Memorial and biographical history of Dallas County, Texas, Part 119

Author: Lewis publishing company, Chicago, pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1128

USA > Texas > Dallas County > Memorial and biographical history of Dallas County, Texas > Part 119

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In speaking of his pioneer days in this State, Mr. Bruton says that they were the happiest days of his life: Many were the times he indulged in the buffalo and deer chase, combining pleasure with profit, for the game they secured was necessary to their

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

maintenance, their chief food being corn bread and wild meat. Mr. Bruton served as a juror of the second court ever held in Dal- las. He has never had any political aspira- tions, but has given his whole time to his own private affairs. He has given some at- tention to breeding fine horses, and has on his farm some valuable stock.

Mrs. Bruton is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and has been for many years.

ILLIAM E. HUNDLEY was born in Hickman county, Kentucky, Novem- ber 22, 1866. He came to Texas at the age of nineteen, and although young in years was full of business qualifications. The first year he hired out to work on a farm. June 27, 1886, he was married to Mrs. Mar- gery Raney. She owning seventy-eight acres of land, he has since devoted his energies to its cultivation and improvement. He has built a nice residence, is comfortably situated and is on the high road to prosperity. His chief agricultural products are corn, wheat and cotton.

Mr. Hundley's father, J. M. Hundley, was born in Kentucky in 1822, and died in 1885, at the age of sixty-three years. His mother, nee Katharine Huss, was born in 1823, and is still living in Kentucky. The six children born to them are as follows: Louisa, wife of William Burton; Conrad W .; Thomas S .; Anna E., wife of Winfield Scott; William E .; Sarah J., wife of Henry Jackson-all living and married.

Mrs. Hundley's maiden name was Margery Wainescott. Her first husband, John E. Raney, died in 1879. By him she had four children: John E., Edward C., Buck S. and

John E. The first two named are deceased. Mrs. Hundley was born in 1854, the daughter of John E. and Rebecca (Wilson) Wainescott. Her mother died in 1883. In her father's family were eleven children, viz .: Paulina, wife of William Raney, is now deceased; Co- lumbus; Charlotte, wife of Henry A. Sheals; Willie, wife of Peter Youngblood; William ; Margery, wife of W. E. Hundley; Eliza, de- ceased; Violet, wife of John Prichard; Bell, wife of Isaac Davis; Sallie, wife of Jobn Honser; Samuel, deceased.

John E. Raney served through the war in the Confederate army, was in a number of battles and skirmishes, but was never wounded.

Mr. and Mrs. Hundley are members of the Presbyterian Church. Politically, he is a Democrat.

UDGE A. S. LATHROP, ex-Judge of the District Court, was born in Butler county, Ohio, September 30, 1829, a son of David and Maria Lathrop. His father, a merchant at Oxford, Ohio, died about 1863, at the age of eighty-two years, and his mother died in 1872, aged about seventy.

Judge Lathrop was educated at Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio, graduating in the class of 1850. He studied law, and came to Texas in 1853, locating first in Brazoria county. He opened out there as the editor of the Planter, and soon began to practice his profession, which he has followed ever since.

In the spring of 1863 lie enlisted in the Confederate army and served until the close of the war, in the Southwest, in Bates' regi- ment. His regiment was stationed inost of the time on the coast, and was not engaged in any regularly pitched battle.

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

After the close of the war he resumed the practice of law, in partnership with Judge MeCormic, the firm name being Lathrop & McCormic; but in 1870 his partner was elected to the Beneh, and Judge Lathrop con- tinued alone as attorney.

He came to Dallas in 1879, where he has continued in his profession. In 1876 he represented in the Legislature his district, then comprising Galveston, Brazoria and Matagorda counties, and he served on several important committees. He also served as Judge of Court on several occasions, in special cases. As an attorney the Judge stands de- servedly high. Ile is a Democrat, but takes little interest in polities.

He was married in 1860 to Miss Watts, and has had five children, namely: Henry, who practiced law for some time. and died at the age of twenty-six years; William, who died at the age of twenty-two years; A. S., Jr., who is studying law with his father; James, the next in order of birth; Amine, still at school and a member of the home eirele. Mrs. Lathrop is a member of the Presbyterian Church.

