Memorial and biographical history of Dallas County, Texas, Part 19

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 19

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SEC. 8 .- All process, heretofore issued or served, returnable to the district court of Dallas county, shall be considered as return- able at the times as herein prescribed, and all such process is hereby legalized and validated as if the same had been made returnable to the court, and at the time herein prescribed. SEC. 9 .- That all laws and parts of laws in conflict with this act are hereby repealed.

SEC. 10 .- The crowded condition of the docket of the district court of Dallas county creates an imperative public necessity and emergency that requires that the constitu- tional rule requiring bills to be read on tliree several days be suspended, and that this bill be placed upon its passage, without being so read, and that this act take effect, and be in force from its passage; and it is so enacted.

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

[NOTE .- The foregoing act originated in the Senate, and passed the same by a vote of 23 yeas to 4 nays, and passed the Honse by a vote of 60 yeas to 34 nays.

[NOTE .- The act was presented to the Governor of Texas, for his approval, Febrn- ary 27, 1889, and was not signed by him, nor returned to the house in which it origi- nated, with his objections thereto, within the time prescribed by the constitution, and thereupon became a law withont his signa- ture -- J. M. Moore, Secretary of State.

THE COURT HOUSES.

The first courts of Dallas county, we learn from old settlers, were held in a rough crude log honse, the best that could be afforded at that stage of civilization and development of this section of country, and probably it was good enough for a new frontier country, as the few people here then were not so much interested in an imposing house in which they could assemble to mete out justice as they were in the abstract fact of obtaining justice.

While there are no records of the plans and specifications of the first courthouse, it is said that after the use of the log house a building was erected for the clerks of the county and district courts, in which the courts were held for some time.

The contract was awarded to J. B. MePher- son on the 9th day of December, 1850, but the records fail to show at what contract price. The building is described as follows: " 16 feet wide by 32 feet long, and 9 feet between the floor and joists; to be well

framed; the sills to be 8 inches thick by 10 inches wide and placed on blocks 18 inches long, put 12 inches in the ground; the plates to be 4 inches thick by 6 inches wide; the studding to be 4 inches thick; corner posts well braced; joists to be two feet apart, hewn or sawed straight on the under side; to be well covered with good shingles; the sleepers to be stont and 18 inches apart; the floors to be laid of good plank flooring well jointed; a partition wall run across the center of the building; said partition and the ontside walls to be weather-boarded up with four-foot boards well shaved; with a good stone chim- ney, to be built in the center of the building, with a fire-place in each room; one door of tlie usual size in each room, well cased up with plank of proper thickness, with a good batten shutter to each door and a knob lock on each; two twelve-light windows in each room (one in the side and one in end); also plank shutters, with bolts to fasten; also one book- case in each room alongside the chimney, with various apartments sufficient to contain the books and papers of the two clerks' offices of the county."

On October, 1855, the contract for a court- house was let to Moore & Wilkes, the con- traet price being 87,400. The plans and specifications for this new courthouse were drawn by John J. Good, James M. Patterson and W. W. Peak, and provided for a building to be built of the best brick that could be manufactured in this county. In dimensions it was fifty feet square and two stories high, to be covered with the best quality of lead roofing, all wood used, to be pine, except the

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

columns, sleepers and joists, which were to be of sound oak, and lintels, which were to be of good heart cedar. There was a brick chimney in each corner of the honse, with a fire-place in each, three feet high and three feet wide. There were thirty-two small win- dows, and four large windows, seven and one half by ten feet each; four large doors seven and one half by ten feet each, the doors to be paneled work and well finished. The building was painted white on the insido ex- cept the bar, jury box and clerk's desk, which were of a walnut color. John J. Good, James N. Smith and - Jennings superintended the construction of this, then magnificent, structure.

Dallas connty held her courts in this build- ing for about fifteen years, or until 1871, when it was condemned by the court as un- safe and sold for the paltry sum of $465, in two notes of $232.50 each, due in six months and one year, respectively, from date, April 29, 1871.

In this year the county contracted for an- other courthonse. The contract was let to James Donegan, but he failed to complete the work, and in November, 1871, the county paid him for the material on the ground and the labor he had done, and relieved him of the responsibility on the contract.

This building was made of stone quarried in Dallas county. It was two-stories high, of white stone, and made a very pretty building, which was used as a temple of justice till 1880, when it was partially destroyed by fire, the four walls being all that remained after the dreaded monster had completed its work.

