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PERSONNEL 
 
 Te^^a? ^tate (^oVei^qment, 
 
 Sketches of Distinguished Texans, 
 
 EMBRACING 
 
 7 he Executive and Staf, Heads of the Departments, 
 
 United States Senators and I^epresentatives, 
 
 Members of the XXth Legislature. 
 
 COMPILED AND PUBLISHED BY L. E. DANIELL. 
 
 -A-XJSTIIT : 
 
 PRESS OF THE CITY PRINTING COMPANY. 
 
T3s5 
 
 ^-€>:rr7 
 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 DR. BURLESON has graphically remarked, that " Texas has the 
 material for a grander epic than Homer's immortal Iliad or the 
 more beautiful epic of the ^Eneid of Virgil. " If this Be true of the 
 youthful past of the State and her already realized grandeur, what 
 will be the accummulated material to fill up the thrilling pages to be 
 written by the historian fifty years hence ? Without biography, there 
 can be no truthful history. Man is the architect and builder of 
 states and nations. He is the soul of the body politic ; and as the body 
 without the spirit is dead, so all intellectual and material essence is 
 lifeless without the inspiration of his active and creative being. Bi- 
 ography must carry into its record of eloquence demonstrated or 
 worked out problems of human origination; and, if it fails to do so> 
 it will be thrown aside as the offspring of insincerity, and prove a 
 mythical or hurtful delusion. He is indeed brave who records the 
 comminglings — noble and ignoble — of the living actors of his time. 
 
 January, 18S9, will, perhaps, witness the last inauguration of the 
 State's chief magistrate whose usefulness and distinction lay in 
 achievements of the sword as much as from the work wrought by 
 his civil service. We have reached the utilitarian epoch of Texas. 
 She needs and calls for that patriotism and statesmanship the glories 
 of whose achievements must conceive and develop in the womb of 
 peace, and at birth be heralded as good will to man, and the promise 
 of a secure highway to happiness. 
 
 It is proposed simply to tell the inquiring reader and student of 
 the times who the representative men are. They are well known at 
 home, but should be introduced everywhere. We comply with the 
 demand of a curious citizenship when we write up the personnel of 
 the State's officials and representatives. The people will sit in judg- 
 ment and reward merit, and place the true value upon well directed 
 exertion. It is our duty to inform the rising generation of all those 
 distinguished and useful public servants whose wisdom and virtues 
 lay in the creation of measures most fruitful of good and promotive 
 of social and public virtue, education and religion. 
 

 h 
 
 L. S. ROSS. 
 
iPEKSoisrisrEiL. 
 
 OF THE 
 
 TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT.. 
 
 STATE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 
 
 GOVERNOR LAWRENCE SULLIVAN ROSS. 
 
 THE State of Texas is truly honored by the line of her 
 chieftainSj and tablet and monument will continue to 
 perpetuate their memory. By their deeds of heroic daring 
 and self-sacrificing patriotism, they gave to her independ- 
 ence, and established the boundaries for a great empire. It 
 is ever glorious to contemplate the history of our nation's 
 independence, through the union of Thirteen States, but it 
 is not less glorious when we contemplate the achievements 
 of Texas' sons in their defiance and resistance of Mexico. 
 It was a matchless conflict and a grand triumph. It was 
 one against many States. 
 
 The subject of this sketch, L. S. Ross, occupies an hon- 
 ored place among those who wrought out the results which 
 give such importance to the Lone Star State in her history 
 and position among the sisterhood of our Union of States ; 
 for he was of the generation of those who succeeded to no 
 less daring and effective eftort in maintaining the perpetuity 
 of the rich inheritance bequeathed by living and dead fath- 
 ers — the heritage of our freedom. To the sons of these no- 
 ble men was handed down a patriotic legacy, which must be 
 inviolate and perpetual. There were the murderous savages 
 on the one hand, and on the other the resentful Mexicans. 
 
PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Executive De^a7'tinent. 
 
 across the Rio Grande. These foes to domestic security had 
 to be driven back or be captured in their incursions of crime 
 and theft. 
 
 L. S. Ross' father was Captain S. P. Ross, who immigrated 
 to Texas in 1839. He will ever live in Texas histor}^ as 
 the slayer of "Big Foot," the Comanche chief. Following 
 the death of this dreaded chief, was the sleepless and effect- 
 ive crusade against the rapacious and treacherous tribes of 
 the Comanche and Kiowa Indians. He was the leader of 
 the pioneers who destroyed their power to do evil, and who 
 wdll ever be held in grateful memory by Texans. 
 
 Governor Ross was born at Benton's Post, Iowa, in the 
 year 1838, and came to Texas with his father. His mind 
 was familiarized with his father's recitals of Indian warfare, 
 and his heart was inspired to vigilance and action against 
 that foe wherever occasion demanded, and well did he exe- 
 cute the inborn mandate, when mounting his war-steed, with 
 sword and rifle in hand, he marshaled his command against 
 the foe of his brave sire. This was an inherited antagonism. 
 
 We now enter upon his life as a soldier. He was, in a 
 mythological sense, a son of Mars. At about twenty years 
 of age, we find him a student of Florence Wesleyan Univer- 
 sity, Alabama. The Indians in Texas exhibiting hostile 
 intentions, young Ross abandoned the classic halls of the 
 student to take the field in defense of the people of Texas. 
 Major Van Dorn, of the United States Army, had to lead 
 an expedition against the hostile Comanches of the Wichita 
 mountains. Ross commanded one hundred and thirty-five 
 friendly Indians, when his power of influence to command 
 men was signally manifested over the red men of the 
 forest. Van Dorn precipitated a conflict, October, 1858, 
 with the hostile Comanches at Wichita mountains. The 
 author of " Ross' Texas Brigade " informs us that it Avas a 
 most hotly contested engagement. It is said : "Through 
 the prodigies of valor, and to the sagacity, skill and bravery 
 of Ross, was the complete annihilation of the hostiles." 
 
 In this engagement he received two wounds. His innate, 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 ExeaUive Department. 
 
 knightly chivalry in this conflict, no douht, impelled him to 
 distinguished daring. In the heat of hattle, among those 
 savage foes, he saw a young daughter of his race — the off- 
 spring of a Texan mother. Her release and restoration to 
 the home of civilzation wfs his inspiration in that hour. It 
 was the motive, no doubt, intensifying the bravery of the 
 man to the deadening of all fear.' Like a knight of old, he 
 rescued this fair maid from the savages, and gave her, by 
 adoption, all the advantages of a christian education. The 
 story of Lizzie Ross' rescue will occupy a page in history 
 which will render immortal the name of Ross. This first 
 service of his on the field of battle inspired the brave V,an 
 Dorn and the gallant Second U. S. Cavalry, which he com- 
 manded, to recommend his being promoted to a position in 
 the United States service. And we are informed that Gen- 
 eral Winfield Scott, commander of the United States Army, 
 in an autograph letter, made proper and honorable acknowl- 
 edgment of his conduct, and proffered his " friendship and 
 assistance." 
 
 The brave youth was superior to the seductions of flat- 
 tery and military honor thus thrust upon him. He mod- 
 estly accepted the expression of so distinguished mention, 
 and returned to finish his collegiate course at Florence and 
 thus terminated his first brilliant camj^aign. 
 
 The year following, soon after his return home, Governor 
 Sam Houston signified his remembrance of Captain Ross' 
 services upon the field under Van Dorn, and in 1860 com- 
 missioned him a captain of sixty rangers for the frontier 
 protection. 
 
 A remaining large body of Comanches had made a de- 
 structive raid through Parker county. Captain Ross suc- 
 cessfully executed a descent upon them, resulting in almost 
 their extermination. By this soldier-like dash and surprise,' 
 the prestige of the Comanches as implacable foes was bro- 
 ken. The savage tribe of warriors had witnessed the slay- 
 ing of their daring chief, Peta Nocona, by Captain Ross, in 
 a hand to hand fight. Of those surviving this carnage of 
 
P.ERSQNNEL OF THE 
 
 Executive Department, 
 
 blood, many perished upon the plains in seeking their allies 
 upon the waters of the Arkansas river. Their spirit of 
 resistance and hatred to the whites seemed to have been 
 extinguished. They felt that the spirit of their god had d^ 
 parted from them. Their chief had been slain, and hun- 
 dreds of their force either killed or wounded. 
 
 Captain Ross' success in this border engagement is thus 
 acknowledged by Governor Houston: 
 
 "Your success in protecting the frontier gives me great 
 satisfaction. I am satisfied, with the same opportunities, 
 you would rival, if not excel, the greatest exploits of Mc- 
 Culloch or Jack Hays. Continue to repel, pursue and pun- 
 ish every body of Indians coming into the State, and the 
 people will not withhold their praise." ^ -h- % 
 
 Having, with such wonderful dispatch, so intimidated the 
 savage invaders as to render them hopefully pacific, wonted 
 security was felt on the borders of the State. This mission 
 being accomplished, Captain Ross tendered his resignation 
 as commander of the Rangers, and was, in grateful appre- 
 ciation, made aid-de-camp, with the rank of colonel, on the 
 staff of Governor Houston. 
 
 The following letter from Governor Houston should not 
 be omitted in this connection : 
 
 Executive Department, 
 Austin, Texas, February 23, 1861. 
 Captain L. S. Ross^ Commanding Texas Rangers: 
 
 Sir — Your letter of 13th, tendering your resignation in 
 the ranging service of Texas, has been received. The Ex- 
 ecutive regrets that you should think of resigning your po- 
 sition, as the State frontier requires good and eflicient ofii- 
 cers. He is, therefore, unwilling to accept your resignation. 
 * * * * The Executive has always had con- 
 
 fidence in your capacity as an officer ; and your deportment 
 as a soldier and gentleman has met with his entire approval. 
 It IS his desire that you at once increase your command to 
 eighty-three, rank and file, and take the field again. 
 Very respectfully, 
 [Signed] Sam Houston. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Executive Department. 
 
 The late war of sections was at this time fully inaugurated; 
 the stage of frenzied hate and strife was reached, and States 
 had fallen into line for battle. All through this beautiful 
 land were heard the voices of men and women clamoring for 
 Avar. 
 
 We have now to record his acumen, forethought and di- 
 plomacy in the interests of the South, to which he was 
 allied. He felt the importance of making allies of the In- 
 dians in Texas and on the borders, and to anticipate any 
 movement in that direction by the government at Washing- 
 ton. The estrangement of the Indians in Texas and on the 
 border, they now being friendly, would be attended with 
 danger and greatly enfeeble the efficiency of Texas in her 
 relations to the Confederate government. He interviewed 
 Governor Clark at once upon the proper policy to be pur- 
 sued. It is said Major Van Dorn sustained Captain Ross in 
 this matter, and also pressed it upon the consideration and 
 action of the Executive. The wisdom of the suggested treaty 
 stipulation was accepted and approved by his Excellency^ 
 as the following letter sets forth : 
 
 Austin, July 13, 1861. 
 Captain L. S. Ross: 
 
 Dear Sir — When you were here a few days ago, you 
 spoke of the disposition of the Indians to treat with the peo- 
 ple of Texas. At the time you did so, I was so crowded 
 Avith business I was unable to give to the subject the con- 
 sideration its importance demanded. I nevertheless con- 
 cluded and determined to adopt and carry out your sugges- 
 tions. I would be pleased for you to inform me whether it 
 may noAV be in time to accomplish the objects you spoke of, 
 and, if so, whether you would be willing to undertake its 
 execution. You mentioned, I believe, that a day avbs fixed 
 by the Indians for the interview, but that you informed them 
 that by that time Texas could not be ready. 
 Very respectfully, 
 [Signed] Edward Clark. 
 
lO PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Executive Department. 
 
 Captain Ross was promptly commissioned l)y the Gov- 
 ernor, and was about to enter upon the embassy, accompa- 
 nied by Mr. Downs, of the Waco Examiner, and a few other 
 cliosen friends, when it was heard that General Pike was en 
 route for a like purpose by authority of the Confederate gov- 
 ernment. Captain Ross had anteceded General Pike 
 through his friends, Shirley, Jones and Pickle, by corres- 
 pondence with them, and General Pike found the Indians 
 ready to enter the Confederate service.* 
 
 This company of braves was consolidated with the Sixth 
 Regiment of Texas Cavalry, at the city of Waco. 
 
 Captain Ross now entered upon the Confederate service. 
 He was possessed of no vain intoxication because of the re- 
 membrance of the honors achieved, as narrated in this his- 
 tory. Like every patriotic soldier, he stood ready to be 
 assigned any post of duty. We find him enlisted as a pri- 
 vate in the company of his brother. Captain P. F. Ross, 
 but he was taken from the ranks and promoted to major as 
 early as September 12, 1861. This regiment was officered 
 as follows : B. Warren Stone, colonel; J. L. Griffith, lieu- 
 tenant-colonel. Ex-Governor Throckmorton served as cap- 
 tain of Company K. This regiment was assigned to the 
 command of General Ben McCulloch, then in Missouri. The 
 regiment, with all possible dispatch, repaired to the head- 
 quarters of General McCulloch. It fought with great gal- 
 lantry in the battle of Chuitennela (Creek Nation), and in 
 the three days' fights at Elk Horn and Pea Ridge, Arkansas. 
 
 A new role was assigned him just previous to this battle, 
 that of a raider to the rear of the Federal army. He was 
 given three hundred men from Companies Third and Sixth, 
 Texas Cavalry ; and well did he execute this delicate and 
 dangerous move. It was managed with daring and consum- 
 mate skill. Besides capturing a good many prisoners, he de- 
 stroyed large supplies — both of commissaries and quarter- 
 
 *The author of " Ross' Texas Brigade " must be credited with bringing to light 
 of record this important service. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. TI 
 
 Executive Department. 
 
 masters. The command was known as the "Army of the 
 West," and was commanded by G-enerals McCulloch and 
 Price. It was transferred to the Cis-Mississippi Department, 
 to reinforce General Beanregard, who was defending Corinth. 
 The Sixth Regiment was dismounted after serving on outpost 
 before Corinth, and soon reorganized. Major Ross being 
 made colonel, commanding the brigade to Avhich his 
 regiment was' attached. This was a summary promotion, 
 as per order : 
 
 Colonel L. S. Ross will immediately assume command of 
 Rouns' Brigade, Jones' Division, Army of the West. 
 
 L. Jones, Majoi'-General. 
 Charles S. Stringfellow, A. A. G. 
 
 As is characteristic of the man, Colonel Ross declined the 
 honor, and, as desired, was restored to the command of his 
 regiment, General Phifer succeeding to the command of the 
 brigade. 
 
 Then followed the storming of Corinth and the conflict at 
 Hatchie Bridge, in which he commanded his regiment. 
 
 General Dabney H. Maury thus writes in an official letter 
 to General Jackson : 
 
 No regiment can have a more honorable name on its flag 
 than " Hatchie," and, to my certain knowledge, no regi- 
 ment can more justly and proudly bear that name on its 
 colors than the Sixth Texas Cavalry. 
 
 In defending the Hatchie Bridge, Colonel Ross com- 
 manded the shattered brigade of General Phifer. 
 
 General Pryor thus refers to that defense, which was the 
 salvation of the Army of the West: 
 
 Withdrawing from the east bank of the Hatchie, and 
 taking position upon a little ridge two or three hundred 
 yards distant, the little brigade then made a gallant stand 
 for several hours, to which General Maury so complimenta- 
 rily alludes to Colonel Ross: "Whether in advance or re- 
 treat, distinguished ability characterized him as a com- 
 
12 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Executive Department. 
 
 mander. After his regiment was remounted and joined to 
 other cavalry regiments, triumphant successes attended him,, 
 whether in command or executing the orders of his supe- 
 riors." 
 
 The First Mississippi Cavalry thus refers to him : 
 
 In conclusion, allow us to say, we are proud to have 
 served under you and with your gallant Texans, and hope 
 yours and theirs and our efforts in behalf of our bleeding 
 country will at length be crowned with success. 
 
 \V. V. Lister, Captain Company K. 
 
 J. E. Turner, Captain Company I. 
 
 J, A. King, Captain Company G. 
 
 The defeated Confederate Army had fallen back upon 
 Grenada, Mississippi. The four remounted Texas regi- 
 ments, under General Ross, in the Holly Springs raid, led 
 to forcing General Grant to fall back upon Memphis, Ten- 
 nessee, delaying his further advance upon Vicksburg for 
 twelve months. 
 
 After the fall of Vicksburg, the retreat of the Confederate 
 forces upon Jackson, in their failure to succor the be- 
 leaguered Vicksburg, received one of the most distinguished 
 supports ever rendered by a body of cavalry. He success- 
 fully resisted the advance of Sherman. For this service, 
 he was placed in command of a brigade composed of the 
 First Mississippi and Sixth Texas. 
 
 The continued recurring successes which attended him 
 just antecedent to his promotion to a brigadier general, on 
 the field of battle at Yazoo City, excited the attention of 
 Lieutenant General Stephen D. Lee, General D. H. Maury, 
 • who a second time made honorable mention of him, 
 Ex-Governor Francis R. Lubbock, a member of President 
 Davis' staff. General W. H. Jackson and General Joseph 
 E. Johnston, who not only urged his promotion, but enu- 
 merated the elements of character and mind which had 
 established his prestige, and demanded the bestowal of the 
 highest military recognition. It was accorded; he occupied 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 1 3 
 
 Execiiiive Department. 
 
 an exalted position in the judgment of those high in author- 
 ity, and it was decided that he should be enrolled on the 
 lists of advancing elevation and honor. 
 
 The defense and protection he gave to Yazoo City- 
 called forth the recorded expressions of more than fifty 
 of her leading citizens in sentiments of praise and gratitude. 
 The month of October, 1863, in which this distinguished 
 mention was made of the young hero, was indeed replete 
 in voicing his deeds of valor, ability and augmenting use- 
 fulness. 
 
 His relations to Johnston's Georgia campaign, and Hood's 
 in Tennessee, did not lessen the confidence and esteem of 
 the respective commanders. The author of Ross' Texas 
 Brigade has most happily portrayed the soldier when he 
 says, ''Ross and Armstrong were the eyes of Hood, and, in 
 his defeat and retreat, their brigades absolutely saved the 
 army from annihilation." 
 
 Gen. Ross was most unpretending, which is the essence 
 of manly worth and conscious rectitude. His every honor 
 sought him, which he rather repelled than invited. Had 
 the government of his love and allegiance been estab- 
 lished, he would have succeeded, no doubt, to the highest 
 military preferment. 
 
 The life and deeds of this man, while still on the threshold 
 of manhood, were almost phenomenal. His volunteer be- 
 ginning or entrance upon the trial of arms recalls the dash 
 and success of the young Napoleon, in his furious dispersion 
 of the Paris mob, which gave the impress that he was the 
 man of noble destiny. Success brought to the latter that 
 glory which defeat disappointed in the former. 
 
 It is a relief for the reader to turn his thoughts from the 
 fields of battle to the peaceful pastoral plains of our sunny 
 land. We shall now follow the subject of this narrative to 
 the retirement and sequestered walks of his country home. 
 Like Regulus, of Rome, the pacificator and statesman, who 
 only left his farm by invitation to adjust the threatening 
 disaffections and factions of the Roman senate, which he 
 
14 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Executive Dcfartinent. 
 
 repeatedly accomplished, and retired to his country home,, 
 he had never sought military promotion, and ignored the 
 invitations and attractions of civil position. 
 
 The voters of Texas, when their freedom was unawed by 
 the bayonet, have shown a wise preferment and discrimina- 
 tion in selecting their chief ofhcer. 
 
 General Ross, when chosen Governor of the State, had 
 served his constituency in the capacity of sheriff of his coun- 
 ty, and again in the constitutional convention of 1875, and 
 in the Senate of" 1881 and 1883. In both capacities he 
 exhibited ability and gave unmistakable evidences of as 
 efficient and distinguished success as attended his military 
 career. His record, while a member of the convention, was- 
 such as to command the respect and admiration of the peo- 
 ple. It was expected that he would become, at no distant 
 date, prominent to fill the higher positions of state. The 
 surprise is, that his nomination and election has been post- 
 poned so long. Had he possessed less modesty and more de- 
 monstrative ambition, his present elevation would have been 
 reached years ago. The distinguished gentleman and hon- 
 ored ofHcial whose adherents had opposed General Ross' 
 nomination, too lightly estimated the affection, admiration 
 and confidence so unusual, in which he was held by the 
 men and women of the State. All these emotions of mind 
 and heart had lost none of their effective power and energy, 
 when called into action, although latent so long! The 
 remembrance of his heroic achievements, long ere he had 
 reached the meridian of life, attracted and lent enthu- 
 siasm to his political followers. The noble comrades of his 
 brigade and their allies were determined that he, who 
 had never been vanquished in war, should not be in this 
 civil struggle. Many condemned and not a few ridiculed 
 the scenes and tactics which controlled the votes which 
 nominated him. The prophecy was fulfilled, that thirty 
 thousand ex-soldiers, who knew his deeds, would send up 
 one grand shout for Sul. Ross. It Avas a feeling allied to 
 resentment towards his opponents, that was aroused to 
 
,^^5J^§S^^"^'* ■J ^~^>S*^ 
 
 ^772^?te:fc> 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 1 5 
 
 Exficutive Department- 
 
 carry by storm the fortifiedcastles of the opposition. Gen- 
 eral Eoss is worthy of the gubernatorial chair of this great 
 State. Added to his unquestionable ability to fill accept- 
 ably the high office, the wisdom characteristic of his con- 
 duct in war, as a commander, will no doubt be exercised, 
 commanding those aids and agencies wliich will give his 
 administration success and honor. 
 
 THOMAS BENTON WHEELER. 
 
 THE achievements of great men are an inheritance of 
 the rising youth of the land. Possibilities are illus- 
 trated by their lives, inspiring emulation and arousing the 
 highest energies and efforts of the ambition. Biographies 
 of individuals, whether their lives were for good or evil, last 
 by example through generations. The stores of experience 
 are'thereby unlocked, and even the plow-boy may walk in 
 and gather inspiration of a life devoted to the good of 
 his kind. 
 
 In this brief biography of the life of Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor Wheeler, there are impressive lessons of the trium]3h 
 of determination and fixed purpose over every kind of 
 obstacles. 
 
 T. B. Wheeler had the misfortune to lose his father when 
 he was five years of age, and, impressed with the knowledge 
 that his mother would finally depend upon his exertions, he 
 soon developed the capacity to undertake and successfully 
 accomplish that responsibility. His motiier, with her two 
 sons, immigrated to Texas in 1854, settling in Hays county. 
 Young Wheeler, from this time until the war commenced 
 between the States, labored with his own hands, with a 
 double purpose, to support his mother in her declining years 
 and obtain an education that would fit him for the contests 
 
^16 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Executive Department. 
 
 in life with men of noble and patriotic purpose, and by 
 energy and application attained both objects. 
 
 His education was only fairly begun when he entered the 
 Confederate army. At the school of Mountain City, about 
 twelve miles from San Marcos, he laid the foundation of a 
 broad and practical education, upon which he has since 
 been able to build and accomplish brilliant practical results. 
 
 He made his first political speech against secession, because 
 he disbelieved in secession upon the ground of policy. When, 
 though, his State seceded from the Union he entered the army 
 as a private in Company "A" of Wood's regiment. Serving 
 thus for eighteen months, he was given a commission to 
 raise a company of volunteers for cavalry service. He was 
 then assigned to duty at points in Louisiana and Texas, and 
 on all occaiions behaved himself with that gallantry which 
 is inseparable from his nature. 
 
 At the close of the war, he returned home without means 
 and commenced teaching, devoting all his spare time to the 
 study of the law, and improved both his literary and legal 
 education. 
 
 Having obtained a license to practice law, in 1866 he was 
 elected county attorney of Travis county under the consti- 
 tution of that 3'ear, from which office he was removed by 
 the Federal General Reynolds, on the ground of his being 
 an "impediment to reconstruction." 
 
 In 1872, Mr. Wheeler was elected, as a Democratic candi- 
 date, mayor of the city of Austin, and re-elected in 1873 and 
 1875, by an increased majority each time. 
 
 In the capacity of mayor of the city of Austin, more than 
 in any other, perhaps, themetalof the man was fully tested. 
 In 1874, the Democratic party of the State elected, under the 
 reconstruction laws, the Honorable Richard Coke governor, 
 with a large Democratic majority in the Legislature, but Gov- 
 ernor Edmund Davis, who was the Republican governor of 
 the State, refused to yield the office and papers to his suc- 
 cessor, and for the purpose of holding the office assembled 
 about him the negro militia, and held the capitol building 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 1 7 
 
 Executive Department. 
 
 with his armed troops. On the other hand, the people of 
 the State organized and armed themselves in sufficient force 
 to expel the usurpers. Under these circumstances Mayor 
 Wheeler, seeing the imminent danger, exercised all his 
 influence and diplomacy to avert the conflict of arms, and 
 by liis conciliation and determination, on many eventful and 
 critical occasions, and his wise counsels, he succeeded in 
 quieting the turbulent and pacifjdng the belligerent, and by 
 him, as much or perhaps more than any other man, a con- 
 flict was avoided and the legal representatives of the peoj)le 
 took possession of the State government. Mayor Wheeler 
 Avas, on that occasion, requested by Governor Coke to take 
 possession of the State arsenal on Pecan street. When he 
 got there he was arrested by Davis' troops, and but for the 
 judicious advice of the mayor a general engagement would 
 have occurred. The man was equal to the emergency, and 
 although the most violent passions of men were rampant, 
 the settlement of all difficulties was effected without the 
 shedding of one drop of blood. As an expression of the 
 approval of the heroic conduct of Mayor Wheeler in these 
 tr3dng times, the Fourteenth liCgislaturc voluntarily passed a 
 vote of thanks to him for his wise counsel, judicious action 
 and influence in allaying the storm of local conflict. 
 
 In 1877 he resigned the mayoralty of Austin, for the pur- 
 pose of entering fully into the practice of law. 
 
 He removed to Brackenridge, Stephens county, Texas, 
 and in 1880 he was elected district judge, of what at that 
 time was known as the Twelfth -Judicial District, by a large 
 majority of votes. In 1884, he was re-elected, without 
 opposition, and was filling that high and responsible office 
 in the (now) Thirty-fifth Judicial District, when he was 
 chosen Lieutenant-Governor of the State of Texas. 
 
 During Judge Wheeler's incumbency of the district judge- 
 ship, the. trouble arose in his jurisdiction, on account of il- 
 legal fence cutting, so disturbing the peace of the State. 
 His charge to the grand jury against the fence cutters 
 aroused the most bitter feelings among the lawless classes, 
 
1 8 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Executive Departnient . 
 
 but true to duty and unflinching in courage, he administered 
 the laws with a firm hand, and to him, more tlian an}^ other 
 man, are tlie people of that district indebted for the sup- 
 pression of lawlessness and the protection and safety of 
 property. In ever}' emergency of life, T. B. Wheeler has 
 proved himself equal to the occasion, and well may it be 
 said of him, '• Mens agnea et ardnis.'''' 
 
 Governor Wheeler was born in Marshall coun'}' , Alabama, 
 on the 7th day of June, 1840. He has been married twice. 
 In 18G6 he was married to Miss Kittie G. Manor, who died 
 in 1881. His second marriage was to Miss Ida DeBerry, 
 daughter of the Hon. A. W. DeBerry. 
 
 Governor Wheeler is of average height and weight, with 
 a handsome figure and an open, intellectual face. He is 
 easy and graceful in manners and speech. He has close 
 analytical powers, readily discriminating, and quick to appre- 
 ciate character. Fe is eminently social and sympathetic, 
 and possesses the charm of easy approach, making the 
 plainest man composed in his presence. He excels as an 
 orator, thinking rapidly and connectedly on his feet, and 
 is ready in debate. As a presiding officer he is an eminent 
 success, being quick, fair and impartial. He is a devoted 
 Texan, and will never do anything which will militate 
 against the fair name or the interest of his adopted State. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 1 9 
 
 State oncers. 
 
 STATE OFFICERS. 
 
 JOHN MARKS MOORE. 
 
 SECRETARY OF STATE. 
 
 THE Secretary of State, was born in Houston county, 
 Texas, on the twenty-third day of January, 1853. His 
 education was begun in the common schools of the State. He 
 Avas for a time a student of Washington and Lee University, 
 Virginia, and graduated from the law school of Cumberland 
 University, Lebanon, Tennessee. In his chosen profession, 
 he has attained a good degree of success and prominence. 
 His public life began by election to the office of district 
 attorney of the Twelfth Judicial District. He was also a mem- 
 ber of the Eighteenth Legislature of the State of Texas, 
 from the Forty-second Rej^resentative District. His pres- 
 ent i^osition is Secretary of State under Governor Ross, in 
 which office he gives evidence of adaptability and public 
 approval. Mr. Moore's religious predilections are with 
 the Episcopal Church. He is also a Royal Arch Mason. He 
 was married to Miss Estelle Grace, of Eastland county, on 
 the eighteenth day of March, 1884. He is five feet eight inches 
 high, and weighs one hundred and sixty pounds. His com- 
 plexion is dark, black hair and eyes, and his person stout 
 and robust. He thinks for himself, and deals in positives, 
 not negatives. He is not wanting in the elements of a true 
 American gentleman, and does not discard true politeness 
 in the midst of business. 
 
20 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 State Officers. 
 
 JOHN DODD McCALL. 
 
 COMPTROLLER. 
 
 NATURE always preserves a just equilibrium. Propor- 
 tioned to the degree of responsibility is the capacity 
 to meet it. Opportunities of supply are, by an eternal law, 
 made to quadrate to the measure of dem.and arising out of 
 the extremities of human experience. 
 
 When, in 1866, Dr. J. R. McCall died and left to John D., 
 his son, of only twenty summers, the onerous care of a 
 helpless family, the ability to meet the responsibility was 
 was present, and only needed to be elicited in order to be 
 manifest. This untimely weight was heroically borne by 
 young McCall, and proved, in fact, the befitting means to 
 call forth and develop the elements of a noble manhood. 
 
 Mr. McCall is a native of Tennessee, born on the ninth day 
 of August, 1846, in Paris, Henry county, of that State. 
 Paternally, his lineal descent is Scotch-Irish. His mother's 
 name was America P. Cooke, and her ancestry of English 
 and Welch extraction. Maternally, his geneological record, 
 on this continent, reaches back to the colonial period. 
 
 In the early part of the Seventeenth Century, Rev. Dev- 
 ereux Jarrett, a clergyman of the church of England, was 
 sent over as a commisioner by the church to Virginia. Rev 
 Mr. Jarrett was the grand-nephew of W.alter Devereux, the 
 first Earl of Essex. The remarkable, romantic marriage of 
 Miss Elizabeth Patterson, of Baltimore, Maryland, to Jerome 
 Bonaparte, is a link in one line of the. genealogical chain of 
 this family. Only two generations back, Jarrett, Patterson 
 and Devereux are names of hereditary descent. Six gene- 
 rations, reaching back through two hundred and fifty years, 
 link Comptroller McCall with the English clergymen. 
 
 Comptroller McCall was educated at the schools at Austin 
 and Waco, Texas. Largely, tlie course of his educational pre- 
 paration has been directed to business, rather than literature 
 for its own sake. His information, derived both from school 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 21 
 
 State Officers. 
 
 and experience, has not tended to variety, but to unity, and 
 that in the line of the busine^ s engagement to which he 
 has been elected. 
 
 He began public life as a door-keeper for the Senate of the 
 Tenth Legislature. In 1865, he was given a clerkship un- 
 der Hon. R. J. Downs, the Secretary of State. He served 
 as warrant clerk in 1871 under Comptroller Bledsoe — his 
 political faith being well known to the Comptroller. He was 
 retained in this department of State government under the 
 administration of Hon. Stephen H. Darden and also of 
 Hon. W. M. Brown. When Colonel W. J. Swain was 
 elected Comptroller, Mr. McCall Avas made chief clerk, 
 which position he held up to the time of his elevation to be 
 the Comptroller of the State of Texas. 
 
 Comptroller McCall is a man of indomitable energy, 
 pleasant manners, and quick movement. Not having been 
 trained to oratory, he makes no pretentions in that way. 
 There are boldness and dash in what he does. He is rather 
 tall, having a vigilant eye, and sliows a commendable de- 
 gree of patience and executive ability in the government of 
 the force under him. He is often impelled by an exhilera- 
 tion of vital force, that nerves the athlete, approaching the 
 arena of honored conflict. 
 
 Having emigrated from the romantic hills of his boyhood, 
 early in the year ISoo, he is by le:igth of citizenship a 
 Texan. 
 
 Though too young to have filled a place in the long service 
 of the war between the States, he entered the army toward 
 the close, and under command of Colonel J. S. Ford, was 
 engaged in the last battle of the war, fought uear Browns- 
 ville, Texas. In this engagement, the gallant young soldier 
 behaved valiantly, and was a principal actor in the last 
 Confederate victory. 
 
22 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 State Officers. 
 
 FRANCIS RICHARD LUBBOCK. 
 
 STATE TREASURER. 
 
 THE fabric of a nation's history is woven largel\' from the 
 material of individual biography. Personal experiences 
 and exploits, that in absolute isolation might be devoid of 
 significance, aggregate an importance, that sometimes 
 reverses the whole current of a nation's affairs. The real 
 A^alne of an individual life can only be accurately estimated 
 when its accidental combinations, as related to. an entirety, 
 are taken into account. The fortuitous complications 
 of social environment, that are effected by forces operating 
 without the limits of human knowledge, give potentiality 
 to an individual life, rather than an^'- singular thing differ- 
 entiating it from the masses. 
 
 Treasuer Lubbock has filled a principal place in the polit- 
 ical structure of the State of Texas, and for this reason, 
 what to him might have been lost in an unwritten biogra- 
 phy, is claimed by the State as an essential part of its his- 
 tory. The length of his public service, and its diversified 
 relations in office, have given satisfactory proof of his un- 
 swerving integrity. No citizen of Texas can boast a larger 
 share of public confidence tlian he. 
 
 Treasurer Lubbock is a South Carolinian, having been 
 born there in the year ISlo, on the sixteenth day of October. 
 Early in life he embarked in the mercantile line of busi- 
 ness. At the inexperienced age of nineteen, he became a 
 citizen of New Orleans, and two years subsequently, commit- 
 ted his fortunes with those of the Republic of Texas. 
 
 His first public service was in the office of assistant clerk 
 of the House of Representatives at Houston, in the year 
 1837, and at the succeeding session of Congress, was pro- 
 moted to the desk of the Chief Clerk. By appointment of 
 President Houston, he filled the office of Comptroller. 
 While discharging faithfully the duties of his office, he was 
 made Adjutant of the Bonnell Command, organized for the 
 
TEXAS statp: government 23 
 
 State Officers. 
 
 defense of the western frontier. His fidelity in public affairs 
 insured for him a continuous succession of official positions. 
 He was elected District Court Clerk in 1841, and served 
 until 1857, when he tendered his resignation to accept the 
 high office of Lieutenant-(TOvernor, to which he was elected 
 on the democratic ticket in 1857, having been nominated at 
 the Waco Convention; and in 1861, he was chosen Governor 
 of the State. 
 
 He entered the Southern army on the day he cease'd to be 
 Governor; took position as Lieutenant-Colonel in the Aduj- 
 tant-General's Department, and served with General Ma- 
 gruder ; was subsequently assigned to General Green, 
 and still later on, to John A. Whorton. From this position 
 he was selected by President Jeflf. Davis as a member of 
 his staff, with the rank of colonel, and was with the Con- 
 federate leader at the time of his capture, remaining in Fort 
 Donaldson till the close of the year 1865. 
 
 After the war between the States, Treasurer Lubbock 
 made his home in Galveston. In 1878, he was first elected 
 State Treasurer, and has held the office by regular re-elec- 
 tion ever since. By the last election, in November, 1886, 
 his work was re-indorsed, and he holds this responsible 
 and trusted ofifice for another term. 
 
 The trend of Governor Lubl)ock's education has been en- 
 tirely directed to Ijusiness and practical life. His conser- 
 vative views of public economy have inspired the confidence 
 of the people by whom he has been so continuously hon- 
 ored. The friend and patron of literature, he has left its 
 pursuit to the natural aptitudes found in others, and has 
 bent all his,' mighty energies toward the practical varieties of 
 life. As evidence of this, the whole structure of his suc- 
 cess has been built on this corner-stone. His jDroficiency, 
 as a student of human'nature, his accurate prophecies from 
 predicates present and undeniable, and his ready acumen 
 in the discernment of probable results, describe, in a mea- 
 sure, tlie intellectual outlines of this patriot and honored 
 Treasurer of the State of Texas. 
 
24 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 State Officers. 
 
 He is now more than seventy years of age, yet possessing 
 the vigor and buoyancy of young manhood. The contour 
 of his person is fashioned after an approved model, but 
 in physique^ he belongs to the Liliputian race of great 
 men. His movements are quick, and betoken the ready 
 determinations of purpose that have made his life distin- 
 guishable. Fluent and graceful in speech, and possessing 
 the elements of true politeness and gentility, the masses 
 are drawn to him, in answer to his extraordinary manifesta- 
 ^tion of the social instincts. His j)rivate character is in per- 
 fect harmony with his public record— so that both have been 
 duly imiDressed upon the state-life of this great common- 
 wealth. Entering the State in 1836, Avith but little else 
 than the indomitable determination to win, and the assured 
 friendship of the goddess of fortune, the hero of this 
 sketch is an example of the possibilities that are attaina- 
 ble to the few. 
 
 JAMES STEPHEN HOGG. 
 
 ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 
 
 THE lineal descent of the adipose Attorney-General is 
 Scotch-Irish. His mother was a member of the Mc- 
 Math family, an honorable kindred of Scotland, who, at an 
 early period of American history, had their representatives 
 in the New World. His father was of Irish extraction. 
 The Hogg family first established themselves in Virginia, 
 and subsequently spread through the Carolinas to Georgia. 
 In the year 1839, the father of Judge Hogg immigrated to 
 Nacogdoches, Texas, and with his young wife, whom he 
 had married in Tuscaloosa county, Alabama, became estab- 
 lished in the citizenship of the country. James Stephen 
 was born on the twenty-fourth of March, 1851, at Rusk, 
 Cherokee county, Texas ; and enjoyed, in his infancy, the 
 competency his provident parents had gathered. He was 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 25 
 
 State Officer's. 
 
 left an orphan at the age of twelve. During the war between 
 the States, his mother died in Texas, and his father at Cor- 
 rinth, Mississippi, at the head of the brigade afterwards 
 known as the Ector Brigade. The demise of General Hogg 
 and his wife, broke the bond of the family, and, the property 
 all swept away, young Hogg entered the struggle of life sin- 
 gle-handed, having only, as his capital, the inexperience and 
 incompetency of the age of fifteen. For a while he did manual 
 labor as an honest means of a livelihood. His education was 
 not finished at the end of a college curriculum, but has been 
 a life-long work— not by the process of absorption from 
 centers of learning, while reclining on the lap of affluence ^ 
 but by methods of toil and economy, that acquire and he- 
 roically win. In the school at Rusk, he obtained his first 
 educational aids, and, like President Cleveland, Secretary 
 Bayard, Speaker Carlisle and others, he has reached the ends 
 of true education, by dint of energy, that tunnels the gran- 
 ite mountains of difliculty rather than construct the high- 
 way over level valleys and even plains. In this he is truly 
 a self-made man. As a means of practical education, he 
 entered the compositor's office before he had reached his 
 majority, and served as the printer's devil. From^this first 
 ofhce in the '.'Art Preservative," he carved his way to the 
 editorial tripod. He established, and run successfully, for 
 a while, the Longview Neivs ; subsequently removed to 
 Quitman, Wood county, Texas, under the head of J^nituiaji 
 News: 
 
 His legal education, like his literary, has been coined 
 from the crucible of privation and assiduity. He read law 
 four years, while residing at the towns of Tyler, Longview 
 and Quitman, in the midst of the other duties that multi- 
 plied upon him. He entered the bar in 1874, and after four 
 years of successful and lucrative practice, at the earnest 
 and persistent recj[uest of the presiding judge and his asso- 
 ciate attorneys, he became a candidate for county attorne}'' 
 of Wood county. His election was without opposition. He 
 served one term in this office at a financial sacrifice to him- 
 
26 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 State Officers. 
 
 self. Succeeding this service, he was elected district attor- 
 ney of the Seventh judicial district, Avhich position he held 
 for four years. Judge Hogg was married to Miss Sallie Stin- 
 son, of Wood county, in 1875; and, starting without inherited 
 wealth, they have been successful in accumulating a compe- 
 tency. His successes — and they have crowned every en- 
 deavor — have not been the accidents of a favored j^ersonage, 
 on whom fortune has lavished her gifts ; he has carved every 
 step, and chiseled every niche of the structure of honor on 
 which he now stands. His recent election to be the legal 
 counsel and guardian of the great State of Texas, is suffi- 
 cient proof of his legal ability and trusted integrity. 
 
 In physique, the Attorney-General presents a commaud- 
 ing personal appearance ; six feet and two inches high, hav- 
 ing a tendency to an obese developement, that may some- 
 time prove inconvenient ; his average weight is 285 pounds 
 avoirdupois. Forensic combat in the prosecution of tlie 
 criminal and in the defense of the innocent, has not steeled 
 his warm and generous nature. He possesses a high degree 
 of personal magnetism, and, displaying a courtly affability 
 toward guests and company, makes admirers and friends 
 without number. Being yet in his thirty-sixth year, he has 
 not attained to the full manhood of his intellectual strength, 
 nor unlocked the magazine of prowess, that may further win. 
 
 WILBURX HILL KING. 
 
 ADJUTAjNT-GENEEAL. 
 
 IT does not always follow that military genius is insepara- 
 ble from curtness of expression and abruptness of manner. 
 General King, who possesses the former, is pleasant in ad- 
 dress, and practices, by nature, an urbanity of manners 
 that classes him as a polished gentleman in the social circle. 
 Possessing strong volitional force and an inexorable purpose, 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 27 
 
 State Officers. 
 
 to take hold is, with him, to accomplish. He does not pos- 
 sess those social idiosyncracies which drive men from him, 
 but, on the contrary, is, a friend to be prized and a foe to be 
 dreaded. He is above the average, physically; has a dark 
 complexion, black liair and eyes, and a countenance that 
 indicates peacefulness of mind as he entertains his friends, 
 but would arm itself with fierceness at the first sound of 
 conflict. He was born ,in Crawford county, Georgia, June 
 10, 1839, and in 1S56 came to Texas, remaining only a short 
 time. He, however, returned to this State in the spring of 
 1861, and located in Cass county. In the beginning of the 
 war between the States, he enlisted in the service of the 
 Confederacy, and was elected Major of the Eighteenth Texas 
 Infantry, commanded by Colonel W. B. Ochiltree. 
 
 His courage and ability as an officer so distinguished him 
 that he soon rose to the rank of Brigadier-General. Al- 
 though he did not recieve his commission as such, he, for 
 most of the time, commanded the famous Walker's Division. 
 After the cessation of hostilities, he studied law and began 
 practice in Cass count}'-, Texas. In 1873 he removed to 
 JefFersoD, Texas, and pursued his profession at that place 
 Avith remarkable success. Having removed to Sulphur 
 Springs, Hopkins county, in 1774, he was subsequently 
 elected mayor of that city. He was a member of the Texas 
 Legislature that convened in 1S79, and soon became a leader 
 in the House. To fill the vacancy, occasioned Ijy the death 
 of Adjutant-General Jones, General King was appointed 
 by Governor Roberts in July, of 1881. This office he held 
 un-der reappointment of Governor Ireland, and hag recent- 
 ly received reappointment by Governor Ross. His skill 
 in the management of the military affairs of the State has 
 been warmly commended. Lawlessness has been greatly 
 suppressed through his efforts as Adjutant-General, and the 
 desperado has not found in Texas a land free to his occu- 
 pancy. The positive character of General King is to be 
 admired. 
 
 General King was married in New Orleans, to INliss Lucv 
 
28 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 State Officers. 
 
 Furman, in the early part of the year 1S67, who died 
 about one year later. The General has no living children. 
 Mrs. King was the daughter of Dr. Sam Furman, a practic- 
 ing physician of Kentucky, and grand-daughter of Rev. 
 Dr. Sam Furman, President of the Baptist University in 
 South Carolina. 
 
 RICHARD MOORE HALL. 
 
 COMMISSIONER OP THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE. 
 
 IN the person of Commissioner of the General Land 
 Office, North Carolina has made her contribution to one 
 of the most important departments of the government of 
 Texas. Beyond the Appalachian Highlands, in the midst 
 of the romantic' hills that have remained unchanged since 
 the British soldiery marched over them, in revolutionary 
 times, the new Commissioner was born, on the seventeenth 
 of November, in the year 1851, in Iredell county, in that 
 venerable Str.te. 
 
 He is the son of the late Dr. James K. Hall, a distin- 
 tinguished physician of Greensboro, Nortli Carolina., Mr. 
 Hall was educated at a famous old Quaker college, at New 
 Garden, in Guilford county, where the battle of Guilford 
 Court House was fought, :n the Revolutionary War, under 
 command of General Greent . 
 
 A knowledge of the Quaker system is only needed to 
 know how thorough their work of education is. 
 
 Possessed of a good intellect, with a decided taste for 
 mathematics, Mr. Hall chose ci\ il engineering as his pro- 
 fession. 
 
 Having immigrated to Texas in 1872, he has spent fully 
 one-third of his life in this State. ■ He served as county 
 surveyor of Grayson county, for a term of three years, from 
 1875 to 1877, inclusive. 
 
R. M. HALL. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 29 
 
 State Officers. 
 
 He was happily married in 1880, to Miss Bettie Hughes, 
 of Jefferson, Texas, and for some time past, has been living 
 in Williamson county, engaged in farming and stockraising. 
 
 The Commissioner is in the very prime of young man- 
 hood, and would be classed as a man above the average in 
 stature, and of florid complexion. He is a pleasant gentle- 
 man, not inclined to be obtrusive, but possessing a mind of 
 his own when necessarv to decide. 
 
 0>SCAR HENRY COOPER. 
 
 SUPERIXTENDEXT PrBLIC INSTRUCTION, 
 
 LITERATURE crowns her votaries. In the lines of genea- 
 logy, where the pursuit of the learned professions, has 
 been prominent, the maintenance of a higli order of talent, 
 follows by necessary physiological law, an illustration ot 
 this truth is afforded in the case of the subject of this sketch. 
 
 Dr. William H. Cooper, the father of Oscar Heniy, Avas, 
 by birth, a Mississippian. He came to Panola county, Texas, 
 in 1849, and throughout Eastern Texas, was distinguished 
 for his learning and skill as a physician and his fine litera- 
 ry attainments. 
 
 The Superintendent of Public Instruction was born in the 
 county of Panola, Texas, about five miles from Carthage, 
 on the twenty-second of November, 1852. Maternally, he is 
 closely related to the Rosser family of Virginia. General T. 
 L. Rosser of Virginia, who was educated at West Point as a 
 Texas student, and wlio was a distinguished cavalry officer 
 in the army of Virginia during the war between the States, 
 is, by consanguinity, an uncle of Mr. Cooper. 
 
 Private tutors gave young Cooper his first instructions 
 and training, which preparatory course he concluded at the 
 college at Marshall, Texas. He entered Yale, and after 
 taking the regular course, graduated in the year 1872. As 
 an important part of his educational advantages he visited 
 
30 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 State Officers. 
 
 Europe and spent a year in the University of Berlin, Ger- 
 many, returning to America in September, 1885. 
 
 The life-work of Mr. Cooper has been that of an educa- 
 tor ; he is enthusiastic in the cause of education, and a lover 
 of philology. He has taught successfttlly in various schools 
 of reputation and prominence, including Henderson Male 
 and Female College. Sam Houston Normal Institute, and 
 three years in Yale, his alma niatcr. At the time of his 
 election to be the head of the mighty edticational interests 
 of Texas, he Avas principal of the HotTston High School. 
 
 The project of the Sam Houston Normal Institute, as an 
 elementary factor in the educational system of the State, 
 embodying the proposition of the SGOOO annual donation 
 from the Peabody Fund, was submitted and argued before 
 the State authorities b}' Mr. Cooper, under appointment of 
 the State Teachers' Association. He was the prime mover in 
 hastening the establishment of the University. In the Tn- 
 ternational Reviczu, the first article appeared, arguing the 
 feasibility of hastening the organization of the University of 
 Texas. This article bore the signature of Oscar H. Cooper. 
 The joint committee of the House and Senate requested his 
 aid in the preparation of a University Bill, which was 
 given, and the present law is, with slight modifications, the 
 result of his labors. 
 
 Prof. Cooper is choice in his language ; possesses an intel- 
 lect given to plan, device, enterprise, and is not abashed at 
 great difficttlties of accomplishment. He is a Texan, but 
 not a narrow provincialist. He could not be said to excel 
 as an orator, yet, his lectures display real culture, and his 
 colloquial talents are of a high order. Like his predeces- 
 sor in office, he is small in stature, and unlike him, the 
 tendency of his complexion is blonde. 
 
 Prof. Cooper was married in Marshall, Texas, on the 
 twenty-fourth of November, 1886, to Miss Mary B. Stewart, 
 grand-daughter of Dr. James H. Starr, of Marshall, Texas, 
 who was, at one time, a member of President Lamar's cab- 
 inet. 
 
L. L. FOSTER. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 31 
 
 State Officers 
 
 L. L. FOSTER. 
 
 COMMISSIONER OF INSURANCE, STATISTICS AND HISTORY, 
 
 THERE is no better illustration of the oft-quoted ex- 
 pression that, " in this country every plow-boy is a can- 
 didate for the presidency," than in the life of L. L. Foster, 
 Commisioner of Insurance Statistics and Historv, under 
 Governor Ross' administration. 
 
 Eighteen years ago, in the eighteenth year of his age, L. 
 L. Foster, left Gumming, Forsyth county, Georgia, near 
 where he was born, to seek fortune and fame in the West, 
 and arrived at Horn Hill, Limestone county, Texas, De- 
 cember 12, without a cent in his pocket, or a friend to aid 
 him, but with that indomitable energy characteristic of 
 the man, he began work at whatever his hands found to do, 
 picking cotton, cultivating the soil, laying brick and stone, 
 for four years. This, however, was merely a means to the 
 end. Young Foster was animated by an ambition that had 
 its secret source in the knowledge of his own powers — a 
 laudable ambition to become a '' man among men" in the 
 higher walks of life, and to lead, not follow, at the com- 
 mand of another. The difficulties before him were great, 
 but with that superior confidence that belongs alone to the 
 pioneer in thought, he wedged his way through obstructing 
 forces, and ever encouraged by vicissitudes, he pressed onto 
 the mark of the high calling he had chosen for his career. 
 With the money earned at manual labor, he entered Waco 
 University, diligently and eagerly inquiring the path to 
 the arcana of learning. It goes without saying, that he 
 stood high in all of his classes. 
 
 In November, 1873, he removed to Groesbeck, and in 
 1876 began the publication of the Limestone Ne-v Era. 
 Thoroughly imbued with the principles of the Democratic 
 party, the Ne-jo Era became a power for good in the hands 
 of a man whose partizanship sprang from patriotism. The 
 
32 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 State Officers. 
 
 Nexv Era gradually, but surely, gained the respect and con- 
 fidence of the people of Limestone county, and in time, its 
 influence extended beyond county lines and throughout 
 Central Texas. 
 
 In 1880, the people of Limestone count}^ elected Mr, Fos- 
 ter to represent them in the Seventeenth Legislature, and in 
 1882, he was chosen to represent the Sixty-second District, 
 composed of the counties of Limestone, Falls and McLen- 
 nan, in the Eighteenth Legislature. With the experience 
 gained in the Seventeenth Legislature, and a close study of 
 parliamentary law, Mr. Fostor, at once took position as one 
 of the leaders of the House. Great questions arose for so- 
 lution upon which political ccraiomy and precedent were 
 silent, and the determination of which required versatility 
 of mind and originality of thought far above the average. 
 In the discussion of these questions, Mr. Foster made a 
 State-wide reputation as a debater and parliamentarian, 
 which resulted in his election as S^Deaker of the House of 
 the Nineteenth Legislature. He was the youngest man 
 ever elected to that office in this State, and on that account it 
 may be considered a special honor to him. His administra- 
 tion of the office was fair and impartial ; and such was the 
 confidence in the justice and correctness of his decisions on 
 all questions arising in tlie course of legislation, that no ap- 
 peal was taken from any decision rendered during the ses- 
 sion. 
 
 Mr. Foster is a particular friend of Governor Ross, and 
 used his extensive influence to secure his nomination and 
 •election. He is a forcible speaker, and possesses a stj'le of 
 ■oratory at once persuasive and convincing. His appoint- 
 ment to the office of Commissioner has met with the hearty 
 approval of the press of the State with which he has long 
 been connected, and was received with gratification by the 
 people throughout the State. 
 
 Mr. Foster is yet a young man, with many advantages 
 over his condition eighteen years ago, when he first arrived 
 in Texas. By his industry and prudence, he has acquired 
 
^/?-^:y>z^tWd J/l^ 
 
 r- 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 33 
 
 State Officers. 
 
 a competency, and is surrounded by friends who delight to 
 honor him. 
 
 He is about six feet tall, straight and slight in person, with 
 a finely chisled face, the lower part of which is hidden by a 
 thick, black beard, worn at a moderate length. He has a 
 commanding presence and address, and is graceful and dig- 
 nified in manner. He is now in the prime of life, and gives 
 promise of many more years of usefulness to his friends 
 and the State of his adoption. 
 
 FRANK RAINEY, 
 
 SUPERINTENDENT OF THE INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch is a native of Alabama. He 
 was born in 1840, received an honorable degree in 
 Franklin College, and graduated in the medical department 
 of the University, of Louisiana, 1860. Removing to Texas 
 in 1861, he entered the otfice of Dr. F. L. Merriwether, for 
 the practice of medicine in Houston county. The civil war 
 having commenced, he entered as a private in Captain 
 Tucker's company, Randall's regiment. He Avas early de- 
 tailed for medical service, and put in charge of the sick at 
 Shreveport, Louisiana. Soon after his return to his com- 
 mand, he was taken ill, and for a time retired. It was 
 .several months before he could resume military duty. He 
 was transferred to the cavalry command under Sibley's 
 brigade, and soon after received his commission as assistant 
 surgeon in the cavalry service. He was with General 
 Green's command in all the Arkansas and Louisiana engage- 
 ments. Most honorable mention is made of his professional 
 attainments in the History of Green's Brigade. After the 
 close of the war, he resumed tne practice of medicine in 
 Houston county. He entered political life, and was a rep- 
 resentative in tiie Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Legis- 
 
34 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 State Officers 
 
 latures. Retiring from legislative duties, he was appointed 
 by Governor Coke, Superintendent of the State Institute for 
 the blind, in May, 1874. He has exhibited most marked 
 ability, from that date to the present, in the managment of 
 that institution, receiving reappointment by successive ad- 
 ministrations. It is not only prosperous, but is a great 
 honor to the State of Texas. The number restored to sight- 
 or else had their vision improved, and the success in instruct- 
 ing the blind in various useful manual employments have 
 wrought out for the superintendent, a most honorable record. 
 He is genial, humane and philanthropic, has educated him- 
 self up to the highest qualifications for the position, and has 
 the affection of the inmates and the admiration of the pub- 
 lic. He has been efficient and faithful, and has distin- 
 guished himself in every chosen or assigned position in life. 
 He is a true type of a southern gentleman, of a physique 
 well proportioned "and symmetrical, black hair and eyes, 
 and a fair complexion. Asa member of society, he is pleasant 
 and entertaining, as a scholar he is broad and comprehen- 
 sive; and as aphysian and surgeon, he is philanthropic and 
 kind. Fearless as a soldier, he may yet be deeply touched 
 by human suffering. As a legislator, he Avas wise and dis- 
 criminating; and as a successful superintendent of instruc- 
 tion for the unfortunate blind, his continuance in office un- 
 der the changes of so many administrations is all the testi- 
 monial required. 
 
JOHN SPEARS DORSET. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 35 
 
 State Officers. 
 
 JOHN SPEARS. DORSET. 
 
 SUPEKINTENDENT OF TPIE ASYLUM FOR THE INSANE. 
 
 AT an early period in the Colonial history of America, the 
 Dorset family became established in Virginia, as an off- 
 shoot of English parentage. Thomas B. Dorset and Annie 
 Dorset, nee Miss Annie Spears, were the parents of the sub- 
 ject of this sketch. Mr. Dorset was a farmer of the true 
 Virgina type, and gave to his sons the healthful freedom of 
 rural life, and open-air exercise during the formative period 
 of their lives. The famil_y were honored and respected citi- 
 zens of Powhattan county, Virginia, where John S. Dorset 
 Avas born on the twenty-fifth of August, 1833. At Toma- 
 hawk, Chesterfield county, of that State, he received an 
 academic education, which laid broad the foundations of a use- 
 ful and honorable life. At both Philadelphia and New York, 
 he attended a thorough course of lectures in the medical 
 schools — graduating with high honors. In the war between 
 the States, he had a varied, adventurous and perilous exjje- 
 rience. He served as a private — as Second Lieutenant, both 
 of infantry and cavahy — was assistant surgeon with Dr. Bell 
 Gibson, in General Hospital No. 1, in the City of Richmond — 
 was wounded in June, 1803 — twice a prisoner, and concluded 
 his military services, proper, with General Early in his daring 
 campaigns in Virginia and Maryland. Under order of Judah 
 P. Benjamin, Dr. Dorset visted England, returning to 
 Washington City on that memorable night of the assassina- 
 tion of President Lincoln. xVfter his escape from the Libby 
 Prison on the seventeenth day of Mav, 1865, he went to 
 New York and received an appointment as Physician and 
 Surgeon on the steamer Mariposa, b}' Captain Allan Mc- 
 Lane, President of the North Atlantic Steam Ship Compa- 
 ny, who also was brother-in-law of General Joseph E. 
 Johnston. On the sixteenth of June, 1870, Dr. Dorset was 
 married to Miss Martha Bird Moore, daughter of Henry 
 
".36 PERSONNEL OF "THE 
 
 State Officers. 
 
 Carter Moore, Esq., of North Garden, Albemarle county, 
 Virginia. He and his bride immediately came to Texas, 
 and settled in Bonham, Fannin county. Under appoint- 
 ment of county authorities, Dr. Dorset has filled the office 
 ■of Physician and Surgeon to the poor of the county. He 
 received the onorous and vastly responsible appointment as 
 •Superintendent of the State Asylum for the Insane under 
 Governor L. S. Ross. His administration began on the 
 fifth of February, 1887. He is a member ot the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church South. As a scholar, he is profound, 
 and especially learned in all that department of knowl- 
 edge that is relevant to his favorite profession. He has won 
 a reputation as a physician and surgeon that justly gives 
 him a place not inferior to the ablest men of his profession. 
 He is of tall and symmetrical figure, and has a vivacious and 
 graceful movement. His head is large, having a massive 
 forehead, covered with soft black hair, that grows thin, al- 
 most to baldness, on the crown. He has a fair complexion, 
 and a large black eye. He converses readily, and mani- 
 fests a commendable degree of modesty. He was born to 
 rule, but his imperial nature is dominated by an unre- 
 strained philanthropy. To him order is law, and system 
 is the equivalent of accomplishment, but his generous na- 
 ture tempers his authority, and mingles mercy in judgment. 
 He would be recognized anywhere as a man of mark. His 
 manners are easy and gracious, and even a stranger would 
 not feel repelled from his presence. 
 
W. A. KENDALL 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 37 
 
 State Officers. 
 
 WILLIAM ADDISON KENDALL. 
 
 SUPERINTENDENT OF THE INSTITUTION FOR THE DEAF 
 AND DUMB. 
 
 THE Superintendent of the Institute for the Deaf and 
 Dumb, is a Virginian, born in Tazewell county, August 
 6, 1830. His parents were Allen and Elizabeth Kendall, 
 who removed to Kentucky while William Addison was 
 quite young. In that State he received his education, and 
 at the age of twenty-three years, was married to Miss Mary 
 C. Daily, daughter of Dr. Hiram Daily,, of West Liberty, 
 Morgan county. Mr. Kendall came to Texas with his fami- 
 ly in 1858, and settled in Denton county, where he has since 
 resided. Early in the conflict, he entered the southern army 
 under the command of General John H. Morgan. He was 
 captured in the raid into Ohio, while commanding Company 
 A, Third Kentucky Cavalry, and was one of six hundred 
 officers held for retaliation. In 1865 he returned to his home 
 in Texas. His second marriage was to Mrs. J. V. Wear, in 
 1871. His occupation has been farming, in which he has 
 been successful. For a portion of his time, he has also been 
 engaged in the land agency business. Major Kendall's 
 public life began by his election to the Eleventh Legisla- 
 ture of the State of Texas. He was subsequently elected 
 to the Nineteenth Legislature. 
 
 Under appointment of Governor Ross, he took charge of 
 the Institute for the Deaf and Dumb, on February 1, 1887, 
 which responsible position he now holds. As a citizen, 
 Major Kendall has been loyal and true ; as a soldier, trusted 
 and reliable ; as a legislator, wise and influential, and as a 
 friend, faithful and trustworthy. His figure physically, is 
 well ordered, being six fc^t in stature, and weighing one 
 hundred and sixty-five pounds. His eyes are blue, com- 
 plexion fair, movement quick, and he converses readily and 
 without hesitation. His physiognomy indicates a fine de*- 
 
38 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 State Officers. 
 
 gree of intelligence, while he possesses a happy equilibrium 
 between the ability of planning and that of executing. Ur- 
 bane in manners, and socially attractive, his friendships are 
 readily made, numerous and of an ardent and enduring type. 
 
 THOMAS J. GOREE. 
 
 SUPERINTENDENT OF STATE PENITENTIARIES. 
 
 THE Superintendent of the Penitentiaries of the State of 
 Texas, is an Alabamian. He was Ijorn in Perry county 
 of that State, on the fourteenth of November, 1835. He is, by 
 adoption, a Texan, since the close of the year 1850. He began 
 his education at Howard College, Marion, Alabama, and con- 
 cluded it in graduation, both in literature and law, from 
 Baylor Univerity, Independence, Texas, in the year 1856. 
 Captain Goree read law under Colonel \Y. P. Rogers, and in 
 firm with his preceptor and Judge James Willie, entered 
 into practice in the City of Houston, Texas, prior to the war 
 between the States. He resumed his professional business, 
 in firm with Senator L. A. Abercrombie, in Huntsville, 
 Texas, in 1873. He had never served in any official capac- 
 ity, except as justice of the peace, until his appointment by 
 Governor Coke as one of the directors of the Huntsville 
 Penitentiary, in which capacity he served until his appoint- 
 ment by Governor Hubbard as Superintendent of the Pen- 
 itentiary, at Huntsville, in the year 1877. He has been 
 successively appointed to this responsible position by Gov- 
 ernors Roberts, Ireland and Ross ; his appointment under so 
 many successive administrations being an approved testi- 
 monial of his efficiency. In the spring of 1861, he went to 
 Virginia, in company with Colonels Frank Terry and 
 Thomas Lubbock, and with them served as a scout for the 
 Command of General G. T. Beauregard. On the eighteenth 
 of July, 1861, he was appointed aid-de-camp on the staff of 
 
THOS. J. GOREK. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT 39 
 
 State Officers. 
 
 CleneralJames Longstreet, which position he held during the 
 entire war. He parcijDated in nearly all the great battles of 
 the Virginia camiDaign ; viz: Manassas, Williamsburg, Seven 
 Pines, Seven Days Before Richmond, Sharpsburg, Fredricks- 
 burg, Gettysburg, The Wilderness, Appomatox, in fact cov- 
 ering the whole march of the active corps of Gen. Longstreet 
 to the close of the war. He was a citizen of Walker county 
 at the time of his first appointment in charge of the State 
 Penitentiary, and now resides at Pluntsville, the county 
 seat of that county, in the house — at one time occupied by 
 General Sam Houston. He was married to Miss Eliza 
 T. Nolley, formerly of Mississippi, June 25, 1868, and has 
 a family of three children. He is a Democrat in politics, 
 fi member of the Missionary Baptist church, a Mason and 
 a Knight of Honor. He is of florid complexion, and of dig- 
 nified manners, possessing the marks that b}' nature and 
 education give him distinction. He might not be said to be 
 socially magnetic, neither is he repulsive, but possesses 
 strong purpose and solidity of character that give a grow- 
 ing intensity to friendship. He has fine executive ability, 
 and bears, into society and business life, the air of natural 
 dignity that commands respect. In physique, he is an 
 average specimen of the American gentleman — compact, 
 rotund, of good figure, and a smoothlv shaven face. 
 
 WILLIAM P. HARDEMAN 
 
 SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS. 
 
 THE prominent chapter in the history of the life of 
 General Hardeman is his record as a soldier. While 
 his secular occupation has been that of the farmer, to which 
 he was brought up, the salient fact of his long and eventful 
 career has been his military service. He came to Texas 
 in 1835 as a soldier, and Avhen the Alamo massacre was 
 
40 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 State Officers. 
 
 pending, and the appeal of Travis was published, with the 
 conditions that there would be neither retreat nor surrender, 
 young Hardeman, with others, answered the call, but too 
 late to prevent the slaughter. He served under Deaf Smith 
 in 1837j and in following years, in various campaigns against 
 the Indians. In 1846, he served also in the war with Mex- 
 ico, under Colonel Hays. His service in the war between 
 the States, was in the Trans-Mississippi Department of the 
 Southern army. He entered at the beginning as a captain, 
 and came home at the close, having the title of Brigadier- 
 General. His public service has been limited to that of 
 a member of the Secession Convention, and an appointment 
 under Governor Ross to the Superintendency of Public 
 Buildings and Grounds. He was educated at I*Jashville 
 University, Tennessee, but did not complete his course. He 
 has been three times married, his present wife being Mrs. 
 Mary Campbell, nee Miss Mary Collins, to whom he was 
 married in February, 1874. He is a Royal Arch Mason. 
 General Hardeman is of Irish descent, born in Williamson 
 county, Tennessee, on November 4, 1816, six feet high, 
 weighs one hundred and forty pounds avoirdupois, has dark 
 auburn hair, now turned gray, a fair complexion, blue 
 eyes, and belongs to that class of old Texans whose warm 
 hearts and ardent friendship have not been frozen out by the 
 new order of things. 
 
 HENRY MARCUS HOLMES. 
 
 EXECUTIVE SECEETARY. 
 
