USA > Texas > Tarrant County > Fort Worth > History of Texas : Fort Worth and the Texas northwest edition, Volume III > Part 25
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Mr. Adams was born in Bosque County, Texas, in 1875, a son of J. W. and Matilda E. (Odle) Adams. His father was born in East Texas, in Rusk County, and was only a boy when his parents moved to Bosque County in 1854. Bosque County was then a part of the frontier of North Central Texas, and its in- habitants had to battle with hostile Indians to maintain a precarious foothold there. J. W. Adams at the age of seventeen enlisted in the Confederate army and served in the famous organization known as Gen. Tom Greene's Brigade. He was in a number of campaigns, and had the honor of taking part in the recapture of Galveston from the Fed- eral forces. His business for many years was that of a stockman, and he owned a large amount of land in Bosque County. He was a determined and public spirited citizen as well, for several years served as county tax collector, and was a man of the finest char-
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acter and independence of thought and action. He possessed the strongly individualistic views of the old fashioned Jeffersonian demo- crat. He believed in the rule of the people and in the largest measure of individual and community freedom. He therefore favored "local option" as a principle of government, whether in community, county or state, and believed in giving as little power as possi- ble to distant centralized authority.
J. W. Adams died in 1912. His wife, Ma- tilda E. Odle, was a member of another pioneer family of Bosque County. Her father, familiarly known as "Old Man Jack" Odle, was a buffalo hunter, Indian fighter, and a fine type of the frontier soldier. Before the war he was a Texas Ranger and during the war the Confederate Government put him in com- mand of the Rangers on the frontier to pro- tect the settlements against Indians and against the Northern enemy. Many stories are told of his combats and adventures of early days.
With such ancestors Thomas Pool Adams naturally inherited a virile and independent character. He grew up on his father's stock ranch, but was liberally educated, attending Southwestern University at Georgetown, where he graduated with the class of 1898. He then studied law, was admitted to the Bosque County Bar, and for several years enjoyed a substantial practice at Gatesville. However, his inclination was for a larger field in business and industrial development. With the first promises of oil discoveries in Northern Texas, he came to that section in 1910, and since 1911 his home has been in Wichita Falls. The pioneer oil well near Electra was brought in in 1911, and prac- tically all the great developments of the ter- ritory, including those of Burkburnett, have since occurred. Mr. Adams has been one of the most successful of independent operators in the North Texas oil fields. With his oper- ations centered at Wichita Falls, he has been identified with the real development and pro- duction of oil and has never participated in the numerous stock promotion and "blue- sky" projects whose main object is to sell stocks or dispose of other people's money. Associated with him have been solid, substan- tial citizens of the highest character, perma- nent residents of the locality. In the business of oil production Mr. Adams has proceeded on the same lines that a good business man would follow in any other business. He has been a student of all the technical and com- mercial sides of petroleum, and his researches
and hard work have well justified the success he has attained.
Mr. Adams was a pioneer in developing the Ramming Pool in the Clara field in Wichita County, was one of the early operators of the Burkburnett field and in Southern Okla- homa. He has important financial interests in a number of oil producing corporations, in- cluding the Adams Oil Company, I-Tex Oil Company, McBam Oil Company, is associated with the Adams, Brown & McAlester inter- est's, and the Simax Oil Company.
Much of his wealth Mr. Adams has invested in Wichita Falls real estate. He is a direc- tor of the City National Bank of Commerce, which has resources of over twenty-two mil- lion dollars. He is also one of the leading members of the Wichita Club, a civic organ- ization that has much in the way of planning and practical work to realize the best devel- opment of Wichita Falls as a modern city. He is also a member of the Chamber of Com- merce, the Wichita Falls Country and Golf clubs, is a steward in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and Elks.
Mr. Adams married Mrs. Eddy Claxton, of Gatesville. Their two children are Hallie and Virgie May Adams. At 1106 Brooks Street Mr. and Mrs. Adams have one of the finest and most beautiful homes in the city, a resi- dence that is justly a source of pride to them.
WILLIAM M. MASSIE has become one of the prominent and influential figures in con- nection with banking affairs in the City of Fort Worth, which has represented his home since early childhood. His advancement in the field of financial operations has been through ability and effective service, and since August, 1919, has held the responsible office of vice president of the Fort Worth National Bank, one of the leading banking in- stitutions of this favored section of the Lone Star state.
