A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 106

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 106

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

NATHAN LEAVITT, whose history is closely interwoven with that of Stamford, was born October 6, 1834, in Clinton, Kennebec county, Maine. His father, Nathan Leavitt, was also a native of that state, while his mother, who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Hanson, was born in St. Johns, New Brunswick. In their family were ten children who reached maturity, four sons and six daughters. There were also two others who died in infancy.

Nathan Leavitt was reared to manhood in his native state. His boyhood days were devoted to the occupation of farming and lumbering. His advantages for education were somewhat limited but he made good use of his opportuni- ties. He resided with his parents until the age of eighteen years and he purchased a part of his father's farm in Maine, retaining the owner- ship for a number of years or until he came to

the west in 1855. He settled in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and with the proceeds of what his farm brought him together with his other earn- ings he had capital sufficient to enable him to engage in the lumber business in Fond du Lac. He became a member of the firm of Fuller, Leavitt & Company, lumber manufacturers, own- ing and operating a saw mill and planing mill, but in the financial crisis of 1857 the firm failed. From that time on Mr. Leavitt engaged with other concerns and with the earnings thus se- cured he paid off every dollar of his share of the indebtedness of the firm of Fuller, Leavitt & Company. He was thus connected with the lum- ber interests of the north until 1862, when on the 15th of August, he responded to the country's call for aid, enlisting in Company A, Twenty-first Regiment of Wisconsin Volunteers, with which he served for about eight months. He was in the battle of Perryville, Kentucky, October 8, 1862, and was at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in the latter part of that year and in the early part of 1863. There he was under the com- mand of General George H. Thomas. In the battle of Perryville the company entered the fight with forty-two men but came out with only twenty-one after being under fire for probably not more than ten or fifteen minutes, the loss in that time, however, being just one-half of the company. When the company was organized on the 15th of August, 1862, Mr. Leavitt was elected by the command to the office of first lieu- tenant. On account of failing health, however, he resigned his commission in the army upon a surgeon's certificate of disability and returned to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

Mr. Leavitt then embarked in the lumber busi- ness on his own account once more and also con- ducted a farm near the city, which he maintained until 1873. He then sold his interests and went to California, locating in Honey Lake Valley, Lassen county, where he embarked in the dairy business in connection with farming. He re- mained there for about a year, but not being satisfied with his experience in California he re- turned to Wisconsin, locating in Brown county near Green Bay. There he farmed and also be- gan contracting and building. In this connection he helped to build the Milwaukee & Northern Railroad extending from Milwaukee to Green Bay. He did the bridge work, taking the con- tracts for the same and constructing nearly all the bridges on the entire line.

In May, 1877, Mr. Leavitt came to Texas, landing in McLennan county, where he pur- chased a farm, which he owned and operated

526

HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

until 1889, at the same time following mechanical pursuits. In the year mentioned, however, he removed to Jones county, where he was con- nected with agricultural interests until 1900. On the 16th of January of that year he was ap- pointed postmaster of the young town of Stam- ford, then an office in the fourth class. The gross receipts for the first day's business was ten cents. In about fourteen months time the office became one of the third class with a salary of fifteen hun- dred dollars a year. This remarkable increase in receipts will also give an idea of the rapid growth of the town. When the office became one of the third class the postmaster was required to give a bond of five thousand dollars and that at least two men should go upon this bond and repre- sent an aggregate security of ten thousand dol- lars. Mr. Leavitt, however, was not only able to secure two men but ten men volunteered to go on the bond, which they did. No higher testi- monial of public confidence could be given than the fact that so many were ready to stand as a guarantee of his fidelity to duty. Mr. Leavitt owns some of the most valuable business property in the city of Stamford and it returns a good in- terest upon the money invested. He has been closely associated with public affairs especially in the substantial upbuilding and improvement of the town and has served on several important committees for public improvement. Whatever tends to benefit the municipality or to promote its substantial growth receives his endorsement and hearty co-operation.

