USA > Texas > Tarrant County > History of Texas, together with a biographical history of Tarrant and Parker counties; containing a concise history of the state, with portraits and biographies of prominent citizens of the above named counties, and personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families > Part 43
USA > Texas > Parker County > History of Texas, together with a biographical history of Tarrant and Parker counties; containing a concise history of the state, with portraits and biographies of prominent citizens of the above named counties, and personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families > Part 43
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WALD H. KELLER .- No man of his age and opportunities has had a more wonderfully successful career than has Ewald H. Keller, the prosperous carriage manufacturer of Fort Worth, Texas.
He was born in Texas, October 22, 1855. His father, Joseph Keller, was a native of Prussia, Germany, from whence he came to Texas, and where he and his wife became the parents of two children, Ewald H. and Emma Ida. The Kellers were a prominent family in the old country. Several of Joseph Keller's relatives were officers of high rank in the Prussian army.
Ewald H. Keller had been attending school only a short time when the civil war broke out, and during the war his schooling was suspended; but, boy as he was, his pluck and energy asserted themselves, and he employed his time selling newspapers, often making $25 a week in this way. He
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spent two and a half years working in a bakery. After that he began learning the carriage and blacksmith trade under the in- structions of W. H. Williams, of Galves- ton. There he served an apprenticeship of three years, paying all his expenses except board with money he had saved while. selling papers. Then for one year he worked at the same place and received small wages. Having completed his trade he started for Fort Worth via Dallas, and from Dallas he completed the journey on foot, his means being exhausted. This was in 1873. Here he secured work at his trade, at one dollar a day, and continued thus em- ployed one year; but as his salary was small he could save nothing, so he sold a bicycle he had traded for in Galveston, and with the money thus obtained left the town. Next we find him at Calvert, Texas, where he was employed by Gillam & Stanger until March, 1875. He began work for them at $2. 50 per day, and was receiving $4 at the time he left and went to Austin. At Austin, however, the only position he could obtain was at $7 per week, and afterhe had worked there a year he was discharged, because the proprietors said they did not want a boy who could do finer work than they could. At this juncture he resolved to try his for- tunes in Fort Worth again, and accordingly came hither and resumed work for his old employer, Mr. Williams, at $2.50 a day. He remained with him until 1876, when the firm failed and he lost every dollar of his savings he had left in the hands of his ein-
ployers. Again we find him stranded, but with courage undaunted. He had intended to go into business for himself had not his savings been lost.
About this time a friend offered him a position at Galveston as bookkeeper, at $75 per month. He replied that his desire was to go into business at Fort Worth. The friend asked the sum needed and was told that $75 would be sufficient. He sent him $100. Mr. Keller offered his note for the amount, but his friend refused to accept it, saying his word was enough. With this $100 he began business on the corner of Tenth and Main streets, where he purchased a lot of Captain A. M. Doggett for $500, on two years' time. With the cash on hand he purchased lumber to build his shop, hauling the lumber from Dallas with an ox team. The shop he built was twenty feet square. His first stock of material was purchased from Wadsworth, Griffith & Company, hardware dealers of Dallas, on sixty days' time. He himself carried the brick and mortar with which to build his forge, and he gave his note to the brickmason for doing the work. The sum was $7. His promptness and the quality of liis work were his best advertise- ments, and his business prospered from the start.
In 1884, on account of failing health, Mr. Keller sought a change of climate and went to California. He felt, however, that Fort Worth held his best prospects, so he returned to Texas in May, 1889, and leased the ground where he now does business. He
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now owns the lot, 100 x 120 feet, situated on the corner of Throckmorton and West Second streets, which is nearly covered with shops and storage rooms, the property being valued at $14, 500. In 1890 he sold his first shop. That same year he began handling the Columbus buggies and carriages, and is now the only dealer in these cele- brated vehicles at Fort Worth. Indeed, his establishment leads in the manufacture and sale of spring-wagons, buggies, carriages, harness, etc., at this place. He employs from thirteen tothirty-two hands in conduct- ing his business.
During his comparatively brief business career Mr. Keller has accumulated consider- able property. He has an elegant residence on Second and Burnett streets, valued at $14,000, and owns other property, which he rents. He is president of the Mutual Building and Loan Association, vice presi- dent of the Home Building and Loan Asso- ciation, a Director in the Gazette Building and Loan Association, and is also a Director in the Farmers' National Bank. In 1892 he attended the Southern Carriage Building Association, held at Atlanta, Georgia, and was chosen second vice president of the association. He is now first vice presi- dent. It is his desire to merge this organi- zation into the National Carriage Builders' Association, which he believes will be mu- tually beneficial.
