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 67
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 67
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ACHARIAH T. MELEAR, a prom- inent farmer and business man of Tarrant county, was born in Ouachita county, Arkansas, January 8, 1851, reared to farm life, and receiving but a limited education. At the age of nineteen years he emigrated to Texas and engaged in running cattle for a stockman for two years; then, in 1872, he came to Tarrant county, where he was employed as a farm hand, and subsequently as a clerk in a store one year at Johnson's station. In 1874 he rented a piece of land and followed farming a year. In 1876 he drove a team in grading and
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building the Texas & Pacific Railroad. In 1877 his health became impaired and he was made Constable for two years. The two following years he served as Deputy Sheriff, and also conducted a livery at Ar- lington. The livery he exchanged for land near Handley, which, however, he did not occupy, and then began learning the black- smith's trade, which he followed till 1888. The next year he again rented a farm, and carried on both farming and blacksmithing. In 1890 he rented the farm he now owns and occupies. Soon buying out the heirs, he is now owner of 168 acres of good land, 150 being under cultivation in cotton, corn, oats and peas. He has dealt in grain to some extent. In business he is a hus- tler.
His parents were David G. and Sally A. (Bridges) Melear, of Tennessee. His pa- ternal grandfather, Richard Melear, of Vir- ginia, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and was a cabinet-maker by trade. David G. Melear, born May 4, 1824, moved to Arkansas in 1846, was a farmer, mostly, but a carpenter also, and was a Justice of the Peace. He came to Texas in March, 1893; has lost his wife and has no children with him. By his first marriage his children were: Louis C., now in Arkansas: Zach- ariah T., the subject of this notice; Virginia I., who married George Webb, and resides in Camden, Arkansas; George W., who came to Texas in 1875 and to Tarrant county in 1877, and died in July the same year; and Alexander and Ann, who died when
young. The mother of these children died in 1858, an exemplary member of the Cum- berland Presyterian Church. The father again married, in April, 1863, this time Mrs. Esmeralda Cooper, a daughter of Waller Dickason, of Tennessee; and by the latter marriage there was one child, Richard A., who died at the age of seventeen years.
Mr. Z. T. Melear married Miss Jane C. Jopling, born September 5, 1854, a daughter of George W. Jopling, who emigrated from Virginia, his native State, to Alabama, and thence to Texas in 1848, and to Tarrant county in 1854. He is now living in Clay county; has served as Justice of the Peace, was the owner of a large gin, and carried on farming and stock-raising, in which latter two callings he is still engaged. Mr. Me- lear, our subject, also has a gin on his farm. He has had eight children, viz .: Sally; Kate, who died at the age of twenty- one months; an infant that died unnamed; Lilla; Car, who died at the age of six years; Julian D., Frank M. and Doke D.
Mr. Melear is a Democrat in his political views, is a member of the Knights of Honor, and the I. O. O. F. Mrs. Melear belongs to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
W. CHRISTIAN, a large ranch- man of Weatherford, Texas, has been a resident of Parker county since 1870, and is recognized as one of its leading and influential citizens.
He is a native of Colbert county, Ala-
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bama, born on the 28th of August, 1847. His father, Colonel A. S. Christian, was born in Augusta county, Virginia, and be- came one of the early settlers of Tuscumbia, Alabama. The business pursuits which he followed were farming and merchandising. He married Miss Paulina Cabell Lewis, of Roanoke county, Virginia, -who was a granddaughter of General Andrew Lewis, of Revolutionary fame. By that marriage there were eight children, of whom four yet survive, as follows : J. B., William L., Robert B. and L. W., whose name heads this record.
The last named was reared in the place of his nativity, remaining in his parents' home until after the breaking out of the civil war, when, at the age of sixteen years, he responded to the call of the South for troops and enlisted in the Eleventh Alabama Cavalry, under General Forrest. He saw service in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama, and was with General Forrest in all his campaigns and raids, and with General Hood at Franklin. The regiment was disbanded at Decatur, Alabama, and Mr. Christian reached home in May, 1865. He had entered the army when but a boy, yet no truer bravery was displayed on the field of battle than was manifested by the soldier lad. He was true to the institutions amid which he was reared and faithfully fol- lowed the banner under which he enlisted.
