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 46
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 46
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University, where he received the degree of A. B. in 1878, being a member of the first graduating class of the institution. While in college he was reading law, and was ad- mitted to the bar about the close of his col- lege career. He passed the legal examina- tion before Judge George N. Lester, who died while occupying the position of Attor- ney General of the State of Georgia.
After leaving college Mr. Harris taught school one year, after which he settled in Spring Place, the county seat of Murray county, and practiced law successfully until the fall of 1883. He had been married a few years before, and in the fall of 1883 he came with his family to Texas and settled in Fort Worth. Here he continued the practice of his profession, his sterling quali- ties at once gaining for him the confidence of all with whom he came in contact. In 1888 he was elected to the office of County Judge, was re-elected to the same office in 1890, and in 1892 was the choice of the people for his present position, that of Judge of the Seventeenth Judicial District of Texas. He is a man of the strictest integrity, and among his chief characteristics are prompt- ness and strict attention to whatever he undertakes.
Judge Harris was married in 1879 to Miss Mollie Rush Temple, a descendant of one of the signers of the Declaration of In- dependence. She was born in Blount coun- ty, Tennessee, and when quite young re- moved with her parents to Murray county, Georgia. Her father is now a resident of
Spring Place, Georgia, engaged in merchan- dising and the hotel business. Judge and Mrs. Harris have three children, Newton Temple, Bertie Victoria and Mattie May, aged respectively twelve, five and two years.
Both he and his wife are exemplary members of the Broadway Baptist Church of Fort Worth.
A. SPOONTS, lawyer, was born in Bell county, Texas, in 1857. His father, Joseph Spoonts, a native of Leesburg, Virginia, in his early manhood married Mary Vanderbilt, daugh- ter of John Vanderbilt and a niece of the old commodore of that name. After living in different parts of the country for some years, in 1852 Joseph Spoonts settled with . his family in Bell county, Texas. Here he passed the remainder of his life, engaged in his business as a miller, and with his good wife rearing his family of six children to useful manhood and womanhood. He died in 1872, at sixty-nine years of age, his wife surviving him, living until 1890 and passing away at the advanced age of eighty years. Their children, Anna, widow of William Rice, W. W., Mrs. V. M. Donovan, H. A., Edward and M. A., survive them, and all, with the exception of Mrs. Donovan, who resides at Lampasas, Texas, and M. A., the subject of this sketch, reside in the home county of Bell.
M. A. Spoonts received his education in the schools of Belton and vicinity. Nature
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had endowed him with a powerful physique and a mind capable of high development. His early training fostered his physical strength, and provided him with just suf- ficient opportunities of schooling to give him zest and earnestness for fruitful and con- tinued research and study in his maturer years. He began the study of law under the instruction of A. M. Monteith, and in May, 1878, was admitted to the bar, pass- ing his examination before Judge L. C. Alexander. He then taught school one term, and in the spring of the following year married and went West to build up a law practice. He located at Buffalo Gap, the old county seat of Taylor county, where he became the senior member of the firm of Spoonts & Legett, and where he served for some time as County Attorney. In 1880 he, with his partner, removed to Abilene, a new town on the Texas & Pacific Railway, where he remained until 1889, engaged in active practice. That year he came to Fort Worth, where he might have a broader field for his professional labors. Here he formed a partnership with Frank B. Stanley. Great success attended upon the efforts of this firm in building up a remunerative practice. In 1890 E. R. Meek was admitted as a partner in the firm, and since then it has continued to do business under the firm name of Stanley, Spoonts & Meek. These gentlemen have as clients several large com- mercial houses of Fort Worth and Eastern cities, and represent the Fort Worth & Denver City Railway Company and the
receivers of the same as general attorneys. They are also attorneys of the Western Union Telegraph Company in north Texas, besides having quite a large general practice.
Mr. Spoonts is an able and skilled law- yer. He is possessed of superior powers of generalization and analysis; he comprehends his cases in their entirety, and grasps the minutest détails, and thoroughly understands the relative value and bearing of the ques- tions involved. He is a powerful advocate, always making a clear, concise, and com- prehensive presentation of his case to court and jury, and ever observing in debate those ethics and courtesies which do so much to grace and dignify the profession.
