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 52

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 52
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 52

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October 1, 1866, Dr. Perl married Miss Mary Allen, a native of Houston, and a daughter of Henry R. Allen, a member of the old and highly respected Allen family of this city, mention of which will be found many times in this work. By this union Dr. Perl and wife have had three children, - one daughter, Hildegarde, and two sons, Leon Allen and Gray B. To these the Doctor has given the best educational ad- vantages procurable, all of them having been sent to Europe, where their entire mental training has been received.

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HISTORY OF TEXAS.

a OL. JOHN T. BRADY. - The sub- ject of this sketch was born Oct- ober 10, 1830, in Charles county, Maryland. His parents were John and Mary Brady, who were also natives of Maryland, and in that State his people have lived for many generations, his ancestors in fact having settled there, as part of Lord Baltimore's colony, in 1634. His father was a farmer, as were also most of his antecedents. They were plain, substantial people, up to the average of their class in thrift, industry and intelligence, and the possessors of moderate means. The father served in the war of 1812, but with the ex- ception of the services rendered in this capacity never filled any other position of a civil or military nature.

There were four children in the family to which the subject of this sketch belonged, two sons and two daughters, he being the eldest of the number. The only other sur- vivor of the four is William Brady, who is now a resident of Houston. The daughters, Mrs. Emily McCuin and Mrs. Elizabeth Hauptman, both died in recent years, at their homes in Washington city, at which place the parents also died.

John T. Brady was reared in his native county, in the schools of which he received his elementary education. His training ceased, so far as the schools were concerned, with a terin or two at a local academy, and at the age of seventeen he undertook the serious duties of life for himself. He began his career as a teacher and for a period of some four years gave his atten- tion exclusively to schoolroom work. In this way he earned the money with which to buy books to complete his education, studying in private, and to prepare himself for entry to the profession of law, a pro- 25

fession which he early determined to take up for his life work. He was admitted to the bar the year he attained his majority, and began practice in the courts of his native State. But two years later he went West and settled at Westport, now part of Kansas City, Missouri, where he secured an interest in a newspaper and engaged in journalistic work and in the practice of his profession for another period of about two years. Then, in 1856, on account of the rigor of the winters in that latitude, he gave up his residence there and came to . Texas, locating at Houston. Here he laid journalism aside and entered vigorously and exclusively in the practice of the law. He soon rose to prominence in his profession, and came to be known as a man of much energy, keen intellect and admirable social qualities.

March 31, 1858, he married Caledonia, the accomplished daughter of Colonel John T. Tinsley, a wealthy planter of Brazoria county, and thus formed the first of those ties by which he was to become so strongly attached to the people of Texas and they to him.

From 1856 to 1861 Mr. Brady gave but little attention to any pursuits or interests outside of his profession. He did not even concern himself very much with current politics, although he, of necessity, had to take some part in passing events. His law practice was seriously interrupted by the war, but he continued at it inore or less from 1861 to 1865, and at the close of hostilities actively resumed his professional pursuits.

In 1863 he was elected to the State Legislature; re-elected in 1866, and thus represented Harris county in the tenth and eleventh sessions of that body, in each of

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which sessions he achieved considerable repu- tation, serving as chairman of the Finance Committee in the tenth session and as chairman of the Committee on Internal Im- provements in the eleventh.

In the early seventies he originated the idea of the Texas State Fair, organized the machinery necessary to put it in motion and by his persistent effort and judicious counsel made a success of it. He was its first presi- dent, and served in this capacity for a num- ber of years. The idea was also his of hav- ing the great fariner-editor, Horace Greeley, open the fair, and while here meet the peo- ple of this great State and learn from actual observation something of their latent wealth, their hospitality and especially their personal respect for him as the bondsman of Jefferson Davis and the author of that genuine Ameri- can sentiment, "We are now all Ameri- cans."

In 1878 Colonel Brady was elected to the State Senate and represented his dis- trict in the seventeenth session of the Legislature. In this session he served as chairman of the Committee on Public Debt, and added still further to his reputation as an earnest and thoughtful lawmaker. In 1880 he was a candidate against Colonel Roger Q. Mills for Congress, and, although defeated, he polled a very flattering vote, carrying a number of counties in tlie dis- trict.

