USA > Texas > Tarrant County > Fort Worth > History of Texas : Fort Worth and the Texas northwest edition, Volume IV > Part 63
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twelve-story building at the corner of Fourth and Main streets, now known as the Burnett Building. He was a director of the Cattle Raisers' Association of Texas for years. His business acumen made him the almost unani- mous choice for the Regional Bank Director when the Government enlarged the scope of the country's banking system, and he is render- ing most efficient aid in an able solving of the financial problems confronting the public at this time. In war work Mr. Sansom was actively prominent. He was made chairman of the Tarrant County drive in the Liberty Loan and was also engaged as leader of the movement in Texas to secure from the Govern- ment a $5,000,000 loan for the benefit of the sufferers in the great drouth in Texas during 1916-1918. Early in 1918 Mr. Sansom was appointed a member of the Advisory Commit- tee to confer with Mr. Hoover, food adminis- trator, and Secretary Houston, concerning the food problems of the country during war times. This necessitated frequent trips to Washington and otherwise occupied consider- able of his time, which he gladly gave to this character of service. Wherever there is a particularly pressing need relative to public enterprise Mr. Sansom is always found vigor- ously leading, despite the facts that privately he is a cattleman, banker, commission man, feed man and cotton oil man, with a multitude of responsibilities accruing out of each of his numerous interests. During Mr. Sansom's residence in Alvarado, Texas, he was mayor of that city. He married Miss Eliza Powell, of Alvarado. Mr. and Mrs. Sansom's three chil- dren are Mrs. Winifred Schultz, Miss Nina Sansom and Marion Sansom, Jr. Fraternally Mr. Sansom is a member of the Shriners, Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias. He is also a Knight Templar.
J. MART STOVER is one of Denton County's oldest residents and most highly respected citizens. He has lived here more than sixty years, except for the time he was away doing duty as a Confederate soldier, and his major business responsibilities have always been iden- tified with country and agricultural commu- nities. His home for the past twenty years has been a farm a few miles east of Denton.
He was born January 31, 1842, twelve miles west of what was then known as Georgetown, now the city of Sedalia, Pettis County, Mis- souri. His grandfather, Joseph Stover, came to America from Germany more than a cen- tury ago and established his home in Kentucky.
J. MART STOVER AND FAMILY
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... Anthony Stover, father of Mart Stover, was born in Kentucky January 12, 1808, and as a child accompanied his parents to Pettis County, Missouri, where the family were among the first settlers. Anthony Stover had one brother, John, who died on the plains while going to California in 1849. He was survived by a family in Pettis County, Mis- souri. Anthony Stover was also with this party going to the goldfields of California, and continued on and was absent from his Missouri home two years. While in Cali- fornia he contracted rheumatism as a result of the long walk following the ox wagon over the plains, but he managed to dig enough gold to pay his way home and a few dollars be- sides. He was a cabinet maker by trade, and also followed farming. He had that all- around mechanical skill that made him an ex- ceedingly useful member of pioneer commu- nities. He could make guns, and was a worker in iron as well as wood. He made tubs and buckets, and after coming to Texas made chairs, spinning wheels and looms, which he sold among his neighbors. It was in the fall of 1857 that Anthony Stover, accom- panied by his family, came to Texas and settled at Little Elm Creek, where he lived until his death in 1862. His wife died some five years later, and their bodies rest in the old aban- doned King Cemetery on Little Elm. They were primitive Baptists. The wife of Anthony Stover was Judith Goings. A brief record of their children is as follows: Delila Jane, who died on Big Elm in Denton County, wife of William Murray; Mary Ann, who died un- married ; John W., who died while a Confed- erate soldier at Dalton, Georgia; Eliza Cath- arine, who died in Palo Pinto County, her first husband being Andrew King and her second, David Reed; J. Mart, next in age; Judith Margaret, who was first married to David Jones and later to H. Stevens and died at the old Stover home on Little Elm; Susan Serilda, who died at Little Elm, wife of Nick Jones; Thilitha Serenia, who died as a child in Pettis County, Missouri ; Jesse S., who was killed by horses at Hilltown when a young man; and Melissa L., who was married to R. H. Clark and died in the Stover commu- nity on Little Elm.
