A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 102

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 102

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In his political career Mr. George has been a somewhat unique character. His candidacy was an instance of a man without party affiliation,

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

being elected to public office in this day of modern politics. While his candidacy, .the first time, was endorsed by the peoples' party he was not a Populist and had manifested no spe- cial interest in their professions of faith. In this contest in November, 1896, he was chosen by a majority of one hundred and eighty-nine votes, and in 1898 he was elected as an inde- pendent by a majority of eighty-nine votes. In 1900 his candidacy again met with a popular response and his majority over the regular Dem- ocratic nominee was two hundred and forty-two. A fourth time he was induced to make the race, in the face of the growing sentiment in favor of "two terms and quit," and he was defeated by less than eighty votes, showing the hold he had on the affections of the people and clinching the fact of his satisfactory service as a public officer.

BEN NUTTER. A third of a century has elapsed since Ben Nutter first set foot upon Texas soil, a period covering an era of the state's most rapid and substantial development, and when the most strenuous efforts of her citizenship have been exerted in her moral and material welfare. It was an era that tried men's courage, their constitutions and their genuine manhood, and sifted and sorted the inhabitants until, at the opening of the twentieth century, it is an homogeneous mass, wielding a power for ideal citizenship and good government.

In a youth of nineteen it required stable quali- ties and a good mental poise to enter Texas as early as 1872, and pass through the fiery tests following closely upon the heels of reconstruc- tion and preceding the quiet calm of settled and restful social conditions without the finger of suspicion pointing in his direction and with character standing, upon the near approach of the evening of life, unassailed and unimpeached. Of the number in this category, who so guided and guarded their career as to merit the ap- proval of fair-minded men and retain the respect and win the esteem of his fellow-man, it is our privilege and our pleasure to include Ben Nut- ter, the subject of this review.

The birth of Mr. Nutter occurred in Scott county, Kentucky, March 22, 1853, and two years later, his father, Ben Nutter, took his family to Ray county, Missouri, where the farm life of that semi-frontier community knew him almost to his twentieth year. The Nutters of the earlier generations followed grain and stock raising on a modest scale and the Kentucky founder of the family was William Nutter, the grandfather of our Clay county subject. The

old Nutter patriarch passed away in Scott county and was the father of William, of Hig- ginsville, Missouri; Clem and John, of Scott county, Kentucky, and Ben, the father of our subject.

Ben Nutter, Sr., married Sarah Coleman, a daughter of a Kentucky farmer, and died in Ray county, Missouri, in 1862, at the age of forty- one, while his widow survived until 1895, dying at the age of sixty-nine. The issue of their marriage was: Mary, wife of William Parker, of Richmond, Missouri; William, of the same point ; John, deceased; Ben. our subject; Henry and Clem, of Richmond, Missouri, and Margar- et, wife of Lynch Smith, of Richmond, Missouri.

On account of the war situation in his child- hood, Ben Nutter failed to acquire a good com- mon school education and he was contributing something from his labors to the family sup- port at a very young and childlike age. In the autumn of 1872, when he decided to become a citizen of Texas, he left home with a team of mules and a wagon in company with a half dozen young men from his neighborhood, and stopped first in Fannin county where he made two cotton crops the first two years. In Red River county he traded his team for a small bunch of cattle and thus acquired his nucleus in the cattle busi- ness in the Lone Star state. He drove his sixty head of stock to Clay county and held them on the Little Wichita river where he secured em- ployment with H. C. Bailey, and was with him some three years. His next employers were Glen Halsell, Baldwin and Harness, and, about 1885, ceased to ride the range for others and devoted his time to the interests of Nutter & Neville, which partnership had been formed as early as 1878.

The firm of Nutter & Neville was handi- capped by the lack of means to push an inde- pendent business, and while one looked after their company interests the other worked for wages to hold him up. Eventually they leased the Harness pasture and continued to hold their growing herd on leased lands for several years. In 1896 W. H. Myers joined them in the pur- chase of fifty-seven hundred acres of land lying southwest of Henrietta and the firm of Myers, Nutter & Neville existed, in the cattle business for some time, when Mr. Myers sold his interest to his partners who have since operated the ranch. Their pasture is stocked with fifteen hundred head of mixed stock and their brand, a diamond on the left hip, thigh and side, is one of the best known in Clay county.

