USA > Texas > Dallas County > Memorial and biographical history of Dallas County, Texas > Part 48
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Returning to Dallas county, Mr. Gracey was married, August 27, 1865, to Miss Mar- tha Amanda Matlock, a native of Kentucky, and a daughter of A. C. and Malvina M. (IIarris) Matlock, and they have had fourteen children, five of whom died in infancy. The living are: Malvina Isabella, now the wife of L. M. Goforth, of Hall county; Ann White, A. Lee, Effie, Laura, Addic, John, Walter and Jo.
After his marriage Mr. Gracey settled upon his present farm, which then consisted of 185 acres of wild land, which he improved, and added to, until he now is the owner of 340 acres of Dallas county's best soil, besides 640 acres in Hall county. Ever since his location here he has followed farming and stock-raising. In 1874 he put up a cotton gin, which he remodeled in 1889, giving it a
capacity of twenty-five bales per day, and is now doing an extensive business in ginning. He now resides in the village of Lisbon, of which he is the fonnder, and where he gave a lot of three acres for a church and burying- ground, built a blacksmith shop, and obtained the establishment of a post office.
During the administration of Governor E. J. Davis, he was cattle inspector. He is a charter member of Oak Cliff Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and an elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, of which denomination his wife and four of the children are also members. Mr. Gracey is a self-made man, his prosperity being due to his own industry and well directed efforts.
ILLIAM J. HALSELL came to Texas in 1852 and located in Dallas county, near the city of Dallas Two years later he moved to Dallas, and from 1854 to 1858 followed blacksmithing, he being both a blacksmith and a carpenter. He erected several buildings there. In 1859 he married and settled near where Richardson has since sprung up. In 1860 he took charge of a store at Breckenridge, selling goods for Smith & Murphy of Dallas, and remaining there two years. In 1862 he enlisted in a squadron, Colonel R. M. Gano, and left Texas for Kentucky, with the understanding that they were to act as body guard to General Breckenridge. After arriving in Kentucky, however, they were transferred to Morgan's command, and remained with him up to the time of his capture in eastern Ohio. Mr. Halsell was first taken to Johnson's Island, soon afterward to the penitentiary at Al- legheny city, and eight months later was ex- changed. While at Point Lookout he took
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siek, was sent from there to Washington and then to Fort Delaware, where he remained until the close of the war. He was in many skirmishes, but received only slight wounds. Returning home in August, 1865, he re- enmed the occupation of farming, improved a new farm, and followed agricultural pur- snits until 1881. Ile then came to Richard son, which at that time contained only a few buildings. Ile bought a honse to live in, and in 1882 began selling goods, he being the second merchant in the town. Richard- son is now a thriving town and a good trad- ing place. Mr. Halsell carries a well-assorted stock of general merchandise, and deals in produce.
William J. Halsell was born near Bowling Green, Kentneky, in August, 1830. He was reared on a farm in that State and remained there until coming to Texas, as above stated. His father, William Ilalsell, was also a native of Kentucky. His mother, nee Miss Mary Garland. was a daughter of Jack Garland. The latter went to Kentucky at an early day; was a school teacher; afterward moved to Missouri, and died there at near the age of 100 years. The subject of this sketch was the third born of their eight children. He has one brother living in Texas, who is now serving as County Commissioner.
Mr. Halsell's marriage has already been referred to. The lady he wedded was Miss Martha Hutl'hines, a member of a dis- tinguishied and highly respected family of this State. Her parents, John and Elizabeth Hufflines, natives of Kentucky and of Ger- man descent, came to Texas in 1853, and be- came prominent pioneers here. To Mr. and Mrs. Ilalsell five children have been born, Mollie B., September 15, 1870; Sarah C., October 10, 1873; Cindarella, November 16, 1874; John C., December 19, 1877; and
Elijah H., July 17, 1881. Mr. Halsell has served as Magistrate four years. He is a member of the Masonie fraternity, and he and his family belong to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
REDRICK M. MOUSER, one of the successful farmers of Preeinet No. 3, Dallas county, Texas, was born in Ken- theky, in 1835, he being the oldest of the eight children born to John and Nancy L. (Hargrave) Mouser, natives of Kentucky. Both the Hargrave and Mouser families were of German descent, their ancestors having moved from North Carolina to Kentucky at an early day. John Mouser was a prominent and successful farmer, and is still living on the place on which he was born in 1811. He is an honored and highly esteemned citizen, and for many years has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. His wife died in 1889, at the advanced age of seventy-seven years. She was a consistent member of the same church. The names of their children are as follows: Fredrick M., the subject of our sketelı; William F., de- ceased ; John W., a resident of Marion county, Kentucky; Mary E., who was the wife of Henry Sparrow, is deceasod; George, de- ceased; E. G., deceased; G. T., a farmer, re- sides at Bryan, Texas; R. M., a resident of Marion county, Kentucky; and Nanny L., deceased.
