Memorial and biographical history of Dallas County, Texas, Part 125

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 125

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

D. C. SMITII, manager of the Dallas Transfer and Cab Company, is a native of Clark county, Kentucky, the oldest child of Colby F. and Miriam H. (Stephen- son) Smith, natives of the same county. When eleven years of age, in 1860, he came with his parents to this county and settled on his farm, five miles north of Dallas. where they remained till 1867; they then settled in Dallas, and the father improved the first place on MeKinney avenue north of the branch. He died in 1876, and the mother survived him until 1889. They were the parents of seven children: six of whom are now living: Ed C., our subject; Henry H., ex-County Treasurer of Dallas county and now connected with the North Texas National Bank; G. D., partner of Ed C., our subject; Mary, wife of Oliver Thomas of Thomas Bros., real-estate dealers; Ellen, wife of John S. Hardy of London, England; Willis R., now

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in school; Joe C., who died at the age of seventeen years.

Mr. Ed C. Smith engaged at the earpen- ter's trade in 1868, working at that until 1876, sinee which time he has been in the undertaking business. In their transfer busi- ness the company employs thirty-two men and sixty-nine head of horses, having a fine barn, 50 x 200 feet, faeing Jackson street, and extending back to Wood street.

Mr. Smith takes an active interest in poli- ties; has been Alderman three times, and, in a race for the office of Mayor of the city, eame within one vote of being elected.

He married, in 1872, Miss Mattie Fletcher, a daughter of John L. and Ann (larris) Fletehier, a very early family of this county.

Socially, Mr. Smith is a member of Dallas Lodge, No. 44, I. O. O. F., of which lodge he lias filled all the chairs. He is also a member of Cœur de Lion Lodge, No. 8, K. of P. He is also a member of Uniformed Rank, K. of P., Cœur de Lion, No. 5; of Fidelity Lodge, No. 410, A. L. of H., and of the Elks.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of the Commerce Street Christian Church. Mr. Smith assisted in building the first church erected in Dallas city, and was a member of that ehureh. He takes an active interest in church affairs, as well as in secular matters.

ILLIAM B. GANO, an eminent jur- ist of Dallas, Texas, and for several years president of the Bar Associa- tion of that eity, was born in Bourbon county, Kentneky, February 20, 1854. His parents are General R. M. and Mattie J. Gano, a sketch of whose life appears elsewhere in this volume. Wiliam B. Gano was edn- cated in the Kentucky State University, after

which he graduated in law at Harvard Uni- versity, in the class of 1877. Immediately afterward, he opened an office in Dallas, where he has successfully practiced his pro- fession ever since. Naturally of superior ability and unusual legal aeumen, supple- mented by excellent training in two renowned institutions of learning, he has easily made his way to prominence in his chosen profes- sion, while his high sense of honor and uni- form courtesy has gained for him the univer- sal esteem of his fellow men. He is presi- dent of the Bankers and Merchants' Bank Building Company, incorporated in Texas; is an active member of the Board of Trade; and a director of the Bankers and Merchants' National Bank.

He was married August 31, 1882, in Fay- ette county, Kentucky, to Miss Nettie D. Grissim, an educated and amiable lady, a daughter of Dr. Grissim, a prominent physi- eian of that county, and a granddaughter of Barton W. Stone. She is a graduate of Hamilton College, Lexington, Kentucky, and also of Wellseley College, as well as of the Musical Conservatory of Cincinnati, Ohio. She possesses much talent in belles-lettres, and is a musician of marked ability. Mr. and Mrs. Gano have three children, Allene, Richard Chilton, and Annette.

Mr. Gano takes an interest in all publie matters of importance, and like all good men desires to see men of ability and integrity at the helm of government.

He and his faithful wife are devoted and useful members of the Christian Church, to the support of which they liberally con- tribute.