Mr. Leavitt was first married in 1855 to Miss Mary Ann Jewell, of Clinton, Maine, who died in the spring of 1857. She was the mother of two children, one of whom died in infancy, while the other, Edward J. Leavitt, is now a resident of Sacramento, California, in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. Mr. Leavitt was again married in August, 1862, to Miss Har- riet A. Soper, a native of Vermont, but at that time living in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. They have four living children, two sons and two daughters: William H .; Nathan D. L .; Eliza, the wife of F. P. Thomas; and Edna, the wife of Claude Seth, all of whom are living in Stam- ford. Mr. Leavitt is entirely a self made man, owing his advancement to his own efforts and to the recognition and utilization of opportunity. What he has accomplished in the business world shows his force of character and his laudable ambition. In the years of his residence in Stam- ford he has won the entire respect and confidence of his fellow men, and in official service and business life has made a creditable record.

ALBERT. W. JOHNSON, who has spent the greater part of his life in Texas, is now success- fully engaged in business as a druggist under the firm style of Morrow & Johnson. This is the oldest established store in Anson, no other firm doing business today having been estab- lished here at the time the present drug store was opened.

It will be fitting in this connection to note something of the family from which Mr. Johnson comes. His father, Dr. A. H. Johnson, who became a pioneer resident of Texas, is a native of Weakley county, Tennessee, born January 17, 1835, and is of English lineage. His father, Till- man Johnson, was a pioneer settler of the latter state and there the doctor was reared to man- hood. He is a graduate of the Cincinnati (Ohio) Medical College and for many years he prac- ticed in his native state, following his profession there until the time of his removal to Texas. He was married in 1859 to Miss Pernecia Ross, also a native of Tennessee, and a daughter of Reuben Ross, a prominent Baptist preacher of that locality. Mrs. Johnson died at her home in Tennessee in 1879. In the family were eight children, who reached mature years. In 1882 the family came to Texas, settling in Jones county, where one son, Willie T. Johnson, had previously located. He came alone to the state the winter before and built the house upon the homestead farm, being joined by the others of the family in the following spring. Dr. Johnson, at that time in poor health, gave up the practice of medicine in a large measure and turned his at- tention to farming and stock raising, hoping that the outdoor life would prove beneficial. Before his removal to Texas he was ordained a minis- ter of the Baptist church and during his residence here he has devoted much of his time and energy to preaching the gospel and to the general up- building of religion. He has been instrumental in organizing a number of churches in his local- ity and his influence has been a most potent ele- ment for good. He now makes his home about a mile and a half southeast of Anson and is one of the honored and respected citizens of the com- munity.

Albert W. Johnson was about thirteen years of age when he came with the family to Texas, since which time he has witnessed the growth and development of this portion of the state, watching its wonderful transformation as it has emerged from pioneer conditions and taken on all the evidences of an advanced civilization. His education was acquired in the common schools of his home locality in Tennessee and in Hill's

OSCAR C. SCHNEIDER

527

HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

Commercial School in Waco, Texas. In 1891 he became connected with the drug business as a clerk in the employ of F. T. Knox & Company. In 1892 he purchased a third interest in the business and in 1893 became half owner. At that time the interest of Mr. Knox was purchased by J. S. Morrow and the firm name was changed to Morrow & Johnson, under which style the business has been continued to the present time

oldest firm in the city today. In 1893 and again in 1904 a large portion of the business district ; of Anson was destroyed by fire and the firm of Morrow & Johnson were among the losers in this conflagration, but Phoenix like there rose from the ashes in the spring of 1904 their present new brick building, which is one of the largest and best appointed business blocks, not only in Anson, but in all western Texas. It was built at a cost of four thousand dollars and is a mod- ern structure complete in its equipments and appointments. In January, 1900, Mr. Johnson was given charge of the private bank of J. S .: Morrow and has since had entire control of the business. This change was necessitated by Mr. Morrow's removal to Stamford upon the founda- tion of that town. Mr. Johnson, however, re- mains as an active business factor in Anson and his efforts have contributed in substantial meas- ure to the commercial prosperity and upbuilding of the city.