The walls not being damaged to any great ex- tent the inside was rebuilt, the walls repaired, and a third story added, and a tower was built in the center, and a beautiful as well as substantial building was the result. Trees were planted in the yard around the building and an iron fence built around the square; and, all in all, it presented a very beautiful ap- pearance; but it was no fire-proof, and again in 1890, just ten years and three days after the first fire, Dallas county was again without a courthouse.

THE COURTHOUSE AS REBUILT, 1880.

On the 7th day of February, 1890, about three o'clock in the afternoon, Mr. Moore, deputy sheriff, and Mr. Jackson, deputy county clerk, were in Judge E. G. Bowers' court room, when all on a sudden they heard a roaring behind them, and upon looking around discovered the building to be on fire. The alarm was sounded, and the fire department promptly responded, but the wind being high and the water scarce they conld do little good, and in little more than an hour the parts of four charred walls were all that were left of Dallas connty's fourth courthouse!

Though unfortunate in losing two conrt-

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

honses by fire, yet, fortunate for the citizens of the county, the records have never been lost, as a fire-proof building separate and apart from the courthouse, but adjacent to the same, was used for the safe-keeping of valuable papers and records.

THE PRESENT COURTHOUSE.

This being the banner county in the State in wealth and population and enterprise, after the destruction of the old courthouse by this last fire, it was the wish of the people that Dallas county should have a courthouse second to none in the South.

The new courthouse, which is just being completed, is constructed of Little Rock (Ar- kansas) blue granite and Pecos red sandstone, using eight columns of Texas granite the same as in the capitol, two being placed at each of the four entrances. The first story is built entirely of the blue granite and the remainder of the building of the red sandstone, with trimmings of the blue granite. The body of the building is three stories high, the summit of the eight round towers which are placed on the main building being 118 feet from the surface of the ground. The height of the main tower in the center of the building is 205 feet. The building is 188 feet and eight inches long, by 106 feet, eleven inches wide. There are six court rooms in the building, 40 x 56 feet, and two library rooms, of the same size. These eight rooms are situated on the second and third floors. On the first floor are located all the county offices, fifteen in number, which will be used by county officers. On the second

floor there are seven offices, and on the third floor nine offices, besides the court rooms mentioned. The first floor has two toilet rooms; the second floor, four; third floor, two; and fourth floor, two. The fourth floor has eight offices.

There are two passenger elevators in the building, one on each side of the main stair- way.

It is a fire-proof building, all structural work being iron, as is the stairway. The floors in corridors and toilet rooms are of en- caustic and vitreous tile, and the wainscoting of Tennessee marble, the wainscoting rising to a height of three feet and six inches in the corridors and five feet in the toilet rooms. The floors of the court rooms and libraries are covered with linoleum tile. The wain- scoting is of white oak, as is also the entire wood finish of the building.

The roof is slate, laid in horizontal bands of red, blue and green, excepting the eight round towers which are covered with red slate only.

All sheet metal work about the building is of fourteen and sixteen ounec copper. Water service throughout the building will be per- feet, and for lighting purposes combination fixtures are provided, and either gas or elec- tric lights can be used.

In the main tower is placed a clock of the E. Howard make, being a number-three striker, having four illuminated glass dials nine feet six inches in diameter. The clock strikes the hours only, with a bell weighing 4,500 pounds.

The writer, not being well versed in archi-

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

tectural work, can only give an incomplete description of this magnificent building, but suffice it to say that it is the finest courthouse in the South, and one of the finest in the Union, and not only reflects credit on Dallas connty and her citizens, but also on the entire State, and is a monument to the industry and enterprise of her people.

THE PRESENT COURTHOUSE, ERECTED 1891-192.

THE FIRST JAIL.

In the early settlement of the county, there being but few people here, crime was almost unknown among the pioneers; but there is no country in which it is altogether wanting, and the necessity for a place for the safe keeping of those who were charged with offenses against the laws of the State soon

became apparent. To that end, on the 9th day of December, 1850, the county court let the contract for the building of a jail to one James Chapman. The following is a full description of it as taken from the minutes of the court:

