USA > Texas > Tarrant County > Fort Worth > History of Texas : Fort Worth and the Texas northwest edition, Volume IV > Part 49
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He married Miss Chloe Blocker, of Honey Grove, Texas. Her father was E. E. Blocker, of that city, and the Blockers are pioneer Texans, their ancestral home being in Harrison County. Mr. and Mrs. Harvey have four sons, named Ralph, Jr., Eugene Blocker, Ches- ter Lawrence and Frank.
W. S. LANGFORD has been identified with the Wichita Falls district during the era of its greatest prosperity and production of wealth.
He has himself achieved wealth and promi- nence as an oil producer, and has also been in the automobile business since coming to Wichita Falls.
Mr. Langford is a nephew of one of Wichita Falls' best known pioneers, Pierce P. Lang- ford, who came to this town of North Texas about the time the first railroad was projected through. He has been engaged continuously in the banking business since 1885, and is now active vice president of the City National Bank of Commerce, one of the largest banks in North Texas, with resources of over $20,- 000,000.
W. S. Langford is still a young man, and represents an old and prominent family of South Carolina. He was born in Newberry, in that state, a son of George A. and Elizabeth (Livingston) Langford. His parents were natives of the same historic town of South Carolina, the Langfords being of Virginia an- cestry. W. S. Langford acquired his early education in the schools of Newberry and later received both an academic and military train- ing in the most famous military school of the South, The Citadel, or the Military College of South Carolina, at Charleston. Mr. Langford is a graduate of The Citadel, and in subsequent years has manifested a keen interest in the welfare of the institution. Some ambitious plans during the past two or three years have been launched to provide practically a recon- struction of The Citadel on lines and with re- sources that will enable it to maintain its great historic prestige. Mr. Langford is a life mem- ber of the Association of Graduates of The Citadel, and has contributed liberally of his personal means to the building fund for the Greater Citadel.
Mr. Langford after completing his education had an active business career at Newberry un- til he came to Wichita Falls in June, 1916. He engaged in the automobile business, and is still owner and proprietor of this business, now car- ried on as the Motor Supply Company. hold- ing the exclusive agency for Wichita County for Ford cars and Ford tractors. He main- tains agencies at Burkburnett and Electra.
It was the good fortune of Mr. Langford to come to Wichita Falls just about the time the new strikes in the Burkburnett field elec- trified the world and apprised it of the bring- ing in of the greatest petroleum district in America. Mr. Langford immediately enlisted his own enterprise and resources, and was one of the first producers in the field, which dur- ing the past two years has brought in untold
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millions of wealth in oil. He is still active at Burkburnett, having an interest in the Big Four Oil Company, and since then his invest- ments and ventures have extended to fields adjacent to Wichita Falls, particularly the Kemp-Munger-Allen field, and also in Archer County, where he is a member of the Silk- Bullington-Langford & Smith Syndicate, own- ing many valuable leases and active wells. Mr. Langford's success has been largely due to the acquiring of leases and acreage in fields that have proven productive. His initiative and enterprise in these investments have brought him a substantial fortune.
Mr. Langford is a York Rite and thirty- second degree Mason, and retains his member- ship in Omar Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Charleston. He is also a member of the Wichita Club, Chamber of Commerce and the Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Langford married Miss Jewell Kemp, of Wichita Falls. Her father is J. A. Kemp, president of the City National Bank of Commerce and the man to whom is properly credited much of the influence and leadership that have made Wichita Falls the "Wonder City." Mr. and Mrs. Langford have one son, David Kemp Langford.
GEORGE L. MERKLE has been a business man at Wichita Falls for ths past six years, and is active head of the Merkle-Lunn Company, un- dertakers and funeral directors.
He was born in Warren County, Pennsyl- vania, in 1888, son of Michael and Mary (Hunter) Merkle. In his native county he was reared and acquired a common school education, but from the age of fifteen has been making his own way in the world. For several years he was a traveling salesman, and had his home in Oklahoma. In 1907 he began the study of embalming, and has been identified with the undertaking profession continuously since then. He came to Wichita Falls in February, 1914, a skillful embalmer, and was connected with the undertaking establishment of E. G. Hill for six years. In December, 1919, he bought this business and reorganized it as the Merkle-Lunn Company.