Mr. Keller is recognized in Fort Worth as one of the leading and influential citi- zens. His enterprise and energy, and well-
known character for honesty and integrity have given him a reputation second to none in the city. Broad-minded and public- spirited, he is always found on the progres- sive side of all public questions, and is al- ways ready to lend his aid and influence to all movements calculated to advance the in- terests of his adopted city.
Mr. Keller was married March 24, 1880, to Miss Carrie M. Turner, daughter of Charles Turner, and a granddaughter of Captain E. M. Doggett. Her father was one of the first settlers of Fort Worth. They have three children: Carrie Ida, Emma Corrinne, and Ewald H., Jr.
He and his wife are members of the Episcopal Church, and are liberal supporters of the same. He is a prominent Mason and a member of all the branches of Ma- sonry, including Knights Templar, and is Captain General of Fort Worth Command- ery, No. 19. He is also a member of the Knights and Ladies of Honor, and of the Sons of Herman.
HOMAS B. COLLINS, Treasurer of Tarrant county, Texas, was born in Jackson county, Alabama, September 23, 1838, and was brought up on a farm, receiving his education in the primi- tive log-cabin school-house.
He came to Texas in 1859, and when the war broke out he enlisted, in Grimes county, joining Company C, Captain D. W. Shannon, Fifth Texas Cavalry, under Col-
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onel Tom Green. His first service was in New Mexico and Arizona, participating in the battles of Valverde, Glorietta and Peralta. Returning east, he walked from El Paso to San Antonio. Proceeding to Aus- tin, he rendezvoused there a while and then went on to Hempstead and to Louisiana to engage in the campaign against Banks' army going up Red river, and rendezvoused at Berwick Bay. The Texans fell back in front of that army to Opelousas and then to Niblett's Bluff. July 13, after the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, this company of Texans were engaged in opposing General Wetzel, driving him back from Bayou La Fourche, and then fell back again to Ber- wick Bay, and proceeded up the Vermilion. They were next ordered to Pine Bluff, Arkansas, to cover Price's retreat out of Missouri, but did not reach him in time. Returning south, they fought Banks at Alexandria, Louisiana, following up with the Mansfield and Pleasant Hill campaign. In the spring of 1865 the company returned to Houston, where they were disbanded, at which time Mr. Collins was Commissary Sergeant of the regiment.
In January, 1866, Mr. Collins returned to Alabama, and in October, 1867, married Hannah J. Sims, daughter of Nathan Sims, a farmer. Coming again to Texas, the next year, he engaged in merchandising at Es- telle's Fork and continued there until 1874, being very successful in the business. Then he moved to Dallas county and opened a store at Poortown and ran it two years, when
he came to Tarrant county, settling at Arlington, where he now resides, upon a farm which he cwns.
In his political views he is a Democrat of the old school, casting his first presidential vote for John C. Breckenridge, and he has no record as a bolter or as a ticket-scratcher. In 1892 he was nominated for County Treasurer and was elected by a majority of 1, 504, against three competitors. In 1894 he was renominated, without opposition, and elected by a majority of 1, 909.
Mr. Collins is a son of Archibald W. Collins, who was born in Kentucky in 1803, and in 1806 his parents moved to Tennessee. He moved to Alabama in 1832, and was in the Florida war. He raised a company to go into the last war, but was dissuaded from going himself. He was Magistrate of his precinct as long as he would serve. He died in 1882. His father, B. G. Collins, commanded a company of Tennessee volun- teers in the battle of New Orleans in 1815. He was a native of Virginia and died in 1842, aged sixty-four years. The father of the last mentioned was a Revolutionary soldier from Virginia, in which State his ancesters settled from Ireland. Mr. Collins' mother, before marriage, was Malinda Reid, a daughter of J. B. Reid, and was the se- cond wife of Mr. Archibald W. Collins, he first having married Eliza Reid. On her death she left five sons: W. J .; R. W., of Tarrant county, Texas; M. R., County Com- missioner of Tarrant county; and two who are deceased.
