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 71
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 71
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Returning to his parental home Mr. Thornton helped his father on the farm until 1867, when he married and purchased a farm, which he conducted until 1882; then he sold out and came to Texas, locating in Tarrant county. Renting land he followed agricultural pursuits for three years, then bought 160 acres of unimproved land, which is now his home, and where he has made all the improvements.
In 1893, in connection with Messrs.
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Sawyer and Hammick, he conceived the idea of building a model gin, which he con- structed at Arlington, with a capacity of seventy bales per day, which would amount to about 5,000 bales during the ginning season. It has all the modern conveniences and improved machinery. Mr. Thornton raises his own stock for running the farm and supporting the family.
He is the son of J. M. and Lucinda (Evans) Thornton, the father a native of North Carolina and the mother of Tennes- see; and J. M. was the son of Reuben Thornton, a farmer of North Carolina. Mr. J. M. Thornton, also a prominent farmer, was married in Tennessee, in which State he died, in 1889, as did also his wife. They were both zealous and exemplary members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They had seven sons and two daughters, namely: William A., our subject; Mary J. Sweny, John M., and Presley L .: these three re- mained in Tennessee; Robert, who came to Texas in 1884, and a year afterward returned to Tennessee; Reuben, who died the same year that his father died; James, now in Arkansas; Thomas, who died in the latter State; and Laura, who married James Thornton and lives in Georgia.
Mr. William A. Thornton married Miss Josephine Smith, a daughter of Henry and Elizabeth A. (Wansley) Smith, of Tennes- see, born October 28, 1846, and they have had twelve children, two of whom died young, and ten are yet living, namely: Emma, wife of John Graves, who is now in
business at Mansfield; Molly, wife of John Griffin, cashier of the National Bank at Itasca, Hill county, this State; William, Walter, Gertrude, Maggie, Annie, Horace, Gracie and Myrtle, -all at home, except that Gertrude is sometimes at Mansfield Normal School. Besides these children Mr. and Mrs. Thornton have brought up an orphan girl, named Alice Couch, who after- ward adopted the name of her benefactors, as she fully realizes the kindness bestowed upon her by them. She was only five years of age when they adopted her, and she still calls them "Pa" and "Ma." She is now married to Dr. J. N. Thomas, a prominent physician. Mr. Thornton belongs to the Masonic fraternity, and both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics he was formerly a Democrat, but is now a third-party inan.
W. CHILES, superintendent of the water-works at Fort Worth, is a Virginian by birth, having been born at Louisa, December 23, 1845. Lou- don Agricultural Institute and the Albemarle Military Institute gave him a splendid edu- cation. When the war broke out, true to the grand old mother of States, he enlisted as an Ensign in Company D, Thirteenth Virginia Regiment. He was promoted to a First Lieutenancy for bravery, and served with Jackson during the valley campaign. At the battle of Gaines' Mill he was wounded in both limbs, and was thereby compelled to
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resign, accepting a position with C. G. Memmenger, treasurer of the Confederacy. Upon recovering he enlisted with Colonel Mosby and served until the close of the long struggle. Mr. Chiles was twice taken prisoner.
Returning home he engaged in the manu- facturing business, under the firm name of Crank & Chiles. In 1881 he came to Texas, locating at Jacksboro, Jack county, where he engaged in the cattle business. This he followed until 1885, when he removed to Fort Worth. For a number of years Mr. Chiles represented the First ward in the City Council, and he was serving in this capacity at the time he was appointed to his present position, -in April, 1894. During his ad- ministration he has brought about a decrease in the expenditures of the departinent and has likewise increased its net earnings. These conditions speak more loudly than mere words for his excellent management.
Mr. Chiles is an ardent Democrat, and fraternally is identified with the Masonic order and the Elks, He is a gentleman known for his probity and rigid business principles, and he numbers his friends by the score.
ON. JOHN A. PEACOCK, a well- known citizen of Fort Worth and a distinguished member of the bar of Tarrant county, is a native of the Lone Star State, the year of his birth being 1848.
He has not only attained success. as a
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practitioner, but has been called upon to fill official positions of public trust and honor. He was County Attorney of Morris county, and from 1880 to 1881 was a member of the State Legislature. He was elected to the State Senate from his district in 1882, and served until 1886, ably representing the in- terests of his constituents and of the general public of the commonwealth of Texas.
