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 53
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 53
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the Ash creek pioneer. He dug the first two wells in the county, the latter being still in use. Supplies were hauled from Houston and Shreveport, as Fort Worth was scarcely more important as a settle- ment than the Woody homestead. Bird- ville was the county seat of Tarrant county. The seasons were perfect in those days, and no one thought of dealing out feed or grain sparingly for fear of a famine. In 1857 a late frost occurred and did considerable damage. The Indians in the county were perfectly friendly until 1859, when they .were driven to hostility by unscrupulous whites selling them liquor and occasionally killing one of their number. During their many raids in the valley Mr. Woody lost much stock, and a few settlers were killed. From 1859 to 1875, with short intervals of rest, John Woody took part in the ranging service, belonging to a company commanded by John R. Baylor in 1859. He was with Colonel M. T. Johnson in 1860, when Cyn- thiana Parker was rescued by Captain Ross on Peace river.
The first school in the county was taught by Dr. Wilson, who erected a small log cabin, and held three-months sessions of subscription school. The second teacher was a young man named Toaler, who after- ward served as Clerk of Parker county. The first sermon was preached by Parson . Matthews, Parson Moffitt having assisted him in holding services under an arbor near the Woody homestead. During these meetings Mr. McDonald was converted,
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and was the first man baptized in the coun- ty. The first goods were brought to this neighborhood by John Francis, who called his location Creamliel, but is now known as Veal Station, named in honor of Captain Veal. The first child born in the county was Jasper Upton.
Samuel Woody married Hannah Woody, and they had seven children, namely: Hugh, a resident of Collin county; William; Sam- uel and Brice, of Wise county; James; John; and Mrs. Jane Farmer, a resident of Tarrant county. Both Mr. and Mrs. Woody died in 1878.
John Woody, the subject of this sketch, received but a limited education. He as- sisted his father in improving the homestead, and has since succeeded to its ownership. He owns 256 acres of land, 150 acres of which are under a fine state of cultivation. Mr. Woody was in sympathy with the Union during the late struggle, and felt greatly the oppression which followed such conduct. He was afterward appointed by Governor Davis as Sheriff of Parker county.
In March, 1861, Mr. Woody was united in marriage with Miss Morris, whose father, H. R. Morris, came to Texas from Illinois before the war, and was the first school- teacher on Walnut creek. He was a per- sonal friend of Abraham Lincoln. His death occurred in 1879, at the age of eighty- one years. His wife departed this life also at the age of eighty-one years. He was a Republican in his political views. Mr. and Mrs, Woody have had four children, viz. :
James and Brice Woody, stock-raisers on the plains; Jennie, wife of C. F. Clark, of Veal Station; and Lavina, wife of F. P. Bradley. They have also raised six orphan children, - Lillie, Sarah and Arthur White, George W. Derrett and brother and John Chowings.
W. HUMPHREYS, senior mem- ber of the well-known legal firm of Humphreys & McLean, is one of the prominent members at the bar of Fort Worth, Texas. Mr. Humphreys is a native of Gordon county, Georgia, and was born on the 24th day of July, 1855. His paternal grandfather was D. W. Hum- phreys, a native of Virginia, who died in Georgia in his eightieth year. The mater- nal grandfather was John Hill, a native of Tennessee, who also died in Georgia, at the age of ninety-one years. Our subject's father, E. Humphreys, was a native of North Carolina, removed to Georgia when about twenty-seven years of age, and en- gaged in planting and merchandising. He was an industrious and enterprising man, and met with deserved success in his busi- ness undertakings, and was well and favor- ably known in his section of the country. He was a student of public questions and events and possessed a most remarkable memory for political history. He was able to rehearse the rise and fall of empires, of political parties, etc., and was frequently called upon by politicians and public speak- ers for important information touching facts
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of history. He retired from business at the age of seventy- four years, came to Texas in 1884, and died in Fort Worth in 1892, aged seventy-nine years. His wife was Mary A. Hill, who was a native of Tennes- see, and they had the following children: Annie, deceased, who became the wife of General Waters, of the Confederate army; John H., deceased; Jennie, deceased; D. W .; Cornelia, deceased; Florence, wife of Dr. M. Walerich, of Fort Worth; and Clin- ton, who recently graduated at the Fort Worth University.
