USA > Texas > Tarrant County > Fort Worth > History of Texas : Fort Worth and the Texas northwest edition, Volume II > Part 28
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49
He did not acquire much of this world's goods, but, being the pos- sessor of some property on upper Houston Street, he was enabled to leave a competency for his widow and children.
Besides his son, already mentioned, he had three daughters, Clara, Lily and Ollie, the two latter of whom are still living.
Dr. Peak died February 28, 1885.
690
FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
JUDGE G. A. EVARTS
Among the most prominent members of the bar who came to Fort Worth when it was a frontier village was the subject of this sketch.
He was born in the northwestern territory, (now Ohio), in the month of August, 1797. His father died when he was about five years of age, leaving a widow with seven children, the training and education of whom devolved upon her. She was a fine scholar and had had every advan- tage that means and position could give, under the guidance of Dr. Wheelock, president of Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, and was therefore capable of directing the education of her children.
In the spring of 1812 Judge Evarts entered the state university at Athens, Ohio, from which he graduated. In 1818 he went to Kentucky and taught in a seminary for four or five years, reading law at the time. In 1823 he was licensed to practice law. In 1828 he moved to Indiana, settling at Fort Wayne. In 1833 he was elected district judge in the district comprising several counties north of the Wabash. He moved to Platte City, Mo., in 1843, but, owing to the ill health of his family he decided to move to Texas, which he did in the spring of 1844, and settled at Bonham, Fannin County, of which Bonham was the county seat, then embracing the territory which is now Collin, Denton, Cooke and Gray- son counties, the whole number of inhabitants of which was represented by 300 voters. In 1845 he was elected to the convention which framed the constitution for the State of Texas, and served in that body with such men as Hemphill, Lipscomb and Rusk.
He was opposed to secession, and in his speeches told the people that they were sowing to the wind and would reap the whirlwind, that the secession movement would result in freeing the slaves, and that the very first gun fired would be the death knell of slavery, that the South would finally be subjugated and the slaves set free, which prediction was verified.
In 1865, after the close of the war, he was appointed Judge of the Fourteenth District, composed of the counties of Hill, Navarro and five or six additional counties. He resigned that position in 1867, and shortly thereafter moved to Fort Worth and resumed the practice of law with his son-in-law, Mr. H. G. Hendricks.
He was universally respected both for his personal character and legal attainments.
HARRISON G. HENDRICKS
One of the citizens of Fort Worth who faithfully co-operated with others struggling to build up the town was Harrison G. Hendricks. He ·was born in the State of Kentucky in 1819. In his youth his father moved from Kentucky to Illinois and settled near Quincy. After a brief sojourn in Illinois the family continued its march to the West and settled in Jack- son County, Missouri. His school opportunities were few and his early education limited. He removed from Missouri in 1846, settling in Fan- nin County, where he soon afterwards was elected district and county clerk of that county. In 1847 he was married to a daughter of G. A. Everts, a lawyer of distinction then living in Bonham, Texas. H. G. Hendricks, having prepared himself, as opportunity offered, was admitted
691
FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
to practice law. About 1849 or 1850 he removed from Bonham to Sher- man. In 1861 he removed to Hill County, Texas, and settled on a farm near the Brazos River, where he remained until 1866, when he removed to Fort Worth and formed a partnership with Col. J. P. Smith in the practice of law. He united heartily with those who were laboring to secure the building of the Texas & Pacific Railroad to Fort Worth, and was one of the four men who gave 320 acres to secure that end. Judge Hendricks was a man of fine character. He died March 13, 1873.
CAPT. J. C. TERRELL
Capt. Terrell, one of the most prominent lawyers, capitalists and real estate owners of the city, was born in Missouri in 1831. His parents were among the pioneers of Missouri, having migrated at an early day- from Virginia. Captain Terrell's early days were spent upon his father's farm and in hunting and fishing, of which he was very fond.
Studying law in the office of his brother, Hon. A. W. Terrell, he was admitted to the bar in 1852, in the State of Missouri. In the same year. true to the instincts of a pioneer family, he sought his fortunes on the golden sands of the Pacific slope, and though but a stripling he under- took the perilous feat of crossing the plains in company with some bold adventurous spirits like himself. After encountering almost incredible hardships, an account of which would fill a volume, these adventurers reached California. Captain Terrell entered at once upon a large prac- tice in this new field, and soon accumulated a handsome little fortune.
