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 68
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 68
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Hle and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in politics his views are Democratic.
EWTON H. LASSITER, a lead- ing lawyer and general attorney for the Fort Worth & Rio Grande Railroad Company, and attorney for the St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company (the
Cotton Belt) and the Chicago, Rock Island & Texas Railroad, has been practicing before the Fort Worth bar since 1886, and has gained a reputation which has given him a foreinost place in the ranks of the legal fraternity. . The record of his life is as follows:
Mr. Lassiter was born in Henderson county, Tennessee, on the 13th of Septem- 'ber, 1860, and is a son of Dr. Henry Las- siter, who was engaged in the practice of medicine from 1869 until his death, in Ten- nessee. He was graduated at the Louisville Medical College, and won success in his chosen life-work. For three years he was in the Confederate army, in the Depart- inent of the Tennessee, under General For- rest, and died May 17, 1875, at the early age of forty-four. In 1859 he married Eliza Boswell, whose father was a large planter and slave-owner near Lexington, Tennessee. He was a native of North Carolina, as was also Dr. Lassiter.
When the subject of this sketch was a child of nine years he left the old home farm, removing to Buena Vista, Carroll county, Tennessee, where he remained for three years before removing to Lexington. His literary education, aside from that ob- tained in the common schools, was acquired in the Lexington Academy, where he com- pleted the prescribed course in that institu- tion under Professor Jesse Taylor, who was a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, at Annapolis, Maryland, and who was second in command of a ship of war at
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the outbreak of the Rebellion. He cast his lot with the South, and at the close of the war took up the profession of school teach- ing, becoming a most able and efficient instructor.
In looking about him, preparatory to choosing a profession which he wished to make his life work, Mr. Lassiter deter- mined upon the practice of law, and began . fitting himself for the profession. He en- tered the law school of Lebanon, .Tennes- see, and, when he had completed a thor- ough course of study, he was graduated at that institution on the Ist of June, 1881. The following year he was admitted to the bar, and soon after opened an office in Lex- ington, where he continued until 1886, when, desiring a broader field of labor, he came to Texas. He located at Fort Worth, and it was not long before his talents were recognized and a liberal clientage accorded him. Before judge or jury he is an able advocate, clear, concise and logical in argu- ment and quick to master a situation and grasp the salient points in a case. His first case in court was a criminal case, entitled State of Tennessee versus Pearson. While in Lexington he practiced in partnership with John E. McCall, and after coming to Fort Worth he formed a business connection with B. P. Ayers, of Fort Worth. Since its dissolution in November, 1886, he has no professional associate. Our subject now makes a specialty of railroad law, and is general attorney for the Fort Worth & Rio Grande Railway Company and attorney
for the St. Louis Southwestern Railway (Cotton Belt), and the Chicago, Rock Island & Texas Railway. He is attorney for some foreign concerns, including the Walter A. Wood Harvesting Company and the Walter A. Wood Mowing & Reaping Ma- chine Company.
In Tarrant county, on the 9th of July, 1890, Mr. Lassiter was united in marriage with Miss Betty Davis, daughter of W. H. Davis. Their only child, Helen Davis Las- siter, was born May 1, 1892, and is the light of the parents' home.
In politics Mr. Lassiter is a Cleveland Democrat and stanchly advocates the party principles, but is by no means a politician. He has served as a member of the City Council from the Fourth ward, to which position he was nominated by acclamation and elected without opposition. He holds membership with the Knights of Pythias, and also with the Benovolent Order of Elks.
DAM CLINGMAN, a respected farmer of Parker county, Texas, dates his birth in Simpson county, Kentucky, September 20, 1822. He was reared on a farm, receiving limited educa- tional advantages, and remained under the parental roof until the time of his marriage. Then he bought a farm and on it he made his home until 1860, when he sold out and came to Texas, locating on his present place, where he has since resided. His first pur- chase here was 160 acres. He subsequently
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bought other lands, has given considerable to his children, and is now the owner of 200 acres, seventy-five of which are under cultivation. With the aid of hired help, he runs the farm himself, giving his attention to diversified crops and also raising a great many hogs. He and his neighbors had a number of horses stolen by the Indians, during the early part of his residence here.
