New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 2, Part 14

Author: Davis, Ellis A.
Publication date: 1926
Publisher: Dallas, Tex. : Texas development bureau, [1926?]
Number of Pages: 1262

USA > Texas > New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 2 > Part 14

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. Rachford was born in Monroe County, Ken- tucky, on September 8th, 1866. His father, Robert E. Rachford, also a native of Kentucky, was en- gaged in the lumber business and farming at Beau- mont and Port Neches. His mother was Miss Angie E. Dearing, a member of a prominent family of Kentucky. His early education was obtained in the public and high schools of Glasgow, Kentucky, after which he attended the Glasgow Normal College and graduated from this institution in the class of 1883 with the B. S. and A. M. degrees, after which he immediately started his business career.

Mr. Rachford was married in Beaumont, Texas, in 1889 to Miss Annie C. Baughn, a daughter of W. P. Baughn, an extensive cotton and sugar planter of Brazoria County. They have two sons-Henry H. Rachford, who is the personal representative of the Gulf Oil Company at El Dorado, Arkansas, and Leslie V. Rachford, with the Texas Title Guaranty Company, San Antonio. The Rachford home is located at 2335 Park Street. Mr. Rachford has always been active in the business, social and gen- eral community life of Beaumont and gives liber- ally of his time and means to all projects tending to the welfare and advancement of this city. It

can be truthfully said that there is probably no man in Beaumont today who has for more than four decades been so closely identified with the social, civic and commercial life of Beaumont, ex- erting an influence for good throughout a wide range of the city's activities, and a recognized leader along all lines as James Henry Rachford.

HARLES F. GRAHAM, although but recent- ly come to Beaumont where he is known as one of the most progressive merchants of the city, has for more than four decades been associated with merchandising activities of wide scope, and is one of the best known pioneer merchants of the Lone Star State. Mr. Graham is president of the White House Dry Goods Company of Beaumont, the largest and most modern depart- ment store in the city, and one handling a large volume of business annually. The White House Dry Goods Company was established in this city a number of years ago, being opened and managed by William F. Graham, son of the subject of this sketch, with Mr. Graham as president. Since com-

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ing to Beaumont to make his home in 1921, Mr. Graham has been partly retired from active business, and while he directs in part the management of the store here, he has continued to leave its management largely to his son, who is vice president and general manager of the business.

Charles F. Graham was born at Carrollton, Mis- souri, the seventh of November, 1862. His father, W. H. Graham, a native of Kentucky, removed to Missouri while he was a young man and after a number of years in that state came to Denton Coun- ty, Texas, in 1871, where he was a farmer for a number of years. Later he removed to Dallas, Tex- as, remaining there until his retirement some few years prior to his death, which occurred at the ad- vanced age of eighty-seven years. His mother, whose maiden name was Miss Jane Minnis, was a native of Missouri, her death occurring in Dallas, at the age of eighty-seven, the same age at which her husband passed away. Mr. Graham attended the public schools of Missouri, and at the age of eighteen years began in the mercantile business, gaining his first business experience at Lewisville, Texas, with the A. E. Graham Chain of stores in North Texas, he being a partner in the business. He later went to Ladonia, where he spent two years, and in the fall of 1890 went to Denton, and still later to Hillsboro where he opened a store, the Graham Company De- partment Store, of which he was president and general manager until 1921, when he sold out the business and came to Beaumont. Mr. Graham has also been interested in mercantile establishments at various Texas cities, and is one of the best known merchants in the state.

Mr. Graham was married at Lewisville, Texas, the twenty-fifth of May, 1887, to Miss M. Ettie Fox, the daughter of John M. Fox, a pioneer of Collin County, and later a resident of Mckinney where he was prominent in business and civic activities for many years. Mr. and Mrs. Graham have three children, William F., associated with his father in business, as vice president and general manager of the White House Dry Goods Company of Beaumont; Charles F., Jr., also associated with his father in business, and Etta Jess, wife of C. A. Graham, who is also a member of the firm. Few merchants in the Lone Star State have had so wide and varied experience in the merchantile business, and Mr. Graham brings to Beaumont an outlook and breadth of vision that is exerting a wide felt influence on the business life of the city.

