A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 88

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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S. L. DRISKILL, a well known representa- tive of the cattle industry, his home being in Baird, has been a resident of Texas since 1856. His birth occurred in Barry County, Missouri, November 19, 1851. His father, John J. Dris- kill, was also a native of that state, born in 1822. The family is of Irish lineage and Sam- uel Driskill, the grandfather, emigrated from Ireland when about seventeen years of age, settling in Alabama, whence he afterward re- moved to Missouri. He followed the occupa- tion of farming in the latter state and was there married, the lady of his choice being Miss Minerva Peevey, who was a native of North Carolina. They resided in Missouri for a number of years, Mr. Driskill there devoting his energies to farming until 1856, when he came with his family to Texas, settling in San Marcos, Hays county, where he was identified

with agricultural pursuits until 1858. He then turned his attention to the cattle business, driving a herd of cattle from San Marcos by way of Missouri to Chicago. He wintered the stock in Missouri and then sold it in the Chi- cago market the following spring, grazing his herd while there on the very site of the stock yards of the present day. In the fall of 1861 he returned to Texas and in 1862 began driv- ing cattle for the Confederate army and fur- nishing beef for the troops, taking contracts from the Confederate government for this pur- pose. Following the war he engaged in freighting from Port Lavaca and Powder Horn to Austin and San Antonio, following this for three or four years. Subsequently he engaged in farming until 1871 at San Marcos and in the latter year he drove his first herd of cattle to Newton, Kansas, following what was then known as the old Chisum trail. Subse- quently he engaged in farming and stock rais- ing until 1875 and in 1876 removed to Brown county, where he conducted business along the same line until his death, which occurred in 1896. In his family were ten children, . of whom nine, six sons and three daughters, reached years of maturity, while one son died in infancy.

Samuel Lafayette Driskill, whose name in- troduces this review, was about five years of age when he came to Texas with his parents and when a young man of twenty years he be- gan driving cattle for his father, spending the winter in Kansas in charge of a herd in 1871. He returned to Texas in the fall of 1873 and drove cattle for his uncle, J. L. Driskill, to Kansas in the spring of the following year, returning to this state in the succeeding autumn. Again he took a herd to Kansas for his uncle in the spring of 1874, returning when fall came again and in the spring of 1875 he drove cattle for Mabry, Millett, Elli- son and Dewees through Kansas to North Dakota, there delivering the cattle to the Sioux Indians. In the fall of 1875 he returned to Texas and later drove a herd for Major Mabry to the Indian Territory, where they were win- tered and in the spring of 1876 were taken to Kansas and sold. Again in the fall of that year Mr. Driskill reached Texas and he drove cattle again to the territory in the spring of 1877. In the fall and winter of that year he quartered his stock at Fort Sill. In the fall of 1877 he entered the employ of Mr. Oburn, for whom he worked for a year in western Kansas on Smoky river and returned to Texas in the

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fall of 1878. A year later he again went to Kansas and drove cattle from there to the Black Hills for J. L. Driskill, also taking a bunch of his own. He spent six years in the Black Hills country and returned to Texas in 1885 or 1886 to Callahan county.

In that year he turned his attention to gen- eral merchandising, which he conducted at Baird for three years, when he sold out and again engaged in the cattle business, which he has followed up to the present time. Mr. Driskill has a ranch in Callahan county of thirty-six hundred acres, of which one hundred and eighty acres is under cultivation. He is a breeder of high grade Herefords, making these a specialty and his business has become exten- sive and profitable, so that he is now recog- nized as one of the leading cattle men of this section of the state.

Mr. Driskill was married in the spring of 1880 to Miss Laura Day, a native of Texas and a daughter of John W. Day, an early set- tler of this state. Mrs. Driskill passed away in 1883 and is survived by one of their two children-Lula, the wife of C. B. Snyder of Baird. Mr. Driskill was again married in 1884, his second union being with Miss Betty Day, a sister of his former wife. In their family were six children, of whom five are yet living, namely : Ford Lafayette, Homer Day, Ever- ette, John and Jeannette. Mr. Driskill's life if written in detail would present an excellent picture of pioneer experiences on the plains as known to the cattle men of the state. He has borne many hardships and trials in connection with the business to which he gave his atten- tion in the early years of his residence here but he has lived to see a wonderful transfor- mation, not only in the appearance of the state but in business conditions and in those depart- ments of life which lead to intellectual and moral progress. In his business undertak- ings he is energetic, determined and reliable and stands today as one of the prosperous. cattle men of Callahan county.

