USA > Texas > Indian wars and pioneers of Texas, Vol. 2 > Part 26
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Later, in 1846, he volunteered for the Mexican War under Capt. James Gillespie, and served under him a period of about seven months, or until the war ended. He then returned to Leon County.
Judge Gardner in his youthful days worked in a blacksmith shop and learned the trade in Texas,
which he followed with profit at the town of Leona. He was later elected County Judge of Leon County and held the office for six years.
Judge Gardner has been twice married. His first wife was Martha Braden, by whom he had one daughter, Marthia Jane, now the wife of James Nash, who resides in Louisiana.
His second marriage was to Miss Martha Jane Moore. A daughter by this union, Louella, is the wife of George K. Proctor of Calvert. The other two children are Samuel and Alfred, farmers in Leon County.
Judge Gardner's father, Edmund Gardner, a native of Spottsylvania County, Va., and a soldier under Gen. Jackson, in 1815, was born in 1786. He came to Kentucky in 1807, lived in Hardin County, pursued farming, and there died in 1885, at ninety-nine years and three months of age.
Judge Gardner's mother, Martha Shelton, was a daughter of Capt. Tom Shelton, of Spottsylvania County, Va., and a Captain in the Continental army. Judge Gardner now (1896) is spending his declin- ing years at Calvert.
EMIL WARMUND,
FREDERICKSBURG,
Emil Warmund, Sr .. is a worthy representative of one of the oldest and most prominent pioneer families of Gillespie County, Texas. His parents were Christian and Augusta Warmund, from Nassau, Germany. They had four sous: Louis, William, Emit, and Charles. The family came to Texas in 1846, landing at Galveston in January after a voyage of one hundred and twenty days on a sailing vessel. From Galveston they went to Indianola where they spent two weeks, and then proceeded to Fredericksburg in wagons drawn by ox-teams, the trip requiring four weeks. Emil remained in New Braunfels with his brother William (a clerk for the German Emigration Company ) for eighteen months, at the expiration of which time they joined the family at Fredericksburg. There the
parents died, the mother in 1848 at forty-two years of age and the father in 1872 at seventy-three years of age. Louis died in 1884 and William in 1891. Emil, the subject of this notice, located on Live Oak creek, where he raised stock, farmed and made money. Later he lived on Bear creek. nine miles distant from Fredericksburg. In the fall of 1845 he located in Fredericksburg and engaged in mer- chandising. at which he has been quite successful. He is now one of the wealthiest citizens of his county. He was a member of the local militia during the war and did all he could to promote the Southern cause.
Ile was married in Fredericksburg in 1847 to Miss Augusta Sander. They have seven chil- dren: Adolph, now deceased, who left a
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widow and two sons; Emil, August, Louise, now Mrs. William Basse; Emina, now Mrs. Alba Patton ; Matilda, now Mrs. Henry Meckle; and Lena, now Mrs. Alfred Basse. They have twenty- five living grandchildren.
The Warmund family has left its impress upon
local development and the history of that portion of Texas in which its members have lived.
William Warmund, deceased, was a man of most excellent character. He served several terms as County Judge of Gillespie County and left a large estate to his family and an honorable name.
JOSEPH BATES,
BRAZORIA.
Few men in Texas were better known or inore universally admired in their day and generation than the subject of this memoir, Gen. Joseph Bates, of Brazoria.
A writer in " Reminiscences of Public Men in Alabama," an historical volume published in that State, says of him: " Indeed, nature seemed to have marked him for command. He was tall, athletic, and of exact symmetry in his person, with a head and face which a sculptor would delight to copy as a master-piece. His mental powers were not inferior to his physical. Though not a lawyer by profession, he had all the readiness in thought and language of a practiced speaker. He possessed greater qualities still. When difficulties multiplied. he rose with the occasion, and was always adequate to the emergency, never at a loss, never taken by surprise ; and his bearing always reminded me, in conception, of a grand field-marshal of Napoleon at the head of a column, advancing, white a hun- dred pieces of artillery played upon him, until he pierced the enemy's center, and decided the for- tunes of the day. Never did I gaze upon a more lofty man in his physical developments, coupled with what I knew to be his intellectual qualities."
The following article, under date of February 27, 1888, appeared in the Galveston News of March 1, of that year, announcing the close of his illustrious career in death : -
" On the morning of the eighteenth instant, at ahout 4 o'clock, Gen. Joseph Bates breathed his last, at his residence in this county. For the past few months the General had been growing feebler, and to the anxious kinsmen and friends it was plain to see that his life's course was nearing its close.