As a lawyer Colonel Brady's standing was always high. He was early honored with a good clientage, and, coming to the State so carly, he had to do, at one time and another, with many important questions, the determination of which now forms the recognized and finally settled system of the State's jurisprudence. But few men strived harder to deserve the confidence of clients

or to win the esteem of the courts. When he undertook a case he devoted all of his mental and physical energies to it, inaking his client's cause his own and exhausting every resource of the law to attain what he believed to be just and right. His mind was vigorous and active; its resources rich and varied, and constantly at his command. He possessed a ripened judginent, and, barring a rapid speech and energetic style of delivery, was a strong and effective orator.

Colonel Brady was always noted as a promoter of large enterprises and a leader in financial circles, and even in the midst of a large and lucrative law practice he was constantly absorbed in some measure of de- velopment. His last, which lie seems to have hoped to make the crowning work of his life, was the construction of a belt railway connecting all the lines centering at Houston, the opening of a deep-water port at the junction of Buffalo and Bray's bayous near the old town of Harrisburg and the improvement of a public park suitable to the growing demands of a seat of wealth, culture and refinernent like Houston. No man could possibly take a mental survey of the work which Colonel Brady proposed for himself without being moved with the mag- nitude of the conception and filled with re- gret that its generous and farseeing architect was not permitted to carry it out. The railroad, incorporated under the name of the Houston Belt & Magnolia Park Railway, was nearly finished; the harbor and wharves were put far on the road to completion and the work of beautifying and rendering at- tractive the portion of land set aside for the park was progressing well, when all his plans and purposes, all the labor thus far per- formed and all the happy anticipations of

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the author and designer were brought to naught by the stern decree of fate. On the 26th of June, 1890, in the very midst of his labors, and while inspecting some work being done on a new wharf at Port Houston, he was stricken one day with cerebral effusion, from the effects of which he soon passed away. News of his death throughout the city was received with the deepest sorrow and re- gret, and his great loss to Texas was general- ly recognized throughout the State. His remains were buried at Glenwood cemetery.

It is stated with pride by those who knew Colonel Brady that he was an honest and capable lawyer, a wise and able legislator, a man of surpassing energy and undaunted courage, and of boundless faith in the future of his State. He early foresaw the advan- tages of Houston's water-way to the Gulf and never lost an opportunity to set forth these advantages on all proper occasions. He attended all the deep-water conventions held throughout the West, and in speeches before these, as well as by judicious advertis- ing, did much to attract settlers and capital- ists to this city and vicinity. It was always his belief that Houston would be the great- est city in the Southwest, and he showed his faith in the place by holding steadfastly to his investments here. ` He was also a man of great heart as well as great brain; a man of large sympathies, fine feelings and full of that kind of ambition which had in it noth- ing selfish or mean. He gave liberally of his means for the relief of the wants of his fellow-creatures and although he made no pretention as a church member he gave in the true spirit of Christianity, never allowing the right hand to know what the left had did.

Colonel Brady's wife, Caledonia Tinsley Brady, preceded him to the grave by many years, as did also a second wife, Lennie

Sherman Brady, daughter of the distinguish- ed soldier and civilian, General Sidney Sher- man. Colonel Brady was three times mar- ried and left surviving him a widow and three children, two by his second marriage, Lucy Sherman Brady and Sidney Sherman Brady; and one by his last, Mary Henrietta Brady.

a APTAIN S. S. ASHE, Clerk of the Criminal District Court of Harris county, was born in Brownsville, Haywood county, Tennessee, June 14, 1840, a son of John B. and Eliza (Hay) Ashe. His father was a native of Fayette- ville, North Carolina, and a son of Samuel Aslie, also a native of that State. John B. was a lawyer by profession, representing Haywood county in the State Legislature a number of terins, and afterward the Mem- phis (Tennessee) district in Congress, in the election defeating Frederick B. Stanton, who had been his predecessor a number of years. Stanton's defeat was the occasion of his going to Kansas, where he became a Free-Soil politician, and figured conspicuous- ly in the carly history of that State. Mr. Ashe was an astute lawyer and a popular and powerful public speaker, and, it was said at the time, was the only man in the Mem- phis district who could have defeated Stan- ton for the position he had so long held. He came to Texas in 1848, settling at Galves- ton, where he engaged in the practice of law until his death, in 1857, at the age of fifty- five years.