 THE Private Secretary of Governor Ross, is an Ameri- 
 can by adoption and naturalization, and an English- 
 man by nativity. Judge Holmes was born in England on 
 the ninth of December, 1836, and landed in Texas, October 
 25, 1850. He is a lawyer by profession, being educated 
 partly in Europe, and partly in America. Mr. Holmes was 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 4T 
 
 State Officers. 
 
 in the United States army at the beginning of the war be- 
 tween the States, and participated in the engagement at 
 Val Verde, New Mexico, and thereafter at tlie battle of 
 Fredericksburg, and continued in the regular cavalry brig- 
 ade till the third day of the battle of the Wilderness, where 
 he was taken prisoner. Regaining his liberty by exchange 
 of prisoners in August, 1864, he remained in the army 
 until the surrender of General Lee. Soon after Mr. Holmes 
 landed in America, friendless, penniless, a foreigner, and a 
 youthful invalid, he became the protege of Captain and Mrs. 
 Ross, the father and mother of the Governor incumbent, 
 which fact accounts for both gratitude and intimacy. His 
 wife was Miss Lucia Sheldon, of Rhode Island, to whom he 
 was married in 1865. His religious proclivities are with 
 the Episcopal church. He has filled the office of justice of 
 the peace and county judge, is affable and obliging in his 
 manners, has a keen blue eye, and a physical development 
 according to the best classes of the English type. 
 
 STEPHEN HEARD DARDEN. 
 
 CHIEF CLERK OF THE COMPTROLLER'S OFFICE. 
 
 AS a resident, a citizen and public officer, Colonel Dar- 
 den is distinctively an old Texan. His entrance into 
 Texas was as a volunteer soldier from the State of Missis- 
 sippi, under Captain David M. Fulton, in the year 1836. 
 In 1841, he became permanently established as a citizen of 
 Texas. He is of English-Irish descent, and a native of 
 Mississippi. He was raised as a farmer's boy, and was edu- 
 cated in the common schools of the country, and at Cum- 
 berland College, Kentucky, where he completed his course, 
 except the languages. He served as an officer in the war 
 between the States, being noted for his gallantry and relia- 
 bility. His last service was the command of a regiment on 
 
42 PERSON^EL OF THE 
 
 State Officers. 
 
 the coast of Texas. His political history embraces service 
 in the legislative halls of the State, a Congressman to the 
 Confederate Congress^ Comptroller of the State of Texas 
 for three terms, Superintendent of Public Buildings and 
 Grounds, and, under Mr. McCall's administration as Comp- 
 troller, has received the appointment of Chief Clerk. His 
 connection with the civil departments dates, perhaps, farther 
 back than that of any man now living, having served as a 
 clerk in the office of the Comptroller under the Provis- 
 ional Government of the Republic of Texas in September, 
 1836. He is physically tall and well proportioned. The 
 movement of his mind is not quick, but meditative and pro- 
 found. He studies for causes. He is fair-minded and has a 
 keen sense of justice. He is pleasant in his manners, and 
 possesses an obliging disposition, that insures for him the 
 friendship of the masses. 
 
 JOHN T. DICKINSON. 
 
 SECRETARY OF THE CAPITOL BUILDING COMMISSIONERS. 
 
 JOHN T. DICKINSON, Secretary of the Capitol Build- 
 ing Commissioners, also Clerk of the Capitol Board and 
 Penitentiary Board, was born in the City of Houston, June 
 18, 1858, where his family have lived for the past fifty years. 
 He attended school while a boy in England and Scotland. 
 From the age of thirteen to sixteen he was employed in the 
 general freight and passenger department of Houston and 
 Texas Central Railway, at Houston. He then went to col- 
 lege in Virginia, taking the degree of Bachelor of Law, at 
 the University of Virginia, when he was twenty-one years 
 of age, having graduated in several of the academic schools 
 of that institution; and being for some time editor of the 
 University Magazine. He then returned to Houston, 
 Texas, secured his license to practice law, but soon engaged 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 43 
 
 State Officers. 
 
 ill the newspaper business. In January, 1881, coming to 
 Austin, he was elected Journal Clerk of the Seventeenth 
 Legislature. In the summer of 1881 he was selected b}^ a 
 committee of tlie citizens of Austin, to make a canvass of 
 the State, visiting forty towns, in behalf of the City of Aus- 
 tin for the location of the State University, which was de- 
 cided by a popular vote at a special election on September 
 6, 1881. He again served as Journal Clerk at the called 
 session of the Seventeenth Legislature, in May, 1882, and, 
 when that body created the office of Secretary of the Capi- 
 tol Building Commissioners, he was, on the tenth of May, 
 1882, appointed to the position by tlie five heads of State De- 
 partments constituting the State Capitol Board. Since his 
 appointment in May, 1882, Mr. Dickinson has, under both 
 Governors Roberts and Ireland, acted as clerk of various 
 State boards, of which they were President, keeping all 
 papers and accounts and making the reports of these boards 
 to the Legislature, in addition to his regular duties under 
 the law as Secretary of the Capitol Building Commissioners 
 and as Clerk of the Capitol and the Penitentiary Boards. 
 
 R. L. WALKER. 
 
 SUPERINTENDENT OF CONSTRUCTION OK STATE CAPITOL. 
 
 GENERAL R. L. WALKER, Superintendent of Con- 
 struction of the new State Capitol building, was born in 
 Albemarle county, Virginia, May 29, 1828. He graduated at 
 theVirginia- Military Institute at Lexington, and engaged in 
 engineering and railroad pursuits until the outbreak of the 
 civil war, when he enlisted in the Confederate service as 
 captain of artillery, being i)romoted in that service, until 
 at the close of the war he was General commanding the 
 Third Corps of Artillery of the army of Northern Virginia. 
 After the war, General Walker resumed the pursuit of rail- 
 way engineering and superintendence of railroads, and while 
 thus engaged, and also in superintending the construction of 
 
44 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 State Officers. 
 
 public works in Richmond, Virginia, he was called by the 
 State Capital Board to superintend the construction of the 
 new State Capitol of Texas, and assumed the duties of this 
 position February 10, 1884. 
 
 M. H. McLAURIN. 
 
 CAPITOL BUILDING COMMISSIONER. 
 
 MR. M. H. McLAURIN, one of the Capitol Building 
 Commissioners, was born in Sumter, Sumter county. 
 South Carolina, March 26, 1849, where he was engaged 
 in engineering. He came to Austin, Texas, June 8, 1882,, 
 where he followed his profession as an engineer. He was 
 soon afterwards appointed as superintendent to reconstruct 
 the Temporary Capitol building, and to finish the construc- 
 tion of the State sewer. He Avas then appointed b}^ Gov- 
 ernor Ireland to superintend the erection of the North 
 Texas Insane Asylum, at Terrell, which being completed 
 under his superintendence, he was shortly afterwards, on 
 the seventh of April, 1885, appointed by the State Capitol 
 Board as one of the Capitol Building Commissioners. 
 
 JOSEPH LEE. 
 
 CAPITOL BUILDING COMMISSIONER. 
 
 JUDGE JOSEPH LEE, one of the Capitol Building Com- 
 missioners, was born near Hamilton, Butler county, Ohio, 
 on the fourteenth of April, '1810, and came to Texas in Feru- 
 ary, 1840, stopping a short time at Houston, and then coming 
 to Austin, where he has since resided. He is a Texas vet- 
 eran, and during his long career in Texas, has been identi- 
 fied with a great many of the principal events that have 
 occurred in the State, from its earliest history to the present 
 time, and has filled with fidelity and ability several official 
 positions of honor and ti'ust. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT, 
 
 45 
 
 Members of Congress from Texas. 
 
 UNITED STATES SENATORS. 
 
 RICHARD COKE. 
 
 FEW men are more generally known in the United States 
 than the subject of this notice. He was, by his man- 
 hood and elements of mind and heart, specially fitted for the 
 responsible positions he has been called upon to fill. 
 
 He is a, native of Mrginia, and was born at Williamsburg, 
 March 13, 1829. William and Mary College was his alma 
 mater. Graduating with honor at the age of twenty, he took 
 his first degree in law at the age of twenty-one. Soon after 
 doing so, moving to the State of Texas, he opened a law 
 office in Waco, where he still resides, and continued in the 
 active practice of law, except when called to other public 
 
46 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Members of Congress from Texas. 
 
 service. As a young man, he was characterized by habits of 
 soberness, energy and industry. His integrity and ability 
 very early gave him an honorable standing in his profession, 
 and marked success attended him. 
 
 His nativity, association and education directed his polit- 
 ical alliance, consequently he early enlisted in the service of 
 the Southern Confederacy. He served honorably as a soldier. 
 After the close of the war, his legal ability was in demand. 
 In 1865 he was appointed District Judge. He presided with 
 much ability. His superior attainments as a judge of law 
 led to his early promotion as a Justice of the Supreme Court. 
 The United States military usurpation led to his arbitrary re- 
 moval, as his incumbency could not be expected to add to the 
 tyranny of "reconstruction." His ability and justice, while 
 on the bench at this trying epoch in the State's history, so 
 impressed itself on the public mind as to lead to his suc- 
 cessful entrance upon high civil trusts. 
 
 In the memorable session of the Thirteenth Legislature he 
 took high rank among the many able and patriotic men of 
 that body. At that session important amendments to the 
 Constitution were passed. Then followed the organization 
 of the Democratic party, and the formulating of a platform of 
 principles, which was adopted at a State Convention in Aus- 
 tin in 1873. This Convention expressed its preferences for 
 standard-bearers by nominating Judge Coke for Governor, 
 and R. B. Hubbard for Lieutenant-Governor. They were 
 elected by about 50,000 majority. This Avill of the people 
 of Texas was sought to be defeated by the military govern- 
 ment under Governor Davis, and through the Supreme 
 Court of this revolutionar}'^ government, proceedings were 
 instituted and a decision reached declaring the election null 
 and void, and Governor Davis issued his order prohibiting 
 the assemblage of the Fourteenth Legislature and reconven- 
 ing the defunct Thirteenth. The latter, with the Davis so- 
 called administration, occupied the lower floor of the capitol, 
 and Governor Coke and the former occupied the upper floor. 
 Governor Davis appealed to Grant, President of the United 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 47 
 
 3Iembers of Congress from Texas. 
 
 States, who sent him soldiers to enforce the unconstitutional 
 rule. 
 
 The Fourteenth Legislature elect counted the vote for 
 Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, and put the machinery 
 of State government in motion, peacefully ignoring the Davis 
 administration. Governor Coke refused every proposition 
 of compromise, and even seeming recognition of the Davis 
 faction, and held a firm hold upon his constitutional rights 
 and power. 
 
 General Grant, to his honor, upon learning the facts, said 
 that it was an iniquitous conspiracy against constitutional 
 authority, as expressed by a majority of freemen, and refused 
 further interference. This was the death-knell to the Davis 
 power. In this the prudence and wisdom of Governor Coke 
 stood forth with majestic power, by averting civil Avar. 
 
 A writer in the 7c.xia?i^ thus epitomizes the sequences of 
 the Davis collapse of power : ''Everything was left in chaos; 
 the State liabilities were unknown; evidences of indebt- 
 edness were multiplying continually; taxes were in many 
 cases uncollected; the State credit was at a low ebb, and 
 government warrants were hawked on the streets and sold 
 at a heavy discount." 
 
 The Chief Executive was equal to the the position and 
 exigencies of the crisis. His sound judgment, legal acumen 
 and financial ability suggested plans, the execution of which 
 led to successful financial results. His firmness in these 
 matters of State had to combat even legislative ojjposition 
 of no small proportions. He exercised his executive power 
 with prudence, boldness and independence, till finally his 
 measures triumphed to his honor and the augmenting of his 
 political influence and power. He had the wisdom and fore- 
 thought to know and teach that all the then existing evils 
 could not be corrected short of calling a constitutional con- 
 vention under the laws then existing. Through that con- 
 vention. which was called into being, are we indebted for the 
 present State Constitution and its prosperous workings. A 
 general election was at once ordered, and resulted in the re- 
 
48 
 
 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Members of Cong?' ess from Texas. 
 
 election of Coke and Hubbard by 100,000 majority and the 
 adoption of the Constitution by nearly the same vote. 
 
 The State of Texas needed his services in the Congress of 
 the United States. In 1876, he was elected to the United 
 States Senate. 
 
 At the expiration of his first term, he was re-elected to a 
 second term to Congress. So acceptable is his course in 
 Congress, and such his great iufluence as a Senator, the 
 indications are that he will be his own successor for a num- 
 ber of terms to come. Upon the great leading questions of 
 the day he holds, and aids to enforce, true Democratic prin- 
 ciples. He is an honored leader from a national standpoint. 
 
 JOHN H. REAGAN. 
 
 THE highest type of American citizenship is not aborigi- 
 nal. The discovery of the New \^"orld was a universal 
 bid for the best talent and divinest energy among the na- 
 tions of the earth. As a result, learning, science, industry, 
 invention and statesmanship, have kept pace with the van- 
 guards of modern civilization elsewhere. Real genius is 
 often obscured for want of opportunity. Distinction is im- 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT 49 
 
 31 embers of Congress from Texas. 
 
 possible to all who merit it. It is often accidental — rarely 
 ever misapplied. Senator Reagan has won distinction — he 
 has merited it ; it has not been to him accidental. He is, by 
 lineal descent, of Irish ancestry ; he was born in Sevier 
 county, Tennessee, on the eighth of day of October, 1818, 
 He began his education at the academy at Sevierville, in his 
 native county, and afterwards concluded his course at the 
 Southwestern Seminary, in that State. 
 
 Judge Regan's career through life has touched the expe- 
 riences of the farmer, the jurist and the statesman. He 
 began his public life as a deputy surveyor in Nacogdoches 
 and Houston land districts — serving from the winter of 1839, 
 four years consecutively. In 1842, he was elected justice of 
 the peace and captain of a military company. In the fol- 
 lowing year he commanded a company ordered out to suj?- 
 press the war between the moderators and regulators in 
 Shelby county. His next publicservice was in the office of 
 Probate Judge, in 1846, at which time he was also made 
 colonel of the malitia of Henderson county. He served as 
 a member of the Second Legislature of the State of Texas, 
 being elected in 1847. He was chosen District Judge of the 
 Ninth Judicial District in 1852. In 1856, he resigned his 
 judgship,and was subsequently re-elected. His Congressional 
 career began Avith the Thirty-lifth Congress of the United 
 States, his election taking place in 1857. He was also a mem- 
 ber of the Thirty-sixth Congress. In 1861, he was elected 
 by the Secession Convention, of which he was a member, 
 to the Provisional Congress of the Confederacy. In March, 
 1861, under the Provisional Government of the Confederate 
 States, President Jefl". Davis appointed Judge Reagan Post- 
 master-General. When the Constitutional Government was 
 organized, he was continued in this office by appointment in 
 February, 1862. The additional duties of Acting Secretary 
 of the Treasury were assigned to him by appointment in 
 1865. After the|surrender of General Lee, Judge Reagan re- 
 turned to his home in Texas, and in 1874 Avas returned by 
 his constituency to membership in the United States Con- 
 
50 PERSOXNEI. OF THE 
 
 Members of Congress' from Texas. 
 
 gress. Serving in the Forty-fourth Congress, he has been 
 successively re-elected to the Forty -fifth, Forty -sixth^ 
 Forty-seventh, Forty-eighth, Forty -ninth and the Fiftieth. 
 The Tweiitieth Legislature of the State of Texas added, per- 
 haps, the last laurel that it is reasonable to expect will 
 adorn his brow. He was elected to the high office of United 
 States Senator. His service in Congress has been attended 
 with remarkable success. The Interstate Commerce Bill orig- 
 inated with Judge Reagan, and, it is believed, owes its passage 
 to his indefatigable labors. His position in the United States 
 Senate will not be a shame and a reproach to his State. He 
 is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and 
 also a Mason, having membership as high as the Command- 
 ery. His wife was Miss Hollie F. Taylor, daughter of John 
 F. Taj'lor. Esq., of Anderson county, Texas. He is a man 
 of remarkable physical constitution, and needs only to be 
 seen, to command the respect, and even the veneration, of 
 the masses. Long and continued service in the interest of 
 his State has not only given to him a vast store of knowl- 
 edge, but has broadened his statesmanship into national 
 fame. He is one of the best orators of his da}^ and the peer 
 of his associates in the legislative halls of the nation. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 51 
 
 Members of Cono-ress Jroni Texas. 
 
 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. 
 
 C^A^cK^ ^ULt^csiyv^ 
 
 CHARLES STEWART. 
 
 CHARLES STEWART, of Houston,was born at Memphis, 
 Tennessee, May 30, 1836 ; is by profession a lawyer ; 
 was elected to the Forty-eighth Congress, and was re-elected 
 to the Forty-ninth Congress, as a Democrat, receiving 24,145 
 votes against 15 votes scattering. Re-elected. He represents 
 the First District, com.posed of the counties of Angelina, 
 Brazos, Chambers, Grimes, Hardin, Harris, Jasper, Jeffer- 
 son, Liberty, Madison, Montgomery, Newton, Orange, Polk, 
 San Jacinto, Trinity, Tyler, Walker, and Waller, 
 
 Mr, Stewart is an able and successful member of the Texas 
 bar, and in his political career has met the expectations of 
 his admiring friends. 
 
32 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Members of Congress fro7n Texas. 
 
 C. B. KILGORE. 
 
 THIS distinguished gentleman, who is now Congressman 
 elect from the Third Congressional District of the State 
 >of Texas, composed of the counties of Camp, Gregg, Harri- 
 son, Hunt, Panola, Rains, Rusk, Shelby, Smith, Upshur, 
 Van Zandt, and Wood, is a native of Newnan, Georgia, 
 born on the twentieth of February, 1835. 
 
 His father immigrated to Texas in 1846, while the subject 
 of this notice was but a lad. Mr. Kilgore received his 
 education at Henderson, in Rusk county, Texas. By pro- 
 fession, he is a lawyer. Having a natural aptitude to the 
 study and practice of the law, his success was noticeable 
 and marked from the beginning. He has shared largely 
 in the confidence of the pul)lic, and is a strong and intiu- 
 ential practitioner at the bar. Mr. Kilgore entered the war 
 between the States, under General Sterling Price and Gen- 
 eral Van Dorn, and remained with them until after the bat- 
 tle of Elk Horn. He then went into the Cis-Mississippi 
 Departmer.t, and under General Kirby Smith, participated 
 in the famous Kentucky campaign. Perryville, Murfrees- 
 . boro, Jackson, the fall of Vicksburg, Chickamauga — at which 
 place he received a severe wound — were among the princi- 
 pal battles in which he was engaged. He rose in military 
 rank to that of captain and was also adjutant-general of 
 Ector's brigade. His political career began by election to 
 the office of justice of the peace in 1869. In 1875, he was 
 a member of the Constitutional Convention. In the year 
 1880, he was a Democratic elector on the Presidential ticket 
 of Hancock and English. He was elected by a handsome 
 majority to the Senate of the Nineteenth Legislature of the 
 State of Texas, and was made president pro rem., which 
 office he held for two years, ending January 11, 1887. He 
 was also chairman of the Committee on Constitutional 
 Amendments. Having received the nomination for Con- 
 gress, by the Democratic convention of September, 1886, he 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 55^ 
 
 Members of Congress from Texas. 
 
 resigned his place in the State Senate, leaving two years of 
 his term unexpired. At the November election of 1886, he 
 received a majority of 9,336 votes — his term of office as 
 Congressman beginning on the fourth of March, 1887. Judge 
 Kilgore is a member of the Presbyterian Church (old school), 
 belongs to the Masonic fraternity, and is also a Knight of 
 Honor. In 1858, he Avas married to Miss Fanny Barnett, 
 daughter of Major Slade Barnett, of Rusk county, Texas, 
 and has a family of seven children, six of whom are 
 da,ughters. He possesses by nature a rich endowment of 
 the elements of personal i^opularity, and has won in the 
 political fortunes of the State an enviable share. Success- 
 ful in the law, attractive in public oratory, broad in com- 
 prehension of the needs of the people, and trusted by his. 
 constituents, his advance in statesmanship has been pro- 
 portionably manifested as he has been promoted in office. 
 
54 
 
 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Memhcrs of Congress from Tcxai 
 
 DAVID B. CULBERSON. 
 
 DAVID B. CULBERSON, re-elected from the Fourth 
 District, composed of the following counties, to-wit; 
 Bowie, Cass, Delta, Fannin, Franklin, Hopkins, Lamar, Ma- 
 rion, Morris, Red River and Titus, was born in Troup county, 
 Georgia, September 29, 1830 ; was educated at Brown- 
 wood, LaGrange, Georgia ; studied law under Chief Justice 
 Chilton, of Alabama; removed to Texas in 1856, and was 
 elected a member of the Legislature of that State in 1859 ; 
 entered the Confederate Army as a private, and was pro- 
 moted to the rank of colonel of the Eighteenth Texas In- 
 fantry ; was assigned to duty, in 1864, as Adjutant-General, 
 with the rank of colonel, of the State of Texas ; was elected 
 to the State Legislature in 1864; was elected to the Forty- 
 fourth, Forty-fifth, Forty-sixth, Forty-seventh and Forty- 
 eighth Congresses, and was re-elected to the Forty-ninth 
 Congress, as a Democrat, receiving 23,165 votes against no 
 opposition. Re-elected from the Fourth District. 
 
 Few men are more richly endowed by nature than the 
 eloquent Congressman from the Fourth District in Texas. 
 Education and a long and varied experince in public life, 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT, 
 
 55 
 
 Members of Congress from Texas. 
 
 liave added largely to the store of his knowledge, and quali- 
 fied him to be a leader of the people. His reputation has 
 grown with the 3'ears of his public life, and his thorough 
 knowledge of the wants of the State inspire an implicit 
 •confidence in him. Successive re-election to the high and 
 trusted office he now holds is the people's testimonial of 
 his worth. His congressional career has attracted public 
 attention in and out of his own State, giving to him a na- 
 tional reputation as well as an approval by his constituents. 
 
 wr"' 
 
 WILLIAM H. GRAIN. 
 
 WILLIAM H. GRAIN, re-elected from the Seventh Dis- 
 trict, composed of the counties of Aransas, Bee, Bra- 
 zoria, Galhoun, Cameroi>, Dimmit, De Witt, Duval, Encinal, 
 Fort Bend, Frio, Galveston, Goliad, Hidalgo, Jackson, La 
 Salle, Matagorda, Maverick, McMullen, Nueces, Refugio, 
 San Patricio, Starr, Victoria, Webb, Wharton, Zapata, and 
 Zavala, of Cureo, ^exas, was born at Galveston, Texas, 
 November 25, 1848 ; graduated at Saint Francis Xavier's 
 
56 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Members of Congress from Texas. 
 
 College, New York City, July 1, 1S67, and received the de- 
 gree of A. M. several years afterwards; studied law in the 
 office of Stockdale & Proctor, Indianola, and was admitted 
 to practice in February, 1871 ; has practiced law since that 
 time ; was elected a State Senator on the Democratic ticket 
 in February, 1876 ; was elected as the Democratic candidate 
 for district attorney of the Twenty-third Judicial District 
 of Texas, in November, 1872; and was elected to the Forty- 
 ninth Congress as a Democrat, receiving 15,471 votes, 
 against 9,586 votes for R, B. Renfro, Republican, and 1,032 
 votes for Richard Nelson, colored. Republican. 
 
 The youthful Texan, who is making himself distinguished 
 in Congress from the Seventh District of Texas, is furnished 
 Avith a thoraugh collegiate drill. This advantage has not 
 been bankrupted in dishonor. As a lawyer in the regular 
 practice, he was the peer of the chiefest. Both his manage- 
 ment and tactics in conducting his cases gave him a high 
 place in the esteem of the people, and his eloquent pleadings 
 at the bar made him a favorite. He ranks with the first 
 orators of the State. His ability and personal popularity 
 give him victory over opposition that may take shape and 
 make active resistance in his district. His hold upon the 
 people is strong, and his record, as a Congressman, has 
 given it intensity. He is esteemed as one of the foremost 
 Statesmen of Texas. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 57 
 
 Members of Congress from Texas. 
 
 ROGER Q. MILLS. 
 
 ROGER Q. MILLS, of Corsicana, was elected to the 
 Forty-third, Forty-fourth, Forty-fifth, Forty-sixth, 
 Forty-seventh and Forty-eighth Congresses, and was re- 
 elected to the Forty-ninth Congress as a Democrat, receiving 
 22,333 votes against 9,049 votes for Osterhout, Republican. 
 Re-elected from the Ninth District, composed of Bell, Bur- 
 leson, Falls, Limestone, McLennan, Milam, Navarro, and 
 Washington counties. Mr. Mills is an average specimen of 
 Southern manhood. In stature, bodily development and 
 natural physique, he is a man of model type. In intellect he 
 ranks with the great men of his State, and of the country. 
 His mental habitudes are analytical. Logical in every part cf 
 his speeches, his conclusions are well-nigh irrefutable. Long 
 experience in national politics has familiarized him with 
 all the living, current questions of the day, and made him 
 a master in debate. His popularity throughout the State 
 is an honor accorded to but few. In his Congressional dis- 
 trict, he is first as the choice of the people. He is fearless 
 in expressing what he believes to be right, and is true to 
 convictions and the best lights he has at a given time. In 
 Congress, he is recognized as a man of marked ability and 
 among the best representatives from the South. 
 
58 
 
 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Members of Congress from Texas. 
 
 SAMUEL W. T. LANHAM. 
 
 SAMUEL W. T. LANHAM, of Weatherford. ^vas bom 
 in Spartanburg District, South Carolina, Jul_y 4, 1846 ; 
 received only a common-school education ; entered the Con- 
 iederate Army (Third South Carolina Regiment) when a 
 boy ; removed to Texas in 1866 ; studied law, and was ad- 
 mitted to practice in 1869 ; was district attorney of the 
 Thirteenth District of Texas ; was democratic elector of the 
 Third Congressional District of Texas in 1880 ; was elected 
 to the Forty-eighth Congress and was re-elected to the 
 Forty-ninth Congress as a Democrat, receiving 29,738 
 votes against 184 for Say lor. Republican. Re-elected 
 from the Eleventh District, composed of the counties of 
 Andrews, Armstrong, Bailey, Borden, Briscoe, Brown, Cal- 
 lahan, Carson, Castro, Childress, Cochran, Collingsworth, 
 Comanche, Corj-ell, Cottle, Crosby,. Dallam, Dawson, Deaf 
 Smith, Dickens, Donley, Eastland, El Paso, Erath, Fisher, 
 Floyd, Gaines, Garza, Gray, Greer, Hale, Hall, Hamilton, 
 Hij,nsford, Hardeman, Hartley, Haskell, Hemphill, Hockley, 
 Hood, Howard, Hutchinson, Jack, Jones, Kent, King, Knox, 
 Lamb, Lipscomb, Lubliock, Lynn, Martin, Midland, Mitch- 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 59 
 
 Members of Congress from Texas. 
 
 «11, Moore, Motley, Nolan, Ochiltree, Oldham, Palo Pinto, 
 Parker, Parmer, Pecos, Porter, Presidio, Randall, Reeves, 
 Roberts, Scurry, Shackelford, Sherman, Somervilie, Steph- 
 ens, Stonewall, Swisher, Taylor, Terr}-, Tom Green, Throck- 
 morton, ^"al Verde, Wheeler, Yoakum, and Young — <So 
 counties. 
 
 An Empire of territory is embraced in Mr. Lanham's 
 district. About half of the eighty-three counties in his 
 •district are unorganized, any two of which cover an area 
 equal to an average State. Mr. Lanham deserves great 
 credit for his successful struggle against stubborn difficul- 
 ties. He is self-educated, and is now an untiring student. 
 For a time, he taught school as a stepping-stone to the 
 practice of the law. In his profession, he has been eminent- 
 ly successful. Not only as a judge of law, is he eminent, 
 but as a pleader and advocate at the bar, he is well nigh re- 
 sistless. His eloquence is impassioned, his words well 
 chosen, and his elocution almost faultless. He is small in 
 physical stature, of rotund bodily contour, and of a restful 
 movement. Genial in the most commendable degree, he 
 both entertains his friends in pleasing conversation, and is 
 himself entertained by them. He has shown, in his Con- 
 gressional course, the same indomitable purpose to excel 
 that has so saliently marked his entire history. But few 
 •men have labored harder, done more, and risen in the es- 
 teem of the nation faster, during the same length of time 
 -at the beginning of Congressional service, than has this 
 cultivated gentleman. Mr. Ijanham is nature's child, mi- 
 der the dominating inHuence of education and an uncon- 
 querable ambition to excel. 
 
6o 
 
 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Members of Congress from Texas. 
 
 JOSEPH D. SAYERS. 
 
 JOSEPH I). SAYERS, of Bastrop, was born at Grenada, 
 Mississippi, September 23, 1841; removed with his father 
 to Bastrop, Texas, in 1851; was ethicated at the Bastrop Mil- 
 itary Institute; entered the Confederate Army in 1861 and 
 served continuously until April, 18()o; when tlie war termi- 
 nated, taught school and at the same time studied law at 
 Bastrop, Texas; was admitted to the bar in 1866, and became 
 a partner of Hon. George W. Jones; served as a member of 
 the State Senate in the session of 1873; was chairman of the 
 Democratic State Executive Committee during the years 
 1875-1878; was Lieutenant-Governor of Texas in 1879 and 
 1880; and was elected to the Forty-ninth Congress as a Dem- 
 ocrat, receiving 21,523 votes against 12,253 votes for John B. 
 Rector, Independent. Re-elected. He represents the Tenth 
 District, composed of the counties of Bandera, Bastrop, 
 Bexar, Blanco, Burnet, Coleman, Comal, Concho, Crockett, 
 Edwards, Gillespie, Kendall, Kerr, Kimball, Kinney, Lam- 
 pasas, Llano, McCulloch, Mason, Medina, Menard, Runnels^ 
 San Saba, Travis, Uvalde and Williamson. 
 
 For fifteen years past, Mr. Sayers has been a prominent 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 6t 
 
 Members of Congress from Texas. 
 
 figure in the politics of tlie State of Texas. He is recognized 
 as a profound thinker and an adept in political economy. 
 His service as State Senator in the year 1873 brought him 
 prominently before the leading men of the State, while his 
 reputation as a lawyer extended far beyond the limits of the 
 bar he was accustomed to attend. The relation between 
 himself and his constituency is not cold and official, but vital 
 and ardent. His popularity is attested bv the very compli- 
 mentary vote he received from his district, and the tokens of 
 recognition received in return from him. He is a fine, logical 
 speaker and strong in polemical discussion. In Congress he 
 is not a mere figure, but a meml)er whose influence is felt. 
 He is too broad to be sectional in his record, and too true to 
 his State to see her interests slaughtered without a manly 
 resistance. 
 
62 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 STATE SENATORS. 
 
 LEONARD ANDERSON ABERCROMBIE. 
 
 BROADLY educated and of profound legal acquirements, 
 Senator Abercrombie at once took an enviable place in 
 the legislative halls of the State of Texas. He was elected 
 State Senator in November, 1886, and his entrance into the 
 arena of polemical and parliamentary war has made a favor- 
 able impression as to his present skill and previous prepa- 
 ration. He was a member of the following conmiittees, viz: 
 Judiciary Committee No. 1, Education, Finance, and others. 
 He has been successful in the practice of his profession, 
 and has won laurels as a Texas legislator. He is fifty-one 
 years of age, a native of Alabama, and has been thirty-one 
 vears in the State of Texas. He is not impulsive nor impa- 
 tient, but gives evidence of real refinement, is a fine speaker, 
 close reasoner, and a safe legislator. 
 
 WILLIAM ALLEN. 
 
 KENTUCKY contributes to the Twentieth Legislature 
 of the State of Texas a model specimen of American 
 manhood, physically, morally, and intellectually, in the per- 
 son of her gifted son, Honorable William Allen. 
 
 Senator Allen was born in Barren county, Kentucky,. 
 March 18, 1835. He begun his education in his native 
 State, and has gone through the college curriculum. He 
 has been an educator ; he is now engaged in farming and 
 stock raising. In literature this distinguished gentleman 
 has taken a reputable part. He is author of "Five Years- 
 i'.i the West," and of "The South no Dishonored Realm," in 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 63 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 MS., besides being a contributor to some of the ablest peri- 
 odicals of the country. 
 
 Since the year 1860 he has been a minister of the gospel, 
 a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, filling 
 the positions of Trustee of Southwestern University, dele- 
 gate to several Annual Conferences, to the General Confer- 
 ence of 1882, and other important places. He is also a 
 member of the Masonic fraternity. After two years service 
 as a soldier under General Dick Taylor, in the war between 
 the States, in which he fairly vindicated his Jeffersonian 
 Democracy, Mr. Allen was given a chaplaincy in the army. 
 His first appearance in political life was as Senator from 
 the Seventeenth Senatorial District, composed of Collin 
 county and Denton, to which position he was elected by a 
 majority of 1050 votes. He was chairman of the Commit- 
 tee on Agricultural Aftairs, and served as a member on 
 others of importance. He married Miss Abbie, the accom- 
 plished daughter of Dr. R. B. Mayes, of CoUhi county, 
 Texas. Senator Allen has made a fine reputation as a wise 
 legislator, and commands the respect of the Senate. Having 
 the] elements of a worthy character, his social attractions 
 are strong, and his influence like the silent forces which 
 operate so mightly in nature. 
 
 C. K. BELL. 
 
 GK. BELL was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on the 
 , eighth of April, 1853, and came to Texas in 1871. He 
 established himself in Belton, Bell county, where he re- 
 mained till 1874, and during that year, removed to Hamil- 
 ton, where he now resides. Senator Bell obtained license to 
 practice law in 1874, and by his studious habits and discrete 
 management of the cases under his charge, soon won recog- 
 nition as a talented rising young lawyer in the west. He 
 was elected district attorney of the Thirtieth judicial district. 
 
64 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 which gave him an enlarged field for the encouragement of 
 his aspirations and the proof of his abilities. In 1884, he 
 was elected State Senator from the Twenty-third senatorial 
 district, composed of Bell, Coryell, Lampasas and Hamil- 
 ton counties. He served in the Nineteenth Legislature as 
 chairman of the Committees on General Land Office and 
 Engrossed Bills, and as a member of other important com- 
 mittees. In the Twentieth Legislature, he at once took a 
 prominent place, and was held to be a brilliant star in the 
 political constellation of the West. He is thoroughly edu- 
 cated, and gentlemanly in his parliamentary and social in- 
 tercourse. Senator Bell is a member of the Episcopal 
 Church, and also of the fraternity of Ancient, Free and Ac- 
 cepted Masons. He was educated at Sewanee, at the Uni- 
 versity of the South, and has had, in his professional 
 service, the advantnij-e of thorou2,h culture. 
 
 ROBERT HENRY BURNEY 
 
 SENATOR BURNEY'S ancestry runs back into English 
 citizenship. In the early settlement of America, this 
 family made its appearance in Virginia and North Carolina, 
 and subsequently in Tennessee. In McNary county, of that 
 State, on the twenty-second of October, 1854, Robert Henry 
 was born. In 185(3, his father, Judge H. M. Burney, immi- 
 grated to Kerr county, Texas, where he still lives, having 
 served as one of the first judges of the county. Senator 
 Burney is the eldest of nine brothers composing the filial 
 part of the household. Brought to Texas when he was an 
 infant, he was primarily educated in this State. He was 
 a student at Southwestern University, Georgetown, Texas, 
 where in 1876 he was recognized as leading the mathemati- 
 cal class, having won a gold medal as a testimonial, and at 
 the commencement of the following year, bore off the palm 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 65 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 of oratory. In 1878 he took the degree of A. B., and the follow- 
 ing year received the degree of Bachelor of Laws at the 
 Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. He joined 
 the State Rangers under Captain Neal Caldwell in the spring 
 of 1874, and appropriated the earnings of this service to his 
 education. ' The hardship of ranger life on the frontier 
 brought him into actual sympathy with the out-post struc- 
 ture of Texas society and the frontier people. Profession- 
 ally he is a lawyer, at one time partner with Judge T. P. 
 Hughs, of GeorgetoAvn, Texas, and now a prominent mem- 
 ber of the bar at Kerrville, where he resides. His district 
 (the Twenty-eighth Senatorial) is composed of sixteen 
 counties, embracing an area of over 63,000 square miles. 
 As a senator in the Twentieth Legislature of the State of 
 Texas, he makes his debut in the political arena of the State 
 by a popular majority of over 11,000 votes. He is chair- 
 man of the Committee on Public Printing, and a member 
 of Judiciary No. 2, Educational and Internal Improvements, 
 and five others, and for his promptness and' urbanity of 
 manners in general committee work, has received compli- 
 ments from his fellow members. On the thirtieth day of 
 September, 1879, he was married to Miss Mattie Prather of 
 Palestine, Texas, and has a family of two children. He is 
 of slender figure physically, weighing on an average one 
 hundred and forty-five pounds, and being six feet in stature. 
 He has a fiery hazel eye and is of fair countenance. As an 
 orator, he is vehement in speech and logical and concise in 
 diction and argument. He is fortunately endowed by na- 
 ture with psychic affinities, which make his friendship ar- 
 dent, and his influence over his fellow men controlling. 
 He is true to his convictions of right, but not inflexible to 
 the counsel of his friends. To the suavity of manners 
 which is nature's gift, has been super-added the polish of 
 classical drill, giving him advantages that hiay well be 
 coveted. The pang of ingratitude he is incapable of inflict- 
 ing, and is open-hearted and frank in rewarding the aid 
 that has in any way contributed to his welfare. 
 
66 PERSONMEL OF THE 
 
 Sfaic Senators. 
 
 He is a close student, an inveterate worker and prompt 
 in attendance at the sessions of the Senate. 
 
 Though young in legislative circles, he has grown rap- 
 idly in the confidence and appreciation of his constituents 
 and fellow-members, and deservedly occupies a foremost 
 place in the Senate. 
 
 He is always well informed on every subject of import- 
 ance before the Senate, and takes an avowed position with 
 a, determined purpose. 
 
 W. T. ARMISTEAD. , 
 
 WT. ARMISTEAD was born in Georgia on the twen- 
 , ty-fifth day of October, 1848. In 1864, he enlisted 
 in the Confederate Army as a private, and participated 
 in the engagements around Atlanta; was wounded at the 
 battle of Jonesboro, Georgia, and was made a prisoner at 
 Girard, Alabama, in the closing days of the war. He had 
 been promoted to a captaincy before his capture. He grad- 
 uated at the University of Georgia in 1871, and immediately 
 moved to Douglassville, Cass county, Texas, where he taught 
 school, and thence removed to Jeflferson, Texas, in 1872, 
 where he still resides, and there began the practice of law 
 in 1873. He has been a delegate to every State Convention 
 since 1874; was elected representative from the Seventeenth 
 District to the Eighteenth Legislature, and re-elected to the 
 Nineteenth with an increased majority. He was elected 
 Senator to the Twentieth Legislature, from the Fourth Dis- 
 trict, over the Honorable D. T. Hearne, by nearly five thou- 
 sand majority. He is a successful lawyer and an active, 
 earnest and conscientious legislator. He is a Knight Tem- 
 plar Mason, a member of the Baptist Church, the Legion of 
 Honor, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. 
 
W. T. ARMISTEAD. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 67 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 WILLIAM HENRY BURGES. 
 
 THE Senator from Guadalupe, Hon. W. H. Burges, is a 
 native of Tennessee ; born in Madison county, January 
 8, 1838, and was chiefly educated in his native State. He has 
 been in Texas thirty-two years. His legal education was 
 acquired at the Law Department of the University of the 
 State of Louisiana. He is a lawyer, and has been successful 
 in securing a large and lucrative practice. 
 
 At the time that Judge John Ireland was elected the Chief 
 Magistrate of the State of Texas, Mr. Burges was a member 
 of the law firm of Ireland & Burges, of Seguin, Texas. 
 
 During the war between the States he rendered four years' 
 service as a soldier in the famous Hood's Brigade, partipa- 
 ted in most of the engagements led by that officer, and was 
 seriously wounded in the battle of Sharpsburg. 
 
 Mr. Burges began public life as county attorney of Gua- 
 dalupe county, and served with credit to himself and the 
 people. Afterward he Avas elected district attorney. In 
 1876 he was a Democratic elector on the presidential ticket 
 in the State of Texas. He was also a member of the Bound- 
 ary Commission, having in charge the investigation and es- 
 tablishment of the Greer county lines. He has been twice 
 State Senator — his first service having been rendered in the 
 Seventeenth Legislature of the State of Texas. He was 
 elected to the Twentieth Legislature as Senator from the 
 Twenty-fifth district in November, 1886, by a majority of 4951 
 votes. He has maintained a consistent and rising course in 
 his legislative work, and manifests a deep concern in the 
 great measures brought before the Senate. His district is 
 composed of Hays, Guadalupe, Blanco, Kendall, Comal, 
 Caldwell and Llano counties. 
 
 He is chairman of the Committee on Public Debt, and a 
 member of the most important Senate committees. He is 
 not tall, having a tendenc}" to obesity. His hair is black, 
 and his eyes black and piercing, though not large. He is 
 
68 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 pleasant in his manners, and enjoys the society of his 
 friends. He knows how to be obliging, and how to say 
 "no." He is above the average as a lawyer ; a fine speaker, 
 close investigator, an ardent friend, and possesses a good 
 investment of will force. He enjoys a growing reputation 
 as a legislator. He has been three times married — has a 
 family of five children, and is a member of A. F. and A. M. 
 
 JAMES HENRY CALHOUN. 
 
 THE Calhoun family have a history inseparably inter- 
 woven with that of the whole comitry. More especi- 
 ally has the South learned to appreciate its worth and recog- 
 nize its value in the mighty current of our great civilization. 
 Under a plain physiological law, operating in heredity, any 
 distinctive characteristics of a family, whether for good or 
 evil, may be expected to appear under favorable conditions 
 along the line of the history of that family. Senator Cal- 
 houn is an illustration in point. He is a Georgian^ from 
 Troupe county, in that State, born on the seventeenth of 
 January, 1849. His education is collegiate. He graduated 
 from Homer College, at Homer, I^ouisiana, in 1870. In the- 
 following year he moved to Texas, stopping for two years 
 at the city of Waco. While residing there he read law un- 
 der General Tom Harrison, and Avas licensed to practice on 
 the eighth day of August, 1873. The following September 
 he settled in Eastland county, and subsequently established 
 himself at Eastland, the county seat, where he now resides. 
 For a while after his admission to the bar, he engaged in 
 the land business, and has proved himself to be an able and 
 successful lawyer. His public life began by his election to 
 the office of county judge of Eastland county. Subse- 
 quently he served two terms as district attorney of the 
 Twelfth judicial district. In November of 1884, Judge 
 Calhoun was elected State Senator from the Twenty-ninth 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 69 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 Senatorial district, by a majority of over oOOO votes. His 
 district is composed of twenty-tliree counties, embracing an 
 area of more tban 20,000 square miles. He at once took a 
 prominent place in the Senate of the Nineteenth Legisla- 
 ture, and served as chairman of the committee to investigate 
 the Comptroller's and Treasurer's offices, and as a member 
 of other prominent committees. In the Twentieth Legisla- 
 ture he is chairman of the Committee on Land Office, and 
 also of the special committee for the Relief of the Drouth 
 Sufferers. To him, more than any one else, is the credit 
 due for the $100,000 appropriation to relieve the sufferers in 
 the drouth stricken counties. 
 
 As an attorney, he has had a general [j^ractice — not hav- 
 ing confined himself, from inclination or necessity, to any 
 special branch of the profession. His finely cultured mind 
 and extensive experience and observation, give him a high 
 rank as a State Senator. As an orator, he is impassioned. 
 He speaks with naturalness and ease, and often rises into 
 strains of fiery eloquence, that takes full possession of his 
 auditors. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, South ; also of the Masonic fraternity, and of the 
 Independent Order of Odd Fellows. On January 1, 1882, 
 at Eastland, Texas, he was married to Miss Jennie Conner, 
 and has a family of two children. Senator Calhoun is an 
 average specimen of American manhood. He is five feet ten 
 inches in stature, and turns the scales at 170 pounds. He 
 has a vigilant blue e^-e that kindles into brilliancy in his 
 happiest moments of public speaking. His hair is black, 
 while his beard is a light brown. He has a florid complex- 
 ion, and a forehead that is its own witness of indwelling 
 intelligence. While Judge Calhoun is true to his honest 
 convictions of right, he is ready to hear the arguments of 
 those who differ from him. He is a true friend and a gen- 
 erous foe — a lover of the pure and good, andean be touched 
 with a feeling of human suffering. 
 
70 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 JOHN LAFAYETTE CAMP, JR. 
 
 JOHN LAFAYETTE CAMP, Jr.; Senator from the Sixth 
 Senatorial district, is a native of Gilmer, UiDshur coun- 
 ty, Texas \ born September 23, 1855. He attained his man- 
 hood and still resides at the place of his nativity. His edu- 
 cation was obtained at Trinity University, Tehuacana, Texas, 
 and at the Military Institute at Austin. He entered the 
 legal profession in his native town, and has evinced a high 
 order of talent. In 1884 he was elected to the State Senate 
 without opposition. In the Nineteenth Legislature he was 
 chairman of the Committee on Privileges and Elections, be- 
 sides serving as a member on several other important com- 
 mittees. In the Twentieth Legislature he was chairman of 
 the Committee on State Affairs and also on Rules. He is 
 one of the youngest and most brilliant of the members of 
 the upper House. He is of small figure, dark blue eyes, 
 black hair, and a complexion of a dark tendency. He is 
 of modest mein and converses freely. He occupies a front 
 place in the young Democracy of the State, and shows 
 great promise for the future. 
 
 JNO. M. CLAIBORNE. 
 
 J NO. M. CLAIBORNE, a member of the Senate of Texas 
 from the Tenth Senatorial district, composed of the 
 counties of Galveston, Brazoria and Matagorda, was born 
 in the State of Tennessee, February 27, 1839, came to 
 Texas with his father, Colonel Phil. Claiborne, in the early 
 part of the year 184G and settled in Bastrop county, and 
 was educated at the Bastrop Military Institute and at Bay- 
 lor University, Independence, Texas. He read law with his 
 father, Avith a view of practicing the profession, but aban- 
 doned the idea to go into commerce and farming, in both of 
 
TEXAS STATE GO\ERNMENT 7 1 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 which he is now engaged. He served as clerk in the Comp- 
 troller's Oilice in ISGO and 1861 ; was both district and 
 county clerk of Bastrop county since the war; was chairman 
 of the State Democratic Executive Committee for two years; 
 was Aide-de-Camp on the staff of (Governor Roberts for four 
 years, and Major-General of the Texas Volunteer Guards for 
 three years. 
 
 In 1861, at the breaking out of the late war between the 
 States, he left the city of Austin as a j)rivate in company D, 
 Terry's Texas Rangers, and was, in 1863, appointed adju- 
 tant of the regiment. In July, 1864, he was detached anct 
 placed in the secret service department by General John B. 
 Hood, who, on December 14, 1864, promoted him for gal- 
 lantry in front of Nashville, and recommended him to the 
 War Department for an adutant-generalcy of division with 
 the rank of colonel. He participated in every battle fought 
 by the Army of Tennessee, except while Avounded, and bore 
 the last order ever delivered^to the lamented Claiborn, Gen- 
 eral Claiborn having been killed while the order was being 
 delivered, at the battle of Franklin, Tennessee, at 9:50 at 
 night. He received three dangerous and two slight wounds, 
 and lost in action, killed undet him, four horses, had two 
 wounded, two being killed in the one engagement at Farm- 
 ington, Tennessee, 1864, thus speaking louder than words 
 for his gallantry in battle. Yet, with one exception, he has 
 had no personal difficulty since the close of the war. 
 
 General Claiborne's poi)ularity is sustained by the over- 
 whelming majority he received over all four of his compet- 
 itors in his recent election, although from a district Repub- 
 lican by some 4-")0 majority. 
 
 He is chairman of one, if not the most, important Senate 
 committees, that of Commerce and Manufactures, and is 
 second on Military Afiiiirs. 
 
 General Claiborne is one of the straightest Democrats in 
 the State, and is entirely in accord with the principles of 
 the party. 
 
 General Claiborne married Miss Sue M. Phillips, of Ken- 
 
*]2 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 tucky, in I860. They have three children, two sons, R. 
 Sidney and Tom Jack, and one daughter, Hattie Overton. 
 
 General Claiborne has a taste for political and military 
 life, and has manifested the peculiar ability of a successful 
 one. He has a striking and attractive appearance, genial 
 manners, and a bonus sociiis that admits him readily to the 
 people, of whatever occupation or class. He is a man of 
 great general intelligence, and an easy and fluent public 
 speaker. 
 
 He is in the prime of life, well known throughout the 
 State, and has the best possibilities ahead of him, and, for- 
 tunately for him, he has the laudable ambition and enter- 
 prise to take advantage of all his splendid endowments, and 
 is destined to make a conspicuous figure in the political and 
 military history of Texas. His term of office is for four 
 years. 
 
 General Claiborne's platform is, that the people are capa- 
 ble of self-government, and that this is " a government of the 
 people, for the people; equal and exact justice; equal privi- 
 leges to all ; exclusive privileges to none." 
 
 WILLIAM WALLACE DAVIS. 
 
 W^^^ DAVIS was bom in Houston county, on the 
 , fifteenth of March, 1831. His education received 
 •only its rudiments in the schools of the county, near his 
 native place. Like all true education, his has been a life- 
 time work. He is both a farmer and a merchant, and may 
 be said to represent those honorable vocations of our civili- 
 zation in the Twentieth Legislature of the State of Texas. 
 Senator Davis was a soldier in the late civil war of 1861-5, 
 participating in the battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, 
 Louisiana, and others less sanguinary, elsewhere. He first 
 appears in the political history of the State as a member of 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 73 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 the House of Representatives, Fourteenth Legislature of 
 the State of Texas. He was elected Senator from the Eighth 
 Senatorial district by a majority of some 8000 votes. Dur- 
 ing the Twentieth Legislature he served as chairman of the 
 Committee on Retrenchment and Reform. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and also of 
 the Masonic fraternit}'. 
 
 Senator Davis in a safe legislator. He is not obtrusive, 
 but solid. There is no lightness in what proceeds from him 
 as a citizen, legislator or member of society. He possesses 
 great moderation, and his manners are easy and natural. 
 
 WILLIAM LEVI DOUGLASS. 
 
 WL. DOUGLASS, the subject of this notice, is a 
 , Mississippian, born in the year 3853. Senator Doug- 
 lass came to Texas soon after the close of the war between 
 the States, with the purpose of practicing his chosen profes- 
 sion. He was a member of the House of Representatives 
 in the Seventeenth and also the Eighteenth Legislature of 
 the State of Texas. In 1884 he was elected to the State 
 Senate from the First Senatorial district. In the Nineteenth 
 Legislature he was chairman of the Committee on Military 
 Affairs. In the Twentieth Legislature he served as chair- 
 man of the Committee on Public Health, with prominent 
 membership on others. His re-election to legislative hon- 
 ors and service is a well merited endorsement by his constit- 
 uents. 
 
74 
 
 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 ELBRIDGE GEARY DOUGLASS. 
 
 AMONG the new Senators appearing for the first time in 
 the Twentieth Legislature of the State of Texas, is 
 the Honorable E. G. Douglass, of Grayson county. Mr. 
 Douglass is a farmer, with broad and liberal views of the 
 needs of the people, thoroughly acquainted with the lines 
 of business and trade, and of the necessary legislation re- 
 quired to promote prosperity. He is a native of Missouri,, 
 is forty-two years of age, and has been iii Texas twenty- 
 eight years. He was prompt and attentive to the business 
 of the Senate, and has fairly and favorably won the confi- 
 dence and esteem of his co-legislators. He is not especially 
 demonstrative in making speeches, but serves the interests 
 of his constituents more particularly in what he does and 
 how he votes. He is tall and well proportioned in figure, 
 and of good address. He is a member of the following 
 committees, viz: Finance, Penitentiaries, Military Affairs, 
 and chairman of the Committee on Privileges and Elections. 
 
 LOUIS NAPOLEON FRANK. 
 
 LN. FRANK,, the. subject of this brief notice, is a 
 , lawyer by profession, and resides at Stephensville, 
 Erath county, Texas. By his fidelity, fine talent and per- 
 sonal popularity in his professional relations to the people^ 
 he won in the race for State |_Senator in the fall of 188G, and 
 is a new and rising member of the Twentieth Legislature of 
 the State of Texas. He is a native of the State of Louisi- 
 ana, is thirty-seven years of age, and has been in this State 
 thirteen years. Though modest and unobtrusive, he is 
 nevertheless noticeable for the judicious part he takes in 
 legislation. Serving on several important committees, he is- 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 75 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 also chairman of the Committee on Penitentiaries. He is of 
 average stature and physical developement, having a rather 
 dark complexion, black hair and large hazel eye. He is of 
 a solid character and urbane in his social relations. He at- 
 tends to the business entrusted to him conscienciously. 
 
 SCOTT FIELD. 
 
 THE physical appearance of the subject of this sketch 
 tends fairly to the Liliputian type. He is in stature 
 and weight below the average.' Though small, he is not 
 frail. Vivacity, and what to the average man would be haste, 
 are natural characteristics of his Avay. Of dark complex- 
 ion, dark auburn hair and dark blue eyes, full beard, well 
 trimmed, he is the very impersonation of vigilance. Sena- 
 tor Field is a native of Mississippi, thirty-nine years old, 
 having been a resident of Texas fourteen years. He is a 
 lawyer by profession, thoroughly educated, and enjoys the 
 highest degree of confidence and esteem accorded by the 
 people. Xo man in the profession visiting the bar in Rob- 
 ertson and adjoining counties is more respected for his 
 ability and noble character than Judge Field. His polite- 
 ness and refinement show his thorough culture, which su- 
 pervenes upon the natural gentleman. His first public 
 service is in the office of State Senator in the Twentieth 
 Legislature of the State of Texas. He has fastened himself 
 upon the confidence of his co-legislators. He never retro- 
 grades. The longer he is known, tlie more he is appre- 
 ciated. He will contribute honor to the Senate, and when 
 he retires, he will be more admired by that intelligent 
 body than Avhen he came to it. He is chairman of the 
 Committee on Treasurer's and Com2)troller's Offices. He is 
 a good judge of law and has had fine success in his profes- 
 sion. Not obtrusive, he is inclined to be reticent, but 
 when the proper time comes for him to be heard, he has 
 something to say, and knows how to say it. 
 
^6 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 CALEB JACKSON GARRISON. 
 
 CJ. GARRISON Avas born in Carroll county, Georgia, 
 , May 31, 182.'S. In 1851 he immigrated to Texas, and 
 stopped for two years at Caledonia, then established him- 
 self at Henderson, Rusk county, where he has since contin- 
 ued to live. In the war between the States he was a member 
 of company K, Fourteenth Texas Infantry. Ector's Brigade, 
 Army of Tennessee. Senator Garrison is a lawyer by pro- 
 fession, having been admitted to the bar in 1855. He has 
 .also engaged in farming out of natural fondness for agricul- 
 tural pursuits. His public life begun as assistant clerk of 
 the Senate, and the following session was elected engrossing 
 clerk. In the same year (1855), he began the practice of 
 law. In 1856 he was elected clerk of Rusk county. He 
 was a member of the House of Representatives in the Fif- 
 teenth, the Sixteenth and the Eighteenth Legislatures of the 
 State of Texas. In 1884, he was chosen State Senator from 
 the Second Senatorial district. In the Nineteenth Legisla- 
 ture he was chairman of the Committee on Insurance, Sta- 
 tistics and History. In the Twentieth Legislature he was 
 chairman of the Committee on Penitentiaries, and during 
 Ills entire legislative career has given efhcient aid to various 
 important committees. He is a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, South, and of Ancient, Free and Accepted 
 Masons. He is a gentleman of liberal education and solid 
 character. His age, experience in public affairs, and knowl- 
 edge of the wants of the people give him great consideration 
 and respect among his co-legislators. He is above the aver- 
 age in stature, spare, black hair, dark blue eyes, and has a 
 pleasant, sedate countenance. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. ^^ 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON GLASSCOCK. 
 
 GW. GLASSCOCK, from the Twenty-Fourth Senatorial 
 , district, is a native of Travis county, Texas, and born 
 in the month of January, 1846. He left his native county 
 less than ten years ago and settled at Georgetown, the county 
 seat of Williamson county. He is a lawyer by profession, 
 and has had a good degree of success and gained recognition 
 for his talent at the bar. He served during the war between 
 the States in Colonel Duff's regiment, Twenty-third Texas 
 Cavalry. In public service he has been county attorney, 
 county judge, and State Senator. In the Nineteenth Legis- 
 lature he was chairman of the Committee on Public Grounds 
 and Buildings, and also served as a member of other impor- 
 tant committees. He is, in the Twentieth Legislature,. 
 chairman of the Committee on Education, besides serving 
 on other committees as a member. His legislative record 
 is a voluminous as well as a good one, having introduced or 
 assisted in the passage of many important bills. The follow- 
 ing are a few of the most important, selected from a long 
 list, to-wit : " An act to better enable cities and incorporated 
 towns to utilize their convict labor;" "An amendment to 
 the road law, simplifying it and relieving it of its cumber- 
 some machinery under precinct overseers and jury of view, 
 by putting it under onp overseer and the commissioners'' 
 court;" "An amendment to the fence law ;" "An act to pre- 
 vent limitation to adverse possession of streets in towns and 
 cities ;" "An act in certain cases to authorize the extension, 
 of time for the filing of statements of fact ;" "An act to reg- 
 ulate architecture ;" "An act to regulate pharmacy;" "An 
 act to provide for the revison of the civil and criminal code;" 
 "An act to provide for the payment of jury commissioners 
 for services rendered;" "An act to give pasture owners a 
 lien on stock grazed therein;" "An act to more correctly 
 define the Sunday law;" and "An act to make it a penal 
 
jS PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 offense to officiate in the ceremonies of illegal marriages, or 
 to fail to return marriage licenses within a specified time." 
 
 Senator Griasscock is a member of the Missionary Baptist 
 Church, is an Odd Fellow, and a Knight Templar Mason. 
 He is a matter-of-fact man. He does not deal in specula- 
 tion so much as statistics ; facts of reality go further 
 Avith him than figures of rhetoric. He is a stout man, of 
 very decided character, of florid complexion and gentlemanly 
 manners. As a financier he has justly merited distinction, 
 "while no man shares in a higher degree the confidence of 
 his constituents for reliability and trustworthiness. In pol- 
 itics, as in business, he is a man of his word. As county 
 judge of of Williamson county he was immensely popular- 
 and became much loved by the people. In the Senate, he 
 is recognized as a tower of strength, and his views and opin- 
 ions carry with them a controling weight. 
 
 Judge Glasscock was married to Miss J. H. Boatner, of 
 Anderson county, Texas, in March, 1865. He has accumu- 
 lated a good fortune, and resides in Georgetown, Texas. 
 
 ALEXANDER WHITE GREGG. 
 
 OF an amiable and generous turn of mind, this distin- 
 guished gentleman and Senator holds justly and mer- 
 itoriously a high place in the Twentieth Legislature of the 
 State of Texas. Nature gave to him the qualifications that 
 are ordained to social friendships, and education has pre- 
 pared a way to distinction. He is of average height and 
 stoutly built physique — has a pleasant countenance, lit up 
 by a glowing, genial soul. His complexion is fair, his 
 hair black and eyes a light hazel. He moves gracefully and 
 converses freely. He enjoys society and is not in the least 
 ■degree misanthropic. Senator Gregg is a native Texan, 
 thirty-two years of age, and resides at Palestine, Texas. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 79 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 He graduated at Bristol, Tenn., and attended the law de- 
 partment of the University of Virginia. At the bar in 
 Eastern Texas he has won a prominent place, and was 
 elected State Senator as his first public office, at the Novem- 
 ber election in 1886. Besides service on other important 
 committees, he was chairman of the Committee on Internal 
 Improvements. 
 
 RICHARD HENRY HAliRISON. 
 
 THE young Senator from the Twenty-second Senatorial 
 District, embracing McLennan and Falls counties, was 
 born in Monroe county, Mississippi, on the eighth day of 
 September, 1857. He is the son of General James E. Har- 
 rison, a gallant soldier of the South. In 1858 the family 
 removed to Waco, Texas, and when young Harrison was 
 sixteen years of age, he was left to his own resources by the 
 death of his father. By dint of earnest endeavor and rigid 
 economy, he educated himself and graduated from the law 
 ■department of Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tennes- 
 see, having distinguished himself for his assiduity, 
 thoroughness and rapid progress. 
 
 Senator Harrison served for a short time as a deputy 
 sherift'of McLennan county, and for about one year ending 
 in 1878, in a battalion of the frontier military organizations. 
 His professional career began in 1881, when he grew rapidly 
 into prominence by reason of his legal acumen and fine 
 oratory. He was elected State Senator by a majority of 
 2500 over W. R. Reagan, Esq., brother of Hon. John 
 H. Reagan, United States Senator elect. During the 
 Nineteenth liCgislature he was chairman of the Com- 
 mittee on Counties and County Boundaries. His legis- 
 lative work was, distinctively, the introduction of the bill to 
 prohibit corporations from acquiring and holding lands in 
 the State for speculative purposes ; also the bill to restore 
 
So PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 the Greer county lands that have, as he and others main- 
 tained, been illegally patented. In the Twentieth Legisla- 
 ture he was made chairman of the Committee on Private 
 Land Claims, and maintains his high standing among his 
 co-legislators. He is a member of the Missionary Baptists^ 
 and of the order of the Knights of Pythias. Of medium 
 height and fair countenance. 
 
 TEMPLE HOUSTON. 
 
 A 
 
 CCORDING to this gentleman's own admissions, his 
 life contains no fit material for a biography. 
 
 JOHN JONES JARVIS. 
 
 TARRANT, Wise, Parker and Jack counties compose the- 
 Twentieth Senatorial district, represented in the Twen- 
 tieth Legislature of the State of Texas by Hon. J. J. Jarvis, 
 of Fort Worth, Texas. Major Jarvis is a North Carolinian, 
 bom in the year 1832, and has been in Texas for thirty 
 years. He received his education in his native State and in 
 Tennessee. By profession, he is a lawyer, and is highly 
 esteemed by all who know him, for his sterling integrity 
 and moral worth. Prior to his election as State Senator, 
 which took place in November, 1886, by a majority of about 
 1100 votes, he had served respectively in the offices of 
 district attorney and county judge. He entered the war be- 
 tween the States at the beginning — served in the Trans- 
 Mississippi Department as private, adjutant and major. 
 His wife, to whom he was married in 1866, was Miss Ida 
 Van Zandt, daughter of Hon. Isaac Van Zandt, minister 
 from the Republic of Texas at Washington. Major Jarvis 
 
HERMANN KNITTEL. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 is tall, slender, and has a fair and pleasing countenance. 
 He is a member of the Christian Church, and as a citizen, 
 lawyer, business man and Senator sustains an enviable rep- 
 utation. He served on the following Senate committees of 
 the Twentieth Legislature, being chairman of Finance and 
 a m^^mber of .Judiciary No, 1; Private Land Claims, Internal 
 Improvements, Education and Engrossed Bills. 
 
 HERMANN KNITTEL. 
 
 WITH one exception, the onl}^ foreign born member in 
 the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature is Senator 
 Knittel, wlio was born in Silesia, Prussia, on December 4, 
 1835. He came to America and settled in Washington 
 county, Texas, in 1852. He is a respected and honored citi- 
 zen of Burton, of that county. He distinguished himself as 
 a brave soldier m the war between the States, serving as a 
 second lieutenant of Waul's Texas Legion. He was elected 
 Senator from the Twelfth Senatorial district in 1884, and has 
 acquitted himself as a discreet and safe legislator. In the 
 Nineteenth Legislature, he was chairman of the Committee 
 on Retrenchment and Reform, and served as chairman of 
 the Committee on Contingent Expenses in the Twentieth 
 Legislature. He is a member of the Lutheran Church, and 
 a Mason. Senator Knittel is a good specimen of Prussian 
 gentility, has light hair and fair complexion, of pleasing 
 manners, and shows a high degfree of intelligence. 
 
82 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 JONATHAN LANE. 
 
 SENATOR LANE was born in Texas, October 15, 1854. 
 He was educated in Fayette county, and for a man 
 of his age, has attained proficiency in his chosen profes- 
 sion, the law. He is a prominent member of the bar at 
 LaGrange. He was elected State Senator from the Thir- 
 teenth district, composed of Fayatte, Bastrop and Lee 
 counties, at the November election in 1886, by a majority of 
 3378, a high and deserved compliment i^aid to his talent, 
 and promise for the future. He is an efficient committee- 
 man on the committees as follows : Judiciary No. 1, Private 
 Land Claims, Military Affairs, and others, besides being 
 chairman of the Committee on Insurance, Statistics and His- 
 tor3^ He is of small figure and quick motion, and shows a 
 good degree culture. He is an earnest, logical, forcible 
 speaker, and possesses rare equalities which draw men to 
 him. His popularity among his constituents and co-legis- 
 lators has real, substantial ground. His wife was Miss 
 Alma Harrison, who, with one little girl, constitutes his 
 family. He is a Royal Arch Mason and a Knight or Honor. 
 At twenty years of age he began merchandising, and had 
 been a practitioner at the bar five years before his electien 
 to the Twentieth Lemslature. 
 
 HENRY I). Mcdonald. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch is of fair complexion, black 
 hair and eyes. His speech is quick and his movement 
 restless almost to impatience. He is affable, and of a tall, 
 erect figure. He is a native of Texas, being thirty-six years 
 of age. He was educated in Texas, at McKenzie College. 
 His education is of a practical and useful character. He 
 read law in 1872, and has been a successful barrister, favor- 
 
^'"•^ 
 
 W. H. POPE. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 83 
 
 State S^.nators. 
 
 ably known in North Texas. His first public office is as 
 State Senator, to which he was elected in November, 18S6. 
 He has done good work in the Senate, and serves as chair- 
 man of the Committee on Judicial Districts, besides having 
 membership on other committees. He resides at Paris, 
 Texas. 
 
 FRANCIS EDWARD M ACM AN US. 
 
 SENATOR MACMANUS is a uative of Ireland, is fifty- 
 five years old, and has been in Texas thirty-one years. 
 He is a lawyer by profession, and resides at Corpus Christi, 
 Texas. 
 
 WILLIAM HENRY POPE. 
 
 IMMEDIATELY prior to the war between the States, the 
 Pope family emigrated from Wilkes county, Georgia, and 
 settled at Marshall, Texas. At this time William Henry was 
 a boy of twelve summers. He was thoroughly educated at 
 the University of Virginia and admitted to the bar at Mar- 
 shall in 18G8. He served as county attorney, and had won 
 for himself high honors as district attorney, when he was 
 elected State Senator from the Third Senatorial dis- 
 trict in 1879, in 1884 re-elected, and without opposi- 
 tion in both instances. He served during his legislative 
 career as chairman of several of the most important Senate 
 committees. In the Twentieth Legislature he served as 
 chairman of the Committee on Public Lands, and was a 
 member of several of the most important committees of the 
 Senate. He was also appointed by Governor Ireland [com- 
 missioner to represent Texas for the collection of claims 
 for the frontier protection. 
 
