USA > Texas > Indian wars and pioneers of Texas, Vol. 2 > Part 36
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of the Compress, Oil Mills and Water Works com- panies, is a stockholder in the Temple Building and Loan Association and the Temple National Bank, is a director in the Temple City Company, is president of the Temple Hotel Company, and has an interest in the plow factory. He owns some valuable real estate in Temple and elsewhere, and his familiarity with the soil, climate and resources of Texas is equaled by that of few men in the State.
In 1868 Mr. Moore married Miss Martha V. Free- man, daughter of Jolin T. Freeman, a native of Georgia, who came to Texas in 1866. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Moore: Dura Estelle, Jodie E., Jesse Freeman, Mary E., Willie, and Thomas Edgar, the latter of whom died at two years of age. The family are members of the Baptist Church. Mr. Moore is a Knight Templar and is a member of the Knights of Honor, the Knights of Pythias, the A. O. U. W., the United Friends of Temperance and the Grange.
HENRY J. HAMILTON, M. D.,
LAREDO.
Dr. H. J. Hamilton, of Laredo, Texas, was born in 1864, in Barrie, Canada. The present Countess of Dufferin and Lord Claud Ilamilton of Scotland are cousins of the Doctor's grandfather, Alexander Hamilton, Esq., one of the York pioneers and founders of Toronto, Canada. Dr. Hamilton re- ceived his preparatory education at Barrie High School, and graduated at Hamilton Collegiate Institute in 1880, and then came to Texas, his parents having moved to this State in 1874. In 1883 he commenced the study of medicine under Dr. A. E. Spohn, at Corpus Christi, and graduated at Louisville, Ky., in 1888, receiving the Regent and three other gold medals. For three years thereafter he practiced his profession in Mexico, spent one
winter in New York, and another in Philadelphia, during which time he still further perfected his knowledge of the science of medicine and surgery, and, returning to Texas, associated himself with Dr. Spohn, at Corpus Christi, where they estab- lished Bay View Infirmary, for the treatment of diseases of women. In December, 1893, he moved to Laredo, and a year later, in that city, married a daughter of Capt. and Mrs. C. Benavides. Dr. Hamilton is United States Pension Examining Sur- geon for the Laredo District, has recently been elected a member of the Texas Academy of Science. and is one of the most popular citizens of the section in which he lives.
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INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
THE POET RANCHMAN,
WILLIAM LAWRENCE CHITTENDEN,
JONES COUNTY.
Larry Chittenden, the "Poet Ranchman of Texas," was born in 1862, in Montclair, N. J., the beautiful suberb of New York. Fond of athletic sports, hunting, swimming and fishing, when a boy, he became famous before attaining manhood as a rider, swimmer and diver, and in the summer of 1891, distinguished himself at Spring Lake Beach, N. J., by his daring rescue of two young women from drowning in the surf, at the risk of his life.
several years in Texas as a salesman for that popu- lar New York house, and in 1886 moved to this State and engaged in ranching with his uncle, Mr. S. B. Chittenden, of Brooklyn, near Anson, in Jones County, where, as a bachelor, he now resides.
As to the Chittendens, the family has an un- broken record in this country for thrift and culture, extending as far back as 1639, when Maj. William Chittenden settled and established the family at
LARRY CHITTENDEN.
Ile also carly showed an inclination for study and literature, acquired a good education, possessed himself of a wide knowledge of the English classics and laid the foundation, undesignedly at the time, for the career upon which he has entered in the realm of poesy. The man whose claim to recogui- tion is based solely upon ancestry finds a cold wel- come awaiting him in Texas, but, when personal merit is added, and the man is admirable and lov- ing iu himself, the people are quick to admire and to admit him to their heart of hearts.
When very young he entered the wholesale dry goods business of his father and uncle, and later with Tefft, Weller & Co., in New York, traveled
Guilford, Conn., on the estate now known as Mapleside, which is still owned by his descendants. " It was from this hardy old pioneer ancestor," says Mr. Clarence Ousley, of Galveston, in The Illustrated American, " that the poet received his first name, his second coming from his maternal grandmother, who belonged to the distinguished Lawrence family. His maternal grandfather was Maj. Daniel Gano, a gentleman of the old school noted in the South and West for his great learning. literary talents and courtly manners. Maj. Gano was himself a poet, and a member of the famous Kentucky pioneer family of that name. His daugh. ter, Mrs. Henrietta Gano Chittenden, is the poet's
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INDLIN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXALS.
mother, and some one has aptly said that Chitten- den is a rare combination of Northern force and Southern fire -- the Puritan and the Cavalier." Mr. F. S. Brittain in the Abilene. Texas, Reporter, thus describes his personal appearance : --
" When the people who do not know Chittenden see a slight, well-built, active, youngish man, with a well-shaped head of wavy, glossy black hair, with black mustache, a face browned by out-of-door life, with a nose that seems as sensitively full of life as that of a well-bred terrier, and a mouth both strong and sensitive, the whole lit up by a pair of change- able eyes, now gray, now blue, ever moving and full of interest; if the man is dressed in fine raiment which does not appear fine, and which half pro- claims the ranchman, half the man of the world, with a dash of the yachtsman and a soupcon of Bohemianism - that's Larry, God bless him."
