Memorial and biographical history of Dallas County, Texas, Part 60

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

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The firm of which Mr. Clark is a member was organized under the name of Williams, Curfman & Clark, but the latter has since bought Mr. Williams' interest in the busi- ness. For three years the firm has been Curf- man & Clark, dealers in dry goods, groceries

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

and hardware, carrying a stock of from $5.000 to $10,000, and doing an annual business of about $40,000.

Mr. Clark was married in Giles county, Tennessee, August 8, 1867, to Miss Louisa Mull, a daughter of John Mull. She died July 4, 1875, and in 1878 Mr. Clark married Miss Adeline D. McDonald. Mrs. Clark is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Clark is Past Master of the A. F. & A. M., Duck Creek Lodge, No. 441, and also a member of the I. O. O. F., Garland Lodge, No. 304.

R. LAGOW, one of the prominent young farmers of Precinct No. 3, Dallas county, Texas, was born in Ilonston county, this State, in 1862. IIe was the second-born in the family of Richard and Aun (Murchison) Lagow, natives of Texas and Tennessee respectively. Richard Lagow was born in Houston county, Decem- 16, 1841. He was there engaged in farming and sawmilling, and was ranked among the leading citizens of the community. He took part in the late war as a private in the Confed- erate service four years, being with the forces that operated in Arkansas and Louisiana. The maternal grandfather of our subject was a native of Illinois, and was a farmer by occu- pation. Following are the names of the liv- ing children of Richard Lagow, and his wife (two having died): W. R .; Lucia M., wife of Jack Witt; Liadie V., wife of I. D. Killing- worth; M. L .; Mary C .; Samuel M .; Louella A .; Charles E .; Minnie E. Mr. Lagow came to this county in 1879, and moved to a place adjoining the fair grounds of Dallas, a large tract of land his father had located when Texas was a Republic. The fair grounds occupy a portion of the original tract, 4,444 acres. Besides this he also had other lands'

in the county. The estate was divided among four sons, all settling on it and subsequently selling out, some of them going West. While he was one of the leading men in this county, Richard Lagow took no particular interest in political matters, voting with the Democratic party. He was an Elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and was a prominent member of the Grange. His death occurred in 1885. His wife died in 1887. She was also a member of the Chin- berland Presbyterian Church.

W. R. Lagow was educated in the common schools of Houston county. He remained at home until after the death of his father, and at the age of twenty-two commenced life for himself. In 1887 he bought eighty acres of the Reiman survey, on which he now resides, paying for it $50 per acre, and in 1889 he purchased 127 acres adjoining it, for which he paid $37.50 an acre. Then, in Novem- ber, 1890, he bought 100 acres that joined on the southeast, the cost per acre for this being $40. Of this land he has 215 acres under cultivation. He also owns about twenty-six acres, adjoining the fair grounds, that is valued at $200 an acre.

Mr. Lagow was married in 1886, to Miss Margaret A. Beeman, daughter of Scott Beeman. Three children have been born to thein, viz: Lizzie; Eugene, who is dead, and an infant, who died August 1, 1891.

Mrs. Lagow is a member of the Cumber- land Presbyterian Church, and Mr. Laglow, ot the Farmers' Alliance.

EWIS JACOBY, who for the past few years has been a conspicuous figure in local politics, is the subject of the fol- lowing brief biographical sketch: He was born in the State of Kentucky, Bourbon

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

county, in 1858. and is a son of John Jacoby, deceased. He passed an uneventful yonth in his native State, and enjoyed only the limited educational advantages afforded by the com- mon schools of that day. The public school system had not, at that time, reached a point worthy of the name of system, but he made the most of his opportunities and acquired a fair practical education. After leaving the school-room, until 1SS2, he was employed in various occupations; in that year he became Deputy Sheriff to Benjamin Jones, and served in that capacity four years. In 1586 he was elected Constable of Precinct No. 1, and served with such fidelity that he was re- elected in 1858. In 1990 the people still further indicated their confidence in him by electing lim Tax Collector for Dallas county. In a vigorons campaign he was chosen out of four candidates by the handsome plurality of 800 votes. He entered upon the discharge of the duties of this office in November, 1890. On a total valuation of §40.000.000 the bond of this office is $350,000. The business of this official is to collect the State, connty and occupation taxes, and the enormous aggregate renders it a very responsible position.