J. B. CUTBIRTH, long a representative of the cattle industry of Texas and a prominent citizen of Baird, was born in this state. His father, Willis Cutbirth, was a native of Giles county, Tennessee, and on the 2nd of December, 1852, he removed with his family from Arkan- sas to Texas, locating in Denton county. He was a young man when he went to Arkansas and was there married in Washington county to Miss Mary Wagner, who was born in that

state in 1824. Mr. Cutbirth was not long per- mitted to enjoy his new home in Texas, for he passed away in 1853 when about thirty-five years of age. In his family were six children, three sons and three daughters. His widow afterward married Anga Washington McFar- land in 1861 and is now again a widow, making her home in her old age with her son, J. B. Cutbirth.

The latter was born at Pilot Point in Denton county, Texas, on the 17th of May, 1853, and remained at home until nine years of age, when he started out in life on his own account. He began at the very bottom round of the ladder and with little assistance in the way of educa- tion. He is in large measure a self-made man, and through his own industry, pluck and perse- verance has won success and is now in posses- sion of a very comfortable property. During the first two years and a half after he left home he lived with Uncle Johnny Morgan, and later with his older brother, Samuel Cutbirth, for a year. He then began to work for himself, going on the range with cattle for Elijah Emer- son of Grayson county. The next year he drove a herd of cattle into Kansas for the firm of Cut- birth & Skinner, and for the following three years he drove cattle on the trail into Kansas. He then located on the old Shegog place in Cooke county, being in charge of the Ben Hard- wick cattle, acting in that capacity for about eighteen months, after which he began trading in cattle on his own account. In 1874 he re- moved his stock from Denton to Lampasas county, and in 1877 went from there to Callahan county.

In February, of the same year, Mr. Cutbirth was married to Miss Alice S. Skinner, a daughter of John Skinner of Pilot Point, Denton county, and in June of that year he removed his family to Clyde, Callahan county. There was no set- tlement there at the time except, perhaps, two or three houses, and the family used the wagon bed for a temporary house until such time as lumber could be hauled from Fort Worth to be used in the construction of a dwelling. This was the beginning of Mr. Cutbirth's permanent land possessions in Callahan county. He has given very little attention to farming in a general way, but has concentrated his energies upon general stock raising, buying, selling and trading. Mr. Cutbirth owns large tracts of land in Callahan county, amounting to about ten thousand acres. He is also one of the heaviest tax payers in the county and one of the largest, if not the largest,

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

individual cattle owner in the county. He has made his home in Baird since 1893.

The home of Mr. and Mrs. Cutbirth has been blessed with eight children, who are yet living. Adelia, who was born July 31, 1878, is the wife of George B. Scott, county clerk of Callahan county. The younger members of the family are: Willie, born August 3, 1883; Fred, born May 13, 1886; Alice, born October 4, 1891; Lula, March 4, 1894; Ruth, October 30, 1896; Naomi, October 22, 1899; and Bonnie, Janu- ary 22, 1901. There were four other children, · but all died in early life.

Mr. Cutbirth belongs to several fraternal or- ganizations, holding membership in the lodges at Baird of the Masonic and Knights of Pythias fraternities and also the Woodmen camp. He is interested in community affairs and is intensely loyal and public spirited in his devotion to the general good. He is serving as a member of the city council at Baird for the third year, and exercises his official prerogatives in support of every movement which he deems will prove of general good. His business interests have been carefully directed and his keen sagacity and un- faltering industry have formed the foundation upon which he has builded the superstructure of his success.

