USA > Texas > The bench and bar of Texas > Part 41
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fancy goods of the book stores ; the furniture in the parlors and the utensils used in the kitchens, are in these countries, with rare exceptions, of English, German, Spanish, or Italian manufacture, and yet inferior to the corresponding articles of American make." His report proceeds: -
" This condition of things ought to be changed at the earliest possible moment ; and there should be no balance of trade against us in our commerce with these countries, and in order to effect such a change in our commercial rela- tions with Central and South America, the committee earn- estly recommends the adoption of the substitute herewith reported, believing that it will serve to initiate such policies as will be of great advantage, not only to the people of this country, but to the inhabitants of Central and South America. .
" Our commercial relations with Mexico are satisfactory. From the tabular statement herein given it appears that the foreign commerce of Mexico, both exports and imports, amounted in the aggregate during the past year to the sum of $58,125,000, and that nearly one-half of this commerce was done with the United States. It also appears that for the year ending June 30, 1883, that with Mexico there was a balance of trade in our favor amounting $7,021,000. Our proximity to Mexico has had much to do with building up our commerce with that country ; but much more is due to the liberal and progressive spirit with which the Mexican government has been actuated in encouraging and protect - ing the investments of American capital.
"Already American enterprise is actually engaged in con- structing railways in Mexico, and to-day one may go from New York, all the way by rail, to the city of the Montezumas. The construction of these roads has infused new life and energy into Mexico, and her rapid increase in wealth and material prosperity is assured. But Mexico reaps not all the benefits resulting from these investments of American capital, for our commerce with that .country has greatly increased and is continually enlarging.
" Why may not like' results be obtained in the States of Central and South America by the investment of American
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capital and the application of American energy? The idea of building a railway from the United States to the Argen- tine Republic is somewhat startling to those who have never given the subject a thought, but a little reflection will con- vince any one that no insuperable obstacle is in the way of such an enterprise. A railroad from some point in Texas, or elsewhere in this country where a connection is formed with the railroad system of the United States to the City of Mexico, and thence through the Republic of Mexico and Central America, and along the Isthmus of Darien, passing east of the Andes through South America to the Argentine Republic, would meet with but few natural obstacles in the way of its construction, and the distance will not exceed six thousand eight hundred miles, and may be shortened to six thousand miles by commencing its construction at the City of Mexico, where it will connect with roads already built or in process of construction. Distance and natural obstacles have never thwarted American enterprise in the construc- tion of railways. * From Gautemala and Honduras to Chili and the Argentine Republic, embracing the several independent and progressive commonwealths of Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela, Equador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, the conditions of topography, soil, climate, population, productions, and all other circumstances, actual and prospective, are believed to be such as to invite and fully justify the construction of the great line of railway suggested by this bill, and when it is constructed our commerce will be enlarged to such an extent as at this time to defy anything like a correct estimate of its value ; and then we will be in a position to say to European governments, in the memorable words of Presi- dent Monroe : 'That we should consider an attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety.'"
It is a pity that our legislation, both State and Federal, has not been shaped more by the dictates of enterprise and the views of genius ; but the spirit of progress is abroad in the land, and the development of our national resources and advantages championed by such men as Mr. Stewart in
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Congress, and promoted by the able statesmen who now guide the helm of government, will assume a shape and pace commensurate with the destinies of our country, and it is doubtless but a question of time when a railway will connect New York and Chicago with Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Ayres.
