USA > Texas > Tarrant County > Fort Worth > History of Texas : Fort Worth and the Texas northwest edition, Volume III > Part 50
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 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69
While a student in Randolph-Macon Col- lege Mr. Ransone was one of the students who went to the station when President Cleve- land and his bride went through on their wed- ding trip, and he heard the few remarks made
by the President and saw the fascinating smiles of the bride. Later he visited Wash- ington and met President and Mrs. Cleveland at the White House. His first presidential vote was given to Mr. Cleveland. He has always been interested in politics and has done his share of local party work. He was an alternate to the national convention of 1904 and a delegate to the convention of 1916. Mr. Ransone was one of the original Wilson men of Texas and has been an admirer and sup- porter of Wilson policies throughout. He served many times as secretary of democratic conventions and has usually had a seat in state conventions. He was one of the steering com- mittee of the Hogg campaign in 1892. Mr. Ransone is a York Rite Mason, is past exalted ruler of the Elks Lodge at Cleburne and a past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias. He and his family are all members of the Episcopal Church.
At Cleburne June 28, 1895, Mr. Ransone married Miss Josephine Keating, only child of Dr. and Mrs. J. R. Keating. Her parents came to Texas from Georgia in the early sev- enties. Her father was a surgeon in the Con- federate Army. Mrs. Ransone was born at Cleburne January 16, 1874, and was liberally educated in local schools, in school at Colum- bia, Tennessee, and in St. Mary's School at Dallas. Of the four children of Mr. and Mrs. Ransone the oldest is Keating, who graduated from the Cleburne High School and was in the University of Texas when he left his studies to go in the army training camp at San Antonio. He was a machine gunner, attached to the 343rd Company of the 90th Division, went overseas in June, 1918, and was in all the fighting in the St. Mihiel cam- paign. Just as the war closed he was taken sick due to being gassed, and was in the hos- pital while his comrades proceeded with the Army of Occupation. He returned home in February, 1919, and is now business manager of the Cleburne Enterprise. The second in the family is Ruth, wife of E. K. Mead of Dallas and the mother of one son, Robert Everet Mead. The two younger children are Miss Johnnie, who is connected with the ad- vertising department of the Enterprise, and William Robert, a student in the Cleburne grammar school.
CLINTON BARR has been in business at Fort Worth for upwards of half a century, and for a longer time than any of his competitors has been engaged in the wholesale and retail hay
262
FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
and grain business. At the same time he has been a good citizen and has done his share in promoting the upbuilding of his community from pioncer times to the present.
His parents were Hugh and Elizabeth (Arnold) Barr, who spent all their lives in Virginia. They had ten children, and the next to the youngest was Clinton, who was born at Winchester, Virginia, March 10, 1848, and grew up in the picturesque valley of Vir- ginia. He acquired his education there and was a boy when many of the battles of the Civil war were fought in that vicinity. On coming to Fort Worth in 1873 Mr. Barr farmed for two years in Tarrant County, but since then his energies have been directed to mercantile lines. He was a grocer, and about thirty-two years ago became established in the hay and grain business and has bought and shipped and sold immense quantities of those commodities.
Mr. Barr in 1884 married at Fort Worth Miss Pauline L. Ayres, who was born within what is now the city limits of Fort Worth, a daughter of James H. and Louise Elizabeth (Baer) Ayres. Her father was a pioneer of Tarrant County. Mr. and Mrs. Barr have four living children, Oscar Lee, James H., Louise, wife of T. G. Hollingsworth, and Ida, wife of C. D. Jackson, all of Fort Worth. Mr. Barr is a member of the First Christian Church, and served at one time as quarter- master of the Sons of the Confederacy under General Tisdal.
WALTER SULLIVAN. While the home of this branch of the Sullivan family has been in Denton County for upwards of fifty years, the family activities have been rather widespread, and as cattlemen their interests have covered many diverse localities, not only of Texas but also of Oklahoma. Walter Sullivan played a part in these extensive activities for many years, but latterly has concentrated his ener- gies as a farmer and stockman and business man in his home locality at Pilot Point.
This branch of the Sullivans originated in the Carolinas, whence they spread westward into Tennessee, to Missouri and other west- ern states, and several branches of the family eventually founded homes in Texas.
