A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 101

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: 972

USA > Texas > A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II > Part 101

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Mr. Lasiter married Rosa Gore, a daughter of Allen Gore, one of the early settlers of the Chico neighborhood, where he cleared up a splendid farm and still resides. Mrs. Lasiter was

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

born in Moore county, Tennessee, in 1872, and is the mother of Maud, Allen, Ross, Lela, Thomas and Earnest. While Mr. Lasiter has busied himself with the raising of cotton and the cereals and storing up slowly that which will cheer and comfort his household in after life he has permitted nothing to deter or dis- suade him. He keeps faith with Democracy at election time, has taken three degrees in Ma- sonry and Methodism prevails in his household.

JACK P. FLOYD, one of the honored early settlers of northwestern Texas, was born in Lincoln county, Tennessee, in 1852, being a son of J. F. and A. T. (Cole) Floyd, both also na- tives of that commonwealth. In 1857 the fam- ily came to Parker county, Texas, where they were among the early pioneers, their arrival being soon after the organization of the county, and in Parker county and vicinity they con- tinued to make their home until their son Jack became established in business on the plains, since which time they have made their home with him. The mother is a daughter of J. P. Cole, a noted old timer who located in Dallas county in 1842, and in 1854 removed to Parker county and built the third house that was erected west of Fort Worth. In his early boyhood days the father was apprenticed to a tanner, follow- ing that occupation to a limited extent after coming to Texas, but soon abandoned it to em- bark in the cattle business, the prevailing indus- try here at that time. He was a Confederate soldier throughout the period of the Civil war, enlisting in Parker county.

Jack P. Floyd in his early youth was inured to the cattle business, and in the days before ranches were organized and the business carried on in a systematic manner the cattle of the set- tlers were allowed to drift toward the plains, and at the proper season the boys would go after them, drive them in, and they were then divided according to the number that each man had put into the herd, there being then no brand- ing to distinguish the ownership or a systematic separation at the roundup, which came in later days, beginning about 1878. Mr. Floyd went on his first cattle hunt in 1868, was a member of the first squad of men that went west of Comanche Peak, in Hood county, after cattle, and continued in this occupation for his father until 1871. During the Civil war he was left at home to protect the family during his father's absence, for at that period and some years sub- sequent thereto the country was often harassed

by Indian raids, Mr. Floyd being occasionally required to chase the savages on this account. In 1871 he started into the business on his own account, going into the then new county of Coleman, and in fact nearly his entire life has been spent on the frontier. Working in western Texas toward the edge of the plains until 1882, he in that year came out upon the plains, and has ever since remained in this country. At that time Oldham was the only organized county on the plains, and Tascosa, the county seat, was a typical western town of wild ways and lax morals. On his arrival in this country Mr. Floyd assisted in moving cattle from near Sey- mour in Baylor county, working for the Ox- sheer and Frying Pan ranches, and in 1884 re- members driving cattle for water to the lake where Amarillo now stands. At that time there were only two settled habitations on the plains, the old Frying Pan ranch and the LX ranch. For six years he continued to work for the Cross L outfit on the Cimarron, and was with that company's cattle on the Texas plains and in New Mexico as far west as Clayton. In 1890, the town of Amarillo having started with seem- ingly good prospects of growth, Mr. Floyd came to the embryo city and established a restaurant, which subsequently became well and favorably known all over northwestern Texas as the Met- ropolitan Restaurant, it being conducted by him with financial success for eleven years, five months and seven days, when it was sold. Dur- ing all this long period the restaurant was never closed day or night with the exception of one occasion, on account of fire, and it was the only one to survive the boom times, others coming in and running for a short time and then aban- doned.

Mr. Floyd is now the owner of a valuable dairy ranch of two hundred acres lying just across the line in Randall county, and has also leased a section of land in Potter county adjoin- ing Amarillo, on which he has a herd of cattle and carries on farming operations. At this time, however, he is preparing to dispose of his cattle interests and embark in the raising of swine. He was one of the organizers of the Amarillo City Council, of which body he was a member for five years, and in 1900 was elected tax col- lector of Potter county, re-elected in 1902, and at this writing. October, 1904, is again a candi- date, without opposition. He resides with his parents in a pretty home on North Taylor street, and in his fraternal relations is a member of the Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias.

