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 44

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company, 1895
Number of Pages: 1272

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 44
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 44

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Mr. Rea was married in Ellis county, Texas, January 24, 1877, to Miss Laura Blue, daughter of A. Blue, who came from Wisconsin to Texas in 1859, and is now a farmer of Tarrant county: he married Sarah Allison. Mr. Rea's children are: Rhoda Elizabeth, now Mrs. Jesse Wilks, of Tarrant

county; Sarah Ida; Caroline Josephine; and Ester Marion.

Mr. Rea is a Master Mason, belonging to Lodge No. 148, and he is also a member of Lodge No. 14, K. of P .; of Lodge No. . 1202, K. of H., and of the order of the Modern Woodmen of the World.

RANK B. STANLEY .- Among the leading members of the bar at Fort Worth is F. B. Stanley, sen- ior member of the well-known law firm of Stanley, Spoonts & Meek. Mr. Stanley was born at Xenia, Greene county, Ohio, in 1852, and emigrated with his parents to Illinois in 1853, locating in Iroquois county. His parents were honored members of the Society of Friends and were of English origin. At the age of five years, having lost both parents, he went to reside with an aunt, who died in 1863. From that time he was dependent upon his own energy and industry, and was employed in various oc- cupations, -farming, milling, clerking, etc., -until the age of thirteen, when he emi- grated to Kansas, where for a time he was employed in driving teams, hauling freight in wagons across the plains, receiving high wages for that service, which then repre- sented an arduous and dangerous employ- ment.

With the advent of railway enterprises in that State he abandoned the wagon trains and engaged in railway building, being in- terested in several construction contracts.

السيرة الحداثة

Frank B. Stanley.

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HISTORY OF TEXAS.

ber. The firm of Stanley, Spoonts & Meek enjoy a large and lucrative practice as com- mercial lawyers; are general attorneys for the Union Pacific system in Texas and New Mexico, the Fort Worth & Denver City Railway Company and the receivers, as well as for many other large business corpora- tions and concerns.

Mr. and Mrs. Stanley have four living children, three sons and one daughter: John R., Arthur L. and F. Wray, and Ethel.

0 R. I. P. VOLLENTINE, a prom- inent physician of Parker county, was born in Stewart county, Ten- nessee, near Fort Donelson, April 22, 1835. His father, Rev. S. K. Vollentine, was born in North Carolina in 1791, and wasa farmer. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. His father, James Vollentine, a Revolutionary soldier, came to the United States from Europe, locating in North Carolina. He was of Scotch-Irish blood, and was a cooper by trade. James Vollentine was married two years after locating in North Carolina, and they had five children. His death oc- curred in 1841, at an advanced age. The mother of our subject, née Mary Lee, was a cousin of General Robert E. Lee. Our subject was the sixth son of twelve chil- dren, five now living, -Mrs. Charity A. Whitesell, of Corsicana, Texas; Mary E. Ezelle, of Palestine, this State; Mrs. Mar- garet Ford, of Union City, Tennessee; and Mrs. Martha McConnell, of Fort Worth.

I. P. Vollentine, the subject of this sketch, attended the St. Holmes School and Beulah Institute of Tennessee, after- ward entered the Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, and graduated at the Tran- sylvania University, Kentucky, at the age of twenty-one years. After practicing one year in Hickman county, Kentucky, Dr. Vollentine spent seventeen months in Scott county, Missouri, and then started for Texas; making the 700 miles on horseback, and crossing Red river at Colbert's Ferry. The fact of his having a brother at Fort Belknap attracted him to the West. He was the first physician to locate in Palo Pinto coun- ty, and his practice covered that and ad- joining counties, and he rode day and night to visit his distant patients. In 1859 he came from Palo Pinto county to Weather- ford. During the war Dr. Vollentine was a Union man, and served as Surgeon at Fort Belknap from 1863 to 1864, and had charge of the post during the last year. After this he resigned his position and returned to Palo Pinto county, at the time of Banks' raid, and while at Fort Belknap, the Doctor was requested to take the oath to support the Confederate cause, but refused. In 1867 Dr. Vollentine located in Parker county, where he found Drs. Milligan, Willis and McDermit, all of whom are how missing from Weatherford. He immediately began the practice of medicine, and is now the best known physician in Parker county. In those early days the principal diseases afflict- ing the people were influenza, scarlet fever,

HISTORY OF TEXAS.

