A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 40

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 40

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he now has a splendid farm property containing nine hundred and twenty-five acres, of which four hundred acres is under a high state of cul- tivation. He carried on general farming and raised and handled stock, and in both branches of his business he prospered. He continued upon the home farm until 1902, when he gave his farming interests to the charge of his son, who is now carrying forward the work inaugur- ated by his father. Mr. Crites has since made his home in Nocona, where he purchased the resi- dence that he now occupies, and in addition he has four other houses which he rents. He also bought a large block of twelve lots on Main street near the business center of the town and this is occupied by a livery stable, wagon yard and blacksmith shop. The ground is valuable and Mr. Crites' realty possessions in Nocona as well as his farm are a visible evidence of his life of unremitting thrift and diligence: He indeed deserves much credit for what he has achieved and he has come off victor in the struggle for prosperity and for advancement in business life.

On the 7th of January, 1872, Mr. Crites was married to Miss Nancy E. Priddy, who was born in the Cherokee district of Tennessee and has been a devoted wife and helpmate to him. She is a daughter of Burk and Minerva (Walker) Priddy, the latter a daughter of Robert Walker of McMinn county, Tennessee. Her parents were married March 11, 1834. Her father, Burk Priddy, is a son of John and Nancy (Whit- lock) Priddy, the former a native of Halifax county, Virginia, and the latter of North Caro- lina. John Priddy lived successively in his na- tive state, Stokes county, North Carolina, Cooke county, Tennessee, and Polk county, Missouri, where he died March 8, 1861, at the age of eigh- ty-three years. His wife, Nancy Whitlock, was a daughter of Charles Whitlock, a native of Ireland. She was born in Albemarle county, North Carolina, and died in Polk county, Mis- souri, in 1857, at the age of eighty-five years. The children in that family were: Polly, who became Mrs. Alford Taylor and died in 1888 in her eighty-fifth year; and two sons, Davis and Burk. The last named was born in Stokes coun- ty, North Carolina, where he remained until thir- teen years of age, when he accompanied his par- ents on their removal to Cooke county, Tennes- see, where his youth and early manhood were spent. In 1834 he married Minerva Walker, a daughter of Robert Walker of McMinn county, Tennessee, and a descendant of a leading and honored pioneer family of that state. In com- pany with his father and their respective families Burk Priddy removed to Missouri, settling in

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

Polk county, where he remained until 1870, when he removed to Grayson county, Texas, and pur- chased a fine farm, which he conducted success- fully for many years. He was reared to agricul- tural pursuits and his taste and inclination have caused him always to be identified with farming and stock-raising interests. He owned a fine farm of rich black soil of one hundred and sev- enty-five acres which he kept in good con- dition and in his agricultural pursuits was quite successful. He also had farm property in Cooke county and won a handsome competence for old age. In his business affairs he was reliable and at all times was worthy the esteem and confidence so uniformly accorded him. In his old age he sold the Grayson county property and came to Montague county in order to spend the evening of life among his children, and both he and his wife died at the home of their daughter, Mrs. Coe, in Nocona, Mrs. Priddy passing away De- cember 2, 1900, at the age of eighty-six years, while Mr. Priddy died April 20, 1904, at the age of ninety-four years. His wife was a consistent Methodist. During the war of the rebellion both armies foraged on his farm and finally the soldiers destroyed his house by fire and he had to seek safety elsewhere. In his family were nine children: Nancy E., now Mrs. Crites ; Rachel A., the wife of A. Pulliam; Felix G .; Catherine, the wife of E. T. Coe of Nocona; Davis; Wilton J .; Margaret A., the wife of Jo- seph Hodges; Willis; and William B.

The home of Mr. and Mrs. Crites has been blessed with two children. Clark W., born in November, 1874, married Miss Eva Davis, a daughter of W. D. Davis, formerly of Montague county, but now of Indian Territory. He is a farmer widely and favorably known in his com- munity and is quite successful in his stock-rais- ing ventures. He occupies the old homestead and is thus carrying forward the work done by his father. Both he and his wife are members

of the Methodist church and to them have been born four children: Bonnie C., born March 9, 1899; Daniel Virgil, in October, 1901 ; Roy D., in October, 1903; Adda B., born August II, 1905. Adda Crites, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Crites, was born in August, 1875, and became the wife of B. T. Davis, a merchant of Nocona. They had two children, Paul C. and Teeola, but the young mother was called from her home in death, April 25, 1901. She was an earnest Christian woman, belonging to the Methodist church. Her children now find a good home with their grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Crites, who are also worthy Christian peo- ple, the former holding membership in the Bap-

tist church and the latter in the Methodist church. As the years have passed Mr. Crites has won the high esteem of those with whom he has been as- sociated, for his life has been honorable, his ac- tions manly and sincere. His business career, too, illustrates 'what may be accomplished through determined and persistent purpose when guided bv sound judgment and honorable meth- ods.

