USA > Texas > The encyclopedia of Texas, V.2 > Part 7
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In 1916, at Dallas, Miss Edith Daniel and Mr. Dyer were united in marriage. Edith Anne and Ruth Daniel Dyer are their two daughters and the family reside at 4504 Abbott Avenue in Highland Park.
Mr. Dyer was identified with the Kappa Alpha fraternity in his university life, and is today a men- ber of the Dallas Chamber of Commerce, the Dallas Automobile Club and the Dallas Automobile Deal- ers' Association. His church affiliation is Episcopal.
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B ERRY F. DAVIS, president of the gen- eral contracting firm of the B. F. and C. M. Davis Co., is a man of practical business experience. Their offices are in the Great Southwestern Life Building where their numerous clients find a friendly welcome and business firm ready with helpful suggestions. Such a spirit is ap- preciated by big builders and the fact is attested that among their hundreds of successful structures built by them are to be found such satisfactory work Butler Bros.' building, Higginbotham-Bailey- Logan Co. building, the viaduct across the Concho River at San Angelo, the State Tubercular Sani- tarium at Carlsbad near San Angelo, and other buildings of equal importance. In the summer of 1920 the firm had on hand at one time two million dollars' worth of work which they were rapidly carrying to completion.
Berry F. Davis was born in Dallas, Texas, Novem- ber 30th. 1881. His parents were Floyd and Amanda (Moss) Davis, and they also were native Texans. Thus by birth and ancestry Berry F. Davis is truly "to the manor born." He attended public schools of Dallas, which by their excellence right well equip a man for business. Added to his school- ing, Mr. Davis claims that his lessons in the school of experience have been invaluable. His first money- carning position was as clerk in a grocery store, but this confinement was irksome and he desired a more active, out-of-door life and a business with larger sphere. He went with the Texas Bitulithic Co., which was beginning, just then, to operate ex- tensively in Texas. Mr. Davis remained with this company two years. But a business of his own beckoned him and in 1910 he started as a general contractor and the following year, 1911, he was joined by his brother, C. M. Davis.
He married Miss Julia Davis and though of the same surname they were not even remotely related. Of this marriage there are two children, Floyd and Berry F., Jr.
Mr. Davis orders his life by the square and the compass and has attained the 18th degree in Masonic circles, but his friends know he will not stop there and that it will be only a short time when he will be a 32d and wearing the double eagle.
In business life of Dallas he is most active, holding membership in the City Club, Chamber of Commerce, Auto Club and Texas Chamber of Commerce. His affiliations in each of these is productive of good- fellowship, good citizenship and good business progress.
OHN C. BRUGGEN is one of the leading marble and tile contractors of Dallas. His business is conveniently located at 332 North Ervay Street, and at all times his line, that of marble and tile, is essential to the growth and beauty of architectural Dallas. He came to South Houston in 1912 where he made his home for two years, then moved to Dallas. He is well versed in the artistic as well as the practical fea- tures of his business, and this appreciation of art has proven an important factor in his success. The dominant note in his work is harmony and his ideas and experience are of much value to the architects while planning the buildings which will receive their embellishments at his hands. Mr. Bruggen em- ploys eight men to assist him and he requires that their work must come to a high standard. The fin- ihed beauty of some of John C. Bruggen's work
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may be seen in the Scottish Rite Cathedral on Har- wood Street, the City National Bank, Dallas Trust and Savings Bank, Tarrant County Criminal Court and a score of other handsome business establish- ments in this and other cities. There are millions of dollars worth of building being done in Dallas and a large percentage of these structures will re- ceive their finishing touches in marble and tile through the contracts of John C. Bruggen.
Mr. Bruggen was born neath the sunny skies of la-belle France, July 18th, 1865, and with his parents came to the United States when a child. He spent his boyhood in the state of Iowa, and was educated there. Previous to locating in Texas he traveled out of Atlanta, Georgia, selling building marble and tiling, and this experience gave him a thorough in- sight necessary for the success he has attained as a marble and tile contractor.
His wife was Miss Dorothea Obie and they are the parents of one daughter, Miss Catherine. The family resides at 3411 Mckinney Avenue.
Mr. Bruggen is a Republican in political faith, a member of the Travelers Protective Association and the Auto Club and an enthusiastic supporter of the Chamber of Commerce.
