USA > Texas > Tarrant County > Fort Worth > History of Texas : Fort Worth and the Texas northwest edition, Volume IV > Part 13
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American National Bank building. The fix- tures of the store are made of genuine solid mahogany, inlaid with tulip wood. Everything about the store is of corresponding elegance. Every convenience and equipment for the transaction of business and rendering of the best possible service to the public for which this store has become justly famous has been installed. In it Mr. Harrison has achieved his life-long ambition, and has every reason to be proud of his establishment.
He has been a resident of Wichita Falls since 1910, at which time he went to work for E. S. Morris & Company, with which firm he remained for three years. He then went on the road for six years, representing the wholesale drug firm of H. W. Williams & Company of Fort Worth. On January 1, 1919, he bought the drug store owned by Mr. Morris, who had formerly employed him, and from it developed his present magnificent es- tablishment. Realizing the necessity of con- certed action on public matters, he joined the Chamber of Commerce, and is an active force in its workings. In fact Mr. Harrison is one of the energetic and enthusiastic young busi- ness men of the city, and one who is making a remarkable record in his undertakings.
REV. JAMES EDWARD MALONE. Fort Worth has recognized a distinctive debt to the good work and elevating influence of Father Malone, who since 1912 had been pastor of All Saints Catholic Church in North Fort Worth. He was much more than a pastor of his flock, his influence having strongly mod- ified conditions both within and out of his parish. He had a large and prosperous church, a busy routine of duties, and at the same time lent his co-operation freely to many civic movements in North Fort Worth. It is in appreciation of this work that many in his own church, and non-Catholics as well always gratefully referred to him as "the mayor of the stock yards and North Fort Worth," a voluntary title that conveys more significance and power than many official titles conferred by popular will. Father Malone was thor- oughly loyal to his home city. and his aid could be counted upon to promote every move- ment affecting the welfare of the citizens. His death. November 19. 1921. after a week's serious illness, was deeply deplored.
Father Malone accumulated many of the honors of the priesthood before coming to Fort Worth. He had the distinction of being the oldest active priest of the diocese of
Dallas. He was born in Fall River, Massa- chusetts, October 18, 1867, son of Thomas and Hannah Malone, who came to America from Ireland. Father Malone was educated in the parochial schools of Fall River, acquired his literary education in St. Francis College of Brooklyn from 1883 to 1888, graduating with the A. B. degree and with the highest honors as medalist. From 1888 to 1892 he was a student in St. Mary's Theological Seminary. and at Dallas on June 29, 1892, the respon- sibilities of priesthood were conferred upon him by Rt. Rev. Thomas Brennan, D.D.
For a brief time Father Malone served as Rector of Dallas Cathedral, but in 1893 was selected for peculiarly responsible and arduous duties as pastor of the Texas Panhandle. His parish was almost an empire, covering an area of thousands of square miles, with only one or two railroads, and some of the communities of Catholic people to whom he ministered were as widely separated as 400 miles. Father Malone did a highly constructive labor in the Panhandle district until 1897, when he was assigned new duties as manager of the Chris- tian Press Association Publishing Company in New York City. He was there until 1901, and then returning to Texas was pastor of the church at Ennis until 1906 and the following six years at Forney, Texas. From Forney he came to Fort Worth in 1912. A school and residence has been built and All Saints Church remodeled during the time Father Malone was pastor. He was a member of Fort Worth Council, Knights of Columbus, and an active worker in the order.
R. E. SHEPHERD is cashier of the City Na- tional Bank of Commerce of Wichita Falls. He is one of the younger men in the financial affairs of the oil metropolis of Texas, but his undoubted financial abilities have won him a place as one of the leading officials of a great financial institution of the southwest and the confidence of his senior associates and the business public generally.