Mr. Massie was born at Clarksville, Ten- nessee, on August 21, 1873, the third in order of birth of the four sons of John J. and Ten- nie M. (Moore) Massie, the former of whom was born at Hanover Courthouse, Virginia, a representative of a well known family founded in the Old Dominion commonwealth many generations ago, and the latter was born at Clarksville, Tennessee. In the year 1877 John J. Massie came with his family to Texas and established himself in the mercantile busi- ness at Fort Worth. He long continued as
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one of the representative business men and influential citizens of this city, and at the time of his death, when seventy-six years of age, he was here engaged in the insurance business. His venerable widow still resides in Fort Worth.
William M. Massie was about five years old at the time when the family home was es- tablished in Fort Worth, and in addition to receiving the advantages of the public schools he attended also the old Fort Worth Univer- sity. He gained his initial banking experience through his connection with the Merchants National Bank, in which he held the position of collector. In 1890 he assumed a similar position with the Fort Worth National Bank, and in the passing years he worked his way through the various departments of executive service in this institution, of which he became vice president in August, 1919, as previously noted. He is president of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, president of the Fort Worth Warehouse and Storage Company, is associated with the Amalgamated Tire Stores Corporation of Texas, and is a director of the St. Louis, San Francisco & Texas Rail- way Company. Mr. Massie holds membership in various social organizations of representa- tive character, including the Fort Worth Club, the Kiwanis Club, the River Crest and Glen Garden Country clubs, and the local lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is loyal and public spirited as a citizen, and his political allegiance is given unre- servedly to the democratic party.
In 1897 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Massie to Miss Anna W. Pepper, daugh- ter of the late Charles Pepper, who was super- intendent of the Texas & Pacific Railway Company, with official headquarters at Fort Worth. Mr. and Mrs. Massie have two chil- dren: Elizabeth Garner is the wife of Robert D. Gage, Jr., of Port Gibson, Mississippi ; and Frances Pepper remains at the parental home.
O. E. MAER, a prominent railroad man and for a number of years a resident of Wichita Falls, is superintendent of the Wichita Valley Railway and has come up from the ranks of railroad operations, entering the service when a boy.
He was born in Columbus, Misssissippi, in 1860, and was fifteen years old when his father died. Leaving school, he went to work as a messenger boy for the Mobile & Ohio Railway. He learned telegraphy, showed skill and fidelity to every duty, and for a
number of years was engaged as an operator and train dispatcher by different railroad lines at various points throughout the country. He became chief train dispatcher and train mas- ter, and for some years was thus employed on the Northern divisions of the Cotton Belt Railway in Southeast Missouri. He also had charge of the Cotton Belt's bridge at Thebes, Illinois. He came to Texas in 1896, and for several years was assistant division superin- tendent of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Rail- way at Smithville. In 1907 he came to Wichita Falls, and since then, with the excep- tion of the war period, has been continuously in the service as superintendent for the Fort Worth & Denver Railway and its owned line, the Wichita Valley Railway, extending from Wichita Falls to Abilene.
During the period of government owner- ship Mr. Maer had charge at Wichita Falls of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas lines West of Whitesboro, the Wichita Falls & North- western, the Wichita Valley & Abilene South- ern, a total of nine hundred miles of railroad. When the roads were returned to their own- ers Mr. Maer resumed service as superintend- ent of the Wichita Valley Railway.
He is a very popular citizen not only among the people of Wichita Falls, his home city, but throughout a wide expanse of country, where he is known as a highly trained and efficient railway executive, and has a fund of interesting reminiscences of railroading both in Texas and in other states.
Mr. Maer married Miss Lou Ellen Benoit, who was born and reared in his home town of Columbus, Mississippi. They have three chil- dren : W. Newton Maer, a wealthy and promi- nent oil operator of Wichita Falls ; Claud M., Manager of the grain department of the Waco Mill & Elevator Co., of Waco; and Miss Marion Maer, at home.
THE BANKERS & MERCHANTS PETROLEUM COMPANY was organized in October, 1919, at Fort Worth as a common law trust, the principals in the organization being R. T. Couch, M. F. Winfrey and O. E. Lillard. Its authorized capital was set at six hundred thousand dollars and later increased to one million dollars, with par value of shares at one dollar, and uniform selling price of one dollar and a half per share. Its immediate prestige was based in part on the company being in a way a successor to the old Couch- Winfrey Oil Company, organized in the sum- mer of 1918 by Mr. Couch and Mr. Winfrey.
