USA > Texas > Tarrant County > Fort Worth > History of Texas : Fort Worth and the Texas northwest edition, Volume IV > Part 18
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Mr. Hennen, who is still living at his Texas place a mile west of Garza, was born in Mis- sissippi County, Missouri, June 30, 1842. He was only an infant when both his parents died. Of the four children, Mr. Hennen has no knowledge of his sister, Ruth. His older brother, John, was his comrade in the army and is a resident of Shulter, Louisiana. The youngest, Harrison Q., is a resident of Archer County, Texas.
George Washington Hennen grew up near Charleston, county seat of his native county in Missouri. After the death of his father he was left to the cold charity of strangers, and after the age of twelve under the management of a guardian. His first home was with Wil- liam Fulks, a good man. Then for a time he was with an old bear hunter, a man of brutal nature, from whom he received almost con- stant ill treatment. Finally a court order put him in the home of his step-grandfather, Judge William Bush. Judge Bush was a prominent lawyer, and his memory is cherished by Mr. Hennen because of his kindly and considerate treatment. He remained with Judge Bush until thirteen, then started life for himself. During this time he had practically no opportunity to attend school, and the only text book he re- members was Webster's old blue back speller. It was in later years, while superintendent of the Sabbath school in the Garza community, that Mr. Hennen acquired his chief knowledge of the literary art, and for many years has been a close student of the scriptures and a reader of current events.
He was nineteen years old when the war came on. He grew up in a slave-holding com- munity, there being slaves on the farm of Judge Bush. For a time he drilled in his home community, and then at Memphis, Tennessee, joined Company E, commanded by Captain Rice, of the First Missouri Infantry, under Colonel Bowen. From Memphis the command went to Fort Pillow, thence to New Madrid, to Columbus, Kentucky, and to Bowling Green, and was then ordered to Shiloh, where Mr. Hennen participated in his first great battle. He came out uninjured, though he saw many of his regiment fall. After his next fight at Corinth the regiment was detailed to head off enemy commands from interfering with the movements of the Confederate army and destroying towns in Tennessee, Mississippi and Georgia. Two years later the regiment re- sumed its fighting service. It took part in the second battle of Corinth and helped blockade the Mississippi River at Grand Gulf. When the Federals constructed the new channel across the Vicksburg bend the Grand Gulf had to be evacuated and the troops went on toward Jackson, and at Bakers Creek Mr. Hennen was wounded for the first time, being shot in the leg with a minie ball as he ran across an open field in full view of the enemy. Throw- ing away his military equipment, he quickly sprinted to safety, reaching the Big Black River. He attempted to swim across, but his
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strength failed, and he only saved himself by grasping a willow limb. In that situation he was made a prisoner, was sent to Camp Mor- ton, Indianapolis, thence with other prisoners to Fort Delaware, New Jersey, and to Point Lookout, Maryland, where he was exchanged three months later. He rejoined his old regi- ment at Dalton, Georgia, and took part in the first battle for the defense of Atlanta. He was in battle every few days from Dalton to Atlanta, including Peachtree Creek and Jones- boro. His company then started with Hood's army for Nashville, though he never reached that city. At the great battle of Franklin a piece of shell struck him on the thigh, and dur- ing the maneuvering which followed he was knocked unconscious by the explosion of a shell from a Parrot gun. When his regiment went into the battle of Franklin it was four hundred strong, and at the roll call next morn- ing only twelve responded, including Mr. Hen- nen. After much skirmishing and fighting and being pursued from Duck Creek on the Ten- nessee almost to Mobile by the Yankee cavalry, bent on capturing or destroying the Mis- sourians, his command got through, reaching Mobile without severe loss. At Mobile oc- curred the engagement at which the regiment was overcome and Mr. Hennen was again taken prisoner, but eighteen days later was paroled at Vicksburg because of the surrender of General Lee. At the Mobile fight he failed to hear the order to surrender and kept on firing, not knowing that the enemy was behind him as well as in front. When he finally turned and realized the situation he threw his gun at a Federal, who attempted to run him . through with the bayonet, but both movements were frustrated by comrades, and thus Mr. Hennen was again saved.
