New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 2, Part 98

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

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A man of pleasing personality, Mr. Anderson is known and liked by an ever-increasing circle of friends. His courteous manner and agreeable dis- position has done much toward the establishment of his company in its present commanding position in trade circles of Beaumont.

EWELL E. WIEDEMANN, one of the recent recruits to the professional world at Beau- mont, and whose work as an architect has won the recognition of his confreres, has in the several years of his residence at Beaumont, taken an active part in the development and beau- tification of the city. Mr. Wiedemann is a member of the firm of Livesay and Wiedemann, which was established in 1921, and which has since its organ- ization handled an unusually large volume of busi- ness. The firm occupies a well appointed suite of offices in the San Jacinto Life Insurance Build- ing, and has a very efficient office force. Mr. Wiede- mann has had exceptional professional training, and his work shows an individualiy, and at the same time a conformity to recognized architectural standards that distinguishes it. They have been architects for a large number of beautiful homes, churches, schools and business buildings. They are giving special attention to fine residence work, although by no means limiting their work to this class. Newell E. Wiedemann was born at Harrisburg, Illinois, the six- teenth of March, 1895, the son of Charles W. Wiede- mann, a banker of that city, and one of the old resi- dents, and Lucy Wiedemann, also of that place. Mr. Wiedemann received his elementary education in the public schools of Harrisburg, and after grad- uating from the high school, entered the University of Illinois, attending that institution for five years. He then took a two year architectural course at the University of Kansas, and received the degree of B. S. in architecture from the University of Illi- nois. He was also assistant professor in the Univer- sity of Kansas. After leaving the university, Mr. Wiedemann spent a season in Bordeaux, France, doing special work in architecture. The fifth of De- cember, 1917, he volunteered in the Artillery Band, and was assistant leader at Camp Pike, Arkansas, for the ensuing eight months. He was then sent overseas, spending six months in France and Eng- land. Returning to America, he was discharged in March, 1919, several months later coming to Beau- mont, where he established his present business.

Mr. Wiedemann was married in Arkansas, in 1921, to Miss Virginia Winstead, daughter of the Rev. W. S. Winstead, of Fulton, Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Wiedemann reside at Cartwright Terrace. Mr. Wiedemann is a member of the Neches Club, the Kiwanis Club, and is a member of the American In- stitute of Architects. Fraternally he is a Mason, Scottish and York Rites, and a member of Abdella Temple Shrine of Leavenworth, Kansas. Mr. Wiedemann has taken a deep interest in the civic advancement of Beaumont, and has made many friends in this city who regard him as one of the outstanding men in the field of architecture here.

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ILLIAM M. REID has for a number of years been active in the industrial devel- opment of Orange, where he is a factor in the manufacturing and milling business, and where he takes a prominent part in all civic affairs. Mr. Reid is secretary, treasurer and gen- eral manager of the Orange Rice Milling Com- pany, one of the largest rice mills in the Lone Star State and one of the most important business enter- prises of Orange, contributing materially to the general prosperity of this city. The plant occupies an industrial site on the channel, with six hundred and twenty-five feet railroad trackage, and with five hundred feet of ship channel frontage. The mill is completely equipped with the highest type of machinery, and has a capacity of one hundred barrels of rice per hour, with a storage capacity of one hundred thousand barrels of rice. The mill also manufactures various rice products and by- products and furnishes employment to around sixty operatives. All rice milled by the Orange Rice Mill- ing Company is grown in East Texas and South- west Louisiana, and is shipped all over the world, the export percentage running around eighty per cent of the entire mill output. The officers of the Orange Rice Milling Company are: W. H. Stark, president; E. W. Brown, vice president; Joe Miller, vice president, and William M. Reid, secretary and treasurer.

William M. Reid was born at Starkville, Missis- sippi, the eighteenth of August, 1891. His father, E. L. Reid, a native of Missouri, came to Galveston as a young man, later going to Mississippi, and still later coming to Orange where he was engaged in the rice business for many years prior to his death. His son, William M. Reid, the subject of this sketch, attended the schools of Orange. From the high school here he entered preparatory school in Virginia. After two years in Virginia he attended Southwestern University of Tennessee, later re- turning to Orange. He went with the Orange Rice Milling Company, as shipping clerk, in 1909, and in 1914 was made secretary and assistant manager, and in 1917 made secretary, treasurer and general manager. With the exception of three months with the First National Bank just after high school, Mr. Reid has been associated with the Orange Rice Mill- ing Company throughout his business career.

