New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1, Part 78

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

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Mr. Moncrief was born at Greensboro, Georgia, son of Stephen J. Moncrief, a building contractor. He was educated in his native state and had his first business experience there, where he entered the metal business. He came to Texas in 1914 and shortly after his arrival established the manufac- turing business at Houston.

Mr. Moncrief was married in Georgia, in 1897, to Miss Lillie A. Dozier, of that state. Mr. and Mrs. Moncrief make their home in Houston at 1307 Hyde Park Boulevard, having one of the many fine homes in the city. They have four children, Antoinette, Elizabeth, Dozier and Stephen.

OSEPH H. INMAN, Manager of the Texas branch of the Kohler Company, of Kohler, Wisconsin, has been a resident of Houston since 1914, coming here at that time with the N. O. Nelson Company. His territory for the Kohler Company includes all of Texas and Louisiana and he is in charge of the sales of enamelware, plumbing supplies and electrical equipment for the two States.

The Kohler Company has contributed in two im- portant ways to comfort and progress and the name Kohler is known throughout America wherever modern sanitary plumbing is in use.

Kohler plumbing fixtures are found everywhere and have always been particularly popular in the State of Texas. Not only in hotels, apartments, public institutions and commercial buildings, but in thousands of homes, Kohler bathtubs, lavatories, kitchen sinks and other plumbing fixtures are to be

found. They are a familiar part of the specifica- tions written by leading architects and national ad- vertising has played its part in spreading the name and reputation of Kohler ware.

In recent years of Kohler Company has embarked in another field, scarcely less important from the standpoint of human comfort and well being. Kohler automatic power and light 110 volt direct current is a little electric power and light unit consisting of a hundred and ten volt electric generator driven by a small gasoline engine to whose crankshaft it is keyed.

The Kohler automatic has several distinctive fea- tures. For example, it furnishes standard 110-volt current, uses no storage batteries, except a small one for starting the engine, and starts automatically whenever a light or appliance switch is turned on.

This little unit has brought to many farms and ranches for the first time the advantages of electric light and the numerous electrical utilities that are commonplace and are regarded as necessities in city homes. It goes farther and does a great many things for the farmer that the city man never re- quires, such as operating cream separators, grind- stones and a host of other appliances.

In addition the Kohler Automatic is used in sum- mer and winter homes, camps, houseboats, country hotels, stores, and, in fact, wherever electrical cur- rent is needed. It furnishes current for emergency lights and for operating the radio equipment on nu- merous ships. It supplies bright, safe light at oil wells and is being used on many Texas gasoline barges. Its applications, in fact, are almost innum- erable.

The Kohler branch office in charge of sales in the States of Texas and Louisiana is located at 1319 Texas Avenue, Houston, in charge of Mr. Inman, who has with him a complete sales and service or- ganization. In addition to the branch office, the Kohler Company maintains at the same address an attractive showroom, where its various products are on display.

Kohler enameled plumbing ware is sold through wholesale dealers in plumbing supplies and in turn by retail plumbing dealers. The Kohler Automatic is handled by a dealer organization consisting of representatives stationed at various points through the territory.

Mr. Inman, Manager of the local branch for the Kohler Company, was born at Portland, Maine, Au- gust 5, 1863, a son of Henry and Eunice (Dyer) In- man. His father was a journalist and army officer and his grandfather a noted portrait painter of New York City. Mr. Inman received his education in the public and high schools of Portland and spent six years farming and ranching. After that he engaged in railroad statistical work for five years and then was in the plumbing supply and manufacturing busi- ness in New Haven, Connecticut, and New York City. He came to Houston in 1914 with the N. O. Nelson Companay and was later associated with the Henry McShane Manufacturing Company and the Fairbanks Morse Company before his connection with the Kohler Company.

In 1901 Mr. Inman was married in Brooklyn, New York, to Miss Florence Robinson, who died in 1922. He has one daughter, Eunice D.

Mr. Inman is a splendid type of business man and citizen, devoted to the interests of his company and knows the business in which he is engaged.

