New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 2, Part 25

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

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Mr. Hook is a Mason, Blue Lodge, Temple Lodge, Thirty-second Degree Scottish Rite, and is a member of Arabia Temple Shrine. Mr. Hook has many friends in the automotive industry who regard him as an authority in his field, and who consider his success well deserved.

LEX CLARK, President of the Alex Clark Motor Company, Inc., of Houston, has re- cently come to Houston to make his home and business headquarters. The Alex Clark Motor Company was established the first of July, 1925, and is the distributor in Southeast Texas for the Hudson and Essex cars, selling both wholesale and retail. The territory served by this company includes fifty-eight counties, in which some fifty dealers have been appointed, and the business is growing rapidly with every promise for a prosper- ous future. The Alex Clark Motor Company is well located, occupying a modern building on San Jacinto Street, at the corner of Walker, and has a force of about forty-five employees. The retail busines has grown very rapidly since the company was estab- lished and as the result of Mr. Clark's selling cam- paigns the number of Hudson and Essex owners has increased materially. Officers of the company, other than Mr. Clark, the President, are C. D. Welty, Vice-President, and H. E. Wyatt, Secretary.

Alex Clark was born in London, England, Septem- ber 15th, 1887, and is the son of the late A. Clark and Mary (Punton) Clark, both of whom were na- tives of England. He attended the schools of Lon- don, and came to the United States as a young man, engaging in the publishing business in Kansas City for some years. Later he went to St. Joseph, Mis- souri, and entered the automobile business, spending several years in that city. For eight years prior to coming to Houston he sold Hudson and Essex cars. In 1925 Mr. Clark came to Houston to take control of the Hudson-Essex distributorship here and has since been actively engaged in this work.

Mr. Clark was married at Kansas City, Missouri, in 1910, to Miss Mary Mott, daughter of the late J. M. Mott, and Mary (Thomas) Mott. For several years J. M. Mott resided in Orange, Texas, where he was manager of the Lutcher-Moore Lumber Com- pany. Mr. and Mrs. Clark reside at 1651 Kipling Street, and have three children, a daughter, Lloyd, and two sons, James and Stanley. Mr. Clark is a Mason, Blue Lodge, St. Joseph, Missouri, and a mem- ber of the Kiwanis Club, the Chamber of Commerce and the First Presbyterian Church at Houston.

B ENJAMIN H. JOHNSTON since coming to Houston several years ago has found this city ripe in business advantages, and in addition to making a splendid record in the automobile business takes pride in the accomplish- ments of his city and has been identified with all movements that have insured its progress and wel- fare. Mr. Johnston owns and manages the Johns-

ton Motor Company, Ford, Fordson and Lincoln Dealers, and one of the most progressive automo- bile agencies in the city. He established the busi- ness the first of November, 1918, shortly after his arrival in the city, and has taken an influential part in the activities along automobile row, selling a record number of cars each year and establish- ing a reputation creditable along all lines. In 1922 the firm moved into the fine new building at 1119 McKinney Avenue, at San Jacinto Street, which they have since occupied. This building has many unusual features, including every precaution for safety, such as a complete sprinkler system, fire- proof construction, etc., and is one of the finest buildings dedicated to the automobile industry in the city. The building has two floors, each one hundred by one hundred feet, and is well arranged with fine offices and show rooms on the ground floor. Mr. Johnston sells in the neighborhood of a hundred cars each month, and has fifty employees. He operates a complete Ford agency, and has one of the best equipped service and parts departments in the city.

Mr. Johnston was born at Fort Scott, Kansas, in 1888, son of M. A. Johnston, a native of that state, and who moved to Dallas in 1904, a few years later removing to Houston, where he now makes his home, and is with his son in business. His mother, be- fore her marriage was Miss Minnie B. Burkholder. Mr. Johnston attended the public schools of Little Rock, Arkansas, and later of Dallas, where he fin- ished. Leaving school he went with the American Exchange National Bank of Dallas, and was with that institution for seven years. He then went with the Ford Motor Company of Dallas, as book- keeper in 1914, later being made chief clerk, and still later transferred to Fort Worth, as assistant branch manager. In 1917 he went to San Antonio as Ford dealer in that city, remaining there until 1918. In that year he was attracted by the business future Houston offered and disposed of his San Antonio interests and came to this city, buying the Universal Car Company, and reorganizing and changing the name to the present firm name, the Johnston Motor Company, which he has since oper- ated. At the time he took over the business it was located in a small building, with a force of some twenty employees, but under his progressive man- agement the business grew and prospered until it has reached its present state of expansion, and is one of the largest automobile businesses in the city.