Mr. Merkle is a highly competent and skill- ful embalmer and undertaker and possesses both the technical ability and the social qual- ities needed for success in the business. The Merkle-Lunn Company has recently estab- lished itself in a well-equipped and commodious building on Tenth Street, just outside the business center. The equipment of the com- VOL. IV-17
pany now includes three hearses and two am- bulances, and Mr. Merkle is leaving nothing undone to make the service unsurpassed.
He is a member of the Chamber of Com- merce and the Rotary Club. Fraternally he is a Knight Templar Mason and a Shriner, and a member of Maskat Temple, and also a mem- ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. On September 28, 1915, he married Miss Fannie Tanner, of Dallas.
ALONZO LEE BAKER. Among the younger business men of Fort Worth who have become identified with the modern development of the city A. L. Baker, vice president of the Texas State Bank, has won deserved recog- nition.
Mr. Baker is a native of Tarrant County, Texas, his birth having occurred in Riverside March 9, 1892, a son of William and Phia (Thompson) Baker. He attended the public and high schools of Fort Worth, also the Poly- technic College, and at the age of nineteen years began his career in financial circles as a messenger in the employ of the Texas State Bank. His connection with this institution has been continuous, and through successive promotion he has risen to the position of vice president.
He is a Knight Templar Mason and a mem- ber of the Mystic Shrine, a member of the Methodist Church, and the Glen Garden Coun- try Club. He is also serving the interests of the community as a member of the city School Board.
On June 20, 1918, Mr. Baker married Miss Lena Irene Wyatt, of Garland, Texas, a daughter of R. C. Wyatt a well known retired business man of that place, and they have a son, Alonzo W.
MAJOR THOMAS J. STRONG, M.D. Wichita Falls, the vital and progressive "oil metropolis" of Northwest Texas, claims Doctor Strong as one of its leading physicians and surgeons, and in his large and representative practice he specializes in the treatment of the diseases of women. He is a surgeon of marked ability, and as such gave excellent professional service with the United States army during the insur- rection in the Philippine Islands and later in connection with the activities of the American Expeditionary Forces in the great World war.
Doctor Strong was born at Hudson Falls, New York, on the 22d of May, 1877, and is a son of Gen. Thomas J. and Mary Margaret
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(Schaeffer) Strong, the lineage on the paternal side tracing back to staunch Scotch-Irish origin and on the maternal side to Holland- Dutch stock, the original American representa- tives of the Schaeffer family having come from Amsterdam, Holland, and having settled in Schoharie County, New York, at an early period in our national history. At the incep- tion of the Civil war Gen. Thomas J. Strong promptly tendered his service in defense of the Union, and he was made captain of his com- pany, the Twenty-second Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry. Through gallant and effective service he won promotion to the ranks of major, lieutenant colonel and colonel, and at the close of the war received the rank of brigadier general. He served with signal gal- lantry with the Army of the Potomac, took part in many important engagements marking the progress of the conflict between the states of the North and the South, and during his period of service he was in turn a member of the military staffs of Gen. Benjamin F. Butler and Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. In a battle in Vir- ginia he was severely wounded in the leg, and the injury necessitated the amputation of the leg below the knee. This distinguished officer of the Civil war was a resident of Hudson Falls, New York, at the time of his death, in 1885, and his widow survives him and is now eighty years of age.
Dr. Thomas J. Strong acquired his early education in the public schools of his native place, and later pursued a higher academic course in the University of Vermont, at Burlington. In the medical department of this university he was graduated as a member of the class of 1899, and in the following year he entered the United States army, in which he was made acting assistant surgeon, with the rank of lieutenant. He was sent to the Philip- pine Islands, where he served as acting assist- ant surgeon during the native insurrection and where he remained two years. Upon his re- turn to the United States in 1902 he was assigned to duty at the U. S. A. General Hos- pital at the Presidio of San Francisco, and he continued in active service until 1905, when be retired from the army and returned to Burlington, Vermont. There he was engaged in practice one year, at the expiration of which he entered the United States Public Health and Marine Hospital Service, in which he was assigned to duty in the State of North Dakota. Later he resigned from this branch of Gov- ernment service and engaged in the practice of his profession at Enderlin and Williston,
North Dakota. He continued in successful practice in North Dakota about eight years and was division surgeon of the Soo Line Rail- road.
