A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 71

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 71

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As before stated, Thomas J. Owen was but two years old when brought by his parents to Texas. He attended the subscription schools to a limited extent but his educational privi- leges were quite meager. He remained under the parental roof until his marriage in Lamar county in January, 1859, the lady of his choice being Miss Catherine House, who was born in Arkansas, in February, 1833, a daughter of Joseph House of Tennessee, one of the early settlers of Arkansas and a pioneer of Texas. He took up his abode in Lamar county, where he owned and operated a grist and saw mill, which was conducted by water power. He was also a large land owner and had extensive stock interests and was recognized throughout the community as a capable financier. All of his business interests were well managed and showed his keen discernment and sagacity. He died in 1859 at the age of sixty-two years and his wife survived him until 1860. She was a member of the Methodist church. They were the parents of three daughters and two sons : Mrs. Catherine Owen; Eliza, the wife of T. Pass; Marzee, the wife of J. Green ; James, who served in the war; and Joseph, of Panhandle, Texas.

It was their eldest daughter who became the wife of Thomas J. Owen of this review, who at the time of his marriage began oper- ating the old homestead farm, on which he

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

remained until after the outbreak of the Civil war. In the spring of 1861 he enlisted for serv- ice in the Confederate army as a member of Company C, Colonel Good's Battalion, which was assigned to the Trans-Mississippi Depart- ment and did duty in Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and the Indian . Territory. A part of the time Mr. Owen was with General Price and other commanders and he received but two furloughs during his entire military serv- suffer from cold and exposure to the weather and yet he was a loyal and valorous soldier, never faltering in the performance of his duty. When General Lee surrendered, the regiment, which was then at Crockett, Texas, broke ranks and the men returned home.

Mr. Owen found most of his slaves yet upon his place. The following year he resumed farm- ing, got a bunch of cattle together and contin- ued the business until 1866, when he sold out and removed his stock to Cooke county. There he purchased land and opened up a farm, his stock running on the free range. In this busi- ness he continued until 1872, when he disposed of his farm and removed to Montague county, locating on Mountain Creek, three miles north- east of Saint Jo. He there bought three or four surveys, opened up a farm and run his cattle on the free grass, continuing the busi- ness successfully until 1892, when having start- ed cattle interests in western Texas he sold his farm lands but retained a small ranch, which he yet owns. He now handles stock, mostly making a specialty of beef cattle. He has placed under cultivation over one hundred acres of land and raises feed for his stock. When he came here the cattle business was a success and farming was considered an ex- periment. His money was invested in stock. The loss of his slaves proved a heavy burden, but his stock-raising interests with the free grass helped him to recuperate from his losses and he gained a new start. In 1892 his sons, anxious for a larger and better range for the stock, removed to western Texas and Mr. Owen therefore abandoned the business here and established his sons in Panhandle, where they are now running cattle, while he largely confines his operations to beef cattle. It was in the same year that he retired from the farm and took up his abode at Saint Jo, where he is now living quietly, advising his sons as to the management of the business, but leaving to them the more active duties.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Owen were born five chil-

dren: George, on the cattle ranch in Pan- handle; Cora, who became the wife of T. W. Jones and died leaving six children; Susan, who died at the age of twenty-four years ; and Jack and T. J., who are living in Panhandle. The wife and mother died at Saint Jo in Jan- uary, 1903. Mr. Owen has witnessed the es- tablishment of Saint Jo and the development of the surrounding district, watching its trans- formation into a prosperous farming country. In to secure good men for local office. His interest in community affairs is that of a public spirited citizen, whose efforts for the general welfare have been far reaching and beneficial.

ice. He knew what it was to go hungry, to > politics he is a Democrat and he labors earnestly

DR. R. C. BLACK. From the point of view of continuous practice Dr. R. C. Black is one of the oldest physicians and surgeons of the state of Texas. At Gainesville he has been known as a skillful and successful practitioner for over twenty years, and is held in high esteem alike for his professional prominence and his worth as a man and citizen.

