A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 96

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 96

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February 26, 1880, Mr. Gibson married Nancy E. Porter, a daughter of John M. Porter, who was killed in the Confederate army. The lat- ter married Mary Lewis and left children as follows: Eva, wife of Lewis Honey, of Craw- ford county, Missouri; Mrs. Gibson, born De- cember 26, 1861; Josie, wife of M. A. Pitts, of Texas county, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Gibson's children are: Ed. H., who married Mary Dick- son, resides in Polk county, Arkansas; Lizzie;

Lillie ; Katie; Filmore; Annie; Hill; Bowie; Till- man; and Texas are all adjuncts of the family home. Nothing but the accomplishment of re- sults occupied Mr. Gibson in Montague county. Having discovered the adaptability of the soil and climate of his locality to fruit, he planted a large acreage to orchard, where in time, the peach and the berry will take the place of so much cotton and corn. He is a Democrat, but has no hankering for politics. He is an Odd Fellow, and himself, wife and older daughters are members of the Christian church.

Since the first writing of this article Mr. Gibson has moved a hundred and forty miles west to Hardeman county, and now resides two and one-half miles southeast of Quanah, where he is in the stock and small grain business.

J. W. COLLINS. On the roster of county officials in Haskell county, Texas, appears the name of J. W. Collins, who is now acceptably filling the office of sheriff, and who is one of the old time residents of this community, while his identification with the state dates from 1879. A native of Alabama, he was born in Talladega, March 12, 1858. His father, Jerry Collins, was a native of Ireland, and came to the United States in 1852, settling in Alabama. He was a stone-mason by trade and erected the first stone building in the town of Talladega. He married Miss Sibbie Dulaney, who was born and reared in Talladega, where they made their home until 1869, when they removed to north- ern Mississippi, settling at Union. There Mr. Collins abandoned his trade and bought a large plantation, whereon he engaged in general farming. There his wife passed away on the 13th of August, 1877. Mr. Collins continued to make his home in Mississippi until 1883, when he came to Texas, settling in Kaufman county, where he died on the 21st of October, 1885. In his family were nine children, six sons and three daughters, all of whom are now living.

John William Collins was reared in the town of his nativity until fourteen years of age, when he removed with his parents to northern Mis- sissippi. On the 24th of December, 1876, when a young man, he and his brothers were in the yard adjoining the house chopping wood, and in the course of some of their pranks one of the boys with an axe cut the arm of J. W. Col- lins at the elbow, splitting the bone in two. A physician was sent for but he had gone to town, and being a drinking man he was pretty well under the influence of whisky when he came to dress the injured arm. After two months a

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

consultation was held, and a decision reached that the arm had to be amputated, but Mr. Col- lins objected; in fact, emphatically refused to allow this to be done. The doctor admitted the carelessness of his treatment, said that he was to blame for the arm being in that condi- tion and that if Collins would let him amputate the arm he would take Collins and make a doctor of him. The latter, however, still re- fused. Finally it was decided to cut the arm open and this being done several pieces of bone were removed, after which the arm healed and Mr. Collins recovered. He now states that he has two arms instead of one, whereby he was deprived of an education and the chance of be- coming a physician.

He remained with his father until the 25th of January, 1879, when he started for Texas, ar- riving at Terrell on the 28th of January, with seventy-five cents in his pocket. After paying for his bed and breakfast he had but twenty- five cents remaining. The next morning while standing in front of the hotel looking rather lonesome, knowing not an individual in the place, he was approached by a man, and Mr. Collins inquired of him where he lived, receiv- ing the answer that he resided about twenty miles south of Terrell. Mr. Collins then asked if he knew a man living in that part of the coun- try by the name of Delaney, and when answered in the affirmative he inquired further how the man came to town, and was told he rode a mule. Mr. Collins desired to get to the home of Mr. Deleney, who was his uncle, and it was finally agreed between him and the man that they would take turns in riding the mule back. Mr. Collins had purchased some cheese and crackers for his dinner before starting on the trip, and in due course of time he reached the home of his uncle, J. M. Delaney, arriving there about ten o'clock at night on the 29th, carrying all his worldly possessions upon his back.

