USA > Texas > Indian wars and pioneers of Texas, Vol. 2 > Part 31
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married Miss Helen Embree, daughter of Elisha Embree, Esq .. of Bell County, Texas, and for a number of years thereafter was engaged in country merebandising, farming and stoek-raising, in which pursuits he accumulated a competeney. His politi- cal career began with his election to represent Bell County in the Eighteenth Legislature. He was re- eleeted to the Nineteenth and Twentieth Legisla- tures and was chosen Speaker of the House in the latter body without opposition. He was nominated for Lieutenant-Governor by the Democratic Con- vention at San Antonio in 1890, and eleeted in November of that year. His previous experience as a presiding officer enabled him to discharge his duties as President of the Senate in a manner that won the praise of that body. Later he was elected to and served two terms in the House of Repre- sentatives of the Congress of the United States. In each instance he made a brilliant canvass before the people and carried the district over strong and determined anti-Demoeratie opposi- tion.
EUGENE PILLOT,
HOUSTON,
Now, and for many years, a prominent citizen of Harris County, Texas, was born in the Department de la Haute, Saone, France, February 10th, 1820; came to Texas with his parents. Claude Nicholas and Jeanne ( Loiseley) Pillot, in 1887, who loeated a headright and engaged in farming on Willow Creek, twenty-six miles north of Houston ; learned his father's trade ( carpentering and joining ) which he followed for a short time ; engaged successfully in the timber business and later in farming, and for twenty-five years was one of the leading planters of Harris County ; again engaged in the timber busi- ness, which he followed until 1867, at which time he sold out his sawmill interests, and on January Ist, 1×68, moved to Houston, where he already owned considerable real estate to the improvement of which and to other private interests he devoted his atten-
tion. He is at this writing one of Houston's largest property owners, and has also large hold- ings in the city of Galveston. owning the Tremont Opera House and other equally valuable property. His city holdings are what real estate men call " inside property, " and are very valuable. He has served as a member of the City Council, Board of Public Works, and Treasurer of Harris County and has filled many positions of honor and trust, and has at all times been an active and intelligent worker for the upbuilding of the city and section of the State in which he lives.
On January 7th, 1845, Mr. Pillot married Miss Zeolis Sellers, daughter of Achille Sellers, and a native of Lafayette Parish, La. They are the parents of twelve children, six sons and six daugh- ters (all well established in life and prominent cit-
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izens of the communities in which they live) and have twenty-two grandchildren, and four great- grandchildren.
When Mr. Pillot came to Texas he was the only one of the family who landed at Galveston. There he met Col. Manard, founder of the city. There was then only one house on the island.
Mr. Pillot volunteered for service in the expedi- tion formed under Gen. Somervell to drive the Mexican invader, Woll, from the country, but the expedition coming to an end before he could reach . the Texian forces he returned home. He was intimately acquainted with and a warm personal friend of Gen. Houston. He also knew and was inore or less intimately associated with the other prominent men who figured in the early history of Texas.
When eleven years old (1831) he was a drummer in the National Guards of France under the King Louis Phillipe. His parents came to the United States in 1832 ; lived in New York City and State for five years, and came to Texas in 1837, touched at Galveston, and twenty-four hours later proceeded to Houston, where his father followed the occupation of carpentering and joining, until he moved to Willow creek and engaged in farming. Ilis father died in New Orleans in 1863, while re- turning homeward from France, and his mother three years later at the homestead in Harris County, leaving five children, of whom only one, the subject of this notice, is now living. The family only had forty dollars when it arrived in Texas. Mr. Pillot is essentially a self-made man. He is a leading and representative citizen of Ilouston.
FREDERICK PERNER,
COMFORT,
Arrived at Galveston from Saxony, May 23, 1849, where he was born July 19th, 1827 ; from Galves- ton went to Indianola and purchased. an ox-team, with which, a month later, he reached New Braun- fels; from New Braunfels went to Sisterdale and lived there until 1858, when he located on his pres- ent homestead, near Comfort, one of the best farms in Kendall County, and in 1854 married Mrs. Frid- ena Miller, widow of Charles Miller, by whom he had two children (daughters), Ernestine, who mar- ried Frederick Meyer, and Minnie, who married
Edward Schmidt. To the latter were born Edward, William and Bertha (now Mrs. John Marquardt), Richard and Amelia (now Mrs. Fred Vollmessing, of Kerrville). Mrs. Perner died August 15th, 1873.
