USA > Texas > Tarrant County > Fort Worth > History of Texas : Fort Worth and the Texas northwest edition, Volume IV > Part 28
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73
Mr. Hennen is the fourth to fill the office of city manager of Denton. He went into office May 8, 1919, as successor of P. J. Beyatt. In co-operation with the city commissioners he has effected some substantial improvements that vitally concern the welfare of every resi- dent. Among the first of these achievements was the improvement of the water supply by changing the method of pumping and by dig- ging a new well, thus substituting clear crystal ' water for the muddy supply the city formerly used. The cost of this improvement was about five thousand dollars. Another, involving a larger sum, was the paving of Hann and Oakland avenues with re-enforced concrete, at a cost of fifty thousand dollars. About seventy- five hundred dollars were expended in the con- struction of two re-enforced concrete bridges, 30x60. Besides these major items, the munici- pal manager is improving the water and light plants by placing new building and new ma- chinery, the cost when completed to be about thirty thousand dollars, while much has been done in extending water mains, sewer facilities and other work.
Mr. Hennen was born in Denton County, August 26, 1879. His paternal grandfather was a native of Ireland, came to this country early in life and died before the Civil war. George W. Hennen, father of the mayor of Denton, was born near Charleston, Missouri, in June, 1842. His boyhood and early youth were without important incident or break in routine until the war came on. He enlisted in the First Missouri Volunteers, in the army of Gen. Sterling Price, and was in some of the campaigns through Missouri and Arkansas. Later he was sent east to the Mississippi. was in the siege of Vicksburg, then in the retire- ment of the Confederate forces to Atlanta, took part in some of the great battles of the Atlanta campaign and was wounded at Kenesaw Moun- tain. He was finally mustered out in Alabama at the surrender of General Lee.
George W. Hennen resumed his connection with his Missouri farming community for about only two vears after the war. About 1867 he came to Texas, and at once established himself in the farming community near Garza. in Denton County, where he still lives, one of the honored pioneer citizens. and has occupied one farm for fifty years. This old soldier has been an industrious worker, has improved his land holdings, reared and provided for his family, and for a number of years was one of the trustees of the Garza School. He has also been one of the leading members and support- VOL. IV-10
ers of the Methodist Church in his community. He has always voted the democratic ticket, and for over forty years has been affiliated with the Masonic order.
George W. Hennen married Miss Sarah Ann Derrick, a native of Mississippi, who was two years old when brought to Texas by her father, George W. Derrick. To their marriage were born the following children: Annie, wife of Will M. Smith and a resident of Denton ; Henry V .; Marvin, a teacher, whose home is at Garza; Bertie Lee Walker, of Lamar County ; Leonard and Olin, both farmers near the old Hennen home in Garza ; and Allie, wife of Belford Couch, of Emery, Texas.
Henry V. Hennen finished the course of the Garza schools, for two years was a pupil in the North Texas Normal School at Denton, and with this preparation he had charge of the Garza School as teacher for one year. After that he took up the routine of farming, and in 1902 moved to extreme Western Texas, to Deaf Smith County, where he bought a tract of land some distance from Hereford. He re- mained there two years, was able to make a living from his crops, but accepted an oppor- tunity to sell out at a profit, and then returned to Denton County. Here another year was passed as a practical farmer. He was then instrumental in putting in a local telephone exchange at Garza, and he and his associates invested about five thousand dollars in cover- ing that district with wire connections. Mr. Hennen then remained in active charge of the plant until 1911, when he sold out.
For the past ten years he has been largely burdened with official duties. In 1912 he was nominated candidate for tax collector, against the most strenuous competition possible, since his opponent was the widely known and promi- nent citizen, Samuel Hawkins, who had held the office for one term and had been officially identified with the Court House for twenty years. Mr. Hennen was elected and in 1914 re-elected without opposition. He retired at the end of 1916. While he was tax collector House Bill No. 40 became a law and under its provisions he made application of the law by compiling the first delinquent tax record for the county.
After retiring from office Mr. Hennen en- tered the automobile business, succeeding to the business established by George Fritz. For two years he was a dealer in accessories and supplies, and operated a general garage and storage service. From this business he was called to his duties as city manager.
512
FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
Mr. Hennen, like his father, has been a democrat as long as he could remember. He cast his first presidential vote for Mr. Bryan. On reaching his majority he joined the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, is still an active member. and has also taken the entered apprentice degree in Masonry.