441

MEN OF TEXAS

J. BOYKIN of Houston has for more than a quarter of a century been engaged in the lumber business and is considered one of the leading lumber men of South Texas. Mr. Boykin is vice-president and general manager of the Boykin Lumber Company of which he is one of the organizers. This company was organized in 1920 and is a successor to the Chicago Lumber and Coal Company of Texas. It handles the out- put from two mills located at Fullerton, Louisiana, amounting to 375,000 feet per day, and there are twelve hundred and fifty people in this organization. The main office of the company is located at 503- 510 Second National Bank Building, Houston, all business being transacted from this office. Fifteen traveling salesmen cover the United States. The Boykin Lumber Company is second in size, in out- put and sales of lumber in South Texas, and is the second largest lumber company in Houston among the lumber companies having their main office located here. Mr. S. H. Fullerton of Pasadena, California, is the president of the Boykin Lumber Company.

Mr. Boykin was born at Montgomery, Alabama, February 4th, 1878. His father, B. Boykin, came to Beaumont, Texas, from Alabama in 1889 and was for many years district clerk of Jefferson County, and is now living in Beaumont, at the age of eighty- two years, and is regarded as one of the city's most prominent and substantial citizens. His mother was, prior to her marriage, Miss Fannie James, a member of a well known Alabama family. His education was obtained in the high school at Beaumont. When nineteen years of age, Mr. Boy- kin started his business career in the lumber busi- ness with the Beaumont Lumber Company and re- mained with this company until they sold out to the Kirby Lumber Company in 1902. He then be- came associated with the Nona Mills Company in Louisiana, where he remained until July 1st, 1907, and then went with the Chicago Lumber and Coal Company of Texas and remained with this com- pany until they sold to the Gulf Lumber Company, and remained with the latter until the Boykin Lum- ber Company was organized in 1920, becoming vice- president and general manager at that time.

Mr. Boykin was married in Beaumont, November 26th, 1902, to Miss Carrie Lestarjette, a native of the Lone Star State and a member of a well known Brazos County family. They have five children, Fannie, Fred, Mary, Kate and Lorenzo. Mr. Boykin is a member of the Houston Country Club, the Houston Club and the Lumberman's Club, of which organization he is ex-president. Mr. Boykin is pop- ular in the lumber circles of Texas, and is of the true Southern type, democratic, courteous, kind, but withal a keen and successful business man and executive. He has great faith in the future of Houston and believes within fifteen years it will have a population of five hundred thousand people.

OSEPH ALLEN SAINT, for almost two de- cades has been a resident of Houston, where he has built up a successful enterprise in the grain trade, his many sided experiences bringing him in close touch with many phases of the city's industrial development. Mr. Saint estab- lished his business, Saint and Company, in 1911, starting in a small way and gradually expanding

until the business is one of the largest of its kind in the city. Saint and Company handle both a wholesale and retail trade, selling stock feeds, poul- try feed and all mill products, cotton seed and rice products. They also have a grinding mill, with a large storage capacity, and large elevators and ware- houses. Mr. Saint has given careful attention to each detail of his business, building trade by conservative methods, and his activities as a grain merchant have made him known throughout the southern part of the State. The offices and warehouses of Saint and Company are located on Walker Avenue at Dowling Street, where they have railroad frontage and facilities for handling the immense volume of business their patronage demands. They have twenty-five employees. The firm is composed of Joseph Allen Saint, the subject of this sketch; P. C. Saint and T. H. Saint.

Mr. Saint was born at Franklin, Louisiana, in 1889, son of J. P. and Angella Saint. He was educated in the public schools at Crowley, Louisiana, where the family lived during his boyhood, graduating from high school there. He came to Texas in 1908, locat- ing at Houston, where for three years he was with the Pritchard Rice Mills in various departments.

Mr. Saint was married at Houston, in 1921, to Miss Hazel Wisch, daughter of a landowner of this section. They live at 1102 Tuam Avenue. Mr. Saint is a member of the Glenbrook Country Club and fraternally is an Elk.

H. STUDDERT has, for the past several years of his residence at Houston, been identified with manufacturing enterprises of civic and commercial importance, is one of the leading figures in the Dairy and Dairy Prod- ucts business, and, prior to this, was, for almost two decades, associated with ice cream and other in- dustries in this city. Mr. Studdert is vice-president, treasurer and manager of the Lone Star Creamery Company, manufacturers of the famous products "Honey Boy" ice cream and "Lone Star" butter. They also have pasteurized and clarified milk, sweet cream and chocolate milk. They have the largest plant of this kind in Houston, and the finest equipped plant in the South.

The officers of the Company are: R. L. Autrey, President; J. H. Studdert, Vice-President, Treasurer and Manager; H. S. Autrey, Vice-President, and John M. Studdert, Secretary.

