USA > Texas > The encyclopedia of Texas, V.1 > Part 84
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115
He was born at Bradford, Pennsylvania in 1888 and his parents were Warren G. Gray, an oil man interested in the Indiana and Pennsylvania fields, and Alice (Gale) Gray. He attended the public and high schools of Indiana and later entered the oil business in the Oklahoma fields. He accepted a position with the Republic Supply Company at Hous- ton in 1912 and represented them in the Texas Southern and Louisiana oil fields until 1919 when he went to Fort Worth to assume the managership of West Texas for the same organization.
He was married to Beatrice Burton, the daughter of N. S. Burton a West Virginia oil man, at Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1914. Although it would seem that Warren G. Grays interests only centered around the oil industries because of his success, it is wrong for Warren G. Gray has time to be a friend and a Texas admirer.
351
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS
C. MYTINGER. An important addition to the grain trade in Texas has been formed in the announcement of the J. C. Mytinger Grain Co., of Wichita Falls, who have re- cently organized and have leased the 300,000 bushel elevator at Wichita Falls, formerly operated by J. C. Hunt Grain Co., and who expect to formally enter the grain business at Wichita Falls on June 1st.
Mr. J. C. Mytinger, who is the personnel of the company, is well known to the grain trade of the state, having for the past thirteen years been asso- ciated with the Wichita Mill & Elevator Company, at Wichita Falls, of which he became manager in March, 1917, resigning that place recently to form the present company.
They will do a general domestic and export grain business and have leased elevators at the following places in Texas and Oklahoma: Chillicothe, Goodlett, Kirkland, Medicine Mound, Hardeman, Texas; El- mer, Humphreys, Loveland, Hollister and Tipton, Oklahoma. In addition to these they will either lease or build several other elevators over the state.
Mr. Mytinger will give this business his personal attentions, devoting to it his entire time, and will maintain offices at Wichita Falls, from which place he will direct the operation of the other plants.
In addition to his personal business, Mr. Mytinger is also interested in the following firms serving as: president of the Morgan Feed . & Fuel Company; vice-president and secretary of the Wichita Falls Window Glass Co .; secretary of the Waco Mill and Elevator Co., of Waco, Texas; secretary of the Great West Mill and Elevator Co., of Amarillo, Texas; secretary of the Wichita Falls Traction Co., at Wichita Falls, Texas; secretary of the Highland Irrigation & Land Co., secretary of the Lake Wichita Irrigation and Water Co .; secretary of the Joyce Land and Cante Co., of Wichita Falls, Texas; secre- tary of the Wichita Falls Lumber and Building Com- pany, and a member of the firm of Stainforth, Mytinger and Walker.
Mr. Mytinger was born in Sulphur Springs, Texas, in 1889. His father, L. A. Mytinger, is a native of Pennsylvania, moved to Texas in 1883, entered the milling business at Sulphur Springs, has since retired and now resides in Philadelphia, Pa. After completing the public school system of his home city, young Mytinger attended the Texas A. & M. College for one year. Upon leaving school in 1908 he came to Wichita Falls, started to work for the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad as a stenographer for one year, then as assistant secretary of the . Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce for another year, and on March 1, 1910, he became private secre- tary and confidential man for the firm of Kemp & Kell, later was placed in the office of that company and in 1917, became secretary and general manager of the Wichita Mill and Elevator Company.
In 1910, at Wichita Falls, Mr. Mytinger married Miss Grace Truman Porter, daughter of G. W. Porter, a building contractor of Marshall, Texas. They have one son, J. C., Jr., and the family reside at 1801 Pearl Street.
Mr. Mytinger is a Mason, a Shriner at the Maskat Temple, an Elk and a Knight of Pythias. He is also a member of the Wichita Club, Wichita Falls Golf and Country Club and the Rotary Club, he is ex- chairman of the Business Council of Wichita Falls.
Youthful and yet a business man of demonstrated ability and at the head of one of the leading business
.
concerns in this section of Texas, with his agents in foreign countries and his goods shipped to many parts of the world, Mr. Mytinger might well rank with that type of men of whom it might be said "they contributed to the building of Wichita Falls."
