Galveston County, Texas - The whole text, 1895 (part 10 of 26)

In 1 87 1 he married Mrs. Bettie Harper, and having already become interested in farming operations, he divided his time for the next eight or ten years between his large cotton plantation, on the Brazos, and his professional duties. On the outbreak of yellow fever in the Mississippi valley, in 1879, he responded to the call for aid and went to Memphis, where he labored during the prevalence of the epidemic there, and won golden opinions from those in a position to know the value of his services in behalf of suffering humanity. In 1887 Dr. Bryan was appointed, under State Health Officer Rutherford, inspector at Laredo, and spent one season there. Then, on the outbreak of yellow fever at Jacksonville, Florida, he again volunteered his services, and assisted that community through its affliction. Shortly after his return home from this trip his health began to fail, and though every reasonable effort was put forth for its restoration, he gradually grew worse until a removal to Galveston was made in the hope that the sea air would bring him the needed relief. Later an ocean voyage was decided on, and he took passage on the steamship Empress for Europe, but his health continued to decline rapidly, and when the vessel put in at Norfolk, Virginia, for coal, before crossing the Atlantic, he disembarked and abandoned the trip. Returning home by easy stages, he reached Houston still in a failing condition, and on the 30th of October, 1S90, somewhat less than a month after his return, he died. His loss to this community was very generally regretted, and his death was the occasion of many tributes to his worth and manliness. Quoting again from e.\-Governor Throckmorton we find that this estimate of Dr. Bryan, while prompted by strong friendship, is only fair, and is fully borne out by his life and character. E.x-Governor Throckmorton said: "Among my many friends I always regarded Dr. Bryan as the very perfection of honor and chivalry, a gentleman in the highest sense of the term; and, without disparagement to others valued and esteemed with all my heart, I have thought him the gentlest and most perfect in his deportment with all classes of people."

Dr. Bryan left surviving him a widow and six children, - three, Dudley, Mrs. Carrie Lane and Mrs. Annie O'Brien, by his first marriage; and three, Louis, Lula and Chester, by his last marriage. An older brother. Dr. John L. Bryan, a dentist by profession, and a pioneer in that profession in Texas, was for many years a resident of Houston, a biographical notice of him appearing elsewhere in this work. The sister, Mrs. W. W. Stiles, who accompanied the father and the subject of this notice to Texas in 1845, is still living, being a resident of Houston.

R. ASHLEY WILSON FLY. - The subject of this brief sketch is a Southerner by birth and comes of a long line of Southern ancestors. His father. Judge Anderson B. Fly, was born in Maury county, Tennessee, in which county the Doctor's paternal grandfather, Joshua Fly, was also born, his great-grandfather settling there in the latter part of the last century, - in the days of the heroic Robertson, Sevier and Shelby, founders of the first colonies in middle and western Tennessee and Kentucky. Joshua Fly was a planter of the old regime who passed all his years in the quiet pursuits of agriculture. Anderson B. Fly was educated for the bar, and moving to Mississippi was for many years Chancellor of the Second district in that State He now resides at Water Valley, in Yalobusha county, where he is engaged in ministerial work, having become an ordained minister of the Methodist Church.

Dr. Fly's mother bore the maiden name of Margaret J. Giles, and was a native of North Carolina, but was reared chiefly in Tennessee, to which State her parents moved about the close of the first quarter of this century.

The subject of this sketch was born in Yalobusha county, Mississippi, on August 27, 1855, and was there reared. His literary education was obtained in private schools, being completed by a special course in Latin and Greek under Professor Smith, an Oxford graduate, then teaching at Eureka, Mississippi. Having selected medicine as a profession, he began preparation for it by reading under Dr. William R. Dickson, of Water Valley, Mississippi, and later entered the Louisville Medical College, at Louisville, Kentucky, at which he graduated February 22, 1875. He was a diligent student and secured two prizes, - one for the best standing in anatomy, and the second, a special prize offered by Professor Kelley, for the best standing in surgical anatomy. Shortly after graduation Dr.

Fly came to Texas and, locating near Bryan, in Brazos county, he entered at once on the vigorous pursuit of his profession. He remained there only about six months, when, in November, 1876, he moved to Galveston, and, casting his lot with the people of this city, he has since been one of their number.

Dr. Fly has given his attention earnestly and, until within a recent date, wholly to his profession. He has not made a specialty of any branch of it, but has pursued the general practice. By connecting himself with the different societies within reach he has had the benefit of the researches of his brethren of the profession, and has in turn been a contributor to their deliberations. He was professor of anatomy and clinical surgery in the old Texas Medical College for several years, being also demonstrator for two terms. In 1878-9 he filled the position of house surgeon of the Galveston City Hospital and was president of the Galveston Board of Health in 1883. He is an active member of the Texas State Medical Association and of the Galveston County Medical Society. He has served on important committees of each, having been chairman of the section on surgery and anatomy of the State Medical Association, his report as such appearing in the Transactions of 1888. He is also a member of the American Medical Association.

Like all good citizens Dr. Fly has always been interested in the maintenance of good government, and this interest prompted him, in the spring of 1893, to yield to the solicitation of a number of representative citizens of Galveston to become a candidate for the office of Mayor. In a closely contested election he was elected by a handsome majority, and his administration so far has fully met the expectations of the people of the city, being characterized by vigor, economy and straightforward business methods.

Dr. Fly is still young in years. He possessess a splendid equipment, mental, moral and physical, and, now that he has been brought conspicuously before the public, his career, whether public or professional, will be watched in the future with interest.

On March 28, 1878, Dr. Fly married Miss Kate Rodgers Wilson, a native of Brazoria county, Texas, and a daughter of Joseph Wilson, who was one of the early settlers of that county.

BREDERICK BLEIKE was born in Westphalia, Germany, November 4, 1828, and is a son of Theodore Bleike and Wilhelmina Hense, who were natives of the same place, and who immigrated with their family, including the subject of this sketch, to Texas, landing at Galveston November 20, 1850, aboard the ship " Reform," after seven weeks out from Bremen. They settled at Galveston, ' as .did also their sons and daughters, most of whom were then grown, and here spent the remainder of their lives.

Frederick Bleike learned the trade of a carpenter in his native country, and pursued it there for some years before his removal to Texas. Taking it up in this place after settling here, he has followed it steadily ever since. During t he late war he was a volunteer in the Confederate army, serving in Cook's regiment of heavy artillery and participating in the battle of Galveston^ Toward the close of the war he was in the ordnance department, and saw but little active service. Mr. Bleike had performed military duty before coming to this country, having served two years in the Prussian army.

On January 15, 1853, Mr. Bleike married Theresa Berkenbusch, a native of Westphalia, Germany, and a daughter of Francis and Theresa (Gerken) Berkenbusch, who immigrated to Texas, settling at Galveston in 1856. The offspring of this union was five children; Theresa, born February 8, 1854; Frederick W., born January 5, 1856; Charles A., born January 18, i860; Annie L. , born April 24, 1863; and Joseph F. , born April 12, 1865. Theresa was married to William Callahan, who is now deceased, leaving her three children, - William, Theresa and Alexander. Frederick W. is single, and resides in Chicago, Illinois, where he is successfully engaged in the insurance business. Charles A. married Zoe Bouthery, of Dallas, Texas, where he resides, engaged in the railroad business, and has three children, - Zorey, Charles B. and Octoine. Annie L. is the wife of E. E. Baldinger, of Galveston, and has two children, - Frederick and Edwin. John F. married Edvig Laave, of New Orleans, Louisiana, resides in Galveston, and has two children, - Olin W. and Roger Mills.

Mr. Bleike had two brothers, Joseph and William, and one sister, Caroline, who was married to William Wolfgang, all of whom became residents of Galveston, the brothers dying here and the sister being now a resident of this city. Mrs. Bleike had one brother, Theodore, and two sisters, Frances, who was married to Joseph Bleike and is now deceased, and Elizabeth, who was married to Laurenz Nuesse, of Galveston, and is also deceased.

aOL. WILLIAM J. HUTCHINS. - A series of sketches purportinf,' to include the names of the more prominent citizens of Houston, Texas, would be incomplete did it not include the name of William J. Hutchins, than whom no one of its citizens for a period of over forty years contributed more to its development and prosperity.

Colonel Hutchins was born March 3, 181 3, in Fishkill, Dutchess county, New York, which was also the native place of his father, J. B. Hutchins. His mother, Ruth (Rushmore) Hutchins, was a native of Long Island, both father and mother being of English parentage. In his early boyhood his father moved to New Berne, North Carolina, where he was educated in the New Berne high school, which at that time afforded all the advantages of ordinary colleges, and of which, after completing his course of study, he was for a short time principal.