In Denton County, August 6, 1900, he mar- ried Mary Belle Orr, who was born on the Orr farm at Garza, February 6, 1880. Her father, E. B. Orr, was one of the early settlers in the Garza community, and his six children are Walter R., John, Charles, Mrs. Hennen, Berry and Vida. Mrs. Hennen, after completing a common school education, spent some time in the North Texas Normal and was a teacher for two years. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Hennen are Ozro, Lorine, Urbane, Margaret, Sarahalice and Nina Elane. Urbane is still in high school, while Ozro, the oldest, is book- keeper in the First Guaranty State Bank of Denton. Lorine is a graduate of the North Texas Normal and is a teacher in the Denton schools.
GLENN RUSSELL has lived and worked in the environment of banking and finance in West Texas since school days ended, and is now cashier and one of the executive officers of a bank of remarkable strength and phenomenal growth, the First National Bank of Brecken- ridge.
Mr. Russell was born at Decatur in Wise County, Texas, in 1883, a son of W. P. and Mary ( Holmes) Russell. His mother is still living. W. P. Russell, a native of Illinois, came to Wise County. Texas, during the '60s, and for many years was an interesting figure in the cattle industry of that section. For a long period he was ranch boss on the great ranch of Dan Waggoner, and is well remem- bered by all the old time cattle men operat- ing in that section.
Glenn Russell attended public school at Decatur, and soon after he left school he en- tered the First National Bank of Decatur as a clerk. It was congenial work and of a kind sufficient to arouse in him all his ambitions for successful achievement. Eventually he became assistant cashier of the bank at Deca- tur. Then, in 1918, he accepted the offer to become cashier of the First National Bank of Breckenridge, of which B. S. Walker is presi- dent. While the growth of this bank is a measure and reflection of the tremendous de- velopment of Breckeneridge and Stephens County owing to the oil boom, there is per-
haps something more than a coincidence that Mr. Russell has been cashier throughout the period of the bank's greatest prosperity. He is a banker of thorough qualifications, and justly takes pride in the fact that in February, 1919, less than a year after he became cash- ier, the deposits reached the million dollar mark, and has since gone to the imposing total of over six millions.
Mr. Russell is a member of the Methodist Church. He married Miss Dovie Cobb, of Vernon, Texas. Their four children are Wil- liam, Mary Frances, Joe Ben and Glenn.
W. EDWARD ASTON, of Valley View, has been a prominent factor in that and other local- ities of North Texas as a farmer, flour mill operator and cotton ginner, and throughout his mature life has always been regarded as a man of much enterprise and strict business in- tegrity.
The Aston family has lived in Texas since pioneer times. His grandfather, Samuel Aston. was a native of Alabama and several yea1. before the Civil war brought his family to Texas, making the trip overland with ox teams and wagons. His years were spent on a farm, and in Texas he gave his earnest support to the Confederate Government during the war. He died near "Grey Bill," in Collin County, a place named for an old grey horse of the family physician. Doctor Holmes, who is still living in Fannin County, Texas. Samuel Aston died when past seventy-five, and his wife, also a native of Alabama, survived him five years.
Their son, Hugh L. Aston, father of W. Ed- ward Aston, was born in Alabama, November 18, 1839, and was a child when he came to Texas. He was one of a family of four sons and three daughters. Of this family two sons and the three daughters are still living. Hugh L. being the second in age. The daugh- ters are Mrs. Ann Whittenburg, of Collin County ; Mrs. Jane Thompson, of Bryan County, Oklahoma : and Mrs. Sis Trotter, of Collin County. As a youth Hugh L. Aston enlisted from Cherokee County in the Confed- erate army, was assigned to duty as a teamster in the commissary department, and was with the army on both sides the Mississippi, being on the east side when the war ended. He encountered hardships, was frequently under the fire of the enemy. but escaped without wounds or capture. The war over, he made use of his previous experience as a teamster and freighter and drove ox teams with wagons and goods over that much frequented trans-
Bleue Rusy
513
FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
portation highway leading out of Jefferson, Texas, to the remote towns and settlements in the northern part of the state. He hauled the first load of goods to Jacksboro. After several years as a freighter he settled down on a farm in Collin County, and in 1893 moved to Cooke County. For a time he operated a saw mill on the old Dumas farm on Sister Grove Creek, the lumber from his mill being used in houses and barns of that section. In Cooke County he concentrated his efforts on farming, and later conducted a small country store not far from Valley View. Since the death of his wife he has made his home among his children. He has voted as a democrat in state and na- tional elections, but has never sought office, and is a member of the Methodist Church.