" Gen. Bates was born at Mobile, Ala., Jan- uary 19, 1805, and had reached the eighty-third year of his age. The General was not of a com-
municative turn of mind, especially touching his personal history, and were it not that his name figures conspicuously in the record of the legisla- tive and politieal events of early times in Alabama, the writer would not have much to say respecting his early life. However, in 1829, we learn that he was a member of the Lower House of the General Assembly of that State. In 1835 he was taking an active part in what is known as the Seminole Indian War in Florida. In 1837, then being Major-general of the Sixth Division of the State militia, he was returned to the House of Representatives from Mobile County and again, in 1810, we find him at his old post of duty in the legislative halls of his native State. During this long tenure of office le is shown to have been ever vigilant in protecting the rights of his constituency. And particularly on the occasion of the passage in 1837 of what was known as the State Cotton Agency Bill, he is repre- sented as having done yeoman service in opposing the bill. As the leader of the minority he made a written protest against its passage, which, the chronicler of those events tells us, 'is to be found spread upon the journal of the House at page 202, a monument of the faithfulness of a representative in vindication of his constituents in the city of Mobile.'
"He was a warm personal friend and political supporter of Hon. Henry Clay, and in 1844, when that gentleman visited the city of Mobile, Gen. Bates was his constant companion during his stay, and one who saw them together and knew them both remarked that 'a view of two such men side by side, so peculiarly striking and so gifted, each in his sphere, may never again be the privilege of any spectator.'
"He came to Texas about 1815 and stopped in Galveston, of which city he was Mayor for two terms. While there he also held the position of
Lucie
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INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Texas under President Fillmore's administration. About 1854 he removed to and located in the west- ern portion of the county, near the coast, where we find him at the beginning of the late war, engaged in the quiet occupation of farming and stock-raising. But when the tocsin of war rang its peal of alarm, and the war clouds gathered dun and dim, he forsook these quiet pursuits, and at his country's call, like the patriot that he was, armed himself for the fray.
"He entered the service of the Confederacy as a Coloncl of the regiment he had succeeded in raising and, under Gen. Macgruder, was assigned to duty on the coast defenses of Texas. He estab- lished his headquarters at Velasco, and was ever vigilant and watchful of his charge. In recognition of his services he was promoted from one degree to another until his stately form was at last adorned with the uniform of a General. And here, at this post of duty, it was that those traits of character, which marked him as one born to lead and com- mand, shone forth with all their brilliancy. The order was given to evacuate the coast defenses, and, with that peculiar keenness of forethought, which was his alone, he saw that disaster to the country could but result from such a step, and, in opposition to all who favored the move, he refused to retreat, held his position, and thus, by the in- terpid and determined efforts of this one brave
man, this, the fairest portion of our fair State, was saved from the. ruin and desolation that waits attendance on an invading army, and this, alone, is sufficient to make his name loved and memory dear to those who now enjoy the fruits of his knightly conduct. After the war had closed and the Confederacy had furled its flag and yielded it to the victors, he in the turbulent time of recon- struction bore himself with such moderation, dis- cretion, and firmness, that his example and zealous efforts went far towards bringing about a pacific adjustment of our local affairs. The General had three sons and two daughters living, and a host of friends to mourn his loss. His love of home and friends, his high sense of justice, unbending in- tegrity and constancy of purpose, are all traits of character which united in him, and gently blended in such degree as to make him loved at home and admired and respected abroad. With all the noble traits of character possessed by this good old man, it is needless to add that round the family fireside the rosy light of love and peace at all times shed its genial glow.
" Like us all : ---
" ' He had some faults, But these, in some way, Have escaped my mind; I only remember The warm, feeling heart That made him a friend To all mankind.' "
LEOPOLD MILLER,
ORANGE.
Men of foreign birth have done much to develop the resources of Texas, and form one of the most progressive elements of its population. The man who is slothful or timid or who bends himself easily to existing conditions, never tries his fortune in a strange and distant land. A majority of those who have come to us from across the seas, represent the best blood and intelligence of the countries of their birth. They have the ambition and just pride to wish for and labor with energy to accumulate a competency, the power of mind to plan and execute, the firmness and courage to dare and do upon life's great field of action, and the love of liberty to appreciate and help maintain the blessings to be enjoyed under frec institutions. The life of no
man whose name the writer can recall, more forcibly illustrates the truth of these statements than that of the subject of this memoir, Leopold Miller, the well-known will owner and merchant of Orange, Texas.
