The encyclopedia of Texas, V.2, Part 28

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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L. EULESS. Among those prominently identified with the insurance business in Dallas is F. L. Euless, superintendent of the National Life and Accident Insurance Company, Nashville, Tenn., whose offices are located in Suite 1314, Great Southern Life Building. Mr. Euless came to Dallas from Nashville in June, 1915.

Mr. Euless is native of Tennessee, born at Belle Buckle, August 22, 1887. His father, Frank Euless, was a farmer and trader, and his mother, who was Mattie Bird Euless, came from a prominent Ten- nessee family. His early scholastic training was re- ceived at Bell Buckle, where he attended the Webb Preparatory School for Boys, and in 1913 he gradu- ated from the University of North Carolina with the degree of A. B.

Between his sophomore and junior years Mr. Euless traveled two years for the company he now represents, and from 1913 to 1915 he was on the road as home office inspector. June, 1915, he became superintendent of the Dallas office.

Previous to January 1, 1920, at which time Mr. Euless entered the life insurance end of the busi- ness, his activities had been confined to industrial, healthı and accident risks, and a large business in these lines was written.

Five assistant superintendents and twenty-six agents work under the jurisdiction of the Dallas office, and the 1919 increase over 1918 was large and gave promise of a still greater increase for 1920. Mr. Euless has personal jurisdiction over Dallas, Greenville, Sulphur Springs, Mount Pleasant, Gil- mer, Pittsburg, Ennis, Corsicana, Terrell, Tyler, Nacogdoches, Trinity, Henderson, Palestine and Waxahachie. His company has a larger industrial business in Texas than any other company, the weekly premiums aggregating about $30,000.

Mr. Euless was married in 1917 to Miss Fairy Morris, and one step-child, Fairy Martha Bryan, adds joy to the home. He is secretary-treasurer of the Automobile Club of Dallas and a member of the First Presbyterian Church.

577

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

DWARD LEHMAN, pioneer merchant and city builder, came to Dallas in 1874 with Alex Sanger, looked over the then promis- ing little village on the banks of the Trinity, visioned its future and concluded to cast his lot with the other hardy pioneers who had banded together and determined to build a city. Mr. Lehman amassed a considerable fortune and at his death on March 2, 1920, Dallas lost one of her most progres- sive and forward-looking citizens, a man who had done much to help Dallas attain its commanding position among the cities of the Southwest.

Mr. Lehman was born in Saint Louis and received his education there in the public schools and after finishing school began work as an apprentice in a harness making and saddlery establishment. He completed his trade and then went to New York City where he determined to master every detail of the business. He secured employment as shipping clerk in the office of a large saddle and harness company and later went on the road for them. Hearing of Dallas as a promising town, he came here in 1874, looked the situation over carefully, and determined to locate here. He returned to New York and purchased a complete stock of goods and soon opened the Lehman Saddle and Harness Store on Elm Street across the street from Sanger Bros. Store, later moving to 1015 Elm Street. He began business in a small way with only one employee but continued to expand and when he retired in 1907 had twenty-four employees. In 1903 he was honored by the Southwestern Retail Saddle and Harness Makers Association by being made president of the organiza- tion. After his retirement Mr. Lehman made an extended tour of Europe and in 1910 witnessed the production of the Passion Play at Oberammergau, Germany. The old Lehman home was at Griffin and Collins Street and later Mr. Lehman erected a lovely home on Junius Street where the family has re- sided for the past 32 years. Mrs. Lehman has recently built a family mausoleum at Oakland Ceme- tery.

On January 12, 1881, Mr. Lehman was married in Dallas to Miss Emma Hesterberg, a native of Cin- cinnati, Ohio. Mrs. Lehman's parents, Henry H. and Theresa (Meier) Hesterberg, died when she was quite small and she was reared to womanhood by her unele and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Nicholas Meier. Mr. Meier was formerly a wealthy furniture manu- facturer of Georgia and Louisiana and removed to Dallas in 1874. He was very successful in his real estate investments and Mrs. Meier was a leader in civic and church activities until her death.

Mr. Lehman was a member of Tannehill Lodge No. 52 and at the time of his death the oldest Master Mason in Dallas. He also was a member of the Knight Templars. He was a charter member of Grace Methodist Episcopal Church South and a mem- ber of the board of trustees and the board of stew- ards of Grace Church.