Not long afterward Mr. Collins began work- ing for a man living in the community for eleven dollars per month and his board and spent five months upon that farm and also continued with his employer for a time during the haying har- vest and cotton picking seasons, or until the Ist of November. For this additional labor he received one dollar per day. He then re- engaged with the same man, Joel Holcomb, at forty dollars per month and continued with him until November, 1880. The following year he raised a crop in connection with Mr. Holcomb and this paid him still better returns. In No- vember, however, Mr. Collins left Mr. Holcomb

and engaged in picking cotton in Ellis county, but returned to Kaufman county on the 23rd of December in order to be present at the wed- ding of his cousin on Christmas day. On the 24th of December Mr. Collins, en route with the groom, went into the cedar bottom for a load of wood and while thus engaged he fell and broke his left leg, which debarred him from the pleasure of attending the wedding and kept him in confinement for two months. On the 17th of March, while walking on crutches he fell and broke his leg again. Eventually, however, he recovered and raised a little crop in that locality.

On the 4th of October, 1881, Mr. Collins was married to Miss Georgia Cotton, who was born and reared in Kaufman county. In 1882 he rented land from his uncle, J. M. Delaney, and raised a crop on that place. In 1883 he bought a lease from a man and made another crop, and in the summer of 1883 he purchased a farm of one hundred acres, spending several years thereon, his time and energies being devoted to its further development and improvement. In the summer of 1886, however, he was taken with a hemorrhage which proved quite serious and later he spent some time in travel, regain- ing his health. In 1887 he accepted a clerkship in a dry goods house in the town of Kaufman for the firm of Swan Wingo Company. In the spring of 1888 he sold his land and embarked in the hardware business with W. C. Irvine, under the firm name of Irvine & Collins in the town of Kaufman, conducting this enterprise until January, 1890, when he purchased his partner's interest and boxed and shipped his goods to Haskell, arriving here on the 4th of February, 1890. Here he formed a partnership with D. R. Gass under the firm style of D. R. Gass & Company, this relationship being main- tained until the 20th of November of the same year, when Mr. Collins sold his interest to Mr. Gass. He and his wife then stored their fur- · niture and returned to the east on a visit. On the 27th of December, however, Mr. Collins again reached Haskell and on the 7th of Janu- ary, 1891, he formed a partnership with W. R. Hampton in the grocery business under the firm style of Collins & Hampton, the partner- ship continuing until the 20th of June, when Mr. Collins sold out. On the 3rd of July of the same year he purchased a bunch of horses which he drove to the east, leaving home on the Ist of September and returning on the Ist of November, subsequent to which time he again entered the grocery business in connec- tion with D. W. Courtwright, under the firm

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

name of Courtwright & Collins. He was one of the proprietors of this store until December, 1892. On the 24th of September of that year he lost his wife, who died, leaving one daughter.

After going out of the grocery business Mr. Collins returned to Kaufman county and again came to Haskell in January, 1893, and was em- ployed by Courtwright & Johnson in a general mercantile business until May. On the 28th of June of the same year he went to the north- western part of the county to trade horses. While returning in the evening the horses be- came frightened and ran away, throwing Mr. Collins out of the buggy and breaking his right leg. On the Ist of October, 1893, he accepted a position in the store of F. G. Alexander, with whom he continued until the spring of 1896, when he left the position and made the race for sheriff of the county, but was defeated. He then returned to Mr. Alexander's store and in November, 1898, he was again the candidate for sheriff, at which time he was elected, holding the office for four years, or two terms. In November, 1902, he was once more defeated, but in 1904 was again elected, and is now serv- ing as sheriff, in which position he discharges his duties without fear or favor.

Mr. Collins was married on the 5th of August, 1894, in Munday, Knox county, Texas, to Miss Irene B. Reeves, who was born in Kentucky, but was partially reared in Tennessee. They have two children, a son and daughter, and the daughter of the former marriage makes the household now five in number. Mr. Collins was made a Mason in 1884, in Kaufman county, Texas, and in 1901 he joined the Knights of Pythias fraternity, while in 1898 he became affiliated with the Woodmen of the World. During his residence in Haskell county he has made judicious investment in land, now own- ing eighteen hundred acres, of which about one hundred and fifty acres is under cultivation, while the remainder is used as a stock ranch.