J. Mart Stover spent the first fifteen years of his life in Pettis County, Missouri, where he attended a country school held in a log cabin, the seats being of puncheons and the
floors of similar material, while the window was merely one of the logs taken out of the wall. After he came to Texas he continued his education and learned to write a good hand and cipher through fractions. Besides knowl- edge gained from books he also acquired much of his father's skill with tools, and before the war he employed his time chiefly in making chairs, buckets, tubs, looms, spinning wheels and safes. On October 19, 1861, at the age of nineteen, he enlisted in Company A of the Fourteenth Texas Cavalry, under Captain Maines and Colonel Sweet. This regiment became a part of General Johnston's Divi- sion. Before reaching the front Mr. Stover was shot in the corner of the right eye. That organ being blinded, he returned home until his recovery. Later he made an effort to rejoin his command east of the Mississippi, but finding the stream blockaded by the Fed- erals returned home and he finally enlisted in the Twenty-ninth Texas Cavalry, in Cap- tain Tom Daugherty's Company, in the regi- ment commanded by Colonel DeMoss. He was transferred to Captain Degan's Company in May, 1865, at Galveston, under General Magruder, and was on duty there on the 25th of May when the news of Lee's surrender arrived. The command went to Houston the same evening, was discharged, and Mr. Stover and some of his comrades drove a Confeder- ate wagon and two Confederate mules north to Denton County. Mr. Stover secured an old "U. S." mule, which he brought home and put into civilian service on the farm. That was his share of the salvage from the war.
Not long after the war Mr. Stover moved to Hilltown, where he resumed his trade as a cabinet maker, but eventually gave his chief energies to farming and stockraising, and con- tinued in that community until he moved to his present farm. As a mechanic he built houses in his locality, and he has always owned a kit of carpenter tools for work needed at home.
While at Hilltown Mr. Stover was for some years a trustee of the schools. He has de- clined all offers of public office, including that of a county commissioner, although he was presiding officer at elections held at Little Elm for several years. He cast his first presiden- tial vote for Horatio Seymour, and four years later, in 1872, for Horace Greeley. For many years he was identified with the People's party, which he declares was a real branch of democracy.
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On August 10, 1865, in Denton County, Mr. Stover married Sarah Catharine Jones, who was born on the farm where she was married November 27, 1848. Her father, Matthew Jones, brought his family to Texas from Illinois. The only other child was Martha Jones, who became the wife of Chris- topher C. King and died at Little Elm in early life. Mr. and Mrs. Stover in their old age can look back upon a life of industry and honor, and have the comforts afforded by their own children, grown to useful manhood and womanhood, and also by numerous grand- children and great-grandchildren. They have forty-five grandchildren and thirty-two great- grandchildren. A brief record of their chil- dren and descendants is as follows: Dora, wife of W. P. Parker, of Wichita Falls, and their children are Cyrus H., Mrs. Mattie Naylor, Lola, Joseph and Francis Lee. Mattie Ann Stover became the wife of Lawson Rob- ertson, of Denton, and their children are: Mrs. Nora Nelson, of Goose Creek, Texas; Jesse Malone of Frisco, Texas; Mrs. Mary Killingworth, of Little Elm; Clifford, of Gunter, Texas ; Paul, of Denton ; Eber Stover, of Denton ; Lawson Robertson, Jr., of Denton ; Ruby Robertson; and John Mathew, who died in infancy. Mary E. Stover became the wife of J. E. Smith, of Denton, their children being Mrs. Dora Bannister, of Fort Worth, Stover, of Sanger, and Cecil of Benton, Elaine, William, Edwin, Harry and Clint Smith. Elbert L. Stover, who is a farmer at Little Elm, by his marriage to Nola Chappell has a son, Edgar L., and by his second wife, Ella Durham, has' children named Mary, James Mart, Susan, Lucile, Dorothy and Louise Bill. The next in age of the family is Dr. Eber Stover of Truscott, Texas, who married Della Sorrells and has two children, Elizabeth and Mary Emma. Joel Anthony Stover, who lives at Duncan, Oklahoma, mar- ried Cobie Barger, and their family consists of Trudie, wife of John Jeffrey, of Frisco, Texas, Joe, of Plano, Texas, and Eugene. Effie Stover is the wife of Pat Gallagher, a former sheriff of Denton County, now living at Dallas, and their children are Mrs. Fleta McReynolds, of Fort Worth, Earnest, of old Mexico, and Carl, of old Mexico. The young- est of the family is Amy, wife of Sidney Boyd, of Ponder, and the mother of three daughters, Gladys, Agnes and Lorene.
