USA > Texas > The encyclopedia of Texas, V.1 > Part 109
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MEN OF TEXAS
On July 27. 1902. Mr. Wilson was married to Miss Irma Taylor, daughter of W. L. Taylor, of Van Zandt County. Texas. They now reside at 4404 Junius Street, Dallas, and have two children, Edith and L. E., Jr.
Although Mr. Wilson's business has taken a great deal of his time and required him to be absent from the city more than the average man's occupation, he has demonstrated a keen interest in Masonic work and church activities. He is a Mason and has re- ceived both the Scottish and York Rite degrees and has been made a Shriner. His religious affiliation is with the East Dallas Christian Church.
P. SCRANTON, of the firm of J. P. Seran- ton and Company, Great Southern Life Building, is well known in business and pub- lishing circles of the state, having been en- gaged in the latter business for many years before establishing his present company.
Mr. Scranton came to Dallas in January of 1919 from New York City for the purpose of organizing a business of investing in securities outside of local markets. His firm deals in Standard Oil Securities and established independent oil stocks. They also execute orders for listed and unlisted stocks in the New York market.
A native of Texas, Mr. Scranton was born in Houston on June 17, 1891. His parents were H. O. Scranton and Josephine Westcott Seranton, origin- ally from Boston, and the daughter of Col. Westcott, important newspaper owner of Houston. He re- ceived his education in the schools of Houston, and in 1905 accepted his first business position when he was given a place in the accounting and pass depart- mert of the Southern Pacific Railway Company. After two years there he secured a position in the Union National Bank of Houston where he remained for six years, gradually working his way up, and had been promoted to note teller when he resigned from the bank to assume business management of the Oil Trade Journal, at that time published in Texas, and edited by Holland S. Reavis. In 1916 the headquarters of the periodical moved to New York City, and Mr. Scranton went along as man- ager. Conditions in New York presented the possi- bilities of his present business. After making a thorough study of stocks and bonds, and familiariz- ing himself with every phase of market conditions, Mr. Scranton returned to Texas, having severed con- nections with the Oil Trade Journal, and opened up his present office.
He is a member of the City Club, Lion's Club, Dal- las Country Club, and is a Shriner. Mr. Scranton makes his home at the Jefferson Hotel.
E ARL E. WIDNER, executive manager of Rosemont Burial Park, City National Bank Building, came to Wichita Falls in Jan- uary. 1920, and established the above busi- ness. interesting with him Messrs. W. W. Silk. P. P. Langford, N. H. Martin and R. E. Shepherd, the latter being secretary-treasurer of the organization.
The company has forty acres of land, ten of which are landscaped in a park-like manner, and perpetual care is given to all burial lots free of charge. A reserve fund, maintained out of the sale of lots is invested in farm mortgages, and the interest is ap- plied to the cost of caring for the lots. The grounds are well drained and free from rock, and under the personal management of Mr. Widner, who has made a thorough study of burial properties, trained work-
ers are month by month transforming the property into a place of growing beauty, carefully protected by a scientific perpetual care plan without cost to the owners.
Other properties of this kind that, however estab- lished and operated by Mr. Widner, are at Hutchin- son, Kansas; New Greenlawn, at Springfield, Mo .; Memorial Lawn at Wichita. Kan., and East Lawn at Springfield, Mo. Previous to engaging in this busi- ness Mr. Widner was connected with the National Securities Company of St. Louis, from 1912 to 1915.
Mr. Widner is a native of Kansas City, Mo., born March 29, 1889. He attended the Missouri schools and graduated from William Jewell College at Liberty, Mo., in 1912 with the degree of A. B. His parents were H. H. and Sarah (Johnson) Widner. He was married at Nevada, Mo., June 10, 1914, to Miss Lelah Barnes, and they have four children, Catherine, Betty, Jerne Ellen and William, and the family resides at 1660 Collins Street. He is a Scot- tish Rite Mason and Shriner, belongs to the Uni- versity Club, the Chamber of Commerce, City Park Board of Wichita Falls, and takes an active interest in all movements tending to beautify and promote the general welfare and prosperity of his city.
LOYS C. BACHMANN, manager of the Halls Gentry Studio, 161912 Elm Street, has so thoroughly mastered the photographic art that the work has ceased to be to him a mere means of livelihood and has become a real . artistic pursuit.
The Halls Gentry Studio was established in Dallas in February, 1911, with only three employes. As a result of reliable service in which careful attention is given to each patron it has enjoyed a constant growth and now maintains twelve employes and does photographic work for six thousand people annually. Another studio has recently been opened in St. Louis with equally marked success.
