A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 92

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 92

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In his course as a citizen Mr. McNutt has lent his active interest to only those things which promised good results. He has been am- bitious for success only as a farmer and nothing else has tempted him or led him astray. He has eliminated politics, other than to vote the Democratic ticket, and in his spiritual rela- tions holds to Christianity and his name is on the rolls of the Missionary Baptist church.

RUFUS K. STEWART. On the roster of Jack county's officials appears the name of Rufus K. Stewart in connection with the position of tax collector. This is an indication of his popu- larity and prominence, and all who know him willingly accord him a leading place among the esteemed citizens of the community. Many years of his life has been passed within its borders, and has been one of uniform honor in business and fidelity in places of trust. He is therefore deserving of mention among the rep- resentative men of this section of the state. His birth occurred in Fayette county, Alabama, in 1850, his parents being Charles and Mary (Phil- lips) Stewart. The father was a native of Ten- nessee, but his death occurred in Alabama, to which state he had removed when a young man, and his business career was devoted to agricul- tural pursuits. Mrs. Stewart, also a native of Tennessee, is now a resident of Jack county.

Rufus K. Stewart spent the period of his boy- hood and youth on the old home farm in Ten- nessee. Early in the year 1876 he made his way to Texas, stopping for a short time in Grayson county, and thence continuing the journey to Jack county, where he arrived in the same year. On his arrival here he took up his abode in the southeastern part of the county, near his present home, and he is now the owner of a fertile and valuable farm of eighty acres located twenty miles southeast of Jacksboro, which he con- ducted for a number of years in connection with official duties. For eight years Mr. Stewart served Jack county as its deputy sheriff, while later he was appointed deputy tax assessor to fill out the unexpired term of R. C. Underwood, and following this, in 1900, he was elected to that office, re-elected in 1902, spending in all six years in the assessor's office. In November, 1904, he was elected to his present position, that of county tax collector, in which he is serving with efficiency and ability.

Mr. Stewart was united in marriage to Josephine Clark, and they have seven children : Abram F., Mrs. Hattie Cox, Mrs. Minnie Ship- ley, Kirk, Norman, Maud and Hugh. For some

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years past the family home has been in Jacks -. dred are in use. The company supplies water boro. Mr. Stewart is a worthy member of the Baptist church, and his fraternal affiliations are with the Modern Woodmen of America.

LIOLA W. CHASE, president of the Cle- burne Water, Ice & Lighting Company, is a man of marked enterprise and keen discernment in business affairs. He has seemed to realize at any one point of progress in his business career the possibilities for successful accomplish- ment at that point. He was born at Canaan, Somerset county, Maine, his parents being Ben- jamin and Lavina (Connor) Chase. The father is a representative of the Chase family that has furnished so many distinguished and prominent people to New England and the nation, men who have figured in events which have formed the history of the country. During his active business career Benjamin Chase devoted his at- tention to farming, in which work he prospered, so that he is now enabled to live retired in the enjoyment of well earned ease at his home in Pittsfield, Maine. His wife died in the year I880.

Liola W. Chase spent his youth in the usual manner of farm lads of his locality and period and divided his time between the work of the fields and the duties of the school room, re- maining upon the home farm until twenty years of age, when he went to Wisconsin, living at Sheboygan for a number of years, and during the greater part of that time was connected with the Sheboygan Manufacturing Company. In 1878 he came to Texas and established a sheep ranch in Bosque county, where he continued in business for thirteen years, finding it a profitable industry. In 1891 he came to Cleburne and soon thereafter began the construction of a water works system for the city, realizing the great need here for an enterprise of that char- acter, for the supply at that time was too limited. The plant was originally established by Mr. Chase and a partner, who conducted it for about four years. The business grew rapidly and ex- tensively with the growth of the town, so it was necessary to enlarge the plant and for this pur- pose Mr. Chase organized and promoted the Cle- burne Water, Ice & Lighting Company, procur- ing the assistance of eastern and local capital. He retained, however, the greater part of the stock and was made president of the company. The growth of its operations is shown by the fact that when Mr. Chase established the water works system there were about three hundred and fifty water taps, while now twenty-four hun-