In 1893 Mr. Johnson was married to Miss Mary E. Morrow, a native of Weakley county, Tennessee, and a niece of J. S. Morrow. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have five children, three sons and two daughters, namely: Audrey, Willie M., Rupert, Albert W., and Mary E. They occupy a prominent social position and the hospitality of the best homes of this part of the state is cor- dially extended them. Fraternally Mr. Johnson is connected with the Odd Fellows and the Woodmen. In his business career he has made steady advancement, achieving success through honorable effort, untiring industry and capable management, while in private life he has gained that warm personal regard which arises from true nobility of character and deference for the opinion of others.

OSCAR C. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Schneider, our subject, first entered Northern and Western Texas in 1876, when he established himself in Fort Worth and applied himself to the learning of the tinner's trade. Having become proficient in his work, he went the rounds of the city with

the hardware firms of Havens, Lake, Gay and Nash, and for some time he was tinner for Wil- son & Robinson, of Colorado City. In 1883 he came to Montague county and established a busi- ness in the new town of Bowie. The same fall he associated himself with his brother and added a stock of hardware and for ten years Schneider Bros. conducted that business and prospered as a firm. In 1893 Oscar C., our subject, decided to with constantly growing success. This is the . engage in farming and stock raising and, pre- paratory to that end, he moved to his brother's farm on the Bowie and Newport road.

The Schneider farms embrace nearly eight hundred acres, chiefly range land, and Oscar C. Schneider superintends the dual industry carried on there with intelligence and success. Industry was one of the chief characteristics of the family from the first and this trait has not failed to show itself most prominently in the career of the two brothers mentioned in this article.

Oscar C. Schneider was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, October 29, 1853, and is a brother of Alfred C. Schneider, whose personal notice ap- pears in this work. From Galveston, where the family lived probably a dozen years, they went, in 1868, to Hempstead, and while reaching years of maturity our subject lived there and in Bren- ham, Corsicana, Houston and Texarkana. In early life he became a clerk in a dry goods house and later went on the I. & G. N. Railway, and on the Texas Central Railway, as a fireman, and was in the railroad service some three years. At this juncture he took him a wife, quit the road and took up the tin business in Fort Worth, as above related.

Mr. Schneider was first married June 12, 1876, his wife being Mrs. Ellen Borough, a daughter of John Kizziar. The children of this union were: Joseph and Charles, who are in the state of Wash- ington; Oscar, of Montague county, married Bertha DeArmond; George and Grover, of Bowie; Robert, who died at twelve years, and Sophia, yet with the family circle. August 26, 1900, Mr. Schneider married Mrs. Matilda Dur- ham, a daughter of Lawrence Garhart. Spurgeon L. Durham is Mrs. Schneider's first child and she and Mr. Schneider are the parents of two little sons, Clarence and Lawrence.

In addition to his tract of one hundred and seventy-six acres of prairie land near him Mr. Schneider owns the Bowie cotton yard. His la- bor and his business foresight have earned him a substantial competence for the years of the future and his civic relations with his fellow men guar- antee him their confidence and lasting good will.

528

HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

RICHARD ELLIS SHERRILL. The his- tory of the Sherrill family in America covers a wide territory and goes back to the early settle- ment of this country when two brothers came here from England seeking a home in the'new world where they could worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences. They were of Norman-French descent. The name of one of the brothers is not known. The other, Samuel, settled on Long Island, New York, and one branch of his family moved south, first to Virginia and thence to North Carolina. De- lighted with the Catawba lands of North Caro- lina, they left their Virginia holdings, near Har- per's Ferry, unsold and never returned to look after them. Later, when these lands became val- uable, they were known as "Sherrill's Folly." This was prior to the Revolutionary war. Sub- sequently the Sherrills scattered over South Car- olina, East Tennessee and Georgia, where they were industrious and highly respected citizens, for the most part farmers and all well off, few of them, however, ever becoming wealthy. They were people of fine physique, tall, broad shoul- dered, strong and healthy men, generally with black hair and eyes; the daughters, many of them noted for their beauty, became good wives and mothers and the best of housekeepers, and all were consistent Christians. The lineal descent from Samuel Sherrill to the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch is as follows: Sam- uel, William, Adam, Uriah, Enos, Richard Ellis, and Richard Ellis, Jr.

