USA > Texas > Past history and present stage of development of Texas. Memorial and biographical history matter of the Lone Star state > Part 22
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McDANIEL, Judge Benjamin Franklin
Judge B. F. McDaniel holds the very unusual record of having rendered more than 1,500 decisions since 1904, and out of this number has been reversed in but two cases by the higher court. He was born on a farm in Clark county, Arkansas, near Arkadelphia, Dec. 23, 1849. His father, John McDaniel, is supposed to have been born on White river, in that state, and died in 1860. He was married to Miss Nancy Crow, also of Clark county, but whose parents were formerly from Missouri, and five sons and two daughters were born to them, one daughter dying in infancy. Her parents came to Texas in 1855, and first settled on a farm in Fayette county. In 1857 they moved to Hunt county and settled ou a farm in the Langford neighborhood, three miles west of Commerce, where Judge MeDaniels matured to young manhood. He was educated in the public and private schools characteristic of the times, and engaged in farming for thirty-five years in the same settlement. In 1904 he moved to Commerce, was that same year elected justice of the peace of precinct No. 6, and has continuously been re-elected since that date. His mother died at his home in Commerce in 1908, being then niuety years old. Judge MeDaniel was married Dec. 1, 1869, to Miss S. A. Colson, who was born on the Cumberland river in eastern Kentucky. Mrs. Colsou was directly related to the well known Colson family of eastern Kentucky-one of the best and most prominent in the mountains-and her people moved from Kentucky to Illinois in earlier days, and to Texas in 1852. They first located in Grayson county, later in Lamar county, and in Hunt county in 1859. In 1882 and 1886 Judge MeDaniel was strougly petitioned by his many friends to permit the use of his name as a candidate for the state legislature, but in each case he respectfully declined. During his last candidacy for re-election one of the local newspapers made the
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editorial statement that "No justice of the peace in Texas could show a record of having rendered fifteen hundred decisions with only two reversals by a higher court." Personally Judge MeDaniel is a stout patron of justice and a fearless asserter of the rights of man, as well as a supporter of the Methodist church. Ile is a strong believer in the present and future greatness of Texas, and has always aided public enterprises. He combines a rare union of intellectual excellence and moral worth, and is respected for his inflexible integrity. Judge McDaniel belongs to the Odd Fellows and Farmers' Union.
MASON, Judge Albert F.
It is common discussion that the American people are today becoming commercialized and growing dollar-crazy to an alarming extent, which, if true, shows that we have reached the floodtide of our intellectual progress, and, like Rome of old, are beginning to enter the state of disintegration. When the purchasing power of gold over-balances love of country and the welfare of our public institutions and homes, it is high time that we should diagnose the disease of decay. The present generation is woefully lacking in knowl- edge of history, love of ancestry and their past unselfish sacrifices and heroic deeds; and there is but one remedy for this disease that in times staggers all nations, and that is patriotism, balanced with justice. What the country sorely needs is a campaign for the development of patriotism, and for its rejuvenating we must depend on the present gen- eration of young men, more than from any other source. One by one, as they accept the mantle of responsibility, in whatever calling, let their watchword be "Progress, Patriotism and Justice. "
The foregoing paragraph is written for two reasons-first, a sign of the times; second, that we believe there are yet plenty of young men who stand for righteousness in private and public life, justice in the courts of the land, and whose patriotism is equal to their responsibilities in life. One of these men is Judge Albert F. Mason, who was born in Greenville, Sept. 3, 1884, and comes of one of the best families in Hunt county. His grandfather, John S. Mason, was a soldier in both the Mexican and Civil wars, and sheriff of Hopkins and Hunt counties during the earlier frontier days in Texas; and his father, S. J. Mason, was for many years a peace officer of this section of the state- first serving as chief of police of Greenville, and later as sheriff of Hunt county. He had two brothers in the Confederate army, Uzza being killed in the battle of Shiloh, and W. W. died from a wound received while serving as deputy sheriff of Hunt county. As an officer Mr. Mason, senior, enjoys a state-wide reputation and was a member of the State Association of Sheriffs, though he is at present living a retired life and looking after his private interests. He was married to Miss Josie Hulsie, a native Texan, and their children consist of Judge Albert F. Mason, Mrs. J. R. Lambert, of Greenville, and Otho, who died in 1907, leaving a family.
