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 77

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 77
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 77

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were limited and his knowledge of the English language and American customs very imperfect. He has adapted himself to the customs of the country very readily and is a loyal citizen of his adopted country.

In May, 1885, he led to the altar Miss Eliza Kifer, who has been to him, in every sense of the word, a helpmeet and a faithful and loving wife, and to their most happy union one daughter has been given : Annie. Mr. Woessner is a member of Lodge No. 17 of the Chosen Friends.

REDERICK WILLIAM HEIT- MANN, deceased .- The subject of this brief memoir, for nearly forty years a resident of the city of Hous- ton, and one who left the full imprint of his talents and character upon the interests and industries of this place, was a native of Germany, having been born in Pottsdam, near Berlin, on the 5th day of June, 1828, the son of Henry and Caroline Heitmann, plain people of the intelligent, thrifty middle class. At the age of nineteen Frederick William, in company with his brother Carl, came to America, and, after a residence of three years in New York city, -which time was spent in various pursuits, but chiefly in acquiring a knowledge of the language and practical business methods, -he came to Texas in 1850. His trip to Texas was in the nature of a prospecting tour, but liking the country, he decided to locate, and at once took up his residence at Houston. The city of Houston at that time, although it had been laid out some fourteen years, re- tained much of its primitive appearance and pioneer ways. Most of its business was done on lower Main street and along the bayou, where the thoroughfares were lined

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on each side with small frame stores, many of which were constructed of the jetsamn and flotsam of steamboat wreckage bearing the names of once favorite vessels. Into one of these establishments, a store kept by Alex- ander Simon, young Heitmann found his way, and soon secured employment as a clerk. He was with Simon for a period of three years, when, having succeeded by in- dustry and economy in saving some from his earnings, in 1853 he engaged in business for himself as a cotton factor. He followed this with reasonable success until the open- ing of the war. The cotton business, in common with all others, then went to pieces, and during the troublous times of 1861-5 he was variously engaged, part of the time filling small local offices, and part of the time being occupied with private pur- suits. In the summer of 1865, after the conclusion of hostilities, Mr. Heitmann again engaged in the cotton business, which, at a later date, he gave up to engage in the inetal business, -heavy hardware and mill machinery, -a business with which he was identified in its infancy, and which he saw grow to be one of the most considerable mercantile industries of this city. Mr. Heitmann had two partnerships in this business: one with Henry Allen and one with Henry S. Fox; but during the greater part of the time that he was engaged in it he was alone, and was practically the founder and builder of the great hardware establishi- ment of F. W. Heitmann & Company, which is now, as formerly, run in his name and located on lower Main street, near the bayou.

Caring nothing for politics in a partisan sense, and but little for the gossip of the street corners, Mr. Heitmann was always to be found about his place of business. He

was devoted to his business, and he demon- strated that it paid to be so. From a con- dition of poverty he rose to one of plenty, and from an unknown, salaried clerk he be- came one of the chief business factors in a city, and at a time where eminence meant inore than is implied by the modern trade terms of "rustling" and the like. There was no secret to the success which he achieved. He simply followed the old max- ims of industry and economy, - worked hard, saved and made judicious investments , of his earnings. It was a prime rule to live within his income. Whether he made much or little he always did this. He looked closely after all the details of his business and met every obligation, whether written or verbal, with promptness and exactitude. Some ininor positions in connection with the administration of local affairs, during the war, and the position of Alderman, after the war, were all the places of public trust ever held by him. He always showed a com- inendable interest, however, in everything relating to the prosperity and welfare of the city. He was of a quiet, retiring disposi- tion, temperate in habits, liberal, earnest, and active, -- one in whom the domestic vir- tues preponderated, and whose best thoughts centered in his home.

He was married in Houston, June 26, 1853, to Miss Matilda Erhard, a daughter of Peter Erhard, an early settler of this city, and a sister of the late Captain Peter Er- hard, of Galveston. By this marriage Mr. Heitmann had two children: Teresa Caro- line, now Mrs. Edward Lorenzen; and Fred- erick A., residents of Houston, as is also their mother.

Mr. Heitmann died in this city October 3, 1889, and his remains repose in Glenwood cemetery.

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The business founded by him, and to which he devoted the better part of his active life, continues, being conducted by his son.