 Early in his boyhood, Senator Pope gave evidence of great 
 
S^ PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 promise. His bright intelligence has increased with multi- 
 plying years, and the opening flower of young life is now 
 yielding the harvest of intellectual excellence. As alawyer, 
 he ranks -with the leaders of the profession in Eastern 
 Texas, and as a legislatoi', he may have equals, but few if 
 any superiors. Gallant as a soldier, which he demonstrated 
 in his daring, being associated with Terry's scouts and 
 Wharton's cavalry in the war of 1861—5, and as a citizen 
 true and loyal, he has earned and now receives the confi- 
 dence and esteem of his entire constituency. He is small 
 in stature, and of a vivacious movement. With jet black 
 hair, a dark countenance, a black, flashing eye, he gives 
 the strongest external evidence of inflexible i)in-pose. By 
 hisivcen piercing eye, he is an accurate reader of human na- 
 ture, and is fearless in speaking as he thinks. He excels in 
 the gift of the orator, and in his happiest efforts is more 
 impassioned than ornate, more real than imaginative. He 
 has fine social (pialities, but makes confidents of men only 
 after strict trial and due exainination. 
 
 ELDRED -JAMES SIMKINS. 
 
 THE distinguished gentleman of whom this is a sketch 
 was born in Edgefield District, South Carolina, Octo- 
 ber 13, A. D. "1839, educated at Beaufort, South Carolina, 
 and graduated in the class of 1859, at South Carolina Col- 
 lege. He volunteered in the Hampton Legion at tlie begin- 
 ning of the war between the States, and in 1862 was ap- 
 pointed in the regular artillery service, and served during 
 the rest of the war in Fort Sumpter and other posts around 
 Charleston. His home in Beaufort, South Carolina, and 
 all the property of the family in the island around the town, 
 were confiscated under tlie act of Congress passed in 1862, 
 iind he moved to Florida and began the practice of law in 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 85 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 1867, with liis brotlier, under the firni name of Simkins & 
 Simkins, at MonticeHo, Florida. lie was elected chairman 
 of the Democratic Executive (.'ommittee of the county, and 
 held that position until his removal to Texas in 1871. He 
 settled in Corsicana, in this State, and engaged in the practice 
 of his profession with his brother, under the same firm 
 name. In 1872, he was elected district attorney of the 
 Thirtieth judicial district, and held that position for four 
 years. In 1882 he was appointed University Regent. In 
 1884 he was a member of the National Democratic Con^'en- 
 tion. In 1886 he was elected State Senator by a majority of 
 more than 2800 votes, from the Fifteenth Senatorial district, 
 composed of Navarro, Limestone and Freestone counties. 
 Mr. Simkins was known in Florida, as he is in Texas, as a. 
 zealous Democrat. In 1869 and 1870 he was edito-r of a Demo- 
 cratic journal, and on removal to Texas edited a Democratic 
 paper until his election as district attorney. He served also 
 as chairman of the Democratic party in his county from 1872 
 to 1876. Mr. Simkins is a member of the Episcopal Church, 
 a mason — Master of his lodge, and member of the Grand 
 Lodge. He was married to Miss Eliza Trescott, of Beau- 
 fort, South Carolina, and has a family of five living chil- 
 dren. 
 
 As a Senator, he is distinguished, being chairman of the 
 Committee on Federal Relations, and a member of others. 
 He is free in conversation, and urbane in his manners. In 
 physi({ue he is tall, and of symmetrical figu-re, light com- 
 plexion, and eonnnanding presence. 
 
86 PERSONNEI. OF THE 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 SAMUEL DAVID 8TINS0N. 
 
 AS an orator. Senator Stinson is vehement and impetu- 
 ous, liis strains often rising to the elevation of true elo- 
 quence. In argument he does not disdain the tactics of the 
 skillful polemic in the free use of sarcasm and iron}-. As a 
 lawyer, he has attained to a high degree of eminence for one 
 so young in years. His legislative record has been approved 
 by his friends, and has effectually disarmed the criticism of 
 those who differ from him. He began public life by service 
 as county attorney of Hunt county, in 1880. In 1884, he 
 was elected State Senator from the Fifth Senatorial district, 
 receiving over 10,000 votes, being elected without opposi- 
 tion. In the Nineteenth Legislature, he was chairman of 
 the Committee on Private Land Claims, and a valuable mem- 
 ber of several other committees. He is, in the Twentieth 
 Legislature, chairman of the Committee on Public Build- 
 ings and Grounds, rendering service also as a menber of other 
 standing comriiittees. He has been pronounced in favor of 
 the education of the masses by the public free school system, 
 and has accordingly introduced and favored measures to 
 this end. He has taken the initiative to do away with se- 
 cret sessions of the Senate, called executive sessions, by 
 introducing in the Twentieth Legislature a joint resolution 
 to that eftect. He is a member of the Independent Order of 
 Odd Fellows. Senator Stinson is, physically, a gentleman 
 of the prevailing American type, in stature five feet ten 
 inches, and weighs one hundred and fifty pounds. He is of 
 ruddy countenance and fair complexion, and possesses a 
 blue e3'e that flashes in brilliancy during heated discussion . 
 His hair is light in color and falls carelessly over a brow that 
 is the external covering of indwelling intelligence. He has a 
 leisurely movement and all the politeness of true culture. 
 He possesses that mysterious psychic condition that draws 
 even the stranger to him, which is one of the secrets of his 
 popularity. He is a Texan, l)orn in Hunt county. April 
 
S. I). STINSON. 
 
TEXAS STATE GO\'ERNMENT 87 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 11, 1852, lived at Gilmer thirteen yeai'S, and since that time 
 he has been a resident of Greenville. He is thoroughly 
 educated, and graduated from the law school of Trinity 
 University. He entered his profession in the year 1878. 
 
 J. 0. TP]RRELL. 
 
 AMONG tlie most brilliant young men in the Twentieth 
 Legislature of the State of Texas, is Senator Terrell, 
 from the Sixteenth Senatorial district. As an orator, he is 
 earnest and forcible, and often rises to flights of true elo- 
 quence. He is tall and slender in physical figure, having 
 light hair and blue eyes. His countenance is fair, but pos- 
 sesses distinctive outlines of a commander. His move- 
 ment is positive and his determinations unalterable. He 
 is pleasant, gentlemanly and urbane. He possesses a self- 
 equipoise that is not disturbed by environments or condi- 
 tions. Senator Terrell was born in Kaufman county, Texas, 
 April 6, 1856. He was educated at Trinity University, 
 Limestone county, Texas. At the age of twenty-one he was 
 admitted to the bar, and soon became prominent for the 
 merit he disclosed and the success which attended his pro- 
 fessional career. He was elected State Senator in 1884, and 
 in the Nineteenth Legislature was chairman of the Com- 
 mittee on Commerce and Manufactures. He was the chair- 
 man of Judiciary Committee No. 1 in the Twentieth Legis- 
 lature. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 South, and carries with him in his social relations an ele- 
 vatino- influence. 
 
PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 SAMUEL CROCKETT UPSHAW. 
 
 THIS able Senator and lawyer is a resident of Hillsboro^ 
 Hill county, Texas. He has been in Texas thirty-six 
 years, having entered the State at the age of ten years — his 
 present age is forty-six. He is native of Arkansas. In the 
 practice of the law he has been successful, and as a speaker 
 he is logical and convincing. He takes great pains in his 
 speeches to give every argument its full force, and intro- 
 duce his proofs in the most advantageous order. He has 
 taken an honorable and respected place in the Twentieth 
 Legislature as a discrete and safe Senator. He is of medi- 
 um size and symmetrical figure, sparkling blue eye, and 
 shows a degree of social urbanity and intellectual strength 
 that makes him noticeable in the midst of his associates. He 
 is a member of various important committees, and chair- 
 man of the Committee on Roads and Bridges. 
 
 JOHN WOODS. 
 
 SENATOR \yOODS is an Alabamian, and thirty-nine 
 years of age. He came to Texas in 1853. In Novem- 
 ber, 1884, was elected Senator from the Eleventh Senatorial 
 district, composed of Colorado, Wharton, Gonzales and 
 Lavaca counties. He appeared first in the upper House 
 in the Nineteenth Legislature of the State of Texas. Previ- 
 ous to his election as Senator, he had served a term of three 
 years as district attorney of Lavaca count}^, and was a mem- 
 ber of the House of Representatives in the Eighteenth Leg- 
 islature, both the regular and called sessions. In the Nine- 
 teenth Legislature, Senator Woods introduced Senate bill 
 No. 8, which finally became a law. The law forbids 
 the sale of lands to corporations for purposes of specu- 
 lation, and has been accej>ted with great favor. He also 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 89 
 
 State Senato?-s. 
 
 evinced a commendable degree of foresight and political 
 sagacity in the introduction of the bill to establish a refor- 
 matory and hou-?e of correction for youthful criminals. 
 The bill passed the Senate, but failed to become a law. The 
 movement was only previous, as Senator Woods was in ad- 
 vance of the opposition, for sucli an institution is demanded. 
 He has been put on record as an earnest and able advocate 
 of public highways throughout the State. This too, so com- 
 mendable in itself, was only a little in advance of time. 
 
 Senator Woods is logical, but nob vehen^ent. He reasons, 
 considers, weighs, but does not aim to carry his points by 
 storm. He is a lawyer and banker, and is well qualified to 
 take care of the interests of his constituents. He is tall, 
 symmetrical and has a sedate bearing in the circles where he 
 moves. His physiognomy indicates consecutive thought 
 and analytical consideration of every proposition brought 
 before him. He is respected by his co-legislators, and held 
 in high esteem. He makes no fiery speeches, and uses 
 more the figures of arithmetic than those of rhetoric. Among 
 his constituents he is respected and honored for liis integ- 
 rity. His course has been so uniform, and generally ap- 
 proved, that he has the friendship of all and the enmity of 
 "none. He enjoys good health, and is so steady in the habits 
 of his living, that, throughout his career as a legislator, he 
 has never missed roll-call nor an a])pointment for a commit- 
 tee meeting. This praiseworthy virtue has awarded to liim 
 the soubriquet of "Punctuality." Senator Woods was mar- 
 ried to Miss Mary E. Ricinger, of Fayette county, and has 
 two children. He is a Mason and an Odd Fellow. He was 
 educated in Texas, and is a gentleman of fine intelligence 
 and manners. 
 
90 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 WILLIAM H. WOODWARD. 
 
 SENATOR W. H. WOODWARD was bom August 30, 
 1817, in Todd county, Kentucky, and was educated in 
 the " Old Field Schools " of that State, with an academic 
 course. He engaged at maturity in farming, but soon aban- 
 doned that for the law. He studied law in Nashville, Ten- 
 nessee, and commenced the practice in that city in 1849. 
 
 In 1852 he removed to Indianola, Texas, where he en- 
 gaged in the practice of his profession. He remained at 
 Indianola until that town was swept away by the cyclone 
 of August 20, 1886, Avhcn he removed to Port Lavaca, 
 where he now resides and continues the practice of law. 
 He has served as county judge and United States commis- 
 sioner. He represented the counties of Calhoun, Jackson, 
 Aransas, Refugio, Victoria, DeWitt, Bee, Goliad, Live Oak, 
 San Patricio, Wilson, Karnes and Atascosa, composing the 
 Twenty-fourth Senatorial district, in the Senate of the Twen- 
 tieth Legislature. He served as chairman of the Committe on 
 Military Affairs. His experience in the field gave him 
 many advantages on that important committee. 
 
 When the civil war commenced, he entered the army and 
 Avas appointed brigadier-general of State troops and as 
 signed to duty with the Twenty -fourth brigade, which ope- 
 rated on the coast of Texas, principally about Matagorda 
 bay. General Woodward was detailed in 1863 by General 
 Magruder to proceed to Louisiana on an important special 
 mission. 
 
 General Woodward is a man of fine personal appearance, 
 about six feet tall, straight as an arrow, and weighing aboiit 
 two hundred poundc, and made a conspicuous officer on the 
 field. His features are of that large caste that evidences the 
 highest order of intelligence. His forehead is high, eye 
 bright, mouth large, composing a face of chaste intellectual 
 strength. His face is a true refiex of the mind and soul of 
 the man. His mind is comprehensive and cultivated, and 
 
W. H. WOODWARD. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 9 I 
 
 State Senators. 
 
 he is fully impressed with that broad sympathy for his kind 
 that in such a great degree distinguishes men as represen- 
 tatives of the highest type of American citizenship. As a 
 speaker ahd debater, General Woodward is fluent, logical 
 and concise, quick to catch the full scope of debate, ready to 
 siffthe truth and establish it by argument. His maimers 
 are genial and his conversational powers so agreeable that 
 his influence as a man and Senator is very great. 
 
 It goes without saying that such a man is a Democrat of 
 the old school, with a full knowledge and understanding of 
 all the delicate relations of the different departments of 
 government. His popularity is evidenced by the fact that 
 only "fourteen votes were polled against him in the sena- 
 torial race. 
 
 General Woodward married Miss Penelope R. Woodward, 
 of Christian county, Kentuck}^ and has three children liv- 
 ing, one daughter and two sons. 
 
92 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Officers of the Senate. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE SENATE. 
 
 CHAPLAIN 
 
 THE office of Chaplain is one of the most, important 
 of all the offices of the Legislative department of our 
 country. From the organization of the government down 
 to the present time, both branches of the American Congress 
 have had a chaplain. Every State in the Union has a chap- 
 lain in each branch. The army and navy have their' cjiap- 
 lains in every regiment of soldiers and every fleet of ships. 
 Some of most prominent and eloquent of American divines 
 have filled these positions. 
 
 The office of Chaplain is based upon the idea that ours is 
 a Christian govenimejtt ^ which fact is embodied in our Con- 
 stitution and found in our Bill of Rights. Mr. Jefferson 
 said every Christian government should have men of char- 
 acter, piety and ability to fill this office. 
 
 RICHMOND KELLY SMOOT. 
 
 REV. RICHMOND KELLEY SMOOT, LL. D., wa& 
 born in Huntingdon, \Yest Tennessee, March 1-3, 183G. 
 He graduated at Hanover College, Indiana, August 6, 1856, 
 studied divinity at .Danville, Kentucky, and graduated in . 
 theology in May, 1859 ; was licensed to preach by the Pres- 
 bytery of Western District, in Tennessee. His first charge was 
 at Bowling Green, Kentucky. He was ordained and installed 
 pastor of the Presbyterian Church, in that city, on May 20,, 
 1860, and remained there until November, 1876, when he 
 took charge of the Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas,, 
 which pastoral charge he still holds. His first appearance 
 in a General Assembly was in St. Louis, in 1866; then 
 again in Mobile, in 1869; in Little Rock, in 1873 ; Columbus, 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 93 
 
 Oncers of the Senate. 
 
 Mississippi, in 1874; Savannah, Georgia, in 1876 ; Atlanta, 
 in 1882; Lexington, Kentucky, in 1883; Augusta, Georgia, 
 in 1886. 
 
 In 1873, he was chosen reading clerk of the General As- 
 sembly, and also chosen by that assembly, with Dr. B. M. 
 Palmer, Dr. AVm. Brown, and Dr. .Jos. R. Wilson, to visit 
 New York and negotiate with the Dutch Church for co-ope- 
 rative union. In 187-3, Dr. Snioot published a work on 
 "Parliamentary Principles," in their application to the 
 courts of the church, which has had a wide circulation, and 
 €ome into general use in the Southern Presbyterian Church. 
 The title of Doctor of Divinity was conferred on Dr. Smoot 
 in 1875, by the Presbyterian University, at Clarksville, 
 Tennessee. In 1882, he was chosen Moderator of the Gen- 
 eral Assembly, at Atlanta, Georgia, the highest office in the 
 Presbyterian Church. In 1884, he, in conjunction with 
 Rev. Dr. R. L. Daljney, opened a theological school in Aus- 
 tin for the training of young men for the ministry, with an 
 especial view to the work in Texas. 
 
 He was first elected Chaplain of tlie Senate of the Seven- 
 teenth Legislature of Texas, at the called session in April, 
 1882, and was re-elected to the Eighteenth, the Nineteenth 
 and the Twentieth. 
 
 Dr. Smoot is five feet six inches high, weighs 182 pounds, 
 has blue eyes, fair complexion, light hair, and is in the 
 vigor of his manhood; preaches entirely without notes, be- 
 ing an off-hand sneaker. 
 
94 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Officers of the Senate. 
 
 WILLIAM NEAL RAMEY. 
 
 IT may be affirmed of Colonel Ramey that he is a natural 
 gentleman. In clerical work, in the cause of education, 
 in the editorial sanctum, and in the broad field of literature 
 generally, he had his delight, and the trend of his life has 
 been in this direction. In 1857 he made his appearance in 
 Texas — living in Harrison county five years, and subse- 
 quently in Shelby county fifteen years, and then removing 
 to the city of Austin, Travis county ; he has remained 
 there ever since. At the age of sixteen he taught school as 
 a means to higher education. In this he was successful. In 
 the war between the States he rose from private to adju- 
 tant-general, and made a noble record as a soldier, true and 
 brave. He has been justice of the peace, Superintendent 
 Public Grounds and Buildings, and was a member of the Con^ 
 stitutional Convention of 1875. He was elected Secretary of 
 the Senate in the Seventeenth Legislature, was elected again 
 Jn the Nineteenth, and also re-elected in the Twentieth. 
 He has made an able and efficient officer, and like as in 
 other services rendered, he has the praise of the people. 
 He was born in Rutherford county, Tennessee, on the fourth 
 of July, in the year 1835. He is a member of the Masonic 
 fraternity, and has been an earnest advocate of temperance 
 all his life, and gives to his advocacy a cohsistent exem- 
 plification in hisj life.^He is a man of fine intellect, warm 
 heart and generous impulses, is much respected and re- 
 garded as among the best class of citizens. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 95. 
 
 Officers of the Senate. 
 
 RUFUS GREEN CHILDRESS. 
 
 THE polite Calendar Clerk of the Senate, Judge Chil- 
 dress, was born in Marshall county, Alabama, in Octo- 
 ber, 1838. He came to Texas in childhood, in the spring of 
 1845, under the care of his parents, and became established 
 in Rusk county till the breaking out of the war, in 1861. 
 What education in the schools he could obtain, he got in 
 Rusk county. He was raised on the farm and was used to 
 the out-door exercise and labors which have led to a healthy 
 manhood. 
 
 He entered the war between the States from the beginning 
 and continued to the close, serving most of the time in the 
 Army of Tennessee. For two years he was a member of the 
 special scout of General L. S. Ross, and was a favorite of 
 that gallant commander. After the war he remained for a 
 time in Mississippi, but returning to Bosque county, Texas, 
 in 1870, he has remained there ever since. He served as a 
 deputy sheriff of Rusk county before the war, and as a citi- 
 zen of Bosque county, has been honored by political pre- 
 ferment. Four years as a justice of the peace and six years 
 as county judge, show how ujuch he has been held in j)opu- 
 lar favor. 
 
 In the year 1860, he was married to Miss Mar}'- A. Taggart, 
 of Holmes county, Mississippi, and has a family of seven 
 children. He is a zealous Mason and a j)opular citizen; is 
 five feet nine inches high, weighs 170 pounds, has a blue 
 eye, and converses fluently and pleasantly. He has made 
 an efficient Calendar Clerk of the Senate of the Twentieth 
 Legislature ; is a true gentleman, and reliable. 
 
96 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Officers of the Senate. 
 
 W. T. BREWER. 
 
 Tins rejjutable gentleman is a native of Memphis, Ten- 
 nessee, born on the twenty-second of Fehrnar}', 1836. 
 He came to Texas in 1844, and was a citizen of Fannin 
 county for three years after he arrived in the State. He hias 
 since been a resident of Rusk county. He was second lieu- 
 tenant of com^Dany E, Locke's regiment of the Tenth Texas 
 cavalry in the late war, and participated in the battles of 
 Mansfield, of Pleasant Hill, and others. He Avas sheriff of 
 Rusk county from 1879 to 1884, and was regarded as one of 
 the best officers of that portion of the State. He was 
 elected Sergeant-at-Arms of the Nineteenth Legislature, 
 and was esteemed highly for his gentlemanly bearing and 
 iidelity in office. In the Twentieth Legislature he was 
 elected Assistant Doorkeeper, and before the session closed 
 was promoted to the principal office of Sergeant-of-Arms. 
 A more efficient officer, trustworthy in responsibility, and 
 decorus in the enforcement of rules, will not readily be 
 found. He is a farmer, and has executive ability, not of that 
 rigid character which is devoid of politeness, but rather 
 efficient through a due proportion of exactness and kind- 
 ness. Mr. Brewer is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, South, and of the order of Ancient, Free and Ac- 
 <?epted Masons. He is also a Knight of Honor. 
 
GEO. C. PENDLETON. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 97 
 
 Ref7-esentativcs. 
 
 REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 GEORGE CASITY PENDLETON. 
 
 SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE. 
 
 THE absence of the elements of endurance from the 
 person of the Speaker of the House of Representatives 
 has a cause. The hardships of army life at so youthful an 
 age as seventeen years, have left an irremediable effect. By 
 nature, h^ never possessed that remarkable constitutional 
 vigor that could resist the encroachments of bodily ill. 
 
 He entered the war between the States early in the strug- 
 gle, and remained in the field to the close. His service was 
 rendered altogether in the Trans-Mississippi department, 
 being a member of Colonel B. W. Watson's regiment — 
 the Nineteenth Texas Cavalry. He distinguished himself 
 in commendable fidelity and trustworthiness, Avhich one so 
 young could scarcely be expected to exhibit, being exposed 
 to the peculiar temptations of the soldier's life. 
 
 Speaker Pendleton's education began in the common 
 schools, 'laying only the foundations of a broad, self- 
 taught attainment, which is both the product and accumula- 
 tion of a well-ordered life. The ambition of his early life 
 was to enter the legal profession. Returning from his ad- 
 ventures in the war of 1861-5, he entered the college at Wax- 
 ahachie, Texas, intending to grackiate in the practice of law, 
 but his health failed him, and he was forced to desist. 
 
 For ten years, consecutively, he was a commercial trav- 
 eler. To this active, migratory order of life, he is probably 
 indebted for the restoration of his health. 
 
 In 1870 he was happ^y married to Miss Helen Embree, 
 •daughter of Elisha Embree, Esq., of Bell county, Texas. 
 Since his marriage, Mr. Pendleton has been engaged in rural 
 merchandising, agriculture and stock-raising. The measure 
 
98 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Re-presentatives.' 
 
 of success that has followed his endeavors has given him the- 
 prestige of the foremost citizens of his county. 
 
 His political career began with his election to represent 
 Bell county in the Eighteenth Legislature of the State of 
 Texas. He was re-elected to the Nineteenth, and being 
 returned to the Twentieth Legislature, was chosen the 
 Speaker of the House without opposition. His record as a 
 legislator has been pronouncedly approved by his constitu- 
 ency at home,' by their unbroken support; and himself, by 
 his co-legislators of the Twentieth Legislature, by their 
 awarding to him the first honors of the House. 
 
 Speaker Pendleton was born on the twenty-thiid of April, 
 1845, in Coflee county, Tennessee. Mrs. Sarah Pendle- 
 ton, mother of George C, was the daughter of General Wil- 
 liam Smartt, a hero of the war of 1812. The entire family 
 came to Texas in the year 1857, and settled in Ellis county,. 
 George C. being only twelve years of age. 
 
 He is of delicate physique, weighs one hundred and fifty 
 pounds avoirdupois,! and is five feet eleven inches in stature. 
 His complexion is dark, eyes blue, and his facial outline in- 
 dicative of keen discernment. He is reflective, cautious, 
 seeks the counsel of his friends, and is devoid of those 
 angular j)hases of character which pierce unyielding forces 
 and unify opposition. Fiim in his decisions, respectful in 
 his attention to others, and courteous in his negations, he 
 wins to hold, and holds that he mav further win. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 99 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 
 j)Oseil 
 Septrs 
 then 
 
 then in i ! 
 
 until l''^" ' , 
 
 the count J .: 
 
 of the Green . J 
 
 Greenville Herald. 
 
 the leading journals yn ,. 
 
 served his connection vvith 
 
 now engaged in the insuran 
 
 Alexander had clcnvlv 
 
 .1 
 
 i \vcn 
 
 no 
 >)rs 
 ■r.g 
 ■ re 
 
 'ohirol 
 
 I Hicd the 
 
 irme, and is still, one of 
 
 imij but Mr. Alexander 
 
 I three 3'ears ago, and is 
 
 buy] n ess. As an editor, Mr. 
 
 'vcibly indicated his position 
 
lOO PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 on all the leading questions of State policy, and his course 
 as a member of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Legislatures 
 has proven the earnestness and sincerity of his convictions, 
 .as he has here given orgnnic form to the ideas and princi- 
 ples so ably advocated by him in the newspapers. 
 
 The leading measure proposed by Mr. Alexander in the 
 Nineteenth and again in the present Legislature, was a bill 
 to create a State railway commission, prohibit discrimina- 
 tions, pooling and other abuses, and regulate freight and 
 passenger traffic. The first bill introduced by him in the 
 Twentieth Legislature was to prevent legislative, judicial 
 and executive officers from accepting or using free railroad 
 passes, and he scored a victor}^ early in the session by se- 
 curing its passage through the House. He framed and in- 
 troduced other important bills too numerous to mention in 
 this connection. 
 
 The policy proposed by Mr. Alexander on these and other 
 matters goes to the root of evils that the wisest men in the 
 State believe to be important to the well being and pros- 
 perity of the citizens of this State. He is yet young and 
 has before him a broad and bright field of usefulness, and 
 the gratification of his ambition, which is to contribute to 
 the material, mental and moral elevation of his fellow-citi- 
 zens. Such an ambition is laudable, and such an emula- 
 tion worthy of example to the rising youth of the land. He 
 has demonstrated what a young man, without any advan- 
 tages of fortune or influence, may do in obtaining the re- 
 spect of his people and gratitude throughout the State, for a 
 wise and beneficial political economy, introduced and ac- 
 complished by a persistent pressing before the people, in 
 the newspapers and Legislature of the State. Mr. Alexan- 
 der served in the Eighteenth and the Tw^entieth Legisla- 
 tures as chairman of the Committee on Insurance and Sta- 
 tistics, and is second in place on Internal Improvements 
 .and Finance committee, as also that of Printing. On all of 
 these committees Mr. Alexander gave assiduous and intel- 
 ligent attention throughout the session to the business in 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. TO! 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 hand, and has left his distinctive mark upon the legislation 
 of the State and the organic law thereof. All measures of 
 reform, of a practical kind, received Mr. Alexander's ready 
 and hearty support. 
 
 JOHN CHAxMBERS SPRIGG BAIRD. 
 
 JOHN C. S. BAIRD was born November 28, 1846, in 
 Kaufman county, Texas. When about three years old 
 his parents moved to Navarro county, Texas, where he was 
 educated. At sixteen years of age he joined company E ot" 
 the Twelfth Texas cavalry, and served in the army of the 
 Trans-Mississippi Department, and charged with the lines 
 of gray on many a hard fought field. In victory and de- 
 feat, he remained true to the flag whose broad folds had so 
 often floated "o'er the purple tide of war." 
 
 On the sixth day of February, 1870, he Avas married to 
 Miss Bettie Street, and has now a family consisting of seven 
 children, four boys and three girls. He is a member of the 
 Knight Templars, Odd Fellowsand Farmers' Alliance. 
 
 He is a Democrat who has labored for the success of his 
 party in season and out, a profound thinker^ and was one of 
 the most influential members of the Twentieth Legislature. 
 He was a member of the following House committees : Con- 
 stitutional Amendments, Educational Affairs, Privileges and 
 Elections, Counties and County Boundaries, and a member 
 of the joint committee to investigate the Comptroller's 
 Offlce, and for services rendered on this latter committee 
 received the personal compliments of Governor Ross. 
 
 Mr. Baird is an ordained elder in the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, South, and in addition to his labors in the House of 
 Representatives, entertained the congregation at Tenth 
 street Methodist Church, and other congregations in Austin. 
 He is of course a temperance man, but holds peculiar views- 
 on the prohibition question. He claims that it is neither a. 
 
I02 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 political nor a temperance measure, but simply a police 
 regulation, and should be dealt with as such by the Legisla- 
 ture and the people. 
 
 His introduction into politics was not a matter of his own 
 solicitation, but some of his friends being aware of the fact 
 that he contemplated retiring from the pastorate, in order 
 that he might make better provision for his family, and 
 knowing his strength as a debater, and withal his devotion 
 to the Democratic party, urged him to accept the nomina- 
 tion, which he did, audit is admitted that the success of the 
 Democratic party in the Seventy-seventh district was due to 
 his personal popularity and his power as a platform orator. 
 
 In physical structure lie is tall and spare, having a dark 
 complexion, black hair and a brilliant hazel eye. He has a 
 basso voice, strong and full, and as an orator excels. In 
 polemics, he is a knight of untarnished plume ; strong and 
 comprehensive in argimient, his mightiest feats are per- 
 formed in his dextrous use of the disputant's most destruc- 
 tive weapons, viz : ridicule, irony, sarcasm and ready re- 
 partee. It is noticeable that he has in some instances 
 turned the tide of legislation, by making a feint upon the 
 weakest point of a pending bill. He has taken a prominent 
 place in the esteem of the House. He is outspoken and in- 
 dependent. In social nature he is ]iap])ily constituted, and 
 is obliging and true to his friends. 
 
 H. A. P. BASSETT. 
 
 HA. P. BASSETT was born in Grimes county, Texas, 
 , ]March 14, 1857. In early childhood he was entirely 
 deljarred from the culture and refinement that tend to 
 make a man of intellectual attainments. He enjoyed his 
 first school days in the year 1S67, amid great disadvantages, 
 in the town of Anderson, the county seat of Grimes county. 
 His father and mother being very poor, and tillers of the 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. IO3 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 soil, a great many of his days that would have been devoted 
 to study were spent in labor on the farm. In the year 1875 
 he attended Straight University, of New Orleans, Ijouisiana. 
 In the fall of 1879 he went to Fisk University, Nashville, 
 Tennessee, where he remained for three years. On the 
 second day of September, 1886, he was married to Miss Cor- 
 delia Foster. On the second day of November, of the same 
 year, he was elected from the county of his Ijirth, being the 
 Fifty-second Representative district, to the Twentieth Legis- 
 lature of the State. He is a member of the Missionary Bap- 
 tist Church, and has great faith in the teachings of the Bible. 
 
 C. I. BATTLE. 
 
 CI. BATTLE, Democratic member of the House of Rep- 
 , resentatives of the Twentieth Legislature from the 
 Sixty-sixth Representative district, composed of the counties 
 of Galveston, Matagorda and Wharton, was born January 12, 
 1842, in Wilkes county, Georgia, and Avas educated in Wash- 
 ington and Mount Zion, Georgia, Baylor University, Texas, 
 and the University of Virginia. He is a farmer, and served 
 as justice of the peace in Wharton county, Mr. Battle was 
 a soldier in the late civil war, serving m the Army of North- 
 ern Virginia from its organization until its surrender at 
 Appomattox Court House. He was never wounded or sick, 
 and never absent from tlie army on but one occasion, when 
 he had a furlough of thirty days ; a soldier could liave no 
 better record. 
 
 Mr. Battle married Mrs. Anne M. Sanford, but has no 
 children. He belongs to the Baptist Church, the Masonic 
 fraternity, and the Oriental Order of the Palm and Shell. 
 
 He was devoted to a strict performance of his duty in all 
 the responsibilities of life, and whether as a soldier or the 
 servant of the people in the halls of legislation, he is 
 ever at his post, watchful, alert and vigilant. 
 
104 
 
 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Re-presefitatives . 
 
 GEORGE WYTHE BAYLOR. 
 
 GW. BAYLOR was born at Fort Gibson, in the Chero- 
 ,. kee Nation, on August 24, 1832. His father was Dr. 
 John Walker Baylor, eldest son of Judge Walker Baylor, of 
 Bourbon county, Kentucky, Avhose wife was Miss Jane Bled- 
 soe, a sister of Honorable Jesse Bledsoe, of Kentucky, cele- 
 brated in his day as the peer of Henry Clay, W^ebster or 
 Calhoun as an orator. 
 
 His mother was Miss Sophia Maria Weidner, of Baltimore, 
 Maryland, her father being Henreich Weidner, of Hessen 
 Cassel, Germany, and her mother being Marie Chartelle, of 
 an old Hugenot family. 
 
 Born in a fort, under the old flag, all his earliest associa- 
 tions are connected with garrison life, and familiar sounds 
 are the calls of the bugle and the sound of reville by drum 
 and fife. . 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. IO5. 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 His father moved at an early day from Bourbon county, 
 Kentucky, to Fort Gibson, with his family,, going down 
 from Louisville to the mouth of the Arkansas river on a 
 keel boat, and this boat was dragged by the soldiers up the 
 river to Fort Gibson. His mother took along a lot of fruit 
 trees, roses and plants, probably the first ever carried out 
 there. 
 
 His father dying when he was only four ye;ars old, his 
 mother, then on Second Creek, Mississippi, back of 
 Natchez, went to Pine Bluff, Arkansas ; then to Little 
 Rock, and finally to Fort Gibson again. In December, 
 1845, he came to Texas; stopped at Ross Prairie, Fayette 
 county, and went to school for awhile to Professor Halsey 
 at Rutersville, and afterwards was sent by his uncle, Judge 
 R. E. B, Baylor, to Baylor University, at Independence,, 
 Texas, then under the control of Dr. Henry Graves. 
 
 He went from school to San Antonio, and, lured by the 
 golden dreams of the New Eldorado, left there March, 1854, 
 for California, five months being required to make the trip. 
 He remained.in California five years, and, althoguh brought 
 out by the Democratic party in 1859 for the Legislature, he 
 preferred to come back to Texas. Returning to San Antonio 
 in May, 1859, he left for Parker county. 
 
 In 1860 he commanded a company of rangers in what was 
 known as the Buffalo Hunt, but the Indians gave them a wide 
 berth, only three or four Indians being killed. There were 
 some 300 men in tliis expedition, some of the members of 
 the Twentieth Legislature having also served in this cam- 
 paign. 
 
 The war breaking out, he joined Captain Hamner's com- 
 pany at Weatherford, March 17, 18G1, and was elected first 
 lieutenant, the company being attached to Colonel John S. 
 Ford's regiment of cavalry. 
 
 General Albert Sidney Johnston subsequentl}' gave him 
 the appointment of aide-de-camp. Colonel Baylor followed 
 this great chieftain to Shiloh, and held his head in his dying 
 moments. 
 
.To6 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 After the close of the war he lived in Galveston, Dallas 
 and San Antonio, and 1879 was sent out as junior lieuten- 
 ant of company C, Texas Rangers, to El Paso, by Governor 
 Roberts. His first fight with the Apaches was on the 
 ^seventh of October, tliree weeks after he got to his post. 
 
 Colonel Baylor's next campaign was in the Candelaria 
 mountains, Mexico, where he went to attack old Victorio, 
 who had killed thirty Mexicans from Carizal. His atten- 
 tion was afterwards given to suppressing fence-cutting, and 
 :having been placed in command of the Texas Rangers, with 
 rank of major, made a raid on an organized band in Nolan 
 county, arrested nine, and the practice has been (^uite un- 
 popular since. 
 
 He was elected both from real merit, and as a reward for 
 the great services he has rendered the State. He is tall 
 and of a spare figure, courageous as a soldier, and was a 
 prominent member in the House. 
 
 C. C. BELL 
 
 CAPTAIN \\. W. BELL, father of C. C. Bell, the afla- 
 ble Representative from Denton county, removed from 
 Natchez, Mississippi, in 1886, to Old Nashville, Texas, on 
 the banks of the Brazos, near where the magnificent iron 
 bridge of the International and Great Northern Railway 
 now spans that river. It was at this place the Hon. C. C. 
 Bell was born, on the twelfth of October, 1840. In 1842 the 
 family removed to Old Warren, on the banks of Red River, 
 then the county seat of Fannin county. The family con- 
 sisted of seven children, of whom the subject of this sketch 
 is the youngest. He was raised on a farm, and although 
 ambitious to acquire a collegiate education, the obstacles 
 thickened till the war between the States hopelessly over- 
 hrew his purpose. After attending Mound Prairie Insti- 
 
TEXAS STATE GO\'ERNMENT. IO7 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 tute in Anderson county, he went to McKinzie College, un- 
 der that noblest of old-time educators in Texas, Dr. J. W. 
 P. McKinzie. At the breaking out of the war the whole 
 tenor of his life was changed. A practical sense of duty 
 called him to leave the fond pursuit of learning and to take 
 up the equipments of war. He was a good soldier, and es- 
 caped with his life and its endowments, but nothing else. 
 In young manhood he sought the hand of Miss Inge, of Ken- 
 tucky, and after marriage opened the Denton High School, 
 at Denton, Texas, in 1867, continuing in this line of life for 
 three years. He has been engaged in the out-door pursuits 
 of the farm since that time, on account of delicate health 
 and a fondness for the business. He is regarded as a suc- 
 cessful man in his business engagements, and a financier of 
 no ordinary ability. The caste of his intellect is reflective. 
 He thinks profoundly, and has a just view of the interests 
 of the people. As a legislator he is vigilant, faithful and 
 full of discrimination. In the halls of the Legislature he 
 is calm and conservative. He has enlarged views of the 
 current demands of legislation, and is sound in his judg- 
 ment. He was a member of the Nineteenth Legislature, 
 and also of the Twentieth, representing the Thirty-second 
 district. In the Nineteenth Legislature he was a member of 
 the committees on Finance, Revenue and Taxation, Inci- 
 dental Expenses, and also on Military Affairs. He has 
 ever gained by experience, and in the Twentieth serves on 
 committees of like importance to safe legislation. He is an 
 exemplary member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 South, holding official relationship, a faithful Sunday-school 
 worker, and full of good deeds. His speeches are clear and 
 logical. He is not afraid to be heard, nor does he cringe 
 before the mightiest. His place in the Legislature is high 
 -on the roll of distiguishecl members. 
 
I08 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 /Representatives . 
 
 ROBERT VALENTINE BELL. 
 
 ROBERT VALENTINE BELL, that accomplished law- 
 yer and gentleman who represented the Thirty-first 
 Representative district of the counties of Cook and Gray- 
 son in the House of Representatives of the Twentieth Legis- 
 lature of Texas, born August 2, 1846, in Rhea county, Ten- 
 nessee. He received a primary education in the schools of 
 his native county, but completed his studies, literary and 
 law, at Lebanon, Tennessee, from which school he was grad- 
 uated in 1872, and removed the following year to Texas, ar- 
 riving and settling at Gainesville, Cook count}', on the six- 
 teenth of May, 1873. His ability and sterling Avorth were 
 soon appreciated, and he was elected by the people respec- 
 tively county and district attorney of Cook county. His 
 popularity and standing is further evidenced in that he was 
 elected to the Twentieth I;egislature b}^ a majority of 2350 
 votes, and although it was his first session in any legislative 
 body, he Avas made chairman of the Committee on Privi- 
 leges and Elections, and also held the second place on the 
 Committee of the Judiciary No. 1. He also served on the 
 Committees of Insurance, Statistics and History, and County 
 Government and Finance, upon all of which committees 
 Mr. Bell proved to be ^ most efficient and useful member^ 
 and has left the marks of his fine practical sense on the 
 legislation of the State. He is a man of fine presence, an 
 easy and impressive speaker, and gentle manner. It goes 
 without saying that Mr. Bell is a Democrat. He is also a 
 member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church ; he be- 
 longs to the orders of the Knights of Pythias. Knights of 
 Honor, and Knights and Ladies of Honor. Mr. Bell mar- 
 ried Miss Callie Peery, of Texas. 'J'bey have two daughters. 
 Mr. Bell, by his ability, integrit}^ and close attention to 
 business, has obtained a fine practice in his section, and is 
 destined to rise higher in the "stock of trade " of the De- 
 mocracy of Texas, and an ornament to his profession. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 109 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 •\\x 
 
 vfl 
 
 ^1 
 
 JAMES M. BIARD. 
 
 JAMES M. BIARD was born in Limestone county, Ala- 
 bama, October 24, 1834. He dwelt in the place of his 
 nativity until eleven years of age, and then moved to Lamar 
 county, arriving there in the year of 1846, where he has 
 since resided, and there received his education. He is a 
 minister of the gospel and a farmer. The kindly seasons 
 and unrelenting energy have enabled him to accumulate a 
 competency. He was elected from the Twentieth Represen- 
 tative district without opposition. The people who sent 
 him here have known him from his boyhood, and their cor- 
 dial support is an earnest of his worth as a citizen and a 
 sterling Democrat. 
 
 He is a member of the Knights of Honor and Farmers' 
 Alliance lodges. 
 
 Mr, Biard is now in his fifty-second year, and has never 
 
no PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 been sued or sued a man in a court of justice. He is a man 
 of a high order of mind, disciplined and powerful in its 
 logical analysis. He is a fine speaker and stood in the front 
 ranks of the House. The future lies before him a laurel 
 grove, and he has only to weave the wa-eath that crowns 
 the brow of successful merit with his own hands. The 
 citizens of Lamar county have a bold and fearless represen- 
 tative in Mr. Biard. 
 
 He was a member of the committees on State AfFairs, 
 State Asylums, Penitentiaries, Agricultural Affairs and Con- 
 stitutional Amendments. His ministerial life has been one 
 of success. 
 
 THOMAS A. BLAIR. 
 
 THOMAS A. BLAIR was born in Victoria county, Texas, 
 August 6, 1840. He represented Nueces, San Patricio, 
 Boe, Live Oak, McMullen and LaSalle, constituting the 
 Eighty-fifth Representative district, in the Twentieth Legisla- 
 ture, as a member of the House, and served on the following- 
 committees, to-wit: Judiciary No. 2, Finance, and Commit- 
 tee to Examine Comptroller's and Treasurer's offices. 
 
 Mr. Blair married Miss Mattie Piatt, of Louisiana, and 
 has one son. He is a man of mind and purpose of life, and 
 is compact and direct to the point, both as a lawyer and a 
 law-maker. With a large and tall person, he at once com- 
 mands the attention and respect of any audience. While he 
 is a politician to the extent of an earnest interest in the po- 
 litical affairs of his State, he takes a greater interest in the 
 material advancement of the great State of Texas generally, 
 and his immediate district specially. 
 
 Mr. Blair served in the Confederate army under Colonel 
 Buchel, First Texas Cavalry, as second lieutenant of com- 
 pany B, and participated in the battles of Mansfield and 
 Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, and all athers on Red River. 
 
THOS. A. BLAIR. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. Ill 
 
 Re'presentatives . 
 
 He is a practicing lawyer and served as county attorney of 
 Refugio county, in 1876. He was educated at Aranama Col- 
 lege, Goliad, Texas, and completed his studies of law in 
 1874, when he obtained a license and at once entered into 
 the practice. 
 
 JOSEPH hp:nry BOOTHE. 
 
 THE lineal descent of Joseph Henr}^ Boothc, Representa- 
 tive from Gonzales county, is English — his progenitors 
 having immigrated to the New World in the Colonial nge. 
 Mr. Boothe's parents now live in Wake county, North Car- 
 olina, where he was born on the twentieth of November, 
 1851. He was educated at the Ruffin-Badger Institute, in 
 Chatham, county of that State, from which institution of 
 learning he graduated in literature and law in the year 1871. 
 He came to Texas thirteen years ago, unaccompanied by 
 relative or friend, and entered business life as a teacher, in 
 which profession he continued for six years, and until fail- 
 ing health drove him to out-door and more exposed life. 
 For seven years he has been engaged in farming and stock- 
 raising, and appears in the Twentieth Legislature of Texas, 
 from the Ninetieth Representative district, in the class of 
 the agriculturist. Mr. Bootheis a Democrat in politics, and 
 was elected to represent his county by a majority of 740 
 votes. He is a member of four several- standing commit- 
 tees, viz: Educational Affairs, Contingent Expenses, Public 
 Lands and Land Office, and Penitentiaries. He was mar- 
 ried to INIiss Jimmie Lea, granddaughter of the late Judge 
 Pryor Lea, of Goliad, Texas, in October, 1879, and has a 
 family of three little boys. He is five feet eleven inches in 
 height and of average weight, of dark complexion, and 
 feeble natural constitution. His manners are easy and 
 pleasant. He is firm in the maintenance of what he be- 
 lieves to be right, but is not of an obtrusive disposition. 
 
112 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 JAMES NATHAN BROWNING 
 
 AT an early period in the history of the State of Ar- 
 kansas, William F. Browning and his wife, Mary L. 
 Browning, whose maiden name was Burke, entered that 
 State and became established in the agricultural pursuits of 
 the country. They belonged to the class of well-to-do, 
 respectable and humble people. Mrs. Browning, though 
 herself possessing but an ordinary education, was apt to 
 teach, and inspired her son, James Nathan, with an indomi- 
 table ambition to excel, and imparted to him an insatiable 
 thirst for knowledge. He is a remarkable example of a 
 self-taught and broadly educated gentleman. It is a note- 
 worthy fact, that less than eight months describes the whole 
 time of his attendance at school, perforce of irremediable 
 conditions, substituting therefor self-instruction and the 
 auxiliaries that came within the grasp of an ingenious en- 
 ergy. He was raised on a farm and used to manual labor. 
 His father having died when James Nathan was only four 
 years old, the natural guide and shield of his youth w^as 
 denied him. He was born in Clark county, in the State of 
 Arkansas, on the thirteenth day of March, 1850, and at the 
 age of sixteen years came to Cook count}', Texas. In the 
 following year he went to Stephens county, where he en- 
 gaged in the cattle raising business. In 1875 he began the 
 study of law, for which, from a child, he had possessed a 
 growing ambition, under the preceptorship of C. K. Strib- 
 ling, Esq., at Fort Griffin, in Shakelford county. In Octo- 
 ber of the following year he was licensed, and immediately 
 began a successful career as a western lawyer. In 1881 he 
 went to the Panhandle and now resides at Mobeetie, 
 Wheeler county, Texas. He begun his public career as a 
 justice of the peace ; subsequently he served two years as 
 county attorney of Shackelford county. By appointment of 
 Governor Roberts he served as district attorney of the judi- 
 cial district embracing the Panhandle counties, which office 
 
J. N. BROWNING. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. II3 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 however, he resigned after one year's service. In his can- 
 didacy for election to membership in the Eighteenth Legis- 
 lature of the State of Texas he had two honorable oppo- 
 nents, but was elected by a very creditable majority of one- 
 third over both of them. He has since been elected to the 
 Nineteenth and also to the Twentieth Legislature without 
 opposition, and in both of these sessions, to meet existing 
 emergencies, has been chosen to the office of Speaker pro 
 tem. by acclamation. In the Eighteenth Legislature and 
 also in the Nineteenth, he was chairman of the Committee 
 on Stock and Stock Raising. He is now the efficient chair- 
 man of .ludiciary Committee No. 1, in the Twentieth Legis- 
 lature. The number of his district is the Forty-third, the 
 largest in the world, embracing 67,000 square miles, divided 
 into sixty-seven counties, forty-five of which are unorgan- 
 ized, the remainder, twenty-two, being organized. Eepre- 
 sentative Browning has been twice married. His first wife 
 was Miss Caroline E. Beckham. His second marriage was 
 to Miss Virginia I. Bozeman, of Fort Griffin, Texas, on the 
 ninth of March. 1879. He has five living children. He is 
 a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Soutb, and of 
 the fraternity of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons. As 
 a Mason, his proficiency and standing have won for him a 
 third term of service as District Deputy Grand Master. The 
 personal appearance of .ludge Browning would command 
 recognition anywhere. In stature he stands above the floor 
 six feet and nearly two inches, weighing two hundred and 
 six poimds avoirdupois. He has a full blue eye that reposes 
 meditatively as he sits in his seat or moves in social ease 
 among his friends, but dances and flashes in polemical discus- 
 sion. He has a plethoric facial development, and a complex- 
 ion having a florid tendency. His hair is black, and his 
 movements are of graceful ease, which nature has bestowed 
 rather than the angular stiflhess of military drill. The bent 
 of his mind and the trend of his iiature have inclined liim 
 to civil, rather than criminal practice in his profession. 
 \\\\X\ a strong tenor voice, to which nature and self-culture 
 
114 
 
 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 have fixed a musical scale of modulation, his mode of address 
 has a charm as well as the substance of discourse. The 
 principal measures he has introduced have been on the 
 great land interests of the State. He is well known to be 
 an advocate of progress, to oppose the lease law, and to 
 favor the sale of lands to actual settlers in small quantities. 
 The influence Judge Browning wields in the House, and his 
 popularity among his constituency, are not matters of sur- 
 prise to any one who knows him well. He is a true son of 
 nature, to whom self-culture has appointed the lordship of 
 an American citizen according to the genius of our free 
 institutions. 
 
 FELIX GRUNDY F:5RAXSF0RD. 
 
 FELIX GRUNDY BRADSFORD, from the Forty-fourth 
 Representative district, composed of Clay and Montague 
 counties, was born on the fiftli of September, 1828, in 
 Barren county, Kentucky, and was educated atGlasco, Ken- 
 tucky, and Richmond, Missouri. He combines the occupa- 
 tion of a farmer with the practice of the profession of law. 
 He served as a notar}^ public for eight years. At the com- 
 mencement of the war Mr. Bransford was a citizen of 
 Missouri, and enlisted in the Missouri State Guards, and 
 served with them during the first campaign under General 
 Price, when he, with the Guards, were mustered into the 
 Confederate States army. He participated, with General 
 Parsons' brigade, in the battles of Carthage, Wilson's Creek, 
 Siege of Lexington, Missouri ; Fort Scott, Kansas ; Prairie 
 Grove, Elkhorn, Cross Hollows and Helena, Arkansas. He 
 is a member of the Methodist Church, South, and the Ma- 
 . sonic fraternit}'. He married Miss S. A. Scott. They 
 have three boys and three girls. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. II5 
 
 Kcfrcsciitativcs. 
 
 AMOS WILSON BUCHANAN. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch is thirty years of age, having 
 been born in DeSoto parish, liouisiana, March 23, 1857. 
 In his boyhood, at the age of nine years, he left Louisiana 
 under the charge of the family, who cast their fortunes 
 with the great State of Texas. Mr. Buchanan received his 
 education chiefly from the the public schools of Brazos 
 county, where he' now resides, and which county he rep- 
 resents in the Twentieth Legislature. By occupation he 
 is a farmer, and is an influential member of the order of the 
 Patrons of Husbandry. He Avas elected from the Fiftieth 
 Representative district, embracing Brazos county, by a ma- 
 jority of 650 votes, and is an active member of the follow- 
 ing committees, viz : Penitentiaries, Public Printing, State 
 Affairs, Federal Affairs and Military Affairs. He was mar- 
 ried to Miss Anna Peters, of Brazos county, and has a fam- 
 ily of three children. Mr. Buchanan is in polities a Demo- 
 crat, in religion a Missionary Baptist, and is a good talker 
 on the floor of the House. He is scarcely of average size, 
 having a preponderance towards a florid complexion and 
 sanguine temperament. He cares more for the substance of 
 what he says, than the manner in which it is said. He is a 
 good specimen of the young Democracy of the State ; pro- 
 gressive, but not daring; desirous of lluift, but would take 
 no risks to attain it. 
 
Il6 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 A. G. CAMP. 
 
 DR. A. G. CAMP, the subject of this brief sketcli, was a 
 member of the Eighteenth, Nineteenth and Twentieth 
 Legislatures of Texas, in the House of Representatives. He 
 was born in Jefferson county, Kentuck}^, in 1827, and educa- 
 ted in Louisville, where he graduated in medicine from the 
 University of lA)uisville in LS56, and for one year served as 
 resident physician in the Louisville Marine Hospital. He 
 then removed to Saint Joseph, Missouri, Avhere he engaged 
 in the practice of his profession, and continued to do so 
 until the Wrt,r between the States. Dr. Camp was an out- 
 spoken Southern man and a Democrat, and none but those 
 who lived in the border States, entertaining Southern sym- 
 pathies, can appreciate the persecution and heroic endurance 
 suffered by them. 
 
 Although there was a large majority of the citizens of 
 Saint Joseph of Southern sympathies, that city was early 
 occupied by Colonel Curtis' Iowa regiment, which gave pro- 
 tection and license to the Red Republican German popula- 
 tion to wreak their vengeance on Southerners. Unawed by the 
 bayonets of the Iowa soldiers, and the vindictiveness of the 
 "Home Guard," composed of German turners. Dr. Cam]) 
 refused to be silenced by either threats or assaults, and 
 literally fought his way from the city to his home in the 
 immediate suburbs every day. 
 
 The Southern element of the city soon left for the field, 
 and Dr. Camp returned to his old home near Louisville, 
 Kentucky. He immediately organized a company of boys, 
 all that was left in his neighborhood of Southern men, and 
 used them to protect trains conveying contraband of war 
 to the Conefederate camp of General Joimston, at Bowling 
 Green. The Federal lines closing about him and liis devo- 
 ted followers, he repaired to Bowling Green and re})orted for 
 duty to General Joimston, Avho assigned him to duty as sur. 
 geon at the Market Street Hospital, at Nashville, Tennessee. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. II/ 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 He was ordered thence on the same duty to Atlanta, thence 
 to Corinth, and finally to Ringgold, Georgia, where he was 
 appointed on a board of examiners, composed of the emi- 
 nent surgeons, Drs. Stout, Saunders, Pimm and himself, 
 upon which he served to the close of the war. 
 
 He then returned to Saint Joseph, Missouri, and endured 
 the same kind of persecution until 1870, when he removed 
 to Groesbeeck, Texas, and engaged in the practice of his pro- 
 fession, at the same time opening a drug store. 
 
 Dr. Camp soon exhibited a Kentuckian's fondness for pol- 
 itics, and acquiring popularity by his social traits and sound 
 sense, the people of Limestone county sent him success- 
 ively to the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth and Twen- 
 tieth Legislatures. His characteristic is watchfulness. No 
 job escapes his vigilant eye, and no measure against the 
 interests of the people can pass the Legislature after the 
 scathing rebuke administered by the member from Lime- 
 stone. No ilian in the House is so much feared by jobbers 
 and lobbyists as Dr. Camp. Always in his place, and always 
 informed upon every measure proposed, he stands as a sen- 
 tinel on the watch-towers, and his fellow-members have so 
 much confidence in him that a measure opposed by him has 
 small chance of success. 
 
 It goes without saying that he is a "red-hot" Democrat, 
 and for the last two sessions has served as chairman of the 
 important Committee on Assylums. 
 
 With a vigorous mind and large experience, he brings to 
 bear upon his duties an assiduity that knows no fatigue or 
 defeat, and he stands with a State reputation as one of the 
 most solid and influential law-makers of tl-.e State of Texas. 
 
 In 1805 Dr. Camp married Miss Juliet Jane, of Brandon, 
 Mississippi. They have had five children, only two of 
 Avhom are living; two daughters. 
 
ii8 
 
 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 S. J. CHAPMAN, 
 
 THIS distinguished gentleman who represented the 
 Thirty-sixth district (Johnson county), was born in 
 Taladega county, Ahibama, June 16, 1833. During the 
 <3ivil war he served in Texas State troops on the frontier and 
 was assigned to the quartermaster's department, where he 
 served from 1862 to 1865. 
 
 Mr. Chapman is a member of A. F. and A. M. lodge, 
 Farmers' Alliance and the Grange, and while a member of 
 no church, is au earnest believer in future rewards and pun- 
 ishments. He has been twice married. His first wife was a 
 Miss Susan J. Strahan, who died in 1881. In 1882 he mar- 
 ried his present wife, who was a Miss Elizabeth S. Harris, 
 of Georgia. He is tlie father of six children, four boys and 
 two girls. 
 
 His property was squandered and scattered and the In- 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. II9 
 
 Re-presentatives. 
 
 dians came in and stole all that he had in the way of wealth, 
 and left him where he commenced in the world, except a 
 wife and three children to support. But not to be outdone 
 by adversity, he gathered up his wife and children and 
 moved to Johnson county, in May, 18G6, and resolved to 
 quit stock raising and go to farming. 
 
 When he moved to Johnson county he had no money, and 
 bought the first eighty acres of land he owned in that county 
 on credit, and settled on it and improved it with his own 
 hands, and made the money on the place to pay for it; and 
 by hard labor, honesty and economv, has added to his 
 wealth one thousand acres of land, second to none in Texas, 
 has it well improved, and from almost nothing in 1866, he 
 has accumulated the handsome sura of $25,000 in twent}' 
 years. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was raised by poor parents on 
 the farm, and had but few educational facilities — only what 
 he could pick up at short intervals at a common country 
 school — but being a great lover of books and of a studious 
 mind, he has made himself a fair English scholar. He 
 is now a Representative by almost the unanimous voice of 
 his people. Honesty has been his motto all his life, coupled 
 with fervency and zeal. He has lived on the frontier of the 
 State fourteen years in Cook and Denton counties. Assisted 
 by his neighbors, he has chased many marauding bands of 
 Indians, who had stolen property and murdered and 
 carried off women and children. 
 
 Though not a member of the church, he is a strict pattern 
 of morality, a Sabbath school worker, and a temperate man; 
 a lover of God and country, always endeavoring to obey the 
 laws of both. 
 
 He is a Jeffersonian Democrat, and was elected to the 
 Twentieth Legislature by a majority of 2764 votes. He 
 was a member of the following committees : Roads and 
 Bridges, Stock and Stock Raising, Statistics and Health. 
 
 While not a man anxious to make a display, he was con- 
 sidered one of the aldest thinkers in the bodv of which he 
 
I20 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 was a member. In the committee room and on the floor, 
 he was listened to with respectful attention, and seldom 
 failed to convince his hearers. 
 
 In the election of Mr. Chapman, Johnson county selected 
 one who is a worthy representative of her intelligence and 
 refinement. 
 
 CHARLES M, CHRISTENBERRY. 
 
 GM. CHRISTENBERRY, Representative from the 
 , Thirty-eighth district, (Hill county), was born in Perry 
 county, Alabama, July 14, 1854. He was educated partially 
 in Alabama, but principally at Trinity University, Limestone 
 county, Texas. Mr. Christenberry is the architect ot his 
 own fortune. Leaving his native State without means, he 
 first came to Smith county, Texas, a mere boy, where he re- 
 mained one year, farming. He then went to Bell county, 
 where he farmed four years, then went to Trinity Universi- 
 ty, where he studied one year, not, however, consecutively, 
 having to teach school to defray his expenses. He left 
 Trinity and taught school for a time, and meanwhile read 
 law. He then went to Waco and devoted all his time to the 
 study of his profession in the office of Anderson Flint, 
 where he remained for six years. He was licensed in the 
 fall of the same^'year, when he went to Hubbard City, Hill 
 county, and commenced the practice of his profession, and 
 by the same indomitable energy that animated his youthful 
 efforts he has succeeded in drawing around him a respecta- 
 ble and lucrative clientage. 
 
 He is a Democrat, never in his life having scratched a name 
 on the Democratic ticket, and was elected over both of his 
 opponents, both members of former Legislatures, by a ma- 
 jority of 502. He is unmarried. 
 
 Mr, Christenberry has a large and imposmg frame, a 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT, 121 
 
 Rej)resentatives. 
 
 bright face, pleasant manners, and is destined to make his 
 mark on the jurisprudence and legislative affairs of his 
 adopted State, to whose general interest and prosperity he 
 is devoted. He was a member of the following House com- 
 mittees : Judiciary No. 2, Federal Relations, and Counties 
 and Coiiiitv boundaries. 
 
 J. B. CONE. 
 
 MR. CONE represents an honored class of Texas citi- 
 zens. He is a man of vast experience and an extended 
 fund of knowledge. He was born in Georgia, on the tenth 
 day of March, 1S25. His education took the course so many 
 of the noble youths of his day were compelled to take. He 
 received what instruction tie could in the little log school 
 house. But in the view that life itself is a course of educa- 
 tion, he has gone on till his attainments arc of a creditable 
 order. He is a farmer, and in this pursuit has had a good 
 degree of success. For a good portion of the time of the 
 late war, Mr. Cone served with Colonel J. E. McCord, and 
 also with Colonel Stephen H. Darden. He was a good sol- 
 dier, and trustworthy. He began his political life when 
 elected to represent the Eighty-second district, composed of 
 Karnes, Wilson and Atascosa counties. His wife was a|Miss 
 Walker, and liis family consists of seven children. He is a 
 Mason and a Knight of .Labor. In his views of life he is 
 cosmopolitan, and seeks to be in harmou}^ with nature. 
 With his age, he carries forward a noble purpose to look 
 after the l)est things. He is not demonstrative in the House 
 of Representatives, but faithful to all the interests and 
 duties of his oflice. Being rather quiet, he has come 
 forward more from a sense of duty than to win glory. His 
 constituents will be pleased to note the consistency of his 
 record, as they have seen in him a fit man to voice their in- 
 terests in- the Twentieth Legislature. 
 
122 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 /Representatives . 
 
 G. C. CLEGG. 
 
 THE Representative from Trinity county, Honorable G. 
 C. Clegg, was born in Florida on the twelfth day of Oc- 
 tober,' 1858. He came to Texas in 1872, and stopped in Har- 
 ris county till 1876, when he removed to Trinity county, 
 where he now resides. 
 
 Mr. Clegg is well educated, and a man of fine intelligence. 
 He received his education at the Waco University, and at 
 the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, atBr3'an. 
 He is a lawyer, not having yet reached the prime of his life, 
 nor of his professional career. His talents, as a rising mem- 
 ber of the bar, are recognized, and he has not only acquired 
 a good practice, but has also won the confidence of the voters 
 of his district. He is held in esteem as a staunch Democrat, 
 and, as such, was elected in November, 1886, to a seat in the 
 Twentieth Legislature by a majority of about 1800 votes. 
 His district is the Fifty-fourth, composed of Trinity, 
 Waller, Harris and Montgomery counties. In 1880, he was 
 married to Miss Jennie Barnes, daughter of J. P. Barnes, 
 Esq., of Trinity county, and has a family of four children. 
 Mr. Clegg is a member of the Ancient, Free and Accepted 
 Masons. In the capacity of legislator, he has shown wis- 
 dom and fidelity and has been watcliful of all the great inter- 
 ests passing under legislative review. His work in commit- 
 tee room and in the sessions of the House has made for him 
 a record of which noithcr he nor his constituents will be 
 ashamed. 
 
 JAMES CLARK. 
 
 JAMES CLARK, from the Eighteenth Representative 
 district, composed of Red River county, was born March 
 19, 1838, in Red River county, Texas, and educated in that 
 •county by the Rev. John Anderson, Master of Ar^s. Mr. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. I 23 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 Clark is a farmer in his native county, and one of the most 
 respectable and intelligent of that class of citizens. His 
 education under the Rev. John Anderson was very thorough, 
 and combining with that a native shrewdness and compre- 
 hensive intellect, he soon assumed a high position in the 
 House, and acquired an influence over his fellow-members. 
 His popularity in his county is evidenced by the fact that 
 he was elected without opposition. He served on the fol- 
 lowing committees, to-wit : Judiciary No. 1, Public Lands 
 and Land Office, Agriculture, and Contingent Expenses. 
 Upon all of these committees Mr. Clark was considered one 
 of the most important and efficient members; bringing to 
 bear, as he did, upon every c^uestion his practical sound 
 sense and disinterested patrotism, his opinions and his 
 motives were fully trusted. 
 
 Mr. Clark is a Democrat, basing hi- politics upon a 
 thorough examination and understanding of the organic 
 principles of the government. 
 
 Mr. Clark, in the beginning of the war between the States, 
 served as an orderly until the battle of Oak Hills. After 
 that he served as captain of company B, Crump's Bat- 
 talion ; then as captain of company I, Twenty-ninth 
 Texas Cavalry, Colonel Charles DeMorse. When General 
 W. R. Scurr}'- received his appointment as Brigadier-General, 
 he offered, and Captain Clark accepted, the appointment of 
 aid-de-camp on his staff. He served in that capacity until 
 General Scurry was killed at -Jenkins Ferry ; he then served 
 with his successor. General Richard Waterhouse, until the 
 close of the war, as aid de-camp. 
 
 Has been twice married, the first time to Miss M. B. An- 
 derson, daughter of Rev. John Anderson, by whom he had 
 four children, two daughters and two sons; second time to 
 Miss M. M. Gaffrey, by whom he had three children, two 
 living, one girl and one boy. 
 
 He is still faithful to the church of his fathers, the Catho- 
 lic, and he is as broad in his religious and humanitarian 
 views as the spirit of progress demands. 
 
124 
 
 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 The Twentieth Legislature was the first in which Mr. 
 Clark served, but he left his mark on the laws of his State, 
 and if his tastes are political, will yet figure prominently 
 in the affairs of the State. 
 
 JOHN H. CLARK. 
 
 THE gentleman of whom this is a brief biographical 
 sketch is a Mississippian, born in Holmes county, of 
 that State. In ISGG, he came to Paris, Texas, and was edu- 
 cated in the schools of that place. Mr. Clark is, 'by profes- 
 sion, a lawyer, having been admitted to the bar of North 
 Texas, in 1876. He engaged in, and continued a successful 
 practice, in Paris, Texas, until the year 1883. During this 
 year, he removed to Uvalde, Texas, where he now lives, and 
 pursues his profession in honor, and with a fine degree of 
 success. He was elected in the November election of 1885 
 to a seat in the Twentieth Legislature, from the Eighty-first 
 Representative district, composed of seven large counties. 
 He is a member of Judiciary Committee No. 2, Public 
 Lands and Land Office, and others. Successful as a lawyer^ 
 he is not less distinguished as a legislator. He is a man of 
 thorough devotion to what he believes to be the best in- 
 terests of the people. His wife was Miss Rucker, of- Paris, 
 whom he had the great misfortune to lose, by death, in the 
 .city of Austin, while at his post of legislative duty. 
 
 JOHN THOMAS CURRY 
 
 IN 1870, a trio of Kentuckians, to-wit, James Q. Chenoweth, 
 T. M. Hunt and J. T. Curry, who had been schoolboys 
 together, came to North Texas, and settled in that fertile 
 portion of the State, each of whom has been, at some time. 
 
JOHN H. CLARK. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. I 25 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 a legislator of the State of Texas. Mr. Curry, who is a res- 
 ident of Van Zandt county, and represents the Twenty-sixth 
 district, was horn at Harrodsburg, Kentucky, October 28, 
 1837. He was mainly educated in the common schools of 
 the country, attending one year, however, at the Asbury 
 University, Greencastle, Indiana. He is a farmer, and ap. 
 pears in public life for the first time as a "member of the 
 Twentieth Legislature, to which he was elected in Novem- 
 ber, 1886, receiving 188G votes out of 2500 votes cast. He 
 served as a member of the Committee on Finance, Revenue 
 and Taxation, and others. Mr. Curry has a family of seven 
 children. His wife was Miss Lizzie A. McBroyer, of Law- 
 renceburg, Kentucky. He is a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, South, a Mason, and belongs to the Far- 
 mers' Alliance. He has broad and liberal views of the ques- 
 tions demanding the action of the Legislature. He is a solid 
 man, of an exemplary life, intelligent, and acting according 
 to the matured convictions of his mind. He has the confi- 
 dence of his co-legislators, and is held in high esteem as a 
 man of integrity. He is not especially given to speech- 
 making, but is prompt in all the duties of his position. He 
 is pleasant, and capable of ardent friendships; tall, of florid 
 complexion, light colored hair, and is a fine specimen of 
 polite manhood. 
 
