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 66

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 66
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 66

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sons, and nine daughters, -fourteen of whom became grown. Nine of these ac- companied them to Texas, most of the num- ber marrying and settling here. Of this large family but one now survives, he whose name heads this article, though many grand- sons, and granddaughters, and others of still remoter degree of relationship are scat- tered throughout the State.

Samuel M. McAshan was born in Buck- ingham county, Virginia, on the 11th of March, 1829. He was fifteen years old when his parents moved to Texas. He had at- tended an ordinary private school in his native county some four years before the removal West, and after the family settled near La Grange he attended school at that place another year. The education thus re- ceived was all he ever obtained. For a time he worked on a farm, and then, at the age of eighteen, became a clerk in the store of Ward & Longcope, at La Grange, which position he held eight years, when, in 1855, he engaged in business for himself, in part- nership with his older brother, Paul, the firm opening a store at La Grange, which they conducted at that place up to the breaking out of the war. In 1863 Mr. McAshan came to Houston, and six months later, - April 1, 1864, -he entered the employ of the late T. W. House, becoming book-keeper in Mr. House's large mercantile establishment. After a year's service in this position he was made cashier of the banking department, and this position he has occupied continu- ously since, covering a period now of thirty years. The large and varied interest, or combination of interests, represented by the natne of T. W. House, banker, has been of gradual growth; and the construction of the machinery, as well as the formulation of the principles by which it is carried on,

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represents the labor of a number of hands, and the conceptions, in details at least, of more than one mind. While, therefore, all honor should be paid to the distinguished founder of the business, no one will deny that the subject of this article, as the head of the financial branch of the establishment, - that branch which, from time to time, has absorbed most of the others, -has had much to do with the making of its history and the achievement of its success. This is an acknowledgment which the present owners of the business cheerfully make, and is more a tribute to Mr. McAshan's worth than it is a plain and candid statement of the facts. Were figures necessary to emphasize the magnitude of the interests which have thus been committed to Mr. McAshan's care, they could easily be given. But these may be omitted in speaking of a business which is one of the oldest, largest and best known in the State of Texas. It will be sufficient to say that all the ebb and flow of this vast estate, its resources and indebtedness, re- ceipts and expenditures, profits and losses, have found their way once a year, and in some departments many times in the run of a year, through the channels over which he watches, investments being changed, secu- rities shifted, plans altered, and other things done involving hundreds of thousands of dollars upon balances made up under his di- rection and for which he alone is responsible.

Some men seem to have been born for the positions which fall to them in life, while others seein to be fitted by pressure into the places they occupy. The subject of this sketch clearly belongs to the former class. Hle discharges the duties of his position with a degree of ease, uniformity and success which leaves no doubt as to his natural apti- tude for them. To the common attributes

of honesty and integrity, promptness, and accuracy, are added in his case a memory remarkable for its clearness, a judgment eminently sound, and a facility in passing in rapid mental review the details of all the multifarious interests entrusted to his charge, that is as rare as it is indispensable in the handling of such interests. Certainly Mr. McAshan's mental and moral equipment is an exceptional one, and most certain it is, also, that his career is far removed from the ordinary kind. That he has never amassed wealth, although he has been associated daily with men of means, and has presum- ably enjoyed somne opportunities, is in no wise to be set down against the usefulness of his example. He has subordinated con- sideration of self to his sense of duty, taking loyalty to those whom he has served in the fullest and broadest meaning as his guide. To the young man who has inherited an even temperament, who desires to live an industrious, orderly life, and who is not eaten up with the lust of Mammon, but sees sufficient motive for faithful application in a personal feeling of duty well done, here is an example that will be helpful, a career that is worthy of thoughtful consideration. Such careers are not entered of record every day, nor are they pointed to for imitation nearly as often as they might be. But that does not mnilitate against their usefulness, nor lessen the obligation of the honest bio- grapher to point them out when found.

On the 11th of August, 1855, Mr. Mc- Ashan married Miss Mattie R. Eanes, a. daughter of James and Susan Eanes, then residing in La Grange, but originally from Cumberland county, Virginia, where Mrs. McAshan was born and chiefly reared. The issue of this union has been four children: James Everett; Samuel Earnest; Annie E.,

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wife of R. H. Kirby; and Virginia K., wife of H. R. Du Pree, the two sons and young- est daughter being residents of Houston, and the other daughter residing in Austin.

