New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1, Part 67

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

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350

acabes

NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

R. JOHN A. PHILLIPS, since coming to Houston, has performed conspicuous service in the field of veterinary medicine and sur- gery, and is one of the most thoroughly equipped veterinarians in this section. Dr. Phillips specializes in small animals, limiting his work to this class.

He is also employed by the city of Houston as the city veterinarian and is the first veterinarian to be employed by the city, devoting all his time to the following duties: First is the bridge and street de- partment animals; second, animals of the police department; third, animals of the prison farm; fourth, the animals of the zoo; fifth, has charge of inspection of the slaughtering of all the animals of- fered for sale around the city of Houston, other than those inspected by the United States government. He is also a director and veterinarian of the Hous- ton Kennel Club and a director and veterinarian of the Better Horseman's Club, which is promoting bet- ter types of breed, such as the polo type and the saddle horse, and also better type of farm animals. He also has the first properly prescribed veterinary emblem used in the city of Houston. Dr. Phillips recognizes the great possibilities for public service his work offers and has recently conducted a cam- paign to stamp out rabies in Houston that has had exceptionally good results. He also acts as veterin- arian of the city zoo, a field offering a broad ex- perience, as well as requiring an expert knowledge of all branches of his profession. Dr. Phillips has made a success in his line that entitles him to recog- nition as a humanitarian and public benefactor, and is one of the leaders in the veterinary field in Houston.

Dr. Phillips was born at Nashville, Tennessee, the twenty-fifth of August, 1885. His father, George Griffith Phillips, a native of Wales, was a resident of Tennessee for many years and raised horses and bred race horses until his death in 1915. His mother, Mrs. Wilhemina Ungerman Phillips, was born at Nashville, and now makes her home at Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. Phillips grew up in an atmosphere of animals and early formed the ambition to become a veterinarian. After finishing the public schools of Birmingham, he entered Howard College, at East Lake, Alabama, later attending Polytechnic Institute, at Auburn, Alabama, after which he went to Terre Haute, Indiana, where he attended the College of Veterinary Medicine, taking the D. V. M. degree in 1912.

Dr. Phillips enlisted in the United States Army, in the Twelfth Cavalry, the thirty-first of July, 1905, and was later transferred to the Medical School for Enlisted Men, at Washington, D. C., where he served two years, after which he purchased his discharge. In August, 1917, he was commissioned second lieu- tenant in the Veterinary Corps of the United States army and assigned to Remount No. 324, as assistant division veterinarian of the Ninety-third Division, and went overseas with them. He was transferred to the headquarters of the Forty-second Division the twentieth of April, 1918, and was with that divi- sion until November, 1918, commanding the Veter- inary Corps at Argles Sur Mur, receiving animals from Spain. He was later transferred to the 328th Field Remount Squadron, in animal convoy work in various parts of Germany and France. Still later

he was sent to Base Sector No. 5, at Gibraltar, to Camp Dix, at New York, to the general offices at Washington, and to Laredo, Texas, at which place he was discharged the sixteenth of December, 1920. While in service, Dr. Phillips took part in five major engagements, was wounded in the face by shrapnel, and was gassed in action. He has five stars in his Victory Ribbon, and is now first lieutenant of the Officers Reserve Corps, United States army, hav- ing received his commission as first lieutenant while overseas.

For a year after leaving service, Dr. Phillips acted as superintendent of live stock for the Foundation Company, traveling in Columbia and Southern Mex- ico. In September, 1921, he came to Houston, es- tablishing his present practice, and his infirmary. Dr. Phillips makes his home at 1807 Jackson Street, where the modern infirmary is also located. He is a member of the American Legion and greatly inter- ested in the service. He is a member of the Texas Veterinary Medical Association, wherein he takes an active part. Dr. Phillips has taken a deep interest in civic work at Houston, humanitarian movements especially appealing to him. His campaign to stamp out rabies in this city has borne rich fruit, and has given him a wide recognition. He is also greatly interested in child welfare work, especially in main- taining high dairy standards and securing for the children of the city pure, wholesome milk. His work along this line has resulted in much good, and Dr. Phillips has made many friends in the city who appreciate his efforts in public betterment.

