USA > Texas > Dallas County > Memorial and biographical history of Dallas County, Texas > Part 55
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125
Mr. Jones was married in Galveston, Texas, in 1870, to Marie Antoinette Talley, a native of Alabama, and a daughter of Will- iam J. and Mary R. (Smith) Talley, na- tives of South Carolina. The father died in Loachapoka, Alabama, Angust 22, 1890, and the mother passed away many years before.
482
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
Mr. and Mrs. Jones have had two children: Eugenia, born September 1, 1871, died. August 26, 1890, at Loachapoka; Algernon I., born August 25, 1873, is at home. Politically, Mr. Jones is a Democrat; so- cially, a member of the Masonic order and the I. O. O. F., and religiously, his wife is a member of the Presbyterian Church.
LAYTON MILLER WIIEAT, a retired merchant of Dallas City, Texas, was born in the Pennyroyal region of Kentucky, in 1829, and was a son of Milton P. Wheat, a native of Virginia. The father emigrated to Kentucky at an early day, and later on settled. in Adair county, where Clay- ton M. passed his youth. He received only an ordinary education, but he made the most of his limited opportunities, and by close application fitted himself for mercantile life. The first business in which he engaged was that of merchandising in Kentucky, but he was afterward obliged to dispose of his inter ests there and removed to St. Paul, Min- nesota, on account of ill health. He em- barked in the same business there, and after a long and successful carcer came to Dallas, in 1873. IIe established himself in the same line. At the end of five years he retired from active pursuits, and is living in com- parative retirement.
Mr. Wheat was married in 1850, to Miss Elizabeth E. Wheat, of Kentucky, and to them have been born seven children, six of whom are living, all residents of Texas; there are four sons and two daughters. Soon after coming to Dallas county Mr. Wheat purchased a small tract of land which was then far beyond the center of population, and he still retains the old homestead. As
his children have grown to maturity and married, he has given them a home in sight of the paternal roof. He has been a member of the Christian Church since 1848, and no man has more nearly squared his life by the precepts of the New Testament. In his political, social and business relations he has employed the same high rules of conduct. He has always possessed the courage to carry out his convictions upon all subjects, and has won the lasting confidence of the en- tire community.
AMUEL A. ALLEN, of the hardware firm of Allen & Halsell, and also a member of the firm of Ilalsell & Allen, lumber merchants, was born in Kentucky, August 9, 1859, the second child of John M. and Bettie (Shannon) Allen, natives of Kentucky. The father was a farmer and stock-raiser by occupation. He came to Texas in 1859, settling two miles west of where Richardson now stands, in the north- west corner of the county, on the Huffhines farm, which was the only settled place in that section of the county. He rented this place three years, and then bought 257 acres of land eight and a half miles northeast of this płace, and moved his family into a small honse on the farm, of which only twenty acres were under cultivation. Mr. Allen then joined Captain Stratton's company of cav- alry, of the Confederate army, and served west of the Mississippi river. He served in a number of battles and skirmishes, and at the close of the war he had nearly lost his eyesight from exposure, never having been able to see well until his death, which occur- red in June, 1871. After the war he im- mediately commenced to improve his farm
483
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
and fortune, and again entered the arena of life as a farmer, supplementing it with trad- ing in and the rearing of live-stoek, in whieli he was quite successful. He added to his original purchase one mile west of where Richardson now stands, buying one and a half sections of fine land, for which he paid $1.50 per acre, but a short time after- ward sold one half of this purchase for a slight advance in price. The remainder of this land he nses as a pasture for his stock, and has also 150 acres under a fine state of cultivation, also a handsome country resi. dence, and all the necessary outbuildings for stock, ete. In 1870 he took his family to Kentucky on a visit, making the trip in a wagon drawn by horses, and returned to this county toward the latter part of the same year. He died in June, 1871, when com- paratively a young man. Mr. and Mrs. Allen were the parents of seven children, viz .: Finis E., a farmer of Precinet No. 2; Samuel A., our subject; Sallie, wife of E. A. Skiles, of Plano; James A., a farmer of Pre- cinct No. 2; Kattie and John M. One child died in infancy. Mr. Allen was a men- ber of the A. F. & A. M., and also of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Allen resides near Richardson with her youngest son and daughter, and is now in her fifty-seventh year. She is also a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
Samuel A. Allen, the subject of this sketelı, received his education in the common schools of this county, and at the age of twenty years commenced life for himself. The first year he put in a cotton crop on a portion of his father's old homestead, and later bought another small farm, on which he farmed until 1886, when he came to Garland. Mr. Allen has one of the handsomest residences in the village, and is also the owner of the lumber
yard. He has served the village of his adoption as Alderman, which office he still holds. He is doing a fine business in both his hardware and lumber interest, doing a lumber business of some $50,000, and his hardware is also in a prosperons condition. .