Mr. Bachman was born in Basel, Switzerland, June 24, 1877. When he was five years old he was brought to America and was given the advantage of a public school education in Louisville, Kentucky. He showed remarkable mental acumen and soon became familiar with the customs and language of America. When he was thirteen years old he went to work under Paul Gunter in the Stuber Studio of Louisville. Mr. Gunter, prior to coming to the United States, had been official court photographer at Hanover, Ger- many. After seven years he went to the Cusick Studio where he remained for three years. The latter is a studio of national reputation. In Octo- ber, 1902, he came to Cooper, Texas, and worked for G. K. Miller for three months. He then bought a half interest in the studio and remained there for one year. In 1903 he went to Commerce, Texas, and bought a studio there where he remained until 1913. In August, 1913, he came to Dallas to take charge . of the Halls Gentry Studio in which position he has since remained.
On January 31, 1905, Mr. Bachman was married to Miss Sophia England. A daughter, Aloise Edna, is the only child. The Bachman home is at 4322 Cole Avenue.
Mr. Bachman is another of our foreign-born citi- zens who, through his industry and close application to his trade has brought credit to the name of his native land and although he has not entered largely in enterprises of a public nature he has shown the essential qualities of a staunch, loyal citizen.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS
S IDNEY A. COCHRAN, general manager of the Lewis Oil Corporation, 202 City Na- tional Bank Building, one of the strongest independent companies operating in the Wichita fields, is regarded as one of the best posted oil men in this part of the state and is especially proficient in his knowledge of matters connected with the production of crude oil. During the month of January, 1922, his company produced over 28,000 barrels of oil and plans are under way to increase this production by purchase and drilling, to an average of 50,000 barrels per month. Mr. Cochran is in entire charge of all the field operations of the company and has achieved a splendid degree of suc- cess in his work. S. C. Lewis, a Dallas attorney, is president of the company.
The Lewis Oil Corporation was organized in March, 1921, and now has valuable production in the Burkburnett field, Northwest Extension, Texhoma and Electra fields. The company has from 35 to 50 employees in its field force all the time drilling new wells and cleaning out and increasing the production of old wells. Mr. Cochran keeps in close personal touch with all this work.
Mr. Cochran was born' at Paris, Arkansas, in August, 1894, and is a son of T. A. and Amanda (Barker) Cochran. His father is a farmer and cot- ton grower and also has extensive lumber interests. He is 88 years of age.
After attending the public schools at Booneville, Arkansas, Mr. Cochran entered the University of Arkansas where he graduated with the degree of bachelor of arts with the class of 1915. After re- ceiving his degree he engaged in high school work as teacher and coach in athletics for a year and then was with Pershing's army on the border and in Mexico during the Villa expedition. In March, 1917, he was discharged but re-enlisted at Fort Logan H. Root, Arkansas, and received a commission as second lieutenant. He was assigned to duty as instructor at Camp Pike and promoted to first lieutenant. He remained on duty at Camp Pike until after the close of the war and received his discharge in February, 1919.
Mr. Cochran engaged in the oil business and first operated in the Oklahoma fields, remaining there until July, 1919, when he came to Wichita Falls to build a refinery here. The Lewis Oil Corporation took over Mr. Cochran's holdings.
An enthusiastic booster for Wichita Falls, Mr. Cochran predicts a great future for the city. He is unmarried and is a member of the Masonic Lodge, holding membership with Blue Lodge No. 36 at Okla- homa City. He is also on the rolls of the American Legion and University Club.
ARRY L. PETERSON, of 211 North Austin Street, is the proprietor of the Dallas house retailing the International Harvester Com- pany's machinery. This business embraces nearly everything that is used on a farm in the way of machinery, and the business covers the city and surrounding territory. Mr. Peterson came to Dallas in 1917 from Houston where he had made headquarters while traveling for the John Deere Plow Company for seven years. Ten years he was with the Emerson Brantingham Company and then sold the J. I. Case plows two years. Thus he has for a long period made a specialty of handling ma- chinery and knows it thoroughly from a guage pin on up. He employs two capable men regularly in
his business and augments their services with ad- ditional force during the harvest time which, with rush orders, is usually an exceptionally busy time. In 1917 Mr. Peterson established his present retail connections and he distributes upwards of $10,000 worth of machinery annually.