P. A. Huffman.
Mrs. P. A. Huffman. ,
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Mr. Thomas B. Collins is the oldest of five children. The others living are: J. S., a Baptist minister at Arlington; Eliza, wife of T. W. Hall, of Alabama; and Mary, now Mrs. John Bowling, of Alabama. Mr. Col- lins' children are: W. B .; Mackie, who married J. D. Swain; Georgie, who became the wife of G. W. Goodwin; A. S., Joseph S., Thomas W., James M., E. S. and Ethel. Mr. Collins is a member of the Trinity Bap- tist Church.
p A. HUFFMAN .- Among the old and honored citizens of Fort Worth is Mr. P. A. Huffman, senior mem- ber of the well known real-estate and loan firm of P. A. Huffman, with offices on Fourth street between Main and Rusk streets.
Mr. Huffman is a native of Kentucky, having been born in Bourbon county, that State, on the 11th day of October, 1821, the son of John and Susanna (Ament) Huff- man. John Huffman was born in Virginia, one of a family of nine sons who located in different localities when they grew up, their father being a German who had emigrated to this country at an early day. By his first wife John Huffman had eight children, viz. : Amanda, a resident of Collin county, Texas, and now in her seventy-sixth year; Henry, who died in childhood; P. A., the subject of this article; Catherine, deceased; John, de- ceased; E. L., a resident of San Angelo, Texas; and Mary and Martha, twins, the former a resident of Collin county, Texas, 6
and the latter deceased. By his second wife, whose maiden name was Lucinda Arinstrong, and who was a native of Kentucky, Mr. Huffman had five children, namely: Louise, deceased; Ella, a resident of California; Rebecca, deceased; William G., deceased; Lucy, a resident of Tennessee. John Huff- man followed farming successfully in Ken- tucky until 1851, when he removed to Texas and settled in Collin county. Here he spent the residue of his life, and died at the ad- vanced age of eighty-five years. His wife had passed away several years before his . death. In Collin county he accumulated a large landed estate and for many years was largely interested in the stock business. He was the first to make a success of breeding Shorthorn cattle in Texas, and he was also the first to introduce the Sir Archer breed of horses in the State. Indeed, he was a man much in advance of his time both in stock- raising and farming, and he was well known and highly respected all over the State.
P. A. Huffman grew up on his father's farm in Kentucky, developing a vigorous constitution, and early in life being taught that honesty, industry and sobriety were the principal elements in every successful career. While his educational advantages were not of the best, he improved his opportunities,. and acquired a fair English education. Hav- ing been married in 1841, accompanied by his family Mr. Huffman came overland to Texas in 1857, making the journey in wagons and being fifty days on the road. His father, as above stated, had preceded
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him to this State and had settled in Collin county, and in that county P. A. Huffman located and invested in land. He farmed there until 1860, when he moved to Tarrant county and settled on a farm five miles south of Fort Worth. There he carried on farm- ing three years. He then moved into Fort Worth and engaged in the mercantile busi- ness, his store being located on the northeast corner of Houston and Weatherford streets, and his residence on what is now block fifty- five on Fourth street. He continued there until 1869, and in 1868 also had a store at Fort Griffin and was engaged in buying and shipping cattle, shipping to both Northern and Southern markets. He moved, in 1869, to Galveston, where for one year he engaged in beef-packing and the wholesale grocery business. From Galveston he removed to Anahuac, Chambers county, where he re- mained until 1885, when he returned to Fort Worth and turned his attention to the real-estate business, at which he has since continued and at which he has met with marked success.
During the late war Mr. Huffman ren- dered valuable aid and assistance to the Commissary Department of the Confederate Army, holding the position of Assistant Bri- gade Commissary, during 1864-65, under Generals Maxey and Gano, in the Indian Territory and in Arkansas. Previous to his entering the service in the above capacity he was Colonel of the Tarrant county militia.
Mr. Huffman is a man of excellent busi- ness qualifications, and his whole career has
been characterized by great activity, energy and enterprise. He has always left his im- press upon the different localities where he has resided, his efforts always being in the direction of progress and improvement. He was the prime factor in securing the first agricultural fair in Collin county, which was the second fair ever held in the State of Texas. During his residence in Fort Worth he has done much to promote the growth and prosperity of the city and of her indus- tries and institutions, and is always to be found on the side of enterprise and progres- sion. At the close of the war he found that all his accumulations had been swept away, and he was compelled to practically begin life anew; and, although then at the meridian of life, his ambitious and enterprising nature predominated and he set to work with a will to build up his shattered fortunes. How well he has succeeded is evidenced by his large possession of improved and unimprov- ed real estate in Fort Worth and other parts of Texas. His marked success in life has not been gained by the slightest sacrifice of honor or integrity. Wherever he has had dealings he has made hosts of friends, and his whole career has been characterized by the strictest integrity and upright and honest dealings. His word has ever been as good as his bond.