Mr. G. Herbert Brown, in writing about our poet in the Galveston News, says of him :-
" The manner of man he is is best made known by the statement that ten minutes after an introduc- tion you are calling him 'Larry.' ' Mr. Chitten- den' seems distant and foreign. His is a warm, jovial, sympathetic nature - you want to sit down in a big easy chair and talk with bim between whiffs of smoke; you forget about dollars and financial planks and politics and go off into the sweet realms of fancy. ' The Poet Ranchman of Texas ' - a Bos- ton man would at once picture him as a strapping big fellow, with flannel shirt open at a hairy throat, big, drooping mustache, sombrero, boots, belt, pis- tols, knives - the typical Texas ranchman of the comic papers and melodrama. Whatever Larry may wear on his ranch he doesn't make up any such patent medicinal fakir fashion in town. He wears the clothes of a citizen of the world, wears them i such a manner that you don't notice them at all. His face is bronzed by the sun, but it is neither burned nor swarthy. And he has a charin of man- ner, an ease of address that captivates men and women alike." He has traveled over a greater part of the United States and much of Europe, as well, with an eye ever alert to detect, a soul ever ready to absorb, and an imagination ever ready to drape in the robes of poetic fancy the majesty and beauty and witchery of all that the treasuries of art and nature disclose to the observant and appreciative traveler.
Ilis first efforts in the field of letters were con- fined to literary and reportorial work for New York newspapers and magazines. His first poems ap- peared in the New York Mail and Express and the Galveston-Dallas (Texas) Daily News. The broad prairies, the mountains, the pure, fresh air, the
songs of the birds and the wild, free life of his Western home have furnished the immediate inspir- ation for " Ranch Verses," published by G. P. Put- nam's Sons, New York, which have now run through four editions and which have met with a reception accorded to the verses of few American poets in the latter part of the nineteenth century.
This is what some of the leading papers say of " Ranch Verses :"-
"Chittenden's poems have a swing about them which is very attractive. He gives us Flemish pic- tures of Texas life, the realism of which is never vulgar and the habit of which is rich, rare and racy."- Chicago Post.
" A volume of poems which will fully entertain lovers of song. It is in great variety and capitally rendered. Mr. Chittenden is a born poet."- Chicago Inter-Ocean.
""' Ranch Verses' are tuneful, manly in sentiment and musical in flow - full of spirit and vivacity."- London Saturday Review.
" Curious and entertaining. A volume that is sure to become a favorite."- Glasgow, Scotland, Herald.
" There is originality and spontaneity of inspira- tion in ' Ranch Verses.' " -- London Times.
"Have a catching cheerfulness. They are all bright, fluent and readable."- Edinburgh Scotch- man.
" The ballads and character sketches have the genuine ring. They are worthy of a place beside those of Riley, Field, Harte and Miller." - Review of Reviews.
" Will win from readers old and young unstinted praise and warm eulogy. The bold intellect of the anthor, tempered by culture and refinement, has produced a volume that must bring him fame."- Public Opinion.
" One of the most interesting and readable books of poetry ever published."- N. Y. Press.
" Contains most genial information about Texas and the cowboys. One must really attach value to this book." -- N. Y. Evening Post.
" A most charming book of poetry. Mr. Chit- tenden is a genuine poct."- Boston Traveller.
"Bright and entertaining from cover to cover. A book that one may open at random and be sure to find something interesting and entertaining."- American Bookseller.
" Texas has a poet of whom she may well feel proud. The muses were dispensing their best gifts when they threw their spell on 'Larry ' Chitten- den."- Peck's Sun.
These selections of press notices are only a few of the many thousands that have been printed in
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INDLIN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
praise of " Ranch Verses " in our own country and Great Britain.
The following extraets from his poems will give the reader some idea of the merits and charm of his verse : -
FROM "THE COWBOYS' CHRISTMAS BALL."
