The encyclopedia of Texas, V.1, Part 113

Author: Davis, Ellis Arthur, ed; Grobe, Edwin H., ed
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Dallas, Texas Development Bureau
Number of Pages: 1204

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On November 2, 1910, Miss Sibyl Kemp, daugh- ter of J. A. Komp, of Wichita Falls, became the bride of Mr. Maer. To them two children have been born: Newton Kemp Maer and Sibyl Maer.

A man so prominent as Mr. Maer has social duties to perform for his city. Accordingly he is a di-

rector of the Chamber of Commerce, a thirty-second degree Mason, a Knight Templar, is a charter mem- ber of the Maskat Shrine, a member of the B. P. O. E., vice-president of the Wichita Club, charter mem- ber of the Wichita Falls Country Club and of the Forrest Hills Country Club. His church affiliation is Presbyterian.

When it is recalled that it is altogether possible for a citizen of Wichita Falls to live in an apart- ment or a residence built by Mr. Maer, to don an immaculate white shirt washed by him, to ride in a car bought of him which rolls over pavement laid by him, and then enjoy a lighting system installed by him, and to transact his business, enter a sky- scraper office building promoted by Mr. Maer-one begins to realize how intimately Mr. Maer is con- nected with every development of his thriving metropolis. His genius is seen everywhere. No wonder he has an innumerable host of friends and is one of Texas' immense business men.

ALPH C. DUNKELBERG, oil operator, First National Bank Building, Wichita Falls, is aggressive in a territory of big business and has attractive interests and

holdings. He operates in his own personal holdings only. He is now active in both the Electra and Burkburnett fields. At one time he had an interest in nine producing wells, eight of which were located in the Electra territory, the other at Burkburnett. While he does considerable brokerage in both wells and leases, he mostly buys and sells and operates all on his own account. The coming of the West into the rank of leading oil fields of Uncle Sam's oil producing sections, means an aggressive de- velopment and growth unprecedented.

Mr. Dunkelberg is a native of Indiana. He was born at Fort Wayne of that state, on November 29, 1897. His parents were Charles A. Dunkelberg, de- ceased since 1918, and Annie C. Crockett Dunkel- berg. The schools of Indiana gave the lad his first education, then came the school at Port Deposit, Md., and after that the University of Michigan. In the latter institution Mr. Dunkelberg studied in the department of engineering. In 1918 the Dunkelberg family had moved to Texas and located at Wichita Falls. Ralph C. Dunkelberg at once began the oil business and has continued in it ever since except for a few months of interruption by military serv- ice. In March,. 1918, he enlisted in the navy. Later he was transferred to the Naval Aviation Depart- ment. He was trained in the ground school of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Flying School, on Bayshore, Long Island, N. Y. He was discharged on November 20, 1918.

Mr. Dunkelberg is a "bachelor." He resides at Kemp Kort. He is active not only in business but in the social life of his city. He is a Shriner in the Mizpeh Temple of Fort Wayne, and also a member of the B. P. O. E. His church affiliation is Presby- terian.

Youthful, energetic and with oil interests already in his possession, Mr. Dunkelberg will be active

ARVIN T. FLEMING, manager of the Oak Cliff Paper Mill, Station A, Dallas, Texas, is at the head of one of the oldest manu- facturing concerns in the city of Dallas. Ile is a partner with W. T. Fleming of this factory which turns out an enormous amount of business, furnishing wrapping paper to most of the large

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MEN OF TEXAS

: asiness firms of Texas and Oklahoma. Mr. Fleming , of Irish descent and four generations of his family Have been in the paper manufacturing business in the old country and since coming to the United states. It is needless to say that he knows his busi- wess thoroughly, a fact that is responsible for the unusual degree of prosperity which his concern en-

The Oak Cliff Paper Mill was established in 1894 :wenty-eight years ago. Although a wide variety in grades of paper is manufactured, wrapping paper is the chief product. In 1920 the output of the mill reached the grand total of 4,500 tons of paper. To carry on a business of this size, forty-three em- ployees are engaged in the mill and two salesmen are kept on the road, one for covering Texas terri- tory, while the other works Oklahoma. The factory owns its own power plant and also owns 1,000 feet of trackage. From 400 to 500 cars are loaded at the mill and shipped to various Texas and Oklahoma points each year.