Born in Barry county, Missouri, Dr. Black was reared and attended school in that county. He is among the oldest living graduates of the well known Rush Medical College, of Chi- cago, having entered that school to prepare for his profession nearly fifty years ago, and receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine with the class of 1858. He first practiced at Granby, Missouri. He was living there at the time of the Civil war and enlisted in the Con- federate service as assistant surgeon. At- tached at first to the Eighth Missouri Regi- ment, he was later employed in his profession- al capacity with different regiments as his serv- ices were needed, in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mis- sissippi and other parts of the middle west. At the conclusion of his army career he re- turned to Granby and practiced there and in . Washington county, Arkansas, until he came to Texas in 1869. He was located in Collin county a number of years, and in 1883 moved to Gainesville, which has been his home since then, and where he conducts a large general practice in medicine and surgery. Progressive in all departments of his profession, he has taken several polyclinic courses since he was graduated from school and has kept abreast of the phenomenal advances made in medical theory and practice during the last half cen- tury. Dr. Black is an ex-president of the Cooke County Medical Society. In 1905 he married Miss Della Thompson.

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

JOHN ANDREWS, a well known citizen and prosperous agriculturist of Tarrant county, owns and operates a tract of land of one hun- dred and forty-eight acres near Smithfield, the place being devoted to general farming. He arrived in the Lone Star state in 1890 and has since made his home within its borders. A native of Rochester, New York, he was born on the 3rd of March, 1858, and was a son of Leonard and Mary (Meyers) Andrews, both of whom were natives of Germany and on com- ing to America took up their abode in Roches- ter, New York, in 1844. There they spent their remaining days, both the father and mother having now passed away. The father was fif- ty-four when he died, the mother was about seventy-four.

John Andrews spent the greater part of his boyhood and youth in the city of his nativity and was a public school student there. When in his eighteenth year he went to Buffalo, New York, where he learned the trade of a boiler- maker in the New York Central Railroad boiler shops, becoming thoroughly familiar with the business. He continued in Buffalo for several years, after which he determined to establish his home in the south and made his way to Raton, New Mexico, where he was employed by the Santa Fe Railroad Company in its boiler shops there. He afterward spent some time in San Francisco and in Sacramento, Califor- nia, and later resided in San Bernardino, that state. Subsequently he spent some time in other portions of the country and as before stated came to Texas in 1890. He resided first at Fort Worth, where he spent a num- ber of years, being employed in the boiler de- partment of the Texas & Pacific Railroad shops until 1900, in which year he took up his abode upon the farm that is now his place of resi- dence. He is a self-made man, owing his prosperity entirely to his own efforts, and he deserves great credit for what he has accom- plished, showing that energy and determina- tion constitute the key that unlocks the portals of success.

On the 4th of May, 1894, John Andrews was united in marriage to Mrs. Annie Abbott and they enjoy the warm regard of many friends in their home locality. Mr. Andrews is a pub- lic-spirited citizen and favors anything that tends to improve his county or elevate society. His political allegiance is given to the Republi- can party. His genuine personal worth is such as commands the esteem and confidence of his neighbors and business associates and now in the control and development of his farm he is meeting with creditable prosperity.

ISAAC WAINSCOTT. The living pio- neer is the connecting link between the dead past and the living present and is a witness to the things that were and the things that are. His life spans the whole era of progress and is the sentinel which has guarded our destiny from birth through youth to old age. He is the fore-runner of civilization and the seed which he has sown has produced the strong props of our social and political fabric of the present. We honor him, we reverence him and to his memory the generations of the future will prostrate their affections. It is fitting to honor him and his in this connection, whose dis- tinction rests upon the claims of worthy pioneers, and conspicuous among whom as settlers of Montague county we herewith present the Wainscott name.

In 1857 the Wainscotts, the McDonalds and others settled along Benton creek amid the untamed surroundings of that frontier day, seeking to plant the first seeds of civilization there. John Wainscott dropped down upon the Bradshaw survey just below the Denver bridges across the creek, and became the owner of a tract of land which has not yet been deeded away. There he made his home, from there he carried on his successful cattle and limited farming interests and there he died.

