New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1, Part 51

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

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Mr. Fouts was born at Treadelphia, Ohio, Febru- ary 3rd, 1870. His father, C. E. Fouts (deceased since 1881), was a native of Ohio, but his ancestors came from Virginia. He was a well known build- ing contractor of Columbus. His mother was Miss Ella Woodward, a member of a prominent Ohio family. Mr. Fouts' education was obtained in the public and high schools of Columbus, Ohio.

Mr. Fouts has spent all his business life in the refining business. He first entered this field in 1891 with the Standard Oil Company of Ohio, with the marketing department at Columbus, and re- mained with this company until 1901. From 1901 to 1911, Mr. Fouts was an independent oil jobber with headquarters in Columbus. From 1911 to 1916 he op- erated the Wabash Refining Company at Robinson, Illinois. Mr. Fouts built this refinery and was president of the company. In 1916 he sold this re- finery and during the same year he built the Red River Refining Company at Shreveport, Louisiana, and operated this refinery until 1919 when he came to Houston. Mr. Fouts was president and general manager of the Red River Refining Company while active, and is still director and secretary of this company.

Mr. Fouts was married at Marietta, Ohio, in 1898 to Miss Ida May Nixon, a native of Ohio and a daughter of E. W. Nixon, well known oil man of the Buckeye State. Mr. and Mrs. Fouts have two daughters; Mrs. J. L. Anning of Houston, whose husband is maintenance engineer at the plant of the Deep Water Oil Refineries, and Virginia, at home with her parents. Mr. Fouts is a member of the Glenbrook Country Club and the Congregational

Church. Mr. Fouts is optimistic as to the future of Houston, and believes that the thirty-foot ship channel makes Houston a great harbor and the lead- ing city in the Southwest.

OUIS F. TUFFLY, for two decades associat- ed with important commercial activities at Houston, has attained a commendable repu- tation in the mercantile world and enjoys the esteem of his fellow citizens. Mr. Tuffly is vice president and general manager of the firm of Krupp and Tuffly, Incorporated, retail shoe and hosiery dealers, a firm that dates back to the early days of Houston's history. The business was es- tablished by Mr. Tuffly's father, Louis John Tuffly, in 1884, in association with Mr. Krupp. They began in a small way, the years bringing increasing pros- perity to the business, and a full measure of suc- cess. Louis F. Tuffly began in the store in 1904, as stock boy, working in all departments and ac- quiring an accurate knowledge of the operation of the entire establishment. In 1919, he was made manager, and vice president, the office he now holds. The firm of Krupp and Tuffly now operates one of the largest booteries in the Lone Star State and is the most completely stocked shoe store in South Texas. They have a hosiery department carrying a full line of hose of recognized quality, and feature all the newest shades. Their shoe styles show the modern tendencies, and are selected from the finest makes in the country, offering their many patrons distinctive styles and service. Krupp and Tuffly, Incorporated, occupy a modern three story building, the two upper floors being fifty by a hundred and fifty feet, and the lower floor thirty-three by one hundred feet. They have the finest fixtures, creat- ing an atmosphere in harmony with the establish- ment, and employ fifty-two people in the operation of the business. Mrs. M. M. Tuffly, widow of the late Louis John Tuffly, is president of the corporation, Louis F. Tuffly, vice president and manager; T. M. Scoggins, Jr., secretary, and A. F. Kuhleman, treas- urer.

Louis F. Tuffly is a native of Houston, in which city he was born the seventh of August, 1888, son of Louis John Tuffly, founder of the firm of Krupp and Tuffly, and one of the honored pioneers of Hous- ton. He came to Texas in the early sixties and was thereafter prominently identified with the com- mercial and civic life of the city until his death, which occurred in 1907. Louis F. Tuffly's mother, was before her marriage, Miss Mattie M. Bouland of Galveston. Mr. Tuffly was educated in the Catho- lic Parochial schools of Houston, later attending St. Edward's College at Austin.