In 1857 he went to see his mother, who had now returned to Vir- ginia, to the home of her childhood, and in the winter of 1857-58 came to Texas, visiting among other towns Fort Worth, then in the swaddling clothes of earliest infancy. Attracted by the beautiful location of Fort Worth and its surroundings, he determined to locate here permanently. Opening an office, he and his partner, Col. D. C. Dade, did a lucrative practice in Tarrant and surrounding counties.
Captain Terrell was a zealous Union man, and though he did not take the stump in opposition to secession, he exerted himself against it in every other honorable way. Notwithstanding his devotion to the Union, when he saw that the war was inevitable he was unable to stand an indifferent spectator whilst his country was being invaded, and in 1862 he raised a cavalry company in Tarrant County and joined Waller's Battalion, General Green's Brigade. Captain Terrell remained with his company as captain until the close of the war. He refused promotion frequently, as it would have necessitated a separation from his company. He participated in all the battles fought in Louisiana, when General Banks invaded that state, and achieved for himself an enviable reputa- tion as a military officer. No captain in the Trans-Mississippi depart- ment was more beloved by his men, for while he always bore himself with becoming dignity toward his soldiers, his head was not turned by a little brief authority, as was unfortunately the case with too many officers during the war. After the war Captain Terrell returned to Fort Worth and resumed the practice of law, to which he gave his exclusive attention.
692
FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
In 1872 Captain Terrell married Miss Mary V. Lawrence, a most estimable and accomplished lady, whose parents came to Dallas county at a very early day, and, like Captain Terrell's parents, belonged to a race of pioneers.
To this union there were born five children, two sons, John L. and Alexander W., and three daughters, Josie C., Sue and Mary. The eldest son and daughter are dead.
His wife died November 23, 1885, and on November 30, 1887, he married Miss Mary Peters Young, of Marshall. She died on the 16th day of October, 1920. Captain Terrell died on the 15th day of Octo- ber, 1909.
WILLIAM GARLAND NEWBY
William Garland Newby, banker, was born at St. Charles, Mis- souri, March 11, 1858, son of John Henry and Mary Ann Newby. His father, a native of Virginia, removed to Texas in 1874 and settled on a ranch in Parker County. The son received his educa- tion in public and private schools. He began business life in 1876 with the wholesale grocery house of Joseph H. Brown, Fort Worth, then the leading concern of its kind in Texas, and eventually became its general manager. In 1890 he became cashier of the Trader's National Bank, and although he had been without previous bank- ing experience he was soon rated one of the most dependable financiers in Forth Worth. In 1899, upon the organization of the American National Bank, he was made president of that institu- tion, and remained in that relation until his death. He was also president of the Burdette Oxygen Co .; vice president of Forth Worth Life Insurance Co., and the Ward-Harrison Mortgage Co .; treas- urer of the Wortham-Carter Publishing Co., and director of the Fort Worth & Rio Grande Railway Co., Trinity & Brazos Valley Railroad Co., Thurber Coal Co., and the Jersey-Creme Co. He was ever a serious student of the teachings of Masonry, held the most exalted stations in the fraternity, and had attained the thirty- third degree. He was a life member of many Masonic bodies; was past grand commander of the Texas Grand Commandery ; member of the Red Cross of Constantine, and was treasurer of the Masonic Orphans' Home. He was also a veteran in the Knights of Pythias. and held membership also in the River Crest Country and the Fort Worth Clubs, Fort Worth, in which he had been steward and trustee for more than a quarter of a century. He was a commu- nicant of the First Methodist Church, and politically was a democrat. He found his chief recreation in fishing, hunting and golf.
For years Mr. Newby enjoyed the deep-seated esteem of the men who directed Fort Worth's progress on the onward and up- ward path of municipal advancement. As a business man and banker he exemplified those qualities which we like to regard as particularly American. He made his way by his own intelligent industry and perseverance. He was one of Fort Worth's most progressive and liberal citizens, and few men of his day did more to foster development and upbuilding of the fine city in which he
693
FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
labored to goodly ends. He married at Fort Worth, Texas, Decem- ber 14, 1882, Etta O. Price, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. W. S. Price, and a native of Mississippi. She survives him. Mr. Newby died at Fort Worth April 29, 1916.
JAMES FRANKLIN ELLIS
There has been some contention among early settlers of For! Worth as to who was the first settler at this place. This distinction if such it be, has been between "Uncle" Press Farmer and the subject of this sketch.
