The encyclopedia of Texas, V.1, Part 49

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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County Court House. From this comparatively meager beginning has grown that widely known in- stitution which marks the climax of a long merchan- dising career and is the pride of the Southwest. The business is now wholesale, retail and manu- facturing in its scope. It is the largest wholesale house in the Southwest in its line. A large New York office is maintained by one member of the firm and the importing end of the business is one of the largest of the sort in that city. More than a thou- sand employes are used, doing an annual business of from twenty to twenty-three million dollars. In 1919 the firm, which a little more than fifty years before, had begun with "but little cash and less credit" was reincorporated with a capital stock of ten million dollars.

The account of this enterprise, which covers a period of more than fifty years, forms one of the most interesting chapters of Texas history. Truly the slogan "Not a store but a Texas institution" is fully borne out by this long and eventful career.

Alexander Sanger, whose life has been intimately associated with the firm which bears his name, was born in Obernbreit, Bavaria, Germany, May 8, 1847. His parents were Elias and Babetta Sanger, his father being a merchant. He received his early education in the schools of his native country and at the age of thirteen he became an apprentice in the dry goods business of M. Benario in his native town. In 1865 he came to America where he was

followed a year later by his parents and thr ... sisters. The family first located in Cincinnati, Oi .. where Mr. Sanger entered the mercantile establis? ment of Heller Bros., as bookkeeper. Two year later, in company with four others, he bought . .. this firm and operated it for five years under th .. name of Ochs, Lehman & Company. In 1872 he v ... moved to Texas and joined the firm of Sang, Brothers at Corsicana. Since that time he has bre closely identified with the progress of the firm at . his own genius has not been the least factor in it. remarkable success. On January 1, 1919, he became president of the corporation of Sanger Brothers.

In addition to this interest he is vice-presider. of the Dallas Trust and Savings Bank, director .: the City National Bank and director of the Texa- State Fair, of which he was president in 1894. H. is past president of the Dallas Chamber of Com- merce and was regent of the University of Texas for the term of 1911-1917. He is director of the Dallas Public Library and the National Jewish Hospital for Consumptives. Denver, and is director and past president of Temple Emanu-El, Dallas, and is a thirty-third degree Mason.

On May 11, 1879, Mr. Sanger was married 10 Miss Fannie Fechenback, daughter of Samuel Fech- enback of Cincinnati. Mrs. Sanger died in 1895, leaving one son, Elihu A. Sanger.

DWARD TITCHE, merchant, with fifty. three gigantic departments supplying every type of metropolitan need from the hous( furnishing department to every clothing need of either sex from infancy to old age, Edward Titche, senior member of the firm and president of the Titche-Goettinger Company, is one of the leading merchants of the South. Other ofcers of the firm are Max Goettinger, vice-president; H. H. Landauer, secretary. The establishment is one of the handsomest in the South, housed in the Wilson Building, a twelve story structure of pressed brick and terra cotta with steel frame, its dimensions. 100 feet by 200 feet, facing Main, Ervay and Elm. Its show windows on the ground floor have a street frontage of 360 feet, divided into thirty-seven plate glass fronts and the floor space of the main build- ing amounts to 67,500 square feet. The fixtures throughout are of solid mahogany and green Wilton carpets cover the floors of the garment and millinery departments. The motto of the establishment, now familiar to and appreciated by a city, is "Quality. maximum; price, minimum."

Mr. Titche was born in Winnsboro, La., the son of Lazarus and Bettye (Haas) Titche. He came to Dallas more than twenty years ago and has since been active not only in his own personal business but in all enterprises that pertain to the welfare of the general citizenship of Dallas. Civic organiza- tions have benefited from his organizing ability and helpful influence as well as the firm of Titche- Goettinger.

Mr. Titehe finds time to be a participant in the social life of his peers. He is a member of the Scottish Rite Masons, the Elks, the Shriners, the Columbian Club, and other social and commercial organizations.