From Jackson, Mississippi, Mr. Hennen was furnished by the Government transporta- tion home. He declined to take advantage of this, since he knew it was not safe to return to Missouri, where in fact guerrilla warfare continued for a year or more, resulting in the death of soldiers on both sides. Mr. Hennen reached his old home locality in the fall of 1865, and soon resumed farming. For four years, however, he spent his wages in roving and rambling, his last trip being made to Texas. He sought a new place in Texas to avoid the partisan troubles in Missouri.
His journey to Texas was made by the Mis- sissippi River to New Orleans, thence by rail to Brashear City, by boat to Galveston, by rail- road to Calvert, and thence by walking to his
destination in Hill County. After working there a month he found he was in bad com- pany, and went over to Meridian, where he accepted twelve dollars a month to gather horses and later at a higher wage as a farm hand. These experiences preceded his further journey north, bringing him to Lewisville in Denton County. He reached here a stranger, though he was accustomed to being a stranger in strange places. He came to build his repu- tation and make himself useful to the com- munity, and his first work was as a cotton picker, an employment he accepted while choosing a location for a place to make a crop of his own. He found such an opportunity with Mr. Crawford, with whom he spent two years.
In 1872 Mr. Hennen married, and the fol- lowing year he bought the land including the site of his present home. He and his young wife came to this land when it was in an abso- lutely virgin state, and they could not begin housekeeping until their log cabin was erected. That humble home sheltered them five years. when it was replaced by the more commodious dwelling in which they now reside. Mr. Hen- nen began here with eighty acres, and from his prosperity added other land until he had a well proportioned farm of two hundred acres. buving and paving for it all before he had a child large enough to assist him. Farming and stock raising has been his forte. He never became a devotee of cotton. His last full crop was made in 1916, and since then he has been gradually retiring, satisfying himself with the lighter work and chores and keeping up im- provements.
On December 12. 1872. Mr. Hennen mar- ried Miss Sarah Ann Derrick. She was born in Tishomingo Countv. Mississippi. October 29. 1849. daughter of Washington and Ala- bama (Fry) Derrick. who came to Texas when she was an infant. She was reared in Lamar County, and her people moved to Denton County in 1864. Her father died in Tack Countv. Texas, and her mother at the home of Mrs. Hennen. Mrs. Hennen was more for- tunate in the matter of schools than her hus- band, though her education was limited be- cause her labor was needed in the home. She is the oldest of eight children. The others still living are: Mrs. Nannie McCarroll. of Live Oak County, Texas: Tohn. of New Mexico : Mrs. Samantha McGallard. of Dal- las: Uriah, of New Mexico: and Lewis, of Tatum. New Mexico.
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Mr. and Mrs. Hennen have seven children, and there are also twenty-one grandchildren to do them honor. The children are: Annie, wife of William Smith, of Denton; Virgil, present mayor of Denton ; Marvin, a teacher in the Garza schools: Bertie Lee, wife of Kice Walker, of Lamar County; Leonard, who op- erates the old homestead farm ; Olin, a farmer in the same community; and Allie, wife of Balford Couch, of Emery. Texas.
Mr. and Mrs. Hennen have been identified with the Methodist Church, and have always sought to maintain good religious and moral influences in a community in which many un- godly people lived fifty years ago. When this venerable old couple joined their fortunes and their lives together "for better or for worse" they adopted a code of domestic procedure from which they have never deviated. They determined to abandon the "credit system they were brought up under" and substitute for it the motto "pay as you go." Mr. Hennen has studiously avoided the pitfalls of "security" which has swept away so many fortunes and friends, and has kept as free from the courts as from debt. Their lives have been joined more closely with the experiences and associa- tion of half a century as husband and wife, and all who know them for what they have experienced and for what they have been would say that they have "fought a good fight and have kept the faith."
GEORGE F. LEBUS owns and operates in the vigorous little city of Electra, Wichita County, a machine shop which is of the best modern standard of equipment and in which are manu- factured tools and mechanical devices that are of great use and in constant demand in con- nection with productive enterprise in the oil fields of this section of Texas. By his ability, determined spirit and progressiveness Mr. LeBus has not only built up an industrial en- terprise of inestimable value in connection with the oil industry and one that adds materially to the prestige of the town of Electra, but he has also won for himself secure vantage ground as one of the substantial business men and influential and valued citizens of this sec- tion of the Lone Star State.
