A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 142

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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For a number of years past Mr. Stewart has been a prominent figure in the political circles of Texas, especially in Dallas and Tarrant counties, having attended all the state con- ventions since Charles C. Culberson was nomi- nated for governor at Dallas, and has been sev- eral times the chairman of the Democratic conventions of Tarrant county. For three terms he represented his district in the Texas legislature, being elected to that high official position in 1898, 1900 and 1902, the Twenty- sixth, Twenty-seventh and Twenty-eighth ses- sions, and representing the Seventy-eighth Dis- trict, Tarrant county. Two of his nominations were by convention and one by primary elec- tion, and in the last two he had no opposition. He was again offered the nomination in 1904, but declined on account of the pressure of other affairs. During his services therein Mr. Stew- art served on a number of important commit-

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

tees, among others being chairman of the com- mittee on revenue and taxation in the Twenty- seventh session, and in all three sessions he was a member of the finance committee, in fact his foremost thought and labor through- out his entire service having been on that topic. He made this a special study, being assiduous in his efforts to economize in expenses and ap- propriations, and in a business-like manner to maintain the financial standing of the state and conserve its interests. It is needless to say he was an able and efficient representative.

Mr. Stewart was married to Miss Anna V., a daughter of J. P. Lipscomb, a prominent mer- chant of Grapevine and a member of one of the historic families of Texas, which had its origin in Mississippi. The marriage was cele- brated in Grapevine, and they have become the parents of four children,-Leslie R., Luetta, Corra Elizabeth and C. E. J., all at home.

JOHN C. VANBEBBER. From the orthog- raphy of the name it is apparent that our subject's lineage traces, on the paternal side, back to the little Dutch kingdom of the Netherlands and, if the truth were known concerning the family's American founder, his history might disclose him as belonging to the early Knickerbockers of New York. However, as we have no facts, beyond the name, which would lead us to a warranted conjecture regarding any ancestor of our sub- ject earlier than his father, we shall drop the un- solved mysteries of the past and present Isaac C. Vanbebber as the most remote ancestor in this personal review.

Isaac Vanbebber was born in 1827 in Clai- borne county, Tennessee, and became a resident of Livingston county, Missouri. He was a Mex- ican war veteran and is believed to have enlisted from Missouri. He married in Kentucky, his wife being Sallie McWilliams, born in 1827 in Kentucky, who died in Linn county, Kansas, during the rebellion, to which locality she and her husband had migrated, and from which county and state Mr. Vanbebber enlisted in the Union army and served throughout the war. The children of their marriage were: Catherine; James N .; John C .; Louisa ; and Mary. For his second wife Isaac C. Vanbebber married Mrs. Margaret Bennett, and their two children are Andrew J. and Isaac C., Jr.

The Vanbebbers came into Texas October 29, 1875, as settlers from Livingston county, Mis- souri. After the war Isaac C. Vanbebber had taken his family back there from Kansas and had housed them in a rural home. The time of the

children was taken up with the work of the farm and little knowledge of books came to any of them as pupils in the public schools. On coming to Texas the father first settled in Cooke county, but afterward removed into Montague county, and still later to the Territory, where he finally died. He was a man with a few youthful advan- tages himself and he failed to appreciate the value of an education for his own children, and 'some of them grew up absolutely unlettered.

John C. Vanbebber was born in Linn county, Kansas, June 22, 1861. He was several years minus his majority when he accompanied the family to Texas, and at seventeen years of age was unable to read. He became restless under the restraints of home and assumed responsibil- ity for his own keeping at about the age of six- teen years. His labor was all he had to sell and for some four years he worked for wages on a ranch. He first came to Montague county in 1875, but a year or two later he went to Tarrant county and was employed on a ranch there for some two years. Immediately following this he hired to a man in the Territory and went up the old Chisholm trail with a bunch of cattle to Sweetwater, Kansas, where he remained as herder of the stock for a couple of years.