Mr. Titche and his organization are both perma- nent in the large place they have and will have in the future of Dallas.

216

MEN OF TEXAS

W. FERGUSON, President of the Home Trust & Savings Bank, 10th and Lancaster Streets, Oak Cliff has been identified with the Mortgage Loan and Banking business in Datlas for the past fifteen years. The Home Trust and Savings Bank was organized in October 1921, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars and a surplus of ten thousand dollars. It is a guaranty fund bank and its deposits will be protected by the State Guaranty Fund. The banking room is modern in every detail and courteous, efficient service is the watch word of this new banking institution. The officers besides Mr. Ferguson are J. D. Rose, Vice- President and Edwin P. Gaston, Cashier. .

Mr. Ferguson was born at Winona, Mississippi, on Sept. 14, 1877. His parents are J. M. Ferguson and Ruby C. (Lane) Ferguson and they came to Texas in 1880, settling in Dallas County. Hugh W. Fergu- son was reared on the farm where he remained until he was twenty one and until he had completed his public school education when he then began the rail- road business which he followed for nine years.

In 1906 he began the real estate business, here he discovered his real talent and ability and in this industry he has been at the forefront as a leader since. He made a specialty of the mortgage busi- ness for several years and in 1919, availing himself of the Federal Farm Loan Act, he organized the Dallas Joint Stock Land Bank of which he was Presi- dent until the organization of his present bank.

In 1908, Miss Jane J. Searcy of Austin, Texas, was wedded to Mr. Ferguson. Searcy Monroe and H. W. Jr. are their two children and the family residence Is 423 West Ninth Street.

Mr. Ferguson is a Praetorian, a member of the Dallas Country Club, the Cedar Crest Country Club, and of the old famed Dallas Club. He has attained eminent success in two realms, the realty business and the banking world, and in the latter he will con- tinue to occupy a place of leadership and state wide usefulness through much time to come.

R OBERT L. THORNTON, president of the Dallas County State Bank, is a striking ex- ample of the men who having come from the farm and being educated largely in the school of experience climb to the top of their pro- fession and make worthy contributions to the life of their chosen fields. While he makes no claim to know all about the banking business, he has set some precedents in e.f.ciency and economy which have caused his business associates to take notice.

Mr. Thornton organized his present bank in Octo- ber, 1917, with a capital of $100,000, which was in- creased later to $250,000 with a surplus and undi- vided profits of $150,000. Today the assets amount to over $2,500,000. In October, 1920, the bank moved into its new quarters, which are modern in every respect. The bank was instrumental in having the building erected.

Mr. Thornton was born in Hico, Hamilton County. Texas, August 10, 1880, and seven years later the family moved to Ellis County. His parents were William and Polly Ann ( Weatherby) Thornton. The public schools of Ellis County furnished his early "lucation which was only an introduction to that Tral education which was to come later from actual contact with commercial life. Until he was twenty years old Mr. Thornton remained on the farm, doing the things that a farm boy usually does. In 1910

he came to Dallas and took a position as traveling salesman for the National Candy Company of St. Louis. He later established a book and stationery company known as Thornton and Bracy. He retired from the active management of this concern in 1915 to go into the banking business and sold his interest in it in 1919. He was at one time a member of a private banking house under the name of Stiles, Thornton and Lund. For one year he was with the Citizen's State Bank and Trust Company in charge of the loans and savings department.

Mr. Thornton was married June 1, 1905, to Miss Mary Stiles. There are two children, Katherine and Robert L., Jr. The Thornton residence is at 5314 Gaston Avenue.

The phenomenal growth which the Dallas County State Bank has experienced under the presidency of Mr. Thornton is abundant proof of his ability as a business man and financier.

Mr. Thornton is a director of the Texas Inter- urban Railway Co.

In addition to being a great factor in the com- . mercial life of Dallas he also takes a prominent social place. He is an active member and past president of the Dallas Rotary Club, a Shriner and a member of the Hella Temple Fraternity.

