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 91

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 91
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 91

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At the age of nineteen, on October 13, 1861, he entered the Confederate army, joining Company F (Captain Medard Men- ard's company), Twenty-sixth Texas Cav- alry (Colonel X. B. De Bray's regiment). He served with this command throughout the entire period of the war, taking part in the defense of the gulf coast and later in de- fense of the Texas, Arkansas and the Louis- iana border, and participating with it in twenty-two skirmishes and engagements. During the Federal occupation of Galveston in 1862 the Twenty-sixth Texas Cavalry was stationed at different points around Galves- ton bay for the purpose of watching the movements of the Union forces. Mr. Fields was Sergeant of his company, and, with a corporal and ten men, was stationed at Fort Chambers at the old town of Anahuac. He and his comrades heard the firing of the guns during the fight on January 1, 1863, when the city was recaptured, and they had been promised by their superior officers that they should be present and allowed to take part in that engagement; but the promise was not kept.

After the war Mr. Fields returned to Galveston, in 1866, and became chief mail- ing clerk in the postoffice in this city, which

position he held for four years, under Victor W. Grahn, the Federal appointee. In 1870 he took up his residence on a farm in Chambers county, and for several years was engaged in agricultural pursuits. During this time he was Tax Assessor of Chambers county for four years and County Judge for two years. Returning to Galveston in 1882, he was appointed Cashier of Customs under the late C. C. Sweeney, Collector at that time, and held this position and that of Inspector of Customs until September 1, 1889, when he resigned. He then became Deputy County Clerk of Galveston county, and was in this and other offices up to 1894, when he was reappointed Inspector of Cus- toms, which position he is now filling. In politics he is a Democrat. He belongs to Island City Lodge, No. 75, Knights of Pythias, in which he has held the office of Financial Secretary for two terms.

Mr. Fields has never married, but for many years he had the care of his widowed mother and younger brother, whose claims on his time and to a share of his earnings he recognized, affectionately discharging the duties of a son and elder brother. His sis- ter, Mrs. Thomas H. Edgar, now resides in Galveston, and his brother, Honorable William A. Fields, at Hillsboro, Texas. William H. Fields, the eldest son of the family, died in early youth in 1858; and Joshua Lannes Fields, the fourth son, in 1863, at the age of fifteen.

Q UARANTINE B. SCHMIDT, son of Frederick W. and Charlotte Schmidt, was born in the city of Galveston, Texas, August 8, 1854. and was here reared. He learned the butcher business under his father, engaged in it on

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his own account after attaining his majority, and has followed it with a fair degree of suc- cess since, having a shop at the corner of Twenty-eighth street and avenue P, Gal- veston.

In 1877 Mr. Schmidt married Mrs. Fran- ces Stokes, widow of J. W. Stokes, and daughter of H. H. Kalholz, who settled in Galveston in 1852. Mrs. Schmidt was born in this city April 15, 1856, and was married to J. W. Stokes in 1875, by whom she had one daughter, -Natalie, - born March 26, 1874. Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt have had ten children, eight of whom are living, namely: Lula, born February 5, 1878; Charlotte, March 21, 1880; Henry, May 28, 1882; Louis, October 9, 1884; August, November 6, 1888; Walter, January 28, 1890; Ada, February 18, 1892; and Quarantine B., November 2, 1893.

RED McC. NICHOLS was born in Galveston county, February 10, 1852, and is a son of General E. B. Nichols, an early settler and for many years a prominent citizen of this county, a biographical notice of whom will be found elsewhere in this volume The subject of this sketch was reared in the city of Galveston and educated at Exeter, New Hampshire, and at Cambridge, Massaclni- setts. His business career, with which the citizens of this city and county are more or less familiar, was begun as proprietor of the Opera House drug store, of Galveston, in 1871, after which he was engaged for a short time in contracting, then in the com- mission business, holding in the meantime, until the office was abolished, the position of hide inspector for the port of Galveston. In 1880 he became a candidate for the office

of County Assessor, to which lie was elected and which he has held by successive re- elections from that time since, being now (1894) on his eighth terin. Nothing need be said of Mr. Nichols' ability or popularity, the foregoing simple statement of facts be- ing sufficient on these points.

