New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 2, Part 3

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 3

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).

children, Waldo, Mary Randolph, Fay Randolph, and J. Cooke, Jr. They attend the Episcopal Church. Mr. Wilson is a Mason, York Rite, and a member of El Mina Temple Shrine at Galveston. He is also an Elk, and a member of the Rotary Club, the Beau- mont Club, the Neches Club, and the Beaumont Country Club. Despite the exacting demands of his many business interests, Mr. Wilson has always found time to work for the development and ad- vancement of Beaumont, and is one of the most pub- lic spirited citizens of this city. His business pros- perity has been reflected in the prosperity of Beau- mont, and much that has been done in a business way has been of material advantage to the city.

V. SMELKER for more than a quarter of a century has been a factor in the commer- cial world at Beaumont, and is widely known as an insurance and real estate man who, through his progressive activities in this field, has contributed to the development of his commun- ity. Mr. Smelker is a member of the firm of T. V. Smelker and Company, one of the oldest real estate and insurance firms in Beaumont. The business was established in 1895, Mr. Smelker coming into the firm five years later, since which time he has been active in the management of the business, building up a large clientele. A general insurance business is handled, the company representing some of the large and well known insurance companies of the country, and writing a large volume of insurance of all classes, including life, annually. The firm of T. V. Smelker and Company also handled some of the most important real estate transactions in this city, and act as general real estate brokers, selling both city and country property. Officers are main- tained in the Gilbert Building, and other members of the firm are C. M. Smelker and K. C. Withers. An efficient corps of salesmen are also with the company.

T. V. Smelker was born at Altoona, Pennsylvania, the fourteenth of March, 1872, the son of Charles B. and Mrs. Charles B. Smelker. At the age of five years he was brought to Texas by his parents and spent his youth in this state and in Kansas, attend- ing the schools of these states. After leaving school he was variously employed for some years, later becoming a telegraph operator, and still later going in the printing business in North Texas, spending five years in that business. He then came to Hous- ton, where he was cashier for the Houston Street Railway for a time, after which he came to Beau- mont, in 1898. He was in a local railroad office until 1899, when he became a member of the firm of T. V. Smelker and Company, with which he is now associated.

Mr. Smelker was married at Beaumont, in 1903, to Miss Grace Young, a native of Pennsylvania, and they have since made this city their home. They have three children, Charles, Thomas and Herbert. Mr. Smelker is a member of the Rotary Club, the Neches Club, the Beaumont Club and the Beaumont Country Club. He is a Mason, York Rite, and a member of El Mina Temple Shrine at Galveston. He has taken a deep interest in civic affairs for many years and served as alderman for a period of six years, around a decade ago. He has done much for the advancement of this city, and has many friends here, who hold him in high esteem for his business and civic activities.

1046

NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

RESTON P. BUTLER for a number of years past has been a factor in commercial circles at Beaumont, and as one of the leading representatives of the import and export trade, has done his part toward making this city one of the leading inland ports of the country. Mr. Butler is secretary and treasurer of the Beaumont Export and Import Company, a large exporting and im- porting company established in 1919 and the lar- gest business of its kind in Texas, and one of the lar- gest in the United States. The company exports and imports commodities of all kinds, and in addition to the office at Beaumont, in the Perlstein Building, has offices in Tampico, Mexico, Torreon, Saltillo, and Mexico City, Mexico, Monterey, Mexico, and Vera Cruz, Mexico. The capital stock of the Beau- mont Export and Import Company is three hundred thousand dollars, fully paid in, and the officers are all men of sound integrity in the business world and are William Saenger, president; H. A. Perlstein, first vice president; Arthur Dooley, second vice president, and Preston P. Butler, the subject of this sketch, secretary and treasurer. Since the estab- lishment of the company, a large business has been built along progressive lines, and the firm acts as representative for many of the leading manufac- turing companies of the United States, building up new markets for their products, particularly in Mexico, and also promoting a larger importation of Mexican products into this country. Chief among the exports are tanks, pipe, oil well supplies, trac- tors, trucks, construction supplies and machinery of various kinds. Mr. Butler, as an executive, has taken an active part in the development of this trade, and his progressive business policy is re- flected in the happy trade relations he has estab- lished with Mexican markets.