JOHN T. WILLIAMS, sheriff of Wilbarger county, is the type of man best fitted for that responsible office. He is cool, calm and deter- mined in the presence of danger-danger is no slight element in the career of a sheriff in North- west Texas even in this day of enlightenment and advanced civilization. Mr. Williams has been connected with the office for over fifteen years, beginning at a time when a man's life was not worth a pin's fee before the despera- does who at one time infested this portion of the state. At all times and under all circum- stances Sheriff Williams has performed his du- ties unflinchingly, and his record for efficiency and length of service cannot be surpassed in the state.

Mr. Williams was born in Daingerfield, Morris county, Texas, February 22, 1861. His parents were W. P. and Elvira (Stratton) Williams, his father being a native of New York state, and his mother born and reared in Virginia, whence she came with her parents to Texas in 1858, locating in Grayson county, and her death occurred at Jefferson, in 1873. When a young man, in 1849, W. P. Williams left his native state and made the journey to California. He made his home on the Pacific coast until 1857, in which year he located in Grayson county, Texas, where he married. About 1860 he engaged in the mer- cantile business at Daingerfield, and later fol- lowed merchandising in Jefferson, this state, where his death occurred in 1872. .

Mr. Williams was accordingly not more than twelve years old when he was deprived of both his parents, and it was only a short time later that he entered upon the serious occupations of life, in which his lot ever since has partaken of the more than ordinarily strenuous. He was reared and received his education in Jefferson, and from the age of fifteen until 1881 he was engaged in farm work in Clay county. He has been closely identified with the life and activity of Wilbarger county since 1882, and during the first year of his residence here he was a cowboy on a ranch. He then located in Vernon and engaged in the grocery business for some time. In 1888 began his connection with the sheriff's office bv his ap-

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

pointment as deputy sheriff, and, with the excep- tion of a short time while he served as city mar- shal, the shrievalty has occupied his time and at- tention ever since. In 1898 he was elected sheriff, and by popular vote has succeeded to the office each subsequent two years, being elected in 1904 without any opposition whatever. He is a most efficient officer, and a sturdy and fine character all around. In the earlier days his duties often brought him in contact with the "bad men" of the country, and his experiences have been as in- teresting and stirring as his performance of duty has been admirable and effective in preserving order and carrying out the mandates of the law.

Sheriff Williams is a Mason of high standing in Vernon, and has attained to the Knight Tem- plar degree, being a member of the local com- mandery. He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias and to other organizations whose lodges are in Vernon.

He was married first to Miss Ida Davidson, in 1885, and had one child, Allie. For his second wife he married in Vernon Miss Laura Williams (of a different family). She was born in Spring- field, Illinois, and by her marriage has become the mother of four children : the daughters Win- nie, Ruby and Louie, and the son John.

JOSEPH B. FORD. One of the substantial farmers and ranchmen of Clay county whose career was launched here twenty years ago and whose connection with the grazing industry about Bellevue has become conspicuously prominent is Joseph B. Ford, announced as the subject of this sketch. He accompanied his parents to Texas in September, 1885, from Dalton, Georgia, and set- tled on a new farm near Bellevue. With this farm and the additions that have been made to it by him, as his prosperity warranted during the passing years, he has ever since been connected and upon it he has maintained his young family and has an attractive home.

October 9, 1864, Joseph B. Ford was born near Dalton, Georgia, of parents, Joseph R. and Palmyra B. (Cowan) Ford. The Fords are of Irish origin, settling first in North Carolina, where Matthew Ford, the great-grandfather of our subject, reared his family. One of the lat- ter's sons, Amos, married Frances Rudd, near Raleigh, and with his family migrated to Chero- kee county, Georgia, when his son, Joseph R., was a boy. This was prior to the removal of the Indians of the Cherokee tribe to their new home in the Indian Territory and the children of the whites and the Cherokees mingled and went to school together.

