New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1, Part 79

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

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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

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NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

C. PROCTOR has, for almost two score of years, been a recognized leader of the legal fraternity of South Texas, where he has specialized in Mineral Law; his advice on matters along this line is sought by the leading in- terests. Mr. Proctor came to Houston in 1916, and his office is located at 403 Foster Building. From his admission to the Bar in 1887, Mr. Proctor was in the general practice until 1905, when he became general counsel for the Gulf Companies, and re- mained in this position until 1919. Since that time he acts as special counsel for the Gulf Companies from time to time, as occasions demand. Mr. Proc- tor represents, in an advisory way, the Pure Oil Company, in Texas, and the Union Sulphur Com- pany. He does no work except as counsel in oil, gas and sulphur matters, and is considered one of the leading authorities in the Southwest in this field, and has been identified with much of the im- portant oil and mineral litigation that has come before the Courts of this section, among others the Ferry Lake, Louisiana, litigation, in which Mr. Proc- tor and associates established the proposition that the title to the bed of such lake passed to the State when the latter was admitted to the Union. This is one of the most interesting cases of Mr. Procter's career, and was of much importance and value. Mr. Proctor has handled important litigation before the Supreme Court of the United States, and was promi- nently identified with the legal controversies arising under the act of Congress, making pipe lines com- mon carriers.

A native Texan, Mr. Proctor was born at Indian- ola, Calhoun County. His father, David C. Proctor, a native of Kentucky, came to Texas in the pioneer days, and was a prominent attorney, and practiced at Indianolo and Cuero for a period of fifty years. He was a graduate of both Yale and Harvard Uni- versities. Mr. Proctor's mother was Miss Nannie Cocke, a member of a well-known Virginia family. His early education was obtained in private schools in Victoria, after which he spent two years at Belle- vue High School in Virginia, and still later was a student of the University of Texas, in the class of 1887.

Mr. Proctor began the general practice of law in 1889 at Victoria, Texas, where he remained until 1905, when be became general counsel for the Gulf Companies. During the World War, Mr. Proctor served in the Attorney General's office at Washing- ton, D. C., remaining there during the entire period of the World War. He was the only private con- nected with this office. Since coming to Houston, Mr. Proctor has been connected with many of the city's enterprises, and is a director in the South Texas Commercial National Bank and the Guardian Trust Company. Mr. Proctor was married in Cuero, Texas, December 10th, 1889, to Miss Lucy Wofford, a native Texan, and a daughter of John T. Wof- ford, prominent among the cattle men of Texas. They have three children-David C. Proctor, Jose- phine, now Mrs. H. G. Nelms; and Lucy P., now Mrs. G. A. Miller. Mr. and Mrs. Proctor reside at 4019 Montrose Boulevard. Mr. Proctor is a Mason and a Knight Templar. He holds membership in the following organizations: American Bar Asso- ciation, State and County Bar Associations, Uni- versity Club, Houston Country Club, Houston Club, Chevy Chase Country Club, of Washington, D. C.,

Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, and the American Petroleum Institute, in which he is a director. Mr. Proctor is the true type of the South- ern gentleman and lawyer, deservedly popular with all classes, and as an authority in legal matters per- taining to minerals he is without a peer.

OSEPH H. BURT, although one of the younger members of the oil fraternity of Houston, he has spent all his business life in the oil industry, and is considered one of the leaders among the younger generation of oil men. Mr. Burt is a member of the firm of R. E. Burt & Son, oil operators, with headquarters at 611 Magnolia Building, Dallas, and are well known in the North Texas fields as well as the coastal. This partnership was formed in 1920, and they have been active in the coastal fields and in Wichita and Archer Counties, and in other portions of the state. Mr. Burt is president of the Security Oil Company, royalty owners in the Humble and Wichita Falls districts, and is a director in the Atlantic and Gulf Petroleum Company, of which his father, Mr. R. E. Burt, is the president. R. E. Burt, with his asso- ciates, own very valuable leases and land in fee in the Humble field, where Mr. Burt has been one of the most successful operators. He is well known in Dallas, where he now resides; also Houston, and other parts of the state.

