A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 84

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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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

army. His was Company H, Sixteenth Infan- try, under Captain W. H. Hardy, Colonel Pos- ey's regiment, Trimmell's brigade and Hill's corps, and, later, in Jackson's brigade and Longstreet's corps. He went with his com- pany into Virginia, reaching the front just after the first battle of Manassas. He was de- tailed there, being so young and immature, on provost guard duty under Major Payne at Warrenton for six months and then rejoined his company in the valley of Virginia, where under Jackson's command, they were engaged in battle at Cross Keys. The seven days' fight followed and in the desperate battle of Mal- vern Hill he also participated. While the army was resting up from its hard work Mr. Gowan was discharged from the army on an order from the war department issued in pursuance of an act of the Confederate Congress for the discharge of all soldiers under eighteen years of age. He remained at home for ten months and having then reached the required enlist- ment age, he returned to Virginia and resumed his place in his old company. His first regular engagement after his return was at Spottsyl- vania Court House, during which he received a severe wound in the leg and was sent to the hospital for treatment. He soon recovered and, six months later, in a battle on the Weldon and Petersburg railroad in North Carolina, was taken prisoner and sent to Point Lookout, Maryland, where he was paroled the ensuing winter.

He made his home trip by boat and soon thereafter became a member of a company of the Home Guard and remained out of active service during the remainder of the war. The work of his father's farm occupied him the re- mainder of his stay in Mississippi and early in the year following the declaration of peace he took the step which established him in Texas and identified him with the west.

May 16, 1866, Mr. Gowan married Mary E. Lyles, a daughter of John T. Lyles, a prominent merchant, farmer and man-of-affairs who served with distinction during the war in the Twenty-seventh Mississippi Infantry, and who died in 1874, from the effects of a terrible wound in the neck received during the Vicksburg siege the day before the surrender. He was of a family prominent in the state, had creditably filled public office in Noxubee and Smith coun- ties, Mississippi, and was universally esteemed. His brother, Dr. W. D. Lyles, was surgeon gen- eral in the Confederate army and was a con- spicuous figure in his profession. The wife of John T. Lyles, whose maiden name was Julia

A. Davis, was noted not only for her attractive personality and numerous accomplishments, but was distinguished by her marked intellectual- ity, charm of manner and gifted conversa- tional powers.

Mr. and Mrs. Gowan were married on the 16th of May and on the 20th of the month, hav- ing heard of the better opportunities offered in the west, and especially in the newer state of Texas, and being of enterprising and adventur- ous disposition, they determined to remove hither, and, by rail, departed from Lake sta- tion, for Vicksburg, where the steamer "Ma- dam Ruth" conveyed them to Napoleon, Ark- ansas, and the "Linnie Drown" took them on up the Arkansas river, to Little Rock. Ar- riving there they were only entering on the really difficult stage of their journey. Mr. Gowan began his preparation for the overland tiip by buying a good yoke of steers and one of the old Illinois wagons and laying in a supply of stuff for their commissary started bravely forth. Blessed by favorable conditions and delayed by no untoward incident, he made his tiresome way to Milford, Ellis county, Tex- as, where they halted with a relative; George Davis, and there put forth his first act as a citi- zen of the Lone Star state.

Shortly after reaching Ellis county he pur- chased of Mr. Davis the "UD" brand of cat- tle, which the latter had acquired about the beginning of the war and had taken no account of them and their increase during all that epoch. He paid for them in gold and began a rounding- up process which resulted in his finding some six hundred head scattered over a wide terri- tory. Before he had really finished his round- up he began the business of driving bunches of them to the New Orleans market and it was while so employed in 1867-8 that cattlemen from Kansas and Missouri came down, bought cattle in the southern part of the state and drove them north, on their way out picking up all unguarded animals they could possibly mix with their herds, and by this system of robbery Mr. Gowan was practically "stolen out." It was on this account mainly that he decided to seek another location. He first moved to Na- varro county, where he was a ranchman for nearly five years. Energetic and industrious, he was prospering reasonably well when the opening of those lands to settlement caused an influx of immigration which threatened the cur- tailment of the cattle range and caused him to think of removal. He decided to locate at Eufala, Indian Territory, and transferred all his interests there, but after four and one-

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

half years again came to Texas and in 1876 found father aged seventy-seven and the mother at himself beginning his long residence in Clay . eighty-three. He comes of a long-lived family county. Returning here, he bought a quarter and is himself seemingly in the prime of life. His friends unite in the wish that, with his estimable wife, he may enjoy for many years the comforts and pleasures that crown well- spent lives. section of land on East Fork, the site of old Camp Wichita, a post erected' for the pro- tection of the settlers from hostile Indians and occupied by a company of rangers commanded. by Captain Ikard. When the post was aban- doned and preparation was being made to open the land to settlement this locality was sur- veyed by Colonel William Howett and Dr.

