A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 11

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

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

Worth and in June of the same year established the State National Bank. This institution en- tered at once upon a prosperous career, and after twenty years is noted as a landmark in finance of Fort Worth and as an institution which has upheld its own credit and been a mainstay for many other enterprises during times both good and bad. The death of William M. Harrison occurred at Fort Worth in September, 1894. He was a man of untiring energy, broad-minded and enterprising, of fine business ability, and for his sterling qualities and personal character was one of the most highly esteemed citizens of Fort Worth. It was said of him that he made two fortunes-one before the war, which he lost, and another in the mercantile and banking business.

Mr. William B. Harrison was reared and re- ceived his first educational equipment in the pub- lic schools of Jefferson, Texas, finishing with a course at Eastman's Business College at Pough- keepsie, New York. He began his career early, and for some years had a varied experience both in connection with his father's extensive inter- ests and as an individual merchant in the hard- ware business at Greenville, Texas. For a time he was connected with the railroad which his fatlier built. In 1886, two years after the estab- lishment, by his father, of the State National Bank, he came to Fort Worth and began his as- sociation with the institution of which he is now president. After the father's death the bank re- mained in the control of the sons, and has always been a Harrison bank. The present officers are William B. Harrison, president, John C. Harri- son, cashier, James Harrison, assistant cashier ; the two latter are brothers of the president. Mr. Harrison is also president of the Cleburne Hard- ware Company, of Cleburne, Texas, which has a capital stock of twenty thousand dollars and is one of the largest concerns of its kind in the state.

Mr. Harrison was first elected to the office of city treasurer in 1898, and is now serving his third term. He is also treasurer of the board of trade. In fraternal matters he is a Knight Tem- plar Mason and a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

Mr. Harrison has a wife and two daughters, the Misses Mary and Lelia Harrison. The maid- en name of his wife and was Miss Mattie Blassin- game, who was an adopted daughter of the late General and Mrs. T. N. Waul. General Waul died in July, 1902, having been a distinguished Confederate soldier and a well known Texan, with citizenship in this state dating from the ear-

ly fifties. He spent his last days on his farm near Greenville. Mrs. Waul died in April, 1904.

MARCUS M. PITTMAN. As president of the Citizens' National Bank of Cleburne, Mr. Marcus M. Pittman is identified in an intimate and exceedingly influential manner with the financial and general prosperity of that city and the surrounding country. He has been a citi- zen of Cleburne since 1893, and has been con- nected with manufacturing and financial affairs at this point ever since. The Citizens' National Bank, although one of the recent institutions of the kind to be founded in this portion of the state, has a most creditable record in all its de- partments. It was established, by Mr. Pittman and his associates, in August, 1903, and opened its doors for business on August 10. The report of its affairs, rendered February 14, 1905, showed a capital stock of $100,000, with individual re- sponsibility of stockholders placed at eight hun- dred thousand dollars ; surplus and profits, $29,- 697, and deposits, $188,133. The bank is having splendid success and is thoroughly representative, as it is likewise one of the strongest factors in maintaining this rich and growing city and coun- tv, with their varied resources and industries. The directors of the Citizens' National are: John L. Cleveland, Dr. D. Strickland, Riggs Pennington, J. M. Moore, John R. Johnson, Leon Cleveland, M. M. Pittman, T. J. Wagley, J. C. Blakeney.

Mr. Pittman, who was born in Jackson county, Georgia, is a son of Judge M. M. and Mary (Boggs) Pittman, and is connected with the best of the old southern families. His father was a lawyer at Jefferson, Georgia, and for some time served as judge of the county court. Mr. Pitt- man received his educational advantages at Mar- tin Institute, at Jefferson, and at the University of Georgia at Athens. At the beginning of his independent career he taught school, for a while in Georgia, and, on coming to Texas in 1881, was five years superintendent in charge of the public schools of Longview. It was Mr. Pitt- man who brought Professor Cousins, the noted educator, to Texas, having brought that talented instructor to this field as his assistant in the school work at Longview. From Longview Mr. Pittman went to West Texas, and for seven years was engaged in the mercantile business at Mid- land, since which time Cleburne has been his home. On first coming here he built an oil mill, later installed a gin, and then the Pittman flour mill. all representative industries of the city. The oil mill he has since sold, but still owns the flour- ing mill.

HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

By his marriage to Miss Lulu Stark of Jack- son county, Georgia, Mr. Pittman has two chil- dren, Ruth and Katharine.

THOMAS MITCHELL ANDERSON. Un- der the mountain's foot, in the valley of Bean's creek, stands the farm cottage that marks the homestead of Thomas M. Anderson of this review. It is conspicuously prominent and com- manding from the station and village of Sebree, in Jack county, and shelters 'neath its hospitable roof the sources of power in the creation of a home whose influence has permeated the com- munity around about and in the improvement of a farm which marks the height of progress and advancement along the waters of the silent creek. Two hundred and fourteen acres of the Hancock Survey came into possession of Mr. Anderson when he came into the county in 1882, and it became the play-ground of his activities and to its borders cling new acquisitions of ter- ritory which mark his substantial progress as a stock farmer and testify to his achievements dur- ing the score of years that approximately limit his residence within the county. Upwards of six hundred acres are embraced within the area of his rural dominions and the stock and grain raised under supervision and direction of its owner have been sources of wealth and power in the accumulation of this knightly estate.

Tarrant county, Texas, was the home of Mr. Anderson from 1852 until his advent to Jack county. Abraham Anderson, his father, estab- lished the family there, maintained it as a farmer, came to Jack county with our subject and died here in 1890, possessed of an estate which consti- tutes the home of his maiden daughter. Casey county, Kentucky, was the first American home of this family, for it was there that John Ander- son, a Scotchman and the grandfather of our subject, settled and reared the following family : John, Abraham, James, William, Nancy, who died unmarried, and Polly, who married Ben Snigget. Abraham Anderson married Cather- ine, a daughter of Dandridge Tucker, a farmer, in 1837, and brought up his children in the paths of rectitude in his native and in his adopted state. He was born in 1812 and his wife was born in 1819 and died near Vineyard in 1903. The children of their household were: Dandridge, who was killed while in the Confederate service in the battle of Chickamauga ; William, who died also in the southern army; Thomas M., of this mention ; Nancy, of Jack county, wife of Frank Gilmore; Paulina, who occupies the parental homestead; Bettie, of Terrell, Texas; and Don- nie, wife of J. H. Leach, of Fort Worth.

Casey county, Kentucky, was the birthplace of Thomas M. Anderson, and January 7, 1844, marks the natal day. The frontier county schools of Tarrant county sufficed for his mental train- ing in youth and the farm of his father was the scene of his youthful and early activities. The sec- ond year of the war he enlisted in Company F, Nineteenth Texas Cavalry, Burford's regiment, Parson's Brigade of the Trans-Mississippi De- partment. He fought in battle at Helena, Cape Girardo and Jackson, and was with General Price's army during a portion of his service. To- ward the close of the war his command returned to Texas and he was disbanded near Hempstead when the end finally came.

The harvest field caught Mr. Anderson first when he resumed civil life, and when this was over he bought an ox team on a credit and be- came a freighter from Jefferson, Pine Mills and Houston to inland points toward the frontier in Texas. Having gotten a foothold he began hand- ling cattle and looking in the direction of agricul- ture three miles north of Fort Worth. His suc- cess there placed him in a position of independ- ence, so to speak, when he should begin his career in his new home in Jack county.

May 8, 1871, Thomas M. Anderson and Mary Paschall were united in marriage in Tarrant county. Mrs. Anderson was a daughter of Stan Paschall, who came to Texas from Tennessee and settled in Van Zandt county, where Mrs. An- derson was born in 1853. Mr. Paschall married Miss Martha Dube, and their children were: Jack, of Wise county; Mrs. Anderson ; Dennis, of Wise county, and Bettie, who married Joseph Clark and died without issue. Mr. and Mrs. An- derson's children are: Dolly, wife of Lee Cald- well, with issue, Ethel, Thomas, Claud and Mary Lillie ; Abraham, who is on the old home, mar- ried Bulah McDonald, and has children, Eula, John and Abraham ; Fannie, who married Thom- as Cannon and has a son, Clarence; Lillie, wife of James Cannon, of Tarrant county, with chil- dren, Willie, Ralph and Georgie Anna, and Wil- liam F., who is on the home farm and married to Georgie Stanley and is the father of Thomas Wil- burn.