A native Texan, Mr. Burt was born at Temple, on August 16th, 1896. His father, R. E. Burt, a native of Arkansas, is numbered among the leading men of Texas, where in addition to being a success- ful oil operator and business man, he is deeply inter- ested in educational and religious work, and has been for many years active in this commendable line of endeavor. His mother was Miss Mamie Boone, a native of South Carolina, where she was a member of a well known and prominent family. His early education was obtained in the Prosso Preparatory School of Houston, from which he graduated in 1916. He later became a student of Baylor University, Waco, and graduated from that institution in the class of 1920, with the A. B. degree. Prior to en- tering Baylor University, Mr. Burt spent one year as a student at Cornell University. Following his graduation from Baylor University, Mr. Burt entered the oil business with his father, in the Security Oil Company, and has continued in this great industry since that time. Mr. Burt has many interests in several parts of the state, and is a director in the Dallas Trust and Savings Bank at Dallas, and has many interests in Houston.

Mr. Burt was married at Temple, Texas, on Sep- tember 20th, 1921 to Miss Ada Joe Jarrell, a native of Temple and a daughter of A. J. Jarrell, one of the leading merchants of Temple, Texas, and the oldest in this line of business there, where he is also a bank director. Mr. and Mrs. Burt have one child, Joseph H., Jr. Mr. Burt is a member of the A. F. & A. M., with membership in Dallas, and is also a member of Lakewood Country Club of Dallas, and holds membership in the Sigma Chi, a fraternity of Cornell University. During the World War, Mr. Burt was in the navy, and was located at Algiers, Louisiana, where a group of college men were sent for training in engineering work, but the Armistice was signed before the training was finished. Mr. Burt has made many friends since coming to Dallas, not only among the oil fraternity, but among the business men of the city.

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MEN OF TEXAS

E DWIN ELDRIGE WATTS, Vice-President of Farish, Watts, Collins, Drilling Contrac- tors, is a pioneer driller of the Texas oil in- dustry, and is a leader in his line, being probably the best informed man on the drilling con- ditions of the South Texas and Mid-Continent fields in the State. The Farish, Watts, Collins Company is the largest contracting firm in Texas, having fif- teen rigs and two hundred men on their payrolls, and have drilled for practically all the big oil com- panies in Texas. Mr. Watts began his career in the oil business in 1901 when he came to Spindle Top, and in 1902 went to Sour Lake with the Sharp Brothers, and ran a rig for them until the Texas Company took over this property and then Mr. Watts went with the Texas Company, and ran the first rig the Texas Company owned and remained with this company until 1913 as a driller. He then took entire charge of all drilling as Superitendent and remained in this important position for the Texas Company from 1913 to 1915, when he went with the Gulf Production Company, as Superinten- dent at Humble, where he remained until 1917. Dur- ing 1917, with Mr. W. S. Farish, he engaged in the contracting business, and this association continued until 1919, when he purchased Mr. Farish's interest and continued in the contracting business alone until the present company was organized in 1922.

A native Texan, Mr. Watts was born in Moscow, Polk County, on July 8, 1872, and was reared at Franklin, where his parents removed when he was seven years of age. His father, J. B. Watts, also a native of the Lone Star State, lived here practically all his life, and was essentially loyal to the customs and traditions of Texas. John Watts, the father of J. B. Watts, came to Texas in 1832 and located at Moscow, and was truly a pioneer, as Texas at that time was a broad expanse of plains with wild cattle, buffalo, and many Indians scattered over its large area. His mother was Miss Mary Jane McCormack, a daughter of a pioneer Texas settler, J. W. McCor- mack, who was killed during the Civil War. His education was obtained in the public schools of Franklin, and before becoming active in the oil busi- ness in 1901, Mr. Watts was engaged in farming. This firm does not confine their drilling activities to the several oil fields of Texas, but drill in Louis- iana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, California, and in fact drill anywhere that their contracts may be made, and they have confined their work in the several States to rotary drilling. Mr. Watts has some val- uable independent oil property and the company also has some very valuable properties. He is also Vice-President of F. W. C. Royalty Company, owner of valuable royalties in Texas, and is also Vice- President of the First National Bank at La Porte, and a Director of the La Porte Light and Ice Com- pany.