Judge Mason is a product of the University of Texas, Austin, in both academie and law departments, graduating from this, most prided of all Texas institutions, in 1906 with the degree of LL.B. He at once began practice in the legal department of the Texas Midland railroad in Greenville, among a people who had known him from childhood, and the success he attained from the beginning was gratifying, not only to his many friends, but to the wide circle of his father's life-long supporters. In 1908 Judge Mason was elected justice of the peace in precinct No. 1, Greenville, which office he holds at the present time. Though young in years his decisions have invariably been as uni- formly well balanced as would emanate from much older heads, and the integrity and dignity of his court is highly respected for its unbiased justice. Judge Mason was married to Miss Clara Augusta Williams, of Dallas, June 28, 1911. He belongs to the Odd Fellows, Elks and W. O. W. secret orders.
McKAIN, Ex-Mayor Thomas Jefferson
Mr. T. J. MeKain, ex-mayor of Wills Point, and one of the most progressive citizens and business men of that prosperous little city on the T. & P. railway, was named for
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the immortal statesman of Virginia. His grandfather, William McKain, was born in Scotland, aud came to America in about 1836 or 1837, settling in the city of Philadel- phia, Pa., where the paternal grandparents and other members of the family are now buried. Thomas C. McKain, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Scotland in 1822. He joined a volunteer company, went to Florida, and fought in the Seminole Indian war. After the .war he lived in Jefferson, Fla., and died there in 1863; aged forty-one years. Here he was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary Whiddon in 1848, she having been born on the Chattahoochie river at Fort Gaines, Ga., south of Columbus. Six sons were born of this union, and those now living are: J. C. McKain, manager Live Stock Yards, at Fort Worth; W. S. McKain, in drug business at Greenville, and T. J. McKain, the subject of this sketch. The mother died at Hampton Springs, Fla., in 1867, aged thirty-eight years.
Mr. T. J. MeKain spent his boyhood days and obtained the rudimentary elements of his education in the sunny land of Florida. He began the more serious phase of life as a dry goods salesman at Prairieville, East Texas, to which place he came in 1871. Remaining at that place two years, he spent a short time at Canton, county seat of VanZandt county, and came to Wills Point in 1873, where he mercantiled for four years, then entered the emigrant, real estate and land business, in which he has since been successful. In 1888 Wills Point was incorporated, and Mr. McKain was elected as the first mayor, serving four years in succession. In 1896 he was again chosen chief magis- trate and presided four years successively. He has also served as alderman. A strong advocate of higher education, at least one-third of the time he has been a citizen of Wills Point he has been a member of the local school board, part of the time presiding as its chairman. In 1875 Mr. MeKain was married to Miss Mattie C. Bagby, who was born at - Charlottesville, Va., her home at the time of the wedding being at Wills Point. Their children are as follows: Mrs. Clarence E. Gilmore, whose husband is publisher of The Wills Point Chronicle and a member of the Texas state legislature; Albert S., man- ager of the telephone exchange at Moody; Edgar B., manager of the telephone exchange at Hot Springs, Ark., and Miss Natalee. Mr. McKain is one of the trustees of the M. E, church at Wills Point, and is a Mason of thirty years' standing. During his twenty-five years' residence in Wills Point it is needless to enumerate the results of Mr. McKain's unselfish labor as a public spirited citizen in the development of that section of the state-he is to this day taking lead in all things progressive. He has reared a fine family, and is, as he has the right to be, proud of them. Personally he is all con- viction, and does not know how to straddle a public question, and this unswerving fealty to principle has made him invincible among the people, but has some times arrayed him against some of his steadfast friends.
MILNER, Dr. Thomas Jefferson
Dr. Milner is a Kentuckian by birth, having been born in Fulton county, December 7, 1844, that section of the state being known as "Jackson's Purchase" or the "Pennyrile District." Retracing to earlier day history, his grandparents moved from Loudon county, Virginia, to Lincoln county, Kentucky. John Milner, his grandfather, was in the war of 1812, and probably moved from Lincoln county to western Kentucky to acquire and settle on his quota of land given by the government for his services in said war. He was a lifelong farmer, lived to a ripe age, and died in Fulton county. One of the sons by this marriage, Marcus Milner, was the father of Dr. T. J. Milner, and was born in Virginia in 1808. He was married to Miss Mary Haynes, of Fulton county, Kentucky, and died in 1854, at the age of forty-five years. Of this uniou two daughters and three sons were born, and all are dead except Dr. T. J. Milner and Mrs. Mattie Burnett, both residing in Greenville.