H. GOWINS, senior member of the firm of Gowins and Stearman, contractors and builders, 181212 Main Street, came to Dallas in 1894 and has been actively connected with building operations in Dallas and vicinity since that time. He operated alone until 1915 when he formed his present partnership with E. L. Stearman. Many important buildings in Dallas have been erected by Mr. Gowins, including several of the large public school buildings, additions to the Oak Cliff, Alamo and Oak Lawn schools. He also constructed the Buick building, Rose building, Kelly-Springfield Tire building. He recently did an important piece of re- pair work on the county court house and made the alterations and improvements for the Liberty State Bank building on Elm Street and the Glenn Flats.
Mr. Gowins was born and reared in Mississippi where he learned the brick layer's trade before com- ing to Texas.
Mr. Gowins was married to Miss Malinda Moore. They have two children, Harry W. and Ruth C. Mr. and Mrs. Gowins reside at 5007 Bryan Street.
An enthusiastic booster for Dallas, Mr. Gowins be- lieves the development of the city is still in its in- fancy and that Dallas will continue to grow and expand as the years roll by until it becomes the largest and most important city of the Southwest.
EORGE WILLARD MOORE, president of the G. W. Moore Construction Company, Sumpter Building, came to Texas in 1877 from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and for a number of years has been well and favorably known in railroad, industrial and commercial circles of Texas. Many important buildings have been erected under his supervision and his firm now has contracts for several large jobs.
A native of Pennsylvania, Mr. Moore was edu- cated in the public schools and in the school of ex- perience, having entered the business world at an early age and doing construction work with his father. After a short experience in railroad con- struction work, he engaged in other lines and was successful in merchandising and in the cattle busi- ness. He was an accountant for the Texas and Pacific Railroad for nine years.
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The engineering details of building and construc- tion work he learned from his father, who was an expert machinist and builder. He was for a while secretary-treasurer of the J. W. Slaughter Company and practically in charge of the company's affairs. In 1910 he formed his present company and has been steadily engaged in building and construction work since that time.
In 1894 Mr. Moore was married to Miss Frances H. Houston. They have one son, Willard, who entered the army and was commissioned second lieutenant at Fort Sheridan when only 18 years of age.
An enthusiastic believer in the greatness of Dallas, Mr. Moore sees no limit to the city's possibilities as a commercial, industrial and railroad center. He thinks the steady, consistent development of the past few years will be continued indefinitely and that Dallas will some day take her rightful position as the principal city of the Southwest.
Mr. Moore is treasurer and trustee of the First Methodist Episcopal Church and for six years was superintendent of the Sunday school.
HOMAS W. SOWELL, president of the Hercules Petroleum Company, with offices at 908 American Exchange National Bank Building, Dallas, as one of the organizers and developers of the Hercules Oil Company, is well known among the oil men and financiers of this state. The Hercules Petroleum Company was organ- ized in April of the year 1918, with a capital stock of one million and eight hundred thousand dollars. It is one of the largest oil producing companies in this portion of the state and owns a number of producers in various Texas fields, besides other wells in the Bull Bayou field of Louisiana. The com- pany owns and operates its own refinery, which is located approximately two miles west of the city of Dallas and which at the present time has a ca- pacity of five thousand barrels per day. The con- cern also owns and operates two hundred and fifty, ten thousand gallon cars, and in this way not only produces but also markets its products. The leases of the company cover all of the oil fields of this state and Louisiana and many wells are now being drilled.
In March, 1921, Mr. Sowell organized the Union Pipe Line & Refining Co., of which he is president. This company is building a refinery and pipe lines at El Dorado, Ark., and expect to do some develop- ment work there.
A native Texan, Thomas W. Sowell was born at the town of Forney, Kaufman County, on the 4th day of April, 1889. He is a son of Jason Sowell, who is a Kaufman County farmer and well known in that community. The younger Mr. Sowell re- ceived his early training in the public schools of his native town and is a graduate of the high school of that place. In 1908 he came to Dallas and began his business career in the life insurance business, being the agent for the Great Southern Life In- surance Company. Five years later he entered the oil game and since that time has been active in all of the Texas fields. He first began his business in South Texas, where he became acquainted with the ground work, but learning of the numerous ad- vantages of the northern fields he soon came north and finally settled permanently at Dallas.