Dallas has had but few men more deeply interest- ed in her welfare than was Mr. Lehman. He was always ready to do his part in any undertaking and worked untiringly for the good of the city as a whole. He aided in building the first water works system Dallas had and was a member of its first volunteer fire department.

DWARD HUGHE TENISON had come, within the course of a brief but remarkably brilliant career, to take his place among t !... ranking men who direct the commercial affairs of his home city.

The late Mr. Tenison was born in Dallas, Novem- ber 2, 1895. His father, Edward O. Tenison, for more than forty years identified with the banki ?:;. business of Texas, is a financier of national reputa- tion. He was educated in the public and high schools of Dallas and in the Tome School of Port Deposit, Maryland. Having completed his education, he was for three years employed by the City National Bank in a clerical capacity. In 1916 when he resigned to take a place in his father's bank he was working; in the transit department of the bank. After one year's work in the new place he was made assistant cashier of the Tenison National Bank, and January, 1920, became cashier of the bank. At the time of his death he was also treasurer of the Federal In- vestment Company.

In 1915 Mr. Tenison was married to Miss Eliza- beth Felder, daughter of W. D. Felder of Dallas. A daughter, Elizabeth Anne, and a son, Edward H., Jr., are the only children.

One would search long before finding the record of a career which in so short a time had achieved such extraordinary success and had given such high promise of even greater attainments. Son of a worthy father, equipped with the best training that American schools could offer and showing at an early age a wonderful business instinct and fore- sight, he gave every evidence of following in the footsteps of his father and even of making advances over that notable career.

Temperate in all his habits, courteous and manly in his bearing, generous in all his relations, his untimely death caught him from the very threshhold of what appeared to be an extraordinarily promising career. In his death not only his relatives but also a host of friends suffered a deep personal be- reavement and Dallas lost one of the noblest of her younger sons and one who gave rare promise of making an unusual contribution to her commercial and civic life.

T. MARSHALL is a Tennesseean, born at Galliton, Sumner County, May 9, 1874, and educated in the public schools of Castilian Springs, that State. His father, T. B. Marshall, was a Tennessee planter, and the son worked on the farm up to the time he came to Dallas. Prior to entering the oil business he was an employee of the Texas Electric Company, and after making his last run between Dallas and Denison he went into the oil leasing business and dealing in cotton, and he still deals in cotton. He is an enthusiastic Dallas booster and declares that it is going forward faster than any other eity in the Southwest. In addition to the great oil possibilties of the State, he says there is no finer agricultural country in the world, where practically everything can be raised, from tropical fruits and vegetables to the more hardy kind. He also believes that great mineral deposits will be found. Ile is a member of Dallas Odd Fellows Lodge No. 41, the Woodmen of the World and the Loyal Protective Association of Boston.

578

MEN OF TEXAS

R ABBI MICHAEL KLEINMAN. His was the allotted time-three score and ten years, interwoven with the heart-blood and ro- mance of two mighty nations, Russia and the United States of America. In earlier manhood devoted to business-in which his race is so efficient -in later years occupied with Temple life as one called to teach Israel-Rabbi Michael Kleinman was a man that made appeal direct to the Jewish heart. He had acquired much experience and became a leader in the two ideals that so surge through Israel's veins, business and religion. He was, there- by, a favorite Rabbi with the business leaders of his race and his memory lingers as a benediction to Jacob's sons.

Michael Kleinman was born in Poland, then a division of Russia, in 1849. Thirty-seven years he lived in that country. Here he was schooled in the best institutions of continental Europe; here he wedded Miss Bertha Chase in 1883. Three years later this couple answered the call of America and Mr. Kleinman first became a citizen of Newark, N. J., and took his place among the merchants of that city. Success in the newly adopted land met him there in that first enterprise. He devoted time to a careful study of America, its different sections, the opportunities and future of each. In 1891 he chose to cast his lot with citizens of the Lone Star State, locating at Dallas. His son had located in Dallas nine years earlier. The Kleinman store in 1900 was at Ervay and Elm, now the site of the business of Titche-Goettinger Co. In 1903 they moved to near the court house. Some six years later Michael Kleinman retired and then began his Temple work as a crown to his closing days. Here he was a teacher of classes in divine studies. Death claimed him on November 23, 1919.

There survive him three sons and one daughter: Phil, William, H. H., and the daughter, Miss Tillie, all of Dallas. William Kleinman left the Globe Clothing Co. in April, 1918, to enlist with the 359th . Infantry, Company F, of the famed 90th Division. He was killed in action September 26, 1918, and not until eight months after the fated battle was his body found-a sacrifice to the American name.