OHN A. HUEBNER, of the younger genera. tion of business men of Houston, has since coming to this city several years ago, be- come well known in his field and has iden- tified himself with the movements that have insured the progress of the city. Mr. Huebner is local man- ager of the Acme Brick Company, with offices at 507 Bankers Mortgage Building. The Acme Brick Company is one of the leaders in its line and their products are of the best.

John A. Huebner was born at Bay City, Texas, the fourth of September, 1897, son of Frank Huebner, a farmer and land owner of Bay City, and Mary Louise Huebner. Mr. Huebner owns more than ten thou- sand acres of land near Bay City, devoted to stock raising and cotton raising, and is one of the leading men of that place. As a boy, Mr. Huebner attended the public schools at Bay City, graduating from the high school there, after which he took special courses preparing himself for his business career. He came to Houston in 1921, at which time he became asso- ciated with the Abbott, Converse Company, with whom he remained until going with the Acme Brick Company.

Mr. Huebner was married at Bay City to Miss Mollie Laflin Foote, daughter of Dr. S. A. Foote, for many years a physician and surgeon of Bay City. and a large land owner there. Mr. and Mrs. Hueb- ner reside at 2616 High Street. Fraternally Mr. Huebner is a Praetorian. Although a resident of Houston but a short time, and just at the beginning of his career, Mr. Huebner has become recognized as an authority in his field. He is interested in the growth and development of Houston, and believes it soon will become the acknowledged metropolis of the Southwest.

353

MEN OF TEXAS

E L. CRAIN, for two decades well and favor- ably known in Houston business circles, has in the past eight years achieved distinction in the manufacturing world as the Presi- dent of the Crain Ready-Cut House Company. This business was established by Mr. Crain in 1915, and incorporated at the same time. The Crain Ready- Cut House Company specializes in complete house building, and colony houses for large corporations, railroads, oil companies, mining companies, and others interested in the housing problem for the employe, finding in the Crain house the ideal of construction. The firm has constructed such indus- trial centers as Parks Camp, near Breckenridge, where three hundred of their houses have been pro- vided for oil field operatives. West Columbia, also in the oil fields, has been supplied with five hundred Crain houses, and Hull with two hundred. To Jan- uary, 1924, over five thousand houses have been built and sold. This form of construction has many advantages over the individual type of construction, where the labor and material are supplied by local contracting firms, in that they furnish complete plans, drawn by experts, all material for complete construction, cut to fit, and with absolutely no waste. The material bill on these houses is complete to the last detail, windows, doors, woodwork, glass, paints, hardware, nails, lath and roofing, with complete instructions for completing going out with each order. This method of house construction is largely superseding individual construction, especially for housing companies, industrial corporations, and other organizations where economical construction is needed in a short time. The prices, based on pro- duction cost plus profit, are far below building costs where the work is handled along former principles. The Crain Ready-Cut House Company, located on six acres of railroad trackage, at the corner of Milby and Polk streets, covers seventy-five thousand square feet of floor space and employ two hundred and fifty trained workmen. Here they cut all lum- ber, marking each piece and indicating just where it goes. Construction is strong, simple, accurate and with much of the work already done at the time ac- tual building starts. The company also handles the erection of the houses at destination. This is the only plant of its kind in Texas, and the largest in the South. The company has not confined its opera- tions only to house building, but has also contributed to the growth of Houston by laying out several of the most beautiful additions, where they have built modern and artistic residences of medium price. Mr. Crain is President of the corporation, R. O. Bumpus, Vice-President and Treasurer, and J. H. Suttles, Vice-President and Secretary.

Mr. Crain, a native of the Lone Star State, was born at Longview, on March 30, 1885, son of E. E. Crain, pioneer druggist of that city, and still in the drug business there, and Lula Brown Crain. After graduating from the high school of his native city Mr. Crain attended Southwestern University at Georgetown. In 1903 he came to Houston, and for the ensuing five years was actively engaged in banking, first with T. W. House, Banker, and then the Union Bank and Trust Company and the Bank- ers Trust Company. He still retains his banking interest and is a director of the Guardian Trust Company. Mr. Crain next turned his attention to the real estate business, seeing here an opportunity

for advancement and constructive operation. Here the development and building and of the business appealed to Mr. Crain rather than the sales end, and after a short time he gave up his real business and devoted his time to building. In his operations as builder he was impressed by the waste incident to the business, and with the movement to forward industrial housing conditions, Mr. Crain saw an op- portunity in the ready-cut house manufacturing busi- ness which he has since developed along successful lines.

