USA > Texas > Dallas County > Memorial and biographical history of Dallas County, Texas > Part 88
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Mr. Flippen has been a useful, thriving citizen of Dallas county, doing all that lay in his power, by the use of money and per- sonal influence, to extend the material inter- ests of the connty. He is an extensive land- owner, having a large interest in some ranches. He is a typical southern gentle. man in manners, has a pleasing address, and is energetic in all the affairs with which he has become conversant.
M. BEILHARZ, stone contractor, whose yards are located on Hawkins street and Pacific avenue, has been in business here for himself since 1887. He built the Club house and did the stone work for most of the business buildings, as the Scol- lands building, the Texas bank, Thomas Bro- thers' building, besides many residences, as those of Simpson M. Dilley, etc. He is now
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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
putting in the stone work for the W. J. Temp brewery, and the Security, Mortgage and Trust building. He employs on an average fifteen stone entters, three setters and fifteen laborers.
Mr. Beilharz was born in Württemburg, Ger- many, in 1860, the second of the eleven chil- dren of Jacob and Margaret (Siegway) Beilharz, natives of Württemberg and still living there. His father has been a teacher by profession. As he grew up young Beilharz learned the trade of a stone entter in his native city and became the foreman of a stone-yard. He served in the German army about two and one-half years. He came to Dallas in 1883, and was employed as a journeyman stone- dresser until 1887, when he embarked in the business on his own account. On political issues he votes independently. He is a mem- ber of Dallas Lodge, No. 70, K. of P., and of the Uniformed Rank, Division No. 18, and of the K. of H.
In March, 1888, in Dallas, he married Miss Laura Frichot, a native of Dallas county and a daughter of C. D. and Susan (Ball) Frichot. Her father was a native of France, and mother of Switzerland, and they came to Dallas county about 1861, and are both deceased. Her father was a briek manufac- turer. Mr. and Mrs. Beilharz have one child, Theodore.
P. CROSS, contractor, builder and mason, of Dallas, is the pioneer in lay- ing cement walks in this city. From 1883 to 1890 he was a member of the firm of Gill & Cross. This firm has put down nearly all the pavements in Dallas, and it is also the manufacturer of artificial stone for house trimmings, etc.
Mr. Cross was born in Jefferson county, Kentucky, May 1, 1836, the younger of the
two children of Jeremiah and Cecilia (Scott) Cross, natives of Kentucky. His grandpar- ents were natives of Virginia. The family trace their genealogy to General Winfield Scott. Jeremiah Scott passed his life in Jef- ferson county, Kentucky, dying there in 1870, at the age of sixty-five years. His wife, born in 1808, is still living on the old homestead where she was born. Mr. Cross, whose name introduces this sketch, was brought up to farm life in his native State, finishing his schoool days at Louisville, that State, and learning his trade there. In 1859 he went to Memphis, Tennessee, where he worked at his trade.
In March, 1861, he enlisted in the Fourth Tennessee Cavalry as a private, and partici- pated in the battles of Shiloh, Murfreesboro, Missionary Ridge and in the entire campaign of Atlanta, Georgia, returning with Hood to Tennessee. December 18, 1864, he was taken prisoner at Nashville, and confined at Fort Delaware until the next year. He was elected Lieutenant of Company C, of the Fourth and Twenty-ninth Regiments, consoli- dated and called the Fourth Tennessee In- fantry.
After the war he returned to Kentucky, and then to Memphis. He was married in the latter city, to Miss Lily Gardner, a native of Kentucky, who afterward died, at Memphis. December 25, 1876, Mr. Cross was again married, this time to Lucy A. Horton, widow of Enoch Horton, a native of Tennessee and a daughter of John C. and Rosa (Clements) Lanier, who were born in Tennessee and came to Dallas county in 1843, and afterward moved into the town of Dallas. Mr. Lanier was Justice of the Peace for many years and also Deputy County Clerk. His death oe- eurred in 1852: his wife had died in 1845, in Dallas. Mr. Cross has occupied his present
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residence on South Harwood street since 1881, at which time the street was unim- proved. He has seen almost the entire growth of his chosen city, Dallas, with a sort of paternal interest, and he has taken an active part in every good public enterprise.
Mr. Cross is a Democrat, but takes no active part in the political machinery. In early life he was a Whig. He is the Master of Dallas Lodge, F. & A. M .; was first ini- tiated into Freemasonry at Louisville, Ken- tucky. He is also a member of the order of the Knights of Pythias. Mrs. Cross is a member of the Lamar Methodist Episcopal Church. She has a danghter by her former husband, now Mrs. Josie (). Horton, of Midland, Texas.