Mr. Johnston was married at Dallas, Texas, the first of June, 1911, to Miss Helen Ramey, a native of that city and the daughter of the late T. E. Ramey. Mr. and Mrs. Johnston have one child, Ruth, and make their home at 3403 Audubon Place, where they have one of the most attractive residences in the city. Mr. Johnston is a member of several civic and social clubs, among them the Houston Club, the Houston Country Club and the River Oaks Country Club. Fraternally he is a Mason, Oak Cliff Blue Lodge No. 705, San Antonio Consistory, and a member of Arabia Temple Shrine Temple at Hous- ton. Although a resident of Houston but a few years he has impressed his influence on the industrial life of the city, and has made many friends who regard him as a conservative and energetic business man with a real future.

1217

MEN OF TEXAS

OHN W. CANADA-For more than a de- cade J. W. Canada has been prominent in the farm paper publishing field in Texas. He established Southland Farmer at Hous- ton, is the editor and manager, and also the chief owner of the Southland Farmer Publishing Company, which publishes the paper and also owns the best equipped electrotype foundry in South Texas.

From a modest beginning in 1911 Southland Far- mer has grown to be one of the strong farm papers, not only of Texas but of the entire South. Its editorial columns are quoted more widely than those of any farm paper in the whole country. Today it is read by one farm family of every five in the state, and is growing rapidly in both circulation and in- fluence in the farm life of the state.

The interest of a farm paper are, or should be as broad as are the interests of the farmers them- selves. Naturally, therefore, Mr. Canada, as editor and also as an individual, has always taken a keen interest in whatever concerns the business of the farmer. In both capacities he has rendered an es- pecially distinctive service in the field of farm fi- nance.

On organization of the Federal Land Bank of Houston, -- and his work was more important than that of any other one man in having the bank lo- cated at Houston,-he busied himself in making known to farmers of South Texas personally the principles of the bank and its plan of operation, and aided in organizing a score or more of national farm loan asociations to the end that farmers might have ready access to the resources of the bank in the way of long time credits. Also the columns of Southland Farmer carried to farmers all over the state information they needed, not to be had in any other publication, so that they might avail them- selves of the benefits of the bank. He is secretary- treasurer and general executive officer of five as- sociations, covering the counties of Harris, Brazoria and Galveston.

On enactment of the Agricultural Credits Act of 1923, establishing the Intermediate Credit Bank of Houston, for the purpose of extending a longer term of credit on livestock and farm products than com- mercial banks could give Mr. Canada busied himself to find ways and means for extending its services to the farmers and cattlemen of South Texas especially.

In co-operation with the officials of the Federal Land Bank, charged with administering the new act, and working with the attorneys of the bank, a special law was enacted, making possible the organi- zation of agricultural credit corporations, for the express purpose of handling cattle loans. In both planning and carrying out such a corporation some new principles in banking were adopted, namely, that such a bank should be not only owned in its entirety by its customers, but should be managed by them.

Accordingly the Houston Agricultural Credit Cor- poration was organized in 1923, with Mr. Canada as manager, and W. S. Woodruff as assistant man- ager, and with a directorate of some fifteen of the leading cattlemen and business men of South Texas. Initial capital stock was $10,000, but with the proviso in the law that capital stock should be increased with each loan made to the extent of ten per cent of the loan. Also compensation for management is based on a percentage of the gross earnings of the bank-

no fixed charges-so that any profits it may make on loans accrue as dividends to stockholders, and the stockholders are only those who make use of the bank.

Operations the first year saw the capital increase from $10,000 to $60,000, and loans to cattlemen of $500,000. The source of funds for loaning is the Intermediate Credit Bank of Houston, with which the credit corporation rediscounts the notes of its members, such notes being secured by mortgages on the livestock they have. Thus a constant source of credit, for such time as may be needed, and at the rate of seven per cent per annum interest, is availa- ble for the livestock industry to all within the South Texas territory in which the corporation operates. This is the only banking concern of the kind in the United States.