His father, Samuel Ashe, the grandfather of S. S. Ashe, of this article, was at one time Governor of North Carolina, and was a prominent politician in that State. He took part in the American Revolution, serv-

HISTORY OF TEXAS.

ing as Aid-de-camp on the staff of General La Fayette. His father, whose name was John B., was a General in the same revo- lution. The family settled in the Old North State in early Colonial times, and Asheville, in that State, was named for them.

Eliza, née Hay, wife of John B. Ashe, and mother of Samuel Swan Ashe (whose name introduces this sketch), was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, a daughter of David Hay, a native of Ireland, who came to America when a young man and located near Asheville, where he married and subse- quently lived for many years, moving thence to Tennessee, where he died. He was edu- cated for the law, but never devoted him- self to it as a profession. He was a large planter, and a prominent and prosperous gentleman, both in North Carolina and Tennessee. Mrs. Eliza (Hay) Ashe died on Galveston bay in Harris county, at the age of fifty-five years. John B. and Eliza Ashe were the parents of four children besides the subject of this sketch: Richard Gaston, Mary P., William, and Bettie.

Samuel Swan Ashe, whose name com- mences this biographical outline, was brought by his parents to Texas in 1848, and passed his boyhood and youth at Gal- veston and Velasco. He attended his first school at the age of nine years, which was taught by Mrs. Thomas G. Masterson, the mother of Judge James R. Masterson, of Houston. Subsequently he attended school in Galveston, and at the age of fifteen years attended the Maryland Military Institute at Oxford, Maryland, and afterward for three years the University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill, Orange county, North Carolina.

Returning to Texas at the opening of the late war, he entered the Confederate army, in 1861, enlisting in Company B, Terry's

Texas Rangers, and served with this com- inand throughout the great struggle. Some of the campaigns and engagements in which he participated with this regiment were among the severest of the war. Beginning with the battle of Shiloh, he was in the operations about Corinth, Iuka, Murfrees- borough, Chickamauga, and all the battles fought by Johnston's army on the Georgia campaign down to the evacuation of Atlan- ta, before which place he commanded a battery. He was once captured, namely, at Woodbury, Tennessee, under the follow- ing circumstances: A party of twenty men had been sent by General Forrest, under cover of a cornfield, to draw the fire of the Union troops. Mistaking the distance, they crossed over the view between the two great contending parties, and were almost within the grasp of the Federals. Mr. Ashe, having previously been in the front, and become familiar with the position of the enemy and the topography of the country, was detailed to bring out Forrest's party. He made an heroic effort, and he and all of his men fought bravely for their lives and liberties, but most of them were killed or captured, Mr. Ashe being among the captured. After three inonths' imprisonment he effected his es- cape, and rejoined his command at Smith- ville, Tennessee, when he was promoted from the ranks in the cavalry to the position of Lieutenant in the artillery, on account of his services on the above occasion, although, he says, he did no more than his comrades in that encounter. From that time on he served in the artillery branch of the service, participating with it in the engagements in the vicinity of Chickamauga, Chattanooga and the Georgia campaign, as already stated. He acted as Captain most of the time, his senior being sick.

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After the war Captain Ashe returned to Texas and took up his residence at Lynch- burg, Harris county, where he engaged in mercantile business, in partnership with John B. Sydnor. In 1870 he was elected Sheriff and Collecter of Harris county (these offices then being one), and served four years, when the offices were separated, and he was elected Collector and held this office two terms, of two years each, declin- ing a third election. He then engaged in the real estate business, being interested in considerable property in the vicinity of Sour lake, about sixty miles east of Hous- ton. He still retains this interest, believ- ing that this property is destined ultimately to become very valuable, on account of the medicinal properties of the water of the lake. His home, however, is in Houston, where he has resided since 1870.

