New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1, Part 50

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

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RED R. BREAUX, since establishing his headquarters in Houston a number of years ago, has taken a leading part in whole- sale and manufacturing lumber activities. Mr. Breaux is the representative for South Texas for the Louisiana Red Cypress Company, the largest distributors of cypress lumber in Houston. Mr. Breaux came to Houston in 1918, after sixteen years in the lumber business, and with this firm, in Louis- iana, and has since maintained his offices in the Second National Bank Building. The Louisiana Red Cypress Company owns much timberland in Louisiana, operating eleven saw mills in that state. They manufacture cypress lumber exclusively, in- cluding shingles, railroad ties and bridge timbers, and sell over a thousand cars annually in Texas alone. They also handle lumber in wholesale lots, selling all kinds of lumber to an extensive trade territory. The officers of the Louisiana Red Cy- press Company are J. F. Wigginton, president; Frederick Wilbert, first vice-president; H. B. Hewes, second vice-president and C. S. Williams, chairman of the board.

Mr. Breaux was born at Franklin, Louisiana, in 1888, son of Emile and Josephine Breaux. He re- ceived his education in the public schools of his native state, graduating from high school. After leaving school he went in the lumber business in Louisiana, and has worked in many different de- partments, gaining first-hand knowledge of every phase of this great industry. He went with the Louisiana Red Cypress Company in 1909, and has since been with that firm. He is regarded as one of the most reliable and efficient employees of this company, and since becoming the representative for this company in South Texas has been responsi- ble for a material increase in the business handled in this section.

Mr. Breaux was married at New Orleans, in 1914, to Miss Mary Alice Weaver, daughter of Charles Weaver, a native of Springfield, Missouri, and Lena Tinkler Weaver. Mr. and Mrs. Breaux make their home in Houston at 1011 Kipling Street. They have three children, Helen R., Fred R., Junior, and Robert Allyn Breaux.

AMES RUSKIN BAILEY, well known Hous- ton architect, has contributed his share to the upbuilding of Houston. To his credit may be found many of the beautiful resi- dences of the city, as well as commercial and office structures. At this time he is architect for the Republic National Bank Building, a modern office building being erected on the corner of Main Street and Preston Avenue. Mr. Bailey maintains his of- fices at 1606 Main Street, where he erected an ar- tistic little building, which he alone, with his force of employees, occupy.

A native of Pennsylvania, Mr. Bailey was born in Pittsburg in 1889. His father, J. P. Bailey, was a well known architect of Pittsburg. His mother was Miss Ida Shaw, a member of a prominent Pennsyl- vania family. Mr. Bailey received his preliminary education in the public schools of Pittsburg. Later he was a student of architecture in the Carnegie Technical School of Pittsburg.

Mr. Bailey began his business career as an ar- chitect in Pittsburg and remained there one year. In 1908 he came to Port Arthur with the Texas Com- pany in the drafting department, and in 1909 he came to Houston, where for two years he followed his profession alone. In 1911 he formed a partner- ship in architecture with Joe Finger under the firm name of Finger & Bailey, which was continued for a period of eight years. He was with the Houston Land Company when they developed the Montrose Addition. In 1919 Mr. Bailey went with the Ford Motor Company as their agent at Seguin, where he remained for two years, when he returned to Hous- ton and established the Bailey Motor Sales Com- pany. Disposing of this business he returned to the profession for which he was educated.

Mr. Bailey was married in Houston in 1919 to Miss Margaret Scott, a daughter of John T. Scott, president of the First National Bank of Houston. Mr. and Mrs. Bailey reside at No. 6 Waverly Court. Mr. Bailey is a 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner of Arabia Temple. He is a member of the Houston Retail Auto Trades Association and the Houston Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Bailey is a member of the Methodist Church, and is iden- tified with the movements tending to promote the growth and importance of Houston.

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ESSE H. JONES, financier, banker, lumber- man and city builder, is probably the out- standing citizen of Texas today. In Texas his name has been linked with an unusual amount of building activities. In Houston he has erected most of the major office buildings, but his operations in this field extends to Dallas, Fort Worth and New York. He is president of the Na- tional Bank of Commerce, and the Bankers Mortgage Company, two of the strong financial institutions of Houston. His interests extends to railroads, hotels, lumber and other enterprises of importance. Al- though his many business responsibilities are ex- acting of his time, yet he has not overlooked his duties as a citizen, and has taken a keen interest in civic, political and social affairs. He takes a live interest in good government, and stands high in the national council of the democratic party, which he has served in important capacities. Early in 1926, he was selected to head the centennial cele- bration of the liberation of Texas from Mexico. While this was a great honor as well as a recognition of the unusual executive ability of the recipient, yet it carries with it a gigantic task which no other than a patriotic Texan would accept.