J. S. McCALL, who at one time was closely identified with mercantile interests, but for the past ten years has given undivided attention to the cattle industry, makes his home in Colorado, Texas. He was born in Mount Vernon, Rock Castle county, Kentucky, and is a son of J. L. L. McCall, who is represented elsewhere in this work. He was eighteen months old when brought by his parents to Texas, and his early boyhood days were spent in Waco, while his preliminary education was supplemented by study in Baylor University. At the age of six- teen years he entered the employ of R. M. Re- veire, a druggist of Waco, with whom he re- mained for about two years, when he became an employe of the old firm of Kellum & Rotan, pre- decessors of the Rotan Grocery Company of Waco. He continued with that house for twelve years and in 1883 came to Colorado, Mitchell county, where he opened a wholesale and retail grocery house under the firm style of McCall Brothers & Rotan, continuing in the business for five years, after which he purchased the interest of his partners and was then alone in the con- duct of the enterprise for nine years. In this business he was quite successful. The country was enjoying an era of growth and prosperity. The cattle were found upon a thousand hills,

values were high and money plentiful. Every branch of business was proving profitable, and there were few failures. Mr. McCall's trade ex- tended for a hundred and fifty miles to the west and south. Groceries brought about the same price that they do to-day, but the profits were much greater. Mr. McCall also did quite a large jobbing trade, for stock men bought from him in large quantities. This was in the day of the open range, before the farmer was cultivating the soil and the entire country was devoted to stock raising. After closing out his grocery business, Mr. McCall gradually worked in the cattle business and has been connected with the stock interests of the state for the past fifteen years, while for ten years he has given his at- tention exclusively to this industry, operating and dealing in cattle on quite an extensive scale. He has been a director and stockholder in the First National Bank and the Colorado National Bank for the past fifteen years, and for a short period was cashier of the latter.

Mr. McCall was married October 1, 1874, to Miss Mary Smith, of Waco, Texas, and they now have a daughter and son: Katie S., who is the wife of Dr. R. G. Davenport, of Trinidad, Colorado, and J. C. McCall, who is associated with his father in the cattle business. They also lost one daughter, Pet, who died April 6, 1899, at the age of eleven years. Mr. McCall has been a member of the Presbyterian church since about twenty-two years of age. He is one of the early settlers of the west and has been closely iden- tified with the history of this portion of the state throughout his entire life. During his residence in Colorado he has been recognized as one of the most active, influential and prominent busi- ness men of the town and as a successful finan- cier. He stands as a typical representative of the spirit of progression, whether in business or public life, and has always identified himself with the enterprises that have for their object the public good. He is an earnest active worker and his enterprise, coupled with his good judgment and ability, has led him into those lines of opera- tion that are almost sure to bring success.

A. C. WILMETH, who has been honored with various public offices indicative of the trust and confidence reposed in him by his fellow citizens, and who is regarded as a worthy ex- ponent of the law, successfully engaged in prac- tice in the courts of Texas, now resides at Sny- der, Scurry county. He is descended from Scotch-Irish ancestry. Tradition says that at an early period in the colonization of the new

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world a young man of the name of Wilmeth came to this country after securing a prepaid steerage passage, but on his arrival in America he was sold by the ship captain to labor for a term of years to pay the passage again. As far as is authentically known the progenitor of the name in this country is William Wilmeth, who emigrated with his family from North Carolina to Kentucky. His wife was in her maidenhood Miss Mary Crawford, and they reared a family of thirteen sons, who separated after reaching manhood, five of them coming to the south, while the others went north. Their descendants are numerous and are to be found in various parts of the country. They are in Kansas, Wis- consin, Iowa and California, and the southern branch has sent its representatives to various parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri and western Tennessee.

One of the sons of William Wilmeth was Joseph Brice Wilmeth, who was born in North Carolina, September II, 1807. On leaving the place of his nativity he went southward and be- came a resident of McNairy county, Tennessee, where, on the 26th of December, 1826, he was married to Miss Nancy Ferguson, a daughter of James and Martha (Hogge) Ferguson. Her place of birth was on "Caney fork of the Cumber- land," near Sparta, Tennessee, to which wild region with its wooded hills and gushing streams her father had been attracted by its abundance of wild game, making his way thither soon after his discharge from the Revolutionary army, in which he had served from his sixteenth year. This service, however, developed the rather un- usual occurrence of father and son being op- posed to each other in war, for his father was the Colonel Ferguson who fell while command- ing the British forces in the memorable battle of Kings mountain in North Carolina, October 7, 1870.