The father of Walter Sullivan was James Lafayette Sullivan, who was born near Harts- ville, Sumner County, Tennessee, December 16. 1839. He spent his boyhood in that state and acquired a limited education in local schools, growing up on a tobacco farm. In
1857 he accompanied his sister, Mrs. Curley, to Missouri, where he was a wage worker for a time. At the outbreak of the war between the states he entered the Southern army and for four years followed the fortunes of that flag. His cavalry regiment was in the Trans- Mississippi Department, and saw extended service over the Southwest. Among other engagements he was in the fight at Helena, Arkansas. Though a soldier four years, he received no serious injury. After the war he maintained an interest in his old comrades, was a member of the Veterans post at Pilot Point and attended several reunions. He be- came a farmer and stockman in Johnson County, Missouri, and in 1875 came to Texas, driving overland, while his wife and others of the family followed by train. Their first home was at Plano in Collin County, but in 1879 James L. Sullivan exchanged property there for a tract of almost six hundred acres east of Pilot Point in Grayson County. It was completely new land, and he employed it as grazing ground for his stock. The year he moved to Grayson County was one of the driest years ever known in Texas. The Sulli- vans lived remote from streams and water courses, and for months water was, next to life itself, the most precious commodity. For his first home there James L. Sullivan built a little three-room box house. He made his living out of the soil after surviving the year of drought, and though he brought very limited means to Texas he gradually prospered and his interests and holdings marked him as one of the conspicuous men of affairs of his day. Some of his income was invested in other lands, particularly a small tract called Indian Hill near Pilot Point, which he improved and on which he made his permanent home. In Grayson County when he located there the nearest school was five miles away, and this distance was traversed daily by his sons Walter and Marion while acquiring their edu- cation. James L. Sullivan developed extensive herds of cattle, and in search of new pastures he took his stock to Oklahoma and held them in the vicinity of Ryan during 1894-95. He sold his stock interests there, and after that was practically retired from the cattle busi- ness. He then moved his home to Pilot Point and lived retired until his death in 1906. The only organization to which he gave his mem- bership was the Christian Church. He was a leader in church and educational affairs, and for a dozen years was trustee of the Pilot Point schools and also saw to it that his chil-
٢٠٠
Wdeelwoord
263
FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
dren received liberal educations. One of his daughters was a graduate of old Franklin College.
The wife of James L. Sullivan was Louisa Couchman, who was born in Kentucky and moved with her widowed mother to Missouri about 1859. She was soon afterward mar- ried, and was left alone while her husband served in the army. She survived him seven years. Her children were: Walter ; Marion L., who when last heard from was with the Reg- ular army in California; Louella, wife of George Cloyd, of Hereford, Texas; Annie, wife of Charles L. Potts, of Virginia, Illinois ; Miss Jessie, of Pilot Point; James L., man- ager of college athletics at the Agricultural and Mechanical College at Bryan, Texas.
Walter Sullivan was born in an historic community of Eastern Missouri, near Bowl- ing Green, Pike County, June 9, 1868. He was seven years of age when brought to Texas. He attended the school previously mentioned and later old Franklin College at Pilot Point, under Professor Dowdler. He also had a commercial school course in Sherman. When school days were over he resumed his place on the farm, and was an active associate of his father while the latter was a cattle rancher. He was in Oklahoma while the Sullivan herds were being ranged on the old Bill Watson ranch through permission of the noted Chicka- saw chieftain, Bowling. Leaving Oklahoma, he resumed ranching in Hall County, Texas, for a year, and then moved into the South- western range country of Castro County. From 1905 to 1917 he was a rancher in Lamb County, and at the close of that period he disposed of his range interests and has since been identified intensively rather than exten- sively with farming and stock growing. His Denton County farm is four miles southwest of Pilot Point, and is the scene of good agri- cultural methods as well as a place for grow- ing cattle.
At different times and places in his busy life Mr. Sullivan has shown the interests of a good citizen in local affairs and public improve- ment. Permanent highways and good roads are a subject that arouse his enthusiasm at all times. He was a leader in the community in behalf of the issue of bonds for permanent highways. During the World war he worked energetically to enlist substantial support for the Government in the prosecution of effective hostilities against the enemy. While in Lamb County he helped organize the county govern- ment, was for six years a member of the
Board of County Commissioners, and while on the board set the first tax rate for the county, secured the building of the first courthouse, and also used his influence to keep the county free from debt.