LEE MOORE, partner of the well known firm of Moore and Richolt, lumber dealers and real estate men, is one of the oldest and best known business men in Wichita Falls, having been steadily engaged in business here since 1881. Mr. Moore came here from Iowa and first entered the contracting business, operating alone until 1896 when he entered into a partnership with J. A. Richolt. The partners continued to do a general contracting business until 1906 when they added to their business the operation of a lumber yard, opening their first yard next door to the post office.
Besides their lumber business the firm is now doing a large jobbing business in building materials and has one of the best equipped and most com- pletely stocked yards in North or West Texas. They occupy a plot of ground fronting 350 feet on Scott Street and 300 feet on Indiana, occupying practically the whole block. Thirty men are em- ployed in the lumber yard.
For several years the firm has been doing an extensive business in real estate, building and sell- ing houses. They have ample capital and have done a great deal to relieve the housing shortage in this manner and also by selling building materials on the installment plan.
Mr. Moore was born at Des Moines County, Iowa, August 30, 1858, a son of William R. and Mary R. (Parriott) Moore, pioneer residents of Iowa. He received a public school education and was engaged in the contracting business there before coming to Wichita Falls. He was married in 1888 to Miss Katie O. Bradley, of Wichita Falls. They have five children, Clifford B., Clarence L., Ruby, W. Lee, Jr., and James A. Mr. Moore is a Knights Templar, a member of the Shrine and past grand master of the Grand Lodge of Texas and past master of the Wichita Blue Lodge No. 635. He is an active mem- ber of the Chamber of Commerce and for many years served on its board of directors, participating in many of the forward movements that have aided in the development of Wichita Falls. He also served as a member of the board of aldermen for four years.
A. RICHOLT, is a native of Ohio and was born at Defiance, March 14, 1867, a son of John M. and Pauline (King) Richolt, who were among the early settlers of Defiance. He was educated in the public schools of Defiance and early in life engaged in business for himself. coming to Texas in 1889. He also was a contractor and operated independently in Wichita Falls before forming the partnership with Mr. Moore.
Mr. Richolt was married at Vernon, Texas, in 1895 to Miss Katherine Huckaby, member of a well known Vernon family. They have one daughter, Pauline.
Mr. Richolt is a Mason, a member of Wichita Falls Blue Lodge No. 635, Knights Templar and a member of Maskat Shrine. He is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Richolt is a director and vice-president of the Security National Bank and for ten years was a member of the board of alder- men.
352
vč
y.a. Richolt,
MEN OF TEXAS
M A. MARCUS, president and general man- ager of the Peoples Ice Company, Inc., 101-5 Pecan Street, Wichita Falls, is the largest wholesale and retail ice dealer and has the largest ice plant and cold storage plant in Northwest Texas. The company was established in 1904, incorporated in 1909 with a capital of $250,000; other officials of the organization are P. Marcus, vice-president, who resides at Dallas, and Abe Mar- cus, secretary and treasurer. There are two plants -the one at 101-105 Pecan Street and the second at Fifth and Indiana Avenue; their total capacity is 150 tons per day with 8,000 tons storage capacity, which retains the service of eighty employees and keep six trucks and twenty wagons rolling out deliveries. Practically every town out from Wichita Falls for a distance of ten to 150 miles receives its ice supply from the establishment of Mr. Marcus.
Mr. Marcus was born at Tyler, Texas, in 1877. His father, M. Marcus, deceased since 1905, was the founder of the present-day business that has reached state proportions. As the Marcus family moved to Wichita Falls in 1882 when M. A. Marcus was a child, the school system of that city has given him his education. After graduation he began work in a mercantile establishment at Wichita Falls, then later at Abilene, Texas, in each case on a salary, an employment that extended through fourteen years. Then he became a wagon driver for his father's business and from that start has worked through every department of the concern to the position of president and general manager. Mr. Marcus has extensive interests in the ice business of Texas, having interests in other plants.
In 1902, at Abilene, Texas, Miss Glennie Barry and Mr. Marcus were united in marriage; they have three children: Miss Adele, age seventeen, Lawrence, age sixteen, and Katherine, age eleven. The family reside at 2404 Tenth Street. Mr. Marcus is a Mason, a Shriner of the Maskat Shrine, a member of the Elks, the Rotary Club, Wichita Golf and Country Club and the Wichita Club. He has always been active in the social and civic life of his city as well as in its commercial circles. He and his interests will be leaders in the big future of his city as they are in its present.
