USA > Texas > Tarrant County > Fort Worth > History of Texas : Fort Worth and the Texas northwest edition, Volume III > Part 8
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fessional career he was fortunate in securing the confidence and esteem of those engaged in large affairs, and this he has always re- tained. No interests have been so important that those concerned with their management have hesitated to commit them to him when the occasion has arisen either for counsel or the assertion or defense of their rights in the courts. It may therefore be safely stated that not one of his professional contemporaries has been concerned in such a number and variety of great cases involving large property inter- ests and interesting and important legal ques- tions. His entire professional career has been dominated by a fixed and stern integrity which is one of the most admirable, as it is the most commanding trait in his character. He has a mind that is severely logical. He approaches a legal question as a mathematician would a problem in mathematics. To him it is some- thing to be reasoned out in accordance with the principles of the law. A man of singular independence of mind and entirely fearless in the assertion of his convictions, he has special- ized in that branch of his profession dealing with the legal aspect of the oil industry, and is now general counsel for the Bass Petroleum Company, one of the largest independent oil concerns operating in the oil fields of the Southwest.
Judge Ward was born at Warrenton, Fau- quier County, Virginia, in 1852, a son of Dr. John and Mary Grace Dalton (Hamilton) Ward. For several years before the declara- tion of war between the North and the South Dr. John Ward was a surgeon in the United States Navy, but when the two sections divided he cast his fortunes with the South, resigning his post and entering the Confederate Navy, in which he continued to serve as a surgeon until the close of the war.
Growing up in his native place, Judge Ward received an excellent classical training, and then, coming to Texas in 1872, he located at Austin, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1874. His first professional experience was gained at Austin, and from the beginning he displayed ability of an unusual character, and was brought before the public as the suc- cessful candidate for the Legislature, in which he served from 1895 to 1897. He also served, as registrar in bankruptcy at Austin for sev- eral years. In 1899 he was first assistant at- torney-general of Texas under Governor Sears' administration. Moving to San Antonio in 1900, Judge Ward continued adding to his laurels, and became a member of the strong
R. Ward
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legal firm of Upson & Newton. By appoint- ment of Governor Colquitt he served one year as judge of the Seventy-third District Court at San Antonio, but resigned at the end of the first year to resume private practice. Having acquired a state-wide reputation as a corpora- tion lawyer, his services were sought by the Bass Petroleum Company, and July 11, 1919, Judge Ward came to Wichita Falls as gen- eral counsel of that corporation, engaged very extensively in oil production in Texas. Judge Ward as counsel for this important concern represented it in the various phases of liti- gation, which oftentimes have involved the most intricate problems to which oil operators are subject, particularly those with respect to oil lands and leases. In some cases the amount involved has run up into millions of dollars, and the litigation has been carried up to the United States Supreme Court, to which he was admitted to practice several years ago. In all of these important matters Judge Ward has borne a responsible and conspicuous part, and his arguments have been entirely worthy, not only of the great court to which they were addressed, but of the important questions in- volved. His professional associates recognize him not only as a great lawyer but as a high type of all those qualities which have con- tributed to the traditional glories of a learned and noble calling. Early in 1921 the head- quarters of the Bass Petroleum Company were moved to Houston, and Judge Ward's duties will take him to that city as a permanent resident.
Judge Ward is married and has four chil- dren, namely : Robert Hamilton Ward, Junior, who is a veteran of the great war, having served as a first lieutenant in the Third In- fantry, United States Regulars; Louise, who is the wife of Lev Clarkson, an employe of the Houston Post; Grace, who is the wife of Lee Ransom, of San Antonio, Texas; and Addie, who is the wife of Shelby Robbins, of Lubbock, Texas.
WILLIAM A. DARTER has been a resident of Tarrant County for sixty years. He is one of the few survivors of that group of citizens who helped lay the foundation of Fort Worth as a city and were old timers when the first railroad was built. His has been a career of most unusual experience and he regards Fort Worth as the scene of the most satisfactory portion of it.