Mr. Jacoby was married to Miss Villa Bock, a native of Iowa, and two sons have been born of the union. They own a beauti- ful home in Oak Cliff. where they enjoy many of the material and social pleasures of life. Politically, Mr. Jacoby affiliates with the Democratic party, and stanchly supports all all the issues of that body.

C. SLAUGHTER. Dallas, Texas, is ranked with the wealthiest and most successful stock men of the State, and also has large banking interesta. llis whole life has been passed in Texas, and devoted to

the business in which he has made such signal success.

C. C. Slaughter was born in Sabine county, Texas, February 9, 1837, son of George W. and Sarah (Mason) Slanghter, who are now honored residents of Palo Pinto county, Texas. the former seventy-eight and the latter sixty-six years of age. Mrs. Slaughter is a daughter of John Mason and a relative of John Y. Mason, of the Mason and Dixon Line. George W. Slaughter was born in Mississippi, and came to Texas with his parents in 1835, and for some time was en- gaged in farming and stock-raising. The greater part of his life, however, has been spent as an itinerant Baptist minister, and as such he has been the means of accomplishing untold good. He graduated at Brush College, has been pastor of many a frontier charge, and still has regular work, preaching every Sabbath. He took part in the Indian and Texan wars, and was well and favorably known to General Houston, frequently com- manding that General's scouts. He is indeed a pioneer of the pioneers.

The subject of our sketch is the oldest of a family of ten children. One was acci- dentally killed by a mule. The others are all living.

When he was eighteen or twenty years of age. yonng Slaughter engaged in the stock business in company with his father, under the firm name of G. W. & C C. Slaughter, raising, buying. driving and shipping stock. This partnership continned some ten years. They were also connected with the firm of McLearan & Slaughter. under which name they bought goods in New York and sold them in Texas for two years. doing an extensive mercantile business and ranking with the most prominent firms of that day. The next business association with which Mr. Slangh-

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

ter was connected was that of banking in Dallas, with Colonel Hughes, J. R. Couts and T. C. Jorden stockholders. After a few years C. C. Slaughter & Co. bought ont the other stockholders and continued the banking busi- ness. Dallas at that time being the seat of his operations, he moved here, and here he has since resided.

The firm of C. C. Slanghter & Co. opened and conducted the City Bank, the banking firm being anthorized by the State in 1871. Colonel Hughes and G. W. Slaughter bought out the other partners, excepting Mr. C. C. Slaughter, and the two continued business under the same name, Colonel IIughes tak- ing charge of the banking interests, and Mr. Slaughter the buying, selling and shipping of stock, etc. In 1879 they dissolved partner- ship, and since that year our subject has been doing business alone. The City Bank was subsequently merged into the City National Bank of Dallas. Mr. Slaughter remained with it until 1884, when he resigned and ob- tained a charter and had stock taken for the American National Bank and United States Depository, and of this institution he is vice- president.

Mr. Slanghter was first married in 1860 to Miss Cynthia A. Jowell, daughter of James Jowell, of Palo Pinto county, Texas. Mrs. Slaughter was a devoted Christian woman and a member of the Baptist Church. She died in 1876, leaving a family of five children, as follows: George M., a prominent farmer and stock-raiser of Hale county, Texas, man- aging the Running Water ranch; Minnie, who is a graduate of the old Virginia Institute at Staunton, and who in 1886 spent six months in visiting various points of interest in Europe, is now the accomplished wife of Dr. G. T. Veal; Dela, wife of G. G. Wright, a prominent attorney of Dallas, has two chil-

dren: Gilbert Long and Florence; Robert E. Lee, a stock-raiser and manager of the Long ranch in Dawson county, Texas, married and has one child,-Robert E. Lee, Jr .; and Ed- gar Diek, now attending the University of Texas, preparing for the law. In 1877 Mr. Slaughter was united in marriage to Mis_ Carrie Averill, daughter of Rev. A. M. Aves rill, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, her father being a noted divine in the Baptist Church. They have four children: C. C., Alexander Averill, Carrie R. and an infant. The two sons, C. C. and A. A. are on the ranches with their brothers, learning the business with them.

Mr. Slaughter and his wife are members of the Baptist Church. They have given their children good educational advantages and take solid comfort in their welfare.

Mr. Slaughter is an unassuming business man, has a mind of broad gange, is very de- eided in his views on church and State, but is willing that everybody should be entitled to his views-thinking nothing less of any one for his opinions-provided they are con- scientions. He is a liberal contributor to all charitable purposes and trusts the world will be none the worse by his being in it.

