The encyclopedia of Texas, V.2, Part 30

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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Mr. Cowden confines his activities to one fraternal society-he is a Mason, Julian Field Blue Lodge. He is a member of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce and is affiliated with the Baptist Church.

Note. Upon the death of Mr. Cowden in 1921, Texas lost one of the most beloved and honored citizens.

Hay, deceased since 1889, cannot be omitted from a record that attains unto complete- ness in chronicling the activities of Texas; for Mr. Hay was a leader in the earliest days of Dallas life in his realm and was at the beginning of the unfold- ing in development of a present day immense activity. Men of yesterday, though deceased, are vitally alive today as men of today will be powers in

the tomorrows after they are gone. That is, every business has its beginners, those who start its growth by laying the foundation; the present era of big things is the outcome of the energy and devotion of the pioneers of yesterday who laid such founda- tions as to make possible today's enterprises, and in this way men of today prepare the coming genera- tion to do bigger things yet. It is in this connection, as the pioneer study, as a study of the foundation that underlies today's progress, that the name of John T. Hay is brought in.

Mr. Hay was a Kentuckian, born at Louisville. The school system of that state and its capitol city gave him the best in education that it afforded in his day. After his ordinary schooling he was pre- pared for work as druggist by the special schools of his state, for when he came to Texas in 1871 he came as a druggist and located in Limestone County, where he was interested in the development of The Trinity University. He continued here for nine years, in which time he studied the state, its cities, and business opportunities; he decided that Dallas offered the best business advantages and in June, 1880, moved to that city. From that time through the next nine years he was a leader in his activity in the fastly growing town as it was when he canie but a small size city by the time of his death in 1889.

In December, 1879, Mr. Hay married Miss Frances A. Porter, daughter of Gilbert Porter, who died during the Civil War, and of Elizabeth (Caruthers) Porter, a native Texan. She was a native of Palo Pinto, Texas. Mr. Hay's grandfather, Mr. Caruthers, was a pioneer of Limestone County, coming here be- fore the Civil War and built one of the first resi- dences in Tehuacana. To Mr. and Mrs. Hay three children were born, Henry, a lumberman of Dallas today, Mrs. Lillian (Hay) Terry, a widow, and Curtis Hay, a newspaper man in Dallas. The family residence is at 4515 East Side Avenue.

As one who served his city in its earliest days and was prominently connected with the beginning of an extensive profession in Dallas, John T. Hay rend- ered a valuable service to his city.

ULIUS HERMAN BAUSHAUSEN, 5829 Reiger, who, prior to his death, was one of the best known sign painters in Dallas. came to Texas as a small boy and arrived in Dallas on September 8, 1908, and continued to live here until his deatlı.

He was born at Troy, Illinois, June 10, 1847. He was a descendent of a member of the Baushausen family who came to America in the Mayflower. He attended a manual training school at Little Rock, Arkansas, and also at Dayton, Ohio, and completed his apprenticeship in the ship builder's trade. He followed this line of work for some time before taking up sign painting at which he became a recog- nized expert.

On March 26, 1878, Mr. Baushausen was married to Miss Sarah A. Long, at Honey Grove, Texas.

OHN T. HAY. As a pioneer in the drug business in Dallas, the name of John T. ' Three children were born to them but only one is now living, Grace, now Mrs. E. E. Sneed.

Mr. Baushausen was a very public spirited man and took an active interest in all civic affairs and was ever ready to give of his time and influence to any worthy movement. He was a Mason and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Woodmen of the World. His church atfiliation was with Saint John's Methodist Episcopal, South.

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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

HARLES OTT: The late Charles Ott, a pioneer Dallas citizen bears the distinction of having been at the time of his death the oldest gunsmith in the State of Texas. He came to Dallas in 1873, when the city was little more than a thriving, overgrown town, but did not stay. He returned, however, in 1876 and opened a gun shop on Elm Street near the present location of the firm thus establishing one of the oldest firms in the city, and one of the very few to continue at the same place of business.

The Ott establishment occupies one floor of a building twenty-five by a hundred eighty feet. In the early days he carried guns and made a specialty of gun repair work. Later he added locks, safes, and shelf hardware, and still later bicycles. Now motorcycles and fireproof safes are included in the stock. After forty-five years of experience it is needless to state that Mr. Ott became an expert and an authority in his line, always handling only those articles of standardized make. For many years he was considered the most skillful gunsmith in the state. The Ott business today is owned by Mrs. Ott, and her son Paul is in active charge of it.