For a second wife Mr. Perner married Mrs. Dorothea Schultz, an estimable widow lady. She died December 5, 1893, without issue.
Steps are being taken to secure to Mr. Perner a large amount of money said to be due to him from an estate in Germany, left by wealthy ancestors.
MILTON PARKER,
BRYAN.
Samuel Parker was a native of King and Queen's County, Va., born in the year 1797. At about the age of twenty-five, he married Mary Dunn, a native of King and Queen's County, and settled in Lincoln County, Tenn. Having been well educated and being a skillful accountant, he engaged for a num- ber of years in teaching and in clerical pursuits,
until, seeing a considerable family of children growing up around him, he thought it desirable to move to a new country, and, accordingly, in 1852, started to Texas. His wife died on the way, at Arkadelphia, Ark., but he came on with his five sons and one daughter and settled in Burleson County, where he purchased land and entered on what, for
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him, was the new life of a farmer. By industry and good management in his early years, he had saved some means which enabled him to comforta- bly settle himself and children and make an auspi- cious start in his new home. Being a man of quiet habits, with no inelination for public affairs, he was not extensively known, but was highly esteemed by those who enjoyed his acquaintance, and was really a valued and important accession to the com- munity where he settled. In the few years that he was a citizen of this State, he laid the foundation of a handsome fortune which, subsequently descend- ing to his children, helped them far along in the raee of life.
Mr. Parker married a second time in 1856, bis wife being Mrs. Eliza Montgomery, of Brazos County, widow of S. W. Montgomery and sister of Col. Harvey Mitchell, one of the oldest settlers of that county. He died the following year, leaving no issue of this marriage. The six children of his former marriage, John, Andrew, Samuel, Milton, Benjamin and Fannie (afterwards Mrs. Elijah James Chanee), all of whom grew to maturity, most of them marrying and having families. Only one of them, Milton, is now living.
Milton, almost universally known as " Mit " Parker, was born in Lincoln County, Tenn., Octo- ber 28, 1840. He was in his twelfth year when he came to Texas. His youth was spent in Burleson County, where, in faet, nearly all his maturer years have been passed. He entered the Confederate army at the opening of the late war as a member of the Second Texas Infantry, commanded by Col. W. P. Rogers. With this command he took part in all the operations of the army in Western Ten- nessee and Northern Mississippi, including the en- gagements at Shiloh, Farmington, Iuka, Corinth, and the siege of Vicksburg. Ile was wounded at
Vieksburg and, on the surrender of that place, was eaptored. Being subsequently paroled, he returned to Texas, and from that time on until the close of the war, engaged in trading operations between points in the interior of Texas and Mexico. He, with others of his regiment, did some valiant fight- ing for the Southern eause and he suffered many close escapes from the deadly fire of the enemy.
After the war Mr. Parker embarked in the eom- mission business at Galveston as a member of the firm of Johnson, Parker & Co., and was so engaged for three years. He then moved to Bryan, where be formed a partnership with W. H. Flipper and. under the firm name of Parker & Flipper, followed the mercantile and banking business for ten years. Disposing of these interests at the end of that time he turned his attention to planting, which, asso- ciated with some real estate operations, has sinec oeeupied his time. Mr. Parker is regarded as one of the heaviest property owners n Brazos or Bur- leson counties. His holdings in the latter county amount to about 6,500 aeres, more than three- fourths of which are under cultivation, producing abundantly of cotton and corn, the staple produets of the Brazos valley. His investments in Bryan are in local enterprises, being such as are designed to stimulate industry and foster a spirit of progress.
In 1864, Mr. Parker married Miss Mary Jane Johnson, of Burleson County, a native of Virginia, then resident of Bloomington, Illinois, daughter of Capt. George Jolison, who was born in Virginia and was for many years a steamboat captain on the Mis- sissippi river, coming to Texas in 1859, where he subsequently lived and died.
The issue of this marriage has been seven chil- dren : George S., John K., Mary W. (now Mrs. Allen D. Carr, Jr. ), Katie B., Winnie L., Fannie and Milton B.