JOSEPH GARDNER WILLIAMS, one of the substantial citizens of the Lawn district of Taylor county, owning one of the splendidly improved farms of this locality, was born in Cal- houn county, Alabama, on the 4th of February, 1862. His father, Z. B. Williams, was born October 31, 1824, in South Carolina, whence he removed to Alabama when in middle life, being accompanied by his wife and three chil- dren. Mrs. Williams had borne the maiden name of Permelia Emeline Dunken and was probably a native of South Carolina. They

settled in Calhoun county, Alabama, where they continued to make their home for many years. The father engaged in freighting before the ad- vent of railroads but later his principal occupa- tion was farming, which he continued with con- siderable success throughout the greater part of his life. His death occurred December 27, 1887, when he was sixty-three years of age and his wife passed away in the spring of 1901. They reared a family of nine children, five sons and four daughters, but since the death of the parents two daughters and two sons have passed away.'

Joseph G. Williams made his home with his father until about twenty-two years of age, dur- ing which time he acquired his education in the public schools. He was then married, and after his marriage resided in Alabama for about two years, devoting his energies to agricultural pur- suits. In the fall of 1885 he came to Texas, where he has since lived. He first settled in Kaufman county, where he began farming and met with fair success in the venture, but on account of failing health he decided to seek a home elsewhere and made his way to western Texas. He found, however, that he was paying out more for medicine and doctors' bills than he was earning from his farm and in conse- quence he left that place, and in the latter part of December, 1890, arrived in Taylor county, having but limited financial resources with which to gain a start here. He first put in a crop about eight miles west of Abilene, but this did not prove very productive. Later he leased land from Dr. Bowlin in the Jim Ned valley, and there he made his home for four years. By this time he managed to save capital sufficient to enable him to invest in land for himself, and accordingly on the 16th of January, 1896, he removed to his present place, situated two miles northwest of Lawn. Here he owns two hun- dred and fifty-five acres of valuable land, of which one hundred and sixty-five acres are un- der cultivation, constituting one of the best im- proved farms of the county.

Mr. Williams was married in Alabama on the 13th of December, 1883, to Miss Lucy Per- melia Landers, a native of that state, and a sister of the Landers living in the Lawn coun- try. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have become the parents of six sons and two daughters, namely : Jessie W., born October 19, 1884; William Z., born September 29, 1887; Draper D., born March 5, 1890; Lucy P., born July 12, 1892; Hammon B., born September 18, 1894; Thomas J., born January 10, 1897; Lulu E., born De-

Mundhy

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

cember 14, 1901 ; and Miles R., born October I, 1903. Mr. Williams has been a member of the Baptist church since about seventeen years of age, and has taken considerable interest in church work. Although he has met difficulties and obstacles in his business career he has over- come these by determined purpose and unfalter- ing energy and has steadily worked his way upward to success, being now the possessor of valuable property interests in Taylor county. .

JOHN J. MUNDY, a capitalist, engaged in the real estate business in El Paso, was born in Allegany county, New York, and is a brother of H. M. Mundy, in connection with whose sketch on another page of this volume is given the an- cestral history of the family. To-day John J. Mundy is one of the well known old-time firm of Mundy Brothers, who have for many years been extensively identified with the business life of El Paso and are among its most esteemed pioneer citizens. The firm of Mundy Brothers was never formally organized as a business cor- poration. They simply grew up together in business life. Entering upon pioneer experi- ences on leaving their New York home they settled in Montgomery county, Kansas. This was in the latter sixties and they were the first in that part of the state to grow a crop of wheat, purchasing their land from the Osage Indian Reservation and selling their entire crop for seed wheat. At this time the partners in the business interests were H. M., L. L., John J. and George Mundy, but the last named is now deceased. The first representatives of the name in Texas were H. M. and L. L. Mundy, who made their way to El Paso and were followed by John J. Mundy early in 1881. For many years they were en- gaged extensively in the fine stock business, making a specialty of exporting fine breeds of cattle, horses and sheep to Mexico, in which in- dustry they were pioneers and for which they had been semi-officially recognized by the Mexi- can government as doing a work of beneficence in introducing higher grades of stock in the re- public. They also handled live stock and meats for the local trade on an extensive scale, and to accommodate this branch of the business the Mundy Brothers built, in 1883, a three-story brick building on south El Paso street, in the center of the town, the first three-story building in the city, a fifty-foot front and one hundred and thirty-four feet deep. The ground floor is occupied by two stores, the second floor by offices and the third floor is used as a lodge hall. After some years the old firm of Mundy

