USA > Texas > Tarrant County > Fort Worth > History of Texas : Fort Worth and the Texas northwest edition, Volume IV > Part 8
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The spirit of the schools and the community is notable for its complete harmony and for the correlation of all interests, and it has well been said that this community has inspiring realization of the fact that the work of the schools is not only a preparation for life but is also life itself. The funds asked for by the superintendent to carry forward the progres- sive and cumulative work of the schools have always been promptly and cheerfully provided by the voters of the city and by the trustees of the schools, who give co-operation from every angle. The efficiency of the work accom- plished needs no further voucher than the records made by students. The Cleburne schools have a greater number of former stu- dents enrolled in colleges and universities than those of any other city of the same compara-
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tive population in the United States. For a period of eight or ten years Cleburne fur- nished all appointees from its Congressional District to the United States Military Acad- emy, at West Point, and invaded the state at large by supplying two brilliant students of the high school to that great military institu- tion, by appointment of the congressman-at- large.
The Cleburne schools are prolific in societies and athletic organizations, and all legitimate organizations of this kind receive ready execu- tive encouragement. It is well understood by all students and pupils that no organization will be tolerated if it conflicts in the least with constituted authorities or in the least degree jeopardizes the work and efficiency of the schools. Summary action is to be looked for on the part of the superintendent if any abuse of privileges or any transgression of authority is attempted, and above all else the general spirit of loyalty is held as the prime desidera- tum. The schools of Cleburne have been emi- nently favored in the obtaining of teachers of ability and enthusiasm in their profession, and the superintendent attributes much of the splendid success of the school work to the earnest and effective co-operation of the teachers.
The man whose labors have been forceful in building up the public-school system of Cleburne to its present unrivaled standing and giving the citizens and patrons full return for every dollar invested, has done all this great service with no selfish motives and with a singleness of purpose that marks him as one of the really great constructive and adminis- trative powers in public-school service in the United States. His reward has been coinci- dent with his service, and the gratitude of the community and of the many students of the Cleburne schools fully repays him for all that he has given of thought and action. This representative educator and school executive of Texas is he whose name initiates this review.
Emmett Brown was born on a farm near Sparta, Georgia, December 1, 1875, and in his native community he received his early edu- cation, which was advanced by his attending Peabody College. After his graduation in this institution in his native state he entered the University of Nashville, Tennessee, where he completed the classical course and was grad- uated as a member of the class of 1896, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Through his service in connection with mercantile enter-
prise he largely defrayed the expenses of his higher education, and this fact has begotten in him an enduring appreciation of the value of such self-help, with the result that his inter- est in and sympathy with aspiring youth work- ing under similar handicap are unfailing and instant. Almost immediately after his grad- uation in the University of Nashville, Mr. Brown came to Texas, where, in the autumn of 1896, he initiated his pedagogic career by becoming a teacher in what is now the Texas Christian University, at Fort Worth, the school at that time having been established at Thorp Spring. In the summer of 1897 Mr. Brown came to Cleburne, as previously noted, and his rise in his profession has here been coincident with the splendid advancement of the Cleburne schools. He has secure place in the confidence and high esteem of the cit- izens of this community, and has stood ex- ponent of utmost civic loyalty and progressive- ness. He was secretary of the committee that framed the present city charter, the first granted under the modern "home-rule act" in Texas and the first city charter in the state to make adequate provision for schools. He has given zealous co-operation in every move- ment and enterprise tending to advance the best interests of the community, and he has been a valued member and officer of both the Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club, in each of which he has been assigned the chairmanship of the committee on public affairs. These committees have initiated every movement for the furtherance of public im- provements in the city, have formulated cam- paigns for new municipal ordinances for which there has been need, have had much of leader- ship in directing civic policies and furthering work for the beautifying of the city. Mr. Brown was chairman of the committee of public affairs of the Chamber of Commerce when it made the first successful Liberty Loan drive in the country. He is past presiding officer of each of the three Masonic York Rite bodies in Cleburne and a member of Maslah Temple A. A. O. N. M. S. of Fort Worth. He has been for fifteen years superintendent of the Sunday School of the Presbyterian Church, and is serving as an elder of this church.