Fredrick M. Mouser received a common- school education, and at the age of twenty commeneed life for himself. He was mar- ried that year (1855) to Miss Sophia Flan- nagan, daughter of Anstin and Margaret (Shuek) Flannagan, natives of Kentucky and Pennsylvania respectively, and of Irish and
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German descent. In 1858 Mr. Mouser came to Texas and settled where we find him to- day. Here he purchased sixty-three acres of land, at a cost of $7 per acre. He has since added to his first purchase eighty-two acres, and now has under cultivation ninety-four acres. He makes a specialty of raising fine horses; has some very fine-bred horses of Morgan, Black Hawk and Hambletonian stock; and has a colt sired by a Morgan horse that is said to be one one of the finest colts in the county.
During the war Mr. Mouser served in the Confederate army, and after the surrender and his return home he found himself with- out anything save his land and his family. His fences all down, his land laid waste, no money, and only one horse, he was compelled to rent land for two years, or until he could get his own farm in condition to cultivate, From that time he has been successful. He now has a splendid farm, good buildings, etc., and is ranked with the prosperous farmers of his precinct.
Mr. Mouser and his wife are the parents of eight children, viz .: John A., a farmer of this county; William P., deceased; Fannie B., wife of I. N. Range, of this county; Charles B., who resides in Dallas; Matilda A., wife of Charles Spillman, of this county; and James O. and Eddie B., at home.
Mr. and Mrs. Monser are members of the St. Paul Catholic Church of Dallas.
B G. LANHAM, a farmer and stock raiser living in precinct No. 3, Dallas county, Texas, was born in Franklin county, Missouri, January 14, 1820. He was the fifth born in the family of eight children of Sylvester and Jane (Estes) Lanham, natives
of Kentucky and Virginia respectively. Mr. Lanham moved to Missouri when that State was yet a Territory and located in what was afterward Franklin county. IIe served in the Winnebago campaign for a short time. In 1814 he joined the American army for the war with Great Britain, but peace being declared soon afterward, he saw no active service. During Mr. Lanham's residence in Franklin county, the earthquake occurred in New Madrid and other points in southeast- ern Missouri, and was so serious in Franklin county that many chimneys were felled to the ground. From Missouri he moved to Morgan county, Illinois. This was about 1828. After living there seven years he went to Adams county, where he remained about the same length of time. As the country settled up he moved from place to place, ever seeking the frontier. Next he located on the Pratt purchase in Missouri, then in An- drew county, next to Nodaway county, same State, where he lived until 1853. That year he harnessed his team and started across the country for Texas, arriving in Dallas county and taking up his abode at the place where his son, B. G. Lanham, now lives. In mak- ing this trip they were seven weeks on the road. Arriving here December 24, 1853, he and his son immediately purchased a farm of 600 acres. Eight acres of the soil had been broken and a little log house had been built, these being the only improvements on the place. Although game was plenty here the senior Mr. Lanham found himself too old to enjoy the pleasures of the chase. He died at this place in 1863, at the age of seventy-two or three years. His wife lived until 1868, when she died, at the age of seventy-one. Of the eight children born to them all lived to be grown. Their names are as follows: Mar- garet, wife of Isaac Elam, died, leaving a
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family in this county; Curtis II., resides in Rockwell county, Texas; Lney, wife of Jacob Sheppard, of Nodaway county, Missouri; Clary, wife of Andy Sheppard, of the State of Washington; B. G., whose name heads this biography; Druzilla, wife of J. K. Allen, is deceased; Hiram, deceased; Julia A., wife Jonathan Cook, is deceased.
B. G. Lanham's educational opportunities were limited in youth, but in later life he has made up for those deficiencies by obser- vation and reading, and keeps himself well posted on the general topies of the day. He landed in Texas with more money than most of the early settlers, he having $1,600 in cash. For the 600 acres already alluded to they paid $1,000. A few years afterward the title failed to be good, and after having a suit he was compelled to give up half of the land. Game was plenty then and Mr. Lanham says his early days in Texas afford him some of his happiest recollections.