Mr. Fleming was born in the picturesque city of San Jose, California, in 1873. His parents were John G. and Catherine Fleming of that state. Mr. Fleming was educated at Mt. Angel College in Port- land, Oregon, and upon completing his schooling, turned naturally to the business that had become a tradition in his family. For a time he was con- nected with the Crown Columbian Paper Manufac- turing Company of Oregon City, and later with the Briddle Mill Pulp Company. In 1894 he and his father came to Dallas to establish the paper factory they now own.

His marriage to Miss Albertina Riard, of New Orleans, took place in Dallas in 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Fleming have three children, Merrie, John and Ervin T., Jr.

Mr. Fleming is a member of the Roman Catholic Church, the Chamber of Commerce and the Texas Chamber of Commerce.

ILLIAM BERNARD McDOWELL, vice- president of the Strait Scale Company, Dal- las, is virtually a pioneer in the scale busi- ness in Texas. He is now at the head of an organization which cares for the business of the entire southern territory, selling and installing large scales for railroad cars, wagons and trucks, in fact all kinds of what are known as "heavy scales" to oil mills, ginners, various kinds of supply houses and railroads throughout the south.

He is a native of Kentucky and at the time of his birth, June 24, 1867, his parents, J. J. and Mary (Clover) McDowell, were living in Covington. He attended schools nearby in Ohio, but later finished his education at the public and high schools of St. Louis, Missouri, where his parents eventually re- moved. Here his father became engaged in the pig- iron business.

The younger Mr. McDowell began his business career in St. Louis with the firm of D. R. Francis and Brothers, grain dealers. He afterward worked for the Meacham Arms Company in St. Louis, but eventually came to Fort Worth to work for the Howe Scale Company and remained in their employ for ten years. In 1890 he was offered a position with the Fairbanks Company in New Orleans and with them he remained about two years and re- signed. It was then that he made his connection with the present company.

. Mr. McDowell is a firm believer in the future of

Texas, and he is particularly confident as to the showing that Dallas will make for herself in the years to come. Here he has a wide range of ac. Quaintances and is an ardent supporter of ever! worthy public movement. His name may be found on the rolls of Lodge No. 71 B. P. O. E., and he Was ene of the first to subscribe his support to the organization of the new Dallas Athletic Club.

M. WHEELER, president and general man- ager of Ye Planry, Dallas, is the man fe . sponsible for the establishment of a busi- ness built around an original idea. and which has become one of the leading industries of the city.

Ye Planry was organized in 1915 by F. A. Dernier, of Los Angeles, L. T. Durnier, of Dallas, and Mr Wheeler. The purpose of the company was to fur- nish every kind of plan to prospective builders. and to maintain in each office high class architects prepared to design any kind of building that might be desired. The service is for the benefit of retail lumbermen and independent builders, the idea being that a man who is going to build a home is inter- ested in that home as a whole, instead of the price of doors, sashes, windows, etc., as independent units. Ye Planry offers to retail lumbermen plans, speci- fications, actual photographs and estimates, on every kind of house or building that a prospective builder might be interested in. They help the lumbermen to advertise, and succeed through his success.

The firm has branch offices in Los Angeles, Kansas City, Denver and Spokane. The home office in Dal- las employs twenty-five people and occupies the entire second floor of a building at 190116 Live Oak Street. About seventy-five persons are employed in all the offices, and the very best architects and designers obtainable are secured. Since the estab- lishment of this firm in 1915 thousands of plans have been furnished to independent builders, lumbermen and contractors.

A Kentuckian by birth, Mr. Wheeler was born in Glasgow on March 4, 1876. His parents were W. C. and Cora Sanders Wheeler, Kentuckians who owned a large plantation. He graduated from the high school of Glasgow in 1892 at the age of sixteen and entered Bowling Green University, teaching during the summer months. His first business position was traveling salesman for Williamson Halsell Frazier, wholesale grocer. After a year at this he came to Dallas and for three years was cashier and also had charge of the statistical department of the Telephone Company. About this time Mr. Wheder organized a toilet goods manufacturing company known as the Baker-Wheeler Manufacturing Com- pany, making such a success of the undertaking that in 1912 he sold his one-half interest at a handsome profit and entered the automobile and tire business. His duties with this company took him to New York. but he soon returned, liking Dallas too well to settle elsewhere permanently. After returning he became interested in real estate, investments and house building, the demand at this time being greater than ever before. Gradually the plan of his present ly ... ness worked itself out in his mind, and in ??: materialized in the establishment of the firm. ? "- first of its kind in the world, and now known : - 1 coast to coast.

He was married on January 24, 1901, 1 % . Mary J. Johnson, daughter of J. M. Johnson, pr. ..... nent lumberman of Dallas. Their city home :' a'

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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

Forrest and Myrtle, and they also own a beautiful country place near White Rock.