In the fall of 1861 Mr. Clingman entered the Confederate service as a member of the Tenth Texas Cavalry, and was all through the war, his services being chiefly on the east side of the Mississippi river. His first battle was that of Arkansas Post, where he was taken prisoner and whence he was car- ried into camp at Chicago. Three months later he joined his command at Petersburg, Virginia, and was in all the important bat- tles of the East. In July, 1864, he was captured again, this time at Peach Tree creek, and was again taken to Chicago, where he was held eleven months or until the war closed, when he returned to Texas. He held the rank of Sergeant in his com- pany.
Of Mr. Clingman's family we record that he is a son of Henry and Catherine (Thompson) Clingman, and one of eight children, he being the seventh born. Henry Clingman and his wife were natives of Vir- ginia and South Carolina, respectively, and both died in Kentucky. Grandfather Cling- man was a veteran of the Revolution. He died in Virginia. Following are the names of Henry Clingman's children: Martha; Cather-
ine; Elizabeth; Henry; Jacob; Rebecca; Adam; Mary A. Rebecca, wife of Dr. Will- iam Burns, is the only one of the family, except our subject, who came to Texas. She lives in Archer county:
Mr. Clingman was married in 1841 to Miss Sarah Sullivan, daughter of Zachariah Sullivan, a farmer of Tennessee. A record of their children is as follows: Eli, de- ceased; Mary A., wife of James Reynolds, died in 1884, leaving five children, who re- side with Mr. Clingman; George W .; Sylvester, who died about the time he reached manhood; Andrew J., who died at the age of thirty-three; Catherine, wife of Jack Reynolds; Charlotte, at home; Rebecca, wife of John O'Donnoll; and Charley M. The mother of this family passed away February 9, 1893. For over thirty years she was a consistent member of the Baptist Church, and her life was characterized by many Christian graces.
Mr. Clingman was also a Baptist. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, and his political affiliations are with the third party. Until recently, however, he was a Democrat.
EORGE L. GAUSE, one of the leading business men of Fort Worth, and one of the leading undertakers of the Lone Star State, was born in Missouri, on January 1, 1859, and is the son of the late Colonel W. R. Gause, a prominent and well-remembered lawyer of this city.
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Colonel W. R. Gause was a native of Pennsylvania, where he was born in 1826. With his parents he removed to Indiana, while a boy, and he was reared at Browns- ville, that State, where he also attended school, securing a good English education. When about sixteen years of age he left the parental roof, and in 1849 he went to the gold fields of California, where he remained five years, accumulating, during that time, what was in those days considered a good sum of money. Returning from California to Indiana he engaged in teaching school, at the same time reading law, as he had de- termined to prepare himself for the legal profession. He was admitted to the bar at Liberty, Union county, Indiana, and shortly afterward was united in marriage with Amanda Louthen, a daughter of George Louthen: In 1854 he removed to Gentry county, Missouri, and there practiced his profession until the breaking out of the late war. In 1860 he enlisted in the Third Missouri Volunteer Infantry, and served throughout the entire war, being promoted during the service to the rank of Colonel. He was at the siege of Vicksburg, where he received a wound from a piece of shell, which sent him to the hospital for a time. He saw mnuch hard service, participating in many campaigns through the Southern States, and was for a time a prisoner of war. At the close of the war he joined his family in Missouri, where, for the time be- ing, he engaged in the stock business, buying and shipping horses and mules for the
markets of Vicksburg and Jackson, Missis- sippi. In 1866 . he located near Jackson, Mississippi, and soon afterward removed into the capital city and opened a law office, and for several years practiced law in that city and in Vicksburg. In 1870 he re- moved to Fort Worth and engaged in the practice of his profession, and for a number of years was a prominent and successful practitioner in the courts of the State and the United States. He became identified with politics during that time, and repre- sented the Democratic party, of which he was a stanch member, in the Sixteenth Texas Legislature. His health failing, he for a short period sojourned at Galveston, endeavoring to rebuild his frail and shattered constitution, but returned to Fort Worth in 1876, where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred at Dallas, in 1882. He was a great lover of fine horses, and was considered one of the finest judges of horses in the South, and it was while at Dallas at- tending the fair that his final and fatal ill- ness overtook him. His wife had died in 1867, leaving two children, viz .: George Louthen, and Jessie, now Mrs. Allen, of Palmyra, Missouri.