GEORGE. S. BERRY, whose advancement and enterprise are manifest in an active busi- ness career that has enabled him to make con- Eldridge. Then began a wild scramble for , secutive advancement until he has attained a cattle range, small farmers, or "nesters," were ' prominent position in banking circles in bought out and wild lands secured. 1

Mr. Gowan devoted himself almost entirely to the handling of stock, in which he could rightly claim to be an expert. By wise man- agement he gradually increased his holdings,. buying up adjoining lands until his real hold- ings amounted to a princely estate. He was the first to introduce wire fences for pastures and thereby keep his cattle in and strange cattle out of his herd. In proof of the success, the result of his unremitting care, and almost fault- less system of business it may be stated that in 1901, desiring to shift much of his respon- sibilities to younger shoulders, he divided among his children his eight thousand acre ranch, fenced, cross-fenced and supplied with tenements and has since amused himself with his little stock ranch of eight hundred acres within a mile of Henrietta. He has here a ranch-farm stocked with sheep, cattle, hogs and horses and in 1891, when he became inter- ested up here, erected a nine-room brick resi- dence, the only one of its kind in Clay county, and here he and his estimable wife are sur- rounded with all the necessities to make life comfortable and enjoyable.

Mr. and Mrs. Gowan's children are seven in number and their names and locations are as follows: Teedo, wife of M. L. Putty, of Hen- rietta, with children, Rose, Gowan, Cecil and Malcom; Sherwood, married to Hettie Harbi- son and has children, Clifton, Elmer Buford, Eddie May and Francis Josephine; Richard T., married to Myrtle Crozier and has children, Crozier Gowan, Robert Lee and Hattie Lucile ; Maggie, widow of Ed Kerr, resides in Corsi- cana and has a daughter, Marguerite; Susan, now Mrs. John L. Cecil, has a child, Mary Vivian; Miss Mary Gowan and Garrett H. Gowan, Jr., both with the parental home. The children have fine estates carved out of the old Gowan ranch on East Fork of the Little Wichita.

Mr. Gowan's parents lived to a green old age and died in Navarro county, Texas, the

western Texas, is today at the head of the First National Bank of Merkel. He is a Ken- tuckian by birth, his life history beginning in Louisville on the 7th of April, 1866. His father, J. Taylor Berry, was born in Taylor county, Kentucky, in 1832, and for many years was a resident of Louisville, where he entered upon his business career and in due time worked his way upward until he became a member of the firm of Tapp, Walsh & Berry, one of the largest wholesale mercantile enter- prises of the city. During the financial panic of 1873 he left Louisville and removed to La Rue county, Kentucky, where he was engaged in the stock business. He became an extensive dealer in fine stock and made large shipments to southern states. Subsequently he took up. his abode in Elizabethtown, Hardin county, Kentucky, where in connection with D. J. Hargan he engaged in general merchandising until 1878. That year witnessed his arrival in Belle Plain, Callahan county, Texas, where he conducted a general mercantile enterprise until 1880 or 1881. At that time the Texas & Pacific Railroad was built as far as Weather- ford and in connection with General John Brown of Tennessee and J. Stoddard Johnston of Frankford, Kentucky, he founded the town of Abilene in the spring of 1881. This was prior to the building of the railroad to western Texas. After the extension of the line a sale of lots was held and the town was organized. Mr. Berry further continued his work of up- building in Texas by founding the town of Amarillo on the Fort Worth & Denver Rail- road in 1886, in which enterprise he was asso- ciated with C. W. and J. B. Merchant of Abi- lene. He continued to make his home, how- ever, in Abilene up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1888. In 1861. while living in Louisville, Kentucky, he entered the Con- federate service and was captain of a company under General John Morgan, with which he

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

served throughout the war. Mr. Berry was married in 1859 to Miss Mary Courtney Smith, a daughter of George W. Smith, a prominent citizen and miller of Louisville. Her maternal grandfather was a Furguson and his ancestors came direct from Ireland.

