New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1, Part 83

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

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Mr. Andres was born at Scranton, Pa., May 28, 1887, and is a son of John and Mary (Schieber) Andres. He attended the Scranton public and high schools and later the University of Michigan, where he took mechanical engineering and received the degree of Bachelor of Science in engineering upon completion of a full four-year course. He was en- gaged in engineering work in connection with elevat- ing and conveying machinery with various large companies in the East for ten years and then went with the Knickerbocker Portland Cement Company at Hudson, New York, as assistant superintendent, remaining in that capacity until April, 1918, when he enlisted in the Army Signal Corps and was as- signed to scientific research work at Camp McAr- thur. He went overseas in September and returned to the United States and received his discharge in May, 1919.

Following his discharge from the army Mr. Andres went to Cuba for the Portland Cement Company, re- maining there one and a half years, then returned to the Knickerbocker Company, where he remained until he was sent here as superintendent.

Mr. Andres was married at Adams, Massachu- setts, in 1919, to Miss Louise M. Barriere, daughter of William and Louise Barriere. They have one son, Robert John, four years of age.

A man of pleasing personality and splendid execu- tive ability, Mr. Andres has made a splendid record with the Portland Cement interests and is very pop- ular in business and social circles of Houston. He is a member of the Elks, Knights of Columbus and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

H. DORMAN has been a resident of the city of Houston for more than twenty years, having come here in 1902, and is one of the best known lumbermen in South Texas. He is the owner of the Dorman Hardwood Lumber Com- pany, with offices and mill at Semmes and Lee Streets, and has the only exclusive hardwood lum- ber company in Houston. The plant of the Dor- man Lumber Company occupies an entire half block with large lumber sheds and a complete mill with necessary equipment. The mill is located on the main line of the one of the principal railroads entering Houston, with adequate switching facilities for hand- ling carload shipments. The mill carries a complete stock of hardwoods, including oak, ash, hickory and gum. The principal business of the mill is the manu- facture of the woodwork for truck and wagon bodies. The company has built up a splendid business since its establishment in 1914.

Mr. Dorman is a native of Massachusetts and was born at Springfield in 1879. He is a son of C. H. and Etta (Terrell) Dorman. After leaving school Mr. Dorman studied architecture and worked as an architect for four years and then entered the lumber business, in which he has been engaged con- stantly since. He removed to Virginia, where he established a lumber business and came to Texas and Houston in 1902. For nine years after locating in this city he was connected with the Burton Lumber Company, remaining with this firm until the estab- lishment of his own business.

He is an enthusiastic booster for the city, and expects it to become one of the largest cities of the South. Mr. Dorman is a member of the Rotary Club and the Lumberman's Club of Houston.

477

MEN OF TEXAS

T. VICK has been very active in supplying electrical equipment to the great number of large buildings erected in Houston and other cities of Texas. Mr. Vick is presi- dent and general manager of the A. T. Vick Com- pany, electrical contractors, and is the largest firm of its kind in the entire South. This firm was established in Houston in 1917, and have offices in the Electric Building. The business has grown to large proportions. Among the buildings in Hous- ton and other cities which the A. T. Vick Company has furnished the electrical equipment are the Majestic Theater, Chamber of Commerce Building, Bankers Mortgage Building, Gulf Refining Building, Haverty Building, Hughes Tool Company Shops, Magnolia Provision Company, Crown Oil and Refin- ing Company Refinery, the magnificent home of J. S. Cullinan, built at a cost of $1,000,000.00, the palatial home of W. W. Fondren, the Veterinarian Science and Auditorium Buildings at the A. and M. College, I. & G. N. R. R. Hospital at Palestine, high school at Port Arthur, Sealy Hospital at Gal- veston, Texas Chemical Company Works on the Ship Channel, Hermann Hospital, and the Scottish Rite Cathedral, Melba Theatre, Dallas; New Orleans Public Grain Elevator, and hundreds of residences in Houston and other cities. The A. T. Vick Com- pany are contracting engineers for all electrical work, however large or small the building or residence may be. Other officers of the A. T. Vick Company are: R. W. Franklin, vice president, and S. B. Vick, secretary and treasurer. Only the best of materials go into a Vick job, no matter what the bid, and the best workmen only are employed by this organization.

