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 42

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 42
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 42

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After the war the firm returned to Gal- veston and again engaged in banking, in the building on the corner of Strand and Twenty-fourth streets, which they had

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erected in 1855, and which they still oc- cupy. They were in a position to take ad- vantage of the era of prosperity following the closing of the war, and from that time until the present they have done a large and steadily increasing business. The firm was augmented in numbers in 1865 by the ad- inission of Mr. George Sealy to a participa- tion in the profits and management of the business, he having been an efficient and trusted employe of the firm for many years prior to that time. In March, 1884. Mr. Ball died, and in August of the same year, he was followed by Mr. John Sealy. The business has continued, however, under the original name, and practically under the same management. Mr. Hutchings is now the senior member of the firmn, the interest of each of liis deceased partners, as well as that of Mr. George Sealy, continuing in the business. . It is hardly necessary to refer to the commercial rating of this house. In the forty years of its existence it has become so well known to all Texas and in the commer- cial and financial centers of all countries that it is almost a synonym of financial soundness, ranking as the strongest mone- tary institution in the South, and one of the strongest in the world. With its manage- ment the subject of this brief personal notice has been actively connected since its inception, and he has contributed his full share towards its development and success. Private business enterprises of this kind are not supposed to be institutions for the pro- motion of the public welfare, yet they do perform an important function in facilitat- ing trade, promoting public enterprises and conserving and giving direction to the finan- cial energies of the people, and these things the house of Ball, Hutchings & Company has always done from the beginning. As a

member of the firm, and as an individual, Mr. Hutchings has held many important positions in connection with the business interests of this community, and has helped in his way in all public enterprises where his services have been required. As presi- dent of the Wharf Company, he negotiated with the city for the bay front, and started the system of improvements which that company has accomplished and is adding to year by year. He has been a director in the Gas Company since its organization, and is now its president. He has for many years been a member of the directorate of the Southern Press Manufacturing Company, of which he was one of the principal organ- izers, and of which he is now president. He is president and has been for many years connected with the Galveston City Com- pany, organized in 1838, and owner of the unsold lands and lots in the city. " He was one of the promoters of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway, and is now a member of its directorate, and was a member of the directorate of the Galveston, Houston & Henderson Railway, one of the pioneer lines of the State. He was also a member of the directorate of the Galveston Cotton Oil Company, is president of the Texas Land & Loan Company, and was a member of the directorate of the Galveston Insurance Company.

In 1859 and 1860 Mr. Hutchings was an Alderman of the city, and negotiated the bonds for the first bridge built across the bay. He was one of the first men of this city to take vigorous hold of the ques- tion of the improvement of the harbor entrance and assisted in establishing the Mallory line of steamships between Galves- ton and New York. He and his partners are large stockholders in that line and he is

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one of the directors of the company, now known as the New York & Texas Steam- ship Company. In short, without attempt- ing to particularize further, it may be said that whatever will stimulate industry or promote public enterprise meets his cordial approbation and receives his prompt advo- cacy and assistance. Mr. Hutchings has acquired large means, but he still adheres to business, and his life in all essential features differs but little from what it did in former years, when he was struggling to lay the foundation of his present fortune. He has steadily followed, in private life, the path marked out by himself years ago, assiduously devoting his energies to those pursuits in which he has felt himself especi- ally qualified to succeed, -and that he has succeeded is no less a credit to his energy than to the wisdom of his choice.

In 1856 Mr. Hutchings married Miss Minnie Knox, of Galveston, a niece of Robert Mills, a former well-known citizen of this city, and to this union nine children have been born, eight of whom, -four sons and four daughters, -are living. Mr. Hutch- ings and most of his family are communi- cants of the Episcopal Church.

ENRY FRANCIS FISHER, a prominent colonizer, was born in Cassel, Germany, in 1805. His father, also named Henry Francis, was an Englishman by birth, his mother of German nativity. He was reared in Ger- many, and in the schools of that country re- ceived a thorough education, scientific and literary.

