Memorial and biographical history of Dallas County, Texas, Part 61

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 61

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).

After his marriage Mr. Spellman located on Ross avenue, and since that time has erected five residences on Ross avenue, all two-story houses except one, which is a fine cottage. Politically, he is a Democrat, and

has taken quite an active interest in local politics; has served as Alderman from the Second Ward from 1882 to 1886; acted as Mayor pro tem. of the city one year; while in the City Council, served as a member of the School Committee; and was instrumental in pushing forward the work of paving many of the principal streets; was Chairman of the Street and Bridge committee when the first block was laid on the streets of Dallas; in 1886 he served an unexpired term as Super- intendent of Water Works, and in 1888 was Assistant Chief of the Fire Department. At an early day Mr. Spellman was a member of the Volunteer Fire Department. Socially, he is a member of Dallas Lodge, No. 44, I. O. O. F. He is Grand High Priest of the Grand Encampment and has been to the Grand Lodge a number of times. He is now Grand Lecturer and Instructor for the Juris- diction of Texas I. O. O. F. He is what may be termed a self-made man, having by his own industry and frugality risen to his pres- ent position of wealth and influence.

Mr. and Mrs. Spellman have had two chil- dren, namely: John M., who is now fourteen years of age and is attending St. Edward's College. at Austin, Texas, and Francis who died at the age of three years and six months.

Mrs. Spellman is a member of the Episco- pal Church.

JOHN R. WEST, Dallas, Texas .- Robert J. West was born in Washington county, Tennessee, in 1812, and there married Mary Ann Ryland, a native of Washington county, Tennessee, and a daughter of John Ryland, who was Clerk and Sheriff of Waslı- ington county for a period of thirty-three years, making during that time a most re- markable record for himself. The father of

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

our subject was a farmer by occupation, and in 1845 he removed to Dallas county, Texas, locating at Farmers' Branch. This was before the State was admitted to the Union. For some service rendered he received a grant from the Government of 640 acres of land, which he improved and converted into a fertile plantation, He resided on this place until his death, which occurred in 1879. A part of the land is still in possession of the family. He was Treasurer of the county in early days, and was one of the first County Com- missioners. He was a consistent member of the old-school Presbyterian Church. Mr. West was twice married: first, to Miss Couch, by whom he had one daughter, Juliet. His second marriage was to Mary Ann Ryland. Six children were born of this nnion: Helena, who first married T. J. Winn, and after his death Dr. C. C. Gillespie; John R., the subject of this notice; Annie R .; Martha Alice, now Mrs. Floyd; Robert H .; and Mary Catherine, who died in infancy.

John R. grew to manhood in this county, and received his early education in the pioneer schools. The first school he attended was taught by his mother in their own honse, and later a house was erected for this purpose. He was afterward under the instruction of Prof. Hudson, and studied under some of the best-known educators of the time. When he started out in life for himself he chose the occupation of farming, which he had followed for two years before the beginning of the Civil war. In 1861 he enlisted in Company C, Sixth Texas Cavalry, and served faithfully and gallantly until the surrender. He was promoted to the office of Lieutenant in rec- ognition of his conrage. He participated in some of the most noted battles of the war, and was once wounded. When hostilities ceased he resmined his agricultural pursnits

on the old homestead and remained there on- til 1874; he then cultivated a portion of the plantation independently, and in 1889 he re- moved to Dallas, and engaged in the real- estate business.

Mr. West was married in 1865, Septem- ber 3, to Miss E. W. Winn, a native of Ten- nessee, who came with her parents to Guada- loupe county, Texas, in 1853, removing tlience to Dallas county in 1858. Mr. and Mrs. West are the parents of eight children: Cora, deceased; Ula; Gussie; Swift, deccased; Ann R., deceased; John R .; Retta; and one child who died in infancy. Politically, our sub- ject adheres stanchly to the principles of the Democratic party. Too much cannot be said in praise of those hardy pioneers who prepared the way for the great strides civil- ization has made in the past few years. Hearts less brave would have quailed before the undertaking, and hands less willing would have grown weary long before the struggle was ended.

TEPHEN C. ATTEBERY, an early set- tler of Dallas county, is a native of Hart county, Kentucky, and a son of Thomas Attebery, a native of South Carolina. The latter moved to Kentucky in an early day, and in April, 1834, he removed to Greene county, Illinois, thence to Macoupin county, same State, where he lived most of his life, dying, however, in Macon county, in September, 1875, at the age of seventy-two years. Our subject's mother, nee Elizabeth Clement, was born and reared in North Car- olina, and also died in Maconpin county, Illi- nois, in 1838, aged fifty years. Mr. and Mrs. Attebery had eleven children, two of whom died young, and nine became grown, married and had families.

