A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 30

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 30

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died on the 30th of January, 1887. He has never married again. He has one son, Ossie, who was born in 1887 and is now at- tending school in Fort Worth, Texas. Mrs. Curlin was a consistent member of the Mis- sionary Baptist church and a most devoted wife, while her friends were almost as numer- ous as her acquaintances. Her many excellent traits of character, her kindly and charitable spirit and her benevolent disposition won her the love of all with whom she came in contact.

Following his marriage T. G. Curlin con- tinued in the business in which he had formerly been engaged and his time was thus passed un- til 1890, when he and his half-brother, J. H. Curlin, came to Texas, locating in Nocona. In 1892 he purchased a gin and also bought and operated a thresher, while his partner pur- chased and operates a farm. T. G. Curlin, how- ever, gives his entire attention to the machin- ery business. In 1904 they abandoned the old gin and built a new one supplied with modern machinery and having a capacity of sixty bales daily. In the year 1904 they put up over two thousand bales and their business is proving profitable.

John H. Curlin, the younger brother, was born November 25, 1856, and was reared in western Tennessee. The brothers have worked together during the greater part of the business life and came to Texas together. They have now joined interests in a gin and thresher and also in farming interests.

John H. Curlin was married in Tennessee to Miss Ella Kirksey, who was born and reared in that state and is a daughter of Alexander Kirksey of Tennessee, a blacksmith and farmer. His children were: Mrs. Mattie Griffey ; Em- ma, who became Mrs. Howard and after the death of her first husband married a Mr. Will- iams ; Betty, the wife of R. Simmons ; Ella, now Mrs. Curlin ; Mrs. Minnie Gay ; Laura, the wife of Charles Curlin; and Addie, the wife of Al King. To Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Curlin have been born three children: Cloris, who is attending the State Normal School at Denton, Texas ; and William W. and Ernest, who are students in the home schools. The parents are mem- bers of the Missionary Baptist church and Mr. Curlin is identified with the Fraternal Brother- hood. Both T. G. and J. H. Curlin are well known and representative business men and are prospering in their undertakings, having established business interests of importance to the locality and which bring to them a very creditable and gratifying success.

THOMAS JEFFERSON CARTWRIGHT. Known in Tarrant county as a successful mer- chant and prominent as a real estate owner, Mr. Cartwright resides and conducts his busi- ness near Riverside, northeast of Fort Worth. He was born in Obion county, Tennessee, Oc- tober 28, 1866, and his father, Will Cartwright, having died in that his native state when his. son Thomas was a child, the latter at the age of ten accompanied his mother to Texas and settled in the northern part of Tarrant county. Here they lived from 1875 to 1883, and in the- latter year moved to Smithfield, Tarrant coun -. ty, where the mother, Mrs. Delila (Wood) Cart -. wright, still lives.

Reared on a farm, Mr. Cartwright not only. became familiar with all the practical opera- tions of farming, but at the same time acquired that accurate knowledge of land values which has served him so well in later life. After acquiring his education in the schools of Smith- field, he engaged in farming in the neighbor- hood of his home town, and had a very suc- cessful experience in that vocation. In Febru- ary, 1898, Mr. Cartwright embarked in the mer- cantile business, establishing a small stock near Riverside, on the Birdville road, about two and a half miles northeast of Fort Worth. This. is a well settled and prosperous community, and although he began his business with a mod- est stock, he has gradually built up a large and substantial trade drawn from the citizens of this portion of the county, and in fact has made a signal success as a merchant, enjoying the com- plete confidence of the people. And this fact is also worthy of note in his career, that he is a self-made man, who began life with nothing as far as money was concerned, but relying upon industry and careful management, has founded a substantial business and gained a well deserved prosperity. He now owns valu- able property interests in the neighborhood of his home, and these pieces of real estate, being situated in a rich section and so conveniently distant from Fort Worth, are in the midst of a favorite suburban residence and consequently are increasing in value with every month.

Mr. Cartwright was married in Tarrant coun- ty, December 23, 1886, to Miss Dona Autry, a native of Georgia. They have seven children : Harvey, Bertha, Mary Lou, Paul, Georgia, Ina and Dona. Mr. Cartwright is a member of the Methodist church.