Preston P. Butler was born at Tyler, in Smith County, Texas, on the eighteenth of August, 1891. His father, William O. Butler, a very prominent man of that section, is a farmer and planter in Smith County, and also owns much land in that part of the state. His mother's maiden name was Miss Mattie Gray. Mr. Butler was educated in the Tyler public schools, graduating from the high school there, after which he entered upon his business career. He spent a decade with the Lutcher and Moore Lumber Company at Orange, and while with this company, one of the largest lumber corpora- tions in the South, made rapid advancement in the business world. He began with the company at a small salary, in one of the lumber camps, and with a view to advancing in this industry, applied him- self to learning the rudiments of the lumber busi- ness, particularly with reference to logging and transportation. During the years that followed, he worked in every department, advancing steadily and acquiring a very thorough and accurate knowledge of the lumber business from a manufacturing stand- point. The last four years he was with the Lutcher and Moore Lumber Company he held the position of purchasing agent, a position requiring an exact knowledge of the entire field of lumber manufac- turing and presenting peculiar problems. When he tendered his resignation to come with the Beau- mont Export and Import Company as an executive, he was made a very flattering offer to become gen- eral manager of the logging and transportation de- partment, and it was with great reluctance that

the company accepted his resignation.

Mr. Butler was married at Orange, in 1913, to Miss Nea Portwood, daughter of the late J. N. Portwood, formerly a druggist of that city. Mr. and Mrs. But- ler reside at 985 Fifth Street in Beaumont, and are members of the Methodist Church. Mr. But- ler is a member of the Rotary Club, of which he is one of the directors; of the Round Table Club, of which he is past president, and of the Beaumont Country Club, the Beaumont Club, of which he is a director, and the Neches Club, of which he is a direc- tor. He is also a director of the South Texas State Fair. Fraternally he is an Odd Fellow and a Mason, York and Scottish Rites. His position in the export- ing world, one of special distinction for a man of his years, is significant of what the future offers him in that field.

EE J. BLACK, for upwards of three decades has been a prime factor in the industrial development of Beaumont, and has one of the finest and most completely equipped foundries in this part of the state. Mr. Black is president and manager of the Beaumont Iron Works Company, which he organized in 1910. This large industrial concern occupies a site covering two city blocks, well located in the industrial section, and whereon are located six large buildings, of reinforced concrete construction, and representing a total of three quarters of a million investment. The com- pany makes oil well equipment, rotary drilling ma- chinery, refinery and pipe line equipment and sup- plies, and also handles special jobbing work, carry- ing an extra large stock. The foundry makes iron, steel and brass, and is the largest in Texas. The officers of the Beaumont Iron Works are, Lee J. Black, the subject of this sketch, president; J. E. Swindler, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, vice president, and Charles B. Sheeks, secretary and treasurer.

Mr. Black was born at Jefferson, Texas, the twenty-fourth of June, 1870, the son of Oliver H. Black, a mechanic, and construction engineer, and Mary Hunt Black. He was educated at Austin College, Sherman, later going to Tennessee School of Technology, where he took up special work. He then began his business career with the construc- tion engineer of the Texas and Pacific Railroad, spending several years in the engineering depart- ment of that and other railroads. For twelve years he was superintendent for H. Hanson, Construction Company, railroad, bridge and dock builders. In September, 1902, he came to Beaumont, as superin- tendent of the Higgins Oil and Fuel Company, remaining with that company until the first of Jan- uary, 1911, when he resigned to devote his entire time to the iron works which he had organized.

Mr. Black was married at Beaumont, in January, 1901, to Miss Maude Bevil, daughter of John R. Bevil, lumberman, cattle raiser and land owner, who now resides at Kountze, and Martha Hart Bevil. Mr. and Mrs. Black live at 2315 Park Avenue. He is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Beaumont Club, the Rotary Club, and fraternally is a Mason, York and Scottish Rites, and a member of El Mina Temple Shrine at Gal- veston. Mr. Black, building his business along con- structive progressive policies, has been very suc- cessful in the industrial world, and is known throughout the Lone Star State for his activities in this field.

1049

MEN OF TEXAS

B. FLYNN has spent his entire business career in the oil business, entering this line soon after leaving high school. For more than two decades he has been located at Beaumont, coming here in 1902, soon after the bringing in of the famous discovery well at Spindle- top, which was the beginning of the oil industry in Texas.