J. DICKEY, M. D., physician and sur- geon, was born in Illinois May 4, 1854, in Ridgway, Gallatin county. His parents were Finis E. and Lucy A. (Jackson) Dickey, both natives of Illinois. The father, born September 23, 1826, was a farmer and met his death while digging a well, which caved in on him, killing him instantly, as several feet of earth fell upon him and he was smothered. The accident oc- cnrred October 31, 1853. His wife was born May 16, 1832, and died in May, 1861. Their marriage occurred July 14, 1853.
Our subject commenced the study of homeopathy in May, 1876, with Dr. E. J. Ehrman, of Evansville, Indiana. He gradul- ated at P'ulte Medical College, of Cincinnati, Ohio, March 4, 1879. Booneville, Indiana, was the place where he first opened an office, in the same month of his gradnation. He carried on his practice of medicine and was the leading homeopathic physician of that
section until he was obliged to give up the hard work on account of his failing health and seek a milder and more genial climate. After some time spent in Chicago, taking special instruction in orificial surgery, he located in Dallas, in January, 1885, and began the practice of rectal diseases as a specialty. Abont three years later he took up the treat- ment of hernia and has been wonderfully successful in his treatment of these trouble- somne diseases.
The Doctor was married, Angust 24, 1876, to Miss A. E. Melvin, daughter of Orrison Melvin, of Ridgway, Illinois. They have one child, Ernest, born in 1880, a promising lad. Mrs. Dickey is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, but the Doctor has not united himself with any religions denomi- nation. Dr. Dickey takes little interest in politics. He has quite an extensive practice, which comes from many of the distant coun- ties. IIe is a good citizen and has won many warm and admiring friends for himself in the city of his adoption.
C. DARWIN, contractor and builder, Dallas, Texas, took up his abode in O Dallas county in 1873. He first set- tled in precinct No. 7, and engaged in farm- ing and gardening, which he continued until 1886, when he came to Dallas. Since that time he has been engaged in contracting and building.
Mr. Darwin was born in Rhea county, Tennessee, in 1843, the youngest in a family of fourteen. His parents, James A. and Bathia W. (Clements) Darwin, were natives of South Carolina and North Carolina re- spectively. In early childhood they moved with their parents to Tennessee, where they
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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
were subsequently married. His father passed his life on a farm in Tennessee, and died there in 1872, aged seventy-six years. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and participated in the battle of New Orleans on the 8th of January, 1815. Mr. Darwin's mother passed away in 1873, aged seventy-five. The sub- ject of our sketch was reared on a farm in his native county, and received his education in the subscription schools. He was making preparations for college when the war came on. He enlisted in the First Tennessee Le- gion, Sixteenth Battalion, General Pegram's brigade, being on sconting duty most of the time. He participated in several battles and was wounded near Chattanooga, Tennessee.
After the war closed Mr. Darwin returned to Tennessee and engaged in farming in Rhea connty one year, after which he taught school. In 1867 he went to Yell county Arkansas, to attend to his brother's business, who lived there before the war, but died in Texas dur- ing the war. That year he was married there to Miss Ellen E. Evans, a native of Neshoba connty, Mississippi, and a daughter of Thomp- son and IIannah (Wilkinson) Evans, the for- mer a native of North Carolina and the latter of Coffee county, Tennessee. Her father went to Tennessee when a young man, and there married. He subsequently moved to Missis- sippi, and in 1866 to Yell county, Arkansas, having been engaged in farming in these States, He died in Arkansas November 27, 1870. His wife is now a resident of Dar- danelle, Arkansas, and is seventy-five years of age. After his marriage Mr. Darwin re- turned to Rhea connty, Tennessee, engaged in farming, and remained there until 1873, when he came to Dallas county, as above stated. Although not an office-seeker Mr. Darwin has taken an active interest in politi- cal matters, affiliating with the Democratic
party. He is a member of the Mountain Creek Lodge, No. 511, A. F. & A. M., hav- ing served as Master of that lodge. IIe is a member of the Knights of Labor, and also of the Farmers' Alliance. Both he and his wife are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. They have six children: Ennice M .; Mary Jane, wife of J. H. Bishop; Bellela; Ada A .; Alice F. and Pettie E. They also have four children deceased: James A., who died in 1873, aged two years; Jesse B., who died September 13, 1880, when only six weeks old; Willie Clay, January 2, 1883, at the age of seven months; Infantine, died February 25, 1886.