JUDGE LINUS S. KINDER, prominent lawyer of West Texas, has been identified with the town of Plainview and Hale county since

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

they came into organized existence about 1888. He has been elected to offices of trust, has been favored with an extensive legal business, and in all the activities of a busy and useful career has made a reputation for fidelity to duty and high integrity and personal worth.

He was born in 1865 in Cape county, Mis- souri, where his family were among the very earliest settlers, and that section of the state has been adorned by worthy men and women of the name for more than a century. It is stated that on Christmas day of the year 1800, three years before Napoleon transferred the great country west of the Mississippi to the United States government, the paternal grand- father of the present Judge Kinder, who was a native of North Carolina, crossed the Mis- sissippi river at the point where Chester, Illi- nois, now stands, and continued thence on his way to Cape county, Missouri, where he became a settler, first under French dominion and later under the stars and stripes.

Judge Kinder's parents were W. F. and Mary E. (Clippard) Kinder. His father was born in Cape county, and died in 1902 in the adjoining county of Bollinger. He was a lifelong mer- chant in Cape and Bollinger counties, and was a prominent and well known man all through southeastern Missouri. The mother, who is still living in Bollinger county, was a native of North Carolina, and her family too were among the early pioneer settlers of Cape county.

After receiving a good public school educa- tion Judge Kinder spent about six years in study at the Missouri State University at Co- lumbia, at first in the classical and scientific departments and then in the law department, being graduated from the latter in 1887, at the age of twenty-two. In the same year of his graduation he came to Texas, and after prac- ticing law for awhile in Dallas county he came to Plainview, Hale county, in September, 1888. The county had been organized only in the preceding August, and he has been identified with it as one of the pioneer lawyers through- out the subsequent years. In 1892 he was elect- ed district attorney for the fiftieth judicial dis- trict, comprising thirteen counties in West Texas, and in 1894 he was elected without op- position, serving four years altogether. For one term he served as county attorney of Hale county. He is one of the leading lawyers of the plains country, and has a large and lucra- tive practice.

Judge Kinder is prominent in Masonic work, and has attained the Royal Arch degrees in

the order. In 1890 he was the leader in the efforts by which was organized at Plainview the first Masonic lodge in this country west of Hardeman county. Judge Kinder was married at Plainview to Miss Mary L. Rhodes, a na- tive of Bollinger county, Missouri, and they have two daughters, May and Lucile.

EDWIN T. READ, M. D., successfully en- gaged in the practice of medicine at Keller and recognized as the leading member of the pro- fession there, has through his skill and ability gained marked prestige and an enviable reputa- tion. In addition to his private practice he is serving as attending physician to the Tarrant county hospital, to which he was appointed in November, 1903. His residence in Texas dates from 1886, at which time he took up his abode in Tarrant county, living for a brief period five miles east of Keller, where he practiced until he took up his abode in the village. Since that time he has remained continuously in Tar- rant county with the exception of several years spent in Kaufman county, Texas.

Dr. Read is a native of Calhoun county, Ala- bama, born on the third of December, 1858. His father, the Rev. Edwin T. Read, D. D., a well known Baptist clergyman of his time, lived and labored in the ministry in Alabama and was also prominent and influential in public affairs there, serving at one time as a member of the state legislature. He filled the office dur- ing the period of the Civil war and he was ever a man firm in support of his honest convic- tions, his influence being a strong support to the truth, justice and right.

Dr. Read was reared in the county of his na- tivity and after acquiring his preliminary cdu- cation continued his studies in the state normal school at Jacksonville, Alabama. Determining upon a professional career as a life work and thinking that he would find the practice of medi- cine congenial, he became a student in the Hospi- tal Medical College at Louisville, Kentucky, in 1882, attending that institution for three con- secutive years, after which he was graduated with the degree of M. D. in May, 1884. While in that institution he also took a special course in physical diagnosis.

Subsequent to his graduation Dr. Read locat- ed for practice at Germania, Calhoun county, Alabama, where he remained for a time and then came to Texas, as before stated, making his home in Tarrant county since 1886 and gradu- ally working his way upward in his profes- sion until he is now recognized as one of its most capable representatives in this county.