ARL L. WHITE, vice-president of the firni of White and Company, bankers, Lancaster, is a financier well known to business inter- ests of Texas and comes of a banking house that is also one of the pioneer families of the state. The term "White & Company" for nearly a quarter of a century has stood for reliability, good manage- ment and finance and has "sterling value" wherever used. Its beginning was on May 16, 1898, at Lan- caster, where the home office and bank still is; branch banks are operated at Wilmer and at Redoak, all owned by the family, with over a million dollars backing. Other members of the institution are Mrs. L. F. White, the mother, age seventy-seven, but who is active in the banking world and a lead- ing spirit at all director meetings; H. E. White, who supervises the farming interests which are ex- tensive; and B. E. White, attorney-at-law.

Mr. White is a native of Lancaster, Texas, where he was born in 1873. His father. William White, a native of Tennessee, came to Lancaster in the early fifties; he was a broker, cattleman, farmer and cotton merchant. The mother. Louisa (Ellis) White, is a rare woman, queenly in her nature and feminine and yet at the same time endowed with unusual business ability. She is a banker of note, and came to Texas with her parents when she was a child. The public schools of Lancaster provided the school- ing of Karl L. White. He began work as a young man in the flour mills at Lancaster on a salary and later owned an interest in the mill. Here he con- tinued for five years, until 1898, when he entered the organization of "White & Company, Bankers," as cashier; in this capacity he served until 1920, when he became vice-president.

In 1911, in Sparta County, Tennessee, Miss Lula Tubb became the bride of Mr. White. She is a native of Tennessee, daughter of J. R. Tubb, of the Sparta Spoke Company. Laura Louise, age three, is their daughter; the family residence is on South Center Street.

Mr. White is a thorough Mason to the thirty- second degree and a Shriner at the Hella Temple.

217

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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

DWIN J. KIEST, President of the Times- Herald Printing Company, publishers of the oldest evening daily newspaper in Dallas, has for over three decades been closely identified with the civic and commercial progress of the Texas Metropolis. He has not only been a staunch supporter of but a leader in every enter- prise whose purpose has been for the improvement and betterment of Dallas and to Dallas' leading newspaper, the Times-Herald the city owes much of its municipal progress.

During his whole career, Mr. Kiest has been en- gaged in the newspaper business. Ile was born in Cook County, Illinois, September 21, 1861. His parents were Rev. John C. and Barbara Kiest. His father being in the ministry, Edwin J. received his education in the public schools of the various towns in which Rev. Kiest held pastorates.

Mr. Kiest's first introduction into the world of printers ink was as a newsboy in Chicago. He later worked in the composing and press rooms of various Chicago Dailies and also took a turn as reporter. He later worked a year for the Elgin Watch Com- pany at Elgin, Illinois, the three years following in the retail grocery business of that city. He again however, went back to the newspaper business and was connected for a time with the Western News- paper Union. In 1891 while associated with this Company, he first came to Dallas and remained in their employ here for five years. In 1896 Mr. Kiest bought the Daily Times-Herald, Dallas' oldest evening newspaper and under his management this paper has always been in the lead.

Mr. Kiest has not only personally, but through his newspaper, always supported everything that re- dounded to the progress of the city of Dallas. For years, from 1908 to 1911 inclusive, he was President of the State Fair of Texas. In 1920 he was again elected to that position of honor, serving two years. He is a Director of the Dallas Chamber of Com- merce and life member of the Dallas Art Association, member of the City Club, Dallas Athletic Club, Dallas Club, Glen Haven Country Club. In Masonry he holds a 32 degree K. C. C. H., Membership in Hella Temple Shrine.

The marriage of Mr. Kiest took place in 1893 to Mrs. Elizabeth Patterson Lyon of Dallas. Mrs. Kiest who took a prominent part in the world of art was a staunch helpmeet during the period of nearly a quarter of a century. Mrs. Kiest died July 7, 1917.