Mr. Miller was born in Hamburg, Germany, October 27, 1853. His father, A. Miller, for many years a cigar manufacturer and enterprising business man of Hamburg, was born at Weisen- barg, Germany, in 1802, and died at Hamburg in 1886.
His mother, who bore the maiden name of Hen- rietta Markus, was born at Hamburg in 1820. She is still living in Hamburg and, although she has passed the allotted span of three score years and
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ten, is in good health. Always of a cheerful and happy mood, she is like a ray of sunshine in the home and, beloved by children and grandchildren and all who know her, the evening of her days is bright and sunny. Of the eight children, four sons and four daughters, born to her, all are now living.
Mr. Leopold Miller left his native city for America in 1869, when sixteen years of age, and after an uneventful voyage reached his destination at New Orleans. After working for four years in a mercantile establishment in that city, he moved to Mississippi, where he clerked in a store for about eight years. He returned to New Orleans, remained there for a period of eight months and then, August 1, 1881, started for Texas, which has since been his home and where he has acquired an independent fortune. Upon his arrival in this State le at once embarked in merchandising. In 1888 he became connected with the saw mill busi- ness and now owns the largest shingle mill in the South. His mercantile business has also grown to large proportions. He is president of the Orange Electric Light & Water Works Company, was one of the organizers and is now one of the directors of the First National Bank of Orange, and is a member of the Board of Trade of Orange. He has also served as a member of the Board of Aldermen and School Board and has been an active, untiring and progressive worker for the up- building of the town and section of the State in which he lives. ITe has given liberally of his time and means to the promotion of every worthy enterprise, is a member of the Legion of Honor, Knights of Honor, Knights of J'ythias, I. O. O. F., and Masonic fraternities, and has thoroughly identified himself with the best interests (social, educational, moral and commercial) of the State to wbose develop- ment he has so materially contributed. He is rated as one of the wealthiest business men of Orange. Starting in life a penniless young man, be has had to make his own way in the world.
He was married in New Orleans, November 16, 1879, to Miss Camilla Kaiser, daughter of B. Kaiser, a wholesale merchant of that city. She was born in 1856, received an excellent education and is a lady of rare accomplishments. An elegant entertainer, her husband's home is famous for its refined hospitality. Her father lost all of his
property during the war between the States. Even his watch, chain and Masonic charm were taken from him during the occupancy of the city by the Fed- eral troops under Gen. Ben. Butler. The Masonic charm was afterwards returned to him. Mrs. Miller is a sister of Maik Kaiser, the celebrated violinist of New Orleans, who is conceded to be the best in the South. When Mr. and Mrs. Miller were married they had nothing, but shortly there- after established a small business in Monticello, Miss. After remaining there for sixteen months, they returned to New Orleans, where he placed all of his wares and merchandise aboard the steamer " Katie Nye." The steamer, it afterwards transpired, had been condemned by the board of underwriters. Mr. Miller was not aware of this fact, but, on the contrary, was under the impres- sion that his commission merchant had taken out insurance. Six hours after the vessel started she was burned to the water's edge and his goods destroyed. As they were uninsured his loss was complete.
His faithful wife stood by him in this hour of gloom and disaster without a complaint or murmur, having confidence in his ability to surmount the difficulties that confronted them. Mr. Miller attrib- utes all of his after success to her, saying that she has sustained him with her unfaltering faith and encouraged and urged him forward at all difficult points they have encountered along their path- way.
Four children have been born to them, three of whom, Joe, fourteen, Morris, twelve, and Etta, ten years of age, are now (1895) living at home and are receiving that advice, attention and careful rearing that give promise of useful lives when they shall, in the years that are coming towards them, leave the parental roof-tree to encounter the vicissi- tudes, and strive for the honors of adult life.
Mr. Miller is still a young man. His powers have been developed in the school of experience. At the head of important enterprises, full of plans for the future, with a large fortove at his command and in the hey-day and prime of a vigorous man- hood, it is to be expected that he has only fairly entered upon his achievements as a financier and that he will make his influence still more powerfully felt in the upbuilding of the commercial and other interests of his adopted State.