When Mr. Vanbebber returned to Montague county from his Kansas journey he bargained for a farm of eighty acres on the Queens Peak road, but after two years he sold it and followed his decision to locate in Arizona. He went to Cresno to stay, but ten days of that western health resort was sufficient for him and he re- turned to Indian Territory, where he raised one crop and again sought Montague county, Texas. After renting a year he bought one hundred and seventeen acres of his present place, upon which he built a dug-out for the reception of his fam- ily. This temporary subterranean retreat gave place to a twelve by twelve box shanty the same fall, and this, in turn, to his modern home of to- day. All the main products common to Texas soil grew on his place and in the main his era in the county has been a prosperous one. His farm has increased to one hundred and sixty- two acres and he is regarded as one of the safe and conservative farmers at the head of Denton creek.

January 5, 1883, Mr. Vanbebber was first mar- ried, his wife being Miss Belle Wilson, who died in Montague county in 1885, and has no living issue. March 28, 1887, Mr. Vanbebber married Mrs. Emerine Dane, a daughter of Mrs. Nancy Gossage, of Georgia. After the birth of one son, Claud, Mrs. Vanbebber died, in 1890, and in 1892

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our subject married his third wife, Mrs. Mollie Johnson a daughter of B. F. Ashton. The issue of her marriage with Mr. Vanbebber is: Emma E., Lillian Beatrice, Andrew Jackson, Joe Bailey, George Washington, Ben Franklin, and May.

John C. Vanbebber maintains himself a plain, quiet citizen, and mentions the chief points in his somewhat checkered and eventful career with be- coming modesty and with no attempt to add to or subtract from the facts as presented above. Nothing outside the business of the hour has attracted him and the material prosperity he en- joys has come to him as a reward for the toil of years. He clings to the principles of Democ- racy and owns to a membership in the Mission- ary Baptist church.

A. L. SCOTT, a prominent attorney-at-law and notary public of Saint Jo, Texas, where he is also engaged in the fire insurance business, was born in Marlin, this state, September 30, 1863, his parents being Riley W. and Mary J. (Foster) Scott. The father was born in Gaines- ville, New York, and was married in Baltimore, Maryland, the lady being a native of that city. The date of his birth was June 5, 1821, while his wife was born March 31, 1828. His parents were James and Martha ( Thatcher) Scott, the former a native of Cheshire county, New Hamp- shire, born January 16, 1784. He was of Scotch parentage and after reaching adult age he wed- ded Martha Thatcher, a native of Connecticut. He removed to New York, where he reared his family and spent his remaining days. He be- came a man of wealth and influence in his com- munity, taking an active and helpful part in pub- lic affairs. He reared an interesting family, giv- ing to his children good educational advantages, and in different states they afterward made cred- itable records in professional and business life. One of the sons, James L., became an eminent minister, writer and a distinguished physician, residing in Brooklyn, New York.

Another son, Riley W. Scott, father of our subject, prepared for the practice of law and was admitted to the bar in New York state. He afterward went to Baltimore and subsequent to his marriage removed to Janesville, Wisconsin, where he engaged in the practice of law, becom- ing a prominent attorney of that place. There he remained until 1850, when he started by the water route for California, but arrived at New Orleans too late to take the regular steamer, and rather than wait for the next one he decided to make a tour of Texas. He then went by boat to Galveston, where he remained for a short time,

when he continued his journey to Houston, where his first child was born on the 14th of April, 1851. Later he located in Marlin, where he resumed the practice of law, in which he continued successfully until 1864. He was also recognized as a leader in political circles and was called to the office of county judge as a rep- resentative of the Democracy. In campaign work he was a forceful and earnest factor. He believed in the principle of secession, but not in the propriety, and opposed secession until the state voted for it, when he continued with the south and actively assisted in raising troops for the army. On account of ill health, however, he was not able to do field duty and was detailed to the commissary department, also acting as rev- enue collector for Northern Texas. He held the rank of brigadier general and made his head- quarters at Weatherford, where he remained throughout the war. On account of conditions that existed he could not remove his family to that place, however, but in 1864 established his home at Buchanan, the county seat of Johnson county, where at the close of the war he joined his wife and children and resumed the practice of his profession. At that date there were no railroads or other public means of transportation and one had to ride long distances between the places of holding court. A very liberal clientage was accorded him and he was often the associate of Richard Coke of Waco and J. W. Throckmor- ton of Mckinney, both eminent lawyers. He continued in active practice until 1867, when called to the office of district judge, filling the position during the reconstruction period. He did not desire the office, but A. J. Hamilton, the acting governor, urged his acceptance, as he said that Mr. Scott was known to have been loyal to the state and Confederacy and it would be much better for him to serve than for a "carpet bag- ger" from the north to take the place. He then went upon the bench, his district including many of the larger towns and some of the more re- mote places in that part of Texas. During the reconstruction period in some localities a rough element attempted to rule and it required great courage and determination to hold court and act as judge. In Parker county the sheriff resigned, being afraid to fill his office on account of threats made against him. At the first term of court one man was killed. On the first day of court Judge Scott noticed that all of the men were heavily armed and called the acting sheriff, instructing him to disarm them, but the sheriff knew that it would be death to him to make the attempt, so that the judge adjourned court until one o'clock