Mr. Huffman was married in 1841 to Miss Caroline Crook, daughter of John Crook, a prominent and well-to-do farmer of Shelby county, Kentucky. To their union six children have been born, three of whom
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died in infancy. One, Clinton L., lived to be eighteen years of age, and another son, Walter A., died in Fort Worth at the age of forty-four years. Their only surviving child is Mary Sue, now the wife of Frank Bradey, of Chicago, Illinois.
Mr. Huffman and his wife are exemplary members of the Christian Church of Fort Worth, and both, in their quiet and unosten- tatious way, do much in the way of Christian and charitable work. They have a host of warm friends who highly value them for their many excellent qualities of mind and heart, and wish them a continuance of their happy and prosperous lives.
APTAIN B. B. PADDOCK. - Among the prominent and deservedly honored citizens of Fort Worth, and one of the best known men in the State of Texas, is Captain B. B. Paddock, Mayor of the city and manager of the Fort Worth and Utica Trust Company. Captain Paddock is a native of Ohio, having been born in Cleveland, that State, on the 22d day of January, 1844.
Boardman Paddock, the Captain's father, was a native of Vermont; and his mother, Margaret Buckley, was a native of Ireland. His mother died when he was seven years of age. He has four brothers, James A., in Iowa; Edward and William R., in Minnesota; and Myron E., in Texas; and one sister, Mary C., wife of William Brown, a mer- chant of Fort Worth.
At a very tender age young Paddock was thrown entirely upon his own resources. He has not attended school a day in his life, and his education has been acquired by reading, study and observation. Before he was fourteen he had visited all the western Territories, had gone north as far as Hudson Bay, and spent one year with the Indians, without seeing a white man during that time. When the civil war began he came to the South and entered as a private soldier in the Confederate army. In July, 1862, he was promoted to the rank of Captain, being then but eighteen, and the youngest commission- ed Captain in the army. He was a member of Wirt Adams' cavalry during the entire war. He was engaged in the battle at Green river in 1861, when General Terry of the Texas Rangers was killed; with Gen- eral Morgan in his raid on Munfordville, Kentucky, and Gallatin, Tennessee; in the battle of Shiloh, April 6 and 7, 1662; at Farmington, Mississippi, in May, Iuka in September and Corinth in October, 1862; at the siege of Vicksburg in 1864; at Ed- wards' Depot, Champion Hills and the Sher- man raids in Mississippi; and in numerous minor engagements throughout the war. He was in the last fight with the enemy, and had the last flag that floated over the Con- federate troops. A daring exploit of the young captain should not be omitted in this sketch.
In June, 1864, a Federal iron-clad being out of coal, ran up the Yazoo river for wood. Captain Paddock's company, on duty in the
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vicinity, discovered her. He boarded the boat with thirteen men, captured the boat and crew, the latter consisting of 268 inen, burned the iron-clad and secured his prisoners in sight of the Federal fleet. The boat carried twelve Napoleon guns and had a thousand of small arms. The enterprise was as successful as it was bold and reckless, and for this and other daring feats he was complimented by his commanding officers. During the greater part of the war he was in the secret service and signal corps, his commission bearing on its face authority to pass through the lines day or night. At one time he had business in Kirby Smith's de- partment. But General Smith, incredulous that a beardless boy of eighteen should be a commissioned officer, had him imprisoned as an imposter; he managed to escape soon after, not, however, till he had accomplish- ed his mission. He was no less than five times a prisoner, but always managed to es- cape within thirty-six hours.
The war being ended, he took up his residence at Fayette, Jefferson county, Mis- sissippi, and devoted some time to study. His progress was rapid, and soon afterward he was admitted to practice law in the courts of Mississippi. He was a resident of Jefferson county about seven years and did considerable business in his profession. In October, 1872, he removed to Fort Worth, Texas, purchased the Democrat, a news- paper, of this city, and began a brilliant and successful career as a journalist. The Dem- ocrat was a decided success in the hands of
Captain Paddock, and July 4, 1876, he be- gan the publication of the Daily Democrat, which also proved successful under his able management.
