A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 62

Author: Paddock, B. B. (Buckley B.), 1844-1922; Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing co.
Number of Pages: 972

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the cause he espoused and often inspired his men to deeds of valor by his own heroism. He was never wounded nor captured and when General Lee was about to surrender his com- mand left and joined General Johnson's com- mand in North Carolina. Soon after they found that Johnson was also forced to surrender and Captain Paine, with fourteen others, then left the army and went into Virginia, so that he has never yet surrendered.

. The captain found employment in the Old Dominion and remained there until the fall of 1865, when he came to Texas, locating first in Rusk county. When he had earned enough money to bring his father and the family to Texas he sent for them and ever afterward cared for his parents and assisted them in bringing up the younger children of the fam- ily. He early learned what hard labor meant but he faithfully performed his duty day after day, and as the years passed his labors were crowned with success, so that in Rusk county, as the result of his earnings, he was enabled to purchase a tract of land which he developed into a good farm, remaining thereon until 1879. He was married in that county, and he not only provided for his wife, but also cared for his parents and other members of their family. In 1879 he sold out and removed to Denton county, where he purchased another farm, which he successfully conducted until 1890.

That year witnessed the arrival of Captain Paine in Montague county, where he has since made his home. He settled near his present place of abode and at first bought a tract of one thousand acres, to which he has since added until he now owns seventeen hundred and sev- enty acres, of which he has over seven hundred acres under a high state of cultivation, it being a very productive and well improved farm. He uses twenty-five head of mules and horses to do his farming and he raises upon his place nearly everything that is needed for the sup- port of the family and of the farm. He fattens hogs for the market, also raises and handles cattle and now has a fine herd of white faced cattle. He is practical and prosperous in all that he undertakes as an agriculturist and he never fails to make a crop. In the last twenty years he has increased the value of his estate over twenty thousand dollars. He has given to the farm and its improvement his entire time and attention and he deserves much credit for what he has accomplished, as his prosperity is the direct result of his unfaltering determina- tion, capable management and keen business discernment. The farm is conveniently and

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pleasantly situated about seven miles north of Nocona and the land lays in one body which is well watered and is suited both for tilling and stock-raising. The home is a commodious two-story stone residence in the rear of which stand good barns and sheds for the shelter of grain, stock and farm machinery. There is also a fine forest grove near Small Creek and the farm is equipped with all modern appliances.

Captain Paine was married in Rusk county in 1869 to Miss Columbia McWilliams, who was born in that county, November 23, 1850, and is a daughter of James and Martha (Robinson) McWilliams. The mother was a daughter of Andrew Robinson and a representative of an honored pioneer family of Rusk county. James Mc Williams left his Alabama home when twelve years of age and came to Texas in 1819. He was the first white person in Rusk county. On coming to Texas he located in Nacogdoches county and as he reached manhood began trad- ing with the Indians and for a number of years lived among them, continuing his business op- erations with them. As before stated, he be- came the pioneer white man of Rusk and other counties and so straightforward and honorable was he in all his dealings that he had the entire confidence and respect of the red men as well as the people of his own race. His integrity and honor were never doubted and he became prominent and popular. He filled many offices of honor and trust, both in the republic of Texas and after the annexation to the United States. He was in office much of his life in Texas, and was a strong Democrat, who at the time of the Civil war used his influence and aid in support of secession, but was too old for active service on the field. He died in 1865. He was a Royal Arch Mason, always loyal to the teachings and ten- ets of the craft. His widow yet survives him and now resides in Henderson, Texas, at the age of eighty-four years. She is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church. Mr. and Mrs. McWilliams were the parents of eight children : Mrs. Columbia Paine; Caroline, the wife of J. Herman; Elizabeth and Laura, de- ceased; Andrew, of Arizona ; John, who is liv- ing in Rusk county; Hugh, of New Mexico, and Robert, of Henderson, Texas. Captain and Mrs. Paine have an interesting family of thirteen children: Walter E., a farmer; Mrs. Eudora Greaves; Charles A., who died in in- fancy ; Dexter S., a hardware merchant; James M., a farmer; Carrie M., the wife of Rev. T. N. Wicks, a Methodist minister ; Gustin L. and Joseph Q., both of whom follow farming; Mag-

gie, Mattie, Anna, Harry and Thomas, all at. home.