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

W. P. LANE. Besides being proprietor of the splendid furniture establishment at the cor- ner of Fourteenth and Houston streets, a busi- ness that was begun in 1905, and has had an almost unprecedented record of growth and prosperity, even for the flourishing city of Fort Worth, Mr. Lane is likewise a citizen of emi- nent public spirit and active in civic affairs, is prominent in the social and fraternal events of his city and section of the state, and is prompt and forward in meeting his obligations and re- sponsibilities in every department of his busy career. A fine business man, energetic and pro- gressive, his capacity for management of large affairs is shown by the success of his business enterprises.

Mr. Lane belongs to one of the most noted of southern and Confederate families. His paternal grandfather was the famous Confederate soldier, Colonel Isaac Coleman Lane, who, at the time of the breaking out of the war between the states, was sheriff and tax collector of Clai- borne county, Tennessee, and a wealthy planter with a large estate. As soon as Tennessee seceded he paid out of his own private fortune the entire tax assessment of Claiborne county, and donated it to the cause of the Confederacy, and to this government he displayed his devo- tion on every hand, although living in east Ten- nessee where the sentiment for the Union was very strong. When the war came on he stumped the state making speeches in favor of secession, and after the war he was elected to the state senate and served a number of years. He raised an entire regiment for the war, of which he afterward became colonel commanding, and as such fought throughout the war. Like many of the devoted and loyal southerners, he was stripped of almost all his resources by the hor- rors of war.

Mr. Lane's parents are Newton E. and Martha E. (Hall) Lane, who are now living in Fort Worth, where they took up their residence in 1905. His father was born in Claiborne county, Tennessee, and was reared in a home of afflu- ence and aristocratic surroundings. He after- wards became a planter in Lee county, Virginia, where he was married to Miss Hall. She was born in Virginia, the daughter of Harvey M. Hall, a prosperous planter, who also served throughout the war as a Confederate officer. She was his oldest child and kept up the home and plantation during the absence of her father on the battlefields of the south.

Mr. W. P. Lane was born in Lee county, Vir- ginia, October 3, 1868. After finishing a sub- stantial educational training he chose a busi-

ness career, and in 1889 came to North Texas .. His college days were spent at Curry College in Virginia. His first location in Texas was at Denison, where he lived a number of years, and then for a time was at Sherman. In 1901 he came to Fort Worth, and, with Guy S. Rall, founded the furniture establishment of Lane and Rall. They were first located at the corner of Fourth and Main streets, but their large trade soon outgrew those quarters. Early in 1904 they moved into the elegant brick building erected for their purpose at the corner of Tenth and Houston streets. Their continued popu- larity as business men and their progressive methods of doing business, combined with the new and attractive location, further accelerated the enterprise, and during their partnership they enjoyed the largest trade in their line in Fort Worth. Since embarking in business on his own account during the year of this present writing, Mr. Lane, finding himself continued in the course of prosperity and success, has established a furniture house which is pointed out with pride as one of the leading mercantile concerns in this city.

Outside of his business activity Mr. Lane is especially well known as the department com- mander of the Texas Division of the United Sons of Confederate Veterans, having been chosen to that position at Sherman in 1903,. and re-elected at Temple in 1904. In 1905, at the annual reunion of the United Confederate- Veterans held at Louisville, Kentucky, June- 14-16, he was honored by being selected to re- spond to the address of welcome on behalf of the governor of the state, the mayor of the city and the commander of the Kentucky Division of the U. C. V. For some years he has been; actively identified with the Sons of Confederate. Veterans, and at the annual reunion of this organization at New Orleans in 1902 he received' a pleasing public recognition by his address made on behalf of the Sons in response to the address of greeting from that city. This speech was extensively published through the Associated Press and his ability as an impressive and fluent orator was the object of much favorable com- ment. Mr. Lane's further fraternal connections are as a member of the Woodmen of the World and of Fort Worth Lodge No. 148, A. F. & A. M., which is the largest Masonic lodge in the state, and in which he was chairman of the re- lief committee in 1903.

Public and political affairs, except as they have been subserved through his activity as a business man and public-spirited citizen, have hitherto received little attention from Mr. Lane,.