The life of the cowboy when the range was

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open and limited only by the horizon was not all feathers and flowers. The cattle were first in the thoughts of their owners, and weather conditions nor the time of day or night did not govern the cowboy's movements. If it were necessary to remain with the herd through the night or in the wettest or the coldest weather he picketed his horse, rolled up in his blank- ets and slept the sleep of the righteous in the open air. It was no infrequent occurrence, as Mr. Nutter declares, for them to find themselves lying in two inches of water and not know that it had been raining, or to ride for days with little sleep and harboring an appetite that would turn a meat-ax into a frenzied fit.

Mr. Nutter's individual real property em- braces a pasture of some seventeen hundred acres upon which his ranch residence is situ- ated and where his farming operations are car- ried on. Until he was married he made his home with his employers or his partner, but for the past dozen years he has reclined under his own "vine and fig tree." November 8, 1892, Mr. Nutter married Mamie, a daughter of Joseph L. Edwards, of Knox county, Illinois, a federal soldier during the Civil war and a pio- neer lawyer to Cherokee county, Kansas. Mr. Edwards married Della Douglass and Mrs. Nutter and L. H. Edwards, of Denver, are the children of their union. Mr. Edwards died and his widow married Asbury Clark and resides in Denver, Colorado. Mrs. Nutter was born April 29, 1869, and came to Texas in 1883. She made her home at Mobetie, with an uncle, W. E. Ed- wards, until they removed to Clay coun- ty where she met and married her husband. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Nutter is composed of three children : Earl Benjamin, born Septem- ber 18, 1894; Henry Coleman, born July 31, 1896, and Mamie K., born September 20, 1899.

Ben Nutter is one of the real characters of the old cowboy contingent and as much of his own meat was found in his commissary as the practice of early times would assure. If backs were turned when he butchered a beef it was in accordance with the unwritten law of the range and no ranchman could come nearer ans- wering the question, "How does your beef taste?" than he.

DR. REUBEN WRIGHT is the senior mem- ber of the firm of R. Wright & Son, proprietors of a large and profitable dairy business of El Paso. A native of Indiana, he was born near Kendallville in Noble county, in 1837. His father was born in the state of Vermont and

married in New York state, and later settled in Indiana in 1835, becoming a successful farmer and dairyman of Noble county. There upon the homestead farm Dr. Wright was reared, his elementary education being acquired in the country schools, while later he continued his studies in Kendallville, the family home being about six miles distant from that town. Think- ing to make the practice of medicine his life work he began a student in the office and under the direction of Dr. G. Errickson, of Kendall- ville, and after being licensed to practice he en- tered upon the active work of his profession in his home neighborhood, maintaining his office at first in his father's house. There he remained in the active practice of medicine until 1871, when his health failed to such an extent that it was necessary for him to seek a more con- genial climate and he made his way to southwest Missouri, settling in Lawrence county, where he practiced medicine for about three years. He then started to Texas, traveling by team through the Indian Territory, once again seek- ing a more congenial climate because of his health. He passed through the present site of Denison before the establishment of the village and on through central Texas to the southwest portion of the state, locating in Kerr county, northwest of San Antonio. There was no rail- road to San Antonio in those days and in fact there were few railroads in the state, Kerr county consisting mostly of an open range de- voted to the cattle business, and Dr. Wright determined to give his time to that industry. His life for the next few years was filled with the danger and excitement incidental to a fron- tier cattle industry, the greatest danger being from Indians who made periodical raids bent on stealing cattle and stopping not at murder in order to accomplish their ends. Thus life was continually menaced and great fear was experi- enced by the women of the household who were of necessity left much alone while the husbands, fathers and sons herded the cattle on the plains. There were many notoriously rough characters who used the unbroken country north of the Rio Grande as a hiding place. Dr. Wright afterward took his outfit into Edward county and began raising sheep as well as cattle. He made his way still further west into Val Verde county and along the upper Rio Grande into the Devil's river and Pecos country, much of which district is especially adapted to sheep raising. In 1886 he located in El Paso county, twenty-five miles down the valley from El Paso, where he acquired and still owns a fine ranch

Form Powers

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

there of seven hundred acres. Making his home on the ranch, he was actively engaged. in the stock business until August, 1902, when he re- moved to El Paso and since that time has es- tablished the well known dairy of R. Wright & Son, his partner being his son, Ernest Wright. They own about two hundred head of fine stock and conduct a large and successful business in this line.