In 1835 he went to Tallahassee, Florida, and engaged in merchandising, continuing the business successfully for three years, when he disposed of his business and moved to Houston, Texas, where for the next five years he engaged successfully in various enterprises. In 1843 he again embarked in merchandising, continuing the business with marked success, reaping from it not only profit for himself, but doing much to establish for Houston throughout the State and in the northern markets an enviable reputation for business integrity and fair dealing. In i860 he disposed of his mercantile interests to Mcllhenny, Willis & Brother.

Colonel Hutchins was one of the original projectors and stockholders of the Houston & Texas Central Railroad. In 1861 he purchased at sheriff's sale a controlling interest in it, and managed and operated it as president and general manager and with distinguished success for seven years, including the troublous period of the war, when he retired from the management, assuming it again only once, as vice-president, in 1872, and finally, in 18S0, disposing of all his interests and entirely severing his connection with it.

He was also a stockholder and at various times director in the Galveston, Houston & Henderson; the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio; the International & Great Northern, the Texas & New Orleans, and the Houston Tap & Brazoria Railroads, being president of the last-named road for several years during and after the war.

In 1 86 1 he began the erection of the Hutchins House, then the largest hotel in the State, but the war intervening it was not completed until 1866. In 1865 he was one of the leading projectors of the City Cotton Mills, which were operated successfully until 1870, when they were burned down.

He was one of the leading contributors to the establishment of the Houston Academy which has recently been torn down to give place to the present magnificent high school building so creditable to the city of Houston; and in short, from his first identification with the city, his public spirit was manifested in everything which tended to its development. His energy, his experience, his remarkable business intuition and his pecuniary aid were present in every public enterprise, but with the exception of several years as an Alderman and one term as Mayor, he never sought nor held office. During the latter part of the war he was chief of the Confederate S*ate Cotton Bureau, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, ! sending out cotton and receiving in return, through the blockade and by wagons from Mexico, arms and suppHes for the Confederacy, a responsible and laborious position which he filled satisfactorily as to results and honorably as to condition of detail.

He was for thirty-three years connected with Christ (Episcopal) Church at Houston, most of the time as Vestryman, and for twenty-six consecutive years and until his death was a member of the standing committee of the diocese, and had repeatedly been a deputy to the General Convention of the United States.

If to have passed through an eminently successful career of over forty years in one community without reproach may be considered a success, then William J. Hutchins certainly achieved it.

K^/~\^- THOMAS J. HEARD.- I I Thomas J. Heard was born in /f^^J Morgan county, Georgia, May 14. 1 8 14. His father was Captain John Heard, a well-to-do planter and a soldier in the war of 18 12, where he obtained his title by meritorious service. Captain John Heard was a son of William Heard, who was a native of Pittsylvania county, Virginia, born in 1750, and a volunteer in the American Revolution, being present at the capture of Cornwallis. He subsequently moved to Georgia, where the father of Thomas J. was born. Dr. Heard's mother bore the maiden name of Susan Fannin, and was also a native of Georgia, being a relative of the distinguished Texan patriot of that name.

Thomas J. Heard was reared in Morgan county, Georgia. His literary education was obtained in the schools of his native State, and his medical education at Transylvania University, at Lexington, Kentucky. He came to Texas soon after quitting college, arriving at old Washington, on the Brazos, in October, 1837. There he at once took up the practice of his profession, which he pursued with only casual interruption for a period of twenty }'ears. At the time Dr. Heard settled at Washington, and for several years following, Washington county was regarded as the Goshen, of Texas, and it was the objective point of more than half of the intending settlers coming to the country. In consequence it became the seat of much wealth and boasted a better class of citizens than most of the other settlements. The community, however, was not without its drawbacks, and among these were the rough characters common in those days and the troublesome red men who still lingered in dangerous proximity. In 1838 Dr. Heard volunteered, under Colonel James R. Cooke, to assist in repelling a threatened attack on the part of a band of marauding Indians, and with his command pursued the redskins up the Brazos to a point beyond where the city of Waco now stands. In 1841 he was a member of an expedition, organized under Colonel Nail, which pursued a band of Cherokees into the Red river countrj-, and during the same year he was a volunteer in two other expeditions set on foot for the purpose of running down theiving Mexicans who were then making frequent incursions on the settlers. When General Woll invaded the country, in 1842, capturing and for a time holding San Antonio, he again entered the ranging service for the purpose of driving Woll's army beyond the Rio Grande. In September of the same year he was again a volunteer for the purpose of repelling an attempted Mexican invasion. Being young, vigorous - and full of the martial spirit, the

Doctor was always ready in those days for a chase after Indians or Mexicans, in the pursuit of whom no prospect of danger or hardship ever dampened his arder.

In 1857 Dr. Heard moved to Galveston, where a wider field in the rapidly developing condition of things in the Island City seemed to be opening for professional men. Here he turned his attent^ion exclusively and energetically to his profession, which he pursued to better advantage and with greater success than he had theretofore done. During the war he was examining surgeon on the staff of General T. B. Howard, Confederate States' service, spending his time in the coast country, mainly at Galveston and Houston.

Dr. Heard was at different times a teacher in both the Galveston Medical Colledge and the Galveston Hospital Medical College, and once occupied the chair of therapeutics in the New Orleans Medical College, now Tulane University. He was one of the originators of the Texas State Medical Association; was its first president, and now holds an honorary membership in the same. He was made a Mason in Phoenix Lodge, No. 8, at Washington, Texas, in 1838, since which time he has held a membership in the fraternity, being now Past Grand Scribe ©.f the Royal Arch chapter.

In politics Dr. Heard has been a lifelong Democrat. He cast his first vote for President of the United States for Martin Van Buren, in 1836. He voted for General Houston for President of the Republic of Texas in 1841, and gave his support to that distinguished gentleman in every other contest where he was a candidate. Dr. Heard and General Houston were personal friends for a period of twenty-five years, and in company with Dr. Ashbel Smith, another of

In 1839 Dr. Heard married Miss Frances A. Rucker, of Washington county, Texas, and the issue of this union has been one daughter, Mary R. Heard.

eD. KIAM. - A stranger dropping into the city of Houston and strolling along its main thoroughfares in search of whatever there may be of interest to be seen by a casual observer cannot fail to be struck with the really metropolitan appearance of some of the buildings that meet his eye, and the unique and tasteful displays of goods that adorn the show windows of many of the largest emporiums of trade in that city. The establishment of Ed. Kiam, at the corner of Main street and Preston avenue, will be sure to attract his attention, and whether he stops to take a survey of the splendid five-story brick building or the handsome exhibit of masculi'ie apparel arranged in 170 feet of show windows- fronting on two streets, the conviction will be speedily forced on his mind that behind that vast pile of brick and mortar, frescoing and plate-glass, fabrics, furnishing, tinsel and texture, neatly and artistically arrayed, there must be some enterprise, some money and some business sense. The wonder and the admiration of the stranger will be all the more excited, should he, stepping inside and asking to see the proprietor, have pointed out to him a. young man but little past thirty years of age.

Ed. Kiam and his mammoth clothinghouse are both distinctively Texas products. Mr. Kiam was born in the old town of Liberty, Liberty county, Texas, January

14, 1864, being a son of Victor and Sarah Kiam, who emigrated from Alsace, France, about the year 1851, and settled at Liberty. Ed. was reared, however, in Houston, his parents moving to this city in 1866. His father was a former well-known merchant of this place, and died here in 1887. The subject of this brief notice began his business career at the age of fourteen as a clerk in the clothing-store of Joe Mills, in this city, and remained in Mills' employ some four years. At the end of that time he formed a partnership with Levi Sam, and opened a clothing-house in a little frame building on the site of his present establishment. After a partnership of two years with Sam he sold his interest to the latter, and, associating himself with his brother, Ben, he opened a clothing-store at the corner of Main street and Congress avenue, under the firm name of Kiam Brothers, which was carried "on successfully for three years. He then bought his brother's interest, and shortly afterward, taking a fifty-year lease on a lot, on the corner of Main street and Preston avenue, there erected the elegant structure now known as the "Kiam Building," which, with the buildings he has adjoining it on the east, gives him a frontage of lOO feet on Main street and running back 100 feet on Preston avenue. This structure is built of brick, with stone trimmings, and is equipped with all modern conveniences, being lighted throughout with electricity, furnished with water from the city water works and reached, above the first floor, by an electric-motor elevator. The two lower floors are occupied by Mr. Kiam with his large stock of men's and boys' clothing and furnishing goods, the three upper floors being used as offices. The location of the building, it being central to business and all places of public importance, together with its superior equipments, makes office room in it especially desirable, and insures a good class of tenants.

Mr. Kiam does a very large business, and his success is due to his sound judgment, his tact and his intelligent activity. He is one of the tireless, sleepless and irrepressible advertisers of Houston, and he has demonstrated that it pays to be such.

