USA > Texas > Indian wars and pioneers of Texas, Vol. 2 > Part 53
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In 1876 Mr. Matlock was united in marriage to Miss Annie Herbert, of Denton, Texas, daughter of Dr. C. L. Herbert, a native of Ten- nessee. She died a year later and in 1879 Mr. Matlock married Miss Alice Hyatt, born in Missouri, a daughter of Mr. Smith and Mrs. Clara ( Weaver) Hyatt, who came to Texas in 1878. Mrs. Matlock is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and is a lady of many social and Christian graces, and admired by a wide circle of friends, in the city of Fort Worth and throughout Texas.
Mr. Matlock served as County Attorney of
Montague County from 1876 to 1878, during which time he made a State reputation as a fearless and successful prosecuting attorney. It was during this time that many of the most notorious murder cases in the State were tried and convictions secured, notably the Krebs, Preston and Brown cases.
In 1880 Mr. Matlock was elected to the State Legislature from the district comprising Wise County, and a contiguous section north of the Texas and Pacific Railway. In that body he served as Chairman of the House Committee on Publie Lands and Land Office, and succeeded in securing the passage of several bills relating to the public domain, that have resulted in great benefit to that section of the State. In 1882 he was elected to the State Senate, and served in that body for a period of two years. In 1884 he was nominated by the Democracy, made an active canvass, and was elected a presidential elector and cast his vote for Grover Cleveland. The Clark and Hogg guberna- torial campaign was one of the most hotly con- tested that has been fought in Texas since its existence as a State. Both sides selected their best men to lead in and manage the battle. Mr. Matlock was selected as the chairman of the Clark Democracy, and managed the forces at his dis- posal with a skill and brilliancy that gained him a national reputation as a political leader. Since 1887 he has represented the Capital Syndicate and other large interests, and now enjoys a large and lucrative practice. As a lawyer he has few equals at the Texas bar. In social life he is genial and engaging, and as a citizen he has sought to do his duty faithfully and fearlessly as be bas seen it, and it is not surprising that he should occupy a place among the foremost Texians of to-day. This suc- cess has come to him as a result of correct living and unremitting labor, and is well worth what it has cost in self-denial and time expended.
W. L. DAVIDSON,
GEORGETOWN.
Hon. W. L. Davidson, Associate Justice of the State Court of Criminal Appeals, and a jurist whose labors have done much to cause the Texas reports to take higher rank in other States, is a native of Mississippi. He was born at Grenada, in that
State, November 5, 1815 ; moved to Texas in 1851 with his parents, Rev. Asbury and Mrs. Mary M. Davidson, who settled at Gonzales ; was educated at Gonzales College and Stonewall Institute, and was admitted to the bar in 1871. December 22,
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1870, he was united in marriage to Miss Susan B. Howard. They have five children, viz. : Nellie B., Katie H., William Howard, Thomas Pope and Frank Ross Davidson. In January, 1887, Judge Davidson moved to Georgetown, in Williamson County, which remains his non-official home. He was Assistant Attorney-General for four years, from February 4th, 1887 (Governor L. S. Ross' administration), until February 2, 1891, when he was appointed by Governor James S. Hogg an As- sociate Justice of the Court of Criminal Appeals to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge Sam. A. Wilson. During the war between the States he served in the Confederate army as a soldier in Company B., Thirty-second Regiment of Texas Cavalry, and was with Taylor's army during the Lonisiana campaign in 1864, that was so brill- iantly signalized by the battles of Mansfield, Pleasant Hill and Yellow Bayou, and resulted in driving Banks back to Lower Louisiana. Judge Davidson has always been a Democrat, and has done good work for the party. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and Ma- sonic fraternity. As a practitioner at the bar he won deserved renown, not only as an able lawyer, but as a forcible speaker, and as a lawyer whose hands were clean, whose heart was pure and who never deserted his clients. The writer of this article remembers a dramatic scene in which Judge Davidson was one of the principal actors. He was employed in a case in which he felt no personal, but certainly a deep professional, interest. The defendants were charged with murder. The kill- ing for which they were arraigned took place under circumstances that aroused the greatest public in- dignation. The town and county were in a wild state of excitement, and threats of mob violence were openly made. The occasion to which I refer was the taking of evidence in the Dis- trict Court upon an application that be had made for bail under habeas corpus proceedings. The court-room was packed with eager spectators and listeners who glared at the defendants like so