He was born in Randolph County, Ala- bama, November 3, 1846, son of Francis and
Mary (Boyd) Darter, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Kentucky. His father went to Alabama in 1839, was a miner in that state, and in 1859 brought his family to Texas. He passed through Fort Worth, which was then the county seat of Tarrant County, it having been moved from Birdville the year before, and settled in Erath County, six miles northwest of Stevensville, on the Bosque River. Leaving his family there, he took two sons, John H. and William A., with him into Limestone and Falls counties, where he purchased cattle. These he drove back through Waco and Meridian to his ranch, twelve miles northwest of Stevensville. There were two other ranches adjoining his owned by Mr. Lemly and Mr. Tucker. It was an ex- posed position, far away from other settle- ments, and in the direct path of raiding Indians.
One of the tragedies of West Texas oc- curred in the spring of 1860, when Indians raided the three ranches and carried away four women, three of the Lemly daughters and Mr. Woods' wife. They killed Mrs. Woods and the youngest of the Lemly sisters, while the other two were released and finally made their way back to the settlement. A company of the settlers, which consisted of five or six men, was quickly organized to make pursuit, one of the members being James I. Darter, brother of William A. How- ever, after several days, the trail was lost, and the perpetrators of the crime were never pun- ished. As a result of this and other raids, Francis Darter traded his cattle for horses and in the spring of 1861 moved to Tarrant County to enjoy greater protection.
During the early years of the war William A. Darter made a number of dangerous trips back and forth to Erath and Palo Pinto coun- ties in search of horses that had strayed away. In 1864, when the call went out for youths of seventeen to serve the Confederacy, he joined Company B of Scantlin's Squadron of Cav- alry, and served with his older brother, John, in General Cooper's command in the Indian Territory. His brother James was fatally wounded as a Confederate soldier at the siege of Atlanta, Georgia, in July, 1864. He died in August of the same year at Forsythe, Georgia.
After the war Mr. Darter attended school at Denton and in 1867 he received instruction from a noted Fort Worth educator, Captain John Hanna. In 1868 Mr. Darter, with his father, started across the plains to California
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with a company of thirty-three men, besides women and children. Some were driving their cattle with them, the trip being made by wagon and on horseback. The meeting place was Comanche town. Before reaching the Pecos River about sixty Indians were seen approach- ing from the south, hoping to stampede the outfit. Mr. Darter was with the cattle, but his father, seeing the danger, rode furiously be- side the wagons, calling the men to grab their guns and get on their horses and follow him. Swiftly they rode towards the Indians, who cut through between the cattle and wagons, never stopping, but moving northward as fast as they could. After crossing the Pecos River the company turned southward toward Fort Davis. Upon leaving Fort Davis they made their way to Fort Quitman on the Rio Grande River, a distance of 100 miles without water for their stock. At this place the company divided. Eight of the men, including Mr. Darter and his father, with three wagons, journeyed on to El Paso and Lascruses. Six- teen miles beyond they crossed the Rio Grande and started for Apache Pass in the moun- tains. Before reaching the Pass they were confronted by a tragic incident which had just occurred. The United States Government was attempting to establish a mail service route be- tween Tucson and El Paso. There were four men who started in the wagon with plenty of ammunition and guns. At a bend of the stream some Indians opened fire upon them. They returned the fire and endeavored by run- ning their horses to escape. This, however, was impossible, for they were again con- fronted by Indians and driven back to the place from which they started. In the fighting one man was killed in the wagon, two were cut to pieces in the mountains, and the fourth was never found, but was supposed to have been carried off by the Indians to have a war dance over. When the party of eight reached the Pass they sought the aid of an escort from the soldiers, but were refused on account of the scarcity of their numbers. From here they journeyed toward Tucson, being attacked once by Indians on their way. From Tucson they traveled down the Guila River to Fort Uma. Passing from there they made their way across the California desert to Los Angeles and San Francisco. After sending his father home by water, Mr. Darter remained in Cali- fornia two years, being at Sacramento City at the driving of the golden spike, which was the last one to be driven on the Union Pacific
tracks that connected the Atlantic and Pacific states.
In 1870 Mr. Darter returned to Fort Worth and from then on was engaged in surveying. He surveyed Houston and Main streets, through Daggett's field and the Pioneer's Rest in that same year. In 1872 Mr. Darter was elected county surveyor of Tarrant County, which office he held six years. He was the only one who saved records when the court house burned in 1876. During that year he made the first complete map of Tarrant County, which is still being used by the com- missioner of the General Land Office as the official map of the county. After leaving the surveyor's office, Mr. Darter engaged in the real estate business and is still active in that line.
