USA > Texas > Past history and present stage of development of Texas. Memorial and biographical history matter of the Lone Star state > Part 24
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Mr. George L. Paxton, president of the Citizens National Bank of Abilene, was born October 16, 1865, in Mercer county, the blue grass section of Kentucky. His father, G. B. Paxton, was born at Lawrenceburg, Anderson county, and his mother, Miss Sallie Kennedy, was native to Mercer county, she passing beyond this life in 1867, when the son, George L. Paxton, was bnt eighteen months old. In the early seventies the father, G. B. Paxton, came to Dallas and was bookkeeper for the Huey & Phillips hardware firm for a number of years, after which he engaged in the hardware business for himself at Alvarado, where he was joined by the son, George L., from Kentucky. Mr. Paxton was next general auditor for the Thurber Coal Company, with headquarters at Fort Worth; then came to Abilene for a brief period, and later was manager of a branch hardware house at Snyder which was owned by his son. In 1908 he became financial agent for Simmons College, of Abilene. Mr. Paxton is strong in the faith of the Baptist church and not only has the confidence of but is loved by a wide acquaintance.
Mr. George L. Paxton was reared by his grandparents in Anderson connty, Kentucky, and his material and active career began when he joined his father in the hardware business at Alvarado, Texas, at the age of seventeen. He came to Abilene in 1889 and worked for the hardware firm of Cameron & Phillips until 1894, when he purchased the business. In September, 1904, he disposed of same and was elected cashier of the Citizens National Bank, serving in this capacity until 1908, when he was elected
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president. Mr. Paxton was married in June, 1892, to Miss Mattie Warren, of Abilene, and they have three danghters and one son. It will thus be seen that Mr. Paxton is the architect of his own fortnne and is a self-made man. He not only enjoys a high standing in the financial and commercial world, bnt is known for his high morals, clean home life, the enconragement of wholesome government and all that is good in elevated citizenship. He is a member of the board of trustees of Simmons College, one of the largest and noblest of Texas educational institutions; is a Knight Templar Mason, Odd Fellow, Knight of Pythias, and was for six years a city alderman. From the day he took charge of the Citizens National Bank he began to broaden its scope for business, looking to the development of Central West Texas, with the result that it has blossomed with the fruits of prosperity and is today reckoned one of the strongest banks in this part of the state.
POINDEXTER, Judge William
Judge William Poindexter, resident of Cleburne, known in fraternal circles, and one of the most profonnd publie men in Texas, was born in Paris, Texas, January 2, 1854. His paternal grandfather, Rev. James Poin- dexter, descended from an old established Virginia family and was a Baptist minister. He espoused the Colonist canse in the Revolutionary war under Gen. George Washington and was with him when Cornwallis sur- rendered at Yorktown. Judge Poindexter's father was Thomas C. Poindexter, who was born in Sullivan county in the monntains of eastern Tennessee. He was there married to Miss Nancy White, danghter of Rev. Benja- min F. White, a Baptist minister. In 1844 the family moved to Texas and settled in what now is Denton but then was Lamar county. In 1846 they moved to near Paris, where the father en- gaged in farming and stock raising. In 1863 he moved to land near Alvarado, where he supplemented farming with building and the cabinetmaker's trade. He died in 1889, his good wife following him to the better world in 1897. He was a Mason of fifty years' standing.
