A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 61

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 61

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McNairy county, Tennessee, was the birth- place of Jacob Donnell and February 5, 1853, was the date of his birth. His ancestry was of Irish origin, his grandfather, John Donnell- originally O'Donnell-having emigrated from 'Erin's Isle and became a farmer in the state of Tennessee. John Donnell had five sons, be- sides daughters, and the former were: Wash- ington, John, Samuel, Robert and Reuben.

Reuben Donnell, father of our subject, was born in North Carolina, and was taken to McNairy county by his parents when a youth. The Hills also emigrated from Madison county and accompanied the Donnells into McNairy, Daniel Hill being at their head. Reuben Don- nell married Maria Ann Hill, a daughter of Daniel Hill, and in 1865 he settled in Tippah county, Mississippi, whither Daniel Hill also went and where he died in 1877. There Mr. Donnell brought his family to mature years on a farm and provided them with such educational advantages as the rural schools afforded. In 1878 he came to Texas and settled in Grayson county, where his death occurred in 1889, being then seventy-three years of age. His wife died in Tippah county, Mississippi, in 1874. They were the parents of several children, as follows : Rufus, who was killed in the Confederate serv- ice during the Civil war; Washington, of St. Jo, Texas ; Jane, who died in childhood ; Lizzie, wife of Thomas Glen, of Hardy, Texas; Annie, who passed away young; John, who died in Grayson county ; Jacob, our subject ; Calvin, of Clay county ; Harris, of Hardy, Texas ; Samuel, of Cleveland county, Oklahoma, and Albert, of Oklahoma; Lee, of Colgate, Okla- homa, and Eddie, wife of Richard Worley, of the state of Washington.

Jacob Donnell discharged his obligation to his father by remaining with him until past his majority and acquired only a meager education with which to enter the world of affairs. When he reached his destination in Texas the limit of his funds was also near at hand, and had he been disposed otherwise, it was necessary for him to find work. He did his first independent farming in Texas on James Higgs' place in Brazos county, with which county he was con- nected until 1879, when he settled in Grayson. and there he received the impetus which started him well on toward his final success. He mar- ried soon after his advent to Grayson county and the efforts of two on the farm told more effectively than the efforts of one. Little by little the twain gathered substance about them

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

and when it was discovered that they were in a position to "pay out" on a farm in, Clay county Mr. Donnell came hither and located. He bought a fractional quarter three miles southeast of Vashti, of James Rigger, and this he has farmed intelligently and successfully and from the products of its soil he has met the obligations on his farm, added materially to its improvements and is meeting his obligations on a second farm. Corn, cotton and stock have been the means through which he has won his measure of independence and his position as a citizen suffers no embarrassment in compari- son with his position as a business man.

January 15, 1880, Mr. Donnell married Mag- gie Poff in Grayson county. Mrs. Donnell was a daughter of Michael Poff, a Virginia gentle- man and a farmer, who died in 1869. Mr. Poff was an overseer in the mines in Virginia, came to Texas and was in the Confederate service during the rebellion as a teamster. He married Louemma, a daughter of Israel Harless and widow of John Argabright. Mr. and Mrs. Poff's children were : James of Grayson county, Charles, of Swisher county, Texas, Mrs. Donnell, born October 26, 1863, and William and Lillie, twins, the former of Grayson county.

John and Louemma Argabright were mar- ried. at Blacksburg, West Virginia, where, Jan- uary I, 1853, he was accidentally killed. They were the parents of two children, viz: Ollie, wife of T. B. Hardeman, of Grayson county, and John Thomas, a successful farmer of Clay county. The Argabrights were pioneers around Blacksburg, West Virginia, and the town was built on William Argabright's land. The lat- ter was the grandfather of John, mentioned above. William Argabright was a German and a blacksmith, and among his children was John, who married in North Carolina, Lou- emma Harless, a daughter of Israel Harless, a large farmer on New River, Montgomery county, West Virginia.

John T. Argabright was born May 1, 1853, and left Virginia in 1861 and settled, with his mother and step-father, in Collin county, Texas. Later on, they moved up into Grayson county, where Mr. Argabright married and re- sided until 1882, when he settled on his new farm in Clay county.