An article elsewhere published tells the story of the City National Bank of Commerce and the consolidation of the two older banks, the National Bank of Commerce and the City National Bank. It is interesting to note that Mr. Shepherd served as cashier in both of these institutions. He is about as old as Wichita Falls itself. He was born at Clay Center, Kansas, in 1883. When he was about six years of age his parents participated in the first great opening of Oklahoma Terri-
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tory in 1889, settling on a farm near King- fisher, where he spent part of his youth. Afterward the family lived in Kingfisher, where Mr. Shepherd attended school. His early career was one of limited opportunities, and he was twenty-five years of age before he was able to realize the first steps of progress in a banking career. He began as bookkeeper and janitor in a small country bank at Randlett, Oklahoma, in 1908. This bank had a capital of only $10,000. It was a good training ground, however, and during the years he lived there Mr. Shepherd gained an all around knowledge of banking. He left Randlett in 1915 to come to the famous oil center of Burkburnett in Wichita County, where for nearly three years he was cashier of the Farmers State Bank. Then, in October, 1917, he moved to Wichita Falls, and for several months was cashier of the National Bank of Commerce. In January, 1918, he became assistant cashier of the City National Bank. With the merger of these two institu- tions in May, 1920, he was given the post of cashier. From bookkeeper of a $10,000 bank to cashier and an executive officer of a bank of over $20,000,000 of resources is a remark- able progress to have made in twelve years.
Mr. Shepherd served as chairman of the War Savings campaign in Wichita Falls throughout the two years of the war. He was also county manager for the Third Liberty Loan, was a leader in the Red Cross, Y. M. C. A. and United War Work campaigns, was treasurer of several patriotic bodies, and both personally and through his bank made use of every opportunity to uphold the patriotic record of the community.
Mr. Shepherd is a member of the Cham- ber of Commerce, the Golf and Country clubs, is a Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner, and is an active member of the First Christian Church and superintendent of its Sunday school. He married at Randlett, Oklahoma, in 1911, Miss Della Scott. Mrs. Shepherd was born in Iowa, but was reared in Missouri.
GEOFFREY W. SHAW. The men who have lived in Wichita Falls for some years and have built up solid business houses are en- titled to the recent prosperity which has come to them by reason of the remarkable boom the bringing in of the Foster Farm well occa- sioned, and they are to be taken in earnest, for their interest here has deep roots, and is
not merely grounded on the excitement of the moment. One of these men who are entitled to be considered as old settlers of Wichita Falls is Geoffrey W. Shaw, one of the leading druggists of the place, who is conducting one of the most reliable drug stores.
Geoffrey W. Shaw was born at Arlington, Shelby County, Tennessee, in 1890, a son of H. P. and Eliza (Frazier) Shaw. When he was but a boy his parents moved, in 1899, to Wichita Falls, and he was educated in its grade and high schools and the University of Texas, being graduated from the latter in 1911 with the degree of Registered Pharma- cist. Soon thereafter Mr. Shaw engaged in the drug business at Wichita Falls in part- nership with H. T. Thornberry, conducting what has long been known as the Miller Drug Store at the northeast corner of Eighth Street and Ohio Avenue. Later on he transferred his interest in the Shaw-Chambers Drug Com- pany, and in partnership with J. R. Chambers operated the store under the above name at the northwest corner of Ninth Street and In- diana Avenue. Although Mr. Chambers has retired the business is conducted under the old name, but is owned by Mr. Shaw and his brother, J. F. Shaw. In 1919 the store was moved to its present location on Seventh Street, between Ohio and Indiana avenues. Mr. Shaw has every reason to be proud of the unqualified support the people of Wichita Falls have given him in his undertakings, and he knows that it is proof not only of his busi- ness ability but also of his standing among his fellow citizens.
During the great war Mr. Shaw served the government for five months as a member of the Vocational Board at Camp Travis, San Antonio, Texas. He belongs to the Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce, the Retail Mer- chants Association, and fraternally is a mem- ber of the Masons and Elks. He was married to Miss Nell Bullock, of Wichita Falls.
MARSHALL GREENWOOD ROBERTSON has for a quarter of a century had his home and in- terests in the Rising Star community of East- land County. A successful business man, he is best known through his long and faithful service as one of the Board of County Com- missioners. He is a fine type of the public official, one conscientious and devoted to his duties and without any ambition beyond the promotion of the best interests of the county and its citizens.
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Mr. Robertson was born in Searcy County, Arkansas, in 1859. son of James Franklin and Sallie (Jones) Robertson. His early life was spent on a farm in his native county, and he also lived there for several years of his early manhood. He was educated in Arkan- sas schools. When he first came to Texas in 1885 Mr. Robertson located in Wise County. Soon after the opening of the original Okla- homa Territory he moved to that country and was an Oklahoman for six years.