 TOM C. DAVIS. 
 
 TOM C. DAVIS, Representative in the Twentieth Legis- 
 lature from the Fifteenth district, Harrison, Rusk, 
 Panola, Shelby, San Augustine and Sabine counties, was 
 born in Shelby county, Texas, August 4, 1850. 
 
 From 1876 to 1878, he filled the office of county attornev, 
 and from 1878 to 1880, served as county surveyor for Shclbv 
 
126 PERSO.XXKL OF THE 
 
 Re^r escntatives . 
 
 county. He is a Democrat, a member of the Ancient, Free 
 and Accepted Masons and the Knights of Honor. 
 
 He is a member of the following important committees : 
 Judiciary No. 2. Finance, Land :ind Land Office, and Roads, 
 Bridges and Ferries. 
 
 JONATHAN JACKSON DAVIS. 
 
 THERE is variety in the pursuits of the Representative 
 from the 'Fifty-fifth district. He is a farmer, having 
 followed this honorable business from the days of his boy- 
 hood. He is also a minister of the gospel, in the ordained 
 ministry of the Missionary Baptist Church. Mr. Davis is a 
 native of Benton county, Alabama, born on the sixteenth of 
 February, 1833. His father removed to Mississippi when 
 Mr. Davis was but a child, and in that State he was edu- 
 cated. He came to Texas in the latter part of the year 
 1865, and stopped till the year following in Robertson coun- 
 ty, when he removed to Falls and became permanently 
 settled. He was a soldier in the war between the States, 
 serving as lieutenant in company D, of Thirtieth Regiment, 
 Mississippi Infantry. He took part in that memorable 
 campaign from Kentucky, through Tennessee to the South, 
 being engaged at the battle of Perry ville, Murfreesboro, Kee- 
 nasaw. Mountain, and others; was severely wounded in the 
 engagement on the right at Atlanta a fev/ days before the 
 evacuation by the Confederate forces. 
 
 Mr. Davis]Jwas elected to a seat in the Twentieth Legisla- 
 ture of the State of Texas, in November, 1886, and has ac- 
 quitted himself well. He is a member of the Committee on 
 Revenue and Taxation and others. Mr. Davis has proved 
 himself a good legislator, and has a just and impartial view 
 of the matters of legislation. He is tall, of dark complex- 
 ion and affable in his manners. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. I27' 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 NELSON P. DOLEN. 
 
 NELSON P. DOLEN was born in Sullivan county, Ten- 
 nessee, March 26, 1832, and was educated at Pactolus 
 Seminary. By education, he is a physician, but has not 
 practiced the profession, engaging rather in farming and 
 stockraising. He represents the Ninety-second Legislative 
 district in the Twentieth Legislature, composed of the 
 county of Harris. His politics are Democratic. He served 
 in the Missouri State Guard, and afterward in the Confede- 
 rate army, and participated in the battle at Lexington, and 
 other engagements, also doing much secret service, incur- 
 ring imminent risk, that was of great benefit to the generals 
 commanding the Confederate armies. 
 
 His first wife was Miss Sallie McMinn, of Tennessee; his 
 present wife was Miss Mary Gillette, by whom he has had 
 ten children, eight now living — six girls and two boys. 
 
 Mr. Dolen's characteristic is readiness and adaptability 
 to his environvents and happenings, at any and all times 
 equal to any emergency that may befall him. With a strong 
 mind, and direct in purpose, and energetic in perform- 
 ance, it follows that he is an eminently useful citizen, and 
 a valuable member of the law makers of the State. His 
 appreciation of the resources, and the ultimate development 
 of Texas, makes him enthusiastic on behalf of the greatness 
 and glory of Texas, to which he is attached with the warm- 
 est and most patriotic pride. As in all the atiairs of life 
 with him, he readily caught the genius of legislation, and 
 threw all his mmd and trained energy into the accomplish- 
 ment of the purposes for which his constituents sent him 
 to Austin. He served on the following House committees: 
 Chairman of |the Committee on the Revision of Rules, and 
 a member of Internal Improvements, State Asylums, and 
 Stock and Stock Raising. 
 
-128 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Rcfi'esentatives . 
 
 J. L. ELLISON. 
 
 JL. ELLISON, from the Ninety-first district, composed 
 , of the counties of Hays, Guadalupe and Caldwell, was 
 born August 31, 1837, in Mississippi, but his parents immi- 
 grated to Texas in his youth, and he was educated in Cald- 
 wxll county, Texas. He is a farmer, and married Miss 
 Martha W. Martindale August 23, 1866. They have seven 
 children, three sons and four daughters. 
 
 Mr. Ellison joined the Confederate army in 1861, and ser- 
 ved in Texas and Louisiana during the war in the Thirty- 
 second Regiment, Texas Cavalry. He was in the Red River 
 campaign against the Union General, Banks, and participa- 
 ted in the battles of Blair's Landing, Yellow Bayou, 
 •or Norwood Farm, and others, and was wounded on 
 Rapides Bayou, near Alexandria, Louisiana, in April, 1864. 
 He is a member of the Baptist Church, and a strong party 
 man in behalf of a Democratic nomination. 
 
 Mr. Ellison is a man of shrewd sense, a good judge of men 
 and measures, social and agreeable in his manners and hab- 
 its, and acquired, in a sliorttime, considerable influence with 
 his colleagues. 
 
 T. A. FULLER. 
 
 REPRESENTATIVE T. A. FULLER was born in Fan- 
 nin county, Texas, January 20, 1859, and was educated 
 •at the Aricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. He is, 
 by profession, a^lawyer, and gives promise of success. He 
 was a member of the following important committees : Ju- 
 diciary No. 2, Judicial Districts, Military Affairs, Public 
 Lands and Land Office, Willis Investigation Committee, and 
 Committee to Visit State Schools. 
 
H. M. GARWOOD. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. T29 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 [IRAM M. GARWOOD. 
 
 HIRAM M. GARWOOD, member of the House from the 
 8eventy-foiirth Legislative district, Bastrop county, 
 was horn in Bastrop county, Texas, January 11, 1864, and 
 is the youngest member of the Twentieth Legislature. 
 He obtained a ver}^ thorough English and classical educa- 
 tion at the "University of the South," Sewanee, Tennessee, 
 and studied his profession, the law, in the office and under 
 the tutorship of the Honorable Joseph D. Sayers, in his na- 
 tive place. Mr. Garwood is thoroughly indoctrinated in the 
 principles of the Democratic party, and takes a conserva- 
 tive and comprehensive view of the State and Federal gov- 
 ernments. He is of medium height, but slight and compact 
 in person. He has a chaste and intellectual face, denoting 
 at the same time purpose and determination. His manners 
 are easy and graceful, and his presence, for one so young, 
 decidedly impressive. His educational training has been 
 rigid and full, and he brings to bear on all questions an 
 analytical and strong mind. There is no young man in the 
 State who gives greater hope of success in his profession 
 and the broad arena of politics than this young member 
 of the House. 
 
 Mr. Garwood is unmarried, a member of the Episcopal 
 Church, a Mason, and a member of the Greek Letter Col- 
 lege Society.. His joopularity is evidenced by a majority 
 over his opponent of 1746 votes in his native county of Bas- 
 trop. His position in the House advanced in influence, and 
 recognition of his talents and good judgment was not with- 
 held. He was appointed to membership on Judiciary Com- 
 mittee No. 1, and also on the Comniittee on Constitutional 
 Amendments. As a special trust, he was made a member 
 of the special committee to whom all the educational bills 
 of the House were referred. His record as a legislator, 
 like his reputation as a gentleman, is commendable and 
 discreet. 
 
130 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 M. V. GARNER. 
 
 HOXORABLE M. V. GARNER, the subject of this 
 brief sketch, is a native of Morgan county, Alabama, 
 born September 30, 1839. He was educated in the common 
 schools of his native State. He has consistently pursued 
 agriculture as the business of his life. He was a good 
 soldier in the late civil war in the United States, serving in 
 the Eleventh Arkansas -Infantry ; was captured at Island 
 No. 10, and having escaped from prison, rejoined the army^ 
 Second Arkansas Regiment, and was elected second lieuten- 
 ant. HisXhurch relations are witli the Missionary Baptist. 
 He is also a member of the Ancient, Free and Accepted 
 Masons. 
 
 Mr. Garner was married to Mrs. S. A. Hays, of Robert- 
 son county, in]the year^l865. Fourj children, two of each sex, 
 constitute his family."^ 
 
 He was elected in November, 1886, to the Twentieth Leg- 
 islature by a majority of 936 votes. His district is the 
 Forty-eighth Representative. He is not an obtrusive man 
 in official aflfairs, but follows his'convictions, founded on the 
 best information he has at"the time. 
 
 ABEL SKENNEL GILL. 
 
 ABEL SKENNEL GILL, the subject of this biographi- 
 cal sketch, made his appearance first in Texas, as a 
 citizen of Rusk county, in the fall of 1858. After the close 
 of the war between tlie States, in the year 1867, he became 
 a citizen of Navarro county, where he now resides. He is a 
 native of Calhoun county, Alabama, where he was born on 
 the twelfth day of February, 1835. He received an acade- 
 mic education at Oxford, Alabama, and has since continued 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. T3I 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 to advance by experience and the ordinary processes of 
 mental improvement, until he is a representative man in in- 
 telligence among the citizens of the State. He is a farmer, 
 and was elected from that class of nseful and honorable citi- 
 zens a member of the Twentieth Legislature by a majority 
 of 619 votes. His is the Sixtieth Representative district. 
 Colonel Miller, of the Corsicana Observer, and other distin- 
 guished citizens of Navarro county, disputed the honors 
 with Mr. Gill in the convention which gave him the nomi- 
 nation in July, 1886. He belonged to Company G, of the 
 Eighteenth Texas Infantry, and in the Trans-Mississippi 
 Department of the Confederate army. He is a member of 
 the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of the Masonic 
 fraternity, and also of the Farmers' Alliance. On the 
 fifteenth day of September, 1855, he was married to Miss 
 R. E. Neighbours, and has a family of four children. He 
 has a strong preponderance to a blond complexion, hair 
 that in his young manhood was of a dark auburn, and a 
 light blue eye. He is above the average in stature, being 
 six feet two inches in height, and weighs one hundred and 
 ninety-five pounds. He is not demonstrative, but advances 
 to a question in debate Avith a purpose that is invincible. 
 Not being professionally trained to oratory, he gives evi- 
 dence in his speeches of natural gifts of an enviable order. 
 He would not crowd himself into leadership, nor meanly 
 scheme to defeat an opponent, but having won distinction, 
 he would disdain to abuse confidence. 
 
 .J. L. GILLELAND. 
 
 JL. GILLELAND, from the Fourth district, composed 
 , of Angelina and Nacogdoches counties, was born in 
 Angelina county, Texas, July 15, 1840, and^educated in the 
 common schools of the county. He is a farmer in his na- 
 
132 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 tive county, and has served there as connty commissioner 
 and justice of the peace. He belonged to the committees 
 on Privileges and Elections, Agriculture, and Revenue and 
 Taxation. Politically, he is a Democrat, and served as a Con- 
 federate soldier in Company F, Thirteenth Texas dismounted 
 -cavalry, commanded by Colonel John Burnett, in the Trans- 
 Mississij)pi Department. During the war, he suffered Avith 
 dropsy, and was at home ou furlough on that account at the 
 time that the army to which his regiment was attached en- 
 countered the severe engagements of Mansfield and others. 
 He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He 
 married Miss Sarali M. Porter on the seventh of April, 1864, 
 b}' whom he has had seven children — five daughters and 
 two sons. He was attentive to his duties as a member of 
 the Legislature, always at his place, and watchful of the in- 
 terests of his constituents. 
 
 CAPvL GOETH. 
 
 CARL GOETH was born March 7, 1835, in Wetzlar, one 
 of the former imperial free-towns of Germany, now a 
 part of the Rhenan province of Prussia. After a course in 
 the public school, he entered the Royal College of his native 
 town, where he studied classics and mathematics, his grand- 
 father, Ernest Franke, being one of the professors. At the 
 age of sixteen, he learned the trade of compositor, emigrated 
 with his parents to the United States in 1852^ and landed in 
 Galveston July 4, from where the family started with an old- 
 fashioned ox-team towards Austin county, and bought there 
 a farm in cultivation, with all the stock, on the identical 
 spot where now the small town of New Ulm is situated. 
 
 Here the young man worked at the farm and helped to 
 reap the first year's crop in the fall of the same year, ten 
 bales of cotton and fifteen hundred bushels of corn. Three 
 
CARL GOETH. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 133 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 years afterwards, his only sister having married a saddle- 
 maker, young Goeth connected himself with his brother-in- 
 law in the then quite profitable business. After having 
 learned the trade, he traveled and worked as saddle-maker 
 in different parts of the United States, and when five years 
 in the country, he became a citizen of the United States in 
 Ohio, in the year 1857, when he cast his first vote for Gov- 
 ernor Payne, the Democratic candidate for Governor of 
 that State. 
 
 Returning to Texas, he started his own business in New 
 Ulm, and married MissOttilie, daughter of xVdoiphus Fuchs 
 (Fox), professor of music, a gentleman well known among 
 the early settlers, having immigrated in 1845, first settling 
 at Cat Springs, Austin county, and eight years afterwards in 
 the sotithern part of Burnet county, near Marble Falls, be- 
 coming the first sheep raiser in that part of the State. 
 
 At the beginning of the civil war, Carl Goeth also moved 
 into Burnet county to leave his wife and child under the 
 protection of her parents, while he himself had to serve the 
 State in the quartermaster's department in Austin, under 
 Major James McKinney, as saddle-maker. During the In- 
 dian raids, he was detailed to join the scouting party near 
 his family's home, but still making saddles for the govern- 
 ment. 
 
 xVt one of the Indian raids, when a neighbor and his wife 
 were killed by the savages, and a white boy while fishing at 
 the creek captured, all of Mr, Goeth's horses were stolen; 
 but in the neighborhood of Fort Mason the Indians were 
 attacked, some killed, the rest routed, and the white boy 
 and forty horses recovered. 
 
 After the close of the war, Mr. Goeth moved to Cypress 
 Mill, Blanco county, his present domicil, where he engaged 
 in the sheep business with his brother-in-law, Adolphus 
 Varnhagen, grand-nephew of Varnhagen von Ense, and a 
 practical sheep man. He was successful, like many others^ 
 and is at present the owner of a fine homestead and splen- 
 did range in one of the most beautiful vallevs of our State. 
 
134 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 chiefly occupied in the wool business, having hirge herds of 
 fine merinos, interbred with the famous Rambouilet stock. 
 
 Mr. Goetli's family consists, besidesliis wife, of five boys 
 and two girls; the oldest girl is married to John Wenmohs, 
 a neighboring sheep-raiser ; and his eldest son to Julia, 
 daughter of the well-known hardware dealer, Walter Tips, 
 of Austin. The younger children are at home, helping hands 
 to their parents. 
 
 In 1867, General Reynolds off"ered Mr. Goetli the assessor 
 and collectorship for Blanco, but the latter declined, as an 
 appointment to office by the military authorities was at the 
 time quite unpopular, but since, after the State had been 
 re-admitted to the Union, Mr. Goeth held at various times 
 different offices, such as school trustee, justice of the peace, 
 county commissioner, etc. 
 
 At the Democratic district convention, previous to the 
 election of 1886, he was nominated for the office of Repre- 
 sentative for the Eighty -ninth district, composed of the 
 counties of Blanco, Comal and Gillespie, and elected by a 
 vote of 2585 against 174 cast for the Independent Republican 
 candidate. 
 
 ANDREW CARROLL GRAVES. 
 
 THE Sixty-third Representative district is composed of 
 Coryell and Hamilton counties, and is represented in 
 the Twentieth Legislature in the person Honorable A. C. 
 Graves. Mr. Graves' majority in the last election was 276 
 votes. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention 
 of 1875. His education is academic, having been primarily 
 obtained in the common schools. His secular business has 
 been that of surveying ; he has also been a farmer through 
 the greater part of his life. For twenty years, he has been a 
 regular minister in the Missionary Baptist Church. Owing 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 135 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 to delicate health, he served but a short time in the war be- 
 tween the States. Fe was born in Wilson county, Tennes- 
 see, on the tenth of January, 1831, and on the twenty-third 
 of November, 1852, in the place of his nativity, was mar- 
 ried to Miss Eveline Bennett. He has a family of nine 
 children, is a Mason, and a member of the Farmers' Alli- 
 ance. He is tall, spare, and of frail constitution. He makes 
 a good soldier in polemical warfare, when the attack crowds 
 him, but never sallies out to bring on an engagement. 
 
 G. S. HULING. 
 
 GS. HULING, a member of the House of Representa- 
 , fives of the Twentieth Legislature, from the Forty- 
 second district, composed of the counties of Collin and 
 
 Denton, was born at •— in February, 1845, and 
 
 educated at West Point. By occupation he is a farmer, a 
 member of the Democratic party, the Farmers' Alliance, 
 and the Masonic fraternity. 
 
 Mr. Huling served, in the Confederate army, and was at- 
 tached to the army of Northern Virginia, commanded by 
 General R. E. Lee, and participated in the battles of Sharps- 
 burg, or Antietam, Cold Harbor, Seven Pines, Garnett's 
 Farm, and Chickamauga. 
 
 He is a member of the Baptist Church. He has been 
 married twice, first to Mis.s C. A. Ticewell, of Harris county, 
 Georgia. His second wife was Miss Mary G. Marble, by 
 whom he has two children. Mr. Huling is a Democrat, and 
 made a safe and conservative member of the Twentieth 
 Legislature. 
 
136 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 S. H. HARGIS. 
 
 SH. HARGIS, from the Thirtieth Representative dis- 
 , trict, was born in Nacogdoches county, Republic of 
 Texas, August 8, 1842, and was educated in various places in 
 Georgia and Alabama, principally in the latter State. He 
 is a farmer on Red River, Walnut Bend, Cooke comity. He 
 has served for two years prior to the last general election, 
 as public weigher in Cooke county. In the Twentieth Leg- 
 islature, he was a member of the following important com- 
 mittees, to-wit: Penitentiary, Judiciary No. 1, and Engrossed 
 Bills. He has been a resident of Cooke county for fifteen 
 years. During the late civil war, he served in Colonel Mc- 
 intosh's regiment of Mounted Rifles ; volunteered fourth 
 day of July, 1861, in Benton county, Arkansas, in Company 
 G, of the aforesaid regiment. He served variously under 
 Generals McCulloch, Beauregard, Bragg, Johnston and 
 Hood, and was engaged in many hard fought battles, and 
 was wounded three times, but fought to the last ditch, and 
 finally surrendered to overwhelming numbers. He married 
 Miss Nancy C. Price. They have ten children, e<|ually divi- 
 ded in sexes. Mr. Hargis was a laborious and consciencious 
 member of the Legislature, doing his full duty to his con- 
 stituents, and to his State. 
 
 NAT. M. HARRISON. 
 
 AT Athens, in Limestone county, Alabama, on the twelfth 
 day of May, 1849, Mr. Harrison was born. He came 
 to Texas in 1856, and has been a resident of Upshur county 
 ever since. He was educated in that county under Professor 
 M. H. Looney. He is professional!}'- a druggist and dealer 
 in medicines. By appointment, he served as tax collector^of 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 1 37 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 Upshur county in 1876 and 1877. In 1878, he was elected 
 by the people and served two years. At the expiration of 
 his term of service as collector, he was elected county clerk, 
 and subsequently twice re-elected, serving thus three 
 terms in the office of county clerk. Mr. Harrison was 
 elected to a seat in the Twentieth Legislature from the 
 Eleventh Representative district, by a majority of 550 
 votes over two opposing candidates. He is appreciated as 
 a legislator, having been appointed as a committeeman on 
 the committees on State Afltairs, Revenue and Taxation, and 
 other important ones. His vindication of what he believes 
 to be for the best interest of the people cannot be ques- 
 tioned. He has given proof as to the clearness of his con- 
 victions, and of the firmness with which he maintains 
 them. He is a man of intelligence, not inclined to demon- 
 stration so much as accuracy. He has fine business talent, 
 and lias had opportunities through official services to be- 
 come well educated in jDublic affairs. He would not discard 
 a matter becauce it is small, but would consider its relation 
 to a whole and its effect upon a compound. He has been 
 quite successful in the former trusts he has held in main- 
 taining the confidence of the jjeople, and bids fair in his 
 office as legislator to be not less so. 
 
 He was married to Miss Lizzie Chadick, of L^^pshur county, 
 and has a I'amily of two boys, tie is a Mason and a Knight 
 of Honor. He has the social attractions which insure popu- 
 larity, and is withal full of genuine politeness. 
 
 EPHROISE C. HEATH. 
 
 MR. HEATH was born November 4, 1850, in Kaufman, 
 now Rockwall county, Texas. He was reared and ed- 
 ucated inMiis native town, and still resides there. In 1881 
 he was united in matrimony to Miss Ida A. Collins, to whom 
 
138 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 he is devotedly attached, and who has been the guiding star 
 and sweet inspiration of his life. To them two children have 
 been born — a son and a daughter. 
 
 Mr. Heath is a man of learning, of and a thoughtful, vigor- 
 ous and philosophical mind, which is stored with informa- 
 tion, useful and varied, and he handled his forces in the 
 Twentieth Legislature in a manner that showed him fully 
 equal to the requirements of parliamentary warfare. During 
 the course of his useful and eventful life, he has filled many 
 positions of trust ; was county judge of Rockwall county 
 from November, 1882, to November, 1886. In that position 
 he found a fair field for the exercise of his abilities, and 
 made a bold, active, efficient and popular officer. When 
 elected, he found the county of Rockwall badly in debt, with 
 a rate of county tax at fifty-five cents. At the close of his 
 term the rate of county taxation had been reduced to twenty- 
 five cents, the county out of debt, and a cash balance on 
 hand. The men among whom he grew to manhood, and 
 who were thoroughly acquainted with his intellectual and 
 other qualities, seemed to have delighted to honor him, as 
 evidenced by a majority of 3831 votes, received in the coun- 
 ties of Dallas, Tarrant and Rockwall, composing the Thirty- 
 fifth district, over his competitor for Representative to the 
 Twentieth Legislature. He was chairman of the Committee 
 on Roads and Bridges, and a member of several other com- 
 mittees. 
 
 He is competent to fill absolutely the highest position to 
 which the people of Texas can raise one of the native born 
 sons of the Lone Star State, for he is a man of the highest 
 talents, most unimpeachable honesty, bold and fearless in 
 his support of men and measures, and a christian gentle- 
 man. He is a Mason, Good Templar, and a member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 1 39 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 G. P. HUMPHREY. 
 
 GP. HUMPHREY wa:^ born in Marion county, Alabama, 
 , tlie twenty-first of March, 1827; moved to the Creek 
 Nation, Alabama, in 1832, thence to Mississippi in 1835, 
 thence to California in 1849, thence to Texas in 1855, and 
 settled at Prairie Lea, Caldwell county, and in 1859 moved 
 to his present home in Lavaca county, which is the Sixty- 
 ninth Representative district, and which he represented in 
 the Twentieth Legislature with honor to himself and his 
 constituency. He is a Democrat, and served on the follow- 
 ing committees, to-wit: Commerce and Manufactures, Agri- 
 culture, Roads, Bridges and Ferries, and others. In the late 
 war, he served as paymaster of the Confederate Cattle Com- 
 pany. He is a member of the order of Masons; married 
 Miss Mary Ann Prellian, of Mississippi, and tliey have 
 eleven children, ten of whom are boys. 
 
 Mr. Humphrey is a farmer and stock-raiser, and is identi- 
 fied with the agricultural interests of the country. As a leg- 
 islator, he was conservative, careful and attentive to his 
 duties, and had, in all his efibrts, the co operation and con- 
 fidence of his fellow-members. 
 
 THOMAS MEMUCAN HUNT. 
 
 IN December, 1856, the Representative from the Seventy- 
 second district, made his entrance into Texas, and settled 
 in Washington county, and has been in Texas ever since. 
 Mr. Hunt is a native of Danville, Kentucky, born on the 
 twenty-fourth of April, 1839. His education was obtained 
 at the schools of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, and at Center 
 College, Danville, Kentucky. Being a successful merchant, 
 he may be said to represent that worthy class of Texas 
 citizens in the Twentieth Legislature. He volunteered in 
 
140 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 the Southern army in March, 1862, serving in the Trans- 
 Mississippi department. His last service was rendered as 
 inspector-general on the staff of General Richard Water- 
 house, of the famous Walker Division of Texas Volunteer 
 Infantr3^ His public service began in 1870 as clerk of the 
 district and county courts of Burleson county. He served in 
 said capacity seven consecutive years, voluntarily retiring 
 in 1877. 
 
 He was elected in November, 1886, to a seat in the lower 
 House of the Twentieth Legislature by an actual majority 
 of 2057. Mr. Hunt is a trusted legislator, being chairman 
 of the Committee on Engrossed Bills, and also a member of 
 the committees on Internal Improvements, on Roads and 
 Bridges and Ferries, and to examine Comptroller's and 
 Treasurer's Offices. In 1861, he was married to Miss Ade- 
 laide Y. Wilson, of Burleson county, and has a family of 
 two sons and five daughters. His complexion is florid and 
 his eyes are a dark hazel. He stands six feet upon the floor, 
 and weighs one hundred and forty pounds. He is a fine 
 specimen of the Kentucky gentleman; converses freel}^, but 
 gives evidence of respect for the opinions and conveniences 
 of others. He is a fair-minded man, but firm in his con- 
 victions ; a safe legislator ; does not make many speeches, 
 but is a hard worker, always at his post, and ever faithful to 
 his constituency in his present position, as he has always 
 been to every j)ublic trust confided to him. 
 
 WILLIAxM T. HUDGIXS. 
 
 WxM. T. HUDGINS, a Democratic member of the 
 House of Representatives of the Twentieth Legisla- 
 ture, Seventeenth district, coniposed of the counties 
 of Bowie, Cass, Marion and Morris, was born on the fif- 
 teenth of January, 1859, in the county of Northumberland, 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. I4I 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 Virginia, and was graduated from Richmond College with 
 the degree of M. A., in 1879. He is a lawyer, and served as 
 county attorne}'- for Bowie county, Texas, 1882 to 1884, and 
 an alternate delegate from the Fourth Congressional district 
 of Texas in the National Democratic Convention in 1884. In 
 the Legislature of 1887, he served as chairman of the Com- 
 mittee of Enrolled Bills, and was a member of Judiciary 
 Committee No. 1, and a member of the committees on 
 Towns and City Corporations, and Counties and County 
 Boundaries. 
 
 His family emigrated to Marshall, Texas, in I860, and 
 upon his return from college in 1879, he studied law with the 
 Honorable George L. Todd, of Jefferson, Texas. He was 
 admitted to the bar in 1880, and practiced in Jefferson until 
 1882, when he removed to Texarkana, where he still re- 
 sides and is engaged in the practice of his profession, being 
 junior member of the well known law firm of Todd & 
 Hudgins. Mr. Hudgins is a member of the Masonic fra- 
 ternity, Knight Templar, Knight of Pythias and an Odd 
 Fellow. 
 
 At tlie present writing, jNIr. Hudgins is unmarried. He 
 has a compact 2:)hysique of medium height, is most thor- 
 oughl}^ trained in political economy, and has an earnestness 
 of purpose that marks him as a man of conspicuous promi- 
 nence in the affairs of liis adopted State. 
 
 The Twentieth Legislature was the first session Mr. 
 Hodgins served as a law maker in his State, and his effi- 
 ciency was fully recognized by his fellow-members. A 
 bright future awaits Mr. Pludgins, in both his profession 
 and in politics. 
 
T42 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 J. W. JARROTT. 
 
 PARKER county was re})resented in the Twentieth Leg- 
 islature by the most youthful looking member of the 
 body, Honorable J. W. Jarrott. He was born in Marion 
 county, Alabama, Februar}' 7, 1<S62, and having immigrated 
 to Texas, entered school at Add Ran College, Hood county, 
 Texas, where he was educated. He is a farmer of Parker 
 county, being quite active and successful in his line of life. 
 His election was declared by a, majority of 427 votes. He 
 has been prompt in the work of the Legislature, and is fear- 
 less in^speech. In the purposes he undertakes to carry out, 
 he is persistent to the last. He shows quickness of discern- 
 ment and a readiness to take hold of the best interests of 
 the people whom he serves and represents. His labors in 
 the committee room, and in the hall, have been respected 
 and given due consideration. His district embraces Parker 
 county, and is known as the Forty-sixth. 
 
 J. W. Jarrott was married to Miss Mollie D. Wylie, of 
 Parker county. He is a member of the Christian Church. 
 He shows a commendable degree of cultivation, and is re- 
 fined in his manners, small in statue, and of light figure; 
 his action is quick, and his speech rather rapid. 
 
 HUGH JACKSON. 
 
 REPRESENTATIVE JACKSON is a lawyer by profes- 
 sion, representing the First district in the Twentieth 
 IjCgislature.tl'His district is composed of Hardin, Chambers, 
 Liberty, Orange and Jeflerson counties. He was educated 
 in the common schools; began to read law in 1872, and was- 
 licensed to practice in 1879. Prior to his election to the 
 Twentieth Legislature, he had served as county and district 
 
HUGH lACKSON. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. I4J 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 clerk, county judge, and county surveyor.. He began life 
 as a farmer, and has continued that interest while engaged 
 professionally. He is thirty-six years of age, having been 
 born February 2, 1851, in Chambers county, Texas, and is 
 a married man, his wife, being the daughter of Major 
 Minter, of Liberty, Texas. He is five feet, ten inches high, 
 weighs one hundred and seventy-two pounds, has dark 
 complexion, jet-black hair, and is a generous friend and 
 pleasant gentleman. He is a working member of the follow- 
 ing committees: Roads and Bridges, Judicial Districts, 
 and Enrolled Bills. 
 
144 
 
 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 WILLIAM CONE JOHNSON, 
 
 THE subject of this sketch, William Cone Johnson, a 
 member of the T^yentieth Legislature, from the Ninety- 
 third Representative district, composed of Smith and Gregg 
 counties, was born atDawsonville, Dawson county, Georgia, 
 and was educated at the following schools and colleges in 
 his native State, to-wit, the cominon schools, the high 
 school at Atlanta, one year at Emory College, Oxford, and 
 Avas graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts from the 
 University of Nashville, Tennesse, 1880. Mr. Johnson first 
 settled in the eastern part of the State, and taught school 
 for five years. In the prosecution of the study of law, he 
 taught in the University of Tyler, Texas, and read law in 
 the office of Hon. W. S. Herndon, at Tyler, and was admit- 
 ted to the bar in 1885. He had held no office until elected 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. I45 
 
 Represe7itatives. 
 
 to the Twentieth Legislature, to which he was elected b}'^ a 
 a majority of 1400 votes, as a Democrat. 
 
 Mr. Johnson's paternal ancestors were from North Caro- 
 lina, and on the maternal side from South Carolina. His 
 father, the late S. C. Johnson, av as solicitor-general in what 
 is known as the ''Blue Ridge Circuit," of Georgia, at the 
 time of his death in 1870. It will be seen that W. C. John- 
 son became an orphan early in life, ten years of age, and to 
 his honor, be it said, he obtained his education solely by his 
 own efforts. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, South, and, at present writing, is unmarried. 
 
 Mr. Johnson is on the threshold of his career, and gives 
 promise of rapid advancement and high position, both in his 
 profession and the broader field of politics. Even before and 
 during the organization of the Twentieth Legislature, Mr. 
 Johnson, upon the nomination of an officer of the House, 
 distinguished himself as an orator of the highest order, and 
 a debater ready for any and all antagonists. 
 
 Mr. Johnson is only twenty-five years of age, six feet tall, 
 and weighs one hundred and seventy-five pounds. His 
 splendid physique, admirable manner, and readiness of 
 thought upon [his feet, attracted attention the moment he 
 rose in the House of Representatives, and marked him as 
 one of the "coming men" of Texas. He was also known 
 as a working member, and served, to the great benefit of the 
 House, on the following committees : Judiciary No. 1, Judi- 
 cial Districts, Insurance, Statistics and History, Internal 
 Improvements, and Cities and Incorporated Towns. 
 
 Mr. Johnson will yet make a reputntion for himself not 
 confined to the limits of his adopted Stale. 
 
 R. J. JONES. 
 
 R 
 
 J. JONES served as a member of the Twentieth Leg- 
 , islature, from the Seventh district. 
 
146 PERSONNEL GF THE 
 
 Rej[>r escntatives . 
 
 T. W. KENNEDY. 
 
 DR. T. W. KENNEDY, a native of the city of Phila- 
 delphia, Pennsylvania, was born^in the year 1838. He is 
 a graduate of Eureka College, Illinois. He began the practice 
 of medichie in Paducah, Kentucky, and has pursued his 
 profession in several of the Southern States. He came to 
 Brownsville, Texas, in 1870, and subsequently removed to 
 Rio Grande City, his present home. In 1884, he was 
 elected to represent the Thirty-eighth district, composed of 
 Webb, Zapata, Starr, Hidalgo and Duval counties, and was 
 consequently a member of the Nineteenth Legislature. He 
 was, byre-election, a member of the Twentieth Legislature. 
 
 W. C.'LARKIN. 
 
 WC. LARKIN, a member of the Sixteenth and Twen- 
 , tieth Legislatures, from the Tenth Legislative dis- 
 trict, composed of the counties of Henderson and Anderson, 
 serving in the Twentieth Legislature as chairman of the 
 Committee on [Public Buildings and Grounds, was born 
 September 28, 1836, in Franklin county, Tennessee, and was 
 educated at the Cumberland L^niversity, Lebanon, Tennes- 
 see, in the classics and belle lettres, and also graduated in 
 medicine from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadel- 
 phia, in 1858, at twenty-one years of age. After graduating 
 in medicine, he located in Sumter county, Alabama, and 
 continued in the practice of his profession for two years. 
 He then married Miss Hattie Holloway, of Sumter count}', 
 Alabama, and came to Texas in 1860, locating in Hen- 
 derson county .''where he has since lesided. He has followed 
 his profession till within a few years. He has lately been 
 paying his attention to farming. He is a member of the 
 
F. W. LATHAM. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 1 47 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 Democratic party and the Masonic fraternity ; has two sons 
 and two daughters. 
 
 Mr. Larkin's legislative experience gave an advantage of 
 training that proved of use to the House and his fellow-com- 
 mitteemen. 
 
 F. W. LATHAM. 
 
 FW. LATHAM, a member of the Seventh, Eighth, 
 , Eighteenth and Nineteenth Legislatures, from the 
 Eighty-fifth Legislative district, composed of the county of 
 Cameron, was born in Groton, Connecticut, and educated 
 at his native place. He is, at this date, sixty-eight years of 
 age, and at every important epoch in the history of Texas, 
 his adopted State, he has been called to the councils of the 
 best men. 
 
 Mr. Latham served under General Scott in the war be- 
 tween the United States and Mexico, and participated in all 
 the engagements of that illustrious general, that were accen- 
 tuated by the Stars and Stripes floating over the City of 
 Mexico, and an'acquisition of almost a continent of valua- 
 ble territory. With the last division of the army, Mr. La- 
 tham left Mexico, but attracted by the mild climate and 
 blue skies of the State, in 1848 he settled near Brownsville, 
 on the Rio Grande, and has since devoted himself to the 
 business of farming and stock-raising uj^on his ranche, which 
 is one of the largest and best conducted ranches in South- 
 west Texas. This distinguished citizen served in many im- 
 portant positions of honor arid trust in his adopted State. 
 In addition to his services mentioned in four sessions of the 
 Legislature, Mr. Latham was an influential member of the 
 first State convention that framed its organic law, and also 
 a member of the convention of 1861, that attempted to 
 sever the connection of Texas with the Federal government. 
 During the Nineteenth Legislature, he was chairman of the 
 
148 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 Committee on Claims and Accounts, and served as a mem- 
 ber of other important committees. He has also served as 
 clerk of the court of his county, and as collector of customs 
 for Brazos de Santiago. Mr. Latham's wife was a Miss Mary 
 AnnaSprague, of Providence, Rhode Island. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Masonic fraternity. His record as a citizen and 
 legislator is without reproach. Animated by a strong 
 patriotism, he has always favored measures that he believed 
 would forward the material interests of the State and ele- 
 vate and ennoble his fellow-citizens. Perhaps no other man 
 in the State enjoys such popularily as is evidenced by the 
 fact that in all his political races he has never had any op- 
 position. Coming up to the Jeffersonian principle of letting 
 the office 'seek the man, in times of trial his people have 
 iilways called him to the front. 
 
 ALEXANDER M. LATIMER. 
 
 ALEXANDER M. LATIMER, from the Forty-second 
 Representative district, composed of the counties of 
 Palo Pinto, Eastland and Stephens, was born in Carrol 
 county, Tennessee, January 16, 1836, and came to Texas 
 with his parents in 1839. He was educated at McKenzie 
 College, Red River county, and is, by profession, a temper- 
 perance lecturer. 
 
 Pie served as chief justice of Voung county in 1862, secre- 
 tary of the Constitutional Convention in 1875, postmaster at 
 Belknap under the Confederate States government, and col- 
 lector of the Confederate war tax. During the war between 
 the States, Alexander M. Latimer served in the Trans-Mis- 
 sissippi department, Polignac's division, Confederate States 
 army, and jDarticipated in the battles of Mansfield, Yellow 
 Bayou, Pleasant Hill, and several others. Mr. Latimer be- 
 longs to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and married 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. I49 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 Miss Mattie Warren in 1865. They had six children. His 
 first wife died, and in May, 1885, he married Miss Lennie 
 Brittain. They have one child. He is a member of the 
 Knights of Labor, and seived in the Twentieth Legislature 
 with ability on the following committees: Constitutional 
 Amendments, Public Printing, and Stock and Stock-raising. 
 
 J. W. LIGHT. 
 
 JW. LIGHT, of the Eighty-sixth district, composed of 
 , Bexar county, was born in Danville, Illinois, October 
 24, 1825, and was educated in his native place. 
 
 Mr. Light was one of the first bold adventurers to the 
 Republic ol Texas. He immigrated to Austin in 1848, at a 
 time when the Indians made frequent incursions upon the 
 then small settlement of Austin, and were often successful 
 in stealing horses on the very limits of the city. Mr. Light 
 is now a farmer, and resides in Bexar county. He resided 
 during the late war "too near the Rio Grande," as he says, 
 to be forced to take either side, and stood neutral as to ac- 
 tive service. Mr. Light served as county commissioner in 
 Bexar county after the adoption of the present Constitution. 
 
 He has been a Mason for forty years, and is also a member 
 of the Farmers' Alliance. Mr. Light was married to Miss 
 Rebecca Mobley, in Terre Haute, Indiana, who died in 1883. 
 He has by her four children, two sons and two daughters. 
 
 .JESSE McCALEB, 
 
 THIS elderly legislator, from Montgomery county, Texas, 
 is a native of Tennessee, and was born June 26, 1827. 
 He came to Jackson county in 1839, when but a boy, and 
 subsequently removed to Montgomery county, where he now 
 
150 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Rcj>7'esentatives. 
 
 resides. . The length of his residence in Texas has given him 
 • quite the identity of a native Texan, His education was 
 not collegiate, having attended only the common schools of 
 the country, and from this source laid the foundation, which, 
 with experience and application, added to sound sense, 
 has made him what he is. He pursues the business of 
 farmer, and h^s accumulated a competency. 
 
 Before his service as a representative from the Fifty-fourth 
 district, he had filled the office of justice of the peace. His 
 election in November, 1886, to membership in the Twentieth 
 Legislature, was by a majority of 1585 votes. Four counties 
 compose his district, to-wit: Harris, Montgomery, Trinity 
 and Walker. He was on the following committees, viz: 
 State Aft'airs, Revenue and Taxation, Penitentiaries, and 
 Agricultural Affairs. He has been a quiet and laborious 
 legislator, and represented well the people who honored him 
 by election. Mr. McCaleb has been twice married, his first 
 wife being Miss Dorcas Ceade; his second Mrs. Emma B. 
 Chambers, both of whom are dead. His family has num- 
 bered fifteen children. He is a member of the Episcopal 
 Church, the Masonic fraternit}^, and the order of Patrons of 
 Husbandry. He bore himself wisely in the House of [Rep- 
 resentatives, and was held in high esteem and honor among 
 his co-leafislators. 
 
 J M^ McCLANAHAN. 
 
 IN Lawrence county, Alabama, on the thirtieth of May, 
 1832, the subject of this sketch was born. At the age of 
 fourteen he came to Burleson county, which at that time 
 was accounted the frontier of Texas. In a subsequent divi- 
 sion of the county, Mr. McClanahan fell into Lee county, 
 where he now resides. As his name would indicate, he is 
 of Scotch ancestry, and belongs to the JefTersonian type of 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT, T51 
 
 Rep7-esentatives . 
 
 Democracy. In early life, the stirring scenes and daring ad- 
 ventures of Texas frontiersmen inured him to hardships 
 and endurance. Like his ancestry, he possesses a remarka- 
 ble solidity of character. He is not subject to the muta- 
 tions that bear on the unstable and light, but is firmly es- 
 tablished in the elements of character that abide. Largely 
 taught in the rugged school of experience, his education is 
 broad and deep, and almost altogether of a practical nature. 
 His business is that of a farmer, in which he takes a pride and 
 has been in a good degree successful. He entered the arena 
 of public life in 1884, being elected to the Nineteenth Legis- 
 lature from the Seventy -third district, composed of Lee and 
 Burleson counties. He was also returned by his constitu- 
 ents to the Twentieth Legislature. Aside from committee 
 work, of which he has done a full share, his record as a 
 wise legislator is abovP! reproach. 
 
 W. L. McGAUHEY 
 
 STERLING integrity and outspoken conviction of right 
 are prominent elements of the character of the Repre- 
 sentive from the Fortieth district. Bold in speech, vehement 
 in delivery, and having a stentorian voice, he makes a tell- 
 ing argument when he comes before the people or the Legis- 
 lature. He is of stout physical figure, and is an indefatigua- 
 ble worker in whatever he undertakes. With the positive 
 elements of charater which might graduate into austerity, 
 he happily combines a broad and ardent philanthropy that 
 gives him a well-balanced nature. He is an efficient mem- 
 ber of the Legislature, and a gentleman of good nature to all 
 the world. He is a native of Lawrence county, Alabama, 
 born on the twenty-sixth of February, 1837. He is a gradu- 
 ate of LaGrange College, leaving his ahna mater with honor 
 to himself and credit to the institution. He was ten years 
 
152 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 a teacher in a private school. In 1869, he came to Tarrant 
 county, Texas, where he lived for three years; then moving 
 to Granbury, Hood county, he has resided there ever since. 
 He was at one time a member of the faculty of Add Ran 
 College, Thorp Springs, Texas, but is now engaged, success- 
 fully, in farming and stock-raising. He was a member of 
 Cleburn's Division of the Army of Tennessee, during the 
 late war in the United States. In Church relations, he be- 
 longs to the Cumberland Presbyterians, and is also 
 a Mason. He was elected from his district, comjDosed of 
 Hood, Erath, Bosque and Somerville counties, as a Repre- 
 sentative to the Nineteenth Legislature, and was also re- 
 elected to the Twentieth. He is one of the most active 
 and efficient members of the House, and has labored on 
 many of the most^important committees. 
 
 JAMES FOSTER McGUIRE. 
 
 THE education of James Foster McGuire, in the prepa- 
 tory course, was acquired at Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The 
 family Laving transferred their citizenship to Bastrop, 
 Texas, in 1851, 4iis further and finishing course was pur- 
 sued at that place. He began the active business of life as 
 a merchant, but has turned his attention to farming, and from 
 this honorable and principal business of life, comes to the 
 Twentieth Legislature of the State of Texas to represent 
 the Seventieth district, composed of Fayette county. His 
 election was^by a/majority of 255 votes. He is a substantial, 
 reliable member of the House. According to the convictions 
 of his order of mind, the gifts of nature and the direction of 
 his education, he is more inclined to work and vote than to 
 make speeches. He has been assigned to membership on 
 four important committees. In the war of 1861 to 1865, he 
 was a member of the Eighth Texas Cavalry, Company D, 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 1 53 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 Terry's regiment. He was in a long list of battles, begin- 
 ning at Bowling Green, Kentucky, to the close of the war. 
 His entire military service was rendered in the Cis-Missis- 
 sippi department of the Southern army. He was once 
 wounded at Murfreesboro, Tennessee. James Foster Mc- 
 Guire was born on the fourteenth day of December, 1838, 
 in the city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 
 
 He was married to Miss S. R. Payne, in Washington 
 county, Texas, in February, 1861, He has three sons. He 
 is a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the order of the 
 Knights and' Ladies of Honor. Mr. McGuire is of Scotch 
 descent, as his name would indicate. He is of a stout, com- 
 pact physique, five feet and eleven inches high, weighs one 
 hundred seventy-six pounds, has a blue eye, auburn hair, 
 and a florid complexion. His movement is vivacious, his 
 speeches argumentative, rather than declamatory, and his 
 manners urbane and pleasant. 
 
 GEORGE T. McGEHEE. 
 
 GEO. T. McGEHEE, member of the House of Repre- 
 rescntatives of the Twentieth Legislature, from the 
 Ninety-first Representative district, composed of the coun- 
 ties of Hays, Caldwell and Guadalupe, was born in Bastrop, 
 
 Texas, the'fifth day of February, , and educated in that 
 
 county at Seguin. He is a farmer. His popularity is evi- 
 denced by the fact that he defeated four opponents for the 
 Twentieth Legislature by a plurality of 2700 votes. He is a 
 Democrat, and served on the following committees: Finance, 
 Public Debt, Revenue and Taxation, State Asylums and 
 Penitentiaries. 
 
 Mr. McGehee was not a candidate before the conven- 
 tion, but was nominated for the Legislature entirely without 
 solicitation on his part. He served during ihe "late un- 
 
J54 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Re^resentath'cs. 
 
 pleasantness," as a private in Company D, Terry's Rangers, 
 ■Confederate States army, and participated in all the battles 
 of the Army of Tennessee from the first fight on Green River, 
 Kentucky, to the last engagement. He was wounded twice. 
 He is a member of the Methodist Ej)iscopal Church, South, 
 also of the Masonic fraternity. Mr. McGehee married a 
 daughter of Colonel P. C. Wood, of San Marcos. He ac- 
 quired very considerable influence in the Legislature by his 
 close and intelligent attention to the business in hand, to the 
 entire satisfaction of his constituents. 
 
 J. M. McKINNEY. 
 
 FEW of the members of the Twentieth Legislature pre- 
 sent a finer physique than the gentleman from Milam 
 county. Above the average in stature, and developed sym- 
 metrically, he commands respect in the presence of stran- 
 gers. He is a man above the average in intelligence and 
 moral standing, and is full of the spirit of accommodation and 
 kindness, being a consistent member of the Missionary Bap- 
 tist Church and a Knight of Honor. He Avas a soldier of 
 fidelity and trust in the late war in the LTnited States, 
 serving in the Seventeenth Texas Infantry. In 1884, he was 
 elected to a seat in the Nineteenth Legislature of the State 
 of Texas by a majority of over 2300 votes. He was re-elected 
 to the Twentieth Legislature. Having lived in Milam 
 county since he was eleven years of age, and grown to man- 
 hood in that county, his popularity is proof of the manner 
 of his life. He filled important places in both Legislatures, 
 on committees, and made a record for efficiency and ability 
 •of which his constituents may justly be proud. Mr. McKin- 
 ney is a native of Alabama, born October 3, 1841; is a 
 farmer and stock-raiser, and has an interesting family. 
 He has accumulated a competency by dint 'of energy^ 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 1 55 
 
 Representatives 
 
 industry and economy, is not a man of display, but is the peer 
 of any in solid worth. Scholastic training and experience 
 have qualified him for official trust on the part of the people, 
 and in no wise has their confidence been abused. 
 
 W. .MATEJOWSKY. 
 
 WMATEJOWSKY ;was born in Bohemia, April 30, 
 , 1828 j moved to Texas in 1850, -and settled in Bas- 
 trop county. In 1853, he was married to Miss C. Dietrich, 
 his present wife, and shortly afterwards moved to Fayette 
 county, where 'he has since resided. By occupation he is a 
 merchant and farmer, though he has held several positions 
 of trust in his county. In 1869 he was appointed postmas- 
 ter of Nechanitz, in Fayette county, which position he held 
 until he resigned after his election to the Twentieth Legis- 
 lature. 
 
 In politics, he is independent. He was a member of the 
 committees on Education, Roads and Bridges, and Com- 
 merce and Manufactures. 
 
 He has twelve living children, six sons and six daughters, 
 which entitles him to the blue ribbon as far as the Twen- 
 tieth Legislature is concerned. He was quite popular 
 among his brother members, and was recognized as a good 
 worker. 
 
 SETH P. MILLS. 
 
 SETH P. MILLS was born in Dade county, Missouri, 
 August 19, 1841, and educated at Newtonio, in that 
 state, but, the civil war breaking out, he joined that gal- 
 lant soldier, General Joe Shelby, and participated in twenty- 
 
156 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 five different engagements. By his gallantry he was pro- 
 moted from the ranks to that of lieutenant. His command 
 was disbanded in 1865, at Waco, where the subject of this 
 sketch, with nothing but his energy and hands, engaged in 
 the task of reaping from the ground his support. He has 
 been rewarded for his industry and pluck. He married 
 Miss Fanny Steurt on the twenty-second day of October, 
 1871. They had seven children. He is a Mason, He 
 served in the Sixteenth Legislature, and was a member of 
 the committees on Finance, Constitutional Amendments, 
 and Agriculture and Stock-Raising. He represents district 
 number sixty-one, McLennan county, in the Twentieth 
 Legislature, and served on the Committee on Revenue and 
 Taxation. Mr. Mills is a farmer, and a Democrat, and fully 
 alive to the great interests of the agricultural classes. 
 
 ROBERT TEAGUE MILNER. 
 
 THE honorable gentleman whose name stands at the 
 head of this sketch makes his debut in the arena of 
 politics as a member of the Twentieth Legislature of the 
 State of Texas. In the primary elections his nomination 
 was hotly contested, but, having got the nomination by the 
 Democrats of his district, he was elected by a handsome 
 majority, and, by his bearing and intense interest in the 
 affairs of the House, promises to be an efficient member. 
 
 He is an Alabamian ; born in Cherokee county, of that 
 state, on the twenfy-first of June, 1851. During the same 
 year, and Avhile he was an infant, his father immigrated to 
 Rusk county, Texas, and engaged in farming. In Hender- 
 son, the county seat of Rusk county, and in the adjacent 
 country, Mr. Milner has spent his whole life. 
 
 The foundations of his education were laid in home train- 
 ing and the common schools. For a time he was a student 
 
TEXAS S'lArE GOVERNMENT. 1 57 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 of Henderson Male and Female College, presided over by- 
 Professor Oscar H. Cooper, now ►Superintendent of Public 
 Instruction of the fState of Texas, The^difficulties that dis- 
 puted every step of his way to the goal of his ambition 
 were only subdued by an inflexible determination to win. 
 
 He was raised a farmer's bo}^ and, until majority, made 
 a hand with the laborors in the field. After he had ac- 
 quired the neeessary qualifications, he taught for several 
 terms. Six years ago he assumed control of the Henderson 
 Times, one of the oldest and best weekly newspapers in the 
 State. That position he still holds. He was happil}^ mar- 
 ried to Miss M. L.Hawkins, of Henderson, in the fall of 
 1883, where the excellent lady had been raised. 
 
 His ancestry are of an extraction combining a descent 
 from the PJnglish, Scotch and Irish. The Milner family 
 had reached the new world before the days of the revolu- 
 tion. The honorable gentleman from Rusk is of handsome 
 figure, nearly six feet high, and weighing 155 avoirdupoise. 
 His hair is black, having an auburn tinge ; his eye is blue, 
 and his physiognomy indicative of intelligence. There is a 
 vein of pleasantry in his mental constitution, and his man- 
 ners are so gracious as to win even a stranger. He is free 
 in conversation, and respectful to the responses of others. 
 He possesses the power to draw otliers to him socially — is 
 generous, and of a kind heart. He is logical, but makes no 
 pretentions to entrancing oratory. 
 
 R. J. MOORE. 
 
 R.J. MOORE, of Washington county, Texas, was born 
 , in the year 1844, of a colored mother, in the county 
 which he represents. He is well educated, being, by profes- 
 sion, a teacher. He is intelligent and modest, and by his 
 decorous ])ehavior, has made a good record as a legislator. 
 
158 PERSONNEI. OF THE 
 
 Re^resen taiives . 
 
 He has served as commissioner of Washington county, and 
 in three consecutive sessions of the Legislature, to-wit, the 
 Eighteenth, Nineteenth and Twentieth, as a member from 
 the Seventy-first Representative district. In poh'tics, he is 
 a Republican, and in his legislative work has had member- 
 ship on a number of committees. 
 
 E. T. MOORE. 
 
 ET. MOORE, representing the Seventy-fifth district, 
 , Travis county, in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Leg- 
 islatures, was born in Missouri, November 26,' 1846. In 
 1864, he came to Caldwell county, Texas, where he lived 
 two years, and theji removed to Austin for the purpose of 
 studying law. He pursued his legal studies with diligence, 
 and was admitted to the bar after an examination by the 
 Supreme Court. His merits as a lawyer- and orator were 
 soon appreciated by his fellow-citizens, and he was soon 
 elected city attorney^ then county, and afterwards district 
 attorney. He was first elected prosecuting attorney by the 
 commissioners court, and next by the people, with 'a 
 majority of 1165, then with a majority of 1756, and fourth, 
 in 1884, without opposition. 
 
 Mr. Moore resigned his position of district attorney in 
 1883, and in 1884 he was elected a member of the Nine- 
 teenth Legislature, and again to the Twentieth Legislature, 
 ill 1886. He served in the Twentieth Legislature as chair- 
 man of Judiciary Committee No. 2, and was also a member 
 of the committees on Constitutional Amendments, Educa- 
 tional Affairs, and Revision of Rules. 
 
 Mr. Moore is a Democrat, a ^member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, South, and is a Royal Arch Mason, and 
 Knight Templar. 
 
 Mr. E. T. Moore is fully equipped both as a lawyer and 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 159 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 legislator. He has brought to bear upon the study of law 
 and political economy the powers of a clear and strong 
 mind, and his taste has led him to adorn his ability with 
 the highest literary accomplishments. His education is 
 classical, and naturally gifted with a pleasing presence and 
 a forcible and graceful delivery, in early life, when other 
 men of his age were struggling in the rudiments of the pro- 
 fession, he sprang into notariety as an orator of the finest 
 qualities. As a lawyer, he stands among the foremost of 
 the profession at the Austin bar, and either in prosecution 
 or defense, his speeches before juries rarely fail to effect 
 his purpose. 
 
 Amiable in dispotion and thoroughly religious in convic- 
 tion and practice, he is an object of pride to liis fellow- 
 citizens, and his friends regard him as the ''rose and expec- 
 tancy" of the State. 
 
 Mr. Moore has merely entered the vestibule of life, and 
 gives promise of entering its most exclusive halls and min- 
 istering upon the highest altars of his country. 
 
 JOHN McCULLOUGH MELSON 
 
 AMONG the young members of the House noted for their 
 promise and prominence, is the Representative from 
 Hopkins county, Honorable J. M. Melson. He began his 
 education in his native county at Sulphur Springs, under 
 Professor James H. Dinsmore, and was a student at the 
 University of Texas in 1887. He illustrates the truth that 
 there is no excellence without great labor and endeavor. 
 Without the advantages of wealth to make the way to class- 
 ical training less difficult of ascent, he has found, by experi- 
 ence, the truth, which others have discovered before him, 
 that there is no easy way to scholarship, and that where 
 
l6o PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 J^epresentatives . 
 
 there are the natural elements of intellectual greatness, even 
 poverty itself cannot long obstruct achievement. 
 
 Mr. Melson was the prime-mover in the system of the 
 clubbing of students, for purposes of economy, at the State 
 University, which has since been continued with commend- 
 able advantage to young gentlemen struggling to get an edu- 
 cation. He is the first student of the University who has 
 come to the capitol as a legislator. He is a member of 
 the Missionary Baptist Church, and is exemplary in his life 
 and conduct. He is of medium height, has black hair and 
 eyes, a fair complexion, and a countenance that betokens 
 studiousness and lines of fundamental thought. His ability 
 as a young lawyer, his fine talent as an orator, and his per- 
 sonal popularity, have contributed to the early honor given 
 him by his constituents. He is modest, of fine physique, 
 and has the capacity to make friends and keep them. He is 
 a Texan, a native of Hopkins county, born in 1862. 
 
 A, J. NICHOLSON. 
 
 THE gentleman who represented the Twenty-first dis- 
 trict is a native of Arkansas. Mr. A. J. Nicholson was 
 educated in Fannin county, Texas, in which county he now 
 resides. He was a soldier in the war with Mexico, and par- 
 ticipated in the memorable battle of Montere^y. He also 
 served in the Southern army during the war between the 
 States, having the rank of captain. He belonged to the 
 Eleventh Texas Cavaby, and during his confinement as a 
 prisoner, having been wounded, he received the complimen- 
 tary election to the office of lieutenant-colonel. 
 
 Colonel Nicholson received the handsome majority of 
 2386 votes at the election which honored him with a seat 
 in the Twentieth Legislature. He is chairman of the Com- 
 mittee on County Government and County Finances. He is 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. l6l 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 known to be a true Democrat, and is also a Royal Arch Ma- 
 son. His wife was Miss T. C. Parish. His family is com- 
 posed of seven children. He has been active and zealous 
 in his office, and has made a record in conformity to his 
 honest convictions. His business in life is farming and 
 stock-raising, and before his election to the Legislature he 
 had served as deputy county surveyor of Fannin county, 
 Texas. 
 
 G. A. NEWTON. 
 
 G 
 
 A. NP^WTON served in the Twentieth FvOgislature, 
 from Cherokee county, Texas. 
 
 E. NEWTON. 
 
 THE subject of this biographical notice. Honorable E. 
 Newton, of Tarrant county, was born in Bradley coun- 
 ty, Tennessee, on the twenty-third of January, 1845. Hav- 
 ing immigrated to Texas early in life, he received his educa- 
 tion in the common schools of Tarrant county, Texas, where 
 he now lives. He is a farmer and a minister in the Mis- 
 sionary Baptist Church. In the late war between the States, 
 Mr. Newton belonged to the command of General R. M. 
 Gano, and was active in Arkansas and the Indian Territory, 
 His wife was Miss M. E. White. Hi«! family consists ot 
 eight children. He is a Mason, and belongs to the Farmers' 
 Alliance. He was elected to a seat in the Twentieth Legis- 
 lature of the State of Texas from the Thirty-fourth district. 
 He is a quite legislator, and not demonstrative. He does 
 not make many speeches, but is prompt and watchful. 
 
I02 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 A. J. NORTHINGTON 
 
 A J. NORTHINGTON, a member of the House of Rep- 
 , resentatives from the Seventy-sixth Legislative dis- 
 trict, composed of the counties of Lampasas and Burnet, 
 was born on the first day of August, A. D. 1840, in Lamar 
 county, Texas (tlien the Red River district), and educated 
 at Georgetown. He has served as a county commissioner, 
 and as a democratic member of tlie Fifteentli Legisture. The 
 district at that time composed of the counties of Williamson 
 and Lampasas. In the Twentieth Legislature, he was chair- 
 man of the important Committee on Stock and Stock- 
 Raising. 
 
 Mr. Northington served in the Confederate army, in Mor- 
 gan's battalion, Trans-Mississij^pi department, which was 
 stationed, the principal part of the time, in Arkansas and 
 Louisiana. 
 
 Mr. Northington is engaged in farming and stock-raising. 
 He married Miss M. L. Knight, daughter* of Dr. D. F. 
 Knight. They have six children, four boys and two girls. 
 
 Mr. Northington fully understands what legislation is 
 necessary for the State of Texas, and has fully demonstrated 
 that the interests of his constituents are safe in his hands. 
 
 W. B. PAIGE. 
 
 IN the year \>lhi^ beyond the smoky summit of the Blue 
 Riclge, in Virginia, Mr. Paige was born. He came to 
 Texas in the year 1873, and settled at Crockett, Texas, where 
 he still resides. He is a finely educated gentleman, and «■ 
 successful educator. He was principal of the Crockett High 
 School for a number of years, and, under his management, 
 the institution grew and was popular. He is a good debator, 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 163 
 
 Representatives 
 
 speaks fluently and correctly, and presents an argument hard 
 to refute. His legislative activity has been distinctive in 
 the' cause of education, in which he shows practical knowl- 
 edge and a great amount of dilUgent research. He was 
 elected in November, 1884, to a seat in the Nineteenth 
 Legislature, fronf the Thirteenth district, composed of Hous- 
 ton county, and was, by re-election, returned by his con- 
 stituents to the Twentieth Legislature. His prominence in 
 committee work, and in the House discussions, are j^roof of 
 the great esteem in which he is held by his co^legislators. 
 He is a Knight Templar, and has held places of trust in the 
 fraternity. His Democracy is not questioned, as he has 
 done much to advance the principles in which he is thor- 
 oughly imbued. He is not a man given to vacillation, nor 
 is he so ready to form acquaintances as to form them unad- 
 visedly. His purposes are strong, and he is earnest in 
 advocating them. 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON PATTERSON. 
 
 G\V. PATTERSON, member of the House of Represen- 
 , tatives of the Twentieth Legislature, from the Twenty- 
 third notorial districtj composed of the counties of Delta, 
 Fannin and Lamar, was born in Maury county, Tennessee, 
 iirst of September, 1820, and educated in the old field schools 
 of that county. He came to Texas in 1860, and engaged in 
 farming, which he has constantly pursued, with the intermis- 
 sion of the war between the States. He served for twenty- 
 two years in Marshall county, Tennessee, and Delta count}^, 
 Texas, as justice of the peace, and was a member of the 
 Fourteenth Legislature, from the Tenth Flotorial district, 
 then including Delta county. Mr. Patterson had no oppo- 
 sition, and his popularity is evidenced by the fact that he 
 received 6652 votes. He served as chairman of the Com- 
 
164 PERSONMEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 mittee on Contingent Expenses, and also was a member of 
 the committees oh Internal Improvements, and Public 
 Grounds and Buildings. 
 
 At the commencement of hostilities, he organized a compa- 
 ny of cavalry in Paris, Texas, on the first of February, 1862, 
 and joined General Price, with the First Texas Legion, and 
 was finally transferred to the other side of the Mississippi, 
 and served in Ross' brigade of cavalry; but being relieved 
 from service, on account of sickness, in 1862, he returned 
 home, recovered, and in the fall of the same year, organized 
 another company in Bonham, Texas, and joined the com- 
 mand of Colonel James Bourland, stationed at Buffalo 
 Springs, Clay county, and remained with him until 1865. 
 Mr. Patterson belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 South. He was first married to Miss Hardeson, in Ten- 
 nessee, in 1846; she dying, he married, in July, 1875, Miss 
 M. L. Hogue. He has eight children — four sons and four 
 daughters — living. The youngest son is six feet seven inches 
 tall. In fact, he belongs to a race of tall people. 
 
 J. WESSON PARKER. 
 
 J WESSON PARKER, a Democratic member of the 
 , House of Representatives, from the Fifty-third Legis- 
 lative district, composed of the counties of Fort Bend and 
 Waller, was born in Fort Bend county, Texas, September 
 15, 1847, and was educated at Soule University, Chapel 
 Hill, Texas. He combines the profession of law and the 
 occupation of a farmer. He has served as justice of the 
 peace and county attorney of his native county, and his 
 popularity is evidenced by the fact that he is the first 
 Democratic Representative from Fort Bend county since 
 the war. 
 
 Mr. Parker served in the saddle in the Confederate army. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. j6$ 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 and participated in the battles of Mansfield, Pleasant Hill, 
 Yellow Baj'^ou, etc. He received a flesh wound at Yellow 
 Bayou. 
 
 He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 South, and married Miss Ruth E. Wade. They have six 
 children, four sons and two daughters. 
 
 BEDFORD PARKS. 
 
 BEDFORD PARKS, from the Ninth Legislative district, 
 composed of Anderson county, was born Decembers, 
 1837, in DeSoto county, Mississippi, his parents immigrating 
 to Texas while he was quite young. He was educated at 
 McKenzie Institute, Red River county, Texas. By occupa- 
 tion, he is a farmer, and served one term as a justice of the 
 peace. He is a Democrat, and when the tocsin of war 
 sounded over the land in 1861, he volunteered, and served 
 in the First Texas Regiment, Hood's brigade, army of 
 Northern Virginia, in all the memorable engagements of 
 that brigade until the Battle of the Wilderness, on the Rap- 
 pahannock river, Virginia, where he was shot through the 
 left lung, and was retired from the service. 
 
 He served on the committees on Constitutional Amend- 
 ments, and County Government and County Finances. It 
 being Mr. Parks' first term of service in the Legislature, he 
 was a modest but intelligent working member, and won the 
 confidence of his co-laborors in the Legislature. 
 
 Mr. Parks has been married three times. His present 
 wife was a Miss E. A. Parks. He has five cliildren, one 
 daughter and four sons. 
 
l66 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 JONATHAN PAYNE. 
 
 JONATHAN PAYNE, a member of the House of Rep- 
 resentatives of the Twentieth Legislature, from the 
 Eighty-seventh Representative district, composed of the 
 counties of Goliad, Victoria, DeWitt, Jackson, Calhoun, 
 Aransas and Refugio, was born in Corydon, Harrison count}', 
 Indiana, on the nineteenth of February, 1829, and was edu- 
 cated at Corydon (Indiana) Seminary. He first engaged in 
 the practice of law, from which he retired about two years 
 since, and is now engaged in farming and stock-raising. He 
 has heretofore been a member of the House of Representa- 
 tives of the Thirteenth Legislature, in which body he 
 served as a member of the following committees, to-wit : 
 Internal Improvements, Judiciary No. 1, Enrolled Bills, 
 and Finance. 
 
 In the Twentieth Legislature he served as chairman of 
 the Committee on Internal Improvements, and as a member 
 of the following important committees: Judiciary Commit- 
 tee No. 1, Claims and Accounts, and to examine Comptrol- 
 ler and Treasurer's Offices. 
 
 Mr. Payne has resided in Southwestern Texas, for over 
 tw,enty-six years. He is a Democrat, and was a soldier in 
 the late war between the States, serving for a time in the 
 Thirty-second Regiment, Texas Cavalry, commanded by 
 Colonel P. C. Woods. The latter part of the war, he had 
 charge of government supplies at the dejDots of Goliad, 
 Karnes and Wilson counties. He is a member of the Pres- 
 byterian Church, is married and has one child. 
 
