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 55
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 55
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Mr. Hudson is the only son in a family of four children. His parents, P. B. and Sarah (Hardin) Hudson, were natives of South Carolina. They moved to Tennessee at an early day, subsequently to Mississippi, and about 1842 to Texas. It was about the time of their settlement in Shelby county, Texas, that a trouble arose between the
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people here, the different factions being known as the Regulators and Moderators, and the trouble terminating in war. Mr. Hudson joined the Regulators and partici- pated in several battles, in which a number of good citizens were killed, one of them an uncle of his. The militia was finally order- ed out to stop the trouble. P. B. Hudson was engaged in farming and ginning up to the time of his death. The maternal grand- father of our subject also came to Texas and settled in Shelby county, where he spent the closing years of his life, and died. Of Mr. Hudson's sisters, we record that Ann, wife of John Farr, died in Leon county, Texas, as also did Mr. Farr; Martha J., widow of Benjamin Burleson, lives in John- son county, this State; Samantha is the wife of M. Gladston, a Methodist minister; and Mary S. is the wife of J. D. McVane, a Tar- rant county farmer. The mother died in this county in 1886.
The subject of our sketch was married November 15, 1869, to Miss Mary A. Dicki- son, daughter of John Dickison, and a native of Missouri. Her father came to Texas with his family in 1857, and first settled in Denton county, but on ac- count of the hostile Indians he was obliged to move from there, and came to Tarrant county. He died here in 1887. He was a Class-leader in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was a man who stood high in the community in which he lived. During the late war he served in the Confederate army. Mr. and Mrs. Hudson have had
thirteen children, one of whom died when young. The others are as follows : Mary A., wife of B. F. Warren; Sarah J., wife of John Boydson; William L .; Adeline, wife of Thomas Taylor; and Peter B., John D., George W., Minnie M., Luther B., Walter K., James M. and Howell M., at home. Mrs. Hudson is a member of the Protestant Methodist Church.
Politically, Mr. Hudson is a Democrat.
a LISHA F. ROBBINS, Oak Grove, Texas, is one of the prosperous and well-known farmers of Tarrant county; and as such it is appropriate that biographical mention be made of him in this work.
Mr. Robbins was born in Noxubee coun- .. ty, Mississippi, January 3, 1848, and was reared on a farm, remaining at home until 1870, and then removed to Louisiana, buy- ing and settling on a farm in Richland parish, that State. In 1877 he made a prospecting tour to Texas and bought 193 acres of raw land in Tarrant county. Upon his return home, he engaged in farming on his own land, and continued to reside in Louisiana until 1883, when he came to Texas again. He built a house on the land he had purchased, and made other improv- ments, and to his original tract has since added until it now comprises 600 acres, 470 acres of which are under cultivation, the rest being used for pasture. This place he rents. In 1884 he bought the farm upon which
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he now resides, and which has 320 acres, 190 being under cultivation, -all being in- cluded in the 600 acres noted above. Be- sides having these farms in Texas, he still owns his property in Louisiana. Formerly wheat, oats and corn where his chief crops, but this year he has some cotton. He has never had a total failure of crops since he came to Texas; one year the insects des- troyed his wheat, but he has never failed to raise corn. Mr. Robbins has for some time been giving special attention to the raising of stock, -- horses, mules and Holstein cat- tle. He owns a Norman stallion and a fine jack. Thus, by the interest taken in im- proving the grade of stock in his part of the county, he has proved himself of great value to it.
Mr. Robbins is the fifth of the family of six children born to Jordan and Elizabeth (Parker) Robbins, natives of North Caro- lina, who moved to Mississippi at an early day. Both the Robbins and Parker families were farmers as far back as their history is known. Jordan Robbins died in Mississip- pi in 1860: his widow is still a resident of that State, now about eighty-two years of age. Of their five children, we make rec- ord as follows : Joseph, after serving all through the late war, died in September, 1865; William died, of measles, at Lookout Mountain, while in the army; James went through the war, came to Texas in 1879 and died in Tarrant county in December, 1882; Washington, who also served through the war, is now a resident of Mississippi; E.