D. W. Humphreys spent his youth upon his father's plantation, and was brought up not to fear labor. He learned his primer in a country school, and at the age of fifteen years was placed in a boarding school in his native county. Subsequently he attended a similar institution at Dalton, Georgia, finally completing his education at Emory and Henry College, Virginia, where he was graduated, being the youngest member of the graduating class, numbering thirty-two. De- ciding to adopt the legal profession he pursued his law studies under the direction of ex-Judge Dawson A. Walker, of the Georgia Supreme bench, and was admitted to practice before Judge C. D. Mccutchen. Opening an office in Dalton, Mr. Humphreys at once engaged in active practice, and in a comparatively short time was enjoying a large and increasing clientage. His first suit, that of Payne vs. McCauley, he won, and other successes followed close upon this, his maiden effort. Probably the case
which gained for him more than usual notice was that of Roach vs. Beardon, in which he represented the plaintiff, while his honored preceptor, Judge Walker, appeared for the defense. This case he also conducted suc- cessfully, winning at the same time the warm congratulations of his friends, among them his erstwhile tutor.
Early in his professional career Mr. Humphreys became identified with politics, and, being a ready debater and a good ora- tor, he was frequently chosen by his party as a delegate to State and county conven- tions, and was called upon to do a good share of the local work in every campaign. In 1884 Mr. Humphreys came to Fort Worth and continued his practice, forming a partnership with John R. McMullen, a lawyer of great prominence, who soon after- ward died. Mr. Humphreys' next partners were Messrs. Hogsett and Green, this part- nership extending from 1888 to 1890. He next formed a partnership with Judge S. P. Green, the firm being known as that of Green & Humphreys, which was terminated in 1892 by Judge Green's election to the bench. In February, 1893, Mr. Humphreys associated himself with Judge W. P. McLean, forming the strong firm of Humphreys & McLean, which is recognized as one of the ablest in the city. This firm conducts a great amount of corporation litigation, representing some of the largest concerns of the city. Mr. Humphreys represents the Farmers and Mechanics' National Bank and the Mer- chants' National Bank (the latter in liquida-
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tion), and is a director in both institutions. He is also a trustee of the Fort Worth Poly- technic College, and is otherwise identified with the interests of this city and State, owning considerable real estate in the coun- ties of Grayson, Collin, Montague and others.
Mr. Humphreys was married in 1883, in Sherman, Texas, to Mollie J., a daughter of George C. Dugan, who died in 1891. Their children are: Kate and Allein, twins, aged nine years, and D. W., Jr., aged five years.
J OHN H. WOLFENBERGER, son of a pioneer of Texas, and now a prominent farmer of Parker county, is a native of Cherokee county, this State, born February 20, 1855, and brought up to the farm and live-stock business, in educa- tion receiving only a common schooling. He remained with his parents until 1879, when he was married. At that time he was the owner of some land, upon which were a house and forty acres in cultivation. He now owns over a thousand acres, within six miles of Weatherford, with 100 acres in cultivation and some rented. He is princi- pally engaged in the raising of live-stock.
He is the third child of four born in the family of Samuel and Margaret (Dugan) Wolfenberger, of Tennessee, who emigrated to Texas in 1848, settling in Cherokee county, and afterward, in 1855, in Johnson county, two years later returned to Cherokee county, and finally, in 1862, came to Parker county, where he bought a claim and settled.
In 1863 he entered the State military ser- vice, as a ranger and minute-man, and en- gaged in many raids after Indians, being in the frontier service until the close of the war. In the autumn of 1865 he purchased a farm on Willow creek, where he remained until his death, July 16, 1889. His wife yet survives, still residing at the old homestead. At the time of his death he owned about 1,200 acres of land, with a farm opened for cultivation. He was of German descent. His children are: Elizabeth J., who mar- ried J. S. Lionberger, of Virginia. Mr. Lionberger was at the first sale of lots at Weatherford, when he purchased two, was Assessor of the county during the war, lived at Weatherford most of his life in Texas, and was at his father-in-law's when he died, in 1868, leaving a wife and two children. The wife is yet a widow, residing with her mother at the old homestead. The second-
born was H. M., who married Missouri Blocker and is now a Parker county farmer. The third-born is the subject of this bio- graphical account. The next is Calvin M., living at the old homestead. Their mother is now sixty-nine years of age.