A worthy and influential eitizen, publie- spirited and enterprising; an able and honor- able counselor; and a man of superior liter- ary judgment and taste; Mr. Gano is emi-

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nently qualified to fill with distinction any position in life; and it may be safely said that few men have contributed more to the prosperity and general advancement of his city than this excellent gentleman.

AMES GREER, fruit farmer and gar- dener, raises all kinds of small fruits and vegetables. He engaged in fruit and garden farming in 1881, when he opened up and improved a farm of forty acres in the timber. He has twenty-two acres in cultiva- tion. It is located a half mile from the city limits and about two miles from the public square.

Mr. Greer came to Dallas county in 1868, when the town had a population of about 400. He was born in Madison county, Tennessee, in 1845, the eldest of the seven children of John C. and Susan L. (Carrnth- ers) Greer, natives of Tennessee and Ken- tucky respectively. His father was a farmer, and in 1870 came to Dallas county, settling on a farm, and in 1871 moved into Dallas and bought property near the Union depot. His death occurred in 1872, on his way home from the city to the farm. The mother sur- vived him till 1889, remaining in Dallas.

Mr. Greer was reared to farm life in Madi- son county, Tennessee. During the war, in 1861, he enlisted in Company L, Sixth Ten- nessee Infantry, for one year, and served about two years, being in the battles of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, Murfreesboro, Ten- nessee, etc., serving in the Mississippi De- partment. In 1863 he joined General For- rest's cavalry, was in many skirmishes, and was with General Forrest till the surrender. At the close of the war, was in Tennessee.

He then returned to Madison county, went 65

to school fifteen months, and in 1868 came to Dallas county. He has been a dealer in hay for some time, and a resident of Dallas for some years.

He was married in this county in 1877, to Miss Sarah Addarine Kcarley, a native of Trousdale county, Tennessee, and a daughter of William and Matilda (Holt) Kearley, natives of Tennessee. The father was born, lived and died in Tennessee, was a farmer and practicing physician for forty years. His death occurred in 1889, in Tennessee. His wife still lives in Tennessee.

After marriage Mr. Greer, our subject, settled in Dallas till going to his present farm. He is not active in politics but votes with the Democratic party. He was once a city Alderman from the Third ward. Socially, he is a member of the Golden Cross and Golden Chain, both beneficiary orders.

He has had seven children: Willie D., Thomas Andrew, Joseph Lee, Marietta, Ora Ella, James, Edmond, Katie.

ON. JOHN B. RECTOR, United States Judge of the Northern District of Texas, an eminent jurist and esteemed citizen of Dallas, was born in Jackson county, Alabama, November 24, 1837. His parents were L. L. and Agnes (Black) Rector, the former born in Tennessee in 1799, and the latter born in Georgia in 1812. His father was a prosperous merchant of Bedford county, Tennessee, and of Jackson connty, Alabama. In 1847, he removed to Texas, settling in Bastrop county, where he followed the occu- pation of a planter. The family were first called upon to mourn the loss of the wife and mother, wlio died in 1852, aged forty years. As a wife, mother, companion, Chris-

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

tian and friend, no words can speak her praise too warmly. Such a tender bond of sympa- thy bound her to the members of her immedi- ate household, and the shock was most severe when that cord was rudely broken by the hand of death. She and her husband were devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and were interested in all good works. Her husband survived her many years, living to the advanced age of ninety, expiring in the midst of his family and friends in 1888. This worthy couple were the parents of seven children, five of whom survive, two having died in early childhood.

The subject of this sketch is the second of the surviving children. His early life was spent in his native county and in Texas. He was carefully reared and liberally educated, attending Yale College, Connecticut, gradna- ting at that institution in the class of 1859, numbering 105 students.