Joseph R. Ford was a country school teacher

for a time in early life, but afterward became a farmer. He served in the Confederate army un- til his capture by Sherman's army, near Dalton, Georgia, when he was confined in the Camp Chase military prison till the end of the war. He was born December 30, 1823, and died at Belle- vue, November 5, 1900. He was a con- sistent and prominent member of the Baptist church and in politics an adherent of the Democratic faith. His wife passed away in. 1891, being the mother of: George W., a popular offi- cer of Clay county, having served ten years as county and district clerk and being accidentally killed by the discharge of his own gun in August, 1891, while out hunting ; James Amos, of Searcy, Arkansas; Francis Marion, of Bellevue; Laura, who died in Georgia in 1880; Edward A., of Pop- lar Bluff, Missouri; Joseph B., Robert L. and C. Lawrence, of Bellevue, and Ava B., who died in Roswell, New Mexico, as the wife of Ben L. Miller, leaving a family there.

Joseph B. Ford received his common school education in the proverbial log school house of his Georgia community, and when he came to Clay county he was just ready to embark upon an independent career. Farming first furnished him an occupation, and he added stock-raising later, and he purchased his first tract of land- raw prairie-in 1888, fenced it and put on his lit- tle bunch of cattle. As he prospered he added more land and increased his herd until his ranch contains twenty-five hundred acres and his cattle number four hundred head. Three hundred acres of his ranch is under plow and his possessions lie between Bellevue and the Montague county line.

The marriage of Joseph B. Ford and Miss Bu- lah Weeks occurred December 20, 1900, at Belle- vue. Mrs. Ford was born in Navarro county, Texas, September 15, 1877, was orphaned by the death of her parents and became a member of the family of an uncle, A. W. Melton, of Bellevue. Three children is the issue of their marriage, viz : Amos Weeks, born September 18, 1901 ; Frances B., born March 30, 1903, and Joseph B., Jr., born November 25, 1905.

A close application to his personal affairs has consumed Mr. Ford's time to the exclusion of al- most every other consideration, and he has had neither time nor disposition to divert himself from this course. He has no ambition outside the domain of business and the gratification of this he seeks, alone, to achieve.

JOHN H. WRIGHT. The name of John H. Wright is deeply engraved on the pages of Tarrant county's history, for through many years he has been a most important factor in the financial and agricultural interests of this sec-

JOHN H. WRIGHT

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

tion of the Lone Star state. The splendid suc- cess which has come to him is directly traceable to the salient points of his character. With a mind capable of planning, he has combined a will strong enough to execute his well formulated purposes, and his great energy and perseverance have resulted in the accumulation of a handsome property, which places him among the substan- tial citizens of the community.

The Wright family is of English extraction and came to this country more than two hundred years ago. Uriel Wright, the famous St. Louis lawyer, was a descendant of the first Wright family to come to America, and it was he who made the now famous speech which was deliv- ered in St. Louis in the celebrated Kerstang Shaw breach of promise case, and which was translated into every language of importance. Grandmother Wright was a descendant of Chas. Porter of Old Williamsburg, Virginia, who also was of English stock.

Mr. Wright is a son of Dr. W. S. and Sallie (Hinch) Wright. The father was a physi- cian, and during the infancy of their son John the family home was removed from Jackson county to St. Joseph, Missouri. At the outbreak of the Civil War Dr. Wright enlisted as a sur- geon in one of the Confederate regiments of General Price, there being a distant relationship existing between the Price and Wright families, and he served about two years, when he was arrested in St. Louis, Missouri, as a spy and held for one year in the city ; when he was transferred to the Alton (Il1.) military prison remaining there until his captivity had rounded out two years, four months and eleven days, the major portion of which was at Alton. Shortly after his arrest in St. Louis, he was tried by court mar- tial and sentenced to death. Rumors had gone out that he had a child in Jackson county, Mis- souri, and Col. Lipcomb and Colonel James O. Broadhead, both of the Federal Army, who had taken a personal interest in the Doctor's be- half, accordingly wrote to Miss Alice Wright, of Jackson county, an aunt of our subject, and instructed her to bring the boy to St. Louis, in order to ascertain if there was any truth in the rumor. The boy came and it was previously ar- ranged that six men should be taken into a room, after which the subject of this sketch should be brought in and told to go to his father. Im- mediately upon entering the room he ran to his father saying, "There is my papa," and this, too, at the age of five and one-half years, and at the time he had not previously seen his father for more than one year. This act at once removed

all doubt as to the Doctor's having a child in Missouri and he was released from the sentence.

