USA > Texas > Tarrant County > Fort Worth > History of Texas : Fort Worth and the Texas northwest edition, Volume IV > Part 19
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Mr. Gates has been in the railroad business for over half a century, beginning as a tele- graph operator in the East. He was born at Zanesville, Muskingum County, Ohio. July 28, 1850. He represents one of the old and prom- inent families of Zanesville. His grandfather operated a rolling mill there in the early days of the town, and on one of his many trips by boat to New Orleans died at Vicksburg, Mis- sissippi. He was of a Virginia family and was a brother of Senator Gates of old Vir- ginia. Milton V. Gates, father of the Texas railroad man, was born in Zanesville in 1825, and spent all his life in that community. He was a building contractor and a very active man in community affairs. He was a repub- lican and a member of the Methodist Church, and died at the age of seventy-eight. He mar- ried Ann Fell, a native of Zanesville. Her father, Benjamin Fell, was a farmer of Ohio. and her mother lived to the age of a hundred and one years, having reared a numerous fam- ily of sons and daughters. Milton V. Gates had four children, Frank J., Mrs. Josie Adams, of Zanesville; Fred, who became a prominent member of the Zanesville bar ; and Milton O., a resident of Mansfield, Ohio.
Frank J. Gates acquired his education in the public schools of his native city. His father tried to interest him in the work of building. He was put to work painting the houses which his father constructed, but he soon expressed a strong aversion for the trade. Leaving home, he went to New York state, acquired his early knowledge of railroading with the Erie system, and for a time was a telegraph operator for this road in the Middle West. Later he went to Missouri, became clerk to R. S. Stevens, general manager of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas, with headquar- ters at Sedalia. He also became associated with George L. Sands, another official in the construction department of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas. Mr. Gates was in the serv- ice of this road while it was being extended
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from Sedalia to Denison, Texas, and in 1872 he followed Mr. Sands to Texas. Mr. Sands in the meantime had become superintendent of construction for the Texas & Pacific Railway, and Mr. Gates was his chief clerk. At Dallas he worked directly under Chief Engineer Dodge, and a few years later moved along with the construction company until the road reached Serra Blanco, near El Paso. About that time Mr. Sands was made superintendent of the operating department, and Mr. Gates remained with him as chief clerk. Under the same superintendent he was located at Sher- man during the construction of the Trans- continental division of the Texas and Pacific. After leaving the construction department he was sent to Denton as agent for the joint track of the Texas & Pacific and Missouri, Kansas & Texas, and filled that office six years. Con- tinuing to sketch briefly his successive serv- ices, he was chief clerk for Hugh Irvine, superintendent of the road at Cleburne, and finally was under Morgan Jones on the · Wichita Valley Railway.
In February, 1890, Mr. Gates was appointed agent of the Santa Fe Company at Gainesville. and that office he has filled continuously in all the years since then. In 1890 the Santa Fe Company had a single line track and the old station at Gainesville that is now occupied by the local freight office. Mr. Gates succeeded at Gainesville Mr. Fairchild, the first agent of the company at that station. Gainesville thirty years ago was a town of about five thousand people, with saloons predominating over every other branch of business. It was a rough and ready town and everything wide open. Since then Gainesville has been made a freight divi- sion point, with yards and additional trackage built, and is now one of the important stations of the Santa Fe system.
During the World war both the railway sta- tions at Gainesville were consolidated, with Mr. Gates as joint agent. He faithfully per- formed this great increase in official duties. largely as a matter of patriotic devotion, and his work left him little time for active par- ticipation in other war causes. For a number of years he has also been identified with farm- ing and dairying, and maintains a fine Jersey herd for the supply of pure milk. For many years he has been identified with the Knights of Pythias and is also a member of the Elks Lodge.
At Sedalia, Missouri, Mr. Gates married Miss Maggie C. Peacock. She died in New York, the mother of four children. The old-
est, Fred M., is in the wholesale grocery busi- ness at Wichita Falls. Frank S. is manager for the Tyler & Simpson wholesale grocery house at Ardmore, Oklahoma. Belle and Maggie C., the two daughters, are both mar- ried and live in New York City. Mr. Gates subsequently married at Fort Worth Mrs. Sculley, and they have a son, Frank J., Jr.