In the personages of Phil and H. H. Kleinman the genius and name of Rabbi Kleinman are per- petuated and they will have a sure place in the business history of Dallas for the next generation. EORGE WILLIAM MATTHEWS, for many years one of the outstanding and prominent figures in the cotton industry in Texas moved to Dallas on May 10, 1917, remain- ing here until his death on May 6, 1920.

The entire business career of Mr. Matthews was spent in the cotton business. He remained with his father until he was twenty-one years of age and then began buying cotton for Fulton and Jarratt at Sher- man. He later removed to Belton in Bell County and subsequently to Temple. He spent a total of thirty-five years in the cotton business and was re- garded as one of the best posted men engaged in this line in the entire state. He was known as the farmers' friend for he always paid the highest prices possible for cotton and his dealings were always above reproach.

Mr. Matthews was a native of North Carolina and was born in Forsythe County in 1854. He was a son of J. E. and Susan Ruth (Cole) Matthews. His father came to Texas and settled in Grayson County

in 1870 and served his county with distinction for two terms in the State Legislature. He also repre- sented his district in Congress for two terms. His mother was a sister of Col. J. R. Cole, well known pioneer and educator of Texas.

After attending the public schools Mr. Matthews became actively engaged in business and was a prominent factor until his death. After removing to Dallas lie purchased a beautiful home in High- land Park where Mrs. Matthews and her daughter, Jean, still reside.

Mr. Matthews was married at Sherman in 1888 to Miss Brancie Beatrice Daniel, a native of Missis- sippi and a daughter of J. W. and Mary E. (Rucker) Daniel who came to Texas in 1883. The mother of Mrs. Matthews was a member of a prominent Ten- nessee family.

Mr. and Mrs. Matthews were the parents of two children, Miss Eugenia J. Matthews, press repre- sentative of the Palace Theater and who lives with her mother at 3660 Maplewood, Highland Park; and Mrs. Mary Matthews Hoagland, wife of John A. Hoagland, New York capitalist, son of the Royal Baking Powder king.

Miss Jean Matthews is a natural artist and has gained distinction on the stage and in the field of publicity. Her stage name is Jean Darnell. The last stage production in which she appeared was the "Pink Lady." For several years she was well known in motion pictures. She sustained injuries and later became press representative for Thomas H. Ince in California. In Dallas she served in like capacity for the Goldwyn Distributing Corporation and the Majestic Theater before going with the Palace. Miss Mary Matthews, before her marriage, also achieved success on the stage and in artistic dancing. Her stage name was Beatrice Allen and she will be re- membered as a meniber of the Spring Maid and Mid- night Sun casts. Her first dancing partner was the late Vernon Castle.

AMES MARSHALL BOLIN, who for many years held the position of inquiry clerk at the Dallas post office, was one of the best known men in the postal service here and held one of the most important positions. Among other duties was assigned to him the task of looking after lost mail and he was also assistant superin- tendent of mails.

Mr. Bolin was a native of Ohio and was born in Park County on July 22, 1854. He was educated in the public schools of Ohio and also studied pharm- acy. In 1873 he became connected with the Howell Drug Company of Dallas and served as pharmacist for this drug store for three years. After leaving the drug business he was engaged in the retail gro- cery business for two years before taking up his work with the postal service, in which he continued until his death.

On April 18, 1882, Mr. Bolin was married at Louis- ville, Texas, to Miss Lavinia Jane Graham, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. H. Graham. They have three children, Lela May, William Harry, Jr., and Jessie Allen. The family home is at 5015 Worth Street.

Mr. Bolin was actively interested in civic affairs and was a member of the Knights of Pythias, the State Pharmaceutical Association and the Dramatic Order of the Knights of Khorassan. His church affiliation was with the First Methodist Church and he was a member of the board of stewards at the time of his death.

579

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

REDERICK W. BOEDEKER. A record of the makers of Texas and Texas business would not be complete if it failed to men- tion and record the influence and business career of Frederick W. Boedeker, lately deceased, wbe was president and manager of the Boedeker Manufacturing Company at 521 South Ervay Street, Dallas. From the first year of his residence in the city of Dallas, in 1886, Mr. Boedeker has been promi- nently identified with Dallas business. Beginning with a confectionery business, his interests grew by virtue of his initiative, shrewd business ability and thrift, until he has given to his city one of its larg- est establishments, the Boedeker Manufacturing Company which produces the noted Boedeker ice cream and ice and distributes both over a territory of one hundred miles radius from Dallas. A half million dollars a year is the average output of this concern. The organization was incorporated with a capital of $75,000 and with F. W. Boedeker as pres- ident, J. A. Smith, secretary and treasurer, and George Boedeker, vice president, at the time of the incorporation. The company has its own ice plant and manufactures ice cream and ice.