On completing his studies, he returned to Texas, and studied law under Judge Royal T. Wheeler, Chief Justice of the Lone Star State. In the latter part of 1860, he was ad- mitted to the bar and opened an office by himself in Austin, where he practiced his profession for abont a year, meeting with very encouraging success. This prosperity was interrupted by the civil conflict which rent the country, and threatened to end in its destruction. In Angust of 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company D, Terry's Cavalry Rangers, and served in that rank during the entire war, being under the various commands of Generals Albert Sidney Johnston, Bragg and Joseph E. Johnston. He participated in a number of the most important battles of his department, and was an able and efficient soldier. He was once taken prisoner in a cavalry engagement, but was captured before

the enemy escaped with the force. He stood the service well, and surrendered with his regiment at the time of General Joseph E. Johnston's capitulation.

At the close of the war, he returned to Bastrop, Bastrop county, Texas, and formed a partnership under the firm name of McGin- nis & Rector. Shortly afterward, lie was elected District Attorney, serving in that capacity until the latter part of 1867, when on the expiration of his term, he returned to the practice of law in Bastrop. He continued there until the latter part of February, 1871, at which time he was appointed by Governor E. J. Davis, Judge of the Thirty-first Judi- cial District of Texas, comprising the counties of Robertson, Leon and Freestone. He served in this position for a little more than five years, when, in 1876, hic returned to the practice of his profession in the capital of the State. He was there when he was appointed by the United States Senate to his present position, which is of life tennre, to succeed Judge A. P. McCormick, resigned.

Judge Rector was married December 25, 1866, to Miss Lntie W. Barton, a well-known society lady, and daughter of Roger Barton, a prominent resident of Mississippi. She is a graduate of a Methodist Episcopal Col- lege of Columbia, Tennessee, and is an excel- lent scholar and highly accomplished. She is an earnest and useful member of the Epis- copal Church.

Politically, the Judge affiliates with the Republican party, and for the last fifteen years has figured prominently in public affairs of the State. He was candidate on the Re- publican ticket for Congress in 1884, running against Major Sayers. He was a delegate to the Minneapolis convention, and for a num- ber of years has been the recognized leader of his party in Texas.

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

Such unanimons endorsement from the National Government, combined with a knowl- edge of his extensive experience in the law and natural acnmen, is ample proof that the trust reposed in him will be met with a full knowledge of its responsibilities, and its inci- dental duties discharged with ability and honor.

B RYANT HARRINGTON has had a re- markable history. He was born in Hardin county, Kentucky, April 29, 1829, and reared there to the age of fourteen, when his parents moved to Grundy county, Missouri, where his father died three years later. His mother returned to Kentucky, taking the children, but remained there only about a year, when she went again to Missouri.

Bryant remained in Missouri till April 29, 1849, when, at the age of twenty, he, in com- pany with three brothers and some other young fellows of the neighborhood, started with ox teams to California. This was just after the discovery of gold on the Pacific coast and the wild rush for the gold fields was fully on. He reached Sacramento after five months' toiling across the plains. The party, selling off their teams and camping outfit, paired off, Mr. Harrington and a twin broth- er, Ryan, going together, and at once began mining. His first prospecting was done up the American river and on Weaver creek, both then alive with eager fortune-seekers. Mr. Harrington was in this general locality mining two and a half years, and closed at the end of that time with $1,500. Leaving Weaver creek in the fall of 1851, he went to Miners' Home near Coloma, where he re- mained till February, 1852: thence to Beni- cia, near San Francisco, thence to Ramsey in

Green valley, but abandoned the last men- tioned place on account of a conflict of title, the claims being located on old Spanish land grants.

He gave up mining and with his twin brother hired to dig au irrigating ditch for one Stitts. He finished this job, digging 100 rods at $2.50 per rod; returned to Benicia, thence to San Francisco, where he and his twin brother took passage, in the spring of 1852, to New Orleans. They had ninety-eight ounces of gold left between them, which they took to the mint, had it weighed and received a certificate with which they went to a broker and sold their gold at $173 per ounce. Then they took steamer for Louisville, Kentucky, intending to visit their mother, who had returned to Hardin county.