Mr. Wheeler is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, Auto Country Club, Kiwanis Club, one of the organizers of the Dallas Ad League and a member of the Masonic Lodge.

W. CULBERTSON, City National Bank Building, in the realty, oil and gas business, is well known among the big oil producers of Texas.

Mr. Culbertson is a native of Pennsylvania. He was born in Westmoreland County of that state on November 6, 1875. His father, A. Culbertson, was · a pioneer oil man of Pennsylvania. and his mother was Levinia Moats Culbertson. The Quaker state gave the youth his education and then he began the oil business under his father's direction and asso- ciation. In 1900 he went to California oil fields where he worked in the Kern County fields and later in the Coaling district. He remained here for four years and then came to Texas in 1904. For six years he was engaged in Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois and Pennsylvania. Hc has three brothers in the oil business-O. H. Culbertson in Pennsylvania, H. J. Culbertson in Tulsa and J. G. Culbertson of Wichita Falls, who is better known as head of the Wichita Falls Motor Co., and selected by the Republican party of Texas as their standard bearer in the gubernatorial campaign in 1920. Mr. Culbertson is manager of the Wichita Falls Gas & Oil Company and as such operates in Petrolia. Except the real estate and leases they hold, this company sold its interests to the Lone Star Gas Company, including the gas rights and equipment. Mr. Culbertson is also manager of the John & Jeff Oil Company which operates in territory southwest of Electra in the district formerly known as the Culbertson pool, but now known as Waggoner Brothers Ranch. This company has eight producing wells. The C. & C. Ranch, located in Clay County is owned by Mr. Culbertson and his father. He is also a director of the City National Bank of Commerce, ex-vice- president and director of the Wichita Motor Com- pany, and has many interests in real estate and oil.

Mr. Culbertson has materially assisted in the up- building of his city, being one of the group of oil men who promoted the ercction of the City National Bank of Commerce Bldg. With Mr. Kemp he erected the Kemp and Culbertson Building, in the 900 block on Ohio Street. He was, also, one of the men who aided financially in the building of the Kemp hotel.

In 1907, at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Miss Jeanne Davidson of that city became the bride of Mr. Cul- bertson. They have two children -- Wiley and Sarah Elizabeth. The family residence is at 1100 Harrison Street. His church affiliation is Presbyterian, which he serves as an elder. Mr. Culbertson is a member of the Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce and of the Country Club. He has always identified himself with every worthy interest of his city and his state and both rank him as one of the first citizens.

ACK G. CULBERTSON, well known manu- facturer, is president and general manager of the Wichita Motors Company, makers of the celebrated Wichita Motor Trucks which are now in use in eighty-four different countries and in every state of the Union. The company was organized in 1910 and in 1911 incorporated. The factory is located on a thirteen acre tract of land and the factory buildings cover five acres of floor

space. The company has 275 employees in its plant and offices at Wichita Falls and two hundred agents actively engaged in the distribution of Wichita trucks and tractors. The plant has a capacity of five hundred trucks per month and manufactures seven different models and also a farm tractor which is expected to rival the truck in popularity. Other officers of the Wichita Motors Company are J. W. Culbertson, vice-president, and J. A. Kemp, chair- man of the board.

Mr. Culbertson was born in Knox, Clarion County, Pennsylvania, in 1883 and is a son of Albert Culbert- son. He attended the public schools and the Pennsyl- vania State University where he specialized in me- chanical engineering. He completed his course in mechanical engineering and did considerable post graduate work.

He began his active business career in 1907 doing engineering and construction work in various parts of the United States, Cuba and Mexico. Most of his work was on power plants and he has a number of large, successful installations to his credit.

Besides his work as chief executive of the Wichita Motors Company Mr. Culbertson is president of the Texas Employers Association and is actively in- terested in the oil industry in Wichita County. He also is a director at large of the State Advertising Association and is a director and vice-president of the Texas Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Culbertson is a Republican in politics, has been a staunch supporter of Republican principles and was elected as their standard bearer to lead the party in the gubernatorial campaign in 1920. Received the largest number of votes ever given a Republican candidate in this state.

Mr. Culbertson is a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of Maskat Temple Shrine and of Dallas Consistory No. 32; he maintains membership in the Wichita Falls Golf Club, the Ad Club, Rotary and University Clubs and the Wichita Falls Chamber- of Commerce. One of the signal honors conferred upon Mr. Culbertson was his selection as a member of the National Foreign Trade Council, made up of seventy men in the United States chosen as rep- resentatives of the largest commercial and industrial interests in the country. In the developing of the foreign trade of the United States this council has rendered invaluable service to the commercial and industrial organizations throughout every portion of America.