Mr. Le Bus was born at Flora, Clay County. Illinois, on the 14th of December, 1876. His paternal grandfather was a pioneer blacksmith at Flora, where he continued to reside until his death. His son John B., father of the sub- ject of this sketch, likewise became a skilled workman at the blacksmith trade, and followed
the same at Flora, Illinois, where he remained until 1887, when he came with his family to Texas and engaged in the work of his trade at Greenville. George F. LeBus gained his rudimentary education in the schools of his native town, and was eleven years old at the time of the family removal to Texas, where he continued his studies in the public schools of Rockwall and where he served a thorough apprenticeship in the blacksmith shop of his father. He soon became a skilled workman. and was still a youth when he became a jour- neyman at his trade. For ten years he owned and conducted a blacksmith shop at Bonham. Fannin County, and for three years he was there employed as a skilled artisan in the shops of the Texas & Pacific Railroad.
In 1911 Mr. LeBus came to Wichita County and established a small shop at Electra, this having been the year that marked the discov- ery of oil in the Electra field. Mr. LeBus nat- urally found it expedient to give his attention largely to the manufacturing of oil well tools and drillers' supplies. In the development of a substantial and prosperous industrial enter- prise of this order he began with very limited capital, and had to meet the opposition of the great oil well supply houses, with their unlim- ited capital and with no conscientious scruples against eliminating a weak rival from the field. It required nerve, determination and persist- ence for Mr. LeBus to meet and overcome these and other obstacles, but his mental and physical resources proved equal to the task, as is shown in the following quotations from a recent newspaper article descriptive of his business establishment :
"This is one of the finest machine shops to be found in all the Texas oil field. Equipped with three fine steam hammers, two large fur- naces, three forges, four large lathes, two drill presses, two pipe machines, a fine emery stand, together with sufficient blowers for all purposes, bolt machines, electric motors, and
with a steam engine for emergency power, the establishment is prepared for the speedy exe- cution of all repair work and orders for new work. They have three extra good black- smiths, with sufficient helpers, and will in the future run their lathes day and night, so that the enormous amount of orders left with this progressive institution may be taken care of in first class manner.
"Mr. LeBus is one of the most enterprising men in all Wichita County, being the owner of this magnificent machine shop and at the same time interested in everything that makes for
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a bigger and better Electra. He believes in Electra, he talks for Electra and he puts his money into almost every enterprise that prom- ises to further the betterment of Electra and Electra interests. He shows his faith in his home city by his constant readiness to assist in advancing its interests.
"In this machine shop will be found about twenty workmen busily at work on the numer- ous orders already on file, and making ready for many more. The famous Eureka wrench business has grown to such proportions that it seems another building will have to be erected to take care of the business. Mr. LeBus' orders for tool joints, rotary bits and overshots are so numerous that it hardly be- comes us to mention the amounts. The effi- ciency in making these tools is seen in the fact that many men will wait for weeks to have Mr. LeBus make them, rather than buy where they can be delivered at once. Mr. LeBus makes nothing 'for sale'-all his tools are made 'for service' and therefore the unprece- dented demand for them. Never before in the history of Wichita County has any other institution grown to such proportions in so short a time. Being only a small shop seven years ago, the plant now covers a space 50 by 125 feet, with piperacks, boiler house and large furnace for hardening purposes on the out- side, while an outside storage place is required for raw materials used and for the placing of surplus finished products."
Aside from his business affairs and his vital and loyal interest in all that pertains to the" welfare of his home town, Mr. LeBus is to be noted as a man of fine spiritual code and as a devout and influential member of the First Christian Church of Electra, in which he is serving as an elder and in the affairs of which his wife likewise is active and zealous. A man of high ethical views and deep convictions, Mr. LeBus believes that the Christian Church holds, aside from sectarianism, abstruse creeds and dogmas and the uncertainties and subtle- ties of so-called "higher criticism," and that it rests its claims and its faith simply on the Bible, the while it offers a practical expression of the teachings of the Divine Savior.
At Bonham, Texas, was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. LeBus to Miss Ethel Cleora Calk, and they have five sons and four daughters, namely: Jack, Frank L., Roy, G. F., Jr., Hazel, Archie, Irene, Laura V. and Ethel Marie. Hazel is the wife of Homer Grizle of Dallas. Two of the sons, Jack and Frank L.,
are skilled mechanics, being associated with their father's business at Electra.