Mr. Ott was born in Alzey, Germany, near the Rhine, on January 14th, 1850. His father was George Ott, a school teacher, and Mr. Ott received his edu- cation in the public schools of Germany under his father's supervision. When he was eighteen years old he left his native land and came to the United States, with Texas as an objective. He settled in Austin county and after a few years went to St. Louis where he engaged in business and attended night school. Texas had made a hold on him, how- ever, and at the end of two years he moved back to the Lone Star State, this time choosing Dallas as his home. He lived here ever since and continued in the same business.

His marriage to Miss Anna Hochne took place in Austin County in 1879. Mrs. Ott is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. F. Hochne who came to Texas in 1855 and located in Austin County. Mr. Hochne served in the Civil War by driving ox teams to Mexico City in order to trade cotton for other products needed in the army. It took 11 months to make the trip. At the age of 88 Mrs. Hochne still resides in Fayette County, Texas.

Mr. and Mrs. Ott have seven children: Freddie, deceased, Paul, Hattie (Mrs. Dr. Wright), Annie, (Mrs. Sidney Hetherington), Talitha deceased, Nita, and Georgia. The Ott home is at 2631 Live Oak street.

Mr. Ott was a Woodman of the World and a mem- ber of the Presbyterian Church. He had an affec- tion for Dallas, engendered by having watched, and assisted in its growth from a small town to a splen- did city. His memory embraced the days when buf- falo roamed the plains of Texas and buffalo hides were brought in by the wagon loads and sold on Elm Street for from two-fifty to five dollars apiece. From the earliest days of the city's infancy his name has been an honored one among business associates and he was looked upon as a loyal and enterprising citizen.

E LOS COUNTRYMAN, who died in Dallas on January 17, 1912, was for many years one of the best known traveling salesman in Texas and covered this state and other sections of the Southwest for the Studebaker Man- ufacturing Company of South Bend, Indiana. He was superintendent for the Studebaker Corporation

for a number of years until failing health made it necessary for him to leave the factory. He then went on the road for the same company and travel d Texas and the Southwest. Mr. Countryman first came to Texas about 1880 and continued with the Studebaker people for thirty-five years, retiring some three or four years before his death.

Mr. Countryman was born in New York State on October 27, 1839, and was educated in the public schools of New York. He was a keen, live, pro- gressive business man and very affable, making friends with every one he came in contact with.

In September, 1900, Mr. Countryman was married to Mrs. Marguerite Addie (Cossart) Gage, a daugh- ter of Joseph and Nancy Jemima (Elliott) Cossart. Her father was a well known merchant and for a number of years was in business at Arkadelphia. Arkansas.

Mrs. Countryman was first married to Henry Clay- ton Gage, a native of New York State, in 1881. She has three sons, Carlton Gage of Dallas, engaged in the real estate and building business and residing in Highland Park. His wife was formerly Miss Grace Boyd of Dallas and they have one child, Stanton Gage. Another son, J. A. Gage, owner of the Thrift Packing Company. His wife was formerly Miss Grace Rice of Tyler. A third son, Walter A. Gage. is engaged in the real estate business and lives with his mother at 420 East Jefferson Avenue.

ILLIAM SIMPSON. A record of Texas that lists the men of valor cannot leave out the pioneers, the most valorous of men, whose courage, devotion and energy have made possible the later era of progress. It is in this con- nection that the name of William Simpson, deceased since 1886, is introduced in this record of Texans and their activities.

Mr. Simpson is a native of Wisconsin, having been born there in 1851. The date of his birth as well as its location marks not only him as a pioneer to the present generation, but show the fact that he comes of a sturdy stock. Conditions of the West and the Lake region were primitive indeed at that time. Outdoor living and work, conquering the woods and the prairies produced a race of men whose sturdiness is reflected in the present day immense business ac- tivities of their sons. His father, John Simpson, moved to Texas in 1861 when his son was ten years of age. The mother, Margurite (Cox) Simpson, was a native of Ireland. The public school system of Texas gave the youth his education, in fact the schools of Dallas county. Then Texas present-day metropolis was nil; southern and eastern Texas claimed the important settlements, San Antonio, Houston, Nacogdoches, etc. As a youth and a young man, most of Mr. Simpson's energies were spent in breaking the prairies of Dallas County as a pioneer farmer. When he reached his majority his father gave him a splendid estate which he had helped fence and make productive.