MON McCOMMAS .- Among the early settlers of Dallas county, Texas, few there are who have resided here as long as the above named gentleman. Ile came to this county with his father, Amon McCom- mas, Sr., in December, 1844, and settled five miles northeast of where thecity of Dallas now stands. At that time Dallas contained only five or six families, settled along the banks of the river. His father was a prosperous and wealthy farmer of Missouri, and moved from that State to this, coming through with ox teams and bringing with him a number of horses, cattle and sheep. They made the

journey through the Indian Nation, and on their arrival here the senior Mr. MeCommas purchased a headright, and during the rest of his life made his home on it, engaged in farming and stock-raising. He was promi- nent in the early history of this county, always exerting his influence for the good of the community in which he resided. He was chairman of the Board of County Commis- sioners, and was also chairman of the meet- ing that was held to organize Dallas county in 1845. While a resident of Missouri he served as Justice ef the l'eace in Wright county. He was born in Tennessee, and had lived in several States before coming to Texas. He was one of the first Christian ministers in this part of the State, and was for thirty- four years actively engaged in the minis- try. His death occurred here in 1877, in the seventy-third year of his age. He was married in 1826, to Mary Brumphield, daughter of James Brumphield. They reared a family of nine children: James B., deceased; Stephen B., also deceased; John and Elisha, residents of Dallas county ; Amon, the subject of this sketch; Rosana, who be- came the wife of Jesse Cox, is deceased; William M., deceased; Mary E., wife of Dr. W. I'. Stone, is deceased; Armilda, wife of B. F. Fleeman, of this State. Mrs. McCommas died in 1877, at the age of seventy-three years.

Amon MeCommas was born in Illinois, May 12, 1832, and was educated in the common schools of Missouri and Texas. At the age of twenty-one he began life for himself, and that year, 1853, went overland to California, remaining there nntil 1869. During his sojourn in the Golden State he was engaged in mining and teaming, and had his nps and downs like others there. He made the return trip by rail. After coming back to Texas he

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

farmed one year. In 1871 he engaged in the mercantile business at Seyenc, where he now lives. He was Postmaster of this place from 1871 to 1889, with the exception of twelve or sixteen months during the early part of the '80s. He was engaged in mer- chandising for eight years, being in partner- ship with his father. After the death of his father he turned his attention to farming, in which he is still engaged. For several years past he has devoted considerable attention to the breeding of fine horses, having the Royal English turf blood. A fine horse owned by him and known as Lonnie B. won second money at the great Texas Derby during the fall of 1890.

Mr. McCommas was married in 1870 to Miss Nancy C. Seals, daughter of Wilson and Mahalia (Mills) Seals, natives of Tennessee. They came to this State in 1865. Mr. and Mrs. McCommas are the parents of eight chil- dren, six of whom are living: Edwin F., Oto, Berdie, Bonner, Viola and Amon, Jr.

Mr. and Mrs. McCommas are members of the Christian Church. lle is a member of Scyene Lodge, No. 295, A. F. & A. M., hav- ing served as Treasurer of the lodge for thir- teen consecutive years.

HOMAS C. MARSII was born in Harrison county, Kentucky, February 21, 1831. He was reared on a farm and has all his life been identified with farm- ing interests. In 1844, at the age of thir- teen, he emigrated with his parents to Texas and settled in Dallas county near where he now lives. Previous to his eoni- ing here he had attended school only a very little, and in the subscription schools of this county he obtained a fair education. His

father took a homestead of 640 acres under the Peters colony, improved it, and lived on it the rest of his life. After the first year they had an abundance of everything. Game at all times plentiful, and Thomas was the hunter of the family, keeping the larder well supplied with deer, turkey, etc. He went on many a bear hunt, killed game of all kinds, large and small, and so skillful was he as a hunter that he gained a local notoriety. Those days the Indians were plentiful in these parts, and they frequently committed depre- dations. They stole four horses from the Marsh family. They frequently killed cattle and it was not uncommon to see the cows come home at night with arrows sticking in them.

Thomas C. remained at home with his father until he was twenty five years of age, and then, March 13, 1856, he was married. At the age of seventeen he was entitled to a headright under the Peters colony, and had secured 320 acres of land. After his mar- riage he settled on his farm and began mak- ing improvements, giving his attention chiefly to the stock business. He built a cabin and broke twelve acres of land, and by 1860 had succeeded in getting a good start of stock, cattle and horses. In 1862 he enlisted in the Confederate service, and was with the forces that operated in the Indian Nation and in Arkansas. Hle aeted the part of a brave soldier until the war was over, when he returned home to find his farm a waste and his stock destroyed. ITis wife and three chil- dren remained, however, and he began life anew. lle opened up a larger farm and en- tered more extensively into the stock busi- ness, and in his farming operations and stoek- raising has met with eminent success. He now owns in the neighborhood of 700 acres of as fine land as there is in the world. He

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

has it all under fence, 175 acres under culti- vation and the rest devoted to pasture. His stock are mostly horses and sheep. He also keeps graded cattle; has a fine jack, and is giving attention to mule raising. Financially and otherwise, he has made a success of life, and is ranked with the wealthy and influen- tial farmers of this section of the country.