During the troublous times from 1865 to 1874, - "Reconstruction" days, - Captain Ashe was one of the County Commissioners of Harris county, and in that capacity prob- ably rendered his county the best services he has ever given it, being the means of preventing the irresponsible minions of "carpet-bag" rule from loading the people down with useless debt, and consequent poverty, political slavery, and general con- fusion. In February, 1893, the Captain was tendered the appointment of Clerk of the Criminal District Court of Harris county, by Governor Hogg, and accepted it, which position he is now filling.

In respect to the fraternal orders the Captain is a Knight Templar Mason, be- ing a member of Sampson Lodge, No. 321, at Lynchburg, this county, and Ruth- ven Commandery, No. 2, at Houston. He also belongs to the Chosen Friends and Knights of Honor, and both himself and

his family are communicants of the Prot- estant Episcopal Church. He has been a life-long Democrat, as was also his father, and, like both his father and grandfather, he is active and influential in politics.

In 1866, Captain Ashe married Miss Sallie Anderson, a daughter of John Pauld- ing and Nancy (Hoard) Anderson, of Leba- non, Tennessee. Of their six children two are living, -John B. and Sallie De\Vitt.

3 AMES T. D. WILSON, the subject of this sketch, has been a citizen of Texas since 1835, and a resident of Houston since 1837. He is a veteran of the Texas revolution, and has served his country faithfully in every capacity in which he has been called to act, whether as a pri- vate citizen or public officer. There can be no question, therefore, as to the appropri- ateness of inserting in this record what fol- lows concerning him.

James Theodore Dudley Wilson, eldest son of Robert and Margaret Pendergrast Wilson, was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on the 4th day of July, 1820. His mother dying three years later, at Natchez, Missis- sippi, to which place the family had, in the meantime, moved, the son was sent to rela- tives in Virginia, and afterward, in Kentucky, and his boyhood and early youth were passed in those States and in Cincinnati, Ohio, up to the age of fifteen. He received his education in private schools, and began earning his own livelihood, in part at least, at the age of fourteen, becoming a clerk in a store in Bourbon county, Kentucky, in 1834. He was there about a year when, in the latter part of August or the first of Sep- tember, 1835, he came to Texas, whither his father had come several years earlier.

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HISTORY OF TEXAS.

The trip from New Orleans to Velasco was made by a sail vessel, the schooner San Felipe. Aboard this vessel was Colonel Stephen F. Austin, then on his return to Texas, after a long imprisonment in Mexico. Upon the arrival of the San Felipe at an- chorage, off the mouth of the Brazos river, the Mexican armed cruiser Correo, under com- mand of "Mexican Thompson," then en- gaged in breaking up the commerce of the infant colony, was found hovering a few miles away. Citizens of Velasco who knew of the presence of the cruiser, came out to assist in the defense of the San Felepi, which, it was expected, would be attacked that night. Colonel Austin was persuaded to go ashore, but nearly all of the other passengers remained aboard, among them young Wilson. The attack was made as expected, Thompson was driven off, and early next morning his vessel was captured. With this as an introduction, Mr. Wilson's life in Texas began.

He located at Columbia, Brazoria county; where he soon secured a position in the mercantile house of W. C. White & Company. He was here until March, 1836, when he joined the Texas army, then form- ing to resist the invasion of the Mexicans under Santa Anna. He served first under Captain William H. Patton, and later under Captain Wash. H. Secrest, and participated in the stirring scenes that marked those days of daring and heroic self-sacrifice. Upon the conclusion of peace and the removal of the capital to Houston, he gave up his resi- dence in Columbia and came to this city, in 1837. For a number of years he assisted his father in untangling his business inter- ests, which had been thrown into almost in- extricable confusion by his enforced neglect of the same, and the unsettled condition of

the country together with the burning of his valuable property at Harrisburg by Santa Anna's army. During these times young Wilson was interested somewhat also in real-estate speculations, and gained an ex- tensive knowledge of titles and land values, which has been very serviceable to him all through life. Froin the fall of 1852 to Jan- uary, 1858, Mr. Wilson was head clerk in the mercantile establishment of Van Alstyne & Taylor in Houston,-six years that brought him a large and varied fund of ex- perience, which formed no inconsiderable part of his capital when he came to handle interests of his own.

