USA > Texas > Indian wars and pioneers of Texas, Vol. 2 > Part 55
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when they removed to Indianola. About this time the present branch of the Southern Pacific Railway was being built, and the firm opened an establish- ment at Victoria, and as the road progressed, they, in 1873, went to Cuero.
In 1875 the firm of Blossman & Thompson was dissolved, and Mr. Thompson went to Galveston where he formed a copartnership with W. S. Ly- brook, with whiom he embarked in the cotton trade.
In 1878 he returned to Cuero and was there ex- tensively engaged in merchandising until 1889 when he came to Corpus Christi, and became a member of the present well-known firm of R. G. Blossman & Co.
In 1860 Mr. Thompson married Miss Rosalie, the second oldest chikl of R. D. Blossman. She died in 1879, leaving three daughters, viz. : Elanita, who is now Mrs. Melvin Kirkpatrick, of Paris, Texas ; Nancy M., deceased in 1896, and Miss Mary Lee, unmarried.
There are few more active and energetic old-time Texians than Mr. James B. Thompson. He is essentially a business man, has never aspired to political prominence or official honors, and his suc- cess in life is entirely due to his energy, aggressive enterprise and integrity. His firm leads in its line of trade in Corpus Christi, and has the confidence and esteem of a very extensive circle of friends and patrons.
MICHEL SCHODTS,
BROWNSVILLE.
. Michel Schodts was born in Antwerp, Belgium, May 30, 1836, and came to this country during the war between the States, spent some time in New Orleans as accountant, and then located in Mata- moros, in 1862, where he became a clerk and after- wards a partner in a large importing house. In 1866 he married Miss Susan Dinz, at Matamoros, Mexico. She died three years later, leaving one little daughter, Marie Isabel, who now survives them and is now married. Some time after he re-
moved to Brownsville, where he for many years carried on a very successful trade in lumber and other articles. There he built up a considerable fortune, and won numerous warm friends by his good qualities of mind and heart. He was highly es- teemed as a business man, and generally respected as a worthy citizen. The universal regret ex- pressed at his untimely end by the people of Brownsville proved the high regard in which he was held.
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INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
The night of Friday, February 23, 1896, about ten minutes before ten o'clock, two pistol-shots startled the citizens of Brownsville living near the corner of Washington and Eleventh strects. People imme- diately rushed toward the spot, and there found the body of Michel Schodts weltering in his life-blood and already stiffening in death. Mr. Schodts had been passing the evening with a few friends at Ce- lestin Jagou's, and was on his way home, having walked as far as the corner of Washington and Twelfth streets with his friend, Adolph Bollack, standing there and chatting with him before saying good-night. His home was but a block further up Washington street. Strolling along through the beautiful moonlight, which was flooding the carth like a silver stream, in the best of humor and prob- ably musing on the pleasantries exchanged between himself and friends, fearing no harm, suspecting nothing, he was shot down in cold blood, within a few yards of his own door, by the hand of an assas- sin. There were none near enough to see the deed in time to give warning to the unsuspecting man, but there were people within half a block who heard the shots, saw the victim fall and heard his death- cry. They also saw the assassin flee, pistol in hand, down Eleventh street toward the river, but none of these could say who it was that did the deed. The man had evidently followed Mr. Schodts down the street, watching his opportunity.
Two weeks before, while walking home with a friend, the subject of carrying arms came up, and Mr. Schodts remarked: "I never carry any weapon. I have never wronged anyone, and don't fecl afraid that anyone will wrong me."