Captain Paine is a stanch Democrat, unfalter- ing in his loyalty to the party, yet without po- litical aspiration for himself. For many years he has served as captain of Bob Stone camp of . the Confederate Veterans and he likewise be- longs to the Masonic fraternity, while he and his wife are members of the Methodist church, to which most of their children also belong.

GEORGE W. WHATLEY is numbered among the representative citizens of Palo Pinto county, Texas, where he is now filling the posi- tion of county treasurer and also conducting pri- vate business interests as a stock farmer. He was born in Fayette county, Georgia, October 23, 1846, his parents being the Hon. William M. and Martha (Strong) Whatley. The father's birth occurred in Fayette county, Georgia, in 1819, and he is still living there, being one of the oldest, most widely known and highly esteemed citizens of that part of the state. He has figured prom- inently in public life, wielding a wide influence and aiding largely in the molding of thought and opinion among the people of his locality. He served his county as assessor for many years and also represented his district in the state legisla- ture. His wife, who is now deceased, was also a native of Georgia.

George W. Whatley continued a resident of Fayette county until his removal to Texas. He was reared upon his father's farm and when only sixteen years of age, true to his love of south- land, he enlisted in the Georgia State Troops, be- coming a member of Company I, First Regiment Georgia Infantry. His company was the first placed on guard at Andersonville Prison, where they remained for about six months and later had charge of prisoners who were transferred to Florence, near Charleston, South Carolina. Sub- sequently the company was assigned to duty in regular service and Mr. Whatley took part in the heavy engagement of nine days which pre- ceded the fall of Charleston.

Following the close of the war he returned to Fayette county, Georgia, where he was inter- ested in agricultural pursuits until 1875, when he came to Western Texas, locating at his present home place, twelve miles east of Palo Pinto and three miles west of Mineral Wells. Here he owns a good ranch of three hundred and twenty acres and is carrying on general stock farming with excellent success. He is a splendid judge of stock and is, therefore, able to make judicious purchases and profitable sales. He has.

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also figured prominently in public affairs here, his worth and ability well entitling him to distinc- tion in this regard. He was one of the men who reviewed the public road from Mineral Wells to Palo Pinto and in November, 1904, he was elected county treasurer, which position he is now filling with credit to himself and satisfaction to his con- stituents.

Mr. Whatley was married in Fayette county, Georgia, to Miss Indiana Price, and they have five children: Walter W., John S., Mrs. Georgie Lotsspeich, Mrs. Mary Dendy and Samuel. The parents hold membership in the Baptist church and have a wide acquaintance in Palo Pinto county, enjoying the hospitality of many of its best homes. Mr. Whatley is a typical American citizen, energetic and enterprising, watchful to and utilizing the advantages which have come to him in a manner that has resulted in making him one of the substantial residents of his part of the county.

JUDGE NAPOLEON B. MOORE. A prominent representative of the bar of Texas is Judge Napoleon B. Moore, of Fort Worth, who is also accounted one of the political leaders of this section of the state. He was born at London, Madison county, Ohio, in 1832, a son of Stephen and Hester (Dungan) Moore. The father, who was a native of Virginia, removed to Ohio at a very early period, where he was well known as a merchant and stockman, and also became prominent in public affairs, having served as county clerk, sheriff and held other offices in Madison county. He was a prominent Methodist, and in the parlor of his home was inaugurated the movement to establish the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, this initial meeting being participated in by Stephen Moore, Frederick Merrick and Jacob Young. After the establishment of the university and in recompense for the services which he rendered in its organization Mr. Moore was presented with a twenty-five years' scholarship, which is still in the possession of his son, the latter having taken five years of the same while pur- suing his education at that institution. Mr. and Mrs. Moore, the latter of whom was a native of Philadelphia, joined their son Napo- leon in Iowa a short time after the latter's arrival there, and they made that common- wealth their home during the remainder of their lives.

