A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 15

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 15

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In the early time the brothers established a store near the mill, but they parted with this when their cattle industry demanded. In the early eighties they engaged in merchandising with Childress Brothers in Terrell, Texas, Thom- as F. Donnell representing the brothers in the active conduct of the store. They closed this out also, and the promotion of their stock interests ever afterward occupied them.

In their stock venture in Young county our subjects achieved marked and gratifying results. Their herd increased satisfactorily, from year to year, and while the range was still open its grassy sward was accessible to them without money and without price. First they counted their cattle by the hundreds and then by the thousands and, in 1886, ten thousand head was not too large an estimate to place on Donnell brothers' stock branded with "P.S." While they built up rapidly and became strong and noted in their sphere they had visitations of misfortune, and nothing so staggered them as their losses the year of "the big die" --- 1885-6. This event fol- lowed close upon the historic drought of that time, and it laid low something like forty per cent of their entire herd. With energy and determina- tion characteristic of them they took a little firmer grip on the situation and recuperated, in a great measure, the financial embarrassments they met that year.

The Donnell brothers' ranch occupies a vast territory on the waters of Clear Fork, compris- ing four thousand acres of land under their ownership and three thousand acres under lease, which, allowing ten acres to the cow, supports

HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

seven hundred head of stock, their present herd's size.

The Donnell brothers were born in Wilson county, Tennessee ; William Leander October 25, 1836, and Thomas F., September 21, 1838. James Donnell, their father, was a native of the same county and was born in 1812. The grandfather of our subjects was John Donnell, who emigrated from South Carolina, where his birth occurred about 1791, to Wilson county, Tennessee, follow- ing or accompanying his family on into Missouri in 1841 and dying there twenty years later. He was a farmer and married a Miss Davidson, by whom were born: James, Newton, who died in Missouri; William, who passed away in Denton county, Texas ; Alfred, who left a family at his dleatlı in Grayson county, Texas; Samuel, of Irondale, Missouri; Cynthia, who married a Thompson and died in Denton county, Texas ; Polly married James Young and left a family in Grayson county at her death, and Martha married an Alexander and passed away in Hickory coun- ty, Missouri.

James Donnell prospered as a farmer in Hick- ory county, Missouri, acquired a large body of land, had many slaves and was regarded among the county's leading men. He enlisted in the Con- federate service along with three sons and, not- withstanding his advanced years, he filled the place of a young man and did as valiant service for the cause as his capacity would permit. For his first wife he married Julia Waters, a daugh- ter of Shealey Waters, a Tennessee farmer, who emigrated there from Virginia. Mrs. Donnell died in Hickory county, Missouri, in 1852, being the mother of Leo W., who died in the Confeder- ate army ; William L. and Thomas F. our sub- jects. James Donnell married, the second time, Martha A. Foster. a daughter of Mr. Doke. She died in Hunt county, Texas, in 1877, while her husband passed away at the home of his sons in Young county February 28, 1879. By their union a daughter. Julia A., was born, who married George Bellalı and died in Hunt county.

The country schools provided William L. and Thomas F. Donnell with a modest education, and about the time they came of age they embarked in mercantile pursuits in Hermitage, Missouri. They were thus connected in a business way when the war came on, and they closed it out and offered their services to the South. Company D, Eleventh Missouri Infantry, commanded by Cap- tain Feaster and Colonel Burns, was the company and regiment the father and sons joined, and it served in Parsons' Brigade, in the Trans-Missis- sippi Department. They fought at Pea Ridge, Helena, Cane Hill. Jenkins' Ferry, Pleasant Hill

and Mansfield, where the Missouri troops stopped and later fought the Jenkins' Ferry engagement. The command moved down Red river and saw no more active service and the company was paroled at Shrevesport at the close of the war. Thomas F. Donnell became a lieutenant of his company and received a wound at Pleasant Hill, but Wil- liam L. persistently declined honors above a pri- vate and passed through the ordeal without acci- dent or casualty.

Thomas F. Donnell married in 1861 Miss Fan- nie Robinson, a daughter of R. I. Robinson. She died in Terrell, Texas, leaving children as fol- lows: Emma, wife of I. A. Morgan; William, Leo, Charles, Alvin and Homer, all Young coun- ty farmers and connected with the Donnell ranch and farm. William L. Donnell married in Hop- kins county, Texas, March 17, 1866, Miss Sallie Robinson, a daughter of R. I. Robinson. While they have not been blessed with issue, Mr. and Mrs. Donnell have done much toward the bring- ing up of their brother's family and reared two orphan children of the Snow family, one of whom, Mrs. Sallie DeLong, of Eliasville, still survives.