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and instructed the sheriff to select five determined men to act as his deputies. When court again convened the sheriff and his deputies then took their places at the door, asking all to give up their arms. Those refusing were not allowed to enter and when the court was in session they fired vol- leys of bullets at the courthouse. In other locali- ties the spirit of lawlessness was equally rampant, but Judge Scott was fearless in the performance of his duty and continued to sit on the bench until late in 1868, when he resigned. But few cases tried before him were ever appealed and the decision in rare, if any instance, was reversed. He was strictly fair and impartial and moreover had an accurate and comprehensive knowledge of the law.

On retiring from the bench Judge Scott en- gaged in merchandising at Buchanan and was also interested in farming and .in the ownership of lands in Johnson county, where he super- vised his varied business interests with marked success for a number of years. In 1873 he estab- lished a supply store at Red River Station, using a tent for a store. There he remained until the fall of that year, when he brought his stock to Saint Jo and again used a tent for a place of business until he built a store building and perma- nently established himself as a merchant here, being one of the first representatives of com- mercial pursuits in Saint Jo. In 1875 he sold out to J. D. Bellah, who is yet conducting the business. Judge Scott had never removed his family to Saint Jo because of the lack of educa- tional facilities and in 1874 the family home was established at Mansfield and in 1875 the family removed to Denison, where there were good schools. From that time forward Judge Scott lived a more retired life, investing in city prop- erty and farm lands and giving his supervision to his realty interests. His death occurred in Denison in January, 1890. He was a broad mind- ed man, of superior ability, an excellent finan- cier, an eminent jurist and a lawyer of keen analytical power and oratorical ability. A man of action rather than theory, he made a distin- guished reputation because of his loyalty to his honest convictions and his faithful performance of every duty that devolved upon him. He was a consistent and worthy member of the Baptist church and also an exemplary representative of the Masonic fraternity.

Judge Scott lost his first wife in 1876, her death occurring at Denison on the IIth of No- vember of that year. She was a lady of culture and intelligence. Her father, Mr. Foster, was an inventor of world-wide note, living in Balti-

more. He gave to the world the first fire brick and also steam fire engines and afterward made many improvements on the engine. He was ac- tively and helpfully identified with the interests of Baltimore for many years and his death, which there occurred, was the occasion of deep and wide-spread regret. In his family there were three sons and a daughter: Austin, Eld- ridge, Mrs. Mary J. Scott and Walter. To Judge and Mrs. Scott there were born seven children : Helen M., the wife of D. S. Aynes, at Jacksboro, Texas; Ida E., the wife of J. D. Bellah, a mer- chant of Saint Jo; Wiltshire L., a merchant of Saint Jo; Mary V., the wife of L. C. Gilmore, at River Side, California; Lillie D., the wife of John Gregson, at Gainesville, Texas; Walter E., a merchant of Saint Jo, and Austin L. The mother was also a member of the Baptist church and her many excellent traits of character won her the love and esteem of all with whom she was associated. After her death Judge Scott was again married, his second union being with Miss Fannie Fleece, of Kentucky, a daughter of Dr. J. L. Fleece, a prominent physician of that state, who on coming to Texas settled in Grayson county, where his death occurred. He gave to his children excellent educational privi- leges and his daughter, Mrs. Scott, became a suc- cessful music teacher. By her marriage she had four children: Riley W., Autie M., William W. and Fleece, all of whom are living in Denison, where the mother also makes her home.