many hungry tigers. There was not a friendly face in the courtroom. The least mistake upon the part of the counsel would have precipitated blood- shed. Judge Davidson, while perfectly cool, stood firmly up for the rights of his clients. His per- sonal bearing and the skill with which he managed his side of the case, won for him the admiration of the court, local members of the bar, and even the hostile crowd by which he was surrounded upon all sides and which at the beginning felt for him very little less animosity than it did for the men whom he was defending. After court adjourned, at the close of the proceedings, such remarks as the fol- lowing were to be heard upon the streets: "Judge Davidson was more than a match for all the lawyers that were pitted against him. I tell you, he is a mighty fine lawyer. Did you notice how cool he was, how he stood up for the rights of his clients and how he took advantage of every mistake of the other side, while he was gentlemanly and courteous throughout; they couldn't bulldoze him worth a cent. He is the man, if I were in trouble, that I would want to employ." Jadge Davidson's appoint- ment to the bench of the Criminal Court of Appeals met with the hearty approbation of his brother members of the legal profession and of the people of Texas, and he has since been nominated and elected to that position practically without opposi- tion. He possesses an essentially judicial mind. A man of tender sensibilities, he nevertheless pos- sesses the power of laying sentiment entirely aside and looking exclusively at the law of the case in passing upon a question submitted to the court upon appeal, and guiding his course solely by the pole- star of duty. He possesses the rare faculty of looking at both sides of an issue, and giving full weight and credit to the authorities and arguments submitted in support of each side, and forming a correct decision. As a result it is not strange that he should have been elected to the position that he now holds and that while holding it he reflects honor upon himself, and credit upon the State and the high court of which he is a member.
W. H. FORD,
BEAUMONT.
Judge W. II. Ford was born in Newton County, Texas, August 13th, 1843. Parents, David and Mariah V. Ford.
His father was one of the pioneer ministers of the M. E. Church Sonth, in Texas.
Judge Ford acquired a good literary education in
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the common schools of his native county and at Mckenzie College, at Clarksville, Texas.
From 1862 to 1865 he served in the Confederate army as a member of Whitfield's Legion, Ross Brigade, and participated in all the battles in which that famous brigade was engaged.
In 1872-73 he served as Sheriff of Newton County, studied law at leisure moments, and when he retired from the office attended the law school at Lebanon, Tenn., from which he graduated.
In 1875 he moved to Jasper, Jasper County, and formed a law partnership with his brother, which continued until 1880.
In 1878 he was appointed District Attorney of the First Judicial District of Texas by Governor O. M. Roberts, and two years later was elected Dis- trict Judge of the district, which position he filled until 1893.
He is a member of the M. E. Church South, and Masonic fraternity, in the latter of which he has taken the Royal Arch degree.
His first wife was Miss Octavia Coleman, of Sa- bine County, Texas. There was no issue by this marriage. She died at Beaumont, April 6, 1893.
Later he married Miss Evalyn Thompson, of Beaumont, by whom he has one child.
Judge Ford is a member of the firm of Ford & Jones, at Beaumont.
As an ex-District Judge, lawyer and citizen, Judge Ford stands deservedly high for his very superior abilities, learning and probity. He has taken an active interest in every movement designed for the promotion of the best interests of the section of the State in which he lives.
J. M. BROWN,
GALVESTON.
What a truly noble and praiseworthy achievement it is to live an upright and useful life, to surmount the numberless obstacles and dangers that obstruct the way that leads from youth to old age and, at last, to stand forth, honored and beloved, a victor in the great struggle, and, surrounded by dear ones and friends, to enjoy in the calm evening-time the fruits of well directed efforts.