In early life he removed to Liverpool, England, and entered a large mercantile

house as a bookkeeper, where he remained for several years. The opportunities for advancement there not being sufficiently rapid or remunerative to suit him, he emi- grated to Texas in 1837, and located in Houston, where he engaged in various en- terprises, principally in the buying and sell- ing of Texas lands. He also held the posi- tion of German Consul. His business in lands led to his traveling over a great part of the Republic, and, becoming impressed with its possibilities and the advantages it afforded to the overcrowded countries of Europe, he turned his attention to the colonization of its vast domain. On June 7, 1842, he, in partnership with Burchard Miller, entered into a contract with Presi- dent Houston to introduce 600 German families into southwestern Texas, for which he received large grants of land, under the colonization laws passed February 4, 1841, and January 1, 1843. These lands he after- ward transferred to the German Immigration Company. They were situated along the Perdenales, Llano, San Saba and lower Conchos rivers. This company, from 1844 up to and including 1848, introduced valua- ble and industrious immigrants, who, land- ing at Indianola as their permanent entrepot, made their way to the interior, where they founded the now flourishing towns of New Braunfels, Fredericksburg, Sisterdale and Comfort, a few remaining in Indianola, Victoria, Gonzales and Seguin. The moun- tainous section of the interior was previously without inhabitants, and then open to the inroads of the Indians, who ravaged those frontiers and from whom these early colon- ists suffered dire calamities, involving death and captivity, down to the close of the civil war, in 1865.

After the disposal of his contract, Mr.

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Fisher continued in the same field of work, though on a smaller scale. He acquired title to other tracts of land in southwest Texas and proceeded to colonize them with the better class of European immigrants; and as a result that section of the State has always been known for the thrift, intelli- gence, and energy of its citizens. He was an enthusiast on Texas, and upon all proper occasions sought to make known to the out- side world her vast resources and advan- tages. His opportunities for this were un- usually fine, because of his business con- nections in England and Germany, and his wide experience and varied accomplishments. He was master of four languages, -Ger- man, French, English and Spanish, -which were especially useful in dealing with the men and measures associated with the en- terprises he had to handle. He was a man of large conceptions, sanguine nature and dauntless courage. His adventures on the frontier, in his work of colonization, were exciting and thrilling. He nuinbered many of the earliest Texans among liis intimate friends, and was acquainted with all who were prominent in the early days. He greatly admired Houston, and was in favor of the annexation of the Republic to the United States in 1845, and an advocate of secession from the Union in 1861. Individ- ually he took no part in politics except such as any citizen might be expected to do.

Mr. Fisher was married in Houston, Texas, in 1841, to Mrs. Mary E. Kessler, widow of Henry Kessler, and daughter of Antonio Bonzano, of Italian extraction, but herself a native of Wurtemberg, Germany. The issue of this marriage was four daugh- ters and one son, all of wliom are still liv- ing. He died in Weisbaden, Germany, in 1867, while there on a visit. His widow

survived him for a number of years, dying in Houston, Texas, in 1879.

Mr. Fisher's work as a colonization agent was of great benefit to the infant Re- public, and the class of emigrants brought to it through his exertions have made a lasting impress upon the population of this State. They came to a wilderness, and by their industry made it a populous and wealthy community; and by their examples and teachings they have aided in its progress and advancement from a state of savagery to its present civilized and enlightened condition. He was in all respects a public benefactor, and when the day comes when the people of this great State see fit to bestow honor on those who were instrumental in laying the foundation of its present prosperity, high standing and greatness, the name of Henry Francis Fisher will not be the least among those to whom such honor is given. He was a man and a patriot to whom the present generation owe an untold and un- acknowledged debt.

S TEPHEN KIRKLAND, deceased, was born in Oneida county, New York, sixteen iniles south of Utica, in the town of Bridgewater, in the year 1814. His father was Reynolds Kirk- land, and his mother before marriage was Percy Pratt, both of whom were natives of Essex, Connecticut. His ancesters settled in New England more than two centuries ago, coming originally from Scotland and England.

Stephen Kirkland was reared in his na- tive county. He was troubled with asthma, and on the advice of his physician came to Texas in 1838, landing at Galveston in the summer of that year. Galveston had then

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but recently been laid out, and Mr. Kirkland, who came in company with Jacob L. Briggs, from Oswego, New York, afterward used to tell with what difficulty they got ashore, there being no wharves here at that time. For some years after coming to Galveston, Mr. Kirkland followed different pursuits un- til a short time prior to 1850, when he form- ed a partnership with James M. Brown and embarked in the hardware business. He was successfully engaged in this business until his death, accumulating some means, represented by his mercantile interest and investments in Galveston city property.