As a lawyer, Mr. Stewart has been eminently successful in both branches of the profession, and has been engaged in many important cases, both civil and criminal, before the Texas courts. Among the most noted, perhaps, are The State v. Walker and Black, which has been several times before the Supreme Court as well as before the Court of Appeals, and the case of The State v. Grissom, which has been before the Court of Appeals twice. He was appointed by the court to defend a negro woman, then a slave, charged with murder, which he zealously under- took, though there was great prejudice against her. She was convicted and sentenced to be hanged, but in the midst of severe criticism he appealed her case, and she was finally acquitted. It was the case of Elizabeth v. The State, 27 Texas, 329. His briefs were argued by Judge Hancock, who attended to the case for him before the Supreme Court, and hence Mr. Stewart's name does not appear in the report of the appeal. The most interesting case, per- haps, in which he has been engaged was that of The State v. O'Brien, tried before the Criminal District Court of Harris County in 1876. The defendant had found his wife, a beautiful woman, in a house of ill-fame, and upon her refusing to leave the place, he deliberately shot her to death. The defense was emotional insanity, and the de- fendant was acquitted.
He is thoroughly familiar with the Texas land system and the laws of corporations, and has been engaged in many important suits against railroads, as well as in land litigation. He has been associated in practice with several gentlemen of ability. His first copartnership was with Thomas P. Aycock, at Martin, in 1857, which continued until his removal to Houston in 1866, where he became associated with D. U. Barziza, and practiced with him until
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1874, when the connection was dissolved by mutual con- sent, and Mr. Stewart formed a partnership with J. B. Likens, which continued until the death of the latter in 1878. He then received G. H. Breaker into a firm with him, which continues to exist.
Mr. Stewart was married at Marlin in 1860 to Miss Rachel Barry, and, like most men who have achieved em- inence and success, he is greatly indebted to the encourage- ment of the amiable and accomplished lady who early shared his fortunes and shaped his aspirations. In 1883 he was made Grand Master of Masons in Texas, and is devoted to the interests of the fraternity. In social life he is generous, open and kind, ready and prompt to render any assistance in his power to whomsoever may deserve or need it, and few men are held in higher esteem by the community in which they live.
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ALEXANDER WHITE.
This venerable lawyer was born in Franklin, Tennessee, on the 16th of October, 1816. His father was of Scotch origin, a native of Jefferson County, Virginia, and a dis- tinguished lawyer. He settled in Alabama prior to the organization of the State government, and was subsequently one of the circuit judges who composed the Supreme Court of the State. Alexander White was reared at Courtland, Alabama, where he early enjoyed the advantages of good schools, and was prepared for a collegiate course. In 1833 he was placed in Jackson College, and was afterwards sent to the University of Nashville, but left the latter institution in 1836, when in his senior year, and joined the army of General Jackson, then engaged in the Florida War. At the close of the campaign, in 1837, he returned to Alabama and located at Talladega, where he immediately began the study of law, and so vigorous was his application that in one year he was admitted to the bar. He began his prac- tice in 1838, and was married during the same year to Miss Eliza J. L. McCauley, of Benton County, Alabama. He soon acquired a good practice, but yielding to the allure- ments of the opportunity which his ability and popularity opened to him, he turned his attention to politics, and, in 1851, was elected to represent the Seventh Alabama District in Congress, in which he served two years, and in 1856 re- moved to Selma, Alabama, where his reputation placed him immediately at the head of the bar. In 1860 he was an elector on the Douglas ticket for the Mobile District, and made an active and able canvass for his candidate. In pol- itics he was a Clay Whig, and devoted to the preservation of the Union. He believed that disintegration, or the power of dissolution, as verified by the experience of all republics and confederations of free States, was the source
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of consolidation and despotism, and he advocated these principles in many speeches to the people of Alabama But upon the secession of his State he promptly cast his lot with the Confederacy, and entered the service as a private in Hardee's battalion of mounted infantry, and was taken prisoner at the battle of Selma.
Returning to his State at the close of the war, and devot- ing himself to its recuperation, he was chosen in 1865 a member of the Alabama Constitutional Convention, and in 1872 was elected on the Republican ticket to a seat in Con- gress, as the representative of the State at large. In 1875 he was appointed by President Grant Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Utah. This position he filled with great ability, and his decisions upon the important questions grow- ing out of the Mormon system, elicited the highest com- mendation from the press and people of the States.