Judge Poindexter attended the common schools at Alvarado, later attended Mans- field College, and then studied law under his brother-in-law, Judge D. B. Mahoney, at Edmonton, Metcalfe county, Kentucky. He was admitted to the bar in 1874 and after- wards graduated from the Law Department of Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tenn., under Judge Nathan Green, one of the most eminent law deans in America. He located for practice at Cleburne and was soon in possession of a paying clientele. By election at the hands of the people of Johnson, Hill and Bosque connties, comprising the 18th judicial district, he was on the bench from 1898 to 1902, at which time he resigned on account of pressing business affairs. In 1904 Judge Poindexter was a candidate for
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Congress, and a combination formed against him in the convention at Fort Worth put him out of the running. He made the race for Governor of Texas in 1910 against ex-Attorney-General A. B. Davidson, Hon. Cone Johnson and present Governor O. B. Colquitt, and according to the status of the votes he was second strongest man in the race. Judge Poindexter has been twice married, first, on September 9, 1879, to Miss Mary Chambers, daughter of Col. B. J. Chambers, founder of Cleburne. One daughter, Miss Harriet, and one son, Joseph W., were born of this union. Joseph W. died Decem- ber 15, 1901, of typhoid fever while a student at the State University, Austin, aged eighteen years. lle was a young man of much promise, stood at the head of his classes, was of splendid physique and mental equipment, well seasoned and developed morally, and was a ready confidant of his father, who was looking forward to his future with prided expectancy. Judge Poindexter was married a second time to Miss Melissa Smith, whose father was a pioneer citizen and prominent physician of Alvarado, she being a graduate of Daniel Baker College, Brownwood, and of North Texas Female College, Sherman, and is also an accomplished musician. They have two robust, healthy young sons. Judge Poindexter has from early manhood championed the cause of prohibition and in the more recent campaigns could advocate the same with more consistency than most publie men of Texas. He has for years been a power in the Democratic party, and is today one of the most influential men in the state. A man of big brain and healthy physique, of a wonderfully retentive memory and strong legal mind, mentally well ballasted, positive, but with a heart full of kindness for the great masses of the people, he would have made a fine Governor for Texas, and perhaps he will yet be called to that chair before he reaches the sunset of life. Despite the persistence of his friends throughout the state to enter the present United States senatorial race, he declines to become a candidate, but Texas could not do herself prouder than to be represented by such a man as Judge Poindexter in that august body at Washington. He has also taken high rank in Masonry. He is a Knight Templar and has all the degrees except the Scottish Rite, and, being a finished orator, was grand orator of the Grand Lodge of the state at the laying of the cornerstone of the Masonic Temple at Waco. He also performed a similar service for the Knights of Pythias of the state, of which he is a member, and likewise is a member of the Woodmen of the World. Judge Poindexter owns extensive landed interests in central and western Texas, city property in Cleburne, and resides in a beautiful home where he and Mrs. Poindexter are in their best element in the entertainment of their friends. .
RAGLAND, Prof. Alphonso
Texas has a number of business colleges that are un- doubtedly doing a good work in meeting the stringent demands of modern commercial education on the part of our young men and young women, and there is every reason why fathers and mothers should qualify their children at home instead of going abroad. In the first place they should be educated according to the inspiration of the Texas spirit and Texas institutions, and, secondly, "Texans should always be for Texas" when they have patronage to bestow. This com- mendable custom has played a large part in making Texas the great state it is, and the same will continue to make it greater. We especially take pleasure in mentioning the Metropolitan Business College of Dallas, owned and managed by Prof. Alphonso Ragland. The institution is prominently situated in a choice part of the business section of the city, in a handsome three story brick structure fifty by one hun- dred feet in floor dimensions. The entire three floors are devoted to college purposes; the general equipment represents an outlay of $150,000, and nine teachers, all educated in representative institutions of learning, are employed. Students are drawn from all
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parts of the Southwest, the work is thorough, and the curriculum of graduation ranks exceptionally high.
Prof. A. Ragland was born on a farm near Daingerfield, Morris county, Texas, October 29, 1866. His father, Aurelius Ragland, was born in Cass county in 1845, when Texas was yet a republic. He was elected the first sheriff of Morris county and served four or five terms, and was a merchant at Daingerfield for a number of years. He served in the Confederate. army the full term of the civil war, and died at Daingerfield; August 8, 1898. His wife was Miss Mary Clayton, related to the well-known Clayton family of Alabama, from which state her parents migrated when she was an infant. The wedding took place in 1865, and of the six sons and three daughters born of the union two sons and one daughter are dead, the mother yet living at the age of sixty- eight years. Thus it will be seen that Professor Ragland is a thorough Texan. He received the finishing touches of his education at Baylor University, Waco, under Dr. Burleson, and taught seven years in one of the leading business colleges in that city. Accepting a position in the General Land Office at Austin in 1895, he resigned as chief clerk of same in 1899 to come to Dallas and take the active management of the Metropolitan Business College, which was established in 1887. He was for a' number of years associated with Prof. W. W. Darby, a prince of business college teachers, whose interests he finally purchased and now owns the entire property in fee simple. In addition to his college interests, Professor Ragland has become much identified with the growth and development of Dallas and the state at large, being vice-president and director of the First State Bank of Dallas, vice-president and director of the National Temperance Life Insurance Company, Dallas; director in the Amicable Life Insurance Company, Waco; director of the General Bonding & Casualty Insurance Company, Dallas; one of the vice-presidents of the Trinity Valley Traction Company, promoting an interurban car line from Dallas to Palestine, and trustee and treasurer of the Texas Baptist Memorial Sanitarium, Dallas. Professor Ragland was married August 12, 1891, to Miss Susie Ragsdale, of Flatonia, Texas, whose father and mother were also native Texans. Their children are Miss Portia, nineteen; Miss Susie, fourteen, aud Alphonso Darby, eight years old, the family residence being at 2617 Live Oak street. The family takes active interest in church worship in the First Baptist church of the city, and Professor Ragland is strong in his espousal of Democratie principles. A man of successful affairs in all that he undertakes, he is a gentleman of strong and transparent character.