At the time when the nation became involved in the World war, Doctor Strong became. a surgeon, with the rank of captain, in the North Dakota National Guard, in April, 1917. In the following June he resigned his commission in the National Guard and was commissioned a first lieutenant in the United States army, in which he was assigned to duty in the Medical Corps of the training camp at Fort Riley, Kan- sas. From that place he was sent to Camp Travis, San Antonio, Texas, and assigned to duty in organizing and training the Three Hun- dred and Fifteenth Sanitary Train of the Nine- tieth Division. In this unit he was commis- sioned captain in November, 1917, and in the following March was promoted to the rank of major. He accompanied his division to France in June, 1918, in command of the Three Hun- dred and Fifty-ninth Field Hospital of the Three Hundred and Fifteenth Sanitary Train, and from that time forward was constantly at the front on the battlefields of France until the signing of the historic armistice brought the war to a close. The doctor made a record of splendid official and professional service in the very midst of the stage of terrific conflict, as it will be well remembered that the Ninetieth Division distinguished itself in the St. Mihiel offensive and the Meuse-Argonne sector dur- ing its most vigorous conflict. The division took part in two major and seven minor offen- sives, went "over the top" many times, and lost more than 9,000 men in total casualties. During this climacteric period the physical, mental and professional powers of Doctor Strong were tested in the highest tension, and he did well his part in making efficient and noble the service of the sanitary corps of which he was an honored and popular representative.
Doctor Strong returned from France in March, 1919, and received his honorable dis- charge on the 30th of that month, at Camp Dix, New Jersey. In the autumn of that year, after having traveled through various sections of the Union, he established his residence at Wichita Falls, where he has since continued in active practice and where his professional abil- ity and gracious personality have resulted in his receiving a large clientage, his work being confined almost exclusively to abdominal, surgery and the treatment of the diseases of women. He holds membership in the Wichita County Medical Society, the District Medical
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Society, the Texas State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. His skill as a surgeon has been enhanced by his broad and varied experience as one of the nation's gallant surgeons in the World war. He is a member of the Wichita Falls Chamber of Com- merce and of the Business Council, is secretary of the University Club in his home city, has received the thirty-second degree in the Scot- tish Rite of Free Masonry, and is a Shriner of Maskat Temple, and is affiliated also with the local lodge of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks.
In 1910 was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Strong to Miss Charlotte Dalton Burgess, of Henry County, Virginia, she being a representative of the patrician and historic Dalton family of the Old Dominion common- wealth.
THOMAS J. TAYLOR, one of the substantial capitalists and honored and influential citizens of Wichita Falls, the vital oil metropolis of Northwest Texas, was born at Linden, Cass County, Texas, on the 9th of February, 1864, and is a son of Thomas J. and Lucy (Banks) Taylor, who were born and reared in Georgia, where their marriage was solemnized and whence they came to Texas and became pio- neer settlers in Cass County in the '50s, that county having at that period received a large quota of pioneers from the State of Georgia. Thomas J. Taylor, Sr., served during the Civil war as a loyal and valiant soldier of the Con- federacy, and he eventually became one of the substantial and influential representatives of agricultural and live stock enterprise in Cass County.
He whose name initiates this review was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm and continued his association with farm industry until he was twenty-five years of age, his educational advantages in the meanwhile having been those afforded by the schools of his native county. In 1889 he established his residence at Wichita Falls and became one of its pioneer business men. He proved a vigor- ous and liberal supporter of the movements and enterprise which have made this one of the banner cities of Texas, and he has been promi- nently identified with oil production in this section of the state. In 1907 Mr. Taylor be- came associated with J. T. Montgomery and T. C. Thatcher in the organization and incor- poration of the First State Bank & Trust Com- pany of Wichita Falls, and of this institution he continued as cashier until 1915, when it was
merged with the First National Bank, in which latter substantial and representative institution he retained the office of cashier from the time of consolidation until March, 1918. Since that time he has given the major part of his time and attention to the oil industry in this section of the state, and during the boom period he was one of the largest producers in the famous Wichita Falls oil district, all of his holdings having been and still continuing to be within the borders of Wichita County. He is secre- tary and treasurer of the Sanders-Taylor Oil Company, of which Frank Kell is president, and has been and still continues to be promi- nently associated with other important and suc- cessful oil enterprises. He and Mr. Kell have for many years maintained close alliance in business affairs and both have done much to further the upbuilding and advancement of the modern City of Wichita Falls, where both have large and valuable real estate interests. Mr. Taylor has well merited his reputation as one of the most loyal and public-spirited men of his home city, and here he served a number of years as a member of the Board of Educa- tion. He is still a member of the directorate of the First National Bank and holds mem- bership in the Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Taylor's wife, whose maiden name was Ella D. Erwin, was born in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, but reared and educated in Cass County, Texas. They have seven children- Roy A., Gordon Fred, Erwin P., Thomas J., Jr., Avis B., Vera and Thelma.