Dr. Wright was married in Noble county, Indiana, to Miss Sarah Anne Willetts, and both their children, Ernest and Mrs. Ollie Amanda Lewis, who is the wife of a prominent cattle man, were born in that county. Ernest Wright was married in this county to Miss Mary Pat- terson, and they have two children, Pearl and Charles. In the management of their business interests the father and son are meeting with very creditable and gratifying success. Dr. Wright has retired permanently from the active practice of medicine and through his outdoor life in Texas he has regained his health. A liberal patronage is accorded the firm and the success which they now enjoy is indication of their practical and progressive methods.

PERCY W. McGHEE, city clerk of El Paso, who has made a creditable record in business and official circles and has also been a co-oper- ant factor in many measures for intellectual and moral progress in the community, was born in Waco, Texas, June 15, 1860, and in his life has manifested the enterprising spirit of the south- west that has led to the rapid and substantial development of this section of the country. His father, John M. McGhee, was a native of Ala- bama and came to Texas in an early day, set- tling in Waco, where he died.

Percy W. McGhee was reared and educated in the schools of Waco and pursued his studies with the end in view of entering a clerical and business life. Going to Austin, he spent four years there and in 1896 came to El Paso, where he has since made his home. For several years he was bookkeeper of the Payne-Badger Com- pany and subsequently for the White Oaks Fuel Company, filling the latter position at the time that he was elected by the city council in May, 1905, to the position of city clerk in. El Paso. His long experience in work of this kind has qualified him in high degree for the labors at- tendant upon the office.

For three years Mr. McGhee was president of the Young Men's Christian Association of El Paso and it was while he was filling that posi- tion that the work of soliciting subscriptions for

the purpose of a new Y. M. C. A. building was begun - a work that has been continued until the present 'splendid structure valued at fifty thousand dollars was erected. Mr. McGhee is now vice-president of the association and he is an elder in the First Presbyterian church of El Paso, taking a most helpful part in the vari- our church activities.

Mr. McGhee was married in Waco to Miss Mary C. Carter, a daughter of E. H. Carter, of that city, who was for many years con- nected with the land department of the Hous- ton & Texas Central Railroad Company. They have two children, Beatrice and Percy, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. McGhee both have many warm friends in El Paso and enjoy in large measure the high regard of all with whom they have come in contact. A life permeated by high principles and a recognition of the pur- poses of life, Mr. McGhee has so labored that his work has been a tangible element in the moral development of El Paso and he brings the same principles into his every-day life and his official services.

TOM POWERS has had an eventful career in which have been many exciting episodes inci- dent to life on the frontier. These accounts which to the residents of the older east seem more like tales of fiction than reality have been actual living experiences to him, and his mind bears the impress of the pioneer west with all its hardships and dangers, its privations and difficulties. Moreover Mr. Powers has stood as a defender of law and order when chaotic condi- tions reigned and has made a most creditable record in office.

A native of Troy, New York, he was born September 19, 1860, and is a son of Irish parents, his father, Michael Powers, having emigrated from Ireland to Troy, New York, where he fol- lowed the carpenter's trade. In 1864 he removed with his family to Lancaster, Grant county, Wis- consin, thirty miles from Dubuque, Iowa. That was then a new country in which progress and improvement have been carried forward to only a limited extent. When twelve years of age Tom Powers left that country with his eldest sister and her husband, Henry Day, and made his way to Kansas by wagon. They located at Con- cordia on the Republican river in the northern part of that state, and there at an early day Mr. Powers engaged in freighting lumber westward to Beloit, Kansas, now the county seat of Mitchell county. In less than a year from the time that he arrived at Concordia, however, he