The following biographical information concern- ing Mr. Jones was secured from the "History of Houston" published in 1912. He was born April 5th, 1874, in Robertson County, Tennessee, son of Wil- liam H., and Ann (Holman) Jones. William H. Jones was a successful farmer and tobacco ex- porter. The Jones and Holman families were hon- ored and respected citizens of Tennessee. At the age of twenty years, Jesse H. Jones left his father's farm, where his boyhood days were spent, and came to Texas, residing four years in Dallas, where he worked in his uncle's lumber yard. After the death of his uncle, M. T. Jones, he came to Houston and assumed the management of the M. T. Jones Lum- ber Company, which he operated successfully, and which was closed up in 1906. Since that time he has devoted his attention principally to the operation of real estate, building, lumber and banking. He is a member of various social and commercial clubs and organizations in Houston and New York and his church affiliation is Methodist.

Space allotted herein is insufficient to cover the subject, to which a complete volume could be easily devoted. Suffice it to say that Jesse H. Jones has won a lasting place in the hearts of his fellow citizens, as well as in the history of his adopted state.

E. MEADOR, whose name for over two decades has been of special significance in business and financial affairs at Houston, is one of a group of business men who take a large part in the commercial activities here. For years he has served as vice president and director of the National Bank of Commerce, one of the strongest banks in Texas. It was not until the Spring of 1925 that he became an active vice pres- ident of the bank, devoting his entire time to the direction of the affairs of this institution. The National Bank of Commerce has a capital and sur- plus of $1,000,000, with deposits of over $9,700,000. Mr. Meador is also vice president of the Bankers Mortgage Company, the largest banking house in Texas, handling an exclusive loan and real estate investment business. The Bankers Mortgage Com-

pany is the result of the merger of the Bankers Trust Company, established in 1909 with a capital- ization of one million dollars, and the Texas Trust Company. The merger was effected in 1911, the consolidated institution becoming known as the Bankers Trust Company, and capitalized at two million dollars. In 1920 the name was changed to the Bankers Mortgage Company. The present capital is two million dollars, with a surplus fund of six hundred thousand, and total resources of over three million dollars.

Mr. Meador was instrumental in the organization of the Texas Trust Company, in 1909, and was vice president of that institution. When this company. consolidated with the Bankers Trust Company he was elected vice president of the resulting insti- tution. Mr. Meador came to Houston in 1904, at that time having lumber interests here, and was for the ensuing six years, until the organization of the Texas Trust Company, vice president of the South Texas Lumber Company. Prior to this he was for more than a decade active in the real estate, investment and lumber business, during this period making extensive loans with a total loss of less than a hundred dollars. Mr. Meador has taken an active part in the civic development of Houston, and has extensive interests here. He is president of the Rice Hotel, a director of the Houston Chronicle, and vice president of the Houston Hotel Association.

Mr. Meador was born at Atlanta, Georgia, the twenty-second of February, 1868, son of M. J. and Lucretia Gamble Meador. His father, a native of Georgia, was for many years a wholesale merchant there, until his death, which occurred when Mr. Meador was a child, two nad a half years old. His mother was a native of Alabama. Mr. Meador was educated in the Atlanta public schools. After fin- ishing his education he came to Texas, in 1886, and located near Mexia. The first two years here he worked in a mercantile store. From 1892 until 1896, during President Cleveland's second administration, he was Postmaster at Mexia, during the latter part of this time, and for the ensuing eight years, he devoted to real estate, investment and lumber inter- ests.

Mr. Meador was married at Mexia the eleventh of June, 1890, to Miss Annie Gibbs, daughter of Jasper Gibbs, a prominent business man of that city. Mrs. Meador's death occurred in 1922. She left be- sides her husband, three sons, Elliot, Eugene and Gibbs, to mourn her loss. Mr. Meador makes his home at the Rice Hotel. He is a member of the Houston Club, the Houston Country Club, the Lum- berman's Club, and the Chamber of Commerce. Fra- ternally he is a Mason, and is a member of the Second Presbyterian Church of Houston.