AUGUST RUST,
SMITHSON'S VALLEY,
Came to Texas in 1855 from Hanover, Germany, with his father, mother and other members of the household, who located near New Braunfels and later moved into the vicinity of Smithson's Valley, in 1864, and lives there now. The mother died in 1893, at seventy-five years of age. The father, Frederick Rust, is living near Boerne, in Kendall
County, with his sou, Louis. August, the subjeet of this notice, was the oldest of a family of twelve children. lle was born August 19, 1840, in flan- over, Germany, and reared to his father's calling, that of a distiller of malt liquors, but abandoned it to engage in farming in the New World in which he has accumulated a handsome competency. He
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married, in 1860, Jobauna Guer. Mr. and Mrs. Rust have had thirteen children : Otto, Emil, Louis (deceased), Bertha, Louise, Alvina, Albert, Will-
iam, Emily, Frieda, Alfred, Henry and Herbert. Mrs. Rust is a native of Comal County, Texas, born at Four-Mile Creek, near New Braunfels.
REFUGIO SAN MIGUEL,
EAGLE PASS.
In Southwest Texas there were few men better known in his time and none were more enterprising and active than Refugio San Miguel. A man of great energy and perseverenee, he forged his way from obscurity and poverty to a position of local prominence and influence. He was a native of Mexico and was born at Matamoros about the year 1828 and grew to manhood in Mexico.
His father, Pablo San Miguel, was a stockman of that country and raised his sons to the business.
When our subjeet arrived at his majority he left home and went to Santa Rosa, Mexico, to seek em- ployment. The opportunities in Mexico for young men to advance were not good and, being ambitions to accomplish something in the world, young San Miguel became restless and decided to try his fortune in Texas and, accordingly, went to Eagle Pass about the year 1851. There he found em- ployment, saved his earnings and was soon enabled to commence business for himself. He engaged in raising cattle and sheep on a small scale and, by close attention, his stock prospered and increased. He also engaged in freighting and this branch of business finally grew to large proportions, extend- ing to towns far distant into the interior of Texas and Mexico. 7
Mr. San Miguel's stock business prospered, and in the spring of 1863 he located lands and opened one of the largest stock ranches, at that time, in his seetion of the State. This was situated about fifteen miles above Eagle Pass on the Bruckett road. Indians at that time were roaming at large in that portion of Texas and were troublesome and sometimes hostile ; so much so, that it was difficult to find men who cared to risk their lives in herding stock. For their retreat and better security Mr. San Miguel built a rock fort on the ranch, which afforded them protection and answered the purpose, also, of a ranch house. This structure still ( 1806) stands. It not only served the purpose for which it was built but was also utilized, or visited at times, by the United States troops during the late
war between the States. When the war broke out Mr. San Miguel allied himself with the cause of the new Confederate States and served as an en- listed soldier in his own locality.
In 1855 Mr. San Miguel married, at Eagle Pass, Miss Rita Alderate, a daughter of Miguel Alderate, an esteemed eitizen of Eagle Pass. She was born at Santa Rosa, in the State of Coahuila, Mexico, January 8th, 1842, and still survives in the prime of vigorous womanhood. She was a most faithful and dutiful wife, and is the mother of six children, all living at Eagle Pass. Mr. San Miguel was yet a poor man when they were married, having only an ox and a flint lock musket. The latter he traded for another ox, and bought a cart and ran in debt for another ox. His success in life is in a great measure due to the support, encouragement and fortitude of his estimable wife. Mr. San Miguel met a sad and untimely death at the hands of a murderous Mexican employee who, for some imag- inary wrong, laid in ambush and shot him dead, on the Brackett road, about five miles north of Eagle Pass, while on his way home from his ranch, Sep- tember 8th, 1863. He owned at the time of his death 3,000 head of cattle, abont 600 being work- oxen. Hle al-o owned 9,000 head of sheep, and horses enough to handle the extensive business of his ranch. Mrs. San Miguel was made administra- trix of the estate, and the admirable manner in which she managed its affairs shows her to be a woman of great executive ability. Refugio San Miguel was essentially a self-made mau. He cared nothing for public affairs and devoted all of bis time and ener- gies to his business. He was a kind and consider- ate husband and father and was always loyal to his friends. He was a man of the strictest integrity and had the full confidence and esteem of all who knew him. The children of Mr. and Mrs. San Miguel live at Eagle Pass and are, in order of their respective births : Jesua, now Mrs. Francis Garza : Trinidad, who married Angeleta Diaz; Martha, now Mrs. Miguel Falcon; Refugio, now Mrs. Jesus
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Gelan ; Nicholas, now Mrs. Trinidad Herrera; and Miguel, who married Miss Refugio Galan. Trini- dad San Miguel is the oldest son and the leading business man of Eagle Pass. He has inherited the excellent business, moral and social traits of his father. He was born August 5th, 1859, and was a lad when his father died; but, being matured in mind for one of his years, he soon relieved his mother of many of the cares and burdens of busi- ness and also became practically the head of the family. He received a good business education at San Antonio and has put it to a most satisfactory use. He took charge of the ranch and stock inter- ests when a youth and conducted the business suc- cessfully. IIe now, with a younger brother as partner, owns a fine stock ranch near Eagle Pass upon which they range 2,500 head of cattle, and Mr. San Miguel himself has paying wine rooms, of the best class and finest equipped, in Eagle Pass, Texas, and Porfirio Diaz, Mexico. He has held the
office of State Stock Inspector at Eagle Pass for a number of years. He was United States Inspector of Customs at Eagle Pass during the presidential term of Benjamin Harrison, and performed the duties of the office with eredit to himself and the entire satisfaction of the government authorities. Mr. San Miguel also served four years on the Board of School Trustees of this city and declined thereafter re-election.
