A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 86

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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James P. McDaniel, the subject of this review, was reared upon his father's farm, where he re- mained until about three years after the close of the war. In the last year of the war there was a call for young recruits known as the "sixteen year old," and while Mr. McDaniel was a little past that age he, however, offered his services to the cause of his country and enlisted in Mc- Ginnis' Cavalry Company, commanded by Dr. Wilson. These troops only saw about six or eight months' actual service, as the war closed about that time.

In 1873 Mr. McDaniel went to Calvert, in Robertson county, and was there engaged with Sedgwick & Elliott in the lumber business, re- maining with that firm for four years. This was about the time the Houston & Texas Central Railroad was built into Calvert. After about four years the road was extended to Sherman and Van Alstyne on the line of the road. Mr. McDaniel purchased the lumber business of Sedgwick & Elliott and continued in the lumber business on his own account at that point for three years. He then closed out the lumber business and embarked in the grocery business at the same place, carrying on that enterprise for about three years. When he had disposed of his stock of groceries in Van Alstyne he took up his abode on his farm just across the line in Collin county and was thus identified with agri-

cultural pursuits until 1883. At that date he formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, D. O. McRimmon, in a general mercantile venture at Albany, Shackelford county, Texas, where the business was conducted with signal success for seventeen years, or until the removal to Stamford. In the spring of 1905 the business was incorporated here under the firm name of D. O. McRimmon & Company, with a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars. This is one of the largest enterprises of the kind in western Texas, having a trade which is drawn from a large area of country. The business methods are strictly honorable, and reasonable prices, fair dealing and desire to please their customers have secured for the house a very liberal and gratify- ing patronage.

During his residence in Van Alstyne, Mr. Mc- Daniel was married, in 1877, to Miss Montie McRimmon, a daughter of Cornelius D. Mc- Rimmon. Both Mr. and Mrs. McDaniel hold membership in the Christian church, with which they have been identified for about twenty years. . Their family numbers three children, Walter, Herbert Euclat and Cecil Doud. The family are prominent socially in the community where they reside, and Mr. McDaniel is one who has con- tributed in substantial measure to the commer- cial development of the city and its progress in many other ways, giving his aid to any measure that tends to advance public improvement and the general good. His business methods are strictly honorable and his entire life has been characterized by a fidelity to the principles which develop upright manhood and sterling worth.

DAVID O. McRIMMON, the senior part- ner of the D. O. McRimmon Mercantile Com- pany, of Stamford, one of the leading commer- cial enterprises in this section of the state, has been a resident of Texas since 1866 and is there- fore largely familiar with the history of its prog- ress and development, having for almost forty years been a witness of the great changes that have occurred. He was born in Bibb county, Alabama, about forty miles north of Selma, on the 25th of October, 1859. His father, Cornelius D. McRimmon, was a native of North Carolina and when a mere boy removed to Alabama. He was of Scotch-Irish descent and was married in Alabama to Miss Elizabeth Lawhon, a native of that state. He followed farming and general merchandising, giving his attention to the latter pursuit to a greater or less extent up to the time of his death, which occurred September 17, 1879, in Van Alstyne, Grayson county, Texas, where

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he had made his home from 1871. He was one of the first merchants of the town, locating there when the Houston & Texas Central Railroad was built through. He was a man of enterprise in business life, of energy, and strong purpose and of honor in every relation. His wife has also passed away. In their family were two sons and six daughters, of whom four are now living and are residents of Texas.