George L. Gause was educated princi- pally in Missouri and Mississippi, attending both public and private schools. He, like his father (as is.characteristic with the male members of the Gause family), began life for himself before attaining his majority. He clerked and followed other avocations for several years, among other things spend-
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ing three years at work on a ranch in Clay county, Texas. Returning to Fort Worth from the ranch, he entered the law office of Pendleton & Cooper and read law, expect- ing to follow in the footsteps of his father and chose the law as a profession. After his admission to the bar he opened an office, but, within a short time thereafter, he was forced to abandon the law and seek a voca- tion which would permit of plenty of out- door work. Leaving the law office he en- gaged in stock-trading, as he is a natural born trader, and, in fact, traded and bought about everything that was for sale in which he saw money. Soon he drifted into real- estate speculation, and in that he was also successful, and in a few months found his capital had increased very materially. In 1882 he "traded" himself into the livery business, and in 1887 he erected the Pal- ace Livery Stable, one of the finest livery barns in Fort Worth. In 1886 he engaged in the undertaking business, and in order to prepare himself for an intelligent manage- ment of this modern art, he went to Galves- ton and took a course of lectures in the art of embalming and preparing the dead. Later he went to New York and took a course of lectures under Renard; then to Cincinnati, where he took a course under Clark, and then to St. Louis, where he took another under Lutz, receiving diplomas from all three of those well-known instructors. To-day Mr. Gause is considered the most scientific embalmer and experienced funeral director in Fort Worth, and one of the best
in the South. His undertaking establish- ment and morgue are in the Gause Block, wherein is also located the Palace Stable, on Weatherford street, corner of Taylor.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Gause is a member of the Knights of Pythias order, of which he is an old Past Chancellor. He is also a member of the Uniform Rank of this order. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mr. Gause was married in March, 1889, to Miss Mamie Frost, whose mother's name was Holden. To this union one daughter, Louise, has been born.
As a citizen, Mr. Gause ranks high in Fort Worth. He has always taken an act- ive interest in the promotion of all enter- prises and movements looking to the im- provement and development of the city, and has been liberal with his time and means in that direction. As a business man he has met with success, simply by exercising the talents and ability with which nature en- dowed him, aided by a commendable amount of industry, enterprise, ambition and pluck.
3 AMES A. CHILDERS, one of the well-known and representative citi- zens of Tarrant county, Texas, is a native of Murray county, Georgia, where he was born on December 10, 1855. His par- ents were John and Jane (Gray) Childers, both natives of South Carolina. They were married in South Carolina, and a few years thereafter they removed to Georgia. The
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father died when our subject was two years and five months old, and soon after the close of the war the mother took her chil- dren to Marion county, Tennessee. In Chattanooga, she was married to Calvin Ward, a Georgian. She died in Marion county, Tennessee, about 1871, leaving six children, five of whom were born to her first marriage.
The subject of this sketch was reared principally in Tennessee, securing a cominon- school education. He remained with his mother until about twenty-one years of age, working on the farm, and then, in 1877, he came to Texas, coming direct to Tarrant county. Upon coming to Tarrant county, he began farming, renting land in the western part of the county. In about the year 1889 he made his first purchase of land, which was a farm of eighty acres, lying about nine miles southwest of Fort Worth. About two years later he bought another tract of land, 160 acres, adjoining the above tract, and two years later he bought another tract of eighty acres, adjoin- ing, and on the latter he located. All three places were improved when he purchased them, the residence which he now occupies having been erected before he made the pur- chase. He owns now altogether 320 acres, of which 160 acres are under cul- tivation. He raises corn, wheat, oats, and a general diversity of crops. For a num- ber of years he has leased land, upon which he carried on his stock business, in which he is still largely interested, having
usually from 400 to 700 head of stock. Mr. Childers is a stockholder in the American National Bank of Fort Worth, and is a genial, wide-awake and industrious citizen.
Mr. Childers was married in the fall of 1878, in Tarrant county, to Miss Parlee Borden, who was born in Texas, and is the daughter of C. N. Borden, of Tarrant county. To Mr. and Mrs. Childers seven children have been born, five of whom sur- vive, as follows: Della, Mollie, David, Minnie and Jones. The deceased children are Eddie, and an infant boy, unnamed.
Mr. Childers is a member of the Demo- cratic party, and he and wife are members of the Methodist Church.
Mr. Childers' grandfather on his father's side was Abraham Childers, who was a na- tive of South Carolina. His grandfather on his mother's side was James Gray, also a native of South Carolina, whose wife was named Elizabeth (James) Gray, re- moved from South Carolina to Georgia, and from that State removed to Arkansas, where he died at the age of seventy-two years, his wife surviving him.