,>^ EV. HENRY P. YOUNG. - This I ^Z venerable gentleman, widely and \ ^y favorably known throughout Texas as an early-day missionary and most devoted Christian worker, is a native of Germany, born October 2, 1817, and came to Texas to labor among the German people who sought homes here under the direction of the German Colonization Society and the leadership of Prince Solms. Mr. Young arrived in Galveston, January 26, 1846, and began his work two days later, on Sunday, the 28th, preaching his first sermon in the open air, near the bay shore, on Fifteenth street, to a congregation of about 1,000 people. He remained in Galveston until the latter part of January, 1849, when he went into the interior of the State and began operations at New Braunfels, at that time the seat of the German colony in southwestern Texas. He did not confine his work, however, to that place, but traveled extensively in that section of the State, including in his circuit San Saba, - 180 miles distant from New Braunfels, - San Antonio, Fredericksburg, Llano, Austin, Bastrop and numerous other places. There being no houses of worship at that early date; services were held in the open air and at the homes of settlers. During his six years' labor in this field Mr. Young made his rounds on horseback, and frequently camped out of nights, sleeping on the open prairie, his saddle being his pillow and his blanket his only cover. At such times he did his own cooking, carrying for that purpose a coffee-pot and a small supply of corn meal, bacon and coffee. The settlers were generally poor, very few of them having the necessaries of life for themselves, much less a surplus with which to supply the wayfarer. The hardships, self-denial and dangers which Mr. Young underwent and to which he was exposed were great, and he feels now that he could have been brought through them only by the watchful care of a kind Providence.

In 1857 Mr. Young returned to Galveston, and at once took steps to organize a congregation in this city, which was done on the 19th of April of that year, this being the first German Presbyterian congregation ever organized in Galveston. In connection with his church work Mr. Young opened a parochial school, teaching in both German and English. Under the direction of the Master his labors prospered until the opening of the war, at which time, on account of his family, he repaired to the western part of the State, settling at a place midway between New Braunfels and San Antonio. While residing there he had charge of several churches, preaching every Sabbath day, - two Sundays in German and two Sundays in English, - and every fifth Sunday to an American congregation in San Antonio. In addition to this he also conducted a school near where he lived.

After the war Mr Young returned to Galveston, and from the scattered fragments left reorganized his church, opened a school and again resumed work in this field. With the inauguration of the order of peaceful pursuits he soon built up a good, strong congregation and a flourishing parochial school. During those years he received into his school a large number of pupils, whom it was his privilege to instruct both in book knowledge and in the wisdom which comes from above. As the result of these labors there are to-day scores of men and women scattered over the State who owe the cast and coloring of their lives to him, and who bless his name for the wholesome influence he brought to bear on them in their youth.

In I 87 1 Mr. Young's congregation built, - at a cost of $9,000, a church edifice, - the first of his denomination erected in the city, in connection with which a school building was put up. These were destroyed by the great fire of 1885, entailing a very serious loss to the congregation at this place. The church was rebuilt the following year, but the new structure is not nearly as large as the one that was destroyed, this being on account of the removal of so many of the members, and, by reason of the fact that others, some of them the stanchest suppors of the church, have gone to the church triumphant above.

During his forty-eight years' residence in Texas Mr. Young has witnessed a wonderful change in the condition of things here, and in the changes which have been wrought in this time he has in his humble and unpretentious way contributed his due proportion of labor. His instructions as a teacher and his sermons as a minister will be a living monument "to his memory in the hearts of those among whom he has labored all these years. He has aided in every way in his power to the spread of true piety and morality, holding up as it were a beacon light in the early days in this and other communities of this State. Such men can not be estimated at their true worth in their life time. They are the prophetic leaders walking alone in lofty aims and conceptions. Another generation will rank them in shining file with earth's true nobility.

On May i, 1838, Mr. Young married Miss Christiana Stilvvell, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mrs. Young having been born July 9, 1818. Accompanying her husband to Texas this good woman here shared his labors during all the years of his ministry, and still survives to cheer and comfort him in the closing days of his life. To Mr. and Mrs. Young seven children were born, only one of whom is now living, a son, John Henry, who makes his home with his parents. John Henry Young married Miss Mary Rauser, of Galveston, and to them have been born nine children, six of whom are living : Henry, Charles, George, Frederick W., Royal and Frank.

aOL. M. B. MENARD. - Michel Branamour Menard was born in the village of La Prairie, near Montreal, Canada, December 5, 1805. His parents were French. At the age of sixteen he engaged in the Northwestern fur trade, in the employ of an American company at Detroit. Later he went to Missouri at the solicitation of his uncle, Pierre Menard, then Lieutenant Governor of the Territory of Missouri, and an extensive fur trader, and for several years traded for him. Becoming attached to the Indians, he determined to remain among them, and was elected chief of the principal tribe of the Shawnees, which station he held for several years.

In 1S33 or '34, Col. Menard came to Texas and settled near Nacogdoches, where he traded with the Mexicans and Indians. He then became interested with McKinney & Williams in the construction of a mill and trading post on a small stream flowing into the Trinity, named for him Menard creek.

When the Texas revolution broke out the Mexicans endeavored to incite the Indian tribes on the Northwestern frontier to overrun and desolate the country. At the solicitation of the Texas government Col. Menard went among them and by his personal exertions prevented an invasion and kept them quiet. He was a member of the convention which declared the independence of Texas and framed the constitution of the Republic.

In December, 1836, at the first session of the first Congress of Texas, Col. Menard obtained for the price of $50,000 a grant from Congress (or a league of land, on which the city of Galveston now stands, then unoccupied by a single habitation. He laid out the town, and, associating with himself a number of other gentlemen, formed the Galveston City Company, which launched the enterprise of the Island City, with which he was identified from that date until his death.

He represented Galveston county in the Congress of Texas in 1839, and was the author and powerful advocate of the system of finance by the issue of exchequer bills, which failing that session was recommended by President Houston the next and adopted, and provided a revenue and saved the country.

Col. Menard was a man of rare intelligence and noble character, and of the highest order of enterprise and patriotism. He possessed a mind of striking originality and was most agreeable in business and social intercourse. He stood over six feet in height, was of strong, muscular build and possessed undoubted courage.

Col. Menard left a widow, who became the wife of Col. J. S. Thrasher, and a son, Doswell Menard, all of whom have been dead several years. He died September 2, 1856. His funeral took place from the cathedral, and his remains were followed to their last resting place in the Catholic cemetery by almost the entire community.

u - The subject of this brief sketch A 1 has resided for fifty years in Texas. During this time he has had to do at one time and another with many questions of great importance to the people at large. That he has wholly escaped criticism it would probably not be just to say, but it is true that his official conduct has been such as to commend him in a high degree to the favorable notice of his fellow-citizens of all classes and conditions, while his private career is without blame, - no suspicion or suggestion of discourtesy having ever been offered as to the rectitude of his motives or the purity of his life.

Judge Stewart was born in Dorchester county, Maryland, May 8, 18 18. His parents were Joseph and Rachel Stewart, both of whom were also natives of that county, and in their native place they spent their entire lives. They A'ere industrious, thrifty, good people, beginning life with but little in the way of worldly goods, but closing their labors in this world amidst scenes of peace and plenty, surrounded with everything calculated to make them happy. The father was a shipbuilder, a man of sound, practical wisdom and kind and benevolent disposition. Both he and his wife were for many years members of the Methodist Church. They were the parents of twelve children, seven sons and five daughters, all of whom they took pains to train to habits of industry and sobriety and to educate up to the standard of that day. Five of the seven sons were educated for the law and two of them became ministers of the gospel. The eldest son was a member of Congress from Maryland for three terms before the war, and after the war was one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of that State.

William H. Stewart, of this article, received his education in the schools of his native place and at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, graduating at this institution, after a four years' course, in 1841. He read law and was admitted to the bar in 1843, at Cambridge, Dorchester county, Maryland. The following year he came to Texas, settled at Gonzales, and began the practice of his profession. He was Mayor of Gonzales in 1847, and represented Gonzales county in the State Legislature in 1848, 1850 and i860. He was sent as a delegate to the convention that took Texas out of the Union and voted for the ordinance of separation. When hostilities began he raised a company in Gonzales county, but declined the captaincy of it because of a lack of knowleege of military tactics, and entered the service as a private, enlisting in Company A, Fourth Texas Regiment, commanded by Colonel John B. Hood. He served with this command up to 1863, when he was compelled to quit the service on account of ill health. During the remainder of the war and up to 1868 he resided at Gonzales and engaged, as best he could in the then un- settled condition of things, in the practice of law. In 1868 he nioved to Galveston. He was elected to the Constitutional Convention of 1875 from this county, to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of delegate Rugely, and was an active member of that body through the greater part of its sitting. He was the author of the clause setting apart 3,000,000 acres of public land for capital and public buildings at the seat of government, and advocated many of the wisest measures then brought forward for incorporation in the organic law of the State. In 1876 he was elected Judge of the Twenty-sixth Judicial district, and has since held this office.