D. O. McRimmon was principally reared in Texas, spending his youth largely in Cherokee county, where his father first located on coming. to this state. His youth was largely passed on the farm in the usual manner of lads of the pe- riod and his time was divided between farm work and the acquirement of an education. When still quite young, however, he was placed in his father's store where he received his early train- ing in business. He was twenty years of age when his father died and the duties of caring for his widowed mother and the affairs of his fath- er's business devolved largely upon him. Since that time his attention has been given to busi- ness pursuits and he has made steady advance- ment in a commercial career. In 1883 he re- moved to Albany, Texas, where he embarked in merchandising on his own account, remaining there for about seventeen years. About that time the town of Stamford was started, being organized in the spring of 1901. Mr. McRim- mon opened a store here, which was the second mercantile enterprise of the new town. The firm of D. O. McRimmon & Company was founded in Albany with J. P. McDaniel as a partner, and this relationship has been maintained to the present time. The firm was incorporated on the Ioth of February, 1905, under the style of the D. O. McRimmon Mercantile Company with a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars. Their cap- ital stock when they began business in Albany was but four hundred dollars and these figures indicate the splendid success which has attended the proprietors. The Albany store was con- ducted for about a year after the Stamford store was opened, and the former was then discon- tinued, the efforts of the proprietors being con- centrated upon the development of the business in the latter place. The store was first opened on the south side of the square on Hamilton street, but in February, 1904, the firm erected its present spacious building on Swenson avenue on the west side of the square.

Mr. McRimmon was married in 1893 to Miss Stella Cullum, a daughter of D. S. Cullum, now of Stamford. They have one son, Willard D. McRimmon. Mr. McRimmon is interested in

the social, political, intellectual and moral devel- opment of the city as well as in its material prog- ress, and since 1894 he has been a member of the Presbyterian church. In manner he is courte- ous and affable to all with whom he comes in contact whether through business or social rela- tions. His time naturally is largely devoted to mercantile pursuits and through his constant at- tention, combined with his excellent qualifica- tions for commercial life, he has succeeded in making his house one of the leading business centers of western Texas.

MAJOR LOUIS C. WISE is one of the early residents of Abilene. In fact he visited this lo- cality before the town was established and when it was founded he returned and took up his abode here. His history forms an integral chap- ter in the annals of the city, for his efforts have contributed in large measure to its material progress and upbuilding. He is a native of Nor- folk, Virginia, born June 23, 1844. His father, John C. Wise, was a brother of Henry A. Wise, governor of Virginia, and the ancestry of the family can be traced back to 1635 when John Wise came from Devonshire, England, on the ship Transport and settled in Accomac county, Virginia. There is an unbroken line down to John Cropper Wise, the father of Major Wise. He married Ann Finney, a daughter of Colonel John Finney, a soldier of the Revolutionary war, and they became the parents of seven children, five sons and two daughters, all of whom are living in Virginia with the exception of one son, who makes his home in Baltimore, Maryland, and Louis C. Wise, of this review.

In his youth Major Louis C. Wise became a cadet of the Virginia Military Institute, from which he was graduated in 1864. He partici- pated in the battle of Newmarket, Virginia, the cadets from this school being an important fac- tor in securing the victory in that engagement. The Confederate troops were under command of General John C. Breckinridge, while the Fed- eral troops were commanded by General Franz Siegel. There were three hundred and fifty ca- dets who entered the engagement, of which number fifty-two were either killed or wounded. Henry Wise, brother of Major Wise, took a very important part in the struggle. Colonel Ship was in command of the batallion, but being wounded, the command devolved upon Henry Wise, who was the senior captain and who was martial, his efforts bringing success to the Con- federate army. He never received credit, how- ever, for the valor and courage he displayed in

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

taking the command and making the charge on that occasion. Thirty-nine years after the battle of Newmarket, Virginia, the cadets met in a re- union which was held at Lexington, Virginia, in June, 1893, and Major Wise considers these two events-the battle and the reunion-as among the most important things in his life his- tory.

Following the close of the war Louis Wise went to Mexico as an engineer on the survey of the Vera Cruz and Mexico Railroad, spending about eight months in that country, when, ow- ing to the hostility between the Liberals and the Imperialists, the work was suspended. He then came to Texas in 1866, settling first at Bastrop, where he engaged in teaching school. He was afterward employed as a draftsman in the state land office, at Austin, but in 1880 he resigned that position and went on a land surveying expe- dition for the Houston and Great Northern Railroad Company, visiting northwest Texas, principally the counties of Dickens, Crosby, Kent and Garza. There he remained for about eight months and through the present site of Abilene in 1880 and in 1881 he returned at the time of the foundation of the town. He has since made his home here with the exception of a period of eight years when he was appointed as chief draftsman at the land office at Austin. He has been engaged in real-estate dealing since coming to Abilene except for a short time when he devoted his attention to the sheep industry. His business affairs have been well directed, his ability gaining him success for it has rested upon sound judgment, unfaltering perseverance and strong determination. Major Wise has been married three times. His present wife was Bar- bara Scott, a native of Princess Anne county, Virginia. They have two sons, John C. and Louis S. Wise.

