The encyclopedia of Texas, V.1, Part 57

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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way through another pass and thereby the Con- federates were compelled to change their position but their new situation was not desperate. General Frazier, however, in spite of the fact that his of- ficers and men thought otherwise, was terrified and sent flags of truce. The northerners began to put up their guns opposite Col. MeEntire's position, and as General Frazier offered no relief, Col. McEntire, then lieutenant, gave the order to his men to fire and himself so aimed a cannon that he came near dismounting one of the enemy's guns with the result that the Union men in front of McEntire's foree retreated. General Frazier ordered young MeEntire arrested for this but the order was never executed as General Frazier himself surrendered all his forces.

This ended Col. McEntire's fighting experiences. As he was a Mason, he was permitted to go unat- tended first to his home in Georgia to see his family for a few days upon his word of honor that he would take himself from there to the Federal prison on Johnston's Island, Lake Erie, Ohio. This he did. From his first entering the war, young McEntire proved himself very proficient and was the best trained man of his battalion, apt in military science and practice.

On June 12, 1865, Confederate prisoners were re- leased and Mr. McEntire gathered up the remnants of his fortune and re-entered the wholesale grocery business at Atlanta. In 1868, he moved his business to Rome, Ga., and added to his wholesale establish- ment a large flour and grist mill. In 1873 he came to Texas as a representative of several large eastern cotton spinners and for some time he virtually con- trolled the western market. In 1880, he became in- terested in western lands, purchased in what is now Sterling County ranch lands which he has made famous as the U-Ranch, with the late Col. C. C. Slaughter and with J. B. Wilson, he many times took thousands of head of cattle overland afoot to graz- ing lands of Kansas, Nebraska and even Wyoming, and was a man well known to the St. Louis and Chicago markets. Until his death, Col. McEntire was one of the most active of Texas cattlemen, and he, as much as anyone, possessed that spirit of hos- pitality, so characteristic of the West that the poet has written-

Out where the hand clasps a little stronger,

Out where the smile dwells a little longer,

That's where the West begins;

Out where the sun is a little brighter,

Where the snows that fall are a trifle whiter,

Where the bonds of home are a wee bit tighter,

That's where the West begins.

Out where the world is in the making,

Where fewer hearts in despair are aching, That's where the West begins;

Where there's more of singing and less of sighing. Where there's more of giving and less of buying, And a man makes friends without half trying-

Col. McEntire was giving tangible expression to this spirit of the big West which so possessed him when he made it a custom to banquet and picnic the daughters of all his Civil War comrades of his own battalion each year and in one summer he employed a special car through the mountain regions of Vir- ginia and Tennessee to take the daughters of his comrades for a month's vacation and tour through regions in which he and their fathers had fought in

Mr. McEntire was one of the organizers and di- rectors of the old American National Bank, was later a director in the Commonwealth National Bank, and at the time of his death was an active director of the Security National Bank. one of the big banks of the South.

On November 23, 1865, Lieutenant McEntire was married to Miss Missie Carmelar Burnett of Georgia, and to them four children were born, three of whom survive him: Lula (Mrs Leslie B. Clark). Geo. H. McEntire and R. B, McEntire, both of the last two now ranchmen in Sterling County, Texas, owners of the famous U-Ranch. 3805 Swiss Avenue, Dal- las, for the last forty years has been the MeEntire residence. Their church affiliation is Methodist.

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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

M ANSON HORATIO WOLFE, of the firm of M. H. Wolfe & Co., cotton merchants, 501 Cotton Exchange, Dallas, is known inter- nationally as a big cotton man. He is first vice-president of the Security National Bank, chair- man of the Texas Land Securities Syndicate, a di- rector of the M. K. & T. Ry. of Texas, the Ex- porters Realty Company, and of the Will A. Watkins Music Co .- as a man of big business, and then in addition a philanthropist and man known and loved by thousands of the common people. He is a lecturer and speaker of rare eloquence and in the world of Christian activities is the same giant that he is in the business world ..