For many years, while residing in western Texas, Judge Stewart enjoyed a large and varied practice. The reports of tlie supreme court connect his name with many important land and criminal cases in that section. As Judge of the district court of this county he has had charge of the most intricate and important commercial and corporation cases. He has thus had to do either as counsel or Judge with numberless questions of law during the past fifty years, the final determination of which now forms the recognized and finally settled system of the State's jurisprudence.

Whether as citizen, soldier, member of one of the learned professions, or occupant of one of the most important judicial positions in the State, Judge Stewart has always stood ready to do his whole duty, and is justly esteemed as an honorable and useful citizen, kind neighbor and a sound, good man. He is singularilj' free from the sternness and overwrought superficiality sometimes practised by judges, his manners being simple and assuring, rendering him easy of access and pleasant in intercourse.

^ILLIAM VOWINKLE, son of William and Catherine Vowinkle, was born in Sobernheim, on the Rhine, Germany, November 13, 1829. His parents dying while he was a lad, he left Germany before attaining his majority and came to America, sailing from Bremen in the ship "Moses Taylor" for New Orleans, which place he reached in May, in 1849. From New Orleans young Vowinkle went to St. Louis, where he secured a clerkship in a clothing house, and remained there till 1853. He then came to Texas, reaching Galveston in December of that year, whence he went to Port Lavaca, and from there to Victoria. At the latter place he fell in with Peter Shiner, a wealthy stock-dealer, to whom he hired, and went at once to Mr. Shiner's ranch in the vicinity of San Antonio. He soon became familiar with the stock business, and, having won the confidence of his employer, was placed in charge of the latter's ranching interests in Lavaca, Dewitt and Gonzales counties. In 1857 Mr. Vowinkle drove for Mr. Shiner a large bunch of horses to Illinois, which he sold around Springfield, Lincoln and Bloomington, this being one of the first, if not the first, band of horses ever driven from southwest Texas to a Northern market.

At the opening of the war Mr. Vowinkle quit the ranch and entered the Confederate army, enlisting in Company D, Colonel Charles Pyron's regiment. For the first eighteen months he served on the Rio Grande. His command was then transferred to the Gulf coast, and while serving in this capacity he participated in the battle of Galveston. Mr. Vowinkle was one of the first guards on the captured "Harriet Lane." He was also in the fight at Sabine Pass. Joining DeBray's regiment in May,

1863, he went to Louisiana, and was in the series of skirmishes and engagements following Banks' Red river campaign, taking part in all of them. He was in active service until the surrender, receiving his discharge, at Houston, in May, 1865. He was a private, and had the good fortune never to be captured or wounded.

Returning to San Antonio after the war, Mr. Vowinkle settled up his accounts with his former employer and collected a small balance due him, and with this came to Galveston, where he married and settled. His first employment here was in the wood business with General X. B. DeBray. Later he bought property and engaged in business for himself,- - retail wood and groceries, - and has since been so engaged.

Mr. Vowinkle has served as Commissioner of Galveston county. He is a member of the Odd Fellows, Knights of Honor, and of the United Confederate Veterans' Association. His marriage occurred on the 1 8th day of April, 1866, and was to Miss Wilhelmina Lott, a native of this city, and a daughter of William Lott, an early settler on the island.

HLEXANDER CALVIT. - The true heroes of America are those who, from time to time abandoning the comforts of civilized life, have penetrated the forest and prairie wilderness of the great West and there helped to lay the foundation of new States. Such was Alexander Calvit, one of the first settlers of the Brazos valley, and a good type of that intelligent, adventurous and liberty-loving class of men by whom the arts and institutions of civilization were brought into the Southwest.

Mr. Calvit was born in Adams county, Mississippi, June 17th, 1784, and there grew to manhood. His boyhood and youth were passed on what was then the Southwestern frontier, and there he learned the ways of life which so well fitted him for one of the pioneers of Texas. He married Barbara Makall Wilkinson, in the town of Washington, Adams county, Mississippi. December 18, i8[4, and for a number of years engaged in planting in that State. He was in the service of the United States during the war of 181 2-1 5, holding the commission of Captain of a reconnoitering company. Another commission, signed by the Governor of Mississippi and dated in 1 8 16, now in the possession of one of his descendants, shows that he held the position of Captain of artillery in the Thirteenth Mississippi Regiment, and presumably was a man of some consequence in local military affairs.

From Mississippi Mr. Calvit moved to Louisiana, and thence in 1824 to Texas, his family being one of Stephen F. Austin's original 300. On coming to Texas he set-, tied first at San Felipe, but subsequently "laid a headright" on the lower Brazos in what is now Brazoria county, and there took up his permanent abode. He was residing on his farm on the Brazos when the troubles came on between the Colonists and Mexico, and, sharing in the sentiment by which the settlers were actuated in their resistance to the Mexican authority, he cast his personal fortunes in the scale with those of his fellow-citizens and gave the weight of his example to the cause of freedom and local self-government. His position as a Brazos valley planter seemed to make him most serviceable as a purveyor to the little army which formed on the frontier under

Houston, and he diligently employed himself during the winter and early spring of 1835-6 in gathering supplies and forwarding them to those at the front. From overexertion and exposure undergone during this time he was taken with fever, from which in a short time he died, his death occurring January 7, 1836.

Surviving him, Mr. Calvit left a widow and three daughters, the daughters then just verging on to womanhood. The eldest of them, Mary, was married to Jared E. Groce, and after his death to Dr. B. R. Peebles; the second, Sallie J., was married to John Sharp, who was a Lieutenant in Captain R. J. Calder's company at the battle of San Jacinto, and after the death of Lieutenant Sharp she was married to Robert S. Herndon, a brother of John H. Herndon, to whom was married the youngest of the three, Barbara. (See sketch of John H. Herndon in this work.) All of these pioneer women of Te.xas are now deceased, except Mrs. R. S. Herndon, but their good works follow after them in the lives and characters of their posterity, upon whom they stamped the full imprint of their virtues. The widow of Alexander Calvit was a woman of more than ordinary character, and her daughters were indebted to her for most of the virtues which shone out with such radiance in their lives. Upon the death of her husband Mrs. Calvit was left with but slender means with which to provide for herself and daughters; but, summoning her woman's courage and her woman's thrift and methods of economy, she put her household in order and took vigorous hold of the problems of farm life, and it is to her credit that she met every requirement of her position, and continued for years, after her daughters were married and well provided for, to occupy the old homestead, and to conduct its affairs with marked success. Mrs. Calvit was a sister of the wife of Lieutenant Long, whose faithful vigil at Point Bolivar forms one of the most interesting and romantic chapters in Texas history.

EENRY STABE, son of Henry and Mary Stabe, was born in Cassel, Germany, November 30, 1832. He was reared in his native place to the age of seventeen, when, in 1849, he sailed for America, his destination being Houston, Texas, which place he reached by way of Galveston after an ocean voyage of eleven weeks. His first employment after reaching Houston was as a laborer on the streets, and the compensation received was $1 per day. After several weeks spent at this sort of work Mr. Stabe formed the acquaintance of a Mr. Granger, with whom he made arrangements to learn the trade of carpenter and builder, one of the terms of the arrangement being that young Stabe was to have a home under the roof of his employer during the time of his apprenticeship. He was associated with Mr. Granger for twenty years, not only mastering his trade, but following it successfully in partnership with the latter during the greater part of that time. After the war and until within a comparatively recent date Mr. Stabe was engaged in contracting and building in Houston, relinquishing this business only about five years ago to take up that of undertaker and embalmer, which he is now pursuing with marked success. The firm of "Wall & Stabe, of which he is the junior member, was formed in 1889. It is the successor to the oldest and the largest establishment of the kind west of New Orleans or south of St. Louis, and does an annual business of several thousand dollars. The firm own si.\ handsome hearses, ten carriages, and thirty horses. They carry a large stock of caskets and funeral accessories, and are manufacturers of several grades of caskets for their own business. Particular attention is given to embalming, Mr. Stabe having mastered this branch of the business with a view to giving it his personal attention.

In 1 86 1 Mr. Stabe married Miss Louisa Bering, of Houston, a daughter of John and Margaret Bering, who immigrated from Cassel, Germany, and settled in Houston in 1 846. Mrs. Stabe was born in the village of Hofgeismar, Germany, and was only a girl when her parents came toTe.xas. She was reared chiefly in Houston, and belonged to one of the oldest and largest families of this city. Her parents both died here, the father in 1848, the mother in 1865. Several of her brothers reside in Houston, and are numbered among the most prosperous business men of the city. Mr. and Mrs. Stabe have had five children, three of whom are deceased and two living, the latter being Mrs. Fred Horn, of Galveston, and Mrs. James Baker, of Houston. The religious connection of the family is with the German Methodist Church, to the support of which, as well as to all worthy purposes, Mr. Stabe is a liberal contributor.