Mr. Darwin is a public-spirited and enter- prising citizen, and is deeply interested in the growth and development of Dallas. He is now a candidate for Justice of the Peace in precinct No. 1, Dallas county. which em- braces all of the city of Dallas and six voting precinets outside the city limits.
ILLIAM YOUNG HUGHES, a fruit farmer and horticulturist of Dallas county, was born in Spencer county, Kentucky, in 1831, the second in a family of twelve children born to Elijah and Permelia (Wells) Hughes, natives of Kentucky. The parents both died in their native State, the father in May, 1860, and the mother in No- vember, 1865. The Hughes family are of Welsh descent. William, our subject, was reared to farm life and educated in the sub- scription schools of his native county, and later commenced farming for himself in Ken- tucky. He came to Collin county, Texas, in 1860, and engaged in distilling at Plano, and in 1877 he came to Dallas, which he has since made his home. He bought a farm of
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thirty acres, of which ten acres is now de- voted to peaches, plums, pears and apples, and one acre to small fruits. In March, 1862, Mr. Hughes enlisted in Company B, Captain B. Gano's squadron, which, after reaching Kentucky, was formed into a regiment called the Third Kentucky Cavalry, commanded by General John Morgan. Mr. Hughes was with that regiment in many raids, was taken prisoner near Syracuse, Ohio, in 1863, and confined as a prisoner of war nineteen months and twenty days at Camps Chase and Donglas. He was afterward transferred to Ross' Brig- ade, and was at Plano, Texas at the time of the surrender.
Mr. Hughes was married in Kentucky, in 1866, to Mary Ann Wigginton, widow of William T. Wigginton, and daughter of Stephen and Lucinda (Tueker) Bidwell, na- tives of Kentucky. The father was a farmer by occupation, and remained in Kentucky until his death, which occurred in 1874, and his wife died in the same State, in 1872. The Bidwells are of English descent, and early settlers of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Hughes have four children: Jennie L., Thomas Col- man, Mattie May and Harrison Gilbert. Socially, Mr. Hughes is a member of the Farmers' Alliance, and in Kentucky was a member of the Masonic order, and the I. O. O. F., Worth Lodge, No. 90. Religiously, both he and his wife are members of the Missionary Baptist Church of Pleasant View.
HOMAS A. SKILES came from Ken- tucky to Texas in the fall of 1855, making the journey with ox teams and locating near where he now lives. Soon after his arrival he purchased a tract of 420 acres of land and commenced at once the work of
improving a farm. He made rails, fenced and broke forty acres of land, and the follow- ing season seeded it all to wheat. The first year he paid $1 a bushel for corn for bread and feed for his stock. As the years rolled by he added to his original purchase and ex- tended his farming operations. At one time he owned about 1,000 acres of land. After living on his first farm twelve years he moved from it to his present location. He has sold and given away land until he now has only 240 acres. On this he is engaged in general farming and stock-raising. When he came to this State he had some means, and brought with him eight or ten inares for breeding; is still interested in raising horses, and also raises mules.
Mr. Skiles was born in Warren county, Kentucky, September 2, 1821, was reared on a farm and received a fair edneation. His father, Henry Skiles, was a native of Penn- sylvania, and was of German extraction. He lived and died in Kentucky, departing this life at the age of eighty-four years. His wife, nee Elizabeth Hamilton, also passed away in Kentucky. They were the parents of the following named children: John C., Martha, William, Henry, Sarah, Thomas A., Joseph and Andrew. Sarah and Thomas A. are the only ones now living, and they reside near each other.
Thomas A. Skiles was married in Ken- tucky, April 23, 1851, to Miss Priscilla C. Hamilton, daughter of Samuel and Jane (Edgar) Hamilton, all of Kentucky. A brother of Mrs. Skiles' mother is a noted Presbyterian minister of Nashville, Ten- nessee. Following are the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Skiles: Everett H., born June 27, 1852; Henry T. and Samuel E. (twins), born April 8, 1854; Mary E., born July 21, 1855; John W., born July 10, 1858; Em-
Tevoliver
Mrs. F. N. Oliver
.
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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
met A., born January 1, 1860; and Liz- zie, born September 4, 1868. Mr. Skiles and his family are all members of the Cum- berland Presbyterian Church.
During the late war Mr. Skiles was en- gaged in teaming two years, hauling pro- visions. He then bought a steam flouring mill and ran it for the benefit of the war widows. This mill was located near Rock- wall. Soon after the war closed he sold it and returned to the farm, since which time he has been engaged in agricultural pursuits. Politically, he is a Democrat.