Mr. McAshan and his entire family are members of the Methodist Church, in which denomination his parents also held a mem- bership during the greater part of their lives.

Mr. McAshan has seen a great deal of - the making of the history of Texas, and has been an interested spectator in all that has gone on around him. When he came . to the State there was not a mile of rail- road nor a telegraph line in it, no towns of any size, the population being confined mainly to the settlements along the larger streams, and to the few villages then started, in all, perhaps, not over 75,000 souls. Now the State is covered with a network of railroads, and the electric telegraph reaches every portion of the country; the land is dotted all over with towns and cities, and the total population of the State is near . 2, 500,000. He has witnessed all the mar- velous changes which have taken place in this region during the past fifty years, and has lived long enough to know that Texas is destined to become the grandest State in all the American galaxy.

I. SAAC COLMAN .- Among thie early settlers of Houston who fulfilled their destiny and are now no more may be mentioned Isaac Colman, whose career was characterized by the most honorable business methods, by the keenness of his cominercial instincts, by his devotion to his family, and by the interest he took in the welfare of his adopted country and of his fellow-men.

Mr. Colman was born in Prussia, Ger-

many, near the close of the first quarter of the present century, and was reared there until he was sixteen or eighteen years old, coming thence to the United States. He came to Texas about 1839 or 1840, and traveled over the country for some time as a peddler. Having saved some means from his earnings as an itinerant salesman, he took up his permanent residence in Houston early in the '40s, and here, in partnership with Maurice Levy, opened a general store, under the firin name of Colman & Levy. This house was one of the early mercantile establishments of this city, and for years did a very successful business. With the opening of hostilities between the North and South, in 1861, Messrs. Colman & Levy went out of business, being forced to do sc, like many others, on account of the unset- tled condition of things, and, for a period of four or five years, Mr. Colman followed no regular pursuits. With the return of peace, however, he again embarked in the mercantile business, and was so engaged up to the time of his death, in 1873. He was but little past fifty when he died, being in the prime of manhood and well to the front in his business career, and had he lived, with the means then at his command, the opportun- ities at that time being unfolded to men of his enegy and business sagacity, he would unqestionably have become a man of wealth and reached a position in public favor to which his name is unfortunately a stranger. As it was, he left an estate valued at several thousand dollars, though not large, as measured by present standards, and, so far as this generation knows him, he is held in kindly remembrance. The older citizens speak with special emphasis of the interest he took in the city in an early day, and of his efforts in behalf of the maintenance of

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order and good government. Having been brought up in a populous community, he knew the necessity of discipline, and the value of public institutions and public works, and he exerted himself on all proper occa- sions to bring before the people the neces- sity of the citizens of Houston directing their attention to these inatters. He frequently served as Alderman of the city, and, as a member of the Board of Aldermen, was in- strumental in securing the laying of the first plank sidewalks in the place, -that being in the days when Houston was in the mud, and the problem of locomotion was one of the most pressing problems the inhabitants had to deal with for about six months in the year. He was also in the council when the old market house was built, and took much interest in the erection of that building. When the sick, infirm and destitute of the county had to be cared for mainly by indi- viduals and private charity, he was a willing worker and cheerful contributor to all such purposes, it being well known that the needy never passed his door empty-handed, nor did the report of a case of sickness or destitution ever reach his ears without re- ceiving his attention in some way.

In 1860 Mr. Colman , married Rosalie Kottwitz, who was then residing in Hous- ton, but was a native of Germany, where she was born October 17, 1840. Of a fain- ily of seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Colman, four are now living: Henrietta, . Solomon, Fannie and Bettie. Henrietta, now Mrs. A. L. Fribourg, resides in Den- ver, Colorado, and is the mother of six children: Theresa, Isaac, Louis, Victor, Gussie and Eugene; Solomon resides at Houston, and, having married Gussie Bo- nart, daughter of Hertz and Berthia Bonart, is the father of two children, -Pearl and

Isaac; Fannie is the wife of E. Lipper, of Houston, and has two children, -Lawrence and Henrietta; and Bettie is the wife of Emanuel Bonart, of Galveston, and has one child, Isaac Colman. Thus the descendants of this pioneer merchant number nearly a score, while his friends among those of the old settlers who survive are many, and all will doubtless be glad to see this tribute paid to his memory.

