A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 123

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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created a good estate. In his old age he sold his homestead and he and his wife came to Mon- tague county to spend their declining years near their children, who were nicely located in this part of the state. Both Mr. and Mrs. Priddy died at the home of their daughter, Mrs. Coe, at Nocona, his death occurring December 2, 1900, when he was eighty-six years of age, while his wife passed away April 20, 1904, at the age of ninety-four years. Mrs. Priddy was a de- voted member of the Methodist church. In their family were the following sons and daughters: Nancy E., the wife of D. V. B. Crites; Rachel A., the wife of A. Pulliam; Felix G .; Catherine, the wife of E. T. Coe; Davis; Milton J .; Mar- garet A., the wife of J. N. Hodges; Willis; and William B.

Mr. and Mrs. Hodges have a family of twelve children : William E., a ranch man of Donley county, Texas; Mrs. Mattie Chestnut; Joseph Burk, of Carson county, Texas; David T., a farmer ; Mrs. Minerva E. Paine; Marvin E., of Carson county, this state; Pearl, Walter N., Charles D., Anna M., Vestus C. and William B., all at home. The parents are members of the Methodist church, interested in its work and tak- ing an active part in all that pertains to its growth and the extension of its influence. For many years Mr. Hodges served as steward of the church, was district class leader for one year, for many years has been a trustee and superintendent of the Sunday school and in fact has labored un- tiringly and helpfully for the welfare of the church. His Christian faith is also a permeating influence in his life and has regulated his con- duct toward his fellow men, who know him to be a gentleman of unquestioned integrity and fidel- ity. He has resided in Montague county since 1876 and in the thirty years which have since come and gone has been a witness of the develop- ment and growth of this part of the state.

REV. MARION BEASLEY, devoting his life and energies to agricultural pursuits and to the work of the gospel as a minister of the Meth- odist Episcopal church in Montague county, was born in middle Tennessee, his natal place being in Hardin county, and the date of his birth March 4, 1834. His parents were Daniel and Julia (Ezell) Beasley, both of whom were natives of Tennessee, where they spent their entire lives. The father was a farmer by occupation and in his political affiliation was a democrat. He was called to various public offices by his fellow townsmen, who recognized his worth and ability and he served as justice of the peace and con-

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stable for a number of years, discharging his du- ties with promptness and fidelity. His life was at all times honorable and upright and gained for him the good will and trust of those with whom he associated. He held membership in the Mis- sionary Baptist church and for several years he survived his wife. She had two brothers, Field- ing and Louis Ezell, but Mrs. Beasley was the only daughter in the family. By her marriage she became the mother of nine children: Mrs. Elizabeth Odum; Mrs. Mary J. Wadkins; Mrs. Sallie Hugpeth; George, who died at the age of fourteen years; Mrs. Susan Strong; Martha, the wife of J. Goldsmith; Miriam, the wife of T. Goldsmith; Marion, of this review ; and Jasper, who died in Missouri.

Marion Beasley spent his youth in the place of his nativity. He was left an orphan when eleven years of age and since that time has made his own way in the world, gaining advancement through his diligence and earnest effort. He has always made the best possible use of his oppor- tunities and as the years have gone by his labors have gained him a creditable measure of prosper- ity. He was married in western Tennessee and there settled, following the occupation of farm- ing for four years, on the expiration of which period he removed to Missouri, where he pur- chased land and improved a large farm. He was thus engaged up to the time of the Civil war. Having studied the issues of the party he es- poused the cause of the Confederates, enlisting in 1861 under General Wadkins and afterward serving under General Jefferson Thompson. His service was confined to Missouri. He joined the first company raised in his part of the state and he continued with his command until two years had passed when on account of ill health he was parolled and went home. Later he rejoined his command, however, and remained therewith un- til the close of the war. While at home he was made a prisoner and held for six days, after which he was released. The ravages and devas- tation of war caused him the loss of all his per- sonal property so that he had to make a new start in life. In 1878 he sold his property and came to Texas, settling first in Young county, where he raised a crop. He afterward purchased property in Montague county from the Brodus & Jordan Ranch Company. He thus became owner of four hundred and eighty acres, on which he has made good and substantial improvements and he now has two hundred and fifty acres under a high state of cultivation. He carries on general farming, in which he is meeting with fair success and he also raises good stock. He is well pleased

with the country, its possibilities and its sur- roundings, having pleasant neighbors here, the country having become settled up by a thrifty and enterprising class of citizens. In his own business career he has made consecutive advance- ment, for he incurred indebtedness when he bought his land but has this all cleared away at the present time, and has upon his place many valuable improvements which indicate to the pas- ser-by that he is a practical and progressive agri- culturist.