The lineage of Professor Brown traces back to sterling Scotch origin, and the progenitor of the family in America came to this country in the colonial era and settled in Queen Anne County, Virginia. One of his great-great- grandfathers was General Epps Brown, a dis-
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tinguished officer in the Revolutionary war. From Virginia representatives of the Brown family removed in an early day to Georgia, the native state of Emmett Brown. Prior to the Revolution members of the family had been large landholders and slave owners, with espe- cially extensive holdings of land in two counties of Georgia. Thus the family was land-poor at the close of the Civil war, which brought devastation and disaster to many of the southern states, it having thus been neces- sary to sacrifice much of the land in order to meet outstanding obligations and assist in the rebuilding of the industrial fabric of the state. George R. Brown, father of the super- intendent of the Cleburne schools, gave his active life largely to agricultural pursuits in his native state and his early educational advantages were limited. Though he was the eldest son in the family he was too young for military service in the Civil war. His father, Algernon Sidney Brown, equipped the Sixth Georgia Regiment of infantry for service in the cause of the Confederacy, this action hav- ing been taken by him primarily because no member of his family was eligible for military service. George R. Brown married his cousin, Miss Laura V. Brown, a daughter of Alfred Epps Brown, who was a son of General Epps Brown, the. Revolutionary soldier previously mentioned in this context. . George R. Brown remained in Georgia until his death, in 1898, when forty-nine years of age, and his widow now resides in the home of her son Emmett, of this review, who accords to her the deepest filial love and solicitude, he being the eldest of her children ; Dr. Wade H. Brown, the next younger child, is a member of the staff of the Rockefeller Institute, in New York City ; and Miss Annie Laurie Brown is a popular teacher in the public schools of Cleburne, Texas, under the superintendency of her elder brother.
In December, 1900, at Wilson, North Caro- lina, was solemnized the marriage of Professor Brown to Miss Canary Harper, who was born and reared in that state, a representative of one of its old and honored families. Mrs. Brown formed the acquaintance of her future husband while both were students in the Uni- versity of Nashville, and prior to her mar- riage she had been a successful teacher in the North Carolina State Normal School at Greensboro. Professor and Mrs. Brown have an attractive home at Cleburne, are popular figures in the representative social activities of the city, and their home circle include their three children, Miriam, Laurie and Harper.
JAMES S. HOFFMAN is representative of a family that is one of the oldest in Johnson County. The Hoffmans were here before the city of Cleburne existed. James S. Hoffman has spent a busy life and in a way to gain him honorable distinction in his native county. He has been a farmer, cotton gin operator, and public official.
His grandfather, Michael S. Hoffman, was a pioneer Texan. He came here from Louis- iana, though he was a native of Tennessee, where he joined General Houston's army in the war for independence, subsequently settling in Texas. His widow for many years drew a pension for that service. His first home was in East Texas, and later he removed to Bell County, then out on the frontier, and finally reached Johnson County by means of the old fashioned ox wagon. His settlement was made about ten miles north of Alvarado, where he lived out his life and where one of his sons is still living. Michael S. Hoffman was a millwright by trade. He made mill machinery almost altogether from wood. He fashioned wooden cogs and made wooden rollers and at a time when there were no facilities for the manufacture of iron and steel products in Texas and when machinery could not be transported to pioneer communi- ties he built from native timber practically everything required in a mill for the making of flour and meal and the grinding of sor- ghum. However, after he came to Johnson County most of his work was farming. He died in the seventies when about seventy years of age. His wife, Phoebe Wilson, sur- vived him several years. Their children were : Francis Marion; Rev. William F., who oper- ates the old homestead near Alvarado; John J., a farmer in New Mexico; Shelby, a resi- dent of Peacock, Texas; Mrs. Jane Renfrow and Mrs. Susie East of Burleson, Texas; Mrs. Mattie Lockett of Hanley; and Mrs. Sallie Birdwell of Coleman County.