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

Stephen C., our subject, was born in Hart county, Kentucky, March 24, 1820, and was reared to the age of fourteen years in Gray- son county, that State. He accompanied his parents to Illinois in 1834, where he remained until June, 1846, and then entered the United States army, as a member of Company C, Captain Frye's First Illinois Regiment, under Colonel John J, Hardin. His company met at Alton, Illinois, where it entered the First Illinois, moved to New Orleans, where it took ship and landed at Port Lavaca, and moved overland to San Antonio. After five weeks stop there, it went to Presidio, on the Rio Grande, and there entered the Mexican ter- ritory. After a march of 140 miles, in three days, it passed Monte Clover, Santa Rosa and Paris, reaching Saltillo, and was in the engagement at that place February 22, 1847. Mr. Attebery's regiment remained at Saltillo until ordered to Comargo, on the Rio Grande, and there, July 19, 1847, he was discharged. The men had their choice, either to return home by way of the Gulf of Mexico, trans- portation free, or to accept an amount equiv- alent to mileage and ship passage, and make their way home as they pleased. Mr. Atte- bery chose the latter and with three comrades, Alanson Doddy, Richard Bandy and James Brock, they obtained an outfit, crossed the Rio Grande at Comargo, traveled 200 miles through a wild country to San Patricio, twenty-seven miles above Corpus Christi, on to Nneces, thence to Goliad, where they crossed the San Antonio river, thence to Chesholn's ferry, on the Gnadalonpe, thence to La Grange, on the Colorado, thence to Washington, on the Brazos, and next along the old Comanche trail to the northeast im- til they reached the settlements in the vicin- ity of where Lancaster now stands. They reached the settlement July 12, 1847, and

Mr. Attebery spent the first night with Sam- nel Keller. He had acquaintances in the vil- lage, and, in fact was engaged to be married to a young lady, a daughter of one of the settlers, to carry out which engagement was the object of this visit. He then took a headright of 320 acres of land in the south- ern part of the county, near where Hutch- ings now stands, and also 320 acres seven miles northwest of the present village of Lancaster. He settled on the former tract, and resided there from January, 1848, until some time in 1850, when, his father-in-law having died, he moved to a part of his farm, about three miles west of Lancaster, where he has since resided. Mr. Attebery has owned considerable land in this county, having at one time as much as 1,500 acres, but which he has since divided with his children. He has been engaged in farming and stock-raising all his life, and, although past his seventieth year he still gives his attention to his bnsi- ness.

He was married ten days after his arrival in this county, July 22, 1847, to Isabella Rawlins, a daughter of William Rawlins, orig- inally from Greene county, Illinois, where his daughter was born. Mr. and Mrs. Attebery had eleven children, viz .: Sarah Ann, who died in infancy; William Thomas, also de- ceased in infancy; William, who died when young; Annie, John J., Stephen H. and Lucy, who died young; Benjamin K., de- ceased; Mary E., deceased; Mattie J., and Millie, who died in infancy. Only four of these children are now living: Annie, the wife of Mr. Martin, of Hood county, Texas; John J., a resident of this county; Stephen II., of Lancaster, Dallas county; and Mattie, wife of Alexander Mills, of Lancaster. The wife and mother died February 11, 1877, and Mr. Attebery was afterward married to Mis.

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

Susan Wallace, widow of A. Wallace, of Dal- las county. Mrs. Attebery was born and reared in Washington county, Missouri, and was married first in Franklin county, that State, and eame with her husband to Texas in 1874, settling in Dallas county. Mr. and Mrs. Attebery have one child, Joseph R. Mrs. Attebery's mother was a daughter of Thomas P. Stovall, a native of Kentucky. He subsequently moved to Missouri, where he married Judith Bass, a daughter of Thomas Bass, of Washington county, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Attebery are members of the Christian Church. Mr. Attebery refused to enter the Confederate army during the late war, and is proud of the faet. Having fought under the old flag he loved it too well to raise his hand against it, and says he is uneducated and has never traveled, but knows enough and has seen enough to eon- vince him that he lives under the best gov- erninent that ever existed.