After the close of the war he took up his abode in Louisiana, maintaining his residence in New Orleans, Shreveport and other places in the state until the early 'zos, when he came to Texas. After a residence here of several years he re- moved to Bozeman, Montana, and from there to Butte, where he died in 1882. His wife, who is also deceased, was born and reared in Bayou Sara, Louisiana.

John H. Wright, a son of this worthy cou- ple, was born in Jackson county, Missouri, May 28, 1857, received his educational training in New Orleans, Shreveport, Nacogdoches, and his first location in Texas was at Nacogdoches, where he resided for four years. In 1875 he came to Mansfield, Tarrant county, which has ever since been his home and where he has met with such splendid success. His first business venture was as a clerk, and later he was able to enter the mercantile business in a small way for himself, about 1884, his firm being known as Wright & Martin. From this small beginning has grown the large and important concern of which he is now the head, and which was estab- lished in 1884. He is conducting a general de- partment establishment known as the Daylight Store, one of the largest mercantile houses in Mansfield. For a number of years Mr. Wright has also been connected with the banking inter- ests of Tarrant county, and his ability as a finan- cier has made him a leader in financial circles. In 1895 he was instrumental in the establishment of the first bank of Mansfield, the oldest bank- ing house in the city. On the first of January, 1898, he brought about a reorganization of this institution, remaining its president. In his bank- ing business he follows a safe yet progressive policy, and has made the institution one of the leading financial concerns in this part of the state. The agricultural development of the county has also claimed a part of the time and attention of Mr. Wright, he being interested in the rich farming lands around Mansfield, own- ing six hundred acres of the rich, black soil.

Mr. Wright married Miss Lu Halsell, a native daughter of Dallas, and they have five children : Alice, Frances, Hattie, Lucian and William. Mr. Wright takes a deep interest in everything per- taining to the welfare of his town and county, and contributes liberally to the support of all measures for the public good. His career has been one of almost phenomenal success. Enter- ing upon his business life in Tarrant county at a small salary, he has steadily worked his way upward overcoming many difficulties and obsta-

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

cles in his path and advancing step by step along the tried paths of honorable effort until he has reached the goal of prosperity. Mr. Wright lives in the handsomest home in Mansfield, which he erected at a cost of fifteen thousand dollars.

JUDGE ROBERT E. BECKHAM is a pio- neer lawyer of Fort Worth, and is still one of the foremost legal minds of the city and of North Texas. His career has covered broad and useful fields of activity, and he is one of the most es- teemed citizens of Fort Worth, whether as a private citizen or a lawyer. He is an ex-Confed- erate veteran, with full four years of loyal service to his credit. After he came to Fort Worth in the youthful days of that city, over thirty years ago, he was soon chosen out of the ranks for public service, and for many years he was the incum- bent of some position of honor and responsibility in the city and county.

Judge Beckham is a Kentuckian by birth. It is worthy of notice how many natives of Kentucky and Tennessee figure on these pages. In this seems to be exemplified the truth of the observa- tion that migration always follows the parallels of latitude, and the settler as a rule goes very little north or south of his original home. Judge Beckham was born at Murray, Kentucky, in 1844, being a son of P. H. and Sarah F. (Church- ill) Beckham. He was reared and received his education in the town of his birth, and had al- ready begun the study of law when the war broke out. In April, 1861, he enlisted in the Confeder- ate army, becoming a private of Company F, C. C. Bowman's First Kentucky Infantry. He served in that company and regiment until it was discharged in June, 1862. Early in 1863 he re-enlisted and was enrolled in General Forrest's famous cavalry, and served throughout the re- mainder of the war under that great general. His service took him into Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama, being engaged in almost constant war- fare, participating, among other battles, at John- sonville, Franklin and Nashville, Tennessee. He saw the last campaigning at Selma, Alabama, and left the army in April, 1865.