Mr. Sullivan represents a democratic family, and cast his first presidential vote for Grover Cleveland and has supported party candidates at all subsequent elections. On economic po- litical questions he is of the conviction that Southern agriculture needs a tariff on such basic products as wool, beef, hides and cotton. Mr. Sullivan has passed the chairs in the local lodges of Knights of Pythias and the Elks. He is a director in the Pilot Point National Bank and the State Bank of Pilot Point.
In Denton County, December 30, 1896, he married Miss Belle Reid, who was born in Georgia, daughter of Capt. O. L. and Rebecca Reid. Her father was a Confederate soldier in a Georgia regiment, and brought his family from Alabama to Texas in 1883, spending the rest of his life as a farmer and carpenter at Pilot Point, where he died in 1906. Mrs. Sullivan was the youngest of five children, the others being Mrs. Nora Wilson, Mrs. Fan- nie Robinson, Mrs. Ella Harrison and James M. Reid, of Pilot Point, Texas.
W. LEE MOORE has brought the full powers of his vigorous and resourceful personality to bear in connection with the development, upbuilding and general progress of the thriv- ing city of Wichita Falls, which has well been termed one of the wonder cities of the Lone Star State, its most notable stride having been made since the initiation of developments in oil-producing industry in Wichita and sur- rounding counties. Mr. Moore is senior mem- ber of the firm of Moore & Richolt, which long controlled a large and prosperous busi- ness in contracting and building and which is now engaged in handling lumber and building materials of other kinds as one of the leading concerns in this field of enterprise in this sec- tion of Texas.
Mr. Moore was born in Des Moines County, Iowa, on the 30th of August, 1858, his par- ents, William R. and Mary Rebecca ( Par- riott) Moore, having been pioneer settlers in that section of the Hawkeye State. Mr. Moore passed the period of his childhood and early youth on his father's farm in Des Moines County, not far distant from the city of Bur- lington, and was afforded the advantages of the public schools of the locality and period. In his native state he learned the carpenter's
264
FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
trade through a practical apprenticeship of effective order, and in 1884 became one of the pioneer citizens and business men of Wichita Falls, with the upbuilding of which fine little Texas city his name has been most promi- nently and worthily linked. Here he engaged in contracting and building, in partnership with J. A. Richolt, and this partnership alli- ance has continued during the period of a quarter of a century. Individual mention of Mr. Richolt is made on other pages of this work. The firm of Moore & Richolt erected a number of the first prominent business blocks in Wichita Falls, and for a number of years held rank as the leading contracting and building firm in Wichita County. Finally the members of the firm found it expedient to retire from this special field of enterprise and give their attention to the handling of lumber and building supplies. Under the original firm name they have developed an extensive and prosperous business in this line, especially since the oil discoveries in this sec- tion resulted in a marvelous building boom and general growth in the city of Wichita Falls. The firm has ample financial resources and maintains high standing in the commercial and financial circles of the Texas Northwest. For a number of years the firm maintained head- quarters at the corner of Indiana and Ninth streets, a property which they still own and which is one of the most valuable pieces of business property in the city. In 1919 the firm established their extensive yards and well equipped office at Indiana and Thirteenth streets, and here they have the most modern facilities and stock for the effective handling of their large and important business. The firm continued in the contracting business about twenty years and since 1906 have given attention to their present important line of enterprise.
Mr. Moore is an appreciative and influential member of the time-honored Masonic fra- ternity and had the distinction of serving as grand master of the Texas Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons in 1908- 09. He is affiliated with the local commandery of Knights Templars and also with the local chapter of Royal Arch Masons and is a mem- ber of Maskat Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He is a member of the Wichita Falls Cham- ber of Commerce and has served as a mem- ber of the Board of Aldermen of the city. He is a member also of the lodge of the Ben- evolent and Protective Order of Elks, and he has entered fully into the business and civic
life of the city in whose progress he has been an influential factor.
The year 1888 recorded the marriage of Mr. Moore to Miss Kate Bradley, of Wichita Falls, and they have five children : Clifford B., Clarence L., Ruby, W. Lee, Jr., and James A.