ROBERT P. PRINCE. In the drilling and pro- duction of oil, in the upbuilding of Electra both physically and as a civic community, one of the chief factors and one of the men most admired by his fellow citizens is Robert P. Prince. Electra people who have admiringly followed Mr. Prince's career and have re- joiced in his success are fond of commenting on the fact that when he came to this district about seven years ago his capital was limited to not more than ten dollars.
Mr. Prince is a native Texan, born in Ellis County in 1883, a son of J. E. and Eddie (Burton) Prince. His father had the distinc- tion of being the first white boy born in Ellis County, where the family were pioneers. J. E. Prince since 1890 has lived in North- western Texas, at Vernon. Robert P. Prince grew up in the town of Vernon, received his education in the local schools, and for sev- eral years was associated with his father and brother in some lines of business.
It was in 1913 that the Prince brothers be- gan their first operations as drillers in the Electra oil field. Both were men of enter- prise and understood the technique and mechanical features of drilling, though they started out with an equipment largely bought on credit. In the subsequent development of the rich and continuously productive field they have played a highly important part. Mr. Prince is still interested in drilling operations for himself and others, and in the meantime has acquired some very valuable production interests. He is owner of a large amount of acreage in the proven oil territory of Electra and Burkburnett.
He is a public spirited and generous citizen, and the good fortune that has attended his efforts has been generously employed for the direct benefit of the community. He is vice president of the Grand Theater Company, which built and operates the Grand Theater. the company having built this fine playhouse at a cost of over a hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Prince is also a member of the Building Committee of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, and has given liberally of his per- sonal means to that and other worthy enter- prises of the city. Out of his good fortune he has provided a most handsome home for his family, it being in fact one of the finest homes in Northwest Texas. This residence was built at an estimated cost of about sixty
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thousand dollars. Mr. Prince married Miss Ella Fugitt, of Sherman, Texas. Their fam- ily consists of four children. Ruth, Hugh, Vera and Ralph.
JOHN M. Scorr. A highly educated and successful lawyer of Fort Worth, John M. Scott became a member of the bar of that city nearly thirty years ago, and has since formed many influential connections in his profession and in civic affairs. He is a thoroughly grounded lawyer, but at the same time has taken an interest and made a deep study of several other fields of knowledge.
Mr. Scott was born in Alabama, October 17, 1870, son of Joseph M. and Amanda Bald- win ( Herrin) Scott. His mother was of old Virginia ancestry. His father for many years was active in the Alabama Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, as a min- ister.
John M. Scott showed a studious disposi- tion as a boy, and he acquired a liberal and professional education before reaching his majority. In 1886 he completed the A. B. course at the Southern University of Ala- bama. He studied law under William A. Col- lier of Clanton, Alabama, now on the Supreme Bench of Oklahoma. He was admitted to the Alabama bar in 1888 at the age of eighteen under a special act of the Legislature and after two years of practice in Alabama moved to Texas in 1892 and located at Fort Worth. Here he has carried on a general practice and has also been a director and officer of several business corporations. He is joint inventor of the Scott-Dayton Well Machine, a machine for drilling oil wells more economically and with greater efficiency than the type now gen- erally in use. Mr. Scott has also made a close study of the cotton industry from the stand- point of the cotton growers, and his ideas for the relief of the cotton industry are contained in a booklet of which he is author, entitled. "An Act to put the cotton growing industry on its feet."
March 21, 1911, Mr. Scott married Mrs. C. B. Stratton of Cleburne, Texas. They have three children, John M., Jr., Frederick Joseph, and Rebekah Rogers. Mr. Scott has always taken a deep interest in the church in which he was reared. He is a prominent Knight of Pythias and has been for fifteen years a mem- ber of the board of directors of the Knights of Pythias Home of Texas, located at Weatherford. He has long been an active member of the Grand Lodge, and in 1912
served as a member of the committee on the revision of the Grand Constitution and Stat- utes of the Grand Lodge, Knights of Pythias of Texas, and again in 1921 served on a sim- ilar committee. Mr. Scott is one of the orig- inal members of the D. O. K. K., and has done much to promote the welfare of the organiza- tion in this state. He is also affiliated with the Elks, the Phi Delta Theta College fraternity and is a member of the Glen Garden Club.