Napoleon B. Moore received his elementary education in the common schools of Madison county, Ohio, which was later supplemented by study in the academy at London and the Ohio

Wesleyan University, where he spent five years as above noted. In 1855 he emigrated to the then new country of Iowa, taking up his abode at Eddyville, near Ottumwa, where he taught school for a time and then went on a farm. While there residing he began the study of law. In 1857 he removed to Page county, in the southeastern part of the state, and in June of that year was admitted to the bar, while later he was elected county judge. He was num- 'bered among the pioneer settlers of Page county, which was then in its primitive stage of development, and from that early period Mr. Moore was prominently identified with its his- tory for many years. During the Civil War he three times offered his services to the Union cause, but was each time refused on account of physical disabilities existing at that time, but he was, however, appointed to special service in the Federal government. Page county was at that time part of Missouri, and at the beginning of the war many Southern sympathizers, main- ly from that state, refugeed or located in Page and adjoining counties, and Mr. Moore's special service was not only in this neighborhood, but in the South as well, and he was on the ground at nearly all the centers of fighting at different times during the war.

After the close of the conflict Mr. Moore was appointed United States revenue collector for his home district, while later he was elected state senator, in which high official position he served for eight years. In his public life he became closely associated with General G. M. Dodge and many other of Iowa's public men who have brought fame to the state, and he helped to elect to the United States senate Hon. William B. Allison, the two still retaining the long friendship which has existed through so many years. During all these years Mr. Moore was not only prominent in politics, but in business life as well, and in his home town of Clarinda, the county seat, he established and owned for some years the Clarinda Herald, a leading newspaper, also organized and was president of the Page County Bank, organized the First National Bank of Clarinda, the First National Bank of Shenandoah, and the banking firm of Moore & Crumb at Bedford, Iowa, which has since become a national bank. In addition he also had quite extensive real estate interests in Page county, and at the same time retained his law practice during all the years he lived in Clarinda, serving as attorney for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy during its construction through Iowa. In 1888 he left the state which he had so long honored and

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which had in so many ways honored him and came to Texas, taking up his abode in Fort Worth, which has ever since been his home. On his arrival here he established a law office, making a specialty of real estate litigation, and in 1892 he was elected state chairman of the Republican party, being also the Republican manager of the well remembered Hogg-Clark campaign. About 1895 Mr. Moore was obliged to discontinue his law practice and all other interests on account of a bladder trouble, which made him an invalid for eight years, during the latter part of which he was so dangerously ill that his life was despaired of, but through the skillful treatment and zealous interest of his friends, Drs. Thompson, Saunders and Walker, three of the leading surgeons of the city, he was finally cured, and early in 1904 regained his good health entirely, since which time he has resumed his legal duties, limiting the same, however, to office practice. His old love for politics has not deserted him, and in August, 1904, he helped to organize with other promi- nent Republicans the Roosevelt Republican Club of Fort Worth, of which he is secretary.

Mr. Moore's first wife, who bore the maiden name of Verlinda Webster, died at Clarinda, and of this union there is one daughter living, Mrs. Jessie Moore McPherrin, the wife of a prominent attorney of Kansas City. His pres- ent wife was formerly Nellie J. Beath, who was born in Adams county, Iowa. Their son, Lloyd Moore, a very promising young man and greatly esteemed in Fort Worth, died at the age of fifteen years, and their living son, Bruce D. Moore, is at home. In his political affilia- tions Mr. Moore has ever been an active and prominent Republican, his first vote having been cast in Ohio for Salmon P. Chase for gov- ernor, and his first presidential vote was cast for John C. Fremont in 1856, his being one of only two that were counted for Fremont in Wapello county, which afterward became strongly Republican. He was mayor of his home city for six years, and is now manager of the Home Factory. and Industrial Association.

He was made a Master Mason in May, 1856, a Knight Templar Mason in 1868, took the Consistory degrees in 1868, and is now a mem- ber of Fort Worth Commandery, No. 19. He has also been an energetic participator in re- ligous affairs as connected with the Methodist Episcopal church. He served as chairman of the board of trustees and treasurer of St. Paul's M. F. church during the period of its construction. one of the finest church buildings in the city, and was a trustee and instructor in the law depart-

ment of Fort Worth University, which had been established by the Methodist denomination. He ranks high at the bar and in political circles, and Fort Worth numbers him among her leading and influential citizens.