UGUST BOTHMAN .-- The name of Bothman is closely identified with the business history of the Island City. August Bothman was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1825, and there learned the trade of boiler-maker,. which he followed in his native country until 1848, at which time he came to Texas, set- tling at Galveston.

His first employinent in this city was in the foundry of Hiram Close. As soon as he accumulated sufficient means he engaged in . business for himself, making boilers and do- ing metal work, at which his excellent work- manship and fair methods of dealing were duly recognized and appreciated, and he soon grew into a profitable business. He conducted this business until his death, Sep- tember 5, 1890, at which time it passed into the hands of his son, and is still being car- ried on, being now, as it has been. at all times in the past, one of the principal estab- lishments of its kind in Galveston, and in fact in South Texas. To the building up of this enterprise Mr. Bothman gave years of hard labor and strict attention, and in so doing not only succeeded in founding an es- tablishment of material value to the city, but won for himself an honorable name and made a record to which his friends and fam-

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ily point with commendable pride. While this was his chief business interest in middle and later life, Mr. Bothman made some in- vestments in other ways, the principal of which was in the Texas Flour Mills, in which he was an original stockholder and director.

Mr. Bothinan left a widow and eight chil- dren, the sons and daughters being Augusta, wife of Captain James Boyle; Emil; William; Mary, wife of Charles Emme; Charles; Ern- estine; Della; and Bertha.

EORGE E. HINRICHSEN, a re- tired contractor and builder of Houston, was born on the Isle of Fohr, in the Dukedom of Schles- wig, a small dependency of Denmark, on the <29th of July, 1833. His parents were natives of the same place, and on this island, inhabited mainly by sailors, his peo- ple have lived from time immemorial. His - father was a carpenter, and George E. , learned this trade under him, but preferring the ancestral calling of a sailor, that calling which both of his grandfathers had followed, as well as many others of his kin, he entered the service aboard a Danish merchantman, at the age of sixteen and began scafaring life. He sailed the Northern seas between Demark and Greenland for two years, after which, for a year or more, lie was on a Ger- man line and ran between Bremen, Ger- many, and the principal American ports. About 1853, he went on an American vessel running out of New York, and during the last six years of his life as a sailor was in the service of American ship-owners. What- ever of novelty or excitement, of hard labor or thrilling adventure attaches to the life of a seaman, Mr. Hinrichsen has known; for he began the business when the service re-

quired of him was of the most menial and exacting kind, and he followed it sufficiently long to become acquainted with all its de- tails. He visited many countries, and met, in a restricted way, representatives of many people. He considers the time spent by him on the sea as profitably spent, all things considered, and still confesses to a fondness for the smell of salt air and for the sights and scenes of the mighty oceans and all the shores they wash.

In 1858, while sailing in the Gulf of Mexico, Mr. Hinrichsen visited Galveston. He had previously spent several months at Cape Colony during one of his trips to the South African coast, and was much pleased with the climate and the country, and, finding here a similar climate and country, he decided to abandon ocean life and settle himself in land pursuits. His knowl- edge of carpentering, made use of to some extent even while a sailor, now came to his aid, and locating in Houston he soon found employment with A. Bering & Brother, con- tractors and builders. For a year and a half he worked diligently at his trade and saved his wages.

By this time he was enabled to return to his native country in the summer of 1860, and fulfill a promise of marriage made a number of years before to one of his coun- trywomen, Elena Hansen, who had waited faithfully during all his wanderings about the world for his return. With his bride he came again to the home of his choice and settled, and has here since resided without any thought of ever making a change, but with increased admiration for its many at- tractions and increased attachments for its people. During the war Mr. Hinrichsen was for a year or two in the service of the Confederacy, in the capacity of sailor, fit-

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ting up vessels, and also engaged in running the blockade with Texas products for ex- change in Mexican ports. After the war he formed a partnership with Charles H. Ber- ing and for twenty-five or twenty-six years was engaged in contracting and building in this city. Steady work and strict economy brought surplus funds, and these, judiciously invested in small pieces of real estate, which have advanced in value with the growth of the city, have placed him in a position of com- fort, enabling him to spend the remainder of his life in retirement and free from busi- ness cares.