ONROE W. CARROLL, whose name has been constructively associated with the de- velopment of the petroleum resources of the coastal fields for around a quarter of a century, has been for four decades and more one of the outstanding citizens of Beaumont, and has taken an active part in the industrial and commer- cial development of this city. Mr. Carroll's partici- pation in the oil industry has been primarily as an independent operator, buying undeveloped proper- ties, which he has developed principally with his own capital, later selling to the larger companies after the property has been proven. He has dis- played an unusual ability in this field, and has de- veloped some of the most important tracts in the oil fields along the coast. One of his most recent projects is the development of a few thousand acre holding in Gonzales County, where operations are

going forward at a gratifying rate. A second con- tribution to the oil industry, and one of no less im- portance than his development activities, has been the many new drilling and fishing tools of his in- vention which Mr. Carroll has placed on the mar- ket. Many of these tools have been in constant use since their introduction and have proven espe- cially adaptable to conditions of the coastal fields. Two in particular, the Carroll mud pump, a device that will fit in any water or mud pump, and a deep well pump for pumping oil, are important advances in oil well machinery, and deserving of special mention. These devices are being manufactured commercially and are supplied to operators through the oil well supply companies.

Mr. Carroll was born at Natchitoches Parish, Louis- iana, the eighth of January, 1860, the son of Fran- cis L. Carroll, a lumberman and land owner of that state who moved to Texas in 1873 and is one of the pioneer lumbermen of the Lone Star State, and Sarah Long Carroll. He began his education in the public schools of Beaumont, and after leaving high school and later Baylor University and Texas A. and M. College, after which he went to Salem, Virginia, where he attended Roanoke College, and further equipped himself for the business world through a commercial course at Eastman Business College at Poughkeepsie, New York, graduating at the age of twenty-one. He had his first business ex- perience at Nona, Texas, a town some twenty miles from Beaumont, and which he named. He served four years as postmaster, also financing all early development operations at Nona, and was one of the incorporators of the Nona Mills Company, in which he was active from 1882 until 1885. In 1885 he re- turned to Louisiana, establishing a saw mill at Pro- vencal, which he operated until 1894. In that year he went to Dallas, making that city his headquar- ters, and continuing the operation of the mill until 1898, when he came to Beaumont, at which time he disposed of his lumber interests. In 1901, Mr. Car- roll turned his attention to the oil business, drilling a gusher in the Spindle Top, which produced three hundred thousand barrels of oil in three months. He owned several tracts of land in Spindle Top, drill- ing his own property here and also handling drill- ing contracts. In 1902 he, with S. W. Pipkin, went to West Columbia and bought property which was held until 1920, when it was leased to the Humble Company and has proven one of their most valuable holdings. In 1903, Mr. Carroll went to High Island, buying and developing property there, and is at the present time engaged in active development work there. From 1906 until 1911 he operated a large machine shop and foundry business. He has from time to time been active in the various fields along the coast, and few oil men are better or more fa- vorably known than he.

Mr. Carroll was married at Mount Lebanon, in June, 1887, to Miss Lula Prothro, daughter of W. B. Prothro, a planter, landowner and cotton mill man of that place. They make their home at Beaumont, residing at 1726 Park Street, and have four chil- dren, M. W., Jr., Mrs. Pearl Miller, Harry P., as- sistant manager of the Beaumont Gas Company, and Mrs. Thelma Hamm, Mr. Carroll has throughout his residence at Beaumont taken a definite inter- est in the advancement of this city and has con- tributed to all development work for many years.

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HARLES HENRY MOORE-In the history of the lumber industry of Texas, the name of Charles Henry Moore occupies a promi- nent and important place as a man who pio- neered and blazed the way for those who are today leaders in this great industry. When he entered this field of activity, methods were crude, and with a progressive spirit he adopted modern ways of man- ufacturing and marketing the products of the forest. In 1870, when he entered this business in Texas, the virgin pine forests of Texas and Louisiana were so extensive that there appeared to be enough lum- ber in them to furnish the entire world throughout the ages to come. He witnessed a complete revo- lution in which the business was handled from the cutting of the timber by a few people in a small mill and hauling was done by ox teams. He saw the im- mense tramways built to the forests and the iron horse of commerce in the form of railroads enter the vast saw mill districts and carry the finished products to every portion of the globe. Mr. Moore was always one of the most progressive and public- spirited citizens of the Island City, and after his retirement from business he served in an official capacity with some of the largest and most im- portant institutions of the city until his death on February 3, 1926. He served as president of the Edgewood Land and Logging Company, Miller- Vidor Lumber Company, vice president of the Lock- Moore Company, Texas Bank and Trust Company, Texas and Gulf Steam Ship Company, American In- demnity Company, and was a director in the First National Bank of Galveston and the Doe Estates Company of San Francisco.