Mr. Harrington visited awhile in Ken- tucky; worked on a farm one year, and at- tended school a year, and finally, in Decem- ber, 1855, came to Texas, making his first stop at Dallas, which was then a small place. Bought an old frame building there, which had been formerly nsed as a drug store, and for some weeks was engaged in taking pic- tures. Sold out, and, having a brother and brother-in-law living in Palo Pinto county, this State, mnoved further West, stopping about three years in that county. Then, in the spring of 1859, the gold fever returning, he decided to try his luck again in the mines, and in connection with his twin brother was getting up an outfit to go to Pike's Peak; but was turned off from this enterprise by Ed Graham, who represented the Peters colony, and whom our subject had known in Kentucky. Graham's father was a wealthy merchant and had offered the son some in- ducements to establish a commission business at Guaymas, Mexico; and young Graham in- terested the Harringtons in this scheme.

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

The three purchasing two yoke of oxen apiece and necessary outfit, set out for Guaymas, by way of El Paso. After three months they reached El Paso, but there heard of the con- flict that was raging between the Church and State parties in Mexico, and deemed it not advisable to prosecute their enterprise fur. ther. They would have started for California, but the Apache Indians being on the war path this expedition also was abandoned.

The company broke up, onr subject, being out of money, started a chuck-a-luck game on $1.10, and won $60, which gave him a stake. He quit the game and hired to HI. Smith, representing Butterfield, Crocker & Co., who controlled the overland stage business throughout the Southwest at that time. After working for them awhile as guard on the coaches, he returned to Palo Pinto county, where, in February, 1860, he and his brother started afoot, with one pack pony, to old Mexico, to buy horses. They made this trip, buying forty head; returned to Palo Pinto and kept their horses there till the Indians became too troublesome, having killed a number of the neighbors and ran off most of the stock. The Harringtons then moved further east. bringing their stock to Dallas county, and Bryant took his mother, for greater safety, to settlements in Grayson county. He hired to Carson & Co., of Weatherford, to collect; also attended stock for theni, and was in their employ till the winter of 1861, when he came to Grapevine Prairie, Dallas county, spending the winter and spring in this county and in the Indian Territory. He was conscripted in the Con- federate army in 1861, and entered Colonel James Lovings' regiment; was mostly on frontier duty, but also taught school con- siderably; was variously engaged about this time, driving cattle, fighting Indians, teach-

ing school. etc. IIe located permanently, however, in Dallas county in the spring of 1865, settling on Bear creek, where he bought a tract of 320 acres. He sold his Bear creek farm and bought 2083 acres, where he now lives, buying other land from time to time, until he now owns 660 acres, of which 200 acres is in cultivation. Has im- proved the present place and lias one of the best farms in the locality where he lives. Has been farming and stock-raising steadily for the past twenty-six or twenty-eight years. and has been reasonably successful.

He has been twice married, marrying first in February, 1863, his wife's maiden name being Mary Ann Wangh. She died eleven months later, leaving one child. The second time, in February, 1871, Mr. Harrington married Lucetta Woods, daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth Woods, and a sister of S. A. Woods, a sketch of whom appears in this work, which see for the facts concerning Mrs. Woods' ancestry. By his first marriage Mr. Harrington had one child, Sarah Alice, now the wife of Arthur Birch, of Montague county, this State; and by the second mar- riage he has had four children: Archibald Woods, Susanna Lnvonia, Bryant Mack and William Ryan.

Mr. Harrington is a member of the Ma- sonic fraternity and has been for many years, belonging now to Estelle Lodge, No. 570. He is also a member of the Alliance and of the Christian Church.