Mr. Spoonts was married in March, 1879, to Miss Josephine Puett, a daughter of Warren Puett, a pioneer of Bell county., who came to Texas from Indiana. Mrs. Spoonts is her husband's helpmeet in the highest sense, is a woman of unusual liter- ary attainments, and a writer of some note, many of her productions being found in the leading magazines and periodicals of the day. The many estimable qualities of Mr. and Mrs. Spoonts all combine to render them valued and highly-prized citizens of Fort Worth.
ARCUS L. MEEKS, a prominent and enterprising farmer of Tar- rant county, was born in Jennings county, Indiana, December 3, 1832. When he was nine years old the family moved
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from that State to Missonri, locating in An- drew county, where he grew up, receiving a common-school education. In 1853 he married and settled upon a farin which he had purchased, and followed agricultural pursuits until 1861, when he came to Texas, as a refugee, settling in Tarrant county. During the same year he arrived here he en- tered the service of the Confederate army, being a part of the time in Cockrell's regi- ment and part of the time in Jackinan's in the Trans-Mississippi Department. He was under General Price in Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana. After two years' service his health failed, and he was discharged. Among the many battles and skirmishes in which he was engaged were Oak Hill, Lex- ington and Lone Jack; he was never wound- ed or captured.
He then returned to Tarrant county. In 1866 he exchanged his Missouri farm for land here in Texas, where he yet lives. At first he purchased 220 acres, to which he has since added by other purchases, and he now owns 270 acres, black waxy land, of which eighty acres are in cultivation, in varied crops. His farm is beautifully locat- ed, at the edge of a sandy timber range, four miles from Arlington and one from Johnson's Station.
Mr. Meeks is the son of Samuel and Nancy (Gardner) Meeks, who moved from Georgia to Indiana in pioneer times. Mr. Meeks' father died in Missouri in 1859; his wife died in 1858. They had seven chil- dren, namely : Marcus L., our subject; In-
dia, who married Joseph Lanning and is yet living in Missouri; Jane who married Andrew Tribble: Mr. Tribble was killed at the close of war, soon after he arrived home from the army (Confederate); Louisa, who became the wife of Groton Dryden and is deceased; Jackson, a resident of Missouri; and Frank, who also was in the Confeder- ate service and is now dead.
Mr. Meeks, whose name introduces this sketch, was first married to Miss Susan A. Jackson, daughter of J. A. and Susan Jack- son, of Virginia. Mr. J. A. Jackson, a merchant in Missouri, came to Texas in 1861, bringing his family and slaves, and settling in Dallas county, where he resided the remainder of his life, dying about 1882. By his first wife Mr. Meeks had one child, Susan Jane, who first married H. Hawkins: he died, leaving one child, and she subse- quently married John Higgins, a Clay county farmer. This wife died in 1861, in Texas, a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. For his second wife Mr. Meeks married, in 1867, Miss Susan Elliott, a daughter of Jack Elliott, a large land owner, who emigrated from Missouri to Texas in 1855, locating in Tarrant county, and dying here about 1872. By this marriage there were four children, namely: John F., a Tarrant county farmer; William T., Edgar, and James. The mother of these children died December 4, 1883, a consistent mem- ber of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
For his third wife Mr. Meeks married, in 1885, Miss Katie Smith, born in 1857,
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a daughter of Drury F. and Marelda (Laws) Smith, of Tennessee, who were married in that State, and came to Texas in 1883, settling in Tarrant county. By the last marriage there are three children, as follows: Marcus, Archie, and Bessie M. Mr. and Mrs. Meeks are exemplary members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He was a Democrat until recently, and now he is a Populist.
RS. CRISTENA FINGER, widow of Louis Finger, is one of the venerable pioneer women of Tarrant county, Texas. She was born in Lawrence county, Indiana, June 19, 1818, and her girlhood was passed on her father's farm in that county. In 1836 she was united in marriage to Louis Finger. After their marriage they settled on a farm in In- diana where they continued to reside until 1846, when they emigrated to Texas. The journey to Texas was made with horse teams, and they were six weeks en route. Upon their arrival in Tarrant county, they located near her present home on their headright of 640 acres. At this writing she is the only person in the county still living on land thus secured. Soon after their settlement here Mr. Finger enlisted in the Government service for duty on the frontier or to go to Mexico if needed. As he was not needed in the latter service he remained on the fron- tier until early in 1849, when he was mus- tered out. It was about this time that the
California gold fever spread over the coun- try and many of the soldiers upon leaving the ranks started for the new El Dorado, Mr. Finger among the rest. He spent two years and a half in California, engaged in mining all the time and meeting with some success. Although he, mined considerable gold, the price of living was high and the miners were in constant danger from the hostile Indians, and, after all, his experience there was not of the brightest.