In 1862 Mr. Lanham joined the Confeder- ate army and served in the trans-Mississippi department; was on the frontier all the time with the exception of three months spent on the coast. At the close of the war he returned home, and, like many others, found himself a financial wreek, having only his land-his stoek all gone. He is now engaged in stoek- raising, although not having as much stoek as before the war. He makes a specialty of horses, having some fine specimens on his farını.
Mr. Lanham has been twice married. When he was twenty- five he wedded Miss Emma Clark, of Andrew county, Missouri, daughter of Samuel and Naney Clark. Two children were born to them: Julia A., wife of William Glover of this county, and Hiram, of Coleman county, Texas. Ilis first wife died in 1854, and in 1856 he married Miss
Mary A. Beaman, daughter of Samnel and Polly (Smelcer) Beaman, natives of Illinois who came here at an early day. This union was blessed by the birth of eight children, two of whom died when small. Jacob S. resides in this county; Samuel S., of Clay county, Texas; Sarah J., wife of Alexander Diekey, of Johnson county, Texas; Franklin, Clay county, Texas; Catherine, wife of Brance Furggerson, of this county, and William, at home with his parents.
Mr. Lanham is a member of the Farmers' Alliance of Dallas county.
T. DARGAN, one of the prominent business men of Dallas, was born in Fairfield district, South Carolina, in 1846, son of Dr. K. S. Dargan and wife, both natives of the Palmetto State.
Mr. Dargan received his education in his native State. He took a course of study at the Citadel Academy, and afterward entered the University of South Carolina, where he graduated with the class of 1867. He enlisted in the army in 1863, and served in White's battalion, doing duty in defense of Charleston and the coast. IIe stood the ser- vice remarkably well, being regarded as one of the toughest men in his company.
The war over, he began the study of law with Carrol, Melton & Melton, at Columbia, South Carolina, but he never engaged in the practice of law. In 1869 he embarked in the life and fire insurance business and pur- sned it with success at various points in the South until he came to Dallas, in 1875, where he devoted his energies to fire insur- anee only, being a member of the firm of Dargan & Trezevant, insurance managers, until 1889. This firm built up the largest
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business in the South. running over $500 .- 000 net premiums a year. On retiring from the insurance business in 1889. Mr. Dargan promoted and organized the Security Mort- gage and Trust Company of Dallas. The officers are as follows: J. T. Trezevant. president; J. T. Dargan, vice-president : J. C. O'Connor, second vice-president : Guy Sump- ter, third vice-president: W. W. Rogers. secretary: E. M. Reardon. treasurer. The assets of the company amount to $2.250.000. Their building, which is now near completion. with the grounds. cost $250.000. It is cou- veniently located and is nudoubtedly one of the finest structures in the Southwest for office purposes. There are over 100 rooms for offices above the ground door. Of this immense business Mr. Dargan is the head and front.
He is a man of Scotch-Irish extraction and has marked individuality. He is & thor- onghly self-made man: has been an earnest sindent in every line of business in which he has engaged : has been a splendid snecess in the insurance business; and all who know him in business relations appreciate him for his true worth and good business qualifica- tions. He has a beantifnl home with attrac- tive surroundings and everything to make life enjoyable. Mr. Dargan is well known in the Eastern cities as throughout the Southwest. his business relations having brought him in contact with many of the prominent men of New York. Philadelphia and Baltimore. He affiliates with the De- mocratie party, but is not a politician. In 18SO he took the prize in Chicago for the ablest essay on the subject of Fire Insurance. against the best talent in the United States.
Mr. Dargan was married in 1576. to Miss Teresse Carlton. daughter of R. G. Carlton, of Union Point. Georgis. To them have
been boru three children: Ret. J. T. and Ellie. Mrs. Dargan is a lady of culture. refinement aud social attainments. and is a meuiber of the Methodist Episcopal Church Sonth. Mr. Dargan. accompanied by his wife. has traveled extensively in Europe. visiting its principal cities.
OHN W. MERRIFIELD. deceased, set- tled in Dallas county in 1849, but was a native of Kentneky, born near Louisville March 12. 1523. a son of John and Sarah Merritield, both of whom were born in the blue-grass regions of Kentucky. John W. Merrifield, was brought up on a farm and upon his removal to Texas in the fall of 1549, he was thoroughly familiar with all the details of the business. He at once lo- cated on a farm which he had previously secured about five miles west of Dallas, where he assisted his father, who had also come to this section. in improving the land. After remaining with his father until 1553 he em- barked in the grocery business. to which his attention was devoted for two years. He then turned his business over to the mangement of a elerk. and upon a tract of 320 acres of wild land he began the task of improving.