Mr. Ellis came to Fort Worth prior to the location of the Post. He was born at Mexico, Missouri, April 28, 1838: He came to Texas with his parents in 1846 and settled in Denton County, where both his parents died in 1847. Soon thereafter he moved to Fort Worth. He was married on September 12, 1860, to Delilah Jane Asbury, the daughter of Jerimiah Asbury, who lived just south of the present corporate limits of the city. To this union five children were born: William Jaspar, deceased; Henry Merrill, who died in infancy ; Jerry Franklin, who is deceased; James Merida and Fannie Alta, who is the wife of L. H. DuBose, the latter two still living in this city.
Mr. Ellis enlisted in the Confederate Army in Company H, Seven- teenth Regiment, Texas Cavalry, on March 8, 1862, and served to the end of the war and was discharged at Galveston May 24, 1865.
He returned to his home at Fort Worth and engaged in the gen- eral merchandise business with William J. Boaz, under the firm name of Boaz & Ellis. About 1875 they closed out their business and engaged in the lumber trade and later purchased the interest of M. B. Loyd in the California & Texas Bank, with which they re- mained until that institution was merged into the City National Bank, when they both retired. Subsequently they joined in the formation of the Traders' National Bank.
Mr. Ellis died in Fort Worth January 23, 1899, leaving a private and business record unblemished and without reproach.
MERIDA G. ELLIS
Merida G. Ellis was born in Denton County, three miles northeast of where the town of Denton now stands, in 1847. His parents, who had come to Texas from Missouri in 1846, died a few months after his birth, and his uncle and aunt, S. P. and Elizabeth Loving, assumed charge of him and brought him to Fort Worth in the fall of 1849.
In 1862 he enlisted in the Confederate Army, under Capt. John Brinson, at Johnson's Station, went to Fort Scott, Kansas, and entered into battle with the northern "Hay Cutters"; from there he was transferred to Arkansas, thence to Memphis, Tennessee, and to a point in Mississippi where he was engaged in a battle in which the Confederate Army was repulsed and sent back to Tupelo, Mis- sissippi. Here . his health gave way and, being under age, he was discharged and came back to Texas. Later he re-enlisted under Capt. Archer Hart, Colonel Martin's Regiment, and remained in the
694 FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
army until the close of the war, when he was discharged at Rich- mond, Texas. At the age of eighteen he faced the world without any educational advantages. His first employment was on the ranch of William Moseley, at fifteen dollars a month. At the end of six months he applied his wages on an education, and then began clerk- ing for Boaz & Ellis, subsequently buying out their business. He moved to Wise County after closing out the stock, but returned to Fort Worth in 1875 and went into the agricultural and implement business, having on hand six plows to be sold on commission. In the spring of 1876 Lieutenant Governor Pendleton bought from him a carload of plows, and between then and Christmas he had sold six carloads of plows. He then branched out, adding to his stock, and in the spring of 1877 formed a partnership with W. A. Huffman, with whom he conducted the business for four years, at the end of which time he, upon the doctor's orders, retired, selling his interest in the firm to his partner. They were then doing a business of $250,000 a year. Confident that Fort Worth had a future, he bought 1,500 acres of land where North Fort Worth now stands, at a cost of from one dollar to four dollars eighty cents an acre. After acquiring this land he built a residence on it, fenced it, stocked it with cattle and horses and established four dairies, which were very successful.
In 1891 the land came in demand for a town, and he laid out an addition, which is now known as the M. G. Ellis Addition, and with two other citizens built the first schoolhouse in North Fort Worth where the M. G. Ellis Schoolhouse is now located.
In 1868 Mr. Ellis married Miss Jinkie Darter, who was born in Randolph County, Alabama, in 1848, and was the daughter of Frank and Mary Darter, her father being a large land owner. In 1859 the family came to Texas and settled in Erath County, within six miles of Stephenville, where he engaged in the cattle business.
They have five children, one of whom, Elnoro, died in infancy. The other four, who are all living in Fort Worth, are M. G. Ellis Jr., who is engaged in the real estate and railroad business, Mrs. J. W. Lynch, Mrs. H. C. McCart, wife of a former city attorney, and Mrs. H. K. McCollum.
Mr. Ellis is, in point of residence, the oldest living inhabitant of Fort Worth. His cousin, Mrs. Henry C. Holloway, whose maiden name was Margaret Anne Loving, and who came here at the same time, is still living.