LBERT D. SIMPSON, well known banker and business man of Texas, has since com- ing to Houston been an active figure in the financial circles of this city. As vice president of the National Bank of Commerce he has had an important part in shaping the destinies of that institution. The National Bank of Com- merce was organized in 1912 as a National Bank, under the present name. The capital stock was $500,000.00 at the time of organization, which has not been changed and they now have a surplus of $500,000.00. Mr. Simpson came with the National Bank of Commerce in January, 1918. He was made

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NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

assistant cashier in 1919, and in 1920 was made cashier. He continued in this position until 1922 when he was elected vice president. In 1912 the deposits of the National Bank of Commerce were $800,000.00, in 1922 $5,696,691.15 and on December 31, 1925, they had $11,102,000.00 deposits. The National Bank of Commerce is known as a very conservative bank and the depositors are given bet- ter protection than most banks afford, having $5,000,000.00 invested in government securities against about $11,000,000.00 individual deposits. Other officers of the National Bank of Commerce are Jesse H. Jones, president, recognized as the city's leading citizen and one of the most pro- gressive men in the Southwest. He has done much in the building up of Houston, and making it the thriving, progressive city that it is today. N. E. Meador, vice president; Sam Taub, vice president; W. W. Fondren, vice president; A. F. Fisher, cash- ier; I. C. Griffith, assistant vice president, and R. H. Doherty, assistant vice president and trust officer.

A native of Texas, Mr. Simpson was born in Burnet County in 1882. His father, Rev. R. H. Simpson, is a well known Methodist minister. His mother was Miss Maggie R. Moore, born in Texas, but her parents came to this State from Virginia. She is widely known as a charity and church worker. Mr. Simpson's education was obtained in the public and high schools of Marble Falls, graduating from the latter in 1897.

Mr. Simpson has had a wide and varied business career which began in 1897 when he was but fifteen years of age. For ten years-from 1897 to 1907- he was in the employ of M. H. Reed & Company, merchants of Marble Falls. In 1907 he accepted the position of head bookkeeper with John Orr, wholesale grocer, of Austin, but remained in this position but a short time. In the latter part of 1907 Mr. Simpson received his first banking ex- perience with the First National Bank of George- town, where he acted as teller, but did the work of cashier. He remained with this bank until 1913 when he went with the Southwestern University of Georgetown as secretary of the university. He remained in this position until 1917 when he was made assistant to the president, Rev. C. M. Bishop. In August of 1917 he resigned this position and removed to Houston in order to accept a responsible and lucrative position with the Texas Company. He remained in this position until January, 1918, when he resigned in order to become associated with the National Bank of Commerce. Mr. Simp- son was married at Marble Falls in 1905 to Miss Mamie V. Tate, a daughter of Hick L. Tate, a widely known ranch owner of Llano County. They have four children: Albert D., Jr .; Robert Tate, Rowena and H. L. Mr. and Mrs. Simpson reside at 401 Westmoreland. Mr. Simpson is a member of the American Bankers Association, and is treasurer of the Houston Chamber of Commerce. He has served as chairman of the First District of Texas Bankers Association, chairman of the Houston Convention Bureau and director of the Bankers Mortgage Com- pany. Mr. Simpson is a member of the Methodist Church. He is on the finance committee of the Board of Stewards of the church. Mr. Simpson is a hard worker for the success of the institution which he is associated with, and for the growth and progress of Houston.

B ASSETT BLAKELY, pioneer cattle man and capitalist of South Texas, where dur- ing all his life he has been one of the most active of Texas' cattle men, and is well known not only in his own state but in others as well where for many years he has shipped train loads of cattle to be fattened. He is also well known to the Chicago, Kansas City and St. Louis markets, where he ships thousands of head of fat cattle an- nually. Mr. Blakely is also one of Texas' most ex- tensive individual cotton planters, during many sea- sons he has had twelve thousand acres planted to cotton and still raises cotton on upward of five thousand acres, together with other acreage in feed of different kinds. Mr. Blakely came to Houston in 1907 from Fort Bend County and while he main- tains his home and residence here, he still owns and leases vast cattle ranches in Chambers, Fort Bend, Brazoria, and Duvall counties. Of these ranches, Mr. Blakely ownes in fee fifteen thousand acres, and leases about one hundred thousand acres, and has between ten thousand and fifteen thousand head of cattle, which are mostly of the Brahma breed. Mr. Blakely sends annually about ten thousand head of cattle to Kansas to be fattened for market.