Mr. Wolfenberger, of this sketch, mar- ried Miss Alice M. Plumlee, also a native of Texas, and a daughter of I. D. and Lucinda (Cook) Plumlee, father a native of Tennessee and mother of Alabama. Mr. Plumlee was a clerk in a store previous to marriage, and for a time he was Postmaster. Being a natural mechanic, he could make anything that could be manufactured from wood. He
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married in Arkansas and came to Parker county in 1856, and after his arrival here followed farming and did some mechanical work. He died in 1888, and his wife is yet living in this county.
. Mr. Plumlee's children are: George, now in Indian Territory; John, a farmer of Parker county; Sarah, who became the wife of William Sloan, and lives in Parker county; Maxie D., a Parker county farmer; May Belle, the fifth child, became the wife of F. C. Waugh, who lives in the Indian Ter- ritory; Martha, who married Charles Rob- ertson, a farmer; and Charles, also in the Indian Nation. Their mother is now sixty- five years of age. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Wolfenberger are Jacob, Annie, Vallie, Nellie, Clara, Fannie, Samuel and Iva.
Mr. Wolfenberger is a member of the order of Knights of Honor, and in politics is independent. His wife belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church.
ENRY B. McCONNELL, one of the prominent and influential farm- ers of Parker county, Texas, was the first white child born in the Cherokee Nation, Georgia, the date of his birth being January 14, 1830.
His parents, the Hon. Eli and Savilla C. (Garrison) McConnell, were both natives of Georgia, the former born in 1801, and the latter in 1803. Their house was the first one built in Cherokee county. Eli McCon- nell was made a brigadier general by Gov-
ernor Troup, and was given a permit to move into the Indian Territory. He and William Worly were commissioned to sell the Indian personal property. It was in 1829 that he moved there, and the sale of land was effected in 1837. Mr. McConnell built the first merchant flouring mill in that part of the country. He was a leading politician, and was prominent and active in the affairs of Georgia, serving for a number of years as a member of the State Legisla- ture and State Senate. During the last four years of his life he was Superintendent of the Georgia Penitentiary. He died March 30, 1861, and his wife survived him until 1863. His father, John McConnell, was a native of South Carolina, born during the Revolutionary war, son of John McConnell, a native of the Emerald Isle, and a Captain . in the Revolution. The younger John Mc- Connell was a Major in the war of 1812, served as a member of the Georgia Legisla- ture, and, when about eighty-two years of age, was a member of the Secession Con- vention. The McConnells were all slave owners. The maternal grandfather of our subject, Nehemiah Garrison, was a native of South Carolina. He, too, served in the Georgia Legislature, and in the war of 1812 was a Captain. Eli McConnell and his wife had a family of thirteen children, eight of whom died before they reached the age of five years. Of the five that grew to maturity, we make record as follows: Sarah E. was twice married, and had three chil- dren by each husband, her first husband be-
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ing Joshua Cox, and the second J. C. Har- ris; Anna, deceased, was twice married, first to T. B. Cook, and secondly to R. J. Fields; Susan, wife of R. P. Bell, has been a resident of Kaufman county, Texas, since 1870; Avarilla, who became the wife of R. J. Fields, and died in 1861; and Henry B., whose name appears at the head of this article.
Henry B. McConnell was reared at his native place and early in life had a business training. In 1849 he engaged in farming, two years later turned his attention to mill- ing, and in 1852 went to California and be- gan mining. He, however, remained in the Golden State only a few months. Upon his return home he resumed milling. Later he opened and operated a gold mine. In 1862 he built a furnace and smelted iron for Confederate use, and employed no less than a hundred negroes in this smelter. He continued to operate it until Sherman's army swept over the country and destroyed his whole property, houses, furnace, forges, mill and all. A portion of the time during the war he acted as guide for the Confeder- ates, he being of special service in this capacity, as he knew every foot of the country, and had maps of it.
