A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 109

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 109

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Politically, Mr. Parmley is a Repubican, post- ed and up-to-date in the country's progress, and hopeful of Republican success in Texas. He is one of the active members of the Farmer's Union, and both he and his wife are identified with the Missionary Baptist church.

Of Mr. Parmley's domestic life, we record that he married Miss Serilda Coffee, who was born in Kentucky, December 28, 1858, daughter of Jackson and Martha J. (Spann) Coffee, the former a native of Kentucky, the latter of Ten- nessee .. Her grandfather, Nathaniel Coffee, was a prominent farmer of Kentucky. His children were: Jackson; Cleve, one of the early settlers of Texas, and William. Jackson, a farmer in Kentucky until 1882, that year moved to Texas and settled in Hopkins county, where he spent two years; then came to Llano county, and two

years later to Montague county, where he lived with his daughter for fifteen years. He died here October 20, 1899. He was a plain, honest farmer, a member of the primitive Baptist church, and was highly respected by all who knew him. His children in order of birth are: Shelby, Lewis, Jack, Henry and Willis, all de- ceased; Samuel and Robert, of Indian Terri- tory; Cleve, who resides with his sister, Mrs. Parmley; Clay, who died in early life ; Eliza, wife of J. Kennett ; Mrs. Serilda Parmley; and Mollie, deceased. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Parm- ley are: Robert, Leenora, Charles L., Thad- deus, William F., Maud, Dosha and Lula S., all living at this writing except Leenora, who died at the age of three months.

SAMUEL R. BOURLAND, whose military service in the Confederate army showed him to be a man of valor and loyalty to a cause which he espouses, is now classed with the practical and prosperous farmers of Montague county. Tennessee is the state of his nativity, his birth having there occurred in Hardin county on the 18th of August, 1842. His parents were John and Patsy (Simmons) Bourland, both of whom were natives of Alabama. The father was a prominent farmer and slave owner and his suc- cessfully managed business interests brought to him a very creditable competence as well as an untarnished name. He held membership in the Primitive Baptist church and died in that faith upon the old homestead farm in 1854. His wife, who had passed away about 1846, was a daugh- ter of William Simmons, who was an agricul- turist of Alabama and in whose family were eight children: Mrs. Patsy Bourland, Robert, William, John, James, Thomas, Mrs. Mille Wal- drup, and Mrs. Rebecca Smith. Mr. and Mrs. John Bourland became the parents of ten chil- dren: William P., a farmer, who served with the Confederate army throughout the war; John, who was also in the army and is a farmer; Sam- uel, of this review; Mrs. Winnie Shields; Mrs. Cakrian Shields; Mrs. Martha Blackard; Mrs. Rebecca Tankesly; Mrs. Rhoda Tankesly; Mrs. Rachel McCrary, and Mrs. Susan Stephenson.

Samuel Bourland was left an orphan when a young lad and had to make a home for himself and provide for his own support from an early age. He lived with a Mr. Cunningham for a number of years and later he found a second home, in which he remained about a year. In 1861, when nineteen years of age, all the valor of his nature was aroused and he donned the grey uniform of the Confederacy, becoming a

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

member of Company A, Ninth Mississippi In- fantry under command of Colonel Chalmers. The regiment was assigned to the army of the Tennessee and he was in various skirmishes and many hotly contested battles, in which he con- tinued until the close of the war. He was never wounded nor captured but was always on active duty, often in the thickest of the fight. When the war was over he returned to his old home neighborhood in Tennessee and resumed farm work.

In October, 1867, he was married to Miss Belzora Springer, who was born in Mississippi in 1850, and has been to him a faithful compan- ion and helpmate on life's journey since that time. Her parents were Frank and Elizabeth (Smith) Springer, both of whom were natives of Alaba- ma. The father was a farmer by occupation and in 1876 came to Texas, where he maintained his residence up to the time of his death. He held membership in the Baptist church, taking an active and helpful part in this work. In his fam- ily were the following named: Belzora, now Mrs. Bourland; George; Mrs. Molly Totty; Mrs. Maggie Springer; Mrs. Susan Johnson, and Mrs. Julia Hargrave.