Mr. Reid was married at Orange, Texas, the twenty-ninth of January, 1912, to Miss Sadie Pearce, daughter of Dr. Alanson G. Pearce, one of the most prominent physicians of Orange. Mr. and Mrs. Reid have two children, Mary Eloise and Eliza- beth. They reside at 1002 Pine Street. Mr. Reid is a Mason, Blue Lodge, Orange, thirty-second de- gree Scottish Rite, and a member of El Mina Tem- ple Shrine at Galveston. Mr. Reid is vice presi- dent of the Rice Millers Association. He belongs to the Country Club and the Golf Club, and is a member of the Rotary Club, and one of the directors of the Orange Chamber of Commerce, and a mem- ber of the Orange Wharf and Dock Commission, working with these organizations for the develop- ment of the city.

RNEST L. BRUCE, attorney at law, and member of the well known law firm of Adams and Bruce of Orange, Texas, has during more than a score of years practiced his profession before the Texas bar, and is a recog-

nized leader of the legal fraternity. The firm of Adams and Bruce, with offices in the Petty Build- ing, are engaged in a general law practice, which is large and they number among their clientele many of the largest business concerns, oil companies and leading citizens of this portion of the state. Judge Bruce was admitted to the bar in 1898 and began the practice of his profession at Mineola, Texas, with Judge Horace M. Cate under the firm name of Cate and Bruce. Later Mr. Henry C. Geddie (now of Kerrville, Texas), joined the firm and the name was changed to Cate, Geddie and Bruce, and became one of the leading law firms of Southeast Texas. He continued with this firm until the big Lucas oil well came in in Jefferson County, and he fore- saw the great future for a young lawyer in locating at the city of Orange, which at that time was be- ginning to reap the harvest of the oil boom. Since locating here he has not only been very successful as an attorney, but has been active in the develop- ment of the oil industry of this portion of the state. When Judge Bruce began his practice of law in this city he was first associated with R. L. Robertson, and later became a partner of J. B. Bis- land. After the death of J. B. Bisland and upon the retirement of Judge J. T. Adams as district judge, the firm of Adams and Bruce was organized, and this firm is the leader in the legal circles of Orange County. Mr. Bruce has been the recipient of many positions of honor and trust at the hands of his fellow men, and was county attorney of Orange County for two terms. He was a member of the state legislature for two terms, being a mem- ber of the thirty-third and thirty-fourth terms of this body, where he fathered many important meas- ures for the good of his state. He was special dis- trict judge for one term, and was chairman of the exemption board of Orange during the World War. Judge Bruce has also identified himself with the business institutions of the city and is a director of the Guarantee Bond Bank and Trust Company, and has served in this capacity since the organiza- tion of this bank and is one of the organizers of this institution. With J. N. Parker, he was the first in this part of the state to lease for oil and drill in the river channel of Cow Bayou, which ar- rangement gives the state one-eighth of all royalties in oil, the same as an individual owning the land in fee.

A native Texan, Judge Bruce was born in Wood County, on September 23rd, 1876. His father, S. R. Bruce, a native of Vermont, came to Texas in the late '40s and settled first in Gonzales County, where he became a well known educator. He joined the Terry Rangers and served throughout the Civil War. After the end of the war he returned to Texas and removed to Wood County, where for many years he was one of the leading merchants of East Texas, and died in 1900. His mother was Miss Katherine Reeves, a native of Georgia, and is now a resident of Mineola, Texas. His early education was obtained in the public and high schools of Mineola, where he graduated from the latter, and entered the A. and M. College of Texas and graduated therefrom in 1894, and at that time was not sixteen years old. He thereafter attended the University of Texas. He was admitted to the bar in 1898, when he immedi- ately began the practice of his profession.