Francis Marion Hoffman was born in Louisiana, and was only a schoolboy when the family moved to Johnson County. He attended private schools and as a youth set his energy to account as a farmer. At the opening of the war between the states he en- tered the Confederate Army, and enlisted at what was then known as Camp Henderson by the big spring, on the site now occupied by the city of Cleburne. Much of his service was east of the Mississippi where he participated in the battles of Shiloh and Chickamauga and
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a number of the engagements in the Atlantic campaign. He was twice captured, suffered one wound in the neck which came near causing his death, and afflicted him the rest of his life. He spent one winter as a prisoner of war at Camp Douglas. Chicago. For over half a century he has taken a deep interest in the war and his comrades, and is one of the few surviving members of Pat Cleburne Camp. While he spent a few years in Tarrant County nearly all his active life has been lived in Johnson County. He has been a stanch upholder of the democratic faith in politics though no office has ever tempted him. For many years he was a very active and influen- tial member of the Baptist Church.
In 1867 near Alvarado Francis M. Hoffman married Miss Elizabeth Hudson. She is a stepdaughter of Aquilla C. Cahill, who brought his family into Johnson County in 1856 from Alabama. He was a farmer and one of the sturdy citizens and pioneers of the county, being a leader in the Methodist Church. He demonstrated his business abil- ity by settling out on the prairie instead of in the cross timbers as did most of the pioneers. Mrs. Francis Hoffman died in 1888. Her children were: James S .; Mrs. Ida Vance, who died at Cloud Chief. Oklahoma; Mrs. Mollie Boyd of Crosbyton, Texas; A. C. of Memphis, Texas; William F. of Anson. Texas; and Mrs. Nannie Richardson, who died at Alvarado.
James S. Hoffman was born in the country near his grandfather's old homestead October 27, 1868, and grew up in that vicinity. He supplemented the advantages of the common schools with two years in Southwestern Uni- versity at Georgetown, Texas. After his marriage he became a farmer and he also established and for six years operated the cotton gin at Pleasant Point. He removed to Cleburne to take up his duties as office deputy under Sheriff W. A. Stewart and continued under Sheriff Frank Long, altogether for seven years. In the fall of 1904 he was elected district clerk, and filled that office until De- cember 1. 1910. In 1910 he was elected presi- . dent of the County and District Clerks Associ- ation of Texas.
After leaving office Mr. Hoffman was in the fire insurance business for two years at Cleburne, and was then appointed deputy tax collector, serving four years under Collector H. F. Southern. His active business since
1918 has been as manager of the Farmers Gin Company of Cleburne.
He has always taken an active part so far as his capital permitted in every enterprise promoted in the city of Cleburne. He was one of the board of directors of the old Board of Trade. He subscribed his limit for bonds and for Red Cross work during the World war, and two of his sons were in training as soldiers, though not permitted to go overseas. Mr. Hoffman is a democrat, cast his first vote for Mr. Bryan and has the highest admira- tion for that Nebraska statesman. Though he was reared in a religious home he has never become a member of any church. Fraternally he is Past Noble Grand of Johnson Lodge No. 131, Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Cleburne, and is also a member of the Yeomen and the Woodmen of the World. He is a member of the celebration committee for the observation of the fiftieth anniversary of his Odd Fellows lodge.
In Johnson County January 8, 1893, Mr. Johnson married Miss Laura Morris. She was born in Georgia and was a small child when her father, John Morris, brought his family to Texas, and after a few years in Brown County moved to Johnson County. Mrs.
Hoffman's sisters and brother were : Mrs. Mrs. Fannie Fowler, Mrs. Martha Snodgrass, now deceased. Mrs. Allie Yarbrough, Miss Florence and William Morris. Of the five children of Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman the oldest, Mrs. Pearl Marchbanks, died at Cleburne in 1920. The others are W. Martin, Ned B., J. Rucker and Byrdie. Martin was in training as a soldier for two months, being discharged for disability. Ned was at Camp Travis when the armistice was signed.
ANGUS McMILLAN, banker at Joshua, has lived in that section of Johnson County more than forty years, and his activities have been concerned with merchandising, farming and financial affairs. He has helped progres- sive movements in his home community at all times, and has endeavored to bear his proper responsibility as a citizen.