For several years he represented the Second Ward in the City Council. He also assisted Captain Sam Evans, from Tarrant County, who was then State senator, and Judge E. L. Dohoney, from Lamar County, also a State senator, in helping to make Fort Worth the junction of the Texas & Pacific and the Trans- continental branch of the Texas & Pacific railroads. Mr. Darter also helped in the bring- ing of all the other railroads into Fort Worth. He served ten years in the City Council, dur- ing which time the land where the city hall is built was negotiated by him and bought by the city. He assisted in securing the right-of-way for the Cotton Belt through Dallas and Tar- rant counties.
In 1873 Mr. Darter married Martha Adelia Gambrell of Mississippi. They have eight liv- ing children : John H., present county sur- veyor ; Mrs. Blanche Fakes; Mrs. Ada John- son; William A., Jr .; Mrs. Adelia Zihlman ; Mrs. Catherine Callan ; Miss Mary Sue Darter and Miss Fannie Darter. All the children were born in Tarrant County.
URIAH MYER SIMON. For a number of years the business and other interests of Fort Worth have recognized in Mr. Simon one of the most capable legal minds of the city. With assured success in his profession he has also been deeply interested in public affairs and is a citizen of the very highest character.
Mr. Simon was born in Mississippi July 11, 1879. His father was a native of Russia, came to America soon after the close of the war be- tween the states, and in 1881, when his son Uriah was two years old, moved to Tyler, Texas.
TJ Munta
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Uriah M. Simon graduated from the high school at Tyler in 1896, and continued his higher education in the University of Texas and graduated from the law school of the Uni- versity of Denver in 1903. He established his home in Fort Worth in 1904, and for three years was assistant to the late Jeff D. McLean, then county attorney of Tarrant County. In 1910 Mr. Simon formed a partnership with W. H. Slay, and in 1916 Judge Mike E. Smith became a member of the firm. For several years past the firm, Slay, Simon & Smith, have constituted a law firm whose practice and clientage extend all over northern Texas. The firm are extensive and successful operators in the oil industry of North Texas, also in Fort Worth and West Texas real estate. Mr. Simon devotes much of his personal attention to this feature of the firm's business.
September 12, 1905, at Fort Worth, Mr. Simon married Miss Hattie Weltman. They have three children, Richard Uriah, Ruth Louise and Henry Weltman. Mr. Simon is a leader among the people of the Jewish faith at Fort Worth. He is a past president of Temple Beth-El, and an officer of the Inde- pendent Order of B'nai B'rith and for a number of years a member of the general committee of District Grand Lodge No. 7, including eight southern states. He is also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World.
A. J. BEAVERS, former county clerk of Tar- rant County, is a well known Fort Worth business man, his friends and numerous ac- quaintances knowing him best as "Lon" Beavers.
He was born in Johnson County, Texas, April 6, 1873, son of George W. and Caroline (Harris) Beavers. His father, who was born in Tennessee in 1845, was brought to Texas in 1852, served as a Confederate soldier in the company commanded by Captain Sam Evans of Fort Worth, and after the war was actively identified with farming for many years. He died at Fort Worth February 14, 1917, and his widow is now living at the old homestead in Johnson County.
Lon Beavers, the second of four children, grew up on his father's farm south of Fort Worth, had a common school education and spent one year in Baylor University at Waco. When he was about twenty-one he located at Mansfield in Tarrant County, and began his business career in the hardware store of J. H. Harrison. His home has been in Fort Worth
since 1902. He served for a time as deputy county clerk, and in 1910 was elected as chief of that office for a term of four years. After retiring from office Mr. Beavers engaged in the warehouse business, but sold out his busi- ness in that line in 1920 and his principal con- nection at present is with the oil industry.
Mr. Beavers is a thirty-second degree Scot- tish Rite Mason and Shriner, is affiliated with the Elks, Knights of Pythias, and Woodmen of the World and is a member of the Baptist Church. In 1907 he married Lucile Colgin, of Fort Worth. They have three children, Carolyn Ann, Lon, Jr., and George Rufus.