At the time their property was destroyed Mr. McConnell and his family had sought refuge in the southwestern part of the State, and when the war was ended he returned to his land and began the work of rebuilding his wasted fortune. He was joined by his family in 1866. Soon he again began oper-
ations in his gold mine, and until 1870 he bought and sold mines. For some time he made his home in Acworth, of which town he was elected Mayor, and served acceptably as such until 1873. That year he sold out and came to Texas. His first location in this State was at Dallas. There he was en- gaged in contracting, and while at that place served as Alderinan of his ward. In 1876 he came to Parker county. He had bought 307 acres of land here, and under a tree on this tract he camped until he could build a house. The teams that had moved him from Dallas brought the lumber to him from Fort Worth, and in a short time the house was up and his family in it. He next set about fencing his land, and fenced the whole of it with wire, this being the first wire fence in the county. The next year he was ready to put in a crop, and he has been engaged in farming ever since, raising wheat, corn, oats, etc.
Mrs. McConnell was born in July, 1832, daughter of Leroy and Lucinda (Haynes) Hammon. Her father was a native of South Carolina, was a wealthy planter and slave owner, served in the Georgia Legislature, and died in 1854. Mr. and Mrs. McConnell have had five children, viz .: Eli, who re- sides in the Indian Territory; Anna E., wife of Joseph Carnahan, a wealthy farmer of Parker county; Laura V., who died May 8, 1877, at the age of twenty years; Charles, wife of W. H. Fain, farmer and stockman; and Sally, wife of J. J. Coats, a Parker county farmer.
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Mr. McConnell is a man who is well posted on current affairs and takes a com- mendable interest in public matters. He has never aspired to official position. Frater- nally he is a Royal Arch Mason, an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Pythias. He has been a Mason since 1854, and for a number of years was Master of his Lodge at Acworth.
ON. S. O. DAWS is an old citizen of Wise county, Texas, residing near the Parker county line three miles and a half north of Springtown, his post office.
Mr. Daws was born in Kemper county, Mississippi, December 28, 1848, son of S. O. Daws, Sr., and Agnes (Farmer) Daws, both natives of North Carolina, the former born in 1818. The senior Mr. Daws died in Mississippi, at his home in 1884. He was the father of thirteen children, the subject of our sketch being the second son and fourth child.
In 1870 Mr. Daws moved to Texas and settled on the farm he now occupies. Pre- vious to his coming here lie was married to Mollie Dees, a native of his own county, and with the exception of two years during the Indian troubles, when they were at Trinity University, the whole of their mar- ried life has been spent at their present home.
The ancestors of Mr. Daws on his father's side were Irish, while his maternal forefathers came from the colder regions of
the Baltic. From the Emerald Isle cos- mopolitan America draws mainly her genius of wit, quick intellect, bravery and irrational impulses, while the sturdy Teutonic blood soothes our nationality with industry, cau- tion and the love of equal liberty in all its aims. Having been born of poor parents, it is readily conjectured that the facilities held out to him for an education were limited; but, as he says, by some hook or crook he managed to acquire the rudiments of an education, and this gave him a desire for a broader knowledge, which he obtained by reading history, especially that of his own country. Later on he gave to agricul- ture his studious attention, not only as a means for individual subsistence but also from a more intellectual standpoint when finally important public topics touching . social and economic relations attracted his inquiry. He is cheerful to acknowledge also the great benefits he derived when a boy from his regular Sunday-school attendance, and from the divine lessons of life as expounded from the pulpit. Taught in his early life that systematic application and a faithful dis- charge of any task imposed upon him was the most satisfactory way in which a duty could be performed, he acquired habits of punctuality and industry, to which he now attributes in no small degree his health, his vigorous strength and the confidence reposed in him by his associates.
Mr. Daws was appointed in July, 1881, by J. M. Montgomery, President of the State Alliance, Organizer for Parker county.
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At the annual meeting of the Grand State Alliance held at Goshen, August, 1881, he was elected to the same position for Wise county also, which is now one of the strong- est Alliance counties in the State. In Au- gust, 1882, the regular meeting was held at Palo Pinto, where his tried ability was called again into a more extended service. Here Mr. Daws had conferred upon him, by the growing organization, the responsible office of State Lecturer. During the winter of 1883 the President, Secretary, and other officers of the State Alliance, deeming it important for the best interests of the order to extend more rapidly its principles, Mr. Daws was selected from among his brother members by W. L. Garvin, then filling the office of President, as Traveling Lecturer for the whole State. At that time there were 152 organized alliances, only fifteen of which were in active working order. At the semi-annual meeting of the Grand State Alliance, held in February, 1884, at Chico, Wise county, the Traveling Lecturer made a report which was approved, and he was unanimously elected to continue his good work in that capacity for the remainder of the year. The annual meeting of that year was held at Weatherford, in the month of August, when Mr. Daws was re-elected, the number of alliances being then 187.
