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 79

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 79
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 79

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Mr. Hicks, of this sketch, was about thirteen years of age when his father died, and, being the eldest son, became the head

of the family, and employed himself at any- thing he could find in order to earn an honest dollar. Thus the reader can see how little opportunity he had for obtaining a school education. In 1856 he secured a position as locomotive fireman on the old McMinnville & Manchester Railroad, now a branch of the Nashville & Chattanooga system. His engineer was E. Muzzy; and his conductor, Thomas Comer. In 1858 he came to Texas, with Captain H. C. Lyon, with a wagon and team, locating first in Ellis county. In the fall of 1859 Mr. Hicks came to Houston, where he at once began as a brakeman for the Houston & Texas Central Railroad, but within three months he was placed on an engine as a fireman, and in six months after that was appointed engineer. For the last twelve years he has been engineer for the pay car, the officers' cars and special trains. The imposing of , this responsible duty upon him is a con- spicuous evidence of the confidence which the railroad company has in him. When- ever there is anything special to be taken out, "Tom Hicks," as he is called, is asked for. He is the oldest engineer in the em- ploy of this company. He is perhaps as well known along the lines of this company as any man on the road, is a great favorite with all the railroad "boys," and a polished gentleman. By his energy he has made himself a good scholar, having learned what he knows in the literary line at nights after his day's work was done. He owns a nice residence on Washington street in Houston, is an enthusiastic Mason, having taken all the degrees of the Ancient York rite up to and including that of Knight Templar, be- ing a member of Gray Lodge, No. 329, Washington Chapter, No. 2, and of Ruthven Commandery, No. 2, - all of Houston.

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HISTORY OF TEXAS.

R OBERT BREWSTER was born at Glen Hall, nine miles from Giant's Coffin, in the picturesque county of Derry, north Ireland, on the 7th of March, 1812. He is not of Irish blood, however. His parents, Joseph and Nancy Weir Brewster, were both natives of Glas- gow, Scotland, the father coming of a long line of Scotch ancestors, and the mother being of Welsh extraction. Robert Brew- ster was reared in the city of Glasgow, in the schools of which city he received his education. His father was a farmer by oc- cupation, but the sons, four in number, either by chance or from natural inclination, all entered mercantile pursuits, Robert learn- ing the business of linen merchant, which he followed in youth and early manhood in Scotland, north Ireland and England as an itinerant.

In 1840, his father having died and his widowed mother and two brothers and a younger sister having emigrated to America, he decided to come to this country also, and sailed in March of that year from Liverpool, England, by the packet ship Sheridan, of the Black Ball line, reaching New York twenty-eight days later. The spring and summer of that year were spent by him with his people in New York. An older brother, Andrew, who had been in the mer- cantile business for three or four years at New Orleans, had but a short time previ- ously settled in Houston, and, learning of this, Robert came to Texas in November (1840), and took up his residence in this city. Being still single and in sympathy with the adventurous spirit of the times, he was easily interested in the Santa Fe ex- pedition, which was set on foot the follow- ing spring, and but for the timely interfer- ence of his brother Andrew he would have

joined the expedition and would of course have shared the fate of its members. Em- barking in the mercantile business in Hous- ton in 1841, he was so engaged for about seven years. In the meantime, having de- cided to make this his home, he married July 8, 1846, taking for a companion Miss Mary C. Andros, then a resident of Houston, but a native of Niagara Falls, New York.

In 1858 Mr. Brewster became Assessor and Collector of Taxes for the city of Hous- ton and held this office until the opening of the civil war. He then gave it up, and, not having any particular fondness for public position, has not held any other since, ex- cept that of Alderman of the city. He is a Democrat in politics, and, beginning with Lewis Cass in 1848, has voted for the regu- lar Democratic nominee in every presiden- tial election since, as well as for the nomi- nees of his party in all State elections.

In 1844 Mr. Brewster was made a Mason, joining Holland Lodge, No. 1, at Houston. He is also a member of Wash- ington Chapter, No.2, Ruthven Commandery, No. 2, and San Jacinto Lodge of Perfection. He is an enthusiastic Mason, having taken all the degrees in the Ancient York rite up to and including that of Knight Templar, and also those in the Scotish rite up to and including the thirty-second. . He became Secretary of the Grand Royal Arch Chapter in 1863, at which time he was also made Grand Recorder of the Grand Commandery of the State, both of which positions he held continuously up to January 1, 1894. At that date he was relieved of the former office, but is still Grand Recorder of the Grand Commandery. He has attended the triennial conclaves of the Grand Command- ery of the United States for twenty-odd years, and has a personal acquaintance with

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HISTORY OF TEXAS.

many of the most eminent members of this ancient and honored craft.