A. GREEN, JR., the popular and capable manager of the Equitable Insurance office at Fort Worth, first engaged in life insurance as soliciting agent . for this company at Gainesville, Texas, in 1887. He met with such remarkable suc- cess and made such an exceptional record that he was soon made district agent, and
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following that, in January, . 1892, he was promoted to be manager of the Fort Worth office. Out of fifty agencies of the Equitable Insurance Company in the United States, the Fort Worth Agency ranks the fourth in the amount of business done. There are 100 sub-agents in Texas, Oklahoma and Indian Territory. During his first five years in business, Mr. Green wrote $5, 000, 000 of insurance, which was six times as much per year as is expected to be done by a good average agent. The average business turned into the Fort Worth office exceeds $5,000, - 000 annually, making it the leading Texas agency.
Mr. Green was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, April 7, 1856. In 1873 he went from that city to St. Louis, Missouri, and remained there until 1880, when he came to Texas. He came here as agent for a New England cotton mill and bought cotton at Gainesville and elsewhere for that concern, and continued in that business until induced to try life insurance. He is also president of the Printers' Building & Loan Associa- tion, and owns property in Fort Worth and elsewhere in Texas. Mr. Green is a gentle- man of shrewd intellect and bright and cheerful disposition, and well deserves all the prosperity and happiness he enjoys, and much more. His character is such as to in- spire all with whom he comes in contact with a feeling of hope and a gain in moral strength.
His father is a native of Port Gibson, Claiborne county, Mississippi, and is now a
resident of Gainesville, aged seventy-six years. For many years he was a cotton factor in New Orleans, but is now retired. He married a daughter of James H. Murray, one of the leading jurists of the State of Mississippi. By that marriage there were the following named children: Lucy, who first married Captain D. T. Hunt, of Green- ville, Mississippi, is now the wife of Major William Yerkes; Carrie, widow of Mr. Bis- oros, and living at Port Gibson, Mississippi; A. A., Jr .; James M., a prosperous cotton planter, of Coahoma county, Mississippi, and Miss Mildred, of Gainesville, Texas.
Mr. Green's marriage took place in Gainesville, Texas, April 10, 1883, when he wedded Miss Sophie Stone, a daughter of J. B. Stone, deceased, a pioneer settler of Cooke county, having removed there from Virginia in 1856.
ILLIAM C. CAMPBELL, whose farm is located twelve miles from Weatherford, in the midst of one of the finest farming districts of Parker county, Texas, is one of the repre- sentative men of his vicinity.
Mr. Campbell was born in Carter county, Tennessee, May 31, 1832, son of Isaac and Annie (Delasmit) Campbell, of that State, they being of Scotch and German descent, respectively. In 1837 the Campbell family removed to Texas, and at first settled on the Colorado river, below Bastrop. Two years later they moved to Gonzales county, and
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there the parents died, the mother in 1845 and the father in 1848, leaving seven chil- dren, namely: Jerry, William C., Elvira (who became the wife of W. A. Blackwell), John, James, Edmond and Shuffula.
The untimely death of his parents left William C. at an early age without means and dependent upon his own resources. Reared on the frontier, he passed through many exciting experiences. After his father's death he spent some time as a member of a scouting party, worked as a farm hand, was employed as a cattle driver, and finally, in 1858, married and settled down. The year following his marriage he ran a sawmill in Shelby county, then moved to a farm in Van Zandt county, and in the spring of 1862 came to Parker county. At the time he located here he had considerable stock, which he left with his family while he en- tered the Confederate service, and while he was in the army he lost it all. He enlisted, in 1862, in Company F, Madison's regi- ment, M. A. Jones' brigade, Green's divis- ion, and served until the conflict was over. He was on duty in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas, and was in many hard-fought battles.
In 1868 Mr. Campbell bought 160 acres of wild land on the Brazos river and at once began improving the same. From time to time he kept adding to this tract, and now has about 1,600 acres, 450 acres of which are under cultivation. Formerly his crops were diversified, but of recent years he has given his attention chiefly to the raising of cotton and corn. He also
raises cattle, hogs and horses, and keeps an English draft stallion for the improvement of his horses. In former years he ran a gin, and he still owns one. Mr. Campbell's farming operations have, on the whole, been prosperous. He owns some bank stock be- sides his other property, and he is comfort- ably situated to enjoy life.