A native of Illinois, Mr. Vick was born in Marion, in 1878. His parents, M. T. Vick and Elvira R. Vick, were well known citizens of Illinois, and both fam- ilies were among the old settlers of that state. Mr. Vick's education was obtained in the public and high schools of Anna, Illinois, and the Armour In- stitute of Chicago, where he completed his educa- tion.

After leaving college, Mr. Vick became associated with the Western Electric Company of Chicago, where he remained for five years. He then went to DeSota, Missouri, where he was superintendent of the Consumer's Light and Power Company for one year. He then went to Granite City, Illinois, where he built the Hoyt Metal Plant; after this work he returned to the Western Electric Company of Chica- go. He only remained a short time with this com- pany, when he became master mechanic and chief engineer of the American Car and Foundry Com- pany of Madison, Illinois. After a few years here, he accepted the position of Electrical Engineer with the M. K. & T. R. R., with four thousand miles of road. He next went to St. Louis with the F. E. Newberry Electric Company, and was sent to Hous- ton by this company to take charge of their office here, and to do the electrical work on the Rice Institute, and while here engaged in this work, Mr. Vick realized the many advantages offered by Houston, and remained here and engaged in his present business, which is growing year by year.

Mr. Vick was married in Louisiana, in 1916, to Miss Sue B. Marshall, a member of a well known New Orleans family. Mr. and Mrs. Vick have a residence in Houston and a country home in Pasa-

dena, Texas, and divide their time between the two places. Mr. Vick is a member of the York Rite body of the Masonic fraternity, and a Shriner of Arabia Temple. He is a member of the Houston Club, Glenbrook Country Club, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He has great faith in the future of Houston, and believes it will soon be the leading city of the Southwest.

UDGE A. E. AMERMAN has dignified the legal fraternity of Houston by a quarter of a century of practice and service on the bench and bar in that city, his name rep- resenting one of the most honored of the South Texas Bar. As a lawyer and jurist Judge Amerman has occupied a high place in the confidence of the people and has been called upon to fill many posi- tions of public trust. As a citizen he is public spir- ited and takes a keen interest in every activity di- rected toward the development and progress of his native city. Judge Amerman was admitted to the Bar in the fall of 1899, opening his first office in Houston and trying his first case in the courts of Harris County. He was associated with Judge Ashe for one year and for two years with Judge Spotts, then practiced alone until 1906. He was elected County Judge in that year, serving until 1912, then resuming his legal practice for five years. In 1917 he was elected Mayor of Houston, serving an unex- pired term of eleven months, and one full term. Re- suming his practice in 1921 he formed an association with H. J. Dannenbaum and George D. Sears, the firm being styled Dannenbaum, Amerman and Sears. In 1923, Mr. Dannenbaum retired, and the firm is now called Amerman and Sears. They have offices in the Scanlan Building and engage in a general civil practice. Judge Amerman has been ac- tively identified in the county official fee cases to eliminate the collection of excessive fees by certain county officials.

Judge Amerman was born at Houston the twenty- fourth of March, 1878, son of A. F. Amerman, who came to Houston in 1849, and was a railroad man until his death in 1920, and Mary F. (Collings) Am- erman, who has lived at Houston in the same loca- tion since 1859. His grandmother, Caroline Fisher, came to Houston in 1838. Judge Amerman was ed- ucated in the public schools of his native city, grad- uating from the high school there in 1895, at which time he entered the University of Texas as an acad- emic student, graduating with the degree of LL. B. in 1899, and that same year beginning his legal practice. Judge Amerman can remember Houston as a town of ten thousand people, and has been as- sociated with events connected with the growth of this city since that day.

Judge Amerman was married at Gainesville, Texas, the nineteenth of June, 1907, to Miss Cor- delia Bostick, daughter of Robert Bostick, a promi- nent cattleman of Gainesville, who had interests in Texas and Oklahoma. Judge and Mrs. Amerman live at 4212 Caroline Street and have two children, Jane and A. E., Jr. They attend the Christian Church. Judge Amerman is a member of the Har- ris County Bar Association, of which he is an ex- President, and a member of the Texas Bar Associa- tion. He is an ex-President of the Kiwanis Club of Houston and a member of the Sigma Nu Fraternity.