On June 7. 1921, Mr. Scott was appointed Special Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas, by Governor Pat M. Neff. and is at the present time serving in that capacity.
JACOB J. SMYER. While the family home is at Gainesville, Jacob J. Smyer has been for some years actively identified with the oil well operations in Wichita County field. He has been a resident of Texas over twenty years, was a farmer in Ellis County before he moved to Wichita County, and his career has been one of more than ordinary experience and accomplishment.
He was born at Rome, Georgia, June 1. 1877. His great-grandfather was a native of Germany and a settler in Pennsylvania. His grandfather, Jacob Smyer, moved from Penn- sylvania to Georgia, was a miller by trade. and was accidentally killed in his mill just before the Civil war. He had two sons and six daughters, and all of them except one came to Texas after the war between the states.
John Daniel Smyer, father of Jacob J., was a Confederate soldier through practically all the war, being in Gen. T. J. Jackson's com- mand in Virginia, and during the last two years of hostilities was in Gen. Joe Wheel- er's command, with a regiment of Georgia cavalry. Though in service in many cam- paigns and battles, he was only once wounded. After the war he was a ginner and miller in Georgia, and about 1897 he came to Texas and thereafter lived on a farm and among his children. He died in Denton County in 1912, at the age of sixty-nine. His wife was Alice Comer, now living at Justin, Texas, at the age of sixty-nine. She was the mother of the fol- lowing children: Edna, John Clinton, Jacob J .. George P., Lizzie and Munson S., all of whom live in the country districts around Jus- tin except Jacob J.
Jacob J. Smyer had a limited education in his native Georgia County, but despite re- stricted opportunities made good use of them
JOHN M. SCOTT
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and for two years was a successful teacher before he left Georgia. Before his majority he came to Texas, in company with his par- ents, and their first settlement was near Ava- lon in Ellis County. He engaged in farming there and later around Milford. On leaving Ellis County he moved to Wichita County and resumed farming, and while there became in- terested in and more and more in successive years actively identified with the drilling of oil wells. He began as a helper, soon was promoted to driller, and later was made su- perintendent of some company interests in the Burkburnett field. He also did some drilling as a lessor, and had his share of experience with dry holes. He continued active in drill- ing until the fall of 1919, when he moved his family to Gainesville in order that his children might have access to the best of schools.
On May 4, 1900, at Cleburne, Texas, Mr. Smyer married Miss Roberta Horne. She was born in Chattooga County, Georgia, the county adjoining that in which Mr. Smyer was born. Her parents were August and Anna (Crisman) Horne, and their nine chil- dren were: Mrs. Smyer, who was born June 15, 1878; Ivan, of Oklahoma City ; L. Hollis, of Ellis County, Texas; Pearl, wife of Ben Ward, of Italy, Texas; Herbert C., an em- ploye of the Texas Company at Burkburnett ; Willie, who was burned to death in 1912, was the wife of Ira Hall; Lois, who farms with his father at Waxahachie; T. DeWitt, of Waxahachie; and Claudine.
Mr. and Mrs. Smyer have a son and two daughters, Margaret, Carlton and Mary Cath- erine. The latter is attending Gainesville grammar school. The son, while keeping up with his work in the Gainesville high school, is also a wheat grower in Wichita County. The older daughter, Margaret, attends high school at Gainesville.
In politics an earlier generation of the Smyer family was identified with the whig party. After the Civil war they became demo- crats, and Jacob J. Smyer cast his first presi- dential vote for William J. Bryan and sup- ported the Nebraska commoner again in 1908. Mrs. Smyer comes of a democratic family but is not reconciled to the idea of woman's suf- frage. Mr. Smyer participated in the various war activities, particularly in behalf of the raising of Red Cross funds in the oil fields of Wichita County. The family are members of the Southern Presbyterian Church, and he is affiliated with the Masonic and Odd Fellows orders.
FRANK J. GATES. There is hardly any other citizen who can tell from actual personal ex- perience more about the pioneer railroad build- ing in North and West Texas than the veteran Santa Fe agent at Gainesville, Frank J. Gates. Mr. Gates was with the construction depart- ment in building the first railroad to reach the Red River from the North, later was identified with the Texas & Pacific from Dallas to El Paso, and thirty years ago came to Gaines- ville, where he is now the agent of the Santa Fe company.
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