A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 126

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 126

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Benjamin S. Caswell is by nature and training a southern man. Hc has passed from east to west across the Southland and has mingled with its people of all climes and participated in their civil affairs. He was born in Troop county,

Georgia, May 5, 1837, and in Troop and Hurd counties he grew up. The country schools of his day gave him his scant mental training and the work of the farm developed his rugged physique. In 1855, the family moved to Colum- bia county, Arkansas, and there he reached his majority, married and launched his craft which held the destiny of his career. His beginning was of a primitive sort and many happy years of his carly married life were passed 'neath the portals of an Arkansas mansion of logs and chink. At the inception of his career he engaged in team- ing with oxen from Champinola to Atlanta, Ar- kansas, and for some five years he knew pros- perity but saved little money. He finally dropped back to the scenes of his youth, the farm, and after the war his attention was directed toward little else.

In 1861, Mr. Caswell enlisted in Company G, Thirty-third Arkansas Infantry, Captain Mixon, of Colonel Grinstead's regiment. He served in the Trans-Mississippi department of the Confed- eracy and saw plenty of the rough-and-tumble of army life, and was in many skirmishes but no heavy engagements. He enlisted as a private, was acting sergeant of his company at times, and was with his command around Marshall, Texas, when the war closed.

Mr. Caswell is a son of Isham Caswell, born in Hancock county, Georgia, who was a soldier in the 1812 war, and in the Florida Indian war under General Floyd, and, when he settled down, pursued the vocation of a farmer. His father, John Caswell, was born, lived and died in Geor- gia, and his wife, nee Sallie Shepherd, died in Columbia county, Arkansas, in 1862, while he survived until 1875.

November 1, 1859, Benjamin S. Caswell mar- ried Miss Elliott, a daughter of James Perkison, a Georgia farmer. Mrs. Caswell was born in Merriweather county, Georgia, and is the mother of William H .; James L .; Lec; Sallie; Mattie; Wcsley W .; and Jesse C.

Until retired on account of infirmity, Mr. Cas- well was always a busy man. While the busi- ness of his life was to help himself and to care for his own, he has overlooked no opportunity to give aid and comfort to others, and his attitude toward his fellows has been that of a brother or a father and his heart has been filled with neigh- borly kindnesses. For years he has been asso- ciatcd with the work of the Methodist church of his locality and his example in life has been such as to convince the skeptical of the power of re- ligion to do good among men.

ZACHARY T. ROBINSON

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

ALLEN GORE. One of the early settlers whose reminiscences run back to the day of pole houses, and even tents, in Wise county, is Allen Gore, whose residence was established near Chico in 1876, and whose thirty years of vigorous and persistent effort have brought him a good farm and have placed him among that class of our countrymen who always win victories behind the plow. It is to the courage and endurance of such men that communities of civilized life 'are carved out of wildernesses and Nature made to bloom and blossom as a garden.

The date of his advent to Wise county marks Mr. Gore as an early settler and his coming was an added unit to the quiet force operating for the advancement of the social interests of the county. Families have sprung up from prattling children once under his roof and this third generation are the embryo men and women who will honor and perpetuate the family name. In his rural life he has grubbed and hewed and built up that which will stand as a shaft suggesting the toil, the sacrifices and the achievements of a modest and earnest man.

Moore county, Tennessee, was the eastern home of Allen Gore and from there he emigrated to the Lone Star state the year of his entry to Wise county. He was born in Lincoln county, that state, April 13, 1844, and was a son of Thomas Gore, a farmer, who passed away in Moore county, in 1895. Thomas Gore accom- panied his father, Ned Gore, and family to Ten- nessee, when a young man, and in that state his father died. In the matter of politics Democracy seems to have dominated the household, and along religious lines they were Methodists. Thomas Gore married Allie Shaufner.

Eight children comprised the family of Thomas and Allie Gore and in their order of birth were: Edward, a soldier of Bragg's army and killed during the war ; James W., of Wise county ; Al- len, of this review ; Martha, wife of Alexander Parks, of Moore county, Tennessee; Sarah, wife of Lacey Bobo, of the same county; Millie died in Moore county as the wife of Britton Dilling- ham; Thomas and Susan, of Moore county, the latter Mrs. Joseph Donnell.