Before the rebellion James Donnell and sons were numbered among the able and financially independent people of Hickory county, Missouri. As a result of the war they were left in compara- tive poverty and began life anew when they came to Texas. Here the surviving sons led off and made substantial progress from the start and the several enterprises with which they have been connected have achieved marked success. They have had nothing to do with politics, but have given active and substantial support to church work and are members of the Presbyterian or- ganization, the church home of their worthy an- cestors.

CHARLES R. BARKDULL. Among the employes of the Fort Worth & Denver Railroad who have served the station at Henrietta the sub- ject of this notice holds the record of having given the longest continuous service, his long tenure of position being ample evidence of the confidence in which his company holds him. Al- though his appointment as agent dates from Janu- ary, 1903, his connection: with the station as its operator began in 1890 and the relations of both employer and employe seem to be mutually pleas- nırable.

Mr. Barkdull came to Texas in December, 1879, from New Orleans, Louisiana, a cripple and alone and without a profession or influential friends. He stopped at Fort Worth, secured a place where he could learn telegraphy and when

HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST. TEXAS.

he was able for work on the line was sent out to Wills Point by the T. & P. Railway as its oper- ator. A few months afterward he was recalled to Fort Worth to take a position in the freight office of the same company and remained there until he took charge of the station at Benbrook as its agent. In August, 1882, he went to work for the G. C. & S. F. Railway in Fort Worth and was with the company there till August of 1883. In November, 1886, he was sent to Justin as agent and terminated his services with it there two years later. After a visit to New Orleans and Florida he took work with the Fort Worth & Denver road and was sent to Henrietta as oper -. ator and cashier.

East Feliciana parish, Louisiana, was the birth- place of Charles R. Barkdull and the date was December 18, 1860. His father, Enoch J. Bark- dull, identified himself with the south prior to the war and became a well known factor in Repub- lican politics during and after the reconstruction period. His early life had been passed as a mer- chant in Akron and Massillon, Ohio, and he em- barked in business at Jackson, Louisiana. He went south in 1858, and in a few years his pri- vate fortune was wrecked by the mercantile route and after the war, and for many years, he was an emplove of the custom house in New Orleans. He died in 1890 in New Orleans at the age of seventy-two years of age. His birthplace was in Ohio and his ancestors were of German blood. The names of Barkdull, Barksdale and Barkdoll are all from the same origin, the change in the spelling occurring to suit the fancy or taste of some careless and indifferent member of the fam- ily.

Enoch J. Barkdull married Olive Robinson, born in Montpelier, Vermont, in 1820, and died in New Orleans in 1872. Their children were: Emma, who died in Henrietta, Texas, in 1892 as Mrs. George Goodwin ; Laura, now Mrs. Everest Blanc, of New Orleans; Augustus and Enoch, Tr., of Chicago; Olive, who died as Mrs. W. F. Faulkner, of Fort Worth; Lucien H., of Chi- cago; Charles R. and John W., of New Orleans.

Charles R. Barkdull was educated in the city schools of New Orleans. Between five and six years of age he was run over by a street car and both his legs taken off below the knee, and was probably the first child to lose both feet in such an accident. He was about again in six months and was for a time in the employ of Dr. Bly, of New Orleans, in his artificial leg factory, as an advertisement for the place. He seems to have had no serious intentions on or thought about the world until near his twentieth year, when he left

New Orleans and cast his lot with Texas and the west.

December 12, 1880, Mr. Barkdull married Rose Caldwell, a daughter of John Caldwell, of Zanes- ville, Ohio. Mrs. Barkdull met her future hus- band while on a visit to Fort Worth. The issue of their marriage are: Olive, deceased; Elise, wife of Frank Davis of Fort Worth; Earl, Rose, Charles, Jr., Inez, Laura and Lois, all still with the family circle.