September 4, 1881, he was married to Miss Racbel Halsell. (See sketch of E. M. Hal- sell.) Both Mr. and Mrs. Allen are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and the former is a member of the I. O. O. F., Dnek Creek Lodge, No. 440, and also of the K. of H., of this place.
*
T. STRANGE, attorney at law North Texas bank building, Dallas, Texas, was born in Charlottesville, Albemarle county, Virginia, September 6, 1860.
When a boy, Mr. Strange served as page in the State Senate of Virginia, receiving his first appointment from Hon. John L. Mayre, the Lieutenant Governor and President of the Senate. His subsequent appointment was by Hon. R. E. Withers, Lieutenant Governor, and later a United States Senator, of the State.
While serving his second term as page, the State of Virginia chartered a lottery com- pany, making a condition in said charter, that said company should provide free board and tuition for a certain number of students, sons of Confederate officers who were killed in the Confederate service. The appointment was to be made by the Board of Directors of William and Mary College. Young Strange resigned his appointment to enter the college, being selceted by the authorized board. In this institution he passed his academic studies,
484
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
and graduated in the elass of 1875, with eredit to himself and the college.
Atter leaving college he was at different springs and watering places in Virginia, re- eruiting his healthı, which had beeome im- paired. During this time he had special instrnetion from a graduate of the Univer- sity of Virginia, in the languages, Latin and Greek. The next year he matriculated as a student in the Richmond Law College, under the tuition of " Curry & Davis," and com- pleted his law course in 1877. In 1878 he entered the University of Virginia, and grad- uated at that institution in 1880.
That same fall he came to Dallas, where he had two brothers: H. B., cashier of the Fourth National Bank until recently, and John B. Strange, Jr. Onr subjeet was taken into the law office of Crawford & Crawford, and, while not a partner, was associated with them three years. In 1884, he, with three others, ran for County Judge, and was beaten by a few votes only. He ran for City Attor- ney in 1886, and thirty-eight votes marked the difference between him and the sneeessful candidate. Sinee that he has devoted his energies to the practice of his profession, and has been very successful. He is well known in Dallas as a lawyer of marked ability as well as a speaker of power and eloquenee. His course as a member of the Dallas Bar for the past few years has gained for him a deserved reputation for industry, integrity and strict devotion to his professional work. A gentleman noted for his social qualities and inherent force of eharaeter, he is popular with all elasses, and especially adapted for a leader among his fellows.
Mr. Strange eomes of a distinguished an- cestry. His father, General John Bowie Strange, son of Colonel Gideon A. and Har- riet J. Strange, was born in Fluvanna county,
Virginia, in 1823. Colonel Gideon A. Strange served as Captain in the war of 1812. He also represented his eounty for a number of years in the Virginia Legislature.
On the 11th of November, 1839, John B. Strange was sent to the Virginia Military Institute. In the first graduating elass of that school, 1842, he received his diploma as third distinguished graduate. In addition to this high standing in his studies, he had at- tained distinetion in the military department, being the first adjutant in the corps of cadets.
After graduation, Mr. Strange was for some years a professor of mathematies in the Norfolk Academy. Eventually becoming the principal of that school, he gained for it great reputation, placing it at the head of academies and high schools in the State. Be- tween 1854 and 1856, Professor Strange founded the Albemarle Military Institute, which he conducted with great success until the beginning of hostilities in 1861.
