A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 113

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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profitable trade. The brothers are men of marked business enterprise, keen discernment and unfaltering perseverance, and they stand to-day among those whose success is attributa- ble entirely to their own labors.

David S. Kaufman was married in 1887 to Miss Laura Stinchcomb, a daughter of J. D. Stinchcomb, one of the pioneer residents of Abi- lene. They have six children, Jerome, Lee, Catharine, David, Ruth and Cecilia.

JOHN THOMAS LEESON, a grocer of Abilene since July, 1896, with a business that is indicative of careful management and meth- ods that are satisfactory to his patrons as well as a source of profit to himself, was born in Iowa. His father, Richard Leeson, was among the early settlers of Abilene. He was a native of Ireland, while his wife, Annetta, was a daughter of the Alps, having been born in Switzerland. Both, however, were of Scotch-Irish lineage. Richard Leeson removed from Iowa to Colo- rado in 1880, locating at Georgetown, where he lived for two years, and in 1882 he came to Texas, settling in Abilene, then a town in the midst of a wild and unsettled prairie country which was just awakening the attention of the civilized world because of its rich possibilities and natural resources. Abilene at that time was largely made up of tents and other tem- porary contrivances to afford shelter and pro- tection for the inhabitants. Some of the more pretentious dwelling places had board sides and canvas tops, but all sheltered people of deter- mination, who had resolved to make homes in the embryo city and become factors in its busi- ness life and as soon as possible arrangements were made to erect more substantial residences. In 1883 Richard Leeson aided in carrying on a brick yard wherein was manufactured the brick used in the construction of the Cameron & Phil- lips building, now known as the Paxton build- ing. His health failed him, however, and he died the same year, being survived at the pres- ent time by his widow, two sons and two daugh- ters.

John Thomas Leeson acquired his early edu- cation in Georgetown, Colorado, and in the schools of Abilene. During the early days in this country and especially in a growing young town everybody is busy, employed at one thing or another. There were no easy positions at which one could draw a salary with little labor, but anybody desiring employment could obtain it and secure good wages for his services. Mr. Leeson started out to make a beginning in the

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

business world and in 1883, following his father's death, engaged to drive the horse used in hauling rock for the erection of the Wylie building on Front street. He worked also in a similar way on the D. W. Wristen building, which was erected about the same time. In 1884 he en- tered the employ of the firm of Mckean and McCabe, grocers, conducting business on Pine street at the corner of Third street and with them he remained for five years. At the end of that time they sold out to the firm of Spauld- ing & Copper, who continued the business for about six months, when they in turn sold to Roberts & MacKechney, Mr. Leeson remaining in the employ of each successive firm. In 1889 he secured a position with J. M. Radford in the retail grocery business and with him remained until July, 1896, when in connection with Charles Ebersoll he purchased the stock of goods from Mr. Radford and they continued the business under the firm style of Leeson & Ebersoll. This relation was maintained until January, 1900, when Mr. Leeson bought out his partner's in- terest and from that day has been doing business under his own name. His store is located on Pine street at the corner of North Third and he carries only the best line of staple and fancy groceries. A liberal patronage is accorded him and his trade is constantly increasing, so that he is now one of the prosperous merchants of Abilene.

In 1888 Mr. Leeson was married to Miss Nel- lie E. Lathrop, a native of Monticello, Illinois, and they have three sons, namely: Richard Hazen, John Thomas and Earl James. It is a pleasure to record the life record of such a man as Mr. Leeson, whose success is the legitimate outcome of persistent and unremitting diligence. The best capital he ever had was his indomita- ble determination to succeed, and his pluck and energy coupled with a disposition to bide his time has wrought for him the prosperity which he is now enjoying.

M. C. LAMBETH. No section of this great country has made more rapid or substantial progress than Texas, whether in the accumula- tion of wealth, the gathering of the creature comforts of human life, or in the establishment of those interests which contribute to the aes- thetic, intellectual and moral culture of man. There are two reasons for this fact. One is found in the splendid natural resources of the state and its unequaled climate, while the other and perhaps the chief one is the fact that it has been settled by a class of men whose activity,

energy and determination have enabled them to recognize and utilize opportunities and to labor indefatigably for successful accomplish- ment, knowing that diligence and enterprise are the basis of all desirable prosperity. Men of this class are found throughout the common- wealth. Many of them came here at an early day and are now enjoying the fruits of former toil, respected by all and regarded as the lead- ing factors in their respective communities and the commonwealth.