FRANK M. ROGERS, secretary, treasurer and manager of the Medlin Milling Company, one of the leading institutions of this section of the state, was born in Henderson, Texas, and in the place of his nativity was reared and re- ceived his early training. When but a boy of twelve years he began clerking in a grocery store in Henderson, thus continuing for about a year or two, when he again entered the school room. On reaching the age of sixteen years he became a salesman in a dry goods store in Henderson, spending six years in that capacity, while for the two subsequent years he was engaged in travel- ing, and then embarked in the same line of trade for himself in Henderson. It was while conduct- ing his dry goods store there that he became in- terested in the milling business at Wolfe City, the latter, however, at that time being only a sec- ondary consideration.

The Medlin Mills had been established at Wolfe City by a stock company in 1900, com- posed of a few business men of the town and farmers, who went into it as a matter of public enterprise with a view of making the town a bet- ter grain market and increasing its growth in a business way generally. Like most new indus- tries, however, it underwent some difficulties in getting its business established, so much so that the personnel of the stockholders was almost wholly changed within the first eight months of its existence. At a critical time in the life of the institution Mr. J. H. Blocker and Mr. Rogers became identified with the management of the company, at the same time becoming the owners of the principal part of the stock. These two gen- tlemen have successfully pushed the business to the front, enjoying a magnificent trade and in- creasing its capital from time to time. In May, 1904, the capital was increased to two hundred thousand dollars, and the general office moved to Fort Worth. The company owns and operates the White Wolf Mills, at Wolfe City, with a daily capacity of five hundred barrels of flour and meal. The success of the business has been phenomenal, and not only has the capital of the institution grown by leaps and bounds, but the

HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

success of the business has been equally as re- markable. White Wolf flour has a reputation that stands alone as the finished product of the millers' art. The mills have never attempted to cover a wide territory, finding it unnecessary to go outside their immediate section, but such a demand has been created for the products of the institution that in 1904 the management deter- mined on increasing the capacity by the building of a new and entirely separate plant, which is modern in every particular, lending every facility for the economical manipulation and handling of both grain and its products. The capacity of this plant, in addition to that at Wolfe City, will give to the company a daily capacity of twenty-five hundred barrels, finished products, a grain stor- age capacity of four hundred thousand bushels and warehouse space of over twenty thousand square feet, enabling them to store two hun- dred carloads of finished products.

As above stated, the success of the company is largely due to Messrs. Blocker and Rogers. When the present stockholders became the own- ers of the company it was these two gentlemen and their associates who took the bulk of the stock and have successfully conducted it through the troubled waters. Mr. Blocker is the president of the company, while Mr. Rogers is its secre- tary, treasurer and general manager. His wide experience in a commercial way has ably adapted him for the position he now holds. He has the entire management of the company, ably sup- ported by a board of five directors, and has thrown around him a corps of young men who have assisted largely in the success of the insti- tution. Mr. Rogers maintains his home in Fort Worth. He is a member of the Board of Trade, of the order of Elks and other local organiza- tions, and is a thorough-going and enterprising business man.

He was married twelve years ago, in 1893, to Miss Gladney, and they have two children, James T. and Lillian, both in school.

J. W. BLACKSTOCK, following farming in Clay county, was born in northern Georgia, No- vember 3. 1860, his parents being R. W. and Cornelia (Whitsett) Blackstock, the former a native of Georgia and the latter of North Caro- lina. 1Tis paternal grandfather, William Black- stock, was a planter and miller and was of Irish descent. His entire life was spent in Georgia. where he was widely known and highly respected, his integrity and honor being above reproach. In his family were the following named: James, a noted Baptist minister of Georgia : R. W .: La- favette : Jasper Lafayette, who came to Texas

and was a teacher, merchant, chorister in his church and a prominent man; Eliza J., the wife of J. Russell, and Mrs. Montgomery.

R. W. Blackstock was reared in the state of his nativity, learned the milling business in con- nection with his father, and also followed mer- chandizing. Becoming a soldier of the Confed- erate army in the Civil War, he sustained a wound in battle. Previous to the war he had been a slave owner and he was a very prominent and influential citizen of his community. In 1870 he removed from Georgia to Arkansas, where he purchased a farm and thereon made his home for thirteen years. He then sold that property and came to Texas, settling at Dodd City, where he lived retired up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1894, when he was seventy- six years of age. He was a consistent member of the Baptist church and he also belonged to the Masonic fraternity. His wife, who died in 1903, at the age of seventy-six years, was a daughter of Moses Whitsett of North Carolina, a well-to-do farmer and influential resident of his community. He died in the old North state and his wife removed to Georgia after dividing her slaves among her children. There she lived retired until her death. The members of the Whitsett family were: Mrs. Jane Harris; Mrs. Cornelia Blackstock; Angeline, deceased ; James, who served as captain in the Confederate army ; Joseph, who also commanded a company of Con- federate troops; and Moses, who served as a private in the Confederate army. By the sec- ond marriage of the mother there were two children: Augustus Ray and Henry, who were likewise Confederate soldiers.