In 1876 Judge White removed to Texas and located at Dallas, where he has taken a high stand at the bar and en- joys a fine practice. He is a thorough lawyer and a man of unquestionable talent and ability. Mr. Burder, in his sketches of distinguished men of Alabama, compliments his professional attainments in glowing terms, and says that he had long stood in the front rank of the bar of that State, and that some of his arguments before the court and appeals to juries were the most powerful ever heard in Alabama. While he has been an assiduous student of his profession, he has cultivated other branches of literature and is a man of culture and scholarly attainments.
Having lost his first wife in 1851, he was again married in 1855 to Miss Narcissa S. Rodgers, of Wilcox County, Alabama, the present accomplished and devoted companion of his old age. He is in religion a strict Presbyterian, a Socrates in moral ethics, and in manners a courteous and polished gentleman. While his decided political opinions, and the candor and boldness with which he has always ad- vocated his views have some times incurred the rancor of collision and party strife, he has always maintained a just and honorable intercourse with his fellow-men, and enjoyed the personal esteem of his bitterest opponents.
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THOMAS HARRISON.
The subject of this sketch was born in Jefferson County, Alabama, on the 1st of May, 1823, but in his early youth removed with his father's family to Monroe County, Mis- sissippi, where he was reared and educated; and if ever the beacons of parental virtue shed hallowed light along the pathway of youth, he has had the noblest incentives for vigorous and virtuous exertion in the strife for em- inence. The author knew his father, Isham Harrison, well, and he was one of the best men he ever knew. He was known in Mississippi as " Father Harrison," and, as a model of Christian meekness and philanthrophy, was held in the highest respect and veneration by all ages and classes of people.
Thomas Harrison removed to Texas in 1843, and soon afterwards began the study of law in the office of his brother-in-law, William H. Jack, of Brazoria County; and when he had prepared himself for the bar he returned to Mississippi and located in Aberdeen, and began the practice of his profession with the view of returning to Texas after having acquired some professional experience among his old friends and neighbors.
But the Mexican war, which was just beginning, kindled in his bosom a spirit of patriotism which no restraints could control, and, in 1846, he enlisted in McClung's com- pany, in the First Regiment of Mississippi Rifles, com- manded by Jefferson Davis, and participated in the heroic capture of the fortifications of Monterey. At the expira- tion of his term of service - one year - he removed to Houston, Texas, and in 1850-51 represented Harris County in the Legislature; but being attracted by the thrift and prospects of Central Texas, he located in 1851 at Marlin,
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in Falls County, and in 1855 settled at Waco, which he has made his permanent home.
In 1857 he was induced by his friends to become a can- didate for district judge in opposition to Judge R. E. B. Baylor, who had long been a popular incumbent of that office, and after an active canvass was defeated by a small majority.
In 1860 he was elected captain of a volunteer company organized in Waco, and was sent by General Houston on a campaign of six months' service in the regiment of Colonel Dalrymple against the Indians on the frontiers along the Pease, Prairie Dog, and Canadian Rivers. While engaged in this service he was mainly instrumental in compelling the surrender of the United States troops at Camp Cooper, whose stores were a timely contribution to the operations of the campaign. This was perhaps the first attack made by State troops upon the forces of the general government, and removed at the outset a garrison which might have become the nucleus for an invasion of the State. In 1861 he was chosen captain of a company of cavalry organized at Mileau for the Confederate service, and joined the regi- ment of Colonel B. F. Terry, at Houston, afterwards known as the famous " Texas Rangers." This regiment was ordered to proceed at once to Bowling Green, Ken- tucky, and upon its. reorganization at that place, Captain Harrison was elected major, and from that time his career was identified with that of the gallant Terry. Slowly win- ning his way by meritorious conduct, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, then colonel, and, finally, to the rank of brigadier-general of cavalry, and gained the distinc- tion of being one of the most efficient officers in the army.