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

By continued reading and investigation he has kept in touch with the progress made by the medical fraternity. He belongs to the Texas State Medical Association and the Tarrant County Medical Association and he is local examining physician for the New York Life Insurance Company, for the Maccabees at Kel- ler and the Woodmen of the World. Of the last named he is a member and he also belongs to the Masonic lodge at Roanoke.

In June, 1888, Dr. Read was married to Miss Nanny Price of Keller, Texas, and they have four children: Mabel, Pelham, Edwin T. and Zoe. The doctor belongs to the Missionary Baptist church at Keller and is a gentleman highly esteemed and respected socially, while the consensus of public opinion regarding his professional ability is most favorable and he is therefore enjoying a large and lucrative prac- tice in his locality.

COLONEL MARION SANSON. In the history of the business interests of Tarrant county the name of Colonel Marion Sanson is well and favorably known, for through a num- ber of years he has been one of its leading financiers, progressive, enterprising and perse- vering. Such qualities always win success, and to Mr. Sanson they have brought a handsome competence as the reward of his well directed efforts. A native son of the Lone Star state, he was born in Madison county, June 20, 1853, a son of R. P. and Susan (Manning) Sanson. The father was born in Tennessee, but was one of the early pioneers to Texas, having located in this state as early as 1836, a short time before its independence from Mexico. He first took up his abode in Nacogdoches county, but in 1859 removed to Alvarado in Johnson county, which was then on the frontier, and there he spent the remainder of his life. He was a successful farmer and stockman. His wife, who also died in Alvarado, was a native of Texas, her birth occurring in Guadalupe county, near where the town of Gonzales is now located, being the daughter of Stephen Manning, who was one of those obliged to flee from Mexican soldiers in the skirmishing preceding the fight for Texas independence.

Mr. Marion Sanson was reared to manhood on his father's' farm, early inured to the duties of a farmer and stockman, and until November, 1902, his home was at Alvarado, Johnson coun- ty, where for many years he was a prominent business man, still retaining many of his inter- ests there. For a number of years past he has been interested in the banking business, in oil

mills and in the live stock trade, being president of the local. oil mill company, an officer in a bank, connected with other business enterprises and owning a fine farm and stock. In November, 1902, Mr. Sanson took up his abode in Fort Worth, and from that time on has been enlarging his busi- ness connections here. In 1903, in connection with the Swift and Armour packing house in- terests, he organized and became the first presi- dent of the Stock Yards National Bank in North Fort Worth, but resigned this position in Jan- uary, 1905, although he still retains a director- ship in the institution. He is also a director of the State National Bank of Fort Worth; a member of the firm of Cassidy-Southwestern Commission Company, live stock commission- ers in North Fort Worth ; also a member of the firm of M. Sanson & Company, wholesale deal- ers in hay, grain and feed at North Fort Worth ; and president of the Fort Worth Live Stock Commission Company of Kansas City. De- pending upon his own resources, Mr. Sanson has been steadily advancing to a place of promi- nence both in the commercial and political cir- cles of Fort Worth, which city owes much to him on account of his connection with her busi- ness interests.

While residing in Alvarado he was married to Miss Eliza Powel, she being a daughter of Rev. John Powel, a noted minister in the earlier days, well known in Louisiana and Texas. They have three children-Mrs. Winnifred Schultz, Marion Sanson, Jr., and Nina Sanson. At his old home in Johnson county Mr. Sanson was prominent in politics, never, however, as an of- fice seeker but in managerial and advisory ca- pacities. He has been for a number of years the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College, and was at one time the mayor of Alvarado. He is a Knight Templar Mason, and a member ot Ben Hur Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Dallas, and is also a member of the Knights of Pythias and Odd Fellows fraternity. In all interests he has been eminently practical, and this has not only manifested itself in his busi- ness undertakings, but also in private and social life.

HON. WILLIAM LAFAYETTE BLAN- TON. Prominent as a representative of the Texas bar and one of the most influentially active members of the state legislature, Hon. W. L. Blanton, of Gainesville, was born at Unionville, Bedford county, Tennessee, December 28, 1851. A career of unusual usefulness both from a pub-

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lic and individual standpoint has been afforded him, and thirty years of practice at Gainesville has given him prestige as a leader of the North Texas legal fraternity.