OBERT RALSTON, senior member of the firm of Robert Ralston & Company, Loans, with offices in the Dallas County State Bank building, Dallas, bears the distinction of being at the head of one of the oldest loan com- panies in Dallas.

Mr. Ralston followed the same business in Fargo, North Dakota for five years before coming to Dallas in 1896, when he organized his present company with the object of lending money on farming and city property in Texas. The company obtains its principal capital from England and Scotland and has been no small factor in aiding in the develop- ment of the Lone Star State. Mr. Ralston person- ally attends to the inspection of securities and true to the tradition of his forefathers, has built up a staunch and conservative organization.

In 1886 Mr. Ralston came to the United States, from England, locating in Fergus Falls, Minnesota,

later going to Fargo, North Dakota, from which place he traveled all over the United States as inspector for the Scottish Loan Company, until coming to Dallas in 1896.

Mr. Ralston has backed his belief in the future of Dallas in a practical way and has helped to build up the business section of the City. At present he owns a three story building on Commerce Street and a two story building on Akard Street. Always pub- lic spirited he takes a keen interest in civic affairs and philanthropies, having at one time been director of the Y. M. C. A and assisting in the work of the United Charities.

Mr. Ralston was born in England, March 13, 1865, of Scottish parents. His father, Nivon Ralston, was a well known land factor of Scotland and his mother, Miss Jessie Gibson was also of Scotland. He received his education in the Edinborough Merch- ant Company Schools of Edinborough, Scotland, and was married in February, 1892, at Carry Penna., to Miss Marian Wilber of an old Pennsylvania family. They have four children: Mrs. K. W. Dick of Chi- cago, Robert W., with the Wyatt Metal & Boiler Works of Dallas, Marian, just home from Baldwin School of Bryn Mawr, Pa., and Harry, now attending Culver Militay Academy of Culver, Ind. The family reside at 3517 Cole Avenue.

Mr. Ralston is a member of the Dallas Country Club, City Club, Fin and Feather Club, Chamber of Commerce and Brook Hollow, and for fifteen years was an officer in St. Matthews (Episcopal) Cathed- ral.

He expresses great faith in the future of Dallas and Texas and maintains that the people are just beginning to learn of the vast resources of this great state.

E. FORREST, in charge of promotion of the Texas Bitulithic Co., 1101 Praetorian Building, Dallas, has been active in business, social and fraternal circles during the past seventeen years in this city. His first a.nliation with this type of business was eight years ago and for six and a half years he was the general manager of the Pierce interests in the two states, Texas and Louisiana.

Mr. Forrest was born in Michigan on January 2nd. 1881. His parents were J. E. Forrest and Agnes J. Weir Forrest. As a Michigander, Mr. Forrest was educated in the public schools of that state and then in the University of Michigan where he received his law degree in 1902. Two years later he came to Dallas, Texas, where he practiced law for the first one and a half years and then became, in 1906. assistant postmaster. He continued serving the pub- lic in this capacity for six years. In 1912 he joined his interests with the Pierce-Fordyce Oil Association, of which he was later made general manager. From this position he entered the Steiner Corporation as vice president. On July 15, 1921, Mr. Forrest went with the Texas Bitulithic Co.

On April 9th, 1912, Mr. Forrest married Miss Marguerite Walker. They have two children, Mar- guerite Walker Forrest and LeNette Tucker Forrest. Their residence is at 3509 Lexington Avenue.

All the Masonic orders have found their expression in Mr. Forrest. He is a Scottish Rite Mason, 32d degree K. C. C. H., Past Commander of the Dallas Knight Templars, and Past Potentate of the Hella Temple.

218

Ed wing Kiest

MEN OF TEXAS

LEXANDER CHAS. GARRETT, Bishop of Dallas. With more than three scores of years of intense and pure devotion to his faith, and with nearly one-half a century as a spiritual shepherd in Dallas with its surround- ing territory, Alexander Charles Garrett, Bishop of Dallas, is known and beloved by two generations over thousands of square miles in the Southwest. He is both founder and president of St. Mary's College where he resides. At present his jurisdic- tion extends over 40,000 square miles with many thousands of his communicants to care for as well as to serve as a College President.