In conclusion we must say that Mr. Har- rington is a typical, old-time Westerner, hav- ing had as many characteristic pioneer ex- periences as almost any other man alive. As a frontiersman, an Indian fighter, scout, miner, etc., he has many anecdotes and stories to relate, and withal he is a rongh-and- ready, sensible, jovial, generous-hearted man

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of the plains. He is a man of large frame, strong voice, and as well calculated for the West in the matters of life generally as old Peter Cartwright, of Illinois, was for the Methodist itineraney.

ILL H. ATWELL, attorney at law, 234 Main street, Dallas, Texas, was born in Sparta, Wisconsin, June 9, 1869. When five years of age his parents came to Texas, locating on a plantation two miles east of Mesquite, Dallas county. His mother was a devout Presbyterian, and a woman of much literary ability, and his father was a soldier in the Union army, start- ing out in the Thirty-sixth Wisconsin, and after one year's service was transferred to the Sharpshooters, where he served three years. The subject of our sketeh was educated primarily in the public and private schools of Dallas and Dallas county. In 1886 lie en- tered the Southwestern University, at which institution he graduated in June, 1889. In February of the following year he was ad- mitted to the Dallas bar, at the age of nineteen. In September, 1890, he entered the State University, graduating the following June, with honors. He was the successful com- petitor for the State Debaters' Medal, thie State Chautanqna Medal, and the World's Fair Medal. He is an orator of much abil- ity. He was a delegate to the National Re- publican Convention at Minneapolis in 1892. His speech on Decoration day, May 30, 1892, is recognized as a patriotic effort, studded with the jewels so necessary to an oblitera- tion of the animosity engendered by the nn- pleasantness of 1861-'65, an extract of which is here printed by request of soldiers from both sides.

" Looking around me to-day at the multi- plied magnificence of our Union, at its vesti- buled halls of justice, steepled palaces of worship, granite sanetums of knowledge, mill- ion-wheeled factories and steel-spanned coun- try, we of the rising generation cannot believe that once the stability of the Governmental fabrie was tested. When. the historian tells ns that the warm blood of the South mingled with that of the North on the fields of Geor- gia we almost instinctively arise with indigna- tion and say that it is the tale of some foul slanderer.

" I am not here to talk sectionalism. Iam one of a generation that has come to man- hood since the sword of Lee was handed to your Northern general at Appomattox. The legacy of the fathers is free from the taint of northern or southern antagonism. I in- herit no bias, no prejudice, no spleen. Hard though it must have been for the Southern people to bury a principle they thought right, yet they have done it graciously and only remember it as linked to the lives of some truly great men. The noble women of this land pile high flowers sparkling with their tears on the graves of your brothers who were on the other side. The same spirit that prompted the ' Johnnies' to exchange warn- ings with the ' Yanks' on the eve of battle shows itself most prominent now in cement- ing the factions into one band of brothers, one people, one nation, one flag. The bloody flag is seen only by the unpatriotic, who fish for the red shirt and flaunt it to individual gain on either side.

" These memorial days are not for the pur- pose of scratching anew the wounds of the sixties, nor are they intended as a means for proclaiming yourselves distinctively the peo- ple who believe in the beanty of the stars and stripes; but rather for the magnanimous

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purpose of singing anew the praises of the valiant and honored dead. [Applause.] The enthusiasm of youth, the strength of man- hood and the remaining embers of old age have alike been wasted to ashes on the hearth- stone of time in the vain search for the right and the wrong of the conflict that made it possible for you to worship heroes to-day. It remains for coming generations to throw inantles of charity where mantles of charity are needed. It was a family quarrel and it has ended.

' "The bow of promise was set in view, On the skirts of the vanishing day, But Liberty sighed for the man in blue And wept for the man in gray." '

[Applause.]