Mr. Wolfe is a native Texan; he was born near Wolfe City, on December 10, 1866. His parents were Lemuel Pinkey and Penelope Katherine (Jack- son) Wolfe. The public schools of Bonham, Texas, and Bonham College at the same city, gave him his education. Since then he has been in the university of experience where it did not take him long to learn the secret of big business. In his home city he soon attained the highest positions of honor and business; he was president of the Wolfe City National Bank from 1902 until 1906, and once mayor of the city. But his choice at the outset for a busi- ness career was with the cotton industry. He en- gaged in the cotton business, at Wolfe City, in 1896 which he continued there until 1905 when he came to Dallas and established the firm of M. H. Wolfe & Co. From that date on, Mr. Wolfe has been a leader in all Dallas activities, and, in fact, a leader among the foremost of the state.

In 1890, at Wolfe City, Miss Anne L. Cole, of LaGrange, Ga., became the bride of Mr. Wolfe. The family residence is at 5124 Swiss Avenue, Dallas .:

Mr. Wolfe is chairman of the board of deacons of the First Baptist Church; president of the Baptist City Mission Board, Dallas; chairman of the Finance Committee, of the Baptist Sanitarium, Dallas; chair- man of the Executive Committee Southern Baptist Convention; chairman of the Texas State Prohibition Committee, and managed the campaign that won the prohibition victory in the primaries election of 1916; he was chairman of the committee of 500 and man- aged the campaign that made Dallas County dry. He is also president of the Texas Sunday School Association. As a Democrat, he has served as chair- man of the Democratie State Executive Committee of Texas, and has also done national work.

Judged from the fruitfulness of his career, Mr. Wolfe is really one of the big men of Texas and of the South.

ENRY L. EDWARDS, president of the H. L. Edwards and Co., Cotton merchants, 701 Cotton Exchange Building, heads one of the largest and oldest established cotton firms in the South. From its organization in Greenville in 1887 its growth has been steadily upward until now there are few companies transacting as large an amount of business. For more than thirty years it has been operated in Dallas and thousand of bales of cotton have been exported and sold to New Eng- land and Southern Spinners. In 1915 the firm was incorporated under the laws of the State of Texas with a capital stock of $200,000 and now has a large surplus. Associated with Mr. Edwards are the fol- lowing well known men in the cotton business. F.

J. Phillips, vice-president; C. B. Buxton, vice-presi- dent and W. M. Gunn, secretary-treasurer.

Henry L. Edwards was born in Presteigne, Wales, of John James and Jane Peene Edwards. He re- ceived a thorough education in private English schools. However, the call of the west reached him and in 1880, after finishing school, he came to Texas. He located at a sheep ranch in the western part of the state where he became Texanized.

The sheep business evidently did not have much of an appeal, for in 1884 Mr. Edwards moved to Paris where he went to work for a cotton man. Three years later he established his own business in Green- ville.

Mr. Edwards was married to Miss Caro Fries Buxton at Winston Salem, North Carolina, in 1910. Miss Buxton was a native of North Carolina. They have a daughter, Elizabeth Stuart. Their home is situated in a beautiful spot on the Preston road.

Mr. Edwards is an enthusiast in the great game of golf and was one of the organizers and was the first president of the Texas Golf Association. He is a player, par excellence, and in 1906 won the Texas State Championship, and has been one of the most active supporters of the game since it was started. In fact Mr. Edwards and a former acquaintance, Mr. R. E. Patton, were the first to start the game in Texas in the year 1896. He is a member of the Dal- las Country Club, the City Club, Dallas Automobile Club and Brook Hollow Club.

Few men have as wide a connection with the cot- ton world as does Mr. Edwards. He is a member of the Liverpool Cotton Association, the Texas Cot- ton Association, the New York Cotton Exchange and the Dallas Cotton Exchange. He believes not only in keeping in touch with the business here but seldom misses a year in going back to England.

He is widely connected in business in Dallas and is a director of the Texas Bitulithic Company, Arthur A. Everts Co., and many other Dallas Corporations. He is a member ofthe Dallas Chamber of Commerce and Manufacturers Association and other civic or- ganizations.

Mr. Edwards is that very happy combination of successful business man and thorough sportsman. Through his many business and social affiliations he has builded himself an acquaintanceship of which he can be justly proud. He is one of the builders of Dallas and has helped that city become the metrop- olis of the Southwest.

J. RUSSELL, president of the company bear- ing his name, exporters of cotton, 406 Cot- ton Exchange Building, is one of the larg- est Texas shippers of cotton to foreign ports and each year thousands of bales of the fleecy staple are sent by him to the merchants and brok- ers of Europe. Due to this activity he has estab- lished wide connections with foreign buyers which is appreciated by a large clientele. His knowledge of this particular phase of the cotton business has been gained through almost thirty years of close application to exporting, for it was in 1893 that he started buying cotton in Plano and selling it to foreign shippers.