John Wainscott was married in Polk county, Missouri, to Sarah, a sister of Jarrell and Cash McDonald, who were heads of families and members of the colony who established them- selves along Benton creek. He moved from Missouri to Iowa, and from that state they started on their trip to Texas. On the way hither they passed through Lawrence county, Missouri, where the McDonalds joined them and reached Texas together. They stopped first in Grayson county, and were prospecting a location when they cast their fortunes with Montague. Mrs. Wainscott survived her hus- band until 1901, when she passed away, being the mother of: Annie, Isaac (our subject), Hiram, Mary and Adaline.

Isaac Wainscott was born in Polk county, Missouri, January 2, 1846, and was but eleven years of age when he came to Montague coun- ty. Without educational advantages, yet he managed to acquire the outline or framework of an education, and the work of the range and the farm provided him with ample youthful exercise. There was much youthful excite- ment also, but this was occasioned by the in- cursions of Indian bands or the usual excite- ments of the frontier, and during some six- teen years life on Denton creek was a high tension and strenuous affair. During the Civil

MR. AND. MRS. JOHN ANDREWS

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

war he belonged to a company of minute men, a part of the State Militia, but there was no service outside of the county and no enemy to contend with save the red man.

As has been well told by historians Indian theft and massacres were an every moonlight occurrence for years, and the valley of Denton creek was visited on their errands of pillage and death. In 1858 a bunch of unarmed whites met a band of Indians armed with guns and arrows on what is now the Frank Biggar farm, and by some mysterious power the Indians were driven off after they had caused the death of Daniel Wainscott and Jack Kilgore. Isaac Wainscott was with this party and was with other parties which encountered the savages, but the death of his Uncle Daniel was the near- est to a personal affliction from that source which he ever experienced. When Mr. Wains- cott married and settled down to an independ -- ent career he started with an eighty-acre tract in the creek bottom, a team and a few cattle. The "ups and downs" common to the communi- ty were visited upon him and his family also, but as the years passed he found his financial condition measurably improving. He has add- ed a quarter section of land to his first holding of real estate, and is quartered in a modest and comfortable home overlooking the hamlet of Denver.

In April, 1870, Mr. Wainscott married Annie, a daughter of John Dennis, who came to Mon- tague county early, and their children were Sarah and Samuel. Edward and Claud are children of Mr. Wainscott's union with Jane Biggar. For his third wife Mr. Wainscott married Jennie Burks, a daughter of William Burks, of Jack county, Texas. This wife died, leaving an only child, Clyde. August 13, 1890, Mr. Burks' daughter Annie became Mrs. Isaac Wainscott, and the issue of this marriage are : Walter, Gladys, Iris, Nellie and Isaac. Two children by Mr. Wainscott's former marriage, Samuel and Willie, are deceased.

Isaac Wainscott has ever occupied a good citizen's position in his community and in his county. Industrious and thrifty he has ac- cumulated sufficient for the needs of his grow- ing family and for the years of his decline. Ac- tivity in local matters seems to have been his contribution to the public weal, and in Demo- cratic politics his favor by aspiring candidates for office is eagerly sought. He is a Mason and belongs to the Missionary Baptist church.

JASPER W. STINSON, a business man of Strawn, possessed of that great energy which infuses itself into the development of a com- mercial center and affords the potential vigor which brings order out of chaos and towns and. cities out of a desert-a man of high ideals and ambitions for his adopted town, a typical man of the south and representative of the class to whom is due the great impetus and awakening along all lines of industry and 'business, is a native son of Alabama, born in Butler county, February 18, 1863. His parents were E. E. and Rosa A. Wood) Stinson. His father, a native of Alabama, died while serving in the Confederate army, and his mother brought her little family to Texas in 1876, and she too is now deceased.