In 1882, at Trinity Mills, Texas, Mr. Simpson was united in marriage to Miss Mary Elizabeth Dixon, whose parents, Joseph and Mary ( Weightman) Dixon were natives of England. From this union there were two daughters, Miss Margurite Ann Simpson and Mary Elizabeth Simpson. The latter died when eight years of age. The residence of the mother and daughter is at 2811 Knight Street, Dallas, where they moved in July, 1918, and they manage the Simpson Farms. The church affiliation is Presby- terian.

586

Chas Ers

Geoavoir

MEN OF TEXAS

G EORGE A. VOLK, during his lifetime, for thirty-three years was actively associated with the commercial and civic advancement of his adopted city of Dallas. His life was dedicated to usesfulness and service and today there are many evidences of his handiwork in his home city and state. Few Texans have been held in higher esteem, a man who ever stood for honesty, truth and high morals. A self-made man in the best sense of the word he lived to see his own business become a leader in its line in the South- west, yet giving unselfishly of his time and means to every project that had for its purpose the gen- eral advancement of his community.

George A. Volk was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1886. He received his schooling in his native city and it was here that he gained his first knowl- edge of business. In 1886 at the age of twenty, he decided to come to a newer field and so located in Dallas and for several years was with the Pad- gitt Company. He then returned east to Newark, N. J. and went with R. G. Solomon Leather Company with whom he was associated two or three years. Then in association with his brother L. W. he en- tered the shoe business in Dallas under the firm name of Volk Bros., and ever followed this line of merchandise. His business thrived and rapidly progressed with the development of the South- west. He eventually became a prominent figure in the Retail Shoe Trade, not only in the Southwest but nationally as well. He served at one time as President of the Texas Retail Shoe Dealers Asso- ciation and for years worked consistantly for its welfare.

Mr. Volk, during his life was active also in the social life of Dallas and was a member of the Dallas Golf and Country Club, City Club and the Lakewood Country Club which he served as director.

His service as an untiring worker for the civic development in Dallas is well known to the citizens here. He was instrumental in organizing a Retail Merchants Division of the Chamber of Commerce. The Retail Shoe Dealers Association which was later combined with the Retail Merchants Division of the Chamber of Commerce, was a direct result of his efforts. He was made a member of the advisory Board of this new association. Sam Fowlkes Man- ager of the Convention Department of the Cham- ber of Commerce said of him, "Mr. Volk was a dynamic force in the steady development of Dallas. He never knew what it meant to stand still or move backward. His death will be a hard blow to the Chamber of Commerce of which he was a member."

· Mr. Volk was united in marriage with Miss Sal- lie Callaway Jones, of Baltimore, June 17,1890. The children are, George Eugene, Stuart, Miss Dor- othy and Mrs. Allen Charlton, all of Dallas. Mr. Volk is survived in addition to the above two brothers, L. W. of Dallas, and Philip H. of Bal- timore, and two sisters, Mrs. F. B. Lang and Miss Jennie of Baltimore. The decease of Mr. Volk oc- curred at his residence, 4208 Swiss Avenue, July 3rd, 1922.

The Dallas Times-Herald on the first column of

the editorial page paid the following tribute to Mr. Volk and rightfully should become a part of the history of Texas :- "in the death of George A. Volk this city has lost a citizen of that type which has made Dallas the leading city of the Southwest. Building a business along strictly eth- ical lines, George A. Volk still found time to take an interest and a helpful interest, in the various civic movements that make for the civic welfare.

It is no small accomplishment for a man to achieve success. The achievement means that he must have shown tireless industry. But it is an even greater accomplishment, not only to have been industrious and conscientious in working for those better business methods which asure the pub- lic a square deal.

That is the sort of a man George A. Volk was.

Rightly considered as one of the leaders in his business in respect of that intelligent management which makes failure impossible, he was also re- garded as a leader in respect of the clean business method which connoted business conscience.

Hence his activity in reorganizing the Retail Shoe Dealers Association and his further activity as a member of the Dallas Chamber of Commerce.