Mr. Nichols is largely interested in real estate in Galveston county and is a man of progressive ideas, possessing an adequate conception of the vast possibilities of the coast country of Texas, and is earnest in his advocacy of the means by which they are to be developed. In 1890 he bought of the heirs of his father's estate their interest in the old homestead, located at Dickinson, on the banks of one of the most beautiful streams in Galveston county, and about the same date, in company with several other Galveston gentlemen, purchased other land in the same locality and organized the Dick- inson Land & Improvement Company, the object of which was to place on the market some of the unoccupied lands in the vicinity of the town of Dickinson, and to make known to the outside world the resources and eligibility of that section of Galveston county for fruit farins and homes. That it is all that is claimed for it in this respect can be easily demonstrated by any who will take the trouble to visit the old Nichols homestead and see what it is and what has been done there since its lands were brought under cultivation. . There have been grow- ing on this place, for nearly forty years, sweet and Irish potatoes, ribbon cane of the vari- ety of which the celebrated New Orleans molasses is made, pears, peaches, plums, grapes and all kinds of berries, and that in the greatest profusion and of the finest quality. To add to the attractiveness of the place and to " fill a long-felt want " Mr.

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Nichols, after purchasing the homestead in 1890, converted a portion of it into a public park, the grounds so donated comprising about forty acres and including the old home and yards. Most of the grounds are covered with a beautiful woodland, supplied with rustic seats and pavilions and bordered by Dickinson bayou, where all kinds of fish abound and on which small pleasure boats can be run.

Being situated on the International & Great Northern Railroad, and convenient both to Houston and Galveston, the Dickin- son Picnic Grounds will certainly become the most popular place of resort for rural sports and outing affairs in either Harris or Galves- ton county; and the public spirit displayed by Mr. Nichols in establishing this place of entertainment for pleasure-seekers is charac- teristic of his disposition.

On November 11, 1871, Mr. Nichols mar- ried Miss Fannie L. Butler, of Galveston, a daughter of Jonas and Caroline E. Butler, who settled in Galveston in 1837. Mrs. Nichols' father was for a number of years a lawyer of prominence at the Galveston bar and a large real-estate owner, dying in this city in 1857. His widow was subsequently married to H. W. Blagg, and resides in Gal- veston. Mrs. Nichols was born in Galves- ton, being the only child of her parents. To Mr. and Mrs. Nichols four children have been born,-Carribel S., Tudor B., Maude D. and Cecil G.

ENERAL EBENEZER B. NICHOLS, deceased. - So thor- oughly indentified with the history of Southern Texas, and particularly that of Galveston, was this well-known pio- neer that a series of sketches purporting to

include the early settlers and representative business men of this locality could not be written without frequent use of his name and reference to the invaluable service which he in various capacities rendered his country, his city and the people of this section.

He was born in Cooperstown, Otsego county, New York, in 1815, a son of Will- iam Hamilton Nichols, who was a prosper- ous jeweler of that place. E. B. Nichols spent his boyhood and youth in his native town, received a good common- school edu- cation, and while growing up acquired habits of industry, which were of material benefit to him in later years. Being restless and ambitious, he determined to carve out a career for himself on a broader scale than the opportunities afforded at his old home, and, having heard ." travelers' tales" of the marvelous opportunities of the Southwest, this section became the Mecca of his hopes, and he made his way hither in 1838, bring- ing with him some capital, and in partnership with William M. Rice embarked in business in Houston, continuing there until 1850. In that year he came to Galveston and estab- lished the firm of E. B. Nichols & Company, which for many years was synonymous with with all that pertained to the business growthi and prosperity of the city. One pronounced illustration of his keen business foresight and enterprise was the purchase of the brick wharf of John S. Sydnor, its builder, which he enlarged and operated in connection with his extensive shipping and commission busi- ness for a number of years.

At the opening of the late civil war he was one of the first to take up arms in de- fense of the institutions of the South, rais- ing a regiment for the Confederate service which he equipped at his own expense and

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led to San Antonio, where he received from General Twiggs the surrender of the United States Government post, with its arms and munitions of war, on July 4, 1861. He also distinguished himself at Galveston, and on all occasions never spared his energies or his means to bring about a victory to the Confederates. For about thirty years his home in Galveston was on Broadway, be- tween Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth streets, located where now stands the family residence of George Sealy. It was here that he reared his family of seven sons, and where, upon invitation, General Magruder made his headquarters during the siege of Galveston.