AMES SWEARINGEN THATCHER, who has been a resident of the State of Texas since 1872, was born in Chilli- cothe, Ohio, in 1848, and is a son of N. W. and Sarah B. (Swearingen) Thatcher. The father was a native of New London, Con- neeticut, and was a druggist. He lived in Chillicothe, Ohio, until his death. The mother, who was from one of the oldest families of Virginia, died in 1886. James is the oldest son in a family of seven children.

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

Until he was fourteen years of age he at- tended the common schools of his own State, and then entered the Naval Academy at Newport, Rhode Island, by appointment of President Lincoln. He was admitted Octo- ber 1, 1862, and resigned February 23, 1865, to enter the merchant service, sailing to Japan and China. This was a novel and de- lightful experience, but he finally resigned the position to enter Kenyon College, Ohio, from which he was graduated in 1871 with the degree of A. B. He was then employed by the Atlantic & Pacific railroad, but later took a position in the machine-shops at Springfield, Missouri. Leaving this work he was employed on the preliminary survey up the Arkansas and Canadian rivers for a branch of some road. After this was finished he came to Texas, in January, 1872. With the experience he had had in surveying he was not long in finding work on the Houston & Texas Central and Texas & Pacific rail- roads surveys. In 1874 he came to Dallas city, and May 1, 1880, he was elected City Civil Engineer. He was elected a second time to the office, and then had a private of- fice. From 1886 to 1888 he again filled the office, an then retired from official life. He has been busy in getting out plans and ex- ecuting work on his own account, and has met with great success. It was under his direction that the Ennis reservoir was con- structed, and he has recently been engaged in putting in the water-works at Cisco, Eagle Pass, Gatesville and Beanmont, Texas. All the local engineering of the cable road in Dallas has been under his charge, and has been executed with great skill and prompti- tude.

Mr. Thatcher was married in Jannary, 1887, at St. Louis, Missouri, to Miss Ger- trude J. Adams, a native of Ohio, and a lady

of high mental attainments. They have one son, Edwin A. H., born October 28, 1887. Politically, Mr. Thatcher adheres to the principles of the Republican party, but he is conservative in his opinions, and casts his vote according to his impressions of the fit- ness of the candidates. He is one of the deepest and most logical reasoners on politi- cal questions, and carries conviction with his arguments. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., of the I. O. R. M., and the Knights of Pythias. He also belongs to the Theta Delta Chi fraternity, and is a member of the Episcopal Church.

B. HARRISON, a farmer residing near Gibbs, in the northwest part of the county, is a son of Jonathan Tyler and Jemima (Osborn) Harrison, and a brother of William O. Harrison, a sketch of whom will be found in this work. Jonathan B., our subject, was born in Fairfield district, South Carolina, April 6, 1852, and was reared in Anderson district, to which place his parents had moved when he was two years old. Ile received an ordinary English education, and at the age of nineteen years, in 1870, he came to Texas, making his first stop in Panola county, where he remained one year. Mr. Harrison next went to Marion county, and two years later, in the winter of 1873, came to Dallas county, first settling eight miles north of Dallas. One year later he moved to Grapevine Prairie, settling in the vicinity of Grapevine Springs, near where he now lives, and after the ex- piration of three years, during which time he rented land, he purchased fifty acres which he improved, and afterward traded for his present farm. He has bought other land, and

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

now has a farm of 1623 acres, 100 aeres of which is under a fine state of cultivation. He raises an abundance of cotton and corn, also small grain, and is interested with his brother, William O., in the mercantile busi- ness at Gibbs, doing business under the firm name of W. O. Harrison Co.

Mr. Harrison was married in Cass county, this State, December 3, 1873, to Nannie L. Grubbs, a native of Anderson distriet, South Carolina, and a daughter of W. L. and Jane Grubbs, natives of South Carolina. The parents came from Anderson distriet, South Carolina, to Texas when Mrs. Harrison was thirteen years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Harri- son's fathers were comrades during the war. Mr. and Mrs. Grubbs came to Texas in 1870, settling first in Rusk county, next in Cass county, and afterward in Dallas county, and then in Young county, where they now re- side. Mr. and Mrs. Harrison have had the following children: Nannie J., Jonathan Tyler, William G., one deceased, Sallie E., James W., Mary J., Fannie L. and Gracie. Both he and his wife are members of the Baptist Church, and the former is a Dem- oerat in his political views.