With his faithful companion, who is still spared to him, Mr. Brewster resides in his large and elegant home, on the corner of Milam street and Walker avenue, where the house, the grounds and all of the appoint- ments are suggestive of the well-ordered lives, the intelligence, good taste and gen- erous hospitality of the occupants. Mr. and Mrs. Brewster have had six children, four of whom died in infancy or early childhood. They have a daughter, Mrs. Jane Hart, liv- ing in Galveston, and a son, Rev. Mathew D. Brewster, an Episcopal minister, resid- ing in New Orleans, where he holds a charge in his church. Mr. Brewster has but few other near relatives. Ifis mother died at the residence of her son in New York city, New York, in 1865; his eldest brother, An- drew, died in Houston in 1841; his second brother, Joseph, still lives in New York, where he settled in 1835; Sarah, his eldest sister, died in Philadelphia, in 1840, the wife of Hugh McIntyre; Elizabeth died in New York, in 1841; Abram also died in New York, where he had settled many years ago, and Jane died unmarried, in the same State, in 1880. All of the family were communi- cants of the Episcopal Church.

Now, in his eighty-second year, Mr. Brewster presents the appearance of a man whose life has been well ordered. His tem- perate and moral habits are unexception- able. He never indulged in the ruinous pas- times of yonth, and, hence, has reached and enjoyed manhood in health, superadded to a sound and practical mind. In disposition he is genial and lively, sanguine in tempera- inent and full of pleasantry; as the old Roman wrote, "a man, and as such inter- ested in all things that concern his kind."

J ONATHAN HARRIS. - This enter- prising Anglo-Saxon was born No- vember 22, 1822, in Cumberland county, England, within six miles of the spot where the grandmother of our first president still sleeps. He is a son of Joseph and Dinah Harris and traces his genealogy to the island of Harris, in the Hebrides.' When King Harris abdicated he traveled through Scotland on a Shetland pony, crossed the Solway and landed on the English borders at the same point as Mary, Queen of Scots, and Prince Charles Stuart, when at different times evading their pursuers. Garrisoned on this self-same spot where the noble Agricola disciplined his legions, the Naval Reserve of Great Britain is now sta- tioned, and the salute of Victoria's ordnance booms over the adjacent waters where Mar- cus Maenius Agrippa commanded the Roman fleets of 1,800 years ago. It was here or hereabouts, that the Emperor Hadrian pro- jected the construction of his defensive wall, which Severus subsequently fortified and re- built, and which Constantine the Great vis- ited and inspected still later on. This Campus Martius of Agricola flourished over 300 years, but was finally overthrown by the Picts in the decline of the Roman Em- pire. It was here where Theodosius, a cen- tury or so afterward, recruited his veteran legions with the stalwart Dalmatian, Span- ish and Mauritanian auxiliaries. Tottering Rome for the last time had turned to bay, and the expedition was mobilized with a view of accomplishing the utter subjugation of the resistless Picts.

Here beneath the streaming banners of ancient Rome mighty men have stood, men that have made history and whose names will never die. It was here where Calphur- nius dwelt, and where his son, St. Patrick,

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HISTORY OF TEXAS.

"The Light of the West," was born, -the same historic spot which, after a lapse of many consecutive centuries, Mary, Queen of Scots, and old King Harris of the Hebrides at different eras embarked. From this point King Harris traveled on foot twenty miles inland and settled down as a shoemaker, environed by the lakes and mountain wilds of West Cumberland. The intimacy George Washington's parents, who lived near the Harris estate, is still traditional in those parts.

In October, 1854, Mr. Harris married Frances Alexander, a native of Manchester, England, and a daughter of Hugh and Sarah Alexander. Mr. Harris emigrated to Canada in 1856, and, gradually working his way to a place more congenial to his tastes, landed at the foot of Main street, Houston, Texas, in 1859. As a school teacher, section foreman, as a wanderer, engaged in the transportation of cotton during the war, and as a Confederate soldier, he gathered no moss.