The Traveling Lecturer had large powers conferred upon him. He visited the various counties in northern and middle Texas, lec- turing and appointing local organizers in each county, and acting as the general di-
rector and manager of the affairs of the organization, now grown to enthusiastic ro- bustness. His labors were amply rewarded with the most satisfactory results, for his annual report at Decatur, in August, 1885, showed the order to consist of 550 active alliances working together in constitutional harmony. At that time Mr. Daws was again elected Traveling Lecturer for the ensuing year, and the marvelous growth of the order since 1884 in an immeasurable degree is due to the sound advice, the com- prehensive addresses, and practical direc- tions given by him to the officers and mem- bers of the subordinate alliances.
Mr. Daws continued in the discharge of his duties as Traveling Lecturer until the meeting of the Grand State Alliance at Cleburne, August 6, 1886. His annual re- port showed an increase of 2, 200 sub-alliances during that year. In 1886 the office of Traveling Lecturer was discontinued, the order being established on a firm basis in the State. After the National Alliance was organized, he served as National Organizer in Mississippi until the meeting of the National Alliance at Shreveport. He or- ganized the first alliance east of the Missis- sippi river. To-day he stands the leading organizer of the world, .having called together and organized over two hundred and fifty thousand people.
In the campaign of 1892 Mr. Daws took the stump in defense of the People's party. In that capacity he was pitted against some of the leading orators of the
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State, viz .: General Chambers, Judge Long, Mr. Murry and many others. In the campaign of 1893 he was called to stump the State of Iowa in behalf of his party, which call he responded to and spoke in several of the leading cities of that State, winding up at Des Moines. He has been selected as a candidate for Representative of his party, but would never accept the honor offered. While Mr. Daws was in Mississippi both Houses of the Legislature honored him by adjourning to hear him speak at the capitol of the State.
Mr. and Mrs. Daws have reared a family of six children, namely: John W., attend- ing school at Austin; Martin L. and Flora, in school at Springtown; and James, Bar- brie and Oney, at home.
0 R. N. B. HANEY, one of the lead- ing physicians of Parker county, was born in Tuscaloosa county, Alabama, August 2, 1854. His father, W. B. Hancy, a farmer and mechanic by occu- pation, was born in middle Tennessee, and is now a resident of Galloway county, (postoffice Walker), Alabama, aged sixty- three years. During the late war he was in the Department of Tennessee in the Con- federate army, serving from 1862 until the close of the struggle, and fourteen months of that time was spent in the Rock Island (Illinois) prison. He is a son of Robert T. Haney, who moved from Charleston, South Carolina, to North Carolina, and thence to
Tennessee. The mother of our subject was a daughter of Zachariah Simpson, a miller and planter by occupation, owning a num- ber of slaves. He served in the Seminole war with R. T. Haney, also in the war of 1812, under Jackson. Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Haney had the following children : N. B., the subject of this sketch; M. L .; John J., an attorney at Carbon Hill, Alabama; James; William, a farmer of Texas; Mary, wife of Newton Guttery, of Arkansas; R. L. and A. G., of this State; and Bedford F., a resident of Carbon Hill, Alabama.
N. B. Haney attended the Jasper and Holly Grove Academies, after which he taught school seven years. At the age of twenty-three years he began reading medi- cine with Dr. J. A. Goodwin, of Jasper, Alabama. He afterward entered the Medi- cal Departinent of the Vanderbilt Universi- ty, graduating at that noted institution in the spring of 1881. The Doctor followed his profession in Jasper until 1883, and in that year came to Parker county, Texas. From 1886 to 1888 he practiced medicine in Birmingham, Alabama, but in the latter year returned to Texas, and has ever since been identified with Parker county's school of physicians. On locating at Millsap eleven years ago, Dr. Haney found Drs. Waits and Brown practicing here, neither of whom are here now. The Doctor's practice covers many miles of the surround- ing country. He has found no remarkable changes in the prevailing troubles afflicting his people in his ten years' practice in Texas,
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but rather a better state of health prevails, because of the use of cistern water instead of the impure water of creeks and pools used years ago. In addition to his general practice, he owns two small farms in Parker county. He is a member of the Weatherford Medical Association, and of the Christian Church.
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