His services at Shiloh were conspicuous. He covered the rear of the Confederate army when, on the second day, it retired from the field, and with two hundred of his " Rangers " charged and broke the pursuing cavalry of the enemy, striking and so confusing the van of the advancing infantry that the pursuit was immediately abandoned. He commanded a brigade of cavalry at the battle of Murfrees- boro, with which he penetrated the enemy's lines, capturing
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a number of pieces of artillery and a large quantity of stores, which he brought out after receiving positive order, to return. He afterwards participated in the capture of Murfreesboro by General Forest, and having served with distinguished efficiency through the severe campaign of General Longstreet against Knoxville, styled the " Valley Forge" of the war, at its close he was recommended .for promotion to the rank of brigadier-general by his superior in command, General Armstrong, who characterized him as the best colonel of cavalry in the army.
Gen. Harrison led his column in all the great battles of the army of Tennessee except that of Missionary Ridge, and it was near Rome, Georgia, that the author, who com- manded a company of cavalry in Armistead's brigade, first met him, and not under very happy circumstances. That brigade, commanded at that time by the gallant Col. P. B. Spence, had, during two consecutive days, driven back the Federal cavalry in its attempts to advance from Rome, when Gen. Harrison came up with his brigade and took command. In the meantime a corps of Federal infantry had entered Rome, and on the third morning moved out in heavy force with the cavalry. Their object was to strike the line of march of Gen. Hood, who was then moving his army around Rome. Gen. Harrison held his position tenaciously, though his Texas regiments were once or twice driven back by the overwhelming forces of the enemy, and it was in making a flank charge upon these lines of infantry, ordered by Gen. Harrison, who took them for dismounted cavalry, that the author and a large number of his company were taken prisoners. Although his lines were finally broken and driven back by the desperate odds against him, his object was accomplished. and the rear of Hood's army passed safely by.
Gen. Harrison was always at the head of his column, and was almost constantly in the presence of the enemy. His men were devotedly attached to him and had the ut- most confidence in his judgment and gallantry, though he was a rigid disciplinarian and exacted the most faithful performance of duty ; hence his command was always well
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guarded and he never suffered a surprise. He was severely wounded and had several horses killed under him, but he considered himself the property of the service and devoted to the exigencies of war, and he shunned no danger, evaded no hardship, and withheld no effort which the cause he espoused demanded. After the surrender of the army of Gen. Lee, he endeavored to transfer his command to the department of Gen. Smith, but on learning that he, too, had surrendered, his command was paroled and disbanded at Macon, Mississippi, and he returned with his men to Texas.
In 1866 he was elected district judge and served with eminent satisfaction to the bar and the people, but was removed by the military authority in 1877 as one of the incorrigible obstructions to the Congressional plans; but really, as in all the other instances of a like character men- tioned in this work, in a spirit of revenge and to make way for the promotion of some Northern adventurer or to reward Southern infidelity.
He was one of the Democratic electors of Texas during the Presidential campaign of 1872, and since that time has devoted himself exclusively to the practice of his profes- sion and the supervision of his farm. He is a good lawyer. and a safe counselor, but his strongest professional quali- ties are those of a successful advocate. He is a man of great independence of character, frank and positive in the expression of his views, tenacious and conscientious in his convictions, and faithful in the discharge of his duties and obligations, both as a lawyer and citizen. These qualities render him popular professionally and socially, and he is a man highly esteemed in every circle and in all the relations of life. He was married at Waco, in 1858, to Miss Sallie E. McDonald, a niece of Gov. John Ellis, the well known Governor of North Carolina during the war, a lady of most excellent qualities, and this event has been felicitous both to his happiness and prosperity.
