New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1, Part 64

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

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Captain Crotty was married at San Marcos, the twenty-second of June, 1904, to Miss Zoe Parsons, a member of a pioneer Texas family. Captain and Mrs. Crotty reside at 1404 Nebraska Avenue. Cap- tain Crotty is President of the Engineers Club of Houston, a member of the Civitan Club, a Veteran of Foreign Wars, and belongs to the American So- ciety of Military Engineers. Fraternally he is a Woodman of the World, having been a member of that lodge since 1896, and a Mason, Rising Star Blue Lodge, No. 429, Scottish Rite No. 140, at Gal- veston. An authority in harbor work, it would be hard to estimate what he has done for Houston through his work in developing the harbor. He is a thoroughly public spirited citizen, interested pri- marily in harbor development, but also in the ad- vancement of Houston along every line, and has done much to promote the welfare of this city.

M INOR STEWART, as President of the Hous- ton Title Guaranty Company, heads an or- ganization that has probably passed on more land titles than any other Guaranty Company in the State. The Houston Title Guaranty Company was organized in 1908, and was purchased by Mr. Stewart and his associates in 1909, Mr. Stewart coming here from Galveston at that time. Mr. Stewart was one of the organizers of the Stew- art Title Guaranty Company, with offices now es- tablished in Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, Galves- ton and Dallas. Other officers of the Houston Title Guaranty Company are: J. E. Rice, Vice-President, and J. B. Simmons, Secretary, and their offices are located at 215 Title Guaranty Building.

A native Texan, Mr. Stewart was born at Gal- veston, February 16th, 1878. His father, Judge Wil- liam H. Stewart, came to Texas from Maryland about 1844, and settled at Gonzales, but, after a few years, came to Galveston, and, during the 70's was a member of the Texas State Legislature, and was District Judge from 1876 to 1913, and was known throughout the State during his time as one of the leading attorneys of the Lone Star State, and was a man of sterling qualities, loved by those who knew him, esteemed by all who had the honor of his acquaintance, and was ever ready to con- tribute his material aid and time toward the up- building of his city and State. His mother was Miss Mary Waller, a native of Virginia, and met Judge William H. Stewart while he was in the Southern Army, a member of Hood's Brigade. She afterward came to Texas and was married here. Mr. Stewart's education was obtained in the public schools of Galveston, and, after leaving school, he started his present business in the Island City, with his brother, Maco Stewart, and remained there un- til 1909, when he came to Houston, and has made this city his home since that time.

Mr. Stewart has been twice married. His first marriage was in Galveston, in 1907, to Miss Laura V. Wassan, and his two children, Minor Stewart, Jr., and Lewis Hart, are of this marriage. He was mar- ried a second time in Houston, in 1922, to Miss Mary I. Baird. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart reside at 303 Hadley Avenue. Mr. Stewart is a member of the Scottish Rite Bodies of the Masonic Fraternity to the 32nd degree, and is a Shriner of Arabia Temple. He also holds membership in the Houston Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, Houston Club and the Hous- ton Country Club, and is a consistent member of the Presbyterian Church. In 1909 he organized and became president of the Houston Real Estate Ex- change. In addition to the Houston Title Guaranty Company, Mr. Stewart is President and joint owner of the Houston Security Corporation, and is interest- ed in many of the city's financial and industrial in- stitutions. He is a member of the law firm of Maco and Minor Stewart, who specialize in land law. Mr. Stewart has been engaged in the business of guar- anteeing land titles for a period of twenty-five years, sixteen of which have been spent in Hous- ton, and he is regarded as one of the best-posted men and competent executives in this line of en- deavor in the State. He is identified with and takes an active interest in all agencies working for the greater development of Houston, and be- lieves that this city will soon become the Metropo- lis of the entire Southwest.

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MEN OF TEXAS

E F. WOODWARD is truly a pioneer in the oil industry, having thirty-three years of con- tinuous service to his credit, which began when he was a small boy, and through his own efforts has become the chief executive of one of the state's large oil companies. Mr. Woodward is president of the Republic Production Company, which was organized in 1916, and originally oper- ated as Farmers Petroleum Company for about three years, and then became Republic Production Com- pany in 1916, at which time this company took over a one-half interest in mineral rights to 900,000 acres of land located in East and South Texas. There was no production on any of this land at that time. At the time that the Farmers Petroleum Company was closed out, the production and property of this com- pany was sold to the Republic Production Company. The Republic Production Company has developed the Hull field since 1916, where they have a daily pro- duction of about five thousand barrels; they also own production in North Texas amounting to upward of eight hundred barrels per day. Subsidiaries of the Republic Production Company are the Federal Petroleum Company, which operates in Louisiana and Arkansas with a production of two hundred bar- rels net per day, and the Papoose Oil Company, of which Mr. Woodward is a director, operates in Okla- homa with about one thousand barrels net per day. The American Petroleum Company is the Pipe Line Company of the Republic Production Company. One hundred and eighty-five people are employed in these companies.

