History of Texas, together with a biographical history of the cities of Houston and Galveston; containing a concise history of the state, with protraits and biographies of prominent citizens of the above named cities, and personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families, Part 38

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing co., 1895
Number of Pages: 1532

USA > Texas > Harris County > Houston > History of Texas, together with a biographical history of the cities of Houston and Galveston; containing a concise history of the state, with protraits and biographies of prominent citizens of the above named cities, and personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families > Part 38
USA > Texas > Galveston County > Galveston > History of Texas, together with a biographical history of the cities of Houston and Galveston; containing a concise history of the state, with protraits and biographies of prominent citizens of the above named cities, and personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families > Part 38

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In 1871 Mr. Tellefson went into the grocery business, in which he was engaged for five years, and in 1876 he returned to the ship-carpenter business, which he has since pursued without interruption. Mr. Tellefson built a large number of sailing ves- sels for the local trades and small pleasure and steamboats intended to ply on Buffalo Bayou and tributaries.

In 1873 Mr. Tellefson married Mrs.

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Ellen McGivney, widow of Peter McGivney. Mrs. Tellefson's maiden name was Hartnett, she being the daughter of Timothy and Honora Hartnett, of White Church Parish, county Cork, Ireland, who emigrated to America in 1851, settling in New Orleans. Her father died in New Orleans in 1852, leaving a widow with five sons and one daughter, all small, the daughter (Mrs. Tel- lefson) being the second in age. Mrs. Tel- lefson was reared in New Orleans and there met and was married to Peter McGivney, with whom she came to Galveston in 1868. By this marriage there were born five chil- dren, two of whom are living, -Peter and Mary (Mrs. R. P. Williamson). Mr. Mc- Givney died in 1870. To Mr. and Mrs. Tellefson five children were born, of whom two are living, -John Christian and Chris- tian Daniel. Mrs. Tellefson's mother died in Galveston, January 8, 1892, in the eighty- first year of her age. Mr. Tellefson's father died in 1844 and his mother in 1872, both in Norway.

Mr. Tellefson is a member of the Lu- theran Church, and of Harmony Lodge, No. 6, A. F. & A. M. Mrs. Tellefson be- longs to the Catholic Church.

O R. LOUIS A. BRYAN was born in New Berne, North Carolina, on October 12, 1826. His parents were Louis and Mary (Dudley) Bryan, both of whom were also natives of New Berne, in which general locality his ancestors settled early in the last century. He was the youngest of a family of thirteen children and was reared mainly in Mississip- pi, to which State his family moved while he was yet young. His mother having died, his father came to Texas in 1845, accom-

panied by Louis A. and an elder sister, and settled at Houston. Having received a good collegiate training in what is now the Uni- versity of Oxford, Mississippi, then as now a school of good standing, Louis A. took up the study of medicine under Dr. S. O. Young, of Houston, with whom he spent somewhat over a year, after which he grad- uated at the New Orleans Medical College, and located for the practice of his profession at Brownsville, Texas. Here he soon ac- quired prominence in his profession, and also ont of it; for in 1851 he was elected to the State Legislature. The late ex-Governor Throckmorton, who was a member of the same Legislature, writing of Dr. Bryan's presence and service in the Legislature at that time, said: " At that early day we had in the Legislature many bright and promis- . ing young men, and many of the old guard who had brought Texas out of bondage. Dr. Bryan and H. P. Bee were from the Rio Grande country. But none of that body were more esteemed than Dr. Bryan." Shortly afterward returning to Mississippi, Dr. Bryan married Miss Carrie Dunbar, a daughter of Joseph Dunbar, of Adams county, that State, and a member of an old and wealthy family, and, coming again to Houston, here located and practiced his profession with marked success until the opening of the war. In 1861 he tendered his services to the Confederacy and received a commission as hospital surgeon, with in- structions to attend the Texas troops and care for the sick and wounded in the field and on the line of march. In this capacity he gave four years of arduous service to the cause he espoused, and did much to relieve the sufferings, and administer to the wants, of his fellowmen. Returning to Texas at the close of hostilities, his wife died at Gal-

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veston before reaching Houston; but Dr. Bryan again took up his residence in this . city, and it was practically his home ever afterward. In 1866-7 he practiced medicine at Galveston, and during the well remember- ed yellow-fever epidemic of the last named year he gave his time and services unselfish- ly to the people of that city and did a vast amount of good for those stricken with the plague.