>^OACHEN FREDERICK ARENDS. fl - From the first, Germany has been /» 1 a heavy contributor to the population of this country. From its overcrowded cities and thickly settled rural districts large numbers of its thrifty, patient, plodding citizens have come to swell the population of American cities and help subdue the forest and prairie wilderness of this great continent. Te.xas began to receive large accessions from this source at an early period in its history, special agencies being organized and special efforts made by private parties, with some general assistance in the way of land grants from the Government, to secure as large number of German settlers as possible.

The subject of this brief sketch, a native of Germany, became a resident of Texas in the manner above indicated. He was born in Kreis Osterburg, precinct of Magdeburg, province of Saxony, kingdom of Prussia, December 23, 1820, and is a son of Joachen and Maria Arends, natives also of Germany. He was reared in his native place. He left Germany in 1846, taking passage, November 2d, on the sailing vessel "Fredericke Louisa" for Texas, which he reached January 12, 1847, landing at Galveston. Two days later he arrived in Houston, and shortly afterward went to work on a farm for Dewitt C. Harris, near Harrisburg. On quitting Mr. Harris' employ he engaged as a helper in the butcher business in Houston, and later went to the Brazos bottoms, where he remained some four years. Having saved his earnings he bought land on Bray's bayou, and there settled in 1852. Here for several years he divided his time between farming and freighting, working through the summer months on his place and spending the fall and winter hauling sugar, molasses and cotton from the Brazos bottoms to Houston, and merchandise back to the merchants and planters in return.

On February 2, 1858, Mr. Arends married Dorothea Goetz, one of his frugal, industrious countrywomen, and taking up his abode permanently on his farm, thereafter devoted his time and attention chiefly to agricultural pursuits. He is now one of the oldest settlers on Bray's bayou, owns one of the largest and best improved farms in that section, and maintains a standing second to none in the community where he resides. Mr. Arends' place consists of 570 acres, a large part of which is in cultivation, and on which he raises the usual farm products, cotton, corn, hay, sorghum, vegetables and such live stock as horses, cattle, sheep and hogs, the surplus of which is disposed of to good advantage in the market at Houston. Mr. Arends has followed farming for fortytwo years, and, having become thoroughly familiar with it and attached, as a man will, to his surroundings, he manifests no desire for a change, but is content with his lot, and pursues his course through life with the ease and sturdy independence for which his race and calling are proverbial. He and his good wife have had three children, two daughters and a son: Marie Louise, born January 13, 1 861; William F. , born December 5, 1863; and Rosina, born February 11, 1865. The eldest, Marie Louise, was married to Julius R. Voigt, January 26, 1887, and has two children: August William, born December 2, 1890; and Cornelius Louis, born November 12, 1892. Mr. Arends' son, William F., died October 16, 1887, and the youngest daughter, Rosina, is unmarried. All the family are members of the German Methodist Church.

of Glarus, June 22, 1824. His parents being people in but moderate circumstances, his early educational advantages were restricted. He was apprenticed to a trade in his native country, which he followed there until past eighteen, when he came to Texas in company with one of his countrymen, John Hessley, reaching Galveston in February, 1S43. He was afterward associated with Mr. Hessley in the mercantile business in this city, succeeding in a few years to the ownership of this business, which he enlarged and carried on for something like thirty years, by this means laying the foundation of the splendid fortune which he left at his death. His later years were given chiefly to his banking interests, which began in 1874, on the organization of the Galveston Bank & Trust Company, an incorporated institution of which he was one of the originators, and which he, in 1882, bought out and replaced with the Rosenberg Bank, of which he was thereafter sole owner.

Early in his career Mr. Rosenberg began investing his means, as they accumulated, in Galveston city property, and later in other real estate, improved and unimproved, in Texas, so that he became in time the owner of a large amount of realty, the gradual appreciation of which, in value, contributed materially to his wealth. He was also a liberal subscriber to all sorts of local enterprises, holding stock at different times in almost everything of this nature in the city. As the result of his industry, strict application to business and superior practical sagacity, aided by circumstances, he succeeded in accumulating a very large fortune, variously estimated at from $700,- 000 to $800,000.

berg was devoted to business. He was keenly alive, however, to the best interests of the public, and was especially proud of the city of his adoption, always manifesting a deep concern in everything relating to its welfare.

Mr. Rosenberg was long known among his more intimate acquaintances as a man of generosity and great kindness of heart, though he often-times appeared otherwise to strangers. His superb gift to the children of Galveston, the Rosenberg Free School, erected in i8S8, at a cost of $80,000, and his donation to Eaton Memorial Chapel of Trinity Church in this city and the erection of a church in his native village in Switzerland, attested his interest in the cause of education and Christianity, and are the best known of his more important acts of benevolence in which the public shared a knowledge before his death. It was not, however, until after his death and the provisions of his will were made public that the splendid generosity of his nature became known. After bequeathing something like $250,000 to individuals, he left the remainder, about two-thirds of his entire fortune, to educational and charitable purposes, the bulk of it going to the people of Galveston. After remembering his native place with two bequests, one of $30,000 and the other of $50- 000, he made provision for the city of Galveston as follows: The Island City Protestant Orphan Home $30,000; Grace Church parish (Protestant Episcopal) $30,000; Ladies' Aid Society of the German Lutheran Church, $10,000; for a womans' home, $30,000; the Young Men's Christian Association, $65,000; for a monument to the memory of the heroes of the Texas Revolution of 1835-6, $50,000; for drinking fountains for man and beast, $30,000; and a great free public library, in the erection and equipment of which all the residue of his estate is to be used. The following clause in his will is pertinent in this connection, and expresses a sentiment which there can be no doubt he sincerely entertained: " In making this bequest I desire to express in practical form my affection for the city of my adoption, and for the people among whom I have lived for many years, trusting it will aid their intellectual and moral development and be a source of pleasure and profit to them and their children and their children's children."

Mr. Rosenberg's death occurred May 12, 1893. Every appropriate mark of respect was shown to his memory in this city and his death was taken notice of by the press generally throughout the State. Surviving him he left a widow, but no children. He had been twice married, marrying first in 185 I, Miss Letitia Cooper, then of Galveston, but a native of Virginia. This lady died June 4, 1888, and November 13, 1889, he married Miss Mollie Macgill, a daughter of Dr. Charles Macgill, and a native of Hagerstown, Maryland.

Mr. Rosenberg for many years belonged to the Episcopal Church, holding a membership in Grace Church of this city, upon the services of which he was a regular attendant, and in which he was for a longtime Vestryman.

^V^R. WILLIAM H. BALDINGER, I I son of Andrew and Anna Cather- ><^^_^ ine Baldinger, was born in Galveston in 1859. He was educated in the private schools of this city; at Lititz Academy, Lititz, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and at the Texas Military Insti-

His preparation for the practice of medicine was begun with a clerkship covering two years in the drug-house of J. J. Schott, of Galveston, followed by a year's reading in the office of Dr. Charles W. Trueheart, of the same place, after which he attended lectures at the Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, at which he graduated in 1885. After graduating. Dr. Baldinger spent some time in the hospitals of New York City, and took a post-graduate course in the Polyclinic and hospitals of that place. Returning to Galveston he took up the general practice and followed it until 1S89, at which time he decided to devote his attention to the diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. Returning again to New York, he entered on a course of study designed to fit him for the pursuit of this branch of the profession. He spent two years under such eminent instructors and specialists as Professors Pomeroy, Webster, Gruening, Myles and others. In 1892 he returned to Galveston and took up the practice in this new field, where he is now following it with success. He is specialist to the Catholic Orphans' Home and the Home of the Friendless Children, of Galveston, surgeon in charge of the Galveston Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Dispensary, a member of the Texas State Medical Association and of the Galveston County Medical Society.