JAMES M. BABER. In the rapid development of Wichita Falls during the past half dozen years James M. Baber has impressed his en- terprise and ability as a dealer in real estate, builder and an active influence in directing new capital and industrial energy to this impor- tant metropolis of North Texas.
Mr. Baber was born in Benton County, Tennessee, in 1880, and was reared and edu- cated in the town of Huntington in his native state. At the age of twenty, in 1900, he came to Texas, lived for a time in Hopkins County, in 1903 moved to the lower Panhandle coun- try, and since 1915 has been a resident of Wichita Falls.
He entered actively into the real estate and building business in 1916, and has been one of the most successful real estate and lease men during the period of the oil boom. He is a member of the firm of Stehlik & Baber, one of the largest of its kind in Northwest Texas. They handle much of their own property, in-
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cluding farm lands and oil leases. This firm has been instrumental in supplying capital and enterprise for an important contribution to the building program of Wichita Falls, particu- larly high class residences. In the summer of 1920 they let the contract for the erection of ten modern residences in Floral Heights, this being one of their latest enterprises. The firm also interests itself in the location in this city of meritorious industrial concerns, and has some achievements to its credit in this line.
Mr. Baber is recognized as one of the city's most public spirited citizens. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, Wichita Club and is a Mason. He married Miss Clara Shu- make, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. J. Shu- make, of Wichita Falls. Their two children are Shumake Martin and Nettie Maxine Baber.
CHARLES J. PATE, a Texas man still in the youthful period of life, has gone far in his profession as an architect, and many of the most notable and distinctive architectural fea- tures of the great new City of Wichita Falls are the product of his genius.
Mr. Pate was born at Wills Point, Texas, in 1885, a son of James A. and Ara (Hayden) Pate. His mother is deceased. His father was born in Kentucky in 1855, and in 1862 was brought by his parents to Texas, the family locating in Hopkins County, where he was reared. Subsequently James A. Pate moved to Van Zandt County and lived on a farm near Wills Point.
Charles J. Pate attended the local schools of Wills Point, and at the foundation of his busi- ness experience acquired a thorough knowl- edge and apprenticeship at . the carpenter's trade. He, therefore, has the invaluable view- point of the building mechanic as well as the skill of an architect. Coming to Wichita Falls in February, 1907, when the city had only a few thousand population, he worked at his trade, and at the same time carried on the practice and study of architectural drafting and had his first opportunities to put his archi- tectural ideas into practice at Wichita Falls. He also studied architecture through the In- ternational Correspondence Schools.
As a local man of prominence in his work Mr. Pate's skill was acquired by the widely known firm of Sanguinet & Staats, Fort Worth architects. He was the associate and local supervisor for this firm in the building of the magnificent Wichita County Court House. Prior to 1917 he was the firm's associate in several other large buildings. In 1917 he be-
came a regular member of the Wichita Falls office of the firm, under the style of Sanguinet, Staats & Pate.
The work which up to this time he might be justly proud in pointing out as his most im- portant distinction was done as local associate supervising architect in the construction of the skyscraper bank and office building of the City National Bank of Commerce in Wichita Falls. Over the country at large there are many larger buildings, but the home of the City National Bank of Commerce may well claim a distinction of its own in beauty and design and completeness of execution and as an expression of the last word in commercial building art. This twelve-story building, the first two stories of dark polished granite, the next eight of dark brown pressed brick and the two top stories of rich cream terra cotta, presents an exterior picture that as long as the building stands will be one of the most pleasing pieces of Wichita Falls' sky line. Competent critics have pronounced the banking room it- self, with its wonderful harmony of marble and other decorative materials, a rival to any banking interior in America, while in mechanical equipment it is unsurpassed. For the working out of the plan in general and the accommodation of the endless details into a work of art, the highest praise and credit is due Mr. Pate.