Following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Bour- land began their domestic life upon a rented farm in Mississippi, where they remained for five years and then removed to Arkansas, where they spent three years. In 1876 they came to Texas, locating in Montague county, where Mr. Bourland rented land for several years. In 1892 he bought a tract of one hundred and sixty acres on which were but few improvements but with characteristic energy he began to clear and cultivate the fields, fence the place and add other evidences of progressive farming. He built a commodious residence and also good barns and sheds for the shelter of grain and stock. He also planted an orchard and has placed about one hundred acres of the land un- der cultivation. The remainder is devoted to pasturage and he carries on general agricultural pursuits, raising good crops and also enough stock to support his farm, which is pleasantly situated on the main road to Bowie about four miles south of Belcherville. The soil is very productive and the farm is now a valuable prop- erty. The house stands on a natural elevation, so that it commands an excellent view of the farm and surrounding valley, and by hard work and good management Mr. Bourland has be- come the owner of this excellent property, and has acquired a competency for his years when he shall have entered upon the evening of life.

He is indeed the architect and builder of his own fortunes, and nearly all that he possesses has been acquired since he came to Montague county.

Unto our subject and his wife has been born a son, Sidney, whose birth occurred in 1874 and who is now married and follows farming. Both Mr. and Mrs. Bourland are held in the highest esteem by all who know them and are devoted and faithful members of the Baptist church, while Mr. Bourland belongs to the Masonic fraternity.

AMOS M. GORE. Since a youth of twelve years the subject of this notice has had some part in the affairs of the rural community near Chico, Wise county, where his parents settled more than thirty years ago. Although compara- tively infantile at first, his efforts grew in extent and importance until he assumed his station in life as freeholder and accepted its responsibili- ties with an abiding faith in the result.

Mr. Gore was born in Moore county, Tennes- see, August 18, 1863, and as already stated, ac- companied his parents to Wise county, Texas, when a boy not yet in his 'teens. He acquired a fair education in the country schools near his home and, at twenty-two years of age, he began life independently as a renter on his father's place. At the end of three years as a tenant he purchased a small place two miles north of Chico and for eight years he made his home there. Selling this at a profit he bought land in the northeast corner of Jack county, occupied it a year and then sold and repurchased in Wise. He made two or three quick sales about this time and finally bought the ninety-six acre tract where he now resides, a piece of Cook county school land and a fertile and profitable tract.

December 13, 1891, Mr. Gore married Susan Neely, a lady who was reared in Wise county and a daughter of James A. and Tabitha (With- erspoon) Neely. Mr. Neely came to the county in 1880 from Ellis county, Texas, but migrated to the State in 1876 from Warren county, Ten- nessee. He was born November 26, 1837, in Rutherford county, Tennessee, his parents be- ing John and Mary (Boles) Neely. These fami- lies were all farmers and people with Southern sympathies and sentiments during the war be- tween the states. Mr. Neely was captured at Fort Donelson as a member of Company G, 4th Tennessee Infantry, was imprisoned at Camp Butler, Springfield, Illinois, and successfully escaped in a few months. He re-entered the Confederate service and was with the Army of

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

the Tennessee through the Chickamauga cam- paign, the Atlanta campaign and through to Savannah, surrendering with his command in North Carolina.

Mrs. Neely was born in Tennessee, in 1844, and was a daughter of Winfrey and

(Thompson) Witherspoon. She and Mr. Neely are the parents of John W., of Wise county; Belle, wife of Claud Smith, of Wise county; Mrs. Amos Gore and Miss Lela Neely.

Mr. and Mrs. Gore's children are: Meda, born June 17, 1893; Lela E., born November 28, 1897, is deceased; Nina, born April 16, 1901, and Lee, born November 18, 1903.

AUGUSTUS WALSON THOMPSON, M. D., successfully engaged in the practice of medi- cine at Mineral Wells, is a representative of a profession in which advancement and success de- pend upon individual merit, broad learning, and conscientious devotion to the demands of the calling. He now has a large and liberal patron- 'age, which is a guarantee of his ability and the confidence reposed in him by the general public.