Having been in 1859 appointed Brigade Inspector of the Third Brigade, Second Divi- sion Virginia Militia, composed of the regi- ments in the connties of Amherst, Nelson, Albemarle, Fluvanna, Lonisa and Gooehland, he was prepared to take up arms at the mo- ment Virginia assumed a hostile attitude. Appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the Nine- teenth Virginia Infantry in April, 1861, immediately after the ordinance of secession, and soon afterward promoted to Colonel, he was stationed with it at Culpeper Courthouse, and was oeeupied in drilling and preparing this regiment for service until ordered on to Manassas, just before the memorable battle of July 21, 1861. In this battle Colonel Strange fought gallantly, having already, in the words of the commanding general, Beau- regard, "gained the reputation of being brave, intelligent, and faithful in the dis-
485
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
charge of his duties." Stationed at Centre- ville, Fairfax Courthouse, and Munson's Hill, until the army fell back to the Peninsula, Colonel Strange was engaged in many skir- mishes, but received no hurt. At Williams- burg his regiment captured the Excelsior Battery, belonging to General Sickles' brig- ade. In all the battles around Richmond, extending from Seven Pines to Malvern Hill, Colonel Strange fought with distinguished gallantry. At the second battle of Manas- sas he commanded his brigade; passing over into Maryland then, he was for some time at Frederick City, Maryland, thence onward with the army to Hagerstown; and at South Mountain, September 14, 1862, he fell mor- tally wounded, having previously in the same battle received wounds in his right foot and side, which had disabled him from keeping his feet, and which did not prevent him from cheering on the noble troops of his command. Calling to them to advance, the fatal ball passed through his heart, closing instantly his career of usefulness and dauntless brav- ery, in the thirty-fourth year of his age, hav- ing passed unhurt through thirty-two pitched battles, besides numerous skirmishes. His body fell into the hands of the enemy, and its resting place was unknown to any of the family until several years after, when, through a lady who had cared for the grave, its lo- cality was made known, and the body was moved by the Masons of Norfolk, Colonel Strange having been one of that order, to the cemetery at Charlottesville, Virginia. All who knew Colonel Strange speak of him in the highest terms. Colonel Edmund Pendle- ton, of Botetourt county, Virginia, in clos- ing his enlogy on the death of General John B. Strange, says:
" It is gratifying to me to know of this friend and companion of my youth that when
our State called for her defenders he was among the first to obey the summons, and that, though he fell, he fell at the post of duty, and sleeps in the honored grave of the sol- dier who died in defending the liberties of his country."
General Strange had the degree of A. M. conferred on him by William and Mary Col- lege.
Ile was married in December, 1849, to Miss Agnes Gaines, daughter of Judge H. B. and Agnes (Gwathney) Gaines, the former of Petersburg, and the latter of King Will- iam county, Virginia. Mrs. Strange was a graduate of several colleges of Petersburg. She was a woman of rare literary attainments and social standing, having been one of the reigning belles of the " Old Dominion " for several years prior to the war. A short and interesting sketch of her life was written by Mr. Campbell in his History of Virginia. She was related to many of the largest and most influential families in Virginia. A life- long and consistent member of the Presby- terian Church, she died in that faith, Decem- ber 26, 1887, aged fifty-seven years.
OSEPH S. DUNCAN, a successful farmer of Dallas county, is a son of John R. and Elizabeth (Wilson) Dun- can. The father, who was born in Anson county, North Carolina, in 1806, moved to Mississippi in 1848, settling in De Soto county, where he lived until his death, in 1863. He was a wealthy planter before the war, but lost everything during that great struggle. He had three sons in the Confederate army, one of whom, Thomas C., was wounded at Denmark, Tennessee, and the father hear- ing of it started on horseback in the hot
486
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
weather to see him, but the exposures of the journey proved fatal to him. Our sub- jeet's mother was born in Anson county, North Carolina, in 1813, was married iu that eonnty, and accompanied her husband to De Soto county, Mississippi, and shared his fortnues until 1863, when she too passed away, her death being lastened by the death of her husband under such distressing eircum- stanees. Mr. and Mrs. Dunean had the fol- lowing children: Thomas C., who is engaged in the mercantile business at Coekrum, Mississippi; Elizabeth J., who died in De Soto county; Andrew H., who died in the Confederate service in 1863, from the effects of becoming overheated while carrying his brother, Thomas C., off the battlefield; Annie E., deceased in De Soto county, was the wife of Frank Cummings; Lydia A., a resident of De Soto county; John T., a resident of West Dallas, and a sketch of whom will be found in this work; Joseph S., our subjeet; Robert F., of Dallas county; William Benjamin, of De Soto county; and Mickie, the widow of William Coekrum, of Cockrum, Mississippi. Of these children, three, Thomas C., Andrew H. and John T., served in the Confederate army, and the second, Andrew H., died in the service.