Mr. Peacock has been a resident of Fort Worth for but comparatively a few years, but his ability has been such as to bring him to a position of prominence and to gain to him a representative clientage. He is a fine attorney and a gentleman of sterling worth. His standing at the Fort Worth bar is con- ceded to be of the best.
J OHN C. CELLA, who holds distinct- ive and responsible preferment as Chief of the thoroughly disciplined and efficient fire department of the city of Fort Worth, is one who is eminently deserv- ing of mention in this volume. No man in the city is known by more people who have been in trouble than is John C. Cella, the quiet, cool, sagacious head of the fire de- partment. He manages like a general at a big fire, and he dashes after a small one like a scout, no matter how insignificant it may seem to an outsider. All hours of the day and night he is on the alert, and whenever there is earnest work to be done he is there.
The official record of the department is the best witness to the general efficiency .of
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its chief and to the reforms he has inaugur- ated in the service. The man himself is familiarly known to the older and more sub- stantial citizens of Fort Worth during the period of its growth from a comparatively small town. All public-spirited citizens, whether they were here among the first, or have come within recent years, know him as one of their number.
Mr. Cella has antecedents he may, some time in his busy life, find time to think about, for he comes of an eminent family, and his father held a diplomatic position in the service of his country.
OUIS H. HUNTER, one of the well-known farmers of Tarrant county, Texas, is a native of this county and a son of one of its earliest pioneers.
He was born October 18, 1854, the eighth in the family of nine children of William and Mary Hunter, natives of Illi- nois. It was about 1848 that the Hunter family came to Texas, their first settlement being in Johnson county, whence a short time later they removed to Tarrant county. Here the father secured a homestead claim of 640 acres on Clear fork and Bear creek, and developed a farm. Subsequently he built a mill on Clear fork, and for years did a good portion of the milling in this part of the country, people coming as far as forty or fifty miles to mill. During this time he also conducted a general merchan-
dise business, trading with the Indians as well as the early settlers. The first goods used were hauled in wagons from Illinois; and in connection with his farming he was also interested in stockraising; and here on the frontier he reared his family. After an active and useful life, he passed to his re- ward, about 1858. He was a man of many sterling traits of character, was an exem- plary Christian, and was a local preacher in the Methodist Church. Few of the early settlers were better known or more highly respected than he. His widow died in 1866. Of their children we make record as follows: Margaret and her husband, Thomas Bing- ham, are both deceased; Rebecca, deceased wife of Clay Wriston; Mrs. T. J. Beavers, a resident of Deaf Smith county, this State; Mary A., deceased wife of Samuel Myers; J. B. and W. A., both farmers of Tarrant county; Hattie, deceased wife of W. A. Huett; Louis H., whose name heads this sketch; James H., a farmer of Tarrant county, died March 30, 1894, leaving a widow.
Louis H. Hunter commenced life on his own responsibility when he was sixteen. In 1866 he went to Missouri with a sister and made his home there for three years, work- ing on the farm and attending school. Upon his return to Texas he engaged in trading and soon afterward turned his attention to farming. When his father's estate was divided he received as his portion 106 acres of wild land. This he improved, and from time to time has added to it, until now he has
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about 800 acres, 400 of which are under cultivation, a portion of it being rented. With his own force he cultivates 150 acres of wheat. He also raises horses, cattle and hogs. In 1890 he built a cotton gin for his own and public use, and has since oper- ated it.
Mr. Hunter was married in 1875 to Miss Laura C. McAdoo, who was born in Illinois in 1859, daughter of Samuel and M. A. McAdoo, natives of Illinois. Her parents came to Texas at an early day, and later re- turned to their native State, where the father died. He was a school-teacher. The widow and children came back to Texas, and she afterward became the wife of Sam- uel Hunter. After his death the family scattered, and she now finds a good home with the subject of our sketch. Mr. and Mrs. Hunter have five children, -- Cally, Ollie, Edgar, Cecil and Ehner, -- all at home. Mrs. Hunter is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Hunter is a Democrat.
a O. EDWARDS, a representative farmer and stock-raiser of Tarrant county, was born on the farm ad- joining the one he now owns January 29, 1851, a son of James L. and Elizabeth (Over- ton) Edwards, natives of South Carolina. In an early day Mr. Edwards moved to Mis- souri and married there in 1832, and fol- lowed carpentering and milling on the Big Blue. He conducted that mill until coming
to Texas, in 1848, having left his family in Grayson county, this State, until he could erect a cabin. He located on the place adjoin- ing our subject's present home, and from time to time added to his original purchase until he owned about 2, 500 acres. He purchased live stock from Nick Byers, and in the fall of 1860 moved his herd of from 5,000 to 6,000 head farther west, but from 1865 to 1867 the Indians and white men succeeded in driving most of them away. Mr. Ed- wards then returned home, again starting in that business, and in 1869 regained a few head of the lost stock. He was a man of good judgment and untiring energy. On coming to this State he built boats at the river, in which to cross when he found the stream swollen.