He is a cool, conservative and valuable citizen and successful business man. He is popular with the public, and has the bearing and address of a courtly and affable man of affairs. Refugio San Miguel died without leaving a picture and the publishers are therefore pleased to present an engraving of Trini- dad San Miguel, as representing the family. He is said to bear a strong resemblance to his father ; has inherited his talents and is one of the leading citizens of the section of the State in which he resides.
ROBERT DALZELL,
BROWNSVILLE.
The subject of this sketch was born in County Down, Ireland, in 1830, of Huguenot stock, his ancestors having fled from France during the per- secutions of 1685 and settled, with many other cmi- gres, in the province of Ulster, between Newry and Belfast, where they laid the foundations of the flax and linen industry for which that section of the country became so famous.
Varying fortunes attended the exiles in their new home, and in the early part of this century they had become so identified with the native race that little except their names remained to show the country of their origin, and La Belle France was more a tradition than a remembrance. Yet the spirit of liberty remained and the old yearning of the French Covenantors for freedom of thought and speech and conscience was strong in their Irish descendants. In 1838 Stewart Dalzell with his family emigrated from their home in the shadow of the Mourne mountains to the United States, and settled near Pittsburg, Pa. After receiving a common school education there, Robert Dalzell, the fifth son, pushed further west in search of fortune, and the latter part of 1817 found bim in St. Louis, Mo. The Mexican War was then in progress and he, a
lad of seventeen, with many other adventurous spirits, volunteered for service on the Rio Grande. The war coming to a sudden termination, he entered the transport service on the river, and continued in government employment as pilot, mate and cap- tain of steamboats until 1852, when he was offered a position on the steamers of M. Kenedy and Richard King, who afterwards became the " cattle kings " of West Texas. In 1861, he won and wedded the accomplished stepdaughter of the senior partner, Miss Louisa C. Vidal, and two sons and six charm- ing daughters have blessed the happy union, of whom five children survive. During the war between the States Capt. Dalzell and the late Joseph Cooper, as partners, operated and owned steamboats and lighters on the Rio Grande, upon their own account, with great success ; and in 1866, when the old firm of M. Kenedy & Co. was reorgan- ized as King, Kenedy & Co., with a capital of $250,000.00, Richard King owned one-quarter, M. Kenedy one-quarter, and Dalzell and Cooper one- quarter of the concern, the remaining fourth being divided among the principal merchants of Browns- ville, Texas, and Matamoros, Mexico. Capt. M. Kenedy, who was general manager of the new con-
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cern, turned his attention to stock-raising early in 1867, and then relinquished the management to his son-in-law, Capt. Robert Dalzell, who continued to conduct its vast interests until the dissolution of the company in 1874. Shortly after, Capt. Dalzell practically retired from active business and settled down to enjoy the abundant fruits of an upright, industrious and successful career.
Few men are better known on the lower Rio
Grande, none are more respected or beloved. Open-handed, just and generous, no worthy object ever appealed to his charity in vain ; active in every movement for the improvement of his seetion, trusted, popular and influential, but seeking no office of emolument, he pursues the even tenor of his way, a model citizen, husband and father, and recognized by all as the ideal type of the courteous and perfect gentleman.
SAMUEL E. WATSON,
CLARKSVILLE.
Samuel E. Watson, of Clarksville, one of the wealthiest and best known planters in Red River County, Texas, was born on the 21st of June, 1847, attended a private school at New Orleans, con- ducted by C. M. Saunders, a graduate of Harvard College; took the Harvard course, and completed his education by graduating from the High School of Nashville, Tenn., and attendance at Sycamore Intitute, while that institution was under the presi- dency of Prof. Charles D. Lawrence. After returning home from school he, in 1867, at the request of his father, proceeded to Red River County, Texas, where he assumed charge of his father's plantation, one of the largest in the State. He has lived upon this property, Pecan Point, almost continuously since that time.