Mr. Beasley also divides his time with the work of the ministry. He was converted in the Methodist church in Missouri, becoming an ac- tive worker in its behalf and after four years be- gan preaching as a local preacher, while since coming to Texas he has been made a regularly ordained minister and in 1894 joined northwest Texas conference. He has since had a regular circuit, extending through Montague and Cooke counties and he now has four charges. He has united many couples in the holy bonds of matri- mony, has conducted various funeral services and indeed has done much active work as a min- ister during his residence here.

Mr. Beasley has been married twice. He first wedded Miss Cynthia Winters, a lady of intelli- gence, who did much to assist him in his church work and encourage him in all life's relations. She was left an orphan in early life, and little is known concerning her family history. She has one sister, Mrs. Jane McLyea. Mr. and Mrs. Beasley became the parents of ten children : John, who died at the age of eleven years ; Archie, who died at the age of seven years ; Mrs. Nancy J. Goldsmith; Mrs. Lottie Smith; Mrs. Rachel McKnew: Mrs. Cynthia Perry; Marion N. and Lorenzo, both of whom follow farming; Mrs. Minnie Morgan ; and Mrs. Lucy Porter. The wife and mother died at Somerset, Texas, in 1890, in the faith of the Methodist church, of which she was a devoted and earnest member. In 1892 Mr. Beasley was again married, his second union being with Mrs. James Stalling, whose first husband died in Cherokee county, Texas, leaving a widow and four children: Mrs. Mollie Allen ; Mrs. Adeline March ; Walter, who died in childhood; and Beulah. Mrs. Stalling was a daughter of Samuel Horton, who was born and reared in Texas and was a farmer and slave own- er who spent his last days in Cherokee county, this state. His children were John, Sandy, Hen- ry, Wade, Reuben, Mary, Adeline, Lottie and Nancy.

Mr. Beasley is a stanch democrat but without aspiration for office, his life being devoted to his

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

agricultural interests and his work as a minister of the gospel. His influence has been a potent element for good and he has contributed in sub- stantial measure to the moral development of the community.

HERBERT M. MUNDY, a well-known stock man and the owner of Mundy Heights, a suburb of El Paso, was born in Allegheny county, New York, his parents being Samuel and Azubah (Smith) Mundy. The family comes of English origin and the founders of the family in Amer- ica settled in Newark, New Jersey, several gen- erations ago. There the grandfather of our sub- ject was born, reared and married and with his wife and children he went as a pioneer to western New York, settling among the hills of Allegheny county when the work of improvement and prog- ress had been scarcely begun there. He turned his attention to farming and also followed lumber- ing. For many years representatives of the name were connected with pioneer life in one section of the country or another and when Herbert M. Mundy was only seventeen years of age, true to the instincts of his ancestors, he started out to explore the west. He first went to northern Illi- nois, where he worked on a farm for six months and afterward in western Illinois and eastern Missouri. For about a year he helped to build up colonies of Illinois and Ohio people for settlement in western Missouri. Having a natural predilection for mechanical pursuits he had in the meantime mastered the build- er's and carpenter's trade which he also followed. In 1869 he located near the present site of Independence, the county seat of Montgomery county, Kansas. His father and others of the family had joined him by that time and they hauled their household effects from Pleas- ant Hill, Missouri, by ox teams. Montgomery county was not then the rich county that it is today, for all was new and wild and Mr. Mun- dy's family raised the first crop of wheat there, hauling seed wheat with oxen from Fort Scott. That country at that time was in part Osage In- dian country and it was Mr. Mundy's pioneer- ing that proved the initial step in the diminishing of their reservations.