Mr. Watts was married at Bryan, Texas, May 10, 1903, to Miss Selete McDonald, a native Texan and a daughter of Henry C. McDonald, a pioneer in the cattle industry of the State, and who came to Texas in the early days and settled near Bryan. They have three children, Cecil, Mildred and Jane El- drige. Mr. and Mrs. Watts reside in Montrose, where they have a beautiful home, and a summer residence at La Porte on the bay. Mr. Watts is a 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason, and a Shriner of Arabia Temple. He is also a member of the Hous- ton Club and the Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Asso-

ciation. While Mr. Watts is a pioneer in the oil drilling industry, yet like a great many oil men who started the business early in life, he is yet in the prime of life and active in his line, where he is considered one of the best drillers in the business, and his firm is the largest in the State. Mr. Watts is popular among the oil fraternity of South Texas, and is enthusiastic about Houston and its future and believes that it will soon become the leading city of the Southwest, and the greatest oil center in the United States.

ILLIAM J. PLATTE has for a quarter of a century been general manager of Henry Henke's Artesian Ice and Refrigerating Company, and during this period has de- monstrated a genius for management and the prin- ciples that govern factory organization. This mam- moth ice plant, located at Third and Washington Streets, was started in 1887 by Henry Henke as a five-ton ice plant for manufacturing ice for his own use in his grocery business. Later, when retail meat dealers desired to rent cold storage space, a few rooms were added and the plant increased to an eight-ton capacity. From this small beginning, the Henry Henke Artesian Ice and Refrigerating Com- pany has gradually grown to its present capacity of three hundred tons per day, and when necessary may be increased to four hundred and fifty tons per day. It is now the largest plant in Texas which is engaged exclusively in the manufacture of ice, and is the oldest plant in Houston making ice. The Henry Henke Artesian Ice and Refrigerating Com- pany sell at both wholesale and retail, with city de- livery employing thirty wagons and eight trucks. This company ships many carloads of ice daily to various points in the state, and their re-icing of rail- road refrigerator cars is an industry within itself and requires many hundreds of tons of ice each month. The Henry Henke Artesian Ice and Refriger- ating Company employ one hundred people. Other officers of this ice company are Henry Henke, pres- ident; C. G. Pillot, vice president, and S. L. Bethea, secretary.

Mr. Platte was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1864. His parents, Julius Platte and Henrietta Platte, were well known citizens of Hanover, and came to Amer- ica in 1870. Mr. Platte's early education was ob- tained in the public schools of Brooklyn, New York, and later attended school in New York City. He came to Texas and to Houston in 1873 and was em- ployed in various lines of work. In 1882, he en- tered the employ of Henry Henke, who was engaged in the grocery business. He worked in the different departments until 1899, when he was appointed man- ager of this company, where he has since remained.

Mr. Platte was married in Houston in 1894 to Miss Rose Turck, a daughter of Earnest Turck, who for many years operated an iron foundry and machine shops in Galveston. Mr. and Mrs. Platte reside at 1009 Autry Street. In fraternal and social organiza- tions Mr. Platte is a member of the Woodmen of the World, the Kiwanis and the Houston Turnverein. During the fifty years that Mr. Platte has resided in Houston he has seen many changes, but Houston at that early date was an ambitious village which aspired to greater things. He has seen it grow from a village to the busy, thriving, progressive city of today with the world's commerce brought to its very doors.

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NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

E. BROOKS, JR., well known Houston oil man, has been active in the development of Texas oil resources during the past eight years. Mr. Brooks is president of the South- ern Exploration Company. The company was or- ganized in July, 1923, and since that time has been active in the Gulf Coast Territory, Powell, Wichita and Archer Counties. It developed two leases in the Powell field, drilling nine wells, all of which were producers, the maximum production being eleven thousand barrels per day. During the early part of 1924 it sold the Powell properties to the Tidewater Oil Company of New York for a consideration of six hundred thousand dollars, after it had produced three hundred thousand dollars worth of oil. It has settled production at this time of fourteen hundred barrels per day in Archer and Wichita Counties and Goose Creek, and is doing some development work in other sections of the State. The company owns its drilling equipment and does its own drilling. The other officers of the company are R. E. Brooks, Vice-President; A. C. Smith, Secretary and Treas- urer. It is a closed corporation and maintains of- fices at 310 to 314 Humble Building.