In 1871 he married Mrs. Bettie Harper, and having already become interested in farmning operations, he divided his time for the next eight or ten years between his large cotton plantation, on the Brazos, and his ' professional duties. On the outbreak of yellow fever in the Mississippi valley, in 1879, he responded to the call for aid and went to Memphis, where he labored during the prevalence of the epidemic there, and won golden opinions from those in a position to know the value of his services in behalf of suffering humanity. In 1887 Dr. Bryan was appointed, under State Health Officer Rutherford, inspector at Laredo, and spent one season there. Then, on the outbreak of yellow fever at Jacksonville, Florida, he again volunteered his services, and assisted that community through its affliction. Shortly after his return home from this trip his health began to fail, and though every reasonable effort was put forth for its restor- ation, he gradually grew worse until a removal to Galveston was made in the hope that the sea air would bring him the needed relief. Later an ocean voyage was decided on, and he took passage on the steamship Empress for Europe, but his health con- tinued to decline rapidly, and when the vessel put in at Norfolk, Virginia, for coal, before crossing the Atlantic, he disembarked and abandoned the trip. Returning home

by easy stages, he reached Houston still in a failing condition, and on the Both of Octo- ber, 1890, somewhat less than a month after hisreturn, he died. His loss to this commu- nity was very generally regretted, and his death was the occasion of many tributes to his worth and manliness. Quoting again from ex-Governor Throckmorton we find that this estimate of Dr. Bryan, while prompted by strong friendship, is only fair, and is fully borne out by his life and char- acter. Ex-Governor Throckmorton said: "Among my many friends I always regarded Dr. Bryan as the very perfection of honor and chivalry, a gentlemani in the highest sense of the term; and, without disparage- ment to others valued and esteemed with all my heart, I have thought him the gentlest and most perfect in his deportment with all classes of people."

Dr. Bryan left surviving him a widow and six children, -three, Dudley, Mrs. Car- rie Lane and Mrs. Annie O'Brien, by his first marriage; and three, Louis, Lula and Chester, by his last marriage. An older brother, Dr. John L. Bryan, a dentist by profession, and a pioneer in that profession in Texas, was for many years a resident of Houston, a biographical notice of him ap- pearing elsewhere in this work. The sister, Mrs. W. W. Stiles, who accompanied the father and the subject of this notice to Texas in 1845, is still living, being a resi- - dent of Houston.

R. ASHLEY WILSON FLY .- The subject of this brief sketch is a Southerner by birth and comes of a long line of Southern ances-

tors. His father, Judge Anderson B. Fly, was born in Maury county, Tennessee, in

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which county the Doctor's paternal grand- father, Joshua Fly, was also born, his great-grandfather settling there in the latter part of the last century, -- in the days of the heroic Robertson, Sevier and Shelby, found- ers of the first colonies in middle and west- ern Tennessee and Kentucky. Joshua Fly was a planter of the old regime who passed all his years in the quiet pursuits of agri- culture. Anderson B. Fly was educated for the bar, and moving to Mississippi was for many years Chancellor of the Second district in that State He now resides at Water Valley, in Yalobusha county, where he is engaged in ministerial work, having be- come an ordained minister of the Methodist Church.

Dr. Fly's mother bore the maiden name of Margaret J. Giles, and was a native of North Carolina, but was reared chiefly in Tennessee, to which State her parents moved about the close of the first quarter of this century.

The subject of this sketch was born in Yalobusha county, Mississippi, on August 27, 1855, and was there reared. His liter- ary education was obtained in private schools, being completed by a special course in Latin and Greek under Professor Smith, an Oxford' graduate, then teaching at Eureka, Mississippi. Having selected medi- cine as a profession, he began preparation for it by reading under Dr. William R. Dickson, of Water Valley, Mississippi, and later entered the Louisville Medical College, at Louisville, Kentucky, at which he gradu- ated February 22, 1875. He was a diligent student and secured two prizes, -one for the best standing in anatomy, and the second, a special prize offered by Professor Kelley, for the best standing in surgical anatomy. Shortly after graduation Dr.

Fly camne to Texas and, locating near Bryan, in Brazos county, he entered at once on the vigorous pursuit of his profes- sion. He remained there only about six months, when, in November, 1876, he moved to Galveston, and, casting his lot with the people of this city, he has since been one of their number.

