Past history and present stage of development of Texas. Memorial and biographical history matter of the Lone Star state, Part 21

Author: Forrister history Company
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago, Forrister history co.
Number of Pages: 210


USA > Texas > Past history and present stage of development of Texas. Memorial and biographical history matter of the Lone Star state > Part 21


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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29


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tattoo artist, and Otto G., telegrapher, all of San Francisco, Cal., and Miss Grace. Judge Morgan's residence is at the corner of Sanger and 20th streets.


Judge Morgan always takes a leading part in all the public questions of the day affecting the welfare of the people and the uplift of man-standing for the right and condemning the wrong in private and public lite. Since locating in Waco he is rapidly winning his way among the leading attorneys and substantial citizenship of MeLennan county-practicing in all the state and federal courts, with office at the courthouse. He is an enthusiastic Pro- hibitionist, and believes in separating the state and government from the liquor traffic, and eliminating and banishing the traffic as a commodity of commerce, because it is a useless and unnecessary article. He contends that its manufacture and sale should be suppressed and prohibited because it is detrimental to society, church, religion and morality. Just at this writing Judge Morgan is preparing to publish a book on the negro question, his origin, bring. ing to this country, and advancement-and advocates the colonizing and return to their natural country, Africa.


MILLER, Capt. William Andrew


During the Civil war Leslie's Weekly published current accounts of the various battles that took place, and for the past several months they have been reproducing a page per issue of this matter from their files. Some of the statements that are so absolutely absurd can only be excused on the basis that they were written by Northern writers, based on sectional bias, and the wish being father to the facts. Again it shows what ridiculous "stuff" was "un- loaded" on the public at the expense of the South and the Southern Confederacy. For instance, in its report on the battle of Wilson's Creek, Mo .: "That the Federals had 5,500 men and the Confederates had 23,000; that the Federals dislodged the enemy from its strong position in good order, with a loss of 200 men, and that the Confederate forces lost several times that number." One of the sane subjects, known as a cool and collected soldier in time of battle, that took part in this engagement, was Capt. W. A. Miller, of Henderson, Texas. Capt. Miller does not hesitate to say that Confederate pickets had been withdrawn the night before the battle-for what reason he knew not-and that they were surprised by the Federals early in the morning; ninety per cent of them being still in bed when the Federals opened fire on the Confederate camps. The Confederates had about 5,000 men and the Federals about 10,000, according to the Federal reports, which was captured by the Confederates. Where Gen. Lyon (Federal) was killed one could walk on dead men for a space of three acres, and Gen. Sigel's Corps, next in command, was cut to pieces.


Capt. Miller was born on his father's plantation in Bartow county, Georgia, Aug. 17, 1837. The family moved to Rusk county, Texas, in 1838, where Capt. Miller was schooled at Fowler Institute, a Methodist institution at Henderson, county seat. On June 9, 1861, he enlisted in the Confederate army, Co. B, 3d Texas Cavalry, and continued in this branch of service until the close of the war. His campaigning was largely through Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. Took part in battles of Wilson's Creek, Elkhorn, against Indians in Osage Nation, and Farmington. Upon reorganization, he came back west of the Missis- sippi river, and raised Co. F, Lane's Reg., of which he became first lieutenant, and shortly afterwards captain. Participated in battles of Prairie Grove, Dripping Springs, Pleasant Hill, Mansfield, Simsport, not to mention numerous skirmishes that took place in the meantime. When peace was declared Capt. Miller was at St. Gabriel, Williamson county, Texas. The war being over, he settled down to business-farming and selling goods. He was in the mercantile business at Bellview and Hallville, Texas, during brief intervals, and coming to Longview in 1871, he was the first man to seil goods at this place-his store being at what is now known as Gans' Old Corner. His store burned in 1872, and he has since been engaged in cotton buying throughout the territory of Texas, Henderson still being his home. Capt. Miller was married Feb. 16, 1893, to Miss Libbie Barber, of Gregg county, and she died in the infancy of her child, Libbie, in 1895. Capt. Miller is a man of high order of intelligence, is companionable, and is an interesting conversationalist. He bought cotton on a very respect- able seale until 1910, when he retired from the business.


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Capt. Miller's father, John C. Miller, was born in South Carolina, his people moving to Georgia when he was a boy. The family came to Texas in 1839, and the father being a land surveyor platted the townsite of Henderson in 1843. He was first district clerk of Rusk county, afterwards county judge for many years, and died in 1871; aged sixty-eight years. Capt. Miller's mother died in 1851.