Well anchored in the past as well as in the present, Mr. Blanton comes of a family whose connections are of historic interest and the worth and integrity of whose individual members have been rigidly upheld for many generations. He is a son of Captain William C. and Elizabeth (Til- ford) Blanton, of an old Tennessee family. His father, born in Tennessee in 1817, was, prior to 1861, largely engaged in the manufacture of wagons and buggies, and thereby became wealthy. During the war he organized a com- pany and captained the same in the Twenty-third Tennessee Infantry. After the war he served as tax collector of Bedford county two terms, was county trustee one term, and died at Unionville, in October, 1887, one of the most esteemed and universally admired citizens of that part of the state. He was a Master Mason, an Odd Fellow and a member of the Methodist church. The Blantons came to Tennessee from Virginia, grandfather Meredith Blanton having been born in Lynchburg, that state. As a soldier in the war of 1812 he had been wounded and for many years was a pensioner. He lived to the extreme age of ninety-four, passing away in 1874, while his wife, Nancy (Crisp) Blanton, of Scotch- Irish ancestry, died at the age of ninety. Captain Blanton's wife was born in Bedford county, Ten- nessee, and died at Unionville in 1895.

Mr. Blanton spent his early youth in his native county, receiving his education in Unionville Academy. He gained entrance into the legal pro- fession entirely by his own efforts, and inde- pendence, resourcefulness and industrious appli- cation have been the qualities which have brought him to the front in his career. In 1870 he came to Texas, being then a youth of nineteen, and since 1873 has been permanently located at Gainesville. He took up his law studies in the office of his brother, Judge Elisha A. Blanton, who had come to Texas in the same year with him. He passed satisfactory examinations and was admitted to the bar in January, 1874, and in the following March began practice at Henrietta, Clay county, where, however, he remained only one year, returning then to Gainesville. In 1880 he was elected the first city attorney of Gaines- ville after the formation of its city government, and by subsequent elections he served in that capacity six years. Formerly he was a law part- ner of Judge J. M. Wright, and is now asso- ciated with T. M. Bosson in the strong firm of

Blanton & Bosson, whose general law practice is one of the best in this part of the state.

In 1904 Mr. Blanton was elected a representa- tive in the Twenty-ninth Texas legislature, and the record he has made in that honorable body shows how well he deserved the confidence of the people at the polls and also proves the value of a man of first-class ability and broad knowl- edge in the halls of state legislation. He is a member of the judiciary committee No. I, per- haps the most important committee of the house, and also of the committees on private corpora- tions, on state affairs, municipal corporations, and stock and stock-raising. His most noteworthy work in the session was as joint author of the well known Bank Bill, called the Webb-Shannon-Blan- ton Bank Bill, which provides for the establish- ment of state banks (which do not now exist in Texas), with capitals from ten to fifty thousand dollars ; also providing for savings banks and trust companies, the object being to provide bank- ing institutions that can handle matters outside of the jurisdiction of national banks, thus facilitat- ing business, and also for the promotion of thrift and economy arising from the establishment of savings banks. This bill passed both house and senate. Mr. Blanton also introduced in the house a pure-food bill, a measure of conceded value to the people of the state, and which was passed by the house and favorably reported in the senate, but failed of final passage, being crowded out in the closing rush. Another measure introduced by Mr. Blanton and passed is the cocaine bill, regulating the sale of narcotics, cocaine and mor- phine. An important measure which he prepared and secured its passage through the house, but which failed to get through the senate, was the bill to regulate the sale and redemption of rail- road tickets, the object being to lessen the re- strictions and technicalities attached to railroad tickets, providing for the redemption of unused portions of tickets and making them good for use by any one. This is a much needed law, and if placed on the statute books would confer immeas- urable benefit upon the great traveling public.