Mr. Flynn is president and general manager of the McNamara Oil Company, that has production in Sour Lake and Hull. The McNamara Oil Company was organized in 1914, Mr. Flynn having an in- terest in the company at that time, but it was not until four or five years ago that he took an active part in its management. The company has its general offices at 1108 San Jacinto Building, Beau- mont. J. D. Proctor is secretary and treasurer.

For many years Mr. Flynn served as vice presi- dent and general manager of the Paraffine Oil Com- pany. Following its organization this company drilled the discovery well at Batson, opening up a new and prolific field. It has been engaged in drill- ing and producing oil in the coastal fields since its organization. The company has always been a closed corporation and has never disposed of any of its shares of stock to the public.

In 1907 the interests owning the Paraffine Oil Company organized the Reliance Oil Company and it has been operated under the same management as the Paraffine. The same people owned and operated the DeSoto Gasoline Company and the McNamara Oil Company. For fifteen years, and until 1924 each of these concerns was under the direct management of Mr. Flynn, who is one of the best known and most widely experienced oil men in the State. In 1924 he took over the McNamara Oil Company and is operating independently in Oklahoma, Louisiana, North Texas and Gulf Coast.

A native of Pennsylvania, Mr. Flynn was born in Duke Center on March 21, 1881, a son of J. W. Flynn, one of the pioneer oil operators of that State, who died in 1911. His mother was Miss Ellen (Lol- ler) Flynn. His father was actively engaged in drilling and producing in Pennsylvania for many years.

After attending the public and high schools at Bradford, Mr. Flynn followed in his father's foot- steps, and worked in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Indiana before coming to Beau- mont in 1902. From his work in the field he ob- tained a practical knowledge of the oil business that has been invaluable to him. He is one of the few men to engage in the oil business in Texas in the early days of the industry, who has remained con- tinuously until this time. He has been closely asso- ciated with some of the biggest men in the oil in- dustry in the Southwest and has contributed no small part in the development of the vast oil re- sources of this State.

In 1907 Mr. Flynn was married at Beaumont to Miss Florence Maher, daughter of J. W. Maher, an old time operator from Pennsylvania. They have one son, W. B., Jr., and reside at 2108 Harrison Avenue.

Mr. Flynn takes an active interest in civic and social affairs and is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Beaumont Country, City and Neches clubs. A man of pleasing person- ality and keen business judgment, he is one of the most popular oil men of the State as well as one

of the most widely known. Among his former as- sociates were the men who organized and developed the Humble Oil and Refining Company, the person- nel of this concern in the early days being made up largely of men formerly connected with the Paraf- fine Oil Company and the Reliance Oil Company and properties formerly owned by them forming the nucleus of the company which since has become one of the largest in the country.

WALKER SAYLE, one of the three prison commissioners in charge of penal institu- tions in Texas, has made his headquarters at Huntsville since receiving his appoint- ment to this office the fifteenth of September, 1921. Mr. Sayle, associated with the other two commis- sioners, has under their administration and super- vision the penitentiary at Huntsville and the various farms comprising the prison system of the state, and the four thousand prisoners in these various institutions. Some four hundred prisoners are kept in the penitentiary at Huntsville, the others being at the various farms. The Texas prison system owns about eighty thousand acres of lands at various points in the state, some of the finest crops in Texas being raised on these farms, 46,000 acres in cultivation. A total of three hundred and fifty guards are employed by the system, and these are also under the supervision of Mr. Sayle, and the two commissioners serving with him. Mr. Sayle has been especially interested in improving prison conditions, and has done much work in this line. The penitentiary at Huntsville is clean, taking care of all prisoners in an adequate manner. A chapel with a seating capacity of five hundred, and a library with some five thousand volumes is at the peni- tentiary, and under Mr. Sayle's direction various other facilities have been added.