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INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
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JOSEPH F. SMITH,
Joseph F. Sinith, the subject of this imperfect sketeli, was born in Fulton County, Ky., in 1808. He removed to Arkansas at an early day, where he acquired considerable property in land and negroes. He came to Texas in the early thirties, or perhaps in the latter twenties, and entered into partnership with his uncle, ex-Governor Henry Smith, in the purchase of vast quantities of landscrip, which Mr. Smith located, coming into what was then the wild West for the purpose. The bulk of this land was located in Refugio and San Patricio counties, over land previously illegally located, as Mr. Smith claimed, and time and the law bore him out as being correct in his conclusions. This, necessarily, in- volved him in almost endless litigation, and he studied law and was admitted to the bar solely for the purpose of attending to his own large and important land suits, for it was very seldom that he ever attended to suits for other parties, and only then, it is believed, where he had been concerned in the location of the land in controversy, although he was considered one of the best, if not the best, land lawyers in Texas. In other suits, either civil or criminal, he never engaged.
When quite young, he joined the ill-fated expedi- tion from Texas, which fought the famous battle of Mier, in which a little band of brave Texians took the city, defended by a large body of Mexican troops, killing several times their own number of the enemy. But large reinforcements arriving, they were offered terms by Gen. Ampudia, which they were compelled to accept, and thus became the famous Mier prisoners. The Mexicans after the surrender, treated the prisoners with the usual faith of the nation. In the fatal lottery that fol- lowed the attempt to escape at the hacienda of Salado Mr. Smith was so fortunate as to draw a white bean, thereby winning one of the first prizes, his life.
After regaining his liberty, he returned to Texas, fixing his domicile at what was then known as Black Point, on Aransas Bay, now St. Mary's. Mr. Smith laid out and founded the town of St. Mary's
some years before the Civil War. Here he built & fine and large stone house, from native quarries, which he designed as a residence for his daughter, who in the meantime had married, in Eastern Texas, a Mr. Kennedy. He was anxious to have his daughter and her children near him, as he grew older, he having been, through force of cir- eumstances, separated from her nearly all of his life; but, before the house was finished and preparations completed, his daughter failed so much in health, that the project for her removal was abandoned. In a few years his own health failed so materially that he thought himself compelled to give up his own home and seek an even milder cli- mate than Texas, and this he found in Tuxpan, Mexico, where he removed, and bought the rancho " Lapatal," consisting of some thirty thonsand acres of land. Here death claimed him, and he died in this alien land, far from the country he loved and from all his kindred, in 1878, his beloved daughter having preceded him to the land of the departed by some years. He left a will bequeath- ing all of his possessions to his two granddaughters, the Misses Mary Elizabeth and Lucy Jane Kennedy, the former and elder having since married the Ion. B. M. Sheldon, now mayor of Rockport, which town, Mr. Smith, during the course of his useful life, materially assisted in founding and also assisted in carrying on to prosperity. The writer perhaps knew Mr. Smith as well as any person now living, but not sufficiently well to relate all the incidents in his long and eventful life, which, if properly collated and set down, would easily fill a large and interesting book. Though very reticent -- and somewhat prone to speak over-little of incidents in his own life, he was known as one of the early heroes of Texas, an eminently just man, and one who largely assisted in all the best enterprises that made early Texas' history so glorious.
Never having seen his name in any hitherto printed Texas history, it is a pleasure to the author to accord him his rightful place in this volume.
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B. M. SHELDON,
ROCKPORT,
Hon. B. M. Sheldon came to Texas in 1875 from New Orleans, where he was born August 12, 1862. His father, Capt. Stephen Sheldon, a steamboat owner who ran vessels on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers for many years, was a native of Rhode Island; married Miss Georgiana Arnold, also a native of that State, and died at New Orleans in 1869. Besides the subject of this memoir there were two daughters and one son, viz. : Albert B., Fannie, and Georgiana. A. B. died at Corpus Christi in 1884 at twenty years of age. Fannie is the wife of Benjamin Sprague, of Providence, R. I. When twelve years old B. M. Sheldon came to Texas with his mother, worked on a farm for a few months and then apprenticed himself and learned the painters and signwriters trade, which he fol- lowed for about twelve years at Corpus Christi. He then went to Rockport to pursue the same busi- ness. He married, February 3d, 1890, Miss Lizzie Kennedy, an accomplished daughter of Prof. John
'T. Kennedy, Professor of Mathematics, at Mc- Kenzie Institute, Clarksville, Texas, where Mrs. Sheldon and her sister Janie were born. They were reared and educated at Palestine, Texas. Mrs. Sheldon is a lady of attainments and fine domestic traits. Miss Janie Kennedy is a member of the household and a lady of social and intel- lectual culture. Mr. Sheldon engaged extensively iu contracting at Rockport for a time and has sinee been engaged in the real estate business. He served three years as Alderman of Rockport and is now serving his second term as Mayor, and has greatly assisted in bringing the city out of debt and pushing its fortunes. Mr. and Mrs. Sheldon's home is one of the handsomest and most luxuriously appointed in the lovely seaside eity. They have two sons, Joseph Smith Sheldon and Arnold Ken- nedy Sheldon, and a daughter, Constance Sheldon.