As early as 1841, the year after the in- corporation of Galveston, Mr. Kirkland's name appears as one. of the Aldermen of the city, and he was twice thereafter a member of the board, in 1847 and 1853. He was always proud of Galveston, interest- ed himself in its future, and strove to promote that interest in all practicable ways. He helped to organize one of the first fire companies ever organized in the city, of which he was for some years an active member; and he also took an active part in establishing here the first two frater- nities organized in the place, the Masonic and Odd Fellows.

On November 12, 1850, at Galveston, Mr. Kirkland married Miss Mary A. Emer- son, daughter of Joseph and Rebecca Emer- son, and a native of Thomaston, Maine, she having come to Galveston in 1846. Her father, who had for many years been a mer- chant in New Orleans, came to Galveston in the early '40's. He was a resident of this city some eight or ten years, when he went to California, where he died. Mrs. Kirkland's mother died in the North before the removal of the family to Texas.

After a residence of little over twenty

years in Galveston Mr. Kirkland died, May 16, 1859, being then in his forty-fifth year. Surviving him he left a widow and three children. The eldest, a son, Stephen Ed- win, died some ten years ago (in 1884), aged thirty-three, unmarried; Mary A., the second, now Mrs. Adam Bardash; and the youngest, Emma H., now Mrs. Ormerod Heyworth, reside in Galveston, as does also their mother. Mr. and Mrs. Bardash were married December 15, 1875, and have one danghter, Hortense. Mr. and Mrs. Hey- worth were married August 17, 1880, and have one daughter, Emma C. So that of this pioneer settler but four descendants are now living, and none bearing his name. Mr. Kirkland had a large number of brothers and sisters, but none of them ever became residents of Texas, most of them remaining at the North. The family was noted for longevity, he being the only one that died in middle life. His mother lived to the ad- vanced age of ninety-two.

HOMAS COLLINS .- This old and respected citizen, recently de- ceased, was a native of Ireland, having been born in the county of Mayo, in the year 1818. At the age of twenty he emigrated to America, stopping for a time in New York, whence he went to New Orleans, where he was employed in a large shipping house, and resided for a period of about ten years. In the mean- time (October 22, 1848), he married, and shortly afterward, having been assigned to the position of discharging clerk aboard one of the vessels owned by the firm for whom he worked, he visited all of the then prin- cipal ports along the coast of Texas and Mexico, as far south as Manititlan, South

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America. In this way he came to see Gal- veston and to form the opinion of it that determined him to make it his home. He settled here in 1851, securing a position in the custom-house, through the influence of friends. He invested at once in real estate in the city, purchasing a lot of ground in the present Sixth ward, and also a bunch of cattle of a New Yorker named Goodwin. Later he bought a place of Joshua C. Shaw, south of the city, to which he moved, and there established the afterward popular inn known as the Sixteen-Mile House and stage- stand. Mr. Collins and his wife lived at this place and dispensed a hospitality to the traveling public, and entertained excursion parties from Galveston that made their house famous for good cheer and themselves justly celebrated "through all the country round." With the opening of the war, however, their property ceased to be a pay- ing investment, and closing its doors they sent most of their bedding to the Texas soldiers then serving in the Confederate army from the vicinity of Galveston. They continued to reside at the Sixteen-Mile House all during the war, and, as it was a convenient place for soldiers to rendezvous, rest and recruit, Mr and Mrs. Collins were rarely ever without "some of the boys" with them. What they did in numberless, now forgotten, instances for the sick and disabled is best expressed in the following resolution :.

"Memorial to Mr. and Mrs. Tom Col- lins from the surving members of DeBray's Texas Cavalry. At a reunion held in Gal- veston, August 6 to 11, 1886, the following resolution, offered by Captain R. L. Fulton, was adopted: Resolved, That many mem- bers of DeBray's regiment have a vivid and kindly recollection of the preserving kind-

ness to us in sickness and in health by Mr. and Mrs. Tom Collins during our sojourn on Galveston island as Confederate soldiers during the war. It is therefore resolved that we hereby tender to them our heart- felt and ever-enduring thanks for the same, and the Secretary is hereby instructed to furnish them with an official copy of these resolutions.