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

but his worth in the cause of the public welfare received signal recognition in 1905, when he was petitioned by about four hundred of Fort Worth's leading business men to become a can- didate for election to the state legislature, where he might be of especial service as representative of Fort Worth's constantly expanding business interests.

Mr. Lane was married at Denison, Texas, May 25, 1902, to Miss Josie Ivey, a daughter of Marion Ivey, of that city, who was in the Second Mississippi Regiment throughout the war be- tween the states. Mrs. Lane is now serving her second term as secretary of the Texas Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Mr. and Mrs. Lane have one daughter, Miss Fay Lane, who is a gradute of the Fort Worth high school, and who has served one year as assistant secretary of the Texas Division, U. D. C.

GEORGE W. EDWARDS. The subject of this memoir passed away while in the prime and vigor of life, and while approaching the zenith of a successful career in the stock business in Clay county. He was a representative of an old Cooke county family which was first established in Montague county when hostile Indians fre- quented there, and in the fear of ultimate annihi- lation by these marauders the family withdrew into Cooke county, where the parents afterward remained and where their children grew up. From 1882 till his death, April 30, 1888, Mr. Edwards was an enthusiastic and industrious stock raiser, and his early demise terminated a career of much usefulness and promise in his community.

August 28, 1858, George W. Edwards was born. His father was a Texas pioneer from the state of Tennessee and in Montague county he married Zelitha Raines who died in Cooke county in 1883, her husband having passed away many years before. Of the issue of these parents George W. was the oldest; then Mag- gie, wife of Charles Wood, of Arapaho county, Oklahoma; Clayborn B., and Dr. Albert Ed- wards, president of the Merchants and Planters' Bank of Henrietta.

George W. Edwards was limitedly educated in the rural schools and upon the approach of manhood began to deal and traffic in young cattle. When he had acquired a small bunch he brought them to the open country of Clay county, establishing himself southwest of Buf- falo Springs where he bought the Enoch Sloan farm, settled by Mr. Blackwell. In time he

fenced the land and proceeded to make it an improved farm as well as a cow ranch. He added to it in area, as time swept by, getting together an estate of seven hundred and fifty- five acres before he was carried off by the fatal typhoid in 1888. Two years after his advent to Clay county, he returned to Cooke county and was married, July 20, 1884, and in the few years in which his genius was permitted to dis- play itself, he laid the foundation for a compe- tence sufficient to maintain his widow while her young sons were growing up and taking their stations by her side in the active operation of their estate.

Mrs. Edwards was, prior to her marriage, Miss Mary E. Parmley, born in Wayne county, Ken- tucky, May 15, 1864. In 1869 her father, Alai Parmley, came to Texas and settled in Cooke county where he died in 1872 at forty years of age. His wife was Miss Norfleet, yet in Cooke county, and their children were: Sallie, wife of William Craft, of Lamar county; Minnie, who married Jeff Scarbrough and resides in Grayson county; William F. and Hiel, of Cooke county; Mrs. Edwards; Ira, of Cooke county; Ella, wife of John Kirby, a young stock farmer of Prospect, who is taking a leading place among the successful young men of Clay county ; Belle, wife of Ed Horn, of Foard county; and Lee, who married Richard Payne and resides in Cooke county.

The issue of Mr. and Mrs. Edwards are: Robert Lee, Roscoe C. and George W. Jr. Mrs. Edwards has taken the place of her lamented husband in the management of his estate, and has conducted its affairs with credit to herself and with profit as well. She has added to the family assets a tract of pasture land in Jack county, by purchase, and is demonstrating her spirit of modern progress by placing good edu- cational advantages in the way of her sons, whereby they may cope successfully with the world at large when they assume their inde- pendent stations in life.