HARLES BENDER, SR .- There is much to be respected in the life and character of the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. The United States has given to men of courage, honesty of purpose, integrity and energy, rare opportunities to achieve success. The majority of the men who have legiti- mately achieved fortune have been men with the above characteristics, and Charles Bender is one of that stamp. He was born No- vember 26, 1829, on the Rhine river, in Germany, in which country his parents, Peter and Lucinda Bender, lived and died, · the father dying at the age of sixty-seven, and the mother at the age of forty-two. They reared a family of four children: Charles, Fred, Conrad, and Kate. Like the majority of German youths, Charles Bender was apprenticed in his youth to learn a trade, and became a practical baker. Hle was always of an ambitious and enter- prising disposition, and at the early age of fifteen years he conceived the idea of seek- ing his fortune in America, and in March, 1844, he landed at New York city, after a stormy voyage of fifty-six days in a sailing vessel, during nearly all of which time he was very seasick. He worked at the baker's trade for two and a half years in New York city, after which he went to New Orleans, and took a contract to furnish wood for two steamboats, "Lenora " and "Olenia, " that ran on Lake Pontchartrain from Madison- ville to New Orleans, and this work he con- tinued to pursue up to 1850. In the mean- time, May 24, 1849, he was married to Miss

Lena Lochar, a native of Switzerland, and in course of time a family of five children gathered about their hearthstone: Charles, Jr .; Albert; Eugene; Frank; and Mary, wife of Julius Barr.

In the above mentioned year (1850) Mr. Bender moved to Fort Smith, Arkansas, and opened a bakery, which he conducted for about two years with good financial results, then moved to- Warsaw, Missouri, where he not only conducted a bakery, but also a con- fectionery establishment and operated and owned a saw and grist mill. Owing to good management and faithful attention to his business, wealth began to pour in upon him, but during the progress of the great civil war all his property, to the amount of about $22,000, was swept away, and after hostili- ties had ceased he was once more compelled to commence at the bottom of the ladder. He enlisted in the second company that went out to battle froin Missouri, being a member of Captain O'Kane's company, and operated in Missouri, Arkansas, and Louis- iana. After the battle of Vicksburg he was detailed to the Quartermaster's department, with headquarters at San Antonio, Texas, and he was also engaged in hauling cotton and supplies into Mexico for the Confederate Government. When the war closed he took up the pursuits of civil life at New Braunfels, Texas, in the vicinity of which he purchased a farm of 1, 100 acres, began tilling the soil, and at the same time opened a big packing establishment for the packing and shipping of beef and hides, but, on account of a de- structive flood he lost about $18,000, and cattle, said loss aggregating 3, 000 head. Mr. Bender was possessed of too much courage and determination to be daunted by this misfortune, but continued his labors up to 1872, when he disposed of his farm and

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moved to Spring Station, Texas, where he purchased a sawmill, and has followed this business at different places ever since and has made a success of it. In 1889 he pur- chased a large mill at Humble, Texas, seven- teen miles from Houston, which mill has a capacity of 50,000 feet daily, and in con- nection with this sawmill he had a large planing-mill which turns out a large amount of lumber. Besides this he has a valuable plant at Holshausen, Texas, and a planing-mill and office in Houston. He is also the owner of real estate to the amount of 700 acres, near Spring Station, Texas, and valuable prop- erty in Houston. He is a self-made man in every acceptation of the term, for he came to this country a poor boy, with no knowl- edge of the English language, and without aid from any one he has attained an honored position in business circles and has accumu- lated a comfortable fortune for his declining years, notwithstanding the several business reverses which he has experienced. His life teaches a useful lesson and is in every way worthy of being emulated.

ILLIAM J. AND JULIUS J. SETTEGAST. - Among the valnable men who came to this country from Germany, bringing with them the sturdy characteristics of their Teutonic ancestors, stands Maria William . Settegast, father of our subjects, and a man of great force of character and un- daunted enterprise. It is with true interest that the biographer takes up his pen to speak of this worthy citizen, whose active life has ceased on earth, but whose influence extends still and will continue to extend among those favored with his acquaintance.