A successful life - a truly successful life - how very much those words imply can only be fully ap- preciated when we stop to consider how much it takes to make up such a life and call to mind the fact that to one such there are ten thousand total or partial failures - due to energies wasted, talents misapplied, judgments gone astray, the pursuit of selfish and ignoble ends, idleness, want of mental strength, fixedness of purpose and personal honor, surrender to the allurements of vice and the world. He who sails the ocean of this life must needs steer his barque, not like the fabled Ulysses, between one Scylla and Charybdis, but among many, and resist charms of song more potent than those that lured the unwary mariners of Grecian myth to ship- wreck and death when they thought to find repose. The successful voyager must be stout and true and brave; success must have no power to spoil him, danger no power to daunt, and disaster no power
to chill. He must toil in the sunshine and the rain and in the winter's blasts, not only for himself, but for all about him; not only for those of his own generation but, as far as in him lies, for mankind in all time to come. There is a nobility that no king, though an autocrat, can confer. The patent is issued by the Almighty and it is conferred alone as a reward of right living, of work well and ably done - of true merit, whose truth has been tested by trial.
While we are subject to misapprehensions with reference to those who surround us in the land of the living, we are enabled, iu a measure at least, to construct a connected history and fathom the mean- ing of a life that has been lived. If there were more real biography there would be more real his- tory, for such history as we have is a patchwork, poorly put together, made up of parts of many lives. And when we speak of history it is well to reflect and ask ourselves "What is the utility of history?" Its true office is not merely to inform us of what has happened nor why it has happened, but to bequeath to us that wisdom that is to be gathered alone from the dust of ages, that wisdom which teaches men and nations how to avoid mistakes and to live nobly, to catch up the threads that lead through the labyrinth and advance
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along paths that lead to the highest good; to in- struct the individual soul, in order that, according to its capacity, it may best perform its part here in this work-a-day world, and fit itself for whatever higher destiny it is, by its inherent composition, capable of attaining under the general plan of being.
This office of history of which I speak is mainly to be accomplished through biography.
The life and character of the subject of this memoir, the late Col. J. M. Brown, of Galveston, are replete with useful lessons. Starting without the aid of powerful friends or means, his life was a successful one in the highest and truest sense, and he has left to his descendants a heritage that they prize more than the ample fortune that came to him as a partial reward of his efforts and that he has bequeathed to them.
The Galveston Daily News, of Thursday, Decem- ber 26, 1895, says of him in its editorial columns : -
"In the death of Col. J. M. Brown, which oc- curred last Tuesday night, Galveston lost one of her most successful and influential business men and Texas one of her most enterprising citizens. · Scarcely an enterprise of importance has been in- augurated in Galveston during the past forty-odd years that has not been assisted to success through the splendid business judgment and executive ability of Col. Brown." * *
Col. Brown was born in New York City on the 22d day of September, 1821, and was one of a family of sixteen children, all of whom preceded him to the grave. His parents, John M. and . Hannah (Kroutz) Brown were natives of Holland. They were well-to-do and bestowed upon him every care that affection could dictate, but, while he returned their love, he was eager to push out into the busy world, and this spirit of adventure becoming too strong for him to control, he, at twelve years of age, left home without their know !- edge, and it was more than two years before they located him and brought him back. He remained with his parents for a time, and then again left, going to the western portion of the State, where he secured employment driving a canal-boat along the Erie canal. During those days he had Charley Mallory, afterwards of the famous Mallory Steam- ship Line, as a copartner in driving canal-boats. After his desire for adventure had been partly appeased, his father put him at the brick-mason's trade, at which he served a full term of appren- ticeship. Ile also acquired considerable ability as an architect, and in furnishing estimates on work.
Thus equipped, he started South, and the diary of his travels shows that at different points south of
the Ohio river, he engaged in courthouse, cistern and jail work, taking contracts, and furnishing estimates. He arrived in Galveston in 1842 or 1843. He erected the first brick jail on Galveston Island. Other monuments of his architectural and mechanical skill are the old market house, the cathedral, and the home in which he died, on the northeast corner of Twenty-fourth street and Broadway, that being, it is said, the first brick residence erected in this State. Hc built it in 1859, and some of the parlor furniture is the same that he selected in New York, after completing his new home. Some time before the war he formed a copartnership with Mr. Stephen Kirkland and engaged in the hardware business under the firm name of Brown & Kirkland. Col. Brown was a member of the first fire company organized in the city, and his partner, Mr. Kirkland, built the first hook and ladder truck used in the State. Col. Brown held the position as foreman in the com- pany for many years.