Mr. Woodward was born at Podunk, New York, on February 23rd, 1879. His father, W. W. Wood- ward, now residing in Houston, is a native of New York and a pioneer oil man of Titusville, Pennsyl- vania, where in the early days he hauled his oil to market in wagons. He is now retired from active business, after having spent his entire life in the oil industry. His mother was Miss Ida May La Grange, a member of a well known New York fam- ily. Mr. Woodward's education was obtained in the Goodwill Hill public schools in Pennsylvania.

Mr. Woodward is truly an example of a man who has spent his entire life in the oil business, as he entered this industry at an early age and when he had reached the age of eleven years, he went to work pumping wells for the Carter Oil Company in Penn- sylvania, and worked his way up, and has served in every branch of the oil business except the refin- ing end. He was for eleven years with the Produc- ers Oil Company in the coastal fields and in 1905 was made assistant superintendent of the South- ern Division for this company and covered the ter- ritory extending from El Paso to New Orleans. He has worked in the oil fields of Oklahoma, Pennsyl- vania, Ohio, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. Mr. Woodward is interested in many of Houston's indus- tries and enterprises and is vice president of the Texas Sporting Goods Company, a director in the Fidelity Trust Company and a director in the Fed- eral Petroleum Company. In 1914, he was one of the organizers of the Farmers Petroleum Company, became superintendent, and in 1921 became pres- ident of the Republic Production Company.

In 1901 he was married at Woodsfield, Ohio, to Miss Bessie McGarry a native of Ohio and a daugh- ter of J. B. McGarry, a well known lumberman and extensive farmer of Ohio. They have one son, H. E.

Woodward, who was educated at the Rice Institute; since 1920 he has been engaged in the oil business. The Woodward residence is located at 1605 Boule- vard. In social and commercial organizations Mr. Woodward holds membership in the Houston Coun- try Club, Houston Gun Club, Gulf Coast Oil Pro- ducers Association and the Mid Continent Oil and Gas Association. His favorite sport is trap shooting, in which avocation he ranks among the ten or fif- teen best marksmen in the United States. Mr. Woodward is enthusiastic as to the future of Hous- ton, and believes that this city is the logical oil cen- ter of the Southwest. Most of the largest companies have offices here, while others are moving here each year. In his opinion, the many oil companies who are operating in the state at the present time and those who have operated here in the past, have done more to put Texas and Houston on the map than all the other state's industries combined. With the many advantages that Houston has over other cities in the state, there is no reason why she should not, in the very near future, take her place as the leading city in the entire Southwest.

L. DARTON came to Houston from New Orleans in September, 1921, as the manager of the Texas office of the Federal Interna- tional Banking Company. In February, 1925, he went with the First National Bank as Assistant Vice-President and head of the depart- ment of finance export shipments here, a service offering millions of dollars of Houston capital for financing export shipments of Texas products. The net effect of backing Houston's exporters with home capital has greatly strengthened the port's posi- tion as front rank contender for supremacy in cot- ton exporting, and has stimulated activity in the exportation of many other staple commodities as well. Mr. Darton entered the banking business in 1911, and became assistant to the examiner of the San Francisco Clearing House Banks, remaining there until 1914. In this year he went with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and was later made auditor of the Liberty Loan Bond De- parment, remaining with this institution until the thirty-first of December, 1917. He then went to New York with the American Foreign Banking Corporation, an affiliation of the Chase National Bank, and in 1920 was made manager of their Port au Prince, Haiti, branch. Mr. Darton is especially well equipped to fill this position, as his experience in this field embraces everything from loans to Haitian firms on coffee, cotton and campeche, to making disbursements for the United States Gov- ernment, including the buying and selling of for- eign exchange.

Mr. Darton was born in Washington, D. C., in 1894 and educated in the public schools of New York and graduated from Lowell High School of San Francisco, and is also a graduate of the Amer- ican Institute of Banking. His banking career, be- ginning in San Francisco, has since taken him to various cities of this country, and the West Indies, gaining considerable experience in domestic and foreign banking conditions and constructive bank- ing service, from his travels.