John W. Canada was born December 14th, 1871, at Summerfield, Guilford County, North Carolina, the son of William Canada. He was educated in public schools, preparatory schools and the Univer- sity of North Carolina, where he was given the de- gree of A. B. in 1896. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa. On graduation he established a pre- paratory school at the seat of the university and also continued his studies in the graduate school for five years.

In 1900 he went to Colorado, and for some years was engaged in independent newspaper and maga- zine work, traveling over many western and southern states, studying their agricultural conditions and familiarizing himself generally with agricultural problems. He came to Texas in 1905, publishing weekly newspapers in Southwest Texas, coming to Houston in 1907, where he has been engaged in the publishing business since. He is also vice president and treasurer of the Western Chemical Corporation of Houston, engaged in manufacturing and handling products used by cattlemen and farmers.

Mr. Canada was married in 1910 to Miss Verona Keener, at Lake Charles, Louisiana. They reside at La Porte, a suburb of Houston on Galveston Bay, some twenty-five miles from Houston, where they have a very attractive home. They have one child, ten years old, Jane Verona Canada.

RTHUR J. FITTGER, for more than a de- cade identified with commercial activities at Houston, has for the past several years been associated with the laundry industry, attain- ing a commendable reputation therein. Mr. Fittger is vice president and manager of the Ineeda Laundry and Cleaning Company, Incorporated, one of the largest laundries in the city. The Ineeda Laundry and Cleaning Company operates a complete laundry and cleaning business, giving to their patrons a a choice of several modes of handling the family wash, designed to meet the needs of the patrons, and also has a complete dry cleaning plant, equipped to handle all work, including the finest and most delicate garments. The Ineeda company has a large, modern plant at Smith and Rusk Avenues, where they occupy a two story building, each floor one hundred and fifty feet square, and employing two hundred operatives. They have every provision for handling the work in the various departments, using the most modern power equipment, and give special attention to the conditions under which their em- ployees work. The delivery service operates twenty- six cars, combining the laundry and cleaning serv-

1218

yCanada

a. a. Sterling

NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

ices, and covers the entire city. The officers of the Ineeda Laundry and Cleaning Company are: J. W. Trimble, president; Arthur J. Fittger, vice president and manager; B. G. Sydnor, secretary and treasurer, and E. B. Sydnor, assistant secretary and treasurer.

Mr. Fittger was born at Galveston, Texas, the eleventh of December, 1890, son of Clem and Flor- ence Fittger, his father a native of that city who came to Houston with his family in 1898, and who now resides in this city. Mr. Fittger was educated in the Houston public schools, supplementing his edu- cation with a business course, after which he went with the Desel-Boettcher Company, remaining with this firm for ten years in the shipping department and as salesman. He left this firm in 1917 and went with the Ineeda Laundry Company, of which he was later made vice president and general manager. During the recent war he served in the Air Service at Ellington Field.

Mr. Fittger was married at Houston, the fifth of February, 1920, to Miss Hazel Barry, who was born at Marlin and reared at Houston. They make their home at 4623 Polk Avenue. Mr. Fittger is a mem- ber of the Turnverein, an Elk, a T. P. A. and a Mason, Temple Blue Lodge, Thirty-second Degree Scottish Rite, and a member of Arabia Temple Shrine and Arabia Temple Patrol.

A. STERLING has, since coming to Hous- ton, been an active figure in the financial circles of this city. As president of the American Building and Loan Association he has had an important part in shaping the des- tinies of that business. The American Building and Loan Association, with offices at 121-2 Hum- ble Building, was organized in December, 1921, with a capital stock of two and one-half million dollars. While this is one of the younger institutions of its kind in Houston, it is growing rapidly under the personal supervision of Mr. Sterling.

The American Building and Loan Association is a model co-operative institution, composed of mem- bers who have thus associated themselves for their mutual benefit and financial advantage. The mem- berships are of two classes, designated "Savings Members" and "Borrowing Members." The sav- ing members use the Association as a place where they can deposit their savings, receiving the high- est rate of interest for same that is consistent with perfect safety. The borrowing members use the Association as a place where they can borrow funds at a normal rate of interest to buy, build, or pay upon their homes. It operates by authority of the Secretary of State of Texas, under articles of in- corporation; is chartered, supervised and controlled by the State of Texas, and is directly under the su- pervision of the State of Texas, Commissioner of Insurance.