478

ATrick

NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

AMES H. PITTMAN, president and treas- urer of the Gulf Bitulithic Company, has been a factor in the business circles of Houston form any years, where prior to the organizing of the present company in 1919, he was for thirteen years associated with the Texas Bithu- lithic Co., where he had vast experience in every branch of this great industry. The Gulf Bitulithic Company are engaged in paving, contracting and construction of city streets and public highways, where they are doing to great amount of the larger contracting and construction jobs. This company has their home office and headquarters at 801 Gog- gan Building, Houston, and a branch office at Pal- estine, Texas. Approximately one hundred men are on the payrolls of the Gulf Bitulithic Company at all times, also their floating labor is between five and six hundred men. Other officers of this com- pany are John L. Wortham, vice president; W. W. Gaston, secretary, and D. G. Young, assistant sec- retary.

A native Texan, Mr. Pittman was born at Sher- man, August 11th, 1878. His father, E. F. Pittman (deceased) was a native of Kentucky, and after com- ing to Texas, was for many years engaged in the wholesale grain business at Sherman under the firm name of Pittman and Harrison and was well known in the business circles of the state. His mother was Miss Annie Harrison, also a native of Kentucky, where she was a member of a prominent family and is now residing in Dallas. His education was ob- tained in the public and high schools of Dallas, where he graduated from the latter in the class of 1896.

After leaving school, Mr. Pittman began his busi- ness career with the American National Bank of Dal- las, and after a few years entered the Photo Supply Company with his brothers, George and Ed Pitt- man of Dallas, and remained in this line of endeavor for six years. In 1906, he became associated with the Texas Bitulithic Company and remained with this company until 1919 when the Gulf Bitulithic Company was organized and he became president and treasurer of this company, which has met with unusual success and the greater part of the paving being done in South Texas is under the supervision of the Gulf Bitulithic Company. Mr. Pittman was married in Houston, in 1912, to Miss June Percival, a member of a prominent Houston family and a daughter of M. C. Percival, who for many years has been engaged in the creosoting business here and is well known throughout the state. They have one son, James H. Pittman, Jr., eight years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Pittman reside at 604 Harold Street. Mr. Pittman is a member of the Houston Chamber of Commerce and takes an active interest in this organ- ization. He is also a member of the Rotary Club, Houston Country Club and the Houston Club and is a past director in the latter organization. He is a consistent member of the Christian Church. Mr. Pittman is active in many of the civic clubs of the city and is an ardent worker for his state and city. Mr. Pittman is a member of one of Texas' oldest and most prominent families, both in the business and social life of the state. He is regarded as one of the most progressive and public spirited citizens of the South Texas metropolis, and has accomplished much in his line of work toward the development of the Lone Star State and all the principal cities therein.

S. VANDERVOORT has been identified with the commercial and financial life of Houston for a number of years, having come to this city with his parents when a small boy. His first work here was as a railroad clerk and he continued in this position for three or four years when he became identified with the old Lumberman's National Bank, as cashier.

Mr. Vandervoort retired from the bank to become manager of the Houston Building Company, the corporation which owns the Carter Building, now known as the Second National Bank Building, one of the finest office buildings in the South. He ac- cepted this position of trust and responsibility at the special request of Mr. Carter, the principal own- er of the property at that time. The building is now owned by the Second National Bank.

The Houston Building Company is one of the lar- gest concerns of its kind in the South. The entire management of the property is under the direction of Mr. Vandervoort. A building superintendent is employed, who sees after the mechanical details of its operation and the service rendered to tenants is the equal of that found in the finest office buildings of the country. The building has splendid equip- ment, including its own lighting and heating system, and a complete battery of passenger and freight ele- vators. It is eighteen stories in height and repre- sents an investment of more than a million and a half dollars. The building personnel includes forty- one employees composed of engineers, elevator men, electricians, carpenters, painters, cleaners, etc.

During his many years connection with the Lum- berman's National Bank, Mr. Vandervoort became a prominent figure in financial circles of Texas and the Southwest and was an important factor in the development of the bank's extensive business. He retained his interest in the bank after his retirement as cashier and is now a member of the board of directors of the Second National Bank, formerly the Lumberman's National.

Mr. Vandervoort was born in Canada but with his parents removed to Texas while still an infant. He suffered from ill health during his boyhood and at the age of ten was sent to West Texas where he lived for several years on a large ranch owned by his father, N. J. Vandervoort, who was formerly chief train dispatcher and later superintendent for the Houston and Texas Central Railway Company.