Mr. Crain was married at Houston November 23, 1915, to Miss Annie Vive Carter, daughter of S. F. and Carrie Carter. Mr. Carter is an influential figure in the financial world at Houston, and Presi- dent of the Second National Bank. Mr. and. Crain have one of the attractive homes of the city at 1117 Lovett Boulevard. They have three children, E. L. Crain, Junior, Carter F. Crain and Richard Crain. Mr. Crain is a member of the Houston Club, the University Club and Houston Country Club. Fra- ternally he is an Elk and a Scottish Rite Mason, and belongs to Arabia Temple Shrine.

G. DAVIS for the past decade has been iden- tified with manufacturing circles at Hous- ton and for the last four years of this time has been engaged extensively in this field on his own account. The Davis & George Manufac- turing Company, of which he is president, was in- corporated in April, 1919, and since that time has manufactured in quantity lots stove pipes and el- bows, sheet iron heaters, galvanized oil cans, lac- quered containers for peanut butter, lard, drug products, etc., and sheet metal products including pump, oil and gasoline tanks, railroad tinware and special carbon containers. The company occupies a modern factory with the highest grade equipment and has 50,000 square feet of floor space. They em- ploy 200 operators and have 200 feet of railroad track. Their factory location is at Henderson and Winter Streets. The stock of the Davis & George Company is valued at more than two hun- dred and fifty thousand dollars. Their trade terri- tory includes Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Arizona, New Mexico and Pacific Coast. They sell to jobbers only and employ ten salesmen. In addi- tion to Mr. Davis as president, S. W. George is sec- retary and treasurer of the corporation.

Mr. Davis was born at Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1890, son of G. D. Davis, who later came to Texas, and engaged in the hardware business at El Paso. After finishing his education, the subject of our sketch began his business career in a hardware store. After three years in Florida, engaged in this busi- ness, he came to El Paso, where for one year he fol- lowed this same business. He came to Houston in 1913 and for the following six years was with the Moncrief-Lenoir Company. In April, 1919, he estab- lished the Davis & George Manufacturing Company.

Mr. Davis was married at Corpus Christi, in 1913, to Miss Elizabeth Parmelia Little, whose father has been in government work for twenty years. Mr and Mrs. Davis make their home at 1514 West Ala- bama Street and have two children, Frank Davis, Jr. and Sydney Little Davis. Mr. Davis is a director of the Rotary Club and a member of the Purchasing Agents Club, is a Mason, Knight Templar and a member of Arabia Shrine.

354

E. L. Crain

NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

M. FROST is well known as a real estate operator. For a score of years he has been engaged in this business in Houston, but is perhaps better known as an im- porter and breeder of Brahma cattle. Associated with Mr. Frost in the real estate business are his four sons-J. M. Frost, Jr .; S. K., H. G. and C. M. Frost, under the firm name of J. M. Frost and Sons, with office located at 303 First National Bank Building. This firm conducts a general real estate business, handling both residence and business prop- erty, farm acreage and ranch lands. Mr. Frost was for twenty years engaged in a live stock com- mission business, and was formerly engaged in stock raising; he still retains cattle interests in Brazoria County, consisting of about three thousand head. He was engaged in raising cross breeds from the imported Brahma bulls. Mr. Frost has the distinction of being the first man in forty-five years to import a Brahma bull to Texas, and is the second man to import Brahma bulls to the United States. These animals are imported from Calcutta, India, via New York and are from six to eight months in making the trip to America. The famous Bassett Blakeley herd of cattle came from Mr. Frost's stock and was among the first sold in Texas. He had, at one time, a sacred bull from India, which cost $2,000.00 to import.

