The encyclopedia of Texas, V.2, Part 19

Author: Davis, Ellis Arthur, ed; Grobe, Edwin H., ed
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Dallas, Texas Development Bureau
Number of Pages: 1328

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In 1910 he was married to Miss Jessie Meeks of Grand Saline, Texas. They have three children,

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6.6 Hauter

MEN OF TEXAS

Genevieve, Jessie and Thruston, Jr. The Bowers make their home at 3204 Dartmouth Street in High- land Park.

Mr. Bower is actively identified with the business and civic affairs of Dallas and takes a prominent part in all progressive movements which will go to make Dallas a bigger and better city. He is a Mason, Scottish and York Rite and member of the Hella Temple Shrine.

He is a world war veteran having served in the air service.

ORGAN H. COX, president of the General Service Tire Company, Masten Street. just off Pacific Avenue, is at the head of the largest business of its kind in the city. Mr. Cox is an able business man and has demonstrated his ability to succeed in whatever he undertakes.

The firm was established in 1915 by Mr. Cox and started in business in an up-to-date building which has been built by Mr. Sam Cochran especially to ac- comodate the line of goods to be handled. The Gen- eral Service Tire Company was wholesale and re- tail distributors for Federal Tires and tire accessor- ies of standardized makes. Twenty-three people are employed in the organization, with five travel- ling salesmen covering their territory which includes the whole of Texas. The retail end of the business handles the above tires, and conducts the famous Quick Service Tire business. During 1919 retail business reached the sum of $285,000 while the vol- ume of wholesale business amounted to $319,000. The 1920 business did not reach the above amount.

On April 15th, 1921 the General Service Tire Com- pany leased a piece of ground 118 ft., by 176 ft., on Masten Street just off Pacific upon which is to be built a five story fire-proof building which will be the new home of the above company. It will handle the same line, adding a battery line and a general department store for automobile accessories, also having a capacity for the storage of 450 automo- biles.

The 20 year lease on the ground and building rep- resents a consideration of about $450,000.

The capital of the General Service Tire Company is being increased to $100,000 fully paid in. It is believed that Mr. Cox is opening the first Automo- bile Accessory Department Store in the United States.

Born at Temple, Texas on August 26, 1879, Mr. Cox received his education in the Temple public schools. His father, Frank S. Cox, was a pioneer settler of Bell County, and well known in that part of the state. He owned a large farm near Temple and was actively engaged in farming for many years. Now he is retired and living at Temple. Mr. Cox's mother was Miss Mamie Fletcher of South Carolina.

Mr. Cox upon leaving school, decided to go into the jewelry business. In 1899 he bought a jewelry store and studied the business under R. T. Crawford successfully conducting the firm from a $20,000 to a $65,000 basis. In 1906 Mr. Cox gave up his business and went to west Texas where he lived on a ranch for three years. Returning to Dallas in 1909 he formed an association with the Shuttle Bros, and Lewis firm as buyer and manager of the diamond department. He remained with this company for six years when he resigned his position to establish a business of his own again. This tinie he went into

the tire business, believing in this age of automo- tive traffic, that this line of business held the great- est possibilities for future development.

He was married in February of 1905 to Miss Effie White of Temple, sister of Dr. R. R. White who es- tablished the Temple Sanitarium. The Coxes have two children, Mary who is twelve, and M. H. Jr . two years old. Their home is in Munger Place at 5215 Junius Street.

Mr. Cox is a member of the Chamber of Commerce President of the Dallas County Tire Dealers Asso- ciation, a member of Kiwanis Club, Auto Club Lake- wood Country Club and the First Baptist Church.

OHN H. DUNN, president of the John H. Dunn Tire Company dealers in American & Akron tires, 1609 Hughes Circle, Dallas, has been conducting a wholesale tire busi- ness since April, 1917, and has built up a sufficient trade in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, New Mexico and Mexico to be independent more or less of money stringencies and price flurries in automobile pro- ducts, so often disastrous to the smaller and newer dealers and, while handling his stock with deftness during the period of readjustment, is calmly formu- lating great plans for the future of his organization. Judging from the reports and work of his six sales- men who are covering the above territory, he finds the outlook very encouraging, especially for the sale of the better class of tires. He finds that in Texas, especially, the average automobile owner is losing his taste for second grade tires and is showing an increasing preference for the standard and higher priced products. Associated with Mr. Dunn is A. M. Rhodes who is vice-president of the company. In 1920 the company did about $1,000,000 of business and will approach that amount in 1921.