Alexander Charles Garrett was born at Ballymota, Sligo County, Comought Province, Ireland, on November 4, 1832. His father was Reverend John Garrett, for fifty years rector of the Episcopal Church of Ballymota, his ancestors for three genera- tions back have been rectors of churches. The mother was Elizabeth (Fry) Garrett, of Roscommon County, seven miles from Dublin. Alexander Charles was the youngest of fifteen children, of whom five brothers entered the clergy. All the family is deceased. He attended the school for Sons of Irish Clergymen at Lucan, near Dublin; at the age of eighteen he entered college and in June of 1855 he graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree. Dur- ing his college training he taught in Scotland, re- turning to Dublin every six months for examination; his last two years in college required resident work but he taught in Dublin schools along with this work. In July, 1856, he was ordained by the Bishop of Winchester and for one year served as curate in Allon. In 1857, he was ordained to the Priesthood and until 1859 remained in Ireland.

In September, 1859, he volunteered for missionary work and was sent to Victoria, Vancouver where he remained until 1869. San Francisco was the seat of his activity from 1869 until 1872 when, in March of that year, he was transferred to Omaha, Nebraska, where he was Dean of Trinity Cathedral. In 1874, he attended the general convention of his faith at New York City, was elected Bishop on October 20, 1874, consecrated on December 20th, and on December 31, 1874, nearly fifty years ago, arrived in Dallas as Bishop of Dallas and had a territory of 100,000 sq. miles under his jurisdiction, extending from Texar- kana to New Mexico and from north Texas as far south as Brownwood. In 1895 a separate diocese was organized as population increased, and the Bishop's territory today includes 40,000 sq. mi. In 1883, he obtained the twenty acres which are today the site of St. Mary's College, which College was opened September 10, 1889, and that first year had twenty- four pupils all of whom were boarders. May 27, 1920, closed the thirtieth school year and there were 197 pupils of whom about a hundred were boarders, and the curriculum extends clear through the college course.

Alexander Charles Garrett was wedded to Miss Letilia Hope, daughter of a prominent lawyer of Dublin, Ireland, who was the "Queen's Council of Dublin." Henry Garrett and Alexander Charles Garrett, Jr., are their two sons, both of whom reside in Dallas. The wife has been deceased since 1909.

The Bishop of Dallas is a Mason to the thirty- third degree, a Shriner at Hella Temple, is identi- fied with the Red Cross of Constantine, and is a mem- ber of the Men's Club of St. Matthew's Cathedral. He is an educator of renown, a philanthropist, a

shepherd, all of which work is included in his posi- tion as Bishop, beloved of Dallas and his state.

EMPLE HOUSTON MORROW, grandson of General Sam Houston, vice-president and general manager of the McAdams Lumber Company, has a career in the lumber busi- ness that reads like romance. It is romantic be- cause as a college graduate he began work for the Wm. Cameron Lumber Company at the salary of $10 a month! One who lives in the high-price period of 1921 would think that such things happen only in books; for six years he served as an apprentice with this company-and there is more romance. Nobody of ordinary folks would guess that a college graduate would serve for years as an apprentice, but that is what happened, and here we see the persistence of a Houston and the results of a real education-he stayed with it and at the end of six years of such service he was made the manager of a local lumber yard and then in a few more years he was manager of the entire retail interests of the Wm. Cameron Lumber Company for Texas and Oklahoma. From that, Mr. Morrow has gone to bigger place after bigger place. Today he is one of the big lumber directors of the Southwest.