On December 9, 1896, Mr. Vandervoort was mar- ried at Houston to Miss Marguerite Usher, grand- daughter of the late T. M. Bagby, pioneer resident and business man. Bagby Street was named for him and the family owned and lived on the old Bagby block, now the site of the magnificent Car- negie Library. Mr. and Mrs. Vandervoort are the parents of three children, Marguerite, A. S. Jr., in business in Houston, and Randolph.

Mr. Vandervoort has always taken an active in- terest in the civic, social and political life of Hous- ton. He is a member of the Lumbermen's Club, the Houston Club and the Rotary Club and is a com- municant of the Presbyterian Church. He was one of the staunchest supporters and admirers of the late Colonel Roosevelt and was an accredited delegate to the Bull Moose Convention at Chicago where the famous "Teddy" was nominated for president the last time.

481

MEN OF TEXAS

OM TELLEPSEN came to Houston in 1908 and since that time has been held in high esteem for his work in the upbuilding of his community and his activities in the in- dustrial world, where he is a well known building contractor. Mr. Tellepsen engages under his own name in general contracting and construction work, and is one of the leading contractors in Houston. His offices and a fifty thousand-dollar plant are located at Clay Street and the Santa Fe Railroad, with eight hundred feet of railroad track. Here he has his yards, machine shops, lumber sheds, and equipments, including large and small trucks, hoist- ing engines, mixers, forms, and other material and machinery incident to construction work. This plant covers seven acres. Mr. Tellepsen employs from three hundred to three hundred and fifty men. The first half of 1923 he has done nearly a million and a half dollars worth of construction work, and is now building the Anderson-Clayton wharves, six- teen hundred feet long, and of concrete and rein- forced steel construction. He also has under course of construction the new Masonic Temple Building, being erected at a cost of a quarter of a million dollars; the $1,000,000 Chemical Laboratory for the Rice Institute.

Mr. Tellepsen has been busily engaged since en- tering the construction field and the following are some of his completed work: The $300,000 Manches- ter Wharf, Conveyors and roads leading up to it, the $50,000 Gulf warehouses on Karrington Street, $175,000 Standard Sanitary Manufacturing ware- house at Mckinney and Broadway, the $50,000 store and apartments on Mckinney for John B. Ashe, the $50,000 Miller Open Air Theater in Herman Park, the $20,000 store on Mckinney for H. H. Holt, the First Baptist Church, the Beaumont Iron Works plant at Beaumont, four school buildings in Houston, and several other Texas cities, the Perry Wiess and W. A. Priddie residences in Beaumont and the beau- tiful Schaff residence on the Galveston Road.

Mr. Tellepsen was born in Norway, in 1888, son of Tom and Thora Halvorsen Tellepsen. Mr. Tellep- sen was educated in his native country and came with his parents to the United States in 1904. His father was engaged in construction work here, and was killed in constructing the Williamsburg Bridge, the second bridge to be built across the East River, in New York City, and just north of the Brooklyn Bridge. Mr. Tellepsen was first engaged in con- struction in New York City for two years, then go- ing to the Panama Canal, where he remained three years, returning to New York City for a second period of two years. He came to Houston in 1908 and opened his offices here two years later.

Mr. Tellepsen was married at Houston, to Miss Larson Ingeborg. They reside at 4518 Park Drive and have three children, Howard, Hortense and Lo- raine. Mr. Tellepsen is a Scottish Rite Mason and a member of Arabia Temple Shrine, and of the Build- ers Exchange.

R = R. LEWIS, for more than a quarter of a century has been identified with the plumb- ing, manufacturing and jobbing business, and for the past several years has made his home and headquarters at Houston.

Mr. Lewis has been identified with the plumbing fixture and supply business for many years. At the beginning of his business career he spent four

years with the Shapleigh Hardware Company, of St. Louis, travelling throughout the United States for this well known company. He then spent ten years as salesman for the N. O. Nelson Manufac- turing Company, one of the larger manufacturing enterprises making plumbing fixtures and supplies, where he is still engaged. He also spent some time with the Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company in New York City. Mr. Lewis came to Texas in 1906, and until 1919 made his headquarters at Waco. In that year he came to Houston for the N. O. Nel- son Company.