Mr. Darton makes his home at the Warrington Apartments. He is a member of the Houston Club, and the Houston Chamber of Commerce. He attends Christ Episcopal Church.

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NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

AVID MARK DULLER, consulting engineer, with office in the Second National Bank Building, Houston, has since coming to this city in 1905 been engaged in some of the largest and most important engineering projects in Texas and Louisiana. Mr. Duller does much work for large manufacturing plants in various parts of the United States, in general and special construc- tion of their own materials, but does mostly special work. He does much work also for oil refineries, subdivisions, special construction, surveying and transporting. Mr. Duller is regarded as one of the best men in his line and covers many subjects.

Mr. Duller was born at Blue Island, Illinois, Sep- tember 29th, 1876. His father, Alfred M. Duller, was one of the best known lawyers of his day and is now retired from active practice. His mother was Miss Sylvia Wattles, a member of a well known Illinois family. His early education was obtained in the public and high schools of Iowa, after which he entered Ellsworth College at Iowa Falls and re- mained for four years a student of this institution and graduated with the degree of B. A. Following his graduation, Mr. Duller came to Louisiana and entered engineering work with the rice drainage pro- jects of that state, where he remained from 1898 to 1904, when he came to Houston and was chief en- gineer for a large company of Kansas City, who had six large irrigation canals in Texas and Louisiana for rice. Later, the Southern Pacific Railroad re- tained him to make a complete survey and a mam- moth map showing all wells, drainage and irriga- tion canals in Texas and Louisiana. Since complet- ing this work, Mr. Duller has been engaged in gen- eral and special engineering work in Houston, but is called to practically all portions of the United States for special work. Mr. Duller served through- out the World War. In May, 1917, he enlisted in the training camp at Leon Springs and was sent to Fort Leavenworth. He has the distinction of being one of sixteen men who were selected out of twelve hundred engineers to be commissioned a major. He was then assigned to Camp Custer with the 310th Engineers of the 85th Division, and remained there for nine months and was then sent to France. Mr. Duller was in command of his regiment after their arrival in France and was with the Fifth Engineer- ing Corps, first army at Saint Mihiel, and was in all of this battle and then moved to Argonne Forest, and was in this battle until the end. Before going to Argonne and during a heavy rain and firing, he re- ceived by special messenger the commission of lieu- tenant colonel. He then took his regiment into Germany, the Seventh Corps of Engineers in the Army of Occupation and was there until March 14th, 1919. He was then assigned to special duty in various parts of France for the A. E. F. The Per- shing Stadium was about one-fourth completed when France turned it over to the A. E. F. to be financed and completed and this duty was assigned to Mr. Duller to re-check all plans and blue prints and supervise the details of completion. He also had many other big assignments, and returned to Amer- ica July 1st, 1919, and was discharged July 19th, 1919.

Mr. Duller organized the Boy Scout movement in Houston in 1910, starting with sixteen boys. The Houston troop has now a roster of one thousand. Mr. Duller is now scout commissioner for this divi-

sion and enjoys the distinction of knowing more boys than any other man in Houston.

Mr. Duller has two sons-Nelson M. Duller, who has been three years in the army as a marine, and Tyler O. Duller, who is a draughtsman and chemist. Mr. Duller is a member of the Scottish Rite body of the Masonic fraternity and a Shriner of Arabia Temple. He is also a member of the Kiwanis, Hous- ton Engineering Club and the Society of American Military Engineers. Mr. Duller is very popular in the business circles of Houston and of South Texas, where he is regarded as one of the best men in his line in this part of the country.

D. GRAF, District Sales Manager of the Houston Branch of the largest manufac- turers of Commercial Bodies in the world, has been one of the vital forces in the man- ufacturing business in this city since his arrival here in 1918. The Houston plant of the Martin- Parry Corporation of Texas, was established in June, 1921, at which time Mr. Graf came with the corporation as Manager. The Martin-Parry Corpo- ration operates three factories, at York, Pennsyl- vania, Indianapolis, Indiana, and Lumberton, Mis- sissippi, the Houston branch making the fourth in this great manufacturing business, and in addition they have thirty-three assembling plants. The com- pany owns vast timber interests in Mississippi, op- erating their own mills, dry kilns, etc. They manu- facture commercial bodies for automobiles, espe- cially Fords, Chevrolets and Overlands, and carry thirty-eight models in stock at all times. They also carry complete line of steel dump bodies for one and two-ton trucks. The Houston plant, located at Mc- Kinney and Milby Streets, has a modern, fire-proof building, one story, and affording ten thousand square feet of floor space, employing six men. F. M. Small, of York, Pennsylvania, is President of the company, and George Hall, of York, Pennsylvania, Vice-President.

