New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1, Part 88

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

USA > Texas > New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1 > Part 88

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Mr. Bell was born at Booneville, Missouri, in 1896, son of Charles C. and Anna Bell. He was educated in the public schools of his native city, graduating from the high school there. He then went to Princeton for three years, following this by a period of military service. At the beginning of the World War he enlisted in March, 1917, in the Heavy Artillery, going overseas, and receiving his discharge in September, 1919. Mr. Bell came to Texas, and Houston, in October, 1919, and shortly afterward established the Bell Construction Com- pany, which he has since operated. He makes his home at the Rice Hotel, and is a member of the Houston Club and the University Club. As one of the younger business men of Houston, he has im- pressed this city with his progressive and successful business ideals, and has a future that promises well. He has made many friends, making good in the business world by a policy of fair treatment and courtesy.

514

NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

ALTER H. CRAWFORD, one of the leaders in Houston engaged in the manufacturing field, has built a successful enterprise and has contributed to the development of the city along industrial lines. Mr. Crawford is pres- ident and manager of the Redsken Products Com- pany, Inc., a business which was established in 1922. Other officers of the company are Mr. E. Glenn, vice president, and W. T. Wise, secretary and treasurer. The company manufacture the well known Redsken line of auto enamels and other auto chemical pro- ducts, the entire line of specialties comprising over sixty products. All these products are marketed under the trade name "Redsken" and this brand has come to be synonymous with quality in the field of auto specialties. In Houston alone one hundred and fifty-two dealers are handling Redsken products and are boosting them as "Houston made" products. The line is also being introduced throughout the entire Southwest and it will be only a matter of a few years before this superior line will see nation wide distri- bution. The plant, equipped with the most modern manufacturng equipment, is located at 219 and 221 Preston Avenue, and has a force of employees. All products are scientifically compounded and are per- fected before being distributed commercially, and every effort is made to keep the Redsken line the best line of auto spcialties possible to produce. Re- cently the company manufactured and delivered its two millionth product bearing the name "Redsken". This sales record reflects the most unusual career of the company, and it is a record that few new manufacturing concerns throughout the United States has ever equalled. The Redsken Products Company is the only company in the South that manufactures a complete line of products under one label in this field. These products are packed in handy, convenient cases, each particularly adapted to perform some special service in assisting the automo- bile owner to keep his car in first class shape. There is the Redsken Auto Top Dressing, which, if used once or twice each season, would more than double the life of an auto top. Then there is the Redsken Auto Enamel and the Redsken Ford Car Enamel, which any amateur may use in bringing back the original brilliant color and appearance of his auto- mobile. In fact, whether it be a punctured tube, porous top, leaky radiator, rusty fender, squeaky spring, or dulled enamel finish, there is a Redsken product particularly designed to heal the injury or repair the damaged part.

Walter H. Crawford was born at Ironton, Ohio, the second of July, 1894. His father, W. H. Crawford, a native of Ohio, has lived at Ironton for many years and is a retail grocery merchant there. His mother, before her marriage Miss Mary Etta Garner, is now deceased. Mr. Crawford attended the public schools of Ironton and after leaving school was with the Inland Steel Company at Indian Harbor, Indiana, for two years. He then went to Huntington, West Virginia, and was with the United Fuel and Gas Company there for a time prior to coming to Texas. In 1913 he went to Lufkin, Texas, and was with the Philip A. Ryan Lumber Company, as secretary, until 1916. In that year he came to Houston and formed a partnership business, the Moon-Crawford Tire Company. Later he organized the Savage Tire Company of Houston, operating that business until

1919 when he organized the Rambler Rubber Cor- poration.

Mr. Crawford was married at Lufkin, Texas, the fifteenth of August, 1915, to Miss Eva Glenn, a na- tive of the Lone Star State. Mr. and Mrs. Craw- ford have an attractive home at 1203 Willard Ave- nue, and are the parents of two children, Dorothy and Mary. Mr. Crawford is a Blue Lodge Mason at Lufkin, Texas and is an Elk. In business circles he is known as a progressive young man with executive ability and he has many friends here who are watch- ing his career with interest.