ACK C. BARNARD, secretary-treasurer and manager of the P. B. M. Company, 812-14 Indiana Street, leading dry goods depart- ment store, came to Wichita Falls from Tennessee in 1912 and assumed his present position. The business was established in 1910 by C. J. Barnard and in 1912 merged into a corporation known as the P. B. M. Company. C. J. Barnard is president; G. C. Wood, vice-president; Jack C. Barnard, secretary-treasurer. These with James H. Barnard, comprise the directorate of the com- pany.
This is the second oldest store in Wichita Falls and the largest dispenser of merchandise in the city. With a capitalization of seventy-five thousands dol- lars, the company is now doing an annual business aggregating more than one million dollars. It is one of the most complete and up-to-date dry goods and department stores to be found in any city the size of Wichita Falls in the country. The build- ing, which is owned by the company, is fifty by one hundred and fifty feet and the entire two floors and basement are occupied by the store. About 75 people are employed.
Jack C. Barnard was born at Hoods Landing, Tennessee, October 25, 1890, a son of S. T. and Margaret (Williams) Barnard. His father has been a well known merchant and business man of Eastern Tennessee for many years. He was educated in the public schools of Tennessee and early in life entered the business world, engaging in mining in Tennessee prior to removing to Wichita Falls and taking up mercantile lines.
In 1916 Mr. Barnard was married in Wichita Falls to Miss Claire Mabson. They reside at 2008 Elizabeth Street.
Mr. Barnard is an enterprising and successful business man and intensely interested in the future of Wichita Falls. He expects to see it become a city of a hundred thousand inhabitants and is ever ready to lend his assistance to any movement for the general good. He is a member of the Elks, Rotary Club, Golf Club and a member of the busi- ness council of the Chamber of Commerce, vice-pres- ident of the Wichita Falls Ad Club and a director of the Security National Bank.
A. QUILLIN, proprietor of the Oil Center Lumber Company, came to Wichita Falls from Joplin, Missouri, in 1919 and imme- diately established himself in the lumber business and in less than two years has developed one of the largest retail lumber yards in this sec- tion. The Oil Center Lumber Company is amply financed and in position to make advantageous con- tracts with mills for handling their output. Every kind of lumber and building material is carried in stock in the local yards and a complete line of rig timbers for derricks and other oil field construction is also carried. Special attention has been given the oil field trade and prompt deliveries have aided materially in developing a large business in this line. The company has a large yard covering a plot of ground 125 by 150 feet with ample loading and unloading facilities. Five men are regularly em- ployed in the local yard. With the opening of the oil field at Breckenridge, the Oil Center Lumber Company established a yard and office there under the name of Stephens County Lumber Co., which is under the direction of the Wichita Falls office. The branch at Breckenridge is doing a large business, specializing in materials for oil field construction.
Mr. Quillin was born at Jasper, near Joplin, Mo., February 16, 1876, a son of George O. and Jennie (Andrews) Quillin. He was educated in the public schools and at the Warrenburg State Normal School at Warrenburg, Mo.
Upon leaving school Mr. Quillin entered the lum- ber business and has been engaged steadily in that line for about twenty years. He was in charge of a large retail yard at Joplin before removing to Wichita Falls.
In 1904 Mr. Quillin was married at Carthage, Mis- souri, to Miss Alta Cline, member of a well known Missouri family. They have one son, Emmett C. Mr. and Mrs. Quillin reside at 2408 Kemp Boule- vard.
A progressive and energetic business man, Mr. Quillin is a thorough master of the lumber business and is enthusiastic in his predictions for the future of Wichita Falls. He is a member of the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Chamber of Commerce.
353
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS
OHN W. STONE, one of the pioneer citizens of Wichita Falls, real estate and invest- ments and independent oil operator, has been a resident of this city since 1890, having come here at that time as chief train dispatcher for the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway Company. He had formerly been employed by the same com- pany at Fort Worth as telegraph operator and in the six years following his locating in Texas in 1884 was made chief dispatcher and placed in charge of the office at Wichita Falls.
Mr. Stone was born at Fisherville, near Stanton, in Augusta County, Virginia, September 16, 1867, a son of Henry F. and Martha J. (Rowe) Stone. He attended the public schools and at an early age began work as a telegraph operator.
Coming to Texas in 1884 he located first at Den- ton and later at Fort Worth, remaining there until his removal to Wichita Falls six years later. He is extensively interested in Wichita Falls realty and has some valuable business property.