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

made his way to Coffeyville, in the southeastern part of the state, a town noted in the frontier his- tory of the west as one of the wildest of wild places, being headquarters for the periodical sprees of cowboys and the seeming ultimate de's- tination of the numerous bad characters who in- fested the Indian Territory and in later years it was the scene of the activity of the Dalton boys and near the Bender family, who operated at Cherry vail. The town had first been called Parker but because of a misunderstanding with the new railroad, the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston, which had recently been built there, the railroad company located its station two miles distant and called it Coffeyville. Mr. Pow- ers soon procured a position as mail carrier from M. A. Thompson, of Sedalia, Missouri, who had the government contract to carry the mail from Coffeyville, Kansas, to Kickapoo, Indian Terri- tory, on the north bank of the Canadian river. His route was from Pawnee, on Bear creek, to Kickapoo, a distance of ninety miles. He was thus employed for eighteen months.

To Mr. Powers belongs the credit of having "blazed the way" for the mail route between Pawnee and the Sac and Fox agencies, up to which time there was no connection or even defi- nite knowledge on the part of either tribe touch- ing each other's existence. This hazardous ven- ture was performed by Mr. Powers when but fourteen years of age. Regardless of his youth he had, however, been sworn into the service by Judge Joseph Mccrary, of Coffeyville, Kansas. His next employment was with Captain Seigerts, who had the mail contract from the government from Vinita, Indian Territory, to Las Vegas, New Mexico, This country at that time was infested with three noted outlaws, Tripplett, Stogden and Barker. The former is now serv- ing a life sentence in the Leavenworth, Kansas, penitentiary, and Barker was killed on Bird creek, on the Kansas and Indian Territory line by officials and a posse of Montgomery county, Kansas, citizens. The three outlaws had way- laid and killed Captain Seigerts and a compan- ion, an old Englishman, who was a clock tinker. Their bodies were hid in a ravine and their con- veyance burned, which facts were not learned until after the killing of Barker by the officials and posse, and the capture of Tripplett by the noted Indian police captain, Tom Galkatcher.

After three months carrying mail for Captain Seigerts, on the western line of his route, Mr. Powers became associated with Terrell & Fer- guson, of Winfield, Kansas, who had the con- tract from Arkansas City to Shawneetown. He

carried mail for them on this route for about one year, and then became associated with John Whistler, the noted rancher, who, born a Potta- wottamie Indian, was adopted by the tribes of the Sac and Fox, and became a wealthy trader on the Cimarron river, with headquarters on the Bac and Fox agency. His next occupation was that of a freighter in the employ of Hugh Bay's freighting outfit of Muskogee, in the Creek nation, loading merchandise at Muskogee for Okmulgee, Sac and Fox agency and Pawnee, and returning from these points with hides, pecans, deer skins, etc. Mr. Power's experi- ence in the Indian Territory, and that part of the country which is now included within the boundaries of Oklahoma, was fraught with events of great interest, and exciting adventures typical of frontier days. He was there when the Federal troops drove Captain Payne, the origi- nal Oklahoma boomer, out of the territory.

He recalls interesting events in the careers of the well known Indians, such as Sam Sixkiller, Pleasant Porter, now chief of the Creeks, and citizens connected prominently with the govern- ment Indian service, including the firm of Millet & Jefferson, beef contractors, Joe Sherburne, Captain Westfall and others, and associated with such well known characters as Clarence Turner, who married into the Creek family and is now a wealthy and prominent citizen of Muskogee.

Mr. Powers eventually made his way to the southwest part of the territory, crossing the Red river at Charley, Clay county, Texas, in the sum- mer of 1881. There he went to work as a cow- boy for the Texas Investment Company, a large cattle firm, of which George B. Loving was the president. He was with that outfit during the fall of 1881, and until the winter of 1882, in the early part of which they sold out to the St. Louis Land & Cattle Company, which decided to re- moved its seat of operations further west, and accordingly Mr. Powers came with that outfit westward through what was known as the Nar- rows (the country lying between the Red and Brazos river) up to Yellowhouse Canon and from that place he went to Colorado City on the then newly completed Texas & Pacific Railroad. It was a regulation frontier town. From there Mr. Powers decided to discontinue his connec- tion with the cattle business and entered the em- ploy of Criswell Brothers & Robinson, who were operating an ice factory. A short time later he went into the Pacific Hotel as clerk and manager, and for some time was well known in connection with that hostelry, which was a lead- ing one of early days. It was while in the hotel

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business at Colorado City that Mr. Powers made out the menu for the banquet of the first annual convention of the Texas Cattle Raisers' Associa- tion.