Having begun life on the oldest railway that ever transported freight or passengers, and when railroading was still in its infancy, he was more in his element when occupied in the supervision of public works. As a street contractor, and for three years subse- quently street superintendent by appoint- ment, he reflected great credit on the ad- ministration in reclaiming the city from much of its malaria by an efficient system of drainage.

He constructed the Harrisburg road, the finest highway in the State. He has been the builder of all our street railways. from first to last, with but little exception. He has recently discovered new water-bearing strata, water flowing to the surface from deep down beneath Houston, with hydraulic ap- paratus adapted to the purpose. He has taken a conspicuous part in our re-enfran-

chisement, and strongly advocated the re- storation of our municipal privileges in the several journals of the city, and through long and indefatigable industry has attained an ample competency. His mathematical ac- quirements in early youth have found ample scope for application in the various works under his supervision, and without such acquisition his success would have been un- certain.

Mr. Harris is of a sanguine, nervous tem- perament, and highly progressive in his ideas, as is self-evident by his writings and actions. Beyond and above all other con- siderations he seeks the advancement of Houston. In his contributions to "The West Cumberland Times," of his native county, he alludes very flatteringly to Hous- ton, when he says that "there is no place to me like that consecrated spot, where my own homestead sprang to structural dimen- sions by the sweat of my own forehead."

With men in our midst gifted with such elevated sentiments as these, men, in short, whose solid worth is recognizable by the re- sults, there is little to be wondered at in the present rapid increase of our population, the demand for skilled and unskilled labor in every branch of industry, the extension of our railroad system, and that prosperity on every hand which has no parallel in the an- nals of our city.

Mr. Harris and wife have had two chil- dren, a son and daughter. Their son, Henry, has been twice married, wedding first Miss Annie Smith, by whom he had two children, Henry and Athene. His second wife was Emelie Kolbow. Mr. and Mrs. Harris' daughter, Minerva, was married to Nelson Clemow, and the offspring of this marriage has been three children: Fannie, Harris and Daisy.

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HISTORY OF TEXAS.

a HARLES F. WINKLER, the pres- ent County Clerk of Harris coun- ty, was born at Rose Hill, this county, April 10, 1856. His par- ents were Charles F. and Catherine (Theis) Winkler, both of whom were born in Ger- many, -the father in Saxony, and the mother in Hesse. They emigrated to the United States in 1848, settling in Harris county, Texas, where the mother died ten years later; the father is still living, being a resi- dent of Montgomery county, this State. He lived in Harris county till 1872, and is well remembered by the citizens in the neighbor- hood of Rose Hill, where he spent twenty- five years of his life. His children were: Elizabeth, born November 7, 1850, is now the widow of Pleasant Parker and makes her home with her father; Pauline, born January 14, 1852, died November 23, 1879; and Charles F., whose name introduces this sketch.

Mr. Charles F. Winkler was reared in Harris county, dividing his time between his duties on the farm and his attendance at the local schools. His early educational advan- tages were unusually limited, his boyhood and youth falling on the troublous times of the late civil war and the worse times which followed during the period of reconstruction; but he managed, by industry, to master the elementary course of the common school, and attended, for two terms, an academy at Plantersville, Grimes county.

Soon after his marriage, in 1874, he moved to Waller county, this State, locating at a small place called Cross Roads, where he purchased seventy acres of land and engaged on a small scale in farming, and also in mercantile business; but before he was well established in his new home he was induced by his father to return to Rose Hill and take

charge of the latter's interests at that place. About a year after his return his mother-in- law, Mrs. Voebel, died, and he became guardian for the minor children, and as such took charge of a store left by her near Rose Hill.

After winding up this estate he moved to St. Elmo, in Travis county, where he began. business in lumber, grain, general mer- chandise, butchering, farining and dairying, and made money; but disaster overtook him, in the shape of fire, which destroyed several thousand bushels of his grain, for which he had just exchanged a large quantity of lum- ber, and also destroyed the store and its contents, and the lumber yard, -all without insurance. This entirely broke him up, and he moved to Austin, where, in partnership with his brother-in-law, Fred Hartkoff, he was engaged in the liquor business a short time. Not liking this, he sold his interest to his partner, and moved to Cypress Top, a small place in Harris county, on the Hous- ton & Texas Central Railroad, where he embarked in general merchandising and in keeping hotel. While there he was induced by his friends to become a candidate for County Commissioner, to which position he was elected in November, 1886, and re- elected in November, 1888, -thus serving two terms of two years each. His per- formance of official duty was so faithful that he was regularly nominated and elected County Clerk near the close of his term as Commissioner, namely, in November, 1890, Before the convention his opponent for nomination was a popular man and success- ful politician, and the contest in the conven- tion was a spirited one, not being decided until the seventeenth ballot was reached. Mr. Winkler's opponent then went before the people as an independent candidate for