In local political matters Mr. Anderson has never failed to show his sympathy with the movement for honest and competent public offi- cials and has frequented primaries and represen- tative conventions for placing in nomination Democratic candidates and has helped to contest the political ground about his own precinct with the opposition party for success at the polls. He is a gentleman of independence of action, liberty of thought and freedom of speech, and with a

HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

nature in harmony with the bright side of life. He sympathizes with and helps the weak, lends encouragement to and proffers wholesome advice to the short-sighted and wayward and promotes the interests of peace and goodwill every day of his life. He is not a stickler for strict orthodoxy in spiritual matters, believing rather in the ac- complishment of good results in this life with in- difference as to our fate in the future world. His community and his county hold him in high re- gard and "Uncle Tom" Anderson is the central figure of the Vineyard settlement.

GEORGE W. YEAKLEY, M. D. For more than forty-five years the family of which the sub- ject of this review is a distinguished representa- tive has owned Texas as its home, and it was founded here by George O. Yeakley, whose ad- vent hither dates from the Saturday before Lin- coln's election to the presidency in November, 1860. Although the state of Tennessee was the mother of the family of this rare name, from where ramifications of it spread north, south, east and west, Dent county, Missouri, furnished the Lone Star state its quota and it was in the latter county that George W. Yeakley was born August 18, 1854.

George O. Yeakley was born in Greene coun- tv, Tennessee, February 9, 1809, and descended from a German emigrant who, with all his fam- ily save two little sons, died en route to the United States and were buried at sea, the sons being disembarked on the Atlantic coast as waifs to make their wav in the world as best they could. In a short time one of them died and the remaining one, whose christian name is not preserved to us, was left to be honored with pos- terity of the generations of the future in the new world. From Castle Garden the original Yeakley drifted into Tennessee, where he became a blacksmith's apprentice, fin- ished his trade, followed it throughout life and died leaving eleven sons, one of whom was George O., father of the subject of this notice.

In 1836 George O. Yeakley migrated to Wash- ington county, Missouri, where he was for a number of years engaged in lead mining, but when he located in Dent county he turned his at- tention to farming and there and in Texas ever afterward followed that vocation. In Texas he resided from 1860 to 1871 in Denton county, when he went into Cooke county, and in 1884 to Wise county, temporarily, and died there April 13 of that year. On the issue of the Civil war he was a Douglas Democrat, while his brothers and his mother in Tennessee were adherents of the cause of the Union, and this political clash was

the cause of somewhat estranged family rela- tions. For his wife he chose Lydia, a daughter of Mr. Grubbs. His wife died in Cooke county, Texas, November 24, 1882, at the age of sixty- seven years.

Of the issue of George O. and Lydia Yeakley Martin Van Buren was the oldest and he died in Chico, Texas, June 14, 1898; Mary died without being married, Margaret, of Young county, Texas, is the wife of J. C. Stewart ; James M. of Chico, Texas, and Dr. George W.

The farm was the scene of the childhood and youthful life of Dr. Yeakley, and he acquired a liberal education in the common schools. As a beginning in life he taught country school two years in Denton county and at the age of twenty- two years took up the subject of medicine with Dr. J. S. Riley, of Bloomfield. He attended lec- tures at the Medical Department of the Universi- ty of Louisville, first, and the term of 1879-80 studied in the Kentucky School of Medicine. February 28, 1884, he graduated in the Medical Department of the University of Louisville and opened an office for practice at Chico, in Wise county, Texas. He practiced his profession in that community for eighteen years and then lo- cated in Bowie. The year 1904 he was a partner with Dr. Elder, of Bowie, but Januarv 1, 1905, he and Dr. Sneed Strong associated themselves together and the firm of Strong & Yeakley is one widely and favorably known in Montague county.

While in Chico Dr. Yeakley was local surgeon for the Rock Island Railway, and in Bowie he officiates in the same capacity. He is examiner for the Equitable, Mutual and New York Life Insurance Companies, as well as several other strong companies, and in 1898 he took lectures in the Chicago Polyclinic and again in 1902 and 1905. He is loyal to Democracy and has helped to carry the party's wishes into effect in local conventions.

Dr. Yeakley was first married in Cooke coun- ty, Texas, August 29, 1880, to Maggie, a daugh- ter of Zelitha and John B. Edwards, formerly from Tennessee. The issue of this union was a daughter, Myrtle, wife of Charles E. Peck, of Elk City. Oklahoma. January 18, 1899, Dr. Yeakley married Miss Sallie Moore, a daughter of James B. Moore, a South Carolina settler to Jacksboro in 1880. Verena Davis Yeakley, a daughter, was born February 17, 1902.

