USA > Texas > Tarrant County > Fort Worth > History of Texas : Fort Worth and the Texas northwest edition, Volume III > Part 67
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to Jacksboro, where Frank also attended school. In 1907 the family home was moved to Decatur, and Frank Timberlake began his apprenticeship as a merchant in the Perkins store of that town. Subsequently he was in the Perkins store at Jacksboro, and in 1914 took charge of the Perkins-Timberlake stores at Vernon, Texas, and Frederick, Oklahoma. In 1915, with the opening of the Perkins- Timberlake Company stores at Electra and Bowie, he was given their active management. Wichita Falls has had the benefit of the Per- kins-Timberlake Company's mercantile or- ganization since 1916. When their store was opened Frank P. Timberlake was in personal charge, and since then the business and man- aging headquarters of the Perkins-Timberlake Company have been in Wichita Falls.
Frank P. Timberlake is secretary, treasurer and general manager of the seven stores of the Perkins-Timberlake Company. These stores are in the cities of Wichita Falls, Ver- non, Electra, Bowie, Jacksboro, and one in Frederick, Oklahoma. In September, 1920, was opened the magnificent new home of the Perkins-Timberlake Company at Wichita Falls. Situated at Ninth and Indiana streets, on ground 100x150 feet, the fireproof build- ing, steel and concrete, is one of the most attractive examples of commercial architecture in the oil metropolis. While the building has height well proportioned to length and breadth, it essentially consists of two floors, with a mezzanine floor, and thus affords that indis- pensable feature of a modern store, spacious- ness, light, and every opportunity for effective arrangement and the comfort and convenience of patrons and store employes. While con- ducted on the department store plan, it is primarily a high-class dry goods and clothing store, offering such exclusive lines of mer- chandise as can only be obtained in the larger cities. It is one of the busiest stores in Wich- ita Falls' shopping district, and is a splendid contribution to the city's advantages as one of the leading trade centers of the Southwest.
Mr. Timberlake has associated himself with the organizations of progressive business men and citizens at Wichita Falls, is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Wichita Club, and is a York and Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner. He married Miss. Florine Rush, of Decatur, Texas.
JOSEPH LEE MCCLURE, fire chief and fire marshal of Wichita Falls, has many interest- ing distinctions as a fire fighter. His record
is probably unique in the fact that his service covers the complete evolution and develop- ment of the Wichita Falls department from a one-paid-man basis to the best equipped and most efficient fire department possessed by any city of the size in the South.
Mr. McClure was born in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, in 1866, a son of John B. and Elizabeth (Ezell) McClure. His parents were members of an historic and prominent family of Spartanburg County. His father saw four years of service in the Confederate army, and in 1868 brought the family to Texas, locating in one of the older districts of east Texas but still sparsely set- tled .. His home was a farm in Lamar County some distance west of Paris.
On this farm Joseph Lee McClure grew up and lived until he reached his majority. He then farmed for six years in Denton County and for three years was in the furniture busi- ness at Sanger in that county. While at Sanger he acquired his first experience as a fireman, joining the small volunteer depart- ment of the town.
Mr. McClure came to Wichita Falls in Jan- uary, 1907. In a short time he joined the local volunteer fire department, and at the beginning of 1908 he was made the first paid fireman and was in fact practically the whole department, being superintendent of the sta- tion and equipment, the two horses, and he drove the apparatus to the scene of fire, picked up volunteer firemen as he went, and for thir- teen years has been on hand at practically every fire or incipient conflagration in the city. At the beginning the equipment con- sisted of practically only a hose reel. In 1910 the first motor apparatus was purchased, con- sisting of a pump hose and chemical wagon. At that time there was still a volunteer chief, who was succeeded by the chief of police. and early in 1913 Mr. McClure was appointed chief and has held that office throughout the eight years of marvelous growth and devel- opment of Wichita Falls. Gradually other members were added to the paid force, and at the present time the fire fighters of Wich- ita Falls comprise thirty-six. All the equip- ment is of the very best, including seven motor driven fire trucks, hook and ladder truck, chemical engine, and recently the final touch was given to the efficiency and speed of the fire-fighting service as a result of the instal- lation, at a cost of $35,000, of a complete Gamewell fire alarm system, with 120 fire boxes at prominent corners over the city, from
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which an automatic and instant alarm is given to the central station and outlying stations. The vital factor in successful fire fighting is speed, and it is estimated that the new system enables the apparatus to get on the scene two or three minutes earlier on the average than before.