Hugh L. Aston married Miss Maggie San- ders, a native of Mississippi and daughter of William Sanders. She died near Valley View in 1917, at the age of sixty-nine. Her chil- dren were: Jennie, wife of J. W. Damron, of Bryan County, Oklahoma : W. Edward, of Val- ley View; Vick, wife of W. Y. Damron, of Throckmorton County, Texas; Minnie, wife of J. A. Webster, of Amarillo; Bettie, Mrs. J. W. Walker, of Oklahoma City ; Belva, wife of Ray G. Mclaughlin. a farmer near Valley View.
W. Edward Aston was born near Van Alstyne, in Collin County, July 11. 1869. He grew up on a farm, was educated in the country schools, and he early showed an inclination for machinery, and even while farming usually spent part of his time operating mechanical establishments of some kind or other. In 1900 he built his first cotton gin at Valley View, a modern pattern gin, the first of its kind in the town. Later he sold that plant and in 1916 installed an eight-stand gin with a capacity of eighty bales in twelve hours.
On February 3. 1889, in Collin County, Mr. Aston married Miss Jennie Pace, a native of that county and daughter of David W. Pace. Mr. and Mrs. Aston have the following chil- dren: Eula, who died as the wife of J. D. Aughtry; Vera D., associated with his father in business, married Avice B. Cook; Texie, wife of 'Owen W. Haborn, of Wichita Falls ; Willie, wife of Jeff Hudspeth, of Valley View ; Lonie, at home; Eddie, a farmer near Valley View, who married Lucile Selby ; Roscoe, who died November 13, 1920, at the age of seven- teen; while the three younger children are Ewing, Frances and C. L. Aston.
The late David W. Pace, father of Mrs. Aston, was two years old when brought to
Texas in 1838 by his father, Jesse Pace. Jesse Pace was a pioneer in the Republic of Texas, living for a number of years in Red River County and later in Collin County,, where he died at the age of sixty-five. He married Martha Petty. David W. Pace was a native of Alabama and acquired his early education in the log cabin schools of Red River County. As a young man he farmed in Collin County, and at the beginning of the war between the states enlisted in Colonel Fitzhugh's regiment and was in service until the final surrender. He was in a number of battles, including that of Pleasant Hill, where he was captured, but was exchanged after two months and rejoined his command. The regiment was in Arkansas when the war ended and he started home on foot. After the war he started his life all over again, made rails to fence his farm, and after a number of years of struggle was prop- erly established in the agricultural community of Collin County. Selling his land there, he bought other land in Cooke County, and for twenty years was a factor in the farm life and citizenship of the Valley View community until his death in September, 1912, at the age of sev- enty-six. He was a democrat and a supporter of Governor Hogg and Senator Bailey. In 1857 he married Miss Mary Hampton, who died leaving a son. Thomas Pace. In 1859 he married Rebecca Hampton, daughter of Charles and Elizabeth (Hodges) Hampton. Her father came to Texas perhaps as early as 1832, and was one of the first settlers in Fan- nin County, but spent his later years on a farm in Collin County. Mrs. Rebecca Pace died May 1, 1917, at the age of seventy-four. Her children were: Mary, Mrs. James Walker, of Cooke County : Lizzie, wife of Byron Gardner. of Jack County. Texas ; Jesse, of Valley View : David, of Mineral Wells : Jennie, Mrs. Edward Aston, of Valley View : William S .. a farmer at Valley View; Nathan, of Floyd County, Texas ; Bamma, wife of Jack Grundy, of Era : Myra, Mrs. Lem Ratliff, of Decatur, Texas ; Fin, a minister and educator at Fort Worth : Ursula of Memphis, Tennessee: John, of Gainesville; and Edna, youngest of the chil- dren, wife of Ruel Hewlett, of Memphis, Ten- nessee.
FRANK A. PORTERFIELD, state manager for Texas of the Guarantee Fund Life Associa- tion of Omaha, is one of the well-known insur- ance men of Fort Worth, of which city he has been a resident since his company entered this state in 1909. His connection with his busi-
514
FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
ness has gained him a wide acquaintance, among whom his genial disposition, his loyalty and his constant inclination to be help- ful to his fellows has made him popular. A peculiar and particular genius is necessary to the man who looks for success in the insurance business. This is like unto no other, and there are numerous instances of men who have made a complete success in other lines who have failed completely when endeavoring to sell in- surance. Mr. Porterfield, however, possesses the essential qualities of acumen, a pleasing personality, a ready and convincing vocabulary and a thorough knowledge of human nature, and with these as his stock in trade has achieved an enviable success.
