New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1, Part 49

Author: Davis, Ellis A.
Publication date: 1926
Publisher: Dallas, Tex. : Texas development bureau, [1926?]
Number of Pages: 1416

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A native Texan, Judge Elkins was born in Hunts- ville, September 25, 1879. His father, J. J. Elkins, a native of Georgia, came to Texas in 1867 and for many years was a prominent business man of Hunts- ville. His mother was Miss Sarah M. (Sims) Elkins, a native of Tennessee, and came to Texas in 1859 and her family were among the pioneer settlers of the Lone Star State. His early education was ob- tained in the public schools of Huntsville, Texas, after which he entered the Sam Houston Normal Institute located at Huntsville, and then entered the University of Texas, where he graduated in the class of 1901 with the L. L. B. degree, and during the same year was admitted to the Bar. Judge Elkins returned to Huntsville and began the practice of his profession in the city of his birth and continued there until 1917, when he came to Houston, and with Mr. W. A. Vinson, established the present firm, which grew from this partnership. During the pe- riod Judge Elkins practiced his profession in Hunts- ville, in addition to building up a large practice, he served as County Judge of Walker County, and since coming to Houston has served as District Attorney of Harris County and also was formerly Regent of the State Normal Schools of Texas and has taken at all times an active interest in the educational work of the Lone Star State. Judge Elkins has also become interested in many of the financial and industrial institutions of the city, and is a Director of the National Bank of Commerce, and various State and National Banks. He is also a Director in the Great Southern Life Insurance Com- pany, and in the Pure Oil Pipe Line Company and the Humphreys Carbon Company.

Judge Elkins was married in Galveston December 21, 1903, to Miss Isabelle Mitchell, a native of the Island City, and a daughter of Thomas M. Mitchell (deceased), who was one of the pioneer citizens of Galveston and for twenty-five years was Secretary of the Galveston Wharf Company. They have two sons, William S. and J. A. Elkins Jr. In fraternal, social and technical organizations Judge Elkins is a member of the York Rite body of the Masonic fra- ternity, and is a Shriner of Arabia Temple. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, Woodmen of the World, Houston Country Club, Houston Club, American Bar Association, State Bar Association and Harris County Bar Association. Judge Elkins is a true type of the Southern gentleman and lawyer of the old school, and has for more than a decade been handling noteworthy civil cases. Judge Elkins is enthusiastic about the future of Houston, and has contributed much to the development of this city, which he believes will soon become the leading city of the entire Southwest.

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OHN T. SCOTT has for many years been one of a group of financiers who have taken a leading part in shaping the affairs of Houston, and is one of the men carrying heavy burdens of financial responsibility in his part of the State, his name carrying a prestige that is an asset to the community with which it is con- nected. The First National Bank of Houston, of which Mr. Scott is President, is the oldest bank in the city, having been established in February, 1866, and one of the first three banks established in Texas under the National banking act, passed in 1865. The other two are, the First National Bank of Galveston, established in January, 1866, and the First National Bank of San Antonio, established in April, 1866.

The First National Bank of Houston has been as- sociated with every progressive movement made in the city, and from a small national bank in the early days of its organization, has become one of the largest, most substantial financial institutions in the State, offering a constructive service that is one of the greatest assets to commercial growth and development. This remarkable growth is in no small measure due to the loyalty of the officers and the absolute confidence in which they are held by friends and depositors.

The First National Bank owns its own home, a fine eight-story structure in the heart of the busi- ness district. The capital stock is two and one- half million dollars. In December, 1925, the sur- plus and undivided profits were over $850,000.00, and deposits over $32,000,000.00, and total assets of over thirty-eight millions. The list of officers and directors represents some of the most promi- nent and substantial business men of the city. The officers are: J. T. Scott, President; F. M. Law, Vice President; W. S. Cochran, Vice President; Sam R. Lawder, Vice President; O. W. Jackson, Cashier; H. L. Darton, Assistant Vice President; G. G. Tim- mins, H. B. Bringhurst, J. W. Hazard, W. A. Kirk- land, H. T. McClung, D. B. Lacy, C. C. Hall, T. L. Powell and M. D. Jenkins, Assistant Cashiers. The directors are: J. T. Scott, F. M. Law, E. A. Peden, E. L. Neville, W. S. Cochran, Sam R. Lawder, F. A. Root and O. W. Jackson.