F. is the subject of this article; and Sally is the wife of G. W. Aust, of Mississippi.
In 1878 Mr. Robbins was married, in Louisiana, to Miss Katy Hoaldridge, who was born in Jasper county, Mississippi, July 18, 1860, daughter of William H. and Mary J. (Roberts) Hoaldridge, natives of South Carolina. Her father, a farmer by occupa- tion, died at Columbus, Mississippi, in 1863, while in the Confederate service. Her mother is still living, finding a pleasant home with Mrs. Robbins, where she stays a part of the time, the rest being spent at the home of her son, Henry Lake Hoaldridge, a farmer of Tarrant county, these two being the only survivors of her family of five.
By this happy marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Robbins have had nine children, two of whom died when young, those living being as fol- lows: Etta, Eunice, Mertie, Freeman; Robert and Henry. The deceased children were Mary E., Annie E. and Ulala K.,-they being the first, third and last of the children. Mr. Robbins and his brother James married sisters. To the marriage of James Robbins and Mary E. Hoaldridge were born two sons and a daughter: Claudie I. and James C. and Harry L. By the death of both parents these children were left orphans when the oldest child was nine years of age and the youngest one about a year old, and these children have been reared by Mr. Robbins and wife with their own children and have been given by them the same advantages as their own children have received.
While Mr. Robbins takes a laudable
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interest in public affairs, and holds fast to Democracy, he has never aspired to official position, preferring to give his time and at- tention to his own private affairs. When he was of school age the whole country was in the turmoil of war, and consequently his educational advantages were limited; but by home study he acquired a fair knowledge, and is as well informed as the average farmer of the day. Both he and his wife are worthy members of the Baptist Church.
Such, in brief, is a sketch of the life of one of Tarrant county's prosperous farmers and representative citizens.
0 R. E. D. CAPPS, of Fort Worth, Professor of Anatomy, Physiology and Hygiene in the Fort Worth University, was born in Overton county, Tennessee, in 1864, a son of A. F. Capps, a retired attorney residing in Arlington, this county, who brought his family to Fort Worth in 1878 from his native State.
Mr. A. F. Capps, a native of Livingston county, Tennessee, was educated there and in Lebanon, same State, in the Cumber- land University. Choosing law for his life's vocation, he was admitted to the bar, and practiced his profession in his native county. In 1870 he was appointed Clerk of the Su- preme Court and filled that position eight years. Then he abandoned the legal profes- sion and came to Fort Worth, where he has since been identified with agricultural pur- suits. During the war he served as a pri-
vate in the Confederate army from Tennes- see. He married Miss H. F., a daughter of W. H. Officer, the owner of a large planta- tion and a great number of slaves, who inarried a Miss Holford. The blood of English and Irish ancestry course through the veins of the Capps family. Mr. A. F. Capps' children are: Mrs. G. Y. Gill, of Arlington, Texas; William, a prominent at- torney; Frank and Charles, both at Hous- ton, this State.
Dr. Capps was educated in Mansfield College, Texas, and at the Bingham school in North Carolina. Beginning the study of medicine at the age of nineteen years, under the guidance of Dr. E. J. Beall, he con- tinued two years, and then took a three- years graded course at the College of Physi- cians and Surgeons in New York city, grad- uating in 1891. He was made president of his class. Next he was given charge of the department of the diseases of women and children in the Vanderbilt Clinic, also being assistant to one of the professors on chil- dren's diseases in the New York Polyclinic. During the summer of 1891 he had charge of the practice of Dr. R. H. Green, and in November returned to Fort Worth, associ- ating himself here with Dr. Beall, Fort Worth's leading surgeon. In April, 1892, he was elected City Physician by the Coun- cil, and re-elected in 1893. In May, 1894, he was elected a member of the faculty of Fort Worth University. June 15, 1893, he married Miss Louisa C. Beall, daughter of Dr. Elias J. Beall.
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R E. BELL, one of the well-known citizens and merchants of Weather- ford, Texas, was born in Sumner county, Tennessee, on November 2, 1832. His father was Robert Bell, who was born in North Carolina in 1778, and his mother was Margret (McGrady) Bell, also a native of North Carolina, and born in 1794. The grandfather of our subject was William Bell, a native of Maryland, and a Revolutionary soldier. He participated in the battle of the Cowpens and other engagements in the Carolinas and after the war remained in North Carolina, until about 1795, when he removed to Tennessee, before that common- wealth was admitted to the Union as a State. He located in Sumner county, near Gallatin, and there spent the remainder of his life. His wife was Sarah McGuire, who was a sister to the wife of that famous pioneer and Revolutionary war officer, Gen- eral Rutherford.