Mr. Mundy remained a resident of Montgom- ery county until about 1873, when he made an- other pioneer trip through Colorado, on through New Mexico and down toward the Rio Grande. He was among the first to see the possibilities of and to engage in the sheep business, which sub- sequently grew into such a great industry in New Mexico and southern Colorado. He arrived in

El Paso in 1877, thus becoming a pioneer citizen here. In the same year he began the business of exporting through El Paso fine sheep to the re- public of Mexico and was the pioneer in this in- dustry, which within a few years he had devel- oped to such an extent that he was officially rec- ognized by the Mexican government as an expert in that business and regarded somewhat in the line of a benefactor for introducing fine breeds of sheep and other stock into that country and thereby materially promoting the prosperity of the stock raising class.

About 1878 Mr. Mundy brought his wife and two little children to El Paso, making the trip overland through southern Colorado and New Mexico. This was a very dangerous time for travel, for the Indians were on the warpath, but the journey was at length accomplished in safety and Mr. Mundy established his home here and has since lived in El Paso. His father and the family afterward came to El Paso, where the former died in October, 1899. His widow is still living at the old family home in this city.

For many years Mr. Mundy was busily en- gaged in the exportation of fine cattle, horses and sheep, which were sent to Mexico. He shipped about 90 per cent of the breeding horses and about 70 per cent of the sheep that went from the United States to Mexico. His business took him on extensive travels covering several years. This made him very familiar with the re- public and brought him into intimate relations of friendship and business with President Diaz and other officials high in authority in Mexico, from whom he received and retained many valuable and interesting souvenirs and documents, letters, etc. He has a thorough knowledge of the Span- ish language and he is recognized by President Diaz as an authority on cattle and was invited by him to preside over the live stock department of the national exposition held in the city of Mexico. His relations with that government enabled him to obtain valuable concessions in land, and Mr. Mundy, with his brother and other associates, have among other properties in Mex- ico a great tract of eight hundred thousand acres lying in the states of Sonora and Chihuahua one hundred and fifty miles south of El Paso. Mr. Mundy has also been enabled to successfully car- ry out other important projects for American in- vestors in Mexico, having access to the higher councils there such as few other Americans possess.

Within the past year or two Mr. Mundy has devoted most of his time to the development of Mundy Heights and vicinity in the western and

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northwestern portion of El Paso. This section of the city through the immense development now being done by Mr. Mundy will without ex- aggeration become one of the most beautiful resi- dence sections of the United States. In the be- ginning the natural resources from a scenic standpoint are superb and inspiring. Mr. Mundy began his labors in this section of the city when it was in a very raw state, there being not a dol- lar's worth of improvement upon it. He care- fully looked the ground over, studied out a plan for beautifying and improving it, obtained the assistance of the best engineers and then began work with a large force of men. Up to this time he has spent many thousands of dollars in grad- ing streets, putting in cement curbing and side- walk, building massive stone walls and coping and several elegant and substantial brick and stone residences with all modern improvements. One street in particular, West Upson avenue, has been treated by the landscape gardener and the street builder with a most beautiful and unique effect. There is in addition to the wide lawns and cement sidewalks in front of the houses a very wide street divided into three driveways and two parkways set out with handsome pepper and other trees indigenous to this locality. There are also pretty flowers and shrubs and in fact every effort has been made to develop this into one of the most attractive and beautiful residence dis- tricts of the city. Included in Mundy Heights addition is Grand View Park, a most charming spot with rustic garden, electric fountain and other equipments of this character, which Mr. Mundy improved at a cost of twenty thousand dollars and then presented to the city without charge of any kind. The ladies of the Civic Im- provement Lcague have taken the responsibility of caring for the flowers and shrubbery in this park and it is a most attractive spot.

Mundy Heights is the greatest scheme of pub- lic improvement ever undertaken in El Paso and many elegant and costly homes will be built there by a wealthy class, for there are restric- tions as to building. When the project is more fully completed it will be the means of making El Paso one of the most beautiful residence cities in the country. Mr. Mundy has, in Westlake Park adjoining Mundy Heights on the northwest, a scheme for beautifying and improving that great park and pleasure ground that will be even greater than the first mentioned. At the present writing, however, this is awaiting co-operation on the part of the city government which will probably be obtained.