Mr. Peterson was born in Windsor, Colorado, Jan- uary 14, 1878, of Adolphus H. Peterson and Mary (Everhart) Peterson. The family moved to Ohio where they lived twelve years. In 1890 they re- moved to Texas and located at Marshal, lived there two years and then went to Dublin. Two years later they came to Dallas where they have remained. Harry Peterson gained his education in the public schools of Ohio, Colorado and Texas. His first busi- ress was as salesman for the J. I. Case Plow Com- pany and he retained a position as salesman for various companies until he was thoroughly ac- quainted with-machinery and all its usefulness and this experience yielded him practical knowledge along the selling end of his chosen profession of handling farm machinery.
On October 18, 1900, Harry L. Peterson and Miss Blanch Hancock were married and of their union there are five children, Genevieve, Harry L., Jr., Frederick Homer, Hugh Server and Earl Hancock. The family lives at 209 East Tenth Street. Mr. Peterson is a member of the Oak Cliff Methodist Church, a member of the Cedar Crest Country Club and the Oak Cliff Commercial Club.
UCIAN M. MCLENDON, Jr., of the Dal-Tex Milk Products Company, Inc., Dallas, as secretary and treasurer of his company, is a chief milk pasteurizer and distributor for a city of over 180,000. According to the professor of chemistry at Columbia University of New York City, there is as much food value in one quart of whole sweet milk as there is in two pounds of chicken, or eight eggs, or two pounds of steak. The food value of milk, both in quantity and in its form, is one of the greatest essentials to proper physical development; hence it is indispensable for the young and growing. That this food supply for the multi- plied thousands, who are daily utilizing it, be a food pure and not a source of disease, is a chief l'usiness with the Dal-Tex Milk Products Company. Producers from all sections bring their milk thither where it is pasteurized, bottled and then sold to the grocer who distributes it to the consumer, or, now, delivered to the consumer direct as the Dal-Tex Milk Products Company not only does a wholesale business but a retail business as well, delivering to the homes. Other members of the firm, which was established in 1917, are Thomas R. Mclendon, pres- ident, and Alex Karavantas, vice- president. The company also is interested in the Denton Dairy Products Company of Denton.
Mr. Mclendon is a native of Dallas; he was born in that city on May 5, 1892. His parents are Mr. and Mrs. L. M. Mclendon of Dallas. The Dallas public school system provided the education for the youth, and then, as a young man, he entered the typewriter business in which he was engaged until the launching of the present-day business, four years ago.
On June 18, 1913, in his home city, Miss Frances Wright, of Waco, Texas, became the bride of Mr. Mclendon. Mr. and Mrs. MeLendon now have resi- cence at 419 North Willomet Street.
Mr. Mclendon is well known not only to commer-
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MEN OF TEXAS
cial circles of Dallas, but to the civic and social hfe as well. He is a Mason, identified with the Blue Lodge No. 705 of Oak Cliff, Dallas, Consistory No. :, a Shriner at the Hella Temple, a Kiwanian, a member of the Civiton Club and a member of the Dallas Chamber of Commerce. His church affilia- tion is with the East Dallas Christian Church.
The Dal-Tex Milk Products Company, Inc., repre- «ents the latest in science as applied to health in food products and will have an ever increasing place to fill in the welfare of the city.
S. MOSS. A new phase of the Romance of the West is seen in the fact that a vast area of over two million acres lying in twelve counties has artesian water available at the rate of one thousand gallons per minute per well at the average depth of fifty feet. H. S. Moss, realty man dealing in Ranch and Farm Lands, 522 Bob Waggoner Bldg., Wichita Falls, is a leader in the development of this vast area and by his persistent application and management has added fortunes to the yield of Texas farms in the Northwest. The West has made Texas a leader among cattle produc- ing states; the West today has brought the Lone Star State to the forefront among Uncle Sam's oil pro- ducing fields; and the West today, contrary to the thought of the past, is bringing in, throughout the two million acres of the so called "shallow water country" the heaviest agricultural yields in the state in alfalfa, kafir, milo maize, feterita, sorghum, corn, Sudan grass, wheat, oats, barley, rye, millet, enimer, sugar beets, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, beans, peas, any vegetable, peanuts and cotton to the extent of two bales to the acre! And the "shallow water country of northwest Texas" could not have better facilities for transportation than those available through its proximity to the Santa Fe Lines which, through their various branches and mainline con- nections, traverse eleven of the twelve counties of this territory. As scientific farming comes more into use, the public everywhere will realize the advantage the northwest has over other districts. Besides his activity in the "shallow water country," Mr. Moss is developing some of Wichita County's best lands.