After the war General Nichols resumed his business operations, in the reconstruc- tion of which he was as aggressive as ever. Among the various enterprises he inaugu- rated was the founding of the Bank of Gal- veston, which he served in the capacity of president. This institution prospered under his management, and was finally merged into the National Bank of Texas. He was one of the chief promoters of the Galveston, Houston & Henderson Railway, and was for a time its president. He also took an active part in organizing the Galveston Wharf Company and the Texas Ice & Co'd Storage Company, and, in fact, was interested in nearly every enterprise that was started in the city.

His ability was recognized and he was chosen a member of the State Legislature by his many friends, and made a capable and efficient legislator.

He married in Houston, in 1838, Miss Margaret, daughter of Williamn Stone, a prosperous Virginian, and to them the fol- lowing children were born: William H., Frank Stuart, Eb. Mckinney, Peter Gray,

Fred McC., Thomas P., and George B. General Nichols died in Galveston, Novem- ber 30, 1872, at the age of fifty-seven years, and his wife died June 4, 1888.

B. MCKINNEY NICHOLS, son of the late General E. B. Nichols, of Galveston (see sketch of the latter elsewhere in this volume), was born in Houston, Harris county, Texas, Septem- ber 19, 1848; was educated in the select schools of Galveston, at Rugby College, Rugby, England, at a private school at Vevay, Switzerland, and at Como College, Boston, Massachusetts, graduating at the last named institution in 1867. He imme- diately returned to Galveston after finishing his education and became bookkeeper in the office of the Galveston Gas Company, which position he held about two years, when he gave it up to embark in the wholesale grocery business as a member of the firm of Von Harten & Nichols. In 1870 he entered the employ of the Galveston, Houston & Henderson Railway, with which and its suc- cessor-the International & Great North- ern-he has since continued, having filled all positions of a clerical nature in the Galveston offices of both of these roads from that of collector to that of chief clerk of the freight department, which last he now occupies.

November 3, 1869, Mr. Nichols married Miss Gertrude Tankersley, of Houston, a daughter of Benjamin F. and Gertrude Tankersley, early settlers of the Bayou City. Mr. Tankersley, a lawyer and politi- cian of some note, died at Houston, Decemn- ber 31, 1859, followed some years later by his wife. Mr. and Mrs. Nichols have seven children: Ebenezer, Helen H., Pierce Mc

الـ

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Kinney, Gertrude, Frank Stewart, Asenith Phelps and Libby Rice.

The religious connection of the family is with the Episcopal Church.

a APTAIN FRED A. BROCK, de- ceased, was a native of the island of Jamaica, having been born in Kingston, one of the chief seaport towns of that island. His ancestry runs back to England, which was the birth-place of his father, William Brock, and of both his grandfathers, Admiral Brock and Lieu- tenant Thomas Taylor, of the English navy. Admiral Brock was a nian of note, having devoted his entire life to the service of his country and won an honorable name in its history. Lieutenant Taylor, after quitting the navy, took up his abode in the island of Jamaica, where he married a princess of the Mosquito coast of Nicaragua, and devoted the remainder of his life to land pursuits. Willian Brock followed the sea till he was twenty-eight years old, engaged in the Eng- lish and West India trade, when he settled in Jamaica, married Mary Ann Taylor, daughter of Lieutenant Thomas Taylor, and became a large and successful coffee planter.

Fred A. Brock, of this article, went to sea at the age of eleven and sailed for several years in the employ of the Atlas Steamship Company between New York City and Southern Coast towns, until 1870, when he came to Galveston. From 1870 to 1873 he was engaged in coastwise trade along the gulf, but in the last named year took up his permanent residence in Galves- ton, where he embarked in the mercantile business, which he pursued at first with suc- cess, later with considerable loss, till 1879, when he gave it up altogether and went to

work on the Government jetties at the out- let of Galveston harbor. He was so em- ployed for about four years, at the end of which time he began Government contract- ing, to which he thereafter devoted his time and attention with the inost satisfactory re- sults, making out of it considerable money and establishing by means of it an excellent reputation as a contractor and man of . business.

On September 20, 1874, Captain Brock married Miss Lois Bristol, of Galveston, a native of this city, born September 20, 1849, and a daughter of William' and Mary A. Bristol, early settlers of Galveston. The issue of this union was five children: Fred A., Jr., born August 15, 1875; Minnette, born June 23, 1879; Grace, born July 23, 1883; Azel, born April 4, 1885; and Harold, born April 3, 1893.