"For one of the leaders who sat in that cabin on the hill at Appomattox you have a longing for, Ulysses S. Grant, the great commoner of America, the great general of the age, the great patriot of the world. [Applause.] In him all the fire of the Gracchi and the love of Christ seemed to unite; yea, nature had excelled herself. Christian, war- rior, patriot, statesman, man. A man bean- tiful in character unto Christianity, bold in belief unto the warrior, true to his flag unto the patriot, versatile in mind unto the states- man, humble in carriage unto the man. Like unto a child in simplicity, a lion in boldness, a sage in wisdom, a god in devotion. Bow your heads, then, you followers of Grant and do homage to him, not as your superior, but as a sacred privilege granted to men who followed him. [Applause. ] The love of your country has made Sylosons of each of you. Tea in the Boston harbor and slaves on the southern boundary spilled the same sort of blood. Brush aside the web that prejudice weaves, grasp the Southern hand and know that mistakes are the heritage of mankind. [Applause.] I care not to what tenets others

may cling; as for myself, granting to every man that liberty of opinion which constitutes the true glory of our American citizenship, as for myself, I would not lose the responsive- ness to the touch of an old soldier's hand for all the victories of battle and riches of gold since Iscariot betrayed and Constantine con- fessed. [Applause.] Pile high, then, flowers on the graves of your dead; no perfume is too costly, no incense too sweet, no rose too pure; all nature smiles sweetest on the heroic deeds of men. [Applause.]"

ORTH PEAK, a real-estate dealer in Dallas and residing in Oak Cliff, is the eighth of the eleven children of Jefferson and Martha M. (Reeser) Peak, natives of Scott county, Kentucky. In an early day his father was a steamboat man on the Mississippi river, at one time owning boats on the Ohio river, plying between Cin- cinnati and New Orleans. In 1854 he moved with his family to Dallas and engaged in general merchandise. Dallas at that time was a hamlet of only 150 people. After continuing his business, on the public square, some years, he erected a building in which to carry on his business, but it was afterward burned. He also erected the first brick residence in this county, namely, his dwell- ing at the corner of Peak and Worth streets. His death occurred in October, 1880, and his wife survived until July, 1890. The senior Peak took a conspicuous part in the early history of Dallas county, being publie-spirited and enterprising. For the Mexican war he raised and took ont a company of cavalry. Of his family six are now living, namely: Julius, who is married and is a ranchman of Albany, Shackelford county, Texas: Sarah,

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widow of Alexander Harwood, of Live Oak and Peak, East Dallas; Florence, wife of Thomas Field, corner of Peak street and Gaston avenne; G. B., residing in Dallas, engaged in real estate; Worth, the subject of this sketch; M. L., unmarried and employed on the Mexican Central railroad in Mexico.

The gentleman whose name heads this sketch was born in Gallatin county, Ken- tucky, in 1848; at the age of six years he first came to Dallas county, but he was edu- cated at Lexington, Kentucky. In 1865 he enlisted in Company B, Sixth Texas Cavalry, and was assigned to Ross' brigade in the Army of the Tennessee; was on garrison duty, and at the close of service returned to Dallas.

He engaged in the live-stock business in Western Texas until 1871; next, took a course in the university at Lexington, Ken- tucky; and finally, returning to Dallas, he engaged in real-estate, opening up and im-

proving property, of which he has done a large amount in East Dallas. In December, 1890, he purchased eighteen acres in Oak Cliff, on which he has erected a fine resi- dence; he has sold off all this tract, however, excepting one acre.

He was married in Navarro county, Texas, in 1881, to Miss May Fox, a native of Michi- gan, and a daughter of Robert and M. C. (Richmond) Fox, natives of the State of New York, who settled in Michigan in an early day and moved to Navarro county in 1876, where they now reside. Mr. and Mrs. Peak have had four children: Jefferson; Roy, who died at the age of two and a half years; Gor- don, who died in infancy; and Worth.

Mr. Peak, although not active in personal politics, votes the Democratic ticket. Having arrived here in the early time he has wit- nessed the growth of this wonderful city, and is acquainted with its needs, and is well and favorably known as a worthy citizen.

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Memorial and biographical history of Dallas County, Texas, Part 125

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