Always of an active, industrious and studious disposition, ambitious to succeed, and having been deprived of the educational ad- vantages of schools, he entered Marshall College, Illinois, and for six months de- voted his time to study. Over application impaired his eyesight and general health, and he again sought the great plains, where he was employed as scout and courier in several Indian campaigns. He was at times a buffalo hunter and guide for several expe- ditions.

In 1871 he was employed as a Deputy United States Surveyor, and assisted in many important Government surveys, including the survey and subdivision of Indian lands, the Chickasaw, Pottawattamie, Cheyenne, Arapahoe, Kiowa, Comanche and Apache reservations, living at all times in the open air and exposed to hardship and to danger from Indians, who killed and mutilated many of his associates. When the surveys were completed he was offered and accepted the position of inspector of field notes and plats of surveys, preparatory to their being filed in the Land Office at Washington, and after office hours employed his time reading law, and acquired a fair knowledge of its principles. The great Indian campaign of 1873-4 recalled him to his old haunts, where his intimate knowledge of the Indian Terri- tory, Kansas and Texas, and of the Indian character and habits, enabled him to render valuable aid as courier and guide. Being an expert horseman and marksman, he was often sent on dangerous missions.

The great cattle industry next attracted his attention and he engaged in driving cat- tle from Texas to Northwestern markets, and across the plains. In such surroundings his minority was spent, and thus was devel- oped the iron constitution, physical and mental activity and strength, cool judgment and self reliance which enable him to achieve success in the face of opposition.

Although by training and temperament well adapted to a frontier life, in 1876 he married Miss S. L. Davies, a member of an honored Virginia family, and in the same year was formally admitted to the bar, and located at Eastland, Texas. He was chosen Prosecuting Attorney in the same year, but soon resigned to engage in the more lucra- tive civil practice.

Mr. Stanley is a profound lawyer. He . is an untiring student in his profession, never stopping short of a thorough compre- hension of all legal propositions involved in his cases. He is a logical thinker, and his mind is acute and sensitive, quickly grasp- ing the finest legal distinctions. By dint of perseverance and hard work he has fitted himself to adorn the highest position in legal circles. He rose rapidly in his pro- fession, and in 1882 removed to Fort Worth, where he associated himself with J. W. Wray, and from 1882 until 1888 the firm of Wray & Stanley won a high position and a lu- crative practice as commercial lawyers. In 1889 Mr. Wray retired, and M. A. Spoonts took his place in the new firm of Stanley & Spoonts. In 1890 E. R. Meek became a mem-

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Mr. and Mrs. Stanley have four living children, three sons and one daughter: John R., Arthur L. and F. Wray, and Ethel.

R. I. P. VOLLENTINE, a prom- inent physician of Parker county, was born in Stewart county, Ten- nessee, near Fort Donelson, April 22, 1835. His father, Rev. S. K. Vollentine, was born in North Carolina in 1791, and wasa farmer. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. His father, James Vollentine, a Revolutionary soldier, came to the United States from Europe, locating in North Carolina. He was of Scotch-Irish blood, and was a cooper by trade. James Vollentine was married two years after locating in North Carolina, and they had five children. His death oc- curred in 1841, at an advanced age. The mother of our subject, née Mary Lee, was a cousin of General Robert E. Lee. Our subject was the sixth son of twelve chil- dren, five now living,-Mrs. Charity A. Whitesell, of Corsicana, Texas; Mary E. Ezelle, of Palestine, this State; Mrs. Mar- garet Ford, of Union City, Tennessee; and Mrs. Martha McConnell, of Fort Worth.

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measles, etc., with only rare cases of surgi- cal work, -the cutting out of an arrow spike or a frontiersman's bullet being the chief cases in the latter line.

In his political relations the Doctor votes with the Republican party; and social- ly affiliates with the Odd Fellow's order, and is a charter member of the One-half Century Club. Dr. Vollentine has suffered the loss of his right hand at the wrist.

February 26, 1861, he was united in marriage to Miss E. J., a daughter of M. L. Dalton, of Tennessee. He was a pioneer stock-man, and was killed by the Indians, in Palo Pinto county, Texas, in 1871, on his return from driving a herd of cattle to Kansas. With two companions, he had reached Loving's valley, where they were attacked and killed.