ON. F. N. OLIVER, Mayor elect of Oak Cliff, in one of the inost hotly con- tested elections perhaps ever held in the city, was born in Florence, Alabama, Febru- ary 17, 1848, a son of Prof. Daniel and Jane (Ross) Oliver, the former a native of Devon- shire, England, and the latter of Scotch par- entage, of Hickman county, Tennessee. The father was born in 1782, and came with his parents to America when eight years of age. He was a teacher and surveyor by occupation, having taught the high school of Florence, Alabama, prior to the establishment of the Wesleyan University. He was highly edu- cated, was a graduate of Yale College, and for several years filled the chair of mathe- inatics in that institution. General S. A. M. Wood, Colonel W. B. Wood, the latter a Colonel of the Sixteenth Alabama Regiment in the late war, and the former Brigadier General, and George Karsner of Florence, were all pupils of his. His death occurred in 1874, and his wife died at the home of our subject in Lewisville, Texas, October 20, 1889, aged seventy-seven years. They were the parents of eleven children, seven of whom 48
are still living, and our subject is the eighth child in order of birth.
He was educated in the public schools of Florence, Alabama, and at an early age learned the printing business. In 1874 he issued the first daily in Denton, the county seat of Denton county, called the " Denton Review." He also founded the " Lewisville Ileadlight," in 1881, which he conducted five years, and while in that city was elected to the office of Justice of the Peace (running both the court and paper together for five years). Eight years later he resigned his position, sold the Headlight, and removed to Pilot Point, to establish a paper there. Mr. Oliver remained in that city two years, and then, with Mr. T. L. Marsalis he came to Oak Cliff, which was before the public sale of the Oak Cliff lots. He built an office and founded a paper in a wheatfield, The Oak Cliff Sun- day Weekly, opening with an issue of 10,000 copies, and continned the publication three and a half years, until the city had attained a population of 5,000. During this three and a half years Mr. Oliver also traveled for the interests of the Texas State Fair and Dallas Exposition. He has been a member of the Press Association for eleven years; is a charter member of the National Press Asso- ciation, which organized in New Orleans at the time of the Centennial Cotton Exposition ; has been a member many times of important committees of the Texas Press Association, and at varions times a delegate appointed to the National Association. He was one of a commission of three appointed by Governor Ross, to locate the State Orphan Asylum of Texas, in 1887, which was fonnded at Corsicana and is one of the crowning educational charities of Texas. He has been school trustee, and helped organize the Oak Cliff school com- munity; his associate members being G. M.
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Baker, manager of the Western Union Tele- graph, and the retiring mayor, Hugh F. M. Ewing of Oak Cliff.
Mr. Oliver was married at Cold Springs, Texas, December 13, 1868, to Miss Mary E. Cogburn, a daughter of David and Elizabeth Cogburn, early settlers of Walker county, Texas. Our subject, his wife and eldest son Ben, organized the first Sunday-school in this eity, January 1, 1888, and also the first church of Oak Cliff, the First Methodist Episcopal Church South, which now numbers 200 mem- bers. Mr. and Mrs. Oliver have had eight children: Charlie Lee, deceased, at the age of three and a half years: Mabel Clair, at the age of one and a half years; Ben F., who is making electricity a special study; Frank Lee, Clandie, Mabel, Coke and Clifton. Our subject and his wife and two sons are mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and the parents are also members of the Knights and Ladies of Honor in the Oak Cliff Lodge. Mr. Oliver erected the first business house in Oak Cliff, the office of the Sunday Weekly, and printed the first news- paper in Texas ever printed upon paper manufactured in this State. The mill is lo- cated in Oak Cliff, and is known as the Texas Paper Mill Company, Lang & Wharton pro- prietors. Our subject is a hard working man, has done much in the interests of his city, and is one of her public-spirited, enter- prising and most valued citizens.
HOMAS C. COOPER, grain and com- mission merchant, Dallas, Texas, dates his birth in Mobile, Alabama, October 16, 1854. He landed in flouston, Texas, in November, 1872, and since that time has been a resident of this State.
Mr. Cooper's parents, Ferdinand J. and Julia E. (Wheeler) Cooper, were born in Louisiana and Sonth Carolina respectively. The father was at one time Sheriff of Mobile county. Subsequently he engaged in the mercantile business. He was well known as an upright citizen in every way worthy of the confidence which was reposed in him repeat- edly by the people. He was born in 1813, and died in 1860. The mother was born in 1817, is still living, has her powers of body and mind well preserved, and makes her home with her son, Thomas C. She is the only sur- viving member of her father's family. Of her nine children only three are living. Her daughter, Mary L., is the wife of Colonel O. C. George, and lives in Pilot Point, Texas. Mrs. Cooper is a member of the Baptist Church, as is also her husband.