Robert. Bell, father of our subject, left Tennessee in 1845, removing to Van Buren, Arkansas, from which place he subsequently removed to Fayetteville, same State, for the purpose of giving his children better educa- tional advantages. His death occurred at Fayetteville in 1853, his wife surviving him and dying at Mount Vernon, Texas, in 1861. The children of Robert Bell and wife were as follows: Hiram W., who crossed the plains to the California gold fields in 1849, and died there a short time later. He was one of the first white men to go down the Gila river, doing so on his way to California;
Samuel R. was a Captain in the Confeder- ate service, and was killed at the battle of Oak Hills, on August 10, 1861; John L. died in the Confederate service; Louisa, de- ceased; Kate, deceased, was the wife of the late Dr. W. D. Miller, of Weatherford; R. E. is the subject of this sketch; and A. E. is now a merchant of Weatherford.
R. E. Bell received a fair education by attending the common schools of his neigh- borhood, and also attended the Arkansas College for a few months, his father's death causing him to leave school permanently at the age of twenty-one years. When in his fourteenth year, Mr. Bell, conceiving a fond- ness for a mercantile life, voluntarily, with the consent of his father, apprenticed him- self to Messrs. Morrill & Maren, merchants of Van Buren. His apprenticeship was for a term of three years, and in return for his services he was to receive his board and clothes. After finishing his apprenticeship he was employed for a few months by the same firm as a regular clerk, at a salary of $25 per month. Following that he was employed in various other stores and other- wise until 1856, when he came to Texas, peddling apples, and at Mount Vernon met with an opportunity of going into business as a partner, the firm being known as R. E. Bell & Company. This was in 1857, and from that time until the present, with the exception of the time he spent in the Con- federate service during the late war, the name of R. E. Bell has been at the head of a commercial house in Texas continually,
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and Mr. Bell knows of no man in the State in business now who was so engaged when he first began.
In 1861 Mr. Bell entered the Confeder- ate service, on detached duty, in Texas. In 1863 he crossed the Mississippi river, joined Ross' brigade, and was at Vicksburg. He remained with this brigade until the close of the war, and, with the brigade, was paroled at Jackson, Mississippi, May 13, 1865, as a private in Company H, Third Texas Cav- alry. After the war Mr. Bell returned to Texas, and located and engaged in trading in cattle in Palo Pinto county.
But on account of the troublesome In- dians in that section he remained there only a short time, coming to Weatherford in July, 1866. Here he established a general merchandising business. In 1875 he re- moved to Dallas, and was engaged in the hardware business in that city until 1882, when he returned to Weatherford and opened a hardware store here. From year to year his business increased, and gradually he drifted into the jobbing and wholesale business, and his establishment is now one of the largest wholesale and retail hardware houses in north Texas, and the largest in Weatherford. When Mr. Bell came to Weatherford in 1866, he opened his store on the south side of the public square, in a small frame building, with a stock amount- ing to about $400. He is now located in his own building, a large stone structure, on the corner of Spring street and York ave- nue, carries a stock of about $25,000, and
does an annual business of $60,000. He is a director in the Farmers & Merchants Na- tional Bank of Weatherford, and has vari- ous other interests. He is a Master Mason, also a member of the Half Century Club, and of the Presbyterian Church. He is a Democrat in politics, but has never held or sought public office.
Mr. Bell was married in Weatherford, in 1867, to Miss Margret Leach, who was born in Frankfort, Indiana, in 1849, and is the daughter of F. A. Leach, who came to Texas in 1857, and is one of the pioneers of Parker county. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Bell are as follows: Elizabeth, deceased; Robert F., in business with his father; Charles, deceased; Mary Louisa; Edwin, deceased; John L., in the store with his father; Josie, deceased; and Katie.
Mr. Bell has passed into his sixty third year, but is still possessed of rugged health, and gives his business that active personal attention he did a score of years ago.
A NDREW L. HILL, who is ranked with the representative farmers of Parker county, Texas, was born in Ballard county, Kentucky, November 14, 1824.