Austin L. Scott was born at Marlin, Texas, and with his parents removed to Denison. No event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of life for him in his youth. He received a liberal education, for after attending the com- mon schools he became a student in the A. & M. College at Bryan, Texas. His first preceptor in the study of law was Major L. L. Maughs, of Denison, a prominent attorney, who later served as postmaster at Denison and who was a soldier in the Confederate army throughout the war. Mr. Scott remained as a student in his office for two and a half years and then again entered school. Subsequently he turned his attention to the cattle business, in which he continued for a few years, when he once more resumed the study of law and began to practice at Gainesville, Cooke county, where he opened an office and continued in active practice until 1886, when he had to abandon his profession because of ill health. Later he engaged in teaching school for ten years and in 1898 he came to Saint Jo, where he entered into a partnership with Judge John S. Morris, an ex-chief justice of Tarrant county,

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for the practice of the law. A liberal clientage patrimony left him he purchased a farm and de- voted himself to its cultivation and improvement. Having a liking for the stock business and being cramped for room in Grayson county, he sold his is accorded him, for which his qualifications as a member of the bar have well prepared him. He has a thorough understanding of the principles of jurisprudence, a keen analytical mind and is 'homestead there and sought a location in Mon- logical in his deductions and correct in his con- clusions. He also practices in the Indian Ter- ritory and conducts a fire insurance business in Saint Jo, where he is likewise acting as notary public.

In 1886 Mr. Scott was married to Miss Sarah J. Russell, who was born in Tennessee, December 18, 1863, and is a daughter of John Russell of that state, who came to Texas in 1880, settling in Fannin county, where he followed farming and blacksmithing. He was also a soldier of the Con- federate army in the Civil war. Mr. and Mrs. Scott have become the parents of eight children, three of whom are dead ; the living are: Ida L., Coke, Ruby, Tora and Barrett. Mrs. Scott is a consistent member of the Methodist church and both our subject and his wife have a wide and favorable acquaintance in Saint Jo. Mr. Scott in his law practice has made for himself a repu- tation which places him in the front rank of the legal fraternity in this part of the state.

JOHN R. HOLBROOK. In the subject of this personal article we have a representative of one of the honored pioneer Texas families and one whose record in Montague county has been one of thrift and of upright citizenship. In the brief period which his identity with the commer- cial interests of his county covers he has demon- strated a high order of tact and business judg- ment and is universally regarded as one of the foremost merchants of his town and county.

This family of Holbrooks was established in Texas in the days of the republic and its founder was Richmond Holbrook, who left his Illinois home and became a wanderer, so to speak, on the western plains. He sought California during the rush of 1849 and spent some months on the Pacific coast. His wife was Miss Garrison, and bore him two children, viz .: Elizabeth, wife of W. G. Walker, of Cooke county, Texas, and John A. Holbrook, father of the subject of this review.

John A. Holbrook was born in Texas, May, 1847, and was reared by Arnold Garrison, a brother of his mother. The scenes of his boy- hood were strictly rural and his advantages for an education were of the country school sort. Be- fore he came to his majority he became respon- sible for his own destiny and he hired out to a ranchman and ran cattle for a few years. At twenty-one years old he married and with the

tague. Finding an ideal place on Denton creek, he settled down there and after he was forced out of the cattle business by the encroachment of settlers he became one of the most successful of Denton creek's farmers. A fine body of rich valley land, lying along the creek, comprised a portion of his estate and his purchases from time to time aggregated some seven hundred and eighty acres.

John A. Holbrook was as virtuous and noble a citizen as he was an intelligent and thrifty farm- er. In his youth he served a year in Gano's command in the Confederate army, in Capt. Mar- tin's company, and this was an interesting and instructive experience in contrast with the hum- drum of farm life on a frontier farm. He felt little concern in politics, but he believed in good roads and good schools, and he was officially con- nected with acquirement of both. In 1868 he married Miss Frances Walton, a daughter of Thomas Walton, from Pettis county, Missouri, where Mrs. Holbrook was born September, 1847. The issue of this union were: William, of Nash- ville, Tennessee; Ella, wife of Dr. H. F. School- field, of Sunset, Texas; Dena, who is with the family home; John R., our subject; Fannie, yet with the family circle; Minnie, wife of Samuel Jackson, a prominent young farmer and ginner, of Denver; and Walter and Charley, who man- age and cultivate the old home.