Dr. Thompson was born at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and is indebted to the public schools of that place for the early educational privileges that he enjoyed. He afterward supplemented his pre- liminary study by a course in the Southeast Mis- souri Normal College at Cape Girardeau, being a student at the first session of this school after it was established by the state at that point. His professional education was acquired in the Mis- souri Medical College at St. Louis, from which he was graduated with the class of 1880. He practiced for nearly three years at Morley, near Charleston, Scott county, Missouri, and then lo- cated at Hot Springs, Arkansas. Here he further studied and practiced with Dr. J. L. Gebhart, one of the prominent physicians of that place, and made a particularly thorough investigation of the therapeutical value of hot sweat baths upon the human system. It was here that he decided to give up, as far as possible, the general practice of medicine and devote his professional efforts to the treatment of rheumatism and other chronic diseases with the aid of mineral waters. He had a successful and highly lucrative practice along those lines at Hot Springs, Arkansas, for eight years, and in 1801, having investigated the min- eral waters at Mineral Wells, Texas, and finding them of even superior value to those at Hot Springs, he decided to locate here, and continued practice along the same lines as established at Hot Springs. Of the different waters found here he chose for his particular purpose what is known

as the Lamar iron water. A publication has said of this: "The Lamar Iron Water used in the Lamar Bath House has not so much salts as many of the cathartic or so-called 'strong waters' of this place, but carries in addition large propor- tions of iron-one of the natural constituents of the blood. The Magnesia Sodium and Calcium of Lamar Iron Water acts sufficiently upon the sys- tem to induce catharces-keeping the bowels lax -while the iron acts as a tonic-a blood and tis- sue builder-thus making a most happy combina- tion of mineral products, giving it superiority over other mineral waters of this place, when the object of treatment is to build up and foster, rather than break down and weaken the vital forces."

Dr. Thompson has recently completed and opened for the spring season of 1905 the new Lamar Bath House, Pavilion and Sanitarium, a beautiful and costly structure, representing, with its equipment an investment of between eigh- teen and twenty thousand dollars. This stands at the corner of Lamar and Church streets and is a two-story brick building, with ornamental brick and staff front. very artistic in appearance, being built in old English style of architecture, with modern improvements. It is equipped extensively with the most modern electrical and thermal ap- paratus to be used in connection with the baths of which Dr. Thompson has made a special study and success, such as the Betz body bath, electric light baths, solorium baths (which are entirely new and only one of the kind in Mineral Wells). He has elegantly appointed reception rooms, dressing rooms and cooling rooms, vapor and hot- air rooms, bath rooms, and massage rooms, with separate divisions for men and women. Every- thing is thoroughly sterilized and disinfected so that no disease can be contracted, and the entire building is equipped with modern sanitary plumb- ing and steam heat. Heretofore the fame of Min- eral Wells has rested mainly on the value of its water for drinking purposes only, but Dr. Thomp- son's enterprise has demonstrated the greater value of the water for bathing purposes, show- ing that Mineral Wells can equal and probably excel Hot Springs, Arkansas, and their cele- brated sanitariums, where the baths are empha- sized. He has demonstrated in his practice the value of the waters for many diseases and most excellent results have attended his efforts, and his patronage is constantly increasing. His high standing with the profession throughout Texas and other states brings him many patients from all sections. He is a member of the county and state medical societies and he is likewise a prom-

AUGUSTUS W. THOMPSON

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

inent member of the Methodist church, in which he has taken an active and helpful part since coming to Mineral Wells.

In 1895 Dr. Thompson was married to Miss Rura McFadden, the wedding being celebrated in Waco, Texas. She was a member of one of the well known families there and she died in 1902, leaving one daughter-Walson Thompson, who is attending school at Waco.

BROOKS BELL. The growth and develop- ment of Western Texas has been so rapid and - substantial as to seem almost magical. Within a . comparatively short space of time cities have sprung up with all of the advantages known to the towns and cities of the Atlantic coast and with business enterprises that rival those of the older east. Brooks Bell, an enterprising mer- chant, is a member of the firm of Burns and Bell, wholesale and retail dealers in dry goods, gro- ceries and hardware at Colorado, Texas. He has made a record in business circles that any man might be proud to possess and has won the admiration and respect of his contemporaries, never making an engagement that he has not kept nor incurring an obligation that he does not meet. Mr. Bell, moreover, is one of the early settlers of Western Texas and has not only been a witness of the remarkable growth of this section of the country but has assisted mate- rially in the work of development and upbuild- ing.