Mr. and Mrs. Donnell's family consists of two living children: Lillie, wife of Jesse Hun- saker, of Clay county, with a son, Earnest, and Charles T., who is an invaluable aid to the family homestead. Frank died in childhood.

The Donnells have maintained themselves upright as citizens and are nothing if not rep-

resentative tillers of the soil. Our subject has interested himself in nothing outside of the di- rect business of his life and his eventual suc- cess is accountable for on this hypothesis alone. He has discharged his political obligations, as he sees it, when he votes and on national or state questions the. Democratic ticket receives his support.

JOHN A. LEVERETTE, devoting his ener- .gies to general agricultural pursuits near St. Jo, is a representative of one of the pioneer families of Montague county. He was born in Harrison county, Georgia, March 7, 1855. His parents, Jesse Leverette and Betsey Woods, were married in Georgia, of which state the father was a native, while the mother's birth occurred in North Carolina. The paternal grandfather, Jesse Leverette, Sr., was a well known farmer and prominent and popular citizen of his section of Georgia, and for six- teen years served as sheriff of his county, dur- ing which time he had charge of the removal of the Cherokee Indians from Georgia to their present reservation in the Indian Territory. He lived a life of usefulness and of signal in- tegrity and honor and was closely identified with public affairs in his state. He reached the extreme old age of one hundred and ten years. His children were : Richard, who served in the rebellion and is now living in Georgia; John, deceased, who was a soldier of the Con- federate army ; Thomas, who was drowned in Florida; Jesse; Mrs. Nancy Muckaru; Mrs. Sarah Bryant ; Mrs. Swan; and Caroline.

Jesse Leverette, Jr., was born and reared in Georgia and after his marriage settled down1 to farm life. He wedded Miss Betsey Woods, a daughter of Henry Woods, who was born on the high seas and was never on land until twenty-three years of age, for his parents were seafaring people, continuously voyaging. When he was a young man of twenty-three years the vessel touched at a Virginia port and there Mr. Woods bade adieu to his parents, who sailed away again and he never heard of them afterward. He did not again go to sea but took up his abode in Virginia, where he mar- ried, while later he removed to North Carolina and became the founder of this branch of the Woods family in America. He was successful as a farmer in the old North state and thence he removed to Harrison county, Georgia, where his death occurred. His children were, Allen, who died in Georgia; Nancy; Sarah; Peggy; Jane; Maria; and Betsey, who became Mrs. Leverette. Following this marriage Mr. and

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

Mrs. Jesse Leverette settled on a farm in Georgia, where they remained until the fall of 1867, when they came to Texas.

Mr. Leverette entered the army at Buchanan, Georgia, in Captain Murkeson's company of infantry, which was attached to the eastern army and he took part in all of the important movements of the Confederate troops in Geor- gia, Alabama, Kentucky, Virginia and Tennes- see. He was at the battle of Culpeper Court- house and of Atlanta, Georgia, and in many other hotly contested engagements. He was twice wounded, a ball striking the side of his head and on another occasion his right hand, which rendered him a cripple for life. He be- came familiar with all of the difficult phases of army life, serving for four years and only once was he granted a furlough during that time, that being given him when he was wounded. He was financially ruined during the war, for his property was devastated and his slaves freed. It was this that led him to seek a home in Texas and in 1868 he located in Clear Creek valley, Montague county, being one of the pioneers of that locality, for at that time there was only one house between his home and the head of Trinity river and also only one between his house and Gainesville, that being the Lo- raine ranch house. The town of Montague contained only a few buildings and no court- house nor jail. The country was virtually a wilderness in which game was plentiful. The Indians were often hostile and life was haz- ardous, for the red men made raids, drove off the stock and frequently murdered the settlers. Mr. Leverette lost only one horse in this way, but was constantly on the lookout. On reach- ing this county he bought land on Clear Creek covered with heavy timber, but with charac- teristic energy he began to clear away the trees and make improvements, placing his land un- der cultivation. He also gave some attention to trading and built cabins which he sold to emigrants coming into the country. At that time the cattle business was a successful indus- try, for there was a free range, while farming was as yet but an experiment. Mr. Leverette, however, proved that it could be successfully followed and he opened up and developed four farms in the county. Although a stanch Demo- crat he never aspired to office, preferring to give his attention to his business interests and the enjoyment of social pleasures. He was a consistent member of the Baptist church and died in that faith on Mountain Creek in 1876. His wife survived him for many years, passing away in 1903 at the age of seventy-three years.

Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Leverette were the par- ents of six children: Thomas, a farmer of In- dian Territory ; John A., the subject of this re- view; William, also farming in the Territory ; Nancy, the wife of R. Oldham; Lou, who be- came Mrs. Eckleson and after his death mar- , ried W. Barefield, while her third husband was George Hoover ; and Martin, who is a farmer of Montague county.

John A. Leverette spent the first twelve years of his life in the state of his nativity and then accompanied his parents on their removal to Texas. He assisted his father in making a home and developing the farm, and on more than one occasion he lay down in the brush hiding away from the Indians. When eighteen years of age he started out in life on his own account, being first employed as a farm hand by the month and later cultivating a tract of rented land. While thus engaged for several years he succeeded in obtaining a good bunch of cattle and run them on his own account for about four years. His herd increased and he at length sold out at a good profit. He then invested his money in the farm where he yet resides and upon which he has erected two houses and a good barn. He bought three hundred acres of land with one hundred and fifty acres under cultivation and later he added two hundred and twenty-five acres but subsequently sold one hundred acres, so that his present holdings embrace four hundred and forty acres, of which three hundred acres are under a high state of cultivation, while the remainder is devoted to pasturage. He has cleared away the timber, has remodeled the house, fenced the farm and in 1900 he erected a more commodious and at- tractive frame residence, also a large frame barn. This is now a handsome home surrounded by a grove of natural forest trees and the farm is altogether one of the most attractive in ap- pearance in this part of the state. Everything about the place is indicative of the careful su- pervision and practical and progressive meth- ods of the owner.

Mr. Leverette was united in marriage to Miss Martha Shipp, who was born in Sabine county, Texas, in 1854, her parents being William and Minerva (Williams) Shipp, the former a na- tive of Kentucky and the latter of Alabama. They were married in Tennessee, where the father engaged in farming and stock-raising. He arrived in this state in 1833 and hired a man to carry on the farm work while he gave his attention to trading in cattle. He also em- ployed a substitute to represent him in the war under General Houston against Santa Anna in

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

1836. He served in the Confederate army dur- ing the Civil war and the value of his' estate was greatly depreciated by reason of the rav- ages of war. After the close of hostilities he rounded up his business interests and in 1871 came to Montague county, locating on Moun- tain Creek, where he improved a farm, making it his home until his death in 1873. As an early settler he took an active and helpful part in the work of progress and improvement. He had no aspiration for office but was a stanch Democrat and in religious faith was a Baptist. His wife survived him and died in 1894. She was a worthy member of the Christian church. In their family were seven children : Mrs. Mary Kithly; Myra, who married W. Deese and afterward became Mrs. Smith; Frank, who died while serving in the Confederate army ; Mrs. Serepta Smith; John, deceased; Victoria, who died in childhood; and Martha, who be- came Mrs. Leverette.

Unto our subject and his wife were born two daughters and a son: Minerva, now Mrs. John Baker ; Mary and John M., at home. The parents belong to the Christian church and fra- ternally Mr. Leverette is connected with the Woodmen of the World and the Farmers' Union. He is indeed a self-made man, owing his prosperity entirely to his own efforts. He is an excellent financier, of keen foresight and unflagging enterprise and in the management of his business affairs has met with a gratify- ing measure of prosperity.

JOHN FLOYD MIDDLEBROOK. For twenty-five years the subject of this article has maintained Jack county as his home, hav- ing settled here in 1880 and for the first four years conducting his stock and farming inter- ests with the city of Jacksboro as his home. On establishing himself permanently he pur- chased land on the Henrietta and Jacksboro road, in the Hicks neighborhood, where the past twenty-one years of his life has been spent.

A log cabin was the chief feature of improve- ment on the one hundred and fifty-three acres. of the Z. M. Short survey which marks the nucleus of his present considerable farm, and into this he stored his family pending such later successes as would enable him to more pretentiously provide them a home. He brought hither a flock of goats as the beginning , point in a career of wool raising which he hoped would not only provide him a livelihood but place him comfortably above want, but when, within four years, they nearly all died he was forced to fight stubborn disaster with his

hands and resort to manual labor for relief. He hired out and took work by the job and also succeeded in opening out a farm. In time his labor was found to be most profitable at home and he grew in financial strength and independ- ence from year to year. He has added tract after tract until seven hundred and twenty- eight acres are listed to him on the tax rolls, the land all fenced and otherwise improved with buildings and orchards of fruit.