Chief McClure has given the best years of his life to this fire department, and its splen- did organization, both in equipment and per- sonnel, is largely the result of his enthusiasm, his leadership and his splendid qualifications as a fire fighter. He has always maintained thorough discipline, but all the firemen refer affectionately to their chief as "Pa."
Chief McClure is a member of the Wichita Falls Rotary Club. He married Miss Sena Ann Lewis, a native of Kentucky. They have two daughters. The older, Viola, is the wife of G. W. Haburn, who eighteen months after Mr. McClure was made the first paid fireman, was assigned to duty as his assistant and is today assistant chief, with his little son, Bill Haburn, mascot of the department. The younger daughter of Chief McClure is Cecil, wife of Will Harris, a prosperous young rancher living west of Fort Worth in Tar- rent County.
The community pride in the Wichita Falls department is corroborated on more technical grounds. The Board of Insurance Under- writers recently rated the fire department at twelve points, fifteen points being the highest rating given, and also lowered the insurance key rate from 26 cents to 22 cents.
CHARLES C. TRIPLETT. Deprived of home and parents when a boy. Charles C. Triplett, after the years of struggle during his youth, earned a living by the rugged toil of a cattle ranch, out of his earnings supplemented his meager education, and after coming to Texas studied law and during the past ten years has enjoyed increasing success and satisfaction by the results achieved in his profession.
Mr. Triplett was born at Wichita, Kansas, in 1888, a son of Nathaniel Adams and Mary (Jones) Triplett. When he was about nine years old his parents died, and leaving Wich- ita, he found a home on a ranch in western Kansas and worked to pay his way until he was well on toward his majority.
Leaving Kansas he came to Dallas, Texas, and took a course in a business college. He was fortunate in securing an opportunity and connection with one of the most prominent law firms of the city, Carden, Carden, Star-
ling & Hemphill, and while with them, doing other work, he studied law for about five years. He was admitted to the bar at Dallas in 1912, and did his first professional work in that city.
Mr. Triplett in 1914 moved to Brownfield, county seat of Terry County, in the Panhan- dle, and had his law practice there for three years. Since early in 1918 his home has been in Graham, and his extensive practice is de- rived largely from Young County and Young County interests. He is also connected with some of the business enterprises promoting the development of the oil fields in Young County.
A good lawyer, he is one of the civic lead- ers in Graham as well, and lends his time and assistance freely to all movements that pro- mote the advancement of Graham and its great oil and agricultural country surrounding. Mr. Triplett married Miss Gertrude Myrick, of Beaumont, Texas. They have one daughter, Charlyn.
WILLIAM STEPHENSON COOKE has spent all his active business career in Fort Worth, where he has lived for twenty years, and is widely known over this section of the state as member of the firm Cooke-Boyd Motor Com- pany, dealers in Dodge cars. Mr. Cooke is an enterprising and aggressive business man, and in achieving a successful career has had in mind the interest and welfare of the city in which he has lived and worked.
Mr. Cooke was born in Tate County, Mis- sissippi, August 14, 1883, a son of William L. and Beatrice (Stephenson) Cooke, also natives of Mississippi. His father brought the family to Fort Worth in 1901, and was in the live- stock business and a familiar figure in the markets of North Fort Worth until 1918. Since then he has lived retired, and is now sixty-seven years of age.
William S. Cooke, second in a family of four children, completed his early education in the Georgie Robertson Christian College in Henderson, Tennessee. After coming to Fort Worth he was associated for four years with the livestock industry and then for ten years was connected with the wholesale produce trade. He engaged in the automobile business in 1916, and has been largely responsible for the development of the facilities of the Cooke- Boyd Motor Company, a concern that occupies a prominent place in automobile circles of Texas and Fort Worth, having a three story building with 24,000 square feet of floor space,
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devoted exclusively to the distribution of the Dodge Brothers motor cars.