Mr. Tuffly was married at Houston, Texas, the fourth of June, 1912, to Miss Inez Smith, a native of Iowa, who was reared in Missouri. They make their home at 3820 Fannin Street, and have two children, Mary Ann and Louis Edward. Mr. Tuffly takes an active part in the civic life of his community and holds a place of responsibility in the mercantile world. He is president of the Retail Merchants Association, and a director of the National Shoe Retailers Association. He is a member of various clubs and civic organizations, belonging to the Coun- try Club, the Houston Club, the Kiwanis Club and the Elks Club. Fraternity he is a Knight of Colum- bus, and head of the Fourth Degree.

229

MEN OF TEXAS

OLONEL JONAS SHEARN RICE, president of the Union National Bank and for many years until recently the head of various other financial and business institutions, has long been the most popular banker of the city, and by virtue of business and social prominence and connections with the pioneer family that has done so much for Houston, would perhaps be al- most universally regarded as the first citizen of the city. In August, 1905, Colonel Rice became presi- dent of the Union Bank and Trust Company, now the Union National Bank, with a capital stock of $1,000,000.00. On September 15th, 1922, the re- sources of this institution were $19,245,051.35 and deposits $16,125,516.69. The Union National Bank owns the building occupied by them, and known as the Union National Bank Building. The board of directors is made up of the leading business and professional men of Houston. Other officers of the Union National Bank are: Thomas C. Dunn, vice president; George Hamman, vice president; D. W. Cooley, vice president, and H. B. Finch, cashier. The title of Colonel, always used as a prefix to the name of J. S. Rice, was honorably earned. In 1874 he became a member of the Houston Light Guard and was prominent as adjutant in the First Regi- ment of Texas Militia organized after the close of the Civil War. He was captain of the Houston Light Guard when that company was the crack company of Texas and one of the best in the United States. He was adjutant general of the First Brigade on the staff of General F. W. James, and was chief of the personal staff for Governor Law- rence Sullivan Ross. Colonel Rice has been the recipient of many honors at the hands of Houston's citizenship, and many positions of trust from the chief executives of the State of Texas. He is ex- president of the Thalian Club, and was appointed by Governor T. M. Campbell as one of the San Ja- cinto Battleground Commissioners and has been ac- tive in the work of beautifying that historic battle- field, sacred to the hearts of all Texans. He was chosen as the king of the No-Tsu-Oh Carnival and his daughter, Miss Laura F. Rice, was queen of the same festival. In 1895 he was made financial agent of the Texas State penitentiary, which post he held until he was in 1899 appointed by Governor Sayers as superintendent of the Texas National Penal Sys- tem. Colonel Rice held this position until 1902, when he resigned in order to devote his attention to the banking business in Houston.

A native Texan, Colonel Rice was born in Hous- ton in 1855. His father, Frederick A. Rice, came to Houston from Massachusetts, in 1850, when Hous- ton was a village, but at that early date was aspir- ing to greater things. The broad western plains stretched for hundreds of miles over an empire of open cattle ranges, and railroads were only in the minds of the early settlers, and Frederick A. Rice was one of the builders of the first railroad, the Houston and Texas Central. He remained in Hous- ton and saw the village grow to a busy, thriving city and died here in 1901 at the age of seventy-one years. His mother was Miss Charlotte M. Baldwin, a daughter of Horace Baldwin, who was mayor of Houston during the days of the Republic, and who was a brother-in-law of A. C. Allen, one of the foun- ders of Houston. Colonel Rice's forbears, both pa- ternal and maternal, are of old Revolutionary stock

which came from the sturdy Scotch-Irish and Eng- lish pioneers of Colonial days in America. His Great-grandfather Hall was one of those wounded at the Battle of Lexington in 1775, but despite that fact lived to reach the age of one hundred and two years; living most of that time in the State of Mas- sachusetts, where he died. Colonel Rice is the eldest of a family of ten children-seven sons and three daughters. A younger brother, H. B. Rice, served the city of Houston with distinction as mayor for many years. His services to the city have become a part of the history of the city, and his name will be perpetually associated with the beneficial achieve- ments of his administration. Two other brothers- W. M. and B. B. Rice-are prominent business men of Houston. Colonel Rice's education was obtained in the public schools of Houston, and the Texas Mili- tary Institute at Austin.