A local paper contained the following the suc- ceeding morning : --
" Our little city was shocked from center to cir- cumference, as the direful news sped swiftly from lip to lip, and at every turn was heard the question : ' Who did it?' Michel Schodts was a man without an enemy, so far as he or his friends knew. Who could have been guilty of his murder? From all accounts, the assassin was a Mexican and a stranger in Brownsville. Shortly before Mr. Schodts left Jagou's, where he with several others was sitting in a rear room playing a social game, a Mexican came into the saloon and asked for a pack- age of cigarettes. The porter handed him a pack and informed him that they were ten cents. The man handed them back, saying, 'Muy caro' (too dear), walked back to the rear and looked throughi the lattice partition at the party in the back room and then left the saloon, but returned in a short while and asked for a match and again walked
back to the lattice, looking at those in the other room. After this he left and was seen to cross the street and stop in front of Bloomberg & Raphael's. The porter who waited on the man had never seen him before, and says that he was a strange Mexi- can, rather short in stature, heavily built, appar- ently of middle age, and wore dark trousers, with a striped, coffee-colored coat and soft hat. This man, it is supposed, was the murderer. He was not seen or noticed any further, and has not been seen since, but the man who was seen running down Eleventh street with his pistol, just after the mur- der, is similarly described. He was seen by Fred. I. Hicks and J. D. Anderson running past the National Bank. J. P. Putegnat, who was standing near Dr. Putegnat's, ran toward the bank and fol- lowed the fleeing murderer down Eleventh street as far as the Woodhouse store, from which place he saw the man disappear in the canebrake near the river.
" Afterwards officers were stationed on the river bank to patrol it, but probably too late to prevent the murderer from crossing to Mexico. Parties claim to have seen a man crossing the river from Freeport to the Mexican side shortly after the murder occurred.
" The Matamoros authorities were at once notified to be on the lookout, and a report this afternoon said that a man had been arrested on suspicion on the Mexican side, but no particulars could be learned."
The funeral took place the afternoon of February 24th, 1896, at half-past four, from the residence of the deceased, the remains being taken to the Catholic Church for the funeral ceremony. The pall-bearers were: G. Follain, E. Bennevendo, Chris Hess, Adolph Bollock, Celestin Jagou, Miguel Fernandez, Louis Sauder, and Louis Wisc. The remains were encased in a fine metallic casket, which was covered with handsome floral tributes. The cortege was one of the largest and most imposing ever seen in Brownsville. Many sorrowing friends followed the body of their old friend to the grave and dropped a tear upon the last earthly resting place of this good man and true. His daughter offers a large reward for the arrest and conviction of his as- sassin.
"One daughter, Mrs. Frank B. Armstrong, of Brownsville, and his son-in-law, Frank B. Arm- strong, and two grandchildren, Marie-Sylvia and Jennie Isabel Armstrong, also a brother, Ferdinand Schodts, in Belgium, and a number of nephews and nieces and other relatives in New York and Bel- gium, survive the deceased."
M. W. SHAW.
MRS. SHAW.
INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
725
MICHAEL W. SHAW,
GALVESTON,
For many years an influential citizen of Galveston, was born November 28, 1833, in Lambentheim, on the Rhine, Hesse Darmstadt, Germany. His father was a musician. By industry and economy he managed to support his large family. Thinking to improve bis condition in the New World, he left Germany in the fall of 1846, and in December of that year landed with his family at Galveston, Texas. Here he met with fair success, and might have accomplished his purpose of preparing com- forts for his declining years, but in 1847, at the age of forty-seven, be was strieken with yellow fever and died, leaving his wife and six children in somewhat straitened circumstances. The widow whom he left was his second wife.
Michacl's mother died in Germany when he was but three years of age. The children left at the father's death had quite a struggle for a subsist- enee until they grew to manhood and womanhood.
Michael's school opportunities were very limited. His early education was much neglected, but hav- ing a disposition to read and inform himself, he has acquired a general knowledge of current litera- ture.
His sister, Mary, married Daniel H. Pallais, a watchmaker, of Galveston, and a master of his pro- fession. In 1848 Michael went to live with his brother-in-law, who taught him the jeweler's trade, and he remained with Mr. Pallais until 1856. Having acquired proficiency in the trade, he began business on his own account in the latter year, and met with cordial encouragement. His business was rapidly extending, and he was in a fair way to achieve financial success when the late war com- menced.
In 1862 he enlisted in the Confederate army as a private in De Bray's cavalry regiment. The ser- vice was to him particularly arduous, as the pre- vious fourteen years of his life had been spent under shelter, either at the bench or behind the counter. The hardships of the military life soon began to tell npon even his robust constitution, and in 1864 he was discharged on account of disa- bility. In 1865, having partially recruited his health, he again entered the army. enlisting in the Second Texas Infantry, commanded by Col. Moore, and remained with that regiment until the final surrender. .