Frederick W. Boedeker was born in Westpholia, Germany, January 29, 1858; he came to America in 1882 and located at St. Louis where he operated a confectionery business for several years. In 1886 he came to Texas and shortly afterwards located at Dallas where he started his confectionery business that has grown to the attractive proportions of today. Two salesmen are continuously engaged on the road selling Boedeker products that are known and used by all northern Texas.

In 1884, at Sherman, Texas, Mr. Boedeker married Miss Carrie L. Diety, a native of St. Louis. George, Hugo, Julia, now Mrs. Sam Mills, and Agnes are their four children and the Boedeker residence is at 3405 Wendelken Street. Mr. Boedeker was a Knight Templar, 32d degree Mason and a Shriner, a Demo- erat and a Presbyterian. Successful in business where he was a leader from the first, devoted to his family where he was enshrined as husband and father, and interested in every civic move for the welfare of his city, Frederick W. Boedeker was a chief citizen of his municipality and gave to it one of the largest establishments of its kind in the Southwest. His name, his ability, his spirit of serv- ice, are all well perpetuated in his sons, citizens of Dallas. He died March 24, 1920.

OBERT F. ROWNTREE. Among the pioneer real estate men and colonization experts of Texas, no name stands out with greater prominence than that of Robert Flask Rowntree who perhaps was responsible for bring- ing as many emigrants to the Lone Star State as any other one man. He settled many different colonies in Texas and did a great deal to build up the splendid garden growing sections of Southern Texas with that sturdy type of colonist which has been in a large nicasure responsible for the rapid and substantial growth of this portion of the state.

Mr. Rowntree was a native Texan and was born at Maynard in 1846. He was a son of James Rowntree, a native of South Carolina who came to Texas in the early days when the Indians were still largely in control of the state.

Mr. Rowntree was a real pioneer and in his boy- hood and early manhood joined with widely scattered neighbors in repelling the savage Indian tribes. His

first efforts were directed at cattle raising and later in life he took up his work as a real estate an! colonization agent in which he continued until his death at Llano in 1893.

Mr. Rowntree was married on May 4, 1881, a: Austin to Miss Elizabeth Betty Smith, a daughter of Rev. Felix E. and Mary (Mann) Smith. Mrs. Rown. tree's father came to Texas from Tennessee over seventy years ago and for many years was a promi- nent Baptist minister at Austin. Mrs. Rowntree way a member of a family of six boys and four girls, all of whom were graduates of the University of Texas.

Mr. and Mrs. Rowntree were the parents of six children, Robert Smith, a traveling salesman; Musidore, now the wife of L. L. Montgomery, Dallas attorney, Harold, with the J. I. Case Plow Co., Herbert, traveling salesman for the Pollock Paper Co., Oran, salesman for the Hans Johnson Auto Sup- ply Company, and Robert, who died in 1908 at the age of twenty. Mrs. Rowntree removed to Dallas with her children in 1907 and resides at 423 West Tenth Street.

ARRY PURNELL NICHOLS. As a resident citizen of Dallas for thirty-one years and as a leader in business affairs for two decades in Dallas circles, Harry Purnell Nichols, deceased since April 4, 1916, has his place in a record of makers of the present era of big busi- ness and thrift. The Nichols-Gillette Transfer Com- pany, founded by him, is one of the leading com- panies of its kind in Texas' chief metropolis today. Zealous in business, approving and sharing in every move for civic righteousness and enlargement, Mr. Nichols was a worthy citizen.

Harry Purnell Nichols was a native Texan, he was born in the city of Marshall, in 1870. His father was A. J. Nichols, native of Chicago, who came to Texas and located at Marshall after the Civil War. The mother was Lillie (Purnell) Nichols. The best schools of Marshall and Dallas gave the youth his education and both these cities have held a fore- . most place in the Texas school system. The family had moved to Dallas in 1885. Cultural training was completed by a practical course in a business college of Dallas, thereby fitting him for immediate service in the world of business. Mr. Nichols began as a mail carrier in Dallas, later he decided to organize . and pursue a business of his own, which issued in the establishment of the Nichols Transfer Company. His business was a success from the beginning and along with the enormous increase that has come to other Dallas enterprises, the Nichols Transfer Con- pany has had its share, which share is large when it is remembered that the town of yesterday is a metropolis of today. The organization was enlarged in its final present-day form as the Nichols-Gillette Transfer Company. In the work of this organiza- tion, Mr. Nichols was active until his death in 1916.