Maj. Sheldon is a wide-awake and progressive public officer and citizen.
EDWARD Q. KREIGNER,
SPRING BRANCH,
One of the early settlers of Kendall County, was born in Toeplitz, Germany, January 4, 1821 ; came to Texas in 1846, and located at New Braunfels, where he joined the United States army for the Mexican War, enlisting as a private in Col. Jack Hays' regiment of Texas rangers. The rangers were detailed by Gen. Zachary Taylor for scouting service, and were often twenty-five or thirty miles in advance of the main army. The names of Jack Hays and his famous command are surrounded with a halo of heroic tradition. An account of
their exploits would read more like a romance than sober history. Leader and men were the bravest of the brave and no enemy was ever known to with- stand their fierce and deadly charge.
After the war Mr. Kreigner settled at the june- tion of Curry's creek and the Guadalupe river, where he established a farm ( now consisting of 600 acres) and has since resided. He married Miss Wilhelmina Koether. Her parents came to Texas in 1845. Mr. and Mrs. Kreigner have no chil- dren.
INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
551
JOSEPH HEBERT,
BEAUMONT.
Was born in Lafayette Parish, La., in 1818; came to Texas at twenty-four years of age and settled in Jefferson County ; remained there three years, when he returned to Louisiana and married Miss Melina Andrus, of St. Landry Parish and then re- turned to Texas and engaged in the stock business . childhood.
near Beaumont, in which he accumulated a fortune in cattle and land.
Nine children were born of this union, eight of whom lived to maturity, viz. : Mary Azema, who married first in 1866, Eloi Broussard of Vermillion Parish, La., and after his death, Lovan Hampshire of Jefferson County, Texas; J. M., a stock-raiser and farmer residing at Beaumont; B. C., a stock- raiser and farmer of Jefferson County; L. J., a stock-raiser and real estate dealer at Beaumont; W. A., a stock-raiser and farmer at Beaumont;
Clara Silliman, wife of Sidney Arceneaux. of Arcadia, La. ; Lonise Cedelize, now deceased, wife of Raymond Richard, of Arcadia Parish, and Lizzie, now deceased, wife of J. B. Richard of Areadia Parish, La. Coralie, the fourth child, died in
At the beginning of the war between the States, Mr. Hebert raised the first company that was organized in Beaumont for active service in the Confederate army, but the company was disbanded, after which he served as Captain in a military com- pany, detailed as home guards at Houston, Texas.
He died at his home, in February, 1865, and is buried in the family burying-ground, near his old home.
His wife died in January, 1869, and is buried beside him.
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JOSEPH MARTIN HEBERT,
BEAUMONT,
Was born July 2, 1847, in Jefferson County, Texas, He also engaged in the land business, with Judge and educated in Beaumont and Liberty counties. Chaison, of Beaumont. He was a soldier in Company C., Madison's regi- Mr. Hebert married, in 1867, Miss Emilie Brous- sard, daughter of Edward Broussard, of Vermillion Parish, La. They have nine living children, viz. : Cora, now wife of D. Bonnemaison, of Youngsville, La .; Jules, Felix, Numa, Seth, Lonis, Clerfey, Edward, and Eve, who live at the family home. ment, Lane's brigade, in the Confederate army, with which he served until the close of hostilities. He then returned home and assumed charge of his father's estate and soon thereafter engaged on his own account in the stock business, which he has followed ever since. He now owns a well- stocked cattle ranch in Jefferson County, his brother, L. J. Hebert, being associated with him.
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