A native of Alabama, he was born in Coosa county on the 20th of February, 1859. The an- cestral home of the family was in South Caro- lina. His father, John Daniel Bell, and his brother removed from South Carolina to Ala- bama when young men. The former was mar- ried in Coosa county to Miss Amanda Thomas, a native of that state, and they settled upon the old homestead in Coosa county, near the Talla- poosa county line. The ancestry of the Thomas . family can be traced back for three generations. E. W. Thomas, the maternal grandfather of our subject, was a native of Georgia, while his father, Captain Henry Thomas, was born in Virginia and won his title by valorous service in the war of the Revolution. Harris Mckinney, another great-grandfather of Mr. Bell, was also from Virginia and his descendants settled in Alabama when that state was largely occupied by the In- dians and before the consummation of the treaty whereby the red men were transferred to reser- vations farther west. The family became old- time planters and slave owners of that locality.

John Daniel Bell continued to make his home

in Coosa county up to the time of his death. His widow is still living and now makes her home in Colorado, Texas, with her children-Mr. Bell of this review and Mrs. F. M. Burns. Through- out his active business career John Daniel Bell was a merchant and planter who owned and conducted a large plantation and also carried on a mercantile enterprise, manifesting marked capability in the management of these two in- . terests. In his family were three children, of whom Mrs. Burns is the eldest and Brooks Bell the second. The youngest child is Mrs. Linnie Lancaster, and is living in Ocalla, Florida.

Brooks Bell spent part of his boyhood upon his father's plantation and a part of it on the pantation belonging to his maternal grandfath- er, E. W. Thomas. Following his father's death he assisted his mother in the duties of the home farm as soon as he was old enough to take charge of the business. Mrs. Bell removed to a little town called Oxford in Calhoun county, Alabama, in order to give her children the ad- vantage of the public schools there and Brooks Bell spent about three or four years in that place, after which the family returned to Coosa county. Later he made his home with his grand- father, E. W. Thomas, for about four years and on the expiration of that period went to Alex- ander, Tallapoosa county, where he remained for two years in the employ of the firm of Renfro & Lancaster, merchants and bankers.

In 1883 he came to Colorado, Texas, reach- ing here on the 16th of January. He then went to work for Dunn Coleman & Company for a year, at the end of which time the firm became Burns, Walker & Company and a few years later Mr. Burns and Mr. Bell bought out Mr. Wal- ker's interest and the present firm of Burns and Bell was then established. They are the oldest general merchants in this part of the country in years in continuous business, and they have en- joyed a large trade which has extended over a wide area. They carry a carefully selected and extensive line of general merchandise and their efforts to please their patrons combined with industry and honorable dealing have brought to them a very gratifying income, their patronage annually increasing.

In 1900 Mr. Bell also embarked in the cattle business, entering into partnership with R. N. Gary, and they have a herd of seventy-five head of full-blooded registered Herefords, considered to be one of the best herds of registered cattle in Western Texas. They pay special attention to breeding and for this purpose keep a bull for which they paid six hundred and twenty-five dol-

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lars when he was a yearling. He is now five years old and has proved to be all that was ex- pected. He was purchased of Gudgell and Simpson, of Independence, Missouri, and makes a splendid animal at the head of the herd. The firm also purchased a number of cows in the year 1905, from J. M. Curtice, of Kansas City, Missouri, and their herd indeed contains some very fine animals. Mr. Bell has made a success of both merchandising and stock raising, for when he arrived in Texas his capital was indeed very limited and today he is one of the substan- tial citizens of this part of the state. He belongs to the American Hereford Cattle Breeders' As- sociation, of Kansas City, Missouri, and makes a close study of the subject of cattle raising and all that bears upon its successful conduct. In the mercantile business he has also made a cred- itable record and not only deserves mention as one of the partners in the oldest mercantile en- terprise of Colorado but also because his honor- able dealing based upon broad business prin- ciples has gained a reputation that might be en- vied by any business man.

Mr. Bell was married in 1900 to Miss Saimah McCaulley, of Sweetwater, a sister of R. L. Mc- Caulley, of that place, and their marriage has been blessed with one son, Brooks Bell, Jr., born March 19, 1904. They have a large circle of warm friends in the county and this part of the state and the hospitality of their own pleas- ant home is one of its most attractive features. The genial manner and unfailing courtesy of Mr. Bell has made him many friends in both so- cial and business life. He is an interesting talk- er and genial companion and his life record is closely interwoven with the history of his county and section of the state.

F. M. BURNS is one of the prominent repre- sentatives of commercial and financial interests of western Texas, the base of his operations be- ing Colorado. His success has resulted from his ready recognition and utilization of opportunity, his strong purpose and his unfaltering diligence, and his life record proves what may be accom- plished through the exercise of these qualities. His father, Marion T. Burns, was a native of South Carolina, who was born, reared and spent his entire life in Fairfield county. His wife bore the maiden name of Sally Nettles and was also a native of that county.