"The foundation to be of cedar posts three feet long, set on end and buried even with the surface of the earth and placed against each other so as to form a wall; the outside wall to be hewn to the thickness of eight inches and edged down to a joint sixteen feet square and nine feet high between the floors; a sill to rest on said posts (inside of the out- side wall), for the floor to rest on; the floor to be of oak timber ten inches thick and fitted to a joint; the inside wall to rest on the floor and to be made of the same mate- rial, and in like manner as the outside wall, and placed eight inches from the outside wall, and the space between to be filled with hewn timber eight inches thick, set upon end; the upper floor to be made of oak timber ten inches square and closely fitted together; the roof to be of good shingles well nailed on, and the gable ends weather-boarded up with well shaved boards or plank; with one door to be cut ont three and one-half feet wide and five feet high, cased up with oak casing six inches thick and two feet wide, and put on with large iron spikes; with two shutters, one to open inside and the other ontside, both to be made of oak plank two inches thick, and two thicknesses of said plank, one across the other, fastened together with wrought rivets, and a ten-penny nail driven in every inch square on each side of each shutter, to be hung on such hinges and secured by such locks as will be approved by said commissioners; to have one window ten by sixteen inches cased up with slab iron sufficiently wide to fasten to each wall and spiked strongly to the same with two wid -

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

iron bars passing horizontally across the win- dow through the easing and into the walls, and three and one-fourth-inches square iron bars, placed perpendienlarly, passing through the horizontal bars and easing into the wall above and below."

DALLAS BAR.

The first lawyer that arrived in Dallas county was Jolin C. McCoy, in 1845, from Jeffersonville, Indiana; next came HIon. Nat. M. Burford, in 1848; then Hon. John J. Good, in 1857; shortly afterward eame John M. Crockett.

As can be seen in records of the officers of the county, each of these gentlemen attained distinction and eminence in their profession and filled high places of honor. Onward bas the bar of Dallas grown in reputation for lawyers of superior ability until to-day it is regarded as equal to any bar in the South, and that of any eity of the population of Dallas in the United States.

Some of its members at present are honored with some of the highest offices in the State, viz .: John L. Henry is a member of the Supreme Court, Judge J. M. Hurt, member of the Court of Appeals, and Charles A. Culberson, Attorney General of the State.

The following is a list of the present mem- bers of Dallas Bar:

Alexander and Clark, W. A. Kemp,

R. B. Allen, J. A. Kelley,

J. R. Astin, R. E. L. Knight,

Bassett, Seay & Nurse, A. S. Lathrop,

F. J. Bell, II. P. Lawther,

J. C. Bigger, S. A. Leake,

W. A. Bonner, Leake, Shepard and

Bookhout and MeLau- Miller,

rin, S. S. Long,

E. G. Bower, R. S. Lovett,

C. W. Boyer,

E. P. Marshall,

II. E. Bradford,

Engene Marshall,

Wharton Branch, .