OHN R. YOUNG has been active in the busi- ness and insurance circles of Houston, Texas, for more than a score of years. Mr. Young is a partner and manager of the John R. Young and Company, insurance, which was established in this city in 1909 and this firm has since that time become one of the leading insurance firms here. Mr. Young inherited a liking for insur- ance from his father, who was among the best known insurance men in South Texas, and from whom he learned his first lessons in this line of business, and he has spent his entire life in this field of activity. Associated with Mr. Young and active in the business is Mr. W. O. Woods, who for many years has been actively engaged in business here. John R. Young and Company represent eight large insurance com- panies, and confine their business to local territory. A well organized staff of twelve people are employed in the offices of this company, who make their service to their clients their watchword. The firm does a very large business, and both of the mem- bers are popular with the business people of Hous- ton. Their offices are located in the Chronicle Building, which are well equipped in every respect for their work. Mr. Young has other interests, the most important of which is an 1800 acre plantation in Waller County.

A native Texan, Mr. Young was born in Waller County on January 26th, 1879. His father, John R. Young (deceased since 1889) was a pioneer in the in- surance business of Texas. His early education was obtained in the public schools of Hempstead, Texas, after which he attended St. Edward's College of Aus- tin, Texas, and later became a student of the Uni- versity of Texas. He left this institution in 1897, returned home and entered business, removing to Houston in 1904. His first position here was with the well known insurance firm of Cravens and Kelly, after which he engaged in business for himself under the name of Young and Felker. This firm continued for some time, after which the present partnership was formed with Mr. Woods.

Mr. Young was married at Houston in April, 1907, to Miss Mary Felker, a native Texan and a member of a prominent family of Hempstead. They have four children, Edwin A., John R. Jr., Leighton Felker and James A. Young. Mr. and Mrs. Young reside at 4504 Caroline Street. Mr. Young is a member of the Knights of Columbus and has attained to the fourth degree in this organization and is a member of the Knights of Columbus Luncheon Club. He is also a member of many of the social and civic or- ganizations of Houston in which he takes an active interest. He is optimisitic as to the future of Hous- ton and believes that this city is soon to become the metropolis of the Southwest.

517

MEN OF TEXAS

EORGE SAWTELLE, although a compara- tively recent addition to the oil fraternity of Houston, has had an experience in the oil business which began in boyhood, and is regarded as one of the leading executives of this generation. Mr. Sawtellé is vice president and gen- eral manager of the Kirby Petroleum Company, with offices on the sixth floor of the Great Southern Building, and is regarded as a valuable acquisition to this company and to the oil fraternity of South Texas. The Kirby Petroleum Company operates in the Mexia fault district, West Texas, and in the Gulf Coast, and own the mineral rights to about 100,000 acres of land in Southwest Texas.

Shortly after leaving college in 1916 Mr. Sawtelle went to the border, where he took an examination for a commission in the regular army. When war was declared he was serving with the Twenty-first Cavalry, which was reorganized as artillery to go to France. He served as captain of the Seventh French Mortar Battery. He went to France with this battery in July, 1918, where he remained one year. He was recommended by General Horn for a promotion to a commission as major before the Ar- mistice was signed.

Mr. Sawtelle was married at Junction City, Kan- sas, November 1st, 1917, to Miss Mary Seamore Sawtell, a native of Kansas and a daughter of C. E. Sawtell (deceased), a well known merchant of Kansas. They have two children, Flint and Ermina Mae. Mr. and Mrs. Sawtelle reside at 3701 Audubon Place. He is a member of the A. F. and A. M., is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, and a member of Arabia Temple Shrine, the Delta Upsilon of Leheigh University, the American Petroleum Geologists' Association, the Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, the American Chemical Society, and the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Sawtelle has had a successful career, and is rapidly forging ahead in the oil business, and with his unusual college advantages and training, along with his practical ex- perience, he is destined to become a leader in the Mid-Continent and Gulf Coast fields.

P. KEITHLY, for more than thirty years has been well known in South Texas, as a business man and citizen. During this period he took an active part in the plumb- ing trade here. Mr. Keithly started in the retail plumbing business in 1895, in a small way, and began the wholesale business in 1912, which from the beginning grew rapidly and was the largest exclusive plumbing and heating equipment plant in Houston at the time of his retirement.