Maria William Settegast was born in

Coblentz, a beautiful city on the celebrated river Rhine, about the year 1818. His father was an eminent physician, who owned the title of "Sanitats Rath." Maria Will- iam Settegast was married in his native country to Miss Josephine Matoni, a young lady about eight years his junior, who be- longed to a very wealthy and aristocratic family in the old country, They had been married but a short time when Count Cas- tell, of the capital of Bieberich (at that time the residence of the Duke of Nassau, who was the head of the German Emigrant Company, which settled New Braunfels), engaged Mr. Settegast as general agent of that company. He remained with the Count several years, and then, as the "Texas fever" was sweeping over a large portion of Germany at that time, he was seized with it, and could not rest until he had crossed the ocean to the land of his hopes. With his family, and a relative or two, he left the old country on the 29th of October, 1851, and arrived at Houston on the 19th of Decem- ber of the same year. His family consisted of himself and wife, three sons and one daughter. Mr. Settegast had been partly induced to come to tliis country on account of his wife's health. She had been a sufferer for some years with a trouble from which it was believed she could get relief in this climate, but in this the family's hopes were disappointed; she died only a few months after she came to Houston. Mr. Settegast purchased a tract of land in the Buffalo bayou bottom, and, although he was ad- vised not to purchase there by some, he took the advice of an old friend, a Mr. Zeiner, who had lived their for some time, and located. During the next epidemic of yel- low fever the old friend and all his family died, and two of Mr. Settegast's children

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died with that dread disease. This was the summer of 1852, and Mr. Settegast died on the 14th of October of the following year, of the same disease. He was a man of more than ordinary ability, and had received a thorough education in the excellent schools 'of Germany. Had he lived he, no doubt, would have been one of the German corner- stones of the great State of Texas. He was industrious, intelligent and honorable, a de- voted husband and an excellent father. Mrs. Settegast, who was born in 1818, pos- sessed traits as wife, mother, woman, that left little to be desired. She had been her husband's faithful companion, wise counselor, inspiration and helpmate. She impressed every one she met as a woman of rare good sense, of great force of character and of a kindly and genial nature. The two children who survived the yellow fever's ravages were our subjects, William J. Settegast and Julius J. Settegast.

Both were born in Coblentz, on the Rhine, Gerinany, the former on the 17th of September, 1843, and the latter March 19, 1845. After the death of their parents they were reared by a Mr. J. W. Shrimp, a butcher by trade, and both boys learned this trade. They remained, with this gentle- man until 1862, and then William J. enlisted in the Confederate army, Company K, Colonel DuBray's regiment of cavalry, and served in Texas and Louisiana. Julius J. also enlisted and was on detached service. In 1864 both went to Matamoros, Mexico, and obtained employment in the Globe Hotel, where they remained until the cessation of hos- tilities.

Returning to Houston they opened a butcher shop on a sinall scale, and began buying and trading in cattle. They did a large business during those years, and made

inoney rapidly. They are still in the cattle business, but not so extensively since 1888. They own several thousand acres of land and much valuable real estate. in Hous- ton' and Galveston. They are honorable and popular gentlemen and have thus far succeeded well in life.

William J. Settegast has been three times married, -- first, May 5, 1866, to Miss Annie Elizabeth Scholibo, who was born No- vember 1, 1846. Eight children were the fruit of this union : Emma E., now Mrs. Oli- ver (who has one child, William J.); Sophia, now Mrs. C. W. Lewis (who has one child, Georgia); Katie H., single; Mary E., now Mrs. S. H. Williford (who has one child, Vernon); Julius J .; Charles Edward; Mary Blanche Brown, and Charles Steward. The mother of these children died at Hot Springs, Arkansas, July 14, 1881, Mr. Settegast's second marriage was to Miss Annie Williams, and one child was born to this union, Annie. This wife died March 31, 1890, in New York city, and Mr. Sette- gast took for his third wife Miss Dora R. Miller, who is still living. In the year 1889 Mr. Settegast liad a stroke of paralysis, and since then has given very little attention to business. For five years past he has been a great sufferer, has been under the treatment of many physicians and has visited number- less places in quest of health.

Julius J. Settegast was married in 1867 to Miss Katie Floeck, and nine children have been born to this union: 'Della, William, Ella (de-ceased), Jennie, Lillie, Alına, Leon, Julia and Julius. The father of these children is a thorough, wide-awake business man, looks after all the interests of the firm, and has the happy faculty of making his business associates, as well as all liis neighbors, his friends.

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HISTORY OF TEXAS.