In December of 1908, Miss Annie Elizabeth Worth- ington, a Dallas girl, became the bride of Mr. Nichols. ller parents, both deceased now, were. Thomas Mason Worthington, native of Mississippi, and Sallie ( McNeil) Worthington, native Texan. The Nichols residence is at 710 Parkmount Street, Munger Place, one of the most substantial and hand- somest residence sections of Dallas.

Mr. Nichols was not only devoted to his business, but to his church, Presbyterian, and was one of Dal- las' citizens of high esteem.

580

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FREDERICK W. BOEDEKER

MEN OF TEXAS

R ICHARD TURNER SKILES. Among the real estate men who contributed in no un- certain manner to the early progress and development of Dallas, it is doubtful if any did more real, constructive work than Richard Turner Skiles who for many years was an active and leading factor in real estate circles of the city. Mr. Skiles continued in business up to the time of his death on November 24, 1921, at which time the business was taken over by his son, Lloyd A. Skiles.

A native of Missouri, Mr. Skiles was born near Hannibal, on September 13, 1859. He was a son of Joseph L. and Janc A (Neil) Skiles, both natives of Missouri, who removed to Texas and settled near Richardson in Dallas County about 1867. Here Mr. Skiles attended the public schools and later the Presbyterian College at Tehuacana. Hc worked on a farm for a time. He also was engaged in farming near Garland and in 1881 removed to Dallas and was employed as a Clerk in the Dallas postoffice. He continued in the government service until 1888 when he resigned and engaged in the real estate business.

Mr. Skiles was one of the moving spirits in the organization and development of the great State Fair of Texas and served as a director of the Fair Association. He was also active in educational circles and was a member of the school board in East Dallas where he also served as a member of the City Council before that part of the City be- came a part of Dallas proper. He erected a beauti- ful home at the Northwest corner of Live Oak and Hall Streets which for many years was one of the most imposing residence structures in the city.

On May 5, 1886, Mr. Skiles was married at Richardson to Miss Effie Huffhines, a daughter of Phillip Wright and Mary (Moss) Huffhines who came to Texas in the early seventies. Her father was a Kentuckian and her mother a native of Iowa.

Mr. and Mrs. Skiles were the parents of two children, Lloyd A. who succeeded his father in the real estate business, and Leta, now Mrs. Leta Skiles Lowry of Dallas. Mr. Skiles was an active member of the East Dallas Christian Church and took an active interest in every civic movement that seemed to him to be conducive to the best interests of the city as a whole.

OHN SPARGER. For many years in cotton circles of Dallas and, in fact, of all Texas, the name of John Sparger was a synonym for fairness and honest dealing. He was one of the largest cotton factors in the state and knew the cotton business in its every intricate detail and amassed a considerable fortune in the handling of the South's principal product.

Mr. Sparger was engaged in business in Dallas from 1908 until his death on January 29, 1920. Prior to coming to Dallas and establishing one of the largest cotton offices in the state, he was engaged in the same business at Greenville and Commerce. He commenced buying and selling cotton in the early eighties when still but little more than a boy and was a wonderful judge of the fleecy staple. His business was always conducted under his own name and it was a matter of pride with him that his suc- cess in life came as a result of his own individual efforts.

Mr. Sparger was a native of Texas and was born at Bonham on December 27, 1870. He was a son of John and Eliza Sparger who came to Texas from

North Carolina in the early days and settled at Bon- ham. He was educated in the public schools at Bonham and commenced his active business career by engaging in the cotton business which continued to hold his undivided attention until his death.

On September 26, 1905, Mr. Sparger was married at Paris, Texas, to Miss Grace Manton, a daughter of the Rev. Chas. and Jessie (Arnold) Manton, both natives of England. Her father came to the United States when a young man and settled in Ohio, later removing to Paris where he was pastor of the Cum- berland Presbyterian Church for 28 years. He died in 1908.

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The encyclopedia of Texas, V.2, Part 28

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