A native Texan, Mr. Keithly was born in Grayson County in 1872. His parents, John A. Keithly and and Martha Keithly, were pioneer settlers of North Texas. The public and high schools at Denison supplied the foundation for Mr. Keithly's education and a course in a Denison business college provided him with his early business training.

Mr. Keithly started his business career as a jour- neyman plumber and did plumbing work in twenty- three states. He came to Houston in 1893, and began work as a plumber, which he continued for a short time, when he started in the contracting and retail plumbing business. He remained in that branch of the business until 1912, when he entered the wholesale field. Among the buildings in Hous- ton for which the Keithly Company furnished the

plumbing and heating equipment are, the Rice Hotel, Second National Bank Building, Union National Bank Building, South End Junior High School, four buildings at the Rice Institute and many others. On June 11th, 1925, he sold out to the Crane Company.

Mr. Keithly was married in Houston in 1896, to Miss Clinton De Witt Cockrell, a member of a well known Houston family, where her father was for many years engaged in the grocery business. They have one daughter, Mrs. Florence Keithly Turner. The family home is at 5303 Austin Street. In fraternal and social organizations Mr. Keithly is a member of the B. P. O. E., Knights of Pythias and the Houston Club. During the thirty-three years that Mr. Keithly has resided in Houston he has seen many changes and transformations take place, and he expects the city to continue its steady, consistent growth and is looking forward to an era of great business prosperity in all lines.

A. RUTHERFORD of Houston, Texas, has for many years been an active figure in the hotel circles of Texas, where he has sue- cessfully managed and operated some of the State's largest and most modern hostelries. Mr. Rutherford is the lessee and manager of the Hotel Judson of this city-a splendid, fireproof building, which was opened to the public on December 1st, 1925. This hotel, which was built by W. T. Carter, Jr., is three stories in height and is the last word in modern hotel buildings. The two upper floors are occupied by the Hotel Judson, having sixty-two guest rooms on these floors, thirty-one of which are equipped with private bath. The hotel is elegantly and luxuriously furnished, with an air of home life seldom found in hotels. About fifty of these rooms are occupied by permanent tenants, who awaited the completion of this building in order to make it their permanent abode. The Hotel Judson is conveniently located at the corner of La Branch and Rusk streets.

Mr. Rutherford's career covers many years of hotel experience in various portions of the country. Prior to the opening of this hostelry, Mr. Ruther- ford had successfully managed the Bender Hotel of this city, with Mr. Daley, from 1914 to 1919. For a period of seven years he had managed the Tremont Hotel of Galveston, Texas, and for one year man- aged the Hot Wells Hotel and Bath House at San Antonio, Texas. He also successfully managed the Hotel Raleigh at Waco for one year, and is well known to the traveling public of Texas.

A native of Tennessee, Mr. Rutherford was born at Clarksville on June 9th, 1875. His father, J. F Rutherford, and mother, Mrs. Virginia (Clark) Rutherford, were both natives of Kentucky and members of prominent families of that State. His education was obtained in the public schools of Ten- nessee.

Mr. Rutherford is a member of the B. P. O. E. and many other fraternal and social organizations of Houston, in all of which he takes an active interest. His church affiliation is with the Presbyterian faith, which is the religion of his forbears. During his time of residence here, which began in 1914, Mr. Rutherford has taken an active interest in the up- building and advancement of this city, and is a consistent booster for it, never losing an opportunity to speak a good word for the metropolis of the Southwest.

518

George Sawtelle.

NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

OBERT LEE YOUNG, chairman of the executive committee of the Peer Oil Cor- poration with a quarter of a century of ex- perience in the oil business as an organizer, operator and producer, is recognized as one of the leading executives among oil men of the country. The Peer Oil Corporation is the result of a merger of the Monarch Oil and Refining Company, the Southern Petroleum Company and the Kansas and Gulf Company. The latter had properties in Okla- homa, Kansas and North Texas. The Southern Petroleum had holdings in West Columbia, Humble and Damon Mound, and the Monarch at Hull, Goose Creek and several other coastal fields, as well as Smackover. The Peer Oil Corporation, with their Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana holdings have been successfully developing their properties in these states. The headquarters and general offices are located at 901-905 State Nation- al Bank Building. Mr. Young is one of the pioneer oil men of the Gulf Coast and has been successful in his operations. In connection with his associates, he organized the Crown Oil and Refining Company, which they later sold to the White Oil Corporation. Prior to this transaction he had developed other valuable properties. The Monarch Oil and Refining Company was organized in December, 1919.