The subject of this sketeh was born in Anson county, North Carolina, September 25, 1847, but was reared in De Soto county, Mississippi, where his parents had removed when he was small. He came to Texas in 1867, and in 1870 to Dallas county, where he bought a farm of 320 acres in the north- west part of the county, on Grapevine prairie and Cottonwood creek. Only thirty aeres of this place was broken, but he now has 135 acres under a fine state of eultiva- tion, and the remainder in pasture and hay land. Mr. Dunean has been engaged in
farming sinee coming to this eounty, has his place under a good state of eultivation, and has bought and sold other land in the county.
He was married January 3, 1870, to Miss Elizabeth H. Hill, who was born in Iowa, but reared in this county, a daughter of Joshua Hill, who came fiom Iowa to Dallas county, Texas, iu 1853. Mr. and Mrs. Dun- ean have had six children: John R., Minnie E., Ella M. and Harry Grady are the living, and Cora Lnena and Joseph W. are deceased.
B F. STALLINGS, surveyor and ap- praiser for all insurance companies doing business in the city of Dallas, has been engaged in this business since April, 1889, his work being principally confined to the eity and suburbs. Mr. Stallings eame from Albany, Indiana, to Dallas, in March, 1884, and engaged in work at his trade, that of earpenter and joiner. He soon after- ward began to take contracts, and contraeted for and ereeted some of the business honses and many of the residenees of this eity. He was thus engaged until the spring of 1889, when he took up his present business.
Mr. Stallings is a native of New Albany, Indiana, born in 1857, and is the only one now living of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. William H. Stallings, both natives of Indiana. His mother died when he was quite young. His father is now a resident of Abilene, Texas, where he is engaged in contracting and building. Our subjeet was reared and educated in New Albany, and was there married, in 1878, to Miss Mollie C. Flood, a native of that place. Her parents were born in Ireland, eamne to this country and settled in New Albany at an early day. HIer father, Joseph Flood, died in that State,
487
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
and her mother, Alice (Nary) Flood, is now a resident of Jeffersonville, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Stallings have four children: Thomas M., Ina N., Alice B., and Katie.
In his political views Mr. Stallings is Dem- oerat. He is a member of Dallas Lodge, No. 70, K. of P., and also of the Uniformed Rank, K. P. He has noted with interest the material progress of the city of Dallas, and is ranked with her public-spirited and en- thusiastic eitizens.
AMES C. HEFFINGTON took up his abode in Texas in November, 1849, set- tling in Dallas county, and engaging in agricultural pursuits. In 1852 he joined the State troops and went to the Rio Grande country. Six months later we find him en route to California, where he was engaged in mining and various other kinds of employ- ment until 1856. That year he returned to Texas and resumed farming operations, whiel! oeeupied his attention until 1861. April 13, of that year, he went into eamp with Cap- tain Hammer's company, Ford's regiment, and was in service in Texas and along the coast until the war closed. From exposure incurred while in the service he contraeted chronic diarrhea, and for two years after his return home he was not engaged in any per- manent employment.
Mr. Heffingtou was born in Simpson county, Kentucky, January 3, 1827. He was reared on a farm and received only a limited education.
In 1867 he married and settled down to farming, in which occupation he has since been engaged. and in which he has been very successful. About 1882, he, with others, took stoek in a grange store, located at Richard-
son. The Grange and then the Alliance began losing infinence, and it was necessary for some of the stockholders to shoulder the responsibilities or let all be lost; so Mr. Heffington and two others took the store and have since been successfully conducting it, it being the largest and best store in the town.
Mr. Hetlington's father, Stephen IIeffington, was a native of Virginia. He went to Ken- tueky when a small boy, and was there reared on a farm. His wife, nee Fanny Gilliland, danghter of John and Charity Gilliland, died in Kentucky. Her parents moved from South Carolina to Kentucky, where they passed the rest of their days and died. After his wife's deatlı Mr. lfeffington came with his three sons to Dallas county, Texas, and settled on a farm. His death occurred in 1858. Of their nine children the subject of our sketeh was the sixth born and is the only one now living.
James C. Heffington's first marriage has already been referred to. The lady he wed was Mrs. Mary Donghty, widow of Daniel Doughty, The latter was in the Confederate service, was a member of Morgan's command and was with him when they were captured in Ohio. He was kept in a Northern prison for many months, was finally sent to Rieh- mond for exchange, and when he reached there was siek and was sent to a hospital- He was never afterward heard from. Mrs. Heffington was born in Simpson county, Kentucky, Jannary 7, 1830, daughter of John and Elizabeth Huffhines of that State. Her parents came to Texas in 1853, and were among the prominent early settlers. Mention of them will be found on another page of this work. Mrs. Heffington departed this life in Texas, April 5, 1875. Their union was blessed with one child, Mollie B., born
488
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
in 1868. She married Edward Turner 'and now resides at Oak Cliff, her husband occupy- ing a position in the clerk's office at that place.