Major Wise won his title through service with the Fourth Texas National Guards, with which he was connected a number of years ago. He is a gentleman of the old Virginia school and is an earnest advocate of several enterprises that tend toward the uplifting of humanity and the general interests of the country.

GEORGE CLAYTON. The family history of George Clayton records that his grandfather, Charles C. Clayton, was from Tennessee and re- moved to that state from Jefferson county, Ala- bama. He afterward established his home in Itawamba county, Mississippi, where he contin- ued to reside up to the time of his death, which

occurred in 1857, when he was eighty-two years of age. His wife belonged to the well known Tony family and they were married before their removal from Tennessee. They reared a family of nine children, eight sons and one daughter.

One of these sons, Warren Clayton, father of George Clayton, was their third child and was born in Tennessee in 1809. He was reared prin- cipally in Alabama and Mississippi, where he continued to reside until 1868, when he came to Texas, settling in Kaufman county, spending his remaining days there, his attention being de- voted to the occupation of farming. He married Miss Mary Ann Ratleff when twenty-one years of age. She was born in Jefferson county, Ala- bama, and was a daughter of Joshua Ratleff, who was a native of Ireland and came to this coun- try when a young man. Warren Clayton died in the year 1876 in Kaufman county, Texas, and his wife departed this life in Mississippi in 1862. They were the parents of nine children who reached mature years, five sons and four daugh- ters.

George Clayton, whose name introduces this review, was the fourth member of his father's family. He made his home under the parental roof until he was married, at the age of eighteen years. Like many other young men under the same circumstances, he was reared to habits of industry, for his father was in limited financial circumstances and needed the assistance of his sons upon the farm. After the cotton picking season was over he had opportunity to attend the country schools for a brief period and again shortly before he was eighteen years of age he was sent to a school at Mooresville, Mississippi, where he pursued his studies for about six months. He was then married, in March, 1852, the maiden name of his wife being Amanda Red- ding. She was born in Munroe county, Missis- sippi, and the young couple began their domes- tic life in Mississippi with very limited means. The father gave Mr. Clayton a pony and his mother gave him a feather bed, while his wife was the fortunate possessor of five head of cat- tle. His mother also gave them two home made chairs and his wife also had two chairs of like manufacture given her by her sister. This mainly comprised their outfit when they began housekeeping. Mr. Clayton, however, had in- curred an indebtedness of seventy-five dollars on merchandise which he had obtained two years before, but with strong hope and unfaltering purpose he started out to make a home for his bride.

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

It was at that time that Mr. Clayton began farming on his own account on a tract of rented land. He afterward rented other farms and con- tinued their cultivation until the outbreak of the Civil war, when he entered the service of the south, enlisting in Company C of the Fourth Mississippi Cavalry commanded by Colonel James Gordon. He was afterward transferred to another regiment and was in various engage- ments including pitched battles and skirmishes. He had many thrilling experiences, but passed through all without a wound. During the last year and a half of the war and up to this time his family at home had been in straitened financial circumstances and in order to do some- thing for their support Mr. Clayton obtained a permit from his regimental and brigade officers to supply the soldiers with whiskey. Searching out the distilleries in the neighborhood he by some means got the product such as they were able to make. From the revenue derived from the sale he was not only able to care for his fam- ily at home but at the close of the war had money enough left to buy his first quarter sec- tion of land, for which he paid one thousand dol- lars in Confederate money. He lived upon the place for about two years after the war and then sold it for three hundred and seventy-five dol- lars.