The war which prostrated the Sonth also swept
away nearly all of Mr. Shaw's means. He lost his slaves and other property to such an extent that when peace came he had but little left with which to begin the battle of life anew. He had, however, with a thorough knowledge of his business, youth, energy and a little money, and with this capital he went to work not only to retrieve what he had lost, but to accumulate still more. In 1866 he again opened an establishment in old Moro Castle, and made money rapidly. In 1869 he experienced & second misfortune in the destruction of his estab- lishment by fire, in the great conflagration of that year. He then moved into a house he owned on Tremont street, where a third time he began busi- ness. In 1872 he bought and moved into the build- ing in which his business is at present condueted on the corner of Tremont and Market streets. This building was almost totally destroyed by fire on the 30th of January, 1880, but has been elegantly refitted, and is now one of the substantial business houses of Galveston. He was well and favorably known throughout the State when he commenced business in 1865, and this formed no inconsiderable part of the capital with which he resumed business after the surrender. His name is now very widely known in the Southwest, and his trade extends through- out Texas and into Mexico on the West and Louis- iana on the East. In addition to what he manu- factures, he imports fancy goods directly through the custom house from Paris, France, and buys large quantities of domestic goods in New York and Philadelphia.
Mr. Shaw is now reckoned among the " solid men" of Galveston. He owns a handsome resi- dence on the corner of Fifteenth and Winnie streets, and business houses in the city, which he rents. He is a stockholder in the Montezuma Mines in New Mexico, holding 1,600 shares of the stock.
Mr. Shaw is a public-spirited citizen, investing his money in enterprises looking to the growth and prosperity of Galveston, and lending his experience and energy to the public institutions which adorn the city. He is a member in good standing of the Catholic Church.
In eliaracter he is above reproach ; as a citizen, highly esteemed : as the head of a family, affee- tionate and devoted. He is endowed with great powers of endurance and is capable of long-contin- ued exertion. He was married, in 1878, to Miss
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726.
INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
Annie Meyer, who was born in Houston in 1856, and educated in that city. Her father died when she was seven years old, and her mother when she was ten. Left alone at so tender an age, she be- came a member of the family of Dr. C. R. Nutt, an eminent physician and scientist, of Houston.
Mr. and Mrs. Shaw have nine children. Ada, a daughter of Mr. Shaw's by a former marriage, was born March 15, 1858, in Chambers County, Texas, and educated in Galveston and at St. Joseph Acad- emy, Emmitsburg, Maryland, and is a thoroughly accomplished young lady. She is the wife of Guido Ruhl, managing clerk of the grocery department of Kaufman & Rungy's store at Galveston. She has two sons - Willie and Bernhardt.
The children born to Mr. Shaw by his present wife are: Katherine Margaret, a daughter, born Marel 22, 1879; Marshall William, born July 25, 1880; Charles Leonard, born July 22, 1882, died
March 8, 1894; William Austin, born June 13, 1884; Hazel Phillepina, born October 29, 1887; Aunie Grace, born July 30, 1888 ; Chas. Trueheart, born Mareb 26, 1890; Viola Hildegard, born Jan- uary 8, 1802, died April 2, 1894, and Bessie Graf- ton, born July.30, 1893.
With laudable pride Mr. Shaw attributes his suc- eess in life to industry, economy and fair dealing. He has always been attentive to business. He · has never given a promissory note since he be- gan operating for himself. His credit, wherever he is known, is unlimited, and whatever he contracts to do, he does, and does in the time, manner and form promised.
He is a strong, independent and useful citizen - one of the class of self-made men upon whom the stability of the social fabric so largely depends, and by whom cities and nations are made prosper ous and enduring.
JOHN M. DUNCAN,
TYLER. €
Hon. John M. Duncan was born in Lawrence County, Tenn., February 7th, 1851. IJis parents were W. F. and M. C. Duncan, who came to Texas in 1858 and 1859, respectively, Mrs. Duucan join- ing her husband (who had found employment at the Nash Iron Works, in Marion County), in the latter year. Mr. W. F. Duncan was for many years a respected citizen of Marion and Cass counties, dying in Marion County a number of years since.