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This company with a small capitalization paid some very large dividends to the sharehold- ers during the few months of its operations. The Bankers & Merchants Petroleum Com- pany began with two producing wells in the Wichita Falls district, with a daily production of a hundred barrels or more. This was later increased by drilling activities to ten produc- ing wells. During the first twelve months of the company's history a total of thirty-one percent in cash dividends was paid on the issued capital stock.
The company's operations are confined to the Wichita Falls and Burkburnett districts, but they have owned and still own and con- trol tracts in other fields throughout the South- west. Among their leaseholdings are some recently acquired tracts in the new Archer County field following the bringing in of the Texhoma Oil & Refining Company's wild cat test in the early spring of 1921. Drilling operations are now suspended because of the depression due to the low price of crude oil and general business conditions.
The personnel of this company includes R. T. Couch, president and field superintend- ent, M. F. Winfrey, secretary-treasurer, while the trustees are David Boaz, a well known Fort Worth banker, and O. E. Lillard, a cot- ton factor of Taylor, Texas.
R. T. Couch, president of the company, was born in Eastern Texas, was educated in rural schools there, and has been making his own way in the world since an early age. In 1909 he moved into the Wichita Falls district, and was a life insurance salesman, but for ten years past has been a well known figure in the oil industry. He has been a resident of Fort Worth since October, 1920, and still owns the Tenth Street Drug Store at Wichita Falls, a very profitable and successful busi- ness. Mr. Couch has a comprehensive famili- arity with all the petroleum fields adjacent to Wichita Falls, and has a remarkably detailed knowledge of oil development in the South- west. He was head of the old Couch-Winfrey Oil Company, which earned prominence by reason of the large profits it earned and dis- tributed to its shareholders within the first few months.
M. F. Winfrey, secretary-treasurer of the company, is a banker by early experience and long record of active service, and continued in that business until about half a dozen years ago, when he turned his time and talents to the great petroleum industry of the South- west. Mr. Winfrey was born in Missouri but
came to Fort Worth when a small boy and was educated in the public schools of Fort Worth. From school he went to work in a bank, and by many years of experience achieved a high place in banking circles in the Southwest. For a number of years he was connected with the Farmers & Mechanics Bank of Fort Worth, later was department manager of a large St. Louis bank and for several years was with the First National Bank of Amarillo. While at Amarillo Mr. Winfrey was manager of the Clearing House Association of that city, was treasurer and a director of the Chamber of Commerce, and otherwise prominent in civic and business affairs in the Panhandle.
LAURENCE GERNSBACHER, attorney at law and a successful young member of the Fort Worth bar for five years, is a native of North- ern Texas, and the family name has been one of prominence in Fort Worth business affairs for over twenty years.
Mr. Gernsbacher was born at Weatherford in Parker County March 13, 1893, a son of Henry and Julia (Falk) Gernsbacher. His parents moved to Fort Worth in 1900, and his father is one of the city's most successful merchants, being president of Gernsbacher Brothers Company, Incorporated. He is a former president of the Retail Merchants' Association of Texas.
In a family of seven children, six still living, Laurence is the youngest. He was educated in the Fort Worth public schools and finished his literary and law education in the Texas State Univeristy. He was admitted to the bar in 1916, at once began practice in Fort Worth, and has never had a partnership. He handles a general practice, chiefly office prac- tice and land titles. Mr. Gernsbacher left his professional interests in 1918 to enlist in the army, and was in the service until April, 1919.
He is a democrat in politics, a member of the Reformed Jewish Church, and is affiliated with the Pi Tau Pi fraternity and the Inde- pendent Order of B'nai B'rith At Fort Worth November 29, 1917, Mr. Gernsbacher married Miss Sarah Eckert. Mrs. Gerns- bacher graduated from the Fort Worth High School in 1913.