B. R. PLUMLY. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 167 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 BENJAMIN RUSH PLUMLY 
 
 BENJAMIN RUSH PLUMLY, Representative from 
 the Sixty-fourth district, composed of Galveston and 
 Brazoria counties, is a life-long Rei^ublican. Mr. Plumly 
 was born in Newtown, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, May 15, 
 1816. Although in his seventy-first year, he is vigorous, 
 active and cheerful, his vitality of mind and body seeming 
 not to have abated. An orphan boy, he was placed in a 
 country store when six years old, and continued in the occu- 
 pation of a merchant through more than forty years. His 
 only instruction, except by long and laborious self-culture, 
 was received at an excellent private school in his native 
 village. Amidst the arduous duties of his calling, he found 
 time to read medicine and law (not practicing either), to be 
 well versed in history, philosophy and English literature, 
 to keep abreast with all living issues, and to become a 
 speaker and writer of note. Major Plumly was many years 
 in the civil and military service of the United States, and is 
 familiar with the leading men and the measures of the last 
 half century. 
 
 Major Plumly has been twice married. He and his pres- 
 ent wife, and their one son, live at their homestead at Gal- 
 veston, Texas. He came to Texas, at Galveston, in March, 
 1866, and obtained permission from the city council, and 
 built there, the first city railroads in Texas. He has been a 
 member of the Galveston city council, and has been fre- 
 . quently sent as an agent to Washington, D. C, on matters 
 of public local interest. He was a member of the Twelfth 
 Legislature, made Speaker, but declined it, and became 
 leader of the House; was also in the Seventeenth, and is 
 now in the Twentieth Legislature, elected each time by a 
 large majority in a strongly Democratic district. Major 
 Plumly is an able legislator, devoted to Galveston and Texas, 
 and, in the House, is without an enemy. 
 
 We close by quoting from one of his distinguished cotem- 
 
l68 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 poraries : "Mr. Plumly is an orator, a poet, a philosopher, 
 and a gentleman, and withal, a zealous worker for humanity, 
 wherever is human need, without distinction of race, color^ 
 or previous condition." 
 
 A. J. POPE. 
 
 HONORABLE A. J. POPE, of Harrison county, Texas, 
 was born in Washington, Wilkes county, Georgia, 
 July 15, 1854. He is another instance of a self-taught and 
 self-educated man. Not having the advantages of school 
 discipline, he has gone on hewing his own way to the mines 
 of knowledge and stores of learning. He is a lawyer of fine 
 ability, and an earnest pleader. His influence before a jury 
 ig of a resistless character. He has gone up in the legal 
 profession till his practice has grown to extensive labors 
 and remunerative rewards. 
 
 He was elected in November, 1886, to the Twentieth Leg- 
 islature of the State of Texas, the first public trust conferred 
 upon him. His election was a popular one, having a ma- 
 jority of 3025 votes. He next was appointed chairman of 
 Judiciary Committee No. 1, and a member also of the com- 
 mittees on Internal Improvements, on Public Lands and 
 Land Office, and on City Corporations. He makes a speech 
 of telling efi'ect, and argues his points well. He' is argu- 
 mentative, and is not abashed at the greatest opposition. 
 His nature is exceedingly social, and no man can feel offended 
 at the display of wit and pleasantry in which he sometimes 
 indulges. 
 
 A.J. Pope was married to Miss Bettie Browning, and has 
 one boy as the treasure of the household. He is a member 
 of the Knights of Honor, and also of the Ancient Order 
 of United Workmen. 
 
 Mr. Pope is small in stature, has black hair and eyes, and 
 possesses a pleasing nature for everybody. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 1 69 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 A. C. PRENDERGAST. 
 
 AC. PRENDERGAST, the well known leading mem- 
 , ber of the Waco bar, elected to the Twentieth Legis- 
 lature House of Representatives, from the Sixty-second dis- 
 trict, composed of the counties of McLennan, Falls and Lime- 
 stone, was born near Springfield, Limestone county, Texas 
 on the nineteenth of February, 1853. His primary educa- 
 tion was obtained in the private schools of his neighbor- 
 hood, but he was finally graduated from Trinity University, 
 Tehuacana, Texas. He studied law and located at Waco, 
 where he at once took high position at the bar. His ability 
 was at once recognized by the people of his section of the 
 State, as is evidenced by a majority of 10,000 votes against 
 his competitor for the Twentieth Legislature. Mr. Prender- 
 gast served as chairman of the important Committee on 
 Constitutional Amendments, and gave all his fine powers 
 to a close attention to the issues arising in the House. He 
 is a free and graceful speaker, logical in his arguments and 
 convincing in his conclusions. Alwa3's in his seat during 
 the sessions of the Legislature, and watchful of the proceed- 
 ings, he was a frequent participator in the debates, and 
 proved equal to any member in the House in argument and 
 influence. 
 
 With the advantages of a thorough literary and legal edu- 
 cation, and thoroughly trained in the art of attack or de- 
 defense, he enforced his measures Avith such strength and 
 tact, that the statutes of the State of Texas will attest the 
 wisdom of his policy, and bear the marks of his intelli- 
 gence and industry. He is a Democrat, and a strict party 
 man, because he believes that the machinery of government 
 is safe only under Democratic principles and Democratic 
 men. 
 
 Mr. Prendergast is a member of the Cumberland Presby- 
 terian Church. He married Miss Lillian L. Conoly, and 
 has three children — two daughters and one son. 
 
170 
 
 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 Mr. Prendergast has become identified Avith all the inter- 
 ests of his section of the State, and is always ready to con- 
 tribute his energy, influence and means to the development 
 of his section and the interest of all the people of his [na- 
 tive State. He is destined, Deo volctde, to make a prominent 
 figure in the State, both in politics and his chosen profes- 
 sion, the law. 
 
 *i^!^ '•S'fKT^^ 1^^^^ 
 
 CLEMENT MARSHALL RICHARDSON. 
 
 WHEN C. M. Richardson was a boy, at the age of ten 
 years, his father, Captain E. B. Richardson, immi- 
 grated to Texas, and settled in Leon county, where they 
 still reside. The famil}', originally, lived in Bladen county, 
 North Carolina, at which place Clement was born on the 
 tenth day of September, 1856. He has had good educational 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 171 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 advantages. Beginning with, a course in the common 
 schools, he was one year a student at Southwestern Univer- 
 sity, at Georgetown, Texas, and afterwards attended Van- 
 derbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. In the year 
 1878, he received license to practice law in Bellville, Texas. 
 Besides his profession, he is engaged in farming and mer- 
 chandising, and resides at Leona. He has never been in 
 public life before his election to a seat in the House of the 
 Twentieth Legislature, from the Fort3^-ninth Representative 
 district. His nomination was by acclamation in the Demo- 
 cratic convention, and his election by a very large majority 
 over his Republican opponent. 
 
 Mr. Richardson introduced a bill to create the office of 
 State Geologist, which has since become a law, and a move- 
 ment popular with the faculty of the University and other 
 leading gentlemen of the State. He is the prime mover in 
 this direction, and the first to call the attention of the Leg- 
 islature to its vast importance. His membership on several 
 committees indicates the appreciation of his legislative 
 counsel by his co-legislators. He is small in stature, about 
 five feet and seven inches, and weighs one hundred and 
 thirty-five pounds. He has a light complexion and blue 
 eyes. He shows true cultivation and refined manners. He 
 does not make many speeches, but is found attentive and 
 faithful in the position to which his constituents have 
 called him. He is among the youngest and most respected 
 members of the House. 
 
 He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 South, and of exemplary life. 
 
 J. C. RUGEL. 
 
 MR. J. C. RUGEL, Democratic member from Dallas, of 
 the Twentieth Legislature, was born in Jefterson 
 county, Tennessee, and was educated at Morristown. He 
 married Miss Florence Frierson, and has four children, two 
 
172 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 girls and two boys. Mr. Rugel is a merchant, and has 
 served as justice of the peace of Dallas county. He is a 
 member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Belongs 
 to the Masonic fraternity and the Knights of Honor! In 
 the present Legislature he served on the following com- 
 mittees, to-wit : State Aflairs, Penitentiaries, Education^ 
 Internal Improvements and Constitutional Amendments. 
 Mr. Rugel is a staunch Democrat. 
 
 JAMES FRANKLIN SADLER. 
 
 HONORABLE J. F. SADLER was born in Fannin county, 
 Texas, October 12, 1851. He was educated in the com- 
 mon schools of his native place. His instruction and expe- 
 rience have tended to a business education rather than liter- 
 ature or professional lore. He is a good business man, and 
 has had a fair degree of success. He is engaged in farming, 
 and merchandising, in the management of which he has so 
 demeaned himself as to win the meed of popularity on all 
 sides. His Avife was Miss M. M. Wiley, and he has a family 
 of three children. His church relations are with the Cum- 
 berland Presbyterians, and he is a member of the Independ- 
 ent Order of Odd Fellows. 
 
 Mr. Sadler was elected to the Twentieth Legislature from 
 the Twenty-second district, which embraces the populous 
 counties of Lamar and Fannin, in November, 1886, by a 
 majority of 6500 votes. He is a Democrat of the orthodox 
 school, and has been an active and influential member of 
 the party from early manhood. His work in the Twentieth 
 Legislature, both as a committeeman and a member, has 
 made for him a good record, of which both he and his con- 
 stituents may be justly proud. He is not given to much 
 talking, but is modest and respectful. He knows how to 
 oppose or to suffer opposition, and yet possess the majesty 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 173 
 
 Ref resent at ives . 
 
 of an even temper. He is of average stature and spare fig- 
 ure, of light complexion and florid countenance. He is 
 easy and deliberate in his legislative work, just as he 
 would cautiously and accurately balance his ledger or plan 
 for a crop. A man of more than average intelligence, he has 
 made a good legislator. 
 
 JAMES 
 
 SHELBURNE. 
 
 THE Representative from the Sixty-eighth district, Hon- 
 orable James H. Shelburne, had the honor to legislate 
 for his native county. He was born in Austin county, on 
 the second day of December, in the year 1845, and appeared 
 in th3 Twentieth Legislature of the State of Texas as Rep- 
 resentative from that county. He received his education in 
 
174 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 his native county, and in the adjacent portions of the State. 
 He began life by teaching school; he also studied law. He 
 is now a merchant, and has been for thirteen years, doing 
 quite an extensive business, both in Austin and adjoining 
 counties. 
 
 His career as a public man has been somewhat varied. 
 He was a member of the police court of his county, also a 
 justice of the peace, and filled the office of assessor of taxes. 
 In November, 1886, he received the unanimous vote of his 
 county for representative to the Twentieth Legislature. 
 His labors in the Legislature have been in harmony with 
 his former record. He has served in the regular com- 
 mittee and legislative work with that degree of fidelity 
 which is both commendable and satisfactory. For four 
 years he has been chairman of the Democratic Executive 
 Committee of his county. 
 
 As a soldier, he was prompt and brave, serving in 
 Company F, Parson's cavalry, in tlie regular Confederate 
 service. 
 
 James H. Shelburne was married to Miss Mary A. Per- 
 kins, of Austin county and has a family of six children, 
 one of whom is a son. He is a Royal Arch Mason, and 
 a Knight of Honor. 
 
 At an advanced age, his father, Samuel A. Shelburne, 
 and his mother, Adeline J. Shelburne, still live. 
 . Honorable J. H. Shelburne is a man of good intelligence, 
 and considerate in his action. He is of rather large phys- 
 ical stature, and commanding presence. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. T75 
 
 Repi'esentatives. 
 
 LEONIDAS LAFAYETTE SHIELD. 
 
 M' 
 
 OUNT Moriah Institnte, located in Panola county, 
 Mississippi, was properly the alma mater of Honora- 
 ble L. L. Shield. Here his early life was spent, and here 
 'he received the rudiments of a liberal education. The 
 trend of his instruction has been toward the practical af- 
 fairs of life, and the habitudes of his mind have been di- 
 rected toward business. He was born in Lafayette county, 
 Mississippi, 'on the twenty-seventh day of August, 1850. 
 In the year 1868, he immigrated to Texas, and settled for a 
 while in Titus county ; subsequently he removed to Cole- 
 man county, where he now resides. Mr. Shield is a farmer 
 and stock-raiser, having engaged also during a part of his 
 life in merchandising. Conforming to the laws of thrift, he 
 has, in the pursuit of his business, grown from poverty to. 
 competency, and now controls a reasonable fortune in the 
 world. He represents the Nineteenth district, composed of 
 Coleman, Reynolds, Concho, San Saba, Llano, and McCul- 
 loch counties. His first appearance in the political arena 
 of the State is in his present office as a law-maker in the 
 Twentieth Legislature. He made the race as a Democrat, 
 and was elected over three opposing candidates by a plu- 
 rality vote of four hundred and fifty. He has rapidly grown 
 in the esteem of his co-legislators, and wields an influence 
 both respected and controlling. He has been appointed to 
 membership on the following committees : Stock and Stock- 
 raising, Lands and I^and Ofiice, Judicial Districts and on 
 Public Debt. As a citizen, he sustains an unimpeachable 
 character for loyalty and integrity; as a legislator, he re- 
 frains from speculations and Utopian schemes, and deals 
 with the verities and vital interests of the people. He makes 
 no effort at ornate oratory, but is an earnest and -forcible 
 speaker, daring to advocate his convictions with commend- 
 able heroism. Mr. Shield was married to Miss Carrie 
 Hubert, on the twentieth of September, 1S77, and has two 
 
176 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 JRcpresetitatjves. 
 
 children, one of each sex. He maintains an upright char- 
 acter. He is of average stature and spare in physical 
 figure, florid complexion, blue eye, and very light hair, 
 almost red. His movement is quick and he converses with 
 great freedom. He would be incapable of betraying the trust 
 of a friend, nor would he take advantage of an enemy sur- 
 rendered, to whom he would show no quarter on equal 
 terms of warfare. He is full of energy and conservative, 
 but in no sense an obstructionist. 
 
 W. SHOWALTER. 
 
 HONORABLE W. SHOWALTER is a native of Mason 
 county, Kentucky. He has lived in Texas for several 
 years, and has fully ingratiated himself into the esteem and 
 confidence of the people of his district. He received a col- 
 legiate education at Kenyon College, Kentucky, and is thus 
 better qualified for the duties of his oflice than many less 
 favored. He is a lawyer of fine standing, and is patronized 
 b}' a large and growing clientage. He entered public life in 
 November, 1886, when he was elected to membership in the 
 Twentieth Legislature. His district embraces six counties, 
 to-wit : Webb, Encinal. Duval, Zapata, Starr and Hidalgo, 
 and is known as the Eighty-third. He made the race as a 
 Democrat, and received a majority of 87 votes. He has fully 
 represented the counties who voted him the honor of a seat 
 in the House, and has acted well his part. He was not in- 
 diff"erent to tiie current legislation, but discharged promptly 
 and faithfullv the duties of his oflice. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 1 77 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 EMORY W. SMITH. 
 
 EMORY W. SMITH was born in Brunswick county, 
 Virginia, and immigrated to Texas in 1860, settling in 
 Travis county, of which county he is one of the Representa- 
 tives in the Twentieth Legislature. Mr. Smith is a farmer, 
 and largely identified with that interest in Texas, being 
 president of the Texas Co-operative Association, and be- 
 lieves that the interests of his class depend upon the su- 
 premacy of Democratic principles. Mr. Smith did gallant 
 service in the Army of Northern Virginia, and participated 
 in the battles of Gaines' Mill, Spottsylvania Court House, 
 and the seige of Petersburg, at the first of which he was 
 severely wounded. Mr. Smith's wdfe was Miss Letitia Bowen, 
 of Georgia. They have six children, and, as he quaintly 
 remarks, "all are girls but five." Mr. Smith is thoroughly 
 acquainted with the needs of the agricultural interests of the 
 State, and by a straightforward and intelligent fidelity to 
 the interests of his constituents, has made himself a useful 
 member of the House. He is a Mason, a member of the 
 order of Patrons of Husbandry, and served on the following 
 comm.ittees : State Affairs, Agricultural Affairs, Public Buil- 
 dings, Revenue andTaxation, and Penitentiaries. 
 
 W. M. SMITH. 
 
 HONORABLE W. M. Smith, a Democratic member of 
 the House of Representatives, from the Fortieth dis- 
 trict, composed of the counties of Bosque, Erath, Hood 
 and Somervel, was born in Hawkins county, Tennessee, 
 August 4, 1832. He came to Texas in 1872, and located in 
 Denton, then moved to Bosque county. He was educated 
 in Kingsport, Tennessee. 
 
178 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 J^epresentatives . 
 
 He is a farmer and stock-raiser, and never served in any 
 political position before his election to the Twentieth Leg- 
 islature. 
 
 Mr. Smith was in all the battles of the army of Ten- 
 nessee, serving as major of the second regiment of the 
 Tennessee Cavalry (Ashley's), Second brigade. First Di- 
 vision of the Army of Tennessee, Confederate States. 
 
 He married Miss Alice Davis, of Charlotte, North Car- 
 olina. He is an Odd Fellow, and a member of the 
 State Grange. 
 
 He is a member of the following legislative committees : 
 Finance, Public Debt, Judicial Districts, and State Affairs. 
 
 Mr. Smith was elected to the Twentieth Legislatute by 
 a majority of about 1100 votes over his opponent. He 
 was not in attendance upon the local nominating conven- 
 tion of his district at its meeting, but was nominated with- 
 out solicitation. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 179 
 
 Refresentatives . 
 
 GEORGE A. STAPLES. 
 
 THE men who are honored by political preferment have 
 a dual history — one which belongs to the people by 
 whom they are honored, and the other to themselves. The 
 public career of Mr. Staples began in 1883, when he served 
 a term as county attorney of Jackson county, Texas. 
 Elected in November, 1886, to the Twentieth Legislature, 
 of the State of Texas, by 2000 majority, his higher office of 
 law-maker increased his resposibility, and the expectation 
 of his constituents as well. Fe represents the Eighty- 
 seventh district, composed of Jackson, Victoria, DeWitt, 
 Calhoun, Goliad, Refugio and Aransas counties. Indoctrin- 
 ated in the grand old principles of Democracy, he is a zeal- 
 
l8o PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 ous friend and member of that party. He was assigned to 
 the chairmanship of the Committee on Judicial Districts, 
 and was a member of other committees of importance. His 
 record in the Legislature will not be set down for naught, 
 when his constituents reckon with the recipients of public 
 patronage and honor. He has been firm and true according 
 an intelligent survey of the matters brought before the Leg- 
 lature. 
 
 G. A. Staples was born in Amherst county, Virginia. 
 September, 6, 1842, and was educated in his native State. 
 He came to Texas in 1860. His service as a soldier was ren- 
 dered in Arkansas and the Indian Territory, in the late war 
 in the United States. His wife is the daughter of J. Mcx\. 
 White, Esq., one of the first settlers of Jackson county, 
 Texas. He is a Mason and an Odd Fellow. His disposition 
 is of that kind that wins upon the masses, and brings him 
 into popular favor. He does not thrust himself obnoxiously 
 forward, but is discrete and respectful in the advocacy of his 
 favorite measures. He has made a safe member of the 
 House, having liberal views of true progress, yet sufficient- 
 ly conservative to insure safety. Being a lawyer by profes- 
 sion, he is ready in the transaction of legislative business. 
 
 R. E. STEELE. 
 
 NO Uian in the Texas liCgislature has such a rej^utation 
 for a steel-like character as the distinguished repre- 
 sentative from the Fifty-ninth district. His movement, 
 speech, promptness and gallantry, indicate the elements of 
 a true and trustworthy manhood. Strong in his convictions, 
 forcible in argument, and abounding in practical knowledge, 
 his influence in the House is as potential as his character is 
 popular among his constituents. He was born in Alabama, 
 in the year 1840. and at the age of fourteen he came to Texas 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. lOI 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 and settled in Freestone county, where he still resides. He 
 was a trustworthy soldier in Granbury's brigade, Army of 
 Tennessee, in the late war, and behaved himself according 
 to the chivalric spirit he has exemplified in after life. He 
 is a member of the Old School Presbyterian Church, and of 
 the order of Patrons of Husbandry. He was elected to a 
 seat in the Eighteenth Legislature, and re-elected to the 
 Nineteenth and Twentieth Legislatures. He has been 
 the advocate of many of the most important bills of 
 the House, and the author of not a few. His labors -on 
 numerous important committees were of the most arduous 
 and grave character. His length of service as a legislator 
 has made him a power in the House accorded to very few. 
 Such representatives are to be trusted, and their wisdom 
 respected. 
 
 WILLIAM M. SKINNER. 
 
 WILLIAM M. SKINNER, from the Seventeenth noto- 
 rial district, composed of the counties of Morris, 
 BoAvie, Marion and Cass, to which he was elected by a ma- 
 jority of eight hundred votes, was born in Cobb county, 
 Georgia, the twenty-first day of October, 1832, and came to 
 Texas with his father's family in 1838. He received the 
 rudiments of his education at the "old field schools" of the 
 neighborhood, but that was limited on account of the fact 
 that, Avhile yet a very young man, Mr. Skinner caught the 
 spirit of adventure in 1849, and went to the land of gold, 
 California, where he lived, Avith various fortunes and adven- 
 tures, until 1861, when the clamor notes of war armed his 
 patriotic ardor. He then came back to Texas with General 
 Albert Sydney Johnston, who was placed in command, at 
 Bowling Green, Kentucky, of the Southern troops. Mr. 
 Skinner first did service in the secret service, as a spy in the 
 
102 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 ^'Buckner Guards," under General Johnston. He was 
 offered a commission, with an appointment on General 
 Johnston's staff; but he refused, preferring and believing 
 himself more useful in another capacity, that of the secret 
 service. He was, however, with General Johnston when 
 that distinguished captain received his death-wound at the 
 battle of Shiloh; helped to take him from his horse, convey 
 him from the field, and remained with him until the last. 
 
 After the battle of Shiloh, he raised a Company of cavalry 
 and joined'Medison's Regiment of the Third Arizona cavalry, 
 operating in Louisiana. He was captured at Vandalia in 
 October, 1863, and knowing he would suffer death, if recog- 
 nized, being falsely charged with killing some negroes on a 
 •captured cotton boat, he changed his name, and gave another 
 person one hundred dollars to permit him to go in that 
 man's place to Alton. This ruse was successful. He Avas 
 then taken, with others, to Fort Delaware, and finally pa- 
 roled with the sick and wounded. After exchange, he did 
 important secret service in the Federal lines. 
 
 After the war, he settled in Morris county, Texas. He has 
 served in that county as justice of the peace and county 
 commissioner. In the Twentieth Legislature, he served 
 on the following committees: County Lines and Boundaries, 
 Constitutional Amendments, Claims aad Accounts, and Pub- 
 lic Buildings and Grounds. He is a Democrat of the old 
 school, and proved to be a most intelligent and useful mem- 
 ber of the Legislature. He has a singularly commanding 
 person, being six feet, two and a half inches tall, weighs two 
 hundred and nineteen pounds, is straight and well propor- 
 tioned, with a strong and handsome face and head. 
 
 Mr. Skinner is a member of the order of Ancient, Free and 
 Accepted Masons, and belongs to the Grange and Farmers' 
 Alliance. In religion, he is a Missionary Baptist, was mar- 
 ried to Miss Ellen Williams, of Alabama, and they have seven 
 children, five daughters and two sons. 
 
 Mr. Skinner's acquaintance with the organization of the 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 183 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 new State of California, and the operation of the laws there 
 in a new State, brought that knowledge to bear in his course 
 as a member of the Texas Legislature, 
 
 JOHN B. STRINUER. 
 
 HONORABLE John B. Stringer began his public life by 
 being elected to the ofhce of county attorney of Frank- 
 lin county, in February, 1876. In November, 1878, he was 
 re-elected to the same office, serving, in all, two terms. He 
 was elected to a seat in the Eighteenth Legislature of the 
 State of Texas in 1882, and was returned to the Twentieth 
 Legislature without opposition. ^His is the Nineteenth 
 Representative district, composed of Franklin, Titus and 
 Red River counties. As a county attorney, Mr. Stringer 
 bore a fine reputation, and acquitted himself as a successful 
 prosecutor of the lawless. In his office of legislator, he is 
 not obtrusive^ but makes a strong and telling speech. He 
 is not forward, but dignified, thoughtful and earnest. 
 
 He was chairman of the Committee on Public Debt in 
 the Twentieth Legislature, and rendered valuable service 
 on other committees, as a member. 
 
 As a lawyer, he builds from foundations deep and broad, 
 not visionary, but argumentative. 
 
 He was born in 1845, in Pike county, Alabama, and was 
 educated in the state of his nativity. In November, 1879, 
 Mr. Stringer was married to Miss Emma Ray. His family 
 consists of three living children. He is a member of the 
 Masonic fraternity, and, in political affiliation, is with the 
 orthodox elements of Democracy. He is rather tall, and of 
 spare but handsome figure ; is of ruddy complexion, and 
 strong, vigorous movement. His speeches are characteristic 
 of the man, forcible rather than ornate, and bristling with 
 facts and figures, rather than abounding with the flowers of 
 rhetoric. His place in the House was honorable, and his 
 constituents were ably represented by him. 
 
184 
 
 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 HORATIO LORENZO TATE. 
 
 SUCCESSES or reverses in an individual life have their 
 discernable antecedents. The salient features of an in- 
 dividual biography — not discounting its accidents and hid- 
 den combinations, which contribute to the development of 
 character — are handed down as an inheritance to succeed- 
 ing generations. Such a philosophy underlying individual 
 character and conduct is a legitimate patrimony, invested 
 with personal immortality. Like the flower that perishes 
 under the law of decay, the stalk remaining as an enduring 
 element, the personal glory of one's life may fade out of 
 sight, but the immortality of works remain to the genera- 
 tions that come after. So justly balanced is the well-ordered 
 life of the subject of this sketch, that for what he is and 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 1 85 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 does, he justly commands a foremost place among his co- 
 legislators. Dr. Tate is a Georgian, and was born on the 
 fourth day of September, 1841, in Elbert county, of that 
 State. He was brought to Texas in company with his father's 
 family while in his early youth. For many 3'ears the Tate 
 family have been respected and honored citizens of Smith 
 couiity, Texas, from which place Dr. Tate is now a Repre- 
 sentative in the Twentieth Legislature. The rudiments of 
 his education were acquired in the common schools of the 
 State, as a preparatory course to a broad and thorough ac- 
 quirement in literature, medicine and general information. 
 In 1861, he graduated from the school of medicine in the 
 State of Louisiana. Declining an appointment of Governor 
 Hubbard on the medical staff of the executive, Dr. Tate, 
 true to the instincts of a patriotic citizen, entered the war be- 
 tween the States as a private. He was at first a member of 
 the Third Texas Cavalry, under the independent command 
 of General Sterling Price, of Missouri; afterward, however, 
 he Avas mustered into the Confederate service, assigned to 
 Company E, in Colonel Brown's Regiment of Texas Cavalry, 
 and engaged on duty in Texas, especially in guarding the 
 coast. His conduct as a soldier was in harmony with the 
 trend of his life — brave, humane and faithful to the obliga- 
 tions of imposed trust and duty. After the surrender of the 
 Southern forces, Dr. Tate returned to Smith county, and en- 
 gaged in the practice of medicine near the old homestead 
 established and settled b}^ his father. His first public ser- 
 vice was in the Nineteenth Legislature of the State of Texas 
 from the Twelfth Representative district, and his re-election 
 to the Twentieth Legislature is an irreputable endorsement 
 of his public record by his constituency. In the Nineteenth 
 Legislature, he was appointed chairman of the Committee on 
 Public Health and Vital Statistics, besides membership on 
 other important committees. In the Twentieth Legislature, 
 his appointment was to the chair of the Committee on Peni- 
 tentiaries, and he also rendered good service as a member of 
 various standing committees. Dr. Tate was the author of 
 
t86 personnel of the 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 the bill to create a reformatory and house of correction for 
 youthful offenders against the law. This bill was offered in 
 the Nineteenth Legislature, and failing to become a law, 
 was revived in the Twentieth. He occupies an enviable po- 
 sition in the esteem and confidence of co-legislators. He 
 has a broad and comprehensive view of the needs of the 
 people, and is inventive of the requisite plans of relief. In 
 debate, he is a master; in argument, he is invincible; and. in 
 oratory, he is eloquent. Behind a fluency of well chosen Ian, 
 guage, there is the warmth of the philanthropist and the re- 
 sistless torrent of a generous heart that conquers, not to 
 enslave, but to make free. 
 
 Dr. Tate is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 South, of the fraternity of Ancient, Free and Accepted Ma- 
 sons, and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows ; he has 
 also a membership with the Patrons of Husbandry and the 
 Farmers' Alliance. He was married to INIiss Mary E. Terry, 
 of Smith county, Texas, on June 21, 1862, and has a family 
 ' of five children. He has a ruddy complexion, a blue eye, 
 and is of medium statue. His physiognomy is the undis- 
 guised exponent of an extraordinary degree of intelligence. 
 His strongest convictions of justice could never be hardened 
 into cruelty. As a legislator, he devises preventives and 
 restoratives rather than surrender the body politic to ampu- 
 tations and heroic surgery. He is obliging and polite ; hav- 
 ing the courage of a Wellington, he is yet tracable like a 
 child. He would never abuse the confidence of a friend, nor 
 gloat over the miseries of an enemy. 
 
 D. E. TOMPKINS. 
 
 DE. TOMPKINS, Representative in the Twentieth 
 , Legislature from the Third district, composed of the 
 counties of Tyler, Jasper and Newton, was born on May 8, 
 1831, in Monroe county, Indiana. He moved to Tyler 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 1 87 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 county, Texas, on the twenty-ninth day of April, 1847, in 
 which county he obtained most of his education. In poli- 
 tics he is an Independent Democrat, and by profession a 
 farmer. He has occupied the positions of justice of the 
 peace, county commissioner and school director of his county. 
 He served as a private in the army, first at Little Rock, Ar- 
 kansas, and then at Tyler, Texas. 
 
 He Avas married to Miss S. D. Rawles, of Tyler county, 
 Texas, the result of this union being three children — all 
 girls. He was an efficient law-maker, and served on the fol- 
 lowing committees, to-wit : Public Debt, Public Health and 
 Vital Statistics, and County and County Boundaries. 
 
 JOHN HAYWOOD TOLBERT. 
 
 OF English and Irish ancestry, the Tolbert family spread 
 into Virginia and North Carolina at an early period in 
 the colonial history of America. In 1810, the progenitors of 
 Representative Tolbert became established in Tennessee. 
 Maternally, he is related to Sergeant George Watts, whose 
 deeds of valor in the Revolutionary War are an appreciable 
 part of American histor}'. Captain Tolbert was born on the 
 twenty-fifth day of January, 1837, in Jackson county, Ten- 
 nessee. He began his education in his native place, and 
 continued his course of instruction for two years at Burritt 
 College, Van Buren county, Tennessee, at the expiration of 
 which time he received an appointment to a cadetship at 
 West Point, but, owing to ill health, was forced to decline 
 acceptance. He came to Texas in 1857, and stopped at Bon- 
 ham until the following year, Avhen he settled in Grayson 
 county, which has been his home ever since. He was mar- 
 ried to Miss C. J. Miller, of that county, on the thirty-first 
 day of January, 1866; has a family of two children, and is 
 engaged in farming as a business. In January, 1862, he en- 
 
1 88 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Jieprcsentattves . 
 
 tered the war between the States as a private in Company 
 D, Sixteenth Texas Cavalry, and in the following May was 
 promoted to the captainc}^ of the company. This position 
 he held until the close of the war, though placed on the re- 
 tired list in November, 1864, on account of disability, caused 
 by serious wounds which he had received at Milliken's 
 Bend on the seventh day of June, 1863, and subsequently 
 at Pleasant Hill, Louisiana. He participated in the battles 
 of Cotton Plant, Arkansas; Perkins' Plantation, Milliken's 
 Bend, Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, and other en- 
 gagements more or less sanguinary. He has nev^er been 
 known in politics until he appears as Representative of the 
 Twenty-seventh district. Having received an unsought nom- 
 ination from the Democratic party, and without making a 
 canvass, he led the ticket in his district by a majority of 
 2300 votes. He is an influential member of the following 
 committees : Finance, Constitutional Amendments, Public 
 Lands and Land Office, and Roads and Bridges. Captain 
 Tolbert is a member of the Christian Church, and is pos- 
 sessed of an enviable degree of personal popularity. He is 
 5 feet 8 inches in height, and has an average weight of 170 
 pounds. He has a vigilant, blue eye, a florid complexion, 
 and hair that in his youthful days was black. He does not 
 dash into acquaintance and friendship, but with the same 
 gradual movement that measures his natural carriage, he 
 unfolds a confiding and erenerous nature. 
 
 JOHN H. TRUITT. 
 
 JOHN H. TRUITT, a Democratic member of the House 
 of Representatives of the Twentieth Legislature from 
 the Fifth district, composed of the counties of Shelby, San 
 Augustine and Sabine, was born in Shelby county, Texas 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 189 
 
 Represeyi tatives . 
 
 February 21, 1848, and educated in that county. He com- 
 bines the profession of law with that of a farmer. 
 
 Mr. Truitt is a grandson of the Honorable James Truitt, 
 who was a member of Congress when Texas was an Inde- 
 pendent Republic, and for many years a delegate to the 
 House of Representatives and Senate of the State of Texas 
 from Shelby county, serving his last term in the Senate in 
 1866. His father, A. M. Truitt, was a major in Colonel 
 Jack Hays' regiment of Texas Rangers. John H. Truitt 
 served during the late civil war in the dismounted cavalry 
 from Texas. 
 
 He was reared and trained a farmer, and also studied law, 
 and was admitted to the bar in Shelby county in March, 1878. 
 Mr. Truitt was married to Miss Mary Brown, of Shelby 
 county, in February, 1873, who died October 8, 1879. On 
 September 2, 1880, he married Miss Mary Atkins, of Shelby 
 count v. 
 
 F. A. UTIGER. 
 
 F 
 
 A. UTIGER represented the Twenty-seventh district 
 in the Twentieth Legislature. 
 
 J. H. VOORHEES. 
 
 THIS gentleman represented the Ninety-fourth Repre- 
 sentative district in the Twentieth Legislature. 
 
190 
 
 PERSONNEI. OF THE 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 W. A. WILLIAMS. 
 
 IN the year 1846, in Forsythe county, Georgia, Honorable 
 W. A. Williams was born. He came to Texas in 1873, 
 since which time he has been a law-abichng citizen of his 
 adopted State. In 1878, he went to Kimble comity, and is 
 a resident of that place at the jDresent time. His education 
 began in the common schools of Georgia, but has been a pro- 
 gressive work through his entire life. After his removal to 
 Texas, he taught school for live years, then read law, and 
 began the practice of his profession when he became settled 
 in Kimble county. His life has been an eventful one, and 
 full of work ; he has found the world a workshop, and his 
 hands have not been idle in doing his part. Along with the 
 practice of his profession, he has engaged in the mercantile 
 business, and has been so far successful as to enjoy a com- 
 petency and comfortable living. In the late civil war be- 
 tween the States, he engaged at the age of seventeen years, 
 and remained eighteen months thereafter — until the surren- 
 der of Lee. He belonged to the Eighth Georgia battalion of 
 cavalry, and was assigned to duty in Florida. 
 
 Mr. Williams was married to Miss Ella, daughter of Dr. 
 McSween, of Burnet, Texas, on the first day of February, 
 1882. One little girl is the light of the home. He is a 
 member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and also 
 of the Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons. He has always 
 been a Democrat, and as such was elected to the Twentieth 
 Legislature of the State of Texas from the Eighty-fourth 
 district, in November, 1886, by a majority of 135 votes. His 
 district embraces the following counties, to-wit : Mason, 
 Kerr, Kimble, Kendall, Bandera and Medina. He has 
 shown good judgment in iiis labors as a legislator, and is a 
 safe man. 
 
W. A. WILLIAMSON. 
 
 [Name incorrectly printed "Willianv^" in sketch, on page 190.] 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 191 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 T. A. WILSON. 
 
 THE Representative from the Second district is a native 
 of South Carolina, where he was born in the year 1831. 
 He came to Texas in 18G0, and settled in Polk county, 
 where he still resides. His education was limited, having 
 been obtained at intervals in the common schools of the 
 country. He is a farmer, and has been pros^ierous as such 
 above the average of his fellow-agriculturists. 
 
 The wife of T. A. Wilson was Miss E. C. Kelley. The 
 family is composed of eight children. He is a member of 
 the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and belongs to the 
 Farmers' Alliance, and also to the order of Patrons of Hus- 
 bandry. He served in the late war, chiefly in Arkansas, 
 and was a prisoner three months. 
 
 In public life, he has served as county commissioner of 
 Polk county, and justice of the peace. In November, 1886, 
 he was elected a member of the Twentieth Legislature^of 
 the State of Texas, to represent the district composed of 
 Polk and San Jacinto counties. He makes no display, but 
 is vigilant and prompt. 
 
 LUCIUS ADOLPHUS WHATLEY 
 
 THE Representative from Cass county, Lucius Adolphus 
 Whatley, w^as born in Newton county, Georgia, on the 
 twelfth day of September, 1838. His education, which was 
 of a preparatory and business character, was obtained in his 
 native State. In the year 1858, he immigrated to Texas, 
 and settled in McLennan county, and, after the war betAveen 
 the States, became a citizen of Cass county, engaging in the 
 merchandise of hardware, -which is still his secular busi- 
 ness. He served as a private for a part of the time during 
 
192 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives, 
 
 the war between the States, being connected with the infantry 
 and cavalry service of the Southern army. His military 
 assignment was first to the Tenth Texas Infantry, and sub- 
 sequently to the Nineteenth Texas Cavalry, Colonel Buford's 
 regiment. His first public service was in the Twentieth 
 Legislature, as a member from the Sixteenth Representative 
 district. He was elected by a majority of eight hundred 
 votes. He was a member of the committees on Judiciary No. 
 2, Internal Improvements, Educational Affairs, Commerce and 
 Manufactures, and Insurance and Statistics. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Masonic fraternity, and of the order of Knights 
 of Honor. He was married to Miss Emma G. Heard, on 
 the twenty-fifth of January, 1868, and has a family of five 
 children. Representative Whatley is not of an obtrusive 
 disposition; is of deliberate calculation in his methods, and 
 has an air of natural dignity and a steadiness of movement 
 which comports with his portly physical manhood. He 
 talks but little, but plans, and works, and votes faithfull}'. 
 
 WILLIAM LEE WOOD. 
 
 REPRESENTATIVE W. L. WOOD, of Ellis county, is a 
 modest man, of reticent disposition. He is faithful in 
 duty, but not specially inclined to polemical discussions. 
 He is five feet and eleven inches in height, and weighs one 
 hundred and fifty pounds, avordupois. He was born in 
 Marshall county, Tennessee, December 23, 1850, and in 
 August, 1877, in his native place, was married to Miss Josie 
 Johnson. In January, of the following year, he came to 
 Ellis county, Texas, and engaged in farming, in which busi- 
 ness he is now engaged. His education was obtained at the 
 common schools. He is a member of the Christian Church, 
 of the Farmers' Alliance, and of the order of Patrons 
 of Husbandry. He had never served in public life 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 1 93 
 
 Re^i'csentatives . 
 
 till he was elected a member of the Twentieth Legislature, 
 by a majority of forty-two votes over'six opponents. 
 
 He is a working member of the following committees, to- 
 wit : Commerce, Agriculture, Public Debt, Stock and 
 Stock-raising, and chairman of the sub-committee of the 
 latter. 
 
 J. M. WOOLSEY. 
 
 HAVING grown forty-seven crops since he was married, 
 Mr. Woolsey is entitled to be recognized as a farmer. 
 To this honorable business in life he has devoted his best 
 energies, and filled up the measure of a good citizen. He 
 was born in the State of Georgia, September 3, 1819, and is, 
 in consequence, well advanced in the school of experience. 
 He was raised to manual labor, and without shrinking from 
 hardship, he has endured and toiled until a competency 
 has been his reward. He is self-taught and self-educated. 
 Using the dim light of the evening fire, or the limited 
 illumination of the rural cottage, he read at night, and ap- 
 propriated the spare moments, when not engaged in Avork, 
 to acquire knowledge, and the result has not been abortive. 
 He is a man of good average intelligence, and has been hon- 
 ored by his countrymen. 
 
 The wife of Mr, Woolsey was Miss Matilda A. Blunt. 
 His large family numbering fourteen children, equally di- 
 vided in sex. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, South, and is also affiliated with the Masonic fra- 
 ternity. 
 
 Mr. Woolsey was elected to the Twentieth Legislature 
 from the Sixty-seventh district, which includes the county 
 of Colorado, being the first Democrat elected from that dis- 
 trict since the days of emancipation, by a majority of 86. 
 
194 TERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Representatives . 
 
 His legislative record has been according to the tenor of liis 
 life, solid, and not speculative; staid, rather than adventur- 
 ouslv progressive. He is not demonstrative, but has been 
 faithful to his convictions. 
 
 JAMES B. WRIGHT. 
 
 JB. WRIGHT, from the Twenty-eighth Representative 
 , district, composed of Collin county, was born at Lex- 
 ington, Kentucky, and received liis education at that Athens 
 of America. He studied medicine, and was graduated from 
 the Eclectic College in Cincinnati. 
 
 Dr. Wright entered the Confederate army in 18G1, as a 
 private in company K, Fifth regiment, Breckinridge's divi- 
 sion, then stationed at Bowling Green, Kentucky. He par- 
 ticipated with his regiment at the bloody battle a^ Perry- 
 ville, Kentucky; but in 18(54. he met with an accident on a 
 railroad, by which he had his hip crushed. This occurred 
 when his regiment was en route to relieve General Pember- 
 ton, then besieged at Vicksburg. He went to Georgia after 
 partial recovery, and remained there until the cessation of 
 hostilities. He then returned to his home in Kentucky, 
 but being crippled so badly as to prevent his riding horse- 
 l)ack, he went over to the prairies of Illinois, and settled in 
 Crawford county, where he engaged in the practice of his 
 profession. While living there, he married Miss Elizabeth 
 Higgins. They have five children, our sons and one daughter. 
 
 In 1876, Dr. Wright came to Texas and settled in Collin 
 county, from which he was elected to the Twentieth Legisla- 
 ture by a majority of 238 votes. He served on the follow- 
 ing committees : Finance, County and County Boundaries^ 
 Stock and Stock-Raising. He is, as he declares, a Demo- 
 crat "dyed in the wool." He is also a member of the 
 
 I 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 1 95 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 Christian Church, a Royal Arch Mason, and a member of 
 the Farmers' Alliance. 
 
 Dr. Wright is an exceedingly intelligent man, with fine-cut 
 features and a large, brainy head. He is now engaged in 
 agriculture and the improvement of his health in the genial 
 climate of Texas, where he has permanently settled. 
 
196 
 
 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Officers of the House. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE HOUSE. 
 
 WILL LAMBERT. 
 
 CHIEF CLERK. 
 
 WILL LAMBERT was bom on Governor's Island, New 
 York, February 29, 1840. His fether, Robert Lam- 
 bert, a native of Scotland, was an officer in tbe old United 
 States army at the time of Will's birth. His mother was born 
 in Ireland. Both parents died the same week at Fort 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. I97 
 
 Officers of the House. 
 
 Brown, Texas (opposite Matamoros, Mexico), with cholera, 
 in July, 1849. In 1850, he enlisted as a musician (drum- 
 mer) in Company D, First Infrantry, United States army 
 (his father's old company), stationed at Fort Duncan (Eagle 
 Pass), opposite Piedras Negras, Mexico. He served one 
 year, when his older brother secured his discharge, be- 
 cause of his minority. He joined his brother at San An- 
 tonio, and in February, 1852, entered the Weekly Ledger 
 office, owned by Vanderlip & Hewitt, and served five years' 
 apprenticeship at the printing profession. Coming to Aus- 
 tin in 1850, he served two years in a job office, under in- 
 structions, and is now an artist in his profession, of which 
 he is proud ; for whatever success he has attained in life, 
 he owes it to the education obtained in a printing office, 
 being too poor to go to school. 
 
 He served on the frontier, as a Texas ranger, in. 1859, 
 1860, and a part of 1861, under " Rip" Ford, Ed. Burleson 
 and Henry E. McCulloch. He enlisted in the Confederate 
 army in 1861, and served throughtout the war in the Trans- 
 Mississippi department. 
 
 At the close of hostilities, he took up the "stick and 
 rule," at Houston, on the old Telegraph, owned and edited 
 by E. H. Cushing. 
 
 Mr. Lambert married Miss Fannie E. Black, in May, 
 1866, and in September, of the same year, embarked in the 
 newspaper business, at Anderson, Grimes county. He was 
 elected mayor of that town, but was removed by General 
 Reynolds, because he was an " impediment to reconstruc- 
 tion." 
 
 Drouth, cholera, cotton- worms, yellow fever and radicalism, 
 finally forced him to give up his paper at Anderson ; so he 
 returned to Houston, where he went on the staff of General 
 W. G. Webb, then owning the Telegraph. He has held 
 similar positions since then on different papers in Waco, 
 Houston, Galveston and Austin. 
 
 In 1874, he started the Daily Morning News, at Marshall, 
 
198 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Officers of the House, 
 
 but his Democracy was too ultra for that climate, at that 
 time, so the enterprise did not stick. 
 
 In 1875, Mr. Lambert was appointed aide-de-camp on the 
 staff of Governor Hubbard, with the rank of Colonel. 
 
 He served as Reading Clerk of the House for the Tenth 
 and Fifteenth Legislatures, was Chief Clerk of the Six- 
 teenth and Seventeenth, and a general clerk of the House of 
 the Eighteenth Legislature, during which session he dis- 
 charged the duties of every ofhcer in the House, except the 
 Speaker. 
 
 He was elected Chief Clerk of the Twentieth Legislature 
 without opposition, receiving every ballot that was cast. 
 He is a good reader, and an accurate clerk. He fully under- 
 stands the performance of such duties, and, with the aid of 
 his legislative experience, rendered great assistance to the 
 members. 
 
 J. C. CARR. 
 
 JC. CARR, Sergeant-at-Arms- of the Twentieth Legisla- 
 , ture, House of Representatives, was born in Fayette 
 county, Tennessee, July 26, 1833, and came to Texas in 
 1845, where his education^ commenced in his native State, 
 was completed. Mr. Carr has been engaged in several vo- 
 cations of life; being full of energy, and of an active and 
 progressive enterprise, he caught at everything within the 
 reach of that activity, and worked it for all it was worth, 
 doing his full duty, either as a public officer or private citi- 
 zen. He has been a farmer, merchant and railroad man, 
 developing in each occupation an ability to stand in the front 
 ranks. He acted as county treasurer of Uvalde county, 
 Texas, in 1879. He resides in the Eightieth Representative 
 district, in the town of Midland, Midland county. He was 
 elected Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Representatives of 
 Twentieth Legislature by a majority of six votes, over a 
 
J. C. CARR. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 1 99 
 
 Officers of the House. 
 
 popular opponent, Captain H. F. Prater. It goes without 
 saying, that Mr. Carr is a Democrat, and a most loyal party 
 man. He made himself exceedingly popular, not only with 
 the members of the Legislature, but the representatives of 
 the press and the public generally visiting the House of 
 Representatives. 
 
 Mr. Carr is of a very striking personage. He is above the 
 average height, and symmetrically proportioned. His face is 
 exceedingly intelligent; and with a long beard and fine head, 
 carried high, with attentive and pleasant manners, he 
 moved through the House, careful of the wants and comfort 
 of every one. 
 
 Mr. Carr was in the prime of manhood when the tocsin of 
 alarm sounded through the South in 1861, and, with that 
 readiness that has always distinguished his patriotism and 
 love of his adopted State, he immediately enlisted in de- 
 fense of the homes and the altars of the South. He was 
 soon appreciated as a soldier, and elected lieutenant of Com- 
 pany I, Thirty-seventh Texas Cavalry, commanded by Col- 
 onel P. C. Woods, DeBray's brigade. He participated in 
 all the battles throughout that brilliant campaign, opening 
 at Pleasant Hill, and closing at Yellow Bayou. 
 
 In every position and condition of life, whether as a 
 friend, a soldier or a civilian, Mr. Carr has been equal to 
 the emergencies, and conducted himself in such a manner 
 as to win the respect and approbation of his fellow-citizens. 
 He has lived twent3'-five or thirty years on the frontiers of 
 the State, and has exhibited all those qualities of prudence 
 and manhood that are so characteristic of the pioneers of 
 civilization. Colonel Carr, being a newspaper correspondent, 
 is well and favorably known throughout the Rio Grande 
 ^counties as ''Locomotive," a pun on his name. 
 
 Mr. Carr married Miss Susan Tucker. They have now 
 three children — two daughters and one son. During his 
 temporary residence in Austin, he made many friends. 
 
200 
 
 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Officers of the House. 
 
 
 JAMES D. MONTGOMERY. 
 
 ASSISTANT SERGEANT-AT-ARMS. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch, James D. Montgomery, 
 Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Represen- 
 tatives of the Twentieth Legislature, was born at Ander- 
 son, Grimes county, Texas, and educated at Hempstead. 
 
 He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 South. He measures about six feet and four inches in his 
 stocking feet, and made an attentive and vigilant officer, as 
 Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms of the Twentieth liCgislature. 
 
 He married Miss Elizabeth Hooper. They have three 
 sons and a daughter. He belongs to the Knights and Ladies 
 of Honor. 
 
 J. SPRINGER BOGGS. 
 
 CALENDAR CLERK. 
 
 M" 
 
 R. J. SPRINGER BOGGS, the subject of this sketch, 
 was born on February 29, 1849, in the village of Car- 
 rollton, in the historic county of Carroll, in the State of 
 Georgia. In the town of Henderson, Rusk county, Texas^ 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 20I 
 
 Officers of the House. 
 
 Mr. Boggs received a good education, and has since followed 
 the business of stock-raising and trading. In a great meas- 
 ure he has been successful, and, although a good trader, his 
 transactions with his fellow-citizens have been characterized 
 at all times by such a spirit of honesty and fair dealing that 
 he came to the Twentieth Legislature, as he did to the Sev- 
 enteenth, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Legislatures, backed 
 by the whole intelligence of his county for any position to 
 which he may aspire. The official experience of Mr. Boggs 
 began wdienhe wasSergeant-at-Arms of the regular and spe- 
 cial sessions of the Seventeenth Legislature, and since then 
 he has successfully and creditably performed the arduous 
 duties of Calendar Clerk in the Eighteenth, Nineteenth and 
 Twentieth Legislatures. In politics, Mr. Boggs is a Demo- 
 crat, true and tried, and has been prominently identified 
 with all the struggles for Democratic supremacy in his sec- 
 tion of the State. 
 
 A few years ago, he was united in marriage to Miss Alice 
 Anderson, of Terrell, Texas, and one of the fruits of this 
 union now blesses a happy home in Terrell in the person of 
 a bright-eyed, rosy-cheeked boy. The order of the Knights 
 of P^^thias in the State looks upon Mr. Boggs as one of its 
 brightest and most upright members. In concluding this 
 sketch, it is but justice to say that, among the young men in 
 public life, none are more courteous and obliging, and few 
 stand higher in the estimation of their friends and associates. 
 
 WILLIAM LAFAYETTE McDONALD. 
 
 ENGROSSING CLERK. 
 
 A SKETCH of a young life is prospective. The deeds 
 that make men great are better seen at the sunset 
 than at the sunrise of life. The subject of this brief notice 
 has the best part of life before him, and the enchantment 
 
202 PERSONNEL QF THE 
 
 Officers of the House. 
 
 that lurks in the prospective is glowing with ardor. W. L. 
 McDonald was born in Anderson, Grimes county, Texas, 
 June 29, 1860. His father came to Texas, from Tennessee, 
 in the year 1852, and has brought up his family in the Lone 
 Star State. 
 
 Mr. W. L. McDonald was educated at the Southwestern 
 Universit}', Georgetown, Texas, taking the degree of A. B. 
 in 1885. In 1886, he graduated in the law from the Univer- 
 sity of Texas, going through two years' course in one, and 
 receiving in honor the degree of B. L. Twice, in the South- 
 western, he won medals for oratory and declamation. 
 
 He is engaged in the practice of law, in Dallas, Texas. 
 He has been Engrossing Clerk of the House of Representa- 
 tives for two sessions of the Legislature, to-wit, the Nine- 
 teenth and the Twentieth. 
 
 He is five feet and eleven inches in stature, and weighs 
 one hundred and sixty pounds. He is a bright instance of 
 self-made young manhood. 
 
 MONTAGUE JAMES MOORE. 
 
 CLERK OF COMMITTEE ON FINANCE. 
 
 MR. M. J. MOORE'S father came to Texas, from Geor- 
 gia, in the early part of the year 1865, and settled in 
 Cameron, Milam county, Texas. The family have resided 
 there ever since. M. J. Moore was born in Cameron, Texas, 
 on the twent5'-eighth of March, 1866, and has been educated 
 in the schools of his native town. His intelligence and cul- 
 ture are of a superior character for one of his age. He has 
 been engaged in the newspaper business for three years, 
 having his connection with the Cameron Herald, one of the 
 best county weeklies of the State. He is now reading law, 
 preparatory to entering regularly in the practice at no dis- 
 tant day. He was appointed as one of the clerks of tbe 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 203 
 
 Officers of the House. 
 
 House of Representatives of the Twentieth Legislature, and 
 served as clerk of the Committee on Finance. He has been 
 found affable and efficient. He is of pleasant and winning 
 manners, five feet and eleven niches high, and ^yeighs one 
 hundred and forty pounds. To him the red light of a rising 
 sun heralds a day of honor and usefulness. 
 
204 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 DISTINGUISHED TEXANS. 
 
 CURRAN MICHAEL ROGERS. 
 
 CURRAN M. ROGERS, the subject of this sketch, was 
 born in Coosa county, Ahibama, on tlie twenty-third 
 day of July, 1841, his father immigrating to Texas in 
 1849, and settling in Smith county. Young Rogers was 
 educated at McKenzie College, Red River county, in this 
 State. He joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 
 in early life, and, when he attained majority, felt it his 
 duty to preach the gospel of Christ ; he, therefore, entered 
 the pastorate of that church, in 1866, and remained an active 
 member of the West Texas Conference for fourteen consecu- 
 tive years. In 1880, he retired from the active pastorate, 
 and engaged in agriculture and stock-raising. Being a man 
 of education and fine attainments, he occasionally became 
 interested in public affairs, and participated in political 
 matters, rather con amore than with any design of holding 
 office ; but being pressed by his friends, he became a can- 
 didate, and was elected to a seat in the Eighteenth Legis- 
 lature, from the Eighty-fifth Representative district, com- 
 posed of Nueces, San Patricio, Bee, Live Oak, McMullen 
 and LaSalle counties. He served on the special committee 
 of twenty, to which was referred the lawlessness in the 
 State arising especially from fence-cutting and kindred acts. 
 Colonel Rogers, in 1885, purchased a fine estate near 
 Austin, upon which had been erected a handsome resi- 
 dence, and removed to Travis county, where he has since 
 resided. He is now engaged, extensively, in stock-raising 
 and farming, on choice land, and all under fence, consist- 
 ing of 24,000 acres, and within twenty miles of the capital. 
 
C. M. ROGERS. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 205 
 
 Distinguished Texans, 
 
 His pastures are well-stocked with graded and improved 
 cattle and horses. 
 
 His first wife was a Miss Price, of Collin county, Texas. 
 His second marriage was to Mrs. Martha A. Rabb, of 
 Nueces county, Texas. He has a family of six children. 
 He is a man of commanding presence, fine personal appear- 
 ance, open and intelligent face, and with a fine command of 
 language. 
 
 Having been reared in Texas, he manifests the greatest 
 concern in everything connected with the welfare of the 
 State, and especially its agricultural and stock-raising in- 
 terests. His command of fortune enables him to indulge 
 his propensity to advance the interests of young men of 
 merit. He also contributes largely to all humanitarian 
 schemes that are practical and of use in the elevation and 
 ennobling of his fellow-man. 
 
 JOHN HANSEL COPELAND. 
 
 CHESTER, the oldest Roman city in England, is the 
 birth place of this elegant gentleman. He was born on 
 the twenty-fifth of July, 1853. He came to San Antonio, 
 Texas, early in the year 1857, and has since resided in that 
 city. His education is broad and varied. From 1873 to 
 1877, he attended school and college, and traveled both in 
 Europe and America. He was a student in the schools at 
 San Antonio and at St. Chad's College, Denstone, England. 
 At one time serving as a journalist, he was fearless and bold, 
 and is a fluent and graceful writer. He was admitted to the 
 bar in 1880, and has acquired a large and lucrative practice. 
 His success as a lawyer has been exceptional. He has 
 rapidly advanced in reputation, and as an orator, he excels 
 in impassioned eloquence, and bears the masses on the tide 
 
2o6 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished ■ Texans. 
 
 of his oratory. He is often called on for speeches on pub- 
 lic occasions. 
 
 Among the principal cpiestions of study and investigation 
 to him, have been those of political economy. He has open- 
 ly declared himself on the side of the masses, and aspires 
 to no greater honor than to be a tribune of the people. Not 
 a communist, he is yet a philanthropist, and can be easily 
 touched by the sufferings of guiltless nature wherever 
 found.' He was one of the incorporators of the Texas State 
 Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and the 
 founder of the Alamo Literary, which has been a great suc- 
 cess and blessing in the cause of literature. He has figured 
 prominently as a candidate for the mayoralty of the city, 
 and for Representative to the Legislature, and was a mem- 
 ber of the city council in 1880. 
 
 He began life with the struggle of dependence — working 
 at eight years of age. The success he has attained has 
 been the reward of personal endeavor. In matters of faith, 
 he is liberal and unrestrained. He holds to an inherent 
 love of truth wherever found, but discriminates between 
 speculations and theories on the one hand, and facts and 
 truth, as attested by human experience, on the other. 
 
 •Judge Copeland is the Deputy Grand Commander of the 
 American Legion of Honor, and a representative from 
 Alamo Council, to the Grand Council of that order. His 
 wife was Miss Wilhelmina Ludwig, who, with a daughter 
 and son, constitutes the family. 
 
 He is stoutly built, and is a lordly specimen of English 
 manhood ; of florid complexion, bright hazel eyes, and 
 withal, a ready and entertaining conversationalist. He is 
 progressive — offensively so to the staid order of people 
 who are content to linger in the footsteps and shadows o 
 their grandfathers. He knows 'how to be a friend, and hav- 
 ing tested, by experience, the struggles of life, enters into 
 actual sympathy with the struggling masses. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 207 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 RUDOLPH KLEBERG. 
 
 IN the political history of a State or country, talent is called 
 forth, that, but for the opportunities afforded, must have 
 remained forever unknown and unrecognized. Tr3'ing emer- 
 gencies are often the crucible in which needed qualities of true 
 manhood and patriotism are sufficiently tested to make them 
 available for the purposes of political place and power. In 
 his 'Career as editor of the Cuero Star, the pioneer journa]; 
 of DeWitt county, which he established in the year 
 1873, Honorable Rudolph Kleberg won laurels of unfading 
 hue. During reconstruction days, when the 'f aylor-Sutton 
 difficulty caused the citizens of Cuero and surrounding 
 country to be in jeopardy of life itself, and terror ruled in 
 the heart of a civilized land, editor Kleberg was defiant of 
 oppression, and fearless in his editorials on the situation. 
 To the heroic stand made by his paper must be attributed, 
 in a controlling degree, the potential agency that restored 
 peace and order. His own life endangered did not abash his 
 courage to defend the right, and for this noble conduct in the 
 interest of peace and order, he has not been forgotten by a 
 grateful people. His public life began by election to the 
 office of county attorney of DeWitt county, in the year 1876. 
 In 1878, he was re-elected to the same office. He received 
 the Democratic nomination, and was duly elected State Sen- 
 ator from the Twenty-sixth district, composed of Wilson, 
 Karnes, Atascosa, Live Oak, McMullen, San Patricio, Cal- 
 houn, Goliad, DeWitt, Jackson, Bee, Aransas and Victoria 
 counties, in the year 1882. His senatorial office expired with 
 the Nineteenth Legislature, in which body he was chairman 
 of the Committee on Stock and Stock-raising ; was also a 
 member of Judiciary Committee No. 1, and the Joint Com- 
 mittee to Investigate the Penitentiaries. As a Senator, he 
 took a prominent place in the leading issues, and his influ- 
 ence was duly appreciated. He is now filling, with his^ 
 usual ability, the office of Laiited States District Attorney. 
 
208 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 D ist ingn ish ed Texan s . 
 
 Rudolph Kieberg, a son of Judge Robert Kleberg, a Texas 
 veteran, was born in Austin county, Texas, July 15, 1847, and 
 the following year was taken by his parents to Cuero, De- 
 Witt county, where he has since resided. He has been finely 
 educated, and in the practice of the law has excelled. He 
 took part in the war between the States in the Trans-Missis- 
 sippi Department, a member of Green's Brigade, Texas 
 Cavalry. 
 
 Mr. Kleberg is a gentleman of fine appearance and address, 
 converses freely, and is entertaining. He is compact and 
 stout, physically, and moves himself, both in speaking and 
 in the social circle, with dignit}^ and grace. He was a law 
 partner of Honorable W. H. Grain, now a Texas congress- 
 man, and, at the time of his appointment as United States 
 District Attorney by President Gleveland, had an extensive 
 and lucrative practice. Genial as a friend, patriotic as a 
 citizen, zealous and able as a lawyer, and cultivated as a 
 gentleman, he is not only acceptable, but even popular, in 
 the part he takes officially or in tlie business intercourse 
 of life. 
 
 HENRY EXALL. 
 
 THE distinguished gentleman whose sketcli is briefly 
 given, Colonel Henry Exall, is a typical Texan in many 
 respects. He illustrates the triumph of indomitable energ}^ 
 and push over apparent unsurmountable obstacles. Com- 
 bined with that. Colonel Exall possesses in a remarkable 
 degree that faculty of always looking upon and present- 
 ing the brighest side to every picture; and while others hesi- 
 tate in doubt and fear of failure, he seems to have derived a 
 peculiar incentive from opposition and impediments, and 
 full of courage, pressed on to the accomplishment of the 
 objects before him. Not only is this sound and healthy con- 
 dition his own characteristic, but he imparts it to those about 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT, 209 
 
 Disthigtiished Texans. 
 
 him; and many who would otherwise have surrendered to the 
 seeming inevitable, have been animated to hope and efibrt, 
 by his cheery and hopeful nature. He is not a man to 
 whine over the want of opportunity, or to grieve over fail- 
 ure ; he makes opportunity, and gathers from disappoint- 
 ment renewed ardor. 
 
 Henry Exall was born in Richmond, Virginia, on the 
 thirtieth of August, 1848. His father, the Rev. George G. 
 Exall, was a distinguished divine and educator of the Old 
 ominion. He obtained the advantage of a thorough classical 
 and literary training at a school presided over by his father 
 near Richmond. He also studied law, but his nature was 
 too active and versatile to be tied to the desk and office of a 
 lawyer, and his life thus far, has been spent in various mer- 
 cantile pursuits, stock-raising, etc., in which he has been 
 both fortunate and successful. Heniy Exall was yet a youth 
 when the cloud of war enveloped the old and historic State 
 of his nativity. He promptly volunteered as a private in 
 Company I, Tenth Virginia Cavalry, commanded by Colonel 
 J. Lucius Davis, and was engaged with his regiment in the 
 battles around Richmond in 1863, 1864 and 1865. 
 
 At a late Confederate re-union at Waco, he was called 
 upon to make a speech. He made on extemporaneous ad- 
 dress that delighted his old comrades in arms. One of 
 them, who had known Exall in his youth, writing an ac- 
 count of it in the Waco Examiner, said : "Henry Exall was 
 one of the youngest soldiers of the army o! Xorthern Virginia. 
 He enlisted under Colonel Davis, and fought in several bat- 
 tles on Grant's James River line. At Reams Station, he was 
 conspicuous for his bravery, and as a scout, he won enco- 
 miums from the regimental and brigade commanders." 
 
 With such antecedents, it is natural to correctly conclude 
 that he is a Democrat d3^ed in the wool. He is now filling 
 the responsible position of chairman of the Democratic 
 State Executive Committee, and to his splendid energy and 
 executive power may be attributed the thorough organi- 
 zation that has made Texas the banner State of the Demo- 
 
2IO PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinoriiished Texans. 
 
 cratic party. He represented the capital district in the Na- 
 tional Democratic Convention that nominated Cleveland 
 and Hendricks, in 18S4. He was chairman of the congres- 
 sional convention that nominated Joe Savers for Congress, 
 in 1S84. 
 
 Colonel Exall has also been prominently identified with 
 the cattle interests of the State of Texas, and is a large ope- 
 rator in stock of that kind. He was vice-president of the 
 National Cotton Planters' Association at the New Orleans 
 exposition in 1885. 
 
 In 1869, Colonel Exall married Miss Emma Warner, of 
 Owensborough, Kentucky, who died in that State in 1875. 
 His mother and father are both living at an advanced age, 
 in Padncah, Kentucky. Colonel Exall came to Texas to 
 live in 1876; first located at Dallas, but finally settled per- 
 manently at Grapevine, Tarrant count}', and at once took 
 an active part in private business and public affairs. He 
 has, by energy and prudence, acquired a competency, and 
 is still in full business activity ; especially is he valuable as 
 a citizen on account of his ready participation and aid in 
 every enterprise that promises to redound to the good of the 
 State and the elevation of his kind. He is a very ardent 
 and enthusiastic man in everything he undertakes, and im- 
 parts his buoyancy and hopefulness to all with whom he 
 comes in contact. He thinks this is a most excellent world, 
 and enjoys it rationally, and as a Christian gentleman 
 ought to do. He is destined, if he lives, to be identified 
 with the development and history of Texas, and to leave 
 the memorv of a noble and disinterested life behind him. 
 
 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS SLAUGHTER. 
 
 MORE men of originality and comprehensiveness of 
 thought and mind, develop under the free institu- 
 tions of this country than under the highest intellectual 
 facilities afforded by the gymnasiums and universities of 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 211 
 
 Distinguished Texan s. 
 
 Europe. This cannot be attributed to climate or soil, but 
 is attributable to two causes — first, the highest, social, poli- 
 tical and intellectual positions of this country, are oj^en 
 alike to the poor and to the wealth}^; and secondly, because 
 oppositions and disadvantages serve as a stimulus to a na- 
 turally vigorous mind. So far these facts are applicable 
 to the subject of this sketch, Christopher Columbus Slaughter, 
 but there is connected with him an additional characteristic 
 corollary to the same — we allude to the fact that the question 
 of finance is not onh^ broader, but more intricate in this 
 country than elsewhere, and few men understand all the 
 workings of an intricate system that covers the finan- 
 cial policy of the country. His mind, while com- 
 prehensive and emulous on account of early diflfi- 
 culties in his way, as he is emphatically the architect of 
 his own fortune, was of a nature that naturally flowed into 
 the channels of finance, and by its adaptation reduced the 
 theories of finance to practical success. There are many 
 men who have become fine financiers in theor}', but who 
 failed to reduce these theories to practical advantage. Colo- 
 nel Slaughter does not belong to this class, finance with 
 him is a science, that he has reduced to utility, both for 
 himself and his associates. 
 