A native Texan, Mr. Blakely was born in Fort Bend County December 9th, 1874. His father, T. M. Blakely (deceased since 1885), came from Mont- gomery, Alabama, to Fort Bend County, Texas, in the early days and was engaged in farming. His mother was Miss Louise Fannie Foster, a native of Fort Bend County and who died in 1918 at the ad- vanced age of eighty-five years, was a daughter of Randolph Foster, who was one of the early Texas pioneers and was a close personal friend of David Crockett. He settled in Fort Bend County in 1824 when Texas was a wide expanse of open cattle ranges roamed by buffalo, deer, wild horses and cattle. Mr. Blakely's education was obtained in the public schools of Fort Bend County.

Mr. Blakely has been raised in an atmosphere of the cattle business, and began when a small boy to drive cattle. In those days there were no barbed wire fences and cattle were grazed on the open ranges, and horses were always hobbled when turned out to graze in order to be able to again catch them to be bridled and saddled as a mount for the cow boy. Mr. Blakely has always been financially interested in many of Houston's industries and enterprises. He is a director in the Kirby Petroleum Company and president of the Duval Ranch Campany, a corpora- tion which owns large ranch lands in Duval County, but Mr. Blakely personally owns the cattle on this extensive ranch. He also owned the land in fee on which the Blue Ridge oil field is located, and now owns the mineral rights of this land. Some pro- duction has already been found there, and with development, the Blue Ridge field is expected to become a real oil field. Mr. Blakely still owns the farm that was patented to his great-grandfather, John Foster, in 1824.

Mr. Blakely was married at Richmond, Texas, January 9th, 1898, to Miss Bonnie Dunlavey, a na- tive of Fort Bend County and a daughter of M. B. Dunlavey (deceased), a pioneer cattle man and a member of an old and prominent Texas family. They have four children: Mrs. Browne B. Rice of Hous- ton, Bassett Blakely, Jr., on cattle ranch in Duval County; Claire Louise, at home with parents and

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Thomas Blakely at school in the University of Texas. The Blakely home is at 3502 Burlington Street. In social organizations, Mr. Blakely is a member of the Houston Country Club, the Houston Club, and the Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. He has always been very active in the Cattle Men's As- sociations, and he was largely responsible for the Cattle Men's Convention being obtained for Hous- ton in 1924. Mr. Blakely is truly a type of the old time stock man, possessing that spirit of hospitality so characteristic of the great Southwest, and he, as a native Texan, is essentially loyal to the customs and traditions of the Lone Star State.

S. CULLINAN, pioneer oil man, capitalist and president of the American Republics Corporation, came to Corsicana, Texas, in 1897, from Washington, Pennsylvania, where, for many years, he had been engaged in the oil industry; thirteen of which was with the Stand- ard Oil Company. The activity at Corsicana had just begun when Mr. Cullinan arrived in that field. The oil business at that time was something new in Texas and the citizens of the Lone Star State were slow to invest in something in which they had no experience and this Pennsylvanian convinced them of the practicability of developing the petroleum business in Texas. He organized the first pipe line and refinery company in Texas, known as J. S. Cul- linan & Company, later the Corsicana Refining Com- pany, the nucleus of the Magnolia Petroleum Com- pany. Severing connection with the Corsicana en- terprises he went to Beaumont in 1902, where he organized The Texas Company, of which he was president from its incorporation in 1903 to 1913, developing into one of the largest oil companies in Texas. Soon after retiring from The Texas Com- pany he organized the American Republics Corpora- tion, a holding company, today one of the import- ant companies. The American Republics Corpora- tion owns twenty-one subsidiaries, identified with oil and allied industries, operating in Texas and various states in developing, producing and trans- porting petroleum in their own tank cars and tank steamers, in the steel and other business, employing several thousand people, pay rolls in Texas and in the East amounting to several hundred thousands of dollars each year. The issued capital of the Ameri- can Republics Corporation is $30,000,000.00. The executive office of the American Republic Corpora- tion is in New York, but Mr. Cullinan's private of- fice is in Houston and he divides his time between the two cities. Establishing headquarters of The Texas Company in Houston in 1905, marked the be- ginning of Houston as the executive headquarters of the petroleum industry of the Southwest. Mr. Cullinan is a student of political science and political economy and as a patriotic American citizen, be- lieves in old-fashioned constitutional government. At the time of the post-war period of unrest and more or less disorganized conditions of the coun- try, he was fearless in stating his views and using his influence, time and money in arousing public sentiment. Today the thinking people of our State are taking a keener interest in civic and govern- mental affairs and the result will be felt in the future by the election to office of men who realize that our form of government must be governed by The Constitution of the United States. Mr. Cullinan has always stood for constitutional government, and

government by and for the people and so expresses himself unqualifiedly on any and all occasions.