The first Richard Ellis Sherrill was born Jan- uary 17, 1816, in Catawba, North Carolina, on the old homestead obtained by a grant from King George. His mother was before her mar- riage Elizabeth McCormick. Her parents, An- drew and Catherine McCormick, came to this country from Ireland and Holland respectively, both being self-exiled in early life to escape death at the hands of Romish persecution. Rich- ard's early training was received on his fath- er's farm, under the strictest religious influence. He entered Davidson College at Davidson, North Carolina, when it first opened its doors for stu- dents, and graduated in the class of 1841, with first honors. He was at once offered and ac- cepted a professorship in the college, and taught there for awhile previous to taking a course in the Columbia Theological Seminary, a Presby- terian institution, at Columbia, South Carolina. He served churches in South Carolina, Missis- sippi, Tennessee, Kentucky and Texas, and or- ganized twenty-three churches, many of which are to-day among the strong ones of the State.

During his ministry he received into the church on confession of faith no less than five hundred people. He came to Texas in 1870 and settled in Titus county, from which place he extended his labors to various parts of the state. In 1890 he moved to Haskell, where he made his home up to the time of his death, September 17, 1897. A man of rare ability and power, with energies consecrated to the work of God, it would be hard to estimate his influence for good in this world. His life was absolutely above reproach. A brother minister says of him: "Through all these years I never heard from his lips anything beneath the dignity of his high calling, and I always felt while sitting under his ministry that I was listening to a consecrated man." His wife died March 25, 1900. She was the mother of seven children, four of whom are now living: Charles Read, Richard Ellis, Mrs. Eugenia L. Smith and William Enos, the eldest son a resi- dent of Corsicana, Texas, the daughter at Annis- ton, Alabama (where the mother died), and the other two sons at Haskell, Texas.

Richard Ellis Sherrill, whose name graces this sketch, was born at Ofahoma, Leake county, Mis- sissippi, March 17, 1861, came with his father to Texas in 1870, and settled at Sherman in 1872. He was educated principally at Sherman, where he attended Austin College, and while there re- ceived a prize for excellent work. On account of trouble with his eyes, however, he was obliged to discontinue his studies and did not finish his course. He clerked in a hardware store for some time, after which, associated with his broth- ers, Charles R. and William E., he engaged in the hardware business successively at Taylor, Graham and Haskell, dating his identity with the last named place from 1890. In addition to deal- ing in hardware, they are also interested in the manufacture of building stone at Haskell, their plant here being the third one in the state. The new Haskell school house is built of their stone.

Persistent and intelligent effort has character- ized Mr. Sherrill's life, has won his commercial success and placed him where he stands to-day, at the head of the oldest firm in the county. He was the first president of the Commercial Club here, having for its sole purpose the upbuilding of the town and county; has been a member of every railroad committee here; and for fifteen years almost continuously has been a member of the Public School Board. Indeed, he has been an active participant and counsellor in nearly every forward movement for the commercial, in- tellectual and moral upbuilding of the county. He has been a member of the Presbyterian church

529

HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

since 1871 and since 1884 has been an elder in the same. Fraternally, he is a Knight of Pythias.

Mr. Sherrill married, March. 21, 1889, Miss Katie H: Taylor, at Graham, Texas, niece of J. B. Norris, a hardware dealer of that city. In their family are four children, as follows: Lewis Joseph, born April 18, 1892; Frances Louise, March 5, 1896; Carrie, February 16, 1898, and Richard Ellis, Jr., November 12, 1899.

OSCAR E. OATES, Judge of Haskell county court, was born in Polk county, Texas, January 7, 1861, a son of pioneer settlers of the "Lone Star State." The Oates family are of Scotch- Irish origin. Three brothers of the name of Oates came to this country from Scotland and settled in the Carolinas. John R. Oates, the Judge's father, was descended from one of these brothers, and was born in Alabama. In that state he married Miss Sarah Peebles, also a native of Alabama. In the latter part of the year 1855, with his wife and three children, he started for Texas, and arrived in Polk county in February of the following year. He was a farmer by occupation and his life was given chiefly to agricultural pursuits. Eight years, however, he served as Tax Assessor of Polk county, an office to which he was twice elected for a term of four years each. He died Septem- ber 2, 1892, at the age of sixty years, and his wife died December 23, 1874. Six children were born to them after their removal to Texas, mak- ing nine in all, and of this number four are now living-three sons and one daughter.