Mr. Culbertson is unmarried and resides at 1008 Van Buren Street.

MOS J. MITCHELL, member of the M. & V. Tank Company (a co-partnership), City National Bank Building, moved to Wichita Falls in 1918 and formed a partnership with F. E. Van Wormer. They are manufacturers' agents and general distributors for bolted steele tanks, representing the Butler Manufacturing Cem- pany of Kansas City. The firm does a general job- bing business in Texas, Kansas, Wyoming, Montana. Louisiana, California and Mexico. They also sell redwood and cypress tanks and do a retail business in this district. Mr. Van Wormer is in charge of the office of the company in Wichita Falls, which is the headquarters, and Mr. Mitchell looks after the outside domestic and foreign business. He and his partner are also independent oil operators in this field and hold leases in other parts of the state and Louisiana.

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Prior to going into business at Wichita Falls Mr. Mitchell was in the tank business in Kansas and Oklahoma. At one time he represented the Eastern Tank Company of Chanute, Kansas. He has also been an oil operator in Ohio and other places. He keeps in close touch with the oil development of the country and is enthusiastic over the outlook for the industry in Texas, expressing the belief that the state will continue to be one of the leading oil states of the United States.

Mr. Mitchell came originally from Scranton, Pa., where he was born in 1871. His father, R. Y. Mitchell, was one of the pioneer oil men of Pennsyl- vania. His mother was Lydia (Avery) Mitchell. He was educated in the Pennsylvania schools.

He lives at the Kemp Hotel, is a member of the Wichita Club and the Chamber of Commerce and is always found among the live wires of his city who are working to make Wichita Falls the leading city of Texas. He travels quite extensively, visiting all the prominent oil districts of the United States and other countries.

JOHN T. WARE, manager of the J. W. Ware Company, 2103 Ross Avenue, dealers in druggists' sundries, has, in a remarkably short time, come to be one of the prominent factors in the drug business of Texas. The unusual success of the enterprise of which he is the manager furnishes abundant proof of his business efficiency and of his knowledge of the field. He is associated with his brother, J. W. Ware, who in addition to his business here, owns a half interest in the Ware & White Company of Atlanta, Ga., carrying a similar line of supplies. The J. W. Ware Company. estab- lished in 1914 by the Ware brothers, has had a vig- orous growth from its very beginning, in spite of the somewhat depressed conditions, due to the war, under which it was launched. Steadily its patron- age has been extended until it now covers all of Texas, Louisiana and South Oklahoma and parts of Mississippi and Arkansas. Eight salesmen are on the road and five other employes are in the office. Stocks and bonds totaling from forty to fifty thou- sand dollars, furnish part of the financial basis and a business closely approaching a quarter of a million dollars is carried on annually.

Mr. Ware was born in Seale, Alabama, May 19, 1884. His parents are Judson J. and Lavina Ware, nee Keys. The public schools of Alabama supplied his early education though his keen business insight has come, as it always does, from the school of practical life. At the age of twenty-six Mr. Ware entered the wholesale drug business in Denver with a brother, A. P. Ware, where he remained for four years. Partly through the influence of his brother, J. W. Ware, who had been traveling in Texas for fifteen years for Lampton, Crane and Ramey Com- pany of Louisville, he came to Dallas and started the same line of business he had been engaged in at Denver. Two years later the present establishment was conceived and began its history, having as its most valuable asset the combined experience of the Ware brothers and their large acquaintance . with the field as a whole. Six thousand square feet of floor space are used and everything in the general line of drug sundries is handled.

In 1915 Mr. Ware was married in Chicago to Miss Genevieve Zahn, of Lincoln, Nebraska. There are no children. The Ware home is located at 1509 North Peak Street.

Mr. Ware is a member of the A. F. & A. M., having taken the Scottish Rite and Commandery degrees. He is also a shriner, retaining his mem- bership in the El Jebel Temple of Denver. He has been actively associated with the Chamber of Com- meree during his entire residence in Dallas.

John T. Ware is one of the men who early in life recognized that it is not possible to establish and maintain a business on any other principles than those of just representation and genuine service. To these ideals he has coupled an interest in his work, an abundance of energy and enthusiasm and tireless industry. With such qualifications, it is not surprising that he has climbed rapidly and gives promise of taking one of the foremost places in his field of endeavor.