The leader was a feller that came from Swenson's Ranch, They called him " Windy Billy," from " little Deadman's Branch."
His rig was " kinder keerless," big spurs and high-heeled boots;
He had the reputation that comes when " fellers shoots." His voice was like a bugle upon the mountain's height ; His feet were animated, an' a mighty morm' sight,
When he commenced to boller, "Neow fellers, stake yer pen !
" Lock horns ter all them heifers, an' russel 'em like men.
" Saloot yer lovely eritters; ncow swing an' let 'em go,
"Climb the grape vine 'round 'em - all hands do-ee-do!
"You Mavericks, jine the round-up - Jest skip her waterfall,"
Iluh! hit wuz gettin' active, " The Cowboys' Christmas Ball!"
The boys were tolerable skittish, the ladies powerful neat,
That old bass viol's music just got there with both feet!
That wailin', frisky fiddle, I never shall forget; And Windy kept a singin' - I think I here him yet --- " O Xes, chase your squirrels, an' eut 'em to one side, " Spur Treadwell to the centre, with Cross P Charley's bride,
" Doc. Hollis down the middle, an' twine the ladies' chain,
" Varn Andrews pen the fillies in big T Diamond's train. " All pull yer freight tergether, neow swallow fork an' elange
" " Big Boston' lead the trail-herd, through little l'iteh- fork's range
Purr 'round yer gentle pussies neow rope 'em! Balance all : "
Iluh! hit wuz getting active -- " The Cowboys' Christ- mas Ball! "
The dust riz fast an' furious, we all just galloped 'round, Till the seenery got so giddy, that Z Bar Dick was downed.
We buckled to our partners, an' toll 'em to hold on,
Then shook onr hoofs like lightning, until the carly dawn.
Don't tell me 'bout cotilions, or germans. No sir 'ee! That whirl at 'nson eity just takes the cake with me. I'm siek of lazy shufflin's, of them I've had my fill,
Give me a frontier break-down, backed up by Windy Bill.
McAllister ain't nowbar! when Windy leads the show, I've seen 'em both in harness, and so I sorter know - Oh, Bill, I sha'n't forget yer, and I'll oftentimes recall, That lively gaited sworray - " The Cowboys' Christmas Ball."
-- (From " Ranch Verses.")
HIDDEN.
Afar on the pathless prairies
The rarest of flowers abound ; And in the dark caves of the valleys There is wealth that will never be found;
So there are sweet songs in the silence That never will melt into sound.
The twilight illumines her banners With colors no artist ean teach ; And aloft in the sky there are sermons Too mighty for mortals to preach ; So life has its lovely ideals Too lofty for language to reach.
Afar on the sea there's a music That the shore never knows in its rest; And in the green depths of the forest There are choirs that carol unblest; So, deep in the heart, there's a musie And a eadenee that's never expressed.
NEPTUNE'S STEEDS.
Hark to the wild nor'easter! That long, long booming roar, When the storm king breathes his thunder Along the shuddering shore. The shivering air re-echoes The ocean's weird refrain, For the wild white steeds of Neptune Are coming home again.
No hand nor voice can check them, These stern steeds of the sea, They were not .born for bondage, They are forever free. With arched crests proudly waving, Too strong for human rein, The wild white steeds of Neptune Are coming home again.
With rolling emerald chariots They charge the stalwart strand, They gallop o'er the ledges And leap along the land; With deep chests breathing thunder Across the quivering plain, The wild white steeds of Neptune Are coming home again.
Not with the trill of bugles, But roar of muffled drums, And shrouded sea weed banners, That mighty army comes. The harbor bars are moaning A wail of death and pain, For the wild white steeds of Neptune Are coming home again.
Well may the sailor women Look out to scan the lee, And long for absent lovers, Their lovers on the sea. Well may the barbored scamen Neglect the sails and seine,
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INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
When the wild white steeds of Neptune Are coming home again.
How sad their mournful neighing, That wailing, haunting sound;
It is the song of sorrow,
A dirge for dead men drowned.
Though we must all go seaward, Though our watchers wait in vain,
The wild white steeds of Neptune,
Will homeward come again.
TEXAS TYPES - THE SHERIFF.
He's a quiet, easy fellow, with his pants tucked in his boots,
And he wears a big revolver, which he seldom ever shoots;
Hechas served his time as ranger on the reckless Rio Grande,
And he has the reputation for great marksmanship and sand;
He has strung up several horse thieves in the rustler days gone by,
And although be seems so pleasant there's a devil in his eye.