Mr. Cooke is a member of the Fort Worth Club, the Glen Garden Country Club, the Rotary club, Chamber of Commerce, and Automotive Trades Association. In Masonry he is affiliated with Julian Field Lodge, F. and A. M., Fort Worth Chapter, R. A. M., Worth Commandery, K. T., is now illustrious poten- tate of Moslah Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and a member of Scottish Rite Consistory No. 2 at Dallas. He is a member of the First Christian Church and in politics is a Demo- crat.
On April 23, 1913, Mr. Cooke married Miss Ella Ozier, daughter of John W. Ozier. Mrs. Cooke also finished her education in the col- lege at Henderson, Tennessee, where Mr. Cooke was a student.
ARCHIBALD ALVIN DONNELL. For a period of over forty years the enterprise of the Donnell family has been the one persistent and conspicuous feature in the affairs and history of the Eliasville community in Young County. The Donnells were cattlemen, devel- oping a large ranch and using thousands of acres of leased land for their herds in pioneer times. They built at Eliasville the first grist and flour mill, which served the needs of cattlemen and settlers for miles around. In more recent years they have continued to be extensive land owners, bankers and business men.
The old village of Eliasville has been a 1 name in the geography of Young County through all these years, but has never figured in the census returns, even those of 1920, since it was only about a month before the last cen- sus was taken that the first oil well was struck in the Eliasville field. That is now one of the big producing fields in northwest Texas, and the activities have logically cen- tered around Eliasville, resulting in a phe- nomenal increase of population and business enterprise, so that the town now has several churches, schools, a varied list of mercantile and other business houses, and a population of over a thousand.
The story of the Donnell family begins with John Donnell, a native of South Caro- lina, who about the close of the eighteenth century emigrated to Wilson County, Tennes- see, and finally went to Missouri, where he died. One of his numerous children was James Donnell, who was born in Wilson
County, Tennessee, in 1812. In 1841 he moved to Missouri, locating n Hickory County in the southern part of that state. He became a prosperous farmer and planter there, owning slaves, and at the time of the Civil war he and three of his sons enlisted in the Confederate army. At the close of the war. in order to escape the peculiar conditions in southern Missouri, he and his family came to Texas. James Donnell married Julia Waters, who died in Missouri in 1852. Her three sons were Leo W., William L. and Thomas F. Leo died while in the Confederate army. James Donnell died at the home of his sons in Young County February 28, 1879.
His sons, William L. and Thomas F. Don- nell, were always closely associated in all their enterprises and their lives ran practically in the same channel. William Donnell was born in Wilson County, Tennessee, October 25, 1836, and died in 1915, while his brother, Thomas F., was born in the same county September 21, 1838, and died in 1906. They grew up and received their education in Mis- souri and were merchants in that state when the war between the states broke out. They and their father served in Company D of the Seventh Missouri Infantry, participating in many battles in Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana. Thomas Donnell became a lieu- tenant while William served as a private. Thomas was wounded at the battle of Pleas- ant Hill.
When the Donnell family came to Texas in 1865 they first located in Hopkins County, where the two brothers operated a tanning business. In 1867 they moved to Hunt County and for the next ten years carried on farming in connection with the operation of gins and other mills. In 1877 they drove their herds of cattle into Young County, where they had preempted 160 acres on Clear Fork River. On this stream they constructed their grist mill, 'borrowing over $30,000 for its construction. They were well justified in the investment, since the mill supplied a ter- ritory in a radius of sixty-five miles around. and they were able to repay the borrowed money in less than two years. This mill is still in operation, still grinding flour, and also generating electricity for the electric light plant at Eliasville. It has had a varied history. Both the dam and mill were swept away by flood, and have been rebuilt and remodeled several times. The mill's first equipment was burrs, and later the roller process was intro- duced. The mill was the first structure and
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institution of Eliasville. The brothers also conducted a store near the mill for a time.
However, the big business of the Donnell brothers for years was the cattle industry. At one time as high as 10,000 cattle ranged over the country around Eliasville bearing their brand. They lost nearly half of their stock in the historic winter of 1885-86, but in subsequent years they re-established their business on a firmer footing than ever. The home ranch which they developed comprised about 4,000 acres on the waters of Clear Fork, besides much leased land.