His father's name was Harrison C. Marsh, and he, too, was a native of Harrison county, Kentucky, born March 29, 1805. He was a farmer and stock-raiser, and while in Ken- tucky owned and ran a mill. He died on the old homestead in this connty, May 5, 1889. Grandfather Thomas Marsh was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and died in Kentucky about 1841. The mother of our subject and the wife of Harrison C. Marsh, was before her marriage, Miss Mary Raymond. She was the daughter of William Raymond, of Kentucky; was born February 18, 1810; married November 11, 1828, and after sixty years of happy married life died April 19, 1888. This worthy couple were the parents of eight children, viz .: William B., born September 2, 1829, and died September 6, 1838; Thomas C., the subject of this article; Sarah E., March 9, 1833, became the wife of H. C. Daggett; John D., born August 25, 1835; Mary F., born August 2, 1840, married J. J. McAllister; Elizabeth J., born October 9, 1843, married E. B. Daggett; Martha A., born February 27, 1848, married Mark Ellison; Charlotte M., born March 30, 1851, married W. O'Neill. Harrison F., who was born November 16, 1837, died Novem- ber 20, 1839.

Thomas C. Marsh married Hannah Husted, daughter of Elkaner and Catherine (Beards- ley) Husted, who came from New York State to Texas in 1854. Her father was a farmer in later years; in early life was with

the Hudson Bay Fur Company for some years. He settled in Texas with the ex- pectation of making it his future home. He also owned property in Missouri, and in 1861 went there to dispose of it. The war broke out and he could not return. His death oc- curred at Olathe, Kansas, May 11, 1865, at the age of sixty-seven years. To Thomas C. Marsh and his wife three children have been born, namely: Mary E., born November 29, 1857, is now the wife of J. E. Buchanan, and resides in Dallas county; Sarah C., born May 22, 1860, married A. W. Stalnaker, and lives in the city of Dallas; and Thomas J., who was born June 29, 1862.

Mr. Marsh's political views are in har- inony with Democratic principles, and with that party he has ever affiliated.

ANDREW J. DENNIS was born in Overton county, Tennessee, February 17, 1833. He was reared on a farın, received a liberal education, and for a time was engaged in teaching. His life occupa- tion, however, has been farming.

James Dennis, his father, was a native of North Carolina. He died in Tennessee at the age of fifty-two years. His wife passed away in 1875, aged seventy-eight. She was before her marriage Miss Parmina Gunnells, and her mother, whose maiden name was Bennefield, came to this country from Europe. By a previous marriage James Dennis had six children, and by Permina he had seven. The names of the last family are as follows: Nancy C., married W. M. Roberts, a native of Tennessee, who . came from Kentucky to Texas in 1878; Catherine S., who married James Conner and lives in Clay county, Tennessee; George W., who

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

was married and lived in Tennessee, went through the war and after returning home was shot and killed in his own honse; An- drew J., the subject of our sketch; Thomas J., who came to Texas in 1886; is now a resident of Dallas county; Daniel P., who was married and lived in Texas, died Jann- ary, 1886; and Sarah J., whose first husband, Franklin Elder of Tennessee, was killed in the war, and who subsequently moved to Illinois and there married Silas Follis, came in 1868 with Mr. Follis to Texas, and is now living in Denton connty.

Andrew J. Dennis came with one of his half-brothers to Texas, arriving in Dallas county in December, 1854. He had only a small amount of money then and was at first employed as a farm hand, working in that way five years. At the end of that time he bought 110 acres of land, the farm on which he now lives. He has since added to his original purchase and now has a fine farın, well improved with good buildings, etc. Previous to the war his crops were wheat, oats and corn, and he also raised stoek. Sinee then he has given his attention to the rais- ing of cotton. He has never made a total failure of crops. He now keeps only such stock as are needed for his own use on the farm.

Mr. Dennis was married to Miss Sarah Webb. Her father, I. B. Webb, a native of Tennessee, came to Texas in 1844, settled in Dallas county and took a headright of 640 aeres of land. He died in 1880, at the age of seventy-eight years. His wife, the mother of Mrs. Dennis, was before her marriage Miss Mary IInghes. Her death occurred in 1887. Her father, William Hughes, was a native of North Carolina Mr. and Mrs. Dennis have been blessed with nine children, viz .: Mar- garet L., wife of W. H. Demere, lives in

Dallas county ; James I., at home; L. W., married and settled in life; and Z. H., George N., Charles W., Anna F., J. Sutton and Mary Hughes, at home.