After the war he resumed the study of law, and in 1866 was admitted to practice at his home town of Murray, where he hung out his first shingle and continued legal work until 1872. In the latter year he enrolled himself with the pioneers of Fort Worth, where he opened a law office and became identified with the progress and best interests of the town which was to be his permanent place of residence, and which he has seen grow to the proportions of a large and flourishing city. In 1878 he was elected mayor of Fort Worth and

served two years. In 1880 he was elected county judge, holding that office two terms. In 1884 he was chosen district judge, and for two terms, or eight years, he held his seat on the district bench. At the time of his election to the county judge- ship he was a member of the law firm of Terrell, Beckham & Carter. When he retired from the bench in 1892 he resumed private practice, and has enjoyed an extensive and profitable practice ever since. He is very successful as a lawyer, both in court and as counsel, and is one of the most universally esteemed citizens of Fort Worth.

Judge Beckham has two sons. The older, Rob- ert H. Beckham, is connected with the Fort Worth National Bank. He enlisted for the Span- ish-American war and served on the staff of one of the commanding officers. The other son, Clif- ford G. Beckham, is a lawyer and practices with his father. They have their offices in the Fort Worth National Bank building. These two suc- cessful and enterprising young men are the sons of Judge Beckham's first wife, Mary Godwin, to whom he was married in 1871, and who died in 1889. He was married the second time to Sadie M. Tevis. The Judge and his wife are both es- teemed members of the First Christian church of Fort Worth.

STERLING VAN BUREN CAMP. Among the permanent settlers of Montague county whose advent hither dates from the year 1878 is Sterling V. Camp, who resides upon his farm twelve niiles north of Bowie and who by his integrity and un- questioned character is one of the first citizens of his county. By the right of nearly a half cen- tury passed within its confines he can be called a Texan, and it is to such characters as his that this vigorous commonwealth has attained to its posi- tion as a moral and spiritual factor in the sister- hood of states. His life, though quiet and lacking in exciting incidents since the war, has been a quiet force, like the great majority of our people, in determining the destiny of his state, and it is their active influence which becomes the ruling element in our domestic policy. Since 1859 Mr. Camp has prided himself as a Texan. It was that year that he, accompanied by his parents, estab- lished himself in Grayson county, at what has since become Denison, and bought for one dollar per acre land which has since come to be valued at one hundred dollars. It was while improving and cultivating this home that the rebellion broke out, and he spent four of the prime years of his life as a soldier in the field.

Near Cleveland, Bradley county, Tennessee, Mr. Camp was born May 16, 1836. He was a son of William Camp, whose father settled on

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

Hiowassa river, McMinn county, when William was a boy. William Camp was born in upper east Tennessee in 1812, and was married in McMinn county to Margaret Cowan, whose father, James Cowan, was, like William Camp, a farmer. The latter lived an uneventful and rural life and died in Grayson county in 1868, while his wife passed away in 1862. Of the issue of the marriage of William and Margaret Camp, Margaret, wife of Dr. S. J. McKnight, of Dalton, Georgia, was one ; John and James, of Denison, Texas ; Sterling V., our subject ; Joseph, who died without issue, and Archibald, who died unmarried in the city of Mexico. William Camp was one of six children of his parents, viz: Margaret, who married Wil- liam Bates and died in Bradley county, Tennes- see ; Mary, wife of James Porter, and died in Mc- Minn county ; Kezzie, who married Jackson Hambright, and died in Bradley county ; John, who passed away in McMinn county, and Thom- as, who died in Illinois.

The opportunities of Sterling V. Camp were those only of the farmer boy of primitive sur- roundings and he began life with little knowledge of books. As previously indicated, he had just reached a period of usefulness on the farm when his career was interrupted by the breaking out of the Civil war. He enlisted in 1861 in Company B, Thirteenth Texas Cavalry, which was com- manded in turn by Colonels Bob Taylor, Jim Stevens and Stone. He was second lieutenant of Captain McNight's company, and saw service in the Trans-Mississippi Department of the Confed- eracy. His first engagement was at Newtonia, Missouri, and then followed the heavy campaign- ing in Arkansas and Louisiana. He fought at Mansfield, Pleasant Hill and Yellow Bayou, Louisiana, and at Prairie Grove, Arkansas. He was detailed recruiting officer for his department after the Yellow Bayou fight, and in the per- formance of his duty was at Boggy Depot, in the Indian Territory, when the news of Lee's sur- render came.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 40

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