MARSHALL, Dr. Walter Lawrence


Dr. W. L. Marshall was born March 18, 1833, at Nashville, Tenn., and is directly related to the Marshall family of Virginia and Kentucky-which includes John Marshall, the first chief justice of the United States. Dr. Marshall's father, Geo. W. Marshall, was a plan- tation owner and slaveholder in the early days of Middle Tennessee, but located at Hunts- ville, Ala., in 1846, where he was married to Miss Helen Slaughter, who was born in Rich- mond, Va. Of this union seven daughters and three sons were born, of which there are now living Mrs. Capt. Stewart and Mrs. Julia Howard, of Van Buren, Ark .; Mrs. Mattie Rush- ing, Dallas; Mrs. Thos. MeNeir, Caro; Wm. Marshall, Mineola, and Dr. Marshall. The family moved from Huntsville, Ala., to Van Buren, Ark., in 1858, where the father died. He was a Mason, and fought in the Confederate army. The mother died in Longview in 1906, aged ninety-nine years and four days.


. Dr. W. L. Marshall was seven years old when the family left Tennessee, and spent his boyhood days in Huntsville, Ala., and Van Buren, Ark. Choosing the study of medicine, he graduated in the medical department of Tulane University, New Orleans, in 1858, and settled for practice at Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation, where he was located when the Civil war came on. While mustering a company from this point, he was a candidate for surgcon. Being defeated, he went to Van Buren, Ark., and enlisted May 15, 1861. In the meantime, Col. Stanwaitie's Indian Regimeut had been organized, chose Dr. Marshall as assistant surgeon, rank of captain, and he returned to the Cherokee Nation and accepted this honor. In the battle of Wilson's Creek, fought Aug. 10, 1861, Dr. Marshall received a bayonet wound in the arm and a bullet wound in the top of his head. Was shot in the shoulder with a poisoned arrow by a Comanche Indian in August, 1863, and in battle of Poison Springs, in October, 1863, was shot in the left leg. Being incapacitated on account of his wounds Dr. Marshall was transferred from the cavalry service to the hospital department for post duty at Fort Smith, Ark .; was later sent to Fort Washita, I. T .; thence to Shrevesport, La., thence to Jefferson, Texas, where he was at close of the war. It was at this place that Dr. Marshall took a prominent part in the bitter struggle against Carpetbag rule, and was made a prisoner anent the murder of their local member of the state legislature, who had made himself offensive to southern sentiment and southern people. Dr. Marshall lived in Jeffer- son from 1863 to 1878; spent one year in Harrison county, and came to this (Gregg) county in 1879-and for the past eighteen years has been a citizen of Longview. It has fell to his distinguished honor to have been on the staff (medical department ) of three of Texas' best known governors, viz .: Gen. Sul Ross, Hogg and Culberson. Dr. Marshall was married Sept. 16, 1864, at Jefferson, to Miss Mattie Joplin; by whom he had eight daughters, of whom three are living. He was a second time married Sept. 19, 1892, to Miss Minnie Ezell, of Austin, Texas, and with whom he is now happily living. Dr. Marshall has been a Mason since 1863, and belongs to the Christian church and the local camp, John B. Gregg, U. C. V. Personally, Dr. Marshall has lived the life of much activity, a useful citizen, and has meas- ured up to all the essential requirements of a southern gentleman and that of the noted Marshall family, of which he is a direct descendant.


MCCULLOUGH, Judge Thomas L.


Judge "Tom" Mccullough, son of an ex-Confederate soldier and judge of the Me- Lennan county court, was born in Falls county, Texas, May 31, 1869, and there matured to young manhood. His father before him, Capt. Edward Mccullough, was a direct descendant from the Mccullough family of historical note in old Virginia before that state was divided- he having been born in Hampshire county, West Virginia, in 1840. He was a citizen of Jasper