During the late war Mr. Dennis was the Confederate County Assessor of this county, serving as such from 1861 to 1865. He was at one time a member of the Farmers' Al- lianee, but withdrew. He and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

EV. JOSEPH MARTINIERE was born near the city of Lyons, France, Jannary 8, 1841. At an early age he was sent to the Ecclesiastical College of l'Argentiere, where he pursned his studies with success. Nine years of close applica- tion terminated his classical course, and a three-years course of theology in the Grand Seminary of Lyons fitted him for the minis- try.

In 1862, at the invitation of Rt. Rev. Bishop Dubuis of Galveston, he came to America with twelve other young seminari- ans. He remained fourteen months in New Orleans and received holy orders at the hands of Most Rev. J. M. Odin in the Cathe-

dral of the Crescent City, April 10, 1864. After his ordination, Rev. J. Martiniere was located in Hallettsville, Lavaca county, Texas, as assistant to Rev. F. Forest. The ardnous mission of Liberty and its environs was next entrusted to his charge, and later his field of labor extended over Denison, Jefferson, St. l'anl, Collin county, Weatherford and nearly all the missions of Northern Texas-now in- cluded in the diocese of Dallas.

Few, who now visit these points, can realize the sacrifices and hardships endured by the early energetic missionaries of Texas. It

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

was amidst untold difficulties and much per- sonal suffering that they ministered to the wants of their fellow creatures. Railroads and telegraph wires had not yet been con- structed over this remote portion of the State, and besides the unsettled and unsatisfactory condition of the local government rendered traveling on horseback very unsafe. Imbned with a truly apostolic spirit, Rev. J. Mar- tiniere labored in this district for nine years with untiring zeal wherever duty or the de- mands of suffering humanity appealed to his great, generous heart. During one of his journeys the famous wagon train from Weatherford to Fort Griffin was attacked by Indians and seven persons were killed; then the Government was induced to establish forts at stated places for the protection of travelers.

In 1873, Rev. J. Martiniere was appointed pastor of the Church of the Sacred Heart in Dallas. The Texas & Pacific Railroad had just pushed its terminus to this locality; but little else at this period marked the speedy progress of the future city of Dallas.

Little by little the scanty congregation which he found in the modest church on Bryan street increased in number. Sodali- ties were formed and associations organized under his able and devoted efforts. In 1874 the Ursuline Convent was established in the city, near the parish church.

In 1888 Mr. Thomas Marsalis offered a desirable location in the Oak Cliff suburb for some charitable work. With the ap- proval of Rt. Rev. N. A. Gallagher, then Bishop of Galveston, Father Martiniere ener- getically set to work at the darling enterprise of his heart, -- the establishment of an orphans' home. Day after day he journeyed back and forth, enlisting aid and directing the buildings. About this time measures were

taken for the erection of a large brick church on Bryan street as better suited to the grow- ing Catholic population of Dallas. The work was commenced and the foundations laid, at the cost of $5,000, under his supervision.

In 1890, Rev. J. Martiniere was appointed Chaplain of the Ursuline Convent in East Dallas. The religious had extended their work under his direction; and his judgment and ability ever proved as farseeing as it was wise.

When Rt. Rev. T. F. Brennan was nom- inated Bishop to the see of Dallas, he ap- pointed Rev. J. Martiniere his Vicar General; but six months' experience induced him to resign the dignity.

A conscientious discharge of duty, a cou- sideration for others, forgetfulness of self, and above all an unbounded charity for the poor, have won for this distinguished pastor the brotherly love of his co-laborers and the esteem and reverence of all classes and de- nominations. A celebrated statesman of Dallas once remarked that "Rev. Father Martiniere had done more for the growth and prosperity of this city than any other man within its limits."

Ever nnostentatious, the labors of twenty- eight years have been modestly withheld from the praise of the age; but the calendar of God proclaims what time may never record.

ILAS H. FOREE, one of the leading farmers of Precinct No. 3, Dallas county, Texas, was born in Kentucky in 1827, son of John H. and Fannie (Violett) Foree, natives of Virginia and Kentucky respectively.