On his father's farm Allen Gore grew to ma- turity, and the typical log school house knew him occasionally as a pupil while passing the years of his youth. The Civil war came on while he was approaching his majority and he enlisted, in 1863, in Bragg's army, and was detailed as a blacksmith, and on this account saw none of the actual fighting of the war. On the retreat of

the army from the Murfreesboro fight he was taken prisoner in the mountains of Tennessee, was paroled and remained about Tullahoma un- til the end of the war.

Taking up civil pursuits, Mr. Gore took up farming with a United States pony lent him by the government, and when his crop was made he delivered up the pony to the authorities. A sea- son of slow progress followed and when ten years had elapsed and he sought a home in the new country of Texas he began his career with a yoke of oxen and a team of ponies, together, a provision for maintenance until a crop could be made. He purchased seventy-one acres of Cooke county school land northeast of Chico, in the woods, and lived in a tent until his modest pole cabin could be prepared. He has devoted himself purely to the work of the farm and, as a result of his success, has an improved farm of one hundred and eighty-five acres which he de- lights to call his home.

Mr. Gore married Sarah Watson, whose fath- er, Matthew Watson, was an old Tennessee set- tler. Of Mr. and Mrs. Gore's family, Edward married Lizzie Traplett and died in Wise county ; Amos, of Wise county, married Susan Neeley ; Alfred, married Mattie Meeks and is a Wise county farmer ; James, married Tera Tunnell; Rosa became the wife of Thomas Laster, and they reside near the parental home; Sarah is now Mrs. Carl Berry ; Julia married Carl Wright, and they are Wise county citizens; Robert is also married and lives in the county; and Worth, the youngest, is still of the family home.

Mr. Gore's life has been one of industry, with steady-going characteristics and he has been a good citizen as well as a good farmer. He has held to Democracy in politics from early life and a search for his church home finds him a steward in the Methodist denomination.

ZACHARY TAYLOR ROBINSON. With- in the past few years Mr. Robinson has come to be one of the large and successful cotton raisers of Wise county and his position as a farmer speaks eloquently of the possibilities in the field of agriculture within this and kin- dred municipalities when supported by the ele- ments which win victories against fate. Like the great mass of independent farmers he has come up from the most modest beginning and his progress has been as the slow and steady tread of the mighty army which captured Metz or bore down the Muscovite forces at Mukden. Now that his race has been well begun and

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

many successes have already been won it is meet that the essential points in his busy career be recorded and preserved.

A tract of one hundred and thirty-five acres of raw land on the Watson survey constituted Mr. Robinson's start as a Wise county farmer. He built a fourteen by fourteen box house in which to house his family when he came hither in 1884. Two of the four ponies which he bought died and he exchanged the other two for a pair of mules and gave his note for $165.00 to boot. Ready cash was then an unknown quantity with him and, seeing that his crop would be shortened greatly by the drouth and that no funds would be available from the farm to meet his "mule note" he took two sons with him to the Santa Fe Railroad grade then being constructed south from Red river and worked for the company until the note money was well laid by. At other times when the treasury of the family ran low he earned wages at anything that offered to put meat and bread on his table.

But after the bitter come ever a few drops of sweet. With much of his land eventually cleared, immense crops of cotton and corn and oats were picked and harvested, a surplus took the place of the proverbial deficit and the do- mestic ship glided out upon the waves into the smooth waters of victory. Twelve hundred acres of fertile land are now embraced in his dominions, modest houses shelter his tenants, a three-stand gin occupies a site near his resi- dence, for the convenience of neighbors and for profit to himself, and the whole estate is equipped with power and force equal to its most satisfactory and successful operation.

Zachary T. Robinson was born in Anderson county, South Carolina, January 31, 1847, his father, Ephraim Robinson, being a native of the same district and born in 1819. Near the close of the forties the latter brought his fami- ly westward and settled in Prentiss county, Mississippi, where he was a small planter, owned a few slaves, served as a justice of the peace as a Democrat and died near Booneville in 1885. The father served in the Confederate 'army during the rebellion, first in the Twenty- sixth Mississippi regiment and when it was captured at Fort Donelson he escaped and joined the Thirty-second, which command finally was taken prisoner by Grant at Vicks- burg. Mr. Robinson was paroled and sent home, later reported at Richmond, Virginia, and was there discharged.