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county, Missouri, when the Civil war came on, where he enlisted in the Confederate army and fought under the intrepid Gen. Price and others to the close of hostilities-being promoted to the rank of captain for bravery on the battle field. Peace being declared, he came to Texas and settled in Falls county, where he achieved success as a farmer and merchant, and died rich in the haloes of a good name in the year 1902, at the age of sixty-eight. Judge Mccullough's mother was formerly Miss Elizabeth Fiser, yet living, and the daughter of W. A. Fiser-her people originally hailing from the Old Volunteer State of Tennessee. The children by this marriage are as follows: Edward, farmer and banker, of Waco; Thomas L., the subject of this sketch; W. H., president Central Texas National Bank, and secretary- treasurer of the Dr. Pepper Company, of Waco; Mrs. W. W. James, of Belton, and Mrs. Dr. G. S. MeReynolds, of Temple. Judge Mccullough obtained his education at the hands of our public schools, Southwestern University, Georgetown; and law department Texas University, at Austin, having located in Waco in 1889 and read law under a preceptor previous to enter- ing the last named institution. Was admitted to the bar in 1891, and served as city attorney from 1895 to 1899. Was chosen county judge in 1908 at the hands of the voters of MeLen- nan against three opponents, his plurality over the strongest one being 1,700 votes-and was re-elected without opposition in 1910. One of the results of the past two years of his ad- ministration was that of retiring $130,000 of the county's bonded indebtedness, and at the same time reduced the tax rate from 331/5 to 30 cents per $100, and lifted the transactions of the office to a cash basis, never having had an overdraft. As a judge he is characterized by the thoroughness and dispatch with which he disposes of business, for the soundness of his legal views, undaunted courage, absolute fairness, and his wide scope of investigation. As a man he is progressive, broad-minded and without prejudice-doing all within his power to ad- vance the development of the country. In his personal relations, aided with a fine presence, he is one of the most companionable of men; is magnanimous to rivals and a tower of strength to his friends-a man of generous impulses and dignified bearing-withal, a typical Texas gentleman, whose qualities are nowhere shown to a better advantage than while mixing among his friends. He is today frequently mentioned and urged to permit the use of his name for the district judgeship, and should he consent to make the race in the primary election which comes off in July, 1912, his friends are confident both nomination and election will be his for the asking. Never having been betrayed into acrimony or vituperation in any of his previous campaigns leaves him with fewer enemies than most men of public service can claim; this, taken in connection with the fact that he has never experienced but one close defeat at the hands of the people certainly furnishes grounds for their faith. His friends believe that he will be an ornament to the bench and jurisprudence of Texas, and in every instance has proven himself worthy of the confidence of the people, which he enjoys to a marked degree. As a true southerner Judge Mccullough "showed his loved and the best there was in him" when he addressed the Confederate soldiers in Waco last Decoration Day (April 23), on which occasion he seemed to have been in his best element as an orator. The Old Tigers who wore the Gray are proud of Judge Mccullough as the son of an ex-Confederate soldier-which is the proudest distinction any young man can wear.


Judge MeCullough was married to one of Bastrop county's fairest daughters, Miss Kate Orgain-whose parents were from Tennessee-June 2, 1897. Their children consists of one son, Orgain, and two daughters, Misses Kate and Drusilla. The home is at 18th and Bosque boulevard. Judge Mccullough takes a warm interest in lodge work, being a Mason of the Shriner degree, and has served on the advisory board of the Pretorians and the Senate of that order. At the present time he is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Southwestern University, Georgetown-the institution of his alma mater.


MOORE, Powhatan Leftridge


All honor to those brave heroes who wore the uniform of the Gray. One may search the military records of the world and it will not disclose a period of four years' warfare that will equal the Civil war of 1861-5 in point of destruction of humanity and property. The ranks of the ex-Confederate soldiers who offered their lives and fought valiantly for that which they believed was a just cause are fast thinning, and their movements are growing


