A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 134

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 134

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After raising a crop in Hunt county, he bought a farm at Pilot Point, Grayson county, where he continued for a year, when he sold out and in 1870 purchased the farm on which he now resides at Sadler's Bend in the Red river valley in Cooke county. He found five families at the bend, but the radius which their ranches covered was an extensive one, for small farming was not yet done and there was no more than seventy-five acres in cultivation. No cotton had as yet been raised in this locality, nor was there any gin to bale it. Mr. Able purchased one hundred and sixty acres of prairie land in Cove creek valley, on which were a few scattering trees, and then building a log cabin he began the struggle of breaking the fields and planting crops. In due course of time good harvests were gathered. When he arrived he had three mules, a yoke of steers, two wagons, some household effects and twelve hundred dollars in money. With determined purpose he undertook the arduous task of de- veloping a farm and as the years have passed by his well directed labors have been crowned with success, so that he has added to his lands until now he owns twenty-three hundred acres surrounding the homestead and on the prairie. He also has eight hundred acres of pasture land in Montague county, and over five hundred acres in three well improved farms. He has given each of the four children three hundred acres and yet today he is the largest landlord with more land in cultivation than any other man in the county, having thirty-nine tenants upon his farms, all occupying good houses. He has engaged in raising and handling stock and for many years handled cattle, but has abandoned that branch of the business. He has done no active farming himself for some years, for it requires all of his time and attention to supervise his tenants and large interests. He is likewise an extensive stockholder in the Lindsay National Bank at Gainesville and loans money on mortgage se- curities.

Mr. and Mrs. Able have become the parents of a son and three daughters: Thomas, who was born in 1856; Fanny, the wife of Mack Frank-

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

lin; Victoria, the wife of J. R. Miller; and Tan- zader, the wife of J. Agee.

Great changes have occurred since Mr. Able came to Texas. He found a country in which there were many desperadoes who stole the stock and plundered the homes of the settlers, but he joined a company of pioneers and made a run after a band of thieves, whom they fol- lowed to the Wichita mountains, where a hot fight ensued, but they succeeded in recovering the stock and in killing some of the bandits. Among the settlers one man, Captain Rowland, was wounded slightly on the side of the neck. Mr. Able has been closely identified with the development of the county from its earliest set- tlement and his labor has been an effective ele- ment in its substantial progress and improve- ment. He has lived to see this great district. . once wild and unclaimed, transformed into fine farms and ranches, owned by a contented and prosperous people. In politics he is a Democrat and both he and his wife are members of the Missionary Baptist church. He has had no time for political office, however, preferring to give his attention to his business affairs and he is widely recognized as a splendid financier. To him there has come the attainment of a distin- guished position in connection with agricultural interests and investments. He has been careful in the purchase and sale of land, so that he has always realized a good profit on his realty trans- fers and, recognizing the possibilities of the state for farming and stock-raising, he has ac- quired extensive property' holdings and now rents his land to various tenants, so that his income from his leases is today large and grati- fying. He deserves much credit for what he has achieved, for when the war closed he was left almost penniless and all that he now has is the result of his careful management, clear judg- ment, experience and diligence.

E. B. DIXON, a well-known farmer of Mon- tague county, Texas, dates his birth in Hardin county, Kentucky, November 22, 1847, and be- longs to a family that figured among the early pioneers of the Lone Star state.

Mr. Dixon's parents, Henry and Mary A. (Parsons) Dixon, were both natives of Ken- tucky. John Dixon, the grandfather of E. B., was a Virginian, a farmer and a Baptist minister who pioneered to Kentucky, who lived there for many years and who died in that state. His children were William, Henry, John, Ebenezer, Nancy, Anna and Polly. Henry Dixon, after his marriage, settled on a farm in Kentucky and