Mr. Moore began very young as a school teacher in his native State, and in 1862 he went to California and became associated with his uncle in the sash, door and blind business, where he learned every branch of this industry, and remained in this line of endeavor in California until he came to Galveston in 1867 and engaged in this line of business for him- self. He later engaged in the lumber business, both manufacturing and retail, and under the name of C. H. Moore and Company, established the first factory for making interior woodwork that was es- tablished in this portion of the State. In 1876 he engaged in the general lumber business with W. F. Stewart and Company, and continued in this branch until 1880, when he sold his interests with this firm and joined A. J. Perkins of Lake Charles, Louisiana, and continued with this firm as a member until the death of Mr. Perkins in 1893. The firm then became known as Moore and Goodman, and is now conducted by Mr. Moore's two sons and Mr. H. B. Goodman un- der this name, and is one of the largest companies of its kind in the city.

Mr. Moore was born at Freeport, Cumberland County, Maine, on August 10th, 1842. His father, Ira Moore, was a pioneer school teacher in the State of Maine, and was also engaged in farming. His mother was Miss Martha Doe, a member of a well known Maine family. His education was obtained in his native State, in York County, where through close application he finished school at a very early age, and engaged for a short time in teaching.

Mr. Moore was married in California in 1871 to Miss Ida Kilburn, a daughter of Wells Kilburn of Napa, California, who was well known in the busi- ness circles of the Golden State. They had two

children, Kilburn and Bartlett D. Moore. Mr. Moore was a member of the Hoo-Hoos and B. P. O. E., and always took an active interest in the affairs, both civic and political, of Galveston, and served for one term as alderman. Mr. Moore never failed to take a keen interest in everything pertaining to modern life, and believed that all the changes which have taken place in the business and social world were for the betterment of this generation and those to come. Out of the spirit of the pioneers of yes- terday, men of loyal devotion, energy and progres- siveness, has emerged the Lone Star State of today with its immense activities. To these builders of yesterday, who laid foundations, is due much of the success of the present and future eras. In the list of pioneers in the lumber industry of the State, no name stands out with greater prominence and none is more worthy of honorable mention, not simply as one of the makers of the greatest industry this State has ever known, but as a leading spirit of the Southwest than is the name of Charles Henry Moore.

UDGE DANIEL P. WHEAT came to Beau- mont, Texas, in 1882 and three years later was admitted to the bar, and prior to his election to the bench he practiced his pro- fession before the courts of South Texas for sev- eral years. During his period of law practice, Judge Wheat was identified with many of the most impor- tant cases which came before the courts of this por- tion of the state. Judge Wheat was popular and was the recipient of many positions of honor and trust at the hands of his fellow man. In 1887, he was appointed county attorney of Jefferson County and served with distinction in this office for eight years. In 1899, he was elected to the office of mayor of Beaumont, and his administration was one of great accomplishment, and his services to the city have become a part of the history of the city, and his name will be perpetually associated with the beneficial achievements of his administration. While serving as mayor, he created the first paid fire department in this city, paved the first street ever paved in Beaumont built the first sewer line here and also created the first free mail delivery in the city, and re-named and numbered the streets of Beaumont. After serving his city for four years a's mayor, he was appointed to the office of county judge of Jefferson County, and served his county in this capacity for a period of five years, follow- ing which he was judge of the Corporation Court here for about six years, and won the admiration of the entire citizenship for his just decisions. Later, the County Court at Law was created and in 1915 he was made judge of this court, and throughout his long service on the bench the dignity of the court was at all times upheld. Judge Wheat rendered the citizenship of Beaumont and Jefferson County great service, both in public and private capacities. In the capacity of an attorney, he wrote the first charter the city of Beaumont had, and as a private citizen he was one of the leaders in this portion of the coun- try, always ready and willing to aid his fellow man, his city, state and country in every manner possible. In the building of both the foundation and the super- structure of Beaumont, he worked zealously and ef- ficiently, and demonstrated his faith in the future of this city by both words and deeds.

Judge Wheat was born at New Orleans, Louisiana.