Judge Oates passed his boyhood on his fath- er's farm. As a lad he was busy assisting with the farm work most of the year, attending school only during the summer months until he was nineteen. Then he went to what was known as Jones Prairie, a better school than the one near his home, where he was a student fifteen months. At the expiration of that time he obtained a first grade certificate, and began teaching country school as a means to pave his way to something higher in life. For five years he taught school. In June, 1887, he was admitted to the bar, ob- taining his license from the district court in Polk county. Immediately he began the practice of law. In November, 1888, he was elected Judge of Polk county, was re-elected in 1890 and again in 1892, and served in all a term of six years. On his retirement from the bench, Judge Oates resumed the practice of law in Polk county, where he remained until July 1, 1901, when he moved to Haskell county. Here in November,

1904, he was elected county judge of Haskell county, the office he now holds, which honor was received at the hands of the Democratic party. Judge Oates has always taken a deep in- terest in educational affairs. In connection with the office of county judge he is also ex-officio county superintendent of Public Instruction, a position he is peculiarly well fitted to fill. Dur- ing his residence in Haskell county he has ac- cumulated valuable property, in which is included two hundred and fifty acres of land under culti- vation.

March 18, 1891, Judge Oates married Miss Mary A. Josey, a native of Polk county, Texas, both having been reared in the same neighbor- hood. They are the parents of five children, four sons and one daughter: John R., Oscar E., Verna, Ewen H. and Kenneth D.

Fraternally he is identified with the Masonic order, of which he has been a member fourteen years, and for fifteen years he has been a meni- member of the Baptist church.

HON. JOHN B. THOMAS, judge of the county court of Jones county, is a native of Trigg county, Kentucky, born August 26, 1865. His father, Thomas E. Thomas, was born in Vir- ginia in August, 1817, and lived in Tennessee near Clarksville until after his marriage, when he removed from that state to Kentucky. He had wedded Miss Fannie E. Shaw, a native of Stewart county, Tennessee, and they made their home in Trigg county, Kentucky, from the time they took up their abode there, where the father died and the mother still lives. The father was a farmer by occupation and followed that pur- suit during the greater part of his life. He died in 1894 at the age of seventy-eight years but is still survived by his widow, who yet resides up- on the old homestead in the Blue Grass state. In their family were several children who died in infancy, while two sons and two daughters are yet living.

Judge Thomas was reared to farm life, work- ing upon the old homestead as soon as old enough to manage the plow. He became famil- iar with agricultural pursuits in every depart- ment and continued under the parental roof un- til nineteen years of age, when he went to Cadiz, the county seat of Trigg county, and was there employed in the office of his uncle, John D. Shaw, who was the circuit clerk of the county. He thus served for two years and at intervals during that period he attended the public schools. Judge Thomas arrived in Texas in May, 1889, and entered the law office of B.

530

HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

Frank Buie, who was then a practitioner at the bar of Anson. In February, 1890, he obtained a license to practice law and entered into part- nership with his former preceptor under the firm style of Buie & Thomas, continuing as such un- til he was elected county attorney of Jones county for a term of two years. He then sev- ered his partnership with Mr. Buie and entered upon the discharge of his official duties. Fol- lowing his retirement from office he resumed the practice of law alone and was accorded a liberal clientage that connected him with much of the important litigation tried in the courts of his district. He was elected county judge of Jones county in November, 1900, and has held the office to the present time in the fall of 1905. He is likewise ex-officio county superintendent of public instruction. On the bench he makes a dignified presiding officer, fully sustaining the majesty of the law, while his decisions are marked by strict impartality and are character- ized by a thorough understanding of legal prin- . ated Order of Hoo Hoo. ciples and by due regard to the equity of the case.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 106

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