WILLIAM TREACCAR. - In the German village of KoUin, Province of Prussia, on the banks of the celebrated river Rhine, Franz William Treaccar was born in the year 1801. In that country which has contributed so much of wealth and population to the United States Mr. Treaccar received his education and grew to manhood. His parents were thrifty farmers of the better class, and he was reared under wholesome influences both business and social, and acqui''ed a thorough knowledge of farming. Later he became the owner of a large tract of land and developed into a prosperous tiller of the soil. He was married rather early in life to Miss Marie Stecker, who died in a few years, leaving one daughter. Mr. Treaccar selected his second wife in the person of Miss Annie Margaret Bender, who was born and reared in the beautiful valley of the Rhine. In 1847 Mr. Treaccar and wife came to America and brought with them the daughter by the first marriage, Eva, who is now a resident of Galveston, residing between Thirty-second and Thirtythird streets, being the widow of Thomas Young. Their own children, born in Germany, were named as follows : Theodore; Adaline, now Mrs. Fred Fundling; Gertrude, who is single; and Katharine, widow of Albert Gumpert. Another child, Joseph, the youngest of the family, was born in Galveston. All of these children are now residing in Galveston and are prosperous and respected citizens. The mother, who was an active, capable and much esteemed woman, died on the iith of September, 1881. Throughout his entire life Mr. Treaccar displayed characteristics of energy and perseverance which brought him good returns. As a loyal citizen and a neighbor he stood well in the community, and as one of Galveston's early settlers he was well known and respected. He was a veteran of the Mexican war, having joined the United States Army in May following his arrival in this country. By an accident he became disabled for active field service, and was tranferred to the quartermaster's department, where he remained during the greater part of- the term of his enlistment and until the close of the conflict. His constitution was undermined by his services and from injuries received, and his death occurred in 1851. His remains repose in the old Catholic cemetery at Galveston, beside those of his faithful life companion.

V^yTLLIAM OLDENBURG was born M I ^" Holstein, Germany, February mj^JI I 1 , 1 844, where he was reared and learned the trade of cigarmaker, which he followed in the city of Hamburg until 1867, when he came to America, sailing from Hamburg in August of that year for Galveston, Texas, which place he reached November ist, following. Having a sister, Mrs. Ahrenbeck, residing in Navasota, he made his home there for a short time after coming to Te.xas, but in December of the same year he located in Galveston, where he secured work at his trade, which he followed with success for several years. In 1872 he joined the Galveston Volunteer Fire Department, and had various positions in that organization for the next twelve years, holding the position of Chief during the years 1879, 1880, 18S3 and 1884. He was among the first to agitate the question of organizing a paid fire department. While connected with that department of the city he did much to promote the efficiency of the same, and at all times enjoyed great popularity, both with the men over whom he ranked and with the public at large. In 1S91 Mr. Oldenburg was made superintendent of the city waterworks, which position he is now holding, the duties of which he is discharging with his customary fidelity. He is a member of the Odd Fellows, Herman Lodge, No. 5; the Knights of Pythias, Schiller Lodge, No. 56; Chosen Friends, Frederick Council, No. 38; Sons of Herman, Gulf Lodge, No. 46; the Galveston Turn Verein; the German Workingman's Benevolent Society, and the Galveston Masnnerchor, in several of which societies he holds official positions.

In 1866 Mr. Oldenburg married, at Hamburg, Germany, Miss Catherine Bleuse, who was born in Cassel, Germany. The offspring of this union has been one daughter and four sons. The daughter is Mrs. George H. Nichols, and the sons are William, John, Albert and Paul.

>rr*OHN O'BRIEN. - This gentleman is m well known throughout Texas as a A 1 man of genius and at the head of his profession in the State. He is a native of Cork, Ireland, and a son of John O'Brien, who was a stone-cutter by trade. When the subject of this sketch had reached the age of twenty years he decided to seek his fortune in America, and after his arrival here he served an apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade, and later took up the trade of marble mantel making. He rapidly developed a taste for designing and carving, in which he became so proficient that by the advice of friends he resolved to perfect himself in the art. By close application to the duties of his calling, which afforded him not only his means of support but also the best opportunities then within his reach for perfecting himself in his calling, he made rapid progress. He later spent seven years at Rome, Italy, in St. Luke's Academy, which is recognized as one of the best schools for sculptors in the world, and there he pursued his studies under the greatest masters of modern times. Under contract, he returned to America to carve a statue of Commodore Perry, which now adorns one of the public parks of Cleveland, Ohio. Later he produced the heroic statue of Lord Baltimore for the Johns Hopkins University, at Baltimore, Maryland, after which he made the Maryland Confederate Soldier, which was unveiled on one of the public squares of Baltimore in the presence of thousands of people. These splendid achievements brought him renown, and closely following the completion of the last named work he was engaged (1880) to make a life-sized bust of General Winfield Scott Hancock, then candidate for President of the United States. After the finishing touches had been given this beautiful work of art, it was well paid for and presented to its subject by General Hancock's personal friends and political admirers, and in his letter of acknowledgment the General made use of the following significant words:"! am in receipt of your recent communication with reference to the carved bust of myself by our well known sculptor, John O'Brien, Esq., of Baltimore. The engrossed letter of presentation with the carving have both been received and are beautiful specimens of art. I beg that you accept for yourselves and convey tothe gentlemen concerned my warmest thanks and appreciation of this evidence of friendship and esteem. I would ask, too, that you express my special thanks to Mr. O'Brien. L of course, cannot judge accurately of the merit of a work so personal to myself, but it is pronounced by others to be worthy of Sculptor O'Brien's high reputation."

Lone Star State was the production of an heroic bust of General Sam Houston, which occupies a prominent pedestal in the Texas State capitol building, at Au.stin, for which he received the inadequate compensation of $1,000. For about thirteen years past Mr. O'Brien has resided in Galveston, where he has quietly pursued his profession. He now has underway an equestrain statue of General Houston and a life-sized statue of Stephen F. Austin, which bid fair to equal, if not surpass, all his former efforts.

aAPTAIN LEWIS CONNER HERSHBERGER, local inspector of steam vessels at Galveston, was born in Culpeper county, Virginia, December i i, 1820, and is a son of Joseph Hershberger and Barbara iicf Ruffner, both of whom were born in Page county, Virginia. Joseph Hershberger was a son of Samuel Hershberger, who was also a Virginian by birth, having descended from one of five brothers who emigrated from Germany to America in 1700, three of whom settled in Virginia and two in Pennsylvania. Joseph and Samuel Hershberger were planters, men of small means, but industrious habits and upright lives. Joseph served in the second war with Great Britain (1812-14) and subsequently moved to the then western frontier of Virginia, dying at the age of sixtyfive, his widow surviving some years and dying at the age of seventy-three. The subject of this sketch was chiefly reared in Kanawha county, Virginia, to which county his parents moved when he was a boy of seven, and in the local schools of that county received his early mental training. He had the privilege of a two-years' course at the State University at Athens, Ohio, after which he started out for himself. In 1845 he began steamboating on the Ohio river, becoming an engineer on one of the large packets plying between Cincinnati and lower Mississippi river points. He followed this until 1852, at which time he came to Galveston, and here continued in the same kind of employment, running on vessels engaged in trafific and transportation on Galveston bay, Buffalo bayou, Trinity and Brazos rivers, and gulf coast points, until 1871. At that time he received the appointment as inspector of steam vessels at Galveston, a position which he has since held. Captain Hershberger is thus, both in point of residence and service, one of the oldest men now to be found about Galveston who have had to do with the transportation interests of the city. His twenty-three years' service as inspector has brought him in contact with most of the shippers, ship-owners and seamen who make this port, and whose confidence and good will he has won by his uniform courtesy and faithful attention to official duties. Captain Hershberger has, during the past twenty odd years, had but the one business, and he has made it a point to give his time unreservedly to that. During the late war he was a volunteer in the Confederate army, serving in the marine department and mostly in the vicinity of Galveston.

In 1855 Captain Hershberger married Miss Anna Boyle, then residing in St. Louis, Misjouri, but a native of Virginia, having been born in Wood county in the "Old Dominion," a daughter of John Boyle, a farmer and stock-raiser. The offspring of this union has been a son, Clarence A. ; and two daughters: Corinne L. , now Mrs. E. B. Andrews, of San Antonio, Texas; and Maud M., with her parents.

ILLIAM POOL, of Galveston, was born near the town of Fairview, Belmont county, Ohio, March 12, 181 5. His parents were Benjamin and Rachael (Donnelly) Pool. His father, a millwright by trade, located at what is now Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1823, where he accumulated considerable means and passed most of his mature life. The subject of this sketch was mainly reared at Wheeling, and learned the business of miller under his father. At about the age of ten he began steamboating on the Ohio river and followed this on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers for a number of years. In 1846, while on a trip to New Orleans, he became interested in Texas and decided to come to the country, sailing from that port as mate of the Reliance, a vessel which had been purchased by Texas parties for the cotton trade between Houston and Galveston. He reached Galveston in the month of December, 1846, and for a period of eleven years thereafter ran on the Reliance, most of the time as mate, under Captain John H. Sterrett. In the latter part of the '50s he. gave up steamboating and embarked in the butcher business at Galveston, in which business he was interested as a member of the firm of Allen, Pool & Company, until 1884, when he retired. For the past ten years he has been but little before the public, but previous to that time he was one of the most active business men of the city and helped in a considerable measure to build up the commercial and shipping interests of Galveston. The firm of Allen, Pool & Company had a large and favorable business connection both with interior Texas and with the markets of the East, and for some years after the war handled a large volume of trade,

In 1848 Mr. Pool married Miss Harriet Walton, of Wheeling, West Virginia. The issue of this union was several children, four of whom became grown, only one of whom, a daughter, Jenme, now Mrs. E. L. Hawkins, of Galveston, is living. Mrs. Pool died in 1878,

K^^ ENJAMIN O. HAMILTON, conl^**^ tractor and builder of Galveston, J^^J was bora in Troy, Miami county, Ohio, October 2, 1824, being a son of Isaac and Sylvia Russell Hamilton, natives of Virginia and Massachusetts respectively. His father was a steamboat pilot, running for many years on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers until his death, of yellow fever, at Vicksburg, 'in 1840. Isaac Hamilton was a son of James Hamilton, a native of Scotland, who emigrated to America in Colonial times.