Mr. Lambeth is pre-eminently of this class of citizens. He was born four miles east of Leb- anon in Laclede county, Missouri, August 17, 1848, and his youth was largely spent in that county. His father, J. B. Lambeth, a veteran of the Confederate service, was a soldier through- out- the Civil war, his regiment surrendering at Vicksburg. He had been a well-to-do man prior to the outbreak of hostilities and contributed in large measure to the substantial upbuilding of Laclede county, but, like thousands of others, his fortunes were ruined by the war. He attained high rank in Masonry, becoming a Knight Tem- plar. His wife, whose maiden name was Sally A. Frier, was a native of Guilford county, North Carolina. Mr. Lambeth was also a native of North Carolina, born in Rockingham county, and with an overland train he went to Missouri in 1832. It was in the latter state that the parents of our subject were married and reared their family of seven children, four sons and three daughters, all of whom are yet living. The father died in Missouri in 1874 and his wife passed away in the old home there in 1897.

M. C. Lambeth largely acquired his education in St. James Seminary at St. James, Missouri, of which Professor Simeon Phillips was then prin- cipal. He was a remarkable man in many ways, a typical New England Yankee, but being a resi- dent of Lebanon, Missouri, where he was con- ducting a college, he favored the cause of the south at the outbreak of the war, cast his lot with its people and entered the service in which he continued until the end. After the close of the war he returned to Missouri and formed a partnership with W. E. James, who furnished the capital to supplement the educational ability of Mr. Phillips, who then established the semi- nary at St. James. It was in this school that Mr. Lambeth acquired his education. In early manhood he came to Texas, arriving in 1872, ac- companied by three young companions. They had made the journey with a two-horse wagon. Passing through Fort Worth when it was but a small place, they made their way to Palo Pinto

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

county and thence to Taylor county in the latter part of 1873. Here Mr. Lambeth has since re- sided. At the time he came to the county there was no town nearer than sixty miles. He brought cattle with him for the firm of Carter & Grounds of Shackelford county, Texas, and kept them here until the country began to settle up, when they were driven to Pecos river for a new range. Mr. Lambeth, however, left the party a short time before this and when the county of Taylor was organized in July, 1878, he was elected its first clerk, the county seat at that time being at Buffalo Gap. In November, 1878, at the gen- eral election, he was again chosen to that office and once more in 1880. In February, 1883, he removed to Abilene, where he has since lived, and in 1892 he was once more elected county clerk, continuing as the incumbent by succes- sive re-elections until 1900. From 1883 until 1892 he was engaged in the real estate business in Abilene when not occupied with official duties, and following his retirement from office he re- sumed real estate operations, which have since claimed his time. He has been a witness of all of the improvements in the country from the days of its earliest growth and development and has seen it transformed from a barren wilder- ness into a thickly settled and prosperous com- munity. In addition to his real estate dealing he is also engaged in the cattle business and is the owner of land in Callahan county.

In 1880 Mr. Lambeth was united in marriage to Miss Louzetta Russell of Buffalo Gap, who was born in Missouri. They have a family of three daughters. Mr. Lambeth owns a pleasant home in Abilene besides other town property. He has been identified with the Masonic fraternity for about twenty-three years and has taken various degrees of the craft. Keen and clear- headed, always busy, always careful and conser- vative in financial matters. moving slowly but surely in every transaction, he has few superiors in the steady progress which invariably reaches its objective point.

JUDGE WILLIAM P. SKEEN, late county judge of Wichita county, and an honored old settler and man of affairs of Wichita Falls, came here in what were the early days of both county and town, although that was less than twenty years ago, and was prominently identified with the best interests of the country. He was a lawyer of established reputation in various parts of the state, and his judicial ability and general popularity are well indicated by the fact of his long tenure of the office of county judge.

Judge Skeen was born in Coweta county, state of Georgia, in 1845, being a son of P. H. and Cecelia A. (Steed) Skeen. His father was born in North Carolina, whence he moved to Coweta county, Georgia, and was engaged in farming there until his death. His mother was a native of Georgia, and lived there till her death.