Mr. Moss began his business career in the real estate business in California where he had twelve years of success in the fruit ranches of Southern California. This work was interrupted by his enter- ing the Army in the late war, at San Diego, in June of 1917, in the Berkley Ground School. His intro- duction to the Lone Star State during the war days won him for Texas and in 1919 he opened his busi- ness in the Northwest with Wichita Falls as his headquarters.
L. DEMPSEY, manager for Wilson & Co. (Packers), 1906 Live Oak Street, came to Dallas in 1911 and in August 1918 was a ;- pointed to his present position. This con- cern was established in 1903 under the firm name of Schwartzchild & Sulzberger under which they opera- ted until 1916, when the name was changed to Wi !- son & Co., maintaining the branch houses in prac- tically every state in the Union as well as Cuba. The Dallas branch occupies a three story building 50x100 feet and their warehouse at 1900 Live Oak Street, has a floor space of 10,000 square feet. As manager of the Dallas branch, Mr. Dempsey has un- der his supervision forty employees, with five cit; salesmen and seven men working the country trade
On leaving school Mr. Dempsey first held a clerk ship in the offices of the National Biscuit Company at Salen, Massachusetts, later being promoted to the position of Cashier, which he held for five years. going from there to New York, then going as branch manager for the same company to North Carolina. He left this firm to become District Manager for Kellogg Toasted Corn Flakes Co., with headquarters in Georgia, where he remained for one year, leaving this company to accept a similar position with the Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company in Long Island City. He was for two years branch manager for the Na- tional Biscuit Company at Dallas and in 1917 became city salesman for Wilson & Company at Dallas, be- ing appointed to his present position in 1918.
Mr. Dempsey was born in Boston, Mass., in 1884, son of P. F. Dempsey, merchant, now deceased. and Margaret Walsh Dempsey, now residing in Boston. He was educated in the public schools of Peabody, Massachusetts and the Salem Commercial College. In 1913 he was married to Miss Gertrude Davis, of Waxahachie, Texas. They have no children.
Although he has traveled extensively and lived in various cities of the United States, Mr. Dempsey de- clares that "Dallas is the Best" and he intends to make this his permanent home.
B. GOTTSCHALL, owner of L. B. Gottschall & Co., wholesale electric devices, 2002 Live Oak Street, has a thriving business that rivals any wholesale concern in the South. Mr. Gottschall is gifted with shrewd business jude- ment, and this coupled with his pleasing personality, is responsible for his success.
The L. B. Gottschall Company carries electric ma- chinery and equipment, including electric controlling devices, electric instruments, generators, exhaust and ceiling fans, and desk fans. They also handle insulated wire and cables. Mr. Gottschall is the Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas representative of The discovery of the "Shallow Water Country" through twelve counties of the Northwest where wells, according to the machinery engaged for lift- ing water delivery from 600 to 3,500 gallons per minute, the power and pump, and not the supply, being the determining factor has brought a gold mine to the farming industry: to have water just at the time it is wanted, in just the quantities wanted, for the following nationally known concerns: Marlin- Rockwell Corporation, New Haven, Connecticut: Howell Electric Motors Company, Union Electric Manufacturing Company, Roller-Smith Company. Batterman Truitt Company, and the Peerless Flec. tric Company. He personally covers the territory, and is recognized by his large clientele as an author- ity on electrical machinery. The volume of business any crop or field desired, masters the weather-and- - conducted by this firm amounts to more than Sim,- 000 per year.
crop situation, producing the ideal. These counties will make the northwest the most dependable and Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 23, ! .... Mr. Gottschall received his education in the ta schools of that city, supplementing this by a s' di course in business college. In 1905 he came to in the best developed part of the state, resulting in the best farms, the best country homes and improve- ments and the happiest people. Mr. Moss and his corps of workers have made a real contribution to . la as the representative of the Buckeye Electric It the development of the state.
vision of the National Lamp Works of the Ger. ...
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS
Eleetrie Company. He still represents those people, his establishment being a branch offiee of that eom- pany. The other part of the business is owned by Mr. Gottschall.
His marriage to Miss Kittie Rife, daughter of R. E. Rife, prominent business man of Austin, was celebrated in Dallas on April 14, 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Gottschall have two children, Lester, Jr., and Robert.