ALTER CARUTH, a pioneer mer- chant of Dallas, was born in Allen county, Kentucky, February 1, 1826, the eldest ehild of John and Catharine (Hen- derson) Caruth, natives of Virginia. They settled in Kentneky in an early day, where the father was engaged as a merchant and farmer. He came to Dallas county, Texas, in 1858, where he died in 1868; his wife died some years later. Walter Caruth was reared and educated in his native county, and early in life began the mercantile busi- ness, which he followed for many years. He came to this eounty in 1852, and after con- tinning the mercantile business until 1881 he purchased a farm of 900 acres, partly im- proved land, formerly owned by Judge Pat-

terson. Mr. Caruth commeneed the improve- inent of this land at once, and has also one of the finest residenecs in the city. In 1861 he entered the army, in Colonel N. H. Dar- nell's Regiment, and held the office of Com- missary of that regiment one year, after which he served as Quartermaster of Colonel Stone's Regiment. After the elose of the war Mr. Caruth was appointed Quartermaster at Ty- ler, Texas, during the year of 1865.

He was married in Dallas, in 1865, to Anna Worthington, a native of Mississippi, and daughter of Thomas and Rebecca (Hart) Worthington, natives of Kentucky. They settled in Mississippi in an early day, and later in Texas, where Mr. Worthington owned many slaves. He died in Mississippi, and the mother afterward eame to Dallas county; where she subsequently died. Mr. and Mrs. Caruth have four children living, viz .: Mattie, wife of N. A. MeMillan, cashier of the National Exchange Bank at Dallas; Walter, William, and Ray. Both Mr. and Mrs. Caruth are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and politically, the former votes with the Democratic party, although not active in politics.

JOHN T. BEAVER, of precinct No. 3, Dallas county, was born in Lawrence county, South Carolina, February 18, 1825, a son of Thomas Naney Beaver. The father was born in North Carolina, August 1, 1792, and lived in that State until his ma- tnrity, when he moved to South Carolina, and was there married to Miss Nancy H. Night, abont 1809. The mother was born in that State, Angust 14, 1794, and was but fourteen years old at the time of her mar- riage. Mr. Beaver was a farmer, and fol-

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

lowed that occupation nntil the war of 1812, when he moved to Gwinnett county, Georgia, and remained there until his death, which occurred January 15, 1849; his wife died May 17, 1872. They were the parents of fourteen children, and the mother lived to witness the marriage of all. The names of the children are as follows: Charlotte F., wife of Hiram Thomison, of Walton county, Georgia; William, deceased, married Ma- lenda Martin; James R. was married to Mar- garet Ellison, and died in Georgia, in 1890; Mary, wife of Abraham Jackson, who, after his death, married Edwin Johnson, and is still living in Georgia; Susan, wife of Will- iam Brooks, resides in Milton connty, Georgia; Nettie, is the widow of Richard Mayo, and lives in Clayton county, same State; Margaret, deceased, was the wife of James Johnson; J. T., the subject of this sketch; Thomas, who died in Gwinnett county, in 1862; Washington, who died in South Carolina, in 1865; Andrew, died in Arkansas, in 1878; Frances M., a resident of Dallas county; and Nancy, wife of J. R. Langley, resides in Clayton county, Georgia.

John T., our subject, remained in Georgia until the war, when he enlisted in Company A, Second Georgia State Line, and served three years in that regiment, after which he was detailed as Scout by Captain Brice, and served in that capacity until the close of the war. After the close of the war Mr. Beaver returned to his family and farm, but during his absence had lost everything in the way of stock, and had to commence anew in life. He farmed until 1869, when he moved his family to Texas, coming by rail and water, and landing in Dallas without money. After renting land three years he bought 100 acres, December 25, 1872, to which he afterward added 170 acres and now owns 270 acres, under

the best of cultivation, and worth abont $40 per acre. This place is now cultivated by ten- ants, which affords him a comfortable income without work.

Mr. Beaver was married December 3, 1845, to Miss Irene P. Brown, of Gwinnett county, Georgia, and they have had fourteen children, only twelve of whom reached ma- turity, viz .: William; Elizabeth, wife of J. W. Gannaway; James S., who died suddenly of heart tronble; Andrew J .; John H., who died in college; Ellen, now deceased, was the wife of D. W. Miles, and left one child; Margaret, wife of J. W. Gannaway; George; Sarah, wife of Joseph Castle. Mr. and Mrs. Beaver are both members of the Baptist Church, of which the former has been a member for eighteen years.