Compelled to begin the earning of his daily bread when a boy, Mr. Stinson has experienced a varied and especially busy career since boy- ' hood. During his early years he lived at Cisco, Thurber and Breckinridge, in this state, and in the last-named place became an apprenticed pharmacist in the drug store of C. S. Morris, a widely known old-time merchant whose store is still standing, conducted by his son. After learning the drug and pharmacy business in this store Mr. Stinson engaged in the first busi- ness enterprise on his own account at Spring- town, Parker county, where he bought out the drug store of Wadsworth Brothers. He con- tinued to do business there for four years, and in 1891 identified himself with the prospering little village of Strawn, where for the subse- quent fifteen years his life has been centered. He bought the drug business of J. N. Stuart and Sons at this place, and conducted it very successfully until 1900, when he sold out to B. C. Lowry. A man of parts and general business ability, he then turned his attention to developing the independent telephone lines of this part of the state, becoming third owner in the Northwest Telephone Company (in- dependent). He was made superintendent and general manager of that company's lines extending from Weatherford west to Abi- lene, embracing a block of territory westward from Breckinridge on the north to Granbury on the south. In 1904 the Northwest Tele- phone Company sold out to the Bell interests, and since that time Mr. Stinson has centered all his business interests in the growing town of Strawn, where he is a prominent leader among the business men and is a thoroughly wide-awake, public-spirited citizen, determined to make his home town the best in West Texas.

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

He organized the Strawn Feed and Grain Com- pany, having as partners in the same J. H. Housley and G. J. Watson, two enterprising gentlemen who have grown up in this section of the state. This business is housed in its own building, a substantial, two-story corner' brick.

Mr. Stinson is also extensively interested in local real estate, town as well as ranch proper- ty, including his own holdings and also being agent for other large properties, such as the Mount Marion Coal Company. He has one of the most beautiful residence properties in this county, "Cedar Point," located at the south- west corner of town, and so situated on an eminence that it commands a splendid view of the town and entire valley. Here he has begun improvements that will make this in time a place of surpassing beauty, nature her- self seeming to have fixed upon this as an ideal home site. There are twenty-five acres in the place, and by the construction of a large dam a beautiful artificial lake has been created, pro- viding a generous supply of water as well as affording another source of beauty and amuse- ment. A gasoline engine pumps the water to the residence and other parts of the grounds, furnishing a plentiful supply for irrigation pur- poses, so that the entire place may be trans- formed into a rich and verdant garden spot.

Mr. Stinson was married at Strawn to Miss Bessie Dillahunty, who is a daughter of the late J H. Dillahunty, a noted old-timer and promi- nent merchant of Strawn. The three children of the marriage are Fay. Ronald and J. W., Jr. Mr. Stinson affiliates with the Knights of Pythias.

HON. WILLIAM P. GIBBS, who pleas- antly and profitably combines the occupations of farming and the practice of law at Gordon, Palo Pinto county, has lived at his present place. "in the shade of the same tree," for over twenty-five years, so that no one has deeper interest in the welfare and permanent progress of this section of the state.

Mr. Gibbs is a Missourian by birth, having been born in Madison county of that state in 1850, a son of H. A. and Sophronia (Rosebor- ough) Gibbs. His father, a native of North Carolina, moved to Madison county, Missouri, in 1844, and continued his occupation of farm- ing until his death. After his death the mother came to Gordon, Texas, to make her home with her son, but she passed away the following year.

Reared on a farm, Mr. Gibbs has had a thor- ough and practical experience in this industry beginning with his boyhood. He lived at the Missouri home until 1878, and in that year came to Texas and located on the farm in Palo Pinto county where he has lived ever since. His farm was located one mile northeast of where Gordon later grew up into a town. With the construction of the Texas and Pacific Railroad through the southern part of Palo Pinto coun- ty in 1881 there sprung up several towns, one of which was Gordon, which has now become a prosperous and substantial commercial center. As a farmer Mr. Gibbs has been one of the most successful in this county. He has three hun- dred and fifty acres in cultivation every year and a pasture of one hundred acres. Believing in and practicing diversification of crops, he has not made the mistake of so many southern farmers in sticking to one crop and in all sea- sons has been able to make a profit out of his business. He conducts his farm on business principles throughout, watches the markets closely, takes advantage of his opportunities, and consequently makes money.