Benjamin O. Hamilton was the youngest of a family of five children. He was reared in Cincinnati, Ohio, where his parents settled during his infancy, and at the age of fourteen was apprenticed to the carpenter's trade under his eldest brother, Russell C, which trade he followed at Cincinnati and in that vicinity for several years.

In 1852, while in Newp'-'rt, Kentucky (across the river from Cincinnati), Mr. Hamilton was introduced to General Sidney Sherman, who at that time was on atrip in the East in the interest of the newly projected Texas railway, the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado rivers road, and was induced by that gentleman to come out and take charge of the construction of the bridges, water tanks and depots along the line of the road. Mr. Hamilton arrived in Galveston October 26, 1852, and for two years following was employed as superintendent of bridges and buildings on the above mentioned railway, during which time, and until General Sherman's death, his relations with that gentleman were of the most cordial nature. Mr. Hamilton spent the winter of 1854-5 engaged in repairing steamboats for Captain J. H. Sterrett, who then owned and operated a line of vessels on the bay and Buffalo bayou. He later entered the employ of Lieutenant W. H. Stephens, inspector of lighthouses on the Texas coast, and for five years was engaged in building and repairing lighthouses, erecting during that time the lighthouses at Sabine, Aransas Pass, Pass Cavalla, Corpus Christi, and two screw-pile lighthouses on Matagorda bay; was in lighthouse employ from 1855 to i860, then began contracting.-

In 1855 Mr. Hamilton settled permanently in Galveston and took up the business of general contracting and building, at which he had made a promising start when the war came and put an end to all kinds of building enterprises. He volunteered in the Confederate army and was placed in the marine department, where he was assigned to detail duty in repairing and reconstructing merchant vessels, rendering them suitable for the defense of the Texas coast. He served at this with greater or less regularity until the close of hostilities, when he resumed operations as a builder and contractor, which he has followed without interruption and with a fair measure of success since that time. In the twenty-nine years that Mr. Hamilton has been engaged in contracting and building in Galveston since the war, he has done a vast deal for the building interests of the city, evidences of his activity and workmanship existing on every hand, were it necessary or in keeping with the char- acter and purpose of this article to cite them. With an adequate knowledge of his business, and an honest desire to meet every obligation, whether included in the "specifications" or not, he has established himself in the confidence and good will of the people of Galveston in such a way as to need no factitious introduction from others.

On January 23, 1851, Mr. Hamilton married Miss Abia A. Moore, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and the issue of this union has been three daughters and two sons, four of whom, - Ella, wife of J. H. Fletcher, of Houston; Jessie N., wife of A. H. Meier, of Cincinnati, Ohio; Walter S. and Benjamin O., Jr., of Galveston, - are living, and one, - Fannie, - deceased.

Mr. Hamilton is a prominent Mason, having taken all the degrees in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, up to and including the thirty-second. He also has the Chapter degrees; is Past Master of Harmon Lodge, No. 6,. F. & A. M. ; Past High Priest of San Felipe de Austin Chapter, R. A. M. ; Past Venerable Master of Lodge of Perfection, Scottish Rite, No. i, and Past Wise Master of L. M. Oppenheimer Chapter Rose Croix, No. 2. He has always taken great interest in Masonic matters, and having learned the work thoroughly in the beginning, has been very helpful to beginners.

EON. CHARLES HENRY LEONARD, Galveston, was born in the south of Ireland, March 25, 1813. His parents were Colonel George Leonard and Jane Perc}'. The father belonged to the British army and served in the war of 1 812 against the United States, but afterward became a personal friend of General Andrew Jackson, whom he frequently visited while the latter was President. Mr. Leonard's grandfather, George Leonard, was an Irish country gentleman, whose wealth and abundant leisure enabled him to indulge his taste for sport and to live the ideal life of his class. Several of the uncles of Charles Henry on both sides were officers in the army and navy of Great Britain, one of them also being a member of the British parliament. Mr. Leonard's mother was a native of north England, and was a daughter of Sir James Percy, of an old English house.

Charles H. Leonard was partly educated at King's College, at Toronto, Canada, which institution he left at the age of twenty. He came to the United States in the spring of 1834, and, going to Washington city, presented himself to General Jackson, General Lewis Cass and other distinguished gentlemen as the son of Colonel Leonard, whom they had known and who had frequently been their visitor at the national seat of government. Furnished with letters of introduction from these gentlemen, he started West and entered on a career in some respects interesting and adventurous. After some time spent in the upper Mississippi valley he drifted to New Orleans, where he happened to be at the time of the breaking out of the Seminole war in Florida. Upon the call for volunteers for service in that war he offered himself, joining a company then being raised, but before the company was mustered into service the Governor of Louisiana received information that no more troops were needed, as the war was over, which, however, turned out not to be true, as the war lasted for some years afterward. But young Leonard was ready for adventure, and, hav- ing had the martial spirit somewhat stirred in him by the stories from the Florida country, he determined to go the assistance of the colonists of Texas, who were then engaged in their struggle with Mexico. News was received at New Orleans that the dictator, Santa Anna, at the head of a large and well-equipped army, was about to invade the country. Mr. Leonard came to Texas by way of Fort Jessup and Gaines' Ferry on the Sabine river, and going direct to San Augustine he entered Captain Henry Reed's company, marched for the West, and joined the Texas army near Victoria, on the Guadalupe. On the arrival of Skirlock's company at headquarters, Mr. Leonard, at his own request, was transferred to it. Colonel Morehouse's regiment. He served in this command until after the retreat of the main body of the army under General Houston beyond the Brazos, when he, with many others, found service in protecting the fleeing settlers. At a later date he was in the frontier service under Captain Alexander Horton, Colonel Lynn Mabbett's regiment, and was also with General Rusk in the uprising of 1838, when the Indians and Mexicans threatened the extermination of the Americans in east Texas.

A few years after the city of Galveston was laid out Mr. Leonard came to this place, and casting his lot with the people of the same, he has remained one of them since. He married Adeline D. Reilley, of Galveston, January i, 1853.

Mr. Leonard's pursuits, during his residence in this city, have been chiefly of a business nature, though he has, at one time and another, held a number of public offices. He has been Alderman of the city, Commissioner of the county, and Mayor of Galveston four times. The positions which he has held have come to him by reason of his fitness for them, rather than by any selfseeking on his part. When a candidate for office he has never been profuse in promises, nor has he ever made any which he has not honorably redeemed. As an officer he was always attentive to his duties, and required the same promptitude in his subordinates. His administration as Mayor was marked by economy, the preservation of municipal rights, and the payment of the public debt. Yet he was always mindful of the rights and privileges of the individual tax-payer, and, while seeking to infuse a spirit of enterprise and progress into the public service, he endeavored to act along the lines of fairness to all concerned. After the late war, when Galveston was dilapidated in appearance and low in finance, Mr. Leonard, being called to the office of Mayor, lifted the city to the condition of a live municipality, organized its various departments, gave security to life and property, paid all outstanding cit\' debts, devised employment for labor, and extended his support and influence to Major Plumly in the construction of the first street railway ever built in Texas. At the same time, with the co-operation and under the able management of Dr. Dowell, he reorganized the city hospital for the care of the indigent sick. He caused the streets of the city to be lighted with gas, and purchased for the fire department the first steam fire-engine ever brought to Texas. He also endeavored, during a former term of service, to provide for that great want of the city, a supply of pure water. He recommended to the city council the propriety of boring at least one artesian well, but before the matter was fairly on foot he went out of office, and his suggestion was not acted upon until his re-election in 1S79. Then, with the co-operation of an intelligent body of Aldermen, the funds were supplied, and a first business-like effort toward the solution of this vexed manicipal problem was made. Thus, and in other ways, has Mr. Leonard helped to lay the foundation of the Island City, in whose growth and prosperity he has always e.Khibited the keenest interest, and with which his name will always be associated. In politics he has usually affiliated with the Democratic party in State and National matters, but in local affairs he has acted independently.