MAJOR THOMAS HAMILTON LOGAN, a retired army officer living in El Paso, was born at Wellsville, the county seat of Columbiana county, Ohio, in 1840, his parents being David Hudson and Grace T. (Brooks) Logan. His ancestral history in the paternal line dates back to the arrival in America of James Logan, a Quaker, who came from Scotland as private sec- retary to William Penn. Major Logan's grand- father, the Rev. Gilbraith Hugh Logan, was for a long period of years rector of the Episcopal

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

parish of Flat Bush, Long Island, and his son, David Hudson Logan, father of our subject, likewise prepared for clerical orders, it being decided that he was to succeed his father as rector of the Flat Bush parish. He accordingly began preparation for the ministry, studying ex- tensively not only in this country but also in Europe, notably at Heidelberg University. He was a young man of considerable intelligence, thought and spirit and on returning to Flat Bush and meeting the bishop preparatory to becoming ordained priest of the Episcopal church, he de- cided that he could not conscientiously subscribe to all that was required of him as such, and ac- cordingly gave up the ministry and entered other business.

Major Logan's grandfather in the early days had been appointed chaplain in the army and was assigned to General Tipton's brigade, who was one of General William Henry Harrison's officers in the Indian wars. Following the battle of Tippecanoe the officers participating therein were rewarded with grants of land. in Atlanta and General Tipton selected twenty-six hundred acres on the banks of the Wabash, at the mouth of Eli river, where the city of Logansport now stands, and which was named by General Tip- ton in honor of Major Logan's grandfather.

As a youth Major Logan manifested great in- terest in militia affairs, and when the Civil war was inaugurated he entered the volunteer service at Logansport, Indiana, in April, 1861, becoming a member of Company F, Twentieth Indiana Infantry Volunteers, which was the first com- pany that went out from Logansport for the war. He was elected its captain but did not serve with that rank until a little later. The regiment first went to Baltimore and joined the Hatteras ex- pedition to the coast of North Carolina, thence returning to Fortress Monroe and Newport News, in the vicinity of which Major Logan witnessed the thrilling naval engagement be- tween the Merrimac and Monitor in March, 1862. On the 16th of May Major Logan's com- mand went to Fortress Monroe and thence to Norfolk, which they occupied on the 17th of May, but a few days later joined the Army of the Potomac. From that time forward Major Logan was in every battle fought by the Army of the Potomac, except one, the battle of An- tietam. He participated in the engagements of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania and all of the great battles of the Peninsular campaign and was sev- eral times wounded by bullets, being shot once through the scalp. On numerous occasions he distinguished himself for bravery and gallantry

which won him well deserved promotions. He gained the reputation of being a most excellent soldier, always concentrating his thoughts and energies upon the duties immediately at hand. In 1863 he was brevetted captain, in 1864 was appointed major of colored troops, and on the fourteenth of October was made colonel. In July, 1865, he went with his command to Indi- anola, Texas, and then to Corpus Christi, where he was mustered out of the volunteer service November 8, 1865, returning to his home in Indianapolis and being discharged in that state on the eleventh of January, 1866.

On the twenty-eighth of July, of the same year, Mr. Logan was commissioned as first lieu- tenant in the regular army, being attached to the Fortieth Infantry. He served with that regi- ment for three years, when it was consolidated with the Thirty-ninth United States Regular In- fantry. During this time, in 1866, 1867, 1868, and a part of 1869, he was on duty in the south in connection with the military re-construction period, being located for some time at Golds- boro and other towns in North Carolina. He was also in Mississippi, Louisiana and other southern states. His military services in those places were highly commended and endorsed by the southern people. On the fifteenth of Novem- ber, 1869, Major Logan was assigned to the Fifth Infantry, which he joined at Fort Harker, where General Miles had his headquarters. Soon after the Fifth Infantry started on a two years' hard campaign of Indian fighting against the Chey- ennes and Kiowas in the Indian Territory. In 1876 they went to Montana, remaining in that state until 1888, when the Fifth Infantry was transferred to Fort Hancock in western Texas, where Major Logan was located when he was retired from the army on the 21st of February, 1891. On the 21st of October, 1881, he had been promoted to the rank of captain, having served as lieutenant for sixteen years, and after his re- tirement he was raised to the rank of major on the 13th of April, 1903. About the 'time that Fort Bliss was established at its present location four miles east of El Paso Major Logan built a home at the fort, where he has since resided. Since his retirement from the army his prin- cipal occupation has been that of a contractor, as he is still active and in good health and likes to have something to do. He keeps up his ac- quaintance and friendship with many of the old army officers and associates in army life and through his residence at Fort Bliss keeps in touch with military affairs and old officers, both Federal and Confederate.