On February 5, 1893, Mr. Hinrichsen . lost his estimable wife, she having borne him seven children, but four of whoin are living. These are Louisa, now Mrs. F. A. Potthoff; Sophia, wife of Jacob H. Feser; Henry and Lena, wife of Alfred H. Frank, -- all residents of Houston.

Mr. Hinrichsen and most of his family are members of the Gerinan Methodist Church.

J P. SHERWOOD .- This pioneer Texan was born in the town of Easton, Maryland, on April 3, 1811. He was raised in the city of Balti- more, where he served a seven-years' ap- prenticeship at the ship-joining trade, and when he became a master workman he took passage on a sailing vessel for the port of New Orleans, in 1835. There he was en- gaged in fitting out the Texas navy. He lien returned to his home in Baltimore, where his attention was attracted by a bird's-eye view of Galveston, which had been prepared and was being exhibited by some real-estate dealers. Upon the repre- sentation of Messrs. Mckinney & Williams, he came to the island on October 11, 1837,

bringing with him five house framnes. Two of these houses comprised the old William Tell Hotel, which was erected on Market street, near the site of the present opera house. It was the custom in those early days for workmen to carry their arms, as well as work tools; and one day, when work- ing on this building, he shot two deer on the spot where is now the Bank Exchange. He built the first frame house known to be erected on the island. It now stands at the corner of Of and Twenty-fifth streets. It was once a customs bonded warehouse. Afterward it became the postoffice. It was sit- uated at the foot of Twenty-fourth street, on the bay, and was removed when P. J. Willis & Brother began their business block.

On his arrival at Galveston, 1837, he was met by Gail Borden, the inventor of con- densed milk, who was about that time cus- toms officer. Mr. Borden extended him the hospitalities of his home; and there he met Mrs. Borden, the only woman on Gal- veston island at that time. Having cast his . fortunes with the early pioneers of Texas, he was always interested in her welfare and especially in Galveston's progress and pros- perity.

He was a soldier and organized a com- pany, and with them went to Austin to pro- tect the workmen on the capitol building from Indian hostility. He was in several engagements with Indians, among which was the famous Plum Creek fight. He was an intimate friend and admirer of General Sanı Houston, and indorsed his views on all leading questions In the last moments of his earthly life he was paying a tribute of re- spect to his honored deceased friend.

He was always opposed to annexation, and great was hiis surprise when he heard the first telegram passing over the wire from

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Washington to Baltimore. where he was on a visit home, announcing the annexation of Texas. He saw it bulletined, and then he felt the individual glory of the "Lone Star" would be swallowed up by inerging into the Union. About this time, when he had re- turned to Galveston, he was the first juror to rebel against the practice of serving on the jury without remuneration. This or any other service he was willing to give the Re- public of Texas without the hope of fee or reward, but now Texas was one of the Union and he held a juror should be remu- nerated for his service. The court took a different view of the matter, and Judge Sweat had him committed for contempt. Here he amused himself by singing the national air of the Republic, "Will You Come to the Bower." His friends supplied him with lux- uries and encouraged him to battle for what they believed was right.

He knew personally Lieutenant Camp- bell, the chief officer of Lafitte, the great pirate, whose headquarters were on this isl- and. He was once entertained at the home of Lieutenant Campbell, who related many interesting incidents of his life with Lafitte. He built a pilot house on a steamboat of pe- culiar fashion (at that time) in style and lo- cation. He named it "Texas," and it is a a well known location nowadays among steamboat men. He built the first turn- table laid in Galveston for the Galveston, Houston & Henderson Railroad Company. He was for niany years foreman of the wharf company, in the employ of Mckinney & Williams, and about this time invented the method of sinking piles by hydraulic pump- ing. He used a piece of iron pipe. After- ward he explained this process to Lieutenant Stevens, a United States officer, who adopt- ed what is now a common method for sink-

ing piles. Hitherto a hammer had been used, with little avail.