A native Texan, Mr. Frost was born in Fort Bend County, November 1st, 1851. One of the first two stores ever operated in Houston was owned by his father, Samuel Miles Frost. In 1840 he put on the Frost Iowa Addition, in Houston; before the Civil War he was the owner of three hundred negro slaves. His mother was Miss Harriett H. Hunter, a member of one of the early pioneer families of Texas; her family being members of Stephen F. Austin's colony. There were no schools in those days, and his education was obtained through self help, and by diligent study under Judge Schley, of Fort Bend County, for whom he worked for room and board, and became a surveyor under Judge Schley. During the early years of his life, with his brother, entered the mercantile business in Fort Bend County, and in 1875 they had a stock valued at $75,000.00, and lost everything they had during that year by storm and flood, and he then disposed of their last holdings in land there, bought cattle, and paid all debts in two years. He also has the distinction of being the first man in Fort Bend County who paid all his debts. His brother, H. H. Frost, of Richmond, Fort Bend County, organized a society under the name of Jay Birds, and put a stop to the corrupt negro rule during the trouble- some times which followed the Civil War, and in appreciation of the good work done by this man, the city of Richmond and Fort Bend County, Texas, erected a monument to his memory, and his name is held in reverence by the citizenship of Fort Bend County.

Mr. Frost has been twice married; his first mar- riage was to Mattie Thompson, a native Texan, and his second marriage was to Miss Rosa Baring of Houston. They have four sons-J. M. Frost, Jr .; S. K., H. A. and C. M. Frost, who are associated with Mr. Frost in his real estate business, and a son, Vernon Ward Frost, twelve years of age. The Frost residence is at 404 Gray Avenue. Mr. Frost holds membership in the Knights of Pythias and

the Knights of Honor. Mr. Frost takes an active interest in all matters having to do with the civic improvement and advancement of Houston, which he believes is soon to become the leading city of the Southwest.

LFRED C. FINN, architect with offices in the Goggan building, is at the head of one of the largest architectural firms in the South. There are seventeen people in the organization and their activities reach all parts of Texas and contiguous states. This organization has established an excellent reputation in their chosen field. Mr. Finn is responsible for the design of many of the commercial buildings in Houston and elsewhere.

A native Texan, Mr. Finn was born at Bellville, Austin County; his birth place being about sixty- five miles from the scene of his activities and suc- cesses. He is a member of the Houston Society of Engineers, the American Institute of Architects, South Texas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, member of the school board and city planning commission. In fraternal and social or- ganizations, Mr. Finn is a member of both York and Scottish Rite bodies of the Masonic order and a Shriner of Arabia Temple; the Elks Club and the Houston Club.

RANK J. GUSEMAN is well known in the business circles of Houston, where prior to his connection with the insurance business he was well known as the general manager of the Pan-American Manufacturing Company, man- ufacturers of paste and paste products. Since tak- ing up the insurance business Mr. Guseman has met with success and is now connected with Denton and Thaxton Insurance Company with offices in the Electric Building.

A native Texan, Mr. Guseman was born at Bryan in 1883. His father, Joseph Guseman, was an exten- sive farmer and large land owner of Brazos Coun- ty. His mother was, prior to her marriage, Miss Laura Pappas. Mr. Guseman's education was ob- tained in the public schools of Houston. He came when a boy to Houston, and after his school days started his business career here in the produce busi- ness, and remained in this line of endeavor for a period of six years. He then entered the employ of Henke and Pillot, wholesale and retail grocers, as buyer for the produce department of this firm. Mr. Guseman remained in this position with Henke and Pillot for seven years and then went with the Na- tional Biscuit Company as manager of this estab- lishment in Beaumont. He remained with this com- pany for a period of ten years, extending from 1910 to 1920, when he returned to Houston, and bought a large interest in the Pan-American Manufacturing Company, which he operated until making his pres- ent connections.

Mr. Guseman was married in Houston in 1905 to Miss Mary Oliver, a native of the Lone Star State. They have two children, Frankie May and Joseph Oliver. Mr. and Mrs. Guseman reside at 1615 Jef- ferson Street. In fraternal organizations, Mr. Guse- man holds membership in the B. P. O. E. and the Knights of Columbus. Mr. Guseman has great faith in the future of Houston, and expects it to continue its steady consistent growth until it will become the leading city of the Southwest.