In local affairs, especially of a civic nature, Mr. Sowell has always manifested much interest and at the present time is a member of a number of
local organizations, among which are the City Club, the Dallas Chamber of Commerce and the Lake- wood Country Club.
E. LAWRENCE, vice president of the Para Oil Company F. and M. Bank Building, came to Fort Worth in December, 1918, from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and was one of the organ- izers of the Scaling Oil Corporation, which was formed in April, 1919, with a capitalization of $300,- 000.00.
In April, 1921, the Para Oil Company was organ- ized for the purpose of taking over the Scaling Oil Corporation. The new company has capital stock of $5,000,000 and incorporated under the laws of Dela- ware. J. F. Jerome of Tulsa, Oklahoma, is president.
The company owns valuable oil properties in Clay. Eastland, Archer and Parker counties, and the Mid- Continent Field of Oklahoma, which will be drilled as the development program of the company is carried out.
Mr. Lawrence was born at Milam, Missouri, June 12, 1885, a son of J. R. and Mary Jane (Cannon) Law- rence. His early days were spent on his father's farm and he was educated in the public schools of Milam, later taking a business course and graduating from a business college at Quincy, Illinois. He was married at Stilwell, Oklahoma, May 19th, 1912, to Miss Irene Webster of Siloam Springs, Arkansas. They have five children, John Webster, Wm. E., Jr., James W., Mary Joe and Virginia Jane.
From 1905 to 1909 Mr. Lawrence was in the office of J. H. Halliburton and Sons at Milan, Missouri, and in 1909 went to Kansas City where he entered the real estate business with I. E. Manley. After leaving Kansas City he continued the real estate business, handling a townsite proposition at Watts, Oklahoma. He became interested in oil in 1913 when in drilling a water well he encountered a valuable gas pocket. From 1915 to 1918 he was with the Commonwealth Oil and Gas Company and then went to Tulsa where he became connected with his present associates. He is a practical and experienced oil man and from 1915 to 1918 was in the field directing operations and learning the practical side of the business.
Mr. Lawrence believes that Fort Worth will always be the oil center for a large district of North Texas and he further believes that the resources of the ter- ritory tributary to Fort Worth have only been scratched. He is a member of the Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association and of the Masonic fraternity.
H. JOHNSON, President of the Texas Bitulithic Company, paving contractors, with offices in the Praetorian building has been in the paving business for more than thirty years during which time he has acquired a knowledge of the industry which enables hin to speak with undisputed authority.
The Texas Bitulithic Company operates in Texas, New Mexico and Old Mexico. Most of their work has been done in cities and they have operated in all the larger cities of Texas including Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Galveston, El Paso, Amarillo, Abilene and Paris. The bitulithic paving is a com- paratively recent invention and is giving the fullest satisfaction. More than 2500 people are in the or- ganization and the number is constantly being in- creased. Dallas is headquarters for the entire enter- prise.
Mr. Johnson was born in Maine, March 13, 1872, but soon after his birth his parents moved to New
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York where he was reared. His father. S. E. John- sun, was a lumberman of Maine and his mother, Joanna (Tibbetts) Johnson was also of Maine. His varly education was secured in the schools of New York and at the age of seventeen he entered the having business with the Warren Scharf Asphalt Paving Company. He remained with this company for nine years and aferwards went into railroad construction work in which he was engaged by sev- oral different roads. In 1906 he left this work to become general manager for Warrren Brothers, a paving company of Boston, In 1909 he came to Tex- as for this company and located in Dallas where he became president of the Texas Bitulithic Company the same year. Besides this position, Mr. Johnson is director of the Manhattan Petroleum Company and of the Realty Trust Company.
On November 22, 1909, Mr. Johnson was married to Miss Freda L. Bethke, of Chicago. Their home is at 1420 Pocahontas street.
Although he is not among the older citizens of Texas, there is no one who has greater confidence in the future development of the state nor who has more pride in her past achievements. He is a mem- her of the local and State Chambers of Commerce and of the City Club and the Dallas Country Club. Few men have devoted their lives more completely to one particular industry than has Mr. Johnson and none have been more liberally rewarded. His prominence will increase in proportion to the widen- ing activities of his company.