After the war, Col. Brown continued in the hard- ware business under the firm name of Brown & Lang, and after the death of Mr. Lang, his busi- ness was incorporated into a stock company, known as the J. S. Brown Hardware Company, which is to-day the largest wholesale establishment of the kind in the South.
Almost from the beginning Col. Brown took a prominent place among the inhabitants of his new home, and but a few years lapsed before he was recognized as a powerful and leading spirit in the promotion of every enterprise designed to benefit the city, and as an effective worker for the up- building of the commercial interests of Galveston. He became interested in the Galveston, Houston & Henderson Railroad, and during a period of four years, embracing the latter part of the Civil War, was president of the road. By his orders a portion of Gen. Magruder's command was transported from Houston to Galveston over the road when the city was besieged by the enemy. It was then that Gen. Magruder conferred upon him the title of Colonel. During his term as president of the road he paid off the floating indebtedness and declared monthly dividends, an evidence of good management that was very gratifying to the stockholders. Col. Brown made money rapidly, but lost heavily as a result of the war, all of his slaves being set free. Not at all dishcartened he furnished his ex-slaves with comfortable homes and set to work with redoubled zeal. As a consequence prosperity attended him, his power for usefulness increased, he became the promoter and head of many great enterprises and was enabled to accomplish an im-
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mense amount of good before the summons came for him to cease his labors.
Col. Brown was debarred from active military service during the war by reason of the fact that he was purchasing agent in Mexico for the Confeder- ate States government and the further fact that he was president of an important railway line. Dur- ing the E. J. Davis reconstruction period he, with other well-known and influential business men, com- posed the Board of Aldermen of Galveston, ap- pointed by the Governor. Out of their private funds they bridged the city over and placed it in a condition to recover the ground it had lost by rea- son of a siege of disaster.
Later business enterprises inaugurated by Col. Brown embraced the First National Bank of Gal- veston, of which he was president for many years. Ile planned the bank building and superintended its erection.
About ten years ago he was elected president of the Galveston Wharf Company. Years prior to that time he became identified with the interests of the company, and his keen business judgment pointed out to him certain improvements which he thought the business of the company required, and which would be a paying investment. He agitated, and recommended, and contended for the improvements, which have since been made along the wharf proper, but he failed to enlist the enterprise of his associates with his line of thought, and then, it is said, his enthusiasm reached such a pitch that he proposed to lease the entire property at an annual rental to be fixed by a board of appraisers for a term of fifty or one hundred years, and during that time he proposed to put into effect his plans, which subsequently were given effect. When he became president of the company he secured sufficient influ- ence to carry out his ideas and to inaugurate the system of improvements he had so long contended for, and Galveston is now said to have as fine wharf improvements as are to be found anywhere in this country.
He was a moving spirit in the Galveston Gas Company, the Galveston Electric Light Company, the bagging factory, and he filled the position of chairman of the construction committee which had in hand the difficult task of bringing to perfection the splendid system of waterworks of Galveston. In business Col. Brown displayed splendid execu- tive force. He was a good judge of human nature, and rarely made a mistake in selecting his lieuten- ants for business undertakings. His judgment was quick and unerring, going into the most minute de- tails of an enterprise.
Personally he was a man of strong likes and dis-
likes. He often said that he did not make money to hoard it, but desired to surround his family with comforts and advantages, and at the same time do all in his power to make those around and about him happy. He never turned his back on the needy. His private charities will never be known. It is said that he contributed at one time $5,000 for the relief of the distressed after the great fire in Gal- veston, but at the time nothing was known about it, and perhaps this is the first time his contribution has seen the light of public print. Many families will miss his gifts this Christmas, and many will drop a silent tear when they learn that their erst- while benefactor is no more. Ilis contributions to charity, it is said, are known only to his youngest daughter, Miss Bettie, who shared his confidence to a degree that marked the most tender companion- ship between father and daughter. * * *
" Socially, Col. Brown was a gentleman of the old Southern type. He was warm-hearted, cour- teons and chivalrous. While his life was devoted to business, in any social gathering he was always at ease, and at his own home liis hospitality was unbounded. His love of home and family was a strong trait in his character. For several years five generations of the family have met in his home at Christmas time and welded closer the sacred ties of relationship, but all was changed on the eve of the happy reunion which was looked forward to again this year. The hand that had so often ex- tended the greeting of welcome was stricken pulse- less in death. He was the oldest living member of the Knights Templar in Galveston, and he was an early member of the Odd Fellows.