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slower. Just a little while longer and they'll all be gone. One of those that yet lives in this rank of honor is Mr. P. L, Moore, of Commerce. He was born May 8, 1833, in Pike county, Missouri. His paternal grandfather, Thos. Moore, was born in Virginia and was in the Revolutionary war. His father, M. B. Moore, was born in Pittsylvania county, Virginia, and left his native home at the age of sixteen and settled in Pike county, Missouri, in 1818, when it was yet a crude territory, where he lived a life as a farmer and stockraiser, and died a primitive Baptist and Mason, His wife was Miss Amanda Lane, who was born in Lincoln county, Kentucky, and her people migrated to Pike county, Missouri, in 1820. Eleven chil- dren were born to them, five sons and six daughters. It was in the old Missouri home that Mr. P. L. Moore grew to young manhood, and when the Civil war came on he enlisted July 28, 1862, in Ripley county, Co. B, 3d Mo. Inf., Capt. Henry Smith and Col. James D. White. Was in the battles of Springfield, Mo., Prairie Grove and Jenkins Perry, Ark., Mansfield, La., and others, and was under Gen. E. Kirby Smith at Shrevesport, La., when the surrender came. The war being over, he returned to his home in Missouri, where he remained until 1875, when he came to Texas. He first located near Marshall, in Harrison county, later lived in Lamar and Delta counties, in Hunt county for the past twenty-eight years, and has been a citizen of Commerce during the past twelve years. It was back in Missouri that Mr. Moore was married to Miss Priscilla Gramley, Sept. 22, 1871. Mrs. Moore was born in Pennsyl- vania, and her people moved to Pike county, Missouri, in 1856. Their children are as fol- lows: M, L,, who is connected with a large iron and steel concern in Dallas; C. H., proprie- tor of a steam laundry in Commerce; E. M., insurance and real estate dealer in Commerce, and Mrs. John Verner, who resides in Stonewall county, this state. Mr. Moore stated to the writer that when he came to this state he was one of the richest men in Texas; he had a wife, two sons, and $1.50 in money. However, he now owns valuable property in Com- merce, and he and his good wife are living a comfortable life, enjoying their neighbors and friends, and are proud of the success of their children in this life. Mr. Moore is an elder in the Presbyterian church, and is a member of the R. E. Lee Camp, local order of Confederate Veterans.


MAYO, Prof. William Leonidas


Prof. W. L. Mayo, proprietor of the Fast Texas Normal College, in Commerce, was born near Prestonsburg, in Floyd county, Eastern Kentucky, Nov. 3, 1861. Retracing the antecedence of the family, his paternal grandfather, Wilson Mayo, was born in the James Valley, near Richmond, Virginia, and he and his four brothers-Jacob, Peter, Henry and Louis-left their home in the Old Mother State and were among the first set- tlers to locate in Floyd county, Eastern Kentucky, and which adjoins what is now the West Virginia state line. Jake Mayo was the first county clerk of Floyd county; Louis was one of its first school teachers, in which line of thought his descendants have continuously shown a tendency; while the other three brothers were farmers and merchants- Peter Mayo, among other items, built the first brick hotel to be erected in Prestonsburg. Wilson Mayo's wife, and grandmother of Prof. Mayo, was, previous to marriage, a Miss Stratton, of Floyd county, but whose people were formerly from Virginia. One of the sons by this marriage was William J. Mayo (father of Prof. W. L. Mayo), and he chose in wedlock Miss Rhoda Martin, related to the large family of Martins, and also the Gerhart and Harris families, all of whom are prominent in the social, commercial


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and state affairs of Eastern Kentucky. Seven sons and seven daughters were born to this union, and the mother died in 1905, at the age of seventy-two. For many years William J. Mayo, husband, was a valuable and influential citizen of his community, his farming, mercan- tile and lumber business at times expanding to large proportions. For fourteen years he was sheriff' of Floyd county, and despite the fact that he had "bad men" and feudal factions to deal with, and who were constantly waging their warfare characteristic of early mountaineer days, he never carried any kind of a gun. When the Civil war came on he joined the Con- federate army, in the face of the fact that most of his neighbors were in sympathy with the Federal canse, and on account of his familiar knowledge of that country, his executive business ability and being a fine judge of stock, he was detailed to purchase supplies, horses and mules for the commissary department-though he preferred active military service. He was a Mason aud Methodist, and died in Floyd county in 1889, aged sixty-nine.