Dr. Milner was in his infancy at the time of his mother's death, and was but nine years old when his beloved father followed her to the better world. Both his literary and professional education was obtained at three of the most noted institutions of the country-that of academic at A. & M. College, Lexington, Ky., and for medicine and
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surgery at the old Louisville (Ky.) Medical College and Polyclinic at New York. He did not tarry long in practice in Kentucky, and, upon coming to Texas, first settled in Parker county in 1871, where he lived for four years. He then moved to Cumby, in Hopkins county, spent six years there, and cast his lot with the good people of Green- ville in 1881. It was while residing in Hopkins county that Dr. Milner was married to Miss Mary Baker, February 22, 1880, and theirs was a happy union until her sad taking off on November 23, 1910, leaving two married daughters, Mesdames Marcus Hawley and J. E. Boykin, both of whom stand high in the social circles of Greenville. When the civil war came on Dr. Milner was yet residing in Fulton county, Kentucky, and he there enlisted in Company I, Twelfth Kentucky Regiment, Lyon's Brigade, Buford's Division, Forrest 's Cavalry. Dr. Milner has been a Mason for more than thirty years, is a Methodist in religious worship, and is surgeon of Joseph E. Johnson Camp 267, Confederate Veterans' Association. As a man and citizen Dr. Milner is not only respected but is much beloved by a wide acquaintance, especially in Hunt county. He has been county health officer for the past twelve years and local surgeon of the Mis- souri, Kansas & Texas railway since the road builded into Greenville. Dr. Milner believes that the mission of his profession as a physician and surgeon as applied to the human family is next to that of the minister of the Gospel in the sacredness of the home. His success is attributed to the inteuse earnestness he has displayed from the time he entered upon the study of medicine, coupled with abilities of a high order and a personality which has wou for him friends in every walk of life.
MEREDITH, Anthony Wayne
It always affords the writer supreme pleasure to speak kindly of any man in this work that enjoyed the association and confidence of ex-Governor James S. Hogg during the life of that pure and great commoner, and one of those to do so was Mr. A. W. Meredith, who for many years served in the official capacity in VanZandt county, but who for the past few years has been a merchant at Wills Point. Mr. Meredith was born Sept. 12, 1847, at Waynesboro, Wayne county, Mid- dle Tennessee, and was uamed for Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne, of revolutionary war fame. His father, C. B. Meredith, was a native of North Carolina, but upon maturity to young manhood found himself in Middle Georgia, where he was mar- ried to Miss Georgia N. Reed, of Monroe county. The family moved to Texas in 1852, and settled at Athens, seat of govern- ment of Henderson county, soon after that town was laid off. Of the issue of children of this union there are today living: A. W. Meredith, the subject of this sketch; J. T. Meredith, farmer and ex-county surveyor of Henderson county, recently died, and Mrs. T. M. Graham, of Athens. The father died in the spring of 1859, and the mother returned with the children to their old home-place in Georgia. She was there married to Judge James Eastlaud, of Walker county, and the family again came to Texas and located at Athens, where Mrs. Eastland died in 1907, after giving birth to two children by her second marriage. Two sons by the first marriage are dead.
Mr. A. W. Meredith obtained his boyhood impressions on a farm near Dalton, Ga., the soil of which was bathed with the blood of Confederate heroes during the civil war. At the age of sixteen he joined the Confederate army, in July, 1864, and helped to fight Sherman's army through north Georgia, and was discharged from ditches around Atlanta as a supposed victim of tuberculosis, but which was not true, as his present robust appearance readily attests. Again joining the Confederate ranks, he helped to defend Augusta, Ga., while the army of the enemy was marchiug from Atlanta to South Caro- lina, and when the surrender came he was on duty guarding the armory and military supplies at Athens, Ga. However, so far as he was individually concerned, he stated to
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the writer that he never did surrender. In choosing a life partner Mr. Meredith was married to Miss Belle Bartlett, of Canton, Texas, but who was born and reared in Navarro county. Their children are as follows: Harry R. Meredith, iu the Naval Academy, Annapolis; Mrs. Dr. T. K. Province, Wills Point; Mrs. James H. Harris, Graham; Miss Waynie, student at Baylor University, aud Miss Lucia, at home. Mr. Meredith served four years as district clerk of Van Zandt ("Free State of Van Zandt") county, two years as sheriff, two years as tax collector, four years as mayor of Wills Point, and a number of years as alderman of that little city. Hence he has for years been one of Van Zandt's most useful and influential citizens, and his long public service is unmistakable evidence that his heart was with the people and that he made a faithful officer. His friends are unanimous in the verdict that his long public record is without a blemish, which is a rich heritage to bequeath to those to follow him. While Mr. Meredith was serving as district clerk at Canton, James S. Hogg was district attorney, and the strong ties of affectiou then formed grew warmer as years rolled by, and it is with much pleasure that Mr. Meredith today speaks reminiscently but reverently of his true and tried frieud. Mr. Meredith has been a Mason for more than twenty years, and is a Baptist.