His parents, John and Nancy (Newman) Hill, were natives of Virginia and Kentucky respectively. John Hill was a mechanic and was also engaged in farming. He removed from Kentucky to Cairo, Illinois, where he . died in 1843. Our subject's maternal grand-
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father, Thomas Newman, was a prominent farmer and for a number of years was a Justice of the Peace. Vachel Lovelace, a great-grandfather of Andrew L. Hill, was a native of Virginia. He moved to Kentucky, became a wealthy planter, and died there at the age of ninety-six years. John and Nancy Hill were the parents of nine children, viz. : James; Elizabeth, Andrew L., Archie, one that died in infancy, Jane, Hiram, Polly, and Thomas, Andrew L. being the only one now living.
In August, 1840, Mr. Hill was married in Kentucky to Mrs. Elzada Woodhall, née Adams, and after his marriage he was for some time occupied in farming and mechani- cal work in his native State. He continued there until 1853, when he came overland to Texas, making the journey with horse teams. His first location was in Navarro county. The following year he came to Parker county, at that time a vast sea of grass, with only here and there a few patches of cultivated land. At the first election held in the county there were only about thirty or forty votes cast, Mr. Hill's being one of them. The work of development has been steadily pushed forward by the pioneers and by those who came later until now Parker county is one of the best in the State.
When Mr. Hill landed here he had limited means. He pre-empted 160 acres of land, afterward secured the 160 belonging to it, and from time to time made other ad- ditions, until now he is the owner of 1, 100 acres, 200 acres of which are under cultiva-
tion, cotton and corn his chief crops. He rents his land. At an early day he was largely interested in the cattle business, and still raises some cattle and horses. He also raises some hogs, more than he requires for his own use. When he first settled here he and his neighbors had to go forty miles to mill, and their trading was done at Houston and Galveston.
Mr. Hill's first marriage has already been referred to. Mrs. Hill died October 31, 1882, at the age of seventy-two years, leav- ing four children, namely: Andrew J., who weighs 450 pounds; Missouri F., wife of Taylor Orrick, Stevens county, Texas; James K. P., a farmer of Parker county; and Margaret O., wife of Thomas J. Gilley. October 20, 1890, Mr. Hill married Mrs. Lucy J. Bradley, daughter of Armstrong Adams and grand-daughter of Robert Adams, both of Pennsylvania, the latter being an early settler of that State. Mrs. Hill was born September 7, 1845, one of a family of four children, two of whom died when young. Her brother, Crawford C. Adams, is a man of some prominence in the East. She has been married three times. By her first husband, Amos K. McAnally, of Ken- tucky, she had seven children, three of whom died in early life. The four who came with her to Texas are Henry A., Mary F., James J. D., and Edward W. Her daughter is now the wife of Jack McMahan, of Chicago, Illinois.
Mr. Hill's private affairs have for years occupied the most of his attention, and he
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has taken little interest in public matters. Previous to the war lie was a Democrat, but since that time has been independent in his political views. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Christian Church. His first wife was a member of the Christian Church, but the present Mrs. Hill is a Methodist.
3 EFFERSON EARLE, whose resi- dence is located five miles north of Fort Worth, is well known through- out this part of Texas as a prosperous farm- er, stock-dealer and trader. His operations are not confined to any one place or thing, but whenever he meets with a good chance to make a trade he embraces the opportuni- ty. He makes it a point always to handle good property, and in stock, especially, none but the very best ever suits him. The following resume of his life will be found of interest to many :
Jefferson Earle was born in Virginia, August 3, 1832, tenth in the family of twelve children of Archibald and Mary (Buckey) Earle, natives of Virginia. For further history of the parents and other members of the family the reader is referred to the biography of Archibald Earle, an older brother of Jefferson, which will be found on another page of this work. The subject of our sketch grew up on his father's farm and remained a member of the home circle until 1857, when he married. Soon after his marriage he made a prospecting
tour through the West, visiting Texas, and being favorably impressed with its climate and resources. He returned to Virginia, and in 1859 brought his wife to Texas and- they took up their abode in Tarrant county. Here he first bought 200 acres of land, a portion of his present farm, which he im- proved, and to which he has since added until now he has a large tract of land, this place, located five miless north of Fort Worth, being the headquarters for his opera- tions and where he keeps his finest stock. He also owns land in other counties, and has property in Fort Worth, Texarkana and other cities. Ever since locating here he has been more or less interested in the stock business, and at one time had large cattle interests in the West. He has always kept some cattle on his home farin, and is also now giving his attention to the raising of jacks, mules and horses. As above stated, his stock is of the very best grade, and is noted far and near. Recently he
. has purchased a herd of fine trotting horses, the stock of General Gano, -twenty-seven brood mares and three stallions, all regis- tered and having a pedigree which entitles them to a place among the finest stock of the country. Tarrant county may well be proud to have a man like "Jeff " Earle to introduce here stock of the best sires and dams that Kentucky ever produced.