On his return to Texas he located in 1896 at Rising Star in the southeast corner of Eastland County. For ten years his business interests were on his farm four and a half miles north of Rising Star. After selling this farm he moved to town, but still has large property interests, including land in the Hil- burn oil field north of Rising Star. A pro- ducing oil well was brought in there in 1921. and drilling is now a prominent feature of that section.
Mr. Robertson was elected County Commis- sioner to represent Precinct No. 3 in 1912. While he was out of office for one period of two years, otherwise his service on the county board has been continuous for the past nine years. He has won the highest commenda- tions for his administration of this important trust: The county judge has spoken in the highest terms of his qualification and his complete devotion to the duties. An important responsibility of the board during the past two years has been the construction of a county-wide good roads system at a cost of four and a half million dollars. This is the largest single road building enterprise ever undertaken in Texas.
Mr. Robertson married Miss Alice Smith. a native of Georgia. Their two living children are T. F. Robertson and Mrs. Beryl R. Heath. T. F. Robertson. the son, is a prominent young business man of Rising Star. engaged in real estate and insurance. He was educated in the North Texas State Normal at Denton and the University of Chicago, and for several years was a teacher.
CLAUD P. CHASTAIN is one of the most highly honored and dignified names in East- land County. where the family have lived for a smarter of a century. The founder of the family was the late Tudoe B. F. Chastain, and his son Cland is one of the prominent lawyers of Eastland and an active associate in the Chastain Oil Company.
Judge B. F. Chastain was born in Fannin County, Georgia, and served four years in the Confederate army. Coming to Texas in 1869, he located well out on the frontier in Erath County, and joined with the other pioneers of that section in acting as a volunteer local militia to keep away hostile Indians. The Chastain ranch in Erath County was a short distance west of Bluffdale. B. F. Chastain in addition to his duties as a farmer and stock- man was also a Baptist minister, and became widely known throughout that region of Texas. In 1893 he moved with his family to Eastland and in 1896 was elected county judge. He served for two years in that office, during which time the present County Court House of Eastland was built. Judge Chastain sus- tained a high reputation as a public official, business man and citizen, and his death at Eastland in 1914 was greatly lamented. He married Nannie Morris, now deceased.
Claud P. Chastain was born at his father's country home in Erath County in 1871. He enjoyed a good home environment, had every encouragement to make the best of his oppor- tunities, and partly through means supplied by his father and partly through his own earn- ings he acquired a liberal education, spending four years in Weatherford College under Pro- fessor Switzer and also attending Baylor Uni- versity at Waco. Mr. Chastain was a teacher for several years in Parker County while he carried on his law studies.
Coming to Eastland in 1896, he was a stu- dent of law in the office of Scott & Brelsford about a year, and was admitted to the bar of Eastland, December 24, 1897. In the spring of 1898, he organized with Capt. Hiram Baker of Weatherford, Company G of the 4th Texas Volunteers, for service in the Spanish-Amer- ican war. He took over thirty men from Eastland who joined that company, of which Mr. Chastain was Second Lieutenant. For seven years he was a law partner of Judge J. R. Frost at Eastland. Following that for about twelve years Mr. Chastain practiced his profession at Hamlin, county seat of Jones County, and during that time served a term as mayor of Hamlin. He returned to his old home in Eastland early in 1918. and has since resumed the general practice of his profession as a member of the law firm of Chastain. Judkins & Chastain. He was elected by the Eastland County Bar Association, Special Dis- trict Judge of the 88th Judicial District. His brother and law associate, Oscar F. Chastain, was for eleven years a professor in the Agri-
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cultural and Mechanical College of Texas, be- ing appointed to that position during the administration of Governor Campbell.
Claud Chastain and his brother, with other members of the family, organized and are the owners of the Chastain Oil Company, engaged in developing oil production on lands that belonged to the estate of their father, Judge Chastain. These lands are in proven oil ter- ritory, adjoining present production, and con- stitute a very valuable property.
Claud Chastain married Miss Maude Har- rison of Parker County. Her father was a prominent merchant at Millsap. The three children of their union are: Freda, Neal and Claud.
BEN D. DONNELL, president of the Times Publishing Company at Wichita Falls, Wichita County, is a young man whose ability and determined purpose have enabled him to "worry success" out of the newspaper busi- ness, the traditions of which augur against financial eminence, and incidentally he has been a vigorous and progressive force in con- nection with the development and advance- ment of the thriving city in which he main- tains his home and in which he is editor and manager of the Wichita Times, one of the most vital and prosperous daily papers of this section of Texas.