In 1907 the firm of Stephens and Russell was formed in Dallas but five years later Mr. Russell

248

MEN OF TEXAS

took over the business and changed the style of the firm name to that which it now bears. Under his direction the company has expanded to the point where it now stands as one of the largest exporting establishments in the state.

Mr. Russell comes from one of the old established families of Texas, was born in .Plano, Collin County, Texas, September 4, 1868. His parents, Joseph W. and Julia E. Boman Russell, had lived there for many years, his father being a prominent stockman and farmer. His grandfather was Joseph Russell who migrated to Collin County in 1844 where he also farmed and raised stock.

Finishing the public schools at Plano, Mr. Russell attended Southwestern University at Georgetown, Texas. He was also a student at Staunton Military Academy of Virginia. After finishing school he was married to Miss Bessie M. Halsell on September 15, 1890. Miss Halsell was a native of Richmond, Vir- ginia. Their children are Mrs. G. A. (Edna) Parr and Julia and John Russell. Their home is located at 3517 Gillon Avenue.

Mr. Russell is identified closely with the business and social sides of Dallas life. He is a Mason, mem- ber of the Chamber of Commerce and Manufacturers Association, City Club and affiliated with the Meth- odist Church. He also belongs to the Dallas Cotton Exchange and the Texas Cotton Association. Mr. Russell is interested in agricultural lands in Collin and Dallas Counties, where he raises cotton and grain.

He quickly identified himself with the building up of Dallas after taking up his residence here and he has always taken a keen interest in the progress of this city.

ILLIAM B. STARR, proprictor of the con- cern bearing that name, cotton brokers and dealers in spot cotton, has been a prominent figure in the cotton business since he estab- lished himself in Dallas in 1909. He entered into the cotton business in Waxahachie in 1896 where he learned the details of the business and for 13 years represented a large foreign cotton concern. In 1909 he established his own business in Dallas, and is one of the largest and most highly respected firms in the city. Mr. Starr has not confined himself to the brokerage end of the business, however, for he is the active secretary-treasurer of the DeLeon Com- press and Warehouse at DeLeon, Texas. Neither are his activities restricted to the Dallas Cotton Ex- change, for he also is a member of the New Orleans Cotton Exchange.

The intimate knowledge which Mr. Starr has of cotton, its cultivation, gathering and preparation for the market, has given him an advantage in carrying his business on successfully and has given the patrons of his company much confidence in his ability. When he went to work on his father's cot- ton plantation he did not consider it drudgery but did take it as an opportunity to learn a business which will always be the greatest in the Southland. His close application at that time has made him an authority and he is so considered by those who have . business dealings with him.

William B. Starr is a native Texan, having been born in Ellis County, February 22, 1875, of William B. and Sarah A. E. Browder Starr. His father came to Texas from Alabama in the sixties. His mother was the daughter of Dr. J. M. Browder who was one

of the pioneer settlers of Dallas, coming here when the city was nothing more than a few stores and buildings.

Mr. Starr received his education in the public schools of Ellis County. On leaving school he went to work on his father's farm where he remained until he had learned all that he could of the cotton business, which line he desired to follow. He then entered the cotton business in Waxahachie in 1896 where he learned the details of the business. Thir- teen years later he moved to Dallas which offered a larger field of activity.

On April 14, 1904, he was married to Miss Jose- phine Lesem in Dallas. His wife was a native of Gillespie, Illinois, but came to Texas about 1900. Two children have come of this union, William Trice and Sadie Frances. Their home is located at 1721 Peabody Avenue.

Mr. Starr takes an active part in the business and social life in Dallas. He is a member and worker in the Chamber of Commerce and Manufacturers' Association and retains his membership in the B. P. O. Elks of Waxahachie. He is one of that group of big men that has made Dallas one of the largest inland cotton markets in the country.

AZEWALL N. KING, cotton exporter and shipper, manages the Lone Star activities of Humphrey and Company which main- tains offices around the cotton and manu- facturing world. And Mr. King is an aggressive manager to be stationed at the heart of the Cotton Empire for the vast system of marketing, shipping and exporting, that the millions of acres of the Texas staple demand. The Dallas activities of this com- pany were launched in 1918 though the firm was established some thirty years previous, with home office at Greenwood, Mississippi, by W. R. Hum- phrey, who to this day is the firm's sole owner. with its twenty branch offices.