When he goes to take a prisoner he calls him by his name,
In that confidential manner that suggests the bunco game ;
If the culprit is not willing, takes exception to the plan, Our sheriff gets the drop, sir, and he likewise gets his man;
Oh, it's " powerful persuadin'," is a pistol 'neath your nose,
" Hands up, you've got to go, Sam," and Sam he ups and goes.
In the fall at " county 'jections " when candidates appear, The sheriff's awful friendly, for he loves to " 'lectioneer;" Then he takes the honest granger and ye stockman by the hand,
And he angers them for votes, sir, in a manner smooth and bland;
He is generous, brave and courtly, but a dangerous man to sass.
For his manner is suggestive of the sign -- " Keep off the grass."
Ilis poems descriptive of ranch life have given him his distinctive fame, but his marine verses are equally good, if not superior. Frank Doremus, liis friend, and veteran editor of the Dallas News, in writing of him, says :---
"Our poet is also a singer. For 'tis under the inspiration of the moon and stars, by the dying embers of the camp fire in the lonely hours on the trail, that Larry has most endeared himself to his Texas cowboy friends. With one accord they listen to his sweet, musical tenor voice. His songs are original verses modestly sung in minor-key melodies of his own composition. Some are gay and rollicking, but most of them are sad. 'Gwine
Back to Texas' and 'The Cowboy's Dream,' and ' Remembrance,' -- the last 'dediested to an unknown divinity,' -- are the most popular and best known."
It would be difficult to find in the language a poem capable of provoking a broader smile than "Brer Brown's Collection," lines more instinct with the joy of life and motion than the "Ranchman's Ride " or the " Round-up," anything containing a. finer vein of melancholy than the "Dying Scout," anything more delightfully Western than " The Majah Green," " Maverick Bill," the "Parson Pickax Gray," and " Texas Types," or anything breathing a more cheerful or manly spirit than " The Cynic and the Poet," "Never Despair," and similar poems in " Ranch Verses" - the book is full of the choicest pabnlum suited to almost any unvitiated taste.
The Chittenden ranch comprises 10,000 acres of rich land, 200 aeres of which are in a high state of cultivation, is all under fence, and is stoeked with a large herd of high-grade Polled Angus, Here- ford and native cattle, and something like 200 head of horses and mules. The ranch house is a com- fortable frame structure, with a broad gallery, or porch, running along the entire front of it, and on the roof of the gallery is a neat little sign, " Chit- tenden Ranch," surmounted by the head of a buffalo. The house sits back from the yard fence, and in front of it are a few nicely kept beds of flowers. From the front of the house you have a view of the east end of the pasture and the rich valley farm. From the window, near the poet's writing desk, there is a fine view of the Skinout Mountains, on the west. His life at the ranch is an ideal one. His den is a cosy little southeast room, simply, but nicely, furnished. The walls are covered with rare pictures and photographs of admiring friends from all parts of the world. Ilis library contains over 900 volumes of carefully selected books by the best writers. It is here that he sits and writes those verses which are read and praised throughout the civilized world.
The Poct Ranchman possesses a versatility of genius that gives him a wide range of power. Ilis love sonnets (all poets have a weakness for lustrous eyes and crinoline) are true love sonnets, his linmor is fresh and true, his pathos is sweet and unaffected, and his deseriptions of his life in his ranch house by the blazing winter fire are so vivid that, with slight effort, we can see " Larry, God bless him," sitting in his easy chair penning his lines and ever and anon raising his head to listen to the distant, lonely hoot of the owl, or the nearer and lonelier howl of the coyote, pausing for a moment in the moonlight outside the cabin door.
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INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
JAMES H. DURST,
CORPUS CHRISTI.
Born at Nacogdoches, Texas, about the year 1818, and is said to have been the first white child born in Eastern Texas. He grew up in his native county and was an intimate friend of Gen. Sam Houston, Gen. Thomas J. Rusk, and other leading patriots of his time. He was an aggressive Indian fighter, and did monch to help subdne the Cherokee Indians, who for a time terrorized that section of the coun- try. He lived at San Augustine, Texas, for sev- eral years, and about the close of the Mexican War located at Rio Grande City, on the Rio Grande frontier, where he engaged in merchandising for two years and became a prominent and influential citizen of Starr County. In the year 1852 he oc- cupied a seat in the Texas State Senate and took an active part in shaping legislation.
Later he was appointed to and most accept- ably filled the position of Collector of Customs of the District of Brazos Santiago until the year 1857.