During her husband's absence Mrs. Fin- ger had many difficulties to contend with, the care and support of her family and the development of the new farm all devolving upon her, and right bravely did she meet and overcome every obstacle that presented it- self. She did weaving and washing and any kind of work she could get. The soldiers being here, there was plenty of money in the country. It was some years before there was much farming in this locality. Mrs. Finger herself cut down trees and split wood and with the aid of the children, who helped her to carry it in, she provided their own fuel. She hired some breaking done and also hired some rails split and hauled. She herself made the fence; and when her hus- band returned from California she was ready to do some farming. Up to this time the only stock she kept was cattle and hogs, the thieving Indians making it impossible for her to keep horses .. Afterward a treaty was formed with the Indians and they became more friendly. Straggling bands, however, would occassionally cross the country and
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make raids on the settlers and carry off their horses. As the years passed by, Mr. Finger, aided and encouraged by his noble wife, de- veloped his land into a valuable property, and here they reared their family to occupy honorable and useful positions in life. For a number of years he served as Magistrate. He was a man of the strictest integrity and was recognized as a leading and influential citizen. After a useful and active life, he passed away January 21, 1887.
Mrs. Finger still resides at the old home- stead. Of her we further record that she is a daughter of Joseph Pless, a native of North Carolina. Her father moved with his family to Indiana at an early day, and while en route to that State they overtook Mr. Finger's father and family who were likewise moving from North Carolina to Indiana. The two families journeyed on together and both settled on farms in Law- rence county, their homes being about two miles and a half apart. Mr. Finger's father followed the trade of wagonmaker in connection with his farming operations. Thus it happened that Louis Finger and Cristena Pless grew up together and, as above stated, were married in 1836. About the time of their marriage they united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he remained a consistent member up to the time of his death. Mrs. Finger still lives a devoted member of the church, her life, like that of her worthy husband, being adorned by many Christian graces. They had eight children, four born in Indiana
and four in Texas, a brief record of them being as follows: Mary J., wife of William Harrison, a prominent farmer of Tarrant county; Peter, who died while in the service of the late war; Susan, wife of R. C. Ford, now living at the old homestead; Rachel, wife of Joseph Tolliver, a prominent farmer of this county; John, engaged in farming in Hall county, Texas; Francis, who died at the age of nine years; Joseph, a farmer of this county; and George W., an attorney at law, now in the Land Office at Austin.
A NDREW M. GREEN, one of the oldest settlers of Texas and one of Parker county's most respected citizens, was born in St. Louis county, Mis- souri, February 21, 1829. He is the oldest . son of Zidkiah Green, a native of North Carolina, who was taken by his parents to Kentucky when he was two years old. In Kentucky he grew up, and then removed to St. Louis county, Missouri, where he married Susanna McClure, who was born in Ken- tucky and was raised in that State and Mis- souri. In 1849 he came with his family to Texas and settled in Fayette county, where he died in 1872, at the age of seventy years. His wife survived him until 1888, when she passed away at the age of seventy-four. They reared a family of seven children, five of whom are still living.
Andrew M. remained with his parents until he reached his majority and came with them to Texas, landing in Fayette county
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with only a dollar in his pocket but with plenty of energy and ambition and a determination to succeed. He soon found himself able to buy a little farm for himself, and from that he made a start in life. Misfortune, how- ever, overtook him. He sold his farm and bought stock with the money, and when the war came on he lost all he had, and had to commence anew. During those troublous days Mr. Green took for his stand the side of the Union. He did not believe in divid- ing the Government. He hauled large quantities of cotton to various points, and the last trip he made he drove five ox teams, --- twenty-eight yoke of cattle, -- and ran the rebel blockade with forty bales of cotton. With the $1,000 he received for his cotton he purchased a fine farm of 200 acres, the price of land then being very low as the Confederates supposed the Yankees would confiscate all Southern property and they were glad to sell at any price. Mr. Green, being a man of good judgment, made his investment in the nick of time. A few years later he sold out for $6, 500 in gold. In 1872 he moved to Parker county and bought land seven miles northeast of Weath- erford, where he lived thirteen years and from whence he removed into Weatherford. Here he was for some time occupied in buying and selling land, but of recent years he has been living more retired. He still owns a good farm and has considerable town property, which he rents.