THOMAS J. JENNINGS
The fact that Mr. Jennings was one of the largest contributors to the land donations to the Texas & Pacific Railway makes it appro- priate that his name should appear among those who aided in laying the foundation of Fort Worth. He was born in Shenadoah County. Virginia, on the 20th of October. 1801. When he was ten years of age his father moved to Indiana, but remained there but a short time, when he moved to Louisville, Kentucky, where the subject of this sketch was engaged in clerking and going to school until he was about seventeen years old. He attended Transylvania College
.
695
FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
at Lexington, Kentucky, where he graduated in 1824 with the highest honors of his class. In 1836 he went to Yazoo City, Mississippi, where he had a large and lucrative practice until 1840, when he moved to Texas, first settling in St. Augustine and subsequently moving to Nacogdoches. In 1852 he was elected attorney general of Texas and re-elected until 1856, when he declined to again be a candidate. He was a member of the company that passed the ordi- nance of secession. In 1877 he moved to Forth Worth, where he died, after a long and painful illness, on September 23, 1881.
ISAAC DUKE PARKER
The subject of this sketch was never a citizen of Forth Worth. He lived just a few miles east of Birdville and was- the owner of one of the most splendid farms in the county.
He was a most unique character, a primitive old-school Baptist, strong in his convictions, earnest in the advocacy in any question presented, and if he went down in defeat in any contest he never lowered his flag or admitted it.
In the county seat contest in which Fort Worth was successful Mr. Parker was an enthusiastic, uncompromising advocate of Bird- ville as the appropriate place for the county seat, and never, during his life time, did he admit that Birdville was fairly and honestly defeated in that contest.
He was born in Crawford County, Illinois, on October 23, 1821,. and came to Texas with his parents in 1833. Reared on the frontier as he was, he had all of the peculiarities of frontier people, generous to a fault, with an open door to every stranger or visitor, generous to his friends and unrelenting to his enemies.
He belonged to no church or to any society or organization, but his conduct as a citizen and a man was always above criticism and reproach.
He was always a democrat, representing his county and district at state conventions and served as a representative for one term. He voted for secession and never had anything to explain or take back relative thereto.
JOHN Y. HOGSETT
John Y. Hogsett was born July 22, 1843, in Anderson County, Tennessee. He attended school at the Union Academy, Clinton, Ten- nessee, and, although he did not take a classical course, he acquired a very thorough education. At the age of sixteen he left Tennessee and came to Texas, where he remained until 1866, when he returned to Tennessee and began a study of the law and was admitted to practice in April, 1869. In 1872 he returned to Texas and engaged in the practice of the law with Capt. John Hanna, under the firm name of Hanna & Hogsett, which continued until December, 1880, when it was dissolved by mutual consent.
He was married November 21, 1869, to Mrs. Anna M. Long, in Roane County, Tennessee. Five children were born to this marriage.
In 1861 he enlisted in the Company K, Fifth Texas Regiment, VOL. II-17
696
FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
under Col. Tom Green, and continued in the service until the sur- render in May, 1865.
His habits were of strict sobriety and patient industry. He was one of the organizers and the first president of the Fort Worth Life Insurance Company, but he subsequently sold his holdings in the institution and devoted his time and energy to his farm and ranch and to real estate investments.
He died September 12, 1912.
DR. J. T. FIELD
The subject of this sketch is claimed as a native citizen of Tar- rant County, but the truth of history requires that the fact be recorded that he was born just over the line in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, a plantation on which his father lived, it being both in Texas and Louisi- ana. His early education was acquired in a school in Fort Worth of which the late Col. J. P. Smith was the teacher.
At the age of seventeen he entered the Confederate service, was elected the lieutenant of Company H, Fifteenth Texas Cavalry, with which he served during the war, at the close of which he began the study of medicine, in Fort Worth under Dr. C. N. Peak, and in 1867 entered the University of Louisville, Kentucky, where he graduated in March, 1869. He took a post-graduate course at Belleview Hos- pital College, of New York, and in 1873 located in Fort Worth.
In 1869 he married a schoolmate of his boyhood days, Miss Sarah M. Ferguson, daughter of William T. Ferguson, a druggist in Fort Worth. By this marriage they had four daughters, Fannie, Bessie, Mary and Willie, all of whom are still living. The first is the wife of W. R. Edrington, temporarily residing in New York; Bessie is the wife of John W. Sandidge; Mary is the wife of Dr. G. V. Morton, and Willie is the wife of Joe M. Collins. Doctor Field's wife died July 19, 1918, and he was married to Mrs. F. L. Jordan in June, 1919.