Mr. Porterfield was born in Belmont County, Ohio, July 9, 1872, a son of Joseph Porter- field, who died at Shenandoah, Iowa in 1887. The Porterfields came from County Donegal, Ireland, and the paternal grandfather of Mr. Porterfield immigrated to this country as a lad of ten years with two elder brothers. When they located at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the lad was bound out to a cobbler, to whom he served his time, subsequently going to Wheel- ing, West Virginia. Later he returned to Philadelphia and married his former em- ployer's daughter. An elder brother remained at Philadelphia and the other went to Tennes- see. Three families of Porterfields had their origin in these three brothers, Frank A. be- longing to the West Virginia branch. Joseph Porterfield, his father, was an agriculturist and was engaged in farming throughout his life. He was a Scotch-Irish Presbyterian and a man of pronounced and deep-seated religious faith.
The youngest in a family of seven sons. Frank A. Porterfield enjoyed only very limited school advantages, and his education in that direction did not exceed a year and a half of attendance. However, he made the most of his early and later opportunities, and study, application, observation and coming into con- tact with all kinds and conditions of men have combined to give him a practical educa- tion. His father died when he was fifteen years of age, and at that time he secured em- ployment on a farm at a salary of sixteen dollars per month for five months in the year. He next secured employment as a railroad sec- tion hand at $1.10 per day. and while thus engaged spent his leisure time in learning telegraphy. He thus advanced himself to tele- graph operator and station agent, and for five years remained in the employ of the Chicago.
Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Company. From this post he went to the Jasper County Coal Company at Colfax. lowa, where he had charge of the payroll for a few years, and then joined Swift & Company at Omaha, Nebraska, being with them a few years, also as branch house manager at Deadwood, South Dakota. He left that concern in 1904 and moved to Omaha, Nebraska. where he engaged in the live stock commission business at South Omaha. Two years later he went on the road for the Midland Manufacturing Company of Omaha, as traveling representative, and in 1908 joined his present concern. the Guarantee Fund Life Association of Omaha, with which he has been identified without interruption. The company entered Texas in the spring of 1909, at which time Mr. Porterfield moved to Fort Worth and took charge of the company's work in the Lone Star State. Since that time the company has placed $16,000,000 worth of business on the books in Texas.
The Guarantee Fund Life Association was organized by bankers and business men of Nebraska in 1901. It now does business in twenty-three states, and has $151,000,000 worth of insurance in force, its emergency re- serve funds exceeding $4,250,000. Mr. Porter- field's offices are situated at 614-15 Dan Wag- goner Building, corner of Sixth and Houston streets. He takes an active interest in the growth and progress of the city and a helpful part in civic affairs. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of Moslah Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. His social connections are with the Fort Worth Club and Glen Garden Country Club.
On November 21, 1903, Mr. Porterfield was united in marriage at Deadwood. South Dakota, to Mrs. Carrie G. Hatton, of Colfax. Iowa, daughter of George Goodrich, formerly head of the Jasper County Coal Company of Colfax. They have one son, Robert G., seven- teen years of age. now in the United States navy.
IKE A. WYNN. Solid abilities and substan- tial merit alone have contributed to the in- creasing reputation of Ike A. Wynn as a Fort Worth attorney. He began the practice of law in that city soon after qualifying for the pro- fession, and successive years have brought him all the success and honors that a lawyer strictly devoted to the essential work of his calling regards as a satisfaction for his ambition.
)
W T Well
515
FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
Mr. Wynn was born in Hancock County, Tennessee, November 5, 1875, a son of W. E. and Docia J. Wynn. He grew up in Eastern Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, received his A.B. degree in 1902 from Emory and Henry College, one of the noted institutions in Southwest Virginia, and in 1904 graduated B.L. from the University of Virginia Law School. He was admitted to the bar in that state, but at once came to Texas and took the bar examinations. In October, 1904, he opened his office in Fort Worth, and has since devoted his time and abilities to general practice. He has never sought political office, though in 1913 he was honored by the Fort Worth bar in being chosen special district judge of the Seven- teenth District Court of Tarrant County, to serve for thirty days during the illness of James W. Swayne. Mr. Wynn has been an active member of the Texas Bar Association since 1908.