Mr. Studdert was born in Ireland, in 1872, and came to America in 1895. His parents were John and Ellen Studdert. Mr. Studdert was educated in Ireland, and, after coming to this country, was, for a number of year, with the Lemp Brewing Com- pany, in St. Louis. He came to Houston in 1902, and was associated with the Houston Ice & Brew- ing Association, until 1918, when the Magnolia Dairy Products Company was formed, of which he was General Manager, holding this position until the re-organization of the Company, at which time he assumed his present offices.

Mr. Studdert was married at Galveston in 1898 to Miss Margaret McGee, daughter of a stationary engineer of that city. Mr. and Mrs. Studdert make their home at 3001 La Branch Street, and are the parents of six children: John, James, Bernard, Mar- garet, Gerald and Morgan. Among his other inter- erests, Mr. Studdert is a director of the Public Na- tional Bank, and the Bender Hotel Company.

442

NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

L. WAUGH has taken an active part in the commercial, civic and political life of the city of Houston for the past fourteen years, having come here to establish his business in 1909. He has been a resident of the Lone Star State for half a century. An active and energetic man, he has played an important part in the up- building of his city and State.

Mr. Waugh is the senior partner of the firm of T. L. Waugh and Sons, conducting one of the largest and best transfer lines in Houston. The firm's warehouse and offices are located at 208 Caroline Street, and besides doing all kinds of light and heavy hauling, maintains a large storage warehouse. Crating and shipping on a large scale is done for many of the largest firms in Houston and careful attention to the most minute details of any business entrusted to them has resulted in building up an exceptionally large clientele. The firm has fifteen employees and maintains twelve motor trucks and wagons. The business was established by Mr. Waugh in 1911 and he continued to operate it until April, 1920, when upon his election as a Commis- sioner of the city of Houston he turned the business over to his sons, who have continued to conduct it on the same basis and with the same policies inau- gurated by their father. Upon his retirement from the Commissioner's office in April, 1923, Mr. Waugh again became actively identified with the business. T. H. and H. A. Waugh are the junior members of the firm.

Mr. Waugh was born at Batesville, in Indepen- dence County, Arkansas, on March 19, 1864. His father, Judge Alexander Waugh, was a native of Virginia, who moved to Arkansas and served as District Judge there and later removed to Texas and entered the private practice of law, which he continued until his death. He was a room mate of General U. S. Grant at college. Mr. Waugh's mother was formerly Miss Katherine Loughridge, a native of Mississippi. Bishop Waugh, first Methodist Bishop of the State of Texas, is a grand uncle of Mr. T. L. Waugh.

Upon coming to Texas the family located at Hearne, where Mr. Waugh received his education. Upon leaving school he engaged in railroad work and became a conductor for the Santa Fe Railroad, running between Galveston and Cleburne for twen- ty-one years. He left the service of the railway com- pany and removed to Houston to engage in the transfer business, which he still owns.

During his tenure of office as City Commissioner Mr. Waugh had charge of the street and bridge department and a great deal of important work was completed during his administration.

On October 23, 1889, Mr. Waugh was married at Trinity, Texas, to Miss Ida Belle Hurlock, a native of Palestine, Texas, and member of a very promi- nent East Texas family. Mr. and Mrs. Waugh are the parents of seven living children and one son, Thomas Terrell, made the supreme sacrifice for his country while a member of the Sixth Marine Corps on the battlefields of France during the World War. He was only nineteen years of age. The living children are: T. H. and H. A., interested with their father in business; Amelia, now Mrs. T. C. Welsh, of Brockville, Canada; Anna Bell, now Mrs. E. C. Holm, of Houston; V. L. and F. H., both connected with the engineering department of the city of

Houston, and Eugene, the youngest.

Mr. Waugh is a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of the Scottish Rite bodies at Galveston, and Arabia Temple Shrine at Houston. His Blue Lodge membership is with Holland No. 1 Lodge. He is Past Patron of Chapter No. 385, Eastern Star, and a member of Division No. 18, Order of Railway Conductors. Among other organizations with which Mr. Waugh is identified are the Houston Chamber of Commerce, Motor League and the Civitan Club He is past President of the Texas Warehouse and Transfer Men's Association, and his son, T. H. Waugh, has also served as President of this organi- zation, and has the same Masonic affiliations as his father.

Mr. Waugh and his son, Thomas Terrell Waugh, who was killed in the World War, have been honored by the City Council of Houston by naming one of the most beautiful boulevards of the city, Waugh Drive, after them.