At that time Mr. Clayton came to Texas, ar- riving here in 1868. He settled in Lamar county, where he began farming, making his .

home there for over eight years. On the expir- ation of that period he came to western Texas in 1876 and located first in Coleman county, where he resided for about a year. He then turned his attention to the cattle business and removed to Runnels county, where he continued the busi- ness for about six years. Having found out by experience that sheep were more profitable than cattle, he decided to deal in the former and did so. While in Runnels county he also purchased five thousand acres of land at one dollar per acre and after holding it for less than a year he dis- posed of it for two dollars and twenty-five cents per acre, thus realizing a good return on his in- vestment. He next removed to Abilene in 1883 and has here made his home continuously since. After eighteen months he embarked in the liv- ery business on the ground where his present business property now stands on Chestnut street. On closing out his livery business he erected the business block which he yet owns, building the corner store first. He then pur- chased a stock of merchandise at sheriff's sale

and became a representative of commercial in- terests in Abilene. Mr. Clayton enlarged his stock from time to time and became proprietor of an extensive establishment, handling a splen- did line of general merchandise. During the year 1887 there was a financial panic caused by the failure of crops the preceding year. Many people had exhausted not only their supply of money but of clothing as well and Mr. Clayton, coming to their relief, sold much of his goods on credit, thus tiding over the families who were in need. He disposed of in that way one hun- dred and fifteen thousand dollars worth of goods, paying little attention to cash sales. That his faith was well placed and that his patrons appre- ciated his confidence is shown by the fact that he did not lose over five thousand dollars of the entire' amount-a statement that is certainly creditable as showing the honesty of Texas peo- ple. Mr. Clayton continued his business suc- cessfully until 1900, when he sold out, but after two years he again entered mercantile life as a grocer, conducting his store until 1905, when he once more retired from trade. His life record is an example of what may be accomplished by a young man who possesses determination, perse- verance and strong and honorable purpose. He has been one of Abilene's most successful mer- chants and accounts for his prosperity by his close application to his business, his reasonable prices and his straightforward methods. He now owns large landed possessions in Taylor county beside valuable business and residence property in Abilene.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Clayton have been born nine children by two marriages, four sons and five daughters, one son and one daughter of these being by his second wife, who when he married her was Mrs. Esther Pruitt, and all are now married and have families of their own, so that Mr. Clayton has sixty-seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, all living at this writing in 1905.

Such in brief is the life history of one of Abi- lene's representative citizens. He has seen Texas pass through all the marvelous changes that have converted a wilderness into a land that blooms and blossoms like the rose. He has wit- nessed the rapid transformation from buffalo range to cotton patch and he has lived an active life, interesting himself in every movement that stands for progress and advancement. He is now able to enjoy the pleasures of his own fire- side surrounded by the creature comforts that so amply reward his earnest toil in former years.

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

ELISHA ALPHEUS MATNEY, the sub- ject of this review, was among the honored and widely respected settlers of Montague county for nearly thirty years and his death removed an early settler and a man who had been iden- tified with the frontier practically all his life. He grew up in the state of Missouri when it was new and crossed the hostile country of the red man to the borders of civilization on the Pacific coast, returning east in the early seventies and becoming a settler of Texas and Montague county in 1874. After an active and successful life of sixty-five years he passed away August 3, 1902, having made ample pro- vision for those whom he left behind.

Elisha A. Matney was born in Haywood county, Tennessee, January 27, 1827, a son of Broadwaters Matney, who left Tennessee dur- ing the boyhood of our subject and established his family in Macon county, Missouri, where he brought up his family on the farm and from where he emigrated, with his son, to Oregon, in Jackson county, in which state he passed away about 1874. The latter married Miss Sarah McCully, and was the father of sixteen children.

The farm knew Elisha A. Matney all his long life and the rural schools of Missouri gave him a scant education. He was possessed, naturally, of an active and logical mind and a sympathetic heart and this combination brought his efforts substantial returns and won and maintained warm friendships through life. His second experience away from home was as a "forty-niner," and he crossed and re- crossed the "Great American Desert," as the plains were then known, six times. His first experience with the world at large was when he enlisted in the army for service in the war with Mexico. He was in the quartermaster's department, attached to the wagon train, and Hancock Jackson and General Sterling Price were his immediate commanders. Although his sympathies were with the south in her efforts to win independence, he did not enlist as a sol- dier in her armies.