In the meantime there had for a considerable period been a lawless element constantly mak- ing trouble at Colorado and to augment matters a feud sprung up between the cattle men and the rangers as to the occupancy of the offices of sheriff and city marshal. Mr. Powers, by his quiet, determined and fearless demeanor, had won the respect and friendship of both factions, and in order to bring about peace and observ- ance of the law, the office of deputy city mar- shal was epecially created for him and offered to him by the citizens, and he filled the office with a degree of success not before known. The city marshal at that time was J. W. Woods and the mayor was William Martin. Mr. Powers held the position referred to for a little over four years, having made a reputation for cool- ness, bravery and efficiency as an officer in deal- ing with cattle thieves that will always keep him in good standing in western Texas. Following his election to the office Mr. Powers engaged in business at Colorado City and was also elected mayor there, filling the office for one term. He likewise owned and conducted a livery stable there known as the Malin & Colvin stable, and he still owns the building in which he carried on the enterprise. He next embarked again in the cattle business, but this time on his own account, and he trafficked in cattle west of Colo- rado City for three or four years. In the spring of 1889 he sold his cattle to W. N. Waddell and the stock and equipment of his livery busi- ness to Joe Stokes in May, 1900. In the sum- mer of that year he came to El Paso, since which time he has been successfully engaged in busi- ness here, making money and accumulating val- uable property in this growing city. He is a member of the firm of Powers & Truesdell.

To Mr. Powers belongs the honor of being generally instrumental in bringing the conven- tion of 1903 of the Texas Cattle Raisers' Asso- ciation to El Paso-the first time it had been held this far west. To secure this result he made an extensive trip through the cattle country of western Texas, getting pledges from his old friends to vote for El Paso as the convention city at the convention held in Fort Worth in 1902. He is a business man of keen discernment, unflagging enterprise and strong determination, carrying forward to successful completion what- ever he undertakes.

Mr. Powers was married in El Paso to Miss Kathalee Pipkin, and they have two little daugh- ters, Kathalee Arelia and Alice.

CAPTAIN HENRY F. STACY, sewer in- spector in the city engineering department in El Paso, was born near Cearcy, White county, Arkansas, August 22, 1841, his parents being Byron and Elizabeth (Royl) Stacy. The father was born in Tennessee and was one of the early settlers of White county, Arkansas, where he became a successful farmer and cotton planter, his trading point being Little Rock until the town of Cearcy was established and grew into some commercial importance. His death oc- curred in White county in 1844, while his wife, who was also a native of Tennessee, died in Hill county, Texas.

Following the loss of her first husband, Mrs. Stacy married again, and with his mother and stepfather Mr. Stacy of this review came to Texas in 1856, reaching Bastrop county on the 26th of December of that year. There he re- sided until after the outbreak of the Civil war between the northern and southern states, when, in 1861, he enlisted at the call of the south and became a member of Company D, Twelfth Tex- as Cavalry, commanded by Colonel W. H. Par- sons, under whom he served throughout the entire war. This regiment was attached to the Trans-Mississippi department and aided in the military operations in Texas, Louisana and Arkansas, taking part in thirty-seven pitched bat- tles in the camp against Banks when the latter was trying to ascend the Red river. Captain Stacy is said by his comrades to have been a soldier of greatest courage and ability, never faltering in the performance of any duty, but fearlessly defending the cause which he had espoused until hostilities were over.

When the war was ended Captain Stacy re- turned to Bastrop county, where he remained until about 1872, when he started westward. Gradually he continued his way toward the set- ting sun and was largely engaged in dealing in horses at the various places where he stopped for any length of time. At length he reached El Paso in 1881, casting in his lot with its early settlers and has since maintained his residence here. For about twelve years he was engaged in the teaming business and during the admin- istration of Mayor B. F. Hammett he was ap- pointed inspector of sewers in the city engineer's department, which position he has since filled with ability and satisfaction. He is well known

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 102

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