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on April 13th, 1865. His father, Captain J. J. Wheat, was a well known and highly esteemed citizen of Louisiana. His education was obtained in the pub- lic schools of Texas, but the liberal education which he obtained in later years was largely through self help. The opportunities for securing an education were limited, and he devoted himself diligently to home study, and his splendid knowledge of law and its fundamentals was secured through his own ef- forts in home study. Judge Wheat, at all times, had the deepest interest in the man who aspired to better his condition, and was ever ready and willing to render helpful service to his fellow man.

Judge Wheat was married at Beaumont on June 25th, 1889, to Miss Lettie E. Thompson, a daughter of Col. W. L. Thompson, well known in the legal circles of Texas and Louisiana, having been a mem- ber of the Texas Legislature, and serving for sev- eral years as a member of the Louisiana Senate. He was also deputy collector of customs under Pres- ident Cleveland. Of this union six children were born, John J. Wheat, Mrs. Nenie A. Trotter, Mrs. Lettie Mae Cade, Lee B. Wheat, Daniel P. Wheat, Jr., and Virginia E. Wheat. In fraternal organiza- tions, Judge Wheat was a member of the A. F. and A. M., the I. O. O. F., Woodmen of the World, An- cient Order of United Workmen, B. P. O. E. and the Eagles, and he took an active interest in all or- ganizations for the progress and advancement of his city. Judge Wheat died at his home in Beau- mont on the 27th of February, 1924, and at the time of his death was the oldest judge in Jefferson Coun- ty in point of service. He was honored and loved by all with whom he came in contact, and he left as a heritage those things which he had done, which will be cherished always as living memories of the man who had been closely identified with the social, civic and commercial life of Beaumont for more than four decades, and exerted an influence for good throughout a wide range of the city's activities. Judge Wheat was endowed with vigorous intellec- tual powers, lofty ideals of commercial, political and civic virtue, a personality energetic, strong, mag- netic, gracious and commanding in its high sense of honor and probity. During the long period of his life spent in Beaumont, he occupied a place of lead- ership in all the circles of the city on which, indel- ibly, he has impressed the seal of his usefulness, and in his passing, the profession to which he be- longed lost one of its ablest figures, and the city of Beaumont a staunch, wise, resolute and constructive citizen.

ICHARD ANGELO GIRAUD, whose name for many years was one of special signifi- cance in the financial world at Houston, had a genius for handling financial affairs and was one of the men carrying heavy burdens of re- sponsibility in his time. Mr. Giraud was a banker of unusual success and experience, and contributed con- structive banking service to his city that was largely instrumental in furthering civic development. Be- ginning at the very bottom, by close application he rose to a position where his name carried a pres- tige that was an asset to the institution with which it was connected, and his death, while he was yet in his prime, cut short a career that promised to carry him to the very pinnacle of success. Mr. Giraud had intellectual talents of high order. the natural ability

and perseverance to attain great heights, and his financial achievement was but a tribute to his ear- nest application of these endowments.

Mr. Giraud was born at New Orleans, Louisiana, the second day of October, 1850. His father, Theo- dore Giraud, was born in the United States, but edu- cated in the home of his ancestors, in Paris, France. He came to Texas before the Civil War, later going to Mexico for the Mexican Government, and his death occurred very suddenly in that country. His mother, before her marriage, Catherine Thorne, was born in Sterling Castle, Scotland, where her father, an English officer, was stationed. Later the family came to the United States, during her girlhood, and she was reared in Alabama, later coming to Galves- ton, where she met and married Theodore Giraud. After her husband's death in Mexico she moved to Houston with her two sons, during the Civil War.

Richard Angelo Giraud was educated in Houston, attending school until he was fourteen years of age, when he went to work for J. R. Morris Hardware Store. After a short time with that store, Mr. W. J. Hutchins, head of the City Bank of Houston, and who had known him for a long time, saw in the boy a remarkable promise and took him in charge, with a view of making a real banker of him. He started from the very bottom in the City Bank, working himself up to the position of Assistant Cashier dur- ing his quarter of a century with that institution. When that bank failed and the Commercial National Bank took it over Mr. Giraud was made Cashier, a position he held until his death in 1896.