He married Miss Fanny O'Brient, who was born May 18, 1848, daughter of Wilson O'Brient, of Illinois. The O'Brients came to Texas the same year she was born. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell have eight children, namely: William M., a practicing physician; Mattie, wife of Drew Price; Annie, wife of J. B. Stewart, an attorney of Weatherford; Beatrice, wife of H. Campbell; Emily, wife of Henry Walker; Etta, at home; and Needy. Mr. Campbell and his wife are members of the Missionary Baptist Church. Politically he is a Democrat.
a ALVIN LINCH, a highly respected citizen residing near Springtown, Texas, has in his make-up a mix- ture of the Irish, Dutch and English, his maternal grandfather and mother having come to this country from Ireland and Ger- many, respectively, and his paternal grand- mother from England.
Mr. Linch is a native of South Caro- lina, born April 10, 1824, his father, Na- thaniel Linch, a native of Virginia, having accompanied his parents to South Carolina . when he was three years old. Grandfather
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William Linch was an early settler of Vir- ginia and was the originator of the famous Lynch law. He moved to South Carolina in 1793. In Nathaniel Linch's family were sixteen children, fourteen of whom reached adult age, and of that number seven are still living. Calvin was the sixth born. His youth and early manhood were spent in his native State, and in 1854 he emigrated to Texas.
Upon his arrival in Texas Mr. Linch first settled in Collin county, where he lived one year and whence he removed to Clear Fork, Parker county. At the latter place he lived and prospered for twenty years, until the war and Indian trouble came up. At the time of the outbreak of the Rebellion he was paying tax on $20,000 worth of prop- erty. Losing all his vast herd of cattle and being so harassed by Indians, he sold his farm and came to his present location on the Walnut, in the northern part of Parker county. Here he purchased 320 acres of land and devoted his energies to the im- provement of his farm, and here success has again crowned his efforts.
Mr. Linch was first married, in South Carolina, to Sarah Burgis, who died in 1874, leaving him with seven children. For his second wife he wedded Mrs. Hicks, nee Scroggins, and they have had six children, five of whom are living, four being yet at home.
During the late war Mr. Linch enlisted in the Nineteenth Texas Regiment and served four years, participating in numerous
hard-fought battles. On one occasion he had his pipe and tobacco shot out of his pocket, but he was never wounded or cap- tured. Although he is now getting along in years, time sits lightly on his shoulders; he enjoys excellent health and he has a fair prospect for a ripe old age. He is a mem- ber of the Baptist Church, and politically is an independent.
J AMES B. YOUNG, a prominent farmer of this county, was born in Georgia, January 13, 1846, a son of James and Sarah A. C. (Carter) Young, na- tives of South Carolina. They moved to Georgia in an early day, afterward to Mis- sissippi, and next came to Texas, purchasing a part of the Toombs land. They after- ward owned a good farm near Dido. Soon after the war, in which Mr. Young took an active part, they located on Silver creek. His death occurred in March, 1894. He was a prominent Mason. Mrs. Young now finds a good home with her son, and, although eighty years of age, enjoys very good health. They were the parents of three children, - Mary, wife of Peter Smith, of Fort Worth; James B., the subject of this sketch; and Francis M., engaged in farming and dairy- ing in Tarrant county. The grandfather of our subject was raised by General Francis Marion, of Revolutionary fame.
James B. Young removed with his par- ents to Carroll county, Mississippi, when
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young, and in 1856, at the age of ten years, came to Tarrant county, Texas. He re- mained at home until the opening of the late wår, when, in the fall of 1861, he became a member of the command of Gen- eral Gano, who was then with General Mor- gan, but was transferred to the Trans-Missis- sippi Department, and the company, which was commanded by Captain Welch, was General Gano's escort until the winter of 1863, when it was attached to Hardiman's regiment, remained on this side of the Mis- sissippi river and took part in a number of battles and skirmishes. The regiment had fallen back to the lower Brazos river at the time of Lee's surrender, after which they disbanded, and Mr. Young returned home. Previous to his marriage he had bought 212 acres of land, which he cleared and culti- vated, and has added to the original pur- chase until he now owns 1, 200 acres, about 200 acres of which is cultivated. The farm is located ten miles from Fort Worth, in a beautiful valley.
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