GEORGE D. BOND, M. D. In every large hospital and medical center in the country the X-Ray laboratory is considered an indispen- sable auxiliary to the work of physicians, sur- geons and dentists. The institution of an
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X-Ray laboratory as an auxiliary to the profession at Fort Worth is credited to Dr. George D. Bond, one of the foremost authorities in this branch of medical science in the state. Doctor Bond was born at Spring Hill, Tennessee, a son of Thomas B. and Ann (McLemore) Bond. His parents were na- tives of Tennessee and of pioneer families in that state. George D. Bond graduated from the medical department of Vanderbilt Univer- sity, and for three years practiced at Spring Hill before coming to Texas. For a num- ber of years he enjoyed a wide general prac- tice as a physician at Hillsboro, Texas, and from there came to Fort Worth in 1907. Here he has limited his work to X-Ray diagnosis and therapeutics. He began with a modest equipment, and his skill brought a growing appreciation of the value of his service in advance of the extending use of such labora- tory equipment in other sections of the coun- try. He now has a large laboratory, with all the most modern facilities found in his branch of medicine. His son, Dr. Thomas B. Bond, is associated with him.
Dr. George D. Bond was the first presi- dent of the Texas Roentgen Association, or- ganized in Houston, Texas, in 1914, and since grown to a large membership over the state. Doctor Bond served as president of the Hill County Medical Society in 1905. He is a member of the Tarrant County Medical Society, the Texas State Medical Association and American Medical Association. He has contributed many articles on the subject of X-Ray work to medical societies and medical journals. Besides his son Dr. Thomas B. Bond he has one daughter, Miss Martha Bond. Doctor Bond is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
WILLIAM FREDERICK STERLEY. The study of the life and accomplishments of a success- ful man is full of educational value, especially when such a person has achieved tangible and practical results and has raised the standard and set an example which goes to form a real bulwark of Americanism. Particularly is this true in connection with the work accomplished by those associated with the operation of the great railroads of the country, and one who is a well known figure in the transportation history of Texas is William Frederick Sterley, general freight and passenger agent of the Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad, with headquarters at Fort Worth.
Mr. Sterley was born at Henderson, Minne- sota, January 30, 1859, a son of Peter and Magdalena (Wiegand) Sterley, both of whom were born in Germany, fromn whence the for- mer came to the United States when about twenty-six years old and the latter when a child. They were married in Minnesota and had twelve children, two of whom died in infancy, the others living to reach maturity, of whom William Frederick was the second in order of birth and eldest son.
Until he was eighteen years of age Mr. Sterley lived at home, and he received his educational training in the local schools. Leav- ing home at eighteen, he began working on the railroads, and was first employed as a trucker in a freight house at Fort Worth, to which city he came in 1877, and remained with the Texas & Pacific Railroad until 1887, rising to be chief clerk in the freight office. Leaving that road, he came with the Fort Worth & Denver City Railroad, and became the only clerk in the freight and passenger office at Fort Worth. In 1890 he was made local freight agent, and opened the station of the newly completed line into Fort Worth and held this position until 1894, when he was made chief clerk of the general freight and passenger office. Further honors awaited him, for in December, 1899, he was made assistant general freight and passenger agent, and De- cember 1, 1902, was appointed general freight agent. On March 1, 1915, the freight and passenger departments were again consoli- dated under the supervision of Mr. Sterley, and 1921 marked the thirty-fourth year of his continuous service with this road.
On September 14, 1887, Mr. Sterley was united in marriage with Sonora McCarthy, of Fort Worth, and they have one daughter, May Anna, who is the wife of Sidney Smith, of New York City, where he is attorney for the Sinclair Oil Company, his duties oftentimes taking him to Latin America. At one time he was engaged in the practice of law in the Philippines, and he was also attached to the American Consulate in Mexico.
Mr. Sterley is a member of the Fort Worth Club and the River Crest Country Club, is a Knight Templar Mason, and a director in the F. & M. Bank. Ever since he came to Fort Worth he has taken a constructive part in the development of the city, contributing gen- erously of his time and money to forward those movements which in his judgment were likely to prove of benefit to the majority, and
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there are few men in the state who stand higher in public esteem than he.
ALBERT TANKERSLEY has been a resident of Fort Worth for twenty years, and is well known both in commercial and public affairs. He is the present city assessor.
Mr. Tankersley was born at Decatur, Wise County, Texas, January 30, 1887, a son of S. G. and Frances (Fields) Tankersley, the former a native of Arkansas and the latter of Missouri. Albert was the fourth in a family of six children.