Richard Angelo Giraud was married at Lynchburg, Virginia, the tenth of November, 1874, to Miss Annie Ott, a native of that State and daughter of William H. Ott, who was also born in Virginia, and was a planter there all his life, and Frances Connell Ott, a native of England who came to the United States with her parents as a small girl. Mrs. Giraud is a woman of charming personality and culture, bril- liantly endowed to be the wife of a man of distinc- tion such as was Mr. Giraud. Their home at Hous- ton was the seat of a flowing hospitality that en- deared them to the friends that they made by the hundreds, and this home life was made further de- lightful by the seven children of Mr. and Mrs. Gi- raud. These children are, the late James Arthur Giraud, whose death occurred the fifteenth of Feb- ruary, 1923, and who was a prominent insurance man of Houston, and who was married to Miss Mil- dred Durst; Richard Theodore Giraud, who is mar- ried to Miss Louise Brown, and who has two chil- dren, and is owner of the Giraud Insurance Agency; Frances, wife of Theodore Heyck, Manager of the Houston Cotton Oil Mill and the Consumers Cotton Oil Mill, and who has four children; Edith, wife of George S. Westerfield, a mechanical engineer and manufacturers agent at Houston, and who has four children; Charles William Giraud, whose death oc- curred th fifth of October, 1918, and whose widow was formerly Miss Mary Kittrell, whom he left with two children; Stuart A. Giraud, of the Humble Oil and Refining Company, who married Miss Earle Anderson, and Miss Stella Giraud, who is at home.

Mr. Giraud died at his home in Houston the nine- teenth of October, 1896, at the age of forty-six years. His life, spent in earnest endeavor, was marked by a generosity that endeared him to all who knew him, and the record of that life is a bright page in the history of his city.

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OHN GOGGAN-Few names figure more prominently in the annals of Galveston's history, few men were more vitally con- cerned with civic growth, or were more gen- erally admired than John Goggan, business man, city builder, philanthropist and for two score years one of the honored residents of Galveston. Mr. Gog- gan was a man of vision, dreaming big dreams of the Galveston of today, but unlike most dreamers he was likewise a man of practical attainments and had the ability to make his dreams of civic great- ness come true, at least in large measure. At the time of his arrival in Galveston in 1867 the city was emerging from the port of early Texas history into the thriving city that is one of the leading ports in the world of commerce, and men capable of bear- ing responsibility, of planning and directing big things, were in demand as never before. Mr. Gog- gan, with his characteristic energy, entered into this development work, giving his time, his strength and his means to the material development of Gal- veston, and in the doing impressed himself on his world as one of the remarkable personalities of his time.

John Goggan was born in Tipperary, Ireland, on the twentieth day of October, 1846, son of Thomas Goggan and Bridget Goggan. He spent his early years in his native country, but his dreams were of America, and he came here as a young man, seeking a career that would give him opportunity for self-expression as well as the acquirement of wealth. In 1866 his brother, Thomas Goggan, had come to Galveston and established the pioneer music house of Thomas Goggan and Brother, and the fol- lowing year, in 1867, John Goggan followed him here. This business, established in a small way, and one of the first establishments dealing in musi- cal instruments to be established in Texas, grew under the guiding hand of John Goggan, and today the firm of Thomas Goggan & Bro. is known throughout Texas, and for that matter to the musi- cal trade of the country. The house became one of the largest musical establishments in Texas, with branches in various cities, and was more than a mere merchandising establishment, it was a Texas institution, and counted its patrons friends rather than customers.

John Goggan was married twice, after the death of his first wife, Sophie Marke Goggan, at Galves- ton, marrying Miss Aileen Patterson at Galveston in 1884. He had three children-Daisy, who later married Dougal McAlpin, and is now deceased, and Mary, now Mrs. Thomas Griffith Johnson of At- lanta, Georgia, daughters of his first wife, and Eveline Catherine, who married George Noble Cop- ley on the twenty-first of April, 1909, his daughter by his second wife. Mr. Goggan was a devout mem- ber of the Catholic Church, and was throughout his residence at Galveston a communicant of St. Mary's Cathedral, and later at Sacred Heart Church, at the corner of Fourteenth and Broadway.

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New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 2, Part 14

Author: Davis, Ellis A. Publication date: 1926 Publisher: Dallas, Tex. : Texas development bureau, [1926?] Number of Pages: 1262

Author: Davis, Ellis A.
Publication date: 1926
Publisher: Dallas, Tex. : Texas development bureau, [1926?]
Number of Pages: 1262