HARLES D. KANADY is one of the pioneers of Dallas county, and the following space will be devoted to a brief sketch of his career. He is a native of the State of New York, born in 1836, and is a son of R. E. Kanady, a native of New York State and a tinner by trade. His mother's maiden name was Manley, and she, too, was born in New York. Charles D. grew to be a lad of thirteen years, when he quietly took leave of his home, and wandered all over New England. He stopped in Maine long

enough to master his father's trade, and in 1853 he took passage at Thomaston, Maine, for the South. It was the trial trip of a new vessel, and landed at New Orleans. Thenee he journeyed into Alabama and Mississippi, working at his trade. In 1858 he came to Galveston, Texas, and in 1859 he embarked in business at Waxahachie, Texas. When the war broke out between the North and South, he espoused the cause of the Confederacy and enlisted in Company C, Nineteenth Texas Cavalry. After a brief service in the field he was transferred, on account of his special fit- ness for the work, to the Quartermaster's de- partment, and remained there until near the elose of the war, under Captain Alexander Howard. After the surrender he came to Dallas county and located in Laneaster, en- gaging in the hardware trade until 1868. In that year he came to Dallas city, which was then a village struggling for an existenee. He opened a stock of hardware, and soou was encouraged to erect a large store-building on Jefferson street. He carried on his business in these quarters until 1872, and then dis- posed of his interests, and retired to a plant- ation. He tried farming for eight years, but the life was not congenial to him, so he re- turned to his old occupation in 1880, which he has since continued. There are few men more widely and favorably known in Dallas county than Mr. Kanady. He is of a genial disposition, generous to a fault, and irre- proachable in his principles.

In 1861, before he went to war, Mr. Kanady was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Miller, a daughter of W. B. Miller, who emigrated to the State of Texas in 1844. Mrs. Kanady was then a child of four years, and has passed all her life here. She is a con- sistent member of the Christian Church, and is a woman greatly admired for her many

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

excellent traits of character. Three sons have been born to our subject and his wife, and all reside in Dallas. They are young men of good business qualifications and an honor to their parents. The father is a member of the Knights of Pythias, and is a stalwart Democrat.

EORGE MELLERSH has led a some- what adventurous life and has experi- enced the ups and downs of an active business career. He was born in Surrey county, England, in 1836, to Francis and Margaret (Brooker) Mellersh, the former of whom was a carriage maker by trade. He came to America in 1850 and settled in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was called from life three years later. The mother also died in Memphis, her demise taking place in 1863. They were the parents of two children : Francis who is engaged in stock raising near Memphis, and George.

The literary education of the latter was obtained in the land of his birth, and although he was anxious to secure a collegiate education, he was prevented from so doing by the immigration of his parents to Amer- ica. Upon the death of the father the family was left in poor circumstances and George at once began to make his own way in the world as a farmer on his mother's property, which calling he followed until 1853, when he went to steamboating on the Mississippi and White rivers, continning until 1855, when he volunteered in the Ninth Tennessee Infantry to go to Washington Territory to fight the Indians, and in time became Or- derly Sergeant of Company K. In 1859 he was offered a commission if he would stay in the service, but he declined and came back to Memphis via the Isthmus of Panama, reach-

ing his old home in the month of Angust of the same year. The following November he was married to Miss Elizabeth D. James, a sister of Thomas James, the coal inerchant of Memphis, soon after which event he began merchandising, but his business operations were greatly interrupted by the stirring scenes of the great Civil war. After hostili- ties had ceased he dealt in coal at Memphis until 1873, when he came to Dallas via Ful- ton and Texarkana by stage, and first em- barked in the tannery business on Ross avenne, near the present business site of Jules Schneider. Succeeding this he traveled for a grocery house of St. Louis, his territory being in the Southern States, and during this time he introduced the first Texas-made flour, manufactured by Scott's Mills. One year later he took charge of Tompkins' eoal interests, following which he sold agricultural implements for Tompkins Implement Company, making overland trips into the interior of the State. For a short time he was with Schneider & Davis but when Ullman & Co. moved to Houston and then to Galveston he re-entered their employ. Succeeding this he was with the clothing firm of Hochstadarch Bros., of New York, and three years later entered the ser- vice of C. Schepflin & Co., in New Jersey, his territory being the "Lone Star State." Such, in brief, is the business ex- perience of one of the most stirring and successful men of Texas. He is an ideal drummer, for besides being shrewd and alive to the interests of those he serves, he is genial, whole-souled and generous, and possesses a heart that has not become hardened by contact with the world. He is well ac- quainted with many of the most prominent business men of the State, by whom he is admired and respected for his many com-