REAGAN, Gen. John H.
Gen. John H. Reagan, "Texas' Grand Old Man," was born of humble parents in the mountains of east Tennessee, in Sevier county, October 8, 1818. His first position was a menial one at nine dollars per month, which was expended for books and securing an education. He came to Texas, May 20, 1839, during the struggle against Mexico for independence, and at once joined the Texas army, serving with such marked genius and distinction that he was offered a second lieutenancy in the United States regular army. He began practicing law in 1844, and was elected to the low house of the Texas legis- lature in 1848. He was elected to Congress in 1856, where he served with distinction until 1861, when he resigned to join the Confederacy, receiving the appointment of Postmaster-General in President Davis's Cabinet, and was the only officer of that body to serve during the entire life of the Confederate government. He was returned to the House of Representatives in 1874 and served twelve years, eight years of which time he was chairman of the committee on commerce. In 1887 he was elected to the United States Senate, in which body he soon became a leading figure, being the parent of the law which established the present Interstate Commerce Commission. Upon the organization of the Texas Railroad Commission in 1891 he resigned his position in the Senate to accept the chairmanship of that body, which he held by election and appoint- ment until 1902, in which year he voluntarily retired to private life. He died in Palestine, March 6, 1905. If one could visit the old Reagan homestead in Sevier county, east Tennessee, and view the surroundings and the atmosphere in which he was reared
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to maturity, one could more easily understand Gen. Reagan's stalwart character. That immediate section was settled by the Scotch Highlanders in the earlier days, and Gen. Reagan descended from that sturdy stock. In every walk of life he was admired and respected, by friend and foe alike, as one of the ablest jurors. and statesmen of the time in which he lived.
RICHEY, Judge Harvey McHaughey
The day of the "keynote " speech is not altogether of the past. Daniel Webster used to be the keynote orator of Northern Whigs; Stephen A. Douglas was the keynote orator of Western Democrats; William L. Yancey was the keynote orator of the Gulf States Democrats. Later, in the days of reconstruction, Oliver P. Morton sounded the keynote for the Republican party in all quarters of the Union. It is said when a German got drunk he wanted to sing, when a Frenchman got drunk he wanted to dance, when a Spaniard got drunk he wanted to pray, when an Englishman got drunk he wanted to eat, when an Irishman got drunk he wanted to fight, when a Scotchman got drunk he wanted to dispute upon theological points, and when an American got drunk he wanted to make a stump speech or practice law. So our natural characteristic is eloquence, but the old rule of intemperance among the legal profession has been reversed in the present day to that of almost absolute sobriety and a much higher plane of morals. As a member in high standing of this noble profession it is our pleasure to speak of Judge Harvey M. Richey, who was born in Waco, June 30, 1883. His father, B. F. Richey, was the original organizer and president of the first street car company of this city, was eight years county treasurer, was one of the tonnders of the Fifth Street M. E. church, and as a Mason helped to organize Guerley Lodge No. 337, A. F. and A. M. He departed this life in 1883, when the subject of our sketch was but two months of age. His mother before marriage was Miss Mary MeGanghey, her people for several generations having been prominent in affairs of state and commerce in Tennessee. At this writing (1911) she is living, at the age of sixty-nine. Judge Richey attended the Waco public schools; spent one year at Washington College, named for George Washington and founded in the mountains (Greenville) of east Tennessee in 1795, during 1899; graduated at Baylor University with a Ph. B. degree in the class 1901-2, and, entering the law department of the State University, Austin, in 1905, he graduated in the class of 1907. He was immediately admitted to the bar and was assistant county attorney of MeClennan county under Pat M. Neff for eighteen months. He resigned this position and was elected justice of the peace in November, 1910, and took office December 12. Judge Richey belongs to the Masons, Woodmen of the World, Pretorians, and worships with the Fifth Street Methodist church. Though young in years in his profession, Judge Richey has established and enjoys a reputation of being one of the strongest members of the MeClennan connty bar, and on the bench has shown both ballast and ability. It is safe to say that no yonng man of twenty-eight years of age has more friends in central Texas than he.