Dr. Fly has given his attention earnestly and, until within a recent date, wholly to his profession. He has not made a special- ty of any branch of it, but has pursued the general practice. By connecting himself with the different societies within reach he has had the benefit of the researches of his brethren of the profession, and has in turn been a contributor to their deliberations. He was professor of anatomy and clinical surgery in the old Texas Medical College for several years, being also demonstrator for two terms. In 1878-9 he filled the position of house surgeon of the Galveston City Hos- pital and was president of the Galveston Board of Health in 1883. He is an active member of the Texas State Medical Associa- tion and of the Galveston County Medical Society. He has served on important com- mittees of each, having been chairman of the section on surgery and anatomy of the State Medical Association, his report as such appearing in the Transactions of 1888. He is also a member of the American Medi- cal Association.

Like all good citizens Dr. Fly has always been interested in the maintenance of good governinent, and this interest prompted him, in the spring of 1893, to yield to the solicitation of a number of rep- resentative citizens of Galveston to become a candidate for the office of Mayor. In a closely contested election he was elected by a handsome majority, and his administration

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so far has fully met the expectations of the people of the city, being characterized by vigor, economy and straightforward busi- ness methods.

Dr. Fly is still young in years. He possessess a splendid equipment, mental, moral and physical, and, now that he has been brought conspicuously before the pub- lic, his career, whether public or profession- al, will be watched in the future with in- terest.

On March 28, 1878, Dr. Fly married Miss Kate Rodgers Wilson, a native of Brazoria county, Texas, and a daughter of Joseph Wilson, who was one of the early settlers of that county.

REDERICK BLEIKE was born in Westphalia, Germany, November 4, 1828, and is a son of Theodore Bleike and Wilhelmina Hense, who were natives of the same place, and who immigrated with their family, including the subject of this sketch, to Texas, landing at Galveston November 20, 1850, aboard the ship "Reform," after seven weeks out from Bremen. They settled at Galveston, as did also their sons and daughters, most of whom were then grown, and here spent the remainder of their lives.

Frederick Bleike learned the trade of a carpenter in his native country, and pursued it there for some years before his removal to Texas. Taking it up in this place after set- tling here, he has followed it steadily ever since. During the late war he was a volunteer in the Confederate army, serving in Cook's regiment of heavy artillery and participating in the battle of Galveston. Toward the close of the war he was in the ordnance department, and saw but little active serv-

ice. Mr. Bleike had performed military duty before coming to this country, having served two years in the Prussian army.

On January 15, 1853, Mr. Bleike mar- ried Theresa Berkenbusch, a native of West- phalia, Germany, and a daughter of Francis and Theresa (Gerken) Berkenbusch, who immigrated to Texas, settling at Galveston in 1856. The offspring of this union was five children: Theresa, born February 8, 1854; Frederick W., born January 5, 1856; Charles A., born January 18, 1860; Annie L., born April 24, 1863; and Joseph F., born April 12, 1865. Theresa was married to William Callahan, who is now deceased, leaving her three children, -William, Ther- esa and Alexander. Frederick W. is single, and resides in Chicago, Illinois, where he is successfully engaged in the insurance busi- ness. Charles A. married Zoe Bouthery, of Dallas, Texas, where he resides, engaged in the railroad business, and has three chil- dren,-Zorey, Charles B. and Octoine. Annie L. is the wife of E. E. Baldinger, of Galveston, and has two children, -Fred- erick and Edwin. John F. married Edvig Laave, of New Orleans, Louisiana, resides in Galveston, and has two children, -Olin W. and Roger Mills.

Mr. Bleike had two brothers, Joseph and William, and one sister, Caroline, who was married to William Wolfgang, all of whom became residents of Galveston, the brothers dying here and the sister being now a resident of this city. Mrs. Bleike had one brother, Theodore, and two sisters, Frances, who was married to Joseph Bleike and is now deceased, and Elizabeth, who was married to Laurenz Nuesse, of Galves- ton, and is also deceased.

Mr. Bleike, with his family, belongs to the Catholic Church.

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OL. WILLIAM J. HUTCHINS. -A series of sketches purport- ing to include the names of the more prominent citizens of Hous- ton, Texas, would be incomplete did it not include the name of William J. Hutch- ins, than whom no one of its citizens for a period of over forty years contributed more to its development and prosperity.

Colonel Hutchins was born March 3, 1813, in Fishkill, Dutchess county, New York, which was also the native place of his father, J. B. Hutchins. His mother, Ruth (Rushmore) Hutchins, was a native of Long Island, both father and mother being of English parentage. In his early boyhood his father moved to New Berne, North Carolina, where he was educated in the New Berne high school, which at that time afforded all the advantages of ordinary col- leges, and of which, after completing his course of study, he was for a short time principal.