Early in January, 1895, Captain Brock, who was then engaged on a Government contract at Velasco, Texas, had occa- sion to make a business trip to Tampico, Mexico, on which he took with him his wife and two children, Grace and Harold. The object of his trip was to get a dredge-boat, the property of Captain Brock, to be used on the work then in progress at Velasco. The boat, the Mount Waldo, though it had not been used for some time, was considered seaworthy, and Captain Brock, with Mrs. Brock and two children and a crew of twelve nen, left Tampico aboard the vessel January 8. A severe storm soon after came up and for twenty-four to thirty hours the Waldo was buffeted before the heavy seas, which usually run with the high winds in that locality at that season of the year, un- til it was finally abandoned in a sinking con- dition, all on board taking to the yawl. They were at sea until the following day at

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two o'clock, when they tried to land at Lobos island, or on one of the reefs near that island, below the entrance to Tampico harbor. Two miles off shore the yawl cap- sized, and Captain and Mrs. Brock and two children and five of the boat's crew, Engi- neer McGee, Assistant Engineer Linnett, ship's cook Schillen, and seamen Hartman and Perry, were drowned. Captain Solomon and seamen Olsen, Eckland, Powers, Buch- anan, Bland and John McGee succeeded in reaching the reef in an exhausted condition.

News of the loss of Captain and Mrs. Brock and children was received with sad- ness by their many friends in Galveston, and every assurance of sympathy and condolence was extended to their bereaved relatives.

R OBERT G. MURRAY was born in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, September 28, 1833. His father was Thomas Murray and his mother bore the maiden name of Hannah Edwards, the father being a native of New York, born of Scotch parentage, and the mother a na- tive of Canada, coming of Welsh ancestry. The antecedents of Thomas Murray settled in New York, in 1780, coming to this country by way of Canada. They were, as a rule, men of seafaring pursuits. Thomas Murray was engaged most of his life in the West In- dia and South American trade, and died in the West Indies in 1840. His widow, who subsequently married again, died in Cleve- land, Ohio, in 1849. The three sons, Rob- ert G., David and George, all became sailors.

Robert G. Murray spent his boyhood in New York city, from which place he went to sea at the age of fourteen, becoming a sailor before the mast on the packet ship DeWitt Clinton. For three years he sailed out of

the port of New York to many of the ports of Europe, South America and. even to China. In 1851 he found himself at Mobile, Alabama, from China, on the ship Ticon- deroga, and the succeeding two years were spent in coast-wise navigation. In 1853 he went to New Orleans and engaged for two years in steamboating in the towing trade between New Orleans and the passes at the mouth of the Mississippi river.

In 1855 he came to Galveston, and from that date to the opening of the Civil war he was with Morgan's steamship line on the coast of Louisiana and Texas, the last steamer General Rusk.

In September, 1861, he entered the Con- federate armny, enlisting in Company D, Twenty-sixth Texas Cavalry, with which he served until after the recapture of Galveston, when he was put on detail in the marine de- partment until the close of the war. He served either as engineer or as assistant en- gineer on each of those celebrated vessels, -the Harriet Lane, Diana, Colonel Stell, John F. Carr and Sachem; participated in the capture of the Federal steamers Granite and Wave, at Calcasieu, Louisiana, and af- terward accompanied the steamer Sachem, formerly captured at Sabine Pass, to Vera Cruz, where it was sold as a Confederate prize. Returning after this, by way of Ha- vana, with the blockade runner, Luna, he made three successful trips with her between Havana and Galveston, this vessel being the only one out of fourteen which, leaving Gal- veston on the 29th day of March, 1865, her last trip, succeeded in safely running the -

gauntlet to Havana.

At the close of the war Mr. Murray was in Cuba, where he remained during the fol- lowing two years. He became the chief engineer on the Granite City, the prize

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vessel that had arrived at Havana and been purchased by Cuban parties and used in the insurrection of that date, in which Mr. Mur- ray took part. He made two expeditions for the Cuban Congress to the United States for arins and munitions of war. In 1869, at Baltimore, Maryland, he was employed as engineer on the steamship Liberty, ply- ing between Baltimore and New Orleans, touching at Havana and Key West, Florida. On reaching New Orleans he found the steamer Lillian being fitted out for Cuban insurrectionists. He became assistant engi- neer on this vessel, which sailed under the direction of General Gorcuria for the scene of action in Cuba, stopping at Cedar Keys, where 750 men and a large amount of arins and supplies were taken on board. The vessel reached Cuban waters, but on account of General Gorcuria refusing to land with his men at Port Cabanas, and, being short of coal, attempted to reach Nassau, to get a supply; when about twenty-five miles from that point it was captured by the British sloop of war, Lapwing, and by her towed to Nassau and confiscated as a privateering vessel by the British authorities. It was left in a sinking condition, when all on board lrad to give up.