Mr. Stone was married at Denton, Texas, in 1890 to Miss Florence Seymour, of Atlanta, Georgia, who was visiting in Denton at that time. They have three children, Jerome Seymour, Helen, now Mrs. C. L. Anderson of Wichita Falls, and Robert Allen.
Mr. Stone is a man of progressive ideals, keenly interested in the development of Wichita Falls and North Texas, and very optimistic regarding the future of this section. Although taking but a nominal interest in politics, he was early this year advanced by his friends as a candidate for mayor of Wichita Falls. He is a Mason, a member of Maskat Temple Shrine, the Wichita Falls Com- mandery, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Wichita Country Club, Chamber of Commerce and a number of other organizations.
ILES O'REILLY, Ninth Street, Wichita Falls, to whom one of the most progressive centers of Texas, Wichita Falls, owes the beginnings of its modern buildings for he is the builder of several of the first brick structures in that city of big buildings. big men, and big busi- ness. To be a pioneer is to have a responsibility indeed; it means not only to endure hardships, but, what is a more difficult thing to do, it means the lay- ing of foundations adequate enough for the business of tomorrow, for no future business can go beyond its foundation strength. To the endurance, the energy and the foresight of men of yesterday are we indebted for the present era of progress in big things. Miles O'Reilly, retired from active work today, is one of the pioneer builders of Wichita Falls. His personality and character are reflected in many of its buildings.
Mr. O'Reilly is an Irishman, born at Kerry, in 1848. His father was Robert O'Reilly and the schools of Ireland gave him his education. When he was twenty he moved to the United States of America, in 1869, and settled at New Haven, Conn. Here he learned the trade of the brick mason and in this capacity he began to make his way over the United States as he was desirous of seeing his new home-land. He began with the national capitol where he went and spent one year during President Grant's administration and he often met the presi- ‹lent on the street as he left the White House. Los Angeles, California, he visited next, and the Pacific Coast, where he maintained himself easily by his trade for about five years, the latter period being
spent in San Francisco in the contracting business. It is here he first launched into the bigger business of contracting which was his natural calling. The Hawaiian Islands then became his home for two and one-half years. He then returned to San Francisco to enter school to add to his knowledge of contract- ing and brick work the equipment of an engineer. He next went to New York City where he remained for two years. He heard a great deal of Texas, and in 1883, after reading a Houston newspaper, he came to the Lone Star State; he did not like Hous- ton, nor Austin which he tried next and continued his search for what he thought would be the coming city of Texas and in 1884 he picked Wichita Falls as being the center with this destination. At this time Mr. O'Reilly can give many well-founded reasons why Wichita Falls will be a city of 250,000 people in the near future; added to its oil wealth is the fact that it is the commercial center for ter- ritory in every direction for 100 miles around. In this city he began the manufacture of brick and built one of the first briek buildings called the James Opera House, on Indiana Avenue between Seventh and Eighth Streets. Since 1904 Mr. O'Reilly has retired from .active contracting and has devoted his time to taking care of his large holdings of real estate.
He also furnished the brick for the St. James Hotel, Hines Building, and many other buildings of that kind and also contracted to lay the brick for them. Mr. O'Reilly was a director of the Chamber of Commerce from the time it was organized until he resigned January, 1920.
As one who chose Wichita Falls as a winner thirty- seven years ago, Mr. O'Reilly is today enjoying the vindication of his judgment.
M. VINER, manager of the Viner Invest- ment Company, Hotel Wm. Mary, came to Wichita Falls from Tulsa, Okla., in 1918 where he has a business under the same name which was organized in 1914. He has been operating in Texas since 1919. The company builds houses, apartments, hotels, business and other build- ings, helps to build towns and develop same. They have their own designing and construction forces at both Wichita Falls and Tulsa. The company makes a specialty of studying the modern methods of de- signing, and building which originate in the East. and will send representatives to any city or town to study any type of building which a client might desire. The company is at all times in a position to give information about any type or character of building. A. S. Viner is manager of the Tulsa office of the company. The subject of this sketch studied and specialized in this line of work under specialists in Kansas City and knows the work very thoroughly.
Mr. Viner was born in Kansas City, Mo., on May 20, 1894. His parents, J. and Mary Black Viner, reside in Kansas City, his father being a retired business man. He was educated in the public and high schools of Kansas City and the College of New York.