Brothers sold out their meat and live stock in- terests, since which time John J. and H. M. Mundy have devoted their attention largely as capitalists to local real estate and building en- terprises, developing the two finest residential sub-divisions in El Paso, Mundy Heights and Sunset Heights, the former of which is men- tioned in connection with the sketch of H. M. Mundy. John J. Mundy's sub-division known as Sunset Heights, adjoins Mundy Heights, and the improvements have been of the same high character and value as those of Mundy Heights. Seventy-five thousand dollars has already been expended in improving Sunset Heights for grad- ing, paving, curbing, etc., and much more will be expended before the work is completed. It is a re-districted residence portion of the city situated in the most aristocratic neighborhood. It was originally a part of the Satterthwaite addi- tion to El Paso and was purchased by Mr. Mundy in its raw state and by him has been brought to its present high condition of improve- ment. He also has other valuable realty and building interest in El Paso and is the owner of Concordia Seminary and the president of the El Paso Commercial Company.

Mr. Mundy was married in Elgin, Illinois, to Mrs. H. Dickinson, of that city, and they main- tan their residence in El Paso, where they have now resided for a quarter of a century. Mr. Mundy is a man of splendid business discern- ment and unfaltering enterprise, and in his vocabulary there is no such word as fail. He has made a close study of business conditions and indications, realizes opportunities and possibili- ties for successful accomplishment and so directs his labors as to produce maximum effect with minimum effort, which is the real secret of suc- cess in the business world. Moreover his efforts have been of a character that have proven bene- ficial to the city and El Paso has profited by his development of its realty interests.

ISAAC HUDSON. The gentleman whose name introduces this review is one of the old settlers of Texas, who has probably seen more of the western country and at an earlier day than the great majority of men now living in this part of the state. He is a native of Ala- bama, and was born on the 7th of February, 1854. His father was Edward M. Hudson, while the mother bore the maiden name of Martha Gray, and both were natives of South Carolina. Edward M. Hudson died in 1861, having for three years survived his wife, who passed away in Alabama. In 1859 Edward

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

Hudson had removed to Texas, settling in Grayson county on the Red river about four and a half miles northwest of where Denison is now located. At the breaking out of the Civil war he enlisted in Colonel Young's regi- ment and was a member of his staff. In the first year of the war he became ill with pneu- monia and died in camp. In his family were four children, three sons and a daughter, two of whom, Isaac Hudson and F. G. Hudson, are still living, the latter being a prominent lawyer of Monroe, Louisiana.

Isaac Hudson was about five years old when he came to Texas in 1859 and he resided in Grayson county until 1870, when he secured a cowboy outfit and spent some time upon the plains herding cattle in the regular western fashion. He also engaged in other pursuits of a similar nature and continued in this man- ner of life from 1870 until 1882, during which time he visited the counties of Taylor, Jones and adjoining districts. At that time, how- ever, there were no county organizations nor had such a plan been formulated. In 1882 Mr. Hudson came to what is now Jones county and located where he has since resided. He brought with him from Grayson county a bunch of cattle, but the hard winter that fol- lowed caused much suffering among his stock and many died. In 1885 he sold the remnant of his herd and bought the place where he now resides just west of Anson. Here he has a quarter section of land and he also owns two thousand acres on Clear Fork on the Brazos river, nine miles southwest of Anson. Of this tract he has six hundred acres under cultiva- tion and it is of the best farming land in the county. In 1891 he built a cotton gin on his place which was the second gin in the county. Since then another mill, formerly owned by Foster Brothers, has been purchased by Mr. Hudson, who now operates both plants. The Foster mill is on the east side of the town. The gin on the Hudson property was destroyed by fire in 1899 but was immediately rebuilt. The capacity of the present gin is about sev- enty-five bales of cotton per day and its cost with the complete outfit of inachinery was about ten thousand dollars. The gin on the east side of the town is smaller, having about fifty bales. During the season just closed Mr. Hudson ginned sixty-two hundred and eighty bales of cotton from the mill on his place, while the product of the east gin was eighteen hundred bales. This is an excellent cotton