OHN A. FISHER, owner of the John A. Fisher Company, 1102-1104-1106 Wood Street, Dallas, with branch establishments at 535 South Flores Street, San Antonio, and in the city of Houston, Texas, has the distinc- tion of having founded the only business of its kind in the Lone Star State-distributing paper products. The organization was effected in 1909 and serves the wholesale trade only, being direct distributors for manufacturers and state manager for the Ad- vance Bag and Paper Co., of Middleton, Ohio. Print- ing is done for other paper houses. The paper busi- ness as it is interwoven with the commercial life is an immense industry. It has its share in every activity of public trade, from wrapping the small parcels of the thousands of drug stores or shops of small articles, to the enclosing of the miles of dry goods of the fashionable places. All this labelled wrapping comes from somewhere and the John A. Fisher Company strives to secure this part of the business. When one considers that Texas consumes $5,500,000 worth of wrapping paper, bags and kin- dred lines, one can fully appreciate the possibilities of the paper business in Texas. Mr. Fisher has secured a lot 75x90 feet on South Lamar Street and he expects to build a seven-story paper warehouse during 1922.

Mr. Fisher is a native Texan, he was born at Jefferson in 1865. His parents were Mr. and Mrs. John Fisher from the state of New York. They came to Texas, locating at Jefferson, in 1854, and are thereby among the pioneers of the eastern dis- trict of our state today. The Lone Star State gave the youth his education. Mr. Fisher came to Dallas in 1886 and has been a leader among the business men from that date. He was identified for five years with the Boedeker Ice Cream Company and then went into the jewelry business. Later he began selling paper lines as a traveling salesman, saw the immense possibilities of the industry and the result was the John A. Fisher Company of today.

In 1890, at Dallas, Miss Nellie Guy Steere, daugh- ter of Mr. and Mrs. John A. Steere, from Devon- shire, England, became the bride of Mr. Fisher. J. Earle, Eleanor A., Abent R. and Dorothy Ann are their children. The family has residence at 4918 Swiss Avenue.

Mr. Fisher is identified with the Lakewood and the Automobile Clubs, the Chamber of Commerce and the Open Shop Association of his city. Quiet and unassuming, yet he is felt in any realm which he enters and at once is assigned a place with those who achieve. He has made a sure place in Dallas for himself and in the Southwest for his business.

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OSEPH L. MAYFIELD, City National Bank Building, oil operator, is president of the Natural Gas Company which is having a

years in California, doing literary work at Pasa- dena. In 1904 he went to Okmulgee, Oklahoma and there spent two years building the Okmulgee interur- big part in the immense development of . ban railroad. In 1906 he moved to Tulsa where he the Wichita County and North Texas oil fields. The spent over a decade in oil geographical operations. coming to Texas and locating in Ft. Worth in 1918. company holds a large number of producing wells whose combined daily flow is enormous. Associated with Mr. Mayfield in official capacity are J. L. Staley, first vice-president of the company, and P. P. Lang- ford, second vice-president and C. C. McDonald, secretary and treasurer. Besides his interests in connection with the company, Mr. Mayfield operates independently extensively and holds nearly 100,000 acres in leases and royalties and fee in all oil sec- tions of northwest Texas and New Mexico.

Mr. Mayfield was born at Kosciosko, Miss., on March 7, 1878. His parents were L. R. Mayfield, a cotton planter, and Leona Leinbauch Mayfield. In 1881 they yielded to the call of the Lone Star State and came to Texas where they settled at Dublin. After a thorough course in the Texas public schools, Mr. Mayfield attended the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio, from which he graduated in 1896. He then spent one year in travel; for the next two years, 1897-99, he taught school in Texas. In 1900 he mined for gold in Colorado. From 1901 until 1904, he followed the mercantile business and from 1905 until 1908 he was interested in stock ranches in western Texas where he raised horses and cattle. From 1908 until 1911 Mr. Mayfield traveled for a Baltimore whole- sale clothing house out of Dublin, Texas. In 1911 he followed the call of the wild cat in the oil business at Electra, and after two years of such experience he scouted acreage for other parties for two more years. In 1915 he returned to Electra and operated on the MeLaurin tract. Here he met with big suc- cess and has continued operations extensively ever since.

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The encyclopedia of Texas, V.1, Part 113

Author: Davis, Ellis Arthur, ed; Grobe, Edwin H., ed Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Dallas, Texas Development Bureau Number of Pages: 1204

Author: Davis, Ellis Arthur, ed; Grobe, Edwin H., ed
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Dallas, Texas Development Bureau
Number of Pages: 1204