In the early days, where now stately buildings adoru paved thoroughfares, only marshes and rank weeds were to be' found, and hidden in thein were snakes and mos- quitoes. The pioneers would cut grass and burn it in a circle where they slept to keep away reptiles, etc. The Carankaway In- dians inhabited the island then, and wild animals were abundant and dangerous. He came to Galveston island when it was a wild, barren strip of sand, and saw it grow grad- ually into the promising proportions of to- day, and at his death he felt his race was run and he was ready to yield up to the last deinand.

While he was a man of modest habits, whose lines were cast in humble private life, yet he served in public places. He was the first quarantine officer at Galveston, and served a term as Alderman in 1851. He was captain of ordnance during the late war, and was made a political prisoner on the gunboat Harriet Lane, and was kept there for a considerable time, and, when liberated, General Magruder desired him to fit out a vessel that could capture the Harriet Lane; but, as he desired to visit his wife and chil- dren, leave was granted for him to proceed on his journey, during which time the cap- ture of the Harriet Lane was effected. He was ship carpenter of the first boat that made the trip up the Trinity river. Prior to coming to Texas he spent a few months in New York city, where he became a mem- ber of the first carpenters' trade union organ- ized in America.

Of James P. Sherwood's parentage and early life this much only can be stated: His father, Richard Sherwood, emigrated from Europe when a young man, and located on

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the eastern shore of Maryland, where he engaged in farming on a somewhat exten- sive scale, and acquired considerable prom- inence and influence. He raised a family of twelve children, most of whom settled in Baltimore, Maryland. James P. and brother Richard erected and operated the Sherwood House, corner of Fayette and Harrison streets, in Baltimore, which was one of the famous hostelries of that city fifty to sixty years ago. Two other brothers, William and Robert, became printers, and owned a printing establishment of favorable repu- tation. Mr. Sherwood received a good common-school education. Inclining to mechanical pursuits, he was apprenticed to Messrs. Enlo & Son, then famous ship- builders of Baltimore, where he learned his trade.

James P. Sherwood and Charlotte E. Robinson were married March 3, 1843, and the issue of this union was eight children, five of whom survive: Thomas P., William T., James D). and Charlie L., of Galveston; and Sophronie (single), living in Houston. One son, George B., served in the late Civil war in the Confederate army, was commis- sioned Lieutenant, and lost his life at the siege of Vicksburg. A daughter, Mary E., died in infancy. Mrs. Sherwood died Sep- tember 23, 1861, at the age of thirty-four. Mr. Sherwood died March 20, 1894.

a HARLES LEE SHERWOOD, the youngest son of James and Char- lotte E. Sherwood, was born in the city of Galveston August 21, 1855, in which city and at Bastrop, in this State, he was reared. He learned the tinners' trade in Galveston, and after working at it in this city and in Temple, Texas, for some

years he opened a tin-shop and hardware business of his own in Galveston, which he has since conducted with success. In 1885 he married Miss B. A. Kinney, a daughter of R. D. Kinney, who was a pioneer Texan of Bell county. By this marriage there was one child, Sophronia, born January [, 1888.

Her father was a son of Andrew Kinney and Jane Davidson, and came to Texas and now lives in Bell county. Mrs. Sherwood's mother bore the maiden name of Adeline A. Lee, being a daughter of John H. Lee, of Virginia, who came to Texas in 1853, settling in Bell county. Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood have had three children: May Kinney, who was born May 14, 1886, and died February 10, 1887; Emma Sophronia, born January 1, 1888; and Robert Kinney, who was born June 25, 1890, and died April 17, 1892.

ILLIAM L. MACATEE. - A close observer, in studying the history of the advancement and develop- ment of the city of Houston, Texas, will find golden threads running through the web and woof of events of the past few years. These are indicative of the lives of those men whose public spirit and energy have made her first among the cities, and gives her a conspicuous place among the commercial marts of the world. A true rep- resentative of such inen is found in one whose career inspires this brief notice.

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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