Mr. King was born in Texas, at Clarksville, in 1885. His father, R. J. King, as a business man of many years, is one of the most widely known and honored men of that city. His father gave him much helpful training in his business capacity, and im- mediately after his eductaion in Clarksville, Tazewall N. King began to manifest an interest in the market- ing of the White Fleece that rivalled the interests of the Argonauts who went in search of the Golden Fleece milleniums ago. For three years he was with W. M. Hannay and Company, a firm similar in activi- ties to the corporation that Mr. King today repre- sents. It was in 1905 that he first came to Dallas as being a marketing center that could afford him better advantages.

In 1907, Clarksville, that had been his birth place and the scene of his school days, gave Mr. King his bride in the person of Miss Bonnie Sherry. There are no children. Mr. and Mrs. King have residence at 48021% Live Oak Street. They hold membership in the Automobile Club of Dallas.

It is because of exporters and shippers like Mr. King that Texas farmers have an outlet immediate and far reaching for their chief product, and that Dallas leads the markets of the Southwest in its output of the White Fleece. With offices that cover the cotton producing world for the intaking of the celebrated staple and with offices throughout the manufacturing world for its outlet, Mr. King is one of King Cotton's big merchantmen.

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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

ERCY R. FREEMAN, partner and manager of the firm of Alexander Eccles and Com- pany, Cotton Exporters, 401 Cotton Ex- change building, has devoted his business hife to the cotton industry and for the past twenty- six years has been an important figure in commercial circles in Dallas. Mr. Freeman has won the reputa- tion of being a business expert and an authority on everything related to the buying and selling of cot- ton. For this reason, when Alexander Eccles and Company decided to open a branch office in Dallas in May 1901, Mr. Freeman was chosen as the man best fitted to put at the head of it.

The firm of Alexander Eccles and Company was established in Liverpool, England in 1850 by Alex- ander Eccles, noted financier and capitalist. Under Mr. Eccles the concern expanded rapidly until it was deemed expedient to open branch offices in America. Shortly after he had succeeded in doing this, Mr. Eccles died. His heirs took up the business, manag- ing it so successfully that now it is one of the largest as well as one of the oldest cotton concerns in the world. Two sons of Mr. Eccles who lived in Liverpool are senior partners together with Mr. J. D. Little of the firm and manager of the Liver- pool business. In America besides the Dallas of- fice, there are now offices in Little Rock, Memphis, Savannah, New Orleans, and Boston. The Amer- ican representatives buy their cotton from the planters themselves and sell direct to English Spin- ners. Enormous consignments are sent from the United States yearly, shipments leaving every im- portant southern port.

Since coming to Dallas, Mr. Freeman has ever been optimistic as to the future of the city which is evi- denced by his extensive investments in city property. He was a charter member of the Dallas Cotton Ex- change organized in 1907, becoming director and vice-president at that time, later serving as its third president, and was a member of the building commit- tee of the Dallas Cotton Exchange building. Mr. Freeman was also one of the charter members of the Shippers Compress Company and of the Inter- state Compress Company, in addition to being inter- ested in various other compress companies through- out the northern part of Texas.

The First part of Mr. Freeman's life was spent in Illinois, where he was born in 1860. His parents have been dead many years. He was educated at Sewanee University and went at once into the cot- ton business. He was associated for many years with the firm of A. A. Paton and Company of Dal- las, winning the reputation while with them of being a force in the business world.

Mr. and Mrs. Freeman were married in Memphis in 1881. They have two daughters, Mrs. S. C. Skiel- vig and Mrs. Philip Lindsley. Percy Richmond Free- man, Jr., the only son, died on the 31st of January, 1920. He had been connected with his father in business for ten years, and was a young man of sterling qualities and great promise. The Freeman home is in Highland Park, 3716 Beverly Drive.

Mr. Freeman is a member of Texas and Dallas Chambers of Commerce, the City Club, Dallas Country Club, Brook Hollow Golf Club, and the Episcopal Church.