Mr. Scott was born in Madison County, Missis- sippi, the tenth of October, 1870, son of John T. Scott, who followed agricultural pursuits in that State, and Delitha Hamilton Scott, of a prominent Southern family. Mr. Scott attended the public schools of his native State, later attending the Hous- ton High School and after his graduation there the Commercial College of Houston, where he was also a graduate. Following his graduation he was for six years bookkeeper for a wholesale drug com- pany, now the Houston Drug Company. At the ex- piration of this time he entered upon his banking career.

The first of January, 1893, Mr. Scott went with the First National Bank of Houston, as bookkeeper, in 1898 becoming Assistant Cashier; in 1902, Cashier; in 1908, active Vice President, and in 1915, Presi- dent, which office he still holds. Like most suc- cessful bankers, he came up from the ranks, and is familiar with every phase of banking, able to solve at a moment's notice any question affecting the general policy of the bank. Since becoming President he has devoted himself with characteristic

thoroughness and energy to the welfare of the bank, and, familiar with sound financial principles, his banking methods have greatly influenced the com- mercial activities of the city.

Not alone as a leader in local banking affairs is Mr. Scott known, but in the banking world of Southeast Texas his name stands for leadership. He was a Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas for ten years, a member of the Board of Trustees of the William M. Rice Institute, and a director or officer in the following: Oriental Tex- tile Mills, Houston Packing Company, Deep Water Oil Refineries, Great Southern Life Insurance Com- pany, Merchants Compress Company and the Hous- ton Cotton Exchange and Board of Trade. He also served for several years as Chairman of the Har- bor Board, and was active in building the Turning Basin. He was also a member of the Houston School Board, the Houston Expansion League, but resigned those last three offices in the fall of 1920.

Mr. Scott was married at Houston, Texas, the sixth of June, 1893, to Miss Martha Campbell, daughter of Dr. Farquar Campbell, who came to this city from Alabama just after the Civil War. Mr. and Mrs. Scott have one of the fine homes of the city, at 2416 San Jacinto Street, and are the parents of four children-a son, John T. Scott, Jr., a prominent young lawyer of Houston; a daugh- ter, Mrs. James R. Bailey, wife of James R. Bailey, who is a well known Houston architect and builder; two daughters, Martha Campbell and Dorothy, are in college, Miss Martha attending Rice Institute, and Miss Dorothy in college at New York City. Mr. Scott is a member of various clubs, the Houston Club, the University Club, the Houston Country Club, River Oaks Country Club, the Lumberman's Club, and others counting him among their honored members. He serves on the Finance Committee of the Young Women's Christian Association and is Chairman of the Board of the Methodist Hospital, and Trustee and Treasurer of the Houston Art. League. He is also Chairman of the Board of Stewards of the First Methodist Church, the largest church in point of membership in Southern Meth- odism.

DGAR ODELL LOVETT, PH. D., LL. D., President of the Rice Institute, Houston, Texas, has been a leading factor in the world of higher education in Texas for nearly a score of years, during which time he has built up the Rice Institute to its present position as one of the leading universities of the South. On the death of Houston's great philanthropist, the late William Marsh Rice, founder of this university, after whom the institution is named, and to which he donated his millions for the establishment of an institution for the advancement of education, it. became necessary to find a man who was fitted by temperament, education, experience and executive. ability, as well as youth, to build a great university. The man who was fitted to accept this responsibility was found in the person of Dr. Lovett. The history and progress of the Rice Institute under his guidance is too well known to the people of Texas to need reiteration. The magnificent university composed of buildings in beautiful modern archi- tecture, attractively situated on the spacious cam- pus on Main Boulevard in the southern section of Houston, give eloquent testimony of the wisdom and

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forethought of their creators.

Dr. Lovett was born at Shreve, Wayne County, Ohio, April 14th, 1871. His parents were Zephania and Maria Elizabeth (Spreng) Lovett. On graduat- ing from Shreve High School he entered Bethany College, West Virginia, from which he received the bachelor of arts degree in the class of 1890. Fol- lowing his graduation he for two years taught mathematics in West Kentucky College. In 1892 he became instructor in astronomy at the Univer- sity of Virginia. He continued his studies there, and received his M. A., and Ph. D. degrees from the University of Virginia in 1895. The following year he spent in Europe attending the Universities of Christiana and Leipzig, receiving the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Leipzig in 1896. In 1897 he returned to America and for a time lectured at the Johns Hopkins University, later at the Universities of Virginia and Chicago, and in September, 1897, be- came instructor in methematics at Princeton Uni- versity. From 1898 to 1900 he was assistant profes- sor. From 1900 to 1905 he was professor of math- ematics. From 1905 to 1908 he was professor and head of the department of astronomy. In 1898 the honorary degree LL.D., was conferred upon him by Drake University; in 1911 and in 1921 the same de- gree was conferred by Tulane University and Baylor University, respectively.