Mr. Dunn was born in Danville, Kentucky, in 1872, where his parents, now deceased, were then making their home. Here he received his earlier education in the public schools and later attended Center, the "wonder college" which is also situated in Danville, and where he played on the college football team.

He got his first start in business by traveling for Price and Lucas, of Louisville, Kentucky, taking for his territory the old south and the southwest, contin- uing in this work for six years. During the next six years he was general sales manager for the National Pickle Canning Company of St. Louis and then came to Dallas where he became interested in the tire and accessory business. He has been in his own business in this line since 1917, as stated above, and has been very successful.

In Dallas in 1899 he was married to Miss Louise Maas, daughter of Captain Louis Maas, now de- ceased, and a native of Texas. Mr. and Mrs. Dunn now reside at 1517 Hughes Circle.

Mr. Dunn has many friends in Dallas and is a member of several local social and fraternal organi- zations. Among these he is a member of the Dallas Consistory No. 2, the Dallas Golf and Country Club and the Dallas Athletic Club, the Chamber of Con- merce, Rotary Club and the Christian Church.

Mr. Dunn is interested in various other enterprises and assisted in the organization of the Dallas Na- tional Bank of which he is a director.

His confidence in Dallas is backed by the success that he has made of his business and attested by the plans that he is making to increase his volume during the coming years.

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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

NTON F. KORN, Jr., architect, 413 Andrews Building, is one of the leading architects of the city. Mr. Korn established his office in Dallas in 1917. Before arriving in the city he had made a name for himself in New York and the East. Mr. Korn employs six men in his of- fice and about 50 to 75 in building operations.

Notable among imposing residences erected by him in the last three years are: Hugh E. Prather's home in Highland Park, the home of Mrs. Cicero Smith on Beverly Drive, William Bacon's Beverly Drive place, Hugh Bell's home on St. John's Drive, and the Worth Wimberley place on Beverly Drive. He recently erected the magnificent home for Thomas Morrissey on Turtle Creek Parkway, and the imposing resi- dence of Henry Boazman, Maple Avenue, and re- modelled the A. B. Wharton place on Preston Road.

Born in New York City on August 25, 1886, he was the son of Anton F. Korn, Sr., business man of the metropolis. He began his education in the public schools of New York City, graduating from De Witt Clinton high school in 1903. The five successive years found him employed in architect offices of the city, learning the rudimentary principles, and in 1908 he entered Cornell University for special courses in architecture. He came to Texas in 1914 with Gal veston as his objective. In that city he was asso- ciate architect in erecting the famous John Sealy Hospital, the Nurses Home and Woman's Buiding which were constructed in connection with the hos- pital, and many others of Galveston's most command- ing structures. He was associate architect in build- ing the homes of R. Wilkens, Carl Biehl, George Copley, Mrs. R. Waverly Smith, remodelling and im- proving, and the A. C. Torbert apartment house, and business house of L. H. Nelson.

His marriage to Miss Marie Kroger, daughter of a New York banker, Henry Kroger, was celebrated in New York City on May 15, 1914. Mr. and Mrs. Korn have two children, Anton K., and Andreas F. The Korn home is at 3615 Beverly Drive.

Mr. Korn is a member of the Trinity Valley Masonic Lodge, he is a Dallas thirty-second degree Scottish Rite, Hella Temple, a member of the Cham- ber of Commerce, and the Episcopal Church. From his own success since coming to Texas, Mr. Korn draws his conclusion that this state is the best in the country for ambitious young men, and that the city of Dallas offers unlimited opportunities.

HOMAS P. BRENNAN is the assistant sec- retary and local representative of the Gil- sonite Contracting Company, general con- tractors, with main offices in the Great Southwestern Life building. He is a superb con- struction commander and keeps a corps of able as- sistants and numerous workmen. Mr. L. J. Haenni is president of the company.

Mr. Brennan came to Texas and to Dallas with the Gilsonite Company in March 1915 and he has kept his firm ever busily active. To their credit are build- ings of which Dallas is justly proud. They built the Adolphus Hotel and Annex, Great Southern Life Building, Rogers-Meyers Furniture building, Majes- tic and Hippodrome Theatres and the Telephone ex- changes in both Oak Cliff and Oak Lawn, and out of Dallas the most notable buildings to their credit are the College of Industrial Arts in Denton and the Crystal Palace in Galveston. These are a few of many they have erected but are indicative of the magnitude and excellence of Mr. Brennan's work.