A native Texan, Mr. Young was born in Travis County September 4, 1869. His father, R. S. Young, a member of an old Virginia family, who later re- moved to Kentucky, came to Texas in 1868. His mother was prior to her marriage, Miss Sarah Jane Fletcher, a member of a well known Kentucky family. Mr. Young's early education was obtained in the public schools of Texas, after which he took special courses at college that would prove

of value to him when he engaged in business on his own responsibility. Mr. Young has never ceased to be a student, and is considered unusually trained and gifted in many branches of study, but es- pecially in mathematics.

Mr. Young began his business career in the cattle and mercantile business at Lometa, Texas, and was engaged in this line of business for a period of four years when he was elected County Tax Assessor of Lampasas County and served in this capacity for a period of four years. Mr. Young was among the first of the Texas people to enter the producing end of the oil business. In 1901 he went to Beaumont, and with the keen perception and sound judgment that has predominated his career, he saw the possi- bilities in that field. In 1905 he was a producer at Saratoga and in 1906 went to Sour Lake where he also brought in wells, and later at Humble, Goose Creek, Hull, Burkburnett and Mexia. He has been closely connected with the commercial interests of Houston since coming here in 1915, has served for several years as president of the Gulf Coast Oil Producers Association and as a director in the A. and M. College of Texas, in which he takes a great interest.

Mr. Young was married at Lometa, Texas, in 1895 to Miss Alice E. Mckean, a native of the Lone Star State, and a daughter of Frank Mckean, a well known citizen of this state who came to Texas in 1877 and located at Austin, later moving to Lam- pasas County, Texas. He established the town of Lometa where Mrs. Young was born. Mr. McKean was a soldier in the Union Army, having answered Lincoln's first call for volunteers. His grandfather

was Thomas Mckean, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and at the same time held the unique position of chief justice of the Supreme Court and governor of Delaware. Mr. and Mrs. Young have three daughters: Roberta, now Mrs. J. J. Donnelly, who has a daughter, Betsy; Thelma K. Young and Ruth G., now Mrs. Geo. McGonigle of Brownsville. Mrs. Young is prominent in club and social circles, and devotes a great deal of her time to civic mat- ters. Mr. Young takes a great interest in agricul- tural matters, and he personally developed one of the finest farms in South Texas, which is modern in every particular. He is active in other fields of business and civic matters. In fraternal and social organizations, Mr. Young is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Houston Club, the Houston Country Club and the Methodist Church.

HARLES J. GERNER has for more than a score of years been engaged in the lumber business in Houston, and for the past six- teen years has been president and treas- urer of the Gerner Lumber Company. This com- pany are wholesale and retail dealers in lumber and building material of every kind and are builders of homes which they sell to purchasers on the easy pay- ment plan; they also finance the building of resi- dences. The plant of the Gerner Lumber Company is located at 2323 Nance Avenue, occupies one-half of a city block and its buildings are conveniently located on the railroad. This lumber company is re- garded as one of the strongest and most reliable in the city, and their business is growing every day. Other officers of the Gerner Lumber Company are Sam Bassett, vice president and manager, and Wil- liam Ingram, secretary.

Mr. Gerner was born in Pittsburg, Pensylvania, in 1866. His father, Gottlieb Gerner, was one of the first men to manufacture tin plate in the United States, and later was for many years engaged in the lumber business in Chicago. His mother, Christena Gerner, was well known as a charity and church worker. Mr. Gerner's education was obtained in the public and high schools of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.

Mr. Gerner has been engaged in the lumber busi- ness practically all his life, which he started in Chi- cago. He came to Texas and to Houston in 1902 and engaged in the lumber business with other com- panies, until 1907 when he organized the present company. Mr. Gerner is gradually retiring from ac- tive business, and his eldest son is being fitted through experience in every department, to become manager of the Gerner Lumber Company.