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

Major Logan was married to Miss Evaline Loney, a member of the well known Baltimore family of that name, and they have seven chil- dren : Charles S., Hall Hamilton, Frederick Hudson, Mrs. Myrtle Wickham, wife of Captain Wickham of the Twelfth Infantry now in the Philippines, Grace Virginia, Mabel Hathaway and Ethaline Sherman Logan.

JOHN E. GEORGE, the popular and effi- cient ex-sheriff of Clay county, and a gentleman who has been identified with the county's agra- rian interests for more than a quarter of a century, is he whose name heads this personal sketch. Situated near old Newport, and four and a half miles southwest of Vashti, his farm is numbered among the larger ones of his com- munity and its owner one of the progressive and energetic men of that locality. Although still a young man Mr. George has had much to do with the public affairs of Clay county, and it was by the voice of the people at the polls that he was called upon to assume one of the respon- sible positions within their municipal gift. And so well and faithfully were his duties performed that again and again was he recalled to admin- ister upon their affairs, having conferred upon him the unusual honor of serving three con- secutive terms in a public office.

In Hot Springs county, Arkansas, John E. George was born March 16, 1862. In 1870 his father, John George, settled on a rather new farm thirteen miles southeast of Fort Worth, in Tarrant county, Texas, and proceeded with his occupation as a farmer. He was not des- tined to aid conspicuously in the development of his adopted county for death claimed him two years later at forty-eight years of age.

John George's birthplace was in the state of Georgia. His parents died when he was a child and he was bound, according to law, to one Johnson, who took him into Louisiana, there to rear him. Becoming dissatisfied with his new location, Mr. Johnson determined to return to Georgia, contrary to the wishes of his new ward. Although the boy had been separ- ated from his brothers in the old state he had no desire to return there and, to avoid being . forced to, he "ran away" from his master and began the battle of life alone. How he man- aged and what he did for a livelihood while coming to maturity is not known, but it is fair to presume that he was always associated with the labor of the farm. He married, in Louisi- ana, Margaret Henderson, who survives, a resi- dent near Vashti, at eighty years of age. The

issue of their union were: Sallie, who died in Arkansas as the wife of James Deer, leaving a family; Betty, widow of David Goza, of Clay county; William, who died in Tarrant county, without issue; Bascom, of Clay county; Flor- ence, wife of E. G. Tims, of Vashti, deceased ; Alice, deceased, married L. J. Walker; John E., our subject, and Lee, of Vashti, Texas.

John E. George knew only the life of a farmer boy in childhood and youth. His education was neglected and he was launched into manhood with only a meager knowledge of books. His mother and her children left Tarrant county in 1879 and settled in the south part of Clay coun- ty where their efforts as farmers have ever since been known. While he was employed much as a farm hand at a monthly and daily wage, his mother's home was his own even after his first years of married life. His rural residence was interrupted by his removal to the county seat to assume public office, and for six years he was separated from his real home and farm. Upon retiring from office he returned to Vashti and took up the industrial thread where it had been severed in 1896, and nothing but a conflagra- tion and the loss of his little abiding-place has caused him to leave it since. Mr. George is the owner of a farm of nearly eleven hundred acres, arranged for both pasture and farm and it is stocked with one hundred and sixty-five head of cattle, and one hundred and seventy acres are under plow. In the month of May, 1904, his comfortable and cozily-furnished home was burned - without insurance - the family barely escaping with their lives.

September 28, 1890, Mr. George married, at Vashti, Eva, a daughter of Francis and Lucinda (Jones) Evans. Mr. Evans went from Georgia to Arkansas, thence to Texas, while Mrs. Evans was a native of the Lone Star state. The father died in Washita county, Indian Territory, in 1891, at sixty years of age, while the mother died at Vashti in 1881 at the age of twenty-eight. Their children were: Mrs. George, born Feb- ruary 9, 1871, in Cherokee county, Texas; Du- mas, of Washita county, Indian Territory, and Rufus, of the same place.

The issue of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. George are: Zella, born September 7, 1891; Flake, born September 17, 1893, Dallas, born May 2, 1896; Johnny, born February 3, 1899; Willie, born June 26, 1902, and Alice, born July 17, 1904.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 101

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: 972

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: 972