H. Walker Sayle was born in Yalobusha County, Mississippi, the eighteenth of May, 1877, the son of G. A. and Kate Walker Sayle, the former of Mis- sissippi, the latter of Alabama. The family moved to Texas when H. Walker Sayle was a child of one year of age, and the father engaged in farming and cattle raising in Stephens County until his death. Mrs. Sayle is also deceased. H. Walker Sayle attended the schools of Stephens County and as a young man went to the Panhandle, where he spent some three years on the P. B. and W. H. Fugua ranch. He then operated the Lee Bivins ranch in the Panhandle for three years, after which he re- turned to Stephens County. In 1912 he was elected sheriff of Stephens County, serving until 1916; also dealing in real estate in Breckenridge some two years, then as the county became famous as an oil field, Mr. Sayle became the first mayor, serving in this capacity until he was appointed prison com- missioner the fifteenth of September, 1921, removing from Breckenridge to Huntsville at that time.

Mr. Sayle was married in Stephens County, the seventh of May, 1895, to Miss Lillian Liles, daughter of L. D. Liles, a prominent cattleman of Stephens County. Mr. and Mrs. Sayle make their home in the state home across from the penitentiary at Huntsville, and have one child, Miss Kate Sayle. Mr. Sayle's work in behalf of the betterment of prison conditions has attracted the attention of those interested in prison reform and has brought him favorable comment.

1050

W. B. Flyr

NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

H. BORCHERS has for many years past been associated with the technical manage- ment of the telephone and telegraph system belonging to The Texas Company, making his headquarters at Houston, and is one of the best known utility executives in Texas. Mr. Borchers is superintendent of the telephone and telegraph system of the Texas Pipe Line Company, which is one of the largest departments of the Texas organ- ization, and owns a net work of lines, all over Texas and in Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas. There are more than a hundred employees in this branch of the Texas Pipe Line Company, and affording as it does instant communication with all points, at all times, the department is very important. Mr. Borchers is a telephone man with a sound technical knowledge, and with experience of three decades spent in this line. Under his direction the system has been strengthened, and all lines are efficiently kept up, and the entire department handled in a most capable manner. He began with The Texas Company in the Sour Lake field, in 1903, as a line- man, and was later made foreman over the tele- phone and telegraph installation system. In 1917 he was made superintendent of the telephone and telegraph system of the Texas Pipe Line Company, and established headquarters in Houston, where he has since resided, directing the management of the hundreds of miles of lines from this city. Mr. Bor- chers has working under him a large force, all of whom are competent men, and trained in their especial work. He directs all installations, mainte- nance and operation of the lines.

Mr. Borchers was born at Nebraska City, Ne- braska, the twenty-fourth of May, 1872. His father, Edward Borchers, a native of Germany, came to the United States at the age of eigliteen, going to Illinois. During the Civil War he joined the Federal Army, and was in a Missouri division throughout the war. At the close of that conflict he went to Nebraska and was a farmer near Nebraska City for many years. After his retirement he moved to Nebraska City, where his death occurred, at the ripe old age of eighty-seven years, the twenty-sixth of October, 1923. Mr. Borchers' mother was before her marriage Miss Fredericke Fredericks. Her death occurred in 1874. As a boy Mr. Borchers attended the country schools of Nebraska, remaining on the farm with his father until he was eighteen years of age. At that time he went with a water well drill- ing manufacturing plant, the first builders of rotary tools to drill wells. His position was showing the purchasers how to put up and operate these tools, and brought him in touch with many of the early oil operators. In 1892, after many years with the rotary tool company, Mr. Borchers came to Gal- veston, Texas, and was a marine engineer in that city for one year. In 1893 he went with the South- western Bell Telephone Company, as lineman-helper, and later as lineman, and while in that position helped put up many of the first telephone lines in this section. He remained with the Southwestern Bell Telephone Company until 1903, when he went with The Texas Company, as lineman, and has since remained with that company, working throughout the different departments of the telephone and tel- egraph system.

Mr. Borchers was married at Houston, the second of June, 1900, to Miss Mabel A. Hill, a native of

Nebraska, who came to Houston with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. S. A. Hill, as a child. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hill now make their home with Mrs. Borchers, at 903 Merrill Avenue. Mr. Borchers is a member of the Houston Lodge, I. O. O. F. He is known to telephone and telegraph men throughout the Lone Star State as one of the most efficient and highly trained men in this field, and is familiar with the entire field of telephone management and operation. Mr. Borchers is justly proud of the well functioning telephone and telegraph system of The Texas Com- pany, a system which owes much of its success to his careful management. He is interested in Hous- ton, both from a civic and commercial standpoint, and has many friends in this city who have watched his progress with interest.