The maternal grandfather of our subject, Aaron Overton, was a native of Virginia, but moved to east Tennessee in an early day, where Mrs. Edwards was born Novem- ber 13, 1812. He located in Howard county, then Missouri Territory, in 1817, where he cleared and improved a farm, built the first mills in Howard and Jackson coun- ties, and also conducted a distillery and man- ufactured salt. He next conceived the idea of a inill in Texas, which he had made, and also made a wagon in which to carry the buhrs, they having weighed over 6,000 pounds, and brought all to this State with ox teams, having been among the first to emigrate to this locality. He built his mill near Dallas, which was in running order within a year, and was the first, except
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horse mills, in this county. He spent his remaining days in this locality, dying about 1859. Mr. Overton's family consisted of twelve children, -four sons and eight daugh- ters. The only surviving son, Perry Over- ton, resides in Dallas county. Mrs. Edwards, the oldest child, and Mrs. John Robinson, the youngest of the family, and Mrs. Max- well and Mrs. Loveless, are the only daugh- ters now living.
Mr. and Mrs. Edwards were the parents of seven children, namely: Thomas, who died while serving his country in the late war; Richard, who also died in that strug- gle; Sarah J., deceased in 1887; Martha A., wife of A. Criswell, a Tarrant county farmer; C. O., the subject of this sketch; Matilda, wife of J. W. Burford; Cynthia C., who first married W. W. Burford, deceased, leaving three children, and afterward mar- ried M. B. Sisk, of Tarrant county; and James L., engaged in the stock business. The mother, now eighty-two years of age, finds a good home with her son. She is a member of the Christian Church.
C. O. Edwards, the subject of this sketch, engaged in the stock business after reaching a suitable age, and after his father's death he took charge of the farm and stock, with his younger brother. He has purchased his mother's interest in the estate, to which he has added, from time to time, until he now owns about 4,000 acres. He owns the best timber land on the river, and the entire farm is located in the valley of the Clear fork of Trinity river. In addi-
tion to general farming he is extensively en- gaged in the live-stock business, also owning an interest in stock in the West.
In December, 1874, Mr. Edwards was united in marriage with Mrs. Sally Wed- dington, a daughter of John F. Petty, a na- tive of Kentucky and a prominent tobacco- raiser in that State. After his death the widow came, with her family, to Texas in 1857, locating in the White settlement of Tarrant county, and died at the home of her daughter in 1878. She had four chil- dren, of whom Mrs. Edwards was the youngest. Our subject and wife have one son, Crawford, attending college. By her first marriage Mrs. Edwards also had one son, John T. Weddington, a farmer of Tar- rant county. Mr. Edwards has never as- pired to public office, but holds steadfast to the principles of the Democracy.
3 W. CARDER, one of the most en- terprising men of Tarrant county, was born in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, June 22, 1839, a son of Robert and Elizabeth (Sedwick) Carder, natives of Frederick, Maryland, and of English de- scent. The maternal grandfather, Benja- min Sedwick, also a native of Maryland, was a prominent slave-owner and farmer, and both he and his wife were noted Meth- odists. His death occurred at his home- stead in Virginia. Robert Carder died when our subject was five years of age, and his widow afterward married Daniel Cullies, and.
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departed this life in Virginia. Robert Car- der and wife had six children, viz .: Vir- ginia, who became blind from the effects of the measles, and is now deceased ; Sarah, who married Joseph Hisey, who lost his life while charging a battery at Malvern Hill; Benjamin S., who served through the late war, and at one battle his shirt was pierced with thirty-two bullets, his body being also perforated, but the wounds did not prove fatal, and he now resides near Decatur, Texas; Ursula, widow of Tom Walters, who died from the effects of wounds re- ceived in the late war; J. W., the subject of this sketch; and Steven, who was killed at the battle of Seven Pines.