It was while professor and head of the depart- ment of astronomy at Princeton that he was selected and invited to accept the presidency of the Rice Institute, which was then in its inception. Real- izing the importance of the task which awaited him, he prepared himself by an extensive tour, which took him around the world, visiting and studying the universities and colleges, both from an architectural and scientific standpoint, in foreign countries, as well as in the United States. He gathered a great fund of information of a practical nature which has been invaluable to him in the shaping of the destiny of the institution that has later been built under his guidance.

Dr. Lovett was married in 1897 in Mayfield, Ken- tucky, to Miss Mary Allen Hale, daughter of Henry Stephenson Hale, and Virginia Adelaide (Gregory) Hale of Mayfield. Her father was a colonel on the staff of the dashing General Nathan Bedford For- est of the Army of the Confederacy. Mrs. Lovett is a highly cultured woman, thoroughly educated in music and art. She has been a constant inspiration and helpmeet to Dr. Lovett in the great work he has accomplished. She went with him on his exten- sive journey around the world, assisted him in his investigation and study of the universities and col- leges while making his preparation to build the Rice Institute, and since coming to Houston has taken a prominent part in the development and improve- ment of the art and music interests of Houston. A more detailed account of her activities will be in- cluded in the following sketch. Dr. and Mrs. Lov- ett are the parents of three children: Adelaide, a graduate of the Rice Institute and of the University of Paris; Henry Malcolm Lovett, a graduate of the Rice Institute and of the Harvard law school, and Laurence Alexander Lovett, a pupil in the Hill School. Their daughter, Adelaide, is the wife of W. Browne Baker, son of the well known attorney and banker, Captain James A. Baker. Mr. and Mrs. W. Browne Baker have one child, W. Browne Baker, Jr.

Dr. Lovett holds membership in several American and foreign scientific societies, and has written va- rious scientific articles on mathematical and astro- nomical subjects contributed to journals in this coun- try and abroad. Dr. Lovett and his family have taken an active interest in the civic progress and social welfare of Houston, and have contributed lib- erally to the various activities for the betterment of this city. They hold membership in the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Country Club, Uni- versity Club and the Christian Church.

R AWLINS M. COLQUITT, general agent for the Pan-American Life Insurance Company, of New Orleans, with home and business headquarters in Houston, has, in the nine years time that he has directed the business man- agement of this old line company, become recog- nized as a factor in insurance circles of Texas. Mr. Colquitt came to Houston in 1916, to establish the Texas office of the Pan-American Life Insur- ance Company of New Orleans, and has since served this company as general State agent. It is largely due to his management that this company now has fourteen million dollars of life insurance in force in Texas, and is writing at the present time close to six million dollars of life insurance annually. Mr. Colquitt has a well organized agency, with offices in the Humble Building. He is one of the organizers and also vice president of the Bankers Health and Accident Association of Houston, a ben- efit organization of high standing. This company has a premium income of $100,000 and in 1924 did $23,000,000 in business, leading the entire field.

Rawlins M. Colquitt was born in Terrell, Kauf- man County, Texas, the twenty-second of April, 1887, the son of O. B. Colquitt, former governor of Texas, and one of the leading men of the State for many years. He is a lawyer by profession but for the past few years has been active in the de- velopment of oil in the Southwest, with offices in Dallas. From 1901 until taking office as governor in 1910 he served on the railroad commission. He was elected to a second term as governor, leaving this office in January, 1915. In 1916 he was a candidate for the United States Senate. In the first primary he won by a large plurality, but lost in the second primary after various factions com- bined to defeat him. Rawlins M. Colquitt attended the schools of Terrell and Austin, later entering the University of Texas, where he took the A. B. degree, in 1909. Leaving college, he went with the Texas Central Railway, in the department of main- tenance of right of way, remaining with that line for eight months. He then entered the insurance business, in 1910, located in Austin for a time, later going to New Orleans. Here he spent a short time with the Pan-American Life Insurance Company, of New Orleans. In 1916 he came to Houston to become general state agent for this company, which he has since successfully represented.