The subject of our sketch received his edu- cation in Alabama. By the death of his father, he was thrown upon his own resources at an early age. At fourteen he began learn- ing the business of railway agent and tele- graph operator and he followed that business for a number of years. For the past fifteen years he has been a Inmber dealer and grain and commission merchant, being fairly sue- cessful. He came to Dallas in 1886, and has since made his home in this eity.
Mr. Cooper was married Jannary 18, 1880, to Miss Emma C. Smith, daughter of W. O. and Mary J. Smith, of Falls county, Texas. Her father died on the day of her marriage, aged fifty-one years, his death resulting from a complication of diseases. Her mother died in 1885, aged forty-six years. Mrs. Cooper and an only brother, James B. Smith, are the only ones of the family now living. The latter is a passenger conductor on the Houston & Texas Central Railroad. Heresides in Waco. To Mr. and Mrs. Cooper five chil-
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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
dren have been born, two of whom died in early childhood. Those living are Willie May, Lou Eva, and Thomas James, aged re- spectively twelve years, nine years, and four months. Both he and his wife are members of the Congregational Church.
Mr. Cooper is a member of the Woodmen of the World, Camp No. 1, and is manager of its local board. In his church, in business cireles, and in the community at large, Mr. Cooper is highly regarded. He has been an active worker in the ranks of the Republican party, ever seeking to seeure the best men to to serve in official capaeity, but has never as- pired to politieal honors himself.
OHN C. JACOBS, a well known eitizen of Dallas county, Texas, was born in Newark, Ohio, May 4, 1835. His father, Dr. E. A. Jacobs, was born in Vermont, De- eember 8, 1811, the youngest of the seven sons born to his parents .. They believed in the old adage that the seventh son had to be a doctor. Although he at first protested lie finally acceded to their wishes, and at the age of sixteen years went to New York city and began the study of medicine under the instructions of Dr. Dndley. While in New York city he was married to Miss Sarah Cowed, a native of London, England. They were married in 1832, and their union was blessed with five children, the subject of our sketeh being the oldest. Next eame Sarah, who is now the wife of Rev. E. V. Butler and lives in Young eonnty, Texas; Caro- line M. is deceased; E. A. Jacobs resides near his brother John C. Their mother died in Arkansas, Mareh 20, 1848, and after her death Dr. Jacobs took his children East and left them with their unele and aunt in New
York and Vermont. He returned to Arkan- sas and the following year, 1849, wedded Miss Susanna J. Robertson, who bore him six children, viz .: Amanda; Mary C., wife of William Mitchell; George, Fred Q., August- us, and Edwin R. Mary C. and George were drowned during a great storm on the Gulf of Mexico.
John C. Jacobs remained in the East three years, after which, in 1851, he went to Michigan, where he remained two years and learned his trade, that of general mechanic. From Michigan he came to Texas, landing at Jefferson on the 5th of July, 1853. He first settled in Hopkins county and lived there one year, then Rockwall county. In the latter county he met Miss Ruth Ann Mills and was united in marriage with her June 25, 1857. In 1859 they moved from there to Dallas county. He bought ten acres of land and built a house and shop on it, and in this eonnty he has since resided. For thirty-five years he worked at his trades and during that time accumulated considerable means. He has owned abont 300 acres, but has now sold off all except 200 aeres. His farm is well improved with good buildings, etc., and he is in easy circumstances.
On the 12th of March, 1862, Mr. Jacobs enlisted in the Thirty-first Texas Cavalry, and served till the close of the war. From expos- nre incurred during the war he lost his health, and is still a sufferer.
Mrs. Jacobs' father, E. C. Mills, was born in Ohio in 1805, and her mother, nee Sarah Hunter, was born in 1806, their marriage oe- curing December 27. 1826, They had seven children born to them, of whom Ruth Ann was the fifth, her birth occurring October 4, 1835. Her father was married to his second wife, Miss Elizabeth Collins, November 3, 1842, and his third marriage ocenrred in 1854,
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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
to Mrs. Martha Sturdivant, nee Divers. By each of his three companions Mr. Mills had seven children. He died June 22, 1871, at the age of sixty-six years.
Mr. and Mrs. John C. Jacobs have had seven children, namely: Edward A; Lydia C., wife of J. F. Tinsley ; J. C., deceased ; Charles E .; Clara Isabell, wife of Henry Smith ; James N .; and Philia A.
Mr. Jacobs and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
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