 As an illustration of this, we point to the recent organiza- 
 tion of the refrigerating system in Texas, and the establish- 
 ment of the works at Houston, by means of which the cattle 
 men of Texas will derive peculiar advantages. Again, 
 his "very eminent success as a cattle man and banker 
 emphasizes his clear understanding of tne difficult and intri- 
 cate workings of financial theories. So strong and clear is his 
 mind in this respect, that his friends regret that the State 
 itself has not had the advantage, in a more direct degree, of 
 his financial ability. 
 
 Christopher Columbus Slaughter was born in Sabine 
 county, Texas, on the ninth of February, 1837. When thir- 
 teen years of age, his father settled near Prather's Prairie, 
 where Columbus attended to his cattle on the Keechi creek. 
 
212 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 He remained there about seven years, when he removed to 
 Palo Pinto county, where he landed with about five hundred 
 head of cattle. 
 
 At that time, there were few persons living in that county ; 
 and the only stock man then living south of the Brazos river 
 was Robert Sloan, who, after residing in a cedar log cabin for 
 about eight months, sold out to the father of Christopher. 
 This venerable man, now in the seventy-fifth year of his age, 
 resides upon the very spot that once supported the humble 
 home of Robert Sloan, where he leads a retired life. 
 
 When Christopher became of age, he, in company of a 
 younger brother, started to Houston, some 350 miles, with 
 an ox team of seven yoke of wild oxen. This adventure 
 proved to be the initial efibrt of the splendid financial ability 
 that subsequently distinguished Colonel Slaughter as a 
 financier. 
 
 He returned from Houston with a load of goods in about 
 three months, which realized him about $300. This money he 
 invested in cattle. For three years, he remained at that place 
 with his herd, and then removed to Young county, near Old 
 Belknap, taking 2500 head of cattle with him, which have 
 multiplied, until now Colonel Slaughter is recognized as 
 one of the wealthiest men in Texas. 
 
 With an instinct that is unerring, Colonel Slaughter ap- 
 preciated his financial abilities. He therefore moved to 
 Dallas, where he organized the City Bank of Dallas, which 
 was an eminent financial success. He is now the first Pres- 
 ident of the American National Bank of Dallas, which 
 ranks abreast of the first banks in America. 
 
 Colonel Slaughter is at present in the very meridian of 
 life, full of vigor and enterprise, and has yet the broadest 
 possibilities for the further exercise of his financial ability. 
 
 He is genial in his manners, and of fine conversational 
 powers. He fully appreciates the resources of Texas, and 
 lends his powerful aid to its development. 
 
 The following address of the executive committee of the 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 21 J 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 refrigerating company in which Colonel Slaugeter is inter- 
 ested, will explain itself: 
 
 The Executive Committee of the Texas Live Stock Association 
 having met in the city of Austin, March 15, 1887, in accordance 
 with a resolution passed by the last annual session of the State 
 Association, to hear and act upon the report of the committee 
 for the establishment of a refrigerator in Texas, said committed- 
 submitted the following as their report: 
 
 "Your committee unanimously recommend that the refrigera- 
 ting, cannmg and packinge stablishment be located at Houston 
 or vicinity, and that the proposition and plans proposed to the 
 citizens of Houston be accepted by the executive committee. 
 Your committee make this recommendation after having care- 
 fully considered all the facts and figures presented, the natural 
 advantages of Houston, its superior railroad facilities, and the 
 great advantages of water transportation, etc," 
 
 The above report was received and adopted, and the proposi- 
 tion of the citizens of Houston accepted, as being liberal, and, 
 in our judgment, to the best interest of the live stock business of 
 the State at large. The proposition of the citizens of Houston 
 is here submitted, to-wit : 
 
 "In the event Houston or vicinity is chosen as the site where 
 the refrigerator shall be erected, it will donate the land necessary 
 for a reirigerating, canning and packing company, not less than 
 five hundred acres; and, further, will subscribe to a majority of 
 the capital stock of a company, to be mcorporated under the 
 laws of Texas, of a paid up capital stock of $500,000, with the 
 right to increase the capital stock to $1,000,000. This subscrip- 
 tion to be conditional, as follows : That the members of the 
 Texas Live Stock Association will subscribe the balance of the 
 said $500,000 not taken by Houston and her associates, to be 
 paid in cattle ; that is to say^ when cattle are delivered in pay- 
 ment of subscriptions of stock by the cattlemen, one-fourth of 
 the value of said cattle at the date of delivery is to be paid in 
 cash, and the remaining three-fourths in the stock of the com- 
 pany, until the subscribed stock is fully paid up. 
 
214 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Djstjngtihhed Texans. 
 
 "And, further, the following plan for the establishment of said 
 plant, or something similar, to be adopted, viz: That a company 
 be chartered under the laws of the State of Texas, under a name 
 appropriate to the business to be conducted. 
 
 "Second — That said company be organized by the election 
 of a directory and all necessary ofificers, including an executive 
 committee, if deemed necessary, and the adoption of by-laws 
 and rules for the government of said association. And the 
 principal office shall be located at the city of Houston, and the 
 ofificers of the company shall be controlled by such agencies as 
 the directory may choose.'' 
 
 It follows, from this proposition, that the representatives of the 
 live stock interest of Texas are expected to raise two hundred 
 and forty-five thousand dollars ($245,000) to put the enterprise 
 in operation. We deem it necessary to urge upon the citizens 
 of Texas the importance of this move. As all know, we are suf- 
 fering from a depression in the price of cattle. The depression, 
 in the opinion of your committee, is not because there is no de- 
 mand for beef, but because there are no adequate means by 
 which we can get the thousands of Texas cattle to the consum- 
 ers ; and this state of things will continue until we have other 
 and cheaper means of transportation. We, therefore, urge the 
 cattlemen of the State to come to the front and take stock with 
 us in this enterprise, and let us make a success of this Texas 
 venture. We are confident that a saving of at least five dollars 
 per head on our cattle, of the average weight of one thousand 
 pounds, will accrue in favor of shipping the animals to market 
 slaughtered or dressed. This fact alone, if we read the signs of 
 the times aright, will place the live stock industry of our State 
 'on an independent footing. 
 
 i 
 
H. B. BARNHART. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 215 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 H. B. BARNHART. 
 
 HB. BARNHART, the subject of this sketch, was born 
 , in Austin, Texas, on the twelfth day of March, 1855. 
 His father, Joseph Barnhart, was one of the €arly pio- 
 neers of the then (Texas) infant republic, having pitched 
 his tent in 1836 where its proud capital, surrounded by a 
 beautiful city, watches the Colorado flow onward to the 
 gulf. 
 
 At the proper age, H, B. Barnhart was placed at Parsons' 
 Seminary, where he obtained a liberal education. Possess- 
 ing a mind of extraordinary capacity, his literary acquire- 
 ments were rapid, and his mind became well stored with 
 .scientific and classical knowledge. He was as courageous as 
 he was bright, and, as an evidence of his bravery, at the age 
 of eleven years he was sent from Manor to Port Sullivan, 
 on the Brazos river, a distance one hundred and twenty-five 
 miles, on horseback, alone, with several thousand dollars, 
 and at a time when traveling through the country was con- 
 sidered dangerous. 
 
 At the early age of sixteen, he was promoted to a posi- 
 tion of assistant professor of mathematics. Thus thrown 
 among men more advanced in age and experience, his quick 
 iliind became companionable with his seniors, and followed 
 them through channels logical and legal in their course of 
 thought. 
 
 Great in all of his achievements, and as good as he 
 is great, with a pure, noble and exalted character, he 
 -stands before us to-day as one who commands the affection 
 and perfect confidence of the people ; for, unwilling to pause 
 on '^the first round of the ladder of fame in his profession, 
 he has shaken off all trammels, and now stands a glittering 
 star among the brilliant galaxy of Austin's talented young 
 lawyers He generously bestows the secret of his success 
 ■on his preceptor, the late Colonel A. J. Peeler, one of the 
 most profound and comprehensive lawyers of this State. 
 
2l6 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 Mr. Barnhart was admitted to the bar in 1876, and met 
 with merited success. By assiduity and close attention to 
 his business, and his reliability, he has won the entire con- 
 fidence of the community. 
 
 On the twenty-seventh day ot April, 1881, he married 
 Miss Alice Blanche Millican, a perfect type of' pure Avoman- 
 hood. 
 
 In 1886, a vacancy occurring in the office of county attor- 
 ney of Travis county. Judge Z. T. Fulmore, county judge, 
 recognizing the ability and talent of the younger members of 
 the bar, selected from a number of distinguished young men, 
 Mr. Barnhart, and appointed him to fill the vacancy of Mr. 
 Morris. At the^next term of the commissioners^court, he was 
 ap23ointed to fill out the unexpired term, and again, he was 
 nominated by the county Democratic convention for county 
 attorney, and was elected by a handsome majority of nearly 
 one thousand votes over his opponent. 
 
 His course as county attorney Avarrants the hopes and 
 predictions of his friends, of eminent success in his profes- 
 sion. With uncompromising firmness, he has made suc- 
 cessful war upon evil and wrong-doing wherever and when- 
 ever found, and by vigilance and courage brought evil-doers 
 and law-breakers to justice. Crime, under his prudent and 
 sagacious management, is becoming less frequent, and the 
 the law is more and more respected and feared by the dis- 
 honest and turbulent classes. The best eulogy that could 
 be pronounced upon this youthful and rising attorney would 
 be a contrast of the condition of affairs to-day in this county 
 and city, and that of a few years since. Not more than six- 
 teen months ago, Austin had a national reputation for mid- 
 night murder, with criminals undiscovered and unwhipped 
 by justice. Crimes, the most nefarious and diabolical, were 
 committed with impunity. Then every citizen locked and 
 barred his doors and windows, and slept with arms near at 
 hand to defend his wife and children from the deadly 
 ax of the midnight assassin. Mr. Barnhart has been 
 county attorney for fifteen or sixteen months. Every 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 217 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 citizen now feels secure; the law Is enforced; the officei"eare 
 vigilant, and Austin has become an unhealthy j)lace for 
 criminals, and they avoid its neighborhood. 
 
 These are facts that give testimony to the completeness of 
 the man and the attorney, and the consciencious and vig- 
 orous discharge of his duties as a public officer. Mr. Barn- 
 hart is yet a young man, and is destined to become a con- 
 spicuous figure in Texas jurisprudence. 
 
 As a citizen, Mr. Barnhart is alive to the interest and im- 
 l)rovement of the city of his nativity, and in all the social 
 relations of life he fills the measure of a Christian gentle- 
 ]nan. With that sympathy and love for his kind tha^ 
 breaks down the artificial barriers of caste in the common 
 Ijrotherhood of mankind, he enters freely into every effort 
 made for the amelioration and elevation of the people in 
 moral and intellectual improvement. 
 
 charlp:s goodnight. 
 
 MR. CHARLES GOODNIGHT, who is now frequently 
 spoken of as the "cattle king" of Northwestern Texas, 
 and whose early life and adventures in that section of the 
 State reads more like romance than ordinary history, was 
 born in Madison county, Illinois, March 5, 1836. He is con- 
 sequently fifty-one years of age, and the plain recital of his 
 life indicates that he is strictly a self-made man of indomi- 
 table energy, fearless nerve, possessing a wonderful fore- 
 sight and native intelligence. He was born in that latitude 
 of the United States running east, embracing Illinois, In- 
 diana, Ohio, Virginia and Maryland, which has a soil and a 
 climate that has produced, among our public men, the great- 
 est statesmen of America, and among our business men 
 those possessing the greatest financial and executive ability, 
 capable of planning and carrying out the most colossal busi- 
 
2l8 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished TexUns. 
 
 ness enterprises. Mr. Charles Goodnight is one of the best 
 illustrations of this class. When but five years of age, his 
 father died in Illinois, and he immigrated, with his mother 
 and two young sisters and a brother, to Texas, in 1846, set- 
 tling in Milam county, where they remained until 1853, and 
 then removed to McLennan county. Being imbued by nature, 
 with a sturdy, earnest energy to carve out his own career, 
 and being a poor boy, at the age of sixteen he hired out to a 
 farmer, and at odd times, when his services were not needed, 
 he worked for other farmers in the neighborhood, usually 
 earning from ten to twelve dollars per month, which he 
 contributed to the support of his mother and sisters. 
 
 In 1855, his mother married again, and he, being about 
 nineteen years of age, branched out in business for himself, 
 •still working by the month; and what he made by manual 
 labor, he would invest in cattle, indicating plainly in his 
 youth the bent of his business inclinations. Indeed, it is 
 truthfully related of him that the first pair of work cattle that 
 he owned he paid for by splitting rails for the owner of them. 
 Pie made it a rule to work for parties and receive his pay in 
 cattle. Here he laid the foundation upon which, as time 
 went on, he accumulated his vast fortune in the cattle busi- 
 ness, 
 
 After remaining in McLennan county a few years, on June 
 6, 1856, he gathered together what cattle he had, amounting 
 to some twenty head, and with a young man by the name 
 J. W. Sheek, who owned about the same number, together 
 Avith about four hundred and thirty head, which they had 
 contracted for with Claiborne Varner, of McLennan county, 
 they started for the frontier of Texas. On their way there, 
 they wintered in Johnson county, losing but a small per- 
 centage of their stock. They then moved to Palo Pinto 
 county, where, at that time, there were not more thantwent}- 
 five white men. Here he kept his cattle for nearl}^ ten 
 years, until the fourth calf. At the end of the first eighteen 
 months, he and his partner had, in addition to their origi- 
 nal forty head, thirtj'-two calves, but making very slow pro- 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 219 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 gress for three or four years. In keeping with that tireless 
 industry and thrift which had always characterized Mr. 
 Goodnight, he used to spend his summer months, while 
 raising cattle at this time, in carrying freight on an ox-wa- 
 gon, in order always to have a supply of provisions on hand. 
 After the third or fourth year, Mr. Goodnight began to ac- 
 cumulate considerable property, and as fast as he did so, he 
 would invest in cattle, as was constantly his rule, and he 
 soon found himself the owner of several hundred head of 
 cattle, and success began to smile upon all his efforts. 
 
 When the late civil war broke out, Mr. Goodnight was in 
 easy circumstances, owning about four thousand head of 
 cattle. Immediately upon the outbreak of the war, he 
 joined Curretson's company, Norris' regiment of Texas 
 Rangers, for the protection of the frontier from the Rio 
 Grande to the Red River, and served during the four years 
 with fidelity to the Lost Cause as a scout and guide, being 
 stationed at Fort Belknap when in camp, which was but 
 seldom the case. While engaged in the service, he moved 
 about three thousand head of cattle to what is now Throck- 
 morton county, but which was then the frontier, he and his 
 associates being the only white men in that section, which 
 was some twenty-five miles west of old Belknap. By the 
 depredations of the Indians, most of this herd was lost, 
 they capturing in one night one thousand head, together 
 with a number of horses. 
 
 At the close of the war, he, in common with the rest of 
 the Southern people, suffering from the consequences of de- 
 feat, gathered up all of his stock that was left, and deter- 
 mined to drive them to New Mexico, or Colorado. As there 
 was no road or trail, and he had never seen a man who had 
 made the trip, it was a hazardous undertaking, but he had 
 resolved to go, and that settled it with him. Just before 
 starting, he formed a partnership with Mr. Oliver Loving, 
 who was one of the best known cattle-traders in Texas, and 
 who stood high in the estimation of all who knew him. On 
 this drive, they struck southwest to the Pecos river, follow- 
 
220 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinzuished Texaiis. 
 
 ing it up some four hundred miles, thence through New 
 Mexico and Colorado, until they arrived near the foot of the 
 Black Hills, where the city of Cheyenne now stands, and 
 here the cattle were finally disposed of. This was the first 
 drive ever made from Texas to Colorado, Mr. Goodnight 
 being the first man to have the nerve and hardihood to 
 make this trip and blaze out the way for others. This road 
 has passed into history, and will always be known as the 
 Goodnight trail. To him belongs the honor of taking the 
 first step towards opening up for settlement and civilization 
 a country that Avas then nothing but a vast waste; not a 
 tame animal nor a civilized person to be found by him as he 
 went through from old Camp Cooper, in Texas, to Fort 
 Sumner, in New Mexico — a distance of more than six hun- 
 dred miles, eighty-six miles of which his outfit traveled 
 without a drop of water for man or beast. 
 
 This first trip was accomplished without any serious ad- 
 ventures or mishaps, save the hardships and privations 
 necessarily incident to such an undertaking. 
 
 He did not have the same good luck, however, when a 
 subsequent and similar trip was made in 1867. The Indians,, 
 on this trip, made an attack on the herd of cattle, while on 
 the Clear Fork of the Brazos river, just as the trip was about 
 to be begun, and several of Goodnight's men were wounded 
 by the Indian arrows. Shortly before day-break on the fol- 
 lowing morning, the attack was renewed, which resulted in 
 stampeding the entire herd and wounding one man, some 
 three hundred cattle being lost in this engagement. These 
 attacks were continued by the Indians, at intervals, until 
 the party, consisting of eighteen men, had reached within 
 one hundred and fifty miles of Fort Sumner, New Mexico, 
 when, on the eighteenth day of June. 1867, they were char- 
 ged upon by six hundred Indians and Mr. Oliver Loving, 
 Mr. Goodnight's esteemed partner and devoted friend, re- 
 ceived a fatal wound, and died shortly afterwards at Fort 
 Sumner, to which place they finally made their way with 
 great difificulty and danger. In the death of Mr. Loving, a 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 221 
 
 Disting tiished Texans . 
 
 brave, noble and moral being passed away. After having 
 lost some three hundred head of cattle in this last engage- 
 ment, Mr. Goodnight sold the rest of his herd at Fort Smn- 
 ner,New Mexico, and Denver, Colorado, realizing good prices, 
 averaging eight cents per pound, gross. He then decided to 
 remain at Fort Sumner, and contracted with persons to 
 deliver him cattle there^ where he bought and sold cattle for 
 several years, until 1871, when he married Miss Mary Ann 
 Dyer, of Rutherford, daughter of General Dyer, of Jackson, 
 Tennessee. After marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Goodnight remov- 
 ed to Pueblo, Colorado, where he engaged in banking, far- 
 ming and stock-raising. He tried farming by irrigation, but 
 it proved a failure after the construction of railroads. The 
 panic of 1873, in the East, brought on disasters throughout 
 the entire country, and ])aralyzed business in the West. Mr. 
 Goodnight being the largest real estate owner in Southern 
 Colorado, the decline on real estate alone was so enormous 
 that, after paying all his liabilities, he had but little left. In 
 the midst of these disastrous times, his estimable wife, with 
 that noble spirit of self-sacrifice so characteristic of our high 
 minded Southern women, came to her husband's assistance 
 and generously surrendered all her personal and real prop- 
 erty for the benefit of his creditors. 
 
 After this panic, he again returned to the frontier of Texas, 
 the home of his youth and young manhood, to attempt to 
 recuperate and build up once more his fallen foitunes. Af- 
 ter a careful survey of the field, he decided on locating in 
 tliat section of northwestern Texas, where, years before, as 
 a scout and guide in the Texas Rangers, serving the Confed- 
 eracy, he had traversed every hill and valley, ridden over 
 every prairie, and was acquainted with every trail. He es- 
 tablished himself on what is now widely known as Palo 
 Duro Ranch, embracing the great canyon, called Palo Duro 
 Canyon, which is in fact the head of Red River, or latterly 
 known as the Prairie Dog Fork of Red River. This grand 
 canyon is 1000 feet deep, and averages, for thirty miles in 
 length, some eleven miles in width, forming one of the 
 
222 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Tcxans. 
 
 largest, best, and most complete cattle ranches in the world. 
 Mr. Goodnight landed at this place on the twenty-ninth of 
 November, 1875, with 1800 head of cattle, and soon after- 
 wards formed a co-partnership with John G. Adair, of 
 Ireland, the latter furnishing the capital at ten per cent in- 
 terest per annum, and receiving two-thirds of the profits of 
 the ranch. This section of Texas Avas at this time a wild, 
 unsettled country, unknown, except to the Indians and a few 
 of the old scouts, the nearest civilized spot being Fort El- 
 liott, 100 miles distant, and the nearest settlement in Texas 
 being 225 miles distant, supplies having frequently to be 
 hauled over 400 miles. Mrs. Goodnight, in accompanying 
 her husband to what was then a totally uncivilized and dan- 
 gerous country, to assist him in gaining a livelihood, has 
 won for herself the distinction of being the first white lady 
 who Avent to that country, remaining on the ranch for as 
 long as six months at a time, without having the compan- 
 ionship of any of her sex, not even seeing an Indian squaw, 
 the isolation continuing for nearly three years, when the 
 Indians were finally driven from the State, and civilization, 
 over which the refining influence of woman is the reigning 
 power, commenced to draw nearer to Palo Duro Ranch. 
 
 In those days Mr. Goodnight was censured for his poor 
 judgment in risking the lives of his family, and those de- 
 pendent upon him, by locating in a country overrun by 
 savages. Now, however, after using the best efforts of his 
 life to civilize that part of Texas, and substitute for the wig- 
 wam of the savage the attractive cottage of the American, 
 he is charged with being a land monopolist. 
 
 Many thousand acres of the land that forms a part of his 
 magnificent ranch was purchased at twenty cents per acre, 
 but the land agents made ten cents per acre on these sales, 
 and the public, at that time, were very glad to dispose of 
 them for that price, and for even less. This is the same 
 land that the State now declares to be worth from two to 
 three dollars per acre. 
 
 Mr. Goodnight, Avith Mr. Adair, now owns,on the Palo Duro 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 2 2^ 
 
 Distinguished Texan s. 
 
 ranch, some fifty thousand head of improved cattle, ranging 
 from high grade to thoroughbred Durhams, and many im- 
 ported Herefords. • 
 
 Charles Goodnight is just turning fifty-one years of age, 
 and has lived in Texas, the home of his earliest adoption, 
 over forty 3'ears. Enjoying, as he does, vigorous health, 
 he is in the prime possession of all those splendid qualities 
 of head and heart with which kind nature has munificently 
 endowed him, and which have distinguished him through- 
 out a varied and adventurous career as a man of indomitable 
 Avill and perseverance, with a thorough knowledge of hu- 
 man nature in all its forms — a strong, common-sense, prac- 
 tical man, capable of undergoing the severest hardships, a& 
 the history of his life shows, but comming out successful in 
 the grand "roundup" — and with natural and acquired 
 power to plan, as well as execute, gigantic business enter- 
 prises. 
 
 Having risen himself from the humblest Avalks of life, 
 starting as a poor boy on a farm, splitting rails and tending 
 cattle, he can keenly appreciate the troubles of others, as is 
 evidenced by the many substantial acts of kindness and 
 assistance that he has rendered the poor and deserving; and 
 above all, he is noted for standing by his friends when they 
 need his help, and seeing that justice is meted out to them 
 fairly and equitably ; and at the same time, he never forgets 
 an enemy who has deliberately and maliciously done him a 
 wrong. 
 
 In personal appearance, Mr. Goodnight would strike even 
 the casual observer as a man of solid, substantial attain- 
 ments and much power. He is above medium height, with 
 a large, well-shaped head, strongly set on broad shoulders. 
 His hair, now with the slightest sprinkle of grey, is very 
 black, as is his rounded beard and moustache. His com- 
 plexion is somewhat tanned by long out-door life in the Pan- 
 handle of Texas, New Mexico and Colorado. His eyes are 
 black and bright, intelligent and quick, but exhibit a very 
 kind and humane expression towards all classes of his fel- 
 
224 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 low-man. He probably Aveigbs about two hundred and 
 eighteen pounds, and his step is firm, active and energetic. 
 If he were met with in any of the large cities of the East or 
 Northwest, he would be taken for a man of comprehensive 
 business talent and remarkable executive ability. 
 
 The people of some sections of Texas, principally a few 
 politicians of northwestern Texas, have conceived the idea 
 that, because Mr. Goodnight has large landed possessions 
 there, he is trying to rule that section to suit himself, 
 and they are given to criticise him rather severely on this 
 account, and speak of him as the "cattle baron" and 
 the "cattle king," but the unprejudiced and intelli- 
 gent people of the State will regard him as one of 
 the few pioneers who has had the courage and been 
 able to secure the means to displace the Indians and 
 the desperadoes from that section, and to open it up for set- 
 tlement by white people, thus planting civilization, wealth 
 and intelligence in a section of Texas that otherwise would 
 have remained as the hunting ground of the savage and the 
 home of the desperado for many j'ears to come. 
 
 Through the instrumentality of Charles Goodnight and a 
 few others like him, the Panhandle of Texas will in a short 
 time become the most productive and largest tax-paying 
 portion of Western Texas. In other words, he has done 
 for northwestern Texas, exactly what the early pioneers, or, 
 as they are called, the "Fathers of Texas," did for this young 
 Republic when they won their independence from Mexico. 
 
 The record of his life shows that he has reclaimed the 
 northwestern portion of the State from the Indians and 
 the cow thief, and enabled civilized white men to live there 
 in comparative safety, and posterity will accord him this 
 honor. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 225 
 
 Distinortiished Texans. 
 
 GENERAL HENRY EUSTACE McCULLOCH. 
 
 HENRY EUSTACE McCULLOCH is the son of Alexan- 
 der McCulloch and Francis LeNoir, who married in 
 Nashville, Tennessee, in 1799. He was born in Rutherford 
 county, Tennessee, on the sixth day of December, 1816. 
 About two years after this, his father moved to North Ala- 
 bama, and in the same year thereafter to Dyer county. West 
 Tennessee, where H. E. McCulloch, the subject of this 
 sketch, was principally reared. The winter he was fifteen 
 years old, Henry, with the consent of his father, was put in 
 charge of a wood yard, on the Mississippi river, under the 
 supervision of the owner, Joseph Mitchell. The next three 
 winters he, with his older brother Ben, spent in rafting and 
 boating on the Obion and Mississippi rivers. In the fall of 
 1835, Avhen not quite nineteen years old, he accompanied 
 his brother to Texas, but, on reaching Nacogdoches, Ben 
 persuaded him to return and spend a year or two more with 
 their parents. On his return to Tennessee, reaching the 
 mouth of Red River, he met his brother-in-law, W. L. 
 Mitchell, who employed him in examining lands in the Mis- 
 sissippi swamps that winter. He then returned home to aid 
 in making a crop in 1836, but finding a volunteer company 
 making up for the Florida war, he proposed to join it, 
 but his father having spent several months in that section 
 of country with General Jackson during tlie Creek and Brit- 
 ish war of 1812 and 1814, and finding it very unhealthy, 
 would not agree for him to muster in as a soldier, but con- 
 sented to his going as an amateur, making arrangements 
 Avith the authorities to supply him with arms, rations, etc., 
 as the others, but to serve without pay until such time as 
 he might desire to return home. 
 
 In the fall of 1837, he came to Texas to make it his heme, 
 and identified himself with her people. He spent his first 
 winter at Washington, on the Brazos, building board houses, 
 hewing the sills, plates, etc., and splitting the four-foot 
 
226 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 boards out of the red oak timber in the Brazos bottom. In 
 the spring of 1838, he made a trip, with Mr. Hmiter, Joshua 
 Robens and Jack Robens, from Robens' Ferry, which was 
 then the npper house on the Trinity, to what was tlien 
 known as the three forks of that river, their object being to 
 locate and survey lands in that section, but they found the 
 Indians so abundant that they regarded it entirely unsafe at 
 that time, and gave np the enterprise. Returning to Wash- 
 ington, he found Captain Chance, with a party of fifteen 
 men, composed of Captain James Cook, James Shepard, 
 James Evitts, Sam Evitts, McFall, and others, going out to 
 explore the upper Brazos, and he accompanied them. This 
 party, upon reaching the mouth of Little river, took up that 
 stream, and explored a great deal of that country drained by 
 the Gabriel, Lampasas and Leon rivers; and on this trip, 
 while he and McFall were out hunting, they fell in with five 
 Indians, and he got his first shot at a hostile Indian in Texas,, 
 and although there were only two white men, they killed 
 two Indians and ran the other three into the timbered bot- 
 tom on the Gabriel. 
 
 Returning to Washington, he spent a short time socially 
 and resting among his friends at that place and about Inde- 
 pendence, and, about the tenth of July, struck oft" for Gon- 
 zales, where he joined his brother Ben, and went to work in 
 locating and surveying land and in aiding the settlers in de- 
 fending themselves against the Indians, who seldom allowed 
 the light of a moon to pass without committing some act of 
 murder or theft upon the unprotected settlers. During the 
 months of November and December, 1838, the brothers, 
 Henry and Ben McCulloch, divided the half league of land 
 upon which Seguin is situated into one-acre, five-acre, and 
 twelve-acre lots, the business lots having been survej^ecl by 
 Swift and Campbell a month previously. 
 
 In Januar}^, 1839, Ben planned a raid against the Co- 
 manches, with a few Americans and a number of Tonkaway 
 Indians, against which Henry protested, but unwilling to 
 abandon his brother on such a hazardous expedition, he de- 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 227 
 
 Dhtinguishcd Texans. 
 
 termined to go and share his fate. When the' day to march 
 came, there were five Americans, viz : Ben and Henry Mc- 
 Culloch, Wilson Randle, David Henson, and John D. Wolfin, 
 and thirty-five Indians, ready to take the field. Fortunately, 
 after two days, march, they met a band of hostile Waco and 
 Comanche Indians on the head of Peach creek, on their way 
 into the settlements, with whom a battle was commenced at 
 once, and resulted in the killing of five hostiles on the 
 gromid, with several others wounded, when they retreated 
 into a large, dense thicket on the creek, into which the 
 friendly Indians refused to follow, and the battle ended, with 
 the loss of one friendly Indian killed. The friendly Indians 
 having lost a man and taken the scalps of the five hostiles, 
 insisted on returning to their camp to mourn over the dead 
 and celebrate the victory witli a series of war dances, and 
 while Henry was more than glad of it, his brother Ben had 
 found that while their allies fought bravely, they did so lit- 
 tle execution that they were really not valuable in battle. 
 
 Winter being unfavorable for surve\ang, and there being 
 a heavy crop of pecans, the brothers determined to build a 
 small flat boat, 12x24 feet, load it with pecans and take it 
 down the Guadalupe river to the Gulf of Mexico, which they 
 accomplished, and sold the pecans near Pass Caballo. On 
 returning home, they found that Captain Matthew Caldwell 
 (Old Paint) was authorized by the President of the Republic 
 to raise a company of rangers for six months, to defend the 
 settlers at Gonzales and >Seguin against the Indians, and 
 they at once agreed for Henry to join the company and Ben 
 to carry on their land business. During the six months a 
 great deal of active, eflicient service was performed', and 
 several parties of Indians routed, but not a single battle was 
 fought, nor any depredation committed on the settlements; 
 and, during this period, the brothers surveyed the wagon 
 road from Gonzales to Austin, the newly established seat of 
 government, under the protection of an escort from Captain 
 Caldwell's compan\^ 
 
 In November, 1839, Henrv McCulloch met Miss Jane Isa- 
 
228 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texan s. 
 
 bella Ashby, a young lady who had been for three years at- 
 tending school in her native State, Kentucky, to whom he 
 became engaged to be married at a subsequent period; and 
 in order to have bread in the house after the marriage, he 
 rented Mrs. DeWitt's farm, and made a crop of corn on it in 
 the spring of 1840. 
 
 At the spring term of the county court, he was appointed 
 assessor of taxes for that year, and as soon as he laid by his 
 crop, he j)erformed that service. 
 
 In August of that year, the Comanche Indians made a raid 
 with a force of four or five hundred warriors, passing clear 
 through the settlements, which were very sparse, to the. 
 coast, and sacked and burned Linnville, which was then the 
 seaport on Lavaca bay, killing all the men in the place who 
 did not make their escape in boats, and capturing a few 
 families. All the force that could be raised promptly pur- 
 sued them as they went down the country, and met them in 
 the open prairie soon after they had sacked the^town, and, 
 though not strong enough to give battle with prospects of 
 certain success, they were sufficiently strong to hold the 
 Indians together, pursue them on their retreat and prevent 
 them scattering, and thus save the settlers along their line 
 of retreat. Meantime, another force was being raised on 
 the Guadalupe and Colorado rivers, and concentrated where 
 the Indians would cross Plum creek ; and about the time 
 the Indians reached that point. Captain Caldwell, with 
 about one hundred men from the Guadalupe, and Colonel 
 Burleson, with about the same number of men from the 
 Colorado, had formed a junction, and as General Felix 
 Huston, who was major-general of the militia, was present, 
 they turned the command over to him. He ordered the at- 
 tack to be promptly made, sending forward a few men as 
 skirmishers to bring on the battle. The Indians, being on 
 the open prairie, soon discovered the movement and rallied 
 their warriors at a point of timber, making show of fight, 
 while they Avere rushing off their squaws and plunder. 
 Upon this, General Huston halted and dismounted his 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 229 
 
 Distinguished Tex an s. 
 
 force, and for some time awaited an attack, until, at Cap- 
 tain Caldwell's request, Ben McCulloch suggested that it 
 was best to mount his force and charge them. The order 
 was given and promptly obeyed, Caldwell's company charg- 
 ing through and driving the Indians out of the point of tim- 
 ber, while Colonel Burleson charged those immediately in 
 front of his force on the open prairie. The Indians 
 gave way, and a running fight was kept up for several 
 miles. During that run, a party of Indians were overtaken 
 at a boggy branch, where his companions gave Henry Mc- 
 Culloch the credit of killing one Indian, while Ben and 
 Henry E. McCulloch, Alsey S. jNIiller and C. C. DeWitt, 
 leading the van after this, killed five Indians in single- 
 handed combat, and it is conceded that Henry killed twO' 
 of these. 
 
 On the the twentieth of August, 1840, Henry was married 
 to Miss Jane Isabella Ashby, and settled at a place that he 
 and his brother Ben had improved, four miles above Gon- 
 zales, on the road to Austin, and when there was only one 
 other on this road between that and the city. Here Ben 
 opened a small farm that fall and winter, and put in a crop 
 of corn the next spring. 
 
 In the fall of 1841, his brother-in-law. Judge. B. D. Mc- 
 Clure, died, leaving his family very much exposed on Peach 
 creek, ten miles east of Gonzales, which, with other circum- 
 stances, rendered it necessary for him to leave his little 
 farm in charge of his brother, while he went to live with her 
 until other arrangements could be made. 
 
 While plowing in the field, on the fifth of March, 1842, 
 report reached Henry that the Mexican General Vasques 
 had captured San Antonio with a large force, and that all the 
 families from Seguin to Gonzales were on the move eastward. 
 Knowing that his brother Ben, Alsey S, Miller and others, 
 were west, watching the movements of the enemy, Henry 
 rode hurriedly to Gonzales to try to check the stampede of 
 the families until they could hear of the advance of the 
 enemy from San Antonio ; and finding he could not do this. 
 
230 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Disting uished Texans. 
 
 he returned home, packed the wagon, gathered what stock 
 he could hurriedly, and put them in charge of his wife, with 
 a negro hoy and her t-wo little brothers, to be taken to the 
 settlements on the Lavaca, off the main traveled road, and 
 wait for instructions from him, while he took the road to 
 San Antonio with what men he could pickup. Just beyond 
 Seguin, he met his brother Ben, and asked him whether it 
 could be an invading force? "Yes," he replied, " we are 
 too weak to attack them, and must necessarily watch their 
 movements and wait for reinforcements ;" and before any 
 ■considerable number of reinforcements arrived, Vasques 
 sacked the place and returned to Mexico. Henry returned 
 immediately to his family, took them back home, and com- 
 pleted the cultivation of his crop. 
 
 In September of this year, the Mexican General Adrion 
 Woll, with one thousand regular infantry, a field battery of 
 two guns, and five or six hundred Ranchero cavalry, cap- 
 tured San Antonio again, and with it the district court, 
 which was then in session. As soon as this news reached 
 Gonzales, the McCullochs and others rallied all the force 
 they could and marched to Seguin, where they established 
 a supply camp — sent runners out for reinforcements, and as 
 soon as they had two hundred and two men assembled, or- 
 ganized a company of spies, or scouts, under Jack Hays, 
 with Henry McCulloch as first lieutenant and C. B. Acklen 
 as orderly sergeant, and moved on^totheCibolo, and thence, 
 after night, to a position on the east side of the Salado, 
 about seven miles from San Antonio, and at daylight next 
 morning. Hays' company was sent in to draw the enemy out. 
 General Woll by some means unknown to this force, 
 was about ready to move against it, and when Hays made 
 his appearance, Woll's whole force of cavalry gave chase, 
 which only ended when Hays reached the position of the 
 main body of Texans. Skirmishing was kept up during 
 the day, and the enemy made two bold efforts to dislodge 
 the Texans by charging their line, but were repulsed both 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 2^1 
 
 Distinguished lexans. 
 
 times with heavy loss, and, finally, at dark, they retired 
 from the field. 
 
 As it rained all the next day, no forward movement was 
 made, but on the next morning, the Texans marched upon 
 the town and found that Woll had evacuated it and com- 
 menced his retreat at daylight that morning. They pursued 
 Woll's forces, overtaking him on the Hondo, where he had 
 taken strong position, and placed his battery so as to rake 
 the road upon which the Texans would advance. Without 
 knowing the position of these guns. Hays charged the Mex- 
 ican rearguard, drove them in upon the main body, and cap- 
 tured the battery before the enemy had fired a half dozen 
 shots; but the enemy, finding he was not properly supported, 
 rallied in force and recaptured the battery. That night the 
 the two commands laid within a few hundred yards of each 
 other, and about three o'clock next morning the enemy 
 continued the retreat and the pursuit was abandoned. Hays 
 had one horse killed and two men wounded in the charge. 
 
 The Texans meeting considerable re-inforcements on their 
 return, when they reached San Antonio, it was agreed that 
 they would make a raid into Mexico as early as possible, 
 and all those who could do so were induced to remain at 
 and near San Antonio, while others returned to their homes 
 to get up recruits and gather beef cattle to supply the com- 
 mand on the expedition. 
 
 Without the aid of the government, an army of 800 men 
 assembled on the Medina, twenty miles west of San Anto- 
 nio, in November, 1842, and without a wagon, tent, or bread- 
 stuff, marched for Mexico, driving the beef upon which the}'- 
 subsisted with them ; took formal possession of Laredo on 
 this side of the river, which had not been done before; 
 moved down opposite Gerreo; crossed and captured that 
 town some miles from the river and returned to this side of 
 the river, where General Alexander Somervell, who was in 
 command, ordered the forces to return to San Antonio. 
 
 Disgusted with General Somervell, and desiring to learn 
 more of the country, Henry McCulloch got permission from 
 
232 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 Captain Hays and General Somervell to take a portion 
 of Hays' company, of which he was first lieutenant, and 
 proceed down the Rio Grande as far as he thought it safe to 
 go, and return by a route south of that taken by the Texans' 
 main body. 
 
 General Somervell's order to abandon the expedition was 
 so unexpected, and regarded as so unnecessary, that over 300 
 of the men, and some of the oflicers, refused to obey it, and 
 organized a force under Colonel W. S. Fisher to proceed 
 down to and c^ipture the town of Mier, which was on a 
 small stream a few miles from the Rio Grande. In organiz- 
 ing this force, and before electing Colonel Fisher, the com- 
 mand was first tendered to Ben McColloch, then to Tom 
 Green, and then to Henry McCulloch, but as they had left 
 the command with permission, all refused to accept it, and 
 Henry McCulloch declined to connect his command with it 
 in any way, further than to go in advance of it with his 
 thirteen men, and if he discovered any formidable force to 
 report it to Colonel Fisher. 
 
 When opposite Mier, he awaited the arrival of Colonel 
 Fisher, and informed him that while he had seen no formi- 
 dable force, he had discovered small scouting parties who 
 were watching his movements, and could easily count his 
 numbers as he marched along the river. 
 
 He declared his intention was to cross his troops that 
 night and attack the town at da^dight next morning; and 
 rather than see him make a reckless attack on the town 
 Avithout any knowledge of what Avas in it, Henry McCulloch 
 proposed that Colonel Fisher increase his force to twenty- 
 five men, put them across in his ferry boats (having cap- 
 tured two on his way down tlie river), and place from fifty 
 to one hundred men on the Avest side of the river to hold 
 and protect the crossing, when Lieutenant McCulloch would 
 make a reconoisance of the town and report to him. This 
 being agreed to, McCulloch marched upon the town at once, 
 and finding no troops there, rode into the main plaza, re- 
 ceived the surrender of the place by the alcalde, and was in- 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 233 
 
 Distinouished Texans. 
 
 formed by a Mr. Jamison, whom he iound there, and an old 
 Mexican friend of the Texans, from San Antonio, that Col- 
 onel Canales, with 500 cavalry, was expected there in an 
 hour, and that General Ampudia, with 1500 infantry, was 
 expected that night. After remaining an hour quietly, 
 Lieutenant McCulloch returned, giving no intimation of 
 their future movements, and as he reached the top of the 
 hill, he could see Colonel Canales' command, some two 
 miles off, as they advanced on the town. 
 
 He reported the condition of afliiirs to Colonel Fisher, 
 who said he would move at three o'clock a. m. and attack 
 the town at daylight with his whole force dismounted. 
 Rather than see him do this, without any information as to 
 the locality of the enem}^ Henry McCulloch proposed that 
 Colonel Fisher increase his force to fifty men, to act as his 
 advance guard, etc., to which he consented, and he again 
 marched into the town, and found that Ampudia had failed 
 to reach it, though only a few miles off, and that Canales 
 had left at four o'clock a. m., to join Ampudia. The town 
 was again formally surrendered to Colonel Fisher, and he 
 made his demand for money and supplies, which the 
 alcalde agreed to furnish. While his command occupied 
 the town McCulloch kept pickets on all the roads lead- 
 ing into it. 
 
 On returning to camp that night, McCulloch found that, 
 instead of Colonel Fisher having the supplies delivered at 
 that place where he had his boats, he had agreed to re- 
 ceive them five miles lower down, and on the west side of 
 the river, whereupon McCulloch said to Colonel Fisher : 
 " You have had a trap laid for you which I do not propose 
 to fall into, but will leave you in the morning, and you will 
 find Ampudia where you expect your supplies." Fisher 
 found this prediction true, and yet he crossed his force in 
 the face of the enemy, driving them before him into the 
 city, fought them in it a day and night, gaining advantages 
 over them, and was finally induced to surrender upon the 
 
234 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 eneni}' stating they had received large reinforcements, and 
 ofFerhig liberal terms of surrender. 
 
 McCulloch, with his small command, leaving Fisher prior 
 to the surrender, struck off through the country, without a 
 a road, and reached the Nueces and crossed it about ten 
 miles above San Patricio, and crossed the San Antonio river 
 at the old deserted town of Sobohea, or Goliad, and reached 
 the Guadalupe river near where Cuero is now located. 
 
 When Henry McCulloch arrived at home, he found all 
 well, and that a daughther had been born unto his wife 
 three Aveeks before, and that during his absence, without 
 consulting him, his friends had placed his name before the 
 people as a candidate for sheriff of the county, and the elec- 
 tion being only two weeks off, it was too late to decline, or 
 do anything of consequence to secure his election. 
 
 In February, 1843, Henry McCulloch was elected sherifi" 
 of Gonzales county, by a handsome majority over C. C. De- 
 witt, the son of the empressario, and a very popular young 
 man. He held this office two years, unprofitably however, 
 it proving a loss to him of both time and means. 
 
 In 1844, he commenced merchandising in Gonzales, on 
 capital loaned him, without interest, by Captain Isaac N. 
 Mitchell, who was one of his old fellow-soldiers, and a iwx- 
 mer of considerable means. 
 
 Finding his wife's health failing in Gonzales, he moved 
 to Seguin, in November of the same 3'ear, and there finding 
 a stock of goods belonging to General A. W. G. Davis in the 
 hands of Wilson Randle, to be sold on commission, he bought 
 them, and took Randle into partnership with him, open- 
 ing out under the firm name of Randle & McCulloch. Be- 
 ing remarkably successful, he soon paid his friend the 
 money he had kindly loaned him, and was able to go on 
 with the business. 
 
 In February, 1846, Thomas H. Folloman, a young man 
 from Virginia, who had been raised a merchant, and had 
 some ready money, came to Seguin and proposed to go into 
 partnership with the firm. The proposition was accepted. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 235 
 
 Dhtinguished Texans. 
 
 and the firm name was changed to Randle, McCiilloch & Co. 
 On the eighth day of June, 1846, McCuUoch turned the 
 store over to his partners for their management, and was 
 elected captain of a volunteer company for service in the 
 Mexican war, with orders from the Governor to report to 
 •Colonel W. S. Harney, then in command of San Antonio, 
 who had the company mustered into the service of the 
 United States by liiutenant-Colonel T. T. Fauntleroy, and 
 ordered to establish a camp at the head of San Marcos river, 
 where the town of San Marcos now is, and wheie there was 
 not then a house in fifteen miles. 
 
 Having no treaties with the Indians, and fearing the Mexi- 
 cans would induce them to commit more daring depredations 
 on the frontier settlers then usual. Captain McCulloch's 
 company was kept most of the time on the frontier, but 
 was ordered into Mexico twice, going as far as Monclova on 
 General AVoll's line of march, and Monteray on General 
 Taylor's line, and each time, after rendering some service 
 in breaking up guerrilla haunts, was ordered back to his 
 camp on the frontier. 
 
 In the fall of 1846, the town of San Marcos was laid off b}- 
 General Edward Burleson, Sr., and Colonel W. B. Lindsey, 
 proprietors; and by June, 1847, a fine settlement had formed 
 in and around it, extending down the river for several miles, 
 and was regarded sufficiently strong to protect itself against 
 the Indians. -^ 
 
 In the early part of Juh^, 1847, a regiment was formed of 
 detatched companies, of which Captain McCulloch's was 
 one, and P. Hansborough Bell (afterwards Governor of 
 Texas) was elected Colonel, who was put in command of all 
 the troops in Texas, with his headquarters at San Antonio, 
 with instructions to place his entire regiment on the frontier 
 to protect the settlers against the Indians. 
 
 Upon receiving these instructions, and not being very well 
 acquainted with the frontier. Colonel Bell called Captain 
 Henry McCulloch, Captain Highsmith and ''Big Foot" Wal- 
 lace to his headquarters for consultation as to where the 
 
236 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 line of defense should be established, and the companies 
 respectively posted, and it was agreed that Fredericksburg- 
 was thr outside settlement, and that a line should be drawn 
 about this distance from the main settlements, and Captain 
 McCulloch's company was ordered to take post on it in 
 Hamilton's Valley, on the Colorado river, seventy miles 
 above Austin, with Captain Highsmith's company near 
 Fredericksburg, west of the former company, and Captain 
 Shapley P. Ross east of it, on or near the Brazos, about 
 where Waco is now located. The companies on this entire 
 line of frontier were required to have scouts from each to 
 meet at a designated point between them once a week, with 
 orders to report any failure upon the part of any company to 
 do so, and to keep scouting parties constantly out above this 
 line, which General McCulloch now says, "proved the most 
 efficient protection tlie frontier has ever had under any other 
 plan that has ever been tried." 
 
 About the first of November, 1847, Captain McCulloch es- 
 tablished "Camp McCulloch," on Hamilton creek, about 
 three miles below where the town of Burnet is now located, 
 where this company remained until the twenty-second day 
 of October, 1848, which was the end of their term of service, 
 when they were regularly discharged; but a band of Indians 
 having passed down west of Captain Highsmith's company, 
 and committed depredations on the Guadalupe river, both 
 the Governor and Colonel Bell urged Captain McCulloch to 
 hold his company together, reorganize and muster in for an 
 indefinite period, and remain until the arrival of United 
 States dragoons, which he did, and on being relieved by 
 them, his company was finally discharged from the service 
 of the United States in the war with Mexico. 
 
 During these terms of service, covering the time from the 
 eighth day of June, 1846, to the eighth day of December, 1848, 
 Captain McCulloch was elected captain four times by the 
 men, one term of over three months, two terms of twelve 
 months, and the fourth for one month and seventeen days, 
 without opposition after his election to the command of the 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 237 
 
 Disting uished Texans. 
 
 first company. No better evidence could be produced of his 
 popularity with his company, and as no charges or official 
 complaints were ever made against him by his commanding 
 officers, his services must have been satisfactory to them. 
 
 As he desired to be retired from the mercantile business 
 and turn his attention to farming and stock-raising, and in 
 order to give liis partners ample time to make suitable ar- 
 rangements therefor, after being discharged from the service, 
 he came to Austin, rented the "Swisher House," and kept 
 hotel from the first of January, 1849, to the last of Februar}', 
 1850. During this time, over ten thousand dollars were re- 
 ceived and paid out, and Captain McCulloch's net profits 
 amounted to just $103.25, with the services of himself, wife, 
 two negroes and a brother-in-law, Travis H. Ashby, who 
 he was raising, thrown in for good measure. During this 
 time, he was made a Mason, in Austin Lodge No. 12, and as . 
 far as ascertained. Honorable John Hancock is the only Ma- 
 son now living who was a member of the lodge at that time. 
 
 About the fourth of March, 1850, he returned to his home 
 in Seguin, closed up his mercantile business, in which he 
 found his capital had increased, and that it had, under the 
 management of honest partners, made money, after paying 
 them liberally for carrying on his part of it, during an ab- 
 sence of nearly four years. But before he had time to do 
 much in arranging for his farming and stock-raising, he was 
 again called on by General Brook, then in command of 
 Texas, to take the field for the protection of the frontier 
 settlements, for twelve months, with a company of Rangers, I / 
 which he raised under an order from him. He was elected 
 Captain, and mustered into service at Austin, on the fifth day 
 of November, 1850, and ordered to report to him at San 
 Antonio, where the company!\vas fitted out for the field, and 
 ordered to protect the settlements between the Nueces and 
 San Antonio rivers, upon wliich the Indians were commit- 
 ting constant depredations. 
 
 Under these orders he established his camp about the 
 upper waters of the Aransas river, above the settlements. 
 
238 PERSONNEI. OF THE 
 
 Di'sttng'uished Texans^ 
 
 and at once threw out his scovits to the San Antonio river^ 
 on the eagt, and the Nueces, on the west, and kept the en- 
 tire line of same sixty miles constantly covered with 
 scouts ; hut, as the country was full of mustangs (wild 
 horses), it was difficult to detect the trail of a few Indians 
 that miglit pass along in the night with bare-footed ponies. 
 Captain McCulloch made an arrangement with the settlers 
 helow his line, to report to him promptly if the Indians 
 committed any depredations, or any sign of them should 
 be discovered. 
 
 It was only a few days before a party of fifteen Indians 
 passed below the line and succeeded in stealing some 
 horses, but one of his scouting parties under the command 
 of Lieutenant J. R. King discovered the trail and pursued 
 them all day through a heavy rain, overtaking them just 
 at dark encamped in the forks of two deep ravines. King, 
 as was the custom in those days, charged them with his ten 
 men. The Indians dropped precipitately into one^of the ra- 
 vines, where they made a firm stand, and although they 
 wounded the lieutenant, with an arrow at his first 
 onset, and about half the guns of his party (get- 
 ting wet by the rain) could not be made to fire, he held 
 his ground and fought them until dark, and then came 
 to the company's camp, which was only about four miles 
 from his battle ground. The night was so dark, that noth- 
 ing could be done, but at day break next morning, Captain 
 McCulloch was on the ground with twenty men, and finding 
 that the Indians had been gone a few hours, began chase at 
 such speed as he thought his horses could hold on a long 
 chase through heavy ground (a good deal of it boggy from 
 the late rain), and at about twelve o'clock, after a chase of 
 many miles, his men who were mounted on the horses of 
 the best bottom, got almost within gunshot of them as they 
 reached the edge of a dense thicket miles in extent, where 
 they abandoned their horses, making their escape on foot, 
 with nothing but their arms. One other party, of two In- 
 dians, succeeded in passing below the line and captured a 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 239r 
 
 Dtstingitished Texans. 
 
 little boy near night at Refugio. The citizens pursued in 
 the direction the Indians took, but not being able to trail them 
 in the night, notified Captain McCulloch of what had oc- 
 curred, and where thej thought he would probably strike the 
 trail of the Indians; and by sunrise the next morning, he had 
 reached that point, and, by accident, found the trail, and 
 followed it, with difficulty, up the Nueces for four days, 
 hoping to find a larger party to which these two fellows be- 
 longed, but not doing so, gave up the chase. About two 
 weeks after this, another party of about twenty Indians at- 
 tempted to pass down near the Nueces, through an open 
 country, and were discovered by a scouting party under 
 Lieutenant Calvin S. Turner, who at once gave chase with 
 fifteen men, but the Indians having a long way the start of 
 him, reached the thickets on Sulphur creek far enough in 
 advance to scatter and elude his j^ursuit. 
 
 The Secretary of War disapproved the twelve months' 
 call, but ordered the company to be mustered out and re- 
 mustered at the end of six months for six months longer, 
 which necessitated a reorganization of the company, and 
 Captain McCulloch was re-elected captain without opposi- 
 tion, and re-mustered into service at Fort Morrill by Cap- 
 tain Gordon Granger, who freed the slaves by a military or- 
 der, in violation of the Constitution and laws of the United 
 States, on the nineteenth day of June, ISGo. In the mean- 
 time, General Brook had died, and General W. S. Harney 
 was in command, and as there had been no Indians seen for 
 over two months on or near the line of operations, he re- 
 garded them entirely driven off from that portion of the 
 frontier, and, at his request. General Harney ordered Cap- 
 tain McCulloch's company to or near the head of the Llano 
 river, where Kimble county is now located, from where he 
 could completely protect the settlers on the upper Guada- 
 lupe, and partially, if not completely, protect those on the 
 upper Medina. 
 
 Soon after establishing his camp well up the north fork 
 of the Llano, Captain McCulloch started out with a scout of 
 
V 
 
 240 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 twenty-two men, intending to pass up that stream to its 
 source, and thence westward to the Nueces, so as to cut 
 across all the Indian trails that traversed that section, and, 
 if no fresh trail was found, to bear northeast to the head- 
 waters of the San Saba, Concho, etc., making a scout of fif- 
 teen or twenty days; but, just at the head of the north fork 
 of the Llano, he struck a fresh trail of Indians, going in the 
 direction of the head of the San Saba, which he promptly 
 pursued, and, thinking it likely he would find them resting 
 . at the first good water, he placed the detachment under the 
 command of Sergeant Houston Tom, with instructions to 
 move silently, while he took one more with him to go in ad- 
 \ance and spy out the Indian camp, in the event of finding 
 it. On approaching the first branch of the San Saba he dis- 
 covered their camp, composed of some forty braves and two 
 squaws, where the men were all loitering carelessly about in 
 the shade of an oak grove, on the margin of a spring branch, 
 with their horses grazing on a prairie some three or four 
 hundred yards from them. The fact that some of our friendlv 
 Indians were permitted to roam and hunt in that section of 
 the country rendered it necessary to use great caution in at- 
 tacking any party that might be discovered, which prevented 
 his taking all the advantages of them he could otherwise 
 have taken ; and, in order to be certain whether they were 
 friends or foes, after getting within three hundred yards of 
 them under cover of the timber on the branch, v.'e advanced 
 upon them in line, at a gallop, but did not open fire upon 
 them until the warriors seized their arms and fired one shot, 
 upon which he charged them, and they fled, scattering over 
 exceedingly rough, broken, rocky and brushy ground, so 
 that he had to turn his men loose with orders to attack them 
 wherever they could come up with them, and in this way 
 four Indians were killed, two squaws taken prisoner, and 
 every horse they had, with all their camp plunder and camp 
 outfit, captured Avhile the rangers' loss was one horse killed, 
 and one man slightly wounded by an arrow shot by a squaw, 
 when he was making her a prisoner. This was a party of 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 24I 
 
 Distinguished Tcxans. 
 
 Comanches who had made a raid on the lower Rio Grande, 
 and were making their way back to their main body on the 
 upper Colorado river. A/ter detaining the squaws about 
 two hours, to get them quiet and learn all he could from 
 them, Captain McCulloch allowed each of them to pick a 
 horse out of those captured, take all the plunder they 
 wanted, and then presenting each of them with a good blan- 
 ket from his own stores, turned them loose to hunt up their 
 men and tell them he was not fighting women, or for plun- 
 der, but for peace ; that he would remain on the ground 
 until twelve o'clock the next day, and if they would come in 
 and agree to make peace, he would turn over all their prop- 
 erty to them ; that if they were afraid to do this, if they 
 would hunt up a band of friendly Comanches. and report to 
 the commanding officer at Fort Martin Scott, near Freder- 
 icksburg, in a month Ca moon), and make peace, he would 
 restore their property. 
 
 The property had to be carried back to camp, to be 
 taken care of, and Captain McCulloch's party being too 
 weak to divide and prosecute the scout, after remaining till 
 twelve o'clock the next day, as promised, he returned to 
 camp with his entire party, and was exceedingly careful to 
 have every piece of the plunder captured taken care of, so 
 that it might be turned over to them in case they came in 
 and made peace. In about three weeks, Captain McCulloch 
 received notice from the commanding (officer at Fort Martin 
 Scott that they had come in and pro})i)spd to make peace, 
 provided he showed good faith by keeping his j^romise to 
 them through their squaws. They also asked Captain Mc- 
 Culloch to come down and bring the property, if he had it 
 still on hand. In compliance with this request, he car- 
 ried the property down and turned it over to the Indians, in 
 the presence of the commanding officer of the fort, and they 
 acknowledged that not an article that they could remember 
 was missing. Although no one was authorized to make a 
 treaty with them, an agreement was made for them to com- 
 mit no depredations on our people, and they to be treated 
 
242 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Disting uished Texans . 
 
 as friends until a proper treaty could bo made and they 
 moved to the reservation. 
 
 This was the last Indian fight Captain McCulloch ever 
 commanded, although some of his scouts had several little 
 brushes with them while in that section before being mus- 
 tered out of the service at Fort Martin'Scott (on the fourth 
 day of November, 1851) by Captain .Tames Longstreet, and 
 this was the last military service he ever rendered under 
 the United States flag. 
 
 Captain McCulloch returned to his home at Seguin, and 
 at once went about making his arrangements to establish 
 his farm and stock business on a solid basis, and in- 
 vested some money in a piece of land upon winch he put 
 a ranch house and built pens. That winter and next 
 spring (1S52) he purchased some horses and put them and 
 his cattle (exceptthe milch cows) upon it, in charge of a 
 Mexican, but giving it his personal supervision. 
 
 In the summer of 1853, Colonel French Smith declared 
 himself a Whig candidate for the State Legislature. Up to 
 this time they had had no political divisions in the county, 
 but the Dem-ocrats got together, informally, and determined 
 to call a meeting and put out their man against him. The 
 Colonel was a fine talker, and the Democrats tackled him 
 with a considerable degree of hesitancy, but they finally de- 
 termined that Captain McCulloch should make the race 
 against him, and be having never made a speech up to that 
 time, the Colonel laughed at the idea of pitting " Henr}' " 
 against him. The Colonel made his appointments, and in- 
 vited Captain McCulloch to meet him. Captain McCulloch 
 never intimated to him or his friends that he intended to do 
 so, but rather intimated that he would not meet hmi in de- 
 bate. Captain McCulloch, having business at Austin just be- 
 fore his first appointment, which was at Seguin, pur- 
 posely stayed away until Smith had gotten well into his 
 speech, Avhich he commenced by asking the Democracy 
 where their champion was, and when might he expect to 
 meet him before the people, if ever ? with the remark,. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 24 J 
 
 Distinp'uishcd Texans. 
 
 "Henry is a star Indian and Mexican fighter, but you made 
 a mistalve when yob selected him as a speech-maker," and 
 Avhen McCulloch stepped in and took his seat near the doQr 
 of the church in which he was s^^eaking, it seemed to move 
 him to his best efforts. As he drew to a close, and before 
 waiting to be called, McCulloch i-ose to his feet, promptly 
 indicating his intention to reply, and as he walked forward, 
 he was cheered on all sides. Colonel Smith met him cor- 
 dialh", and having occupied tlic pulpit during his speech, he 
 invited McCulloch to do the same, to which he replied: 
 •' Xo, no, Colonel; I am not only no preacher, but I am not 
 good enough to occupy the pulpit," and as he was a very 
 profane man, while McCulloch was not, this retort he felt 
 to be a pretty hard lick. During McCulloch 's ride to Austin 
 and back, alone, he had plenty of time to think, and having 
 about all the manliness that was in him called into requisi- 
 tion, it is doubtful whether he has ever made a better stump 
 speech than he made that day. When he got through, 
 Smith pushed his way through McCulloch's friends to tell 
 him that "if this is a specimen of your speeches, you will 
 prove as good a speaker as you have an Indian and Mexican 
 fighter." The canvass terminated in McCulloch defeating 
 Smitli by a handsome majority. Captain McCulloch had 
 no taste for a political life, although, as a patriotic and con- 
 scientious member of the Legislature, he did his duty, and 
 was afterwards, as will be seen, drawn into another contest. 
 
 In 1855, he was reluctlantly drawn into a canvass (on ques- 
 tions of State policy) against his neighbor and friend. Colo- 
 nel Tliomas H. Duggan, wJ^o was a substantial Democrat, 
 and while they both urged Democratic friends to hold a con- 
 vention and decide between them, they failed to do so, and 
 these gentleman ran the race through, and McCullocIi was 
 elected over him by a fair majority to represent the coun- 
 ties of Gonzales, Caldwell, Guadalupe, Hays and Comal, 
 in the Senate, for four years. 
 
 In the summer of 1<S54, Captain McCulloch, purchasing 
 an additional 640 acre tract of land adjoining his ranch tract,. 
 
244 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 on Mill Creek, eight miles west of Seguin, improved it suf- 
 ficiently to shelter his family, sold his home and small farm 
 in Seguin, and moved his family to his new home. He 
 opened a small farm on it, fenced a small pasture, built good 
 stock-pens, and the next spring invested all his spare funds 
 in good jacks, stallions and mares, with the intention of 
 raising horses and mules extensively. 
 
 His brother Ben, had been United States marshal of Texas 
 during President Pierce's administration, and when the 
 State was divided into two judicial districts. President Buch- 
 anan apjDointed him United States marshal for the east- 
 ern district of Texas, and as he wished to spend a good 
 deal of his time in Washington, North Carolina, Virginia, 
 Mississippi and Tennessee, and Henry spent a good deal of 
 his time in Galveston, when he could be spared from other 
 interests, managing the office, at the end of the session of 
 the Legislature which was held in the winter of 1857 and 
 1858, Ben resigned and President Buchanan appointed 
 Henry United States marshal for the eastern district of Texas 
 for four years, which position he held until Texas seceded, 
 when he resigned. 
 
 The Secession Convention selected three men, viz : Ben 
 McCulloch, John S. Ford, and Henry E. McCulloch, and 
 iippointed them colonels, with authority to raise men and 
 capture the stores at all the militar}^ posts of the United 
 States in Texas. As soon as the brothers were informed of 
 their appointment, they hastened home (eight miles north 
 of Seguin at "Ranger's Home") to spend a day with the 
 family, take leave of them, and be ready in everyway to 
 take the field, and, impressed with the certainty of approach- 
 ing war, to make all their arrangements accordingly. As was 
 ■Captain McCulloch's custom on leaving home for any length 
 of time, he made out full memoranda of all the debts he 
 ■owed (his brother never had any, as he attended to all home 
 affairs) and all that was coming to them, and then pro- 
 ceeded with what he owed as security for others, and when 
 .the last list was made, it being about ten thousand dollars, 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 245 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 his brother seemed astonished, and being called on for his 
 liabilities of the same kind, they amounted to about nine 
 thousand, footing up a little over nineteen thousand dollars^, 
 and, as they had never had any seperate interest, they felt 
 severally bound for these debts if they had to be paid then. 
 
 On carefully looking over the future and calculating the 
 uncertainties of war, and having about $3,000 in gold de- 
 posited with R. D. Q. Mills & Co., of Galveston, they 
 placed this, subject to the order of the wife of Henry (Ben 
 never married and the brothers had but the one home), to- 
 be used as she saw proper for the good of the family, with 
 the suggestion, as they had plenty of beef cattle, mules and 
 horses of marketable age, that she dispose of these to raise 
 money for present use, and retain the gold for any great 
 emergency that might arise, with the further suggestion, if 
 both fell, and the war closed disastrously, she should do 
 what she thought best for herself and children. Here the 
 brothers separated, to meet no more in life, Henry return- 
 ing to Austin, and Ben remaining at home awaiting orders 
 and getting everything ready for his move on San Antonio. 
 
 The principal military post of the United States being at 
 San Antonio, three commissioners were appointed, viz.,, 
 Samuel A. Maverick, Thomas J, Devine and Philip C. 
 Luckit, to take charge of the property after Ben McCnlloch 
 had captured it. A force of about twelve hundred men had 
 already been raised in the counties of Gonzales, Caldwell, 
 Hays and Guadalupe, for such purposes, by Colonel James 
 C. Wilson, of Gonzales; Colonel Ellison, of Caldwell, and Col- 
 onel Hen r}^ McCoUoch, of Seguin, who were called out by 
 Ben McCulloch, and, on presenting this overwhelming force, 
 Colonel Twiggs, who was then in command at San Antonio,, 
 surrendered the property. Colonel Ford was ordered ta 
 Brownsville, as military commander, accompanied by Col- 
 onel E. B. Nichols, as commissioner, while Henry McCul- 
 loch was commissioned as colonel and military commis- 
 sioner, and ordered to raise troops and capture the posts on- 
 the northwestern frontier. Leaving Austin without a man. 
 
246 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 with Lis rifle, pistols, Spanish blanket, and a change of un- 
 derclothiug in his saddle-bags, and only a few dollars in hi-s 
 pocket, he took the stage for the Salado, where he entered 
 the home of Colonel E. Sterling C. Robertson about three 
 o'clock p. ni., and, after telling him of his mission, told 
 him he wanted him to select a man to raise a company hnr- 
 riedl}^, to furnish him (McCuUoch) a number one saddle- 
 horse (suitable for active, hard, frontier service), with sad- 
 dle, bridle, etc., and one hundred dollars in gold, and, if 
 possible, to have them all ready by breakfast next morning. 
 Colonel Robertson put McCulloch to bed, saying, " Go to 
 sleep, and I will have everything ready and wake you up to 
 early breakfast." When McCulloch finished his breakfast 
 the next morning, he found everything ready, with Captain 
 Tally waiting for such orders as he might have for him. 
 Having prepared several blank commissions before leaving 
 Austin, he filled one up for Tally, and directed him to raise 
 a company as soon as possible, of from fifty to one hundred 
 men, and report to him at Comanche, where Colonel McCul- 
 loch had already sent Captain T. C. Frost to raise a com- 
 2)any. Mounting his horse, Colonel McCulloch took the 
 road to Catesville, where he made arrangements to have 
 men raised to report at Comanche, and passing on through 
 Hamilton county, doing the same, he reached Comanche, 
 where he left orders with Captain Frost to have his com- 
 jDany ready to inarch as early as possible, and to hold all 
 others who might come in squads until Captain Tulh' ar- 
 rived with his company, take command of all of them, as 
 senior captain, and report to him at Brownwood. 
 