L. II. Mathis,

E. M. Browder,

A. M. May,

J. W. Brown,

S. C. MeCormiel,

R. E. Bumpas,

MeCormich and

N. M. Burford, Spence,

R. E. Burke,

W. L. MeDonald,

T. L. . Camp,

McKamy and Haw-

Carden and Brownrigg, kins,

E. Chambers, D. P. MeKay,

Wm. Charlton, M. W. Miller,

F. K. Chase (colored), T. B. Miller,

R. M. Clark, C. H. Mills,

Charles F. Clint, W. M. Minyard,

Cobb and Avery, C. Monroe,

G. C. Cole,

J. W. Moore,

T. M. Conner, Richard Morgan,

Coombes and Gano, S. P. Morris,

W. N. Coombes, Morris and Crow,

L. Myers Connor,

HI. L. Obenchain,

F. D. Cosby,

I. R. Oeland,

R. D. Conghanour,

J. C. Patton,

R. E. Covart, M. M. Parks,

K. R. Craig,

H. I. Phillips,

Crawford and Craw- G. Il. Plowman, ford, Porter and Reed,

J. D. Crutcher, Robertson and Coke,

M. C. Cullen, Robertson and Gray

L. M. Dabney, (Robertson deceased),

G. W. Davis, Russell, Cooper and

J. O. Davis, Lemmon.

Dickson and Moroney, U. F. Short,

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY-

Y. B. Dowell,

Simkins, Morrow and

J. T. Downs,

Roberts,

M. L. Dye,

Simpson and Robert-

Oatis S. Eaton, son,

Edward and Blewett, C. P. Smith,

W. M. Edwards, J. W. Smith,

D. A. Eldridge, C. E. Stewart,

C. I. Evans, W. T. Strange,

Field and Howan, Thomas and Edmond-

Fitzhugh and Wozen- son,

craft, Thompson and Thomp- son,

Kenneth Force,

J. D. Fowraker,

Wm. Thompson,

Freemen, Hall and

W. L. Thompson,

Leake,

Stonewall Tingle,

M. D. Gano,

M. Trice,

J. W. George,

Charles Fred Tucker,

B. Gibbs, Turney and Brooks,

E. E. Gibson, Watts Aldredge and

Gillespie and Capers, Eckford,

G. G. Goldman, J. P. C. Whitehead,

G. I. Gooch,

J. E. Wiley,

De E. Greer,

D. A. Williams,

J. M. Haynes,

E. G. Williams,

V. H. Hexter,

W. L. Williams,

V. O. Hildreth, Wooten and Kim-

T. T. Holloway,

brongh,

C. E. Hooker, Jr.,

R. H West,

A. J. Houston,

Alexander White,

E. O. Howell,

Word and Reeves,

A. I. Hudson,

T. A. Work,

S. H. Hurlock, A. P. Wozencraft,

Kearby and McCoy, G. G. Wright.

MEDICAL.

PIONEER PHYSICIANS.

Among the old pioneers who deserve special mention on the pages of history arc the old pioneer physicians. Among that number is Dr. A. A. Johnson, of Dallas, who graduated at the University of Lonisville, Kentucky, in the winter of 1856 and came immediately to Dallas, where he first " hung out his shingle," and where he has since con- tinned to practice except when serving as surgeon in that branch of the Confederate service known as the Army of the Tennessee. It is not quite easy to determine who was the first physician to locate within the present boundaries of the county of Dallas, but from the information at hand the honor appears to belong to a Dr. Conover, who came about 1843 or '44, prior to the organization of Dal- las connty, settling at Cedar Springs, on the lot where Jack Coles' handsome residence now stands, and part of the old orchard planted by his hands remains to mark the spot where he lived.

A short time after came a Dr. Sampson, and was known among old settlers as the " hot-water and steam doctor."

The third and best remembered of the first doctors was Dr. Jerry Dakin. He had been deprived of a complete literary education but, as one of his friends in Dallas expresses it, he was a " natural born doctor," and was regarded by his brother physicians who came later as a successful practitioner. A few years ago, broken down in health and for-

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

tune, he laid his burden down and rested by the wayside.

The next to come, in 1846, was Dr. S. B. Pryor. About four years later his brother, Dr. Charles R. Pryor, joined him here. These gentlemen were scions of an old Vir- ginia family, and were noted both for their social and intellectual culture as well as their professional ability. Dr. S. B. Pryor died here and is buried in the cemetery of Dallas. The widow is living and spending her de- clining years in the State of Arkansas.

In 1851 Dr. David King came from Ten - nessee and located on the Lancaster road about three miles south of Dallas (a sketch of his life appears in the biographical part of this work).

Dr. James Wright came in the '50s, locating about four miles west of Dallas. Dr. James Swindell also came in the '50s, and located in Lancaster, where he now resides.

Dr. J. E. Thomas came in 1854. At the beginning of the Civil war he abandoned his practice here and went ont as surgeon in Colonel Nat. M. Burford's regiment and promptly entered upon his duties in the field. The months of lingering camp life in pesti- lential swamps and morasses, the days and nights of weary march ainid the heat, cold, chilling sleet and drenching rain, planted in him the seeds of consumption, from which he died in 1868.

On many occasions these old pioneer doc- tors were called np at the hour of midnight to ride twenty-five or thirty miles to attend a siek-bed. There were no railroads here 15

then, and the only travel was in the saddle. The country was sparsely settled and fre- quently through the cold and the rain and the mud and the dark these old pioneer doctors would take these long, lonely rides, not so much for pecuniary gain as to relieve the sufferings of their fellow-men, for they treated all alike, whether they had money or not. No prescriptions were written in those days: the doctor carried his drug store in his saddle-bags and dealt ont the doses, fre- quently administering the medicine with his own hand and remaining with the patient until he was out of danger. He was in truth a benefactor, and, like the people whom he served, he must share the hardships and struggles of life in a new country, away from conveniences of all kinds, where his lonely rides often carried him for many miles with- out seeing a solitary habitation of a fellow- man. The medicines which he carried were often exceedingly costly, yet they were dealt out withont stint whenever his professional services were in demand. His fees were small, and as money was an article not pos- sessed in abundance by many of the settlers, he was obliged to take his pay in such prod- ucts as the afflicted person could provide. Often the doctor's ministrations were a labor of charity, for his fees were not always forth- coming; yet he lived and toiled on in his work of relieving the sick and distressed and shared with the people their prosperity or adversity.