Upon his return from California in 1852 he was married, October 22, in Randolph county, Missouri, to Miss Mary Mayo, a daughter of Valentine and Margaret (McCulley) Mayo. Mr. Mayo was born in Virginia, but came in- to Missouri from Tennessee and was married in Missouri, and died upon the place he settled. His children were: William and Jackson, who died in Missouri; Jane, who married William McCulley and resides in Howard county, Mis- souri : Thomas, who died in Nebraska; Rev.

Samuel Balso died in Nebraska; Mary, wife of our subject; Isaac, who passed away in Ark- ansas, and Sarah, wife of John Cockrell, of Nebraska.

Having brothers on the Pacific coast and being urged on to go thither by his father, who wished to be among his sons, Mr. Matney settled up his affairs, loaded his wagons and joined a caravan on the Missouri river en route across the plains. There were from forty to forty- eight wagons in the train and they followed up Platte river, crossed the mountains and traversed Green and Snake rivers and across the mountains in Idaho into Oregon to their destination in Jackson county, eight miles from Jacksonville. Mr. Matney was not pleased with that country and remained only one sea- son, going thence to California, and locating in Shasta county. He followed agriculture on the coast and after spending four years in Cali- fornia he decided to return "to the States" and he reached Arkansas after months of travel, without his family, who subsequently came to him by rail, and in that state he remained un- til his advent to Texas. He chose a spot near Queen's Peak, in Montague county, and in - 1877 purchased twelve hundred and ninety- seven acres of the Philpott and Connor sur- vey, which he occupied, improved, cultivated and divided among his wife and children be- fore his death.

Elisha A. Matney was a man who prac- ticed the teachings of the golden rule. He liked friends, welcomed everybody to his home and turned no man away from his door hungry. He belonged to no society or organi- zation and was always just plain Matney, as he often said.

Mr. and Mrs. Matney's children to reach maturity were: Iantha, wife of Charles Berry, who died June 11, 1897, leaving a son, George; William P., born in Macon county, Missouri, February 19, 1860, resides on a part of the home place with his wife, nee Lizzie Boone, whom he married December 16, 1900. Mrs. Matney, Jr., was a daughter of Needham A. Boone and Sarah Smith, of Bosque county, Texas, and their other children are: James A., William R. and Clara, deceased. Ida, the sec- ond daughter, is the wife of J. E. Walthall, of Bowie, and John T., of Hansford county, Texas, is the youngest and is married to Edna Craw- horn, his children being: James, Virgil, John T. and Mary Edna.

Elisha Matney and his posterity have filled a niche in the industrial fabric of Montague county. The founder of the family has finished

ELISHA A. MATNEY

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS. .

his work and gone to his reward, yet he has left his imprint upon the heads of families of suc- ceeding generations that only time can ef- face.

JOHN W. WOOTEN has passed the eigh- tieth milestone on life's journey and is yet a hale and hearty man. Old age is not necessarily a synonym of weakness or inactivity, nor need it suggest a lack of occupation, and we find in Mr. Wooten one who is yet energetic and who in his interests seems yet in his prime. He was for many years engaged in agricultural pursuits'in Taylor county and is still the owner of valuable property here. Moreover he is numbered among the pioneer settlers and his mind forms a con- necting link between the primitive past and the progressive present.

Mr. Wooten was born in Jasper county, Ten- . nessee, January 16, 1826, a son of Jesse and Frances (Thompson) Wooten, who were like- wise natives of that state. In their family were seventeen children, nine sons and eight daugh- ters, of whom John W. was the second in order of birth and is the only one now living. The family removed to Mississippi about 1836 and there he was reared, making his home in that state until 1846, when he came to Texas. There was a party from his home neighborhood in Mis- sissippi who planned to remove to this state and he joined their number. By trade he is a black- smith and wheelwright and he followed those pursuits for twenty years.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 86

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