The business career of Colonel Rice has been uni- formly brilliant and successful. Following his grad- uation at the Texas Military Institute, he became a railroad clerk in the office of the general passen- ger agent of the H. & T. C. R. R. In 1879 he be- came bookkeeper and teller of the National Ex- change Bank of Houston. In 1881 he and a brother, William M. Rice, who is now one of the trustees of the Rice Institute, engaged in the sawmill business in Tyler County. From 1904 to 1909 he was one of the receivers of the Kirby Lumber Company, and was elected vice president of that company on its reorganization. Through the competent manage- ment of this company during the period it was in the hands of receivers brought it out of its difficul- ties. Colonel Rice has served in many important capacities, among them being: President of the Great Southern Life Insurance Company, chairman of the board of directors Bankers Trust Company, vice president of the J. S. & W. M.' Rice Lumber Company, vice president of Houston Title and Guar- anty Company, vice president Houston Land Cor- poration, and a director in the following: Guarantee Life Insurance Company, T. & B. V. Railroad Com- pany, Southern Drug Company, R. M. Gordon & Company, Hogan-Allnoch Company, Houston Rec- reation and Community Service Association and many others. Colonel Rice was married at Waco in 1887 to Miss Mary J. Ross, a daughter of Colonel Pete F. Ross, "The hero of Corinth" and a niece of former Governor L. S. Ross, and a granddaughter of General James E. Harrison. Three children were born of this union-Misses Laura F., now Mrs. Rich- ard Wayne Neff, and Lottie B. Rice, now Mrs. S. P. Farish, and Kate Rice, now the wife of Hugo V. Neuhaus. Colonel Rice is a member of the A. F. and A. M. with membership in the local lodge, Chap- ter and Commandery, and is a Shriner of Arabia Temple. He is also a member of the B. P. O. E., and of the Houston Country Club, and is a Demo- crat of the "old school" and a staunch admirer of Woodrow Wilson. Colonel Rice has always been prominently identified with all movements tending to promote the growth and importance of Houston. He is loved by his associates and the public, and while not engaged actively in any work, is regarded as one of Houston's most popular, public-spirited, and progressive citizens whose life has been a suc- cess and a help to all who have been fortunate enough to know him.

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J. S. Rig

NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

RANK ANDREWS, senior member of the firm of Andrews, Streetman, Logue and Mobley, Attorneys and Counsellors at Law, has for thirty-six years practiced before the Texas bar. The firm of Andrews, Streetman, Logue and Mobley, with offices in the Union National Bank Building, is engaged in the general civil practice of law and is recognized as one of the leading law firms of South Texas, with eighteen lawyers in the organization. This well known firm does a great deal of corporation work, and are attorneys for the Gulf Coast Lines, the I .- G. N. Railroad, Kirby Lum- ber Company, Kirby Petroleum Company, Union National Bank, San Jacinto Trust Company, Bank- ers' Mortgage Company, besides a large number of other business concerns in the city and in South Texas.