He was married August 18. 1859. to Miss A. E. Hern. a native of Clay county, Missouri and s daughter of William and Elizabeth (Sloan) Hern. Tennesseeans by birth, who were of French and Irish descent respectively and who removed to Missouri in an early day. The Herns came to Texas in 1844 and settled in Red River county. where they resided four years: then he came to Dallas county. arriv- ing May 10. 1549. where the father died in 1859. at the age of fifty-two years. the mother being still a resident of Dallas. After their
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marriage Mr. and Mrs. Merrifield settled on the headright he had purchased and he soon after elosed up his business in Dallas and began giving his entire attention to agricul- tural pursuits, which he followed until his death. They became the parents of six ehil- dren, tive of whom still survive: Sarah Eliz- abeth, the wife of James Freeman; William Jefferson; Thomas Alexander; Jolin Samnel, who died in 1878 at the age of eight months; Charles Boone and Rachel J.
Mr. Merrifield was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and died while in full communion with that church, Septem- ber 8, 1888, not only his immediate and sor- rowing family mourning his loss, but also a large circle of friends. He was a member of the A. F. and A. M., socially. During the Civil war he served in the Commissary Dc- partment. His widow, who is also a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, resides on the home place which is managed by oue of her sons. Mr. Merrifield first started out in life on borrowed capital, but by giving his closest attention to his business, and by goud management, he accuinnlated a large property, becoming the owner of 1,080 acres of land, some of the most fertile of Dallas county. Ile was a successsul business man, and his honorable way of conducting his affairs won him the confidence and estcem of all who knew him.
L. STUART, carpenter and builder of Dallas, was born in Lincolnton, Lin-
o coln county, North Carolina, in 1841, the third in a family of cight children of N. T. and Caroline (Robinson) Stuart, natives also of North Carolina. His father, a me- chanie and farmer, and his mother are still living, on a farm in North Carolina. The Stu-
arts of North Carolina are descendants of two brothers, Scotchmen, who settled near Davison College, that State, before the Revolution. Both the grandfathers were in the Revolu- tionary war and grandfather Robinson was a soldier also in thic war of 1812; he was a na- tive of County cork, Ireland.
Mr. Stuart, whose name heads this sketch, was attending a military college of Charlotte at the breaking out of the war, and in 1862 he culisted, at Lincolnton, in Company G, Fifty-seventh North Carolina Volunteer In- fantry, as a private and color-bearer, or Ser- geant, and was engaged in the battle of Seven Pines, the Wilderness, of the Shenandoah Valley, etc. At the battle of the Wilderness he received a gunshot wound which was so severe that he was left on the field for dead. Ile was confined in the hospital at Richmond, Virginia, from May to July. Afterward he received another gunshot wound in the foot, at the battle of Winchester, an he was also engaged in the battle of Petersburg and at Newbern. Ile was paroled at Appomattox Court-House in 1865.
Returning to North Carolina, he attended school six months. He was married in Co- lumbia, the capital of South Carolina. De- cember 23, 1867, to Eliza Gibson, a native of that State and daughter of Nicholas and Onslow (Hussey) Gibson, natives also of that State, respectively of Fairfield and Charles- ton. Her father was a cotton buyer and in later life a railroad agent, and was finally killed at Killian's mill, South Carolina, in 1850, in a railroad wreck. Her mother died in 1862, in the same State. Her grand- father Husscy, a native of England, was a seafaring man who lost his vessels during the Revolutionary war. After his marriage Mr. Stuart settled in South Carolina. In 1872 he came to Dallas, and sinec that time
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he has followed his trade. For the first sev- eral years he was employed by others, then was a contractor for a few years, and then worked by the day. He has traveled over a large portion of this State, prospecting, and has become interested in considerable land in western Texas. Has taken mnuch interest in politics. voting with the Democratic party. For this party he is a member of the City Execu- tive Committee, but he is not desirous of office. He is a public-spirited citizen. His children are: A. M .; Etta T. (now Mrs. D. G. Hinckley in Dallas), Thomas, and Nannie.
ILLIAM KELLEY, dealer in general merchandse, is one of the prosperous business men of Dallas, Texas.