BROOKE SMITH was born in Hanover County, Virginia, March 13, 1853. His par- ents were John Snelson Smith and Pauline Thilman Smith, whose maiden name was Dos- well. He came to Texas in January, 1871, and located in Waco. Mr. Smith removed to Brownwood in February, 1876, and engaged in merchandising. In July, 1876, in connec- tion with Mr. Steffins, he established the Pecan Valley Bank, the first financial institution in that section. He has been continuously in the banking business since that date.
On March 2, 1880, he married Miss Juliet L. Sparks, daughter of Lloyd W. Sparks, of Bourbon County, Kentucky. They have had four children: Flora Temple, who died at the age of three months; Lola Doswell, who was married to Gardner Thomas, widowed. and again married to E. Lester, and still lives in Brownwood; Norma Brooke, who was mar- ried to T. D. Heslep, of Caldwell, Texas, and she died in Brownwood in 1911. One son, Brooke Smith, Jr., is now residing in Brown- wood.
Mr. Smith has led an active business life. In addition to banking he has been an ex- tensive and continuous operator in real estate, consisting of farm and ranch land in Brown- wood and adjacent counties. He has erected several substantial buildings in Brownwood, and has extensive suburban holdings in Hous- ton, Texas, and large landed interests in Mexico. He is a member of the Episcopal Church, the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, the Knights of Pythias and the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, and has been a director of the Fort Worth & Rio Grande Railway since 1892.
Mr. Smith is one of the most progressive and public spirited citizens of that section, and has been foremost in every enterprise for the development of his city and its tributary terri- torv.
BEN E. KEITH, president of the Harkrider- Keith-Cooke Company, wholesale fruit and produce dealers, is a native Texan, having resided in the Lone Star State since birth.
He was born in Fort Worth on the 20th day of March, 1882, the son of Calvin S. and Mary Ellen (Lightfoot) Keith, who came to Texas in 1878, locating in Fort Worth. The elder Keith was for many years a prominent business man of Fort Worth and was favor- ably known throughout this section. He originally came from Kentucky. Mr. Keith's
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mother was a member of a very prominent Indiana family.
Mr. Keith was educated in the public schools of his native city and at an early age entered the business world, where he added to his store of knowledge that education which comes only from actual contact and experience with the duties and problems of life. That he has taken advantage of the meager opportuni- ties that came his way is attested to by his wonderful commercial success.
In 1905 he entered the wholesale fruit and produce business and his alert mind, energy and ambition gained rapid success for him and in a period of a few short years he became president of the company with which he had a very humble start. The Harkrider-Keith- Cooke Company is one of the largest whole- sale fruit and produce houses in the South and West and maintains several large branches.
In addition to Mr. Keith's connection with the fruit and produce enterprise, he is in- terested in several other lines of activity, in- cluding manufacturing and jobbing and the oil industry. Mr. Keith has been exceptionally active in civic affairs and for the past several years has been an influential leader in all the forces that have worked for the upbuild- ing of Fort Worth and this community. He is a member of River Crest Country Club, Glen Garden Country Club, Fort Worth Club, Merchants and Manufacturers Association, Credit Men's Association, Fort Worth Rotary Club, and various other clubs. He is a York and Scottish Rite Mason and a member of Moslah Temple Shrine in addition to being past exalted ruler of the Fort Worth Lodge No. 124, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; ex-president of the Fort Worth Cham- ber of Commerce, and at present a director of that orgnization. Mr. Keith was one of the organizers of the Agricultural-Livestock Finance Corporation and is one of its direc- tors. He is very active in the Fruit and Produce Associations and is ex-president of the Texas Wholesale Fruit and Produce Deal- ers Association, and is vice-president of the Western Fruit Jobbers Association of America.
FRANK S. HASTINGS was born at Leaven- worth, Kansas, June 19, 1860. His primary education was received in the common schools of that city, completing his education in the University of Notre Dame and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He was married at Kansas City, Missouri, to Laura Clark in
1899, and to them two children have been born, Ruth, born in 1902, and Warren, born in 1904.