Mr. McMillan was born near Kossuth in Northern Mississippi December 19, 1858, and is the only representative of his family now living in Texas. His father, Dr. Daniel B. McMillan, was a native of Alabama. as a young man moved to Mississippi, where he married near Kossuth, and practiced his pro- fession there and also in Texas. In 1877 he
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came to Johnson County and made settlement at old Caddo Grove and was the first man to erect a business house in the present village of Joshua. He gave the postoffice its name. The new railroad station was Caddo Peak, but as there was already one postoffice of that name in the state Doctor McMillan suggested the name of Joshua and it was accepted by the postal department. In other ways Doctor McMillan besides his work as a physician was a factor in shaping the civic destiny of this locality. He always felt that oil would be produced there, and he purchased Caddo Peak, a high point two miles northwest of Joshua. After his death prospecting has been carried on in that locality, and the log of the test wells since 1918 has brought much encouragement to those interested in that field. Doctor McMillan was not an active church member. voted as a democrat and was a member of the Masonic fraternity.
Doctor McMillan, who died in 1911, mar- ried Miss Olive Frances Clinton, who died two years before him. Her father, David Clinton, was a native of Kentucky, moved from Tennessee to Mississippi, and finally came to Texas and died at Joshua in 1900 at the age of ninety-eight.
Angus McMillan was the only child of his parents and was eighteen years of age when he came to Texas in 1876, preceding his par- ents. He acquired his education in Mississippi and at Caddo Grove, became a clerk in the store of W. L. West. He was thus employed for several years and married the niece of Mr. West. After that for a number of years his principal concern was with farming, and on July 17, 1905, he became president of the Citizens Bank of Joshua. This bank was established in September, 1904, by J. W. Spen- cer and other Fort Worth men, and was pur- chased by Mr. McMillan and local associates. It has a capital of $40,000. and their responsibilities are $100,000. The cashier is Charles C. West and the vice president Frank P. West. both sons of the pioneer, W. L. West.
Mr. McMillan during his residence in Joshua has worked in behalf of good schools, favors better highways and acts with public spirit whenever the occasion requires. During the war he as a banker took the lead in promoting the sale of all government securities and con- tributed likewise to all auxiliary work of the war. He is a democrat, having cast his first presidential vote for Cleveland in 1884.
In February, 1881, Mr. McMillan inarried at old Caddo Grove Miss Sallie Drake, daugh- ter of Oziah Drake, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where she was born. Her mother was a sister of Mrs. W. L. West and Miss Drake was liv- ing at the home of Mr. West when she met Mr. McMillan.
STERLING B. CAPS, of Cleburne, has been a resident of Johnson County practically all his life, has been well and favorably known in business affairs at Cleburne, and the following brief record of himself and his father will be read with interest- by their many friends in this part of the state.
His father was the late William J. Caps, who was born in Davidson County, Tennessee, of English ancestry. His grandfather, Obe- diah Caps, came from England and settled in North Carolina about the close of the Revolu- tionary war, and lived out his life there on a farm. Caleb Caps moved from North Caro- lina to Tennessee and married a Miss Fowler. He was a slave-holding farmer in Tennessee. William J. Caps served as a Confederate soldier with a Tennessee regiment and in 1867 started with his family and with some other parties seeking settlement in Texas, leaving Dickson County, forty miles west of Nashville, and traveling overland through Indian Terri- tory until they reached old Fort Graham, in Hill County. This was on the Brazos River. about seven miles from Whitney, and was then famous as a trading center, headquarters for cowboys and immigrants and was fre- quently the scene of wild and riotous excite- ment, saloons being the chief business institutions. Supplies to Fort Graham and the surrounding country were freighted from Waco or Bryan. William J. Caps did farming for a couple of years near that village and then moved into Johnson County locating in Caps Valley on the Nolan River. Here he broke some of the sod with ox teams, his son Sterling driving the cattle while the father held the plow. The whole region was grass grown just as nature left it, save for here and there a broken sod made by some settler with courage and determination to make a home. The Caps family again and again witnessed great herds of cattle coming up from South- ern Texas, bound for Indian Territory and Kansas. One such herd numbered eighty thousand. William J. Caps cut the logs from the cross timbers not far away with which he built his house, and his yard fence was con- structed of rocks. For a number of years he
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lived in that community, enjoyed some degree of prosperity as a pioneer, and saw the entire valley fill up with other settlers. When he left that farm he moved to Cleburne, and was in the grocery business during the early eighties on part of the site later occupied by the old Green Tree Hotel on South Main Street. He sold out and he and his son Sterling then entered the livery business, and for several years their stables were on the site of the present postoffice garage. At that time all communication with inland towns from the railroad was made by livery vehicles, and the enterprise was profitable to its owners. Com- mercial men frequently made trips to points as distant as Waco and over the western region they were gone for a month at a time. About the time Sterling Caps was elected city marshal William J. Caps sold out this business and thereafter lived retired in the enjoyment of a well earned prosperity until his death in October, 1907, at the age of seventy-three.