A native Texan, Mr. Andrews was born in Fay- ette County June 15th, 1864. His father, Rev. G. L. Andrews, was a pioneer settler and Baptist Minister of Texas. He came to the Lone Star State in 1850 from Georgia, where prior to his entering the Minis- try, was engaged in the mercantile business. His mother was Miss Martha Sellers, a native of Color- ado County, and a daughter of Robert Sellers, one of the early Texas pioneers, having settled in Texas in 1833. Mr. Andrews' early education was obtained in the public schools, and later he was a student of the Southwestern University of Georgetown, grad- uating from that institution in the class of 1885 with the A. B. degree. After his graduation, Mr. An- drews taught school for two years at Kempner, Lam- pasas County, and at Belton, Bell County, and dur- ing this period, he studied law at night and during his spare hours during the day. Mr. Andrews was admitted to the bar in May, 1887, and immediately established his office in Belton, and began the gen- eral practice of law. He continued his practice in Belton until 1891, when he was appointed Assistant Attorney General under Hon. Charles A. Culberson. He continued in this position until 1895, when he came to Houston and resumed his law practice. Mr. Andrews practiced his profession alone until 1902, when Hon. Thomas A. Ball became associated with him, and the firm was known as Andrews and Ball, which continued until Judge Streetman joined them in 1904 and the firm name changed to Andrews, Ball and Streetman. This firm continued until 1914, when Mr. Ball withdrew from the firm in order to enter the political race for Governor of Texas. The firm, shortly afterward became Andrews, Streetman, Burns and Logue. Mr. Burns died in 1918 and the firm name was changed to Andrews, Streetman, Logue and Mobley, which has continued. Mr. An- drews has been closely connected with the commer- cial interests of the city for many years, and is a director in the following organizations and indus- tries of the city: The Union National Bank, Gulf Coast Lines, Bankers Mortgage Company, and Kirby Petroleum Company.

Mr. Andrews was married at Salado, Bell County, in 1891, to Miss Roxalee Smith, whose paternal an- cestors were pioneer settlers and among the makers of early Texas history. Her father, James L. Smith, was prior to the Civil War, a Professor in Baylor University. He served in the Civil War, during which time he was made a captain. After the close of the war he became President of Salado College. Her grandfather, James Smith, was in many of the early battles and skirmishes in the early days of

Texas, among these being the bloody Dawson Mas- sacre, in which many brave Texans lost their lives, but Mr. Smith escaped. Mr. and Mrs. Andrews have two children, Edward and Forrest Leel. In fraternal and social organizations Mr. Andrews is a member of the York Rite body of the Masonic fraternity, and is a Shriner of Ben Hur Temple, Austin, and is Past Potentate of this organization; the B. P. O. E., the University Club, Houston Club, Houston Country Club, River Oaks Country Club, the Amer- ican Bar Association, the State Bar Association and the Harris County Bar Association. Mr. Andrews has always been active in the civic affairs of the city and in all educational matters, to which he gave his time and assistance. He has also been at all times interested in the progress and advancement of Houston.

Mr. Andrews was City Attorney of Belton while residing there. He was chairman of the State Democratic Executive Committee 1904-6. He was appointed special Supreme Court Judge in several cases.

EWIS BUCKNER HIGHTOWER, pioneer resident of Beaumont, has as lawyer and jurist occupied a high place in the con- fidence of the people, and this faith he has never betrayed. At various times during his career, covering a period of more than a quarter of a cen- tury, he has been called upon to fill positions of public trust, and is now chief justice of the Ninth Court of Civil Appeals, and in this office has demon- strated his official and judicial ability, and his devo- tion to the best interests of his community. This court has under its jurisdiction some fifteen counties, and Judge Hightower finds the demands made on his time as chief justice exacting. Associated with him as judges in this court are Daniel Walker and William B. O'Quinn.

Judge Hightower was born in Montgomery Coun- ty, Texas, the tenth of September, 1875. His father, Lewis Buckner Hightower, was prominent as an attorney, serving as district judge for thirty years, and representing his district in the state Legislature for one term. His mother was before her marriage Miss Jacque Moore. As a boy, Judge Hightower attended the public schools of Liberty County. He then entered the high school at Huntsville, and after graduating there entered the University of Texas, where he took his L. L. B. degree three years later. He was admitted to the bar in 1895, practicing at Conroe for four years, after which he came to Beaumont, in 1899, and has since made this city his home, steadily advancing in his career to a place among the foremost judges of the state. He was formerly a member of the firm of Lanier, Jackson and Hightower, and served as county and district attorney for one term, as district judge for eight years, and has been chief justice of the Ninth Court of Civil Appeals since 1916.