At the opening of the war between the North and South he tendered hisservices to his adopted State and received from the military board, composed of the Governor, the State Treasurer, and Comptroller, the appoint- ment of special agent to visit Mexico, to pro- cure supplies for the Confederate army. He served in this capacity during the term of his appointment, and refused, upon the term- ination of the same, to accept any compensa- tion for his services. He received the thanks, however, of the board, and the legislative committee, to which was referred the auditing of his accounts and the investi- gation of the manner in which he had fulfilled his mission, complimented him highly both for the faitlifulness of his services and for the clear, concise and business-like report which he made of his doings.

With the close of the war Mr. Wilson resumed his business pursuits in Houston, extending his investments and giving his at- tention strictly to his personal interests. He has never had much taste for public life, and for some years following the close of the war there were special reasons, as is well known, for a man of delicate sensibilities

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holding himself aloof from political matters; but the time came in the history of the city of Houston when the interests of the tax- payers and the cause of good government demanded at the head of the municipal administration a man of known honesty and acknowledged ability, and early in 1874, after several years of inisrule under recon- struction measures, the city was placed in the hands of an administration of which Mr. Wilson was appointed the head, and acted as Mayor until March, of the same year, when he became a candidate for the same position, and was elected by a large majority. He served under this election until January, 1875, during which time he was busy un- earthing frauds perpetrated by the emissa- ries of reconstruction, and in undoing, as far as possible, their misdeeds. In January, 1877, after the lapse of one term, he was again brought out by his friends as a candi- date for the same office, and was elected. During this term of his service he prose- cnted with more vigor the investigation of the acts of previons administrations, and the work of bringing to light the city's actual condition. This was accomplished to the satisfaction of the tax-payers, and to the credit of the gentlemen having the labor in hand.

During this same administration, in the years 1877-8, the present system of public schools was inaugurated, and the educational needs of the city thus placed upon a solid basis. The agitation of the question of a system of public water-works also took shape during his second administration, the pres- sent system being put in in 1878, and atten- tion generally to the city's growing demands was aroused; and, as far as public sentiment seemed to warrant, active steps were taken to provide for the same.

Mr. Wilson's large real-estate interests began with the era of development which set about in 1874, to form the basis of a considerable fortune, and he was solicited by the promoters of many enterprises, then being set on foot, to lend his name and credit to them. A knowledge, however, of the slow and laborious way in which his carnings had been made, and a conservative habit, somewhat natural to him, kept him out of most of these enterprises, and caused him to keep his investments largely in real estate, -the soil for which he and his father had fought, and in the stability of which he has always maintained an abiding faith. However, in 1875, he was elected a director in the Exchange National Bank of Houston, and in October, 1876, became president of the same institution. For some years past Mr. Wilson has lived mostly in retirement, but, during this time, has given, and con- tinues to give, his attention to his private interests.

In politics he has always been a Demo- crat, standing with his party on all State and National issues, and giving to its stand- ard-bearers his active support as often as occasion has demanded. He entertains a partiality for the Presbyterian faith in mat- ters of religion, but has been a contributor to subscription lists circulated in behalf of other denominations, and, in fact, for all forms of charity.

On the ist day of February, 1855, in the city of Houston, Mr. Wilson married Miss Mary Adeline Cornelia Cone, a native of Macon, Georgia, a daughter of Dr. H. H. Cone, who came to Texas in the early '30s, and served in the battle of San Antonio, in December, 1835.

Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have had six chil- dren: Robert E. C., born February 22,

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1856, now a real-estate dealer of Houston; Harvey T. D., born February 26, 1858, financial and insurance agent at Houston; Joseph D. P., born January 4, 1861, and died January 24, 1864; Cora T. B., born May 11, 1863, now wife of Henry Havelock Dickson, vice-president and secretary of the Dickson Car Wheel Company, at Hous- ton; Hubert S. H., born November 13, 1868, wholesale and retail wood and coal dealer, of Houston; and Cornelia E. B., born January 3, 1873, unmarried, and with her parents, who reside in the center of block 89, city of Houston; entrance, No. 608 Rusk avenue.

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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