ALTER L. SLOAN, Chief Oil Dispatcher of the Gulf Companies, is well known all over the oil country and has the reputation of handling more oil than any other man in his line of business. Mr. Sloan became associated with the Gulf Company in September, 1903, at Sour Lake and came to Houston in 1916, when the Gulf Com- panies moved their headquarters to this city. He came to Houston in 1903 with the Postal Telegraph Company, and was later transferred to Beaumont, Texas, and soon after going to Beaumont, came with the Gulf Company and has remained with this company since that time. He went to Sour Lake soon after entering the employ of the Gulf Com- pany and then to Batson, and was the second tele- graph operator this company employed. In 1907 he was made Chief Oil Dispatcher, which position he has since held. Practically all storage tanks and pipe lines have been built since he has been with the company and he knows the history of it all.

Mr. Sloan was born at McLeansboro, Illinois, on February 21, 1879. His father, C. O. Sloan, was for many years a locomotive engineer, but is now with the Gulf Company. His mother was Miss Sarah Buck, a member of a well known Illinois family. His education was obtained in the public and high schools of McLeansboro, Illinois. Soon after leaving school, Mr. Sloan began his business career as a telegraph operator with the Illinois Central Rail- road in Kentucky and Illinois and later was telegraph operator for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. He then went with the Western Union and Postal Telegraph Companies, where he continued until he came with the Gulf Companies in 1903.

Mr. Sloan was married in Beaumont, Texas, in 1905 to Miss Jodie M. Gibson, a native of Living- ston, Texas, and a member of a pioneer family of that portion of the State. Mr. and Mrs. Sloan re- side at 612 Hathaway Avenue. Mr. Sloan is a mem- ber of the Houston Chamber of Commerce, the B. P. O. E., and the Smithers Lake Hunting Club. He has one hobby, "Bird Dogs," and has several cham- pion English Setters, and some of the best dogs to be found anywhere, and spends his leisure time in hunting and fishing in the Texas Coast country. Mr. Sloan is regarded as one of the best posted men in the employ of the Gulf Companies in regard to the fields, and locations of the company's tanks, and pipe lines. He directs the movements of all oil into storage tanks from the fields to the Gulf Com- pany's various refineries, and this requires a com- plete knowledge of all the tanks and pipe lines of the company.

1053

MEN OF TEXAS

D STEDMAN, one of a group of business men who have taken a prominent part in the development of Beaumont, is the lead- ing representative of the wholesale fruit and vegetable business in this city, and his name is well known throughout Southeast Texas and western Louisiana. Mr. Stedman is president of the Sted- man Fruit Company, an enterprise representing an investment of more than a quarter of a million dol- lars, and equipped with modern cold storage machin- ery, and handle efficiently the wholesale fruit and vegetable business of Southeastern Texas and South- western Louisiana. This modern plant, one of the largest in the country, is located at Bowie and Park Streets, and is complete in every detail. Rooms maintaining a temperature of forty degrees above zero are used to house fruits and vegetables de- manding a low temperature, two motors forcing the freezing compounds through the six miles of pip- ing included in the cold storage plant. All vegetables are handled in the most efficient manner, those needing washing going direct to the washing rooms, where they are cleaned and sent to the department where they are to be stored. Much of the second floor is used for the storage of grocery specialties, crates and other things necessary to the operation of the firm. Six chutes operate to the lower floor, and a P. B. X. board, with twenty-two telephones, insure constant communication from the ex- ecutive offices to any part of the plant. Al- though the company handles a wide range of fruits and vegetables, they handle large quantities of ban- anas and they have facilities for storing twenty-two hundred bunches of this tropical fruit. The method of handling is very efficient, the bunches being pro- pelled to and from the cold storage rooms by an overhead system which permits the weighing and tagging of the fruit. Until 1918 the Stedman Fruit Company was owned by Mr. Stedman and his broth- er, Jerry Stedman, but in that year the company was incorporated, with a stock of $236,000.00, with Ed Stedman as president, and Jerry Stedman, secretary and treasurer, and H. P. Wolfe, vice president and sales manager. The trade territory reaches as far as Fisher, Louisiana, on the Kansas City Southern; Dayton, Texas, on the west, Lake Charles, Louis- iana, on the east, and includes the principal cities of Southeast Texas.

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 2, Part 3

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