Judge Hightower was married at Beaumont, in 1900, to Miss Dora Votaw, daughter of Judge J. N. Votaw, pioneer attorney of Beaumont. Judge and Mrs. Hightower have a family of nine children, Jack- son Votaw, Clarence Clark, Jane, Dora, Margaret, Gloria, L. B. Jr., Rosemary and John Benjamin. The family reside at 638 Sabine Pass. Judge High- tower takes an active interest in civic activities and is an honored resident of this city.

233

MEN OF TEXAS

AMES M. WEST, President of the South Texas Lumber Company, and the West Lumber Company, of Houston, is known in the business and financial circles of this city as one of the leading lumber men of the South- west. The West Lumber Company was established in 1900 in Houston by Mr. West and his associates and in 1910 they bought the South Lexas Lumber Company. The West Lumber Company is a manu- facturing company, incorporated for $3,000,000.00, engaged in the manufacture of lumber only. The South Texas Lumber Company are wholesale and retail dealers and have twenty-four lumber yards in Texas, with a capital stock of $1,400,000.00. Both companies employ more than fifteen hundred men. Other officers of the West Lumber Company are: C. B. Granbury, Vice-President; J. A. Platt, Vice- President, and T. H. Monroe, Secretary and Treas- urer. The West lumber interests cut about 400,000 feet of lumber per day.

A native of Mississippi, Mr. West was born i Waynesboro in 1871. His father, Silas W. West, was a native of Alabama, and was engaged in farm- ing. His mother was Miss Mattie Clark, a member of a prominent Mississippi family. Mr. West's par- ents came to Texas in 1880. His education was ob- tained in the public schools of Texas.

Mr. West started his business career in the drug business at Groveton, Texas, more as a pastime than as a business venture. Later he entered the lumber business at Westville, where he remained for several years before coming to Houston in 1905. The town of Westville in Trinity County is named for Mr. West. In addition to the lumber companies, Mr. West has many other interests. In 1922 he pur- chased the Beatty Building, and in the near future will add four more stories to this building, making it among the pretentious office buildings of Hous- ton. Mr. West has had plans drawn for a twenty- story building, which he contemplates erecting on his corner at Main and Walker Street. He is Presi- dent of the Fort Terrett Ranch Company, consist- ing of 120,000 acres of land and 10,000 head of cattle, situated in Culberson County. He is President of the South Texas Hardwood Manufacturing Company of Houston, President of the West Production Com- pany, oil producers operating in the Gulf Coast fields. He is Director of the Second National Bank, a Director of the Joint Stock Land Bank of Houston, and a Director of the Reynolds West Lumber Com- pany.

Mr. West was married in 1895 at Groveton to Miss Jessie Dudley, a native of Georgia. They have two children, J. H., Jr., and Weslie, both of whom are students at the Southwestern University at Georgetown. The West residence, one of the most beautiful in Houston, is located at 2106 Crawford Street. Mr. West is a 32nd degree Mason and a Shriner of Arabia Temple. In social roganizations Mr. West is a member of the Houston Club, Houston Country Club, Lumberman's Club, the Hoo-Hoos, and the Methodist Church. Mr. West is identified with and takes an active interest in all agencies working for the greater development and civic improvement of Houston. He has assisted in the organization of several large business concerns of South Texas, in which he is not now interested, among which is the Great Southern Life Insurance Company. He is a man who knows the secrets of big business from the viewpoint of experience and leadership. Mr. West

is one of the big business men of Texas and in his realm as a lumber director, few men are his equal.