Francis Marion Burns, born July 2, 1850, was one of a family of thirteen children and was reared upon the farm in Fairfield district. At the time when he would otherwise have been in

school the Civil war was in progress and it was impossible to maintain schools in that locality. He remained with his father up to the time of the latter's death in 1871, working upon the farm and also pursuing his education at intervals in one of the old log schoolhouses such as the country afforded at that time. After the death of his father he began farming on his own ac- count, but seeing that there was little chance for a young man in that part of the country he gathered his belongings and started for Texas,. reaching Athens, Henderson county, in Janu- ary, 1874, with a capital of six dollars and sev- enty-five cents. For six months he was em- ployed on a farm in that locality and was then appointed deputy sheriff of the county, in which capacity he served for eighteen months. He next turned his attention to clerking in a dry goods store, where he remained for nine months, after which he engaged in business on a small scale for himself in Athens. In the spring of 1878, however, he removed to Canton, Van Zandt county, where he conducted a mercantile enterprise until 1882. In the spring of the lat- ter year he arrived in Colorado, which was then a recently organized town. Here he turned his attention to the sheep business, which he car- ried on until 1884, and then sold out. In the fall of 1882 he had been instrumental in organizing the firm of Dunn, Coleman & Company, gen- eral merchants, which firm was succeeded in July, 1883, by the firm of Burns, Walker & Com- pany, under which style the business was con- tinued until January, 1892, when the store be- came the property of the firm of Burns & Bell, which has had a continuous existence to the present date. They have had a trade extending as far as Paloduro Canyon about twenty miles south of Amarillo and west to New Mexico, the carrying trade being done in wagons. The sales of the house are now represented by a large figure annually and the business has long since reached extensive and profitable proportions.

Mr. Burns is the vice-president of the Colo- rado National Bank of Colorado, Texas, which is capitalized for one hundred thousand dollars and has a surplus of similar amount. It is the strongest and largest bank between Fort Worth and El Paso. Prior to his connection with this institution Mr. Burns was vice-president of the Citizens' National Bank from 1890 until 1892, when it went into liquidation.

On the 15th of December, 1877, was celebrat- ed the marriage of Mr. Burns and Miss Flora Bell, a daughter of Mrs. A. S. Bell, of Colorado, . Texas. Mrs. Burns was born in Alabama but

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was married in Athens, this state. Their family numbers a son and two daughters: Brookie, the wife of Dr. J. B. Gray, of El Paso, Texas; Douglas, who is with his father in the store; and Linnie, the wife of D. L. Harell, a druggist of Pecos, Texas. Mr. Burns belongs to the Bap- tist church, with which he has been identified for twenty years, and since 1880 he has been affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, taking the degrees of the lodge and chapter, He has also been an Odd Fellow since 1875. Mr. Burns is an interesting talker and his fund of information concerning general sub- jects is extended. He has been a close observer, thinking along practical lines, and is a man of action rather than of theory. He has also aimed to secure tangible results, the value of which could be tested in the competitive market. Sys- tematic in the transaction of business, absolute- ly truthful and reliable in everything, and well informed as to the progress of events, with a watchful eye upon the business world, he allows nothing to escape his attention that may add to his efficiency in the work to which he has devoted his life.

H. B. SMOOT, cashier of the Colorado National Bank, has achieved success through honorable effort and commendable measures. He has the essential characteristics which always win the victory, being a gentleman of strong purpose, of keen insight and unflagging deter- mination and diligence. His life record illus- trates forcibly what may be accomplished when one has the will to dare and to do, and the young man who studies out the successive steps by which Mr. Smoot has progressed will learn of methods that may be profitably followed by all. He comes of old Virginian ancestry and is a son of Joseph H. Smoot, a native of Richmond, Vir- ginia, who removed from the Old Dominion to Mobile, Alabama, and became a prominent law- yer of that city. In 1867 he came to Texas set- tling in Galveston, where he afterward made his home. He was in the active practice of law up to the time of his death and although his resi- dence in the state covered but a comparatively brief period he had already demonstrated his right to rank with its leading lawyers. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Martha Buck- holts, is a native of Mississippi and now makes her home in Colorado, Texas.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 109

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