JOSEPH GREGORY. A record of nearly seventy years identifies Joseph Gregory with the country and the people of North Texas. Most of those years have been spent in Cooke County. He was a Confederate soldier, an Indian fighter in the early days, broke the soil and improved many acres of the black land belt, went through all the experiences of early day farming, and is now enjoying a well earned retirement in his home at Gainesville.
Other pages of this publication contain an interesting account of his honored father, Rev. William Gregory, and his oldest brother, Isaac Gregory. Rev. William Gregory was for over half a century a Texas farmer and minister, was a splendid Christian character, a fighting leader in the faith, and developed many church organizations in different sections of the state.
Joseph Gregory was born in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, October 5, 1844, third of the children of his parents. When he was eight years of age, in 1852, the Gregory and Grundy families started overland for Texas, crossing the Mississippi River at Memphis and the Arkansas at Little Rock, and during the entire journey they did not cross a single line of railroad. Joseph Gregory was old enough to enjoy and appreciate many of the incidents of the long journey. The family lived for about six years in Grayson County, southeast of Sherman, and it was in that community that Joseph acquired most of his early education. The schools were of the strict pioneer type. Mr. Gregory never attended as a scholar a school in a building with glass windows. The light was always admitted through a hole cut in the logs. The schoolhouses were also with- out floors, save that two of them had puncheon floors. Split logs, hewed smooth and sup- ported by pegs, were the seats, accommodating both the pupils and their books. Mr. Gregory studied besides the three R's geography, spell- ing and grammar and gained much proficiency as a speller from the old blue back speller. Just when he should have been doing his best work in school war came on, and he quickly exchanged his scholarly activities for those of a soldier in the field.
It was in 1863 that he joined the Confeder- ate service in Colonel Barry's battalion, Cap-
265
FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
tain Roland's company, for frontier service. All this time as a soldier was spent at isolated frontier posts, helping guard the settlements against Indian marauders. He was a scout throughout the Red River region of Texas and over in the Indian Nation, but never engaged in a single skirmish with the enemy. When the final surrender came his regiment was not far from old Fort Belknap. There being no officers present to disband them the troops turned themselves loose and came home as a disorganized squad.
The military chapter of his experience was quickly succeeded by one in which his voca- tion was as a harvest hand. In early years Mr. Gregory had no superior as a wheat binder, and through hard work his proficiency made the job attractive. He worked at har- vesting and farming in Cooke County until 1867, when he yielded to the persuasion of his young wife and accompanied her parents to Arkansas. They located on the border line between Arkansas and Oklahoma, and he was identified with farming in that rugged region for three years.
Then, returning to Texas, Mr. Gregory made a crop in Denton County, following which he returned to the old Gregory settle- ment on Clear Creek in Cooke County, and since then has been a constant factor in the agricultural affairs of that locality. In 1867 he located his permanent home two miles north of Hood. His contract for half a section of land called for eighteen dollars an acre on ten years time at ten per cent interest. He worked and did his best at managing, and although good crops of corn and wheat were frequently raised prices were so low that it was all he could do to keep his interest paid and support his family. Many years later economic conditions improved, but he turned over his land purchase to his sons and saw them reap the harvest in the increased price of land that he might have reaped himself. However, he owned a little home besides this, as well as a tract of a hundred acres which he paid for, and he continued active in the various interests of a practical farmer in the Hood community until April 1, 1920, when he moved to Gainesville and purchased a modest bungalow home, where he and his faithful wife and companion of more than fifty years are spending their days in peace and quiet, without struggle or anxiety, secure in a measure of satisfaction from past toils and with firm faith for the future.
While bringing up his family Mr. Gregory was much concerned in matters of education, and in the Hood community he was also identified with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church here and later at Myra. He has always voted for the democratic candidate for president.
It was August 9, 1866, in Denton County, that Mr. Gregory and Miss Sarah Strahan were married. Four years ago they quietly marked the celebration of their golden wed- ding anniversary. Mrs. Gregory's parents were Joseph and Eve (Slagle) Strahan, who came to Texas in 1850 from near Quincy, Illinois, where Mrs. Gregory was born Octo- ber 31, 1848. The early years of her child- hood were spent in Lamar County, Texas, and in 1860 the Strahans moved into Denton County. In 1867 her parents moved to Wash- ington County, Arkansas, where they lived out their lives. There were ten Strahan chil- dren, seven reaching mature years, named Benjamin, Catherine, Jane, Malinda, Lizzie Asenath, Peter and Sarah. The son Benjamin was in the same company with Mr. Gregory in Colonel Barry's Battalion, and after the war spent his life as a farmer and stock man in Denton County.