Through the efforts and the influence of progres- sive citizens like this, Dallas grows and prospers." UDGE CHARLES A. RASBURY, of the law firm, Rasbury, Adams, Stennis and Harrell, with its offices on the tenth floor of the Western Indemnity Building, has for nearly thirty years been prominenty identified with the legal fraternity of Dallas. He is associated with Jed C. Adams, Grover G. Adams, R. L. Stennis and W. B. Harrell. This partnership was formed on May 1, 1920, on the resignation of Judge Rasbury on that date from the position he had held since 1912 as judge of the Court of Civil Appeals. Judge Rasbury came to Dallas in 1889 from Waco. Three years later he was admitted to the bar. He then began his practice with the firm of Bookhout and Culberson, the latter, who has recently become United States senator from Texas. Later he began practicing for himself and continued so until he was appointed judge in 1812.

Judge Rasbury was born in Waco, Texas on February 14, 1870. His father, L. L. Rasbury, came to Texas in 1855 from Missouri. IIis mother, whose maiden name was Margaret Goles, was born in Washington County in the Republic of Texas. He received a common school education from the Waco public schools. His legal education was gotten in the office of Bookhout and Culberson. After he was admitted to the bar he became affiliated with this firm as a partner. In 1912 he succeeded Judge Bookhout as judge of the Court of Civil Appeals.

In 1896 he was married to Mrs. Maud Camp, a native of Atlanta, Georgia. They have two children. both girls, Maud Margaret, now Mrs. Richard Court- ney and Katherine Elizabeth. The family resides at 5005 Gaston Avenue.

Judge Rasbury is a Democrat and served for several years as chairman of the Dallas County Democratic Committee. Besides his political con- nections, he is a member of the B. P. O. Elks, being Past Exalted Ruler of the Dallas Lodge.

. 587

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

ANIEL O'CONNELL, deceased since July 18, 1912, was one of Dallas' most energetic citizens and leaders for more than a decade and his influence is largely felt in more than one circle to this day. He was identified with the Cotton Seed Oil Refinery business on a large scale. Time was, and that not long ago, when the white fleece was the only product of value derived from the cotton plant. Cotton seed was hauled away by fariners and actually burned by the tons as of no value. Today, this worthless product of yes- terday is the motlier of a dozen priceless by-products from the "cotton seed meal" for stock to the finest salad oils and shortening in our most delicious cakes. Millions of dollars are annually conserved from that which was thrown away but a few short years ago. This is but another phase of the marvel of develop- ment that marks the present generation in history. In the conservation and development of the by- products of cotton seed, all of which is a very modern business, Mr. O'Connell was a leader and director.

Daniel O'Connell was a direct descendant of the great Irish patriot and author of the same name. Born at Providence, Rhode Island on January 13, 1857, of Irish decent. He was well schooled in the culture of New England of which he was a native. Upon reaching the age of young manhood, he fol- lowed the advice of Horace Greely, which was for the youth who would make his own way in this world to go west, as the West was the land of greatest opportunity. Young O'Connell located in St. Louis. In September of 1889 he came to Texas, first locat- ing at Galveston, later going to Houston, then later still to Dallas. He returned to Missouri for two two years but in 1896 he returned to Dallas to stay. His association with the Trinity Cotton Seed Oil Re- finery soon began and he was soon given complete charge of the plant. This alliance of fifteen years was severed by his death in 1912.

On October 22, 1885, Daniel O'Connell and Miss Mary Jane Morrison were united in marriage. She was the daughter of James Morrison and Mary (Tansy) Morrison. Eight children came of this union, and with their mother, they survive their father. They are: Mary Jane, now Mrs. Thomas F. Jennings of St. Louis; John James O'Connell, audi- tor, Dallas; Miss Gertrude, Secretary to T. E. Jack- son; Miss Nell, Actress and singer; Dan G. O'Con- nell, in the oil business; Miss Anna, now Mrs. R. M. Bailey; Miss Dorothy, clerk in the Gross R. Scrugg Insurance Office, and Thomas O'Connell, in the Dal- las schools. The residence address was 1920 South Harwood street, but the family have recently moved to 4011 Gilbert Street, Oak Lawn.

Mr. O'Connell was one of Dallas' most loyal cit- izens.

ILLIAM G. O'CONNELL was one of the most widely known and popular bankers the American Exchange National Bank of Dallas, Texas, has ever had, and this great financial institution enjoys one of the most select group of financiers the South affords. Beginning more than a score of years ago, Mr. O'Connell had work through all of the departments and was one of the most expert men. The profession of banking is held in esteem among all nations; he who directs well one's thrift and one's credit, even though it be only his own, does well. But to have the talent of caring wisely and profitably for the thrift and credit of multitudes is a high accomplishment, and it was in

this realm that William Grose O'Connell was a leader among leaders.