continued his residence there until August, 1859, when he moved to Texas and settled in Wise county, near Decatur. The following year he came to Montague county and located near Bowie, where he improved a small farm. His family remained here during the war of the Rebellion while he refugeed to the north. In the fall of 1865 he returned to Texas to join his wife and children, they having moved in the ineantime, and while looking for them near Illi- nois Bend he was assassinated by some coward and never reached the loved ones who were waiting for him. While in the north he was employed as a teamster for the government in Kansas and Missouri. When he left home he was accompanied by two of his sons, who en- tered the Federal army, one dying in the army shortly afterward, the other continuing until the close of the war, after which he returned to Texas and is now located in Castor county. Father and sons never saw each other after their first separation in the north. The mother survived until April, 1902. She was a daughter of John and Barbara (Bailey) Parsons, natives of Virginia and early settlers of Kentucky. Both died in the latter state. They were members of the Baptist church. They had six children, namely: Elizabeth, Mary A., Enoch, Sarah, Susan and Abigail. Henry and Mary A. Dixon were the parents of four children: John, who died at Fort Gibson; Susan, who was twice mar- ried, first to a Mr. Herring and after his death to J. Burnett, and who died, leaving four chil- dren; William, and E. B.

E. B. Dixon was twelve years old at the time he came with his parents to Texas. During the war and for some time afterward he worked at whatever he could get to do to assist in the sup- port of his mother and sister, chiefly farming. While he was employed at Spanish Fort he moved his mother there to be with him and re- mained there one year. Afterward he worked in Cooke county. During this time he bought some land where he still lives. His mother and sister came to care for his home, and later his mother divided her time between his home and his brother's at Red River Station, his sister meantime having married. It was at his home that his mother died.

In the early 'os the Indians were trouble- some, making many raids, stealing horses, etc .. and caused the settlers much trouble. When Mr. Dixon located on his present place there were only two small farms within a radius of five miles around him, and he has been a wit- ness to the marvelous changes that have been

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

wrought here. When the school lands were placed on the market he purchased four hund- red acres. That was in 1886. Since then he has added to his holdings until he now has one thousand acres, one hundred and fifty of whichi are under cultivation, the rest being used for stock purposes.

Politically, Mr. Dixon is a Democrat. A plain, honest, industrious farmer, successful in what he has undertaken, he has never aspired to any sort of public life, nor is he identified with any. fraternal or church organization.

In 1871 Mr. Dixon married Miss Nancy May- field, a native of Missouri and a member of one of the prominent early families of Montague county, Texas, she being a daughter of Will- iam I. and Susan (Cooper) Mayfield, nativcs of Iowa who moved from that state to Nebraska and thence to Missouri, to Indiana and to Tex- as, landing in the last named state in 1860. Mr. Mayfield's first settlement here was in the southeast part of Montague county, where he improved a farm and later improved a farm at Illinois Bend, where he died. He was a Union man and a Methodist. His eight children in order of birth were Emily, George, Nancy, Ser- elda, Martha, John, Ellen and Peter. By his wife Nancy, Mr. Dixon had four children, name- ly: Verrella, now Mrs. Haney; Emogene, now Mrs. Haddock; Anna, now Mrs. Smith; and Williamson A., of Fort Worth. The mother of these children died in 1886. She was a member of the Methodist church, in which faith she was reared. In December, 1889, Mr. Dixon married Miss Laura Haddock, who was born in Missis- sippi in 1862, daughter of John Haddock, who came to Texas in 1882 and settled near Spanish Fort, where he bought a farm, and remained until his death, in 1892. He was a plain farmer, a man of sterling qualities and a consistent member of the Methodist church. In his family were six children, namely: Allen, Delaney, Jon- athan G., Laura, Susan and Mary. By his pres- ent wife Mr. Dixon has eight children: Silas, Guy, Mary, John, Ebenezer, Garfield, George, and Winstead M. Mrs. Dixon is a Protestant Methodist.

JAMES GRANVILL HAYES. The con- stant observer is ever astonished at the rapidity and suddenness with which men, in Texas, have passed from poverty to independence and is puzzled for a solution of the apparently ever- deepening mystery. Whatever the answer to the question, the condition prevails and is am-

ply illustrated by the life of this and other gen- tlemen enriching, to posterity, the pages of this work. Thirty years ago our subject was a beardless boy about to assume nis humble sta- tion in life, with no preparation for its respon- sibilities. Twenty-five years ago he was strik- ing his first licks as the head of a family with a team and fifty dollars as his only assets be- tween the newly married couple and zero. In the five preceding vears he had acquired much of value from experience and this asset together with his abundant industry may account for his sure and quick passage from "poverty to independence.'