MOCK, Hon. Henry Byron
Mr. H. B. Mock was born on his father's farm at Alliance, midway between Kingston, Ce- leste and Merit, September 20, 1882, and received his early edu- cation at the previously named places. His first name, Henry, was given him in houor of Pat- rick Henry, the great orator, first Governor of Virginia and who was a collateral relative. His paternal great-grandfather was in the Revolutionary war. His grandfather, Heury Mock, was boru in 1794 at Mocksville, N. C., and when a young man moved to Mocks Mills, Va., both of which places were christened in honor of the family name. At Mocks Mills, Henry Mock was married to Miss Catrou, a relative of Justice Catron, who was appointed to the United State Supreme Court by Presi- dent Andrew Jackson, and one of the sons by this marriage was Emmet Jefferson Mock, father of the subject of this sketch. He was born there March 14, 1850, fought as a Confederate soldier during the last year of the civil war, aud graduated at Kings College, Abing- don, Va., in 1867. He then came to Huut county, Texas, and for the first few years worked as a civil engineer aud surveyor, when he became a land owner and engaged in the cattle business, and up to the time of his death, in 1905, had acquired large rauch interests in Hunt county. In 1876 he was married to Miss Blanche Roberts, grand- daughter of Rev. J. M. C. Robertson, a noted Primitive Baptist minister in the pioneer days of Texas. Mrs. Blanche Mock was boru at Camdeu, Ark., and was the daughter
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of Judge Daniel Roberts of that state. Of the marriage were born two daughters and one son that died in childhood, Henry Byron and F. D. Mock, the last named being one of Hunt county's most prosperous farmers and stock raisers and who now resides on the old home place near Celeste. The father, E. J. Mock, served twelve years as commissioner of Hunt county, was a Mason, and the family worshiped in the Methodist Episcopal Church, Southi.
At the age of fifteen Mr. H. B. Mock stood examination before the State Board of Education and was awarded a first grade state teacher's certificate for six years, making one of the highest grades among many veteran teachers from every part of the state taking the examination. However, he did not teach school, but the same year entered the State University at Austin, with advanced standing. Graduating in the Law Department in 1902, he began the practice of law at the age of nineteen in Greenville. His career as a lawyer is too well known in North and East Texas to require any fulsome comment at this time. Profoundly learned in the law; sane, sate, honest, intelligent and absolutely fearless, no man or people could have a better champion. It is said of him that he is at home anywhere, everywhere, from a fist fight to a church festival, in a hovel or a palace, in postprandial felicitations, joint debates or baccalaureate addresses; loves a fight and is game to the core, as his extremely red hair and general though polished appearance readily indicates. A man of high ideals, lofty impulses and uncompromising patriotism, Mr. Mock is what is advancedly classed today as a Progressive Democrat. Aside from his other lines ot diversified and wide reading, he has studied closely the Congressional Record for years and is one of the best informed men on national ques- tions in the state. A party worker in season and out of season, Mr. Mock was made Secretary of the State Democratic Convention at San Antonio when he' was twenty-one years of age, and has at intervals served on the Democratic state and county committees. No election sinee Mr. Mock's location in Greenville has gone by without him having been mentioned as being suitable material for some high office. Before he was twenty- one years of age he was solicited to become a candidate for legislative honors, and ance that time has successively been mentioned for state senator, district attorney and congressman, but his answer in each instance was "that he could always be depended upon to keep the old Democratic trailer out of the dust, but officially he preferred the life of a private citizen." The state having recently been redistricted, his friends are again demanding the use of his name in connection with congressional honors, this time stronger and louder than ever, and it is doubtful whether he can now afford to studiously ignore the advice of those who are so deeply interested in his brilliant career, at this critical juncture of the same. His heart and patriotism is with the people, and should he go to Congress his talents and power will stand for the best interests of the great common people-a broader, better and freer country. and not for centralized greed and wealth. Mr. Mock is very popular as a public speaker, and while he has achieved his greatest distinction in addresses of an argumentative nature, where persuasion was his purpose, he has made many highly praised addresses on Woodcraft, Masonry, Union Labor, Religion, and to the Farmers' Union. As a Mason he enjoys the degrees of Royal Arch, Knight Templar, and Shriner, and also belongs to the Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Elks, Eagles, W. O. W., Fraternal Brotherhood, U. B. A., and is a trustee of the Wesley M. E. Church, South. Mr. Mock was very happily married November 1, 1905, to Miss Ellena Edmonds, of Bastrop, Texas, daughter of John C. Edmonds, who was three times Mayor of Sherman and Colonel of the Fourth Texas Regiment during the Spanish-American war. They have two bright-faced sons, Henry Byron Mock, Jr., four years old, and John Edmonds Mock, one year old. Their home, No. 2012 Stonewall street, is one of the most comfortable in Greenville.