Mr. Donnell was born at Greensburg, In- diana, on the 28th of May, 1881, and is a son of Luther and Elizabeth (Dobyns) Donnell, both of Scotch-Irish lineage. In the public schools of his native place Mr. Donnell con- tinued his studies until his graduation from high school, and soon afterward he entered into practical fellowship with the newspaper business, his initial experience having been gained in connection with the Greensburg News, with which he identified himself soon after it was transformed from a weekly to a daily paper. He continued his alliance with journalism in the fine old Hoosier state until 1907, when he came to Texas, which year re- corded his arrival in Wichita Falls, after a brief interval previously passed in San Angelo and Fort Worth. Soon after his arrival in Wichita Falls he aided in the issuing of the first daily edition of the Times which thereto- fore had been a weekly paper. In this field he found the opportunities for effective work and successful achievement in connection with newspaper publishing, and he was soon made city editor of the Wichita Daily Times. With the exception of a brief interim he has con-
tinued his association with the Times during the intervening years, and he has been a re- sourceful factor in making this one of the most influential papers in this section of the state, the same having a large and constantly expanding circulation and being of metropoli- tan standard alike in the publishing plant, ad- vertising support and editorial and news serv- ice, the Times having full Associated Press service and being a leader in the province of display and classified advertising in the local field. Mr. Donnell is not only editor in chief and general manager of the Times, which is an evening paper, but is also, as may be in- ferred, a large stockholder in the Times Pub- lishing Company, of which he is the presi- dent. He is a zealous and valued member of the Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce, in which he is serving as a member of the busi- ness council, and he holds membership also in the Rotary Club, Wichita Club and the Rod & Gun Club, besides which he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Mr. Bonnell married Miss Mathilda Emilie Christensen, daughter of J. V. C. T. Chris- tensen, president of the Wichita Foundry & Machine Company, and the five children of this union are: Mary Elizabeth, Mathilda, Emilie, William Luther, Ben, Jr., and Jennie June.
ROBERT H. HOLLINGER. In a progressive community like Wichita Falls personal enter- prise and energy count more toward success than actual capital. An interesting illustra- tion of this is afforded by the career of Robert H. Hollinger.
Mr. Hollinger was born in Vicksburg Mis- sissippi, May 2, 1887, a son of H. M. Hol- linger. When he was an infant his parents came to Texas and lived at Cleburne, Weather- ford and Fort Worth. Most of his boyhood was spent at Cleburne, where he attended the public schools.
Robert H. Hollinger has been a resident of Wichita Falls since 1911. He was a salaried worker and wage earner, and for seven years the net results were chiefly experience. With- out any capital whatever on August 31, 1918, he went into business for himself. His en- ergy, enthusiasm and ability soon gained rec- ognition in business affairs, and before the end of two years he had gained a substantial business, housed in his own building, a hand- some and commodious structure of brick at
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807 Ninth Street. It was erected for his special purposes and is known as the Hollinger building. Mr. Hollinger handles office sup- plies, office equipments and general stationery, and has a modern establishment greatly needed in the oil metropolis of North Texas. He moved into his new building April 1, 1920.
He is a member of the Chamber of Com- merce and Rotary Club, and socially is a mem- ber of the Wichita Club and Elks. He mar- ried Miss Olyen Bryant, of Vernon, Texas.
BART MYNATT. Efficiency of performance in every sphere of his duties combined with a high degree of personal popularity are the outstanding characteristics of Bart Mynatt as a citizen of Fort Worth. Mr. Mynatt is now in his second term as county clerk of Tarrant County and has lived in this part of Texas nearly all his life.
He was born in Calhoun County, Alabama. February 20. 1885, son of William and Beth- ney (Ingram) Mynatt. His parents were also natives of Alabama, and in 1894 moved to Texas. The father died in 1913 and the mother in 1919 and all of their seven children grew to mature years.
Youngest in the family Bart Mynatt was nine years old when brought to Texas and he finished his education in the common schools. On leaving home he took up the work of rail- road accountant and for about ten years was in the service of the Rock Island Company in Texas. Mr. Mynatt was elected to the office of county clerk in 1918 and re-elected in 1920. and in both campaigns lead his ticket by a large majority. Since early youth he has taken a prominent part in the local democracy and has given willingly of his time to the promo- tion of important public and civic movements.