REIERSON, John Henrich
The subject of this sketch was born in the romantic land of Norway, at Christiansand, capital of that interesting nation, Dee. 17, 1840. His father, John Reierson, came to America in 1844, his wife following him one year later, and she died at Prairieville, Texas, in 1851, after giving birth to five children, one infant dying while in mid-ocean on her trip to this country, and two sons are now living, the other, Oscar Reierson, being a lawyer in Louisville, Ky. The father first settled in Henderson connty, Texas, and farmed in the Brownsboro neighborhood for three years, after which he was a merchant at Prairieville, Nacogdoches, Tyler and Kaufman, and was in the saw milling business when he died in Kaufman in 1864. He came to Kanfman county in 1848.
Mr. John H. Reierson, whose name initiates this sketch, was in carly years trained along the lines of rectitude and good citizenship by a well-meaning father, which laid the foundation for his intelligent view of life. When the civil war came on he left the store at Prairieville
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as a salesman and enlisted in February, 1862, at Kaufman, Co. C., Capt. John R. Johnson, and 20th Texas Cav., Col. T. C. Bass. This part of the Confederate army performed service in Texas, Missouri, Arkansas and Indian Territory, and among other lively engagements took conspicuous part in the battles of Prairie Grove, Ark., and Elk Creek, Indian Territory. Eighteen months after enlistment Mr. Reierson's company was dismounted and served as infantry to the period of peace, and when they were reorganized into a battalion at Fort Washita, Indian Territory, in 1864, he was elected Second Lieutenant. After the war Mr. Reierson settled in Kaufman county, and sold goods for ten years at Prairieville; was in the cattle dealing business for ten years and hotelkeeper in Kaufman for nineteen years, in all of which he was successful, and at present time is conducting a high class boarding house. On Nov. 27, 1869, Mr. Reierson was married to Miss Alice B. McCorquodale, of this county, and they have had one daughter, to die in infancy, and now have living two sons and one daughter, having an excellent family of which he should well feel proud. Mr. Reierson joined the Masons at Fort Smith, Ark., in 1863; is an Odd Fellow and takes a warm interest in the Methodist church work. It was his good fortune to have the best of health throughout the civil war period. He was a brave soldier, never disobeyed an order, "did all he could to make it pleasant for the boys, " and has lived a moral and useful life, as becomes all good Nor- wegians, whether foreign or native born.
RICHARDSON, Judge Goin Bell
Judge G. B. Richardson, Justice of the Peace of Longview, was born on his father's plantation in Green county, Ala., Sept. 1, 1847, and comes of a long line of one of the old established families of the South. His father, Goin C. Richardson, was born in North Caro- lina, where he matured to young manhood and was married. Migrating to Green county, Ala., he was, after the death of his first wife, again married to Miss Nancy Harrison, by whom he had seventeen children, ten sons and seven daughters, of which three sons and three daughters are now living. In 1851 the family moved to Navarro county, Texas, and after eight years' residence there came to Upshur, but what is now Gregg county. The father lived the life of a farmer and stock-raiser, and died in this county in 1871, aged sixty-six years. The mother died in this county in 1881, aged sixty-four years.