Mr. Lewis was born at Saint Louis, Missouri, the eleventh of September, 1879, son of George J. and Jennie Davis Lewis, his father engaging in the plumbing supply business. Mr. Lewis was educated in the public schools of his native city, graduating from high school, after which he entered his present line of business.

Mr. Lewis was married at Edwardsville, Illinois, to Miss Nellie Crossman, daughter of Thomas and Mary Crossman, her father an editor and publisher of that city for many years. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis make their home in Houston at 1201 Tulane Street, and have three children, Virginia, George and Mary.

A. (JACK) LANDERS is a well known and popular clothing man of Houston and Har- ris County, where he has been engaged in the Men's Clothing business for the past fifteen years. Mr. Landers is president and manager of Williamson and Landers, Inc., conveniently lo- cated at 505 Main Street, which was established in 1920. The business of this firm has grown steadily since that time. The Williamson and Landers, Inc., carry a large and complete line of men's clothing, hats and furnishings. The stock is all made up of high class merchandise, and is an exclusive men's store. The store is twenty feet by one hundred feet in size, and the goods are arranged in an artistic and pleasing manner, which with the ornate fixtures, make the Williamson and Landers, Inc., an attractive store for shoppers, for men's wearables. Other officers of the Williamson and Landers, Inc., are Robert J. Landers, vice president; and Mrs. Lela Williamson, secretary and treasurer.

A native Texan, Mr. Landers was born in Wash- ington County in 1880. His father, S. A. Landers, also a native of this state, is now residing in Hous- ton. Mr. Landers' education was obtained in the public schools of Milam County. After leaving school, Mr. Landers started his business career in a clothing store at Rockdale. Later he was con- nected with a clothing establishment in San An- tonio, and still later at Guthrie, Oklahoma. He re- mained in Guthrie for two years, then returned to Texas and came to Houston with the firm of Leo- pold and Price as salesman. He later was asso- ciated with W. C. Munn as manager of their men's department, and in 1914 resigned this position in order to enter business for himself, under the firm name of Landers and Green, a partnership. This partnership was continued until 1919, when this business was disposed of, and in 1920 organized the present company.

Mr. Landers was married in San Antonio in 1919 to Miss Emma Marbach, a native Texan and a mem- ber of a pioneer family. Mr. and Mrs. Landers re- side at the Southland Apartments. Mr. Landers has great faith in the future of Houston.

482

For Tellefsen

NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

R. ECKHARDT, Junior, one of the younger element of the Houston business world, who are making their influence felt in a most progressive way, is achieving a place in the manufacturing and industrial life, for his ac- tivities as an ice manufacturer. The Polar Wave Ice and Fuel Company, incorporated in 1922, and of which Mr. Eckhardt is Vice-President and Secretary, operates one of the most modern ice manufacturing plants in the city. They occupy a new one-story building, of reinforced concrete and brick, 70x115 feet, and with 42,000 square feet in the yard. The capacity of the Polar Wave Ice and Fuel Company is seventy-two tons per day, most of which goes to supply their city trade, wholesale and retail, al- though some is shipped out in car lots. They have their own wells, using filtered artesian water at the rate of five hundred gallons per minute. Twenty- five men are employed. The Polar Wave Ice and Fuel Company also operates a large coal yard, with around one thousand tons of coal on hand at all times, handling all grades and qualities. They also keep a complete line of heating wood. J. W. Link is President of the corporation, Mr. Eckhardt Vice- President and Secretary, and Elwyn Carroll, Vice- President, Treasurer and Sales Manager. The busi- ness is located at 2203 McGowan Avenue.

W. R. Eckhardt, Jr., was born at Houston, in 1892, son of Dr. W. R. Eckhardt, for the past thirty years a practicing physician of Houston, and Iris (Kent) Eckhardt. Mr. Eckhardt was educated in the public schools of Houston, graduating from the high school here, after which he attended Texas A. and M. Col- lege, taking an architectural engineering course and finishing in 1911. The first two years after finish- ing school he operated a drug store and bottling business for his father, Dr. Eckhardt. He then spent two years in the real estate business, and two and a half years with the Beaumont Ship Build- ing and Dry Dock Company, as Superintendent of the Marine Railway. Then followed a year and a half in the Breckenridge oil fields, where he owned a large machine shop. In 1921 he returned to Hous- ton and began the construction of the Polar Wave Ice and Fuel plant. The plant was opened for busi- ness in 1922.

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New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1, Part 83

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