He spent his early life in his native town of Decatur, attended the public schools there, and in 1901, at the age of fourteen, came to Fort Worth, where his first employment in a commercial way was as shipping clerk for the Waples-Platter Grocer Company. Mr. Tankersley was one of the successful retail grocers of Fort Worth for ten years, until 1916, when he was honored with his first term as city assessor. He was re-elected in 1918 and again in 1921, and has given a thorough and careful administration, bringing to him the commendations of all the substantial in- terests that have the welfare and progress of the city at heart.
Mr. Tankersley is a member of the Fort Worth Club and is an Elk. In 1910 he mar- ried Beulah Finley, and they have one daugh- ter, Eulah.
ROBERT C. CANTRELL has been a resident of Tarrant County or the City of Fort Worth forty-three years, grew to manhood here, in early life was associated with farm and ranch, but for two decades has been a prominent fac- tor in Fort Worth's business circles. Aside from his success as a business man his citizen- ship has been marked by a high degree of public spirit, bringing him into close touch in his home city with all progressive movements.
Mr. Cantrell was born at Canton, Missis- sippi, August 22, 1864, a son of Henry C. and Lila (Sanders) Cantrell. His parents were natives of Tennessee, where the mother died, Robert C. being the third of her five children. Henry C. Cantrell was a Confederate soldier four years, being a sergeant. In 1877 he brought his family to Texas and settled at Forth Worth. Robert C. Cantrell was then twelve years of age. He had lived in Ten- nessee and attended school there, and con- tinued his education in Tarrant County.
Mr. Cantrell entered business at Fort Worth in 1900 as a liveryman, in the firm of Cantrell
Brothers. They conducted one of the lead- ing establishments of the kind for about eighteen years. About seven years ago Mr. Cantrell took up the undertaking business, and is president of the Fort Worth Undertaking Company, an organization exemplifying in the most minute details all the perfect service of general directors.
Mr. Cantrell, who has never married, is a popular member of several fraternal and social organizations, including the Knights of Pythias and Elks. In times of peace and in times of war he has been a contributor, according, to his means, to the cause and objects worthy of his notice, and at all times has sought to make his influence effective for the good of others as well as himself.
FRANCIS H. SPARROW is one of the oldest laundry men in Texas, and has been in that business at Fort Worth for over thirty years. In that time he has become prominently iden- tified with civic and community affairs, and is one of Fort Worth's most esteemed citizens.
Mr. Sparrow was born at Wolverhampton, England, May 20, 1853. He was reared and educated in his native country, and in 1883 a year or so after his marriage, came to America and located at Weatherford, Texas, where he entered the laundry business. In 1887 he moved his business headquarters to Fort Worth, at that time having only forty dollars in capital and going in debt a thousand dollars for his modest plant. His old estab- lishment was burned in October, 1909, and was then replaced with a large, sanitary and mod- ern equipped plant on Weatherford Street, known all over this section of Texas as the Reliable Laundry. He operates in connection a high class dry cleaning plant.
Mr. Sparrow was one of the first real golfers in Fort Worth, did much to popularize that sport, and was one of the original mem- bers of the River Crest Country Club. He is one of the prominent Masons of the state, has been honored with the thirty-third degree in Scottish Rite Masonry, has sat in the Grand Commandery and has served as grand stand- ard bearer. He was one of the original mem- bers of Hella Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Dallas. Mr. Sparrow is a inember of the Rotary Club and is a democrat, though his political activities have never led him to seek office.
He married in 1881 Julia Daniel, a native of England. Their only daughter, Gladys,
Alexander Cobren -
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is the wife of Jack Davis, manager of the ago and continued by a French Canadian, Reliable Laundry.
ALEXANDER COBDEN, president and man- ager of the Cobden Fuel Company, is one of the sound and reliable business men of Fort Worth. He was born in Scotland January 11, 1874, a son of George and Jessie ( Paterson) Cobden, both of whom were also born in Scot- land. In June, 1880, they came to America and located at Hamilton, Canada, but left Canada for the United States in December, 1883, and settled at Chicago, Illinois. Both passed away in that city, the father when he was forty-one years old and the mother sur- viving him until she was fifty-seven years old. They had five children, all of whom grew to maturity, and all but one are still living. Alexander Cobden is the third of this family and the second son.
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