Mr. Kelley was born in Loekport, New York, January 1, 1850, son of Thomas and Mary (Hicks) Kelley, who were natives of Ireland, and who were married in New York. His father, a civil engineer, went to Wiscon- sin as a surveyor in 1852. and bought a farm and settled on it in Dodge county. He died there in 1862, aged forty years, and his wife in 1864, aged forty-five. Both were devout Catholics. Their family of nine children are as follows: Ann, wife of John Manning; William. the subject of this sketch; Mary, a sister in the convent, Sacred Heart, at St. Louis; Ellen, wife of Michael Murphy; Thomas; Elizabeth, a sister in the Milwaukee convent; John, who died at the age of eleven years; Margaret; and Catherine, wife of James Murphy.
William Kelley received his education in the leading schools of Wisconsin. February 6, 1862, at the age of twelve years and thirty-seven days, he enlisted in Company D, Seventeenth Wisconsin Infantry, and re-
mained in the service of the Union until the war was practically over. He was probably the youngest soldier in the Federal army. Tall, mature-looking, wiry and tough, with a nature bold and daring. frank and generous, he combined physical strength and powers of endurance, and was thus equipped with soldierly traits possessed by few. He partic- ipated in many of the principal engagements of the war, was never wounded or imprisoned, and after leaving the service returned to New York, reaching that city on the Satur- day following the assassination of President Lincoln. After remaining in New York about a month, he went to Chicago, thence to St. Louis, and from there to Little Rock, Arkansas. At the latter place he clerked in the Quartermaster's Department for a time. after which he was employed by the Govern- ment to exhume the dead Union soldiers and remove them to the cemetery at Little Rock.
Leaving the Government service, Mr. Kelley was engaged as passenger agent on a line of boats (also had charge of the mail) between Little Rock and Memphis, being thus employed three years. The following two years he clerked in the railway station at Little Rock, after which he was captain of a ferry boat three years. After that he took a course in a commercial college of that city, and at the same time was engaged iu buying cotton on the streets on a commission.
Mr. Kelley dates his arrival in Texas in 1876. He clerked in a grocery in San Antonio for nearly a year, after which he canvassed for various articles in several cities. In 1877 he engaged in his present business in Dallas. As a merchant he has been very successful, and has also made some money in the real-estate business.
Mr. Kelley was married May 10, 1881. to Miss Anna Fleshheimer. stepdaughter of
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Henry Guyer, of Little Rock, Arkansas. Her father died in St. Louis when she was nine years of age. Her mother passed away in Little Rock, in 1890. Mr. and Mrs. Kelley have three children: Elsie, Thomas J., and Stafford E. He is a Catholic, while his wife is a member of the Lutheran Church.
11. LINDSAY, of the firm of Lindsay & Reid, contractors and builders, Dal- @ las, have a stone yard on Pacific av- enne and Broadway, where they dress and pre- pare building stone of every description. Among the principal structures furnished with stone by this eompany are the Guild and the Jones buildings, the Dallas Club- house, F. M. Cockerell building on Main street, the Sanger building, the Baptist Church on the corner of Patterson avenue and Ervay street, the Barton building and the Simpson, Huffman & Ardrey building-all in Dallas, besides a bank building at Waxahachie; and they have contracted for the courthouse in Limestone county, Texas. Mr. Lindsay also did the stone work on the patrol station, in Dallas, on the C. T. Rowan building, on Main street, etc., etc., besides a vast amount of trimming on business blocks, public build- ings and residences. He first came to Dallas in 1883, at first working by the day on the Windsor Hotel and the Merchants' Exchange building. About 1887 he formed his pres- ent partnership.
Mr. Lindsay was born in Edinburgh, Scot- land, in June, 1862, the eldest ehild in a family of four sons of David and Sarah Lind- say, natives respectively of Scotland and Eng- land. He was very young when his mother died; but his father, also a stone mason by trade, is still living, in Edinburgh. Mr. |
Lindsay was reared in the city of Edinburgh, learning his trade there. In 1881 he went to London for a while, following his vocation ; then returned te Scotland, and in March, 1882, he sailed from Glasgow to America, landing at New York. For a time he worked at Cleveland, Ohio, and towns in the vicinity, and visited LaFayette, Indiana, and came thence to Dallas.
He was married in December, 1888, in Dallas, to Ilelen Struthers, of Strathaven, Lanarkshire, Scotland.
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