Richard W. Blackstock had a family of eleven children : Mary Angeline, the wife of L. Thorn- ton; Mrs. Nancy Turner; Dorinda, who died in childhood: Henry and William, who also passed away in early youth; Augustus, who died at the age of sixteen years; J. W., of this review : Joseph, John and Thomas, all of whom are residents of Texas ; and Mrs. Fannie B. Will- iams.

J. W. Blackstock, born in Georgia, removed with his parents to Arkansas and remained un- der the parental roof up to the time of his marriage. His education was of a practical character and he was reared to farm life. In 1880 he began operating the homestead farm, which he continued until 1882, when he came to Texas, settling first in Montague county. There he rented land, on which he lived for

, years, after which he removed to Jones county and again rented a farm for two years. On the expiration of that period he returned

J. W. BLACKSTOCK

HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

to Hunt county, where he spent two years and then again went to Jones county. In September, 1893, he took up his abode in Clay county, where he rented a farm and later purchased an adjoin- ing tract of land, on which he continued until December, 1903. He then sold out and pur- chased where he now resides, becoming owner of three hundred and eighty-one acres of fine land in the valley of the Big Wichita river. It is beautifully situated and he has erected there- on a commodious residence which stands on a natural building site, so that he is able to command an excellent view of his farm and surrounding country. At the time of his pur- chase only a portion of the land was under cul- tivation but he has since made many substantial improvements, has carried on the work of clear- ing and cultivating the soil and has an excel- lent farm. He may well be termed a self-made man, for his prosperity has come as the direct result of consecutive effort, indefatigable pur- pose and strong determination. He is rated with the best farmers of the county and his place is valuable and productive.

Mr. Blackstock was united in marriage to Miss Sallie M. Whitaker, who was born in Tennes- see in 1864 and is a daughter of F. M. and Par- lie (Graves) Whitaker, the former a native of North Carolina and the latter of Tennessee. Her father followed the occupation of farming as a life work and at the time of the Civil War he put aside business and personal considerations in order to become a member of the Confederate army. In 1880 he removed to Arkansas, where he purchased a farm, and two years later he sold out there and came to Texas, settling in Jones county, where he yet resides, being a prominent agriculturist and highly respected citizen of his community. He is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church and he and his wife are now enjoying the comforts of life that come as the reward of well directed labor in former years. In their family were the following named: Lewis, a resident farmer of Arkansas, Sallie May, now Mrs. Blackstock ; Mrs. Elizabeth Colwell; William, who is en- gaged in merchandising in New Mexico; Mrs. Maggie Woodson; Mrs. Nelly Howard, and Mrs. Violet Blackburn.

Mr. and Mrs. Blackstock have had five chil- dren, but Curon died at the age of two years, while the second child died in infancy, and Ada also passed away at the age of two years. Edith B., who was born June 29, 1885, and Harry, born August 16, 1888, are at home. Mrs. Black- stock is a member of the Methodist church. Mr. Blackstock is a Mason in the Blue lodge. He is

interested in many progressive public measures and has co-operated in various movements which have contributed to the general good. His life stands in exemplification of the fact that in- dustry and careful management constitute the basis of success, for it is by the exercise of these qualities that he has gained a place among the substantial farmers of the county.

SELDON JASPER MILLER. In the sub- ject of this notice we are presented with a de- scendant of one of the veterans of the Texas Revolution, John Miller and a nephew of Sam Miller, a San Jacinto veteran as well as an Indian fighter of his early day. The state of Alabama gave to the struggling Republic of Tex- as the Miller brothers, William, Samuel and John, and when Texas independence had been consum- mated and peace established they settled near the eastern border, where they pursued their favorite vocations, reared families and died, William in Anderson and Samuel in Rusk county. John Miller was a lieutenant in the Texas Revolution. He acquired a headright from Texas, as all veter- ans did, and the Iron Eye country of Anderson county witnessed his permanent settlement in the Republic he helped to establish. He was a mill- wright and cabinet workman and the sphere of his usefulness was confined to the region in which he spent his last years. He married in that coun- ty, in 1843, Mrs. Eliza Eason, widow of Mills Eason and a daughter of the pioneer, William Adams, from Tennessee. The latter set- tled in Anderson county and died there, after rearing a family of nine children. There are no descendants of Mills and Eliza Eason, but John Miller and his wife were the parents of John T., who died in the Confederate service in 1861; Amanda D., wife of J. B. Duvall, of Newport, Texas; Seldon J., our subject, and Garrett L., who passed away in Clay county. The father of these children died in 1851. The mother married then John Hassell, who died in Anderson county without children, and Mrs. Hassell then married William Box and died in Anderson county in 1872.