Rawlins M. Colquitt was married at San Antonio, Texas, the seventh of October, 1914, to Miss Jose- phine Heard, a native of Little Rock, Arkansas, the niece of, and reared by the late General John W. Heard, formerly adjutant general at Fort Sam Houston. Mr. and Mrs. Colquitt have one child, Rawlins M. Colquitt, Jr. Mr. Colquitt is a member of the Elks Lodge, and is one of the outstanding insurance men of Texas.

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MEN OF TEXAS

DWARD ANDREW PEDEN, President of the Peden Iron and Steel Company, Hous- ton, and one of the city's progressive citi- zens, has for more than thirty years been an active figure in the financial and hardware cir- cles of the Southwest. The life of Mr. Peden has been singularly typical of the romance of American business, and more particularly as it has paralleled the wonderful expansion and development of Texas during the past thirty years. He was fifteen years of age when he came to Houston in 1883. He began his business career here as a clerk in the office of Inman and Company, Cotton Dealers. His close application to the details of his employer's business soon won for him the esteem and confidence of his superiors. He saved his earnings and made a small investment in Houston real estate; this with his savings enabled him, seven years later, to start the great wholesale establishment of the Peden Iron and Steel Company, and the company's slogan of "The Largest Supply House in the Southwest" was on the road to a reality.

The Peden Iron and Steel Company, with a capi- tal stock of $2,500,000.00, and an annual volume of sales aggregating more than $10,000,000.00, started in an humble way back in the doubtful days of 1890 at 107 Main Street with a floor space of 50 by 100 feet and a capital stock of $7,500.00. The founders of this great firm were E. A. Peden and R. P. Smith, his partner. This firm carried a lim- ited amount of tinner's supplies, roofing material, nails, iron fencing and barbed wire. Mr. Peden's faith never waned and the business grew steadily from the very beginning. In 1891 Mr. Peden's fath- er, Captain David Dantzler Peden, came to Houston from his Georgia home and became a member of the partnership. To the business Captain Peden brought $7,500.00 in capital and a rich fund of experience. The name of the firm was then changed to Smith, Peden and Company. D. D. Peden, Jr., entered the firm in 1894 and during that same year, the Pedens purchased Mr. Smith's interest and the firm became known as Peden and Company. All interests were wholly in the hands of D. D. Peden, Sr., and his two sons, Edward Andrew and Dickey Dantzler, Jr., and entered into an era of prosperity with "Truth, Quality and Service," as their motto. In 1902 the corporation was formed with a capital stock of $200,000.00. It took over the partnership assets and accepted subscriptions. from friends for a limited number of shares of stock. Under the corporation, the firm name was changed to the Peden Iron and Steel Company. The forming of the corporation marked a greater forward step in the growth of the business. The company com- pleted its new home on North San Jacinto Street the next year. This gave adequate warehouse room, combined with every modern facility for loading and unloading inbound and outbound shipments. In 1909 the capital stock was increased from $200,000.00 to $500,000.00 and the first branch house was opened in San Antonio. This branch was established in order to facilitate the handling of orders for cus- tomers in the West Texas territory, and in order to get the advantage of better freight rates that could be obtained by having shipments from Eastern points consigned directly to the San Antonio terri- tory. The experiment proved successful, and today the San Antonio branch house occupies 100,000