ENRY MILLER, of Weatherford, Texas, was born in Oldenburg, Germany. November 30, 1848. He received a liberal education. He was left an orphan at the age of fourteen years, and in the following year was apprenticed to an advocate for three years, or until 1866, when the war between Germany, Austria and Denmark broke out. Mr. Miller en- listed for service, but did not participate in any battles. He then came to New York on the sailing vessel Weser, and immediately found work in a cigar factory in Hudson City, that State. After leaving that place he began work in a brick-yard on Staten

Island. In 1870 Mr. Miller joined a survey- ing party on the Port Royal & Augusta Railroad; in 1875 secured employment in a harness shop in Fort Worth, Texas; and in February, 1881, came to this city, as Territorial manager for the Singer Sewing Machine Company. His territory covered fifteen counties in western and northern Texas. In 1887 he resigned that position and engaged in the lumber business for William Cameron & Company, remaining in that capacity three years. Since 1890 Mr. Miller has been engaged in the real-estate and insurance business, and is now a mem- ber of a prominent firm in Weatherford, representing fifteen of the best known com- panies. For many years he has been inter- ested in the growth and success of the Knights of Pythias. In 1889 he was elected Grand Keeper of the Records and Seals of the order for Texas, and has been honored with five re-elections. As a reporter of the proceedings of the Grand Lodge and a compiler of historical information and statis- tics relating to the order's growth, Mr. Miller is unsurpassed. There are 14,000 members in his jurisdiction, and 220 lodges. He was highly complimented by the committee on returns and credentials for his preparation of a Grand Lodge roster. Mr. Miller served for a number of years as Alderman, three years as Mayor pro tem., and two years as School Trustee of Weatherford.

In Fort Worth, in 1877, our subject was united in marriage to Miss Eliza E. Hollis, a daughter of a Fort Worth con-

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tractor. They have four children, -E. T., born in 1878; Irene, in 1880; Hollis, in 1883; and Fannie, in 1885. Mr. Miller has served as Steward of the Methodist Episco- pal Church for a number of years.

B W. AKARD, a member of the drug firm of Wadsworth, Bain & Company, of Weatherford, and ex-County Clerk of Parker county, was born in Sullivan county, east Tennessee, November 15, 1843, a son of J. D. Akard. The latter was born in Tennessee, and is still living, aged seventy-five years. The Akard family came originally from Virginia, and have been successful tillers of the soil. The mother of our subject was formerly Nancy S. Peoples, of Irish ancestry. Mr. and Mrs. Akard have three children living in Texas, - Dr. G. W., of Springtown; Mrs. Gracey, of Poolville; and B. W. Three reside in Tennessee, and two are de- ceased.

In 1864 B. W. Akard, the subject of this sketch, enlisted for service in the late war as Second Sergeant of Company D, Crawford's Regiment of Tennessee Cavalry, attached to Breckenridge's division. Ho served in eastern Tennessee and south- western Virginia, and took part in the bat- tles of Saltville, Bull's Gap, and numerous minor fights. He was honorably discharged at Abingdon, Virginia, April 11, 1865. Mr. Akard soon afterward entered Washington Academy, at Franklin, Tennessee, gradu-

ated at that institution in 1869, for the fol- lowing two years was employed as a teacher in Milligan College, Carter county, Tennes- see, and then came to Texas. He suc- ceeded himself twice as professor of a high school in Springtown, Parker county, after which he was elected to the superintendency of the college at Veal Station, and remained there nine years. From 1884 to 1888 Mr. Akard served as Deputy County Clerk under T. A. Wythe, was then rewarded with an election to the office in the fall of 1888, and was re-elected in 1890 by a 2,000 ma- jority. In February, 1893, he entered the firm of which he is still a worthy member.

October 3, 1876, in Tennessee, Mr. Akard married Julia C. Young, who died two and a half years afterward. He was again married, in Parker county, in 1881, to Miss Jennie Hutchison, a native of Sweet- water, Tennessee. They have three chil- dren, -Bertha, Nona, and an infant, Anna May. In his social relations, Mr. Akard is a member of the Masonic order, the Knights of Honor, and the Knights of Pythias. He is a Steward in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

S AMUEL VAUGHN. one of the most prosperous and enterprising farmers of Tarrant county, Texas, was born in Franklin county, Georgia, Jan- uary 9, 1836.