J. W. Carder spent his boyhood days on a farm, and remained with his parents until fifteen years of age, when he learned the carpenter's trade. In 1860 he located at Culpeper Court House, and in the following year he volunteered in the Seventh Virginia Infantry, Company C, Pickett's division. He remained in the Army of Virginia during the entire struggle, took part in all the im- portant battles, but was never captured, and received only slight wounds, although he saw his comrades fall around him, and also a brother. After the close of the struggle he returned home and resumed farming and work at his trade. In 1871 Mr. Carder re- ceived employment with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad at station-house work, remain- ing with that company until the strike of 1873. In 1877 he came to Fort Worth, Texas, leaving his family at Martinsburg,
West Virginia, and immediately secured em- ployment at his trade, in which he continued four years. He next went to Shreveport, where he was soon joined by his family, bought a small tract of land, where he yet lives, and paid for the entire place by day's work. He now owns 361 acres of land, 240 acres of which is under a fine state of cul- tivation. Mr. Carder is giving special at- tention to the raising of Holstein cattle and Red Jersey hogs. In 1890 he began oper- ating a thresher. In 1893 he built a gin in White Settlement, and in the following year erected another at Azle, and is now con- ducting both in connection with farming, stock-raising, etc.
In 1869 Mr. Carder was united in mar- riage with Miss Sabina J. Strickler, a daugh- ter of Harrison Strickler, who was a member · of a noted Virginia family, and a farmer by occupation. He was a son of Daniel Strick- ler, and both died in Virginia. Our subject and wife have had five children, namely: Charles, who conducts a gin at Azle; Harry, deceased at the age of eleven years; Maud and Edith, at home; and one deceased when young. Mr. and Mrs. Carder are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he is a local minister. He takes an active interest in the Democratic party.
E. BISSELL, superintendent of the Fort Worth Iron Works, Fort Worth, Texas, was born in Port- age county, Ohio, in 1855. The year fol-
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lowing his birth he was taken by his parents to South Bend, Indiana, where he was reared and received a high-school education. He then entered Cornell University, took a course in that well-known institution, and graduated in 1878 with the degree of C. E. He is now a member of the American Soci- ety of Civil Engineers.
Immediately after his graduation at Cornell, Mr. Bissell obtained a position with the engineering force employed by the United States Government to make im- provements on the Missouri river at Atchi- son, St. Joseph and thereabout, and while thus occupied he corresponded with the chief engineer of the Texas & Pacific Rail- road, the correspondence resulting in Mr. Bissell's coming to Texas in 1880 and enter- ing the employ of this railroad company. He was with the Texas & Pacific to its junction with the Southern Pacific; the Missouri, Kansas & Texas from Fort Worth to Taylor; the east line of the Red River road from Greenville to Mckinney; Fort Worth & Denver from Fort Worth to Wichita Falls. He was resident engineer of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas from 1883 to 1885, and resident engineer of the Fort Worth & Denver from 1885 to December, 1886, when he was made chief engineer on construction and built the road to Folsom, New Mexico. Then he was promoted to the position of chief engineer of the line from Denver to Fort Worth, and superin- tendent of the line outside of Texas, and upon its consolidation with the Union
Pacific system, in 1890, he was made super- intendent of the New Mexico division. In 1892 he retired from railroad work and re- turned to his old home in Indiana to settle up the estate of his father, T. M. Bissell. This accomplished, he came back to Texas, and at Fort Worth, in 1893, was made superintendent of the Fort Worth Iron Works, in which position he is now serving most efficiently.
T. M. Bissell, his father, was born in Portage county, Ohio, in March, 1824. He was a mechanic and inventor, the Bissell Chill plow being among his numerous in- ·ventions. He founded the Bissell Chill Plow Works at South Bend, and was a man of prominence and worth. In 1883 his foot was accidentally crushed, and from the ef- fects of this injury he died July 23, the same year.
Alden Bissell, grandfather of our subject, was born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, and when he reached his majority went to Ohio and settled in Portage county. He was a millwright by trade. He and his wife, whose maiden name was Gilbert, had three daughters and two sons, who grew up and scattered, some locating in Ohio and others in Indiana, Dakota and Missouri.
Mr. Bissell's mother was, before her mar- riage, Miss Ellen Steadman. She was a daugh- ter of Rev. E. P. Steadman and granddaughter of Bishop Cutler, of Ohio. Her only chil- dren are the subject of this sketch and his sister, Essie B., wife of Norman B. Dakin, of South Bend.