C. HOYT has for a quarter of a century been associated with the lumber interests of Houston and South Texas, where he is President of the W. H. Norris Lumber Company, which company, with the stockholders and other various interests, own and operate twenty lumber yards in Southwest Texas. This company maintains offices at 709 First National Bank Build- ing, and do both a wholesale and retail business. The W. H. Norris Lumber Company was organized in 1901 by Mr. W. H. Norris (deceased since April, 1911), who was prominent in the lumber industry of South Texas. Mr. Hoyt came into the company with Mr. Norris in 1898, when the business was con- ducted under the firm name of Norris and Beatty, and has been with these interests since that time. During the year 1898 Mr. Norris purchased Mr. Beatty's interest, and conducted the business alone, until it was incorporated in December, 1901. Mr. Hoyt became Secretary in 1902, and served in this capacity until after the death of Mr. Norris, in 1911, when he became President. The wholesale business of the W. H. Norris Lumber Company is handled from Houston, and the territory embraces Texas, Oklahoma and contiguous States. This company does no commission business, but buys and sells lumber and handle their own accounts. They also handle the output of the Channell Fence Company, Inc., of Lake Charles, Louisiana, manufacturers of combination wood and wire fence, selling the entire output. Fifteen people compose the organization of the W. H. Norris Lumber Company. George S. Jacob is Treasurer and Sales Manager of the com- pany and W. E. Black of Lancaster is Secretary and Representative of the company in North Texas.

A native of Vermont, Mr. Hoyt was born in West- field, June 15, 1878. His father, George R. Hoyt, was a well known merchant of Newport and West- field. His mother was Miss Luella A. James, a member of a prominent Vermont family. His par- ents came to Texas in 1894, where they remained until 1898, when they removed to Los Angeles, Cal. His father died in Los Angeles in 1917 and his mother died there a year later. The public and high schools of Omaha, Nebraska, supplied the foun- dation for Mr. Hoyt's education, and a course of two years in a Houston Business College provided him with his business training. Mr. Hoyt was married in Waco in 1901 to Miss Mary Kate Riley, a native of Alabama and a daughter of Dr. B. F. Riley, a prominent Baptist Minister, who was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Houston from 1900 to 1907, and is now living in Birmingham, Alabama. They have two children, Noyce Clement Hoyt, Jr., a stu- dent of the Hill School of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, and Dorothy Mary. Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt reside at 407 Marshall Avenue, Westmoreland. Mr. Hoyt is a Director in the Lumberman's Club, the Retail Lumberman's Association of Texas and the Hous- ton Country Club. He is a member of the Hoo-Hoos, and a Past Director of the Houston Club. Mr. Hoyt has always been active in the business, social and community life of Houston, and gives liberally of his time to all projects tending to the welfare and advancement of this city, which he believes will very soon be the leading city in every way in the South- west.

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minif

NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

HARLES L. DESEL has for about a quarter of a century been an active figure in the business circles of Houston, where, from a small beginning, has been built up the larg- est Wholesale Produce Company of the Southwest. Mr. Desel is the president and general manager of the Desel-Boettcher Company, which he established in Houston in 1901 as the C. L. Desel Company and later changed to the present name. He began busi- ness here in a very modest way in a store with twenty-five hundred feet of floor space, but his business experienced a rapid growth, and soon much more room was necessary. Recently, the Desel- Boettcher Company constructed their present home, which is a splendid fireproof building of three floors and two hundred and fifty feet by one hundred and twenty-five feet in size, with all modern conven- iences and equipment. This firm does a great vol- ume of business and deals in wholesale fruit, pro- duce, poultry, eggs and other commodities in carload lots. They have six branch houses located at Browns- ville, Corpus Christi, Victoria, Navasota, Lufkin and Palestine, Texas. They employ one hundred and fifty people; have thirty-five salesmen on the road, twenty of whom have Houston as headquarters. Other officers of the Desel-Boettcher Company are: F. A. Boettcher, vice president; L. H. Baskin, vice president and manager of the Corpus Christi branch of this firm; H. W. Shaffer, vice president and sales manager of the Southwest Texas District, and Alvin Beyer, purchasing agent.

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New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1, Part 51

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