Mr. Foree's grandfather, Silas Foree, was born in Virginia and when a boy emigrated

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

with his father to Kentucky, where he was captured by the Indians. The Indian chief Logan admired the boy's conrage, adopted him and took him to Canada. A British officer in some way got possession of him there and sold him to a Scotchman. The celebrated Whittaker, an Indian fighter of Kentucky, was captured at the same time, bnt during a heavy rain made his escape near the place where Cineinnati now stands. Mr. Foree spent seven years among the Indians and Canadians, and at the close of the war for independence was exchanged, and came back to Virginia. He was one of the vol- unteers who enlisted under Washington to quell what was called the Whisky Insurrec- tion in Pennsylvania. At the time of the capture of Mr. Foree his father and mother were both dead, but several members of the family were killed. Two of his sisters were captured. One was killed by the Indians on the journey as she was not able to endure the hardships of the trip, and the other arrived safe in Canada, and afterward married a Scotchman by the name of Smith. The Smith family subsequently came to the United States. Mr. Foree was the youngest of the family and belonged to the third gen- eration of French Huguenots who settled in this country. He was married in Virginia and some years later moved with his family to Kentucky, locating in Henry county. IIe and his wife reared a family of six sons and four daughters, John H. being the sixth- born. The sons were all farmers.

John H. Foree reared a family of nine children, in Kentucky, two dying in infaney. The oldest, Jephtha C., resides on Red river, Texas; Silas H. is the subject of this sketch; Thaddeus C. resides in Plattsburg, Missouri ; John, a lawyer by profession, was killed in Louisville, Kentucky; William, deceased;

James W., a brick mason and contractor, was accidentally killed; Mary A., deceased; Theodore, a resident of Kansas; Frank M., who resides on the old homestead. Mr. Foree died in 1885, at the age of eighty- four years, and his wife died in 1888, at the same age. Both had been members of the Baptist Church for many years.

Siłas II. Forec received a fair education in his native county, and for ten or twelve years after reaching man's estate was en- gaged in teaching the "three R's." In 1860, at the age of thirty-two, he came to Dallas county, Texas, and located in the vicinity of Dallas, where he rented land for two years. At the end of this time he en- tered the Confederate army, becoming a member of Company I, Thirtieth Texas Cavalry, and served until the war closed. Hle went to farming again, and in 1868 bought the property on which he resides from his father-in-law, first bnying ninety- five acres, for which he paid $7 per aere. He subsequently bought sixty-tive acres joining him on the east, at $10 an acre, and 320 aeres on the north at $7 per acre. He now has abont 220 acres under cultivation, which is valned at $25 an acre. During the time he was paying for his land he was also at a heavy expense in educating his children, all of whom are graduates of Waco Univer- sity. His danghter also attended a female school at Belton, Texas, one year.

Mr. Foree was married in Kentucky, in 1858, to Miss Elizabeth A. Kyle, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Pirkey) Kyle, natives of Virginia and of Irish and German parentage. They removed to Kentucky a short time previous to the birth of Mrs. Foree. They had a family of eight children, two of whom died in infancy. Both parents are deceased, the mother dying in Kentucky

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

and the father in Texas. Mr. and Mrs. Foree have had four children, one having died when small. Those living are Kenneth, an attorney and at present City Judge of Dallas; Earnest, also an attorney, residing at Roekwall, Texas; and Lillian E.

Mr. Foree is a member of the A. F. & A. M., Duck Creek Lodge, and he and his wife belong to the Baptist Church.

OBERT E. SUMMERS, M. D., Gar- land, was born in Alabama, in 1847, the seventh child of Robert and Mary G. (Legg) Summers, natives of Tennessee. The father was a farmer by oeenpation, and after the birth of our subject he settled in Lincoln county, Tennessee, and engaged in farming. The families on both sides are of English parentage, and were among the old - est American families. Mr. and Mrs. Sum- mers had nine children, tive of whom lived to maturity, viz .: William, a native of Ten- nessee; Daniel M., deceased, whose family now reside in Lincoln eonnty; Robert E., our subject ; Sallie, widow of William Markham, a minister of the Baptist Church ; Thomas I)., a farmer of Lincoln county. The oldest son, William, has taught in l'ittstield, Alabama, and also in Oak Hill and Cornersville Institutes, Tennessee. lle has amassed considerable property, and at present resides in Lineoln county, where he has a fine farm and devotes his attention to raising fine stock. Mr. Sum- mers died in 1887, at the age of seventy-eight years, and Mrs. Summers died the next year, also at the age of seventy-eight years. She was a member of the Baptist Church for many years.

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Memorial and biographical history of Dallas County, Texas, Part 119

Author: Lewis publishing company, Chicago, pub. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1892 Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 1128

Author: Lewis publishing company, Chicago, pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1128