Mr. Vaughn was reared to farm life, re- ceiving a common-school education, and

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remaining with his parents until he was twenty-two years of age. At that time he turned his attention to the distilling business, in which he was engaged up to the opening of the war. In 1861 he enlisted in the Fifteenth Georgia Regiment of Infantry, was assigned to the Department of Virginia, and continu- ed in active service for over three years. During that time he participated in numer- ous battles and skirmishes and saw a great deal of hard fighting, but in all his service he was never wounded or captured. Among the noted battles in which he took part were those of Gettysburg, Sharpsburg, and the Wilderness.

After serving the time for which he en- listed, over three years, Mr. Vaughn return- ed to his home in Georgia, rented land and settled down to farming, and remained there thus engaged until 1871, the time of his coming to Texas. Upon his arrival here, he located in Tarrant county and the same year he purchased eighty acres of raw land where he now lives. This land he has im- proved in various ways and from time to time has added to it until now he owns 941 acres, about 460 of which are under cultiva- tion, wheat, oats and corn being his chief products. He is also largely engaged in raising cattle, horses and mules. At the time Mr. Vaughn located here there had been only a few improvements made on the prairie; now it is all fenced in and much of it under cultivation.

Mr. Vaughn's parents, James and Nancy (Sewell) Vaughn, were both natives of

Georgia. Grandfather Joshua Vaughn was born in Virginia. He removed to Georgia at an early day and there spent the rest of his life and died. James Vaughn passed the whole of his life in Georgia, engaged in agricultural pursuits, and died there in 1861. His wife survived him, and in 1876 came to Texas, where she lived up to the time of her death, March 7, 1892. A record of their children is as follows: John B., who died in 1861; George W., who died in 1853; Joshua, who was killed in the battle of Get- tysburg; Samuel, whose name heads this article; Peter, who died when young; Alfa J., wife of F. Waters, is a resident of North Carolina; Elizabeth, widow of Spencer Sew- ell; Caroline, wife of R. Adams, is a resi- dent of Georgia; James P., a resident of Georgia; Marion R., who died in Wilbarger . county, Texas, in 1891; Dock H., a resident of Wilbarger county, Texas; Frances A., wife of George Turner, a farmer of Tarrant county; and Freeman H., a farmer of this county.

The subject of our sketch was married in 1858 to Miss Mary E, Adams, who was born in South Carolina, December 5, 1841, daughter of William and Polly Adams, natives of that State. Her father removed with his family to Georgia, where he engaged in farming until the time of his death, in March, 1861. None of her people ever came to Texas. Mr. and Mrs. Vaughn have had eleven children, one of whom died in infancy. The others are: John W., en- gaged in business at Fort Worth, Texas;

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George W., a Tarrant county farmer; Rosa J., wife of Robert Morris, died in 1882; Richard A., a farmer of this county; Henry L. and Samuel E. H., both also engaged in farming in this county; Maggie, wife of Henry P. Sewell; and Essadora, Martha J. and Nancy R., at home.

Mr. Vaughn and his wife are members of the Missionary Baptist Church. He has never taken an active part in political mat- ters, but is well posted and is independent in his views, voting always for the man rather than the party.

a APT. J. T. CLEMENTS, joint agent for the T. & P., M. K. & T., and Ft. W. & R. G. railroad com- panies at Fort Worth, Texas, first engaged in railroading on the Illinois Central in 1854, as a locomotive fireman.

In 1855 he made the journey by way of the Gulf to California, and was in the far West for four years and a half, prospecting and placer mining. He accumulated a fair amount of gold dust, and returned with it to New York, his native State, in 1860. In the fall of that same year he came South to Galveston, Texas, and engaged in the express business for Mckeever's Southwestern Ex- press Company. In 1862 he lent his sup- port to the Confederacy, joining the Third Regiment, Arizona Brigade, afterward Lane's Brigade. This regiment struck the Mississippi river above New Orleans and marched to Plaquemine. He participated

in the main battles on the Banks raid, - Mansfield, Pleasant Hill, Grand Ecore, etc., -and returned down the river. At the close of the war the regiment was disbanded near Bayou, Texas. Our subject had enlisted as a private and for meritorious service was promoted to the rank of captain, being Cap- tain of Company C, Third Regiment, Ari- zona Brigade, at the close of the war.