October 7, 1884, Mr. Blanton married Miss Sarah E. Allen, of St. Louis. She was the daugh- ter of George O. and Julia O. (Whitney) Allen, both representing old and prominent American families. Her father was born in Boston in 1826, accompanied his parents to St. Louis in 1838, and, becoming an architect by profession, planned and built some of the handsomest edifices of St. Louis. He died in that city in 1870, leaving two children, Mrs. Blanton and Rev. Lyman W. Al- len. The latter, a graduate of Princeton and for several years pastor of a Presbyterian church in

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St. Louis, is now pastoral head of the South Park Presbyterian church, the most prominent con- gregation of that denomination in Newark, New Jersey, and he now ranks among the leading divines of the Presbyterian church in this coun- try. Mrs. Blanton's mother, who married George O. Allen in New York City in 1853, was a daugh- ter of Rev. Dewey and Mildred R. (Thornton) Whitney. Her father, a graduate of Yale and also a Presbyterian clergyman, was born in Marl- borough, Vermont, and was the son of Jonas Whitney, a soldier of the Revolutionary War ; while her mother, Mildred Thornton, was a daughter of Colonel William Thornton, of Vir- ginia, a soldier in the war of 1812. Mrs. Blanton was, through her ancestral connections, a mem- ber of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She attended school in St. Louis, and was a wo- man of high intellectual ideals and a factor in so- cial affairs in her home city. Mrs. Blanton died August 2, 1905.

JAMES E. DALE, representing an honored family of Texas and widely known as a promi- nent cattle rancher, was born in Jasper county, Missouri, August 9, 1858. His parents were John B. and Sarah (Halsell) Dale, both of whom were natives of Tennessee, their mar- riage being celebrated in Missouri. The pater- nal grandparents were Thomas and Eliza (Bur- ris) Dale, the former a native of Tennessee, and the latter of Kentucky. The grandfather was a soldier of the war of 1812 and he removed from Tennessee to Missouri when it was a new coun- try, in which the work of improvement and upbuilding had scarcely been begun. He be- came a prominent farmer and slave owner here and he exerted considerable influence in matters of local moment. His political allegi- ance was given to the Democracy and he filled a number of official positions and was also widely known and highly respected because of his reliability in every relation of life. He was regarded as one of the solid men of the county financially but during the period of the Civil war he lost heavily as the result of the disasters and adversities caused by the struggle. Sub- sequently he removed to Texas, where he and his wife both died. He was eighty-five and she seventy-five. They were consistent mem- bers of the Christian church and their lives were permeated by their religious faith. In their family were the following named: John B .; James, who died in Texas; Thomas, who was killed while serving in the Confederate army in the Civil war, and he served as sheriff in Jas-

per county, Missouri; Mrs. Jettie Burton ; and Mrs. Martha McFatridge.

John B. Dale was reared and educated in Tennessee and accompanied his father's fam- ily on their removal to Missouri. Following his marriage he began the struggle of life upon his own account in that state. He was engaged at various times in merchandising, farming, mining and trading, and was the first to open up lead mines at Granby, Missouri, and started the first lead mines in Missouri. He continued in trading operations until after the breaking out of the Civil war, when he volunteered his services in General Joe Shelby's brigade. He was detailed by his general to serve on his staff, in which po- sition . he served throughout the hostilities.

He underwent all the deprivations and hard- ships that were meted out to a soldier and not only suffered upon the field of battle but his property in Missouri was also confiscated and his fortune gone. The family suffered so great- ly in that locality that in 1863 they left Mis- souri and came to Texas, first settling in Col- lin county, while subsequent to the war they removed to Fannin county. Mr. Dale had lost everything save his strong determination to overcome the difficulties. His first effort was the building of two bridges under contract, af- ter which he engaged in merchandising at La- donia. Subsequently he built a flour mill, saw- mill and cotton gin and operated here for a number of years with a gratifying measure of success. Subsequently he abandoned mer- chandising and gave his attention to the cat- tle business, purchasing large herds of cattle which he drove to Missouri and Ohio and sold for feeding purposes. He continued in that business for a number of years and was quite a successful trader. He afterward engaged in feeding cattle for himself in Texas, giving his time and attention to that work for a number of years, conducting his ranching operations in connection with his son, James E. They pur- chased two large ranches, comprising thirty- five thousand acres, and in 1900 the Dale Land & Cattle Company was incorporated with the father as president and James E. Dale as gen- eral manager. They are not only extensively engaged in raising and feeding cattle, but are also largely raising wheat, oats and corn and Milo maize. In the two ranches there are over two thousand acres under cultivation and success has attended the enterprise almost from the beginning. There has never been a com- plete failure in crops and Mr. Dale regards this as a safe cotton country. It is always possible to raise plenty for the support of the

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 30

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