When the great war between the North and South came on, Mr. Earle was not one to remain at home and inactive. He en- . tered the army in 1861, under General
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Gano, which command joined Morgan's brigade. He continued with Gano until the close of the war; was in many hard fights and skirmishes, but was never wound- ed and was captured only once, then mak- ing his escape before reaching prison. The war over, he returned to his home in Tar- rant county, and has since resided here, giving his attention to his own personal af- fairs. While he has always taken a lauda- ble interest in public matters and is a "dyed-in-the-wool" Democrat, he has never aspired to official position. He is a Master Mason and a Sir Knight.
Mr. Earle was married in 1857 to Mary V. Campbell, daughter of Harrison W. Campbell, a merchant tailor of Beverly, Vir- ginia, now deceased. Their only child, a son, died when young. Mrs. Earle is a member of the Christian Church.
HOMAS J. SHAW, one of the venerable pioneers of Parker coun- ty, Texas, dates his birth in Mar- shall county, Tennessee, October 14, 1819.
Mr. Shaw was reared to farm life, and when in his 'teens also learned the trade of tanner. He, however, has never followed that trade. In 1838 he helped to remove the Cherokee Indians from their old homes to Western reservations .. He then re- turned home, and the following year came to Texas, at first stopping where Paris now is. From there he went to Nacogdoches county and to Houston county, and in 1844
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he returned to Tennessee. In 1845 he was married, and in 1848 he removed with his family to Missouri, remaining there until 1851, when he again came to Texas and settled near Paris. There he made his home for two years. After this he made several moves in Texas, and finally selected a location near Fort Smith, in Arkansas, where he spent two years. In 1854 he came to Parker county and settled near where he now lives, he having since been engaged in farming in this county. Upon his arrival in this locality he pre-empted 160 acres of land, at fifty cents per acre, and made a farm. Subsequently he sold this tract, bought and sold another farm, and then purchased his present place, a tract of 476 acres, all under fence, and 120 acres under cultivation. He rents his cultivated land.
Mr. Shaw's settlement in Parker county was before the county was organized. He assisted in its organization and voted at its first election. At that early day bands of Indians, some friendly and others hostile, roved over the country, the latter frequent- ly giving the settlers no little trouble by stealing their stock and sometimes killing men, women and children. Two children in this vicinity were captured and carried off by the red men, but were overtaken and brought back by the whites. Mr. Shaw took part in several of these raids after the Indians.
Of his family we make the following re- cord: James Shaw, his father, was a native
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of Maryland, and was a veteran of the war of 1812. At the battle of New Orleans he was severely wounded. By trade he was a blacksmith, which he followed all through life. His father was a native of Scotland and his mother of Ireland. James Shaw's wife, by maiden name Miss Mary Long, was a daughter of Richard Long, a Virginia farmer. They were the parents of ten children, viz .: Sarah, wife of Joshua Gra- ham; Richard L .; Theophilus; Areander; Benjamin W .; Granville C., who came to Texas in 1836; Thomas J., the subject of this sketch; Nancy, wife of Benjamin Green; James J .; John G., who came to Texas in in 1848, -Thomas J. and a brother in Ten- nessee being the only ones of the family who are now living.
Thomas J. Shaw was married, as above stated, in 1845, the lady of his choice being Miss Louisa A. Long, daughter of Thomas Long, a native of Kentucky. Her father spent much of his life and died in Tennes- see. Her grandfather, Richard Long, of Virginia, served all through the Revolution- ary war and was a participant in the battle of Bunker Hill. After a long and happy married life, Mrs. Shaw was called to her home above, August 26, 1890. She was a consistent member of the Baptist Church and was a woman whose amiable qualities endeared her to her family and to a large circle of friend. Her children are as fol- lows: Rufus C .; Sarah E., wife of Gordon Bedford; James T .; Jackson B .; Amanda, who died at the age of four years; Robert,
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