In the year 1870 Mr. Christian decided to seek a home in Texas, and, as before stated, came to Parker county. Here he
secured a position as salesman with R. E. Bell, with whom he continued for some time. In 1874 he went to Dallas, Texas, and engaged in the commission business, but in the same year returned to Weatherford and embarked in merchandising on his own account. His business grew and prospered from the first, and from a small capital reached the volume of annual trade repre- sented by $50,000. In 1878 he established a store at Christian, Palo Pinto county, Texas, which he carried on in connection with his Weatherford business until 1886, when he sold out both establishments. In partnership with John L. Kane, Galveston, Mr. Christian bought a ranch in 1888, con- taining about 3, 800 acres of land, and this he keeps well stocked with fine Holstein cattle, turning off about 600 feeders each year. His business ventures have pros- pered, owing to sound business principles and systematic methods which he has fol- lowed. Perseverance and industry have also been important factors in his prosperity and have aided in making him what he is to-day,-one of the most substantial citi- zens of Weatherford.
In 1883, in Weatherford, was celebrated a marriage which united the destinies of Mr. Christian and Miss Jennie Hannon, daughter of Colonel William H. Hannon, of Montgomery, Alabama. To them have been born five children, three yet living,- Lewis W., Thomas K. and William Hughes. They lost their first born and their third son, Warren K. and Cabell.'
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Mr. Christian has taken an active part in the upbuilding of the town and county in which he makes his home and is a public- spirited and progressive citizen. He has several times been elected to the City Coun- cil of Weatherford, served on the right-of- way committee, the Parker County Con- struction Company, and was one of the directors in building the park at this place.
Both he and his wife are communicants of the Episcopal Church. The picturesque town of Christian, situated in the beautiful Keechie valley, Palo Pinto county, was named after him.
ENRY M. FURMAN, of Fort Worth, Texas, one of the most brilliant and uniformly successful attorneys of the Lone Star State, was born on the 20th day of June, 1850, in Darling- ton district, South Carolina, and comes from a family whose members have been distin- guished at the bar and in the pulpit for four generations, and whose history in America antedates the war for independence.
The Furman family went from New York to South Carolina during Colonial days and was ever an important factor in the history of the Palmetto State. The great-grand- father of Mr. Furman was the Rev. Dr. Richard Furman, who was a young man when the Revolutionary war began. He took a most active part in exciting the col- onists against the parent government, and 19
so active was he and so successful his efforts that Lord Cornwallis, commander of the British armies, offered a reward of $1,000 for his body, dead or alive, declaring that if he could stop Furman's tongue General Marion would get no more recruits. After the war Richard Furman devoted himself to the ministry, and was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Charleston, South Caro- lina, until his death. Once, upon invitation from General Washington, then the Presi- dent, Rev: Dr. Furman visited the seat of Government, at Philadelphia, and, in recog- nition of his valuable aid and services to the Colonies during the war, he was invited, by resolution of both branches, to preach before Congress. "The family now have in their possession, and prize very highly, letters from Washington, Patrick Henry and other notables, and 'an invitation to dine from General Washington during his presidency. He was the first president of the Baptist Convention of the United States, which he organized, and he founded Furman Uni- versity, the Baptist college of South Caro- lina, which is still in existence and in opera- tion ..
Rev. Samuel Furman, the grandfather of Mr. Furman, was also a Baptist minister of great learning and popularity. He was for years president of Furman University. The father of Mr. Furman was the Rev. Richard Furman, also a Baptist minister, who was recognized as one of the finest pul- pit orators of South Carolina or any State. His popularity and standing with other de-
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nominations were such that on one occasion, when holding services at Edgefield, South Carolina, the Episcopal clergyman closed his church and took his congregation to hear him. He died in 1886, full of honors. The mother of Mr. Furman was Miss Mary Mc- Iver, who was a cousin to Judge McIver, of the Supreme Court of South Carolina, and also a cousin to the late Bishop Gregg, who recently died in Texas. There were six sons and one daughter born to the Rev. Richard Furman and wife. One of the sons, Samuel Furman, served as County Attorney of Tarrant county, Texas, one term, and for two terms as County Judge of the same county; while another son, John Furman, has served two terms as County Attorney, and is now serving his fourth term as Coun- ty Judge of Bell County, Texas.