Mr. Mundy was married to Miss Elizabeth C.

Smith, of Ohio, and they have six children : Richard Stephen, Charles Edward, Nellie Diana, Clara, Laura Elizabeth and William Harvey, to all of whom he has given university educations and the prominence of the family is noted by the cordial reception which the members of the household receive in various homes here.

CLARK McDONALD. Pioneers of the Mc- Donald date who are yet numbered among the citizenship of Montague county are rare and a scouring of the surface of the county would hardly reveal a representative of another fam- ily whose life spans so great an end of its his- tory and development or one covering so much of the tragic in human affairs. Coming hither, as they did, when nature's course was yet un- disturbed and the wild man was free to roam as in his palmiest days, they had free access to the grassy plain as far as the eye could see; an ideal place for the fattening of herds and a most favored retreat for the pure and unre- strained enjoyment of pioneer life.

From 1857 when Jarrell McDonald brought his young family into Montague county, to 1873 when the hostile Comanche and Kiowa made his last bloody raid into the thinly settled region about Queen's Peak, marks a period of sixteen years in the history of this heroic family filled with financial successes in the face of conditions which turn the trials of today into play-times, in comparison, and through which only the most determined head and the stoutest heart could pass.

With the multiplying of settlers and the con- sequent increase of stock came the more fre- quent incursions of the jealous red man whose illwill eventually spent itself in revenge upon the white man's herds and family. They stole his cattle, ran off his horses in bunches and droves and murdered and scalped fathers and brothers and carried away infant children and for a dozen years kept the McDonalds and later pio- neers in a state of anxiety and often terror for their personal safety.

Indian depredations in Texas, as told by compe- tent and reliable historians, reveals the sacrifice of life which occurred in Montague and other counties of the state, and the Greens, Kilgore and Winscott massacres, victim relatives of the McDonalds, are enumerated in their proper place.

To more securely protect his family Jarrell McDonald improvised a fort on Victoria Peak, where his son, our subject, now resides, and against this miniature stronghold, in July, 1870,

CLARK McDONALD

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three hundred murderous "braves" threw them- selves, but it was successfully defended. by our hardy and daring frontiersmen and no loss of life was sustained.

Through all these scenes Clark McDonald and his brothers passed while carrying on their work as cowboys in their father's behalf. In their vocations as cowmen this family achieved first rank as raisers, drovers and shippers. Their cattle were scattered over every hillside, valley and plain and by the thousand they were driven to the market at Abilene, Kansas, until the gold they brought to their owners became almost a burden as to its proper care.

About 1871 Jarrell McDonald tired of the cattle business and invested some of his vast ac- cumulations in mercantile ventures. He opened a store in Montague, afterward had one in Whitesboro and finally engaged in business in San Antonio, but prosperity never followed him in his new enterprise and he saw much of the fruits of his early years depart from him. His life was brought sadly to an end in the month of April, 1889, in San Antonio, by a murderous negro bent on robbery.

This prominent Montague county family, headed by Jarrell McDonald, came to Texas from Lawrence county, Missouri, in 1857. They crossed Red river at Colbert's Ferry and stopped the first two years on Denton creek on the east side of the county. Their lives about Queen's Peak dates from 1859 and there the events in their several careers have transpired. Jarrell McDonald was born in the state of Kentucky, was brought up in Polk county, Missouri, where his father, a native Scotch-Irishman, settled in the pioneer days of that state. He was one of a family of fourteen sons and two daughters, six other sons being: Cash, Clark, Isham, Joseph, Hiram and Pinkney; the daughters being Sallie wife of John Winscott, who died in Montague county, and Nancy, who married Daniel Win- scott, killed by Indians.

Jarrell McDonald married Mary, a daugh- ter of Baylor Davis, in Polk county, Missouri, who still survives him and is the mother of eleven children, the survivors of whom are: Cash, a prominent farmer of Montague county, born in Polk county, Missouri, February 7, 1849, mar- ried in Montague county, Texas, Maria L. Green, of Kentucky, who has borne him ten children: Judy, wife of T. L. Wade, of Grayson county, Texas; Jarrell D., of Queen's Peak, who was born in Lawrence county, Missouri, February 13, 1853, and married Ann Chestnut Green, his older brother's wife's sister, and has twelve sur- viving children ; Clark, the subject of this sketch,

and Mary, wife of J. Carr McNatt, a successful farmer and prominent citizen of Queen's Peak.