Dr. Johnson, who came in 1856, is the only one of the pioneer physicians now

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

practicing in Dallas. The doctor ranks among his patients some of the leading men and and women of Texas, both of the past and the present, and from the period of his ar- rival in this country has highly distinguished himself as a physician, as a surgeon and as an obstetrician, and all who know him well speak in the highest praise of his many noble qualities. Honor, integrity and lofty-minded strength of purpose, with a scrupulous re- gard for the true ethics of his profession, are qualities he possesses and holds dearer than anything else upon earth. Although nearing the sixtieth mile-post of life, the highly preserved state of his health visibly indicates a long life. The pleasant relations that have existed between Dr. Johnson and the people of the country and the trust they have reposed in him is fully appreciated. Indeed he cherishes with genuine pride, as well he may, the esteem and kindly regard in which he has been held by the good people of this community during the many years he has lived in Dallas county. His learning and skill, his high sense of professional honor and his kindly nature have combined to give him a warm place in the hearts of the old Texan. They fully believe that as a phy- sician he has been the means of saving hun- dreds of lives; and only those who are familiar with the affectionate way in which the people speak of him can appreciate how stroug is their friendship for him.

MEDICAL ASSOCIATIONS.

The first medical association in Dallas was organized in 1872. Dr. A. A. Johnson was

elected its president, It lived only about a year, and, as the doctor expresses it, " it died a-teething." Several others were organized, but never got out of their swaddling clothes. The influx of doctors were such that in 1884 the leading physicians deemed it ad- visable to organize an association. So, on April 3, 1884, the leading physicians of Dal- las met for the purpose of organizing a medical association. The following is taken from the records of the society:

" DALLAS, TEXAS, April 3, 1884.

" The following gentlemen met at Drs. Chilton & Smith's office Tuesday, April 3, 1884, for the purpose of organizing a connty medical association. Dr. Morton was called to the chair to act as temporary chairman and Dr. Veal to act as temporary secretary of the meet. ing. Present also: Drs. Thompson, Moseley, Elliott, Leake, Eagon, Sutton, Chilton, Smith and Meeks. A committee of three, composed of Drs. Leake, Sutton and Elliott, was ap- pointed to notify the physicians in the city and county of Dallas (Dr. Leake acting as chairman of said committee) that a meeting be held at Drs. Chilton & Smith's office Sat- urday at 3 p. M., April 12, 1884, for the pur- purpose of effecting a permanent organiza- tion. Upon motion the meeting adjonrued until Saturday, 3 P. M., April 12, 1884.

SATURDAY, April, 12, 1884.

Dr. Morton, temporary chairman, called the meeting to order and asked for minutes of last meeting, which were read by the sec- retary, after which the following resolutions were offered by Dr. Thompson, before com- mencing the business of the meeting:

Resolved, First, that we, the regular prac- ticing physicians of the city and county of Dallas, in convention assembled, adopt the

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

rules of the State Medical Association re- garding admission of members, which are as follows: Article Third of the constitution says there shall be only one class of members in this association, namely: Every regularly educated man within the limits of the county who is a graduate of a regular medical col- lege in good standing, and who adopts and conforms to the code of ethics of the Ameri- can Medical Association, shall be eligible to membership in this body.

Resolved, That the temporary chairman appoint as a judicial conneil three physicians of the city and two of the county, known to be regular graduates in medicine, whose duty it shall be to decide upon the eligibility of candidates for membership and to whom all applications for membership shall be re- ferred.

The above resolution being unanimously adopted, the chairman appointed a commit- tee of five, viz .: Drs. Thompson, Sutton, Al- len, Smith and Dr. Thompson acting as chairman of said committee.

After a judicial examination of the names brought before the committee the chairman reported thirty-seven as eligible to member. ship in the society.

The next important point for considera- tion being the election of officers, the result was as follows: Dr. Morton, president; Dr. Leake, first vice-president; Dr. Thruston, second vice-president; Dr. Smith, treasurer; Dr. Veal, secretary.

On a committee of by-laws the following were appointed by the president: Drs. Eagon, Johnson and Newsom, also a judiciary com- mittee, comprised of Drs. Leake, Thompson, Sutton and Eagon.

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Memorial and biographical history of Dallas County, Texas, Part 19

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