In 1875 Mr. Hayes accompanied a sister to Collin county, Texas. He was then a lad of sixteen, had been reared an orphan with some of the disadvantages which that condition too often entails and having few privileges for the intellectual training of the young and tender youth. He had a strong body, full of labor, and this he was prepared to sell at the top price of the market. In the course of his career he came to know Charley Robinson, a stockman of Collin county who had a ranch in Montague, and the latter sent him hither, in 1878, to take a position on said ranch. With this employer he continued until his marriage when his ca- reer as an independent farmer commenced.

Granvill Hayes was born in Decatur county, Tennessee, May 22, 1859, a son of Elisha and Dolly (Tubbs) Hayes. His father was a native Tennesseean and was killed, probably at Cedar Mountain, in the Confederate service. Of his early life we have no account, save that he grew up with his brother James and had be- come a modest farmer when he enlisted in the army. He had other brothers, Samuel and Asa, and sisters, Polly, Betsy and Telitha, the for- mer marrying a Woods and the last-named a Blunt, and passed her life in Arkansas.

Mrs. Dolly Tubbs Hayes was a daughter of Lemnel Tubbs and departed life in 1867. leav- ing children, namely : Perry, who left a family at his death in Tennessee; Telitha, of Collin county, wife of John Box; Marion B., of Ten- nessee; Mary, wife of Joe Evans, of Taylor county, Texas, and James Granvill, our subject.

The common schools had little part or lot in making Granvill Hayes what he is today. Had they formed an important link in his bring- ing-up it might have added to his appreciation of the things of life but it wouldn't have pushed the crooks out of his furrows or have produced more bushels to the acre of corn. When he had earned the means to defray the expense,

JAMES G. HAYES

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

he spent five months in school in Farmersville, Collin county, and these were the best months of his school career.

As appears the universal condition then, for a time after his marriage he cultivated land as a tenant. He then pre-empted an eighty-acre tract on the Bowie-Selma road which formed the nucleus of his present homestead. When corn and cotton raising had made it possible, he added seventy-nine acres to this body and on the first of January, 1904, he purchased one hundred and forty-five acres on Sandy, on the Howard Valley road. This gives him three hundred and twenty-four acres and represents his substantial accumulations since the fourth day of September, 1880.

On the date above mentioned Mr. Hayes mar- ried Miss Eva Pipkin, a daughter of Philip and Jane (Norman) Pipkin, to Texas from Illinois. Mrs. Hayes bore her husband seven children and passed away January 24, 1901. Of this family of children Mary died at thirteen years ; Etta is nine- teen, Maggie, seventeen, Lula, fourteen, Frank, ten, Dolly, eight, and Dan, four; all units of the family circle.

Granvill Hayes has been an integral part in the makeup of his community and a positive force in its development. His efforts, in con- nection with those of his neighbors, have added value to the real estate of the locality and given the latter the air of progress and civilization which it exhibits. His industrious habits have been inherited by his numerous daughters row taking their stations as young women and their attachment to home is an encouragement and strong support to their worthy father.

JOHN SCANLAND is the owner of six hun- dred and fourteen acres of valuable land near Bulcher, of which he has placed two hundred and twenty-five acres under cultivation and the rich soil responds readily to the care and labor which he bestows upon it, so that he annually harvests good crops. He is a pioneer settler in the Red river valley and has a wide acquaint- ance in his part of Cooke county. His birth occurred in Jackson county, Tennessee, July 10, 1839, and he was reared to farm life, while the common schools afforded him his educational privileges. His parents were Benjamin and Elizabeth (Sadler) Scanland, who were likewise natives of Tennessee, where they were married.

The paternal grandparents were William and Rachel (Bogers) Scanland, of Kentucky, and were of Irish lineage. They became pioneer settlers of Tennessee, where the grandfather followed merchandising and milling, having a

mill which was operated by water power in the manner of the olden times. He was also a pros- perous farmer and slave owner and was a popu- lar and influential citizen. His political allegi- ance was given to the democracy and he filled many offices of honor and trust. He not only served in political positions in his county, but also represented his district in the state legisla- ture, proving a capable working member of the house, so that his course was one which reflect- ed credit upon his constituents. His activity in business, his public-spirited citizenship and his genuine personal worth combined to make him a valued resident of his part of the state. He had four children: Clayton, who died in Ten- nessee; John, who died in Montague county, Texas, where he was serving as county judge at the time of his demise; Benjamin, the father of our subject; and Betridge, the wife of N. Sad- ler.