to the city and to the residences, and gives gen- eral satisfaction to its many patrons, as is evi- denced by the kindly commendation expressed by the citizens in general. In fact the business has added greatly to the growth and reputation of Cleburne as an enterprising, up-to-date city. The plant is thoroughly modern in every respect and improvements are constantly being made to keep pace with the growth of the city, and with new developments in methods of building and conducting water works. Mr. Chase has been signally successful in the conduct of this busi- ness and he has an able superintendent in R. J. Corson, who is also secretary and treasurer of the company. Since establishing the local water works Mr. Chase has also organized and is one of the large stockholders in three other exten- sive plants of this character in Texas, including the Taylor (Texas Water Company), the Clar- endon Water, Light & Power Company, and the Amarillo Water, Light & Power Company.

Mr. Chase was married in Wisconsin to Miss Effa S. Goodwin, a native of Maine, and they have one son, Arthur L. Chase, who is manager of the water works plant at Amarillo. Keen dis- cernment that has enabled him to recognize and utilize a business opportunity, combined with laudable ambition and sound judgment have been the strong and forceful factors in the suc- cessful career of Mr. Chase, now numbered with the representative citizens of Cleburne, where he is also held in high, esteem because of his per- sonal worth.

CAPTAIN ROBERT D. GOREE, of Sey- mour, Baylor county, has for a number of years been a foremost figure in promoting the settle- ment and development to agricultural purposes the lands lying in this part of Texas, especially the fine tracts in Knox county in the Brazos valley. His success in this matter is a cause of congratulation for himself, but is yet more a source of inestimable wealth and permanent up- building to this portion of the state. On land the settling up of which Mr. Goree promoted will to-day be found some of the thriftiest and most substantial and industrious farmers and citizens of any part of the Union, and they are the foundation upon which will be built an en- during and wealthy community.

Captain Goree is himself one of the oldest residents of the Lone Star state, having come here when he was a boy, over fifty years ago. He was born in Perry county, Alabama, in 1840, and comes of a family prominent in the profes-

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sions and industries and noted for the intellect- ual vigor and character of its members. His father, Dr. Lankston Goree, was of French Huguenot ancestry and was born in South Caro- lina. He was a physician of high standing and of broad professional attainments. He brought his family to Texas in 1850, located at Hunts- ville, where his death occurred three years later. Captain Goree's mother, Sarah (Kittrell) Goree, was in many ways a very remarkable woman, with rare development and harmony of the pow- ers of heart and mind. She was a native of North Carolina and of one of the old families of that commonwealth, her father being a wealthy planter. She, as did also her brothers and. sisters, received a college education. Her fam- ily is still represented in the state of Texas by her nephew, Dr. Kittrell, of Houston, who stands high in his profession. She possessed intellect- ual powers of a high order, and was a contribu- tor to the Dallas "News" for many years; in fact, almost to the time of her death, which oc- curred in May, 1903, when she was ninety-seven years old.

After the family home was moved to Texas Captain Goree was reared mainly in Madison county. He received his advanced education in the old Baylor University, which at the time was located at Independence in Washington county. Here he drew inspiration from its fa- mous old president, the late Dr. Burleson, who in his time was one of the most noted educators of the south. After leaving college Captain Goree turned his attention to farming along the San Jacinto river, in Polk county. He was just of age when the war came on, and in 1862 he enlisted in Madison county in the quartermas- ter's department, belonging to Captain George B. Forrest's company, the battalion of Colonel Robert S. Gould, and Reynold's brigade and Walker's division of the Trans-Mississippi de- partment. His service as a Confederate soldier was in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana, and he was at the battles of Pleasant Hill and Mans- field in Louisiana and in many skirmishes. He saw much hard soldiering west of the Mississippi river, and remained with the army until the close of the war, being mustered out at Hempstead, Texas, in 1865.