UPERT O. SLAUGHTER, general con- tractor, makes a special of the construc- tion of business buildings, and some of the monuments to his ability as a builder are the Highland Garage, Packard Motor Company Building, General Motor Company Building, Fish- burn Motor Company Building, Darby Top Company Building, National Candy Factory, Daltex Creamery and Metzger Bros.' creameries and many others. He keeps a force of seventy-five men employed the year round. His early training was received under his father, J. W. Slaughter, perhaps the best known builder in Texas and president of the J. W. Slaughter Construction Company, which operated in Dallas for thirty years. Mr. J. W. Slaughter, after a retirement for several years was elected Dallas County commissioner in the fall of 1920. Having learned the carpentry trade, Mr. Slaughter went through the practical school of construction under his father, and when the J. W. Slaughter Construc- tion Company was disbanded, he engaged in the business for himself and has been a very busy man ever since.
Mr. Slaughter was born in Dallas, July 18, 1888, and received his education in the public and high schools of the city and in a military school. He was married July 15, 1911, to Miss Ovella Benta, and they have two children, Rupert O., Jr., and George W., and the family home is located at 4631 Munger Avenue.
Although a busy man, Mr. Slaughter always finds time to co-operate in all movements inaugurated for the purpose of selling Dallas to those who are looking for the best place in the world to live and do business. He is affiliated with the Chamber of Com- weree, Kiwanis and Mutual Clubs and is a member of the First Methodist Church. In politics he puts man above party and votes for the individual he thinks best fitted for the position to which he aspires.
He is proud of Dallas and its institutions, its wonder- ful sky lines and its acres and acres of beautiful homes, and every building constructed by him is built with a view of making it not only a eredit to himself, but to Dallas as well.
SORGE W. HEWITT, general contractor, 190916 Main Street, had $1.05 when he G landed in Texas. He came to Dallas in 1898, and in 1915 he engaged in the con- tracting business, and by fair dealing and strict attention to his business he has built up a success- ful business and is known in the building trades as a man of strictest integrity. Prior to becoming a contractor he had learned the brick laying trade and had worked at this profession for several years. He has handled a number of large construction jobs both in and out of Dallas, and his work is always of such a character that it recommends him to those who have construction work of any kind to do. One of his largest contracts in Dallas was the Jefferson Hotel and addition, one of the largest and leading hotels in the city, located on Jefferson Street, near the terminal station. Other buildings erected by him include the Pierce-Fordyce Oil Company's of- fice, Melba Theatre, the Overland Auto Company's building, the DeLeon Hotel, at DeLeon, Texas, a shoe factory at Nocona, Texas, and several schools at different points in the state. A force of 200 men are kept employed practically the year around. Mr. Hewitt is a careful estimator, and in spite of the abnormal conditions during the past two or more years, he has never lost a dollar on any contract he has handled.
Mr. Hewitt was born in Georgia, February 16, 1875, and educated in the public schools of that state. His parents were Nathaniel and Sarah Hewitt, and his mother died when he was very small. He is married, his wife being Miss Frankie Persinger, and they have two children, G. W. and Ruth. The family reside at 4935 Junius Street. He is a member of the Dallas Auto Club.
Mr. Hewitt is a great believer in the greatness of Texas and of Dallas. The continued development of the vast resources of the state, he says, will be reflected by the substantial growth of Dallas, and he estimates that within another decade Dallas will be a city of many big industries, large manufactur- ing plants and half a million people.
IDNEY E. LASELL, junior member of the well known construction firm of Childs- Lasell, 523 South Ervay Street, came to Dallas in 1890 and has lived here continu- ously since that time. For twenty-seven years he has been constantly engaged in building and con- struction work of various kinds and has come to be regarded as an authority on nearly all matters per- taining to the construction of modern buildings with the exception of steel frame construction.
The Childs-Lasell Company employs normally about two hundred and seventy-five men and at times many more than this number. Their employes con- prise carpenters, brieklayers, mechanies and laborers and every type of construction is done with the single exception of steel frame buildings. It is said of this firm that they will build anything from a fence on up and once they undertake a job it is certain of completion exactly according to the plans and specifications of the architect and the closest at- tention is given to even the minute details of con-
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struetion.