Ephraim Robinson, Sr., grandfather of our subject, landed at Charleston, South Carolina, upon his advent to America from his birthplace

on Erin's Isle. He saw service in the war of 1812 and was wounded in an engagement with the king's troops. Late in life he decided to settle in Mississippi and he died at Rome, Geor- gia, on the journey out. He had an only son and those of his children to reach mature years were: Sayan, who married Yancey Hall; Cyn- thia, wife of Andrew Norris; Amanda, who married Ed Martin; Lucy became the wife of Sid Falbus Wooten; and Jane married Rob- ert Dickinson; and Ephraim, Jr., his son.

In 1841 Ephraim Robinson, Jr., married Mar- tha Massey, who passed away near Booneville, Mississippi, in 1900. She was a South Caro- lina lady, and she and her husband were the parents of Annie, of Young county, Texas, wife of A. L. Beardon; Rilla, wife of James Moore, of Indian Territory; Zachary T., of this sketch; William, of Plainview, Texas; Quitman, of Canyon City, Texas; Robert, of Canyon City, Texas; and Sal- lie, wife of D. E. Broiles, of Canyon City, Texas.

Z. T. Robinson was reared a farmer's son and obtained his limited education from the Mississippi country school. He served the last year of the war in Capt. Nelson's company of the Home Guard and did little other than guard duty while in the field. His command disbanded and he took the oath of allegiance at Iuka, Mississippi, and returned to his home in Prentiss county. While at home he learned the gin business in operating an old mule gin then typical of the advanced notions of gin machinery, and soon after his marriage he came into possession of a plant and ran it in connec- tion with his farming for some time. He was married March 2, 1869, and prior to their em- barkation for Texas he and his wife accumulat- ed some personal property. He made sale of his effects when he left Mississippi for Texas, took notes for much of his stuff and lost the notes afterward and was unable to collect much that was due. This misfortune overtook him at a time when he could ill afford it and it brought about many of the hardships he and his family endured.

For his life companion Mr. Robinson chose Susan Pitts, a daughter of Benjamin Pitts. Mr. Pitts was a Virginian and married a South Carolina lady, Sallie Hagel. Mrs. Robinson was one of seven children in her father's fami- ly and was born in 1844. Mr. and Mrs. Robin- son's children are : Richard, who married Mat- tie Motley, resides in Wise county; Jacob, an employe of the Western Union Telegraph Company; Reuben, yet with the parental

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

household ; Samuel married Sallie Pitts and re- sides near the old home; Fannie, wife of Wil- liam Pitts, of Wise county; Emma, who is Mrs. Thomas Smith, of Wise county; Jack married Essie Jordan, and Marcus married Eva Bosolomew and both are near the old home; Sula, Anna and Lela complete the family and are all with the old home.

While the Robinson political history of the early time was Democratic and party lines seem to have been held to closely, Z. T. - Rob- inson has frequently departed from the faith and has acted as a free lance in political af- fairs. He voted for Horace Greeley in 1872 and for Hayes in 1876. In 1888, he voted for Harrison, and Mr. Mckinley won his support in 1896 and 1900, and in 1904 the strenuous, typical American, Theodore Roosevelt, com- manded his vote.

ALEXANDER W. SAMPLES. Farming and stock raising have been the great sources of rev- enue in Texas, and Mr. Samples, of this review, is devoting his energies to those pursuits, his home being in Montague county. Almost every state in the Union has furnished its representa- tives to Texas, and among those who have come from Louisiana our subject is numbered, for his birth occurred near Mansfield, that state, Sep- tember 6, 1861. His parents, Joseph and Sarah E. (Cox) Samples, were also natives of Louisiana, where they were married and began farming, the father being thus engaged until the Civil war broke out, when he donned the grey uniform and espoused the cause of the Confederacy. After a short time spent at the front, however, he be- came ill with fever, returned home and died in 1862. His wife survived him and carefully reared their family, doing the best possible for her children. About 1865 or 1866 she removed with them to Texas, locating first on the Allen McGrady farm on Clear Lake, Mr. McGrady be- ing her brother-in-law. This farm she cultivated on shares for a number of years but the hostili- ties of the Indians caused her to remove to Fannin county, where she spent six years. She then returned to the McGrady farm, where she lived for three years and next settled on school land in Calhoun county. There she made im- provements and when the land came into market bought one hundred and sixty acres, from which she developed a good property, spending her re- maining days there. She died at the old home- stead, and thus passed away one of the noble pioneer women of Texas. She had done a mother's full part for her children, counting no