" His extensive relations in New York and his successful business enterprises widened the scope of his acquaintance and brought him in touch with many leading men of the country. During the life of A. T. Stewart he never went to New York with- out calling on the merchant-prince, with whom he enjoyed an intimate acquaintance.
" For over a year past Col. Brown's health had been failing, and last February he left with his daughter, Miss Bettie, and his son, Dr. M. R. Brown, hoping to stay the disease. He returned last October, and since then had been confined to his home. He passed away peacefully, surrounded by members of his immediate family.
" The funeral will take place from Trinity Church at 11 a. m. to-day. The following pall-bearers are requested to meet at the family residence : George Sealy, Leon Blum, W. L. Moody, Nicholas Weeks, W. S. Davis, George E. Mann, Charles L. Beiss- ner. C. O. C. Count, of New York, T. A. Stod- dard, of St. Louis, J. Fullar, of New York, O. G.
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Murray, of Cincinnati, John D. Rogers, J. H. Hutchings, B. F. Yokum, J. E. Baily, Henry Runge, B. Adone, T. E. Thompson, L. C. Hirsch- berger, Wm. M. Rice, of Houston, and J. D. Skin- ner.
" After the services at Trinity Church the Knights Templar will take charge of the remains and pro- ceed to the cemetery, where the impressive burial services of the order will be held."
Col. Brown was not only an exceedingly able, but what is of far more importance, a really good and sincerely pious man, loving and reverencing God, loving and helping his fellow-man, and loving and tenderly caring for the members of his imme- diate household. He lias left his impress strong and deep upon the history of Galveston. The
influence of his thousands of good deeds, flowing through countless unseen channels, will be felt for many years to come. Col. Brown was married in Galveston, Texas, in 1846, to Miss Rebecca Ashton Stoddart, a beautiful young lady to whom he had become deeply attached. From that time forward until his death she was the companion of his joys and sorrows, his successes and reverses. He at- tributed much of his success in life to her wise counsels and ever-cheerful aid. She and five chil- dren survive. The children are: J. S. Brown and C. R. Brown, of Galveston ; Dr. M. R. Brown, of Chi- cago; Matilda E. Brown and Miss R. A. (known as Miss Bettie) Brown, of Galveston. Miss Bettie Brown is well known in the world of art as a painter.
EMILIO C. FORTO,
BROWNSVILLE.
It is written that "a prophet is not without honor, save in his own country," but this does not hold good with reference to the subject of this sketch. The Laredo Times, in a review of Brownsville and Cameron County, in 1889, said : "Judge Forto has contributed over his signature articles relating to his county to Texas periodicals and is thoroughly familiar with everything that pertains to it. Ile is a fine specimen of the edu- cated Spanish gentleman. He left his native coun- try, Spain, when quite a boy, and came here when about seventeen years of age. Le possesses one of the most comfortable homes in Brownsville."
He was then County Judge of Cameron County, which position he held for several years, and con- tinued on the bench until the fall of 1892, when he was elected Sheriff. In the latter position he has developed a promptness and skill in dealing with law-breakers which insures to the people a continu- ation of peace and quiet.
Sailing from his home in Spain, he landed in the city of New Orleans, La., in 1867, when sixteen years of age, and while in the Crescent City sc-
cured a position in a prominent commercial house at Matamoros, Mexico, and reached the latter place and entered upon the discharge of his duties in 1868, and, at the end of 1869, located in Browns- ville, Texas, where he occupied the position of bookkeeper in the house of Don Antonio Yznaga for two years, after which he started in business for himself as a commission merchant and custom- house broker. Upon the completion of the rail- road between Laredo aad Monterey, the foreign trade being theu diverted from Brownsville, he de- voted himself to the study of law and was admitted to the bar in 1884. IIe has been in public life siuce 1876 and has held many important positions. For twelve years in succession he served as a City Alder- man, as Justice of the Peace for three years, as District Clerk for two years, as County Judge eight years, and at present holds the office of Secretary of the Board of Public Education of the city of Brownsville, and is Sheriff of the county of Cam- eron. He has been a member of the Board of Public Education since 1880 and Sheriff since 1892.
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