October 7, 1875, Mr. Heffington married Miss Susan A. Drake, daughter of George and Mary (Carson) Drake. Her parents came to Texas in 1857, and passed the re- mainder of their lives here, her father dying in 1869 and her mother in 1887. Following are the names of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Heffington: James C., born April 30, 1881; John II., September 15, 1882; George E., March 19, 1885; Leonidas S., November 22, 1886; and Mary F., August 27, 1888. All are living except one.
Mr. Heffington and his wife are members of the Baptist Church, and he is a member of the A. F. & A. M.
OLONEL P. B. HUNT, the efficient and popular United States Marshal for the Northern District of Texas, was born in Fayette county, Kentucky, October 11, 1837.
His parents were G. Drummond and Cath- erine A. (Burgess) Hunt. The former was born in New Jersey and in 1800, at the age of six, accompanied his parents to Kentucky, where he died March 1, 1889, aged ninety- five years. He was a farmer and stock-raiser by occupation, and imported some of the fin- est stallions to Kentucky, from which many of the best animals trace their pedigrees. Be- sides this, he was, in a general way, engaged in other stock-raising, in all of which he was eminently successful. He was a model Ken- tucky farmer, conducting his business on scientific principles, and adopting the most modern and approved methods and facilities.
Of natural ability, good education, thorough integrity, and a kindly disposition, coupled with a pleasing presence, he was a general favorite with his fellow men, and was greatly lamented at his demise. His noble wife died in 1843, at the age of thirty-two years, leaving a bereaved family and many friends to mourn her untimely taking away. She was a native of Kentucky, her family being from Mary- land, where, on both maternal and paternal sides, they are connected with prominent and influential people, well known in the affairs of State and in society. She, herself, inher- ited many of the brilliant qualities for which her family were famous, possessing a ready wit, beanty, refinement and many accomplish- ments.
Mr. and Mrs. Hunt had five children : George W., now a farmer in Young county, Texas; P. B., the subjectof this sketeh; Mary Dorsey, deceased in 1880, aged forty-five years, wife of Dr. Louis Craig, of Plainfield, New Jersey, also deceased, their children being William Drummond and George HInnt; Albert G., a resident of Lexington, Ken- tucky, who has served for sixteen years as Clerk of his county, being possessed of ex- cellent business qualifications; he married Miss Mollie A. Craig, and they have five children, Kittie, Henrietta, Mary C., Drumn- inond and Albert G. G. Drummond, the youngest brother, enlisted in the summer of 1861, in the late war, and was elected Adju- tant of the Third Kentucky Infantry, of Fed- erals. He served until November 23, 1863, when he was mortally wounded at the battle of Missionary Ridge, dying three days later. He was shot from his horse, while carrying the flag and leading the charge of liis regi- ment, at a distance of twenty yards from Bragg's headquarters. He was a young man of great promise, and was educated at Prinee-
489
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
ton, New Jersey, and at Georgetown Col- lege, Kentucky. Dr. Campbell, in his fu- neral sermon, said he was " very brilliant, had a good mind, was a fine writer and would have made his mark as an author in the lit- erary world." He died at at the age of twenty-one years. Captain George W. Hunt, the eldest brother, was educated at George- town, Kentucky, studied law, and after ad- mission to the bar practiced at Lexington until after the late war. During that strug- gle he was one of John Morgan's brigade adjutant generals. He is a wonderful his- torian, alinost a " walking encyclopedia," is an apt scholar and greatly devoted to books.
The subject of our sketch was educated in the common and high school of Lexington, Kentucky, and was reared to farm life. Dur- ing the late war the family was equally divided on the national question, the father espousing the Union side, although not a sol- dier, while George W. and Albert joined the Confederate army, and the subject of this sketch and G. Drummond fought on the Federal side. Albert, a Lieutenant in Col- onel Howard Smith's regiment, was captured and taken prisoner, while with Morgan on his raid through Ohio, but escaped from Camp Douglas, at Chicago, and returned to the Confederate service.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.