Jones county, Georgia, was the native place of Mr. Middlebrook, and there, also, in 1820, his father, Andrew J. Middlebrook, was born. In North Carolina, where William A. Middle- brook, our subject's grandfather, was born, the Middlebrook family seems to have originated, and in a unique and peculiar way. In that particular locality there were many families of Brookes, and in order to distinguish them some were designated west Brooks, some east Brooks and others middle Brooks, and in this way the locality and the name became so intimately as- sociated as to completely change the family name, and Westbrooks, Eastbrooks and Middle- brook were adopted by posterity as the family patronymic.

William A. Middlebrook married Nancy Williamson for his second wife, and had then a daughter, Amanda, who married William Chiles. Of his second family, Williamson, who died in Georgia, was the oldest; Andrew J. was the next, then came Abigail, who married Satterwhite Chiles, and Nancy, who became the wife of J. B. Chiles, both passed away in .Georgia, and Green, who died in Houston county, Georgia.

Andrew J. Middlebrook went into Georgia very early with his father, who passed away in Jones county. They lived a rural existence, in the main, owning land and slaves and becom- ing among the thorough-going people of the county. Andrew was elected justice of the peace some four or more terms and served many years as one of the probate judges of Jones county. He was a Democrat of the old school and a member of the "Hardshell" Baptist church. He married Emily E. Chiles-John Chiles's daughter-who died in 1867, while he survived until 1884. Their children were: Thomas G., who occupies the Georgia family homestead ; Sarah E., wife of William A. Pat- terson (her first husband) but now married to W. A. Strickland, of Hobart, Oklahoma; John F., our subject, and Joseph A., of Jones county, Georgia.

John Floyd Middlebrook was born December 25, 1847, and was following the plow when the

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

Confederacy called him into the field as a sol- dier in 1864. He joined Captain Tuff's company, Colonel Blunt's regiment, Second Georgia Re- serves, and went into the trenches before At- lanta, in defense of the city. He had had a brief though exciting warlike experience prior to this regular enlistment, when he, with shot- gun in hand, helped surround and capture the federal Gen. Stoneman. He fought around At- lanta until it fell ånd then passed down into the state with his command to Macon and was there surrendered in April, 1865, to a portion of Sherman's army.

Going back to the farm he spent a year in school and at once took him a wife, and with a horse and a cow to begin on, settled down to agricultural pursuits. Their combined labors yielded them a profit and the stock contributed to the family conveniences and comforts and when they left Georgia, in 1872, they had accu- mulated some wealth and were able to acquire them a good farm in Panola county, where they first stopped. Their trip hither was made by rail to New Orleans and by river to east Texas, where farming was again resumed. Leaving Panola county in 1880, Mr. Middlebrook added his presence and his citizenship to Jack, where his interests still center.

October 14, 1866, Mr. Middlebrook married Mary J., a daughter of J. R. Jarrell, originally from the state of North Carolina. Mrs. Mid- dlebrook was born in Georgia August 9, 1847, and she and her worthy husband are the parents of Joseph A., of Panola county, Texas; J. Randolph, of Jack county, whose wife was. Adella Weir; Thomas Lee, of Jack county, married Sue McAdams; Sarah E., wife of W. A. Amerson, of Jack county ; A. Floyd married Nettie Umberson and remains with the domes- tic circle, as does Charles, the youngest child.

At farming in the usually dry zone of Jack county Mr. Middlebrook has demonstrated his success. By diversifying and rotating crops he has seldom failed to make food for his family and forage for his stock and it is this intelligent management and consequent conservation of energy which has brought him out on the sur- plus side, as a rule, and placed him in splendid control of the domestic situation today. In politics he is avowedly a Prohibitionist and his family have been brought up under the benign influence of the Methodist Episcopal church.