Mr. Morrow was born at Round Rock, Texas, on August 13, 1878. His parents were Captain J. C. S. Morrow, a Confederate war veteran, and Nanny E. (Houston) Morrow, the oldest daughter of Gen. Sam Houston. After completing the public school system of Georgetown, Texas, Mr. Morrow entered Southwestern University, Georgetown, from which he graduated. In 1896 he left Georgetown for Quanah, Texas, where he entered the employ of the Wm. Cameron Lumber Company, on August 5th. For six years he served as an apprentice; having started out on $10 a month, when in 1902 he be- came manager of the Cameron Lumber Yard there. He remained for four years in this capacity and in 1906 he moved to Waco and took the general man- agement of the retail interests of Cameron & Com- pany in Texas and Oklahoma. For eight years he continued in this capacity, when, after eighteen years employ in this one company, he moved in 1914 to Beaumont as manager of the Geo. W. Smith Lumber Co. In 1915 he engaged with Mr. McAdams for a few months, followed by a year with Harris Lipsitz Co., and then, in February, 1917, he became vice-president and general manager of the A. G. McAdams Lumber Company. Since July of 1915, Dallas has been his location.

In 1898 Mr. Morrow married Miss Fannie Carl, deceased since 1906. They had four children, Carl, Otto, Temple, Jr., and a daughter, Frances. In 1908, Mr. Morrow married Miss Earl Hanna, of Quanah, Texas. The family residence is at 60512 West Tenth Street.

Mr. Morrow is a Scottish Rite Mason, of the thirty-second degree; he is also a Shriner, a W. O. W. and a Knight of Pythias. He is teacher of the Muse Brotherhood Bible Class at the Tyler Street Methodist Church and an official in the church or- ganization. His hobby is fishing and music.

.As one who knows how to persevere, as one who is a graduate of both a college and the university of experience where he has learned the secrets of big business, as also from the viewpoint of ex- perience and leadership, Mr. Morrow is really one of the big business men of Texas. In his realm, as a lumber director, he is without a peer.

219

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

AJOR K. M. VAN ZANDT, president of the Fort Worth National Bank, Fort Worth, is a pioneer banker of Texas and one of the best known of his profession as well as honored and revered. Coming to Fort Worth in 1865, he has a career interwoven with the history of Fort Worth in its growth from a hamlet to the metropolis that it is today. He is the founder and director of some of its greatest financial institutions.

Mr. Van Zandt was born in Franklin County, Ten- nessee, on November 7, 1836. His father was Isaac Van Zandt, the United States minister that ne -. gotiated the treaty of annexation that annexed Texas to the United States. He died at the age of thirty-four. His mother, Frances Cooke Lips- eomb Van Zandt, came to Texas in the spring of 1839. Her son was schooled in the public schools of Texas and then for two years in Franklin Col- lege at Nashville, Tenn., which was burned by the Federals in the Civil War. In 1865, K. M. Van- Zandt came to Fort Worth where he began his career as a merchant with a small stock of goods purchased on eredit. He followed this work for eight years when, in 1874, he with Thomas A. Tidball, J. P. Smith and J. J. Jarvis each put in $5,000 and started the bank Mr. Van Zandt today is president of, but which at that time bore the name of Tidball, Van Zandt & Company. Today the bank's capitalization is $600,000, with a surplus of $1,000,000, and $500,- 000 undivided profits It was in January of 1884 that the former name was changed and the present organization launched with Mr. Van Zandt as presi- dent, Mr. Tidball, vice-president ,and N. Harding as eashier. Upon the resignation of Mr. Tidball, Major Jarvis was elected vice-president and later Colonel R. L. Ellison became vice-president. Mr. Van Zandt has also received note as a lawyer. He studied law in Marshall, Texas, where in 1859 he was admitted to the bar. He was a member of the Thirteenth State Legislature, of 1872-73. As a soldier, he has proven himself a leader in a third realm. He was in the entire four years' struggle of the Civil War, entering as a 2nd lieutenant, a prisoner for seven months, then fighting, under General Johnston who promoted him to the rank of Major, later in Briggs' Army, and then, due to failing health, he was sent baek in post duty. Few men of today, if any, have proven themselves of first rate value in so many eallings-banker, legislator and soldier.

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The encyclopedia of Texas, V.1, Part 49

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