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HISTORY OF TEXAS.

the office, but fell behind Mr. Winkler in the election by 800 votes. In November, 1892, Mr. Winkler was again nominated and elected by a vote of 6,027, against 357.

Mr. Winkler is a stockholder in the American Brewing Association, the Texas Messenger Publishing Company, and is a member of Lodge No. 1, Knights of Pythias; of Humboldt Lodge. Knights of Honor; of the Houston Turn Verein, and of the Hous- ton Sængerbund.

July 21, 1874, he married Miss Louisa Voebel, a daughter of Jacob and Frances Voebel, who came to Texas in 1850 from New York, in which State Mrs. Winkler was born. She was brought up in this State, however, being only a child when her par- ents settled in Harris county. They resided here during the remainder of their lives. Their children were: Mrs. Louisa Winkler; · George, a resident of Houston; Bertha, wife of H. Fehlau, living near Hockley in this county; and Mary, now Mrs. Fred Hartkoff, of Austin, Texas. Mr. and Mrs. Winkler have had four children, namely: George Henry, born January 31, 1877; Fred W., born September 27, 1879; Bessie, July 23, 1881; and Ida Valentine, February 14, 1883.

W. MCKINNEY, the present As- sessor of Harris county, was born in Alexandria, Rapides parish, Louisiania, August 15, 1842, and is a son of Mercer and Sophronia Mckinney. Mercer Mckinney, a native of Georgia, was reared in Tennessee, and by occupation was a farmer. He died in Harris county, Texas, January 11, 1863. He was an active politician, but never asked office for himself. At the beginning of the late war he opposed secession and used his influence

to keep his State in the Union, but after it seceded he went with it, and gave it his active sympathy and support until his death. His wife, whose name before marriage was Miss Sophronia Winkles, was a native of Natchitoches parish, Louisiana, and a daughter of Abraham Winkles, who was for many years a prosperous planter of that State. She died in Harris county, Texas, June 7, 1892, at the age of sixty-nine years. Her children were: Albert W., whose naine initiates this biographical notice; Gil- bert A., a farmer residing at Crosby, Harris county; Mary E., the widow of J. E. Pace, in Houston; Mercer L., deceased; David A., a resident of Crosby; Fannie E., of Hous- ton; Ella, deceased; and Sallie E., also of Houston.

Albert W. Mckinney was brought to Harris county by his parents in 1856. His early youth was spent on the farin and in the public schools of this county until the opening of the late war. He enlisted in the Confederate service when the first call was made for troops, entering a company called the "Galveston Rifles," commanded by Captain McKeen, with which he served only a short time, when he joined Company K, in Colonel E. B. Nicols' regiment, for six months. At the expiration of this time lie re-entered the service as a member of Company B, Twenty-fourth Regiment of Texas Dismounted Cavalry, with which he served until February, 1864, and then he was transferred to the Texas Rangers, and remained with this celebrated command un- til the close of the war. He was captured at Arkansas Post, January 11, 1863, and was held in prison at Camp Butler, near Springfield, Illinois, until April following, when he was exchanged at City Point, Virginia. Arriving at Richmond, he was

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HISTORY OF TEXAS.

ordered to join the Army of Tennessee, and after entering this he was in the engage- ments at MacLemore's Cove, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Ringgold, Dalton, Cal- houn, Resaca, Golgotha Church, New Hope Church, Atlanta, Jonesboro, Lovejoy's Sta- tion, Decatur (Alabama). Columbia, Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville (Tennessee), and winding up at Bentonville, North Caro- lina, where the army under Joseph E. Johnston, to which he then belonged, sur- rendered to General Sherman. Through all this army experience Mr. Mckinney passed, faithfully performing the soldier's duty, as a private, and received but one wound, and that a slight one, in the flesh only, at Arkansas Post.