From the field of war he returned to his farm in Madison county, and lived there and in Hous- ton county until 1882. In that year he came to Northwest Texas and through the cattle busi- ness became acquainted with the land of Knox county at first hand. At the time the country was all range, with no farming and very few

settlements-where the cowboy was king and the only wealth in the cattle that grazed the boundless plains. After a few years' experience in the cattle industry he became convinced that it was time to open up the land to agricultural enterprise, and he has ever since given most of his attention to real estate and colonization of this portion of Texas. He lent his efforts to- ward securing migration from the older states into Knox county and the settling up of the vacant lands with thrifty farmers. He had good success in these endeavors, the most noteworthy undertaking being the Rhineland colony of Ger- mans in Knox county, who were brought there by Captain Goree, and who have without excep- tion done well in farming. The country around the village of Goree is similarly settled, and through such efforts the Brazos valley lands have been changed from grazing to agricultural tracts and the population permanently increased. Captain Goree's real estate and business inter- ests still lie in Knox county, but since 1897 his home has been in Seymour, of which city he is a greatly esteemed citizen.

Captain Goree was married in Harris county, Texas, to Miss Frances Campbell, a grand- daughter of Governor John Clark of Georgia. They have six children. R. Campbell Goree is in the lumber business in Oklahoma; Miss Ann Clark Goree; Bryant Kittrell Goree is a lawyer, of the firm of Lee & Goree at Fort Worth ; Robert Gould Goree is in the oil business in California ; and the two daughters, Misses Eddie Sue and Frances Lankston.

JOHN M. STALLINGS. We introduce, as the subject of this article, one of the prominent horticulturists of Montague county and a gentle- man who has been conspicuously active in pro- moting the fruit-growing industry in the com- munity adjacent to the city of Bowie for a num- ber of years. His originality and his independ- ent research have led him into the field of ex- periment with the result that the possibilities of development in some fruits are much better un- derstood and appreciated, and his vocation the more intelligently prosecuted.

Coosa county, Alabama, was the birthplace of John M. Stallings, and the date was the 9th of June, 1846. His father. Jeptha G. Stallings, was born in the state of Georgia, in 1816, and the latter's father is mentioned in the notice of James T. Stallings, recorded elsewhere in this work. Jentha Stallings was a farmer's son, and devoted himself to that vocation till death. In 1849, he settled in Lincoln Parish, Louisiana,

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

and prospered there prior to the war. He be- lieved in slavery, owned them himself and com- batted their liberation with all the vehemence and energy he possessed. He bought negroes almost to the close of the war, and sold them also, and accepted Confederate money for his property to the very last. The crop of cotton of 1864 was exchanged for the worthless scrip of the defeated government, and he delivered it according to contract, even after the crash' came. In 1865 he came to Texas, and settled in Denton county, when he recouped, to some, extent, his former losses and passed the last years of his life.

In Bowie, Montague county, Texas, Jeptha G. Stallings married Miss Fannie King, a daugh- ter of T. K. King of Alabama. His second mar- riage was to Miss B. L. Sherrard, of Louisiana, daughter of Right Sherrard. His wife bore him ten children, of whom John Mc. was the fifth. Jeptha G. Stallings died on the 8th of Decem- ber, 1902, and his wife departed this life in Jack- son Parish, Louisiana, in 1856.

The poor school privileges of his time pre- vented John M. Stallings from acquiring more than the rudiments of an education prior to the war. When he should have been in school he was in the army fighting the battles of the Con- federacy, and when that fratricidal strife was over the serious affairs of civil life were at hand. In 1862 he joined Captain Kidd's Company, Second Louisiana Battalion, General Taylor's command. After the battle of Franklin, Louisi- ana, he was put on the detail to take some pris- oners to Tyler, Texas, and there he was detailed on the Provost Guard to watch the magazine at Marshall. He joined Captain Hick's Independ- ent Company, General Price's command, of Arkansas troops, and for a time he was made a courier for the army. He suffered another de- tail, later, this time to guard the farms along White river against the incursions of the enemy. He passed through the service without injury, save a slight one received while "mowing brush" during a warm little engagement in Arkansas, and surrendered, with his company, near Pine Bluff a few days after the affair at Ap- pomattox.

Following the termination of the war Mr. Stallings spent three months in school, then married and began life in earnest. He and his wife started their career with one horse and a piece of timber land which she inherited from her father, and though he was reckoned a farmer through all the' years he remained in the state, he did very little of it himself. In March, 1893,

he came to Texas and settled in Denton county, where he still owns a farm. He engaged in the blooded hog and Jersey cattle industries there, and was connected with the business until his ad- vent to Montague county, even bringing some of his fine Jerseys hither with him when he came to Bowie, where he has always resided. He be- came identified with the growing of fruit and in gardening, and has planted out several small plots in the suburbs of the city to fruit. He is a member of the Bowie Fruit Growers' Associa- tion, is its chairman and its shipping agent for 1905, also the organizers of the Cotton Growers' Association for his district.