Benjamin Scanland, father of John Scanland, spent the days of his childhood and youth in Tennessee and after his marriage began farm- ing there. In 1852 he removed to Texas and pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres of land in Cooke county, developing a homestead farm, to which he added as his opportunities permit- ted until he owned large tracts of land. He be- came a prominent and successful agriculturist and slave owner and was also a pioneer resident who contributed in large measure to the growth and development of the county, which was sparsely settled wlien he took up his abode with- in its borders. He went through the usual ex- periences of pioneer life and had succeeded in reclaiming a good tract of land for agricultural and stock-raising purposes when the Civil war was inaugurated. He was a stanch advocate of secession and used his influence for the support of the Confederacy. He did not join the regu- lar army, but became a member of Captain Pot- ter's company of frontier rangers to guard the homes from hostile Indians, who became very troublesome, running off the stock and com- mitting many murders. At times entire families were massacred and the work of pillaging and burning was carried on until the country suf- fered greatly through the red men. Mr. Scan- land with others did much valuable service in protecting the frontier, and he continued with Potter's company until its dissolution. He was a broad-minded, intelligent business man, rated with the substantial citizens of the county. At the time during the war when twelve men were tried and hung at Gainesville for treason he was chosen as a member of the jury. According to

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

law and evidence the twelve prominent citizens who constituted the jury pronounced the verdict of guilty. The order of the judge of the court had been to select twelve of the best and most intelligent men in the county for jury service and, Mr. Scanland was among the number. He was identified with all the progress and development of Cooke county and maintained his residence at the old homestead twelve miles north of Gaines- ville until his children had reached adult age and started in life for themselves. About a year prior to his death he left the old home farm and. spent his last months with his son John. He was born in July, 1817, and passed away in January, 1896, at the age of seventy-nine years. He had long been a faithful member of the Methodist church. His wife preceded him in death, pass- ing away in 1870. She was a daughter of Henry Sadler, a native of Tennessee, and of Irish lin- eage, who owned land and slaves in that state and successfully conducted his business affairs, being recognized as one of the substantial citi- zens of his community. He served as a soldier of the war of 1812 and with Andrew Jackson participated in the battle of New Orleans, where the American losses were so few that it was called the "tearless battle." Of the Methodist church he was a devoted and loyal member and he possessed many excellent traits of character which won him the regard and good will of his fellowmen. His children were as follows: Lee, who died before the war; Nelson, who died in Tennessee ; Mrs. Prudie Thompson ; Mrs. Lewis; Mrs. Elizabeth Scanland; John, who died in Tennessee; William, whose death oc- curred in Lamar county, Texas; Polly, who married H. Sadler and died in Cooke county, Texas ; and Wesley, who died in Texas. Unto Benjamin and Elizabeth (Sadler) Scanland were born six children: John, of this review ; Betridge, who died unmarried ; Rachael, the wife of W. E. Goured; Nancy, the wife of R. L. Burns; Mary, the wife of Fayette Goured; and Mrs. Emma Journigan.

John Scanland spent the first thirteen years of his life in the state of his nativity, and in 1852 accompanied his parents on their removal to Cooke county, Texas, where he assisted his father in opening up and improving the home- stcad farm. At the time of the war between the north and the south before hostilities had hardly been begun he joined a company that took possession of Fort Arbuckle and captured all its stores, guns and ammunition for the use of the Confederacy. They held the fort until relieved, after which, in the fall of 1861, Mr.

Scanland enlisted in Joe Harris' Chickasaw Battalion, in which he continued until June, 1862, when the command was reorganized un- der his uncle, John Scanland, who had been captain of the first company to which our sub- ject belonged. This command with two other companies formed Scanland's Squadron and was assigned to General Cooper's command, doing duty in Arkansas, Missouri and Kansas. They were also on campaign service in northwestern Texas, and Mr. Scanland of this review par- ticipated in many skirmishes and a number of hotly contested battles, including the engage- ment at Newtonia, Elk Creek, Perry Grove, Cain Hill and the fights at the old Fort Wayne in the Cherokee Nation. He was in the cam- paign in the western part of the Indian Terri- tory and in the Wichita mountains had an en- counter with the Indians, where he was wounded in the muscles of the right arm. He yet holds the arrowhead as a relic of that event. He was never taken prisoner and remained continuously with his command, which was on the Concho river at the time of the close of the war, where the company disbanded, the men returning to their respective homes.