In the autumn of 1831, J. B. Wilmeth and his father-in-law, James Ferguson, headed a movement of about ten families, all related by blood or marriage, and crossed the Mississippi river at Memphis, Tennessee, locating in Law- rence county, Arkansas. For about a decade and a half no one was more actively engaged in the various enterprises of that region than Mr. Wilmeth. He rafted timber to New Orleans, became village blacksmith, served as a United States soldier in escorting the Choctaws and Chickasaws from the Mississippi to the Indian Territory, also engaged in farming, raising live stock and distilling whiskey, served as clerk of the courts and preached the gospel. While

there he experienced a new awakening in relig- ious matters and did his preaching "without money and without price," also without serious interference to his business interests, for he made his own house a chapel for Christian preaching and worship, and to it his neighbors were often invited on the Lord's day to join with him in wor- ship. In 1845 J. B. Wilmeth, having learned- mainly from an advertising pamphlet of a colony agent-of the fertility and other attractions of the broad prairies in the region "the three forks of Trinity," and also of the grant of title free. to one mile square of land to every man who was head of a family located in the colony, he determined to possess himself of a Texas home. He accordingly resigned his position as clerk of the 1 awrence county courts, which position he had held for eight consecutive years, and began preparations for a removal to Texas, and in the latter part of October of that year started on his way. They ferried across Red river at Lane's Port to Clarksville, which was the first Texas town that they reached, and which prob- ably contained thirty-eight or forty houses at that time. They stopped at Skidmore's Mill, a few miles west of Clarksville to rest a day or two and await the grinding of an additional supply of meal. Pinhock, or Paris, as it was afterward called, had nothing in sight save a dozen or more cabins, At that point all signs of civilization were left behind. A dim wagon route called the "military trail" stretched across the prairie to the southwest. East fork was crossed by bridging the stream, the work being accom- plished on Christmas day. The following day brought the company to Dallas, Texas, which then consisted of about a half dozen cabins, and there they spent most of a week in camp, about two hundred yards south of where the courthouse now stands. On the Ist of January, 1846, the party went into camp on the south bank of West fork near the present site of Grand Prairie. Thus occurred the arrival of one of the early settlers of the state, and did space permit many incidents of life in a new country could be recounted. The settler had ample opportunity to indulge in hunting on account of the abun- dance of wild game. The pioneer experiences also included dealings with the Indians, who were at times friendly and then again assumed a very dangerous attitude in possession of the inroads made by the whites into their then undisputed possessions. The children of the Wilmeth fam- ily became worthy and valued citizens of Texas, and many of them have occupied important posi- tions of honor and trust in the affairs of the

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state. Some of them gave up their lives for the southern Confederacy during the Civil war, fighting bravely for the cause which they es- poused.

James Brice Wilmeth and his wife made their home in Collin county, Texas, where, after sixty- six years of married life, they passed away, both dying in January, 1892, so nearly together- she on the 14th and he on the 15th-that they were laid to rest side by side in the same tomb. They had reared a family of twelve children, and with the exception of two, James B. and Wil- liam C., who lost their lives in the war, were married, and reared families of their own. These children were: Mansel W., Martha M., Ketura M., James R., Joseph B., William C., Hiram F., Nancy Ann, John F., Andrew J., Amanda, C. M. and Betty. The last three were born in Texas and one died in infancy.

James R. Wilmeth, father of A. C. Wilmeth, was born in Lawrence county, Arkansas, in 1835, and came to Texas in 1845, first settling at Eagle Ford, Dallas county. He afterward re- moved to a place two miles north of Mckinney, Collin county, and while residing there some time in the fifties he went to Bethany, West Vir- ginia, where he continued his education by at- tendance at Bethany College, a school of the Christian denomination then presided over by Alexander Campbell. He was graduated from that institution in 1858. Returning to Texas he was married the same year to Miss Maria Florence Lowrey, and unto that union five chil- dren were born: Charles T., who is living in Alvarado, Johnson county, Texas; A. C., of Snyder ; Nellie, the wife of W. T. Malone, of Odessa, Texas; Clara, the widow of A. M. Mil- lar, and a resident of Ballinger, Texas; and Jo B., who is also living in Ballinger. Mr. Wil- meth's wife died in 1867, and about that time he was called to a professorship of the Kentucky University, where he spent three years. During the summer months he engaged in preaching the gospel and made extensive trips throughout the northern states and in Canada. In 1870 he went to Mexico, preaching and teaching, going as far as the city of Mexico, and his labors were thus devoted to intellectual and moral progress until 1875. He then returned to Collin county, Texas, where he founded the first Christian pa- per published in the state. This was afterward merged into the Teras Christian, now known as the The Texas Christian Courier.