Mr. Graf was born at Amboy, Indiana, in 1891, son of Henry and Mary Graf. He was educated in the public schools of his native city. After finishing his education at Cincinnati, Ohio, he began his busi- ness career in the automobile service business in 1912. He was for many years with the Southern Motor Manufacturing Association of Houston as foreman of the service department. He left this firm in 1921 to take his present position as Mana- ger of the Martin Parry Corporation of Houston.

Mr. Graf entered military service at Indianapolis, Indiana, May 16, 1917, and was sent to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. From there he was transferred to Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, and assigned to the 64th Infantry. Still later he was transferred to Camp Stanley, where he was commissioned Lieu- tenant, and then sent to Camp Gordon, at Atlanta, Georgia, and from there to Camp Hancock, where he was discharged in February, 1919. He is now a Reserve Officer.

Mr. Graf was married at Augusta, Ga., in 1918, to Miss Grace Sampson of Houston, whose father has been for many years a Conductor with the Southern Pacific Railway Company. Mr. and Mrs. Graf make their home at 6741 Avenue J. Early in his business career Mr. Graf studied embalming and obtained the State license of Indiana in this work. He is a member of the Masonic order, Eastgate Blue Lodge.

333

MEN OF TEXAS

M ILLS BENNETT is the organizer and executive head of three oil companies operating in various fields in South, Central and North Texas, namely: the Bennett Petroleum Corporation, a holding company of securi- ties, the Mills Bennett Production Company, en- gaged in the development and production of oil; the Swiftsure Petroleum Company, which company engaged in the manufacturing of fuel oil and gaso- line and the carrying on of a general terminal and storage business.

The Swiftsure Petroleum Company has invested capital in permanent assets, at this writing, in ex- cess of one million dollars. This company is also engaged in the general import and export business and does a large bunkering business with ships touching the ports of Houston, Texas City, and Galveston.

The directors of the Swiftsure Petroleum Com- pany are Alexander Smith, chairman of the Board of Peabody, Houghteling Co., of New York and Chicago; Colonel H. B. Moore of Texas City, Texas; E. G. Goforth, B. T. McNeil and Mills Ben- nett of Houston. The officers are Mills Bennett, president; E. G. Goforth, vice president; B. T. Mc- Neil, vice president and secretary; Chas. R. Ogilvie, treasurer.

The Swiftsure Petroleum Company also owns the entire plant of the Terminal Oil & Refining Com- pany, a refinery located at Texas City, Texas, and owns the controlling interest in the Liberty Pipe Line Company.

Mr. Bennett is a native of Texas, was born in Caldwell, Burleson County, June 1st, 1882. His father, John Greenville 'Bennett, deceased since 1896, was also a native Texan, and born in the his- toric town of Old Washington, the first capital of Texas. Mr. Bennett's father was a pioneer railroad man, and an employee of the Houston & Texas Central Railroad, one of the first railroads built in Texas. His mother was Miss Carolina Mills, of Millican, Texas. She was born on a plantation on the Brazos River near Millican. She attended Old Independence College near Old Washington, now Baylor College of Waco, Texas. Her father was Wm. G. Mills, who came to Texas from Georgia in the early days and settled on a plantation located at Allen Farm Station on the Brazos River, Wash- ington County.

Mr. Bennett's education was obtained in the public schools of Dublin, Texas. After leaving school, and while yet a boy, he entered the railroad work in a clerical capacity at Dublin, Texas, moving to Hous- ton at the age of twenty-one years when he served as a rate clerk in the Southern Pacific offices until the age of twenty-five. He was then engaged in various commercial pursuits in Houston until 1914, when he started in the oil business as manager of Vinton Pipe Line Company at Vinton, Louisiana, and later built a small pipe line at Goose Creek. Since that time he has been engaged in the pro- ducing, handling, refining and marketing of oil.

In social and commercial organizations he is a member of the Houston Country Club, River Oaks Country Club, Houston Club, American Petroleum Institute and Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association. He has had an interesting career in the oil business and is deeply interested in the development of Houston and South Texas. He is popular in social, commercial and oil circles.