December 28, 1865, Mr. Stallings was united in marriage with Miss Mary J. May, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Grisham) May, who passed their lives in Louisiana, and were the parents of : Fannie R., who married J. G. Huey, and died in Louisiana ; William H. H., who died in 1891 ; Mary J., born November 24, 1848; Win- field S., of Ruston, Louisiana; John T., who died in 1862; Salina, who died in September, 1891; and Stephen W, The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Stallings was productive of the following children, viz .: Lillie E., wife of James W. Tay- lor, of Bowie, with issue, Lillie, Spurgeon, Car- roll, Oland Bryand, Mav and Jeptha; James William, who died in Dallas in 1902, married Lou Massey and left two children, a boy and girl, Percy Enos and John; Athlee May, wife of Martin Enright, of Omaha, Nebraska, has three boys; Stephen Leslie, bookkeeper of the Cochran-Tresvant Insurance Company, of Dal- las, married Mrs. Ider and the names of her children, two girls and two boys, are Ford, El- mer, Ray and Leila; Gertrude, wife of M. C. Chambers, of Denton county; Enos McL., trav- eling salesman for Sweet, Orr & Company, of New York ; Minnie, who married J. M. Harland, of Bowie, and has two daughters, Birney Lee and Grace; Clyde, Theodore E. and Percev com- plete the list and remain with the family home.

Mr. Stallings became interested in local poli- tics immediately following the reconstruction of the state of Louisiana, and the voters of Lincoln county elected him coroner for several years, or until the law required the election of a physician to the office. He was then appointed a deputy sheriff and served as such a few years. Follow- ing this he was connected with the Commission- ers' Court for some years, and he completed his official life as representative to the popular branch of the state legislature. In the house he was on several committees, among them charitable institutions and railroads. He added

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his mite toward securing a reduction in railroad fares to three cents a mile and supported to enactment a law compelling weighers to issue checks for correct weights on bales of cotton, whereas, before, it was the practice to arbitrarily weigh every bale two pounds short. Also he voted to submit the constitution amendment on Louisiana lottery, believing the people had the right to vote on the question, and was a sup- porter of the separate car bill for blacks and whites.

In addition to the honors of public office he was often delegated by his party to represent his county in local, district and state conventions. In Texas he has continued to act with the Dem- ocratic party, and to his care has been confided local interests of the party, as precinct chair- man. Wherever he has lived he has come to be recognized as a sincere and worthy citizen, and church and state alike have profited by his good works. He is a firm believer in the teachings of the gospel, holds a membership in the Mis- sionary Baptist church, and fraternizes with the Masonic fraternity.

JOHN S. EVANS. The ginning industry of Crafton, Wise county, is conducted by the firm of Hunt & Evans, of whom the latter is the sub- ject of this personal notice. He was born in Itawamba county, Mississippi, April 23, 1861, a son of a farmer, Andrew J. Evans, who was born in Columbia county, South Carolina, in 1833. The latter grew up there and passed his early man- hood as an overseer. Prior to the rebellion he moved west to Mississippi and served in the Con- federate army from that state. Henry L. Evans was his father and farming constituted his voca- tion also. He passed the last years of his life and died in Mississippi in 1885. For his life com- panion Andrew J. Evans chose Frances, a daugh- ter of Henry Lessel. Mrs. Evans was born in South Carolina in 1835 and is still living, a resi- dent of Wise county, but her husband passed away in December, 1885.

Eight children resulted from the marriage of Andrew J. and Frances Evans, as follows: Ten- nie, wife of W. Milholland, of Wise county ; Mar- tha, who married V. W. Cowart and resides in Johnson county ; John S., our subject ; James, of Cheyenne, Oklahoma; Simson, of Wise county ; William, of Davidson, Oklahoma ; David, of Wise county ; and George, who makes Scurry county, Texas, his home.