William P. Skeen spent the early years of his life on the homestead farm in Coweta county. He was not eighteen years of age when, in 1862, he enlisted in the Confederate army as a mem- ber of Company A, Seventh Georgia Infantry. During the period of this first enlistment his ser- vice was mostly in Virginia, but after he was eighteen years old he re-enlisted, this time in a heavy artillery company. With that company he was engaged in the defense of Fort Morgan, one of the fortifications guarding the entrance to Mo- bile bay, and when the fort was captured by the Federals he was taken prisoner. He was held in prison from that time until after the close of the war, being taken first to New Orleans, from there to Governor's Island, New York, and to a number of other places, and was finally sent to Richmond, Virginia, where he was released, re- turning home in June, 1865.

After the war he came out to Texas, about 1865, and settled in Upshur county, in that por- tion that was later segregated and made into Camp county. He began the study of law in a private law class conducted by ex-Governor Rob- erts, but his more immediate preceptors were Fox and Stephens, a prominent law firm at Mount Pleasant, with a practice extending all over east- ern Texas. He gained admission to the bar at Gilmer, Texas, in November, 1868, and for the past thirty-five years was known and gauged as a representative jurist of the state. In April, 1876, he was elected the first (under the present state constitution ) county judge of Camp county, and held that office for several terms. He later removed to Greenville, the county seat of Hunt county, and after living there two years came, in 1888, to Northwest Texas, and was a resident of Wichita Falls till his death on December 23, 1904. He was engaged in general law practice in Wichita Falls until 1890, but in that year was elected county judge of Wichita county, and held that office by four successive re-elections.

Judge Skeen was a member of the Missionary Baptist church. He was well known and was a man of varied interests, and gave freely of his time and effort to the different phases of com- munity life. He was married in 1866 to Miss Emily Ofiel, and they had six children who have honored the name of their parents : Virgil G. and

FRANK C. HIGHSMITH

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

William E. are merchants at Wichita Falls; John C. has an important position with the Dor- sey Printing Company, at Dallas; Thomas D. is a rancher in New Mexico; Titus C. is with Wil- liam, his brother; and Miss Adeline, the only daughter, married Mr. J. F. Ausbery on Decem- ber 21, 1905.

Judge Frank C. Highsmith was born at Bas- trop, Texas, in 1864, his parents being W. A. and Laura Addie (Dabney) Highsmith. His father is a native of Missouri, but has long been a resi- dent of Texas, having come to this state from Troy, Missouri, in 1853. He located in Bastrop county, which is still his home, and there, through many years, he successfully carried on general farming, but in later years his attention has been directed to the real estate business. His wife is a native of Richmond, Virginia, and belongs to the prominent Dabney family of that state.

The Highsmith family is prominently connect- ed with the early history of Texas, its strug- gle for independence and its subsequent admis- sion into the Union. Benjamin Highsmith, a cousin of Judge Highsmith, and still a resident of Uvalde county, was one of the heroes of the Ala- mo and escaped death on that occasion by being sent with a message from General Travis to some outside forces just a short time before the Alamo fell. Another cousin, Samuel Highsmith, distin- guished himself as one of the Texas Rangers in early days.

Judge Highsmith was provided with liberal ed- ucational privileges and was one of the state appointees to the State Agricultural and Mechan- ical College, where he completed his education. He studied law in the office of the county judge at Bastrop, and in 1887 was admitted to practice at the bar there. He remained a resident of that place until 1889, when he removed to the new country of Northwest Texas, locating at Amaril-

lo, where he entered upon the practice of law. In 1892 he was elected county judge of Potter county, serving for two years, and while living at Amarillo he became prominent in the affairs of the Panhandle, being a potent factor in the work of attracting capital and population to that sec- tion of the state. For some time he was vice pres- ident of the Northwest Texas Immigration Asso- ciation, and his labors in that direction proved `of material benefit to the state. In 1894 he re- moved to Fort Worth, where he practiced law