CLAY NEWTON, president of the First Na- tional Bank of Valley View, is still living in the house in which he was born, and his fam- ily were prominently identified with pioneer development in Cooke County. Mr. Newton for a number of years was an active merchant at Valley View, and is one of the liberal pub- lic spirited citizens, at different times assum- ing a place of responsible leadership in the community in behalf of education, church and patriotic causes. He is the grandson of one of the very interesting characters of the early Southwest. His grandfather was Rev. Mr. Newton, who during the '30s left Connecticut as a missionary among the Cherokee Indians of Indian Territory. He was an important factor in introducing civilization to that wild country, and on leaving there moved to Texas and established his home in Dallas County. He died in that city and is buried in the ceme- tery near the old Santa Fe station in the heart of Dallas. Rev. Mr. Newton had two sons and two daughters, Charles S., William F., Alice and Jennie, all now deceased, and all of whom left families except Jennie. Alice was the wife of John Beeker, while Jennie married Ed Bullock. William F. Newton served as an expert mechanic in the Southern army during the war.
Charles S. Newton, father of the Valley View banker, was born in the Cherokee Nation of old Indian Territory. He moved from Tahlequah, the capital of the Cherokees, to Dallas in 1848, when a boy, learned the trade of mechanic, and he and his brother William conducted a machine shop in Dallas. At the beginning of the war between the states he went into the Confederate army as a member of Douglass' Battery, and was in many of the hard fought campaigns in the older southern states. He served as a private, was never wounded or captured, and was returning to his command from a furlough when he learned of the surrender, and he therefore never re- ceived a parole. Following the war he was engaged in farming near Garland in Dallas County. The old Newton home in that vicin- ity, established by his father-in-law, is still in
Very Truly Yours ООстатак
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the family. ' He lived there until the fall of 1870, and at that early date moved to Cooke County, establishing his place at Valley View. In this frontier town he erected a flouring mill and gin, and was active in the management of these local industries for a number of years, but spent his last days on a farm adjoining the little town on the southwest, where he passed away January 23, 1903, at the age of sixty-five. His enterprise gave an early im- petus to the development of Valley View as a town, and he was one of that community's most useful and honored citizens. In Dallas County Charles S. Newton married Miss Thomas, whose brother, William Thomas, re- cently donated his million dollar Texas estate to the Baptist Church. Of that union there remains one son, Ed C. Newton of Dallas, owner of extensive farming interests in central Texas. The second wife of Charles S. New- ton was Mary E. Jones. Her father was Rob- ert D. Jones, and her brother is Horace K. Jones of Valley View, member of one of the very prominent families of Cooke County. By the second marriage the children were: Merta, who was the wife of R. V. King, and died in Valley View, leaving a son, Newton A., now a student in the University of Texas; Carl S., in the real estate business at Dallas; Clay ; Frank King, of Dallas; and Purl O., with the American Exchange National Bank of Dallas.
Clay Newton, who was born at Valley View December 23, 1879, acquired a good educa- tion, first in the public schools of Valley View, then a year in Trinity University at Tehuacana, and finally in Robins Business College at Sedalia, Missouri. At the age of twenty-one he engaged in the furniture and undertaking business in his home town, and was active as a merchant until 1914. In sub- sequent years the firm of Newton & Company expanded their enterprise to hardware and implements, and finally sold out in 1914. Mr. Newton became the cashier of the First Na- tional Bank of Valley View in 1907, and since 1915 has been its president.
This bank was established in 1905, opening its doors for business in May of that year. Its leading promoter was R. P. Head, who was still president when Mr. Newton became cashier, as successor of Richard Head, the first incumbent of that office. The First Na- tional Bank is a bulwark of finance in this part of Cooke County, has had a conservative and successful management, and has capital of twenty-five thousand dollars, surplus of twenty
thousand dollars, and undivided profits of ap- proximately twenty-five thousand dollars.