Mr. Lasell was born at Mobile, Alabama, March 14, 1872, a son of C. S. Lasell. Both parents died . while he was very young and when eighteen years of age he removed to Dallas and began life on his own responsibility. For twenty-one years he was connected with the Slaughter Construction Company and six years ago formed a partnership with H. Wendell Childs under the firm name of the Childs- Lasell Construction Company. They have erected many important buildings during the past six years and at this time have more work under way than ever before.
Mr. Lasell was married to Miss Wilma Holman. They have four children. Chas. Samuel, Irma May. Thomas Francis and Edwin Watson. The home of Mr. Lasell and his family is at 600 North Lancaster where they have lived for the past sixteen years.
A consistent and earnest booster for Dallas, Mr. Lasell declares that in his thirty years residence in the city he has never seen so much business activity as has been apparent during the past two years. He expects this to continue and predicts that Dallas will ultimately be the leading city not only of Texas but the entire Southwest.
H. HALLECK, vice-president of the Halmack Oil Company 412 American Exchange Na- tional Bank Building, Dallas, has been en- gaged in the oil business for the past thirty years, a great number of which were spent in actual field experience. He has seen services in the various large pools of oil throughout the states of the Union and in coming to this state brought with him a wealth of oil information and ability. The Halmack Oil Company, which is the outgrowth of the Halleck- Whally Interest, was organized at this city in 1919 and since that time has drilled a number of paying wells in the various oil pools of this state.
Born at Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, September 7th, 1874, H. H. Halleck is a son of Merritt Halleck, who was engaged in the mill and elevator business. Mr. Halleck received his primary educational train- ing in the public schools at Bowling Green. Ono. and at the early age of sixteen years became engaged in the oil game. He began at the bottom of the lad- der, in the field, and it was there that he obtained much valuable information that has gained him recognition as an authority in oil affairs. He has been the owner of some oil production since his seventeenth birthday and has gradually built upon the foundations laid in his youth until at the present time he is a large producer.
Mr. Halleck has been interested in the oil fields of several states, among which are Ohio, Indiana, Oklahoma, Illinois and Texas, and still owns some production in some of these states. After looking over and studying the Texas field thoroughly Mr. Halleck is of the opinion that it has not been "scratched" as far as development is concerned.
In 1895 the marriage of Mr. Halleck to Miss Louise Woerner was solemnized and they are the parents of five children: Kenneth Dana, Howard Merritt, Richard Woerner, Ruth Adeline and Katherine Francis Halleck.
Mr. Halleck is officer in various oil companies. He is president of the Kate Bell Oil Company, vice- president Shaffer-Mankin Oil Company, both of which are successful companies.
In local civic affairs Mr. Halleck has always taken an active part and he has membership in the Mid Continent Oil & Gas Association, Chamber of Com- merce, City Club, Automobile Country Club, and the Dallas Country Club.
OSEPH ALEXANDER HOOVER, independ- ent oil operator, seventh floor of the W. T. Waggoner Building, has had an active career in the oil and mining industries for several years, operating in Kansas, Oklahoma and Nevada before coming to Texas and commenc- ing operations in the North and West Texas fields. His efforts in Texas have been very successful and his firm now owns three producing wells in Stephens County producing about 520 barrels of oil daily. They have leases in Stephens County and have additional undeveloped leases in other parts of Texas and in Oklahoma and Louisiana. These they expect to develop as rapidly as possible.
Mr. Hoover is a native of Kansas and was born at Chetopa, November 20, 1880. He is a son of Martin V. and Martha Ann (Matthews) Hoover. His father was for many years the leading cattle man of West Texas and one of the pioneer cattle men of the state.
After receiving his preliminary education in the public schools, Mr. Hoover attended Austin College. at Sherman, Texas, and took a commercial course at the Gem City Business College at Quincy, Illinois. His first work after leaving school was with the Farmers and Merchants State Bank of Chetopa, where he was employed from 1899 until 1903. His uncle, Wm. G. Hoover, was president of the bank and his father vice-president. After leaving the bank Mr. Hoover engaged in the oil lease business in Oklahoma and in 1904 became interested in the real estate and loan business in Muskogee, operating under his own name until 1909 when he engaged in mining operations in Goldfield and Tonopah, Nevada, remaining there until 1915. He returned to Oklahoma and again entered the oil business at Tulsa, remaining there until February 1, 1918, when he came to Fort Worth.
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