Doctor Field was one of the most successful practitioners engaged in active practice and many of his early patients still call on him for service.
WILLIAM T. FERGUSON
The subject of this sketch was born in Marine, Madison County, Illinois, June 4, 1820. His father was Issac Powell Ferguson, who came to Texas in 1846 and marched with the Texans under the leader- ship of General William Jennings Worth and entered the halls of the Montezumas. He died in Mexico City and was buried with military honors by the Masons in that city.
William T. Ferguson married Editha Davis in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1844. They came to Rusk County, Texas, in the days of the Lone Star Republic, and later moved to Williamson County. In 1856 they came to Fort Worth, and were among the few that came to the "Fort" as early as 1856.
That he was among the most respected and honored citizens of the town is evidenced by the fact that he was the treasurer of the county for twenty-four consecutive years.
.
697
FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
They had three children, two daughters and a son. The eldest daugh ter, Sarah, became the wife of Dr. J. T. Field, and the second, Justine. the wife of Charles Turner. Both are now dead. The son, O. B. Fer- guson, is still living. There are six grandchildren now living.
CAPTAIN JULIAN FEILD
Captain Julian Feild was among the earliest settlers in Fort Worth. coming here in 1853. He was born in Virginia in 1826, came to Texas in 1844 and settled in Harrison County. When he settled in Fort Worth he purchased a log cabin from one of the officers then stationed at the Post. It was situated at the corner of what is now Belknap and Throck- morton Streets. He lived there ten or fifteen years. He erected a stone building at the corner of Belknap and Taylor Streets and engaged in general merchandise, having a large trade with the Indians. He built the first mill making flour and corn meal in this section. It was located near the confluence of the Clear Fork and west fork of the Trinity. He had also a saw mill at the same place. It was the only mill in this sec- tion of the state, and people came from long distances for their flour. meal and lumber. He, in company with R. S. Man, also built a mill at Mansfeild, and the town was named from these two "Mansfeild." He was active in the campaign for changing the county seat from Bird- ville to Fort Worth, was the first postmaster here, in 1858, and was the first master of the Masonic Lodge of this city. Was also postmaster in this city under the first administration of President Cleveland.
THOMAS A. TIDBALL
Thomas A. Tidball was born in Lafayette County, Missouri. His mother was Rose Orrick, of Morgan County, Virginia.
Mr. Tidball grew up without educational advantages other than those afforded by the country schools. At the age of fourteen he entered the employ of Lightner & Miller, a mercantile firm in Jackson County. Missouri, where he remained until the fall of 1860, when he returned to Virginia to look after some interests there. Being in Virginia at the outbreak of the war, he espoused the cause of the South and in May, 1861, enlisted in a Cavalry Company. He served from the beginning to the close of the war, taking part in the numerous battles, and sur- rendered at Appomattox.
At the close of hostilities he returned to Missouri, where he re mained until the fall of 1872, when he came to Texas, choosing Fort Worth as his home.
In January, 1873, in partnership with J. B. Wilson, of Virginia, he opened the first bank in Fort Worth. Mr. Wilson remained with the firm but a short time, when he sold his interest to K. M. Van Zandt, J. P. Smith and J. J. Jarvis, and the firm became Tidball, Van Zandt & Co., the predecessor to the present Fort Worth National Bank. He was made vice-president of this bank, which position he retained until his death.
He was married October 21, 1873, to Miss Lelia F. Arnold, daughter of Dr. Edward Arnold, of Lexington, Missouri. They had three chil-
698
FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
dren, Anna, Virginia and Edna. Virginia died some years ago, but the other two are still living.
DR. JOHN FOSTER SHELTON
The subject of this sketch was born February 20, 1826, in Sumner. Tennessee. He graduated from the Louisville Medical College at a time when that institution was one of the chief schools of its kind in this country.
In 1851 he married Martha Bronaugh, of Christian County, Ken- tucky, and in 1855 moved to Texas, settling first in Collin County but moving to Fort Worth in 1856.
During the war Dr. Shelton served with the forces of Gen. Sterling Price in Arkansas as a surgeon. He returned to Fort Worth in 1868. where for many years he was engaged in the drug business. He had four children, two sons and two daughters. John M. Shelton, the eldest son, lives in Amarillo ; James B. Shelton died in 1888; Belle Shelton died in 1911 ; the youngest child, Anna Shelton, still lives in Fort Worth.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.