personal sacrifice too great if it would enhance the welfare or promote the happiness of her sons and daughters. She held membership in the Christian church and her religious faith perme- ated her entire life. By her first marriage she had five children: Nancy, the wife of R. Green; Joe, who now owns and operates the old home- stead; William, of the Indian Territory ; Aman- da, the wife of J. Patterson; and Alexander W. Seven years after the death of her husband, Mrs. Samples married Samuel Means, a farmer and veteran of the war of 1812. He lived only a short time, however, and passed away in Louis- iana. After his death the two children, twins, of that marriage were born, these being Rich and Elizabeth, the latter now the wife of Ster- ling Grant.

Alexander W. Samples has no remembrance of his father, whose death occurred in his early boyhood. The memory of his mother, however, is enshrined in his heart, for to her he owes much. He accompanied her to Texas and on her removals in this state, being reared to man- hood in Montague county. He assisted her until he had attained his majority and was then mar- ried in 1881 to Miss Sarah J. Darnell, who was born at the head of Ellam river in Montague county in 1864, her parents being A. J. and Eliza (McGrady) Darnell, the former a native of Ten- nessee and the latter of Georgia. They were married in Georgia and came to Texas in the latter part of the '50s, living for a few years in Grayson county, after which they settled on Clear Creek in Montague county, remaining there for several years. On account of Indian depredations and ravages, however, they made several moves, but eventually returned to the land which Mr. Darnell had purchased on Clear Creek, making his home thereon until the time of his death. He was drowned in the Red river in 1877, and his loss was deeply deplored by the many who knew him. He was a typical pioneer settler, bearing the hardships and difficulties of frontier life and aiding in reclaiming this region for the purposes of civilization. On several dif- ferent occasions he lost stock through Indian thefts. He belonged to the Christian church and was a man of high moral character. His wife, who died in 1870, belonged to the Missionary Baptist church. Their children were : Silas, Rob- ert, Sarah, Isabelle, Mrs. Margaret DeNolan, Charles and Joe.

At the time of his marriage, Mr. Samples be- gan the operation of a rented farm on Clear Creek and thus carried on agricultural pursuits for twenty years, when in 1901 he bought where

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

he now resides, becoming owner of two hundred and sixteen acres of land that was a part of the S. J. Spear estate. Some of the land was cul- tivated but there were no buildings upon the' place and he has since erected an attractive and modern residence and provided ample shelter for grain and stock in substantial barns and outbuild- ings. He has also planted an orchard and the year following his first purchase he bought one hundred and four acres of land. He now has about eighty acres under a high state of cultiva- tion and is successfully engaged in general farm- ing. In all of his work he is practical, following methods that promise the best results and through industry and perseverance winning a gratifying measure of success.

The home of Mr. and Mrs. Samples was blessed with eiglit children: Joe, who was born January 29, 1883, and now follows farming ; Sarah M., who was born November 27, 1884, and is the wife of Sam Greenroya; Ollie, born June 5, 1890; Devie L., born March 5, 1893; Delia, August 17, 1895; Jane, April 8, 1898; Ruby, August 29, 1901 ; and Robert, October 28, 1903.

Mr. Samples holds membership with the Woodmen of the World, and in politics is a Dem- ocrat. He has a fine farm that is the visible evidence of his life of thrift and enterprise and his property is thoroughly modern in all of its improvements. He has phone connection with the surrounding business centers and everything about the place indicates his progressive spirit and successful accomplishment.

HON. A. B. YANTIS, judge of the county court of Nolan county, was born in Spencer county, Kentucky, June 17, 1859. His father, J. C. Yantis, was also born in the Blue Grass state. The family is of German lineage and was founded in America by three brothers who crossed the Atlantic when this country was still numbered among the colonial possessions of Great Britain and joined the Revolutionists in the struggle for independence. The name was originally Yandes and in Anglocizing it the pres- ent form of Yantis was adopted. In the ma- ternal line the grandfather of Mrs. Yantis, mother of our subject, was stolen by Indians when a babe and was reared by them in Ken- tucky. His name was Hill and many of his descendants are still residents of that state.