In the family of Mr. and Mrs. J. Taylor Berry were nine children, five sons and four daughters, all of whom are living, as follows : W. T. Berry, who is living in Merkel; Ellen F., the wife of John Bowyer of Abilene; George S .; J. T., residing in Cisco ; Bettie H., the wife of J. W. Hampton of Abilene; Courtney S., who is living in Los Angeles, California ; Alice S., of Abilene : Charles S., of El Oro, Mexico; and Frances C., the wife of Sam Wells of Abilene.

George S. Berry was a small boy when brought to Abilene by his parents. His early education was supplemented by study in the University of Texas at Austin, where he re- mained for three years and following the com- pletion of his course he returned to Abilene, where he embarked in merchandising. Two years later he went with his father to Amarillo, Texas, and aided in locating that town. He was appointed postmaster of Amarillo under President Cleveland and remained there for two years. He was also associated with his father in the ownership and sale of a large amount of real estate but on account of his father's failing health he resigned his position as postmaster and after disposing of his realty interests to good advantage returned to Abi- lene to take care of his father, who, however, died shortly afterward. George S. Berry was appointed administrator of the estate, which he settled up to good advantage. He then ac- cepted a position in the Abilene National Bank of which William Cameron was president and soon afterward Mr. Berry was made cashier, which position he filled for about six or seven years, resigning on the expiration of that period. He then removed to Merkel, where he opened a private bank under the name of Steffens, Lowdon & Company. Later Mr. Berry purchased the interest of his partners and changed the name to the Bank of Merkel. The institution was capitalized for twenty-five thousand dollars. In 1901 he organized the First National Bank of Merkel, liquidating the former bank and capitalizing the new institu - tion for thirty thousand dollars. Mr. Berry owns a controlling interest in the stock and has served as cashier from the beginning. That success has attended the enterprise is shown

by the fact that the capital stock was increased to fifty thousand dollars on January 2, 1903, and that there was a surplus of ten thousand dollars after paying six per cent semi-annual dividends from the date of organization. Again the capital stock was increased on the 2nd of January, 1905, to eighty thousand dollars, Mr. Berry still retaining the controlling interest and there are today surplus and undivided profits to the amount of twenty thousand dol- lars. Six years ago the smallest bank in Tay- lor county, it is now the largest financial insti- tution there, enjoying a constantly growing patronage and conducting all departments of banking. Mr. Berry is now president of the institution, which has made such a splendid . record and is justly regarded as one of the safe and reliable financial concerns of the county. A man of resourceful business ability, he has extended his efforts into other fields of activity, and several enterprises have felt the stimulus and beneficial effect of his co-opera- tion, wise counsel and sound judgment. He is a stockholder in the Merkel Hardware Com- pany, which was incorporated and capitalized at twenty-five thousand dollars; is also a stockholder in the Farmers & Merchants Gin Company of Merkel; is a stockholder and director of the Fort Worth Iron & Steel Man- ufacturing Company of Fort Worth, Texas, capitalized at two hundred thousand dollars; and is treasurer of the Capps Land Company of Fort Worth, capitalized at thirty thousand dollars. On the 14th of June, 1905, Mr. Berry was elected treasurer of the Texas Bankers Association, which is indicative of his high standing and bespeaks his popularity in finan- cial circles of Texas.

On the 10th of June, 1896, was celebrated the marriage of George S. Berry and Miss Evelyn Belcher, a native of Memphis, Tennes- see, and unto them have been born a son and two daughters. Mr. Berry belongs to the Masonic fraternity and also is indentified with the Elks and the Knights of Pythias, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Episcopal church. Through his own unaided effort, strong purpose and laudable ambition guided by sound judgment he has achieved his present position at the head of a flourishing financial institution. He is a man cf broad mind, capable of seeing both sides of a proposition and he has the happy faculty of winning the confidence of men through his natural charm of manner fortified by untiring energy.