Mr. O'Connell was a native of Missouri; he was born in the city of St. Louis in the year 1883. His parents were William O'Connell and Kate Gertrude (Grose) O'Connell, the former a native of Ireland, the latter of England. In 1880, the father came from Cork, Ireland, and located in St. Louis where he became a railroad man and in this capacity he worked many years. The St. Louis schools among America's best, gave young William his education. In 1898, the family migrated to Texas and located in Dallas. Here St. Matthew's College finished the education started in Missouri. As a young man just out of College, William Grose O'Connell became affiliated with the American Exchange National Bank, in 1902, as collector. He served well in this department and was promoted; department after de- partment knew his enthusiasm and efficiency and he was a man liked by all he ever met or worked with. He some how had that rare and helpful talent of winning people to himself and himself to them in such a way that all who knew him prized him as one of the choicest of friendships. He was a great commercial success, and so exact in his ability to size up, to weigh, to make prompt reliable decisions that he was placed in charge of the Credit Depart- ment of his institution.

In 1904, at Indianapolis, Ind., Mr. O'Connell and Miss Anna Elizabeth Hutchinson were united in marriage; her father was a native of Maryland, her mother, Mary Jane (Geoghogan) Hutchinson, a na- tive of Ireland. Gertrude Elizabeth, age seventeen, Kathleen Mary, age fifteen, and William H., age five, are their three children.

Mr. O'Connell was a faithful Knight of Columbus. He was zealous in business and prized his friendships, of which he had a great number, above every earthly possession. As a banker of nearly twenty years with one of the largest financial organiza- tions of the state, he rendered a helpful service to his city and his premature death was keenly felt by his bank and Dallas.

DARDY GREENWOOD, deceased, has pro- jected his work and personality into the great towering buildings of steel that have rapidly sprung up during the last twenty years not simply in Dallas, his home city for the last ten years, but throughout the Southwest, his terri- tory. A score years ago there were no genuine sky- scrapers in Texas; there were hardly any outside of St. Louis and Kansas City. Today they are common everywhere and in many cities they are con- tinually being started and completed. As repre- sentative of a half dozen companies that handle steel supplies for such work, from rivets to tubes and sheets, Hardy Greenwood was one of the most active building supply men of the larger type in his day.

Mr. Greenwood was a native of Louisiana, he was born in the city of New Orleans, in 1874. His father, Phil P. Greenwood, was a cotton and commission merchant. His mother, Aline (Hardy) Greenwood, was also a native of New Orleans. The school sys- tem of that southern metropolis gave young Green- wood his elementary and secondary education which was then completed in Tulane University, an educa- tional institution well known to the South. Upon completing college, Mr. Greenwood went into the cotton office, the work of his father. This was soon

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MEN OF TEXAS

followed, however, by his taking up banking. In 1898 he came to Texas and located at San Antonio, where he resided for eleven years. Ife became rep- resentative for the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company, also for the J. B. Wise Company, of Watertown, New York. The Pickands-Brown Com- pany of Chicago, the Champion Rivet Company of Cleveland, Ohio, and other companies handling steel building supplies, chose him as their representative for the Southwest. Thus the business of more than a half dozen of the largest building companies in America was placed in his hands for the Southwest. In 1907 he moved his headquarters from San Antonio to Dallas where first he was in the Scollard Build- ing, then later the Busch Building.

During the world war Mr. Greenwood took an active part in the various drives and always was keenly interested in civic and church affairs. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church and the Dallas Athletic Club.

In 1913, in New York City, Mr. Greenwood and Miss Annie Hardie, of Dallas, were united in mar- riage. She is the daughter of R. B. Hardie, who came from Scotland to the United States in 1870, to Dallas in 1879 and from that date until his death in 1917 he was a leading commission merchant of that city. Mr. Greenwood is survived by his wife and three children, Anna Elizabeth, Hardy Jr., and Aline Hardy. The family residence is at 3017 Fair- mount Street. The name of Hardy Greenwood is known in Dallas as that of a leading citizen and his is among the leading families of Dallas.

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The encyclopedia of Texas, V.2, Part 30

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