 On reaching Brownwood, he selected a man, and sent him 
 to Camp Colorado, which was then garrisoned by Captain 
 E. Kirby Smith's company of the Second United States cav- 
 alry, to make a full exam ination'bf the place, make a sketch 
 of it, and return to him at Brownwood, or meet him on the 
 road. Captain Frost soon arrived with the troops, and 
 whe-n those raised. at Brownwood were added, they num- 
 bered about four hundred men, and with these he at once 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 247 
 
 Distingmshed Texans. 
 
 moved upon Camp Colorado, Placing the troops under 
 Captain Frost, as senior captain, with instructions to reach 
 Jim Ned after night, and camp on the creek four miles be- 
 low Camp Colorado, he went on in advance of the troops, 
 and demanded the surrender of the post, with all its mili- 
 tary stores, including the cavalry horses and arms of every 
 description, leaving it optional with the troops to march 
 peacefully out of the country, via Indianola, with transpor- 
 tation furnished, or take service with Texas. At first, Cap- 
 tain Smith positively refused to comply with the demand, 
 but ultimately consented, with the understanding that while 
 all other stores, arms, etc., were to be turned over on the 
 ground, the horses, transportation and arms of the company 
 were to be turned over at Indianola, where the troops were 
 to be shipped to New Orleans or New York. This arrange- 
 ment was made, and articles of agreement regularly signed. 
 He left Captain Frost, with his company, to receive this 
 property and garrison the post, and pushed on to Fort 
 Chadburn, with the remainder of the command, under Cap- 
 tain Tally, as senior captain, taking one man and going 
 about a day in advance of the command. Here he found 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Gouvenier Morris in command of the 
 fort, which was garrisoned with two companies of United 
 States infantry; and when the proposition of surrendering 
 the property was made by Colonel McCulloch, without troops 
 to enforce the demand, Morris not only refused but laughed at 
 him. Meantime, Colonel McCulloch found that Captain, 
 Bill Burleson had a company of rangers about twenty 
 miles off, which had been called into service by Governor 
 Houston, He rode to that camp at once, and induced him to 
 join the Texas command, and before Colonel Morris knew that 
 there was any body of troops near him, the Texans marched 
 upon the fort with about four hundred well-armed men eager 
 for battle, and made a peremptory demand for an immediate 
 surrender, to which Colonel Morris asked for an hour's 
 time to consult his captains, which was granted, upon con- 
 dition that during that hour lie would make no preparation 
 
248 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Disttngnished Texdiis. 
 
 for defense, and Colonel McCulloch was allowed to place an 
 officer inside the fort to see that this condition was com- 
 plied with. At the end of the time, Morris notified McCul- 
 loch that he would surrender the property, but not the com- 
 pany arms, provided his command was allowed to occupy 
 the fort until transportation was furnished them to Indian- 
 ola. It was agreed that his command should occupy the 
 fort until transportation could be furnished, upon condition 
 that the stores should be turned over immediately to an of- 
 ficer, to be apjjointed by Colonel McCulloch, who should, 
 with the approval of Captain Tally, issue to both com- 
 mands, and that the arms of the companies should be turned 
 over at Indianola, which was accepted by him, and articles 
 of agreement signed to that efiect. Upon this agreement, 
 although Colonel McCulloch had not heard from San An- 
 tonio, he wrote to the commissioners and asked them, if pos- 
 sible, to furnish the necessary transportation to move this 
 command, and, leaving Captain Tally, with his company, in 
 command, took Captain Burleson's company and the bal- 
 ance of the command and moved at once upon Phantom 
 Hill, which he found deserted, with only a few stores left. 
 Knowing that he would be able to pick up Captain Buck 
 Barry's company of rangers (ordered out by Governor Hous- 
 ton) on the route. Colonel McCulloch left Captain Burleson's 
 company at this place and pushed on with the remainder of 
 the command under Lieutenant Green Davidson, of Captain 
 Tally's company, to Camp Cooper, where he expected tO' 
 find Captain Carpenter with two companies of the Second 
 Cavalry. Soon after picking up Captain Barry's company,, 
 he met Captain Carpenter, who had been compelled to sur^ 
 render the stores at Camp Cooper to an unauthorized force 
 to whom he could not capitulate, and, in order to relieve 
 liim from his embarrassment as far as possible and guar- 
 antee his peaceful passage out of the State, Colonel McCul- 
 loch entered into articles of agreement with him similar to- 
 those entered into with Captain Smith, he passing on to 
 San Antonio with his command and McCulloch pushing on* 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 249 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 to Camp Cooper, to secure what stores he might find at that 
 place. 
 
 On reaching Camp Cooper, Colonel McCulloch found 
 Major Rogers of Waxahachie, in command, Avith James P. 
 McCord as quartermaster and commissary, taking an in- 
 ventory of the captured property on hand; and although it 
 had been seized by an unauthorized force, Major Rogers had 
 allowed but little of it, if any, to be appropriated to private 
 use. Colonel McCulloch relieved Major Rogers, furnished 
 his command with supplies for the trip home, placed Captain 
 Barry in command, and appointed McCord temporary com- 
 missary and cpiartermaster to continue to take an inventor}' 
 of the property under Captain Barry's orders, make issues 
 to the troops, etc., until other arrangements should be made. 
 Leaving Captain Barry in command of Camp Cooper, Co- 
 lonel McCulloch pushed on with his remaining force, under 
 Lieutenant Davidson, to Fort Belknap, which he found had 
 been deserted by the troops who had left the State for Fort 
 Arbuckle, in the Indian Territory, and if they had left any 
 supplies, they had been carried away by other persons. 
 McCulloch then marched his force back to Camp Colorado, 
 where he disbanded it, furnishing them rations, etc., to their 
 homeS; and after a day's rest returned to Fori Chadburn, ac- 
 companied by Tiieutenant Davidson. On reaching Fort Chad- 
 burn, he learned from Captain Tally that Colonel Morris 
 had refused to recognize Tally's authority, suspended the 
 officer whom he had appointed to take charge of the pro- 
 perty and given official notice that he did not intend to con- 
 form to the articles of capitulation which he had signed, 
 but would supply Tally's company with forage and rations 
 until McCulloch returned. Calling on him immediately, in 
 order to have this affirmed or contradicted by him in person, 
 Colonel McCulloch asked him to invite his two captains 
 who had witnessed the articles of agreement to meet them 
 at his office to witness the conversation. This being done, 
 when called upon by McCulloch, he informed him that 
 iap6n mature deliberation, he had determined not to comply 
 
250 PERSONN'Ei: OF THK 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 'with the v/ritten articles of agreement, and, when ready, 
 would move out of the State in the direction of Fort Ar- 
 buckle, if he moved at all. Meantime news had reached 
 there, that in surrendering the property at San x\ntonio, 
 General Twiggs, as the commander of the forces m Texas, 
 had stipulated with the commissioners (Maverick, Devine, 
 and Luckett) to allow the troops to leave the State at India- 
 nola, where they were to be furnished transportation and 
 supplies, and were to carry their arms out with them, but 
 Colonel McCulloch did not consider that this changed in 
 the least the terms entered into with him, as his was a sep- 
 erate and distinct command, but agreed that on arrival at 
 San Antonio, that these commissioners might change the 
 agreements made with him, so as to put all the United 
 States troops upon the same footing, if the}' desired to do 
 so, of which he informed Colonel Morris. 
 
 A long discussion of an unfriendly character, more or less, 
 ensued, in which .McCulloch accused him of violating his 
 official honor, and of disgracing the flag of his nation, and 
 notified him that he would assemble a force at once to hold 
 his command in the fort until he could get artillery from 
 Fort Mason to l^atter the houses down over his head, and 
 if he undertook to move out by any route without conforming 
 strictly to the written articles of agreement, he, McCulloch, 
 would fight him at every ravine, creek, branch and river to 
 the line of the State, as long as he had an officer and man to 
 shoot at, and he was left with one to fire a gun or pistol. 
 Upon this. Captain W. W. Wallace, who commanded one of 
 the companies, informed Colonel Morris that he considered 
 the articles of agreement, as signed, binding upon the com- 
 mand, and that his company, while he commanded it, would 
 not participate in their violation if it came to hostilities. 
 Finding his own household divided, Colonel Morris asked 
 two hours further time to confer with his officers before Mc- 
 Culloch took further action, which was granted, and at the 
 end of two hours he invited McCulloch to return, and in the 
 •_prespnce of all the officers of his command and Captain Tally, 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 25 1 
 
 Distinguished Tixans. 
 
 pledged himself to carry out the written articles of agree- 
 ment on his part, and here the trouble ended. . After giving 
 Captain Tally instructions as to his future course, Colonel 
 McCulloch left for Camp Colorado, which he had established 
 as the headquarters of his command. 
 
 He remained at Camp Colorado two days, giving orders 
 for the general disi^osition of his forces for the protection of 
 the settlements on the frontier, as well as the careful man- 
 agement of the captured property; put Captain Frost in 
 command as senior captain in his absence, and returned to 
 Austin to make a full report to the Executive Committee (of 
 which Honorable John C. Robertson was chairman, which 
 had been appointed by the Convention to manage the mili- 
 tary afifairs of the State until more permanent arrangements 
 could be made) of all his actions, receive their approval or 
 disapproval, and be relieved of the command or receive 
 further orders. On receiving his report, in writing, his 
 course was approved b}^ the committee unanimously, and 
 he was directed to return to Camp Colorado, and give all 
 the protection in his power to the frontier people until more 
 permanent arrangements could be made to that effect. 
 
 On the night after receiving this order, and before he had 
 left Austin, he received a commission from his PJxcellency, 
 Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States, to raise 
 and command a regiment of mounted riflemen for the pro- 
 tection of the frontier of Texas. In the absence of any other 
 Confederate officer, and in order that he could control the 
 necessary supplies to fit out this regiment, put it in the field 
 and support it, it became necessary for him to assume com- 
 mand of the Department of Texas, which he did; and upon 
 informing the Executive Committee of these facts, tliey au- 
 thorized him to exercise full control of all the supplies cap- 
 tured at San Antonio and the posts north of it, and that he 
 should retain command of the troops which he had placed 
 on the frontier until he could replace them with Confederate 
 troops. 
 
 After issuino- his first order, assuming coinmand of the 
 
252 PERSONlSnEL OF TITE 
 
 Distinguished T'exans. 
 
 Department of Texas, with headquarters at San Antonio, he 
 granted authority to ten select men to raise companies for 
 twelve months' service in the Provisional Army of the Con- 
 federate States, to report to him as early as possible, within 
 the next twenty days, at San Antonio, except those to be 
 raised by Captains T. C. Frost, Buck Barry, and Green Da- 
 vidson (Captain Tally having informed him that he did not 
 desire to remain in the service but a short time) who were 
 to remain at their respective posts. Each of these ten select 
 men was instructed to receive no habitual drunkard or 
 regular gambler into his company, and all, without ex- 
 ception, with the distinct understanding that no leave of ab- 
 sence would be granted to an officer, or furlough to a non- 
 commissioned officer or private, in the twelve months, unless 
 it should be in case of actual necessity, which the colonel 
 commanding would be the judge. Under these instructions, 
 they had but four married men in the regiment, and it was 
 certainly one of the finest regiments of men and horses ever 
 seen mustered into the volunteer service. Going immedi- 
 ately from Austin to San Antonio, to make arrangements 
 with the State Commissioners to turn over the military 
 stores to him as the representative of the Confederate States^ 
 and completing his arrangements with them to that effect. 
 Colonel McCulloch continued the officers in charge of them 
 which they had appointed ; and, after granting Captain W. 
 M. Edgar authority to raise a company for artillery service, 
 he took leave of absence to spend a few days with his fam- 
 ily, near Seguin, while the mounted companies were being 
 raised and equipped to report. 
 
 On the seventeenth of April, the first company of the ten 
 reported, and Captain Sayers, who had been sent from Mont- 
 gomery by the Secretary of War to muster the regiment into 
 service, having arrived, it was mustered in immediately, 
 and as the othf^r companies arrived, one by one, they were 
 mustered, and, in a few days, the six companies that were 
 ordered to report at San Antonio were regularly mustered 
 into service, and Captain Sayers dispatched, with an escort, 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 353 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 to the posts on the frontier to muster in the four companies 
 in that section. 
 
 It requiring a few days to fit out the six companies fully 
 for the field, as well as Captain Edgar's company of light 
 artillery before any further movement of troops was made, 
 Colonel Earl Van Dorn arrived with full instructions from 
 the Secretary of War to take command of the department, 
 and as the war had actually commenced, capture all the 
 United States troops that had not gone out of the depart- 
 ment; and after arresting all the officers that were in San 
 Antonio, he hurried off to Indianola with his staft\ to cap- 
 ture the troops that were waiting at that point for transpor- 
 tation, with orders fur Colonel McCulloch to follow^, by 
 forced marches, with his six companies of mounted men, 
 and Captain Edgar's battery, Avho were all ready for the 
 field; and, although Colonel McCulloch made fully fifty 
 miles in each twenty-four hours, on arriving in Victoria he 
 was informed that all the troops that had not left Indianola 
 had surrendered to Colonel Van Dorn. and that any further 
 advance of his command was unnecessary. 
 
 Here Colonel McCulloch remained /or two days awaiting 
 the return of Colonel Van Dorn, on orders from him, which 
 was beneficial to both men and horses; and when he returned, 
 he pushed on to San Antonio, and directed Colonel McCul- 
 loch to return to that place with his entire command, as ex- 
 peditiousl}' as practicable without injury to liis horses, as 
 troops were expected to arrive there from Forts Clark, Stan- 
 ton, Davis and Bliss, under the command of Colonel Reeves. 
 Reaching San Antonio before the arrival of these troops. 
 Colonel Van Dorn directed Colonel McCulloch to establish 
 a camp with his six companies and Captain Edgar's battery 
 on the Leon, at or near the crossing of the Fort Clark road, 
 where he, McCulloch, would receive reinforcements, and 
 await the approach of Colonel Reeves, who was known to 
 be within a few days' march. 
 
 This being the first time McCullocli's troops had had any 
 rest, he ordered an election for lieutenant-colonel and major 
 
254 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 of the regiment; and, although being fully authorized by his 
 commission to command them, as they were volunteers, he 
 submitted his own claims for their ratification or the election 
 of any other person they might think proper to elect to the 
 command, and Captain Nelson, who commanded one of the 
 companies, became a candidate for colonel against him. All 
 of the companies of the regiment were emjiraced in the order^ 
 including the four that were absent as well as the six in 
 camp, and the contest resulted in the election of Captain T. 
 C. Frost lieutenant-colonel, Edward Burleson major, and 
 Henry McCulloch's appointment endorsed by a large 
 majority. Here he was reinforced by temporary troops un- 
 der the command of Captain Samuel A. Maverick, James 
 Duff and James R. Sweet ; and just before Colonel Reeves 
 came in, Captain T. T. Teel reported with his battery. On 
 being informed of the near approach of Colonel Reeves' com- 
 mand, Colonel Van Dorn came out from San Antonio, in per- 
 son, selected his position, and formed his line of battle to 
 receive Colonel Reeves' advance. This being discovered by 
 Colonel Reeves, he took position at a stonelrouse, surrounded 
 by a yard fence built of the same material, about two miles 
 off, where he awaited Van Dorn's attack. As soon as Colo- 
 nel Reeves had taken his position. Van Dorn advanced in 
 force^ placed his men in line of battle, located his batteries, 
 and demanded a surrender of Colonel Reeves and all his 
 forces, with notice that if the demand was refused, he would 
 open fire with his guns and batter down the walls of the 
 house and fence at once, and then prosecute the fight with 
 his small arms. Seeing that defeat was inevitable, Colonel 
 Reeves surrendered himself and command as prisoners of 
 war, and all his troops were allowed to pass through the 
 Southern lines with their arms (which troops remained 
 perfectly silent), which they turned over to an officer at San 
 Antonio, where the prisoners were furnished quarters. 
 
 This service performed, as Colonel Van Dorn had suffi- 
 cient temporary troops to guard the prisoners and property, 
 Colonel McCulloch was ordered, with his six companies and.- 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT, 255 
 
 Distinguished lexans. 
 
 Captain Edgar's battery .of six guns, to proceed to the fron- 
 tier and dispose of his regiment to the best advantage for 
 the protection of the frontier. Having performed this duty, 
 which ended by posting tliree companies of his regiment 
 and Edgar's battery on Red River, at the mouth of '• Big 
 Wichita," under the command of Major Edward Burleson, 
 of that regimenf, to Avatch the reserve Indians who had been 
 abandoned by the United States government at Fort Cobb, 
 as well as to protect the settlers on that portion of the fron- 
 tier against the hostile Indians. Then, returning along the 
 entire line, to inspect the troops, to see how they were per- 
 forming their duty, and see, personally, to the condition of his 
 supplies, when he reached Captain Fry's command of two 
 companies located on the Concho, he was overtaken by an 
 order from the Secretary of War to leave his regiment under 
 the command of his lieutenant-colonel, proceed immediately 
 to San Antonio, and relieve Colonel Van Dorn, who had 
 been appointed^brigadier-general and ordered to Richmond. 
 
 Furnishing Lieutenant-Colonel Frost with a copy of the 
 order (which was sent to him at Camp Colorado by courier), 
 Colonel McCulloch proceeded at once to San Antonio, which 
 place he reached about the tenth day of August, 18G1, and, 
 in reporting to the Secretary of War, requested to be relieved 
 as early as practicable and allowed to return to his regi- 
 ment. 
 
 In a few days, he was informed by the Secretary of War 
 that Brigadier-General H. H. Sibley had been authorized to 
 raise a brigade of three regiments for service in New Mex- 
 ico, and directed Colonel McCuiloch to fit them out with 
 arms, ammunition, forage, rations and transportation, 
 and to raise and organize other troops. 
 
 Soon after this, he was informed that P. 0. Hebert, of 
 Louisiana, had been appointed brigadier-general, and or- 
 dered to relieve him of the command of the department. 
 
 From some cause, General Hebert did not reach Texas 
 until October, and stopped at Galveston to examine the 
 coast, giving directions for its defense, and finally determined 
 
256 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texmis. 
 
 to remain at that place and Houston, instead of going to San 
 Antonio. Although McCulloeh knew that General Hebert 
 was in the department, as he had issued no orders assuming 
 command or relieving him by any order, Colonel McCulloeh 
 continued to exercise the authority as commander of the de- 
 partment until early in December, when, for the first time, 
 the orders conflicted in the use of Lieutenant Sparks, whom 
 McCulloeh had directed to muster some troops into the 
 service, and General Hebert had ordered on some other 
 duty. Upon this, the Lieutenant wrote McCulloeh, asking 
 whose orders he should obey, and he replied that "he must 
 obey my orders," and sent. General Hebert a copy of the 
 Lieutenant's letter, and his reply. On the receipt of this, he 
 Avrote McCulloeh, requesting him to call on him at Galves- 
 ton, which he did promptly, and on the meeting, which was 
 quite friendly, he tried to convince McCulloeh that the mere 
 knowledge of his presence by him personally was all that 
 was necessary for him to have, in order for him to recognize 
 General Hebert as the commander of the department, while 
 McCulloeh rightly contended (and it was so decided b}' the 
 Secretary of War) that he could only recognize him by an 
 official order, and that if he had retired from San Antonio 
 without such order he would have been liable to arrest and 
 court martial for deserting his post, and to remain there 
 without exercising the command would have been to render 
 himself ridiculous, which he did not propose to do. So, in 
 in order to right up matters, as far as possible, he issued an 
 order assuming command of the department, and validating 
 all the acts of McCulloeh from the date of his arrival in the 
 State, and assigning him (McCulloeh) the command of the 
 Western District of Texas, with headquarters at San Antonio, 
 where he remained organizing and fitting troops for the field, 
 and sending them to different points as they were needed, 
 until some time in May, 18G2, when he was relieved by 
 General H. P. Bee. 
 
 In the meantime he had been appointed brigadier general, 
 and just at this time received notice of the fact, with orders 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 257 
 
 Distinguished Texaiis. 
 
 to report to General Van Dorn, east of the Mississippi river; 
 and, as it would naturally take a few days to appoint his 
 staff' and make suitable arrangements to take the field, 
 he determined to spend that time with his family at his 
 home. 
 
 General McCulloeh appointed Dr. Jesse Boring, of San 
 Antonio, brigade surgeon, with the rank of major ; John R. 
 King, brigade commissary, with the rank of major; W. G. 
 King, brigade quartermaster, with the rank of major ; John 
 Henry Brown, of Belton, assistant adjutant-general, with 
 the rank of major ; Wm. A. Pitts, ordnance officer, with 
 the rank of captain, and Ben. E. Benton, aide-de-camp, 
 with the rank of captain. Sending his quartermaster to San 
 Antonio for a first class wagon and team, to haul the staff' 
 baggage, and an ambulance and team, for his own use and to 
 have along in case of sickness, he awaited his return with 
 the property, to see that the staff was properly fitted out, 
 and after agreeing upon the route they Avould travel. General 
 McCulloeh took leave of his family and took stage for Hous- 
 ton, where h*e called on General Hebert, who informed him 
 that he had just received orders to forward all the infantry 
 regiments in^ his department, except Colonel Lucket s, to 
 Little Rock, Arkansas, without delay, which he said it was 
 impossible for him Jto do, as he had no transportation or 
 means to obtain it, whereupon General McCulloeh advised 
 him to seize the war-tax money in the hands of the collec- 
 tors, purchase transportation, and send them on. The sug- 
 gestion of interfering with the civil department of the gov- 
 ernment startled him, and he promptly rejected it, and re- 
 marked that "he believed McCulloeh had advised him to do 
 what he would not do himself," in which he assured him he 
 was mistaken; and in the conversation General McCulloeh, 
 learning that the regiments of Colonels Roberts and Hubbard 
 were in camp only two miles from Houston, suggested 
 that if General Hebert would send these regiments to Milli- 
 can by rail, with authority to impress wagons to haul their 
 baggage to Tyler, with instructions to remain there until they 
 
258 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 could get up transportation by further impressment, if it 
 was necessary, that these ofticers would manage to take their 
 regiments to Little Rock in a reasonable time. Upon this 
 suggestion he sent .for the officers, submitted the plan to 
 them, which they said was practicable, and with such orders 
 they could carry it into efitect; and the next morning they 
 took the train for Millican. General McCulloch then in- 
 tended to take the stage at that place for Munroe, Louisi- 
 ana, thence, by rail to the Mississippi, opposite Vicksburg, 
 where he could cross it and make his way to Van Dorn, 
 wherever he might be. On reaching Munroe, he found a 
 message from Van Dorn, ordering him to take a position in 
 East Texas, favorable to supplies, and organize and forward 
 troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, for a fall campaign into 
 North Arkansas and Missouri, and he determined at once to 
 adopt Tyler as the point, where he would find two regiments 
 already organized, in a good farming country. So informing 
 Van Dorn by his returning messenger, he returned to Tyler 
 by stage. 
 
 Reaching Tyler at night on the second of June, 1862, he 
 put up at the hotel kept by Dr. Irvine, and said nothing 
 to any one about his business until next morning, when he 
 issued an order assuming command of a certain district of 
 country, over which he declared martial law for military 
 purposes, without interfering with the execution of the 
 laws by the local civil authorities, to whom he pledged him- 
 self to give his support, and the next order was to declare 
 Tyler a military post, and the headquarters of that district. 
 These orders were published in the Tyler papers. Here ne 
 found Mr. Yarbrough acting as quartermaster and commis- 
 sary, without a dollar of public funds, a two-horse wagon, 
 four mules, and twenty-five bushels of corn in his C[uarter- 
 master department, and thirteen hundred pounds of side ba- 
 bon in his commissar}^ department. The next thing was to 
 dispatch a courier to meet his staff and turn them to Tyler, 
 with instructions to reach it as early as possible, and another 
 to Captain M. M. Boggess, who had just finished a twelve 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 259 
 
 Distinguished Texaus. 
 
 months' service in McCullocli's regiment, from which he 
 had had just al)Out enough time to reach Henderson, his 
 home, with liis company, ordering him to reorganize, with 
 what men he could collect, and report to him immediately 
 at Tyler, with instructions for the remainder of his men to 
 come on as early as possible. The next step was to put Mr. 
 Yarhrough to work among the citizens, to get uj) additional 
 forage and commissary stores (corn, meal, bacon, fresh beef^ 
 and salt), for which he directed him to give memorandum 
 receipts, promising that they should be taken up by paying 
 the cash for them within a month. 
 
 Learning that Captain Ball's company of Colonel Young's 
 regiment was near them, with measles having broken out in 
 it. General McCulloch took possession" of the Federal court- 
 house for a hospital ; and having made the acquaintance of 
 Mrs. Robertson (wife of Colonel John C. Robertson), appealed 
 to her, and through her to the ladies of Tyler, to get up bed- 
 ding, etc., to fit up this hospital for immediate occupation; 
 and they not only did this promptly, but organized a 
 ''Ladies Aid Society," which rendered valuable service, 
 which was indispensable in fitting up the troops with tents, 
 clothing, etc., but especially in fitting up hospitals and 
 taking care of the sick, of whom there were a great number, 
 as the measles had found its way into nearly every regi- 
 ment before they reached Tylei"; and they also selected and 
 procured the service of a doctor, a resident physician, ta 
 take charge of the sick until the brigade surgeon could reach 
 headquarters. The regular staff" arrived in three or four 
 days, accompanied by Hon. A. W. Terrell, and C. L. Rob- 
 ards, Esq., of Austin, and Colonel E. Sterling C. Robertson, 
 of Salado, who tendered their services as volunteer aides- 
 de-camps on the General's staff; and as he had need of their 
 services, he accepted their kind offer and put them on duty 
 at once, aiding in gathering up supplies. In the meantime, 
 he had picked up a squad of mounted men (one at a time), 
 and placed them under the command of Captain Wm. A. 
 Pitts, to be used as necessary. Captain Boggess soon reached 
 
26o PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 headquarters with some sixty men, whom the General 
 directed him to organize with a full quota of officers, to be 
 mustered in at once, with orders to complete the company 
 as early as practicable. With this company and the squad 
 of mounted men under Captain Pitts, the General could see 
 his way clearly for gathering in a supply of money, and he 
 issued an'order directing the seizure, by force, of all thejwar 
 tax money in the hands of county collectors within his 
 district, and dispatched squads of men. under the command 
 of prudent officers, in different directions; and in about two 
 weeks, they had gathered in two hundred and eight thousand 
 dollars in actual cash, which enabled the General command- 
 ing to pay for all the supplies he needed to fit out or aid in 
 putting sixteen regiments in the field in Arkansas. Colonel 
 E. S. C. Robertson being a man of means, with many 
 friends in Houston and Galveston to vouch for him. Gen- 
 eral McCulloch sent him to Houston, with Dr. Boiing, to 
 purchase from twenty to thirty thousand dollars worth of 
 medical and hospital stores, to be paid for in from thirty to 
 sixty days, and to hire or purchase niule teams to 
 transport them to Tyler; and in order to carry out his in- 
 structions successfully, he, backed by his friends, became 
 personall}^ responsible for the payment of the purchase 
 money, and brought the needed stores to Tyler. 
 
 In order that no man should be responsible for this money 
 -except himself, the General had it turned over to his aide-de- 
 camp, Captain Ben E. Benton, who disbursed it by turning 
 it over to officers of the different departments (quartermas- 
 ter, commissary, ordnance and medical), on their requisi- 
 tions and General McCuUoch's orders, and these officers in- 
 vested it in purchasing supplies for the troops under Mc- 
 CuUoch's immediate orders, so that he knew that not a dol- 
 lar of it was wasted. 
 
 This took over three months; but just as soon as it could 
 be done, the General had his accounts made up, charging 
 himself with this mone}' and crediting himself with sums 
 turned over to the officers of the different departments, and 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 261 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 made a full report to the Secretary of War of the whole mat- 
 ter, embracing a copy of his orders forming the district, 
 declaring martial law, and seizing the money by force, with 
 his reasons therefor and the necessities of the case, and sent 
 Colonel A. W. Terrell to Richmond to lay it before the au- 
 thorities, where he succeeded in getting them to pass the 
 accounts (they being perfectly correct), and the Secretary of 
 AVar to write General McCulloch a letter exonerating him 
 from all blame, and rather commending his course, under 
 the circumstances, although he had interfered directly with 
 one of the civil departments (treasury) of the government. 
 
 General McCulloch, having pushed the regiments for- 
 ward, except Colonel Speight's, left the necessary funds for 
 its aid in the hands of the post quartermaster and commis- 
 sary; took Captain Boggess' company, and, with his entire 
 staff, went on to Little Rock, where he reported to General 
 Holmes, who put him in command of all the troops at 
 Camp Nelson (twenty-five miles east of Little Rock), con- 
 sisting of sixteen regiments of Texas and six of Arkansas 
 troops, with Colonel Nelson, of Waco (afterwards brigadier- 
 general), second in command. Unfortunately for General Mc- 
 Culloch and the service, General Nelson soon took sick and 
 died, and the camp was named after him. 
 
 These troops were all new in the service ; knew but little 
 of discipline, and less of tactics; and, without the necessary 
 army regulations, or works on tactics to distribute among 
 them, the officers were compelled to come to the General's 
 headquarters for such information as they were compelled 
 to have to enable them to understand their duties. This 
 made it exceedingly laborious on the General and his staff", 
 especially as Brigadier-General Nelson and Colonel Horace 
 Randle (West-Pointer) were the only officers he had that 
 had ever exercised any command of troops until a few 
 months before. 
 
 At this time, from over work and malarial affection, the 
 health of Major John R. King, chief commissary, and Major 
 John Henry Brown, assistant adjutant-general, on the staff"^ 
 
262 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 failed so completely, that they were compelled to resign, and 
 the General appointed Aide-de-Camp Captain B. E, Benton 
 assistant adjutant-general, and secured the services of Major 
 Isham H, Earle, of Waco, as his chief commissary, and ap- 
 pointed Alexander McCulloch, of Colonel Parsons' regiment, 
 aide-de-camp. 
 
 As early as practicable. General McCulloch organized 
 these regiments into brigades of four regiments each, except 
 the Arkansas troops, of six regiments, which he put in one 
 brigade, under the command of Colonel McRea, and placed 
 all in one division. 
 
 Soon after they were organized, General Holmes ordered 
 General McCulloch to send McRea's brigade to General 
 Marmaduke, in North Arkansas, and his best brigade to the 
 post of Arkansas. As soon as he put these brigades in mo- 
 tion, he preceded Colonel Dishler to Little Rock, where he 
 called on General Holmes, and not only protested against his 
 sending it to the Arkansas post, but begged him not to do 
 so, as it certainly would prove its sacrifice if the enemy at- 
 tacked it in force, and that the regiment that was there Avas 
 altogether sufficient to defend it, luiless the attack was made 
 in force; but liis j^trotest and argimient availed nothing, and 
 the command was captured. 
 
 As soon as he was placed in command of the troops' at 
 Camp Nelson, he urged General Holmes to apply for a ma- 
 jor-general of experience to be ])ut in charge of them; and in 
 order that this might be effected as early as possible, he 
 wrote to bis friends in Congress to see the President, and 
 urge upon him the necessity of its being done as early as 
 practicable. Notwithstanding this, General McCulloch was 
 kept in command of the division, under the command of 
 General Holmes, doing nothing except marching from place 
 to place about Little Rock, through rain, snow and mud, 
 crossing and re-crossing the Arkansas river without seeming 
 to have any object in view. 
 
 Just before General Nelson took sick, General Holmes 
 infonued General McCulloch, l)y letter, that he had received 
 
TEXAS STATE government. 263 
 
 Distiupiiished Texans. 
 
 order." to send all the Texas regiments under his command 
 across the Mississippi river, and wished General McCulloch 
 would come in and bring General Nelson with him for con- 
 sultation ; and while Generals Nelson and McCulloch Avere 
 delighted with the prospect of seeing the command get 
 where it might do something for the cause, when they 
 reached Little Rock they found General Holmes not only 
 opposed to it, but had already made up his mind not to obey 
 the order if he could avoid it, and asked Generals McCulloch 
 and Nelson to sustain him in his objections, which they 
 refused to do; and as he had said, among other things, to the 
 Secretary of War (written before their arrival), that "the 
 Texas troops would not cross the Mississippi and leave their 
 State exposed to invasion without sufficient force to defend 
 it," they insisted that he should change that portion of his 
 letter or permit them to write to the Secretary of War, 
 through him, that the Texas troops in that camp were ready 
 to go wherever ordered. He changed that part of his letter, 
 and as neither General Nelson nor General McCulloch agreed 
 with him, he dismissed them, but fought it out alone with 
 the Secretary of War, and held the conniiand on the west 
 .side of the Mississippi. 
 
 On arriving at Camp Nelson, most, if not all, of the Texas 
 regiments had passed through the camp measles, in a viru- 
 lent form, and were still sufT'ering from its sequence ; and, 
 coming from a healthy country into one filled with malaria, 
 in an unhealthy location, poorh' provided for in every re- 
 spect, and especially with poor, unhealthy food (poor Texas 
 beef, coarse corn meal, without sifting in man}^ instances, 
 and a sloppy drink made of corn-meal bran), they suffered 
 greatly from sickness, and the mortuary report showed that, 
 for about six weeks, the deaths ranged from ten to twenty- 
 five per day, and one day twenty-seven. 
 
 When General Walker arrived, General McCulloch had 
 been first ordered to report to General Henderson, in North 
 Arkansas, and then to General Dick Taylor, in Louisiana, 
 until he had ferried the entire division across the Arkansas 
 
264 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 river; and at that time it was about equally divided, one- 
 half on one side and the other half on the other side. When 
 General Holmes directed General McCulloch to consolidate 
 it so as to turn it over to General Walker, General Walker 
 Avas greatly amused when General McCulloch asked Gen- 
 eral Holmes which side of the river he must place it, and 
 he replied, on the south side. After resting a day or twO' 
 at General Holmes' headquarters, to have ample time to 
 confer with him, and give him a fair opportunity of prepar- 
 ing the officers and men in the division for the change in 
 commanders. General Walker came out Avith his stafl', was- 
 well received, and took command of the division, kindly of- 
 fering General McCulloch the privilege of selecting the 
 brigade which he preferred to command; and as one of the 
 brigades was composed of regiments from three divisions of 
 the State (Colonel Waterhouse from East Texas, Colonel 
 Fitzhugh from North Texas, and Colonels Flournoy and 
 Allen from West Texas), General McCulloch selected it, so 
 that he could not be accused of sectional feeling in the selec- 
 tion. 
 
 Preparatory to breaking up "Camp Nelson," General 
 Holmes wrote General McCulloch to "select his best colo- 
 nel," and direct him to report at (Holmes') headquarters 
 immediately, to select, prepare and command a convalescent 
 camp near Little Rock. General McCulloch carefully and 
 conscienciously selected Colonel 0. M. Roberts (since Gove- 
 nor of Texas), furnished him with a full copy of General 
 Holmes' letter, and his order directing him to so report, and 
 at the same time informed him that he would meet him at a 
 given time and place, and ride with him to see General 
 Homes with regard to the interest of the command gener- 
 ally. The}'- met, and after an interchange of greetings. Colo- 
 nel Roberts surprised General McCulloch by remarking, 
 "you have laid me on the shelf," in which he showed a 
 good deal of feeling. General McCulloch assured him that 
 nothing was further from his thoughts or intentions; that he 
 had acted conscienciously in making the selection, and felt 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 265 
 
 Distin Squished Texans. 
 
 that he had really paid him a high compliment in selecting 
 him as the "best colonel" out of sixteen. "Yes," he said^ 
 "most like an old woman; make a good nurse, make a good 
 nurse;" and, finding that he was not to be reconciled, and 
 not being willing to undo what he had done, General Mc- 
 Culloch dropped the subject, and still feels that Governor 
 Roberts never forgave him for it, but played for even with 
 him when he dismissed him as Superintendent of the Deaf 
 and Dumb Asylum when he (Roberts) was Governor. 
 
 Two days after General Walker took command, General 
 Holmes ordered him to move the division down to Pine 
 Bluff; and it had not been in that vicinity over two weeks, 
 when he was informed by General Holmes that a large force 
 of gun-boats and infantry had attacked Arkansas Post, 
 and to go to its relief at once by forced marches; and in an 
 hour after General Walker got the order, the division was 
 on the road down the Arkansas river in fine spirits, hoping to 
 reach the Post in time to meet the enemy and prevent the 
 capture or loss of the Post to the Confederates ; but, as the 
 division was fully sixty miles off, and the roads in wretched 
 condition from the effects of recent rains and snow, it was ob- 
 vious that the division would be too late; when it arrived with- 
 in twenty miles of the Post, the command was informed that 
 the Post had been captured, the Avorks destroyed, and that 
 the enemy had retired in his transports down the Arkansas 
 river. Here it halted, rested the tired troops two days, and 
 returned to Pine Bluff, where they went into winter quarters. 
 
 About the time that spring opened. General E. Kirby 
 Smith, who had succeeded General Holmes in command, 
 visited them, and after speaking of what he' had learned of 
 the corruptions practiced in the cotton trade on the Rio 
 Grande, asked General Walker to spare General McCulloch 
 from his brigade until the next fall, to be sent to Browns- 
 ville, on the Rio Grande, to put a stop to it, and place busi- 
 ness out there on an honest basis, and also consulted him 
 about his willingness to go. Both General Walker and 
 General McCulloch objected, but General Smith was impor- 
 
266 ' ' PERSONNEL OF 'THE 
 
 'Disthrg uished 7 txans. 
 
 tiinate, and General McCulloch ^-ielded, with the distinct 
 understanding that he was to be returned to his brigade in 
 time for the contemplated movement into Missouri in the 
 fall. 
 
 In order to have honest men to aid him in the perform- 
 ance of this duty, General McCulloch was permitted to take 
 his staff with him, and with them, reluctantly started for 
 Texas. On reaching Camden, Arkansas, he found a tele- 
 gram awaiting him from General Walker, saying: "I am or- 
 dered to report to General Taylor, at Alexandria via Camden 
 — expect warm work, and am sorry you can't be wuth me.'" 
 Upon receipt of this, General McCulloch telegraphed Gen- 
 eral Smith, at Little Rock, that he would abandon the trip 
 to Texas, and join Walker. He sent messengers to General 
 Walker, that owing to the overflowed condition of the bot- 
 tom of Bayou Bartholomew, it was impossible to cross it 
 with his infantry, and to turn down on the east side of it, 
 and he, General McCulloch, would meet him at its mouth, 
 with plenty of quartermaster and commissary stores on 
 steamers. 
 
 In order to do this. General JNIcCuIloch had to assume 
 command at Camden, order the post quartermaster to fur- 
 nish the steamers and quartermaster stores, and the post 
 ■commissary to furnish the commissary stores, and, although 
 they demurred, they obeyed the orders; and, shipping his 
 staff on board one of the steamers, he reached the mouth of 
 the bayou one dn}^ before General Walker arrived with the 
 command. 
 
 As there Avas no traveled road on the west side of Black 
 river near this point, General ^^^alker embarked his troops 
 on these steamers, and steamed down to Monroe, from 
 whence he had a good road to Campton, on Red River, and 
 from thence down Red River to Alexandria, where he met 
 General Taylor, who ordered him to march across the coun- 
 try east, to a small stream which empties into Black river 
 on the west, where they were embarked on steamers, 
 ran down this stream and up Black river to the mouth of 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 267 
 
 Distinguished Texans . 
 
 Bayou Tensas, thence np that stream to a point opposite 
 Perkins' landing on the Mississippi river, where tliey de- 
 barked, and McCuUocli's brigade ordered to march to attaclc 
 a force at Perkins' landing, which they hoped to surprise; 
 but, being delayed a few hours by a deep bayou, which had 
 to be bridged, General McCulloch found the enemy ready to 
 receive him. Having ridden forward with a small squad of 
 mounted men. General McCulloch made a casual reconnois- 
 ance of the enemy's position, arranged his troops for the 
 attack, threw forward his skirmishers with instructions to 
 feel the enemy immediately in front of the main position of 
 his command, while he placed the two guns of Captain Ed- 
 gar's battery, which he had with him, on his left, with Colonel 
 Waterhouse's regiment to support it, and directed Captain 
 Edgar to shell the camp, which was on lower ground than 
 that occupied by the brigade, and at the same time try his 
 hand on some transports which were lying ni the river; but 
 the banks were so high that but little of them was in view. 
 As soon as he opened fire, he was answered by a gun-boat, 
 Avhich was hidden from view by the high bank on the river, 
 but this bank was so high, and it had to lay so close to it, 
 that they could not depress their guns sufficiently to reach 
 the Confederates by direct shots, and the shells they threw 
 passed over them, but bursting so close to them that a frag- 
 ment of one of them struck and killed Garland Smith, who 
 was, at his request, serving on General McCulloch's staff 
 that day, and of whom General McCulloch says: "He was one 
 of the best men I ever knew." Smith was within a few 
 feet of the General wlien he fell dead from his horse, with- 
 out a groan. General McCulloch then ordered the guns and 
 supporting regiment to advance about seventy-five yards 
 nearer the river and await further orders. Then riding to 
 the front to get what information he could from his skirm- 
 ishers, he returned to the main portion of his command, 
 which was standing in line of battle, anxious lor the fray, 
 and was just directing Captain Benton to say to Colonel 
 Waterhouse that he would advance to the attack with his 
 
268 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Di sting uished Texans . 
 
 main force, and, when parallel with him, to do the same 
 with his regiment and Edgar's battery, when he received a 
 note from General Walker, who was fully four miles away,, 
 advising him not to make the attack, by which his plan was 
 not only frustrated, but he had to retire from the field when 
 he had every reason to believe that a victory was certain. 
 
 On returning to General Walker, and asking the cause of 
 his writing the note, he inform General McCulloch that one 
 of General Taylor's staff", who had accompanied him, had 
 returned and informed General Taylor that the enemy were 
 in large force, strongly posted under the protection of gun- 
 boats, and that he was confident, if McCulloch attacked him, 
 he would be repulsed. The next day, they took up the line 
 of march along a road which led up the Mississippi river,, 
 and only a few miles from it, until they reached the little 
 town of Richmond, situated on a bayou, about ten miles from 
 Milliken's Bend, on the Mississippi, where they pitched 
 their tents about ten o'clock a. m., and raised camp fires to- 
 cook dinner. About two o'clock p. m.. General Taylor sent 
 for General McCulloch to come to General Walker's head- 
 quarters. On his arrival, he informed McCulloch that he 
 wished his brigade to march to Milliken's Bend as soon as it 
 was dark (so as to prevent the movement from being discov- 
 ered by the enemy), and, if possible, surprise and put 
 them to death with the bayonet. He said he was informed 
 by a friend of his, who was perfectly reliable, that he was 
 in their camp at eight o'clock that day; that there was not a 
 gun-boat there, and only about sixteen hundred negro 
 and four hundred white troops. The General said he knew 
 the country well, and that the road McCulloch would travel 
 was a plain one that would lead direct to their camp, and 
 that on either side there were deserted farms over which he 
 would find no difficulty in marching if he found it necessary 
 to march through them ; furnished him with a sketch of the 
 bend, the locality of the enemy's camp, and [how his road 
 would lead him into it, and sent a squad of Colonel Harri- 
 son's Louisiana cavalry to pilot him into the place. After 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 269 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 giving him all the orders and instructions, he asked Mc- 
 Culloch what he thought of it. McCulloch replied, that he 
 was a soldier; had received his orders; had no right to an 
 opinion, or to think anything except carrying out his in- 
 instructions as well as he could ; but, in the presence of 
 General Walker, he insisted on McCulloch's 'giving his 
 opinion. McCulloch told him, if he required, he would 
 give it, and, if he did so, he would give it plainly and can- 
 didly ; and, as General Taylor seemed to have made up his 
 mind to make this attack, it would not suit him (Tay- 
 lor) ; and yet General Taylor said he wanted it, when Mc- 
 Culloch replied : " Seven days ago made I a feint at Par- 
 ker's Landing ; since then we have marched up and within 
 a few miles of the Mississippi river, through a heavil}' tim- 
 bered country; have passed by a few farms occupied by ne- 
 groes, and had no cavalry to scour the woods on our flank's 
 course. The enemy could have watched and counted us every 
 day. We reached here at ten o'clock a. m.; took no precau- 
 tion Avhatever to prevent some negro from giving informa- 
 tion to the enemv (which, I have no doubt, has heen clone), 
 .so that by the time I reach the vicinity the enem}' will have 
 all the troops and gun-boats they want and the route to the 
 bend picketed, and I will have to fight a force assembled to 
 give battle to General Walker's division, and the prospect 
 of success is extremely doubtful." 
 
 General Taylor then remarked that McCulloch seemed to 
 "take rather a gloomy view of it," when McCulloch re- 
 plied : "Yes, and ha\:e said about enough to make you think I 
 am a coward; and, if so, I wish you to accompany me, and 
 if 1 act the coward, or fail to play my part, tr}^ and save my 
 command." The General replied, with some warmth of feel- 
 ing, that he doubted neither McCulloch's courage nor ability, 
 and that he would find an opening on every road to a vic- 
 tory for his command. General McCulloch replied that he 
 could not think so, but would make the fight, and, if possible, 
 whip it; but that it would have to be done at a heavy sacri- 
 fice of some of the best men Texas had in the field. At 
 
270 PERSONNEL OF THIi 
 
 Distinguished Tc.xans. 
 
 dark, General McCulloch marched across the bayou on a 
 temporary bridge and moved on silently, and without inter- 
 ruption, until within about two miles of the bend, when his 
 advance guard, the mounted Louisiana scouts^ were fired on 
 by the enemy's pickets, when they dashed back on his col- 
 umn like all the Yankees in the nation were at their heels. 
 Placing one regiment in line at the head of his column, and 
 sending forward skirmishers, he moved forward, and soon 
 drew another fire from a small force, Avhich retreated, but 
 kept up a random fire; and, from the course of their retreat, 
 he became convinced that the road he was following would 
 not strike their main camp. He pursued this retreating 
 party through an abandoned farm, which was cut up with 
 dry ditches and bois d'arc hedges, while small detachments 
 of the enemy kept up almost a constant fire on his skirmish- 
 ers, but never made any stand. The night was dark (star- 
 light), and General McCulloch pursued these small parties 
 of the enemy over this rough ground by their fire, |and just 
 at daylight, he found that he had evidently reached their 
 main body, which he could not see plainly because of an 
 intervening hedge, which was within some twent3'-five or 
 thirty yards of their breastworks, (a levy about eight feet 
 high), upon which they had placed cotton bales, through 
 which there were several openings, but none of them over 
 ten paces wide, so that McCulloch's line could not be formed 
 to make the charge until this hedge was passed. Under a 
 destructive fire his command moved forward, steady and 
 without wavering, up to and through these openings in the 
 hedge, where his men fell in piles, formed a line and charged 
 the breastworks, driving everything before them, but not 
 without the most stubborn resistance by the negroes, so 
 much so, that the bayonet and clubbed guns were freely used. 
 The white troops fled when the charge was made, but the 
 negroes never even struck a trot, but fought like wild beasts 
 until they were driven across their parade ground (about two 
 hundred yards), through their tents, over the river bank, 
 and under the protection of their gun-boats. By the time_the 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 2"] T 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 Confederates reached the top of the breastworks, daylight 
 had opened fully, and the General discovered that he had 
 only covered about half their front ; that he had only driven 
 back their left wing, and that a large body of negro troops 
 were massed behind alow cross levee, which intersected the 
 main levee at an angle, which, if manned, would expose Mc- 
 Culloch's command to an enfilading fire from that direction. 
 This rendered a recall of thetroops necessary, and as soon 
 as this was donn the fire of four gun-boats was directed against 
 that portion of the works from which the enemy had been 
 driven. As soon as he could form liis command. General 
 McCullocli made a second charge on their right wing, before 
 they had discovered the advantage the angle in the levee gave 
 them, and had manned it with only a moderate force. 
 It was carried by a gallant charge, with but little loss, com- 
 paratively, and the enemy driven under the river bank, 
 which Ava^^ not so far here as it was at the other point of 
 attack. Although the levee protected the Confederates com- 
 pletely from the fire of the gun-boats," they continued to 
 rake the space between it and the river, which rendered it 
 impracticable to prosecute the fight; and after remaining in 
 possession of the breastworks for several hours, resting the 
 tired men and removing the killed and woundad, General 
 McCulloch Avithdrew his command in good order, and was 
 not pursued by the enemy. 
 
 In this fight his loss was one hundred and ninety-two 
 killed and wounded out of 1100 men, and he stated in his 
 report that the killed and wounded of the enemy was 1000. 
 Since the war the General met a Federal officer who was 
 on the ground, who said they estimated their loss at 1200 
 men, mostly negroes; and the rej^ort of the officer wbo com- 
 manded the Federal's published in the war records, esti- 
 mated his force at about 1200 and admitted that his loss was 
 about half of his command. Moving back only a few miles 
 from the battlefield. General McCulloch encamped his com- 
 mand for the night; and as it was about noon the next day 
 
272 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 before lie reached Richmond, General Taylor had left, and 
 he has[never seen him since. 
 
 At the time McCiilloch Avas ordered to make the attack 
 on the bend, General HaAves was ordered to attack 
 Young's Point, some few miles lower down the river. He 
 found the enemy so strong and backed by gun-boats, that he 
 declined to attack the place, with which General Taylor 
 was very much dissatisfied; and on reading his book, written 
 since the war, General McGulloch found that he had made 
 only a slight allusion to these movements, and had not men- 
 tioned his name or that of General Hawes in connection 
 with them. ' 
 
 General Walker established a hospital at Richmond, in 
 which McCulloch's wounded were' placed, and apparantly 
 intended to spend several days, but he had no cavalry force 
 to watch the movements of the enemy, or, if they did move, 
 to give him any idea of their strength, and in a few^ays he 
 was surprised at finding them within a mile of his com- 
 'mand and advancing upon him with infantry and artillery. 
 He threw Colonel Culberson's regiment across the bayou to 
 feel them and hold them in check, and at once commenced 
 moving his wounded and baggage to the rear; and contrary 
 to General McCulloch's advice (which he asked), retreated 
 with his whole command without giving battle. 
 
 The command moved to Delhi, where General Walker 
 was called to a sick family, and the command turned over to 
 General McCulloch, with instructions to return to Alexan- 
 dria by steady but easy marches. He shipped the baggage 
 and troops from Delhi to Monroe by rail, and empty 
 transportation via wagon road. Rested two days at Monroe, 
 waiting for transportation, then took the road for Alexandria 
 via Camden and Nacogdoches. Two days before the com- 
 mand reached Alexandria, General Walker revoked the 
 command, with orders to General McCulloch, from General 
 Smith, to report to General Magruder, in Texas, for service 
 on the Rio Grande. On arriving at Alexandria he took 
 leave of his brigade, directed his staff to take the nearest 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 273 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 road to San Antonio, with all the property and baggage, 
 while he traveled by stage and rail to Houston, to report to 
 General Magruder. 
 
 On General McCulloch reporting to General Magruder at 
 Houston, he ordered him to proceed to Galveston at once, 
 to suppress rioting among the troops. This service per- 
 formed, McCulloch asked for orders to proceed to the Rio 
 Grande, but General Magruder detained him on other 
 service at Houston and Galveston, until he had time to cor- 
 respond with General Smith, to have his destination changed 
 from Brownsville, on the Rio Grande, to the command of 
 the Northern Sub-District of Texas, with headquarters at 
 Bonham, which was as far from the location of the cotton 
 frauds as he could be put within General Magruder's dis- 
 trict. General Magruder gave him permission to go by 
 home and visit his family, en route to Bonham, and he sent 
 a messenger to hunt up his staff and turn them to Bonham. 
 
 Spending four days with his family, he took stage for 
 Bonham* which he reached before his staff arrived, but is- 
 sued orders at once assuming command of the sub-district, 
 declaring Bonham a military post, and assigning Colonel 
 Samuel A. Roberts, assistant adjutant-general, to the com- 
 mand of the post. 
 
 Here he found himself a brigadier-general in command, 
 without staff or soldiers ; but his staff soon reached him, 
 and special instructions from General Smith Avith regard to 
 the enforcement of the conscript law. In a day or two after 
 reaching Bonham, Captain Emzi Brad.-^liaw arrived with a 
 fine company of mounted men, on his way to join some 
 command in the Indian Territory. General McCulloch or- 
 dered him to remain at Bonham until further orders. This 
 gave him one company, with which to manage the affairs of 
 the sub-district and enforce the conscript law. Meantime, 
 he had learned that there was from two to three thousand 
 deserters and disaffected men in squads laying in the brush, 
 all under command of Henry Boren, who was a deserter 
 from Colonel Martin's regiment, and that this vast horde was 
 
274 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 subsisting off the citizens, who dared not refuse them any 
 supplies that they demanded. 
 
 Tliis condition of affairs rendered it necessary for him 
 to know tlie true sentiments of tlie people, and he called a 
 council of the leading men of both parties (secessionists and 
 unionists), at his headquarters, and found that, owing to the 
 Course pursued by Colonel William Young and other seces- 
 sion leaders at the beginning of the war, there was a consid- 
 erable disaffected element within the limits of his com- 
 mand, who were probably giving encouragement to these 
 men in the brush. After full and free consultation with 
 these men in council. General McCulloch marked out the 
 course of policy he intended to pursue, which had the effect 
 to neutralize this element, and bring their leaders generally 
 to his support. 
 
 President Davis had issued a proclamation of amnesty to 
 all deserters who would return to their commands within a 
 given time, and having no troops to use against these men 
 in the brush, General McCulloch obtained an intervi(^v with 
 Boren, at his headquarters, under promise that lie would 
 not allow him to be arrested until he returned to the brush. 
 He informed General McCulloch that his command num- 
 bered about twenty-five hundred men, composed of desert- 
 ers from various commands, and disaffected men, who had 
 joined them to evade the conscript law; that they were 
 l^retty well armed, and scattered in squads in order to be 
 able to get subsistence from the people. The proposition 
 of amnesty was fully discussed, and the fact that his com- 
 mand would be broken up by main force, if it could not be 
 done otherwise, being firmly but kindly impressed upon 
 him, he seemed inclined to accept the amnesty if his men 
 would consent to it, and agreed to have as many of them to- 
 gether as he could assemble in four days, at a lake in the 
 Jernigan thicket, in the upper edge of Hunt county, to co-n- 
 fer with him on the subject. 
 
 At the time apj)ointed, General McCulloch took Major 
 John W. Wicks, who was a volunteer aide-de-camp on his 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVJRRNiMENT. 275, 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 staff, with him, and, on reaching the ground, Boren in- 
 formed him that there were about seven hundred men pres- 
 ent to hear what he had to say to them. These men being 
 assembled, General McCulloch mounted a wagon, made 
 them a talk of some forty or fifty minutes, in which he laid 
 the disgrace of their course of conduct plainly before them, 
 as well as the penalty of the laws which they had volunta- 
 rily incurred, and closed by offering them full pardon for 
 their offenses, with fifteen days' furlough to arrange their 
 affairs, and meet him at that place, provided they would 
 agree and bind themselves to return to their respective com- 
 mands; and four hundred and eighty -nine accepted the prop- 
 osition. Having sent forage and rations to the place to 
 suppl}^ them for three or four days, on the day appointed he 
 met them, and four hundred and eighty-seven out of the four 
 hundred and eighty-nine who had given their names were 
 present; but Boren told General McCulloch candidly that he 
 had little or no confidence in their promises to return to 
 their commands, and unless he had some means of compell- 
 ing them to do so, that all that had been done would amount 
 to nothing, but that he had notified these and all the others 
 that had been under his command, that he had accepted 
 amnesty in good faith, and would have nothing more to do 
 with those who did not, and would aid in forcing them to 
 leave the countr}' or submit to its laws. 
 
 This ended nis trouble with these men (those in the 
 brush) as an organized force, but there were so many places 
 in the district where they could secret themselves in small 
 squads, that their presence was a great annoyance to the 
 commandhig general and the citizens of the country up to 
 the close of the war, notwithstanding his constant efforts to 
 have them arrested and punished according to law. 
 
 General McCulloch's district embraced the northeastern 
 Indian frontier, upon which the mounted regiments of Colo- 
 nels James Bourland and Buck Barry were posted, which 
 added very much to the labors and responsibilities of the 
 command, as the Indians seemed unusually hostile. 
 
276 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 Having but little well organized, available force at his 
 command, and it being made his duty to watch the move- 
 ments of the Federals at Fort Smith and other points, and 
 prevent an invasion of our State from that district, as well 
 as he could, by calling out the State troops, or reserved 
 corps, he managed to get spies into both Fort Smith and Lit- 
 tle Rock, who kept him very well posted in all the move- 
 ments of the Federals west of the Mississippi, and who in- 
 formed him of the plan of Banks' (information from both 
 sources corresponding) campaign, of which General McCul- 
 loch informed General Smith in time for him to have all the 
 cavalry from Texas on the ground, and in the battles of 
 Mansfield and Pleasant Hill. 
 
 Although asking several times to be relieved from this ex- 
 ceedingly unpleasant and laborious command, which em- 
 braced the getting up and forwarding supplies to the troops 
 in the field, as well as all the other duties embraced in the 
 command of a sub-district, General McCulloch's requests 
 were always refused upon the ground of his successful man- 
 agement of the affairs of the district, which General Smith 
 seemed not willing to entrust any one else, so that he was 
 retained in this command until the close of the war; and 
 when he received news of the surrender of the troops ot 
 the Trans-Mississippi Department, he issued a general or- 
 der disbanding his troops, and returned to his home near 
 Seguin, without a surrender of himself or any soldier of his 
 command to any one. 
 
 Before leaving Bonham, General McCulloch was informed 
 that General Joe Shelby intended to go to Mexico with his 
 command, and join Maxamillan, and wished him to join him 
 Avith what force he could command. McCulloch replied that 
 ^'he did not know what he would do until he reached Seguin, 
 and if his wife and children were at home he should not 
 leave the State under any circumstances; that he was a 
 strong secessionist, had done what he could to bring the 
 trouble upon our i^eople, had done the best he could to bring 
 success to the cause we had lost, and while he might not be 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 3^77 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 able to be of any service to his friends, he would stay with 
 them, share their fate, and try to do them good." 
 
 On reaching home General McCulloch found his wife and 
 children still there, with their home and what stock had 
 not been stolen during his absence, and that of his oldest son, 
 Ben E. McCulloch, who was mustered into Captain F.oggess' 
 company as a private at Tyler in 1862, when only seventeen 
 years old, and put on detached service by order of General 
 Smith, soon after taking command of the department ; was 
 captain commanding a cavalry company at the close of the 
 war, and at present and for the last four years Assistant 
 Superintendent of the State Penitentiary at Hunts ville. 
 
 During the warJGeneral Ben McCulloch had fallen. As the 
 brothers had no separate interest, Henry fell heir to his 
 property and shared his liabilities ; and on a careful ex- 
 amination into their financial affairs, the General found that 
 they were involved in surety debts of ever nineteen thou- 
 sand dollars, and he could see plainly that he had these 
 debts to pay, and the stock of horses and cattle, with some 
 valuable property they had in Galveston, the only available 
 means he had to pay with. As soon as it was understood 
 that the United States Government did not intend to confis- 
 cate property. General McCulloch called on the parties who 
 held these obligations, and assured them that he intended to 
 pay them if possible, but asked time, and went to work to 
 that effect, and at the end of three years had paid them all. 
 But this had not only taken that much of his time, and pre- 
 vented his going into any other business at a time when 
 money could have been made, but had taken about all the 
 available means he had to do business on ; and when just 
 fairly out of the eml)arrasments he had a devoted friend 
 who foresaw he must necessarily fail as a merchant, who 
 begged him to accept his assignment, honestly made with 
 preferred creditors, which he believed his creditors would 
 accept, with General McCulloch as assignee, and which all 
 but one did accept ; he brought suit, put his friend into 
 bankruptcy, sued the preferred creditors with a proviso that, 
 
278 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 upon recovery, if the money could not be made out of them, 
 that McCulloch should be held responsible, and obtained his 
 judgment accordingly; and the man (Colonel rrazier)to whom 
 McCulloch had paid most, failed and refused to pay any 
 part of it back, and General McCulloch had to fork over two 
 %ousand and seventy-t\vo dollars in that case. 
 
 This found him with nothing but his farm that would bring 
 half its value in money, and rather than sacrifice his other 
 property, which was worth but little then, but promised to 
 be worth something more at a future day, he then pjur- 
 chased a place in Seguin as a temporary home for his famiily 
 to occupy, while educating his children and some orphans he 
 Avas raising, with the intention of returning to the farm as 
 early as practicable. Although the security debts he had 
 paid amounted to about ten times as much as this one, they 
 had all been paid by the sale of horses and cattle and Gal- 
 veston property that he had never used, and, consequently, 
 not felt like this one, which forced him to dispose of a place 
 which he and his brother had intended to make their home 
 for life, and which he. felt had really left his family without 
 a home, as he had not been entirely without a farm, though 
 sometimes small, after he improved the one near Gonzales. 
 
 This loss seemed to render it indispensably necessar}' for 
 him to try to make some money, and leaving a little money 
 with his wife for her immediate use, he took the balance for 
 which the farm sold, and went into the cattle shipping bus- 
 int ss from Indianola to every market within reach where he 
 thought he could make a dollar fairly, including New Orleans, 
 Mobile and Havana, and wound up by shipping about six 
 hundred beeves, by steamer and rail, from Indianola to East 
 Virginia, where they were sold at a small profit to farmers 
 who intended to j^ut them on their blue grass meadows (it 
 being in the early part of May) until lall, and then stall-feed 
 and ship them to eastern markets. Prosecuting this business 
 vigorously for three years, he found that he was making 
 nothing, gave it up and returned home with just $333.25 
 ■clear profit over all expenses, claiming nothing for Ixis sel'- 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 279 
 
 Distinguished Texans . 
 
 vices, ar any interest on the nioney he was using in the bus- 
 iness; and although he had to borrow money from friends to 
 aid him in the business, he refunded every dollar that he 
 borrowed, and every dollar that he had contracted to pay for 
 any purpose, and his three hundred and thirty-three dollars 
 and twenty-five cents was, all in clear cash, actually his own 
 money, and against which no man had a claim for a dime. 
 
 Just as he was ready to leave for home, he was employed 
 by the managers of the Gulf, West Texas and Pacific Rail- 
 way Company as their out door or field agent, in hiring men, 
 purchasing wagons, teams, etc., to rebuild their road to 
 Victoria from Indianola. Soon finding that the work of re- 
 pairing the old road-bed, in that flat country, had to be 
 done with the mattock and shovel, and that neither white 
 men or negroes could be induced to work in the cold water 
 and mud, he made a trip into Mexico and brought out a Mex- 
 ican force to do this work, and was then kept on duty as 
 paymaster and outside agent until the work reached Victoria; 
 then as right-of-way and land agent until the road reached 
 Cuero. He had superintended the location of the line to 
 Gonzales, and had obtained the right-of-way and secured 
 the necessary depot grounds whereon the stations were to be 
 built. This company paid him a good salary, and contin- 
 ued his services as long as they had anything for him to do 
 in his line. 
 
 At this time, Colonel Pearce commenced extending what 
 is known as the Sunset road from Columbus to San Antonio, 
 and employed General McCulloch as right of-way and land 
 agent on that line, with a good salary. He remamed in this 
 employment in that capacity until the right-of-way and de- 
 pot grounds were secured to San Antonio, when his services 
 were no longer needed in that capacity. 
 
 While acting as Colonel Pearce's agent, and with his con- 
 sent, when the road was put into successful operation as far 
 Harwood, opposite Gonzales, General McCulloch opened a 
 lumber yard, in connection with his third son, Sam L. Mc- 
 Culloch, who was placed in charge of it, under the firm 
 
28o PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 name of "McCulloch & Son;" and when the road reached 
 Luling (where it was expected to remain some time), Gen- 
 eral McCiilloch, with his oldest son, Ben E. McCulloch, and 
 Captain W. M. Edgar, of San Antonio, opened a receiving, 
 forwarding and commission house, with family groceries at- 
 tached, under the firm name of " Edgar & McCulloch," with 
 Captain Edgar and Ben in charge; hut they soon hought 
 Captain Edgar out, and as Sam had sold out their lumber 
 yard at Harwood, they continued the business at Luling un- 
 der the firm name of '^ McCulloch & Sons," with the sons, 
 Ben and Sam, in charge. When the road reached Kings- 
 bury, they established a branch of this house, with a lumber 
 yard attached, with Sam in charge, leaving Ben at Luling 
 until he sold out, and he and the General sold out to Sam 
 at Kingsbury, and the General took charge of the Deaf and 
 Dumb Asylum at Austin. 
 
 After Richard Coke was elected Governor, in 1874, and 
 before the time arrived for the assembling of the Legisla- 
 ture and the inauguration of the Governor, it became pretty 
 well understood that E. J. Davis, then Governor of Texas, 
 intended to hold the office by force, and about two weeks 
 before the Legislature was to assemble. General McCulloch 
 left home and went to Austin to try, if possible, to learn for 
 himself the true condition of affairs, and what Davis' real 
 intentions were; and, as they were what they had been re- 
 ported to be, upon consultation it was deemed advisable to 
 call the strong men of the State to Austin to consult to- 
 gether, and adopt some plan by which Davis should be de- 
 feated in his intentions — the legally elected Legislature or- 
 ganized, and the legally elected Governor inaugurated. 
 
 After the plan of proceedings was adopted by the council, 
 of which Governor Coke was president. General McCulloch 
 was selected as the commander of the armed force to be 
 used by the Democrats in carrying out the plan agreed upon. 
 McCulloch then, in order to be clothed with authority to 
 keep the peace, sought and obtained the appointment of 
 deputy sheriff" under George B. Zimpelman, then sheriff" of 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 201 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 Travis county, under Avhich McCullocli exercised the com- 
 mand of all the armed forces until the Legislature was or- 
 ganized, the Governor inaugurated, and all the State officers 
 put in charge of their respective offices. As soon as Gov- 
 ernor Davis commenced assembling and arming his forces 
 (mostly negroes) in the basement rooms and halls of the 
 Capitol, an advantage was taken of him, by suddenly, and 
 to him unexpectedly, taking possession of the Representa- 
 tive hall, Senate chamber, and all the upper rooms of the 
 Capitol, by what seemed to be a gathering of unarmed citi- 
 zens and members of the Legislature, but which really was 
 a force armed with six-shooters, ready for the bloody work, 
 if forced upon them. This enabled the Legislature to or- 
 ganize; and, when organized, they sent the usual committee 
 to inform Davis of that fact and that they were ready to re- 
 ceive any communication that His Excellency, Governor 
 Davis, might send them, upon which he informed them, in 
 writing, that he declined to recognize them as a legislative 
 body, or hold any official intercourse with them, which was 
 the first official act publicly indicating what his intentions 
 were, and which enabled the Democrats to see most clearly 
 the necessity of promptly organizing a sufficient force openly 
 to meet and overcome any that he might present to prevent 
 the inauguration of Richard Coke, Governor elect, and ob- 
 taining full possession of the State offices; and, for the first 
 and only time in the history of our government, the gov- 
 ernor of a sovereign State had to be, and was, inaugurated 
 under the protection of an armed force ; and that, too, of a 
 governor who had been elected by a very large majority over 
 his opponent, according to the laws of the State^ and a 
 proclamation of the very governor who was then trying to 
 keep him out of the office by force of arms; and yet the 
 Republican party of Texas claim to be a respectable, law 
 abiding political party. 
 