"X. B. DEBRAY, President.

"L. W. FIELDS, Secretary."

At the close of the war Mr. and Mrs. Collins bouglit two and one-half acres of land on the south side of the island at the end of Tremont street, paying therefor $250, and there opened a dairy, which they conducted successfully for sixteen years, un- til their possessions were swept away by the great flood of 1875. After that, having re- ceived a good offer for their land, -$9,000, -they sold it to the City Street Railway Company and moved to the corner of Twen- ty-first street and avenue N, where they bought three lots, on which they built, and there Mr. Collins lived until his death, and there his widow still resides. Mr. Collins died November 20, 1892. Never having had any children, his domestic responsibili- ties were light, and during the last fifteen or sixteen years of his life he gave up all active pursuits. He served, however, six years as a member of the City Council dur- ing this time, and always exhibited much interest in what was going on around him. He was also an active member of the Em- mett Benevolent Association, and at the time of his death was the oldest member in the city. Mrs. Collins, his widow, was born in county Kildare, Ireland, her maiden name being Ellen Malone. She was a daughter of James and Bettie Malone, and at the age of fourteen came to America in

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company with her two brothers, settling at New Orleans, where she met and was mar- ried to Mr. Collins. She has lived on Gal- veston island for forty-three years, never · having once been off the island since she came here in 1851. She is well known to, and held in kindly remembrance by, many of the old settlers of the island and city, whom she has entertained at one time and another at the Sixteen-Mile House.

RNST H. SIELING was born Sep- tember 5, 1824, in Hanover, Ger- many, which was also the native place of his parents, Ernst H. and Rosina Sieling. His father, a professional soldier, served many years in the Han- overian army as a member of the historic "Black Dragoons," with whom he took part in most of the wars by which continental Europe was desolated during the first quarter of the present century. The mother of the subject of this sketch was a lady of intelli- gence, and belonged to a family of wealth and influence. Both parents died near the same date, and when their son was as yet only a child. However, proper provision for his care and maintenance was made by the laws of the land, in recognition of his father's military services, and his lines in early life were cast in pleasant places. At about the age of fifteen he was put to the trade of a saddler, which he mastered in accordance with the customs of the craft, and subsequently devoted sonie time to perfecting himself as a workman, by visiting different cities in his native country where superior opportunities were afforded him to learn all the details of the business.

At the age of twenty young Sieling joined the great tide of emigration then setting in

from Germany to the coast country of Texas, and sailed from Bremen aboard the ship "Weser" for Galveston, which place he reached in the closing days of November, 1842. He at once located in this city, and taking up quarters with some of his country- men, he soon secured employment at his trade with John Dorr, who then conducted a little saddle-shop in a one-story frame building on Market street, one door west of Center. For two years Mr. Sieling worked industriously at his trade, at the end of which time he had saved enough from his earnings to engage in business for himself, and he accordingly opened a shop on the west side of Tremont street, on the lot where now stands the Janke music store, moving thence after two years to the op- posite side of Tremont street, and one block further north, where he became more im- mediately and more actively connected with the business interests and general welfare of the community. For twelve years he in- dustriously plied his trade, supplying from the product of his handicraft the local de- mand in his line, until, having accumulated some means and earned what he considered a season of rest, he disposed of his shop and its belongings and paid his native country a long-anticipated visit.

After an absence of over a year in Eu- rope, Mr. Sieling returned to Galveston and again engaged in the saddle and harness business, which he followed thereafter for a period of more than thirty years, always with energy and constantly increasing suc- cess. As a result of the time and effort so spent Mr. Sieling laid the foundation of a comfortable fortune; and now, at the age of seventy-three, he surveys the past with sat- isfaction and views the future in cheerful ease. His career has been distinctly one of

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a business nature. He has traveled very little outside of the beaten paths of trade. Twice he has served as an Alderman of the city, twice on detail duty in times of war (from 1846 to 1848 and from 1861 to 1865), and has taken the usual amount of interest in the progress and prosperity of the city and the State. He has been connected with some civic organization, -notably with Washington Fire Company and Harmonie Lodge, I. O. O. F., both pioneer institu- tions, of which he was a charter member. He is also a member of the German Lutheran Church of Galveston, to the sup- port of which he has been an unfailing and liberal contributor.