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

DR. JAMES MINOR ALEXANDER, a leading physician of Abilene, was born in Mau- ry county, Tennessee, September 18, 1867. His father, James Franklin Alexander, is rep- resented elsewhere in this work. In his youth Dr. Alexander remained upon his father's farm and attended the common schools of the home locality, therein mastering the common branches of English learning. After putting aside his text-books he became connected with the drug trade and while thus engaged ac- quired a good knowledge of chemistry and pre- scription work. He was thus employed for two years in Hillsboro, Texas, and this led to his desire to become a member of the medical fraternity so that ultimately he matriculated in the Louisville Medical College, at Louisville, Kentucky, from which institution he was grad- uated in the class of 1889. He then returned to this state for the practice of medicine, open- ing an office in Victoria, whence he came to Abilene in November, 1889. Here he has since resided, ever seeking for the latest discoveries and modern theories of medicine and surgery. He has at different time pursued post graduate work in the Post Graduate Hospital of New York, and has thus kept in touch with the on- ward march of his profession. Since locating in Abilene Dr. Alexander has built up a large and lucrative practice and is regarded as an excellent physician and skillful surgeon, hav- ing comprehensive knowledge of the principles of medical science which he applies accurately and correctly to the needs of his patients. Recognizing the need of a suitable place where the sick of the western country could receive proper attention he erected in 1904 a sanitarium at the west end of North Fifth street, in Abi- lene. This is a spacious two-story structure, containing about seventeen rooms and is fitted up with all modern appliances and apparatus, " including the X-ray and other electrical equip- ments. The building is well furnished, lighted throughout with electricity and heated by steam and in fact has every comfort and con- venience for its patrons in harmony with the lines of health and sanitation. Dr. Alexander is a member of both the State and Taylor County Medical Associations and his fraternal relations connect him with the Elks, the Woodmen of the World and other societies.

On the 19th of November, 1896, Dr. Alex- ander wedded Miss Madge Quarles, a daugh- ter of William Quarles, and a native of Charleston, Mississippi. They have one son, James Word Alexander.

JAMES FRANKLIN ALEXANDER, now enjoying in well earned ease an honorable re- tirement from labor at his pleasant home in Abilene, was born in Maury county, Tennes- see, October 31, 1833. His father, James Minor Alexander, removed from Camden, South Car- olina, to Tennessee in the year 1810. His mother was Margaret Carter prior to her mar- riage into the Alexander family. Having ar- rived at years of maturity James M. Alexander married a Miss Aiken, also a native of South Carolina, whose father removed to Tennessee about the same time the Alexander family was established there. Mr. and Mrs. James M. Alexander became the parents of six children, two sons and four daughters, of whom James Franklin is the only one now living.

He was reared on the farm up to the time of his father's death in 1857, after which he went to Spring Hill, Tennessee, and there engaged in the dry goods business with which he was connected for three years. At that time the country was involved in the throes of the Civil war and Mr. Alexander espoused the cause of the south, offering his services in its defense, enlisting on the 21st of May, 1861, as a member of Company E, Third Regiment of Volunteer Infantry, the company being known as Brown's rifles, for the regiment was com- manded by Colonel John C. Brown. He was afterward promoted to the rank of general and commanded a division. Dr. Alexander was with his command and brigade up to the time they left Bowling Green, Kentucky, and there he was detached on special duty for service in the pay master's and quartermaster's depart- ment. He remained with the army through- out the war and was with General Joe John- ston's command at the time of the surrender at Greenville, North Carolina.

After being paroled he returned to Nash- ville, where he arrived on the 21st of May, 1865, just exactly four years from the time of his enlistment. The next important event in his life was his marriage, which was celebrated on the 28th of September, 1865, at which time Miss Elizabeth McLemore became his wife. She is a native of Maury county, Tennessee, and a daughter of Jefferson McLemore, of a representative family of that section of the country. Unto them have been born three children : James M., who is mentioned else- where in this volume; Bethenia J .; and Dr. Sydney Mclemore Alexander, also a practic- ing physician at Abilene. The wife and mother departed this life in August, 1891.