Mr. Scanland's warfare, however, was not over, for the Indians continued their depredations, running off the stock at every possible oppor- tunity, so that in 1867 with six companions, Mr. Scanland started in pursuit of a band of In- dians who had stolen a herd of horses north of Gainesville. They followed them to a place north of the Red river in the nation, where a regular fight occurred. The Indians were twen- ty-seven in number and, thus constituting a far greater force than the white men, they succeeded in getting away and taking the stock with them. One of the white men was killed and another was wounded and afterward died from the ef- fects of his injury. The casualties among the Indians were not known, for in accordance with their usual custom they carried off their dead.

Later Mr. Scanland settled to farming and stock-raising on the old homestead and in April, 1866, he married and began farming on his own account, successfully carrying on business on his first property until 1879, when he sold out and came to Sadler's Bend on the Red river, where he purchased six hundred and fourteen acres of valley land. Later he added to this, becoming owner of an extensive tract. At the time of the purchase there was a log house upon the ranch and a few poor improvements had been made. He placed the entire farm under fence, erected a commodious frame residence,

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

built a barn and other buildings for the shelter of grain and stock, set out an orchard and has continued in the work of improvement along agricultural lines until he has a very productive farm. The alluvial soil of the Red river val- ley responds readily to cultivation and he has placed two hundred and twenty-five acres under the plow. The remainder is devoted to pastur- age and he raises and sells good grades of stock.

Mr. Scanland was first married to Miss Henri- etta Wallace, who was born in Lamar county, Texas, and was descended from an honored pioneer family of this state. Her father was Captain Robert Wallace, of east Tennessee, who took up his abode in Lamar county at an early day. In Alabama he had been an overseer and in this state he filled a similar position for many years. He was a large man, of fine physique, fearless at all times, and he knew how to get the best service from the negroes. At the time of the war he raised a company for the Confed- eracy and led them to the front as their cap- tain. They did frontier service and were in a number of hotly contested engagements with the Indians. Mr. Wallace also figured prominently in connection with the trial and hanging of the twelve men who were convicted of treason at Gainesville. In Lamar county he wedded Mrs. Sadler, a widow, and on retiring from the po- sition of overseer he began farming in Fannin county and later removed to Cooke county, where he developed a farm from the land that had been taken up by his wife's first husband and in whose honor Sadler's Bend on Red river was named. There Captain Wallace remained successfully until 1879, when he went to Mon- tague county, where he died in 1881. He had a wide acquaintance throughout northwestern Tex- as, and was a most popular citizen. While liv- ing here his wife made a short business trip to Paris, Texas, where she was taken suddenly ill and died. Both were worthy members of the Methodist church. Their children were: Mrs. Henrietta Scanland; and Ann Eliza, the wife of J. McAlister. Unto Mr. Scanland by his first marriage was born a daughter, now the wife of William Howard, a farmer and stockman of the Choctaw Nation. In 1874 Mr. Scanland was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who had been a devoted member of the Methodist church.

He afterward wedded Nancy J. Hughes, who was born in Dade county, Georgia, August 17, 1848. She has been a devoted wife and good helpmate to her husband. Her parents were Martin T. and Elizabeth (Clunes) Hughes, the

former a native of Georgia and the latter of Ten- nessee. The mother died in Georgia, and the father afterward removed with his family to Texas in 1880, spending two years in Cooke county. He then went to the Indian Territory, where he died in January, 1896. He served throughout the period of the Civil war as a loyal advocate of the Confederate cause and he be- longed to the Methodist church. In the Hughes family were eight children: Nancy, now Mrs. Scanland; Mrs. Calidonia Street; Mrs. Naomi Patti; Samuel, James and John, who follow farming in Texas; Susan, the wife of J. McAl- ister ; and Emma, the wife of J. Hillen. By the second marriage of Mr. Scanland there are two daughters; Tennessee, the wife of John Gosdin ; and Rosalie, the wife of W. A. Monroe.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 134

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