In 1849 Mr. Sieling married Mrs. Anna Officier, of Galveston, who died a year later, leaving one daughter, Anna, now also de- ceased. November 10, 1857, he married Mrs. Gisena Fruh, of Galveston, and by this union has four children: Ernst H., Jr., Adella C., Mary and Clara.

Mr. Sieling has witnessed many changes in Galveston since locating in the city more than fifty years ago, having seen it grow from a handful of houses to its present proportions, and in all that has fallen to his lot he has discharged acceptably the duties of a good citizen.

AMILTON BLAGGE was born in New, York September 18, 1839. His boyhood was chiefly passed in his native State, in the schools of which he received his early mental training. At about the age of fifteen he went to South America to become his father's assistant in business, but, his father dying shortly after- wards, he returned to New York, where he remained till 1859. At that date he came

South, stopping awhile in Louisiana, and in May, 1860, coming to Texas. Locating at Galveston, he was engaged as a bookkeeper until the opening of the war, when he en- tered the Confederate army, enlisting in Cap- . tain Medard Menard's company, Col. X. B. DeBray's regiment, in which he served until the fall of 1863. Securing a discharge at that time he went to Havana, Cuba, and thence to New York, where he remained un- til the close of hostilities. In 1865 he re- turned to Galveston, and has since made this place his home. He has been variously en- gaged, having in former years been in the mercantile business and latterly devoting his attention to real estate, insurance and ac- counting. On leaving New York for Gal- veston after the war Mr. Blagge brought a loaded schooner, which was the first to enter the port of Galveston after the port had been declared open. \ This was in July, 1865. In November following, the steamer "Arthur Leary," from New York, was con- signed to liim, this being the first steamer to land at the docks after the war.

Mr. Blagge married Miss Maggie James, at Houston, Texas, October 23, 1862, Mrs. Blagge being a native of Galveston, and a daughter of Alfred F. James, who was for many years a prominent figure in the history of this city. The issue of this marriage has been six children: James H., Harry W., Grace, Ada, Shearer and Fannie. Mr. Blagge is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Humbolt Lodge, No. 9; Knights of Honor, Lodge No. 774; Ancient Order of United Workmen, Lodge No. 62; and Knights and Ladies of Honor, Lodge No. 253, being Secretary, Recorder and Keeper of the Records of each of these, according to official designation. The religious connec- tion of his family is with the Episcopal

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Church, by the service of which church Mr. and Mrs. Blagge were married by the Rev. Dr. Eaton, the pioneer minister of that denomination in this city.

ARRY W. BLAGGE was born in the city of Galveston, January 12, 1841, was mainly reared in New York and received his educa- tion at Lawrence Academy, Groton Center, Massachusetts. During his youth he was a clerk in a wholesale dry-goods house in New York city, and book-keeper in an uncle's bank in Cuba, New York. At the opening of the war he was fired with a zeal to serve the land of his birth and started South to enter the Confederate army, working his way with some difficulty from point to point until he finally reached Galveston. Here he en- listed in the Twenty-sixth Texas Cavalry (Company F, Captain Medard Menard), with which he served during the remainder of the war, taking part in the defense of the Gulf coast and the series of engagements follow- ing the Federal General Banks' campaign up the Red river. Mr. Blagge was made Sergeant Major of his regiment immedi- ately after it was formed, and after the bat- tle of Pleasant Hill was commissioned as Captain Aide-de-camp, and so served from that time until the surrender. After the war he took up his residence in Galveston and has lived here since, having been en- gaged in various business pursuits and iden- tified with the usual number of local enter- prises, being now largely interested in the Dickinson Land Company and other real- estate matters; and was for ten years secre- tary of the Galveston Board of Underwriters. September 26, 1865, Mr. Blagge married Mrs. Caroline E. Butler, a daughter of Mrs.

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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