IIe married Miss Mary Josephine Atwood in 1854 at Austin, at the home of Maj. James H. Raymond. She was a daughter of William At- wood, a Texas pioneer, who resided near Manor, in Travis County, engaged in stock-raising. The At- woods were people of prominence, members of an
old and aristocratic family. Mr. Atwood married Mary Nealy, a relative of Gen. Nealy, of Confeder- ate fame. In 1852 Maj. Durst purchased twenty- one leagues of the Barreta land grant, located in Cameron County, and granted to Francisco Balli, of Reynosa, in 1804, by the King of Spain.
Fourteen leagues of this grant belonged to Maj. Durst at the time of his death, in 1858, and were left by will to his wife and three children.
James W. Durst, of Corpus Christi, was born March 28, 1857, at Brownsville, Texas, which was for a few years the home of the family, and was only one year old when his father died.
Under the guidance of his widowed mother he was given careful moral training and a good Eng- lish education, which was completed at Roanoke College, Roanoke, Virginia. He then accepted a position as railroad accountant, remained so em- ployed until 1882, and then returned to Texas, re- joined his mother and lived for a time with her at Austin. In 1883 he moved to his present ranch in Cameron County. The estate has been partitioned among the heirs. Mr. Durst owns a large tract of land, embracing about thirty thousand acres, front- ing on the Laguna Madre, improved and stocked with cattle.
ROBERT J. SLEDGE,
KYLE.
Col. Robert J. Sledge, one of the best kuown stock-raisers and planters in the State of Texas and a man who has contributed much to the advance- ment of the portion of the State in which he resides, was born in Warren County, N. C., on the 31st of July, 1840, and was educated at the celebrated private school of Ebenezer Crocker, at Whitis Creek Spring, near Nashville, Tenn. His parents were Robert and Frances Sledge. His mother's maiden name was Miss Frances O'Briwn. She was a granddaughter of the O'Briwn who led the Irish rebellion of 1798.
Col. Sledge came to Texas in 1865 and located at
Chappel Hill, and for two years was employed on the H. & T. C. Railroad and engaged in farming near that point. Ile soon perceived that he could enlarge the scope of his operations by resigning this position and moving further into the interior. This he did and in 1875 purchased 10,000 acres in Hays County, on which he established a ranch, whose area he has since somewhat curtailed. It is known as Pecan Spring Ranch. He has devoted his atten- tion principally to raising horses and mules ou this property. He also owns herds of fine imported cattle.
During the war between the States he served in
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INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
the Confederate army as a soldier under Generals pany. He was also one of the three members who Polk and Cheatham.
On the 25th of July, 1877, he married a daughter of Col. Terrell Jackson, of Washington County, Texas. For more than ten years he has been the Texas representative in the Farmers' National Con- gress, a body composed of the wealthiest and most intelligent farmers living in the various seetions of the Union. He is also a member of the Board of the National and State Alliance and contributed a majority of the stock necessary for the establish- ment of the Economic Publishing Company, of Washington, D. C. He is president of the com-
composed the National Cotton Committee and was one of the organizers and promoters of the New Orleans Exposition. A man of wide and varied information, a graceful and pleasing conversation- alist, and an excellent publie speaker, he has wielded a powerful influence in every assemblage of which he has been a member. Conversant with the pursuit which he has chosen for his life work, he has no desire for political preferment. He is a fine type of the elegant country gentleman and is a man thoroughly representative of the section in which he resides.
SANTOS BENAVIDES,
LAREDO.
It is doubtful if there is a city of its size in Texas that has counted, in time past, in its eitizenship, a larger number of worthy pioneers and successful men than the city of Laredo. As a class they were of the true pioneer type and suited in every way to frontier life. Col. Santos Benavides, an eminent soldier and eitizen, was one of this class and a fit- ting representative of an old and prominent family.
His father, Jose Maria Beuavides, was a Captain in the Mexican army and came to Laredo in com- mand of his company. Here he met and married Dona Marguerita Ramon, a granddaughter of Don Tomas Sanchez, the founder of Laredo. By this marriage he had two sons, Refugio, a resident of Laredo, and Santos, the subject of this memoir.
He suffered the loss of his first wife and at a later period married Dong Tomasa Cameras, who bore him four children : Euleiaio, Christobal, Juliana de Lyendicker and Francisca de Farias.
The father died in the year 1846 in Laredo. Santos Benavides grew up with other members of the family in Laredo, attended schools at home and abroad and acquired a thorough knowledge of stock-raising in all of its details. He also served as salesman in a store in Laredo, where he acquired a technical knowledge of merchandising. As a young man he possessed a somewhat restless and altogether daring and fearless nature. Among his first military services he raised a company of State troops for the protection of the Southwestern fron- tier against maranding Indians. At the beginning of the great war between the States, the State
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