Returning to the United States in 1870 Mr. Murray landed at New York, whence he went to New Orleans and then to Galves- ton, after an absence of five years. Here he took up steamboating, becoming an engi- neer on vessels engaged in local trade, which he followed until 1886, when he was ap- pointed United States Inspector of Steam Vessels at the port of Galveston, which posi- tion he now holds.

In 1864 Mr. Murray married Miss Louisi- ana Stevens, daughter of Captain Jaines C. and Mary Ann Stevens. Mrs. Murray is a

native of Louisiana, where her parents set- tled about 1841. James C. Stevens was born in 1808, and his wife, whose maiden name was Mary Am Smith, in 1811. They went from Baltimore, Maryland, to Louisi- ana, thence to Texas. They are descendants from Revolutionary stock. He died in Houston, in 1862, and she in Galveston, in 1868. Mrs. Murray was born in 1841. Mr. and Mrs. Murray have had seven children, three of wlioin are living: Florida Louise, wife of Emmett E. Backloup, of Navasota, Texas; Robert G., Jr. ; and Richard James, -- all born in Galveston.

The family worship at the Episcopal Church. Mr. Murray is a member of Knights of Pythias, Humboldt Lodge, No. 9; American Legion of Honor, Gulf Coun- cil, No. 493; Knights of Honor, Galveston Lodge, No. 774,-of which last two he is a charter member. He has been a life- long Democrat.

ENRY BERGER, one of the many honorable German citizens of Gal- veston, was born in Hessen, Ger- inany, on the 26th of November, 1841. In the land that gave him birth he learned the trade of harness-making, which he followed near the city of Bremen until his inclinations led him to seek a home on American shores.

He arrived in the city of New Orleans in 1869, the ocean voyage being made on the ship Hanover, a new vessel and one of the first of the Bremen line; and he was the first to register thereon. Mr. Berger remained but a brief time in New Orleans, when he came to Galveston. Here he was engaged in the furniture business from 1871 to 1885, at the end of which time ill health compelled

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him to retire from active business pursuits, and he has since lived in retirement. He is known throughout Galveston as an honor - able and upright citizen, and has many friends in this city.

He was married in 1869 to Mrs. Lucie Praeger; they have no children.

ILLIAM H. BRISTOL, deceased. -The subject of this sketch was a native of Hudson, New York. When a young man he came to Texas as a sailor, and followed boating along the coast for a number of years. He was industrious and frugal and in time be- came the owner of three vessels, -the " Two Brothers," the " Wave" and one whose name can not be recalled, -which were run in the coast-wise trade in the vicinity of Galveston. In 1844 he married Miss Mary A. Taylor, of Galveston, the issue of which union was a son, William, who died in December, 1893; and a daughter, Lois, who was married to Captain Fred A. Brock and was recently lost in a storm off the coast of Tampico, Mexico. (See sketch of Captain Fred A. Brock elsewhere in this volume.) William H. Bristol died January 15, 1852. After his death Mrs. Bristol was married to Thomas Ballew, who was born at Franklin, Louisiana, July 17, 1808, where he was reared and in which State he passed his entire life, a large part of it in the employ of the West Feliciana Railway Company, whose line he helped to build and of which he was for years general superin- tendent. Mr. Ballew died at Bayou Sara on the 2 1st day of March, 1870. To Thomas and Mary A. Ballew one son and one daugh- ter were born: The son, Thomas Ballew, named for his father, was born on the 25th

day of March, 1862. On March 29, 1883, he married Miss Barbara Parker, a native of Galveston and daughter of Louis Parker. She died Noveinber 9, 1892, leaving one son, Walter, born February 21, 1884. Mr. and Mrs. Ballew's daughter. Cora, was born on the 16th day of July, 1860, at Galveston; was married November 29, 1888, to Robert L. Pillow, -and has one son, Robert L., Jr., born September 27, 1889.

Mrs. Mary A. Ballew was born in Louis- ville, Kentucky, whence her parents moved, when she was about three years of age, to New Orleans, where they soon after died of yellow fever. Being an only child she was adopted by Mrs. Jonathan Brock, by whom she was brought to Texas, coming to Gal- veston in 1839.

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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