country and the business which Mr. Hudson is conducting is proving quite profitable.

In 1880 occurred the marriage of Mr. Hud- son and Miss Anna J. Potts, who was born and reared in Louisiana, near Lebanon. They have a family of four sons and four daughters, as follows: Edward F., a graduate of Austin College, is now a student of medicine in the State University at Galveston, Texas. Thom- as P., who completed a course in Austin College, is likewise a medical student in the State University. Sumner is a student in the Texas Christian University at Waco. Isaac, Florence, Murray, Elva and Willie are at home. Mr. Hudson has been a Mason for about twenty years, taking the degrees of the lodge and chapter. He relates many interest- ing incidents of pioneer life in Texas from the days when he was a cowboy on the plains up to the present time, showing the progress and development of the state. In his business af- fairs he has prospered, carefully conducting his interests so that his labors are now returning him a gratifying measure of prosperity.

JAMES S. MORROW, cashier of the Citi- zens National Bank of Stamford, came to Texas in September, 1882, at which time he settled in Mason county but since the spring of 1884 has resided in Jones county. He is a native of Macon county, North Carolina, born on the 28th of January, 1850, his parents being Samuel C. and Martha (Howard) Morrow. both of whom were natives of that state. The father died during the infancy of his son James and the mother passed away after Mr. Morrow had grown to manhood. Later the family re- moved to Kentucky, settling in Purchase, Graves county, where James S. Morrow was reared upon a farm until about eleven years of age, at which time hostilities were begun be- tween the north and the south. The family then removed to Tennessee in 1861, settling in Weakley county, where Mr. Morrow made his home until coming to Texas. During the progress of the war educational facilities in the south were greatly abridged, as his home was in a section of country that was contested by the opposing forces. However, he was able to go to school to some extent and still fur- ther supplemented his education by study after the war closed. He displayed special aptitude in his school work and was therefore soon able to put himself in a position where he could study unaided by a teacher. Mathematics was

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

his specialty and by devoting his leisure hours to the mastery of the science he soon became able to cope with the most difficult problems in this branch of learning.

When he was about twenty-nine years of age Mr. Morrow was appointed deputy sheriff in Weakley county and held the office for about twenty-seven months. This gave him a good opportunity to study human nature, which has been a source of help to him in after life. Later he engaged in the stock busi- ness, buying and shipping to the markets of St. Louis, Louisville and New Orleans. That pursuit claimed his time and energies until his removal to Texas in 1882.

After settling in Mason county, Texas,. Mr. Morrow embarked in the drug, grocery and dry goods business in connection with his brother, W. N. Morrow, and followed that pursuit for about eighteen months. He then settled in Jones county in the spring of 1884, establishing his home at Anson, the county seat, which at that time was the only town in the county. There he opened up a furniture business and after carrying it on for a short time he also bought an interest in the drug business in connection with F. T. Knox, under the firm name of F. T. Knox and Company. This business relationship was entered into on the 16th day of August, 1884, and the part- nership was maintained until 1893. During that year the great fire of Anson destroyed much property, including the, drug store

of F. T. Knox & Company. Subse- quently the partnership was dissolved and the firm of Morrow and Johnson was estab- lished, continuing to do business to the present time, theirs being one of the substan- tial commercial enterprises of the city. In the latter part of the year 1887 Mr. Morrow es- tablished a private bank in the same building with the drug business, under the name of F. T. Knox and Company, bankers. This con- tinued until 1893, since which time it has been J. S. Morrow, Banker, and is today one of the leading financial features of Anson.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 96

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