Judge Richardson was five years old when the family moved from Green county, Ala., to Texas, and along with his father grew to young manhood on the farm, which he continued to follow until four years ago, when he was elected Justice of the Peace. On March 19, 1868, he was happily married to Miss Frances Virginia Tincher, who was born in Harrison county, this state. Tracing back lineally the family has been noted for its numbers, and keepiug in line with the family record this union was blessed with thirteen children-ten sons and three daughters, two sons and the three daughters having passed to the life beyond. The mother died Jan. 17, 1911, aged sixty years and ten months. Of the eight sons now living, seven are married and have families, by whom Judge Richardson now has thirty grandchildren, all of whom are now living in close touch with him here in Longview, which makes him feel as important as Mr. Roosevelt or any other distinguished citizen of the United States. When the civil war broke out Judge Richardson was only fourteen years old, and though the legal enlist- ing age was eighteen years, he went to Monroe, La., immediately following the battle of Mans- fields, and joined Parson's Brigade in June, 1864, at the age of seventeen. Doing consider- able skirmish duty as a cavalryman, he had not participated in any of the noted battles up to the time when peace was declared. Judge Richardson had four other brothers to join and serve in the Confederate army, none of whom "got a scratch" excepting William, who received a spent ball in the arm between the elbow and hand in the battle of Mansfield, La. The Richardson family were Democratie in sentiment and principle even before the birth of the Democratic party, and so far as is known all have been Southern to the core. Judge Richard- son was a member of the Gregg County Commissioners' Court during 1897-8, and being elected Justice of the Peace in 1908 is now serving his second term, which is the best evidence that his decisions from the bench have been tempered with justice and met with the approval of the people. Judge Richardson's parents were Baptists, but he affiliates with the Methodist church.
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ROSSON, Thomas Jefferson
Loyalty to country must never be forgotten in doing reverence to the memory of what some people are pleased to term the Lost Cause, but occasionally we discover down the line of inspection a subject that was more than a brave soldier, one who derived his pleasure along with his labor, "an assiduous dare-devil, full of pranks, great at foraging, an habitue of the guardhouse, and the Peck's Bad Boy of the regiment." Mr. Thos. J. Rosson's many old soldier friends systematically, and with much earnestness, charge that he fulfilled the afore- said descriptions during his experiences as a Confederate soldier. Mr. Rosson was born on a farm in Maury county, Middle Tennessee, Aug. 17, 1842, and comes of Scotch-Irish parentage. His father, W. H. Rosson, was a Tennessee farmer, and moved his family to Red River county, Dear Clarksville. Texas, in 1846. After one year he returned to Tennessee, spent one year, and again came to Texas, this time settling on a farm nine miles south of Longview, which old home-place is still in possession of the family. The father died in June, 1905, aged eighty- four years, and the mother died in September, 1905, aged little more than eightyfour years. She was formerly Miss Elizabeth Scott, of Maury county, Tennessee, and of this union four sons and three daughters were born. All are dead excepting Thos. J. and J. M., of Longview, and J. B. Rosson, of Tyler.
Thos. J. Rosson enlisted in the Confederate army in Rusk county at the age of eighteen years, in September, 1862, Co. G., 10th Texas Cav., Capt. Barton and Col. Lock; was dis- mounted from the cavalry in Arkansas. Campaigned through Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama and Georgia, in which he was in numerous skirmishes and battles. Was wounded in the arm at the battle of Murfreesboro, and in the battle of Peachtree Creek an explosion of shrapnel severed the calf of his right leg, which pains him to this day. This incident forced him to the hospital, where he remained three months, and though he was considerably incapacitated he was still in service and at Cuba Station, Ala., when peace was declared. Mr. Rosson was married Dec. 26, 1866, to Miss Ehnira Hale, of Rusk county, Texas, and she lived until November, 1888, when she died, leaving three sons and four daughters, one son preceding her in death. Mr. Rosson is a Presbyterian, an Odd Fellow, has been a Mason since 1867, and belongs to the local camp, Jolm Gregg, U. C. V. Col. Diek Wynne, in charge of the Solchers' Ilome at Austin, has freely stated that the subject of this sketch was one of the coolest and bravest soldiers that he ever observed in battle, these two old comrades having been life-long neighbors, friends and messmates. A Methodist minister relates of Mr. Rosson, during the battle of Murfreesboro, that he prayed the Lord to "make him as flat as a Texas horned frog; that he wished he was a baby and a girl baby at that:"' Of the four years and nine months' period of the civil war, Mr. Rosson 's friends charge him with having spent three years of this time in the hospital and guardhouse, which is erroneous. However, they somewhat mellow this serious charge with the statement that he always dealt generously with his com- rades-be they strangers or acquaintances-as a result of his "foraging" expeditions.
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