STERLING PRICE MERRICK. In this re- view the subject represents one of the ancient families of the state whose identity with its civil and military affairs has aided in making the empire commonwealth of the West glorious in peace and in war and brilliant in her industrial achievements.

The Merricks came into the Republic of Texas in 1840, headed by James C. Merrick, the father of our subject, who sojourned for a few years in Lamar county, but finally located his head- right in Hunt county, near Kingston, where for more than forty years he was engaged in rural pursuits. In 1888 he disposed of his interests there and took up agriculture and stock grow- ing in Callahan county, remaining there as a modest farmer till 1895, when his advancing years urged his close proximity to his children and he came to Montague county, where his death occurred May 27, 1904, aged eighty-five years.

He was a son of Charles Merrick and was born near Franklin, Tennessee. The other chil- dren of his parents were: William, who was killed as a Confederate soldier ; John, who died in Cal- lahan county, in 1897, leaving a family ; Charles, who passed away during the war with issue; Colonel George W., who died in Fannin county, in 1898, a prominent Confederate commander of Texas; Adaline, deceased, wife of Benton Davis, of Fannin county ; and Rhoda, who married Wil- liam Caruthers and died near Los Angeles, Cali- fornia.

As settlers the Merricks are among our distin- guished citizenship. The most remote American forefather was a member of the Jamestown Colony, in Virginia, and consequently took part in the first work of our national internal de- velopment. They multiplied and descendants of the old patriarch scattered to all points of the compass as new settlements were opened up. When the war for independence came on tradi- tion tells us that three of them enlisted and did valiant battle against the soldiers of the British king.

James C. Merrick was married in Tennessee to Nancy, a daughter of Frank Thompson. Mrs. Merrick was born in 1825, and still survives, a resident of Montague county. The issue of their marriage are: Sarah, wife of F. L. Scott, of Spokane, Washington; Bettie, Griffith, and Charles all died single, as did George; Ruth and

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Alice, twins, married, respectively, H. N. Beak- ley, of Coleman county, Texas, and J. W. Huds- peth, now deceased; Lora, the sixth child, mar- ried Stephen Turbeville, of Callahan county ; Sterling P., our subject; and John B., of Cooke county, Texas.

Sterling P. Merrick was born seven miles north of Greenville, in Hunt county, Texas, November 17, 1862. While growing up on the farm he acquired a good common school education and in early manhood engaged in country school work as a teacher in his home county. When rhe old home was sold in Hunt county he went to King county, Washington, and a part of the three years he was in that state he taught two terms of school and spent one year in the postoffice in Seattle. On his return to Texas in the spring of 1891 he joined his people in Callahan county and turned his attention to farming and stock. The continuous drouth of that era worked disaster to his crops and consequently to himself, and when he abandoned the project he was ready to begin life anew. He attended the opening of the Cherokee Strip in 1893, made the race for a claim and got it, but, being without means to even pro- vide him a shelter while proving up, to say noth- ing about the supplies he would necessarily need, he decided the outlook was too forbidding and the future too ominous to allure him into holding for the "second crop," and he moved on. He traded his only pony for an inferior set of blacksmith tools in Enid and opened a shop on the railroad right-of-way.

This trip to the Territory marked the beginning of his second start in life, for he chanced to get into a business out of which he fashioned the club which "drove the wolf from his door" and put him upon a plane that had a fairly easy down grade. December 16, 1893, he sold his Enid shop to good advantage, and established himself at Uz, Montague county. He spent a year there,

sold, and bought a shop at Rosston, Cooke county, and at the end of a season disposed of this also, and established himself then in Bowie. Here he ran a wood-yard in connection with his shop, and quit blacksmithing in 1901, in a satisfactory financial condition. For a few months he con- ducted a confectionery business in Bowie and when he sold it he entered the race for county clerk, was defeated by a close vote of thirty, and became a student and a teacher in John T. Roberts' Commercial College in Bowie. In De- cember, 1904, he formed a partnership with Allen Quisenberry and engaged in the carriage, wagon, harness and implement business, but recently opened up. He has a fine trade in buggies, har- ness and all kinds of implements.