His business activities promptly followed his graduation the first ten years (1880-1890) being with a wholesale grocery company in his native city of Leavenworth. For the next suc- ceeding twelve years (1890-1902) he was with the Armour Packing Company at Kansas City, where he rose to a high confidential position. It is not too much to say that no man in all that splendid old-time Armour organization stood higher in the estimation of Kirk B. Armour, president.
Mr. Armour conceived that he could do no greater service to the cattle interests of this country than to take a leading part in the improvement of breeds. As a step in this direction he made some highly important im- portations of Herefords from the best Eng- lish blood, partly from the Queen's herd. While Mr. Hastings' experience with cattle up to this period of his life had been slight, Mr. Armour placed the management of the herd in his hands, in the confidence that a man who had for years satisfactorily solved every one of the many complex problems which had been delegated to him would also be equal to this task. Mr. Hastings' wonderful mastery of the subject is well known to all students of the history of Herefords in America. His characteristic thoroughness and energy were applied intensely. Day by day and year by year he made careful research into all that was written on the subject, seeking and weighing all information obtainable from intimate con- tact with the most successful herdsmen, plus sustained observations of practical results from applied theory. There is no better authority upon Hereford pedigrees, and eventually he came to be recognized as one of the foremost authorities on the subject in this country.
After Mr. Armour's death Mr. Hastings. largely by reason of his Hereford experience became associated with Swenson Brothers of New York, taking the management of their large S. M. S. Hereford herd in Texas, and making his headquarters in Stamford in 1902. From this point he still directs both the breed- ing and sale policies. The latter is unique in being practically a mail order business, built upon confidence that every promise is scrupu- lously carried out with every shipment shaped under his personal supervision for years. The early buyers who at first came to inspect before shipment now write or telegraph orders, know- ing that no deceit or sharp practice will later annoy them. Frank, as he is in name and
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by nature, there have been no "misunderstand- ings" in his trades. The business and personal friendships resulting comprehend an exceed- ingly wide range, from capitalist to cow- puncher.
He has in numberless instances given of his time and talents to help cowmen over rough financial places, with advice and suggestion founded upon a constant and reliable knowl- edge of markets and conditions. Most of this has had no possible selfish basis. On the con- trary, he has been prodigal of valuable time sacrificed from his own business urgencies to go deeply to the root of his neighbors' prob- lems and his neighbors in the cow business are not circumscribed by geographical limita- tions.
Is an instance of the range of his hemp- ful services Percy Rockefeller wanted some sound, practical advice as to the utilization of a large North Carolina tract at Overhills. where he was considering breeding cattle adapted to that mountain pasture. Did he apply to the Bureau of United States Animal Industry for experts? Instead, he sent a re- quest, through a mutual friend, for Frank Hastings, who assisted until the problem was settled. Again vast areas of Florida swamp lands, near the Everglades, were regarded by virtue of strong native grasses as possibly profitable in carrying cattle bred to thrive under the climatic and peculiar conditions of that region. This problem was placed by the owners in Frank Hastings' hands, and his re- port upon that subject is most comprehensive and interesting, and was controlling as to their decision.
But he will give just as much careful thought proportionately to the troubles of old Bill Smith, running the currycomb brand on the head of Salt Fork, whose $500 note is due at the bank and who fears his milk-pen calves must be added to the shipment of his few steers to make the financial riffle. The judg- ment of no man in the cattle business of the Western range is more sought, more valued or more valuable. Often and often he is ap- proached by cowmen who ask his assistance in selling their stock, saying they know he can secure a greater realization for them, and offering a commission for his help. The cow- man gets unstinted help, on condition that the commission suggestion be forgotten-he has never accepted a cent from any cowman for his aid-it would be tainted money to him. Think of what he would have been worth to the United States Shipping Board !
At times, and at many important meetings and banquets, he has held his auditors fas- cinated by his eloquence. His expressions, under such circumstances, flow in the purest English, delivering a finished, forceful, master- ful address. At other times, and in cruder sur- roundings and a similar companionship, where the educational graces are not conspicuous, he will drop so naturally into the vernacular (m- sulting the grammar with every sentence), as to appear as wholly at one with the gathering in speech as he is at heart, for he, least of all men, does not measure worth by superficial- ities, and some of his dearest friends spell cow with a "k." An admiring diamond-in-the- rough once summed up his ability to conform by observing "That that man Hastin's is plumb at home with everybody. I don't care if it's professors, preachers, or cowboys, or niggers -he is one of 'em"-a perfect tribute to his ability to readily adjust himself to any sur- rounding. It is not a pose, but a natural sym- pathetic melting into the individualities of his associates, no matter of what class, growing out of a perfect human understanding.