Prof. W. L. Mayo grew to young manhood on his father's farm-made a "hand" from the time he was eight years old, and from time he was thirteen years old directed the affairs of the farm and force of employees in the absence of his father, being away as much as four and five months at a time looking after his large lumber interests. It was this responsi- bility placed upon him so early in life that developed the splendid executive ability that affords him mastery of detail and large problems, which has made him a leader among men, and given him a distinct reputation among the educators of this, his adopted state. The foundation for his rudimentary education was laid in the public schools of his native com- munity, supplemented with that of short private schools, and in chronological order grad- uated in the Prestonsburg (Ky.) Seminary, Cedar Bluff (Va.) Academy, and Central Normal College, Danville, Ind .- taking A. B. degree in last named institution in 1883. Before he was fifteen years old he had obtained a first grade certificate, and for a number of years tanght in the public schools of his native county of Floyd. Immediately following his gradnation in Indiana he became the head of Cedar Bluff (Va.) Academy in 1883, from which last named institution he had graduated with high honors the year before. Conducted its affairs very successfully for two years and resigned to engage in the lumber business, which he disposed of several months later; investigated Colorado, but decided Texas was the more adaptable to his predilections and sentiments for future work and home. It was in the spring of 1886 that Prof. Mayo first came to the Lone Star State-and taught short private schools at Pecan Gap, Delta county, for three sessions. He theu organized the East Texas Normal Col- lege at Cooper in 1889, and remained there five years, the college building being destroyed by fire. Commerce offering fair donations, he moved to this little city and began a slow but steady and certain growth; increasing attendance and property values until the annual en- rollment now runs more than 1,400, and the valuation of the college property is approximately $250,000. The permanency of the institution was thoroughly tested in 1907 when it sustained a fire loss of $35,000 above its insurance, and again in 1911 it was visited by a conflagration that carried away more than $60,000 above insurance carried. The campus comprises twenty- eight acres of ground, and affords ample facilities for all purposes. The modern and mag- nificent buildings that are a credit to Commerce and loom up from a distance, are as follows: Administration building, Science Hall, Conservatory of Music, Industrial building, and three large dormitories, with a guest capacity of 600-and supplementing these living quarters are twelve modern cottages. Still another ornament will be added to the premises, in that Prof. Mayo will erect him a beautiful home this year. This institution brings to Commerce annually from $150,000 to $175,000-drawing pupils from every part of Texas and adjoining states. Besides doing regular college work, the E. T. N. C. confers the A. B. and B. S. degrees, and the institution is a great factor in educating the teachers of Texas-having the largest summer school in the state, and for the past four years has enjoyed the most largely attended gathering of teachers of any special normal in the state. The faculty is sufficiently large in number to care for all that come, its members are graduates of the best institutions of America, and they are usually selected more for their teaching powers than for their high sounding titles.


Prof. Mayo was married June 24, 1891, to Miss Etta Booth, of Henderson, Tenn., Mrs. Mayo being the daughter of Rev. Henry C. Booth, a well known minister of the Christian


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church. They have three daughters and two sons. Mrs. Mayo has charge of the musical department of the E. T. N. C. She is a graduate of the musical department of Shelbyville Female College, Shelbyville, Tenn., and afterwards attended the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Chicago Conservatory, and was the special pupil of Profs. Bohlman, Liebling and Root in the last mentioned institution. Prof. Mayo informed the writer that he will continue to expand his laudable institution as long as the good people of Texas continued to express their appreciation of his good work-and in this connection we must say that he is doing a great work in giving Texas better qualified teachers and helping to lift our educational facilities to a much higher level. A normal college needs four things to be successful-men, money, machinery and pupils-and his success in marshaling these four material forces has been little short of phenomenal, but may be partially explained in his motto, which is carried on the front page of The Normal Guide, the official publication of the college, and which is as follows : "Ceaseless Industry, Fearless Investigation, Unfettered Thought." Prof. Mayo is loyal to the principles of education, has made it a life-work, and many young men and young women throughout Texas and adjoining states will bear willing testimony to his liberal- ity and philanthropy in financial matters, in that he permitted them to obtain their educa- tion in his institution when they had no funds. No worthy, but unfortunate, young man or young woman is turned aside by him for lack of money. In the meantime, the E. T. N. College is a financial magnet of important proportions in the growth of Commerce, and the co-operation of the people, whose admiration for Prof. Mayo is overflowing, is directed along the most respectable lines. Descending from two of the ancient and honorable families of Eastern Kentucky, Prof. Mayo is a man of rare intellectual attainments-and he has been the architect of his own good fortune. Obstacles thrown in his pathway have retarded not his progress; enterprising, emulous and indefatigable, difficulties to others are incitements to action in him, and in his work he has a consort worthy of his mind and home. The Mayo family, for several generations, have affiliated with the Methodist church, of which denomina- tion Prof. Mayo is a member. He has been a Mason and a K. of P. for the past twenty-two years, and also belongs to the W. O. W. By way of conclusion we should say that three different additions of town lots have been platted and put on the market in the college neighborhood, and this territory today forms about one-third of the area and population of Commerce.




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