Henry M. Furman was reared in Edge- field and Greenville, South Carolina, and secured only a common-school education. His father lost all his property during the late war, and young Henry was compelled to go to work at a time when he should have been in school. Being full of energy and ambition, and concluding that he would find better opportunities for advancement in the growing Southwest, he determined to come to Texas. Leaving his South Carolina home he journeyed to New Orleans, where he took deck passage on a boat for Galves- ton, at which city he landed with sixty-five cents as the sum total of his cash capital. This was in 1872. His ultimate destination was Washington county, Texas, but his
funds would not permit of his proceeding farther until they had been replenished. Casting about for something to do,-no matter what, so long as it offered an honest means of earning money, -he found work on a boat running from Galveston to Hous- ton, and on this boat he worked for a month. He next went to Washington county, where he was fortunate enough to secure a position as teacher of a country grammar school. He taught school for five months, during which time he borrowed law books and read law diligently. Following his school work he did newspaper work, continuing his legal studies, and in the latter part of 1873 he was admitted to the bar at Brenham.
In February. 1874, he removed to Bel- ton, Bell county, where he opened an office. Upon his arrival at the latter place his funds . amounted to exactly fifty-four dollars, and he was in a strange place, entirely among strangers, he not being acquainted with a single individual in the town. Nothing daunted, the struggling young attorney buckled down to business, and was soon ranked among the successful lawyers of Bell county. Remaining in Belton until 1877 he determined to seek a larger and wider field, and in October of that year he came to Fort Worth. Here he at once stepped into the front rank, and in a few years was recognized as one of the leaders of the bar. In 1890, on account of his wife's health, Mr. Furman removed to Denver, Colorado, but in May, 1893, he returned to Fort . Worth. While in Denver he was a mem-
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ber of the firm of Wells, Macon & Furman, one of the well-known legal firms of that city, and it was while there he won a na- tional reputation as the counsel for Dr. Graves, of Massachusetts, defendant in the celebrated poisoning case, where the Doctor was tried for his life. The defendant was convicted, the case appealed to the Supreme Court, where the case was reversed, which amounted practically to an acquittal. The prosecution then practically abandoned the case, but on account of the prospect of a tedious delay, and being worn out and dis- pirited, the defendant suicided. The speech of Mr. Furman on the case will be published in a book, now in course of preparation at Washington, containing the celebrated speeches of leading lawyers of the country, which fact is in itself a high tribute to Mr. Furman.
The career of Mr. Furman as a criminal lawyer has been remarkably successful. He has defended one hundred and sixty-four persons tried for murder, and out of that number only two have been sentenced to the penitentiary, and none hung, all others being acquitted or given a nominal sentence. He has prosecuted eleven men for murder, and convicted every one of them with a single exception.
Among the most noted cases which Mr. Furman has handled, either for defense or prosecution, were the following: In the spring of 1894 he defended Thomas Wood, cashier of the Ninth National Bank of Dal- las, who was indicted for embezzlement of
$318,000. There were ninety counts in . the indictment against Wood, but he was acquitted of all of them. He was for the prosecution in the case of J. W. Davis, who was tried for the murder of B. C. Evans, in 1889. Davis was convicted and sentenced to be hanged. The case was carried through all the courts into the United States Su- preme Court, and was everywhere affirmed. Davis died in jail the week preceding the date for his execution. In 1886, during the great railroad strike on the Missouri Pacific system, Dick Townsend, an officer, was killed and three others wounded. Six strikers were arrested, charged with the killing of Townsend. Mr. Furman defended five of them (all separately indicted and tried), the sixth striker employing other counsel. The sixth was tried first and was convicted in the first degree, the Supreme Court sustaining the finding of the lower courts. On practically the same evidence the other five were tried and acquitted be- fore a jury. This is a remarkable evidence of Mr. Furman's ability as a criminal lawyer. All six of the indicted men were connected equally in the fight when Townsend was killed; all were tried separately on the same evidence, and the five Mr. Furman defended were acquitted, while the one he did not defend was convicted. In the fall of 1894 Colonel R. M. Page, president of the Mer- chants' National Bank, of Fort Worth, was placed on trial for the killing of A. B. Smith, cashier of said bank. Mr. Furman defended Mr. Page, the prosecution being
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represented by eleven prominent attorneys. Colonel Page was acquitted after one of the most stubborn contests known in the legal history of Texas. The speech Mr. Furman made before the jury in the case eclipsed any one he had ever made, and is regarded by his friends as the greatest effort of his life. The leading attorney for the prosecu- tion, himself an able and brilliant lawyer, remarked after the trial that Mr. Furman's speech was the finest he had ever heard in a court-room.