OLONEL JOHN M. STEMMONS, deceased, was born in Logan county, Kentucky, August 21, 1830. His parents were well-to-do in their possession of this world's goods, but they appreciated the importance of labor in all the successes of life, and consequently trained their children to work with their hands as well as with their minds. At the proper age Colonel Stem- mens was placed in the Cumberland College, in Princeton, Kentucky, where he received a collegiate education, and at once began the study of law, under the tutorship of the Hon. F. M. Bristow, father of the gentleman who served in President Grant's cabinet, as Seere- tary of the Treasury. Having acquainted himself with the elementary principles, and with the great authors in legal literature, he at once entered the law department at Leb- anon, Tennessee, where he graduated, and at once set ont to build for himself the honor-

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

able name and enviable reputation lic after- ward enjoyed. He located at Greenfield, Missouri, September 10, 1855, and was not long in forming acquaintances and in estab- lishing himself in the paying practice of his profession. In politics Colonel Stemmons was devoted to the principles and teachings of the old-time Whig party, and as a incm- ber of the same he supported Bell and Everett in the great campaign of 1860. With the defeat that followed that canvass, and the victory that perched upon the banners of the Republican party, he saw the signs of war, and began to prepare for the struggle that followed.

He was in sympathy with the South and when Colonel Clarkson's Fifth Regiment of Missouri State Guards was organized, the name of John M. Stemmons appeared in the list of its privates. This command was one of the first to gather round the standard that was raised by that fearless chieftain, General Sterling Price, when he drew from its scabbard his trusty sword and rushed to the South. Thirteen days after his enlist- ment Colonel Stemmons was promoted to the rank of Captain, and assigned to duty as a staff officer, in which capacity he witnessed the overthrow of General Lyon, at Wilson's creek, where Generals Price and McCulloch gained one of the most signal victories of the late war. Colonel M. W. Buster, then Ad- jntant of Clarkson's regiment, having been disabled by a bayonet wound in this engage- ment, Colonel Stemmons was ordered to take his place, and as such he bore himself gal- lantly in the engagement at Dry Woods, which soon followed. It was Clarkson's reg- ment that brought on this battle, and for over thirty minutes, in the open prairie, it withstood the onslaught of the entire Federal force with its line unbroken. Colonel Stem-

mons had his horse wounded under him in this engagement. In all the marches and connter-marches made by General Price in 1861, and in all the battles and skirmishes he fought with the enemy, Colonel Stemmons bore his part, and when the enlistment of the regiment expired, he declined to lay down his arıns, and again enlisted as a private in a battalion of State troops. While serving as a picket, with no notice or knowledge of the compliment he was receiving, he was elected Lieutenant Colonel of the command, and as its leader he rode at its head at the battle of Elk Horn, in Arkansas, where he was slightly wounded.

The term of enlistment of this regiment expiring in a short time, Colonel Steminons volunteered for the third time as a private soldier, but this time he went into the Con- federate army, determined that whatever des- tiny might fall upon the South the same should be his fate. He did not long remain a private, for just as the battle of Lone Jaek was coming on, he was elected to the Cap- taincy of a splendid company, which he led in this engagement. The Colonel was severely, and by his surgeon pronounced fatally, wounded in this battle, and before his recovery the country fell into the hands of the enemy, and he became a prisoner of war while endeavoring to pass their lines. He was sent to the military prison on Gratiot street, St. Louis, which place he reached dur- ing the Christmas week of 1862. There were ninety-one Confederate prisoners sent into St. Louis, none of them more than half- clotlied, and all forced to march through decp snow, to wade all the streams that appeared along their route, without even being per- mitted to take of their shoes, and at night they were forbidden to secure a sufficiency of wood to keep them warm against a terrible

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

winter. After reaching Springfield, in the face of a fierce snow storm, those ninety-one heroes were run into St. Louis on flat cars, ex- posed to every torture that could be inflicted by winds that pierced like icicles their ema- ciated forms; and when the prison was at last reached one of their party fell dead at the door, while their persons were being searched for arms. Major Campbell, of the Eighteenth Iowa Regiment, commanded the escort, and to his credit be it said that he denounced in unmeasured terms the brutality of the prison commanders in not providing some sort of shelter and protection for the prisoners. In less than two months thirty-five of these men were ealled to their final rest, but they breathed their last as Confederates, preferring death rather than disgrace.

Colonel Stemmons made his escape from this prison with two others, and in finding his way back to the Southern Army experi- enced some of the rarest evidences of patri- otic devotion at the hands of the women of Missouri, and one of her most gifted sons. He was clad in good clothes, mounted upon a reliable buggy horse, and, having received all the information and directions necessary, he set out for Little Rock, where he rejoined his command. He was again wounded, shortly afterward, in the battle of Helena, and was one of the few who escaped death or capture in the terrible slaughter that followed in the charge upon Fort Curtis. When Gen- eral Banks undertook his Red River expedi- tion, Colonel Stemmons was in the number of those who opposed him. He served in all the campaigns conducted by Kirby Smith, and surrendered at Shreveport, where he was Lieutenant Colonel of the Sixteenth Reg- iment of Missouri Infantry, and as such brought the command to St. Lonis, where it was disbanded. The Colonel went to Rich-