He was also architect of the Wichita High School and the Austin School, the Episcopal Church, the residences of N. H. Martin and J. W. Stringer, and the Thom business build- ing. His professional skill is in constant de- mand on these and many other architectural works of prominence in this section of North Texas.
Mr. Pate is one of the prominent younger citizens and business men of Wichita Falls. where he is a member of the Chamber of Commerce. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and Shriner. Mr. Pate married Miss Hesda Augusta Zigler, who was born and reared in Wichita Falls. They have one son, James Harris Pate.
JUDGE WILLIAM POINDEXTER. With many successes to his credit in the law, politics and business, Judge Poindexter, of Cleburne, is a distinguished representative of the oldest school of Texas citizenship. He is a product of Texas, and if states can be credited with making men Texas made him what he is, but the state's investment in him has long since been returned in the service he has rendered
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its citizenship. In the evening of life and with his ambition for the achievement of a purpose in life fulfilled his record is one that will be read by many hundreds of his old time asso- ciates and friends who know and esteem him for his work in the Texas northwest.
Judge Poindexter was born in Lamar County, Texas, January 2, 1854. His grand- father, Rev. James Poindexter, was a Baptist minister, was also a soldier under General Washington, and was with Washington's army at the surrender of the British General Corn- wallis at Yorktown. After the Revolution he moved to Tennessee. His wife was a Miss Craft, and of their eight children six were sons : Thomas C., John, George. William. Samuel and Elbert.
Thomas C. Poindexter, the father of Judge Poindexter, was born in Sullivan County. Tennessee, August 17, 1816, and in 1839 he married Nancy White, daughter of Rev. Ben- jamin White. In 1844 this famliy moved to Texas, locating on the frontier in original Denton County. Indian depredations forced him to return to a stronger line of settlement, and in 1846 he located at Paris. Thomas C. Poindexter was a carpenter and builder in that community until 1863, when he moved to Johnson County, establishing his home near Alvarado, where he lived until the close of his life, on April 29, 1889. He and his wife had eight children, and they taught these chil- dren the value of real labor as the source of all good things that contribute to happiness and character. Their children were : Dr. James K., a merchant and physician of Kosse, Texas; Fannie, who married Judge Dehoney, of Kentucky; Benjamin F., who lost his life by drowning while a Confederate soldier ; Martha Angie, who became the wife of Colonel A. C. Hoyle and now resides in Cle- burne; Dr. Gilliam H., who died in Center- ville, Texas; Mary L., who survives as the widow of Dr. W. S. Ross, of Alvarado: John B. and William.
William Poindexter was about ten years of age when his parents located on the farm near Alvarado. There as he grew up he laid the foundation for his education in country schools, and in 1873 graduated from the col- lege at Mansfield, Texas. A strong body sup- plemented a sound and vigorous mind, and has sustained him in an active and strenuous career of nearly half a century. Using the law as an occupation, he went to Kentucky and at Edmonton studied in the office of his brother-in-law, Judge R. B. Dehoney. He was
admitted to the Kentucky bar in 1874, and then took his further work in Cumberland University at Lebanon, Tennessee, receiving a diploma in 1875. Returning to Texas, Judge Poindexter began his professional career in Cleburne. He soon formed a partnership with Colonel Amzi Bradshaw. an able lawyer of Waxahachie, Mr. Poindexter having charge of the Cleburne office of Bradshaw & Poin. dexter. The firm dissolved in 1880 and for many years thereafter Judge Poindexter was associated with S. C. Paddleford, who later removed to Fort Worth. The firm of Poin- dexter & Paddleford was one of distinction not only in Johnson County but all over North Texas, and they served faithfully and ably the interests of an important clientage. Judge Poindexter's versatile abilities as an eloquent pleader and his masterful grasp of the law brought him a name and fame far beyond the boundaries of his own district.
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