While Mr. Brooks devotes practically his entire attention to the oil business, yet he has contributed also to the industrial development of Houston. In July, 1924, he organized the Portable Rotary Rig Company, of which he is President. This company recently built a new plant on Nance Street and man- ufactures gasoline rotary rigs. The company started in a small way, its rigs being thoroughly tested be- fore being put on the market, practically all of the output goes to the larger companies, such as the Humble, Gulf and Texas Companies. These rigs are growing very popular throughout the oil states be- cause of the economy and facility that their use permits. Many wells are drilled in districts where water in difficult to secure and where fuel oil would have to be transported. Gasoline, the fuel used for these rigs is always available anywhere, and the net result is that oil wells can be drilled with these rigs with a saving of several hundred per cent of the cost of wells drilled by the old method. Fifteen men are employed in this plant, the capacity of which may be enlarged to take care of the increased de- mand of its products. In 1924 Mr. Brooks also or- ganized the Southern Planing Mill Company, of which he is President. This plant is located on Sampson Street, employs sixteen people and does the regular planing and sash and door business.

A native Texan, Mr. Brooks was born in William- son County, January 26th, 1891. His father, Judge R. E. Brooks, is one of the leading men of Houston and one of the organizers of the Texas Company, and formerly President of the Producers Oil Com- pany. His mother was Miss Fannie Booty, a native of Williamson County, Texas, and a member of a pioneer family of the Lone Star State. Mr. Brooks' education was received at the Virginia Military In- stitute, the University of Texas, and the University of Chicago. Mr. Brooks studied law and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1914. He joined the legal de- partment of the Texas Company in 1913 and re- mained with this company until 1917, when he en- tered oil. operating and contracting. He is one of the organizers and President of the Woodworth Con- struction Company, oil field teaming contractors, that operated from 1919 until March, 1925. It was a successful company and made large profits. Mr.

Brooks discontinued this line of business in order to devote his entire attention to oil production. He has been unusually successful in his chosen field, and has brought in several big wells, among which might be mentioned a well at Pierce Junction that made over five hundred thousand barrels of oil.

R. E. Brooks, Jr., was married in Dallas, November 11th, 1916, to Miss Elizabeth Leftwich, a native Texan and a daughter of S. M. Leftwich, one of the oldest families of the North Texas Metropolis. They have two children, R. E. Brooks the Third and Sue Brooks. Mr. Brooks is a member of the College fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Mid-Continental Oil and Gas Association, the American Petroleum Insti- tute and the Houston and Houston Country Clubs. Although numbered among the younger generation of Houston business men, he has had an interesting and successful career, and is playing an important part in the development of the State. He is not only popular in social and business circles, but with the rank and file of men whom he employs in his organizations, and who loyally co-operate with him to make for success. He has great faith in the future of his city, and believes that it is the logical oil center of the State, and that it will soon be- come the leading city and port of the entire South- west.

HARLES E. BENNETT, for more than three decades a resident of Houston, is a well known merchant of this city and has taken an active part in the commercial life here. The Bennett Drug Store, which Mr. Bennett in partnership with C. L. Mathews, operates, is one of the finest drug stores in the city. The store was established by Mr. Bennett in 1906 and has continued operation since that time, meeting with a sure suc- cess and growing with the city. The Bennett Drug Store is located at 2200 Main Street, on the Houston White Way, and a few blocks from the heart of the city. The store now occupies more than five thous- and square feet of floor space and is modernly equipped with the finest of fixtures and a most complete stock. The Bennett Drug Store caters to the highest residence trade in the city and has a large patronage, giving special attention to foun- tain and prescription business. Mr. Bennett has other business interests in the city and is a director of the Public National Bank.

Charles E. Bennett was born in Florida, in 1871, son of J. M. Bennett, a native of Georgia, who came to Fannin County, Texas, in 1876, and has been re- tired for the past ten years, living near Bonham. His mother, before her marriage Miss Lucy Ann Mc- Clain, is a native of Georgia. Mr. Bennett was edu- cated in the public schools of Bonham, and after graduating from high school there entered the School of Pharmacy at St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated from this institution in 1892 with the P. H. D. de- gree, and came direct to Houston, where he was with various drug stores, on a salary, until 1906, when he went in business for himself, opening the Bennett Drug Store, which he has since operated.

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New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1, Part 79

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