He married Miss Mary Turner, daughter of Judge J. H. Turner, of Henderson, Texas. They have three children, William Turner, Ike A., Jr., and Mary Lee.
WILLIAM T. WEBB, M. D. A popular physician and surgeon at Breckenridge, presi- dent of the Stephens County Medical Associ- ation, Doctor Webb has been a citizen by resi- dence for over thirty years, and grew up and received his education in this state.
He was born in Forsyth County, Georgia, in 1873, son of C. W. and Martha (Terry) Webb. His father, also a native Georgian, was for four years a Confederate soldier in Lee's army of Northern Virginia. In 1888 he moved his family to Texas, locating on a ranch at Saleville in Palo Pinto County. He continued ranching and cattle raising there for many years, but is now living retired at Min- eral Wells.
Dr. William T. Webb was fifteen years old when brought to Texas. He acquired his edu- cation in Georgia and also in Texas, and for some years was identified with ranching. He graduated in 1906 from the Dallas Medical College and for the past fifteen years has been a physician and surgeon in Stephens County. He practiced at Necessity until early in 1918, when he moved to the oil metropolis at Breck- enridge.
Doctor Webb married Miss Maggie Pierce, a native of Palo Pinto County. Their two children are Ouida Mae and William Edward.
WALTER N. SHOFNER, president of the Jus- tin State Bank in Denton County, has been active in the banking affairs of that locality for the past seventeen years, which covers also his residence as a Texan.
The Justin State Bank was founded as a private institution, known as the Citizens Bank of Justin, in 1904. Mr. Shofner had a part in its establishment, with J. W. Spencer and Dr. W. H. Pennington. Doctor Pennington was its first president. In 1907 it took out a state charter under its present name, and in 1916 Mr. Shofner was promoted from cashier to president. The capital of the Citizens Bank was six thousand dollars, while the State Bank has a capital of thirty-five thousand dollars and surplus and undivided profits of fifteen thousand five hundred dollars. The vice presi- dents are Dr. J. H. Allen and J. W. Collins : J. E. Mothershead is cashier, and these. with W. G. Cook, S. W. Barrett and J. A. Baker. constitute the Board of Directors
Mr. Shofner, who has been a deeply inter- ested citizen of his community ever since iden- tifying himself therewith, was born at Boon- ville, Lincoln County, Tennessee, September 8, 1871. His paternal ancestors were Scotch and Irish, and the family has been in America since Colonial times. They were farmers for many generations, but in later generations they have gone into various lines of work-finance. merchandising and even into the military serv- ice. Mr. Shofner's grandfather, Jeptha Shof- ner, moved to Tennessee from North Carolina and lived out his life as a farmer. He had a large family, and all of them were Southern sympathizers at the time of the war between the states. Four of his sons were Confederate soldiers, two of them losing their lives for the cause, and the other two are James C. and William L. Shofner, both of Tennessee. James C. Shofner, father of the Justin banker, was born in Lincoln County and has spent his life there as a farmer. He married Mary Rutledge. a native of Tennessee and daughter of Isaac Rutledge, of Virginia ancestry. The Rutledge and Shofner families were slave holders. By his marriage to Mary Rutledge, James C. Shof- ner has seven surviving children: Mrs. Lena Puryear, of Cottage Grove, Tennessee; Mrs. Mattie McNatt, of Shelbyville, Tennessee ; Mrs. Peal Bailey, of Cleveland, Ohio; Mrs. Mary Congo, of Fayetteville, Tennessee ; Mrs. Alice Notlow, of Lynchburg, Tennessee ; Walter N. : and Reuben T., who is in the mail service at Shelbyville, Tennessee. The mother of these children died in 1888, and by his sec-
516
FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
ond wife, Mrs. Ada Ashby, J. C. Shofner has two daughters, Mrs. Alberta Rutledge, of Mul- berry, Tennessee, and Mrs. Lucile Moore, of Petersburg, that state.
Walter N. Shofner grew up on his father's farm in Tennessee and was schooled in its duties and practical work. He remained there until past his majority, when he removed to Winona, Mississippi, and for three years dili- gently improved his opportunities as clerk in a hardware store and acquired a good knowl- edge of merchandising. He then removed to Indian Territory, and for two years was in the drug business at Wapamucka, leaving there to identify himself with the Denton County community of Justin in 1904.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.