The Donnell brothers both married, but William Donnell left no children. His wife was Sallie Robertson. Thomas F. Donnell married, in 1861, Miss Fannie Robertson, sister of his brother's wife. She died at Terrell, Texas, leaving six children: Emma. who married I. A. Morgan ; William, Leo, Charles, Archibald Alvin and Homer.
Archibald Alvin Donnell was born in Elias- ville in 1877 and all his life has been spent in Texas. He and his brother, Wil- liam T., were actively associated in the cattle business until recently, and they still own large tracts of land in the southern part of Young County and in the extreme northern part of Stephens County, all of it around Eliasville. Practically all this property is in the pathway of the great oil development that began in 1920. With the great impetus given to the commercial development of Eliasville by the oil discoveries the Donnell brothers have contributed of their influence and cap- ital to assure the permanency of the com- munity. They have been financially interested in or in direct control of most of the leading business and industrial enterprises of the town and vicinity. They have contributed capital and effort to the erecting of buildings. laying off of additions to the town for busi- ness and residential purposes, and the original Donnell estate has been greatly prospered through the oil resources. These brothers are prominent officials in the First State Bank of Eliasville, W. T. Donnell being president and Archibald A. a director.
Archibald A. Donnell married Miss Eliz- abeth Ellett in 1906. Her father was the late Anthony Ellett, one of the prominent pioneers of Caddo Parish, Louisiana. Mr. and Mrs. Donnell have four children: Eleanor. Eliza- beth A., Anthony and Frances.
GREENE E. NEWELL is an electrical engi- neer by training, for several years was con-
nected with the Westinghouse Company at different points in Texas, but since 1918 has returned to his home town at Eliasville in Young County, where he is a merchant and has been prominent in civic affairs during the participation of this locality in the oil devel- opment centered there.
Mr. Newell was born in Pontotoc County, Mississippi, in 1882. He is descended from the Newells of North Carolina, a prominent pioneer family of Scotch Presbyterian stock who settled in Cabarrus and Mecklenburg counties prior to the Revolutionary war and whose descendants have lived in that section ever since. The ancestral home of the New- ells was at old Rocky River Church in Cabarrus County, this being one of the most ancient Presbyterian Churches in North Carolina.
The father of the Eliasville merchant is Dr. D. J. Newell, who was born in Pontotoc County, Mississippi, of North Carolina. par- entage. He studied medicine in the medical department of the University of Louisville, graduating in 1884, and enjoyed a successful professional practice in his home county until he moved to Eliasville, Young County, in 1893. He continued his practice there until a year or two ago, and though in the prime of his years he is now retired from his pro- fession and is giving his attention to other interests at Eliasville and vicinity. Dr. Newell married Henrietta Alexander, a member of the historic Alexander family of Mecklenburg County. At least three of the Alexanders were signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence.
Greene E. Newell was about eleven years of age when brought to Texas, was educated in the local schools of Young County, and afterward at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, where he specialized in electrical engineering. From college he went into the traffic department of the Southwestern Telephone and Telegraph Company at Dallas, living there two years, and then spent six months training in the shops and sales office of the Westinghouse Electric Company at Pittsburgh. This corporation sent him back to Dallas and soon afterward transferred him to Houston, where he was a representative of the Westinghouse interests for about two years. Mr. Newell returned to Eliasville in 1914, and in three years has developed a mod- ern, high-class dry goods store, a business in keeping with the rapid growth and develop- ment of the town. Eliasville became a center
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of petroleum production in 1920, and in solv- ing the many problems of rapid growth and the transformation of a country village into a small city Mr. Newell has furnished counsel and civic enterprise at every point. Mr. Newell married Miss Allie Ardis.
JOHN EARLE LEWIS, vice president and general manager of the Oil Belt Power Company, was the engineer and builder of the great power plant of those companies on the Leon River near Eastland.
Mr. Lewis acquired his first experience in electric power development in his native state of South Carolina, and first came to Texas as a representative of the General Electric Company." He has been in Texas for fifteen years and his work places him in a front rank as a general electric engineering expert.
Mr. Lewis was born in Oconee County, South Carolina. in 1879. His father, J. E. Lewis, Sr., was also a native South Carolinian and at the age of seventeen left The Citadel. South Carolina's famous military school at Charleston, to go into the Confederate army. and he fought for the cause of the South until the end of the war. He is still living in South Carolina.