Returning to Texas after the close of the war, he resumed work upon his father's farm. December 20, 1867, he married Miss Jane Singleton, of Harris county, and the same year settled on a farm thirteen miles east of Houston, where for sixteen years he was engaged in agricultural pur- suits.

In November, 1884, he was elected As- sessor of Harris county, and, the duties of this office requiring his constant presence at the county seat, he moved to Honston, and has since resided in this city. In 1886 he was not re-elected to the office, but was in 1888, and has ever since then held the posi- tion by successive re-elections. Previous to his first election to this place he had been Deputy Sheriff of the county and Constable of the precinct in which he lived, and alto- gether he has served the people in one capacity or another for twelve or fifteen years. He is a careful, painstaking and impartial officer, and on account of his ac- curate knowledge of values and extensive acquaintance, both with the people and

with the country, he has made a most ac- ceptable Assessor, and his popularity has been attested by liis frequent re-elections and the high terms of praise in which all classes of people speak of him. Of course, in his political views he is a Democrat; and, as often as the question of politics has entered into any election at which he has been a candidate, he has submitted his claims to the decision of his party. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, belong- ing to Sampson Lodge, No. 231, at Lynch- burg, Harris county, and has represented this body at the Grand Lodge.

By his marriage Mr. Mckinney con- nected himself with one of the oldest fami- lies of this county, his father-in-law, James W. Singleton, moving to this county as early as 1826. Mrs. McKinney was born and reared in this county. The children in their family are: Mary F., the wife of R. E. Dunks, of Crosby, this county; Edna, now Mrs. H. B. Cline, of Houston; Georgia F., who married Henry M. Curtin, of Hous- ton; Gilbert A .; and Albert W., Jr.

EORGE W. ELLIS, Sheriff of Harris county, Texas, is a native of De Soto county, Mississippi, born January 29, 1845, a son of George W. and Martha Mildred (Tucker) Ellis. The mother subsequently married Judge W. Ellison. By her first marriage she had five children, of whom three are living, namely: George W., of this sketch; Jerry J., and C. O .; and by her second husband there were three children, Clifton, Itasca, and Albanus, two of whom, Clifton and Albanus, are still living. The daughter, Itasca, and the mother died in 1884, in Caldwell county, this State.

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HISTORY OF TEXAS.

Mr. Ellis, whose name heads this sketch, entered the Confederate army September 18, 1861, at Galveston, under B. Du Bray, and after serving two years in the coast defense, he was transferred with his regiment to the forces operating along the east line of the State and in Louisiana, and was in the series of engagements following Banks' raid up the Red river. He was in the service continuously from the date of his enlistment to the close of the war, being mustered out at Alexandria, Louisiana.

After the general surrender, Mr. Ellis re- turned to Texas and settled at Houston, where, in July of the same year (1865), he secured employment as a fireman on a loco- motive on the Houston & Texas Central Railroad. His engineer was T. B. Hicks, who took a personal interest in him, and, learning that he had never had any school advantages, undertook to teach him at night. For two years he worked all day, and, withi Mr. Hicks' help, studied at night. His teacher took as much pains with him as he would have taken with a son. What educa- tion Mr. Ellis received was obtained in this way, and, very naturally, he feels profoundly grateful to Mr. Hicks.

From the position of fireman, Mr. Ellis was transferred to that of brakeman on a freight train, next he was made baggage- master, then freight conductor, and finally passenger conductor, quitting the road in the fall of 1876, after eleven years' service.

In the meantime, October 20, 1869, he married Miss Louisa Warren, of Harris county, a native of England, and daughter of John Warren, who emigrated to America in 1850, locating in Harris county, where he still resides.

After quitting the railroad in 1876, Mr. Ellis purchased of his father-in-law a hotel

and ranch, which latter had been established at Hockley, Harris county. In 1882 he was elected County Commissioner of this county, and re-elected in 1884, serving till 1886, being one of the Commissioners when the present court-house was built, in the erection of which he took an active interest.

In 1886 Mr. Ellis became a candidate for the office of Sheriff of Harris county, was made the regular nominee of the Dem- ocratic party and was elected, and in 1888 was re-elected. During each canvass he had opposition, and the fact that the people chose him, twice in succession, too, is a satisfactory testimonial to his character as a faithful officer and an honorable gentleman. In 1890, however, he was elected without opposition. In 1892 he had two opponents, one receiving 184 votes and the other 364, while Mr. Ellis received over 6, 000.

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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