Conservative and yet progressive, Mr. Waugh is of that splendid type of citizenship upon which is builded the solid and substantial growth of cities, states and nations.

H. DENMAN for about a decade has been associated with the oil industry of the coastal fields, and is an authority on production activities. For some time he was with the Gulf Company in the drilling depart- ment at Goose Creek. During this time he brought in three important wells in this field, Chapman- Bryan Number One, Chapman-Bryan Number Two, and Black Duck State Land Number One, and was actively engaged in drilling operations in this field until August, 1923. In August he went to Devers to put in a pipe line station for the Humphreys Pure Oil Company, remaining there until finishing this job, in September, 1923, when he returned to the Gulf Company, and Goose Creek. Later he returned to Devers, where he is now located.

Mr. Denman was born at Normangee, Texas, the sixth of September, 1894. Both his father, C. H. Denman, for many years a farmer, and his mother, prior to her marriage, Miss L. L. May, were native Texans, and are now deceased. Mr. Denman was educated in the public schools, and after leaving high school went to work for a railroad, in the bridge department. He remained in that work until 1916, when he began his oil experience, with the Magnolia Oil Company, in the Pipe Line Depart- ment, and was with that company from October, 1916, until May the twenty-third, 1917. At that date he enlisted in the navy, as second class engineer, and was sixteen months overseas, at Brest, France. He was discharged the fifteenth of November, 1919, and returned to the oil fields, this time with the Gulf Company, at Goose Creek.

Mr. Denman was married at Houston, Texas, the eleventh of February, 1921, to Miss M. M. Glass, a member of an Indiana family, who had been in Houston for some time. Mr. and Mrs. Denman have an attractive home in Houston, a cottage of stucco construction, at 4502 Brady Street. Mr. Den- man is an Odd Fellow, belonging to the Goose Creek Lodge. His associates in the oil business regard him as a young man whose experience and success in the field of production qualify to fill a position of responsibility, and foresee for him a fu- ture of achievement.

445

MEN OF TEXAS

D. PRATHER is one of the pioneers in the oil industry of Texas and has operated in all of the South Texas fields, where he has been successful as an independent operator. Mr. Prather came to Beaumont in 1901, the day after the discovery well came in Spindle Top, where he formed a partnership with W. B. Sharp in han- dling leases and remained there and at Batson and Sour Lake for more than four years. He drilled more than one hundred wells in the various South Texas fields, and brought in some big wells in all of these fields and at Humble. At one time, Mr. Prather sold 1,000,000 barrels of oil for five cents per barrel. He had one well at Batson making 25,000 barrels per day, and some big wells at Spindle Top and fairly big producers at Humble. Mr. Prather came to Houston iu 1915 from Wichita Falls, Texas, having lived in that section for about six years be- fore coming here. He has some oil properties in North Texas and royalties and working interests in North and South Texas. At one time, Mr. Prather and associates owned all of Vinton, Louisiana, field, and at different times has been associated with many of the leading oil men of Texas. Some of the prop- erties in which he was interested became a part of the Humble Oil and Refining Company. He did not at any time become active in the company, but was a stockholder, and has always preferred to handle his business independently. Mr. Prather maintains offices at 405 Foster Building.

A native Texan, Mr. Prather was born at Dallas September 8, 1868. His father, W. H. Prather, a native of Kentucky, came to Dallas soon after the close of the Civil War, of which he was a veteran and in which he had the misfortune to lose a leg. Ed Prather's mother was Miss A. E. Edmondson, a member of a well known Tennessee family. His education was obtained in the schools of Dallas, where he spent his early business life. Mr. Prather was County Treasurer of Dallas County for four years, and also engaged in the real estate business there until 1901. During his residence in Dallas, he was active in the civic and political affairs of the city and county. The Prather family has long been prominently identified with the upbuilding of the city of Dallas; his brother, Hugh Prather, is one of the leading real estate dealers of North Texas; being a member of the Flippen-Prather Real Estate Company, which developed and sold the greatest part of Highland Park, the beauty spot of Dallas.

Mr. Prather was married in Dallas, March 1, 1902, to Miss Daisy Hurst, a native of Louisiana, and a daughter of T. W. Hurst, for many years connected with the Dallas News. Mr. and Mrs. Prather re- side at 4019 Yoakum Boulevard. Mr. Prather is a member of the Houston Club, the Houston County Club and the Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Associa- tion. Mr. Prather has probably accomplished more than any other one independent oil operator in the development of the oil industry in Texas, and while his biggest production was in the days when oil was not bringing the prices that it does today, his operations in development never flagged. He was as closely associated with the late W. B. Sharp as any man, as they were in business together for many years and were close personal friends. Mr. Prather is widely known among the oil fraternity of the State and is very popular, with all classes, and his judgment and counsel in regard to oil mat- ters is frequently sought by other operators.