Mr. Cullinan was born at Sharon, Pennsylvania, December 31st, 1860. His father, John Francis Cullinan, was a native of County Clare, Ireland. His mother, Mary Considine, was a native of the same county in Ireland, both came to America with their parents when quite young, and previous to their marriage lived in the State of Iowa. His education was obtained in the public schools of Pennsylvania, and shortly after leaving school he engaged in the oil business and has spent all his business life in some branch of that industry.

Mr. Cullinan is known as a leader of men and his ability to select men for his associates is one of the attributes for successful life. Many of the men today who are considered leaders in the industry in Texas owe their fortunes and fundamental training to him. In fact a large percentage of the men who hold re- sponsible position as executives with leading oil companies of Texas secured the rudiments of their training in the oil business and business in general from him. When his associates and friends have passed away he has carried the widow's interests and taken care of the estates, and has in several cases made comfortable fortunes for the widows and fatherless children. He has done much good for others that has never been recorded or hearlded. Mr. Cullinan is popular in oil circles, not only with executive but with the men who work in the fields. He is a man who takes a kindly interest in his fellowman and is always ready and willing to ex- tend a helping hand to the man who wants to help himself. While he has never sought political office, he never allows the thought of good government to get entirely out of his minds-eye, and through the fact that he has pioneered the oil development of Texas, his name will go into Texas History as one of the outstanding men of his day, not only in Texas, but in the United States.

Mr. Cullinan was married at Lima, Ohio, on April 14th, 1891, to Miss Lucie Halm, a member of a prominent Ohio family. They have four children living: Craig F. Cullinan, who following in his father's footsteps, has become successful in the oil business, and is vice president of the American Republics Corporation; Nina J., and Mary C. Cul- linan and Margaret Cullinan Wray. Some years ago Mr. Cullinan built one of the most beautiful and artistic residences in Houston that today is one of the show places of the city. He is a member in the following: United States Chamber of Commerce (National Council); Board of Directors C. R. B. Educational Foundation; Houston Chamber of Com- merce, of which he is ex-president; Houston Cotton Exchange, and Board of Trade; National Foreign Trade Council; National Rivers and Harbors Con- gress; American Academy of Political and Social Science; National Economic League; Pennsylvania Society of New York; American Asiatic Association; American Institute of Mining Metallurgical Engi- neers, and the National Association of Audubon Societies. He is a member of the following New York clubs: Travel, Lotus and Uptown. In Washing- ton he is a member of the Congressional Country Club. In Houston he holds membership in the fol- lowing social organizations: Houston Club and Hous- ton Country Club, River Oaks Country Club, and the Beaumont Country Club of Beaumont.

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A. FOUTS, pioneer Petroleum Refining man and for over thirty years engaged in that industry is the executive head of one of the leading refineries of South Texas. Mr. Fouts is president of the Deep Water Oil Refineries, Inc., which he organized in 1919, and began opera- tions in July, 1920. The board of directors are as fol- lows: R. A. Fouts, E. A. Peden, F. M. Law, J. T. Scott, E. L. Neville, C. A. Barbour and R. A. Welch. This refinery has a capacity of one hundred thou- sand barrels of crude oil per month, and are man- ufacturers of lubricating oils exclusively. The com- pany sells its products through independent job- bers, shipping to foreign trade in tankers and do- mestic trade in tank cars. The Deep Water Oil Refineries, Inc., has a capital stock of one million two hundred thousand dollars fully paid and does an annual business of two million dollars. Upward of one hundred people are in the organization, and they own one hundred and fifty tank cars. The officers of the Deep Water Oil Refineries, Inc., are located on the eighth floor of the First National Bank Build- ing. The by-products are: gas, oil, and fuel oil, which are shipped not only to every part of the United States, but all over the world. The refining plant buildings are of concrete, steel and brick con- struction and through this advantage secure the low insurance rate of 66 cents per hundred, and is modern in every detail. With a view to future expansion, the Deep Water Oil Refineries, Inc., have purchased abundant acreage contiguous to their plant, which includes thirty-two acres on the ship channel. With new installations of special equipment in July, 1924, the company began the manufacture of an improved lubricating oil by virtue of the Schultze process of refining.

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New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1, Part 50

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