Upon his return to civil life, Captain Clements resumed his former occupation in the express office, and remained there for two years longer. He then ran a train out of Houston on the G. H. & H., as conduc- tor, after which he was appointed agent at Houston for the same company, and was there until 1876. That year he was given the agency at Longview of both the T. & P. and the I. & G. N. roads. He remained there until 1887, when he came to Fort Worth by transfer and took charge of the joint agency before mentioned.

Captain Clements was born in Onondaga county, New York, in December, 1834, and the first twenty years of his life his sur- roundings were of a rural nature. His edu- cation was obtained in an academy. When he was twenty he launched out for himself, going to Freeport, Illinois, and securing a position on the Illinois Central Railroad, as above stated.

Of the Captain's parentage, be it re- corded that his father, Benjamin Clements, was born, in 1812, in the same State and county in which our subject first saw the light. He married a Miss Ludlow, and their

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children were as follows: J. T .; B. F., a Michigan farmer; Mrs. Barker; and Mrs. H. C. Brown. Mrs. Clements was born in New Jersey and died in New York, the date of her death being 1884. Mr. Clements passed away in 1882. They were honest and industrious farmers and were highly respect- ed in the community in which they lived.

Captain Clements was married in Gal- veston, Texas, April 20, 1870, to Sue A. Lewis. Her father, a sea captain, came South from Rhode Island before the war, and died of yellow fever at Harrisburg, Texas. The Captain and his wife have two children, Joseph Nelson and Benjamin F.

In his political affiliations our subject is a Democrat. He was elected to the City Council from his ward in 1889, was re- elected in 1890 and again in 1894. Few of the councilmen, if any, have done more to advance the city's interests than has he. He is chairman of the Water Works Committee and is also serving on the committees on Public Grounds and on Public Schools. Especially is he interested in the public school system, it being chiefly through his influence that new buildings have been erected here and other improvements made.

Captain Clements belongs to the State and National Associations of Railroad Agents, having served as president of the Texas division for two years, and he was also for two years president of the National Reserve. He is a Knight of Pythias, belonging to the Endowment Rank of that order; and is a Deacon in the First Presbyterian Church.

OYD PORTER .- Among the mer- chants of Weatherford and Parker county, Texas, there is perhaps not one who is better known or more highly ap- preciated than this gentleman.

Boyd Porter was born in McMinn county, east Tennessee, May 27, 1859. This branch of the Porter family came from Rockbridge county, Virginia, where William Porter, our subject's great-grandfather, was born. He served his country faithfully during the war of 1812, and about 1815 moved his family to Sevier county, Tennessee, where some years later he died. William Porter married Fan- nie Sharp, and their children were as fol- lows: Boyd, the grandfather of our subject; Ann, who married Isaac Patton; William; John, who came to Texas in its early settle- ment; and Mary, wife of William Strain. Boyd . Porter was born in 1799, and the greater part of his life was spent in. Sevier and McMinn counties. He was a planter and a stanch Democrat. When Tenneesse seceded he gave to the Confederacy all the aid within his power, and for this action he was imprisoned at Nashville by the Federals. Just at the close of the war he died. His wife's maiden name was Margaret McNutt. She was a daughter of Benjamin McNutt, a Scotch-Presbyterian, who went from Vir- ginia to Tennessee and settled in Knox county. He served as a member of the Ten- nessee Legislature. The sons and daughters of Boyd Porter and wife were: William, a farmer and tanner of Monroe county, Ten- nessee, deceased; Ann Amelia, who married

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George Mccullough, and settled in Walker county, Georgia, moving later to Tennes- see, where she died; and B. M.

B. M. Porter was educated in the old field schools of Tennessee, grew up on his father's plantation, and made farming his occupation for a number of years. He then began merchandising in Knoxville, Tennes- see, and continued there until 1876, when he came to Texas. He married Miss Bettie A. Patton, daughter of William Patton, formerly of Virginia. William Patton's wife was before her marriage a Miss Cunningham. The Patton children were Elbert, Harvy, Bettie, Henry, Wiley, and Thomas. B. M. Porter was a Sergeant in Captain Wil- liam Brown's Company, First Tennessee Cavalry, and served in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alabama, being in the war three years. His children are: Mrs. H. M. Kidwell, Min- eral Wells, Texas; Boyd, whose name heads this article; B. F .; W. H .; and Maggie, wife of W. B. Slack, of Dallas, Texas.

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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 44

Author: Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company, 1895 Number of Pages: 1272

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company, 1895
Number of Pages: 1272