The object of the association is to furnish a means by which savers of small amounts will be able to receive as large a return as the more wealthy in- dividual, and at the same time have the highest grade of security, which is everywhere recognized as the first mortgage on improved real estate; also to furnish money to the borrowers at a low rate of interest with easy repayments ($12.00 per month on each $1,000.00), so as to enable them to secure homes of their own, pay off mortgages or obtain money for necessary requirements.

It receives money from any source at any time in sums ranging from $1.00 to $50,000. To par- ticipate in the benefits of the Association, one must become a member.

Dividends on the money received on all shares have been allowed semi-annually at 7 per cent per annum. If the earnings are greater than 7 per cent the excess net earnings in excess of the legal reserve required by our Texas laws, will be credited to the members. Non-residents may become mem- bers and do business by mail as easily as residents of this city; remittances being made by personal checks, Post Office Money Order or Bank Draft.

Money is loaned on first mortgages on homes and property in Texas. Payments are made monthly, this reducing the net amount of the debt from the outset. The interest rate is low, 8 and four-tenths per cent, and advantages we offer are unexcelled.

The officers of the Association are: A. A. Sterl- ing, president; L. E. Norton, vice-president; L. R. Bryan, Jr., treasurer; Frank J. Breaker, secretary. The directorate is composed of the following well- known business men of Houston: A. A. Sterling, L. E. Norton, Wharton Weems, Thomas W. Hop- kins, L. R. Bryan, Jr., J. M. McGranahan, E. C. Brock, Frank J. Breaker, and A. A. Wright. Mr. C. J. Richards is membership secretary.

Mr. Sterling is the owner of Chelsea Place, con- sisting of six and one-half acres and containing twelve building sites, each one hundred feet by one hundred and seventy feet in size. This is con- sidered one of the finest exclusive residence places in the city of Houston; having very high building restrictions.

A native Texan, Mr. Sterling was born in Anahuac, Chambers County in 1881. His father, B. F. Sterl- ing, was a well-known business man of Chambers County. His mother was Miss Mary Bryan, a mem- ber of a prominent Texas family. The public and high schools of Chambers County supplied the foun- dation for Mr. Sterling's education, and a course in a Business College, provided him with his early busi- ness training. After leaving school, Mr. Sterling started on his varied business career, which began as a farmer.

He continued to farm for five years, when he en- gaged in the produce business in Galveston, and continued in this business for three years. Later he engaged in the banking business at Batson, Hardin County, where he was for a period of ten years cashier of the bank at that place. He is now a director in the Saratoga State Bank at Saratoga. He came to Houston in 1919, and, in 1921, organized the American Building and Loan Association.

Mr. Sterling was married at Batson, in 1910, to Miss Nellie Allen, a daughter of J. W. Allen, a well-known oil operator of Batson. They have two children, A. A. Sterling, Jr., seven years of age, and Nellie Frances, aged four years. Mr. and Mrs. Sterling reside at 4315 Montrose Boulevard. Mr. Sterling is a member of both York and Scottish Rite bodies of the Masonic order and a Shriner of Arabia Temple. He is also a member of the Cono- pus Club. Mr. Sterling, in the midst of his private work, finds opportunity to give his time and as- sistance to many movements of a public nature, and is interested in and takes an active part in all move- ments for the advancement and growth of Hous- ton.

1221

MEN OF TEXAS

B FRANK STERLING, Senior member of the firm of Sterling and Baker, Investments, Humble Building, is well known in the busi- ness circles of Houston, where, prior to en- gaging in his present business, he was, for several years, active in insurance circles. The firm of Sterling and Baker deal in listed securities and high-class local securities, and make a specialty of selling high-class securities on the monthly pay- ment plan. In this manner, they afford an oppor- tunity to the average investor to secure good, high- class securities, which they probably would not se- cure in any other way. Associated with Mr. Sterl- ing as a partner in the Investment business is Mr. Harry V. Baker, well known business man of Hous- ton and South Texas. This firm was organized in 1923, and has grown to large proportions since the time of its organization, as these two young men have a large acquaintance and a host of friends, and these have proven a valuable asset to them in the early days of their business venture.