JUDGE FRANK C. HIGHSMITH, of Min- eral Wells, is actively connected with a profes- sion which has important bearing upon the prog- ress and stable prosperity of any section or com- , until 1896, when he became a resident of Mineral munity, and one which has long been considered Wells. Here he has since lived, engaging in the practice of his chosen profession, and he has a large and distinctively representative clientage, connecting him with much of the important liti- gation tried in the courts of this district. In his chosen calling, wherein merit depends upon in- dividual ability, he has worked his way steadily upward, and his comprehensive knowledge of the law and his correct application to its principles have gained him distinction at the bar of western Texas. as conserving the public welfare by furthering the ends of justice and maintaining individual rights. His reputation as a lawver has been won through earnest, honest labor, and his standing at the bar is a merited tribute to his ability. He now has a very large practice, and his careful preparation of cases is supplemented by a power of argument and a forceful presentation of his points in the courtroom, so that he never fails to impress court or jury, and seldom fails to gain the verdict desired.

In 1899 Judge Highsmith was elected mayor of Mineral Wells, serving for one term, and in 1903 he was again elected to that office. He represents the progressive element which has succeeded in doubling the population of the city since 1902 and making it one of the most noted health resorts in the country. He has advocated and succeeded in introducing many of the important public im- provements, and it is due to his administration that the city has been supplied with a modern public school and excellent sewerage system and water works, with an excellent supply of water. His administration has been thoroughly practi- cal, progressive, and resultant, and Mineral Wells has every reason to feel gratitude for what he has accomplished in its behalf.

Judge Highsmith is also the president of the Commercial Club and of the school board, and he is a lieutenant-colonel on the staff of the gov- ernor. While living at Amarillo he was assistant adjutant-general of the State Militia, with the rank of major. He was also one of the commis- sioners of Texas to the Louisiana Purchase Ex- position. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias fraternity and in political circles is a prominent figure, attending conventions in Texas for the promotion of his party's interests as well as the conventions for the promotion of immigrants. He is a pleasing public speaker of ready wit, quick in repartee, yet logical in argument and fair in reasoning. It has been through his influ- ence that many important conventions and meet- ings have been held at Mineral Wells. The Judge is president of the Mayors' Association of Texas,

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

being first elected at Cleveland in 1904 and re- elected in 1905.

Judge Highsmith was married at Colorado City, Texas, to Miss Lillie McGowan, and they have one son, Harry. Theirs is an attractive home, where true hospitality reigns supreme.

ELIJAH BRASHEAR. In July, 1889, Elijah Brashear, one of the prominent and successful farmers of Dry Valley, Montague county, un- loaded his family and few effects at Sunset, pre- paratory to becoming a permanent settler-a fix- ture-in Montague. He was from the mountain region of one of the old southern states where modern youthful advantages are practically un- known and where it is considered a favor to be permitted to exist. He was a victim of those primitive conditions and realized his environment so keenly that he determined to free himself from all its associations and cast his lot with a new country and trusted to Providence for the result.

He came to Texas from Jackson county, Ala- bama, where his birth occurred August 1, 1858. Elijah Brashear, his father, was a South Caro- lina settler and went into Jackson county in early life, was a poor man with a large family and lived off his labor on the farm. He was born in South Carolina and died soon after our subject's birth. His wife was Miss Bettie Stephens, who brought the children to years of maturity and passed away at the old home in December, 1884, at sixty years of age. Bettie Stephens was his second wife and her children were : William, who died during the war; and Ellis, who also passed away in the Confederate service; Arminda, who died in Alabama; George W .; Rebecka, wife of Joe Fears, died in Illinois leaving a family ; Lou- isa C .; Mrs. A. J. Messers, of Montague county ; Elijah, our subject ; and Solomon. By his first marriage Elijah Brashear, Senior, was the father of Betsy, who married Ezekiel Faulkner, died in Alabama; Sarah died in Alabama as the wife of James Colbert and like her sister left a fam- ily ; Nancy ; Linda, wife of Tom Fears, who died in Alabama leaving a family; Martha, wife of Abe Greenlee, died in Tennessee leaving a fam- ily ; Velina died in Tennessee, leaving a family.