OLIVER, William, D. D. S.
The greatest tribute that can be paid to a Frenchman is to say that he was a soldier in the French Revolution under Napoleon Buonaparte. The greatest tribute that can be paid an American is to say that he was a Confederate soldier in the civil war. There yet remains .
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living only a few thousands of these brave old soldiers and comrades in arms, who wore the gray to the finish and wore it well, as became men of convictions. One of that noble band who was in the thickest of the fight and helped to establish in history the fame of the Con- federate soldier, and that of Lee, Stonewall Jackson, the Johnstons, Forrest and others, lives right here in Sulphur Springs in the person of Dr. William Oliver. Born Feb. 9, 1840, on a farm in Fayette county, Ala., Dr. Oliver accepted the crude educational facilities afforded in those days. He enlisted in the Confederate army, Co. I., 11th Reg., Ala. Volunteers, June 11, 1861, and participated in numerous battles, among which might be mentioned Second Manassas, Seven Days Fighting Around Richmond, Potomac River, and was wounded in the hand during the Siege of Petersburg and in the left leg in the battle of Sharpsburg. Dr. Oliver had the honor of knowing Gen. Robt. E. Lee personally. After the surrender and peace being declared in April, he returned to his old home in Alabama, and in the fall of 1865 came to Texas, settling in Old Tarrant, this county. In later years he took a course in the Louis- ville (Ky.) Dental College, and entered upon the practice of dentistry. Fourteen years ago he decided to still the better qualify himself in the progress of his profession, and took a course and obtained a diploma from the Kansas City Dental College of Surgery, and it can be said of him that his success in his chosen profession has given him a well-earned state- wide reputation. Dr. Oliver resided for some years in the Saltillo country, twelve years at Cooper and became a citizen of Sulphur Springs in 1893. He was married to Miss Martha Ann Posey, of Old Tarrant, the year after he came to Texas, April 22, 1866, and three sons and five daughters were born to them, one daughter and two sons being dead. Dr. Oliver owns valuable residence and farm property, bank stock, belongs to the Texas Dental Association, aud the family worship with the Baptist church.
Something like 160 years ago Dr. Oliver's great-grandfather placed a piece of hickory wood in a spring branch near Anderson, South Carolina, where it remained for seven years, and was taken out in a petrified state and afterwards formed into a razor whetstone. From generation to generation this old family relic has been handed down the line, and has been in Dr. Oliver's possession for the past twenty years. He also has in his possession an old land- grant, sheepskin document of the Oliver family in Alabama, dated 1839, and signed by Martin Van Buren as President.
NOBLE, J. S.
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It is our pleasure in this connection to present a splendid personal portrait of Mr. J. S. Noble, the very popular post- master of the progressive and growing little city of Como. Northeast Texas. Mr. Noble was born on a farm in Ray county, Mo., Oct. 4, 1851. At the age of seventeen he entered the drug business at Hardin, Ray county, and continued this until 1877, at the age of twenty-three, when he came to Texas. The first few years he remained on a farm in Johnson county, and came to Hopkins county in 1885. In January, 1901, Mr. Noble was appointed postmaster of Como, under President McKinley's administration, and under his guidance four rural routes have been established, the service has been developed to a high state of efficiency and the average annual receipts of the office have more than trebled in volume. For a number of years Mr. Noble has shown his faith in the future develop- ment of the North and East Texas country by his investments in farm lands and real estate property. He recently disposed of his landed interests, but is still materially interested in Como improved property, and is one of the town's most enthusiastic boosters. There were but two dwelling houses standing where the principal part of Como is today, and with buildings going up in every direction and the music of the saw and hammer vieing with prosperity, who can doubt Mr. Noble's prophesy when he predicts that Como's population will jump from its present population of 1,500 to that of 5,000 to 7,000 within a few years. Mr. Noble has been a life-long Republican, has for many years found a pleasure in active party affiliation in the way of field and committee work and attending local and
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