John R. Holbrook was born in Grayson county, Texas, March 15, 1875, and was four years of age when his parents moved into Montague county. Until seventeen years of age he was a useful and valuable adjunct to his father's farm, but at this date he began in carnest to acquire an education. He attended the college at Denton, Texas, for a time and then enrolled as a student in Draughon's Business College at Nashville, Tennessee, where he completed a course. He then returned to Montague county and was em- ployed, for a time, with M. D. Lowe & Company at Bowie, as clerk and bookkeeper. Leaving the store, he rejoined his parents on the farm for a year or so and then became a student in East- man's Business college in Poughkeepsie, New York, finishing in typewriting and shorthand at the branch school in New York City. He held a few positions in the city as stenographer and sec- retary and concluded his work there with Austin B. Fletcher.

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On his return west Mr. Holbrook engaged in the grocery, furniture and drug business in Sun- set, being associated for a time with 'Dr. School- field, his brother-in-law. His acquaintance and his well known business integrity brought him success from the start and nothing occurred to mar his future until 1904, when fire destroyed his store and stock, a blow which threatened to put him out of business. Encouraged by his host of friends to resume, he restocked with dry goods and groceries, and his house is one of the prominent marts of trade in Sunset.

In 1897, in Montague county, Mr. Holbrook married Miss Mazie Jackson, a daughter of An- drew Jackson, one of the pioneers of Denton Creek and mentioned more extensively elsewhere in this work. Alfred, Mildred, John and Vera are the children of Mr. and Mrs. Holbrook.

In Democratic politics Mr. Holbrook takes a voter's interest and his voice and quiet work aid in working up a sentiment in behalf of local and other candidates for public office. He is thor- oughly progressive in business methods and is in a high degree public spirited, and it is the good fortune of Sunset to count him among her citi- zens.

AUGUSTUS L. JUSTICE, M. D. Dr. Au- gustus L. Justice, an active representative of the medical fraternity in El Paso with a practice that is indicative of his thorough understanding of the science of medicine and his correct applica- tion of its principles, was born in Charlestown, Jefferson county, West Virginia, at that time, however, a part of Virginia, as the division of the states had not occurred. His parents were William and Hannah (Gray) Justice. The father was a Virginian and in later life removed to the west, spending his last days at Chatham, in Sangamon county, Illinois. The mother was of Scotch parentage and died in California.

Dr. Justice in his childhood days accompanied his parents on their removal to Hopkinsville, Kentucky, where he was reared and educated. When he was still quite young he was for two terms a student in the medical department of the Michigan University at Ann Arbor. He passed the necessary examinations for practice, but was not old enough to receive his degree, as there is an age limit to conferring it. About that time the Civil war was inaugurated and he enlisted in 1861 as a member of Company A, Second Ken- tucky Infantry of the Confederate service under Colonel Roger Hanson. Going before the medi- cal board in Nashville he received a commission- as assistant surgeon of his regiment and after

its capture at Fort Donelson he was assigned in the same capacity to the Fourth Tennessee Regi- ment. He was afterward in detached service in hospital work and as courier until the latter part of 1864, when, having been wounded on several occasions and completely disabled, he was com- pelled to leave the army. His service took him into Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. He was wounded at Shiloh while on the firing line attending the wounds of his lieutenant-colonel, who had been hit by a bullet.

In the year 1865 Dr. Justice crossed the plains to Montana and spent two or three years as a physician in that new country at Virginia City and vicinity. It was at the time when that local- ity was the center of rough life because of the large number of desperadoes who made their way · into districts where systems of government had not been organized, but the condition of affairs gave rise to the vigilance committee, which stood as the champion of law and order. Dr. Justice became a member of that committee and was as- sociated with Colonel Wilbur F. Saunders and other well known men in putting down the law- lessness of those days.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 142

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