J. MANNING, senior member of the firm of Manning, Grinnan and Company, cotton ex- porters, 415 Interurban Building, has spent a life time in the cotton and cotton seed on matters pertaining to the export trade in the South. He has been in Dallas for three years, com- ing here from Terrell in 1918. During a residence of twenty years in Terrell, he handled cotton and cotton seed products and was president of the Ter- rell Cotton Oil Company. This company had one of the largest cotton seed oil mills in the state with a capacity of one hundred tons of cotton seed per day.

Mr. Manning was born at Saint Louis on Feb- ruary 6, 1848, was educated at Christian Brothers College in Saint Louis. In January, 1885, he re- moved to Texarkana and was there for eight years as manager of the plant of the Arkansas Cotton Oil Company. From Texarkana Mr. Manning went to Denison where he organized a company and erected a cotton seed oil mill which he operated successfully until 1896 when he went to Terrell and engaged in the same line of business. Mr. Manning's family consists of four daughters, all of whom are living in Dallas.

The cotton exporting firm of which Mr. Manning is the head is one of the largest shippers of cotton from this section to England, Switzerland and France and has connections with large cotton factors in all parts of the civilized world where cotton is extensively used. Although past three score and ten years of age, Mr. Manning is still as active as many men who have not reached even the meridian of life and takes a keen interest in every detail of the business.

Mr. Manning is a director of the American National Bank at Terrell and of the Dallas Trust and Sav- ings Bank and is a member of the Dallas Country Club.

AY THEODORE CLARK, proprietor of H. T. Clark & Co., cotton exporters at 314 South- land Life Building, has built up a growing and a prosperous business in the two years that he has been in Dallas. They ship cotton all over the world, mostly to Manchester. From 40,000 to 50,000 bales are handled by this firm per year. There are fifteen employees in the Dallas house. Branch offices are located at Greenville, Corsicana and Kaufman.

Mr. Clark was born at Fayetteville, Tenn., in 1876. His father, D. S. Clark, a farmer in Tennessee, moved to Texas in 1880. His mother, Harriet Kimes, was a Tennessean also. Mr. Clark was educated in the Texas public schools. He is a graduate of Grayson College with the degrees of B. A. and M. A. In 1907 he was married to Miss Linna Williams, of Greenville, daughter of W A. Williams, president of Greenville National Bank. Mr. Clark has two children. Wm. David and Sara. His home is at 3648 Stratford Avenue, Highland Park.

Previous to his coming to Dallas, in 1918, Mr. Clark had his head office at Greenville for eight years. Practically all of his business experience has been in the cotton business.

He is a member of the Dallas Country Club, City Club and Dallas Automobile Club. Mr. Clark is in- terested in civic enterprises and on account of his pleasing personality he has a way of making people feel at ease.

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MEN OF TEXAS

1. YOPP, general manager of the Associated Manufacturers of Cotton Seed Products, Inc., is one of the pioneers in the brokerage business for cotton seed products and has become widely known not only in Texas but through- vut the United States.

The Associated Manufacturers of Cotton Seed Products was organized in 1907 and on account of his unusual ability Mr. Yopp at that time was made general manager. His son, W. D. Yopp, is secretary and assistant manager and his other son, H. Gordon Yopp is cashier and bookkeeper. Under the efficient management of Mr. Yopp the corporation has grown to be one of the best known in the cotton products brokerage business.

Mr. Yopp was born in Hardeman County, Ten- nessee, July 13, 1855. His father, W. T. Yopp, was a native of North Carolina and became widely known as a doctor and farmer throughout Hardeman County. The public schools of Tennessee furnished Mr. Yopp with his early education. In 1883 he took a position with the Gayosa Oil Works of Memphis. His next employment was with F. W. Brode & Com- pany who were then the only brokers in Memphis. With this firm he remained until 1891 when he opened an office for himself. During that year he originated the "Yopp's Cipher Code" which has proved to be of great value to the commercial world and is now being used as the standard code of the cotton products trade. In 1892 Mr. Yopp opened a branch office in Dallas thus being the first man to open a brokerage office for cotton seed products in Texas. His business was somewhat divided be- tween Memphis and Dallas until 1893 when he became a citizen of Texas.

Mr. Yopp has twice been married, the first time to Miss May Dunlap of Memphis, who died in January, 1896. To this marriage a son, William Dunlap, was born. The second marriage was in October, 1897, to Miss Carrie Caughanour, of Dallas, and to them a son, H. Gordon, was born. Their home is at 3932 Junius Street.

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The encyclopedia of Texas, V.1, Part 57

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