Thomas P. Brennan was born in Litchfield, Ill., on February 26th, 1892. His parents were Thomas an : Catherine (Smith) Brennan, a name and family welt and favorably known in that state. He married Misz G. Williams in 1916, and they have one child, Thomas P., Jr.

Mr. Brennan gained his education in the public schools of St. Louis, Mo. On leaving school l.e turned his entire attention to business and his per- sistent efforts have crowned him with success.

Mr. Brennan is a member of the Knights of Co- lumbus and attends the Catholic Church. The Bren- nan family reside at 5721 Velasco Avenue.

RNEST H. COTTERELL, consulting and civil engineer, Dallas, possesses a record of achievements of which he may well be proud. As an engineer of the highest rank, Mr. Cotterell -is known on two continents. His work has been both intricate and difficult, requiring the skill of a master hand and he has proven himself fully capable of coping with any work involving engineering ability.

Mr. Cotterell makes appraisals for income taxes, fire insurance and in cases of loss by fire, also for the purpose of cash account systems for business houses. While engaged in this business Mr. Cotterell still makes contracts for engineering work and actively represents the National Surety Company, a firm for which he worked several years. His work takes him to various parts of Texas and the Southwest.

Mr. Cotterell was born in Birmingham, England, on May 12, 1875. His father was Edward Henry Cotterell, noted contractor and his grandfather was Joseph Cotterell, also a well known business man of Birmingham. He was educated in the Blue Coat School of Birmingham, one of England's most famous schools, and later attended the Midland In- stitute of Science, in Birmingham, for your years, graduating in science in 1889. For a time he was engaged in teaching science, and afterwards worked with the family in engineering work. In 1898 he formed an association with the Admiralty Harbor Works of Dover, one of the largest of its kind in the world, and costing $40,000,000. He was asso- ciated with various other works during the next few years, including the S. Pearsons and Sons and the Portland Breakwater and Harbor Companies of England, and was assistant engineer on the building of a rotary kiln cement plant. After this he branched out for himself and among the engineering feats undertaken by him was the building of three, six- and-a-half million gallon tanks, made of reinforced concrete for sewerage storage tanks and sewerage outfall works, which were constructed for the city of Portsmouth. He was also in charge of the con- struction of the King Henry VII bridge over the Tyne River, a marvelous piece of work, noted for the large caisons put down. His next contract was for building a reinforced concrete viaduct for the Great Southern and Western Railway at Waterford, Ireland.

His first trip to the United States was made in 1895. In 1905 he came over permanently, going first to Canada where he was bridge engineer for the Canadian Pacific Railway Company for two years. He was placed in charge of several pre- liminary surveys in Northern Canada for the pur- pose of connecting Edmonton with the Northern waters, and thus form a passage to the Artic Ocean.

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Autor Klomp

MEN OF TEXAS

After this important work he was made chief engi- neer of construction on the Victorian Waters of Brit- ish Columbia. His Canadian work gained him a repu- :ation in that country. In 1915 he accepted the posi- tion offered him by the National Surety Company of New York as chief engineer. His services to this company, which is the largest surety company in the world, were invaluable. The officials soon came to depend on his judgment and to consult him con- cerning important matters arising. In October, 1919, they accepted his resignation with the deepest regret. He still conducts the Southern end of their business for them. His resignation followed a desire to come south and establish his own business in a country of unequalled opportunity. He opened his Dallas office in January, 1920.

HOWELL KIDD, president of the Kidd- Scruggs Company, builders and engineers, with offices at 702 Insurance Building, Dal- las, has been instrumental in the planning and construction of a number of the largest and most beautiful buildings of this state. For the past fifteen years he has been engaged in construction work and the numerous buildings that he has built stand as monuments to his constructive ability. The Kidd-Scruggs Company was organized on June 6th, 1919, by Mr. Kidd, Stuart B. Scruggs and Gross R. Scruggs, well known business men of Dallas. Stew- art B. Scruggs is a graduate of engineering at Le- high University. The company has secured the build- ing contracts for a number of local buildings and at the present time is engaged in the construction of a number of large buildings.