THOMAS F. HUNTER, of Wichita Falls, whose reputation as a lawyer extends over several states, had no school advantages until he was fourteen years of age. He was born in the Willow Point community of Wise County, Texas, in 1886, son of Thomas F. and Ida (Johnson) Hunter, who soon afterward removed to the Chickasaw Nation of old In- dian Territory. The son lived in one of the isolated country communities of that nation with Indians as his companions until he ran away from home at the age of thirteen to make his own way in the world.
To get an education he returned to Texas, and every step of his progress was due to his own effort and all his schooling was paid for by his earnings. To a young man of a high degree of native intelligence, inspired by a thirst for knowledge and a zeal for substan- tial achievement, such circumstances and con- ditions frequently prove a boon rather than an obstacle. When Mr. Hunter was twenty years of age he graduated with the degree of Bach- elor of Philosophy from the East Texas Col- lege at Commerce in Hunt County. He not only kept up with all his classes in this school but also studied law and continued this study while teaching school for three years, one year at Arlington in Tarrant County and two years in Terry County on the plains of West Texas. Mr. Hunter was admitted to the bar and began practice in Terry County in 1910, serving one year as county attorney. In 1912 he located at Wichita Falls, and has been one of the busy lawyers of that city ever since.
In his professional career as in the hard struggle he made to get an education Mr. Hunter has relied entirely on his own re- sources and abilities. He is one of the few lawyers in modern times who achieve dis- tinction and success measured high in financial terms without establishing connections with
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the corporate or commercial side of the law. He has never been associated with any influ- ential firm or corporation or bank lawyers. His reputation is due to his skill and success in handling the interests of individual clients, and some of his cases have gone to high courts, and he is probably one of the most resourceful trial lawyers in Texas today. In these contests he has met the best legal talent in the country. During the great oil boom period of Wichita County he was engaged in some notable litigation involving many new points of law in oil leases, including the law of contract and notice to third parties and other points. One of his biggest cases in this connection was that in which he represented the Hines & Bodiford vs. the Gulf Produc- tion Company. The main question was the cancellation of an oil lease in the proven field adjoining Burkburnett, the value of which ran into the millions. Another notable case in which Mr. Hunter was counsel was that of the United States against W. P. Mason, who was indicted in the Federal Court charged with fraudulent use of the mails in the dis- posal of thirty-five million dollars' worth of par value stock in various oil and industrial enterprises. The culmination of this case was in the Federal Court of Minneapolis in the summer of 1920. Mr. Hunter, representing the defendants, secured an acquittal. It was a trial presenting a number of new angles from a legal standpoint, and attracted wide attention.
Mr. Hunter has a large and valuable law practice and has also acquired some oil pro- duction in the North Texas field. He has in- terested himself in politics for the sake of some of his friends, but is thoroughly devoted to his profession and his work, and cares for none of the honors of politics for himself. He is a member of the Wichita Falls Cham- ber of Commerce and is a Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner.
He married Miss Vera Scott, who was reared in West Texas. They have two sons, Frank and Scott Hunter. Frank Hunter was born in 1914, and at the age of six was carry- ing the studies of the third grade in the public schools. His remarkable talents have attracted much attention from educators at Wichita Falls and elsewhere.
MIKE E. SMITH, former judge of the Cir- cuit Court, has been a member of the bar of Northwest Texas for over thirty years, and
his home has been in Fort Worth for more than a quarter of a century. Judge Smith has many friends over Texas, and the public rec- ognizes him as a man of the highest qualifi- cations in his profession and in the affairs of citizenship.
He was born in Jackson County, Tennessee, December 10, 1867, son of Hugh B. and Fran- ces (Dillard) Smith. His parents were also Tennesseans, and his father was born in the same house as Judge Smith. Hugh B. Smith was a planter and slave holder and fought in the Confederate army during the war between the States. The third in a family of eight chil- dren, Judge Smith grew up in Tennessee, at- tended public schools, and acquired his legal education under his uncle, Captain Dillard, at Cookville, Tennessee. He was admitted to the bar before reaching his majority, and in 1889 came to Texas and located in the new town of Vernon. He soon established a fine practice in that section of Texas, served as city attor- ney and mayor of Vernon, but in 1894 came to Fort Worth, where he began practice with O. W. Gillespie, later a congressman, and W. R. Parker. He was a member of this firm until 1900, when he was elected judge of the Seven- teenth Judicial District and continued to dis- charge his judicial duties for ten years, resign- ing in 1910, in the middle of his third term. Since then he has looked after a large general practice at Fort Worth, and since 1915 has been member of the firm of Slay, Simon & Smith.