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

Following his marriage Mr. Alexander turned his attention to farming near Spring Hill, where he remained until 1890. At that time he sold his farm and removed to Abilene, Texas, where he engaged in the drug business, having purchased the stock of P. H. Carter. This store he conducted for eight years with good success and then sold out to L. H. Brad- field, since which time he has lived retired save for the supervision of his invested interests, for he owns considerable property in this part of the state. He is a member of Abilene lodge, No. 562, B. P. O. E., and is a man of genuine worth, enjoying in high measure the esteem and confidence of those with whom he has been associated.

CAPTAIN BELA A. HUDGINS, a well known stock farmer at Hale Center, Hale county, was born in Pickens county, Alabama, in 1836. During his lifetime of nearly seventy years he has had a varied yet withal very suc- cessful career, and has been a gallant soldier, an enterprising business man and a thoroughly public spirited citizen. He has spent the last fifteen years of his life in Hale county, where he is known and esteemed for his high personal worth and integrity of character.

His parents were Austin and Nancy (Man- gum) Hudgins. His father, a South Carolin- ian by birth, went to Pickens county, Alabama, when a young man, and became one of the suc- cessful and prominent planters and slave- owners of that county. He died there at the beginning of the Civil war. His wife, also born in South Carolina, died at the Pickens county home in 1878.

Reared on the Alabama plantation, of which he became superintendent in early manhood, Mr. Hudgins continued the peaceful course of his life until he was twenty-five years old. In the summer of 1861, however, he enlisted in Company D, Forty-first Alabama Infantry, and was made first lieutenant of his company. Within a few months he was promoted to cap- tain, and as such he commanded his company until he was wounded in battle and disabled. His company was a part of the Army of the Tennesse, and for some time was attached to the first Kentucky, better known as the Orphan Brigade, so called on account of the early death of two of its first commanders, General Roger W. Hanson and General Hardin Helm. Captain Hudgins' first battle was at Bridgeport, Alabama, and subsequent to that most of his active service was in Tennessee. At

the battle of Murfreesboro he was wounded and disabled for six months, after which he re- joined his regiment. His last battle was at Chickamauga, following which his old wound began troubling him to the extent of disable- ment, so that he was placed in the enrolling service at post duty, being at different points in Alabama and Florida in that branch of the service until the close of the war.

After the war Captain Hudgins went back to his old home and was engaged in farming and other lines of business there until coming to Texas in 1879. In this state he went into the cattle business, his first location being in Young county, and then for a few years he was in Palo Pinto county, in both of which counties he was among the early settlers. In 1889, deciding to come still further west, he drove his cattle out to Hale county and located at his present home, four miles south of Hale Center. There he has a pasturage of five sec- tions, and carries on a general stock farming business. He has a comfortable home, prettily situated, and noted as a hospitable place of meeting for his old friends and neighbors. Cap- tain Hudgins is an interesting talker and a most pleasant man to meet, and his rich fund of experiences in military and business affairs makes him a resourceful and ready man in all the emergencies of life.

Captain Hudgins was married in Pickens county in 1859 to Miss Laura V. Walker, and they have a fine and successful family of seven children, as follows: Mrs. Nancy E. Pearson, of Mineral Wells, Texas; Fitz G., who re- sides on his fine ranch in Hale county; Sallie Olivia Birdwell, of Portales, New Mexico; Mattie Eliza Norfleet, living on the Spade ranch in Lamb county; Katie Myrtle Payne, in Lamb county ; Lewis Decatur, on his ranch in Hale county ; and Ed B., who lives with his father on the home place.

CHARLES M. DOWLEN. It is befitting to present in brief an outline of the effort ex- pended by our worthy subject upon Texas soils during the comparatively brief period of his independent career and to set out at some length, the genealogical record of this indus- trious and thrifty family.

The Dowlen family was founded in Texas, in Lamar county, by a Mr. Dowlen, in 1853. He brought his family into this state from Knox county, Tennessee, and opened up a farm in the then new country about Honey Grove. His efforts were expended in the growing of

CHARLES M. DOWLEN

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

crops and in other ways usual to that early day and he died about 1874, leaving a widow, . who had borne him the following children: John W., William H., of Windom, Texas; Samuel M., Channing, Texas; Alexander, of Honey Grove; Lewis, of Petty, Texas; Vance. A., of Oklahoma; Eliza, widow of Owen Bryan ; and Nancy, wife of Judson Harold of Hall county, Texas.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 84

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