While his business affairs have made con- · stant demands upon his energies and time, Mr. Newton has without seeking the honors of politics endeavored to do his part as a sustain- ing citizen. For seventeen years he has been actively interested in the local school situation, for a large part of that time has served as a trustee, is secretary of the School Board at the present time, and had a helpful part in securing the enlargement of the High School. During the war with Germany he was a mem- ber of the Exemption Board, helped to fill out questionnaires, assisted in promoting bond sales, was a member of the County Council of Defense, and both he and Mrs. Newton were deeply interested in all the Red Cross work. Mr. Newton became a Mason at the age of twenty-one, is a past master of his lodge and is affiliated with the Royal Arch Chapter. He is a democrat and is a worker in the Presby- terian Church at Valley View.
At Dallas May 26, 1910, he married Miss Addye Pettit. She was born in New Mexico, but comes of an old family of Bell County, Texas, and was reared in Belton, but later graduated from the Valley View High School and also attended the Normal School at Den- ton. Before her marriage she was a teacher at Valley View for a year. Her father was John D. Pettit. Mr. and Mrs. Newton have three daughters, Mary Annette, Merta Ellen and Dorothy.
OSCAR O. CHRISMAN. That Johnson County does not fail to pay due honor to and recogni- tion of the ability of its native sons is indi- cated by the fact Judge Chrisman is serv- ing on the bench of the county court of this county. He is a representative of one of the old and honored families of the Lone Star State.
Judge Oscar O. Chrisman was born on a ranch thirteen miles south of Cleburne, the judicial center of Johnson County, and the date of his nativity was November 12, 1879. There he gained his initial experience in con- nection with the practical and productive work of life, and near the home place he acquired his preliminary education in the rural school over which his father presided for some time. The father, Albert S. Chrisman, was a young bachelor when he came to Texas, from Merid- ian, Mississippi, in 1868. He was reared on his father's farm and stock ranch in Missis- sippi, and in his native state he received a
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liberal education. He was one of the gallant young sokliers of the Confederacy in the Civil war. took part in the defense of Vicksburg and continued in the ranks until the close of the war. Thereafter he was engaged in the practice of law and also in the mercantile busi- ness in Mississippi until his removal to Texas, his brother, Judge J. B. Chrisman, having served on the Circuit bench in Mississippi for twenty-four years and having gained special judicial fame in connection with his work in overthrowing the "whitecap" movement, which defied organized legal authority.
Albert S. Chrisman became a successful ex- ponent of agricultural and live-stock industry in Johnson County, Texas, and also gave effective service as a teacher in the rural schools. He finally established himself in the general merchandise business in Hill County, and since his retirement from active business he has maintained his residence at Cleburne, as one of the old and honored citizens of Johnson County. His wife was born at Hick- ory, Mississippi, but their marriage was sol- emnized at Palestine, Texas, in which state their circle of friends is limited only by that of their acquaintances. Of the surviving chil- dren Judge Chrisman of this review is the eldest ; Mrs. W. A. Wells, of Cleburne, is the next younger ; Albert Clay is a lawyer at Cle- burne; and Miss Julia is a popular teacher in the public schools of Johnson County.