At about fifteen years of age John S. Evans accompanied his parents to Texas. His was a country life in youth and the district school was responsible for his limited education. When he

started out for himself, after attaining his ma- jority, he rented land four miles north of Crafton and began its cultivation with a team for which he owed the purchase money. He continued farming with some degree of success until 1891, when he. met an opportunity to go into the gin business, and he arranged for a half interest in the old Prugle gin. The four years he was inter- ested in this plant he made some financial prog- ress and then sold his interest and put up the "Red Gin," on the Rock Island Railroad east of Crafton, in company with Lewis Combs and Kendrick. With this plant and firm he was asso- ciated profitably for five years and then disposed of his interest and bought the Crafton gin of R. L. Madden and took in Mr. Hunt as a partner. The plant has a value of five thousand dollars, is equipped with four seventy-saw stands, with a capacity of thirty bales a day, and during the sea- son of 1904 eleven hundred bales of cotton passed out of their property.

August 18, 1886, John S. Evans and Miss Maggie Skaggs were united in marriage in Wise county. Mrs. Evans was a daughter of Berry Skaggs and Susan (Best) Skaggs, who came to Texas from Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Skaggs live at Gainesville, Cooke county, and are the parents of: Mrs. Evans, born November 18, 1870; David, deceased ; Mollie, who is unmarried and resides in Wise county ; Lonnie, of Gainesville; Hattie, wife of Ed Riley of Paradise, and Retta, of Gaines- ville, Texas.

Mr. and Mrs. Evans' children are four in num- ber, namely: Jessie, Agnes, Gladys and Dallas. Mr. Evans maintains his political interests with the Democrats, but has no ambition for a public office. He believes in the efficacy of religion and has brought up his family in the doctrines of the Christian church.

JUDGE JOHN E. FERGUSON, president of the Hereford National Bank, is one of the en- terprising spirits who are so rapidly developing the town of Hereford and bringing it into first rank among the county seats of the great Pan- handle country. Judge Ferguson has lived in Deaf Smith county almost since its organiza- tion, and has not only been an industrious and sagacious individual worker and business man, but has given his energies without stint to the welfare and material progress of his community. Through his active management and wise di- rection the Hereford National Bank has already become an institution of much importance to the financial and business circles of this portion of the Panhandle, and as a conservative yet stimulating influence it plays no unimportant

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part in making Deaf Smith county a fertile field for agricultural and industrial enterprises of all kinds.

Judge Ferguson is still to be reckoned among the younger class of men who are accomplish- ing so much for Texas, for he is not yet fifty years of age, having been born in the year 1858. His birthplace was the fine city of Sedalia, Mis- souri, where his father and mother are still liv- ing. His father, J. J. Ferguson, was born in Kentucky and went to Missouri in 1856, and he has been a successful stockman nearly all his life. Judge Ferguson's mother is Anna (Craw- ford) Ferguson, and she was born in Missouri.

Judge Ferguson was reared at Sedalia and re- ceived his education there. After arriving at manhood he spent some time in the western states, being located at several different points, and for one year was on the Pacific coast. In 189I he came to Deaf Smith county, Texas, and his activities have been centered in this part of the Panhandle ever since. The county had been organized only the fall preceding his arrival, and at that time was very sparsely settled, there being perhaps a hundred voters all told, and the popu- lation consisting mostly of single young men. Young Ferguson embarked in the cattle ranch- ing business, on a tract of land about twelve miles north of where Hereford now stands. After five years in that location he sold out and moved to a ranch some five miles west of the present county seat, on the creek. He had been there only a year or so when, in 1898, the line of the Santa Fe pushed through the southeast corner of Deaf Smith county, thus opening up new opportunities and possibilities in this part of the country. The town of Hereford started up on the railroad, and Judge Ferguson saw that, as the county seat and railroad shipping point, it was destined to become a good town and an important commercial center. He therefore sold out his ranch in 1900 and became a resident of Hereford. On November Ist of the same year he organized the first bank in the town, named the Hereford National Bank, and he became its first president and has retained the executive direction of the institution ever since. The capi- tal stock of the bank is $25,000, and the surplus $15,000, and its affairs are in a prosperous con- dition and managed to the satisfaction of the general business public and its stockholders. Judge Ferguson also owns considerable landed property in the vicinity of Hereford.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 92

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