W. M Luck

HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

525

mendable qualities of heart and head. IIe is a Master Mason, a member of the I. O. O. F., and in the former organization has become a Knight Templar. He is Past Grand Com- mander of Tennessee. Ile was Grand Pa- triarch of the I. O. O. F. in 1871, and is Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee. He was, in April, 1891, made a member of the Grand Lodge of Texas. He has always been a stanch Democrat, and for a number of years was an active member of the Central Baptist Church, of Memphis. In 1889 he built him a beautiful home in Dal- las, which has become well known for its generous hospitality and for the elegance and good taste of its appointments. Mr. and Mrs. Mellersh became the parents of eleven children, but only four are living: Fannie (Mrs. E. K. Martyn); Georgie, Cyrene, and Bessie.

ILLIAM M. LUCK, of the firm of Luck & Coverton, of the Eagle Ford Mills, Dallas county, Texas, forms the subject of this biography. He has been identified with the interests of the county since 1860, and merits representation in its history.

Mr. Luck is a native of North Carolina, born in Rockingham county, September 14, 1830, son of John and Lucy (Gains) Luck. The father was born in Germany and came to this country at the age of twenty-six years, and the mother was a native of Virginia, daughter of Thomas Gains, who was reared in Halifax county, that State. Grandfather Gains was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. After the birth of William M., his father moved to Henry county, Virginia.

Mr. Luck was reared in the Old Dominion, 35

with the exception of a few years spent with his parents in North Carolina. At the age of eighteen he became an apprentice to the trade of millwright, and after serving two years was made foreman, building mills through Virginia and North Carolina and doing an extensive business. IIe was mar- ried, in 1855, to Miss Ruth Dean, also a native of Henry county, Virginia, daughter of Edmund Dean and descended from an old Virginia family. Mr. Dean still resides in that State, having reached the advanced age of eighty-eight years.

October 18, 1859, Mr. Luck and his wife and two children, in company with his father's family and a party of neighbors,-over forty in number,-started with horse teams for the frontier of Texas, and after a journey of seventy-two days reached Waxahachie, Ellis county, where all but two of the company located. The following year Mr. Luck came to his present location and built the mill of which he is now proprietor. He built a mill at Pleasant Run for Hop & Miller, and afterward another for Miller. He subse- quently built one at Pater's Bluff and one at Cleveland. In 1867 he engaged in milling in Ellis county, conducting a successful busi- ness there for ten years. After that he came to Dallas county and located permanently. To him and his wife three children were born: John E., of Seymour, Texas; Emma, wife of J. II. Nichols, Haskell, Texas; and William, who died at the age of seven years. Mrs. Luck died in 1878. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was an earnest Christian and a devoted wife and inother, and her loss was deeply felt by her family and many friends. Mr. Luck is associated with the A. F. & A. M., and in politics is a Democrat. He is a self-made man, the success in life to which he has at-

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tained being the result of his own industry and foresight. He has accumulated con- siderable property, and by his honorable business dealings and upright life has won the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens.

OHN SPELLMAN, another one of the early residents of Dallas, Texas, came to , this city in May, 1875, and engaged in work at his trade, that of machinist. Dallas at that time contained only about 4,000 in- habitants, and the business was confined chiefly to the public square, all business be- ing west of Lamar street. For some time Mr. Spellman was employed in the Trinity Iron Works. He has noted with interest the rapid development of the city and has been an important factor in advancing its best in- terests.

Mr. Spellman was born in Memphis, Ten- nessee, in 1849, son of Michael and Catherine (Dougherty) Spellman. His father died in that city in 1873, and his mother still resides there. He was reared and educated in Mem- phis, served an apprenticeship to his trade, and worked at it in that city until 1875, when he came to Dallas. In August of the year following his arrival here he was married to Miss Florence Belle Patterson, a native of Dallas. Her parents, Judge J. M. Patterson and his wife were among the early settlers of the town and she was one of the first children born here. Prominent mention of Judge Patterson will be found elsewhere in this work.

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Memorial and biographical history of Dallas County, Texas, Part 60

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