Judge Bruce was married at Mineola, Texas, on

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December 29th, 1903, to Miss Evelyn Graham, a native Texan and a daughter of L. R. Graham, well known in the business circles of Mineola. They have three children, Katherine, now attending col- lege in Sweet Briar, Virginia; Eleanor, a student of the Orange high school, and Graham Bruce. Mr. and Mrs. Bruce reside at 503 Eighth Street. He is a member of the A. F. and A. M. with membership in Mineola Blue Lodge, No. 502, and is a member of the Beaumont Commandery, and a Shriner of El Mina Temple of Galveston. He is also a member of the Rotary Club. Judge Bruce is active in all mat- ters having to do with the civic improvement of his city, and is president of the school board in which he takes a keen interest, and is president of the Orange County Boy Scout Council. He is an ardent worker for the progress and advancement of his city and state, and is regarded as one of Texas' most able attorneys and loyal citizens.

OL M. WHITE, for about two decades a fac- tor in the business world at Orange, where he has interests of wide scope, influencing commercial prosperity to a marked degree, has been active in the work for the upbuilding of the municipality. In November, 1923, Mr. White was appointed to fill out an unexpired term as mayor of Orange, and has brought to bear, in directing the municipal affairs of Orange, the characteristic en- ergy that has significantly marked his career as a business man, and his administration has been marked by advancement in public improvements. Orange is regarded, and rightly, as one of the most beautiful of the smaller towns of Texas, and is the richest town of any in the state three times its size. It is a city of fine homes, fine streets, fine churches and buildings, and under Mr. White's ad- ministration as mayor has given special considera- tion to those elements which make for civic beauty. New streets have been paved, utilities have been brought to a high state of service, and the func- tioning of the city government has been developed along highly efficient lines. There are now some twenty-five city employees, each working as a part of a clearly outlined department, and with a definite work.

Sol M. White was born at Gatesville, Texas, the twenty-eighth of July, 1877. His father, William White, a native of California, moved to Gatesville in 1875, residing there until 1882, when he went to McGregor, Texas, where he remained until 1910, when he moved to Orange, where he now makes his home, and directs the management of his farming interests. William White was married to Miss Ada Pollard, a native of Arkansas. Sol M. White was educated in the schools of McLennan County, and McGregor, Texas, and after leaving school went with a threshing machine company as demonstrator and repair man. This work took him all over Texas, and brought him to Orange County, where he saw an unusually promising future. The result was that he came here in 1902, at which time he began as a rice farmer in the northern part of the county, remaining there until 1908. In that year he removed to Orange, entering the hardware and implement business, and establishing the business now known as the White Hardware Company, of which he is president. Mr. White is also a director of the Orange National Bank, and is president of the Orange Car and Steel Company. He owns several

large farms in Orange County, and has recently taken over the Adams Bayou Canal Company, a concern which had been idle for several years, and has developed this interest until it is one of the largest rice farms and canal systems in Texas, with thousands of acres of rice under cultivation.

Mr. White was married at Maryville, Missouri, the eighteenth of November, 1915, to Miss Inez Bainum, a native of Missouri. They have one child, Sol M. White, Jr., and live at 610 Eighth Street. Mr. White is a Mason, Blue Lodge, Orange, Scottish Rite at Galveston, Commandery at Beaumont, and El Mina Temple Shrine at Galveston. Mr. White is also an Odd Fellow and a Woodman of the World. He is a member of the Rotary Club, and is a busi- ness man who has taken a prominent and important part in the development of his city.

DWARD E. McFARLAND, whose name for more than a quarter of a century has been of significance in the business and financial affairs of Orange, is one of a group of bankers who have taken a leading part in commer- cial circles. Mr. McFarland is cashier and director of the First National Bank of Orange, one of the large financial institutions of the city, and one that has contributed a constructive banking service for more than a quarter of a century. Mr. McFarland came with the bank in 1897, and in 1909 was made assistant cashier, after having worked in every de- partment in the bank. He became a director in 1912, and in January, 1919, was made cashier, which of- fice he now holds, and which is one of the most important executive positions in the bank. The First National Bank of Orange is capitalized for one hundred thousand dollars, with a surplus of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and undi- vided profits of more than seventy-five thousand dollars. The total resources are more than five and one-half million dollars, and the bank has on its directorate some of the leading business men and capitalists of Orange, with W. H. Stark, presi- dent; J. O. Sims, active vice president; H. J. L. Stark and F. H. Farwell, vice presidents; Edward E. McFarland, cashier, and L. Well, W. A. Sims and A. M. Wilson, assistant cashiers and officers.