HENRY W. NYE, operating in real estate in Fort Worth, his business ability being mani- fest in his capable control of property interests both for himself and others, had his birth in the far-off Pine Tree state, his natal place being

FRANK B. STANLEY

HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

Fairfield, Somerset county. His parents were Heman and Julia R. (Wing) Nye, who were likewise natives of Maine and their home locality had long been the ancestral place of residence of the family. The progenitors of the Nye fam- ily in America, however, settled first in Massa- chusetts, whence later generations removed to Maine. The well known humorist, Bill Nye, and also Senator Nye of Nevada, are descendants of the same original stock, Heman Nye being a cousin of the humorist. Heman Nye was a farm- er and lumberman, to which pursuit he was reared and to the conduct of which he devoted his energies throughout his business career. Both he and his wife died in Maine.

Henry W. Nye began his education in the local schools of Fairfield, Maine, and supplemented his early advantages by an academic course in Wa- terville, that state. In early manhood he enlisted as a private in Company C, Maine Infantry, which command achieved fame in the Civil war. He was enrolled in 1862. His company was first stationed at the forts east of Washington, but after about three months joined McClelland's army at Harper's Ferry and subsequently went to Virginia and down the Loudon valley to Fred- ericksburg. He was in the battle there in which eighty thousand Union troops were engaged on the 12th of December, 1862. The brigade to which Mr. Nye belonged threw the pontoon bridge across the river at that point. Later he participated in the battle of Spottsylvania, which occurred early in the year of 1863. Afterward his brigade formed the rear guard on the march to Gettysburg and in that battle formed the center which received Pickett's charge.

On the second day's battle Mr. Nye had a finger shot off and also sustained another wound which necessitated his remaining in the hospital for six months. On rejoining his regiment he was commissioned lieutenant. He again joined his command at Brandy Station on the Rapidan in January, 1864, and with the regiment went into the battle of the Wilderness, the principal fighting being done on the 6th of May, when they lost half of their brigade. Company C entered that battle with three officers and forty-four men and when the charge was made on Spottsylvania Court House, which was a part of the movement of that engagement, they started in with only eleven men all told and when the charge was ended every man in the company had been disabled with the exception of Mr. Nye and one other, these being the only two of the entire company who were able to get over the breast- works. During a part of this time Lieutenant Nye temporarily commanded Company H, but

did not become detached from his original com- pany. Not long after this he was shot by a sharp- shooter, which completely disabled him from fur- ther service in the army. He was often in the thickest of the fight in many hotly contested en- gagements and he made a splendid record for bravery and loyalty upon the fields of battle.

Returning to his home Mr. Nye spent three years in recuperating and then went to Albany, New York, where for three years he was en- gaged in the insurance business with his brother, A. H. Nve, living there during the time when the Tweed Ring was at the height of its power. Re- moving to Rutland, Vermont, Mr. Nye resided there for ten years engaged in the insurance busi- ness and on the expiration of that period he came to Texas, arriving at Fort Worth in January, 1877. Here he has since made his home and he has watched the place grow from a small town to its present metropolitan proportions. He was first engaged in conducting a farm near the town, but gradually became interested in city property here, erecting buildings and conducting various business transactions. Through his efforts un- sightly lots have been converted into improved city property, good buildings have been erected and his labors have contributed in substantial measure to the growth and progress of the city as well as his individual success. For five years he was inspector and appraiser of a loan com- pany, but for a number of years past has given his undivided attention to his real estate deal- ings.

Mr. Nye was married to Miss Mary Whit- man, a native of Lewiston, Maine, and they have two sons, Fred F. and William H. Mr. Nye has never been a candidate for office, although he has been in times past an influential figure in politics, but he has not desired distinction in that line. He is well known in Grand Army circles both local and national, is commander of the local post in Fort Worth and for five years was a member of the national council of adminis- tration and served on the staff of Commanders Alger and Warner. His religious membership is with the Methodist Episcopal church. In Fort Worth he has made a creditable name in business circles through the recognition and utilization of opportunity and through his close conformity to a high standard of business ethics.