It was after he came to Texas that Mr. Gibbs turned his attention to the law, pursuing his studies privately and securing admission to the bar in 1884. He now has a good practice in the courts of Palo Pinto and adjoining coun- ties. By two successive elections he served as county attorney from 1890 to 1894. In 1902 he was elected representative from the eighty- first legislative district, serving during the twenty-eighth session of the legislature. He made a most creditable record in the house, and several important laws now in force bear the impress of his influence. As a member of the committee on roads, bridges and ferries he prepared, introduced and had passed through both houses a special bill known as the special road law for Palo Pinto county, which provided for a reduction of the poll tax in this county from five dollars to three, and an increase in the road tax from fifteen cents to thirty cents on the hundred dollars, the purpose being to raise funds by bond issues for the building of bridges in Palo Pinto county. This measure has proved a very beneficent one and especially ad- vantageous and needful in this county owing to the sinuous windings of the Brazos river across the county, so that good and substantial bridges are an absolute necessity for easy ve- hicle traffic. During his legislative career Mr. Gibbs was also one of a committee of three ap- pointed to draft a law providing for the work-

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

ing of convicts on public roads, and it fell upon him to draw up the proper statute for this ob- ject, and it was enacted and is now a law.

As may be seen from what has been said, Mr. Gibbs has been at the forefront in gain- ing public improvements for Gordon and for Palo Pinto county and his public-spirited citizenship has been shown in many other ways. Through his influence with the presiding elder he was in- strumental in having erected the first Metho- dist church edifice in Gordon; in fact, on the recommendation of the presiding elder the board of church extension turned over to him the funds and placed in his hands the matter of building the church. Subsequently he was a leading factor in erecting the present church building at a cost of twenty-five hundred dol- lars. He is a steward and a prominent member of the Methodist church at Gordon. He is also a popular member of the Masonic order, and an uncompromising Democrat in politics.

Mr. Gibbs was married in Missouri to Miss Amanda Thompson. They have taken much pride in giving their four sons excellent home and educational training and are gratified to see them entering upon worthy careers. Charles, the eldest, is a lawyer and now county attorney of Midland county, this state ; Walter, the second, owns and operates a good farm ad- joining that of his father ; and Albert and Wil- liam are the youngest.

BARTON H. STARR. In presenting the history of Barton H. Starr to the readers of this volume we record the life record of an hon- ored pioneer settler whose memory forms a connecting link between the primitive past with its hardships, dangers and privations and the progressive present with its evidences of an advanced civilization. He has resided in Grapevine since 1880 but dates his residence in Tarrant county from 1854. His birth occurred in Monroe county, Illinois on the 24th of Feb- ruary, 1850, his parents being Rev. Daniel and Angeline (Levisee) Starr, the former a native of Illinois and the latter of New York. It is believed that the ancestors on both sides were originally of German birth. Rev. Daniel Starr, seeking a home in Texas in 1854, brought his family to Tarrant county and settled a short distance northeast of the present site of Grape- vine. All around for miles stretched the un- broken prairie covered with its native grasses, the work of improvement and progress being scarcely begun but the family aided in planting the seeds of civilization and development in this portion of the state and Daniel Starr contin-

ued to exercise his influence for material im- provement and religious upbuilding until his life's labors were ended on the 5th of Septem- ber. 1870. His wife survived him for many years, passing away on the 7th of May, 1903, in the ninety-first year of her age, her birth having >occurred on the roth of August. 1812. Rev. Starr was a local pioneer preacher of Grapevine and vicinity, being connected with the Methodist Episcopal church South and for many years he engaged in pastoral work in this part of the county. He had formerly been a preacher of Monroe county, Illinois, and he labored untiringly for the spread of the gospel and the dissemination of the seeds of truth, which in due time have brought forth rich harvests in the lives of those with whom he came in contact. His political allegiance was given to the Democracy and fraternally he was connected with the Masonic lodge at Grapevine. When called from this life Tarrant county lost one of the old settlers of the north- ern section and a well known and most highly respected citizen, his genial manner, kindly disposition and devotion to the public good having won him popularity. Unto him and his wife were born the following named: Julia .A., now the wife of William Scribner of Ada. Indian Territory; John D., who is living in Arkansas ; Margaret C., the wife of A. J. Loop- er, of Ada ; Barton H .; and Rachel A., the wife of N. Butler, who is living at South McAllister in Indian Territory.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 71

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