John M. Duncan, the subject of this memoir, received a good common school education and then, having learned the trade of a brickmason, by means of which he could support himself, deter- mined to undertake the study of law, procured the necessary text-books from Hon. Jolm C. Stalleup, of Jefferson, read under him the course prescribed by the rules of court, and was then admitted to the bar at Jefferson in 1872. Ile soon found that the briefless young lawyer's license by no means constitutes a talisman, whose magic influence will, in every instance, bring immediate recognition of abilities, and supply even modest wants. His experience was no worse than that of many other men, but the fortitude and determination that he displayed under adversity were remarkable. He had something more than genius, he possessed in
addition thereto the other qualities that eompe- success. He very soon had to take down his shin- gle and resume the trowel. He had no idea of permanently giving up the practice of law. He simply saw that he must supply himself with fur- ther means with which to again make a start. Going to Longview he found no difficulty in seeur- ing employment, and helped to erect many of the brick storehouses now used in that town. In the intervals snatched from toil he kept up his studies, and four years after he had secured his license we find him, after a number of futile attempts, well established in the practice of his profession. To- day he is a lawyer second to no practitioner at the Texas bar, and as a public speaker has no superior in the State, either in the forum or upon the hust- ings. His talents are of the highest order and have been improved by cultivation. He was elected County Attorney of Gregg County in 1876, but resigned the office twelve months later, owing to the fact that his growing practice demanded all of his attention. From 1878 to 1882 he represented the counties of Smith, Gregg, Upshur and Camp in the State Senate, and made a brilliant record. In 188₺ he was elected County Judge of Smith County, and at the expiration of bis term of office
JOHN M. DUNCAN.
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INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
refused renomination and devoted himself entirely to his professional duties.
In January, 1884, he moved to Tyler aud formed a law partnership with Hon. James S. Hogg, after- ward Attorney-General and Governor of Texas, under the firm name of Duncan & Hogg.
This professional connection continued until Mr. Hogg was elected Attorney-General. Mr. Duncan and Hon. Horace Chilton, now United States Sena- tor from Texas, were appointed general attorneys for the receivers of the International & Great Northern Railroad in February, 1889. Mr. Chilton resigned, June 10th, 1891, leaving Mr. Duncan sole attorney, a position which he has held since the re- organization of the corporation, and in which he has been leading counsel in some of the most celebrated law cases known to the judicial history of this country. His power and fame as a lawyer have grown steadily with the passage of years, and he now ranks among the ablest advocates that the South can boast.
He was united in marriage to Miss Allie Davis,
of Longview, in 1876. She died at Tyler, in July, 1886, leaving no children. In January, 1890, he married his present wife, nee Miss Eddie Louise House, at Tyler. He is a member of the Methodist Church, Knights of Pythias, and Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows.
He has been at all times an earnest Democratic worker, and lias done as much, perhaps, as any other single individual in Texas to influence the political fortunes of men who have risen to promi- nence in this State in recent years, and in shaping the drift of public policies. He has also done his full share, when hot campaigns were on, toward securing party triumphs. He is well known to every Texian, and contrary to the old saying that "Prophets are without honor in their own country," his services and abilities are generally recognized and appreciated.
He is warm in his personal attachments, unos- tentatious in manner, plain and straightforward, and, as a lawyer, is one of the brightest ornaments of the Texas bar.
O. CANUTESON,
WACO.
Ole Canuteson, a prominent manufacturer of Waco, Texas, is a native of Norway, where he was born September 4th, 1832, and is the son of Canute- son Canuteson and Carina Oleson. His grandfather was a watchmaker by trade and his father a black- smith, chiefly engaged in the manufacture of tools. His father was born in Norway in 1802, and died in Bosque County, Texas, in 1888. His mother died in LaSalle County, in 1850. Ole Canuteson was reared to blacksmithing and also acquired a good general knowledge of mechanics. He came to the United States with his parents in 1850. The family located for a time in Illinois, where two uncles had preceded them. Land at that time was worth from $15 to $20 per acre, and to purchase a farm there at that rate, with the additional expense of a house, outbuildings, fences and farm implements, was beyond the means of the Canuteson exchequer. To go farther west, to Iowa, where land was cheaper, was suggested and was very nearly being acted upon, but the plan was changed. Mr. Cleny Pur- son, a Norse emigration agent who came to the United States in 1820, and who had established set-
tlements for his countrymen in New York, Illinois, Iowa and Missouri, had made a tour of investiga- tion into Texas and had just returned with very flattering accounts of the State, of its mild climate, it's fertile soil and vast resources. He reported that good land could be bought there for fifty cents per acre from families who had secured tracts of 640 acres under the State homestead law, and, after duly weighing the advantages and drawbacks that might follow, it was decided by the family to go to Texas, and thither they started. The party con- sisted of the subject of this sketeh, his new-made wife, his aged father and young brother Andrew, and Mr. Purson, with a few single persons. The route was by the Mississippi to New Orleans, thenee up Red river to Shreveport, and from there overland by wagon to Dallas, where the party arrived just before Christmas, and shortly thereafter the Canute- sons bought and improved 320 acres of land, paying $3 per acre.