After having duly profited by the advan- tages of the public schools Judge Chrisman became a clerk in a drug store and while thus engaged he devoted his evenings and other lei- sure hours to the study of law. He depended upon his own resources in defraying the ex- penses of his course in the law department of the University of Texas, largely by working at night in a drug store in the capital city. He received from the university his degree of Bachelor of Laws and forthwith, in 1913, was admitted to the bar of his native state. He engaged in the practice of his profession by opening an office at Cleburne, and his first case in the District Court was presented in the court of the Nineteenth Judicial District, in the city of Waco, this being a personal-injury claim against the Aetna Life Insurance Com- pany, victory having attended his presentation of his client's cause and his fee of $500 having seemed at the time a large sum. In the con- trol of a large and representative law practice at Cleburne, Judge Chrisman was associated in partnership with his only brother until his election to the bench of the county court. For
this office he was nominated in 1918, and, against a strong competitor, he won the elec- tion by a gratifying majority. Two years later he was re-elected, without opposition, and his administration has amply justified the elec- toral confidence manifested by the voters of his native county. Within his regime on the bench has been initiated and carried to suc- cessful completion the building of a system of good roads throughout the county, this hav- ing involved the issuing of bonds in the amount of $2,000,000, the record of which was approved by the attorney general of the state without alteration. This bond issue was ex- pected to compass the construction of 150 miles of permanent roads, connecting every community center in Johnson County with Cleburne, the county seat, and also the com- pletion of two cardinal routes through the country. This admirable system of road im- provements has included the construction of concrete culverts and bridges and the surfac- ing of the highways with a fine grade of native gravel, while the two cardinal roads are sur- faced with bituminous topping. Under the progressive administration of Judge Chrisman there have been also special tax elections for the benefit of the public schools, these elections having been held at the instance of the County Court. and every school district in the county voted a tax for better school buildings and better school equipment. As an ex-officio member of the board of county commissioners Judge Chrisman cast the deciding vote in authorization of the private hedge about the Courthouse grounds, this improvement being one that adds grealy to the attractiveness of the grounds and building and that won for Cleburne second place in Texas in connection with the improvement and decorating of pub- lic squares. Another noteworthy improvement in this connection was that of placing tele- phone and lighting wires of the square in underground conduits. Under the county administration, of which Judge Chrisman is an influential executive, have been constructed sixty-two concrete dipping-vats, by means of which has been effected so thorough a cam- paign of tick eradication as to clear the county of quarantine and to obliterate completely the Texas fever-tick within the borders of the county. Another progressive movement re- sulted in the construction of a large and well located warehouse for the conservation and distribution of county supplies for road work and other objects, and four large tractors have
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been acquired for building and maintaining public highways throughout the county.
Under the administration of Judge Chris- man was initiated a wise program for the pro- tection of youthful offenders and erring boys and girls, and to further this end the Judge appointed a number of leading citizens throughout the county to serve as probation officers, the chief probation officer having his headquarters at the county seat. The system has worked to great advantage in the guiding and governing of wayward youth and has contributed much to raising the general moral tone of the county, which now has in this respect as high standing as any other in the state. Judge Chrisman takes deep interest in young folk and delights to be of service in helping boys and girls, young men and women, to make the most of their lives.
In early manhood Judge Chrisman became affiliated with the time-honored Masonic fra- ternity, and he has been a close and appre- ciative student of its history and teachings. In the York Rite, he is a member of the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Commandery organiza- tions in his home city, and he has passed the official chairs in each of these, besides having represented the same in the respective grand bodies of Texas for fully ten years. He is at the present time (1921) Grand High Priest of the Texas Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, the property of which has reached an approximate valuation of $3,000,000, and as chief officer of this grand chapter his duties include the supervision of the Texas Masonic Home for Aged Masons, at Arlington, con- ceded to be one of the best institutions of its kind in the entire Union. Under his admin- istration the capacity of the Home has been almost doubled, by building an annex, con- necting the home with the hospital, where the sick and afflicted inmates can be transferred from one department into the other at all times, the building being modern in every respect. During his administration as Grand High Priest, the Masons of Texas have played a benignant and helpful part in the readjusting of unfortunate conditions in affairs of the Masonic fraternity in Mexico, and in this connection his correspondence has been voluminous, while his personal visitations to Mexico have resulted in much good in uni- fying and co-ordinating the work of the fra- ternity in that republic. Under his adminis- tration have been constituted eighteen new chapters of Royal Arch Masons in Texas and five instituted under special dispensation.
Judge Chrisman is a man of vision and of action, and he represents much in the com- munal life of his native county and state, be- sides having secure vantage-ground as one of the influential and public spirited citizens of Cleburne.
PROFESSOR LEE CLARK. Owing to the un- precedented growth in population and war time conditions Wichita Falls has encountered tremendous problems in making a co-ordinated progress in its institutions and community services. At no point have these problems been greater than in increasing the facilities and maintaining the standards of an educa- tional system appropriate to the size, wealth and population. For the splendid results that have been achieved, and for which the citizens of Wichita Falls are duly grateful, the chief credit belongs to the superintendent of schools, Lee Clark, a young man who to a remarkable degree exemplifies those vital qualifications re- quired for leadership in modern American education.