LIJAH COLES, a resident of Houston for more than forty years, is one of the city's best known business men, and for almost twenty years has been a member of the firm of Rice and Coles, the largest retail dealers in coal and wood in the city. The firm of Rice and Coles was established in 1905 and is one of the oldest firms in Houston selling coal, wood, coke and ice. This firm owns and operates two large yards; each of these yards occupy a space of two-thirds of a city block, and have railroad trackage into their plants. The locations of these yards are at 2015 Commerce Street and Hume and Blodgett Streets. The Rice and Cole's yards carry in stock from five hundred to one thousand tons of coal and coke. Their wood trade amounts to upward of two thousand cords an- nually. Their ice business is sold to the retail trade, mostly in the Montrose and South End districts. The Rice and Cole's firm employ twenty-five people at their two plants.

Mr. Coles was born in Buckingham, England, in 1869. His father, Elijah Coles was well known in the business circles of Buckingham. His mother was Miss Elijah Maud Savage, a member of a promi- nent, and old family of England. Mr. Coles' educa- tion was obtained in the public and high schools of England. He came to America in 1881, and from the time of his arrival in this country to 1886, he was engaged in various lines of work. In 1886 he en- tered the employ of the Houston Gas and Light Com- pany, remaining with this company for a period of nineteen years and during this time, Mr. Coles was advanced to the position of assistant manager of this company. In 1905, with his associate, Mr. B. B. Rice, the firm of Rice and Coles was formed, and has since been engaged in the wood and coal business.

Mr. Coles was married in Houston in 1890, to Miss Itasca Mildred Ellis, a daughter of George Ellis, who was for many years Sheriff of Harris County, and later was for several years Chief of Police of Houston, but is now retired from active business. They have four sons, George Warren, thirty-one years of age; Howard Smith, twenty-nine years old; Elijah Hendricks, twenty-five years of age, and Rudolph, aged eighteen years. The last named has gained prominence as a singer, and although quite young, he bids fair to becoming a singer of renown. The Coles residence is at 2617 Jackson Street. Mr. Coles was for four years secretary of the democratic executive committee of Harris County. He is past president and past district governor of the Rotary Club of Texas. He is a member of the Woodmen of the World and the Salesmanship Club of Houston, and is president of the Retail Coal Dealers Associa- tion of Texas. Mr. Coles has seen many changes wrought in the city and state since coming here. Houston, at the time when Mr. Coles decided on this city as his future home, was a struggling little town on the banks of the murky Buffalo Bayou but even then he was ambitious and aspired to greater things. Texas was an empire of open cattle ranges, but here he saw a land of oportunity, where all had a fighting chance to win in the game of business. Al- though Houston is a thriving, busy, progressive city, with the world's products brought to her very doors through the avenue of the deep water, Mr. Coles be- lieves the future for the city is one of unlimited pos- sibilities for continued growth, advancement and prosperity.

446

Ex Pracht

MEN OF TEXAS

E D. PRATHER is one of the pioneers in the oil industry of Texas and has operated in all of the South Texas fields, where he has been successful as an independent operator. Mr. Prather came to Beaumont in 1901, the day after the discovery well came in Spindle Top, where he formed a partnership with W. B. Sharp in han- dling leases and remained there and at Batson and Sour Lake for more than four years. He drilled more than one hundred wells in the various South Texas fields, and brought in some big wells in all of these fields and at Humble. At one time, Mr. Prather sold 1,000,000 barrels of oil for five cents per barrel. He had one well at Batson making 25,000 barrels per day, and some big wells at Spindle Top and fairly big producers at Humble. Mr. Prather came to Houston iu 1915 from Wichita Falls, Texas, having lived in that section for about six years be- fore coming here. He has some oil properties in North Texas and royalties and working interests in North and South Texas. At one time, Mr. Prather and associates owned all of Vinton, Louisiana, field, and at different times has been associated with many of the leading oil men of Texas. Some of the prop- erties in which he was interested became a part of the Humble Oil and Refining Company. He did not at any time become active in the company, but was a stockholder, and has always preferred to handle his business independently. Mr. Prather maintains offices at 405 Foster Building.

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New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1, Part 78

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