mond, where he joined his wife and children, but was permitted to enjoy only a few days of peace, surrounded by his family. He was arrested by militiamen, commanded by Fletcher, under some pretext, and, not fancy- ing the company that was thus uneeremo- niously thrust upon him, effected his escape and went to Illinois. Having no money he engaged with a Mr. French, who resided eight miles west of Springfield, and was put by him to cutting corn, at the rate of fifty cents per shock, at which he was able to earn from $1.40 to $1.65 per day. He was not long in finding ont that Mr. French was a Southern sympathizer, and he told him his true story, and gratefully accepted the posi- tion of schoolmaster, which his new-made friend was able to secure for him, at a point some eighteen miles east of Springfield. He taught this school under, an assumed name, until he was able to defray his expenses to Oxford, Mississippi, where he again obtained employment as a teacher, and in the mean- time sent for his family to join him in his new home and new sphere of action. Being unable to see any remuneration from the practice of his profession, and being desirous of returning to it, he determined to emigrate to Texas, which he accordingly did. May 16, 1868, he reached Dallas, and at once estab- lished his home in this city, with less than $80 in his pocket. His subsequent success teaches its own lesson. Colonel Stemmons became one of the leading men in this com- munity, capable as a lawyer, true as a friend, and enterprising as a citizen. In testimony of his great personal worth, the following episode of the war, in which he bore a prom- inent part, is here committed for the first time in print:

During his captivity the army was reor- ganized nuder General Hindman, who issued

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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

orders that no one seould be elected to office unless present and ready for duty. In the face of this order his old company nnani- mously re-elected him to be its Captain. Gen. Hindman disapproved of the election and or- dered another, but his mnen without a dissent- ing voice again named him as their leader, and this time the General approved of their action. For this expression of their regard Colonel Stemmons declined the Lieutenant- colonelcy of a cavalry regiment, preferring to remain a Captain with men who had proved themselves so sincere in their friendship for him.

In 1857 Colonel Stemmons married Re- becca Serena, a daughter of Judge Matthias W. and Mary A. Allison, of Greenfield, Dade county, Missouri. To this union were born ten children, as follows: Walter E., born in 1858; Beverly L., born in 1860, married Miss Addie Ballard, and was acci- dentally killed in 1890; Harriet Ann, born in 1863, married William L. McDonald, who died in 1888; Mary Belle, born in 1867, died when young; Lillia Belsterling, born in 1869, died in childhood; Cora Lucille, born in 1872; Leslie A., born in 1874; John J., born in 1878, died in infancy; Sidney A., born in 1879; Robert L., in 1882. Judge Allison died in Missouri in 1877, and his widow, who was born in 1803, now resides with her daughter, Mrs. Stemmons. Colonel Stemmons died of consumption May 4, 1890, and was buried with distinguished honors.

R. EDWARD J. HALLUM, a physician and surgeon of Oak Cliff, Texas, was born in Fairfield district, South Carolina, April 22, 1849, a son of Colonel Richard A. R. and Margaret (Martin) Hallum, natives of South Carolina. The mother's parents were mar-

ried in Scotland, and afterward came to this country. The father's parents were from England, and two brothers, William and Henry Hallum, came from that country and settled in Virginia before the Revolutionary war, both participating in that struggle. William was an officer of his regiment, and on one occasion, having been captured, the British officer became enraged, drew his sword, and was about to split his head. Mr. Hallum drew his revolver and shot the officer dead, and then made his escape into South Carolina. The family afterward changed their name from Hallam to Hallum. Will- iam had a family, but its members are unknown. John, one of his sons, reared a family of nine children, six of whom were boys, and his son Bazzil was the grandfather of our subject. Colonel Richard was an ex- tensive and practical farmer, owning a large plantation in South Carolina. His residence, which cost $10,000 in gold, is still standing, near Winsboro, South Carolina, and is the only one in that neighborhood which was not burned during the late war. He was the father of nine children, and about 1856 he settled with his family in Anderson county, Texas, where he owned a plantation of about 1,200 acres. He was Colonel of the militia many years, and was solicited by friends to represent his county in the Legislature, but declined the position. He weighed 200 pounds, and was a fine specimen of physical, intellectual and moral manhood. Socially, he stood high among a large circle of ac- quaintances, and his name was almost a syn- onym for honesty, integrity and golden-rule dealings. Three of his sons, Robert G., Bazzil and Richard, took part in the late war as privates. Robert and Richard returned, but Bazzil was shot in the battle of Sharps- burg. He was in Captain Gaston's com-

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Memorial and biographical history of Dallas County, Texas, Part 61

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