Edward E. McFarland was born in Newton Coun- ty, Texas, the thirteenth of September, 1878. His father, R. E. McFarland, also a native of Newton County, later removed to Orange County, where he engaged in real estate until his retirement. His mother, who was before her marriage Miss Missouri Elizabeth Windham, is a native of Alabama. Ed- ward E. McFarland was educated in the schools of Orange, and after graduating from high school be- gan with the Leader Printing Shop, remaining there one year. The following year he spent in the post- office, and at the expiration of that time went with the First National Bank of Orange, with which he has since been actively connected.

Mr. McFarland was married at Calvert, Texas, the twenty-sixth of June, 1907, to Miss May Mc- Crary, a native of that city. They make their home in Orange at 710 Orange Street. Mr. McFarland is a member of the Orange Country Club and the Rotary Club, and fraternally is a Mason, Blue Lodge, Chapter at Orange. He is held in high esteem in Orange for his many activities in behalf of the wel- fare of the city and occupies a position of leader- ship among Orange business men.

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UNTER BEATY, for about two decades a resident of Orange, and a factor in the in- dustrial world here, has been active for many years in the development of one of the large industrial enterprises of the city, and is regarded as an authority on paper manufacture. Mr. Beaty is manager of the Yellow Pine Paper Mill Company, manufacturers of Kraft paper from Southern pine, and one of the largest paper mills in Texas. This large mill was established at Orange in 1906, since which time it has been developed along constructive lines, at the present time occupying an industrial site of some thirteen acres on which is located the large and modern buildings housing the industry. The plant manufactures thirty-five tons of paper daily, all of which is made from the yellow pine lumber cut in this section. A force of around two hundred and sixty people are employed in the mill, and the industry is one of which Orange may well be proud. The officers of the company are: W. H. Stark, president; R. A. Moore, vice pres- ident; H. L. Brown, acting vice president; Hunter Beaty, general manager; E. W. Brown, Jr., secretary and treasurer, and W. J. Meyer, sales manager.

Hunter Beaty was born in Milam County, Texas, the sixth of October, 1886, the son of H. C. Beaty, a native Texan, and a farmer of that county for many years. He was educated in the schools near his home, spending his boyhood on his father's farm. At the age of sixteen years he came to Orange and began with the Yellow Pine Paper Mill Company, starting in at the bottom in 1906, at the time the mill was established. Since that time he has worked through all departments, advancing to superintendent of pulp, and later, when George S. Holmes, the former general manager, went to Lou- isiana, becoming general manager, the position he now holds.

Mr. Beaty was married at Orange, in 1909, to Miss Nora Reese, a native of Texas. They have two children, Curtis and Fannie, and reside at 1308 Orange Street. Mr. Beaty is a Rotarian, and takes a deep interest in the civic advancement of Orange, as well as its industrial development. His position in the industrial world represents an achievement, entirely by his own efforts, and through his ability, and is the concrete result of many years spent in the study of paper manufacture as well as years of practical experience in this field.

V. GUDGER, one of the recent recruits to the business world at Orange, has found this city ripe in opportunities, and has entered heartily into all activities whose purpose has been the civic advancement of Orange, at the same time establishing an enviable reputa- tion for his progressive business building methods in the field of automotive merchandising. Mr. Gud- ger is vice president and general manager of the Orange Motor Company, Incorporated, authorized Ford dealers at Orange, selling Fords, Fordsons and Lincolns. The firm was established in Feb- ruary, 1923, during the first year selling more than three hundred new cars, with an additional three hundred used cars, establishing a record which has been bettered each year. The Orange Motor Com- pany operates as a complete Ford, Fordson and Lincoln agency, the parts and service departments co-operating with the sales department to give the kind of service that makes for satisfied car own-

ership. The company occupies a modern building, seventy-five by one hundred and forty-five feet, planned especially for an automobile building, and completed in 1918. Officers of the Orange Motor Company are: L. A. MacDonald of Houston, presi- dent, and H. V. Gudger, vice president.

H. V. Gudger was born in Grimes County, Texas, the twenty-third of November, 1882, the son of J. H. Gudger, a native of North Carolina, who came to Texas and Grimes County in 1871. Mr. Gudger was educated in the public schools of Grimes County, and as a young man began his business career as a traveling salesman, covering Central and Southeast Texas. He was with the Houston Packing Com- pany for a number of years and went in the auto- mobile business in 1918, with the Overland Houston Company and then was with the Armor Auto Com- pany for one year. He remained with that firm until the first of 1923, when he came to Orange.