357

MEN OF TEXAS

W ILLIAM M. RICE, philanthropist, capitalist, one of Houston's premier citizens and mem- ber of a distinguished pioneer family, is widely known as a successful Lumber man and Banker, and one of the most helpful and re- spected citizens of Houston and South Texas. Mr. Rice maintains an office at 1015 Union National Bank Building, and looks after his varied Houston interests, and spends much of his time in the in- terest of the Rice Institute of which he is vice presi- dent of the board of trustees. He is a director of the Union National Bank, of which bank he was one of the founders under the name of the Union Bank and Trust Company, which was later changed to the Union National Bank. He is also a director in the Guardian Trust Company and the Houston Land and Trust Company, and is president of the Merchants and Planters Oil Company.

A native Texan, Mr. Rice was born in Houston in 1857. His father, F. A. Rice (deceased since 1901) was one of the early settlers of Texas, coming to this state from Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1850. He was a pioneer merchant and planter in the Brazos River valley. Later, he was for many years treasurer of the Houston & Texas Central Railroad, and still later was engaged in the banking business and was one of the original trustees of the Rice In- stitute. His mother was Miss Charlotte M. Bald- win, a daughter of Horace Baldwin, who was Mayor of Houston during the days of the republic, and was a brother-in-law of A. C. Allen, one of the founders of Houston. Her paternal ancestors were the foun- ders of Baldwinsville, New York. Mr. Rice's family is of the old revolutionary stock, sprung from the sturdy Scotch-Irish and English pioneers of colonial days in America. His great-grandfather, Hall, was among the wounded at the Battle of Lexington, in 1776, but despite the fact of this wound, he lived to be one hundred and one years old. Dying in Massachusetts at that age. Mr. Rice's four brothers, J. S., H. B., David, and B. B. Rice, are prominent business men of Houston, another brother, F. A., re- sides in the Rio Grande Valley. H. B. Rice served the city with distinction as mayor for several years. The foundation of Mr. Rice's education was obtained in private schools and an Academy of Houston. He later attended Princeton University, where he was a class-mate of the late President Woodrow Wilson, graduating from that institution in the class of 1879. During the year of his graduation, Mr. Rice entered railroad work as a civil engineer, and continued in this line until 1882 when he engaged in the Lumber business in Tyler County with a saw mill located at Hyatt in that county, there being at that time, no other buildings or industries at Hyatt but the plant of his lumber concern. Associated with Mr. Rice in the lumber business was his brother, J. S., and they continued this business -untill 1906. In 1907 they established a mill at Ward, Louisiana, and operated there for eleven years. At the end of this period, the timber was practically cut in that im- mediate vicinity. He was engaged in the lumber business for thirty-five years.

Mr. Rice's uncle, William Marsh Rice, provided in his will that Mr. Rice be a trustee of the William M. Rice Institute, and was put on the board of trus- tees before his uncle's death in 1900. The Rice In- stitute grounds comprise three hundred acres, and about $3,000,000.00 is represented in the land, build-

ings and equipment; making this institution, by far, the largest endowed school in the entire South. In round numbers, there is about $13,000,000.00 in- vested in or provided for the Rice Institute; there is about $10,000,000.00 working capital and valuable lands besides. Grouping of buildings has been plan- ned for fifty years in the future. Under this plan the new Chemical Laboratory has recently been completed. About eighty people, each one a special- ist in his line, are employed on the teaching staff of the Rice Institute.

In Mr. Rice's opinion, the big thing needed now for Houston is the drainage of the Harris County lands .. This county is composed of very fine agricultural lands, and drainage is now being arranged. He thinks Houston has the greatest future of any city in the Southwest. The bulk of the territory in the Rio Grande Valley is tributary to Houston, and less than 10 per cent of that country is developed, but is just now in line for development. In social organiza- tions Mr. Rice is a member of the Houston Coun- try Club, the Houston Club the University Club and the Episcopal Church. With the exception of the period between 1875 and 1901 Mr. Rice has spent all his life in Houston and vicinity. He has seen it grow from a village to the busy, thriving city with the world's commerce brought to its very doors by the big ocean liners, and the end is not yet in sight as to the possibilities for continued growth. Mr. Rice has always been active in the business, so- cial and general community life of Houston.

RED HARRIS, cashier of the Federal Re- serve Bank of Dallas, went to that city from Houston, where for over a year he had been manager and director of the Houston Federal Reserve Branch Bank. Mr. Harris has been connected with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas since the time of its opening, except for the period spent in Houston.

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New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1, Part 67

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