An older generation of Texas knowing that he is a son of Professor Randolph Clark and a nephew of the late Addison Clark would readily concede him superior educational qual- ifications without knowing anything of his individual achievements in that line. Profes- sor Randolph Clark, who with his wife, Ella (Lee) Clark, is still living at his home in Ste- phenville, Texas, was with his brother, Addison Clark, the founder of an institution that for years enjoyed an unrivaled place in the mental and character training of a generation or more of Texans. Add-Ran College at Thorp Springs, founded in 1872 and continued under the supervision of Randolph and Addison Clark until 1904, when the buildings having been burned, it was purchased and turned over to the Texas Christian University, and whose seat was subsequently moved to Fort Worth. was through thirty years a source of the high- est culture and education to its thousands of students. Hundreds of prominent Texans whose biographies have been written within the last score of years have always gratefully referred to the beneficent influence upon their lives emanating from Add-Ran College.
The father of these two distinguished edu- cators was Joseph Addison Clark, who was born in 1815 and was a pioneer Texan, set- tling in the Republic in 1839. In 1842 he married Hetty (Esther) D'Spain, of Nacog- doches County.
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Lee Clark was born at Fort Worth, Texas, and he has profited both from the noble influ- ences of his home environment and from the opportunities he has accepted and acquired to round out his character and abilities for the service of his fellowmen. He acquired his literary education in the Texas Christian Uni- versity at Fort Worth and in the University of Chicago, doing post-graduate work in both institutions. His experience as a teacher has been most extensive. He taught in rural, vil- lage and city schools. in summer normals. state normals and in colleges, and has been teacher, principal and superintendent. In all branches of school work he has been a promi- nent and valuable worker. He exemplifies that rare combination of teaching qualifica- tions with a broad and generous interest in everything pertaining to school life. For sev- eral years he was general agent at Austin for the State Conference on Education, devoting his entire time to that work. At various times he has held other responsible positions, such as chairman of the Resident State Board of Examiners ; member of the Executive Com- mittee of the Texas State Teachers Associa- tion ; member of the State Text Book Com- mission; president of the Northwest Texas Teachers Association ; district chairman of the Publicity Committee of the Texas State Teachers Association.
Professor Clark took charge of the public school system of Wichita Falls in 1915. The city is justly proud of its superintendent of schools. The people recognize in him a leader whose broad vision, wide experience, unceas- ing energy, strict adherence to all that is worthy and good, have been the chief factors in building for the city a living, growing and well organized school system.
Professor Clark is that type of man who performs an endless routine of important duties with apparently as little effort as other men whose activities are greatly restricted. He has found time to take part in all worthy civic enterprises, in fact the duties of citizenship being a hobby with him. In Wichita Falls he is a member and director of the Rotary Club, and has been a delegate to the Inter- national Rotary Convention. During the war he was prominent in the Y. M. C. A., and at various times has been general secretary, mem- ber of the State Executive Committee, presi- dent of the College Y. M. C. A., educational secretary of the Army Y. M. C. A., state re- cruiting officer of the War Council and district director of the War Council Service for de-
mobilization. It will add something to this brief outline of Wichita Falls' superintendent of schools to say that he is personally inter- ested in all forms of athletic work, both as sport and pastimes and as auxiliaries of edu- cational systems, being fond of tennis, foot- ball, swimming, riding, hunting, tramping and camping.
Mr. Clark married Miss Leni Leoti Sypert. who was born in Bell County, Texas. Her father was the first sheriff of that county. To their marriage were born nine children : Mary Sypert, Virginia Blanche, Leni Leoti, Lee, Jr., Irene, Joseph Addison, Helen Fae. Dorothy and Mignon.
WALTER R. ANDREWS has had nearly all his business experience in Northwest Texas, and is one of the younger business men of the city of Wichita Falls, where he has rapidly devel- oped a prosperous and extensive grain and coal business.
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