Mr. Gottschall is a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of Scottish Rite No. 2, Hella Temple Shrine, the Lion's Club and the Dallas Jovian League. He is optimistic in his predictions for the future of the eity, and instrumental in the advance- ment of all welfare work and municipal improve- ments.
ONNOR O'NEILL, independent oil operator and one of the best posted oil men in all Texas, has operated in nearly every field of the United States and literally knows the oil business from the ground up and from the same location down. He is an expert driller, a splendid judge of formations and an expert lease man. He enjoys a distinction held by but few oil men in that he was born on a lease where his father was at that time drilling an oil well and consequently has grown up in an atmosphere of oil activity.
At the age of ten years young O'Neill was operat- ing a chain of pumps and began drilling before he was of age.
Coming to Wichita Falls in 1917 he got in on the ground floor of development in some of the best fields of this section and was very successful. He has some valuable holdings in the Northwest Ex- tension of the Burkburnett field and in South Electra, with a good deal of settled production. He also has some good holdings at Humble.
He was born near Bradford, Pennsylvania, in 1887, a son of Connor O'Neill, for many years a well known eastern oil operator. He attended the publie sehools in Pennsylvania and West Virginia and followed in his father's footsteps in the oil in- dustry. He worked in the oil fields of Pennsylvania and West Virginia from 1898 until 1903 when he came to Texas and located in the Sour Lake region where he remained until 1905. He then went to Oklahoma and remained there until 1907 when he returned to Texas and began operating at Humble. In 1909 he went to Electra where he re- mained until 1915 after which he operated again at Humble and the Batson field until coming to Wichita Falls in 1917.
Mr. O'Neill was married at Wichita Falls on Jan- uary 5, 1922, to Miss Henrietta La Byer, a native of Niles, Michigan. They reside at Brook Manor Apartments on Eighth Street.
Mr. O'Neill has unbounded faith in the oil fields of Texas and believes they are good for many years to come.
OHN CLARK JOPLING, operating under the firm name of J. C. Joplin & Co., and being sole owner and manager, with offices in the City National Bank Building, has reared a number of monuments to his ability as. a builder and construction man in a number of Texas towns and cities, and makes a specialty of heavy construction work, such as o lice buildings, hotels, churches and schools. He has handled large build- ing contracts at Corsicana, Trinity, Houston. Denton, Wichita Falls and other Texas cities, and is favor- ably known for the very high character of his work
and the satisfactory service given to his clients. At Denton, Texas, he erected, to the satisfaction of a carefully selected building committee, the large ad- ministration building and two other large build- ings for the State Orphanage, besides one large educational building. At Wichita Falls he built the Floral Heights Methodist Church, an addition to the telephone exchange at the corner of Ninth and Seott Streets, the Freer Furniture Company build- ing, the Best Bean Coffee House and a large apart- ment house, besides several fine residences, which he built to sell, making the building and selling residences a feature of his business.
In March, 1921, Mr. Jopling and associates took over and reorganized the Western Land and Gravel Company. Mr. Jopling became president of the eompany.
Mr. Jopling came to Texas with his parents at an early age from Newton County, Mississippi. where he was born July 22, 1884. His parents were T. C. and Mary (Watkins) Jopling, and his father was a farmer and eentractor, but gave most of his time to his farming interests. He attended the schools of Ellen and Trinity, Texas, and on October 7, 1915, was married to Miss Annie Pritch- ett of San Angelo, Texas. They have their home at 1631 Lucile Street, and Mr. Jopling is affiliated with the Wichita Club, the Elks, the Chamber of Commeree and is a Mason and Knight Templar, and a member of the Maskat Shrine.
He is one of the live wires of Wichita Falls, and is helping in more ways than one to make it the best eity in the state.
OMER L. JOHNSON, manager of the Hom- er L. Johnson Company, wholesale produce dealers, 2012 Cadiz Street, came to Dallas in 1906 and for five years was connected with J. M. Riley Company, withdrawing from the firm in 1911 to engage in business for himself. The firm of Homer L. Johnson Company has met with splendid success since its organization, distributing its products to the wholesale trade only throughout all north Texas and part of Oklahoma. The firm owns and operates its own eold storage plant and employs a force of fifty people. The best produce grown is gathered from all parts of the country, but the bulk of the shipments made to the Johnson Company comes from the H. Hartner Produce Co., of Denver, the California Vegetable Union and the Cali- fornia Fruit Growers Association, both of Los An- geles. Mr. Johnson is also president of the Merch- ants Produce Company.
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