Mr. Gudger was married at Navasota, Texas, the twenty-third of November, 1904, to Miss Louise Boone, a native of the Lone Star State. They have three children, Henry, Gordon and Jack, and reside in Orange at 707 Park Street. Mr. Gudger is a member of the Country Club, the Rotary Club, the Orange Chamber of Commerce, and fraternally is a Mason, thirty-second degree Scottish Rite, and a member of Arabia Temple Shrine at Houston. Since coming to Orange he has been a leader among the business men of the city, giving generously both of his time and means to secure the advancement of the city along commercial and civic lines.

BE SOKOLSKI, for three decades a factor in the mercantile business at Orange, has given his time not alone to the development of his private business interests, but for the advancement of his city, and has been for many years a leader in all civic work. Mr. Sokolski is president and manager of Abe's, Inc., which he es- tablished in 1916, and which is one of the most complete and modern men's furnishing stores in the city. Abe's, Inc., is located at 512 Front Street, at the corner of Fifth, where a modern store build- ing with thirty-two by eighty-five feet of floor space is occupied. Mr. Sokolski has an unusually large stock, featuring the better grades of men's furnishings, and represents a number of the better known manufacturers. He has a force of six em- ployees who co-operate with him in maintaining the high standards he has set for the store, and has built up a very large trade, especially among men who appreciate the best merchandise. Hr. Sokol- ski has installed unusually attractive fixtures in his store, in keeping with the high class of business he caters to, and Abe's, Inc., is a merchandising establishment that is a real asset to Orange.

Abe Sokolski was born at Evansville, Indiana, the twelfth of November, 1875. His father, H. So- kolski, for a number of years a resident of Evans- ville, died in that city when his son was a small boy, and Mrs. Sokolski, with her son, came to Orange, where she established a dry goods store which she has operated for around three decades. This store under her management has grown to be one of the leading dry goods establishments of the city, and continues to be one of the important com- mercial enterprises of Orange. Mr. Sokolski, who was educated in the public schools, was with his mother in this business for many years, assisting

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her in its management until the establishment of Abe's, Inc., in 1916.

Mr. Sokolski was married in 1904 to Miss Lola Bayer, a native of St. Louis, Missouri. He is a member of the Lions Club, and throughout his resi- dence at Orange has been active in all civic work. He has been particularly active in the development of this city along progressive lines, and in secur- ing commercial and civic advantages contributory to growth. Among the younger business men he has occupied a place of leadership, and has made many friends, all of whom hold him in highest esteem.

OE ARONSON, one of the progressive busi- ness men of Orange, has for a number of years been a factor in the mercantile world, and is highly esteemed not only for his business activities, but for his deep interest in the development of the city. Mr. Aronson is secretary, treasurer and general manager of Aronson Brothers, grocers, a business established by Goodman Aronson a number of years ago, and which has since been one of the leading grocery houses in the city. Some time after the establishment of this business Good- man Aronson turned his attention to the oil business, making a fortune in that field, and sold the grocery business to his brother, Joe Aronson, the subject of this sketch, and who has since operated the store alone. He has built up a very large business, occu- pying a modern store, thirty by one hundred and fifty feet, well located on Fifth Street. Mr. Aron- son handles both staple and fancy groceries, making a specialty of the better class of goods, and his is known as the highest class grocery store in Orange. He also has a store on Front Street, selling whole- sale flour, Purina Feed and Sprague and Warner products. Goodman Aronson is president of Aronson Brothers, grocers, and L. L. Block is vice president, in addition to Joe Aronson as secretary and treas- urer.

Joe Aronson was born in Russia the tenth of May, 1885, his parents dying in that country. Later his brother, Goodman Aronson, came to the United States, and a few years later sent for the brother, Joe, where he put him in school at Orange, when he was eleven years old. After finishing his work in the Orange schools Mr. Aronson went to New York, attending school there, and returned to Texas to begin his business career as a tobacco salesman in New York. Three years later he returned to Orange and joined his brother in the grocery busi- ness here, buying out the major part of the stock of Aronson Brothers, grocers, in 1921.

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New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 2, Part 98

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