A native Texan, Mr. Sterling was born at Ana- hauc, Chambers County, November 14th, 1893. His father, S. H. Sterling (decased since July, 1901) was a member of a pioneer Texas family. His mother was Miss Carrie Huffman, whose family settled in Mckinney, Collin County, at an early date and were active in their various lines in the North Texas city, and they were related to the old Lar- gent family, prominent in North Texas. Mrs. Sterl- ing died in March, 1914. Mr. Sterling's education was obtained in the public schools of Galveston. Soon after leaving school, Mr. Sterling began his business career in the Insurance business at Gal- veston with Grafton T. Austin, in 1908, and later associated with the firm of Adams and Porter, of Houston, in Marine Insurance. He entered the World War, enlisting in Company L, 359th Infantry, 90th Division, and went overseas with his division, and was in the front lines during several engage- ments with them. He was discharged in June, 1919, with the rank of Sergeant. After receiving his discharge from the Army, Mr. Sterling returned to Houston, and entered the employ of the Humble Oil and Refining Company, and remained with this company for four years, or until he organized his present business in 1923. Mr. Sterling is a nephew of Mr. R. S. Sterling, Mr. F. P. Sterling, Mr. A. A. Sterling and Miss Florence Sterling, all well-known business executives of Houston. He is also a nephew of Mr. John Sterling, of Galveston, and a grandson of B. F. Sterling.

Mr. Sterling is a member of the Glenbrook Coun- try Club and the Conopus Luncheon Club. He is a consistent member of the South End Christian Church. Mr. Sterling is much interested in get- ting the business of stock selling on a high plane and is an ardent worker in the movement to protect the public from fake promotion schemes.

ARD FORD, one of the younger members of the business fraternity of Houston, with his associate, Mr. Dudley C. Jarvis, own and operate the Ford-Jarvis Lumber Company and has been successful in building up a large and profitable business. The Ford-Jarvis Lumber Com- pany have a large planing mill at the corner of Ly- ons Avenue and H. B. and T. Railroad and are both wholesalers and manufacturers. They ship in the

lumber from points on the Pacific Coast, which they rework and ship out again in the finished product. Mr. Ford was reared in an atmosphere of the lumber business, as his father, Mr. A. C. Ford, is a pioneer in this field in Texas, and is classed among the lead- ing lumber men in this portion of the country. His associate, Mr. Dudley C. Jarvis, is a graduate of the Rice Institute, having finished in this institution in the class of 1922, and during his spare time while attending college worked in the planing mill. He was a resident of Terrell, Texas, but has lived in Houston for the past few years where he is popular in the business and social circles of the city and active in all Houston's civic matters.

Although a young man, Mr. Ford has had an ex- perience in all the branches of the lumber business, and in entering this great industry, Mr. Ford could have chosen the easier way, but he preferred to be the architect of his own future, and wished first to master the details of the business, and this he did before becoming active in the lumber industry.

A native Texan, Mr. Ford was born at Fort Worth May 30th, 1898. His father, A. C. Ford, has been prominently identified with the lumber industry of the State for more than thirty years, and is one of Houston's leading lumbermen, where the family has resided for the past twelve years. His mother was Miss Mary Ward, a native of Jefferson, Texas, and a daughter of S. M. Ward, a well known banker and capitalist of Jefferson. His education was obtained in the University of Texas and Bingham College of North Carolina. After finishing college, Mr. Ford entered actively into the lumber business and has met with success. During the World War, he was a member of the Marine Aviation Service and was sta- tioned in Florida, during the greater part of the period.

Mr. Ford resides with his parents at the Beacons- field Apartments, and is a member of the Country Club, the University Club and the Kappa Alpha fraternity. He is popular in the business and social circles of Houston, where he is regarded as one of the leaders among the younger business men, and his friends predict a brilliant future for this young lumberman who is yet in the morning of life.

D. R. COFFEY, District Manager of the Woodmen of the World Life Insurance As- sociation at Houston, has been a resident of this city for more than a quarter of a century, and during the greater part of this time has been associated with fraternal work. Mr. Cof- fey became connected with the Woodmen of the World in 1907, and has been District Manager of the Houston district since 1915, working indefa- tigably during that time to build up the organi- zation in this section, and writing much insurance. Gen. R. H. McDill, of Dallas, is State Manager, and R. E. Miller, of San Antonio, Assistant State Manager, the state being divided into districts, each district in charge of a district manager, under whose direction all fraternal work in that district is carried on. Mr. Coffey has his offices in the First National Bank Building, and in addition to his work as District Manager of the Life Insurance Division of the Woodmen of the World, he is Clerk of Magnolia Camp, No. 13, Woodmen of the World.

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New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 2, Part 25

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