Mr. Furman does not represent a single corporation. On the other hand, he makes a specialty of cases against corporations for damage. No man in Texas ranks higher at the bar than does the subject of this re- view. He is a logical thinker, quick of com- prehension, strong in argument and fluent and eloquent of speech. He is aggressive in his methods of conducting a case, manag- ing each one with rare executive ability, and guards with a jealous care all the interests of his client. His astute legal mind, search- ing, interrogatory and versatile, enables him to always thoroughly master and fully iden- tify himself with his cases, and his untiring energy and zeal contribute greatly to his success.
Mr. Furman is a Democrat in politics, and is a Knight Templar, thirty-second-de- gree Scottish Rite Mason, being also a inem- ber of the Mystic Shirine.
He was married, in 1888, to Miss Fanny Hutchenson, and to their union one son has has been born, -- H. M., Jr.
S. PICKARD, a prosperous farmer of Parker county, Texas, was born in Maury county, Ten- nessee, December 9, 1834. He was reared on a farm, received only a common-school education, and when he was sixteen entered upon a four-years' apprenticeship to the tanner's trade, and completed his term of service.
About this time he was married, and that same year, 1856, in company with his father's family, he and his wife came to Texas, at first settling in Dallas county, and the following year removing to Parker county. Since 1857 he has made his home in the neighborhood in which he now re- sides, near Weatherford. At the time he settled here there was only one cultivated field in his neighborhood. In 1863 he bought a tract of ninety acres, to which he has added by subsequent purchase until he is now the owner of 400 acres, 130 of which are under cultivation. He carries on general farming, wheat being his principal crop, and he also raises some stock, horses especially. During the early settlement of Parker county its pioneers were much troubled by roving tribes of Indians committing depreda- tions of all kinds. Mr. Pickard had some trouble with them, and made some narrow escapes from their violent hands. The principal milling was then done at Fort Worth, at a distance of thirty miles, and the settlers went to Houston to do their trading, which is about 300 miles distant.
Mr. Pickard's father, A. L. Pickard,
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moved from his native State, North Caro- lina, to Maury county, Tennessee, with his parents at an early day, and resided in the latter State until coming to Texas in 1856. Here he lived and died in the neighborhood in which his son now resides, his death oc- curring in 1866, at the age of sixty-one years. He was a prominent farmer, a mem- ber of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and a man of high moral and religious standing in the community. His family, consisting of seven sons and one daughter, all came with him to Texas, and all except one are still living. The sons all served in the Confederate army during the war, and all reached home in safety after it was over. W. S. Pickard entered the army in 1863, was on frontier duty most of the time, but was also in Louisiana, and continued in the service until the conflict was over.
Mr. Pickard's marriage has already been referred to. His wife, whose maiden name was Ellen Dickson, was born August 6, 1835, daughter of John M. Dickson, a farmer of Tennessee, who died 'at an early day, leav- ing three children, two sisters and a brother, Jesse Dickson, who lost his life in the war. Mr. and Mrs. Pickard's family are as fol- lows: Marietta, Pattie, J. Thomas, Maggie, Fannie, John, Jasper, and Mack. Pattie died at the age of ten months. The others are living, and two of them are married, the rest being at home.
Mr. Pickard and his wife and a part of the children are members of the Cumber- land Presbyterian Church. He has always
affiliated with the Democratic party, and is a public-spirited and enterprising citizen. He has served four years as County Com- missioner. At this time he is president of the Pioneer Association of Parker county.
a C. D. WILLBURN, Benbrook, Tarrant county, Texas, is a son of one of the early pioneers of this State.