His parents were Matthew and Rebecca (Alli- bone) Watson, the former a native of Rhode Island and the latter of Chillicothe, Ohio. Ilis mother's nephew, Samuel Austin Allibone, is the well-known compiler and publisher of the "Die- tionary of Authors," a work upon which he and his wife were engaged for twenty years. His father's brother, Samuel Watson, was one of the trustees of the Peabody fund in Tennessee, president of the Old State Bank of Tennessee, and is now deceased. Mrs. Rebecca Watson was a niece of Susan Alli- bone, of Philadelphia, one of the distinguished women of that city. A memoir of her life has been published and widely circulated.
Mr. Matthew Watson about the year 1823 por- chased a stock of $20,000 worth of goods and moved to Nashville and a few years afterwards, in 1825, married Miss Rebecca Allibone. Their mar- ried life continued for fifty years, Mr. Watson dying in 1884 and his wife in 1886. Both are buried
at Mt. Olivet, near Nashville. They left two children : Mrs. Jennie H. LaPice, of St. James Parish, La., and S. E. Watson, the subject of this notice. Mr. Matthew Watson was engaged in the dry goods business in Nashville, in which he con- tinued for about ten years. He then helped organize the Planters Bank of Nashville. Later he drew $30,000 in a lottery, which fixed him for life.
Just before the Federal troops captured Nashville, he moved with his family to Landerdale, in St. James Parish, La., a fine plantation owned by bim.
A paternal uncle of our subject served during part of the war as a soldier in the Twenty-first Texas Cavalry, commanded by the late lamented veteran editor, Col. Charles DeMorse, of Clarksville, and died at Clarksville from an illness brought on by exposure in the army.
Samuel E. Watson was married to Miss Maggie Latimer Bagby, daughter of Mr. George Bagby, of Red River County. They have five children : Matthew, Jennie, Harry, Samuel, and Maggie.
Mr. Bagby was a paymaster in the Confederate army and in 1863 went through the Indian Terri- tory to pay off the soldiers in Arkansas. Return- ing he was ambushed and assassinated by Indians. A party of Confederate soldiers, who greatly loved him, quietly made their way into the Territory and captured his murderers and took them to Clarks- ville, where the citizens hanged them to a tree near the town.
Mr. Watson lost his wife Jaunary 11, 1886. She is buried in the cemetery at Clarksville. She was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and a devout, loving and lovable Christian woman. She was related to Governor Arthur P. Bagby, one of the early governors of Georgia.
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July 29, 1895, Governor Culberson appointed Mr. Watson one of the delegates selceted by him to represent the State of Texas at the Farmers' National Congress, held at Atlanta, Ga., October 12-15 of that year. Mr. Watson was one of the commissioners to the World's Fair appointed by the County Judge of Red River County, and was also a delegate to the meeting held at Fort Worth for the purpose of organizing a committee to which was intrusted the duty of seeing that Texas was properly represented at the Fair. Mr. Watson and Capt. A. P. Corley were in charge of the Red River County exhibit at the Dallas State Fair.
The exhibit contained numerous interesting relies
of mound builders and specimens of curious woods collected by Mr. Watson on his plantation ; also a bale of cotton of his, which was awarded the State premium.
He is a member of the Episcopal Church and a representative farmer and citizen. An uncle of lis, Thomas Washington, of Nashville, Tenn., and his father were interested in the " Tennessee Colony " which was established in Texas about the year 18- and which has since grown and prospered. Will- iam T. Watson, a cousin of the subject of this notice, is Surveyor-General of the State of Wash- ington, having been appointed to that office by President Cleveland.
J. JACOB WEBER,
FREDERICKSBURG,
A venerable and highly esteemed citizen of Gillespie County, lives on the Kerville road, about seven miles out from Fredericksburg. He came with his father and two brothers to Texas in 1846, under the auspices of the German Emigration Company. Hle was born in the Rhine Province of Prussia, October 16th, 1831. His brothers, Nicholas and Henry P., now own farms in Gillespie County ad- joining his. The father, who also bore the name of Jacob, followed farming until the time of his death, which occurred at New Braunfels in 1847. After his death the family moved to Fredericksburg
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