square feet, or twenty times more space than was originally required to house the entire business in Houston at the time of its beginning. In 1911 the capital stock was increased to $1,000,000. This achievement marked twenty-one years of continuous service. During all these years the Pedens never lost sight of the fact that a great business could be made possible in but one way, by gradual building; therefore the Peden Iron and Steel Company has always turned its earnings back into the business. The crowning achievement of thirty years came dur- ing the year 1920, when the Peden Iron and Steel Company announced that the business had grown to such proportions that the capital stock had been increased to $2,500,000.00. This increase was not made through the issuing and selling of stock, but in conformity with the Peden policy of conserving the company's assets by turning surplus earnings back into the company, then issuing additional stock to cover these assets. Another branch house to be opened was established at Shreveport, La., in 1920, to better care for the oil field business of Louisiana and Arkansas. The business of this great firm has grown from annual sales in 1891 totaling $138,000.00 to more than $10,000,000.00, and their home from the small space at 107 Main Street to their magnificent building in the 700 block of North San Jacinto Street, completed in 1913 at a cost of more than $200,000.00, and with a floor space of 300,000 square feet. Blank- eting the Texas territory with warehouses located at the stragetical trade centers of the State, this com- pany is also shipping its goods into New Mexico, Ok- lahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, and the Republic of Mexico. The future of the Peden Iron and Steel Company is one of unlimited possibilities for con- tinued growth and service. Captain D. D. Peden died in 1912 and since that time E. A. Peden, Presi- dent, and D. D. Peden, Jr., Vice-President and Treas- urer, have been the directing heads of the corpora- tion, assisted by the following officers of the com- pany: John A. Harvin, Vice-President and Manager, and R. C. Terrell, Secretary.

Mr. Peden was born in Calhoun County, Georgia, in 1868. His early education was obtained in the public schools of Griffin, Georgia, where his parents had moved when he was five years of age. Later he entered the Sam Bailey Institute there, where his college preparatory training came to an end be- fore completing the course. After leaving the Bail- ey Institute he studied diligently at home and through his own efforts obtained a liberal educa- tion which has served as a foundation for his suc- cess in business and positions of honor and trust at the hands of his fellowmen. At the beginning of the war with Germany Mr. Peden was one of the first citizens of Texas to offer his services to the Gov- ernment. In September, 1917, he was appointed Federal Food Administrator for Texas by Herbert Hoover. Under his able supervision, Texas made a record in food conservation that attracted the attention of the nation and won praises from Her- bert Hoover. In December, 1918, Mr. Hoover se- lected Mr. Peden as one of his personal aides to accompany him to Paris in the work of food distri- bution to the Allies and subjugated nations of Eu- rope. In March, 1919, at Mr. Hoover's request, Mr. Peden undertook one of the most stupendous tasks of his long period of war service, that of organizing the European Child Relief Bureau of the American Relief Association. Mr. Peden has steadfastly de-

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NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

clined to consider public office. In 1919 he was urged to become a candidate for the office of Gov- ernor, but positively refused to permit his name to be used. He was Chairman of the committee which during May, 1919, raised a fund of $800,000.00 in Houston for the building of a permanent home for the Young Women's Christian Association. He was Chairman for Texas of the European Relief Coun- cil work which called for funds to help feed the starving children and war orphans of European countries. In 1924 he was Chairman of the com- mittee that raised $1,350,000 for the Presbyterian schools and colleges in Texas. Mr. Peden has served as President of the Chamber of Commerce of Hous- ton, President of the Texas Hardware Jobbers As- sociation, Trustee Houston Art League, and Daniel Baker College of Brownwood. Probably the greatest honor of his life was bestowed upon him in 1924, when the Houston Rotary Club awarded him a medal for rendering the most distinguished service to his community for that year. He is a Director in sev- eral corporations, including the First National Bank of Houston, one of the oldest and strongest financial institutions in the Southwest, Chairman and Trus- tee of the Deepwater Refining Company, President Goose Creek Oil Company, Director and Treasurer Ashbel Smith Land Company, and Trustee of the Rice Institute. He has greatly contributed of his time and means to the development of the Houston Ship Channel, and was a member of the Harbor Commission, of which for several years he served as Chairman. He is a member of the Houston Club, Houston and River Oaks Country Clubs, University Club and is an honorary member of the Rotary Club.

Mr. Peden was twice married. His first wife, Ione Allen, is deceased. In 1904 he married Miss Cora Root. He is the father of four children, Allen Ver- non, Edward David, Ione Hortense, now Mrs. Bird- sall Masterson, and Stella Alexandra. Mr. Peden is a member of the Presbyterian Church, which has been the church of his ancestors for more than two centuries. Character, perseverance, foresight and the willingness to meet any emergency without re- gard to profit have been the dominant factors in the success of E. A. Peden, one of Houston's success- ful, progressive and public-spirited citizens.

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New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1, Part 49

Author: Davis, Ellis A. Publication date: 1926 Publisher: Dallas, Tex. : Texas development bureau, [1926?] Number of Pages: 1416

Author: Davis, Ellis A.
Publication date: 1926
Publisher: Dallas, Tex. : Texas development bureau, [1926?]
Number of Pages: 1416