He keeps his active brain in smooth working order by frequent contact with the best minds in the cattle business and in other affairs and professions. He embraces every opportunity for discussion of details of the cattle business and other affairs with men worth while. I recall a chance remark once made by him that he liked always a chance to measure up his brain against the other fellow's to see how stale he was getting. This desire for discus- sion with and information from others ex- plains the wide range of knowledge which he keeps up to date. Most men with an intense hobby allow it to take complete possession of them, to the exclusion of all else, and on other subjects these single track minds are quite blank, stale and unprofitable There is never an important current subject, industrial, social or political, which Mr Hastings cannot analyze with interest and benefit with his companions of the moment
He has been of conspicuous value in many of the associations which deal with cattle affairs, not only of Texas, but of the nation. His work on the Executive Board of the Texas Cattle Raisers' Association has been untiring and effective, and he has been continually called upon to serve for many consecutive years His associates on this board rely heavily upon him, as they have found him active, diplo- matic and resourceful in assisting in the solu-
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tion of the many problems which have arisen from time to time, some of them very real
The governmental committee sitting in Washington a few months ago, considering the matter of regulation of the packing indus- try, called Mr Hastings to assist them with needed information, and it must have been some reward to him to be informed, as he was at the conclusion of his testimony, that no witness had appeared who so assisted them in arriving at a clear understanding of the situa- tion from the cattle raisers' standpoint
Recognition of the comprehensive nature of Mr. Hastings' information and research is evidenced by his appointment as a member of the Southern Tariff Congress, which will deal with all the tariff problems of the South.
The leading publications of the country devoted to or dealing with cattle industry have long recognized the value of Mr. Hastings' opinion on such subjects, and call upon him for contributions to their various publications. At the request of the Breeders' Gazette he, dur- ing the last year, supplied them with a series under the head of "Recollections of a Ranch- man." The characters and life in the cow country supplied material for a wonderful series, embracing a wide range, covering its hardships, pathos, humor, poetry and incidents, most pleasingly told, with a broad base of in- struction and information. The public's recep- tion of these articles was enthusiastic. Hundreds of letters of appreciation were re- ceived by the Gazette from all classes of read- ers. As an indication of the impressions they made, F. D. Coburn, of Kansas, wrote as follows :
"The material Mr. Hastings is sending the Breeders' Gazette is as interesting as anything W. H. Prescott, Lew Wallace or Victor Hugo ever wrote. Of course you will make them available in book form." Mr. Coburn is, him- self, one of the most prolific writers on cattle and agricultural subjects, and has exercised a great and helpful influence on the Western farmer and cowman. Coburn's little booklet, "The Beef Steer and His Sister," is a classic.
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Mr. Hastings has always made intimates of the men of the S. M. S. Ranch and at the camp homes it is always Christmas for the children when Mr. Hastings is about. He has molded the organization into something re- sembling a great big family with a common purpose. He always has a sympathetic ear for such personal troubles and griefs as affect his men and associates and time to help in allay- ing them so far as he may. Thc comaraderic
resulting is largely responsible for the fine range results achieved and maintained.
Mr. Hastings is essentially a home and family loving man. As he cannot bring the cattle from hundreds of square miles of range to his back yard, the next best thing, and his greatest delight, is to take the family among the cattle. Mrs. Hastings shares her husband's love of the open and its people, and often goes with him to remote camps and round-ups. From infancy the children, Ruth and Warren, have been adopted children of the range and are rarely left behind. Mr. Hastings has one passion aside from Hereford cattle-flowers, specializing in roses. To the great brotherhood of his acquaintance in West Texas this will hardly be information, as there are few of them who have not enjoyed at least a few happy hours at the Hastings' Stamford home and seen the results of his work in flower cul- ture, cross-breeding roses instead of cattle. His splendid vein of humor and quick and sympathetic intelligence make him a delightful and much sought companion.
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