In 1853 the subject of this notice and Mr. P. Bryant, acting for themselves and a party of immi_ grants who had come over from Norway, and who
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INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
desired to find and locate upon unappropriated publie land under the land law of that year (giving to each head of a family of actua! settlers 320 acres of land), visited Waco, then a little village, to con- sult with the old pioneer and surveyor, Maj. George B. Eratlı, in regard to land matters on the Bosque. This gentleman, who had for years made surveys all over that section of the State, took at once a friendly interest in him and his companion, showing him on his maps where vacant land was to be had. Later Maj. Erath, with Neil and Dunean MeLen- nan, went with Mr. Canuteson, made the surveys and field notes for a large traet of land, and thus about fifteen families were established on Neill and
own doors, but later on, when a grist-mill was started at Waco, it was hauled there by ox- wagons and sold from $1.25 to $1.50 per bushel. Corn at that period did not do well. The cultiva- tion of cotton was not thought of by settlers, the impression being that the soil was not adapted to it ; that it was too black and sticky. Subsequently this idea was proven to be erroneous. Good crops of cotton are now raised on these farms. Attention was also given to stock-raising, as grass was abundant, both summer and winter. After a mail route was established from Fort Worth to George- town a post office was given to Norman Hill, and Mr. Canuteson was made Postmaster, which posi-
O. CANUTESON.
Meridian creeks, and the Norwegian settlement in Bosque County started.
Mr. Canuteson selected for his farm 302 acres in the valley of Neill's creek, near the center of which rises a high peak, and on this elevation he built his house, which was afterward known as Norman Hill. Nearly all kinds of wild game were in great abun- dance, and the newcomers felt that they had come to a land of plenty, indeed. Being outside of the line of forts, the new settlement was often exposed to Indian raids. The settlement grew apace, the county was organized and things became more comfortable all around. Wheat was the only money crop made for a long time. They had been used to raising the smaller grains in the old country, and hence knew how to eultivate the wheat. Most of the grain raised found a ready market at their
tion he filled to the satifaction of the people up to the beginning of the late war. He was given the same position under the Confederacy, and when that government collapsed he was again appointed by the U'nited States government to his old position. This position he held until his removal to Waco.
Mr. Canuteson, as an inventive genius, was booked to supply the wants of the community so far as machinery was concerned, and built several reapers and threshers. The first reaper that he constructed did not contain a pound of iron castings, as the nearest foundry was at Houston, 250 iniles distant. The cutting blade was made from an old cross-cut saw. Notwitstanding these disadvantages the machine worked excellently and, although for twenty-five years past he has bad the leading and almost the only machine shop in Waco
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INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
and has constructed engines, cotton gins, cotton presses and machinery of all kinds against competi- tion from other cities, he looks back with pride to his " rawhide reaper " job as he called it, as being the most successful of his mechanical undertakings, considering all the circumstances under which he built it. Later he went to Houston for castings and other material and tools, and built five more reapers and two complete threshing machines, which were run by horse-power and carried the grain into the sack ready for the mill.
During the war he was exempt from military ser- vice on account of physical disability, but through his machines he was able to do much toward supply- ing the army with grain. After the war be opened a general store and was building up a business which promised fair for the future, but engaged in an unlucky speculation in cattle by which he lost most of his accumulations. He spent the winter partly in Chicago and partly with his uncles in La Salle County, Ill. While in Chicago awaiting re- turns from New York he came across the Walter A. Wood's self-raking reaper and the Collins cast steel plow, the agency of which he secured for his sec- tion of the State of Texas and handled them with success for many years.
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