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F. E. Bissell was married in Detroit, Michigan, April 21, 1886, to Ida M. Mayer, daughter of Christian Mayer, a merchant of that city. They have one child, Howard M., born August 22, 1888.
Mr. Bissell is a Royal Arch Mason and a charter member of Red Cross Lodge, K. of P.
a W. PRESSLEY, City Auditor of Fort Worth, was born in Oxford, Mississippi, January 25, 1869, a son of E. H. Pressley, who was born in Cartersville, Georgia, in 1843. E. H. Pressley is now a merchant of Hillsboro, Texas, having followed that occupation, with the exception of three years in the time of war, since early life. During the late war he was in General John B. Gordon's command, and suffered the loss of a part of his left hand in an engagement at Appomat- tox Court House. The paternal grand- father of our subject, E. B. Pressley, is still living at Blackville, South Carolina, aged eighty-eight years. For a number of years he was proprietor of a hotel at Rome, Georgia, but, just before his retirement from active life, was engaged in merchandising in Blackville. The mother of our subject was formerly Sallie McKie, a daughter of J. J. McKie, a Mississippi planter. Mrs. Pressley graduated at the University of Mississippi, at Oxford. Her death occurred in 1880, leaving one child, E. W. The father was married in Waco, in 1884, to Mrs. Bedwell,
and they have two children, -Walter and Mary.
E. W. Pressley, the subject of this sketch, came with his father to Bell county, Texas, in 1875, where he resided on a farm three years, then removed to Hamilton county, and in 1885 located in Waco, where E. W. secured the position of bookkeeper for W. E. DuPree, a wholesale grocer and commission merchant. He was also bookkeeper for the wholesale stationery firm of W. S. Black- shear & Company. Mr. Pressley acquired his perfect knowledge of accounts by practi- cal training, having never spent a day in a commercial college, and his first work was with Daniel Wise in Waco, one of the finest accountants in the South. In June, 1890, Mr. Pressley came to Fort Worth to accept the position of bookkeeper in the credit de- partment of the Fort Worth Drug Company. The firm went into liquidation in February, 1893, and in April following he was elected City Auditor, securing a re-election in April, 1894.
Mr. Pressley was married in Hamilton, Texas, December 28, 1888, to Miss Burmah, a daughter of S. C. Messer, who came from north Georgia to Hamilton county, in the pioneer days of Texas. He has since moved from Hamilton to Tyler, this State. He married a Miss Meador, and they had three children, -Sallie, Burmah and Meador. The wife and mother died in 1884, and Mr. Messer afterward married Miss Mary Ross. They also had two children,-Samuel and Louis. Mr. and Mrs. Pressley's children .
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are Cecil and Meador. In his social rela- tions, Mr. Pressley is Senior Warden of Worth Commandery, No. 19, K. T .; Senior Deacon of Fort Worth Lodge, No. 148, A. F. & A. M .; and Scribe of Fort Worth Chapter, R. A. M. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
3 A. HUTCHINS, a farmer, of Tar- rant county, was born in Gwinnett county, Georgia, August 14, 1839, the sixth of twelve children born to Joshua and Martha (Branton) Hutchins, natives also of that State. Joshua was a son of Redmond Hutchins, a farmer, of Georgia. Joshua Hutchins served as Constable of his town, and his death occurred in Georgia in 1867, his wife dying the same year. Their chil- dren were: Alexander, David, Jackson, J. A., Judge, Elizabeth, Polly A., Martha, Cynthia, and two deceased when young.
J. A. Hutchins, the subject of this sketch, remained on the farm with his par- ents until November, 1859, when he engaged in agricultural pursuits in Mississippi. In March, 1861, he volunteered for service in the late war, entering the Fifteenth Missis- sippi Regiment of Infantry, and February 19, 1864, surrendered at Bayou Sara. He then went to Cairo, Illinois, where he re- mained until his discharge, and returned to Mississippi in August, 1865. From 1870 to 1878 he was engaged in agricultural pursuits in Arkansas, spent the following three years in Tarrant county, Texas, was then engaged
in farming in Johnson county until 1888, and in that year returned to this county and pur- chased 160 acres of partially improved land. Mr. Hutchins has added to his original pur- chase until he now owns 362 acres, 110 acres under a good state of cultivation, has erected a good residence, and made many other valuable improvements. On coming to this State his entire possessions consisted of a pair of ponies, wagon and harness, and $250, and he has made all he now owns by hard labor, economy and good management.
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