J. C. Yantis resided in Kentucky until 1865 and removed to Illinois just prior to the death of Abraham Lincoln, settling at Salem, Marion county. Hc resided in that state until 1880,

when he came to Texas and located first in Col- lin county near the town of Mckinney. A year later he removed to Fisher county, where he died in 1894. His widow, Mrs. Martha (Hill) Yantis, is still living in Fisher county upon the farm which was developed by her husband when the family located there. They had six children, of whom five are now living, all sons.

Aaron Yantis on attending college was dubbed by his college chums Aaron Burr Yantis, and the name clung to him so closely afterwards that he has adopted it. He was reared in the state of Illinois and his early education was acquired in the public schools, after which he pursued a four years' course in Westminster College at Fulton, Missouri. He was graduated from the law department of Washington University at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1892, and the following year came to Texas. In 1894 he entered upon the active practice of law in Roby, Fisher county, where he remained until the spring of 1899, when he removed to Waco, Texas, where he resided until 1902. In that year he came to Sweetwater, where he has since remained. He was elected county attorney of Fisher county in the fall of 1894 and served practically three terms at dif- ferent intervals. In the fall of 1904 he was elected county judge of Nolan county, which po- sition he now fills. According to the laws of the state by reason of his office as county judge he is also ex-officio county superintendent of public in- struction, which line of duty occupies a consid- erable portion of his time.

Judge Yantis was married on the 2nd of Janu- ary, 1900, to Miss Maria Clardy, a native of Missouri and a daughter of J. E. Clardy. Fra- ternally the judge is connected with the Odd Fel- lows and the Knights of Pythias, belonging to the former lodge at Sweetwater and the latter at Fulton, Missouri.

While living in Illinois he had engaged in teaching school and has followed the profession at intervals for about twelve years. Even be- fore taking up his abode permanently in Texas he made visits to this state and taught here through the winter months, returning north again in the summer, but being pleased with the country and enjoying better health here he finally. determined to make the state his home and as before stated arrived in August, 1893, to identify his interests with those of Texas. Although not long a resident of this part of the country, he is nevertheless recognized as one of its valued citi- zens and a man of many sterling qualities. He is well versed in law and as presiding judge over the county court renders fair and impartial de-

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

cisions which have won him the favorable regard of the. bar and the trust of the general public. His long identification with educational interests eminently qualifies him for the position of county superintendent and he has instituted new meth- ods that are working for the general good along the line of intellectual development.

JUDGE DUNCAN G. SMITH. A man who has made for himself a place in connection with the activities and honors of life, who has .suc- cessfully surmounted obstacles and who has gained recognition for intrinsic worth of char- acter is Duncan G. Smith, a leading lawyer of Quanah. He was born in Covington county, Mississippi, in 1849, his parnts being W. G. W. and Elizabeth Jane (Graves) Smith, natives re- spectively of South Carolina and Georgia. The father, who was a planter by occupation, removed from Covington to Lawrence county, Mississippi, where his death occurred in 1889, when he had reached the eightieth milestone on the journey of life, and there the mother still makes her home, near Monticello.

In 1867 Duncan G. Smith left his parents' home and came to Texas with the idea of be- coming a cowboy, and for two years was a cow puncher in the Lampasas country. Those were the pioneer days in that section of the state, and in addition to the bad characters which infested the country, Indian raids were an almost regular occurrence in every light of the moon. Mr. Smith continued his education in this state by at- tendance at the public schools of Georgetown, there also receiving his legal training, and was admitted to the bar at Belton on the 8th of October, 1872, and from that time until Septem- ber, 1874, was employed in the office of the county and district clerk at Georgetown. In Jan- uary, 1875, he opened a law office in that city, there practicing until the latter part of 1884, when he came to northwestern Texas, and Jan- uary I, 1885, took up his abode in Hardeman county. At that time Margaret was its county seat, it then including what is now Foard county, and at the time of his arrival there were not over seventy-five voters within its borders. The county had been organized December 31, 1884. The city of Margaret was located on Pease river, about nine miles south of Medicine Mounds, and there Mr. Jones continued in the practice of his profession until January 1, 1890, when he re- moved to the newly appointed county seat of Quanah. Here he is known as a lawyer of pro- found erudition and practical ability, and for twelve years has been the local attorney for the

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 126

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