3 OHN J. GILLESPIE-Harris county has long enjoyed an enviable reputa- tion for the sterling honesty and superior capability of its public offi- cials, and this reputation is fully sustained by the subject of this sketch, who for many years filled the position of County Surveyor. Mr. Gillespie is a native of Washington county, Pennsylvania, where he was born June 23, 1830. His parents were William L. and Elizabeth (Beall) Gillespie, both of whom were also born in Washington county, Pennsylvania. William L. Gillespie was a son of Neal Gillespie, whose father's Chris- tian name was also Neal, the latter being a native of Ireland. The maternal grand- father of Mr. Gillespie was Zephaniah Beall, who was a native of Washington county, Pennsylvania, and who lived to the advanced age of ninety-five years. The subject of this sketch is one of a number of children born to his parents, but only three are now living, the other members of the family be- ing a daughter, who for the past thirty-five years has been the mother superior in a Catholic convent at Alton, Illinois, and Francis, a resident of St. Louis.

The boyhood and youth of John J. Gil- lespie were spent in Washington and Greene counties, Pennsylvania, in each of which localities his parents were residents during his early years. His education was obtained in local schools and at Georgetown College, District of Columbia. In 1851 he accom- panied his parents to Sangamon county, Illinois, and, having studied surveying, en- gaged in this and other pursuits until 1860. At that date he came to Texas for the benefit of his health, stopping temporarily at Hous- ton, where, liking the climate and place, he decided to make his home. At the opening of the war his sympathies were naturally

with the Union, as he had been reared in the North, and had so recently come from that section of the country, but he went with his adopted State when it withdrew from the Union, and entered the Confederate army, enlisting, in 1862, in Company G, Cook's regiment of heavy artillery. He served with this command along the gulf coast, prin- cipally in the vicinity of Galveston, until the close of the war. Settling in Houston, he resumed his occupation as a surveyor, and has followed it uninterruptedly since. He has served Harris county, either as Surveyor or Deputy Surveyor, for more than thirty- four years, and during this time has sur- veyed thousands and thousands of acres of land, and has acquired a knowledge of land titles, land values, and land locations such as is probably not possessed by any other individual in Harris county: Mr. Gillespie is a man of modest demeanor, and would . perhaps be the last one of all Harris county's long list of public officials, in or out of ser- vice, to claim any special recognition for what he has done; but the value of his work and of his example as an honest, faithful official are not to be lost sight of on that ac- count. The security of land titles has much to do with the stability of society and the the peace and prosperity of a country, and in securing to the settler his homestead and to the investor his purchase, the surveyor has his function to perform.

In January, 1866, Mr. Gillespie married Miss Jennie Mullane, of Harris county, the offspring of which union was one son: John William Gillespie. Mr. Gillespie's second wife was Mrs. Elizabethi Bergen, before marriage, and she bore him one child: John Joseph. By his marriage to Miss Josephine Fleshner there are six children: Elizabeth, Angela, Louis, Maggie, Claude and James B.

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H. NITZE .- That "honesty is the best policy" is clearly demonstrated in the success of those firms who pursue a straightforward way of doing business. The favor of the public will rest on those who merit its confidence by dealing fairly. Few indeed are those who so well deserve a high place in public opinion as E. H. Nitze, who is the propri- etor of a well-appointed general mercantile establishment in Houston.

He was born in the city in which he is now residing, February 11, 1859, but his parents, Christian and Fredericka Nitze, were born near the town of Magdeburg, Germany, but eventually came to the United States to seek their fortune, and took up their residence in Houston. Here the father died at the age of seventy-one and . the mother at the age of fifty-eight years. Four children were born to them: Wil- helmina, who is now the widow of Fred Ott- mann; Mary, wife of August Blau; Alwane, wife of August Priest; and E. H., the sub- ject of this sketch.