Mr. Merrick married at Uz, in Montague county, on the 8th of May, 1894, Miss Lillie Whitley, a daughter of T. E. Whitley, who emi- grated from North Carolina to Texas in 1854. No children have resulted from this union

In politics the Merricks have ever allied them- selves with Democracy and have done their citizen's portion toward the perpetuity and su- premacy of the Democratic idea. Our subject is an Odd Fellow and a Woodman of the World and his fellow citizens are pleased to accord him the honor of a worthy and representative citizen.

RUFUS W. O'KEEFE. For a period of twenty-five years closely and successfully identi- fied with the great live-stock industry of West Texas, the career of Rufus W. O'Keefe presents in individual form all those personal elements of power and many of the incidental circumstances which have proved the foundation of present-day prosperity in the great Panhandle country. This history is largely a biographical record of those men who have pushed forward the bulwarks of civilization and human industry from the east into the undeveloped portions of the west end northwest, and with that wave of the range- cattle industry which swept in that direction pre- ceding the building of the railroads went, as a rising and enterprising cowman, Mr. O'Keefe. Success came to him, and ever abreast of and an active participant in those developments which gradually modernized the range cattle business into the present era of splendid stock ranches with high-grade stock and up-to-date methods, he is now one of the leading representatives of the live-stock business in the Panhandle and has re- cently entered the field of finance as president of the Canyon National Bank, at Canyon City, where is his home.

Mr. O'Keefe was born in Randolph county, Alabama, January 19, 1857, a son of Thomas P. and Sarah E. (West) O'Keefe. The father was a farmer, and died when Rufus was an infant. After receiving his education in the public schools of his native state, he remained at home and engaged in tilling the farm until he was twenty- one years old. Coming to Texas in 1878, for the following three years he was an Ellis county farmer. But alive to the possibilities of the great western country, where no railroads as yet had penetrated and where the range-cattle industry was in its palmy days, in 1881 he went out to West Texas and threw himself with all the vigor and ambition of young manhood into the pic- turesque pursuits of the range. With definite prospects for the future he continued until he had enough money to begin for himself, which became

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possible in 1889. He bought both land and cattle in that year, and has since been increasingly pros- perous in the business, being at the present time owner of eighteen thousand acres of the Pan- handle country. When the Canyon National bank was incorporated he was elected its president, and has directed its affairs since the institution was opened for business on November 1, 1905.

Mr. O'Keefe was married, January 14, 1890, to Miss Elizabeth Kiser, whose native home was in Missouri. They have one daughter, May. Mr. O'Keefe is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and of the Knights of Pythias fraternity.

JAMES K. READ. The pioneer family rep- resented by the gentleman whose name introduces this article was among the ante-bellum settlers of Wise county and in the early efforts at rural development here it performed a modest yet sub- stantial part. It was headed by O. H. P. Read who established himself here in 1858 and built his home in the community of Rush and Gar- rett creeks. He came hither to settle and bring up his family where they might acquire homes with ease and through all the grievous times of civil strife and Indian raids and murder he remained steadfast, never leaving his home or deserting his county to avoid conflict with the thieving and cowardly "braves."

O. H. P. Read was born in Granger county, Tennessee, in 1816, and died at Paradise, Texas, March 3, 1897. He came to mature years in his native state and married Jane Bull and then set- tled in Taney county, Missouri, where, in For- syth, he plied the gunsmith's trade. He came to Texas, as before added, to build him a rural home and here he was known only as a farmer. He made a success of his venture and was en- abled to provide moderately for his children when they should be ready to begin life. He married a lady of German birth, who preceded him to the grave, dying in 1878 at seventy-three years of age. Their children were. William, who is the oldest, and is still living; Eliza, who mar- ried Francis Fore and died some time during the war; Sarah, who married Newton Youngblood and is deceased; Caroline, who married Harvey Youngblood and she and her husband died in March, 1880; Gideon died in 1865, aged twenty ; John died in 1882; James K., of this review; Mary, who married Mecajah Britt and died some time during the war.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 62

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