During the war Mr. Viner served in the signal corps of the officers training school at Camp Frank- lin. He was in the service about one year. He is a Mason, a Shriner. Scottish Rite and York Rite, his membership being with Kansas City Blue Lodge No. 347. He is a member of the Wichita Club, the Ad Club, the University Club and the Silver Lake Club, and is president of the last two.
354
John w, Stone
MEN OF TEXAS
G EORGE D. KEITH. vice-president of the Harkrider-Keith-Cooke Company, 1107-09 Ohio Street, wholesale produce dealers, came to Wichita Falls from Fort Worth in 1908. He has been in the wholesale grocery and produce business for the past twenty-two years, and previous to entering this firm was connected with the Carter-Hunt Grocery Company for nine years. The present business was opened at Wichita Falls, September 1, 1907, as a branch of the Hark- rider-Keith-Cooke Company at Fort Worth, the larg- est wholesale produce company in the South, operat- ing branch house at Abilene, Texas, under the name of "Abilene Fruit and Vegetable Company."
The Wichita concern has three salesmen covering the Wichita territory, and two city salesmen. The company owns its own two-story building with cold storage plant 70x134 feet. The storage vaults will hold from fifteen to twenty carloads of goods, and from three to five hundred carloads of goods are handled annually. A corps of twenty-three people are employed in the office and plant.
Mr. Keith is a native of Falmouth, Pendleton County, Ky., born September 7, 1874. His father was Calvin D. Keith, of Falmouth, and his mother was Mary Ella Lightfoot. He was educated in the public schools of Fort Worth. He has twice been married, his first wife being Meta Ransom of Cor- sicana, by whom two children, Calvin R. and George D., Jr., were born. His second wife was Miss Mollie Black of Fort Worth, and there are two children from this union, Kenneth M. and Jim. The family home is "Ranch Circle H," six miles east of Wichita Falls, in Clay County. Here he has about 1,300 acres where he raises white faced cattle.
Mr. Keith is a York Rite Mason and a Shriner, Moslah Temple, Wichita Blue Lodge No. 635. He is identified with the Chamber of Commerce, enjoys a large circle of friends and is prominent among the leading business men of Wichita Falls.
T. GANT, secretary-treasurer and general manager of the Wichita Ice Company, has given to Wichita Falls a thoroughly depend- able and reliable ice service and has found his company serving an ever increasing number of customers each season. The plant was purchased in January, 1921, and enlarged so that its capacity of 60 tons per day was increased to 130 tons. The company is also building a large commercial cold storage plant which will supply the demand long felt for an in- dustry of this kind in Wichita Falls. Other officers of the Wichita Ice Company are: T. J. Taylor, presi- dent and Frank Kell, vice president. The company operates ten wagons, three trucks and has over twenty-five employees.
Mr. Gant is a native Texan and was born in John- son county in 1882. He is a son of J. T. S. and Annie (Edgin) Gant, well known residents of Wichita Falls. He was educated in the public schools of Arche County and his early life was spent on a farm. He was with the Farmers Cotton Oil Company at Wichita Falls for seven years and from 1910 to 1915 served as manager of the Farmers' Supply Company. During a period of several years he operated a cotton seed business, buying and selling cotton seed for oil mills.
Mr. Gant was married at Wichita Falls in 1916 to Miss Vera Taylor, daughter of T. J. Taylor, chairman of the board of directors of the American Exchange
National Bank of Wichita Falls and one of the city's leading citizens. They have one son, Jack, three years of age.
Besides the Wichita Falls Ice Company, Mr. Gant is interested in various other projects and is always ready to lend aid and encouragement to any move- ment for the betterment of the city. He is a member of the Masonic order and of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks.
P. TARRY is another one of the large num- ber of war veterans who selected Wichita Falls as their home after the House of Haps- burg was dissolved, coming to the city in February, 1919, located at Call Field as an officer in the Quartermaster's Corps. He is associated with J. L. Elkins in the ownership and management of the J. P. Tarry Transfer and Storage Company, 822 Ohio Avenue, establishing the business in February, 1920, and doing a general transfer and storage business, all kinds of moving and heavy hauling. The com- pany is especially equipped for doing long distance hauling and has excellent storage facilities, including a large airplane hangar with concrete floor at Call Field, which makes an ideal warehouse for storage of all kinds. They also have another warehouse and employ a force of eight people.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.