Elijah Brashear grew up without an education because the educational facilities of his home neighborhood were so poor and the domestic em- barrassments in his childhood were such as to preclude the possibility of his attending school. He, therefore, has passed through his wonder- fully successful career without the ability to read or write. He separated from his mother's home when he married and his assets on beginning life

amounted to a pony, a cow, and a couple of beds. He rented land to farm for a time and then home- steaded a tract on the mountain, off of which he was enabled to eke out a little more than a living. With the proceeds of the sale of this place he came to Texas and when he left the train at Sun- set, two hundred dollars and his wife and chil- dren and a few household effects constituted his visible capital.

He contracted for an eighty acre tract five miles northeast of Sunset, cultivated it four years, sold it and located at Thompson's Chapel, where he again bought and where he enjoyed a degree of prosperity and remained nine years. Selling there, he came into Dry Valley and purchased two hundred and sixty acres which his and his family's labor paid for out of the products of the soil. He has extended his domains out across the valley, as his finances justified. He has cul- tivated the staple crops of the soil and his chief gain has come through "king cotton," the legal tender plant of the south.

In Jackson county, Alabama, December I, 1876, Mr. Brashear married Rebecca F. Corneli- son, a daughter of John and Rhoda (Weaver) Cornelison, whose children were : Mrs. Brashear ; Sarah A .; William L .; Mary C .; John C .; and Martha J. Losing his first wife by death Mr. Cornelison married again, his wife being Martha Carrick, who bore him five other children.

Mr. and Mrs. Brashear's marriage has resulted in the following issue : Rhoda J. ; Bettie L. ; Lewis W .; Henry V .; Lillie M. ; Luther C .; and Stella F. completes the family circle. While Mr. Bra- shear has led a quiet life as a citizen, as a farmer it has been full of active industry with the result that his early ambitions are rapidly being realized. Hampered, as he has been, by lack of education, he has made remarkable strides in the direction of material success and a perusal of his career cannot fail to excite the interest and admiration of his posterity.

HENDERSON PATON OWENS. One of the old American families and one which fur- nished a branch for the tree of the State and of the Republic of Texas is represented in the per- son of H. P. Owens, the subject of this notice. Southern in origin and by inclination, the family has traversed the states from Alabama to Mis- souri, and to Texas within the past century and has ever contributed its mite toward the develop- ment of the frontier and the formation of its so- ciety.

Henderson P. Owens was born in Titus county, Texas, April 9, 1852, where Jonathan Owens,

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his father, settled in 1844. He emigrated from Platte county, Missouri, to the Lone Star state and led a plain farmer life in Titus and Denton counties until after the Civil war, when he took his family back to his old Missouri home and there he passed away in September, 1871, at sixty-five years of age. The father was born in Alabama in 1806, as his age at death would indicate, and accompanied his father., Jesse Owens, the grandfather of our subject, in the. early years of the century just closed, to Platte county, Missouri, stopping for a time, enroute, in, the state of Kentucky. He attained his majority in Missouri and served in the Black Hawk war from that state. He married Elizabeth Murphy, who died at Pella, Texas, in 1889, their children being : Jesse C., of Wise county ; Mary F., widow of J. T. Lile, of Chickasha, Indian Territory ; Henderson P .; and Annie, deceased wife of Dr. Murphy, of Pella, Texas, who left a family at death in 1900.

Jesse Owens was born in Wales, in 1741, came to America when a boy, served in the armies of General Washington during the Revolution and fought in and was wounded in the battle of Bran- dywine. He followed the vocation of a farmer and passed away in Clay county, Missouri, in 1825. For his wife he married a Miss Bigger- stoff, who lived to the advanced age of ninety- two and died at Pilot Point, Texas, in 1857. Their children were Jonathan and a daughter, Margaret, who married Theodore Fitzgerald and lives in Garfield county, Nebraska.

Henderson P. Owens was a boy, in Titus and Denton counties, Texas, until 1867, when his pa- rents returned to Missouri and there he passed from youth to man's estate. His education was obtained in Missouri and in Denton county, Tex- as. His advent to Montague county dates in 1878 when he came with a team and wagon, and a small amount of money, and began his career by purchasing a two hundred acre tract on the waters of Denton creek on time. His mother ac- companied him hither and they made their home in the proverbial log cabin of that day, and he made it serve him from August 29, 1880, until .1895, when he erected his present commodious and attractive home.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 113

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