CAPTAIN T. P. PAINE. The great ma- jority of citizens of military age in the south at the time of the Civil war manifested on the field of battle their loyalty to the Confederacy

and among this number is Captain T. P. Paine, who made an excellent record as a brave and fearless soldier. He is now devoting his time and energies to stock farming in Montague county with a success that always follows close and earnest application and honorable effort. Captain Paine is a native of eastern Tennessee, born December 6, 1845. In the paternal line he comes of Scotch and Irish lineage. His grand- father, Joseph Paine, was a native of Scotland and after crossing the Atlantic to America was married in Virginia, the lady of his choice being Lucretia Snow, a native of Ireland. They be- gan their domestic life in the Old Dominion, where Mr. Paine followed farming, but later he removed to the Hiawasha purchase in Tennes- see, where he made permanent settlement and became a prominent and influential farmer, be- ing closely and helpfully identified with the de- velopment of his adopted state. In this work he was associated with Lorenzo Dow and many other pioneer settlers of Tennessee. He served in the war of 1812 and also in the Indian war in 1836-7 and was a patriotic, public spirited man, whose labors in behalf of general progress were far reaching and beneficial. He died about 1855 at the age of seventy-five years. His wife survived him and later moved with her fifteen children to Missouri, where most of them set- tled and later different members of the family lived in Illinois and Iowa. The mother, how- ever, died in Missouri in the faith of the Meth- odist church, of which she was a devoted mem- ber. Her sons and daughters were as follows : James M., Stephen H., Martin, John Q., Joseph, Thomas, William, Henry, Jacob, Lucretia, Anna, Rosie, Caroline, Margaret and three who died in childhood.

James M. Paine, the eldest of this family and the father of our subject, was reared to manhood in Tennessee, where he was married. There he began farming and also followed me- chanical pursuits, while for fifty years he was a local preacher of the Methodist church and also one of its elders. A devoted Christian worker, he gave his service to the church without remuneration, under no condition tak- ing pay for his work as a minister of the gospel. Of strong mental endowments, broad minded and intelligent, he was not only a capable busi- ness man but also one of wide sympathies and broad humanitarian principles. Politically he was a Henry Clay Whig with a tendency toward abolitionism, for he opposed slavery. He also opposed the secession movement and voted for the Union but when the state decided to secede he remained with the south and ad-

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

vised his sons and friends to follow the same course. He was too old for active service in the field, but he used his efforts and influence for the success of the Confederacy. The ravages of the two armies cost him the greater part of his lifetime earnings, for his home lay in the track of the contending troops, who foraged off his place. Late in 1865 he removed to Texas; pur- chasing and settling upon a farm in Rusk county, where he remained until 1879. He then removed to Denton county, where he again bought a farm and in 1888 he sold this property and removed to Montague county, where he lived retired, finding a good home with his son, Captain Paine, until his death, which oc- curred on the 9th of October, 1890. His wife survived him until March 22, 1903, passing away at the age of eighty-three years. . She was also a member of the Methodist church from the age of thirteen and was a most estima- ble Christian lady, whose excellent traits of character endeared her to all with whom she came in contact. This worthy couple were the parents of thirteen children: Elmeda, who died at the age of fourteen years; William, who died at the age of five years; Joseph, who died while a prisoner at Fort Elmira, New York, while serving as a lieutenant in a Confederate regi- ment in the Civil war; T. P., of this review; Sterling, who died at the age of four years; George H., who died at the age of six years; James K. P., who served in the Federal army ; John N., who died at the age of four years; Mrs. Parlee Leath ; Martin V., who is living at Panhandle, Texas; Mrs. Hettie Crites; Mrs. Ellen V. Bond and Mrs. Lutitia Skinner.

Captain T. P. Paine was born and reared in Tennessee and pursued his early education in the public schools there. He remained under the parental roof until about sixteen years of age, when he enlisted in Company F, Forty- third Tennessee Volunteer Infantry. He joined the army as a private but was promoted to the captaincy of his company and entered the regi- ment with one hundred and eleven men, but al- though his company was often recruited, at the close of the war he had only seven men left. Many of his comrades were buried on the vari- ous battlefields of the south, while others had been obliged to return home ill or wounded. The command had been attached to General Lee's army in Virginia, where they did valiant service, taking part in almost a continuous skirmish together with thirty-two hotly con- tested battles. Captain Paine has had full ex- perience in all of the exposures and hardships of war but he never faltered in his loyalty to

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 61

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