The elder daughter is the wife of Oll Dwyer, of Brownwood, Texas. The father remained in Collin county until 1882, and then removed to Hood county, where he accepted the professor- ship of English and Latin at Add Ran University, acting in that capacity for three years. He then resigned and became president of the Nazareth University in Howard county, Arkansas, but after a year again resigned and returned to his ranch in Mills county, Texas, where he is now living.

Alexander Campbell Wilmeth was born April 7, 1861, in Collin county, Texas, obtained a com- mon school education in his youth, and worked upon the home farm until twenty-one years of age. Having decided upon the law as a profes- sion, he entered the office of Jenkins & Pearson, of McKinney, Texas, and was admitted to the bar March 27, 1884. Three days afterward Mr. Wilmeth was elected city attorney of Mckinney, which office he held until August of that year, when he resigned and came to Snyder, Scurry county, where he has since resided. He was appointed state surveyor in October, 1886, serv- ing for three years, and for two years he was attorney for the Thirty-ninth district, being ap- pointed in March, 1897. In 1904 Mr. Wilmeth was elected to the twenty-eighth general assem- bly of Texas, of which body he is now a mem- ber, and he is regarded as one of the most prom- inent representatives of political interests, his course being characterized by a public-spirited devotion to the general good. In his chosen profession he is a successful exponent of the law, his practice being confined principally to both civil and criminal.

On the Ist of August, 1887, Mr. Wilmeth was married to Miss Mary Camp, of Snyder, and they have three children, Lex, Mary and Willie. Mr. Wilmeth has been a member of the Chris- tian church since 1883. He joined the Wood- men of the World in 1897, and is a charter member of Valentine lodge No. 544, of Snyder, Texas. Not alone because of his capability in his profession, but also because of the active part which he has taken in public life is he re- garded as a representative citizen of this state, having in recent years done much to mold pub- lic thought and action.

CHARLES S. HUMPHRIES, county tax as- sessor of Baylor county, has been a resident of Seymour and vicinity for over twenty years, and is one of the representative and public Star state. He has led a very active career from an early age, and has seen many phases

James R. Wilmeth was again married in 1876, his second union being with Miss Clara Schultz, - spirited citizens of this portion of the Lone and unto them were born four children, who are yet living, Clementine, James, Edna and Grace.

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of life, as soldier, business man, farmer, and public official.

He was born in Sussex county, Virginia, July 6, 1846, a son of G. W. and Harriet (Jones) Humphries. His father was well known both as an educator and as a minister in the south. He was born in Georgia, was educated in Virginia, and soon after completing his college career married in that state. He became professor of chemistry in Randolph- Macon College in Virginia, and held that chair for some years, until his entrance into the min- istry of the Methodist Episcopal church South. He occupied pulpits at different places in Ala- bama, and died in that state shortly before the war. His wife was a native of Virginia, and during her widowhood moved to Texas and died at Seymour. ·

Mr. Humphries got an early start in his edu- cational work, and during his early boyhood was a student at the Georgia Military Institute at Lexington. In 1860 he attended the Wes- leyan University at Florence, Alabama, where his mother was making her home at the time. Most of his youth was passed in the state of Alabama. He was one of the boy soldiers of the Confederacy, and was only fifteen years old when he enlisted at Florence in the latter part of 1861. The regiment, however, was not organized and he did not get into service until the spring of 1862. He was a member of Com- pany B, Thirty-fifth Alabama Regiment, and his service at first was largely in Mississippi. He was with Johnston's army when it tried to relieve Vicksburg; was in the battle of Baton Rouge and in the defense of Port Hudson against the federal gunboats; was next in the campaign toward Atlanta, in the fighting at Jonesboro, Peach Tree Creek and Resaca; af- ter the fall of Atlanta was with Hood's army when it fell back to Tennessee, and took part in the battles of Franklin and Nashville; thence was sent into North Carolina, and his regiment was with those that surrendered at Greensboro, that state.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 88

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