Mr. Green was married in 1853 to E. J. Huff, daughter of Henry Huff, a native of
Tennessee, who moved to Texas about 1840, when Mrs Green was two years old. Mr. Huff died in 1878, at an advanced age. There were eight children born to Mr. and Mrs. Green, six of whom survive, as follows: Martha E., wife of L. F. Wright, of Weath- erford; Susanna E., wife of John F. Rhea, of Weatherford; Francis T., wife of Henry Gordon, of Veal's Station, Texas; William E., a minister, of Oklahoma, Indian Terri- tory; Zedkiah W., a farmer of Palo Pinto county, Texas; Mollie J., widow of John H. Stone, a former merchant of Weatherford; Andrew F., who died at the age of two years; and Emma F., who died at the age of seventeen years.
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Mr. Green has had his ups and downs in life, has been broken up no less than three times, and notwithstanding all his misfor- tunes he has finally won his way to a com- fortable competency and is now in, the en- joyment of all the comforts of life. Although he has passed his sixty-fifth milestone, there are no silver threads among his locks and he would easily be judged twenty years younger than he is.
ILLIAM HARRISON, a prosper- ous farmer and stock-raiser of Arlington, Texas, was born in Shelby county, this State, September 27, 1833, son of one of the earliest and most prominent pioneers of Texas.
His father, Jonas Harrison, was born in New York, November 11, 1782, and was
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educated in Buffalo, fitting himself for the profession of law. After completing his education he went to Detroit, Michigan, and entered upon his professional career. In 1815 he returned to New York and obtained license to practice before the Supreme Court. His last license was dated in Detroit in 1817. Not long after this he abandoned the practice of law and took up the life of traveler and hunter, making a tour through the South. While in Georgia, in March, 1819, he mar- ried Miss Ellen Shannon, a native of that State. That same year, on the 24th of De- cember, he crossed the Sabine river and camped in Texas. He and a Mr. Irons set- tled within about eight miles of where Mar- shall now stands, near Irons' Bayou. There he continued to reside, his time spent chiefly in hunting, until 1826. Four children were born to them there. The county of Harri- son was afterward named in honor of him. In 1826, in company with a colony made up of the families of Anderson and English, he went to Shelby county. There he engaged in the stock business and also in the practice of law, and while in that county he made the acquaintance of Sam Houston, the two remaining warm friends ever afterward. Mr. Harrison defended General Houston in two important law cases, and November 30, 1833, secured for him a divorce from his wife, in Tennessee. In 1835 Mr. Harrison's health began to fail, and in August, 1836, he passed away. Nothing is known of the history of the Harrison family antecedent to Jonas Harrison.
Our subject's maternal grandfather, Aron Shannon, was a drummer in the Rev- olutionary war. He came to Texas the same year Mr. Harrison did, and his death occurred in Shelby county.
Jonas and Ellen Harrison had eight chil- dren, brief mention of whom is as follows: Margaret, wife of William Thomas, died in 1857, leaving a family of five children; Jonas, who died at Fort Davis, while in the Confederate service; Jacob, who died in McLennan county, Texas, in 1867; Clint, a resident of Arlington, Tarrant county; John, who died here in 1857; Thomas J., who served all through the late war and died in Tarrant county in 1868; William, whose name heads this sketch; Almira, wife of Samuel Daniels, died in April, 1870, leav- ing five children. The mother of our subject died August 28, 1877.