Mr. Mynatt. who is unmarried, is a member of the Knights of Pythias Order in all the ranks, and is a life member of Fort Worth Lodge No. 124 of the Elks. He was the eight- eenth member to acquire a life membership. He is a member of the Chamber of Com- merce. the Lions Club. and the Kiwanis Club.
ROY F. CALVERT. Vigilant and resource- ful, and fortified by marked technical and in- itiative ability, this representative young busi- ness man of Wichita Falls has here achieved unequivocal success in a field of enterprise in which he has encountered vigorous and for- midable opposition, and he is today one of the substantial and representative dealers in oil
well supplies in this important center of oil industry in Northern Texas. He is likewise a successful oil producer in this district, and is by profession a mechanical and electrical engineer.
Mr. Calvert was born in the town of North Bloomfield, New York, on the 17th of July, 1888, and there he received his early educa- tion in the public schools. In 1910 he was graduated from the Virginia Polytechnic In- stitute at Blacksburg, Virginia, from which he received at that time the degree of Me- chanical Engineer. After leaving this insti- tution Mr. Calvert became associated with his brother, Ray Calvert, in establishing at Pough- keepsie, New York, a business as consulting engineers. The following year he went to Rochester, where he engaged in repairing and remodeling turbine wheels and selling the same. He was thus engaged about two years, and he then became associated, as an engi- neer, with the Empire Gas & Fuel Company, with headquarters at Eldorado, Kansas. He continued his connection with this company about five years, and in the latter part of 1918 he came to Wichita Falls, the metropolis of the great oil region of Northwestern Texas, and here established himself in business as a dealer in oil well supplies. He is a vigorous factor in connection with the oil industry in this section of Texas, gives attention to oper- ating oil land leases and to independent oil pro- ductive enterprise, in each of which fields like- wise he is meeting with exceptional success. Mr. Calvert is an active and loyal member of the Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce, and is a member of the Cosmopolitan Club of his alma mater, the Virginia Polytechnic Insti- tute, also of the University Club and Kiwanis Club.
He married Miss Catherine B. Duff, a rep- resentative of an honored and influential family of the state of Kansas, and they have every reason to be proud of their three sturdy and winsome little daughters, Julia Mae. Vir- ginia Lee and Helen Lucile.
JOHN W. BRADLEY is the type of merchant whose abilities and resources grow and ex- pand with the increase of his opportunities. He has been identified with the two leading cities of the Texas Northwest. In both cases he went to comparatively small towns, saw them grow into large cities, and his own pres- tige as a merchant and business leader rose in proportion.
Bart myque
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Mr. Bradley came to Wichita Falls twelve years ago and is owner of the North Texas Furniture Company. He was born at Roches- ter, Minnesota, in 1875. He grew up in that northwestern state, was educated in the Min- nesota public schools, and was about seven- teen years of age when he came to Texas and located at Fort Worth in 1892. Fort Worth then and for several successive years suffered a lull in development, and only the most en- thusiastic could foresee the growth and achievements that followed within a decade or more. Fort Worth had only about 12,000 population. Mr. Bradley for three years was employed by a machinery company. He then entered the business of a noted furniture house, Fakes & Company, long known as Texas' leading establishment of that kind. He possessed the ability and energy to take ad- vantage of the splendid training afforded by his connection with the firm, and by successive promotions eventually became secretary of the company.
Then, with a desire to establish himself in- dependently, Mr. Bradley came to Wichita Falls in 1908. Again he started in with a town that had less than 10,000 population, but after twelve years he is head of a business occupy- ing a commanding place in a city of more than 50,000. His first store was established on a modest scale, and it has been his task to keep the business growing in proportion to the city and surrounding territory. In Oc- tober, 1919, the North Texas Furniture Com- pany occupied its present splendid quarters at the corner of Ninth and Scott streets, on two floors of a building 100x100 feet, giving it facilities such as only furniture stores of the highest class enjoy. Mr. Bradley has built this business strictly upon honor, and both with the public and with the financial and commercial world the North Texas Furniture Company enjoys the highest rating. Its volume of business in 1919 was in excess of $300,000, and those figures will be greatly ex- ceeded in 1920.
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