In 1835 he went to Tallahassee, Florida, and engaged in merchandising, continuing the business successfully for three years, when he disposed of his business and moved to Houston, Texas, where for the next five years he engaged successfully in various en- terprises. In 1843 he again embarked in merchandising, continuing the business with marked success, reaping from it not only profit for himself, but doing much to estab- lish for Houston throughout the State and in the northern markets an enviable reputa- tion for business integrity and fair dealing. In 1860 he disposed of his mercantile inter- ests to McIlhenny, Willis & Brother.

Colonel Hutchins was one of the origin- al projectors and stockholders of the Hous- ton & Texas Central Railroad. In 1861 he purchased at sheriff's sale a controlling in-

terest in it, and managed and operated it as president and general manager and with dis- tinguished success for seven years, including the troublous period of the war, when he retired from the management, assuming it again only once, as vice-president, in 1872, and finally, in 1880, disposing of all his in- terests and entirely severing his connection with it.

He was also a stockholder and at various times director in the Galveston, Houston & Henderson; the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio; the International & Great Northern, the Texas & New Orleans, and the Houston Tap & Brazoria Railroads, being president of the last-named road for several years during and after the war.

In 1861 he began the erection of the Hutchins House, then the largest hotel in the State, but the war intervening it was not completed until 1866. In 1865 he was one of the leading projectors of the City Cot- ton Mills, which were operated successfully until 1870, when they were burned down.

He was one of the leading contributors to the establishinent of the Houston Acad- emy which has recently been torn down to give place to the present magnificent high school building so creditable to the city of Houston; and in short, from his first identi- fication with the city, his public spirit was manifested in everything which tended to its development. His energy, his experi- ence, his remarkable business intuition and his pecuniary aid were present in every pub- lic enterprise, but with the exception of several years as an Alderman and one term as Mayor, he never sought nor held office.

During the latter part of the war he was chief of the Confederate State Cotton Bureau, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, sending out cotton and receiving in return,

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through the blockade and by wagons from Mexico, arms and supplies for the Confed- eracy, a responsible and laborious position which he filled satisfactorily as to results and honorably as to condition of detail.

He was for thirty-three years connected with Christ (Episcopal) Church at Houston, most of the time as Vestryman, and for twenty-six consecutive years and until his death was a member of the standing com- mittee of the diocese, and had repeatedly been a deputy to the General Convention of the United States.

If to have passed through an eminently successful career of over forty years in one community without reproach may be con- sidered a success, then William J. Hutchins certainly achieved it.

R. THOMAS J. HEARD .- Thomas J. Heard was born in Morgan county, Georgia, May 14, 1814. His father was Captain John Heard, a well-to-do planter and a soldier in the war of 1812, where he obtain- ed his title by meritorious service. Captain John Heard was a son of William Heard, who was a native of Pittsylvania county, Virginia, born in 1750, and a volunteer in the American Revolution, being present at the capture of Cornwallis. He subse- quently moved to Georgia, where the father of Thomas J. was born. Dr. Heard's mother bore the maiden name of Susan Fannin, and was also a native of Georgia, being a relative of the distinguished Texan patriot of that name.

Thomas J. Heard was reared in Morgan county, Georgia. His literary education was obtained in the schools of his native State, and his medical education at Transyl-

vania University, at Lexington, Kentucky. He came to Texas soon after quitting col- lege, arriving at old Washington, on the Brazos, in October, 1837. There he at once took up the practice of his profession, which he pursued with only casual interrup- tion for a period of twenty years. At the time Dr. Heard settled at Washington, and for several years following, Washington county was regarded as the Goshen,of Texas, and it was the objective point of more than half of the intending settlers coming to the country. In consequence it became the seat of much wealth and boasted a better class of citizens than most of the other settlements. The community, however, was not without its drawbacks, and among these were the rough characters common in those days and the troublesome red men who still lingered in dangerous proximity. In 1838 Dr. Heard volunteered, under Colonel James R. Cooke, to assist in repelling a threatened attack on the part of a band of marauding Indians, and with his command pursued the redskins up the Brazos to a point beyond where the city of Waco now stands. In 1841 he was a member of an expedition, organized under Colonel Nail, which pursued a band of Cher- okees into the Red river country, and dur- ing the same year he was a volunteer in two other expeditions set on foot for the purpose of running down theiving Mexicans who were then making frequent incursions on the settlers. When General Woll invaded the country, in 1842, capturing and for a time holding San Antonio, he again entered the ranging service for the purpose of driving Woll's army beyond the Rio Grande. In September of the same year he was again a volunteer for the purpose of repelling an attempted Mexican invasion. Being young, vigorous .and full of the martial spirit, the

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Doctor was always ready in those days for a chase after Indians or Mexicans, in the pursuit of whom no prospect of danger or hardship ever dampened his arder.