Born at Port Deposit, Maryland, on the 12th day of December, 1882, H. Howell Kidd is a son of W. F. Kidd, of that state. He received his primary educa- tion in the public schools of Maryland and at the Tome Institute, at Port Deposit, Maryland, where he graduated in 1899. For the next succeeding five years he taught school and in 1904 became engaged in construction work, under J. W. Oliver, at Knox- ville, Tennessee. Two years later he moved to Hous- ton, Texas, as a representative of the American Construction . Company, and for nearly two years engaged in building construction at that city. In 1910 he came to Dallas as manager of the building activities in North Texas for the company. Among the large number of well known buildings which he constructed may be mentioned: The Southwestern Life Insurance Company building, the Cotton Ex- change building at Dallas, the Cleburne Court House at Cleburne the Westbrook Hotel at Ft. Worth, the Jones Building at Houston and the Bristol Hotel Annex, also at that city. Later he became the vice- president of the Watson Construction Company and while serving in that capacity built the Neiman Mar- cus Company building at Dallas, four school dormi- tories at Gainsville, and the Wells Fargo and Com- pany building of this city, as well as many other smaller buildings. During the recent war Mr. Kidd constructed a number of army training posts, among which are Camp Logan at Houston, Ellington Field at Houston and Gerstner Field at Lake Charles, Louisiana. In the former two he made a record for the fastest constructed jobs for the government in the Southwest. In 1919 the Kidd-Scruggs Company was formed and since that time Mr. Kidd has devoted all of his time to the construction activities of the company in North Texas.

In fraternal organizations Mr. Kidd has member- ship in the Masons, Commandery Number Six and

Hella Temple, of Dallas. In civic clubs he is a member of the Dallas Chamber of Commerce and the City Club, the Technic Club and the Salesmanship Club. Mr. Kidd has always been a fervent booster for Dallas and the organization of the Kidd-Scruggs Company gives Dallas one of the largest and most efficient construction firms of this state.

W. FINLEY was born in Waxahachie on August 21, 1881, the son of Olin A. and Mattie Mason Finley. Ile began his educa- tion in the Waxahachie public schools, later going to Texas College where he graduated in 1901. After this he attended the University of Texas for a course in engineering, receiving his C. E. degree in 1907. The following three or four years found him employed in the engineering departments of the Santa Fe and Texas and Pacific Railways, and as superintendent in charge of the construction of the causeway at the Southern end of the Dallas-Waco electric railway. After this he was engaged for several years in constructing steel bridges in West Texas, and the significance of his work here cannot be overestimated. In 1913, becoming interested in the great question of the West-reclamation-he decided to devote his whole time to this much needed work. With headquarters at Ennis he directed most of the levee work on the Trinity River south of Dallas, and with C. C. Cobb undertook and accom- plished the reclamation of 17,000 acres of waste land at a cost of $414,000. Mr. Cobb had the con- tract for ninety per cent of all reclamation work done in Texas, the total expenditure of which amounted to $4,000,000. While engaged in this work, Mr. Finley put up more than 12,000,000 cubic feet of dirt. In Dallas he served as treasurer and man- ager of the Dallas Mfg. Company, manufacturers of cotton gin and oil mill machinery. Leaving this company Mr. Finley became identified with the U. S. Producing and Refining Company, with main office at Santa Maria, California.

He was married in 1910 to Miss Maud Winn. Mr. and Mrs. Finley have two sons, Morris and Olin.

Mr. Finley is a prominent member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity, and attends the Methodist Church. He has made many friends during his resi- dence in Dallas in 1918, and his work is known throughout the state.

J. COX, civil and consulting engineer, 502 Dallas County Bank Bldg., has had a con- siderable experience in engineering, having been connected with several of the largest railway companies in the United States. Ilis record of achievements is an enviable one, and his name is widely known among men of his profession.

Mr. Cox came to Dallas in July of 1919 and bought the O. W. Finley Engineering Company. He is mak- ing a specialty of reclamation work and carrying this on extensively in Texas, at present being engaged in several large undertakings.

Born in Saginaw, Michigan, on July 24, 1885, Mr. Cox was the son of John G. and Elizabeth Brown Cox. He studied in the grammar and high schools of Saginaw, and upon finishing the high school work, entered the University of Michigan for a four years' engineering course. He received his C. E. degree in 1906. Ilis first work after graduating, was in the engineering department of the Perre Marquette Railway Company where he was employed for a year and a half. He came South at this time and was made assistant locating engineer on the Nashville and Huntsville Railway, and given a difficult and

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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

intricate piece of work to do. Thirty days after the completion of this he was appointed Chief Engineer of the road. Mr. Cox has also done engi- neering work for the C. C. C. and St. Louis roads, and was at one time locating engineer and later resident engineer for the Kansas City Southern Railway. The next four years following his work with this road he was engaged by the Frisco and later the Rock Island lines as Division Engineer, and assistant chief engineer. In 1913 he organized an Engineering and Construction Company in Alexandria, Louisiana, and handled engineering and construction jobs for small railway lines and muni- cipal undertakings. It was here that he began his reclamation work. After six years in Louisiana the increasing necessity of reclamation work in Texas called him to this state and he settled definitely in Dallas.