Judge Smith for many years has been an active member of the Knights of Pythias. In 1892 he married Miss Annette Bryan, of Ver- non, a native of Bonham, Texas. Their two children are Hugh and Ruth.
WILLIAM CRATON GUTHRIE, secretary and treasurer of the Bryce Building Company, has been prominently identified with the contract- ing and building business in Fort Worth since 1902, the year the city took its great forward stride as a result of the establishment here of the first packing houses of the Armour and Swift interests.
Mr. Guthrie was born in North Carolina July 1, 1876, son of W. S. and Carrie (Cra- ton) Guthrie. His father was a native of Tennessee and died in 1897, and his mother was born in North Carolina and is now living in Fort Worth. William C. Guthrie was reared and educated in North Carolina, having the benefit of some of the higher institutions of learning, attending a school at Rutherford-
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ton and also at Charlotte. After completing his education he had a thorough business training and for six years was connected with the First National Bank of Syracuse, New York.
Coming to Fort Worth in 1902, he assisted in building the plant of Armour & Company, and also the Exchange Building in North Fort Worth. Since then his enterprise and re- sources as a building contractor have been responsible for the construction of a number of the larger buildings of the city. In addition to his connection with the Bryce Building Company he is president of the Trinity Heights Land Company, is secretary and treasurer of the Fairmont Land Company, and has a number of other business interests.
In 1908 he married Miss Lillian Fakes. Her father, Bailey Fakes, is a member of the Fort Worth house of Fakes & Company. Mr. and Mrs. Guthrie have four children, Emily E., Lillian, W. Craton, Jr., and John Bryce. Mr. Guthrie is one of the popular members of the Fort Worth Club, the Glen Garden Country Club and the Rotary Club and is a steward in the First Methodist Episcopal Church.
JOHN G. RUSSELL has spent all his life in Texas, has been connected with the lumber business for over twenty years, and recently established his business headquarters at Fort Worth, where he continues as a jobber and broker in lumber, a dealer in land and oil properties.
Mr. Russell was born at Terrell, Texas, January 9, 1878, son of John O. and Martha A. (Stewart) Russell. His parents were born in Mississippi and came in an early day to Texas. John G. Russell grew up at Terrell, attended the common schools of that city, and when about twenty years of age, in 1898, went to Brownwood, Texas, and subsequently to Stephenville. He was employed as book- keeper in a lumber firm, and subsequently re- moved to Haskell, Texas, where he continued in the same line of business for five years. Then he and three associates bought out the Haskell Lumber Company, and continued the business on a profitable scale until 1916. Sell- ing out his interest, Mr. Russell then spent two years with the W. B. Brazelton Lumber Company at Amarillo, and in December, 1917, moved to Corpus Christi, where he joined the Southland Lumber Company and represented it on the road. In 1919 Mr. Russell moved to Fort Worth, and has since engaged in the lumber, land and oil business, with offices on
the seventh floor of the First National Bank Building.
Mr. Russell is affiliated with Amarillo Lodge of Elks.
/ HENRY EDWARD BYRNE, banker, educator, author and business man of Fort Worth has probably started more young men and women on the high road to success than any other one individual in Texas today. As president of the Tyler Commercial College of Tyler, Texas, which institution he founded in 1900, Mr. Byrne has seen tangible evidence of his success in the work accomplished by more than thirty thousand students who obtained their business training in his school.
Commencing in a small way, the Tyler Commercial College has grown until now it occupies all of a large three-story brick build- ing especially constructed for the school, and which is one of the most thoroughly modern establishments in the United States devoted to commercial college education. It is especially well lighted and ventilated, and constructed throughout with a view of facilitating the work of teachers and pupils. The average annual enrollment in the various departments is over four thousand, and every phase of business activity is covered in the curriculum. Besides the usual course of bookkeeping, shorthand, business arithmetic, commercial law, etc., taught in the average business school, the Tyler Commercial College fur- nishes courses in cotton classing and grading, marketing of cotton, business administration and finance and railway telegraphy and station work. Each department is under the direc- tion of capable expert instructors who are especially versed in the subject taught. An average of thirty teachers is required at all times.
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