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JAMES M. ANDERSON. - -
James Monroe Anderson was born in Lawrence County, Alabama, on the 30th day of July, 1824. His parents were natives of Virginia, and his father was by occupation a merchant. He removed from Alabama to Winchester, Ten- nessee, in 1827, where the subject of this sketch spent his early youth. At the age of twelve years he engaged in business as a clerk, in order to procure the necessary means for obtaining an education, and having accomplished his object, and thoroughly prepared himself, he entered Cum- berland University and graduated at that institution in 1848. He then taught school nearly two years, and a portion of that time instructed the advanced classes in Winchester Academy. While engaged in this vocation he devoted his leisure time to the study of law, under the supervision of Judge Nathan Green, afterwards chief justice of Tennessee, and in the fall of 1849 was admitted to the bar at Winchester, where he commenced his practice.
But his immediate prospects in the mountains of Tennessee were not commensurate with his ambition - the opportun- ities for the exercise of his genius too uncertain for his aspirations, and, in 1850, he removed to Texas, and located at Rusk, in Cherokee County, where he formed a copartner- ship in the practice of law with Judge Stockton P. Donley, which continued, with the interruption caused by war, until 1866, when the latter was elevated to the Supreme bench.
Mr. Anderson has always been a staunch Democrat, and was an ardent advocate and supporter of the policy of the Southern States in severing their connection with a govern- ment hostile to their interests and constitutional rights. He was a member of the Texas Secession Convention of 1862, and voted emphatically for the measures it adopted ; and
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when General Banks organized his expedition for the in- vasion of Texas from the Red River, he entered the Con- federate army as a private, and participated in the battles which resulted in the defeat of that general.
After the termination of the war, accommodating himself as far as possible to the exigencies of the issue, he resumed the duties of his profession, and, in 1866, removed to Waco, where he has continued to reside, in the enjoyment of a large and successful practice. In 1873 he was elected a member of the Legislature, and, with this exception, has never permitted the emoluments of office or public honors to allure him from the zealous duties of the bar.
At Waco he has attained additional distinction as a law- yer and eminence as a citizen. He is an excellent judge of law, a discreet and able practitioner, and a kind-hearted, congenial man. He is faithful and thorough in the dis- charge of his professional duties, and when his views have once been established by exhaustive research and confirmed by a sound judgment, he holds on to his cases with a ten- acious grip, and pursues them as long as there is a hook of possibility upon which to hang a thread of hope. These well known attributes establish for him a reliability in difficult cases which draws to his practice many of the most important suits that are brought before the courts of his section.
His social characteristics consist of a serene, even-tem- pered and patient deportment, which never permits his equanimity to be disturbed by those little adverse currents of circumstance which are so often sources of annoyance and perplexity to the greatest and most philosophical men ; and of a spirit of accommodation and concession to the views and feelings of others, which, if more prevalent, would render the world better and happier, and elevate the society of men.
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W. S. HERNDON.
William S. Herndon is a native of Georgia, and removed with his parents to Texas in 1851, and for several years assisted his father in clearing a farm upon the frontier, but he possessed a fondness for books and a precocious thirst for knowledge, and during the intermission of his farm labors read and reread all the books in the limited library of his father, including the Bible, with which he became re- · markably conversant. In 1854 his ambition burst the re- straints of the circumstances which surrounded him and he determined to prepare himself for the profession of law. His father abetted his desires with his slender means, and he was placed in McKensie College, where he graduated with honor in 1859. He was a diligent student and early learned the value of methodical employment of his time, and was admitted to the bar in a few months after he began the study of law, receiving the commendation of the court and the committee of lawyers, who examined him, for his thorough knowledge of fundamental principles. Having exhausted his means in his efforts to reach the bar he began the practice of law at Tyler under the gravest difficulties, which no doubt proved the best school for his efforts and shaped his subsequent attainments and success.
He was an ardent devotee of the Southern cause and when the war began in 1861, left his office and enlisted as a private soldier in the Confederate army but soon after- wards attained the rank of captain and served faithfully until the close of the war. He then returned to Tyler and finding himself again penniless determined to begin life anew, and devoted all the energies of his nature to the attainment of professional distinction and success. In 1865 he formed a copartnership with Judge J. C. Robertson,
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