JUDGE FRANK B. STANLEY. The pro- fession of law offers no opportunities save to de- termined spirits, and within its circles Judge Frank B. Stanley has won success. He was born at Xenia, Ohio, in 1852, but when a young boy removed to Iroquois county, Illinois. When

HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

twelve years of age he left home, and for several years thereafter led the interesting life of a fron- tiersman, cowboy, miner, scout. prospector, con- tractor, etc., in the southwest, principally in the Indian Territory, where also he was a govern- ment surveyor and assisted to sectionize the In- dian Territory for the Interior Department, thus becoming thoroughly familiar with the plains country from the Rio Grande region in Texas north to the Dakotas. Following these experi- ences he located at Eastland, Texas, for the study of law, and was there admitted to the bar in 1876. Five years were spent in that city, and on the expiration of the period, in 1882, he came to Fort Worth and here he has ever since remained in the active practice of the law, being a prominent commercial and corporation attor- ney. He was a member of the law firms of Wray & Stanley, Stanley & Spoonts and Stan- ley, Spoonts & Thompson, but in the summer of 1004 Judge Stanley withdrew from partner- ship relations and now practices individually, his work being principally of a consulting na- ture. For ten years he was a member of the firm of general attorneys and solicitors for the Fort Worth & Denver City Railroad, and is still one of the consulting attorneys for the com- pany. For a number of years Judge Stanley has been a prominent figure in the Republican party of Texas, in which his efforts have been successful in maintaining harmony and in keep- ing down factional troubles. He has been a member of the State Executive Committee, al- so serving in other important positions in the party organization, and is a pleasing public speaker in conventions. In one state conven- tion where the party was unfortunate enough to be divided into two factions Judge Stanley was so acceptable to each faction that one of them nominated him for attorney general and the other for judge of the supreme court. In 1004 he received the Republican nomination for congressman from the Twelfth Congressional District of Texas.

EDWARD GROGAN. The subject of this sketch was born near Charleston, Kanawha county, West Virginia, February 12, 1863. His parents, Royal W. and Frances .A. (Summerfield) Grogan, removed from the civilized old state to the then mecivilized Northwest. Texas, arriving in Denison March 3, 1874, while that place was vet only a "burg" and the gateway to Texas and the southwest.

Remaining in Denison about one week the family met and formed the acquaintance of II. K. and Silas Needham, then forming a small colony

of settlers for Clay county (then far west and unsettled ). The colony left Denison by ox teams, principally, and arrived at the Whaley ranch be- low the mouth of the Big Wichita river some ten or twelve days later and there went into camp for a few days until they could locate and make preparation to occupy their new homes. The spot chosen by the Grogans was on the north side of the Big Wichita, near the present town of Charlie, where their tent was pitched and surrounded by a stockade of split cottonwood logs as a protection against the bands of Indians yet roaming through the country.

The Grogans were among the first settlers of Clay county, if not the very first family to set- tle in the county after the war, and they under- went many hardships while endeavoring to exist here in those days. Denison was the nearest railroad point and there being no bridges over the streams west of Gainesville, the journey to the Gateway was a long, and often times, a hazardous one. On one occasion the family was forced to go without bread for three days, liv- ing on wild game, meanwhile, and being fairly comfortable while awaiting the home-coming of the family commissary.

The well known Curtis Bros. then had a cat- tle ranch on the Big Wichita, and from this ranch the Grogan family was supplied with beef, the latter's supply of provisions being di- vided with neighbors in cases of necessity.

After remaining in their first location about one year Mr. Grogan Sr. moved south of the Big Wichita, where some advantages were to be had superior to those where they first settled and the domestic establishment was set up near the Colonel Whaley ranch.

Edward Grogan had poor school advantages, attending school only four months after his ar- rival in Texas, and that in a "dugout" in the winter of 1876-7, the teacher being Hon. John B. Hopkins, an educated gentleman and an able instructor who is yet in Clay county. After fin- ishing his education Ed was forced to be hired out to help support the family and began. life as a "cowboy," first in a small way, herding a small bunch of cattle for Colonel Whaley to keep them away from the fields. as there were no fences yet. He was next engaged by Camp- bell and Sandell to herd beef cattle on Frog creek, but moved them soon to Fort Reno, In- dian Territory, to supply the United States gov- ernment with beef on contract there. From August, 1878, to June, 1879, he spent at the Fort and then returned to Texas.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 11

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