John Earle Lewis acquired his early educa- tion in the public schools of Charleston, where the family lived for a number of years. He attended Clemson College and the Agricultural and Mechanical College of South Carolina, from which he graduated as an engineer in the class of 1898. It was after graduation that he found employment in engineering work with the Anderson Water. Light & Power Company at Anderson, South Caro- lina, during the construction of that com- pany's extensive power plant. His finished technical education in electrical engineering was acquired in the shops of the General Electric Company at Schenectady, New York. and for several years he remained in the serv- ice of that corporation, traveling through the country installing electric light plants and other equipment.
His service with the General Electric Com- pany first brought him to Texas in 1903, and he came again in 1905 and since that year Texas has been his home and state. In 1905 he located at Dallas, and after leaving the General . Electric Company was engaged as engineer with the Jones Construction Com- pany of Dallas and Houston, a firm widely known all over the Southwest as extensive
builders of power plants, electric railways and other big contracting. He was general super- intendent for this firm in the construction of the Dallas-Sherman Interurban Railway, and also in the construction of the White Rock reservoir, one of the units of Dallas' water- works system.
On leaving the Jones Company Mr. Lewis became chief engineer under Col. M. N. Baker of Dallas, then at the head of the Public Utilities Department of that city. When Colonel Baker conceived the idea of building the power plant on the Leon River in Eastland County he selected Mr. Lewis as his chief engineer on this great enterprise. Mr. Lewis took up the work on the project in June, 1919, and after the preliminary engi- neering work was organized his duties became largely executive, and he was made vice pres- ident and general manager of the two cor- porations under which these enterprises are conducted, the Oil Belt Power Company, which built the dam, power plant, transmis- sion lines and other equipment, and the Oil Cities Electric Company, which owns the elec- tric service utilities in various towns and cities, including Eastland, Ranger, De Leon and Breckenridge. Mr. Lewis handled many of the negotiations resulting in the transfer of the electric service facilities of these commu- nities to the larger corporation. Colonel Baker, of Dallas, is president of both the companies.
Aside from the general scope of oil pro- duction itself, the largest single enterprise undertaken in Eastland County was the con- struction of the great master plant of the Oil Belt Power Company, four miles south of the city. The project involved the construction of a great concrete dam across the Leon River. 750 feet long. 40 feet high and 60 feet wide at the base. This dam impounds a lake of water approximately 300 acres in extent. The reservoir of water is for the purpose of sup- plying the great battery of boilers used to make steam to produce the electric power of a 10,000-horsepower plant. The primary pur- pose of the production of this large amount of electric power is to supply energy for the pumps in the oil field district of Eastland and Stephens County. But the service is also extended to electric power for lighting and industrial purposes in the various towns and communities reached by the transmission lines. Approximately $5,000,000 were re- quired to build the dam, power plant and other equipment of the two corporations.
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The power plant at Eastland was put in oper- ation late in the year 1920.
Mr. Lewis since beginning his connection with this great project has made his home at Eastland. He married Miss Effie Hall, of Corsicana, Texas. They have two sons, John Earle. third, and James Blair Lewis.
EMMETT R. CONNER. Some of the business history of Fort Worth as well as of one of its oldest families is represented in the title of "E. R. Conner & Company, Stationers, estab- lished September 14, 1877, by H. N. Conner." As H. N. Conner began business about a year after the first railroad came to Fort Worth he sold goods to and was associated with prac- tically all the old time founders and builders of this great city of Northern Texas. As sta- tioners the business has performed an impor- tant service throughout the modern era of the city.
H. N. Conner, its founder, was born in Texas, and his early life was spent as a steam- boat clerk between Houston and Galveston. In 1877 he removed to Fort Worth, and was a good citizen and business man of that com- munity until his death in 1905. Aside from the time and energy devoted to the develop- ment of his business he was a devout member of and regular attendant at all services of the Methodist Church and for many years was recording steward of the First Methodist Church and was known to contribute liberally to all church enterprises. He was a Democrat in politics. H. N. Conner married Sallie A. Gordon, a native of Alabama, who is still liv- ing at Fort Worth at the age of seventy-five. In their family were eight children, seven still living.
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