Seldon J. Miller was born in Anderson county, Texas, February 20, 1847, twelve miles east of Palestine. Farm life knew him in boyhood and the primitive facilities for an education prevented anything more than the most meager training in school. In 1863 he entered the Confederate army, enlisting in Louisiana, where he joined Green's Brigade. His company was I of the Seventh Tex- as Cavalry, Captain Horn and Colonel Huffman. Mr. Miller fought in the battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill and spent his last year in Arkansas

HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

and Louisiana. He left Kechi hospital for home following Lee's surrender and made his home chiefly in Cherokee county until his settlement in central Texas. In 1864, in Mississippi, his regi- ment in one battle was pitted against a regiment of colored troops, which, when the fight ended, had been annihilated, all killed but one.

Beginning life as a citizen, Mr. Miller worked for a time for wages in a sawmill and as a car- penter in Palestine. Having accumulated some cash he established himself in the family grocery business in Mustang Mills, Johnson county, and after conducting the store a time he sold it on time and the purchaser finally robbed him of the debt. Being much reduced in resources he began life anew on a farm in Johnson county, and the next year bought a tract of school land in Parker county-Leon county land-and he undertook its reduction and improvement. From 1876 to 1879 he was identified with stock and the farm in Parker county and in 1879 he brought the pro- ceeds of the sale of his farm to Clay county and purchased a place on Ten Mile Prairie, on the Buffalo and Newport road, in the neighborhood of Liberty school house. He was a resident of that community until 1900, when he again sold and moved to his location three miles northeast of Vashti. His farm of two hundred and forty acres lies in the fertile zone of North Texas and is adjacent to Bowie, and is in the midst of a strong moral and intelligent community. General farming has received his attention and his efforts in Clay county have placed him in material inde- pendence.

Mr. Miller married in Johnson county Decem- ber 3. 1874, Ava L., a daughter of Frank Gunn, a Georgia settler who came to Texas subsequent to the Civil war. Mrs. Miller was born in Butts county. Georgia, August 28, 1857. Mr. Gunn married Martha A. Barnes and died in Hillsboro in February, 1901. They were the parents of : Lue C., wife of J. M. Stillwell, of Hood county, Texas: Joseph W., of Newport, Texas; Emma, wife of James Castleberry, San Angelo; Daniel G., of Bosque county : Ava L. and Zaluta E., who married Samuel Reed, of Hillsboro. Mr. Miller's first wife, whom he married in Cherokee county, was Mary E. Guttry, who died, leaving a dangh- ter, Sarah E., wife of Charles Yeary, of Amaril- lo. The issue of Mr. and Mrs. Miller are : Lulu F., wife of James Standerfer, of Washita county, Oklahoma, with children, John S., Estelle, Leta. Nora and Kittie : John F., the second child. died at eight years ; Edwin P., of Clav county, is mar- ried to Addie Allen and has a son, Earl E. ; Wil- liam P. and Charles Claude.

WALTER T. MADDOX. No citizen of Fort Worth is more widely known or highly regarded than Walter T. Maddox. He was born in Troop county, Georgia, being a son of Colonel W. A. and Mary A. Mays) Maddox, whose history will be found on other pages of this work. The son Walter was about four years old when taken by his parents to Claiborne parish, Louisiana, being there reared on a plantation, and before reaching his eighteenth year enlisted in the Con- federate army as a cavalryman in the Fifth Lou- isiana Battalion under General Harrison. His services were principally in Louisiana and along the Mississippi river, and during the latter part of the struggle served under the command of General Brint. His squadron was placed north of the Red river on picket and scouting duty, and were the means of cutting off Federal aid to General Banks on his expedition up that river and captured many Union soldiers, also in many other ways assisting in bringing about the defeat of that general's army at the battle of Mansfield.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 15

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