Captain Paddock entered the arena of of politics in 1880, when he was elected to represent Tarrant county in the State Legis- lature. There was a strong effort made to defeat him, owing to his position on United States Senator. However, his popularity was too strong for the opposition, and he was elected by a large majority. He made an excellent legislator, at the same time ac- tively and vigorously conducting his paper until 1882, when the paper was merged into the Fort Worth Gazette, he having sold out to that firm, retaining an interest, and con- tinued as editor until late in the year 1883, when he retired from active journalistic labor and entered the First National Bank of Fort Worth as teller. He served as teller nearly two years. Then he began the organization of the Fort Worth & Rio Grande Railroad Company, of which he became president and a director. The company was organ- ized in 1886, and the road was constructed under his presidency, which position he held for four years. He is still a director. In 1890 he took an active part in the Spring Palace and was made manager of that grand enterprise which did more to bring Fort Worth and its advantages before the peo- ple of other States than any one enterprise since the settlement was first made. In June, 1890, owing to impaired health, brought on by incessant activity, Captain
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Paddock sought a change of climate, at the same time combining business with recrea- tion. He visited various sections of the country and organized the Fort Worth & Utica Trust Company, which was ready for business soon after his return in 1891, when he was made manager of the company. This position he has filled ever since. In April, 1892, he was elected Mayor of Fort Worth, his administration being endorsed by re-election in April, 1894, and he fills the office at this writing. He has been a mem- ber of the Chamber of Commerce since its organization, is one of its directors, and was president of it for two years. Indeed, he has taken an active interest in all enter- prises tending to promote the interests of the city, county and State.
Captain Paddock was married at Fayette, Mississippi, in 1867, to Miss Emmie Har- per, daughter of Captain William L. Harper, of Jefferson county. Her mother, Ann T. Saunders, was a native of Scott county, Kentucky, and at one time a reigning belle of the " blue grass region." Mrs. Paddock is a niece of Victor Flournoy; of Lexington. By this marriage Captain Paddock has three children, two sons and a daughter: Wirt Adams, William B., and Virgile.
Both the Captain and his wife are mem- bers of the old school Presbyterian Church. He is an Odd Fellow, a Royal Arch Mason, a Knight of Pythias and a Knight of Honor. He has been three times Worshipful Master, and served six years in the Grand Lodge of Mississippi. For many years he has been
deeply interested in educational matters, and at this writing is chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Fort Worth city schools.
As a citizen Captain Paddock is enter- prising, progressive and public-spirited. Broad and liberal in his views, he has ever been found on the right side of all move- ments, having for their object the develop- ment of his adopted city and her enterprises; and in this connection he has rendered in- valuable service, all of which is fully recog- nized and appreciated by his fellow citizens. As a writer he is clear, forcible and expres- sive, and full of fire, his compositions abounding in elegant types and figures, irony, ridicule and argument. His news- paper career was brilliant, gaining for him prominence over the entire State. Possessed of a genial disposition and warm heart, he is a true friend and most agreeable companion.
M. REA, the efficient Chief Dep- uty Sheriff of Tarrant county, was born in Knox county, Illinois, June 10, 1850.
His father, Thomas Rea, was born in Highland county, Ohio, in 1809, and died December 28, 1878. He left Ohio immedi- ately after his marriage, and was a pioneer in Illinois, settling in Knox county, whence in 1859 he came to Texas and opened a farm near Mansfield, in Tarrant county, under a pre-emption claim. On this place he is now buried. He was a man of strong Union
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sentiments during the war, but was past the age for military duty. He was a licensed minister in the Christian Church and lived a quiet, peaceable life. He married Elizabeth Cannon, a native of Ohio, who died in 1884, aged sixty-five years. Her father, Handy Cannon, married a Miss Tudor. Thomas Rea's children were: Caroline, who mar- ried J. B. Boydston, a resident of Tarrant county; James, living near Mansfield; H. C., in Eastland county; John, a merchant of Fort Worth, and W. M.
The last mentioned, the subject of this sketch, obtained but a scant school educa- tion at the district schools of the '6os, and in 1878 moved from the country into Fort Worth. In January, 1879, he went upon the police force of the city and served on patrol until April, 1883, when he was elected City Marshal, to which office he was re- elected in April, 1885; and in 1889, on the expiration of his term, he was appointed Deputy Sheriff by Sheriff B. H. Shipp. He has been continuously on the staff of depu- ties, serving through the adminstrations of Sheriffs Shipp and Richardson, being Chief Deputy of the latter; in 1892 he was ap- pointed Chief Deputy by Sheriff Euless, and is still holding that position.
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