Having thus briefly glanced at the his- tory of his parents, we now turn to the life of William Harrison. He was born and reared on the frontier, remaining with his parents until their death, and early in life becoming familiar with every detail of farm- ing and stock-raising. In 1850 he came with his mother and the rest of the family to Tarrant county, and here he continued the stock business, raising both horses and cattle. After his marriage, which event oc- curred in 1858, he began investing in land where he now lives, first buying 100 acres, a part of it on credit. To this he added un- til at one time he had 1, 800 acres, but has given some to his children and now retains
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about 1, 200 acres, 300 of which are under cultivation and which he rents. He still conducts his stock business, raising, feeding and selling horses, mules, cattle and hogs. In 1878 he engaged in the general merchan- dise business at Arlington, under the firm name of Harrison, Ditto & Collins, but sold out at the end of twelve months and then started the first hardware store in the town. In connection with his hardware, he also carried a line of groceries, and continued in business three years. Since then he has confined his operations to farming and stock dealing.
During the late "unpleasantness" be- tween the States, he was at heart a Union man and was opposed to secession, but he took no active part in the war. He has all his life taken a laudable interest in public affairs, and at different times has filled var- ious public offices. He served as County Commissioner four years and has also filled the offices of Justice of the Peace, Coronor and Notary Public. While he is an advo- cate of Jeffersonian Democracy, he looks well to the qualifications of the man. Hon- esty combined with qualifications catches his support.
Mr. Harrison's marriage has already been referred to. Mrs. Harrison was by maiden name Miss Mary J. Finger, she be- ing a daughter of Louis Finger, who came from Indiana to Texas in 1846 and settled in Tarrant county. - By this happy union eleven children were born, one of whom is deceased, the others being as follows: Louis C.
a tinner of Arlington; Elleanor, wife of J. S. Cunningham, of Indian Territory; Cristena, wife of Newton Moore, Tarrant county; Su- san, wife of W. W. Floyd, residing near Arlington; Alice, wife of O. D. Floyd, Tar- rant county; Thomas J., Tarrant county; Jonas, engaged in the tinner's business with his brother at Arlington; William L., at home; Josie, wife of F. L. Grogan; and George. O., at home.
Mrs. Harrison and all the children are church members, she being identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr Harrison is a Mason.
J AMES C. SCOTT, a prominent law- yer and one of the substantial Chris- tian men of Fort Worth, Texas, forms the subject of this article.
. Mr. Scott's ancestry is traced back to an early period in American history. He has in his possession a family Bible in which the record of the Scott family has been kept for 160 years. It was a wedding present in 1735 and has descended to the male mem- bers of the family until it came to James C. Scott. About 1720 two brothers by the name of Scott came from England, near the Scotland line, to America, one settling in Pennsylvania and the other in Maryland. The former had two sons, from one of whom the subject of our sketch is descended. William Scott, the grandfather of James C., was a surgeon in the English army. He . ' married Ruhamah Chambers, of Chambers-
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burg, Pennsylvania. Her brother, Benjamin Chambers, was a Major General in the United States army in the war of 1812. William Scott and wife had three children, a daughter and two sons, the sons being named James C. and William Ludlow. The father having died at sea, the widowed mother moved with her children to Cincin- nati, Ohio, where two of her children died. Then, with the only surviving one, William L., she went to Franklin, Missouri, in the year 1819.
In 1821 William Ludlow Scott settled on a farm in La Mine township, Cooper county, Missouri, where he resided until after the close of the late war. He was a silversmith by trade, was of an adventurous disposition, and spent much of his time in exploring new countries. He went to Santa Fe, New Mexico, as early as 1822, then on to California and finally down into Mexico. In Mexico, in 1836, he was robbed of all his savings. After that he returned to Missouri and settled down to business. In 1849 he again went to California and this time made considerable money in the mines. He died in Booneville, Missouri, in 1879. He was married in Booneville, in 1838, to Miss Eliza- beth Rankin, who was of Irish descent, and to them were born sons and daughters as follows: Thomas A. S .; James C .; Ella, wife of James D. Clarkson, of St. Louis, Missouri; Nannie, wife of Dr. Richard J. Withers, of Chicago; Mary, widow of John H. Calais; Cynthia, wife of Randolph R. Rogers, an attorney of Chicago; Sarah Mar-
garet, wife of F. T. Spahr, of Booneville, Missouri; William Ludlow, who resides at the old homestead in Missouri; Elizabeth, wife of James Cochran, Booneville, Missouri. One half-brother of this family, Arthur Scott, is a prominent manufacturer at Everett, Massachusetts. The mother of our subject died in 1854.
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