E. H. Nitze has spent his life in the town of his birth, in the public schools of which he received a good practical educa- tion, sufficient to fit him for the ordinary duties of life, and, true to the customs of the German people, he, at the age of nine- teen, decided to learn a trade, and for this purpose entered the establishment of J. J. Weiss, baker, with whom he remained six years, becoming thoroughly familiar with the details of the business. After leaving Mr. Weiss' service lie became the baker of A. Stude and H. Henke, but after a time bought out Mr. Weiss, his old employer, and conducted a bakery on his own account o11 Preston avenue, opposite the market house, for about two years, at the end of

which time he sold out. By this time he had saved enough means to enable him to purchase five lots, at No. 3301 on Harris- burg road, in the city of Houston, and there, in April, 1889, he opened up a general store, which he has conducted in a very capable manner, and which has brought him substantial returns. At vari- ous times lie has invested his money in real estate in Houston, which has greatly in- creased in value, and he is also the owner of the old homestead near the city limits, all of which valuable property is the result of his own intelligence and energy rightly applied. He possesses business qualities of more than average excellence, is shrewd, far-seeing and practical.

His marriage was celebrated February 1I, 1886, Miss Matilda Orthey becoming his wife. She was born in Covington, Ken- tucky, a daughter of G. and Catherine Orthey, and she and Mr. Nitze have two children: Gertrude and Robert.

EORGE H. BRINGHURST, the subject of this sketch, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the year 1810. His father dying when George H. was only a child, he was given by his mother to a Quaker, by whom he was reared. He then came to Texas, reaching the settlements in the vicinity of Goliad in the fall of 1835. The country at that time was in a state of revolution, and young Bringhurst, having enlisted while in New Orleans in Captain Miller's company, for service against Mexico, was captured with his company at Copano, where they landed. He witnessed the scenes at Goliad, and was held in imprisonment until after the battle of San Jacinto, when, having made his escape

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in company with three or four comrades, he made his way to Houston, reaching this place with $1. 50 in money, as the sum total of his earthly possessions. Investing this amount in an ax, he went to work chopping wood for a livelihood. Later he studied surveying, and, as land values were then be- ginning to attract much attention, he soon found profitable employment, locating claims for settlers and speculators, and followed this for a number of years. He was Sur- veyor of Harris county for more than ten years, serving both under the Republic and after the admission of Texas as a State, and was considered in early and middle life one of the best informed men on land titles and land values in this part of the country. He was also secretary of the Houston Town Company at one time, and was for years wharf-master when Buffalo bayou afforded the chief means of communication, and the position, then an elective one, was of some consequence.

Soon after locating in Houston Mr. Bring- hurst acquired title to two lots on the corner of San Jacinto street and Congress avenue, and here settled himself in bachelor quar- ters, which he occupied until 1843. In that year he married Miss Nancy Trott, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Trott, who moved from Rutherford county, Tennessee, to Texas, in 1839, and settled at Houston. For fifty years Mr. Bringhurst lived on this one spot, where he took up his residence in his bachelorhood days, and here were born liis six children, here died his first compan- ion, and here he himself breathed his last. He saw the town build up in all directions around him, the locality in which he settled changing from a residence district to part of the business portion of the city, and he re- ceived many good offers and was frequently

urged to sell his old home, but persistently refused to do so.

Mr. Bringhurst's wife, Nancy Trott Bring- hurst, died in 1859, leaving six children, - three sons and three daughters, all of whom became grown and three of whom are still living. The eldest, John H., born Febru- ary 11, 1844, was reared in Houston, en- tered the Confederate army at the age of seventeen, enlisting in Company H, Twen- ty-fourth Texas Cavalry, Churchill's brigade, Cleburne's division; served throughout the entire struggle, being four times wounded and once captured.

After the war he was for some years in the employ of the Houston & Texas Cen- tral Railroad Company while that road was being built toward the north line of the State; married Miss Minnie Abercrombie, of Marlin, Falls county, Texas, in 1873; was elected Justice of the Peace, subsequently read law, and, settling in Houston, practiced his profession, and engaged in the real-es- tate business here until his death in Sep- tember, 1890, and was buried with Masonic honors by Holland Lodge, No. 1, at Hous- ton, which he joined at the age of twenty- one. He left a widow and two children, Katie and John H., Jr., surviving him. The second child of George H. Bringhurst was a daughter, Annie, who was married to Nat P. Turner, and now resides in London, Eng- land. The third child was also a daughter, Sarah, who was married to Sam P. Tinsley, of Brazoria county, and died in that county in 1879. The fourth, Christiana, died un- married. The two youngest, George R. and Thomas, are residents of Houston, where they are numbered among the representative business men of this city. George R. mar- ried Miss Nettie E. Burke in 1879, and has three children: Henry Brashear, George

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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