchanan, died there in his son's childhood, and his mother (nee Mary Smith) passed away when he was but ten years of age. The mother was a Georgia lady, and married the father in Falls county, and some time after his death she married Fred Phanney, with whom our subject made his home while passing through childhood and youth.
William L. Buchanan, Jr., was the sole sur- viving issue of his parents. He was born on the farm and continued the life of a farm boy during the years of his growing up. The smat- tering of an education that he received came through the rural school and he took his place among the young men of industry before he
became of age. December 12, 1879, he was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Jarvis, a daughter of Thomas Jarvis, who died in Grimes county, Texas, where Mrs. Buchanan was born September 7, 1853. Mr. Jarvis was an English- man born.
The four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Buchanan were: Bettie Belle, wife of Samuel Jackson, of Montague county; Fred, who is an active and promising young farmer at home, and Mary E., who is just entering womanhood, and sharing the duties of domestic life with her mother. William Luther, Jr., the youngest child, passed away at five years of age.
Mr. Buchanan has never failed to manifest a good citizen's interest in local politics. He ex- periences, in supporting a friend for office, the satisfaction which one always feels in doing a righteous act. He is one of the trustees of his school district, and he and wife hold member- ships in the Missionary Baptist church. As inti- mated above, he had nothing but industry to commend him to the attention of men in early life and to this now may be added a reputation based upon years of right living, and of outward conduct becoming a true man.
HARVEY FORNEY HAWKINS. The ur- ban community of Chico, Wise county, has been favored from its infancy by the presence within its environs of a gentleman active in promoting the interests of its domestic commerce and prominent in its civil and social affairs, namely, Harvey F. Hawkins, mentioned as the subject of this personal record. Chico has numbered many worthy men among her citizenship, but few are now distinguished as pioneers, and fewer still are they whose business and personal inter- ests lie as near the hearts of the village and rural populace as those of Mr. Hawkins. While a wide commercial streak traverses his nature and the emoluments of trade are an everyday incentive to labor, the accumulation of wealth is not his sole object in life nor the applause of friends his highest ambition.
When he came to Wise county, in the fall of 1874. Mr. Hawkins located four miles southwest of where Chico now stands and "squatted" upon
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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.
the open range where he grazed a bunch of stock and started a little farm. Five years later he . moved to the village, it having in the meantime been founded, and opened a store with J. R. Chambers. The firm of Chambers & Hawkins was one of the first established and it existed four years. Afterwards Mr. Hawkins invested in sheep and placed them on the range in Jack county. Misfortune overtook him in this ven- ture and within two years he had lost nearly every hoof and found himself ready to begin life almost anew. Returning to Chico he ac- quired an interest in a gin and secured the ap- pointment of postmaster, also, and for two years kept his head above the tide while he was get- ting back upon his feet. During this time Tax Collector Brice Mann died, and he was appointed to fill the vacancy, serving the unexpired term. He was twice elected to the office and surrendered it to his successor, in 1894, after having filled it five years. When the railroad was built through Chico he joined his brother, Charles C., in a mercantile venture and again put in a stock of goods here. They put in a $2,000 stock of hard- ware, and when he retired from office Harvey F. took his place behind the counter, where he has since remained. To their original stock the firm added groceries, furniture, implements and leather goods, and carry a stock valued at $35,- 000, nearly twenty times their capital stock at first, and are second to no mercantile concern in the town.
Harvey F. Hawkins was born in Rutherford county, North Carolina, July 27, 1853, and is a son of Terrell Hawkins, who died there in 1861. The father was born in Marion county, that state, in 1804, and was married to Barbara Walker, who passed away in 1857. To this union were born fifteen children : Michael, Thomas and James, who died in the Confederate service at Petersburg, Virginia; Caroline died unmarried and Martha passed away as the wife of John Pardon; Charles C., who went into the Confederate service in 1861, and surrendered with Lee's army at Appomattox, and is now our subject's partner; Ransom, who died young; William, also a Confederate soldier, and died at Wilmington, North Carolina; Hampton P., a Confederate soldier, and now a manufacturer at
Webb City, Missouri; Joseph, who was in the Confederate army, and when last heard of, in 1890, was in California; Sarah, wife of William Morris, of Rutherford county, North Carolina; Terrell G., Jr., a banker at Hillsboro, Texas; Millard F., a Christian minister, at the same point; Harvey F., our subject; and Mary J., wife of C. M. Keeter, of Chico, Texas.
. After the death of his father Harvey F. Hawkins made his home with the widow Wat- son, his aunt, and many is the time he occupied a slab bench while in the act of getting an educa- tion. Ray's arithmetic, Webster's speller and Smith's grammar were some of the thumb-worn books he used, and he fed his mind freely dur- ing the time he was spared to school. At four- teen years of age he took charge of the Wat- son farm, and made it his home until he left the state. He came out to Texas single in 1874, and remained so until 1882, when he was mar- ried, May 25, to Miss Emma Moore, eldest daughter of Captain James B. and Susan (Major) Moore, formerly from Anderson county, South Carolina. Mr. and Mrs. Moore both died at Jacksboro, Texas, the parents of Mrs. Hawkins; Miss Fannie; Nannie, wife of M. G. Nelms; Eliab B. and John A., of Jacks- boro ; Bettie, wife of Dr. A. B. Edwards. of Hen- rietta ; and Sallie, wife of Dr. W. G. Yeakley, of Bowie. Mr. and Mrs. Hawkins are the parents of seven children, four of whom are living, viz .: Barbara, Blanche, Harvey F., Jr., and Mary. The family are active workers in the Missionary Baptist church, of which Mr. Hawkins is a deacon. For twelve years he has been and is still superintendent of the Sunday school here, and for four years has been moderator of the Wise County Baptist Association. The Hawkins are all Democrats, and our subject is a Blue lodge Mason.
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