The subject of our sketch was born in Dallas county, Texas, January 17, 1847, and was reared on his father's frontier farm, giving much of his attention to the stock business. He had fair educational advan- tages up to the time he was fourteen. At that time he went West to his father's ranch, where he spent several years in driv -. ing stock. He and one of his brothers bought and drove a large number of cattle to Colorado and Mexico, and later estab- lished a ranch in the latter place. During some of those years the Indians were very troublesome, frequently stealing and killing stock belonging to the settlers. The Will- burns, however, were never troubled in this way. On one occasion Mr. Willburn took a large drove of horses from Texas to Mex- ico, on this trip being accompanied by thirteen well-armed men and making the journey in safety. In 1870 he disposed of his stock interests and returned home, set- tling on a farm of 300 acres, his portion of the old homestead, which he improved and developed. Some time later he moved to
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his present location, on the north side of Clear fork, where he has 110 acres of land under cultivation, wheat, corn, oats and hay being his chief products. He raises large crops of Johnson grass, which he finds very profitable.
Mr. Willburn is a son of Edward and Nancy (Overton) Willburn, natives of Mis- souri, where they were married, and from whence, in company with several families of their relatives, they came to Texas as early as 1843, all settling in Dallas county. Ed- ward Willburn opened up a farm in that county, and made his home there until about 1854, when he came to Tarrant county. Here he and some of his brothers-in-law bought large tracts of land, extending from Fort Worth to Bear creek, and all developed fine farms, and all of Mr. Will- burn's sons became extensively engaged in the stock business. After Fort Worth began to grow and a good school was established there, he built a residence in the town and moved there in order to ed- ucate his children. Later he returned to the farm, still later went back to town, and finally moved to California, where he died in 1882. His wife survived him until 1887. Her death also occurred in California. Be- fore leaving Texas, Mr. Willburn divided his land among his children and settled up all his business here. Mrs. Willburn was a daughter of Perry Overton, a native of Ken- tucky, who went from there to Missouri and finally came to Texas. He was a man of more than ordinary ability and enterprise.
Hle built the first mill in Howard county, Missouri, and also the first mill in Jackson county, that State, and while there con- ceived the idea of erecting a mil!, in Texas. Accordingly he made a prospecting tour to Texas, returned and completed a mill, and brought the same here with ox teams, the buhrs for this mill weighing over 6,000 pounds. This was the first mill in Dallas county. After he got it in operation, which took less than a year, his family and his sons-in-law and their families and all their stock came to Dallas county. The descend- ants of this worthy man now number be- tween five and six hundred, and 'no other family have done more to bring about the present development of Texas than they. The Willburn family numbers nearly one hundred children, grandchildren and great- grandchildren. Of the seven sons and four daughters constituting the family of Ed- ward Willburn we make record as follows: James, a resident of California, went to the Pacific coast in 1849, was at the head of a band of Indians engaged in hunting and trapping, making large sums of money in this way, and while thus engaged had a hand-to-hand fight with a grizzly bear, which he killed with his knife, and in that fight had his arm and hand crippled for life; the second born died when young; Sarah A. married J. W. Smith, is now a widow, and lives at Brownwood, Texas; Marinda, wife of John Snider, also resides at Brownwood; W. P. D., a veteran of the late war, is now engaged in the stock business in Mexico;
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Frank M., a veteran of the war, died in 1882; Sidney, who served through the war, is now engaged in farming in Tarrant coun- ty; Martha M., wife of William Cox, died while on the road to California; E. C. D., whose name heads this article; Aaron O., a resident of Colorado; and David, who re- sides in California.
E. C. D. Willburn has his second wife. He was first married in 1874 to Mrs. Eliza Porter, daughter of Michael Williams, who came from Tennessee to Texas about 1856. By the Porter marriage she had six chil- dren, all of whom were reared by Mr. Will- burn, and she and Mr. Willburn had two children, namely: Martha M. and Eliza, both at home. The mother died in 1878. She was a most estimable woman, and was a devoted member of the Methodist Episco- pal Church. In 1885 Mr. Willburn mar- ried Miss Peace Barnett, a native of Collin county, Texas, born March 7, 1865, daugh- ter of Frank Barnett, who died on his farni in Tarrant county in 1884. The children of this union are four: . Frank, Church, Jessie, and Ira.
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