Clark McDonald was born in Mercer county, Missouri, March 27, 1855, consequently all but two years of his life have been passed in Texas. As his youth was passed on the frontier where no public schools existed until his near approach to manhood his educational privileges were next to nothing. He made a hand on his father's ranch as soon as he was old enough and for twenty years his natural home was on a pony's back. He followed the stock business in a limited way a few years after the senior McDonald abandoned it and then settled down on his tract of three hundred and sixty acres, where he has become a stock-farmer. It was about 1880 when he ob- tained title to the old-time McDonald ranch and his modern residence on Victoria Peak marks the historic spot of the family's early years in the county.

January 16, 1877, Mr. McDonald married in Montague county, Sarah, a daughter of D. J. Col- lins, who came to Texas from Adams county, Illi- nois, after the Civil war. Mr. Collins married Sarah Sheward and their daughter, Sarah A., was born in 1857. October 12, 1890, Mrs. Mc- Donald passed away, being the mother of Judy, who died in August, 1904, as Mrs. T. D. Bess, leaving Sarah A., Cecil, Jennie V. and Lora B .; B. H. McDonald, of Marlow, Indian Territory ; W. C., of Montague county, is married to Ada Beasley and has a child, Mirrel Joy; Mary, wife of Henry Huth, of Montague county ; Birdie B., Lewis L. and Maggie J.

In the matter of politics the McDonalds are Democrats but Clark is the only one who has been called to serve his county in public office. He was elected Commissioner for Precinct Two and served the years 1897-8 on the board. Little was done of an important nature during his in- cumbency and routine work largely occupied the time of the body during its sessions. Mr. Mc- Donald is a Master Mason and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights of Honor.

DREWRY L. MIDDLETON .- The prosper- ity of Texas has resulted from the cattle indus- try and prominent among the cattlemen of this great state is Drewry L. Middleton, whose branch is older than that of any representative of the business in Texas. His has been a very event- ful career, full of exciting incidents, incurred be- cause of the wild and unsettled condition of the country when he began herding on the plains of the southwest. He has witnessed many changes,

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bearing his full share in the work of progress and improvement, and today, as the result of his industry and careful management, he is one of the prosperous cattle dealers in this part of the country.

The family name is one which figures largely on the pages of southern history. His father, John W. Middleton, in a little work written by him on the "Regulators and Moderators and the Shelby County War" of 1841-2, says: "It is fit- ting before I enter upon my narrative, that I give a brief biography of myself with some men- tion of my ancestry. John Middleton, a grand- father, was an American soldier in the war of the Revolution and was present at the battle of the Cowpens and Guilford court house; served under Gates until his defeat and then under Greene until the close of the war. He was the officer sent to arrest Champ, who was sent after Arnold, the traitor, who betrayed his country to the British, and pursued him so closely that he got his cloak, as Champ got too far into the deep water of the sea for him to be followed. After the Revolution he belonged to a company to sus- tain law and order and assisted to maintain it by constant efforts to arrest and bring to justice vio- lators of the law My mother was Martha Tubb and my great-grandfather, George Tubb, Sr., was under Washington at the time of Braddock's defeat and at the battle of Bunker Hill. He, his two brothers and all their sons over the age of fourteen years, were in the Colonial Army, under the immediate command of General Washington during the entire Revolutionary war and all survived but one."

During the Creek war of 1812, Drewry Mid- dleton, father of John W. Middleton, was an ac- tive participant in the exciting events of that pe- riod. In connection with the battle of the horse- shoe we again quote : "In this battle my father, Drewry Middleton, participated actively, being in the thickest of the fight. Going forward at the command of General Coffee, with two men from each company to act as an advance and give information of the enemy, he was separated from the main command and remained upon the bat- tlefield and fought until he was the last or among the last to leave the ground. The line of march was then taken up for home, when the men were discharged."

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 123

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