William J. Caps married Martha Marsh. Her father, Aquilla Marsh, was a planter and slave holder in Tennessee before the war, but was impoverished as a result of that struggle. He died in Tennessee and Mrs. Marsh accom- panied her daughter Martha and Mr. Caps on their journey to Texas and died while they were passing through Indian Territory and was laid to rest in what is now the State of Oklahoma. Mrs. William J. Caps died before her husband. Of her eight children, six grew to mature years, but only two now survive, Sterling B. and Mrs. Alma T. Hoshour. The latter lives at Havana, Cuba.
Sterling B. Caps was born April 27. 1865, near Dickson Station, Tennessee, and was therefore two years of age when the family came to Texas. He acquired his schooling in this state, attending school at Cleburne, and thereafter was his father's helper on the farm and in business, and eventually became a part- ner in the livery establishment. He filled the office of city marshal eighteen months and then resigned, and again took up the livery busi- ness in partnership with C. B. White. This firm for several years handled mules on an extensive scale, buying and selling, and in a single year their transactions aggregated the value of a hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Much of their stock they shipped out to Louisi- ana, Mississippi and Arkansas. Leaving this enterprise Mr. Caps entered the general land business, buying farm lands on his own account, and for two years was associated with J. R. Nail. They had widely established con-
nections and the business was one that proved very strenuous, and finally Mr. Caps withdrew and his subsequent efforts as a real estate man have been on a more modest scale.
Mr. Caps' home is at Grassmere, on the hill overlooking Cleburne, two and a half miles northwest. The house was built as a country home by Mr. Cooper, a wealthy manufacturer from Moline, Illinois. Mr. Caps is a demo- crat, casting his first presidential ballot for Mr. Cleveland in 1888. He was a partisan of Governor Hogg against Clark in the famous campaign of 1892, and was a supporter of Senator Bailey for Governor in 1920.
Mr. Caps returned to Tennessee to claim his bride. He married in Dickson County, October 19, 1887, Miss Sallie Cox, who was born in that county, daughter of Samuel and Mary (Raines) Cox. Mr. and Mrs. Caps have five children, Myrtle, Cleo, William Jefferson. Della and Leota.
WILLIAM B. MONTGOMERY. In the struggle between the north and south, in livestock, the pure bred industry, good citizenship, business affairs and all other interests the Montgomery family, which for half a century has been identified with Denton County, has a record of more than ordinary note and interest.
While the life record of William B. Mont- gomery belongs almost altogether to Denton County, his father, Abram H. Montgomery. was a native of Kentucky. At the age of thir- teen he was earning his own living as a mer- chant's clerk. Later he engaged in the horse and mule business, and followed the practice of that time in driving south and selling to planters. The business grew to extensive dimensions, and he acquired as an adjunct a horse ranch. His partner was a man of north- ern sentiments, and when the war came on, while Abram Montgomery was driving a bunch of stock to the southern market, his partner put the Federal soldiers on his track and they followed and shot him and his two negro servants, took away the stock and left him for dead. He was picked up by an old colored woman, taken to her cabin, and the only attention he received for several weeks was given by this old darkie, who poulticed his wounds with vinegar and clay. He finally recovered and joined the Confederate army, being commissioned a major. He was soon assigned to special duty at Jefferson, Texas, to manage the meat packing plant for the Con- federate Government. He remained there until the close of the war, and then remained
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