His marriage to Miss Delia Melady of Alexandria was solemnized in 1916. Mr. and Mrs. Cox have one daughter, Audrey Marie, and reside at 2616 South Harwood Street.

Mr. Cox is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the B. P. O. Elks of Lafayette, Louisiana. He is doing a splendid work in Texas and one by which the state will profit materially.

OBERT NELSON SANSBURY, well known and popular druggist, proprietor of the Sansbury drug store at Ninth and Indiana Streets, came to Wichita Falls from Sweet- water, Texas, in 1911 and spened his present estab- lishment in 1916, having been employed in the Rexall Drug Store in Wichita Falls prior to that time. The Sansbury store is thoroughly modern in every respect and carries a high grade line of drugs and sundries, Whitman's candies, domestic and imported toilet articles, cigars and tobaccos. A well appointed soda fountain is part of the store equipment and is in charge of experienced and cap- able dispensers. A large prescription trade has been developed and especial care is given this department, which is under the direction of two expert, registered pharmacists. To give the maximum of service to every customer is the slogan of the Sansbury organi- zation and every employee is thoroughly imbued with this spirit. Mr. Sansbury has had seventeen years' experience in retail drug establishments and is thoroughly conversant with every department and detail of the work.

A native of Alabama, Mr. Sansbury was born at Ozark, January 15, 1885, a son of H. P. and Sallie (Harold) Sansbury. Removing to Texas when but a small boy, Mr. Sansbury was educated in the public schools of Sweetwater and early in life entered the commercial world, deciding upon the drug business as a vocation.

He became well known to the people of Wichita Falls while connected with the Rexall store and when he decided to embark in business for himself had built up a strong clientele through his indi- vidual personality and a sincere desire to be of service to his customers.

Mr. Sansbury was married in Wichita Falls on March 7, 1916, to Miss Pauline Haines. They have one daughter, Dorothy Dell. Mr. and Mrs. Sansbury reside at 1602 Fourteenth Street.

An enthusiastic booster for Wichita Falls, Mr. Sansbury takes an active interest in every move- ment for the betterment of the city in every way. He is a Knight Templar, a Shriner and member of

the Scottish Rite bodies and of Wichita Falls Blue Lodge No. 635. He also is a member of the Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce

ARK V. SENTER. partner with R. H. Thomp- son, of the Ranger Drug Store on Main Street of K. M. A. Oil City, Wichita County, has scored a success as first a builder, then a developer and now as a business man in the K. M. A. Oil City which has come into existence and grown to a good size within a year. The Ranger Drug Store, the business of Mr. Senter today, is one of the most attractive and efficient in the oil fields, carries a full line of drugs and drug accessories and is equipped with a fountain service for all cold drinks. It is one of the best known and popular locations in the new city.

Mr. Senter. is a native of Johnson County, Texas, where he was born in 1894. His father, Thomas Senter, a farmer, has been deceased since his son was one year of age. Johnson County public schools did their best in education given the youth and from the public school he entered the Navy, enlisting on August 26, 1915, where his education was continued and he served his country both in peace and in war at the same time. During the late world war, he did convoy service on good many ships, but always with Admiral Sims. On August 26, 1919, he received his discharge. He then returned to his boyhood home and went into the wholesale pecan business. In the earliest days of 1920, he yielded to the call of the Oil Fields and in February of that year he came to K. M. A. Oil Field where he worked zealously as a carpenter, building both business houses and resi- dences for a period and then when the townsite opened, he became active as a real state man and was a leader in the development of the section as a city. In the meantime he had started a cold drink stand and his business so grew that later he established a drug store, known as the Ranger Drug Store. When Mr. Senter came to the K. M. A. field in February, 1920, there were three oil wells; within a year there were in that neighborhood more than three hundred, and a city as well.

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The encyclopedia of Texas, V.2, Part 19

Author: Davis, Ellis Arthur, ed; Grobe, Edwin H., ed Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Dallas, Texas Development Bureau Number of Pages: 1328

Author: Davis, Ellis Arthur, ed; Grobe, Edwin H., ed
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Dallas, Texas Development Bureau
Number of Pages: 1328