While Mr. Gregory never acquired wealth in the form of real property, he contributed to the wealth of the country bv a large fam- ily of children, and in providing for them he fulfilled the chief obligation of man. A brief record of his children is: Mary M., wife of G. W. Lyles, a farmer and resident of Denton County; William P., a resident of Hall County, Texas; Millie, who is the wife of W. A. Hoskin, of Myra, Texas; Nannie, Mrs. W. M. Dosier, of Cooke County ; Sam- uel, a farmer near Myra; Alice, wife of James Hood, of Canyon City, Texas; Ola, wife of M. L. Gray, of Linn County, Texas; Lula, wife of S. A. Moore, of Myra; Joseph Ben- jamin and John, both in the Hood commu- nity; and Ewing, who operates the old Greg- ory homestead. These eleven children have presented Mr. and Mrs. Gregory with forty- nine grandchildren and there are now twelve great-grandchildren. It is a remarkable fam- ily and on Christmas Day of 1920, at the old homestead, forty-one members gathered to- gether for a dinner and holiday celebration, in which Mr: and Mrs. Joseph Gregory were the central figures of honor.
SIDNEY B. NORWOOD. In Cleburne and Johnson County the name Norwood in recent
266
FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
years has become significant of a financial ability upon which this community leans for the proper security and management of bank- ing and business affairs. Sidney B. Norwood has lived at Cleburne nearly all his life and is president of the National Bank of Cleburne, the oldest banking house in Johnson County.
This bank is the logical and historical suc- cessor of a private bank established more than forty years ago and conducted successively by the firms Heard, Allen & Barnes; Heard, Allen & Floore: and Heard, Moss & Floore. It has been a bank operating under a na- tional charter since 1889. It was started with a capital of seventy-five thousand dollars, the first officers being S. E. Moss, president ; W. J. Hurley, vice president ; John W. Floore, cash- ier ; and W. J. Rutledge, assistant cashier. The second president was W. F. Ramsey, chosen in 1900, and he was succeeded by Mr. Norwood. The second cashier was E. T. Kelley, elected in 1894, succeeded by J. S. Corley, Corley by D. E. Waggoner, and Wag- goner by Mr. Norwood. The present cashier is J. C. Blakeney. The vice president is J. T. Faulkenbury, and the directors F. D. Dick- son, J. T. Faulkenbury, W. T. Bradbury, John T. Jordan, J. C. Blakeney and S. B. Norwood. In 1909 the capital stock was in- creased to a hundred fifty thousand dollars and the bank has a surplus of seventy-five thousand dollars.
S. B. Norwood was born in Kaufman County, Texas, August 3, 1877. His father, the late Peter J. Norwood, was a native of Bledsoe County, Tennessee, grew up on a farm and acquired a fair education. Of strong southern sentiments, his family owning slaves, he joined the first company raised in that section for the Confederate Army. He was a private in the cavalry and among many historic engagements participated at Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. Though constantly exposed to danger and hazard he escaped wounds or capture. After the war he tried to forget the past and did not even attend reunions of his old comrades.
From Tennessee Peter J. Norwood moved to Texas about 1870, being then a young mar- ried man. At Tyler he established a tanyard, an industry still in existence there. From Tyler he moved to Tarrant County and con- ducted a dairy, his residence being located on the present site of Armour & Company's office in North Fort Worth. Leaving Fort Worth he spent about a year in Kaufman County, operating a farm and stock ranch, and then
came to Cleburne, where he was active in the fire insurance and loan business until his death January 26, 1900, at the age of fifty-seven. He was essentially a business man, took lit- tle interest in politics beyond voting as a democrat and was an active member of the First Christian Chuch of Cleburne and was also affiliated with a number of fraternal or- ganizations. Peter Norwood married Ursie A. Schoolfield, also a native of Bledsoe County, Tennessee, daughter of Patrick H. Schoolfield, a farmer there. Mrs. Peter Nor- wood is still living at Cleburne. She is the mother of three children: Lula M., wife of F. P. West, president of the Farmers & Mer- chants Bank of Cleburne; Sidney Bivins and Oscar J. of Cleburne.
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.