 On the first of March, 1876, Governor Coke appointed 
 General McCulloch superintendent of the Deaf and Dumb- 
 asylum, and, although he had the influence of the Republi- 
 
282 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished lexans. 
 
 .cans to contend with on the outside, and trouble with dis- 
 honorable aspirants to his position on the inside, he was 
 sustained by the trustees, aud both Governors Coke and 
 Hubbard, and held the position until dismissed by Governor 
 O. M. Roberts, on the first of Sepieinber, 1879, when he re- 
 turned to his home in Seguin, where, with his son-in-law, 
 W. S. Brown, he opened a furniture store; but after a few 
 month's trial, found it would not pay two, and sold out to 
 fStephen Golihar. 
 
 Not contented with a life of idleness, General McCuUoch 
 bought a small tract of land on the south bank of the Guada- 
 lupe river, and improved it with the aid of W. S Brown, 
 and M'hile this improvement was progressing, and the first 
 crop being made on the farm. Colonel W. L. Moody, a large 
 commission merchant in Galveston, employed him as an 
 agent (drummer) to solicit business for his house; and, al- 
 though he made as faithful efforts in this as he ever did in 
 anything he ever engaged in, he did not succeed to his own 
 satisfaction, and voluntarily retired from his service. 
 
 He then sold his home in Seguin, the small farm he had 
 improved on the Guadalupe river ])elow the town, and 
 bought the Sheffield and Oliver farms (adjoining, not even a 
 fence between), which lay in a bend on the south side of the 
 Guadalupe river, about three miles below Seguin, which is 
 one of the most beautiful and valuable farms on the river; 
 and here (on the Sbeflield place) his family now reside, 
 having sold the Oliver place to his son-indaw, A. J. Dibrell, 
 in order to have one family of his children near to their pa- 
 rents in their old age. 
 
 In August, 1885, he was cniployed by the State Land 
 Board, as their agent in tlie management of the public 
 school, university and asylum lands, with Presidio and El 
 Paso counties as his field of operations, with special in- 
 structions to examine carefully into the mining and timber 
 interests in those counties. In the discharge of this duty. 
 General McCulloch found a ten stamp mining mill, owned 
 by a California company, in full operation and located 
 
TEXAS STATE (JOVERNMENT. 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 in the Chenati mountains, about forty-five miles from Marfa, 
 in Preside count}^, which was reducing their ore to bullion 
 at the rate of from twenty to twenty-four thousand dollars 
 per month, at a cost of about four thousand dollars, and that 
 a goodly number of leads had been discovered within an 
 area of twenty miles, Avhich promised to be as rich, if not 
 richer, than the mine this company was working. General 
 McCulloch says: "In fact, this range of the Chenati 
 mountains, in which this mine is located, seems to be almost 
 a bed of valuable mineral, and there have been mineral leads 
 found in other portions of this county which are pro- 
 nounced to be equally, if not more valuable." He also 
 found, m the eastern portion of El Paso county, near Sierra 
 Blanco and Carrizo, a good many partially developed leads 
 of silver which were regarded as very valuable. 
 
 In the timber line, he found a section of country in the 
 Davis mountains on the waters of the Lympia creek, com- 
 (( mencing within some ten miles of Fort Davis, where a valu- 
 able body of pine and juniper timber, covering a area of 
 f^om sixty to seventy thousand acres of land, once stood, but 
 that all the valuable timber within the reach of human ef- 
 fort, suitable for lumber, had been cut and sawed up (by 
 steam saw mills) by the United States troops in the con- 
 struction of the houses, etc., at Forts Davis and Stockton, 
 for which a claim could and should be made against the 
 United States Government. When this, and similar agen- 
 cies, was created by the State Land Board, they paid the 
 agents one hundred and fifty dollars per month and their 
 actual expenses. Called them in on the twentieth of No- 
 vember, 1885, detained them in Austin one month ; made a 
 new contract with them for a year, to commence on the 
 fourth of January, 1886, at the same salary, but they to pay 
 their own expenses, and granted them leave of absence until 
 that time (without pay) to go home and ariange their affairs 
 to be absent for twelve monUis; but notwithstanding this 
 contract (verbal), on the fifteenth day of the next June they 
 discontinued the salary, leaving it optional with the agents 
 
2^4 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Di sting uj'shed Texans. 
 
 to resign or retain the agency for the fees of office, which 
 were worth in McCulloch's district about three dollars per 
 month; but as the board had granted him the privilege of 
 performing the duties through a local sub-agent, to whom 
 applications for leases and purchases could be made, hold- 
 ing him directly responsible to them for his acts, and as he 
 wished to accommodate the people, facilitate settlers, and 
 augment the school fund, he retained the agency until the 
 thirteenth day of March, 1887, when he resigned, having ac- 
 depted an agency under the Board of Directors of the Con- 
 federate Home, to canvass the State and get subsriptions for 
 the present support of the home, where they have already 
 inmates to provide for, and which takes him out of State 
 service and places him in a field of charity, where he can 
 work faithfully, with heartfelt interest, as well as from a 
 sense of duty. 
 
 This is a brief narrative of a most eventful life, which is 
 filled with heroism and the performance of manly dutyf. 
 which cannot fail to impress the reader with the purity of 
 the life of Henry McCulloch, and serve as an example and 
 incentive to the youth of the land. 
 
 M. A. TAYLOR. 
 
 MA. TAYLOR, the son of Colonel. Matthew Taylor,, 
 , was born in Columbus, Ohio, on November 12, 
 1830. Colonel Matthew Taylor was an officer in the army 
 of General W. H. Harrison, and was stationed on the south 
 side of the Scioto, in the old town of Franklin, in command of 
 the army. During the winters of 1811-1812, in connection 
 with a brother_and Lion Starling, he laid off the site of the 
 present city of Columbus, Ohio ; and through the influence 
 of the father and grand-father of Colonel M. Taylor, the 
 State capitol was located there. M. A. Taylor's early educa- 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 285 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 tion was had in the common schools of the early day, and 
 when able to enter the Academy school (Covert's), he spent 
 two' years there, and then went to Oxford, the location of 
 the University of the State of Ohio, to further prosecute his 
 studies. He began the study of medicine in 1846, in his 
 native town, entered the Starling Medical College, and grad- 
 uated, with its highest honors, in February, 1849. After 
 graduating, he remained for several months in business con- 
 nected with the college. In the early spring of 1850, he 
 selected his location in Logan, a town of five thousand 
 inhabitants. Shortly after locating, the cholera made its 
 appearance, and through his early labors during that epi- 
 demic, won for himself honors rarely achieved by so young 
 a man. In the 'early winter of 1851, he married the only 
 daughter of Peter B. Lowe,, of Bond Brook, N. J., and, 
 on account of the health of his young wife, moved to Texas 
 in the fall of 1852, accompanied by his father-in-law, and 
 permanently located in the city of Austin. Though blessed 
 with but barely enough money to make a home, with a de- 
 termined spirit to succeed as well in the new field as the one 
 he had so shortly left, he opened an office in the store of 
 Lethand Townsend, ex-consul of the Republic of Texas, 
 and in a short time a lucrative practice was built up. During 
 the first ten years of active practice, over $100,000 was 
 booked. 
 
 •^In the fall of 1856, losing his wife, from consumption, 
 leaving only one infant daughter and a sorrowing father 
 and mother to mourn the loss, not discouraged, but with a 
 Christian fortitude, moved on in the i)rosecution of his pro- 
 fession, and in the spring of 1859 married a daughter of 
 Captain 0. H. Millican, of Columbus, Mississippi ; and at 
 the opening of the question of the South seceding from tiie 
 General Government, was oi>posed. Follownig in the 
 views of General Houston, he thought the question should 
 be settled in, and not outside, the government; though, 
 when tlie State of Texas seceded, he took sides with the 
 South — right or wrong, was with liis adopted State. In 
 
286 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texan s . 
 
 the beginning no one was more active in doing all he could, 
 not only by "words, but headed a list to furnish the means 
 of support for those families whose husbands had gone, or 
 were preparing to go to the front, and in a few days pro- 
 cured about ^7000, and was appointed treasurer of the 
 above fund, and opened a store of supplies in what is now 
 known as the Capitol Fotel, just below the present court- 
 house. This depot Avas kept open as long as the means 
 lasted, and many can still bear testimony of kindness shown 
 in the way of supplies emanating from that source, and 
 others whose husbands were gone to the war, if not in the 
 best of circumstances, found no long bill to settle for med- 
 ical services during the war. The copartnership of Drs. 
 Taylor and E. D. Rentfro, formed at the opening of the spring 
 of 1861, was continued till the spring of 186G, when the 
 firm books were divided, and all claims balanced against 
 those in poorer circumstances. 
 
 During this series of years, he held offices of honor, re- 
 ceiving his appointment from Governor Sam Houston. In 
 the oi:)ening of the Mute Asylum, he was appointed one of 
 the trustees, and, shortly afterwards, was appointed a trus- 
 tee of the Blind Asylum, and served several years in that 
 capacity, and during the administration of Dr. W. S. Baker, 
 as superintendent, was consulting physician; and during 
 Dr. S. G. Haynes' administration was also consulting phy- 
 sician. After resigning the office of trustee of the Mute 
 Asylum, he was appointed as one of the trustees of the 
 Lunatic Asylum, and served in that capacity. Just before the 
 election of Governor Coke, he was chairman of the board, 
 and was instrumental in having the grounds laid off and 
 beautified ; having the first lot of fruit-trees planted, and 
 arranging the general park and play grounds for the in- 
 mates. For four years he was physician to the Blind Asy- 
 lum, during the administration of Mr. E. M. Wheelock. 
 
 At the close of the war, nearly all of Dr. Taylor's earnings 
 had been swept away. • The first two years after the close of 
 the war, over twenty-five thousand dollars were lost by 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 287 
 
 Distinguished Texans, 
 
 men failing and bankruptcy. Not discouraged by the loss 
 of so much of life's precious earnings, he moved steadily on 
 in his profession, and began to mark his accumulations by 
 the purchase of real estate in and out of the city of Austin. 
 
 After the close of the war, Dr. Taylor did his full share in 
 the support of the government headquarters at the city of 
 Austin, and visited Washington on business of importance 
 for this part of the State. It is to be regretted that he 
 failed to accomplish the end sought by this undertaking, as, 
 had it been otherwise, the wealth and development of Aus- 
 tin would have been greatly augmented. 
 
 After^the close of the civil war, Dr. Taylor was solicited 
 to enter the field of politics, but persistently declined to 
 accept or compete for any office of a political nature, believ- 
 ing, as he did, that such was not the safest road to wealth 
 and influence. Indeed, it has ever been his aim to shun 
 party ties as an element of his intercourse with his fellow- 
 man. On the other hand, in public as in private matters, 
 he has relied alone upon his judgment and his conscience. 
 
 The influence of Christian parents was early manifested 
 in the character of Dr. Taylor, and in due time he affiliated 
 himself with the First Presbyterian Church, and has since re- 
 mained a consistent member. 
 
 When the question of the division of the State arose, after 
 the close of the war. Dr. Taylor took a decided stand 
 against the measure, and used both his influence and means 
 to defeat it. Texas as a State, and Austin as a city, have 
 had in him a warm and active advocate in all matters looking 
 to their material and moral welfare. He was one of the first 
 to act in the matter of securing for Austin railroad connec- 
 tion with the world of commerce, and was one of a com- 
 mittee ap23ointed to secure the extension of the Houston 
 and Texas Central Railway from Hempstead to Brenham 
 and Austin. Besides contributing from his own purse the 
 sum of $1000 toward the accomplishment of that mission, 
 it was through him, in connection with J. H. Raymond,. 
 George Hancock, Alford Smith and Governor Pease, that a 
 
288 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 subscription of more than $45,000 was raised for this pur- 
 pose. The greater part of this subscription was paid when 
 the road reached Austin, and the remainder in the course of 
 a year. 
 
 When the permanent location of the State Capitol was 
 submitted to a vote of the people, he was among the first 
 chosen to raise means to conduct a canvass for its location at 
 Austin ; and so, latterly, with regard to the location of the 
 State University; in both of which undertakings he did his 
 whole duty to his home city, as, in truth, he does in all 
 matters pertaining to her welfare. 
 
 During the administration of Governor Davis, Dr. Taylor 
 was appointed as one of the regents of the University, and, 
 in connection with the Board of Regents, went to Bryan and 
 Inspected the foundation of the building there, making a 
 report which led to the condemning of the work of the first 
 foundation. In this connection, he also advocated the ap- 
 pointment of a suitable architect by the Governor, whose 
 duty it should be to superintend the construction of the new 
 foundation, which suggestion was adopted and carried out. 
 He was the means of having the clerk of the University 
 Board to make a report of the true state of the funds and 
 lands of the University up to that date ; and presented to 
 Colonel Jack Harris, a member of the Legislature from Gal- 
 veston, a statement of the clerk, from which Colonel Harris 
 could be fully informed as to the general state of the Uni- 
 versity lands and money. 
 
 After the location of the University at Austin, Dr. Tay- 
 tor'snext step was to have more railroads point to Austin. 
 He was one of the early movers in the Austin and North- 
 western Railway enterprise ; was a charter member of the 
 company, one of its directors, and first vice-president. He 
 immediately went to work to raise the necessary capital ; 
 and, having done this, organized and equipped the first sur- 
 veying corps to run the line as far as Brushy, to which place 
 the preliminary line had been run, and a general profile of 
 the road, with cuts, fills, etc., ready for inspection by the 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 289 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 time of the arrival of the elected president of the company. 
 
 In order to still further the interests of Austin, Dr. Tay- 
 lor caused a number of articles to be printed and circulated, 
 setting forth its surroundings and advantages as a possible 
 manufacturing centre, placing Austin in very favorable com- 
 parison with Lowell and other manufacturing cities. He 
 a,dvocated the construction of a dam at the gap at the foot of 
 Mount Bonnell, carrying the water by an acqueduct to 
 Shoal creek, at Seiders, and using Shoal creek as the natural 
 outlet, thus creating a power sufficient to run five or six 
 large factories, the same water being the motive power from 
 Seiders to the point where the creek empties into the river ; 
 in short, demonstrating the practicability of establishing one 
 continuous line of factories from the point of entrance, at 
 Shoal creek, to the Colorado river. 
 
 As a worker for the advancement of his profession. Dr. 
 Taylor has been zealous and untiring. As early as the win- 
 ter of 1885, he advocated a law to regulate the practice of 
 medicine in Texas ; but a committee appointed to look after 
 the matter of medical legislation declined to act upon his 
 suggestions, declaring, if the same were adopted and a law 
 passed to such effect, it would have been to exclude from 
 the profession many then practicing physicians. 
 
 In 1854, Dr. Taylor was one of a number of physicians to 
 organize, in Travis county, a county medical society. This 
 example was followed by the physicians in a number of 
 other counties in the State, and, about a year later, these 
 county organizations were merged into a iJlate society ; but 
 owing to the sparsely settled condition of the State at that 
 early date, the organization was bisbanded, and was not 
 revived until some years later, when the city of Houston 
 claimed the honor of its initiatory session, under its new 
 lease of life. Of this, the Texas State Medical Association, 
 Dr. Taylor has been a member since its organization, and 
 has been an enthusiastic worker in all matters tending to 
 promote its welfare. In 1874, he was elected first vice- 
 president of the association, and a delegate to the American 
 
290 '• PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 Medical Association, meeting in Detroit ; and in 1876 he was 
 elected as a delegate to represent Texas in the International 
 Medical Congress, which met in the city of Philadelphia; 
 which honors his love for his profession is sufficient cause 
 for him to remember with pride. 
 
 Dr. Tajdor has ever been an advocate for the higher edu- 
 cational standard of the profession, and has looked forward 
 to, and labored for, a good law to regulate the practice of 
 medicine in the State. In the education of his children he 
 sought the best schools of the country, and paved the way 
 for them to attain the highest literary and classical endow- 
 ments. The oldest, Miss Hattie, was sent for five years to 
 excellent schools in the States of Illinois and Iowa. Ed- 
 ward H. was sent to a preparator}'' school in Canada for one 
 year, and then given four years at the University of Canada, 
 at the city of Toronto. Mary, the second daughter, after 
 graduating at the Alta Vista Institute, of which Mrs. Kirby 
 Avas principal, was sent to Elmira,,New York, where she 
 took a post-graduate course. Lizzie is now in the Univer- 
 sity of Texas, Avhile Duzie has just entered the training 
 school for children. 
 
 Now, after making and meeting the large outlay for the 
 education of his family, he has the comforting thought that 
 Providence has still further blessed his labors and given him 
 many j^roperty interests, in various portions of the State, in 
 the shape of wild lands, farms and ranches ; of Avhich lat- 
 ter, one of the largest is situated in Dimmit county. This 
 ranch contains eleven leagues of well Avatered grazing land, 
 and is stocked Avith cattle and sheep. The estimated value 
 of Dr. Taylor's estate is variously placed at from one-half 
 to one million dollars. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT, 29I 
 
 Disting uished Texan s . 
 
 JOHN M. MATHI8. 
 
 THE careful study of the genealogy of a particular family 
 through a series of generations is a fruitful source of 
 int.ellectual pleasure to the scientist, the humanitarian and 
 the philanthropist. Truth often robes itself in the habili- 
 ments of fiction, and goes out into the anomalous experi- 
 ences of strangeness and romance, from which fiction bor- 
 rows its enchantment. The life of an individual is an infin- 
 itessimal part with which every other life combines into the 
 sum of all history. 
 
 The father and mother of John M. Matins lived and died 
 in Henry county, Tennessee ; the former an Alabamian, the 
 latter a native of Tennessee. In this county and State 
 John M. Mathis was born, on the twenty-eighth day of Feb- 
 ruary, in the year 1S31. In 1852, he emigrated from his na- 
 tive place and settled at Gonzales, Texas. His education 
 was obtained in the common schools of the country, and 
 served only to lay the foundations for future expansion and 
 business pursuit. His first active business was that of 
 the sale of tobacco for a house in Tennessee^ he. being one of 
 the very first drummers in the State of Texas. He was ener- 
 getic and successful in this line of business life until the 
 breaking out of the civil war in the United States, when he 
 suddenly found himself stripped of his earnings by reason 
 of an extensive credit system, and himself involved in a 
 debt of $6000. He entered the Southern army in 1861, under 
 Major Richard Howard, and served as suppl}^ agent for the 
 troops in the Cis-Mississippi department. 
 
 After the close of the war Mr. Mathis returned to Texas, 
 and established himself where the town of Rockport now 
 stands, giving the town its name. Recognizing his ante 
 bellum., debt he planned at once for a settlement by note and 
 paid off the claim at maturity. At Rockport he made a 
 contract with a steamship company for regular landings and 
 the shipment of cattle to New Orleans and Havana. This 
 
292 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 business was profitable, and in 1871 Mr. Mathis found him- 
 self on the highroad to fortune. In company with his 
 brothers, he owned large ranches in Live Oak, San Patricio 
 and Nueces counties. The firm was very successful. 
 
 From 1879 to 1883, J. M. Mathis did a shipping business 
 from Indianola to New Orleans and Havana, and in this, en- 
 terprise made large sums of money. He and his brother, 
 M. L. Mathis, now own a fine ranch on the San Antonio 
 river, near Goliad, on which fifteen thousand graded cattle 
 and two hundred and fifty horses and mules are kept. In 
 Wharton county he has a large interest in a ranch of thirt}'- 
 five thousand cattle. His success in the cattle industry of 
 the State has been little less than phenomenal. He has had 
 a fixed determination to go forward, and has conquered diffi- 
 culties and made them contribute to his success. 
 
 His wife was a Miss Mary A. Pollan, daughter of John 
 Pollan, Esq., of Ingleside, San Patricio county, Texas. They 
 have an adopted daughter. Miss MaryE. Mathis. 
 
 The present home of Mr. Mathis is Victoria, Texas, and 
 he has also a residence in Austin, the capital of the State. 
 
 He is an example of success in business and the accumu- 
 lation of worldly estate. He weighs one hundred and sev- 
 •ent}'- pounds ; is five feet and eight inches in stature, and 
 shows by the conformation of his head that he possesses 
 great energy, courage, and a keen sense of honor. He is 
 highly esteemed by the masses who really know him, and 
 his judgment has great weight with the members of the 
 Texas Live Stock Association. His prominence and fre- 
 quent official service in that body are noticeable facts in its 
 jproceedings. 
 
 LEANDER BROWN. 
 
 AN historic fact in relation to the ancestry of the gentle- 
 man of whom this is a succinct notice, is that his 
 .grandfather was a soldier in, the Revolutionary War, and 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 293 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 his father served in the war of 1812. Leander Brown was 
 born in Chester district, South Carolina, and emigrated 
 from his native State to Illinois, in the year 1833. Snbse- 
 ({uent to his first marriage, in 1840, he moved to Missouri, 
 and remained in that State, near Lexington, till November, 
 1846, Avhen he came to Austin, Texas, and has been a citi- 
 zen of this latter place ever since. He has served in the 
 capacity of county treasurer for the term of three years, and 
 has also held the office of cit)" mayor for a like term. Mr. 
 Leander Brown has been three times married. His first 
 wife was Miss Sarah A. Home, of Alabama; his second. 
 Miss Lou Bowles, of Texas, and his present wife was Miss 
 Ella Holman, daughter of Dr. Holman, of Texas, who, by 
 her many charitable deeds, has endeared herself to the peo- 
 ple of this city. She is an earnest and consistent Christian, 
 and much of her time and means is devoted to relieving 
 the poor and unfortunate. As a citizen, Mr. Brown is re- 
 spected on account of his honesty and integrity. In office, 
 he has been faithful and efficient. He has tested the sun- 
 shine and shades of an eventful life, in which he has not 
 been an unprofitable experimenter. His stores of experi- 
 ence are rich, and he has not been unwise in a profligate 
 waste of them. 
 
 CHARLES BURNSIDE STODDARD. 
 
 BEFORE the landing of the Mayflower, early in the his- 
 tory of the Colonies, three brothers, of Scottish nativity, 
 by the name of Stoddard, entered into the fortunes of the 
 New World. The date of their landing in America was in 
 1619. During the Revolutionary war, five brothers of this 
 historic family participated in the struggle for independence, 
 holding the rank of oflicers in the army. From this pro- 
 genitorship, Honorable Henry William Stoddard and his 
 
294 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Di sting uished Texans. 
 
 wife, Minerva Hayden, the fatlier and mother of C, B. Stod- 
 dard, living for a time after marriage in Rochester, New 
 York, finally became established in Portage county, Ohio, 
 on what Avas known as the Western Reserve, and were noted 
 in the political history of that new and rising State. The 
 family, in its various branches, has a proud record in litera- 
 ture : H. H. Stoddard, the author, in mathematics ; R. H. 
 Stoddard, the poet ; and Charles Stoddard, a literary genius 
 of theJPacific coast, and others, have clistinguished^the family 
 and given the name to immortality. The Shermans and 
 Stoddards, of Ohio, for many generations, have been related, 
 nor is it an insignificant fact that the distinguished General, 
 who discharged the youthful soldier, is a near kinsman of 
 the family. 
 
 C. B. Stoddard was born in Portage county, Ohio, on the 
 tenth day of January, 1848, and at the age of twelve, remov- 
 ed, under the care of his parents, to the State of Michigan. 
 At the age of fourteen, being well grown, he entered the 
 United States army, but was subsequently discharged by 
 General W. T. Sherman on account of youth. One year 
 later, however, he re-joined the service, irregularly, and 
 remained at the headquarters of General Thomas, in govern- 
 ment employ. 
 
 In harmony with the literary culture of the iamil}^ Dr. 
 Stoddard has been an heir to a rich inheritance of educa- 
 tional privilege. In the University of Michigan, at Ann 
 Arbor, he took a regular course, both in literature and 
 medicine. He attended, also, the University of Pennsylva- 
 nia and the Dental College of Philadelphia, and also took a 
 course in the Ohio Dental College, at Cincinnati. 
 
 He began the practice of his profession in 1866, at Ann 
 Arbor, Michican, and went to Chicago in 1869. In the 
 great fire in that city, he lost all he had but his profession 
 and his ambition to excel. In the city of New York, in 
 1873, he resumed his j)ractice, which he continued for five 
 years. He made money rapidly, and had a practice equal 
 to the foremost dentists in the great metropolis. Warned 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 2^5 
 
 Distinguished Texans . 
 
 by failing health, he went abroad, traveling for a year, and 
 returning to America, began again the practice of his pro- 
 fession in the city of Galveston, Texas. Subsequently, af- 
 ter two years' sojourn in p]urope, he came to -Austin, Texas, 
 vn 1880, and has continued building up a large and lucrative 
 practice to the present. 
 
 Professionally, Dr. Stoddard has a reputation not inferior 
 to the ablest and most scientific gentlemen of the entire 
 country engaged in the practice of dentistry. 
 
 As a discoverer, he has won an enviable place in the 
 world of science and art. In 1876, he discovered the appli- 
 cation of electricity as a motive power to dentistry. He was 
 also the discoverer of the luminous properties of nitrous 
 oxide gas, the same year, for which he received a high com- 
 pliment from Henry Morton, one of the most distinguished 
 chemists of America. Recently his genius has been exhib- 
 ited in the discover}'- and invention of a small electric illumi- 
 nator of the.mouth, by means of the ordinary battery used 
 in telegraphy. Not the least among the achievements of 
 science, is Dr. Stoddard's painless extraction of teeth, by 
 means of an hypodermic injection into the gums of a fluid 
 known only to the discoverer. Able physicians, and thous- 
 ands of patients, are ready to bear testimony to this wonder- 
 ful and philanthropic discovery. 
 
 As a traveler. Dr. Stoddard is untiring and intelligent. 
 He has visited almost every part of the world — Europe, 
 Asia, Africa, the islands of the ocean, as well as his native 
 continent. He spends, usually, about one-third of his time 
 in this pleasant way. The javelins of calumny that have 
 been thrust at him have fallen pointless at his feet, or re- 
 bounded to pierce the liand that threw them. Elements of 
 opposition have contributed to his distinction, and from the 
 smouldering ruins of fire in worldly estate, and the enven- 
 omed atmosphere of the calumniator, he has plucked the 
 laurels of triumph. He is spare in figure, has blue eyes, 
 fair complexion, light hair, is five feet and ten inches high, 
 and weighs one hundred and sixty-five pounds. 
 
296 
 
 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished 1 exans. 
 
 y 
 
 JOSEPHUS CUMMINGS. 
 
 DOCTOR JOSEPHUS CUMMINGS was bom in Austin, 
 Texas, November 30, 1849. His father, Steven Cum- 
 mings, moved to Texas during the year 1840, and married 
 in Austin, to Miss Nancy L. Rowe, during 1847. His fath- 
 er's family resided in Austin until the beginning of the late 
 war, when they moved to Williamson county. The Doctor 
 received his education in Austin and Round Rock, and be- 
 gan the study of medicine under Dr. M. A. Taylor, of Aus- 
 tin, at the age of eighteen years. Before this period, how- 
 ever, we may state that, when not engaged in attending 
 school, his occupation was caring for stock, and, at times, 
 assisting his father in farming. By this means he learned 
 to work, and was not ashamed to do his part in whatever 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 297 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 became necessary to aid in the support of his father's large 
 family, as there were seven children in all to care for. 
 
 He showed much energy and tact for business when quite 
 young, and when he began the study of medicine, the same 
 application was made to this as to ordinary daily labor, and 
 day after day he was found studying hard the difficult 
 text books of medicine and surgery, until he entered Jeffer- 
 son Medical College, of Philadelphia, during the fall of 
 1869. Now in the City of Brotherly Love, the subject of our 
 sketch might have been found, always at his post, either 
 listening attentively to the professors, lectures, or pursuing 
 his dissecting in the anatomical department. When other 
 students were promenading the city at night, and visiting re- 
 sorts for amusement, he was ever the same persevering stu- 
 dent, until finally, March 15, 1871, he was awarded, with a 
 large class, the prize for which he had labored so hard, the 
 degree of Doctor of Medicine. As a beginner in a grand pro- 
 fession, he was still ready to study and work, which he did 
 by immediately on his return home to Austin embarking 
 in practice. He soon won the confidence of the public, and 
 Avas rewarded by a fair practice ; and in 1872, married Miss 
 Texas Glascock, of Austin, a native of Texas. He has two 
 children, the oldest, a girl, Minnie, now twelve years old, 
 and the other a boy, Josephus, jr., aged seven years. 
 
 He has devoted his time mostly to his profession, was 
 city and county physician, and it is said of him that he 
 "made one of the ablest the Capital City has ever had ; was 
 in this position when the small-pox infected our city in 1880, 
 and his skillful management during this trying and exciting 
 time was commended by all, and made him very popular." 
 He has paid special attention to surgery, and has performed 
 successfully many of the most difficult operations. It may 
 be said that it is largely due to his effort, and that of his 
 personal friends when he was city physician, the establish- 
 ment and erection of our magnificent city and county hospi- 
 tal. He was chairman of the first committee appointed on 
 the subject, and wrote the able memorial that still can be 
 
298 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distingii ish ed Texan s . 
 
 found in the city record of proceedings on this subject, and 
 was a member of the building board that supervised its 
 •erection. He is a member of Travis County Medical Society 
 and the Texas State Medical Association, and has con- 
 tributed several articles to medical literature in Texas and 
 elsewhere; is at the present time President of Travis County 
 Medical Society. The Doctor has taken some interest in 
 benevolent societies in Austin, was one of the original char- 
 ter members of Austin Lodge Knights of Honor, was 
 Deputy Grand Dictator of this Order and instituted lodges 
 in Manor, Lockhart, Luling and Capital City Lodge in Aus- 
 tin; is a member of the A. 0. U. W. and K. and L. of H., 
 and is an Ancient Odd Fellow. At the present time he is 
 one of the aldermen of the city, and has evinced consider- 
 able ability in assisting in the management of city affairs. 
 The sanitation of the city is receiving at his hands many 
 valuable suggestions. Few men of his age has shown more 
 financiering ability. Within ten years past he has amassed 
 a large property, and he has increased his business more 
 than double in less than one year. Honesty, integrity and 
 fair dealing have been his motto from principle, and his suc- 
 'Cess shows the wisdom of such a course. 
 
 GEORGE BERNHARD ZIMPELMAN. 
 
 IN Rhine Bavaria, on the twenty-fourth of July, 1832, the 
 respected citizen of Austin, of whom this is a brief sketch, 
 George B. Zimpelman, was born. He received his educa- 
 tion at the Agricultural and Latin School of Landau, in Eu- 
 rope. He came to America in 1844, landing at New Orleans, 
 thence to Galveston, where he stayed a little more than two 
 years, making short sojourns in New Orleans in the mean- 
 time. In 1849, he moved to Travis county, where he has re- 
 mained ever since, being a citizen of Austin the most of the 
 time. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 299 
 
 Distino-uished Texans. 
 
 In the beginning of the war between the States, he entered 
 the army as a private soldier, and returned at the close of 
 the great rebellion as such, in the meantime doing service 
 with the rank of captain. He entered public life in the 
 capacity of sherift'of Travis county, in 1866, and was success- 
 ively re-elected for three subsequent terms, ending with the 
 year 1876. He was a victim to the Governor Davis admin- 
 istration, and was deposed from olhce. 
 
 Under Governor Coke, he was appointed one of the trus- 
 tees of the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb ; by Governor 
 Hubbard, he was appointed quartermaster of the State mili- 
 tia, and by Governor Ross, aid-de-camp. Governor Hub- 
 bard gave him the appointment of a mission to Washington 
 to collect the funds for the protection of the frontier. This 
 latter appointment, however, he declined to accept. 
 
 He entered America a poor boy, receiving only four to five 
 dollars per month for labor. Before the war, he engaged in 
 farming and stock-raising ; after the war was over, he re- 
 sumed farming and stock-raising, and engaged in brick- 
 making ; and in 1871 he went into the banking business, but 
 withdrew at the end of five years. He is now, and has been 
 for several years, engaged in surveying in Mexico. He has 
 a strong force there, filling a contractwith the government of 
 that country. 
 
 In 1856, George B. Ziinpelman and Miss Sarah C. Mat- 
 thews, of Travis county, Texas, were united in marriage. 
 Mrs. Zimpleman died on the the thirteenth of November, 
 1885. Four living children constitute the household. 
 
 Mr. Zimpelman has been a worthy and trusted citizen, has 
 a kind and generous nature, and has accumulated a compe- 
 tency for declining years. He is a noble specimen of Teu- 
 tonic birth, and has fairly won the good name he bears. He 
 weighs one hundred and ninety pounds, and is five feet 
 -eight inches in stature. 
 
300 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 BENJAMIN C. WELLS. 
 
 THIS gentleman, whose life is one of grand success and 
 achievement, arrived in Austin from Coffeeville, Missis- 
 sippi, April 9, 1871, and shortly afterwards engaged in the 
 jewelery business on a capital of less than $2000, For sev- 
 eral years thereafter, he did all of the work for his estab- 
 lishment, which included repairing, watch making, etc. 
 Such was his remarkable business tack and ambition, that 
 he soon found it necessary to secure larger quarters, as his 
 trade had begun to extend beyond the limits of the Capital, 
 which at that time was but little more than a country village. 
 He consequently moved into the large brick building situ- 
 ated on the corner of Bois 'd Arc street and Congress avenue, 
 which, from the time of its occupancy by Mr. Wells, has 
 been known as the "Clock Corner." Here he went exten- 
 sively into the manufactory of many beautiful and artistic 
 articles of sterling silver ware, mounting of diamonds and 
 other precious stones, and by strict integrity and close at- 
 tention to business, he soon found himself one of the larg- 
 est jewelry merchants in the State. For reliability and 
 strict integrity, no man in Texas stands higher than B. C. 
 Wells. He is now located in an elegant house on Congress 
 avenue, which he erected some years since, and where he 
 continues to do a large business in his line. 
 
 Mr. Wells was born in the town of Maryville, East Ten. 
 nessee, April 1, 1841, where he remained until 1862. He 
 was educated at Ewing and Jefierson College, near Knoxville, 
 Tennessee. The school was disbanded at the outbreak of 
 the war between the States, by the students volunteering to 
 go into the army. JNIr. Wells being one of them, entered 
 ttie First Tennessee Cavalry, Colonel James E. Carter's regi- 
 ment. The war, to him, resulted in the consuming by fire 
 of his homestead during one of the battles. No braver or 
 more heroic soldier served under the flag of the Confed- 
 eracy. When he returned, and found his home gone and 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 3OI 
 
 Distinortiished Texans. 
 
 himself impoverished, with naught but an intellect which 
 was by ho means limited in its scope, and thinking that he 
 could perhaps lay the foundation of a fortune, he deter- 
 mined on leaving the scenes of his boyhood, and decided on 
 moving to Texas, where he has lived to realize all of his 
 fondest hopes. 
 
 Besides his success in finance, he had proved himself an 
 artist of high merit. His skill has found a profitable chan- 
 nel through which to win the meed of popular approval. 
 The genius that has expressed itself in the elegant pieces 
 of silver manufactured from Mr. Wells' establishment can 
 but receive the reward it deserves. 
 
 Under the administration of Governor R. B. Hubbard, 
 Mr. Wells received a commission as Honorary Commis- 
 sioner to attend the Paris Exposition as a representative of 
 Texas. He is at present a member of the board of trustees 
 of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum. Governor Ireland also ap- 
 pointed Mr. Wells, on the part of Travis county, to at- 
 tend the great exposition held at New Orleans. All these 
 positions he discharged with honor to himself and his State. 
 
 Mr. Wells was married to Miss IjOU. Tully, of CofFeeville, 
 Mississippi, June 9, 1870. They have no children, save an 
 adopted son, little Claude Walker, to whom both Mr. and 
 Mrs. Wells are devotedlv attached. 
 
 SPEECH OF REPRESENTATIVE BELL, OF COOKE, 
 
 IN PLACING THE NAME OF HON. JOHN 
 
 H. REAGAN IN NOMINATION FOR 
 
 U. S. SENATOR. 
 
 Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the Twentieth Legislature : 
 
 THIS is no ordinary duty we have met to perform. To 
 select a man who shall go as the mouthpiece of this 
 great State to the national capitol is no trifling affair. The 
 great interests of this young empire will be in his keeping. 
 
302 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distmouished Texans. 
 
 Her lights will be under his guardianship and protection. 
 The performance of this task should rise above all person- 
 ality ; all sectional narrowness should be banished, and a 
 deathless determination to do what is l)est for the whole 
 State dictate our utterances and determine our votes. In 
 presenting to you the name I shall, I trust I am actuated by 
 such motives alone. The gentleman is not in my section of 
 the State ; he is not, in but a limited sense, my personal 
 friend. He never did me the smallest personal favor. 
 Others are asking who have done me many personal kind- 
 nesses, and are my friends and neighbors, so far as to live in 
 the same section I represent. 
 
 For all the gentlemen who have been mentioned in such 
 eulogistic terms to-day I have but the kindest of feelings, 
 and in what I shall say to-day I have no word of censure 
 for any of them. I admire their greatness. I praise their 
 sincere performance of duty. 
 
 No, gentlemen, I would not create one ruffle in that man- 
 tle of conscious integrity that now falls so gracefully about 
 the manly form of Maxey, the soldier and statesman. 
 Neither would I cast one blight upon the fair escutcheon of 
 our honored governor, the brilliancy of the eve of whose ad- 
 ministration is only surpassed by the halo which surrounds 
 the morning of his successor. Much less would I fail to give 
 that intellectual giant, that able jurist and abler 
 statesman, the Hon. A. W. Terrell, the full meed of praise. 
 
 But while I join in the admiration of these gentlemen and 
 their services, Avhen I come to consider the grand character 
 of John H. Reagan, my soul is stirred with a fervent devo- 
 tion and intense adoration akin to idolatry. While others 
 have been great, he has been greater. While others have 
 trodden the paths of duty, he has been a hero in the per- 
 formance thereof. \\'hile others are his equal in point of 
 intellectual ability, as to moral courage he stands to-day on 
 the political plane like some tall peak, lifting its head above 
 its fellows, up through the clouds of doubt and uncertainty 
 as if to talk with God. 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 This is a time when men, not .measures, are wanted. 
 The demands of the day are well understood — the men to 
 execute those demands are few ; men of intellectual ability 
 are plentiful ; men of heart and nerve are few and far be- 
 tween. 
 
 And while I do not yield to any of the gentlemen named 
 the palm of intellectualit}^ over Mr. Reagan, I can, with full 
 justice to all, claim for him superiority over all in point of 
 determination and will to do the right. While others 
 have had equal ability with him to see what was necessary, 
 they have contented themselves with the knowledge. He 
 has had the moral courage of his convictions, and hurling 
 all the powers of his giant mind at the accomplishment of 
 his purposes, gone far in the lead where others scarcely 
 dared to follow. He has not contented himself with being 
 a private in the ranks of duty, but has sought to scale the 
 Avails of the enemy and plant thereon the standard of truth 
 and the banner of the people's rights. 
 
 A brief rehearsal of the career of this heroic statesman 
 may not be out of place. He was fortunate, and yet unfortun- 
 ate in his early boyhood. He was fortunate in being reared 
 amid the rock-ribbed mountains of East Tennessee, the 
 Switzerland of America ; that land whose mountains God 
 hath robed in starlit clouds and left the kiss of love upon 
 all her green hills and sunny slopes, where the beautiful 
 rivers and pebbly brooks steal down through the gorges like 
 tear-drops on nature's furrowed cheek, where the humble 
 mountaineers met, and every man's a freeman and the peer 
 of his fellows. 'Twas there he learned that great principle 
 of equality which has clung to him through life; 'twas there 
 he breathed that heroic sentiment of devotion to principles 
 which has made him what he is — the Gladstone of Ameri- 
 can politics. But he was unfortunate in being the son of a 
 poor tanner. Left in early life to work out his own fortune 
 and fame, he began with the seeming hopeless task of edu- 
 cating himself by working on a farm at $9 per month ; but 
 he succeeded. At the period of manhood he cast his lot 
 
304 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 with the people of Texas, landing here in 1839, His life 
 since is a part of the history of the State. Its his- 
 tory cannot be written without writing his biography. 
 Whether we view him as the judge upon the bench, or the 
 lawyer at the bar, he is the same bold, self-reliant, candid 
 and calm thinker. 
 
 Many of the old settlers of Peter's colony remember the 
 little black-eyed man, who, when the darkest hour of their 
 history was upon them, came to their relief. I see now 
 that band of brave men come to him, after all the other law- 
 yers in that section had failed them, and when the attor- 
 ney-general of the State, and the head of the colonists, had 
 to be attacked, and asked him to speak for them. His 
 friends at the bar advised him to say nothing, but they did 
 not know of what metal he was made. Standing therein 
 their midst, in the then little village of Dallas, he said : 
 ''Gentlemen, I understand all about this matter, and will 
 speak for you to-morrow." I see the honest old man, A. 
 H. Latimer, go and take him by the hand and tell him he 
 thanked God one man had the courage to speak his convic- 
 tions. Pie did speak, and fired the hearts of those colonists 
 and saved them their homes. 
 
 I see him when, as a cabinet ofhcerinthe Confederacy, he 
 organized such a system of mails that the great Federal cap- 
 tain was forced to say, "we must break their connection 
 if ever we stop this rebellion," and soon his cannon were 
 thundering at Fort Donaldson, at Island No. 10, and Vicks- 
 burg. 
 
 And when the war was over, while others were despairing 
 and sitting in gloomy silence, or fretting at an unwelcome 
 fate, he, even from the walls of Fort Warren, forgetting his 
 own miseries, sought to save his distracted and ruined 
 country the horrors of reconstruction. He looked forward 
 with a keen, almost prophetic, eye, and saw the new South, 
 of which Grady speaks, and cast upon the waves of passion 
 and prejudice the pearls of truth which were to be gathered 
 up in after years ; and, with an aching heart, he threw 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 305 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 around him a mantle of silence and sought to still its throb- 
 bing as the snow in the churchyard marbles o'er each aching 
 mound, by repairing to his little farm to earn, by honest 
 toil, his daily bread, and commence anew to repair his 
 shattered fortunes. There he plowed, row by row, with the 
 negro laborers, but his giant mind was not confined to 
 plowing. 'Twas then he saw the great problem for whose 
 solution the last eighteen years has heard so much. He saw 
 that agriculture had been the one great industry which made 
 all others. He saw that the men of the ax and maul, of the 
 plow and hoe, had converted this wilderness into a garden, 
 and that they were still creating annually thousands of mill- 
 ions of dollars worth of produce. 
 
 Ue saw, also, that notwithstanding this toil, year by year, 
 that theirs were the hardest lot. He saw want in their 
 homes and at their humble boards ; he saw, on the other 
 hand, the great avenues of trade over which these millions 
 of wealth were carried, all centering at New York. 
 
 He saw the few great railroad magnates owning these 
 avenues, sending down their cars to gather in this product of 
 the farmers of our country, as if it were a tribute laid by 
 them upon the tillers of their soil ; he saw that product 
 being consumed by these magnates in its transportation, and 
 the money being used in building palaces on the Hudson, 
 and yachts in which to sail ; he saw these magnates ride 
 down in their palace cars over their vast extent of roads, in 
 the same lordly style in which the feudal barons used to 
 visit annually their possessions ; he saw that each new road 
 built Avas another link added to the fetters that already 
 bound the agriculture of the country. Others saw the same, 
 but contented themselves with the knowledge. 
 
 His great heart was stirred ; he could not rest and see the 
 wealth of this country accumulating in the hands of the few. 
 He saw ere long we must reach the point where a moneyed 
 aristocracy — the few — would rule and dominate the impov- 
 erished and enslaved many. This is the difference between 
 him and others, that he threw himself, his all,'into the 
 
306 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Di sting iiished Texans . 
 
 struggle to save the people from this thraldom. For thir- 
 teen years he has waged the war with all the giant powers 
 which unlimited money could bring to oppose him. By the 
 force of his own splendid genius, by the sublime moral cour- 
 age he possesses, he has at last succeeded, and now the glad 
 shout is going out from every heart, saying : 
 
 "Sound the loud timbrel o'er freedom's dark sea, 
 For Reagan hath triumphed, the people are free." 
 
 Gentlemen, you have heard of the commerce of our coun- 
 try and what has been done by others to improve its condi- 
 tion. 
 
 Who has done this? Let the records speak ! I ask you 
 to remember that when Reagan went back to Congress, after 
 the war, not one dollar had been appropriated since 1860 to 
 the improvement of our Southern rivers and harbors. I in- 
 vite your attention to the meeting of the committee when 
 Reagan first was placed upon it. 
 
 When the bill was read over and the South passed by, this 
 grand old hero rose in the might of his moral power and 
 said, "Gentlemen, unless you put in that bill the proper 
 proportion due my section, I meet you no more, but I go to 
 defeat your bill." Suflice it to say, it was reconsidered, 
 and the South has ever since been recognized as a part of the 
 Union. But, gentlemen, it is unnecessary for me to dwell 
 longer upon the merits of this great and just man. This is 
 not a fight among men. The real struggle here is between 
 Reagan and monopol}^; between Reagan, the friend of the 
 people, and. corporate power and plunder. 
 
 They do not care who you elect, so you don't elevate the 
 man who has dared the fury of their vengeance. 
 
 They are going to use every means to secure his defeat. 
 They have marked him out as the object of their vengeance. 
 Read the history of the past ! Where now is Allen G. 
 Thurman, that noble old Democrat who dared to step out 
 with Reagan in this fight for the people ? His head has fal- 
 len upon the political block ! The telegraph now brings 
 the news that Van Wyck, that pure Republican who dared 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVER-NMENT. ^Of 
 
 Distinguished Texan s. 
 
 to go with them and brave the fury of the party lash, has 
 met a similar fate. Will Texas Democracy place herself on 
 record in favor of monopoly or Reagan ? That's the ques- 
 tion at issue. Maxey has been honored all we can. Ireland 
 and Terrell can wait, but Reagan is the demand of the hour. 
 In the name of the old settlers of Peters' colony ; in the 
 name of the millions of humble tillers of the soil of this 
 country ; in the name of Texas manhood; in the name of 
 our free institutions, whose grand exemplar he is, I nomi- 
 nate John H. Reagan, the able statesman, the pure patriot 
 and moral hero ; he who has stalked like a Samson amid 
 the entrenchments of corporate plunderers and smote them 
 right and left; he who, by the force of his moral courage, par- 
 alyzed to dumbness the tongues of Northern hale and preju- 
 dice, and wrung from unwilling hands the rights of his 
 people. Remember that each vote for Judge Reagan is a 
 blow for freedom and a death stab at monopoly ! 
 
 SPEECH OF HON. H. M. GARWOOD, OF BASTROP. 
 
 [Bill under discussion: Senate Bill No. 219, known as the Land Bill. Mr. Garwood 
 had offered an amendment eliminating the lease features of the bill, and repealing 
 the act of 1SS3 ] 
 
 MR. SPEAKER : This amendment is offered in no 
 spirit of factious opposition, and with no desire to de- 
 lay the majority in the exercise of its constitutional preroga- 
 tives. It has been introduced that this question may be 
 placed fairl}^ before this House, and before the State. The 
 duty of a legislator in a commonwealth so vast in its extent 
 as Texas, is both difficult and dangerous. In no legislative 
 body is the member so often called upon to sit in judgment 
 upon the claims of different sections, and decide between 
 the demands of separate funds and clashing interests. But, 
 sir, by as much as the task imposed upon us is delicate and 
 
308 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 laborious, by so much more should we feel encouraged in our 
 labor, and, rising to the full height of patriotism and states- 
 manship, decide these great questions in accordance with 
 those fundamental principles of right and justice that have 
 secured the happiness and the prosperity of every govern- 
 ment that has had the courage to recognize and apply them. 
 This question of land legislation, like the unwilling ghost 
 that will not "down," comes up before each succeeding 
 Legislature. It is no new one, but is ahiiost as old as gov- 
 ernment itself. William, the Norman, like that "master 
 mind," the real author of tliis iniquitous measure, was an 
 advocate of this lease principle, and Avhen he crossed the 
 Channel, and leased up the lands of merry England to his 
 feudal dependents, the foundation was laid for the trouble 
 now agitating the people of Great Britain. There, the ques- 
 tion is, what shall be done with public lands, made private 
 by extension of lease and withdrawal of rent. Here the 
 feudal system, engrafted upon our laws by the act of 1883, 
 has not progressed so far, and we are this day to decide 
 whether we will deliver the miserable remainder of our 
 lands, left after that saturnalia of land grabbing so graphic- 
 all}^ described by Commissioner Walsh in his last report, 
 into the absolute control of the feudal barons now monopo- 
 lizing the land and cattle interests of the northwest. 
 ' If this land, Mr. Speaker, was public land, and was not 
 specially set apart by the Constitution to special funds, 
 there could be no doubt as to the disposition of this matter. 
 The people would condemn this [relic of feudalism, the 
 lease system, as a thing strange and unholy, foreign to the 
 spirit of our institutions and unknown to our history and 
 our organic law. But when members from the west contend 
 for that right which is as old as English libert}^, the "right 
 -of common" and tell you in tones almost pathetic, that you 
 are enacting the great west into a veritable desert, the spe- 
 cious cry of "school fund" is raised, and they are charged 
 with wishing to rob the school children of the State. Thus, 
 for two hundred thousand dollars a year lease money, you 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 3O9 
 
 Distin^'u ish ed Texans . 
 
 are retarding the development of the State, driving back the 
 actual settler, and fastening upon Texas a system foreign to 
 every tradition of our race, and in direct opposition to the 
 Constitution of the State. 
 
 In the consideration of questions of public moment, we 
 should recur often to first principles and fundamental law. 
 Members have recently developed an attachment for the 
 Constitution, which is highly commendable. Those gentle- 
 men who, some days since, reasoned so eloquently against 
 the delegation of its powers by a legislative body, will, it is 
 presumed, join hands with us in abolishing the Land BoarcL 
 We invite their consideration further upon this-questiou. 
 
 IS THIS LEASE SYSTEM CONSTITUTIONAL. 
 
 A State Legislature is omnipotent, save in so far as it is 
 governed by the Constitutution and treaties of the Federal 
 government, and restrained by express inhibition in the 
 State Constitution. Does the Constitution of 1876 contain 
 these express inhibitions ? We believe that it does. Sec- 
 tion four, article seven, contains these words : " The lands 
 herein set apart to the public free school fund shall be sold 
 under such regulations, at such times, and on such terms 
 as may be prescribed by law." The language is mandatory 
 — " shall be sold." Test this by all the rules of constitu- 
 tional construction known to the technicalities of the law, 
 and it does not confer the power to lease. Judge Cooley, 
 in his celebrated work on Constitutional Limitations, lays 
 down several approved rules governing the construction of 
 State constitutions. As that (first) " the intent shall gov- 
 ern" (page 00)^ and that ''to ascertain this intent, the first 
 resort in all cases is to the natural significance of the words 
 employed in the order of grammatical arrangement in which 
 the framers have placed them," and " that which the words 
 declare is the meaning of the instrument; neither courts nor 
 legislatures have the right to add to or take away from that 
 meaning " (page 57); (second) "The whole instrument is 
 to be examined with a view to arriving at the true intention 
 
3IO PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 of each part" Tpage 57); (third) " the common law is to he 
 kept in view " (page 60); (fourth) "the proceedings of the 
 constitutional convention may be inquired into with a view 
 towards ascertaining the objects to be attained," etc. (pages 
 Qo, 66, 67). Now apply these rules. The plain, simple, 
 unmistakable words are " shall be sold." An examination 
 of the entire Constitution discloses this pertinent fact, that 
 wherever it is intended that the Legislature shall have 
 power to dispose of public land, otherwise than by sale, it 
 is eo declared. For instance, section six, of this very same 
 article, provides, " that each county may sell, or dispose of, 
 its lands, in whole or in part," etc. The word " lease " oc- 
 curs in the Constitution but once. In section thirty-four, 
 article sixteen, occurs the phrase "' lease or sell," These 
 two sections show conclusively that the distinction between 
 sale and lease was clearly drawn in the minds of the framers 
 of the Constitution, as it was definitely expressed in unmis- 
 takable terms. Reference to sections two, four, six, nine, 
 eleven, twelve and fifteen, of article seven, will strengthen 
 this view. Could there be the slightest doubt upon this 
 point, that doubt would be removed by a study of the pro- 
 ceedings of the Constitutional Convention of 1875. 
 
 On page seventy-nine, we find that Mr. Wade, the mem- 
 ber from Hunt county, introduced the following : 
 
 "Resolved, * * * that the lands heretofore set 
 apart for school purposes be utilized under a proper S3^stem 
 of lease, which will raise a distributive fund for the support 
 of free public schools, and that the title to said lands never 
 be permitted to pass from the State." Here was tlie feudal 
 idea absolute. The land was never to be sold, even to the 
 actual settlers, but the State was to remain perpetual land- 
 lord. Here was an approach to the theory of the land reform- 
 ers, who would abolish private property in land, that would 
 have delighted the heart of Henry George. The resolution 
 Avas' referred to the Committee on Education, and on page 
 245, they brought in as their report the present section 4. 
 
 On page 326, Mr. Wade having modified his resolution so 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. ^11 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 as to allow sales, again introduced his lease idea as a substi- 
 tute for section 4; and on page 329, the lease idea was over- 
 whelmingly defeated. But Mr. Wade was persistent. On 
 page 782, the University article was under discussion, and 
 he proposed to amend as follows : 
 
 Section 2, line 25, after "sale" insert "or lease." Sec- 
 tion 4, line 40, after •' sold " insert '' leased." Also, in line 
 44, after " sold" insert " leased." 
 
 Again the Convention expressed its disapproval of the 
 lease idea, and the amendment was lost. 
 
 The practical and contemporaneous construction of this 
 Constitution, as of others for years, was that the Legisla- 
 ture had no power to lease, but that, in accordance with An- 
 glo-Saxon ideas, and the precedent set by the Federal 
 government in the disposition of its public lands, all 
 lands, the fee simple of which had not left the State, 
 were free. From this common law of Texas the Legis- 
 lature of 1883 cut loose, and it is sought to defend the 
 system then inaugurated, and now sought to be perpet- 
 uated by this means, upon the theory of "implied pow- 
 ers," so often invoked to sustain dangerous measures. Mr. 
 Cooley says, page 64: " It is therefore established as a 
 general rule that when a constitution gives a general power, 
 or enjoins a duty, it also gives, by implication, every partic- 
 ular power necessary for the enjoyment of the one or the 
 the exercise of the other." But he further says that "the 
 implication under that rule, however, must be a'liccessary, 
 not a conjectural or argumoitative one.'''' And it is further 
 modified by another rule, that "where the means for the 
 exercise of a granted power are given, no other or different 
 means can be implied as being more convenient or effect- 
 ive." 
 
 In section 4, as in other sections concerning the asylum 
 and university lands, the whole subject matter [is definitely 
 and clearly set out. 
 
 The means of exercising the power conferred are distinct- 
 ly and clearly given, even to the disposition of the funds 
 
312 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 arising from the sale thus provided for, "and no other or 
 different means can be implied as being more convenient or 
 effective." 
 
 Can it be argued that the power to sell necessarily confers 
 the power to lease? Were that true, when a power of attor- 
 ney to sell land is granted, the recipient of that power has 
 also granted him the right to defeat the intention of his 
 grantor, for, by leasing for alongnumberof years, the power 
 to sell could be rendered nugatory. This is our relation to 
 the lands belonging to these special funds. AV^e are trustees 
 of an express trust, and the terms of that trust must be 
 strictly construed. The people, by the Constitution of 1876, 
 gave us power of attorney to sell land, and neither law nor 
 precedent can justify us in extending that power, as did the 
 Legislature of 1883, and as this body is about to do. 
 
 What, sir, is our duty in cases where the constitutionality 
 of a measure is a matter of grave doubt? "In such a case it 
 seems clear that every one called upon to act where, in his 
 opinion, the proposed action would be of doubtful consti- 
 tutionality, is boiind upon the doubt to abstain from acting. 
 A doubt upon the constitutionality of any proposed legisla- 
 tive enactment should, in any case, be sufficient reason for 
 refusing to adopt it ; and if legislators do not act upon this 
 principle, the reasons upon which are based the judicial de- 
 cisions sustaining legislation in very many cases will cease 
 to be of force." (C. C. L., p. 74.) 
 
 Can any advocate of this system say that it is not at least 
 of doubtful constitutionality ? Our duty, then,'is plain. The 
 absurdity of the construction contended for is made mani- 
 fest by considering the possible consequences. Our Bill of 
 Eights, section twenty-six, contains this provision : "Perpe- 
 tuities and monopolies are contrary to the genius of a free 
 government, and shall never be allowed." Yet, notwith- 
 standing the Constitution demands that these lands shall be 
 sold, by renewal of leases immense bodies of land (this 
 bill does not limit the amount) can be given over to the con- 
 trol of cattle kings and corporations for year after year, thus- 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 3i;j 
 
 Distinguished Texans. 
 
 creating the very perpetuities and^monopoliescontemplated 
 by the Constitution and defeating its plain intent. 
 
 And just here, I will call your attention to a letter that 
 has been kindly given me by the Senator from Wheeler. 
 There had been introduced in the United States Senate a 
 bill "to provide for the leasing of the desert or arid lands of 
 the public domain lying west of the one hundredth degree of 
 longitude." The bill provides for the leasing of said lands 
 for periods not exceeding ten years, in bodies of not more 
 than 250,000 acres. In this latter respect, the bill was less 
 dangerous than tlie present bill, which places no limit upon 
 the amount to be leased. Senator Plumb, chairman of the 
 committee on public lands, had referred the measure to the 
 Department of the Interior, with a request for an expres- 
 sion of opinion upon its merits. Commissioner Harrison, in 
 discussing at great length and with unansAverable force the 
 evils of the land system, says : 
 
 " The bill provides that at the expiration of a lease, the 
 party leasing may remove his fence, but it is not provided 
 that leases may not be renewed. A renewal of leases once 
 made must become inevitable. The capital invested would 
 demand such protection, and the ultimate effect would be 
 perpetual control, even if future legislation should not be 
 invoked to invest the parties with titles in fee. By the 
 fourth section sub-leases are not allowed, but this restric- 
 tion would not j)revent an assignment of lease, nor the con- 
 trol of any number of leases by single persons or corpora- 
 tions by power of attorney, nor such unity of action among 
 lessees as would allow a single or combined interest to domi- 
 nate over any part, however large, of the region to which 
 the act would apply. The allowance of such a c^uantity of 
 land as 250,000 acres to one person or corporation, makes, of 
 itself, a monopoly at variance with the spirit of the land'laws 
 and the institutions of the country, and in sharp conflict 
 with popular views respecting the appropriation of the pub- 
 lic lands. Should the leasing system be adopted, a vast 
 territory would become subject, directly or indirectly, to the 
 
314 -PERSONNEL OF- THE 
 
 Distingiiished 7 exans. 
 
 monopolies the act would create. Settlements for homes, 
 town enterprises and the improvement of the country would 
 be discouraged or rendered impossible. Travel Avould be- 
 come difficult and dangerous. Present holders of small 
 farms, unable to compete with the large cattle owners, would 
 be hemmed in by the fences of the latter, and their commu- 
 nication cut off. Instead of looking forward to the improve- 
 ment and filling up of the country, by an increase of inhabi- 
 tants, they would see a decreasing population. Immigra- 
 tion into cattle districts would necessarily cease. Existing 
 towns and cities must inevitably decay, and civilization be 
 destroyed in a region given up to such desolating influence. 
 These results are already beginning to be in New Mexico, 
 the small farmers and country population retiring, and general 
 business diminishing, as great cattle companies absorb the 
 land." 
 
 Here, sirs, we have the whole matter in a few words. 
 The lease system creates a wealthy, powerful and well or- 
 ganized class, vitally interested in driving back the actual 
 settler, and retarding the settlement and general develop- 
 ment of tlie country. Having invested vast capital in the 
 construction of fences and other improvements upon their 
 lesae-holds, powerful influences will be brought to bear 
 upon each succeeding Legislature to renew and extend 
 leases. The danger to be apprehended may be easily seen 
 by tracing the history of this question. In 1S83, the present 
 lease law was passed. The cattlemen were not then so 
 bold. The lease was conditional, and the land still open 
 to actual settlers. In 1885, they were still modest, and did 
 not ask for more. In 1887, by this Senate bill, which the 
 gentleman from Goliad (Mr. Payne) tells us is the pro- 
 duction of some "master mind," and supposed to reflect the 
 sentiment of the administration, they demand the absolute 
 and unconditional lease of unlimited amounts of land. Do 
 not deceive yourselves; these leases will inevitably be re- 
 newed. The step from a long lease to a fee simple 
 title is a very short one. History shows us that it is eas- 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. vS^S ^ 
 
 Distingmshed Texans. 
 
 ily taken. By a systematic renewal and extension of leases, 
 public sentiment will be educated up to the point of sell- 
 ing these vast leased bodies to those who have so long con- 
 trolled them, just as it saw no wrong in selling three million 
 acres to one syndicate, and in allowing one foreign corpora- 
 tion to acquire four million acres of land in this State. 
 
 Another fundamental objection to the lease system is, 
 that it permits the greater cattle corporations and land own- 
 ers to secure control of the ranges, and thus prevent other 
 owners of herds from engaging in the business, and shutting 
 off competition — a monopoly in the cattle business, com- 
 pared to which all other monopolies in this State shrink 
 into insignificance. None see this so clearly as the cattle- 
 men themselves. We are told, by eloquent gentlemen upon 
 this floor, that free grass will build up the cattle barons to 
 the detriment of the small stockman. Why is it, then, I 
 Avould ask, that every great cattleman in this State, and in 
 the territories, is in favor of the lease ? The opening prayer 
 of every stock convention is, " Oh, Lord, preserve the lease 
 law." They lobbied for it in the Eighteenth Legislature, 
 and endorsed it so soon as it was passed. Every convention 
 that has met since that time has spoken in terms of admira- 
 tion of the system. The National Stockmen's Convention, 
 which met in 1884, at St. Louis, asked for a national lease 
 law. This, however. Congress, true to the settled land pol- 
 icy of our government, has hitherto refused to do. These 
 men understand their interests, and appreciate the power 
 which such a system gives them, and are now asking for a 
 lease law stronger tlian any that has yet graced our statute 
 books. 
 
 The Nineteenth Legislature passed a bill, similar in many 
 respects to this. The third section of that bill permitted 
 any person or corporation, for five cents per acre, to lease 
 any amount of land desired. In vetoing the measure, after 
 •commenting at some length upon the recent land troubles 
 that had caused so much injury to the State, Governor Ire- 
 land said \ ''By no act of mine will I ever sanction the ac- 
 
3l6 PERSONNEL OF THE 
 
 Di sting uished Texans . 
 
 qiiisition of these vast tracts of land by one management. It 
 is not a correct public policy, nor is it justice to the great 
 mass of our citizens." These were wise and statesmanlik& 
 words. The bill now under consideration, like that which 
 received this well merited rebuke, places no limit upon the 
 number of acres that may be acquired by one person or 
 combination of persons, and it is to be presumed that were 
 Governor Ireland now at the helm, it would not receive the 
 executive approval. The great powers hitherto exercised 
 by this Land Board are here vested in the Commissioner of 
 the Land Office, clothing that ofhcial with an authority and 
 discretionary power too great to be given to any one man. 
 Should he care to do so, under the provisions of.this act, he 
 can convert the northwest into a desert. 
 
 Again, sir, the lease herein contemplated is ab- 
 solute. The poor privilege given the actual settler 
 under the act of 1883, of entering upon a lease and there 
 erecting his little home, should he so desire, is taken away» 
 True, as has been said by Messers Swain, Walsh and others, 
 this privilege amounts to but little, as there are but few 
 poor men so bold as to enter these feudal domains and attempt 
 to preserve their rights and maintain their independence. 
 Nevertheless, this mere privilege is something, and the act- 
 ual settler and the homeless squatter should never be de- 
 prived of the right of choosing an abiding place upon the 
 vacant lands of Texas. The law of 1883 was bad. That of 
 1885, though an improvement, was properly vetoed. This 
 measure, more dangerous in its possibilities for evil than 
 either, will probably pass. By a method whicli is the evil 
 outgrowth of an overwhelming political majority, grave 
 questions of public moment are decided, not deliberate!}', in 
 the halls of legislation, but amid the turbulent scenes and 
 clashing ambitions of a political convention. The fiat of a 
 convention has gone forth, and notwithstanding this system 
 has been on trial for four years, and proven a miserable fail- 
 ure ; notwithstanding every non-political convention that 
 met during the past year, in which the agricultural and 
 
TEXAS STATE GOVERNMENT. 3^7 
 
 Dtstj'n^ uished Texans. 
 
 working classes were represented, has demanded its aboli- 
 tion ; notwithstanding the policy of the general government 
 has ever been against it, the system must be perpetuated. 
 
 Sir, if such a measure, instead of this miserable pittance 
 of two hundred thousand dollars a year, poured into the la]) 
 of our treasury the wealth of all the mines of earth, I could 
 not, in conscience, give it my support ; for Bastrop county 
 can never lend her sanction to a measure that allows unlim- 
 ited areas of land to fall under the control of one manage- 
 ment, that encourages the monopoly of a great industry, 
 that retards the development of the State, drives back the 
 actual settler, and is enacted in violation of the plainest 
 provisions of the Constitution. 
 
 CALVIN SATTERFIELD. 
 
 THIS gentleman is one of the proprietors of the Austin 
 Statesman, and has had especial charge of the legisla- 
 tive department of the paper during the Twentieth Legisla- 
 ture. Mr. Satterfieldkwas born in Caroline county, Mary- 
 land, August 4, 1861. He attended several schools and col- 
 leges, and was graduated in law from the University of 
 Virginia before he was twenty-one years of age. He prac- 
 ticed his profession in Baltimore, Maryland, vmtil two years 
 ago, when he moved to Austin, and shortly afterwards em- 
 barked in the newspaper business. 
 
 S. B. HILL. 
 
 THE cuts in this work were all executed from photo- 
 graphs by Mr. S. B. Hill, the leading photographer of 
 Austin, Texas. 
 
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