In 1857 Dr. Heard moved to Galveston, where a wider field in the rapidly developing condition of things in the Island City seein- ed to be opening for professional men. Here he turned his attention exclusively and en- ergetically to his profession, which he pur- sued to better advantage and with greater success than he had theretofore done. Dur- ing the war he was examining surgeon on the staff of General T. B. Howard, Confed- erate States' service, spending his time in the coast country, mainly at Galveston and Houston.

Dr. Heard was at different times a teacher in both the Galveston Medical Col- ledge and the Galveston Hospital Medical College, and once occupied the chair of therapeutics in the New Orleans Medical College, now Tulane University. He was one of the originators of the Texas State Medical Association; was its first president, and now holds an honorary membership in the same. He was made a Mason in Phoenix Lodge, No. 8, at Washington, Texas, in 1838, since which time he has held a mem- bership in the fraternity, being now Past Grand Scribe of the Royal Arch chapter.

In politics Dr. Heard has been a life- long Democrat. He cast his first vote for President of the United States for Martin Van Buren, in 1836. He voted for General Houston for President of the Republic of Texas in 1841, and gave his support to that distinguished gentleman in every other con- test where he was a candidate. Dr. Heard and General Houston were personal friends for a period of twenty-five years, and in company with Dr. Ashbel Smith, another of

General Houston's warm personal friends, Dr. Heard was one of the last visitors to the General before his decease.

In 1839 Dr. Heard inarried Miss Frances A. Rucker, of Washington county, Texas, and the issue of this union has been one daughter, Mary R. Heard.

e D. KIAM. - A stranger dropping into the city of Houston and stroll- ing along its main thoroughfares in search of whatever there may be of interest to be seen by a casual observer cannot fail to be struck with the really metropolitan appearance of some of the buildings that meet his eye, and the unique and tasteful displays of goods that adorn the show windows of many of the largest em- poriums of trade in that city. The estab- lishment of Ed. Kiam, at the corner of Main street and Preston avenue, will be sure to at- tract his attention, and whether he stops to take a survey of the splendid five-story brick building or the handsome exhibit of mascu- line apparel arranged in 170 feet of show windows fronting on two streets, the con- viction will be speedily forced on his mind that behind that vast pile of brick and mor- tar, frescoing and plate-glass, fabrics, furn- ishing, tinsel and texture, neatly and artis- tically arrayed, there must be some enter- prise, some money and some business sense. The wonder and the admiration of the stranger will be all the more excited, should he, stepping inside and asking to see the proprietor, have pointed out to him a young man but little past thirty years of age.

Ed. Kiam and his mammoth clothing- house are both distinctively Texas products. Mr. Kiam was born in the old town of Liberty, Liberty county, Texas, January

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14, 1864, being a son of Victor and Sarah Kiam, who emigrated from Alsace, France, about the year 1851, and settled at Liberty. Ed. was reared, however, in Houston, his parents moving to this city in 1866. His father was a former well-known merchant of this place, and died here in 1887. The sub- ject of this brief notice began his business career at the age of fourteen as a clerk in the clothing-store of Joe Mills, in this city, and remained in Mills' employ some four years. At the end of that time he forined a partnership with Levi Sam, and opened a clothing-house in a little frame building on the site of his present establishment. After a partnership of two years with Sam he sold his interest to the latter, and, associating himself with his brother, Ben, he opened a clothing-store at the corner of Main street and Congress avenue, under the firm name of Kiam Brothers, which was carried on successfully for three years. He then bought his brother's interest, and shortly afterward, taking a fifty-year lease on a lot, on the corner of Main street and Preston avenue, there erected the elegant structure now known as the " Kiam Building," which, with the buildings he has adjoining it on the east, gives him a frontage of 100 feet on Main street and running back 100 feet on Preston avenue. This structure is built of brick, with stone trimmings, and is equipped with all modern conveniences, be- ing lighted throughout with electricity, furn- ished with water from the city water works and reached, above the first floor, by an electric-motor elevator. The two lower floors are occupied by Mr. Kiam with his large stock of men's and boys' clothing and furnishing goods, the three upper floors be- ing used as offices. The location of the building, it being central to business and all

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Author: Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing co., 1895 Number of Pages: 1532

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing co., 1895
Number of Pages: 1532