FREDERICK B. RAWCLIFFE, for the past several years an executive of one of the large lumber enterprises of Texas, and a vital force for progress in lumber circles in the Lone Star State, has been actively identified with the life of Houston. Mr. Rawcliffe is vice president and treasurer of the Kirby Lumber Com- pany, an enterprise established by John H. Kirby, and incorporated for ten million dollars. The Kirby Lumber Company is the largest lumber company in the Lone Star State, and furnishes employment to a force of seven thousand people. The products of the Kirby mills are known all over the world, and have a world-wide distribution. John H. Kirby, . the directing head of the Kirby Lumber Company, and one of the most progressive business men in the Lone Star State, has been vitally interested in many lines of public development, and has had one of the most interesting careers in the history of the lumber industry. The directorate of the Kirby Lum- ber Company includes, in addition to Mr. Kirby, as president, and Mr. Rawcliffe, as vice president and treasurer, J. W. Link, vice president, and Robert F. Ford, secretary.

Mr. Rawcliffe is also interested in various of the Kirby enterprises, and is vice president and treas- urer of the Kirby Petroleum Company, one of the large oil companies of Houston; treasurer of the Kirby Investment Company, a corporation with ex- tensive real estate investments in both Dallas and Harris counties, and president of the Turning Basin Development Company, which company handles de- velopment of real estate in the Turning Basin dis- trict.

J. Frederick B. Rawcliffe was born at Chester, Pennsylvania, the eleventh of October, 1886. His father, J. W. Rawcliffe, a native of that State, and for many years a prominent business man there, is now retired. His mother, whose maiden name was Miss Lucretia Sterling, was born and reared at Nor- wich, Connecticut. Mr. Rawcliffe began his educa- tion in the public schools of Pennsylvania, later at- tending private schools and academies. Finishing his elementary and high school work, he entered Pennsylvania Military College, graduating in civil engineering in 1908. Until his enlistment, at the entrance of the United States in the World War, Mr. Rawcliffe was engaged in civil engineering work. He enlisted, as lieutenant, in 1917, with the Seventh Division, 79th Field Artillery, regular army, and spent one year overseas. Returning to the States he was discharged as captain from Camp Dix, New Jersey. Shortly afterward he came to Houston, where he was made vice president of the Kirby Lumber Company, and elected to other of- fices with the various Kirby interests.

Mr. Rawcliffe was married at Houston, in 1921, to Miss Bess Kirby, daughter of John H. Kirby, president of the Kirby Lumber Company and other Kirby enterprises. Mr. Kirby is one of the best known business men of the Lone Star State, and is known to lumbermen everywhere. He is regard- ed as one of the most patriotic, unselfish citizens Texas has produced, and has held many offices of high honor, significant of the esteem in which he is held by his associates. Mr. and Mrs. Rawcliffe are among the most popular members of the Hous- ton social set, and take an active part in the vari- ous social events. They have a fine home at 911

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Mierz Benett

NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

Lovett Avenue. Mr. Rawcliffe is a member of the Houston Club, and the Houston Country Club, and is a thirty-second degree Mason, Scottish Rite, and a member of Arabia Temple Shrine. Mr. Rawcliffe is vitally interested in all that concerns the wel- fare and prosperity of Houston, and takes an active part in all development work. He is a man of great ability as an executive, a constructive think- er, and has a sound business policy and his present place in the commercial world at Houston is one of primary importance.

BBOTT EDMOND ARMSTRONG has played an active part in the industrial and com- mercial life of Houston for more than twelve years and although still a very young man has come to be recognized as one of the leaders of the industrial center located along the Houston Ship Channel.

Mr. Armstrong holds the position of superin- tendent of the Clinton Compress Company, owners of the large cotton compress located at Clinton, a few miles below Houston on the water front. The plant at Clinton is one of the largest and most modern on the ship channel and is thoroughly com- plete in every detail. It has a frontage of twelve hundred feet along the ship channel and has a stor- age capacity of twenty thousand bales. Much inland grown cotton is concentrated at this plant for com- pressing and loading for shipment to foreign mar- kets. Every known precaution is taken to guard against fire or other interruption of service and the four long cotton sheds each have concrete floors. The total space covered by the plant is approxi- mately thirty acres. The presses have a daily capacity of eighteen hundred bales, and plans have been drawn for the construction in 1924 of large docks that will take care of the largest freight steamers now calling at Houston,

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New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1, Part 64

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