Mr. Gerner was married in Chicago, in 1902, to Miss Ida M. Merchant, a daughter of James and Minerva Merchant, who were from Texas and had been engaged in the cattle business and owners of vast oil lands. They have two sons, Charles Fred- erick, twenty years of age, and Ambrose, aged eight- een years. Mr. and Mrs. Gerner reside at 4401 Mont- rose Boulevard. Mr. Gerner is a member of both the York and Scottish Rite bodies of the Masonic fraternity and is a Shriner of Arabia Temple; he is also a member of the B. P. O. E. Mr. Gerner is interested in all matters having to do with the progress and advancement of Houston, and expects the city to continue its steady, consistent growth, and is looking forward to an era of great business prosperity in all lines.

521

MEN OF TEXAS

R OBERT D. FARISH has spent his entire business life in the various branches of the oil industry of the Texas fields. He is president of the Farlyn Oil Company, in- dependent operators, operating in leading Texas oil fields. The vice-president of the company is John H. Lynd. J. A. Green, Jr., is secretary and treas- urer. Prior to the organization of this company, Mr. Farish was for one year vice-president and general manager of the Varner Oil Company, of which Mike Hogg of Hogg Brothers was president. He was formerly general superintendent of the Land, Lease and Scout Department of the Humble Oil and Refining Company, which naturally is one of the most important departments of an oil com- pany. Mr. Farish had complete charge of all lands of the company, and the buying of leases for Texas and Southern Louisiana. Mr. Farish's experience began in the oil fields of Electra, Texas. His knowledge of formations and surface conditions was gained through hard work in the oil field, and in this manner helps to fit him for the important position which he later held with the Humble Oil and Refining Company, one of the largest oil com- panies in the United States, and Mr. Farish's de- partment was proportionately large and efficient.

Mr. Farish was born at Mayersville, Mississippi, September 24th, 1894. His father, William Stamps Farish of Virginia (deceased) was a popular and well known lawyer of Mississippi. His mother was formerly Miss Katherine Power, a member of a prominent Mississippi family, and is now a resident of Houston. His early education was obtained in the public schools of Mayersville, Mississippi, and later he attended the Sewanee Military Academy of Tennessee, and still later became a student of the University of the South. Mr. Farish was an athlete in his school days and is still active in sports, and because of his great love for horses, his preference is polo. He did not finish the pre- scribed course of the University of the South, leav- ing to come to Texas, which he did in 1913, and went directly to the oil fields of Electra, and started as a helper on an oil rig. He remained in the Elec- tra field for approximately a year, holding various jobs in connection with rotary and cable tool work. He left the North Texas fields and came to Houston and immediately resumed work in the Coastal fields, and received experience in practically all of the South Texas oil fields as driller, field superintendent and scout. He held a position with the Gulf Pro- duction Company in the leasing department as a scout for some time, and resigned from this com- pany to accept a position with the Humble Oil and Refining Company in their leasing department just after the reorganization of the Humble Oil and Refining Company, and remained with that com- pany for only three months. He then entered the Naval Aviation Branch of the Service, and in De- cember, 1917, was sent to the Pensacola Training School, after which he was sent to France. Mr. Farish remained in France for eight months, when he returned to the United States and was discharged on February 5th, 1919, and returned to the Humble Oil and Refining Company as general superintendent of the Land, Lease and Scout Department, which position he held until June, 1924, when he became vice-president and general manager of the Varner Oil Company. Mr. Farish is one of the most pop-

ular young oil men in South Texas, not only with his associates and executives, but with the men in the field as well. He is a brother of Mr. William S. Farish, president of the Humble Oil and Refining Company, who is one of the best known oil execu- tives in the Southwest, and is regarded as one of the most capable as well. He is also a brother of Stephen P. Farish, president of the Navarro Oil Company, and president of the Reed Roller Bit Company.

Mr. Farish is a member of the Houston Country Club, the Houston Club, the River Oaks Country Club, the Houston Riding and Polo Club, the Ex- change Club, the Allegro Club, the University Club, the Conopus Club and the Sigma Alpha Epsilon College Fratrenity. In addition to his oil business, he is active in various other commercial enterprises and is vice-president of the Emsco Screen and Pipe Company, vice-president of the National Bond and Mortgage Company, director of the Public National Bank, and a director of the Plaza Apartment Hotel Corporation. Mr. Farish resides at 4412 Montrose Boulevard. Mr. Farish never loses an opportunity to speak a good word for Houston and her future, and believes that the time is near at hand when this city will lead the entire Southwest.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1, Part 88

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