He is a Texas veteran of the first class, having served his adopted country in every capacity in which he has been called, but the only remuneration he has ever received for his military services for the independence of Texas was a pair of pegged brogan shoes, an old flint-lock musket that he took the liberty of carying home with him, and two certificates as a soldier, each entitling him to 320 acres of land, which he subsequently sold for $10 apiece.

Mr. Leonard has lost heavily at times by fires, and the late war also brought him his due proportion of losses. On the outbreak of hostilities between the States his sympathies were naturally with the Confederacy, and he responded to the call for help by raising and equipping one of the first companies that went out from this city. Although suffering much in fortune for the part he took in the great conflict, he is today in comfortable circumstances, the result of industry, frugality and straightforward business methods on his part. He is singularly temperate in his habits, and though a member of no church and making no pretense as a moralist, he has always exercised a beneficial influence in the community in which he has lived. He was made a Mason in 1837, and has held the position of Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Texas. He is also a member of the Odd Fellows order, and has been Grand High Priest of the order in this State..

To Mr. Leonard and wife have been born twelve children, but six of whom became grown: Ada, Laura, Franklin, Percy and St. Clair (twins) and Charles Henry, Jr.

^^rw'lLLIAM WERNER, son of Peter I and Elizabeth Werner, was born ^J^^J in the village of Liebenscheid, Nassua, Prussia, December 11, 181 8. His parents were natives of the same place, and resided there until 1845, when with their family, consisting of three sons, - William, Gus and Henry, - they emigrated to Texas, sailing from Bremen about October 8th in the ship Johann Dethard, and reaching Galveston December 20th following. The destination of the family was New Braunfels, the capital seat of the German colony in southwest Texas, but a temporary stop in Galveston was necessitated by threatened hostilities between Mexico and the United States, growing out of the annexation of Texas to the latter. But in March following their arrival at Galveston the parents proceeded on their way toward the colony, and had reached Indianola when the father was taken ill, and in a few days died. W^illiam had in the meantime started "up the country" in search of work, and had also been taken ill at Houston. As soon as he recovered sufficiently he returned to Galveston, and having heard of his father's death, sent for his mother, bringing her back to Galveston, and here provided a home for her. House room being scarce in the city at that time, he put up a small frame building on a lot on Fourteenth street and avenue A, which he had purchased, carrying the timber on his shoulder from Officier's lumber-yard at the wharf. His first employment was as a common laborer, at whatever wages he could get. Shortly afterward (August, 1846), he secured a place as general-purpose man on the premises of Dr. Taylor, at $8 per month, and worked at that place for a year. Pie then obtained a position in the lumber-yard of Mr. Lynn, the British consul, from whose employ, after a few months, he went to that of Dr. J. C. Kuhn, who was then doing a large commission and shipping business. He remained with Dr. Kuhn for a period of eight years, during which time he received from $30 to $40 per month, most of which he saved.

In the meantime, in 1847, Mr. Werner married, taking for his wife Miss Katrina Elbert, who was a native of Bavaria, Germany, having come to Galveston the year previous. In the yellow-fever epidemic of 1847 Mr. Werner's mother died with the fever, and his own health became much impaired through close confinement to work and e.xposure to malarial and other noxious influences, so that, in 1855, he concluded to take a trip to his native country for the benefit of his health. He spent two years in Germany, at the end of which time he returned to Galveston, and opening a grocery store at his former place of residence on Fourteenth street, was there engaged in business until the opening of the war.

Mr. Werner was opposed to secession, and refused to enter the Confederate army for field service, but compromised by engaging as a blockade runner. He was captured on the first trip in this service, and

Returning to Galveston after the war he resumed business here, and was so engaged up to 1870. Continued ill health forced his retirement at that time, and he has since done but little except to look after his health. He has made five trips to Germany, most of them in recent years, and has traveled extensively in Europe and this country.

Mr. Werner lost his wife in 1875 (March 4th), and he afterward married again, but has no children by either marriage. Both his parents having died here, and his younger brother, Henry, without issue, his only relatives residing on this side of the Atlantic are his brother, Gus, who lives in Galveston, and his family.

Mr. Werner does not belong to any church organization nor to any orders. He has never filled public office, nor figured in politics. He knows and is known to all the old settlers, by whom he is held in respect and mentioned with esteem, but to the younger generation he is a comparative stranger.

K^_^ city of Houston, one of her first merchants, the last survivor of six brothers, whose names have become inseparably linked with the history of this portion of the State, was born in the Indian village of Canaseraga, in what is now Madison county. New York, on the 12th day of April, 1808. For an account of his ancestry reference may be had to the family history, which appears elsewhere in this volume. His boyhood and youth were passed in his native place, among the hills and along the streams of Madison county, then a wild, picturesque and unsettled country, still in part occupied by the Indians. The father of Samuel L. bought an "Indian improvement " on settling at Canaseraga, and for a considerable time had several families of Indians for his neighbors. That these, though claiming to be civilized, were not always disposed to be friendly toward the whites, is well illustrated by an incident in the life of Mr. Allen that befell him in his childhood. He relates that when but three years old he went one day with a neighbor boy to the pasture, not far from his father's house, for a horse. While the boy was driving up the horse young Samuel was to wait at a safe place near the "gap." It so happened that there was an apple tree near by, into which he concluded to climb. An old squaw, belonging to an Indian family living close at hand, saw him, and, actuated presumably by downright cruelty, went down to the apple tree, and, shaking him out, fell to beating him over the head with a club. He was beaten until he was senseless, and supposed by the woman to be dead, in which condition he was thrown in an out-of-the-way place, where he was partly covered with leaves, and left. He lay there the greater part of the day till toward evening, when the old squaw, moved probably by curiosity, went down and examined him, and, tinding him still alive, reported to some white men not far away that she had found a child which had been almost kicked to death by horses. Pointing out the place, the child was recognized and taken to his parents. Although he was then speechless and unconscious, he recovered sufficiently in a few days to tell the straight of the story, which being done, excited great indignation among the whites, and there were threats of violent measures against the Indian woman. Trouble, however, was averted by the counsel of cooler heads and by the promptness with which the husband of the woman, an intelligent, manly fellow, met the emergency. The husband went at once to the parents of the child and offered to surrender his wife to be dealt with as they saw fit, and was so constant in his attentions to the boy that he greatly assuaged the public feeling, and won the esteem and friendship of the family, - so much so that the offense was condoned, and, the boy recovering rapidly, the matter was dropped.

Samuel L. Allen's education was limited to a few months' attendance at the local schools, where he was reared. He began while yet a boy to interest himself in his father's work, and before he was twentyone he was master of a trade, having, by his own unaided efforts, made all kinds of edged tools, vices and screw-plates.

On reaching his majority he went to Baldwinsville in his native State, where he erected three brick houses with funds which had been furnished him for that purpose, and stocked them with merchandise, and there entered on his mercantile career, - a career which was to last almost uninterruptedly for fifty years and to be crowned with noteworthy success. He remained in Baldwinsville for about five years, when his brothers, Augustus C. and John K., having come to Texas and begun operations here, Samuel was induced to come on and try his fortunes in the new country. He came to Texas in the spring of 1834, in company with a man named Kellogg, and Mrs. Charlotte M. Allen, the wife of Augustus C. The trip from New York was made by steamer down the Ohio to the Mississippi, thence to the mouth of Red river and up it to Natchitoches, Louisiana. From Natchitoches the party traveled overland on horseback to Nacogdoches, Texas. Nacogdoches was then one of the most considerable towns in Te.xas and the objective point of most of those coming to the country. Mr. Allen's description of it accords with the general idea of a frontier town. It being, according to his account, a small trading place composed of cheap wooden structures, the population consisting of Americans, Mexicans and Indians, among whom the triple elements of good society: law, order and morality, had as yet taken but little hold. One of the collisions between the Mexicans and Americans common in those days, and which threatened to plunge the entire population in war, occurred only a few days after Mr. Allen's arrival. A Mexican who was known to have killed eight Americans, and who took a delight in boasting of his deeds of this kind, rode around the plaza one day, and, stopping in front of where a number of Americans were standing, stated that he intended to add three more Americans to his list, and intimated that he would get them from those there present. He continued his braggadocio and taunting for some time, when one of the American party, thinking it was time to do something, leveled on the Mexican with his rrfie and brought him to the ground. The Mexican soon expired, and his body being roughly handled by a desperate character of the American party, the Mexican's three sons swore vengeance on the Americans and began immediately to make overtures to the Indians for a combined attack on all the Americans in that vicinity, promising the Indians a liberal division of all booty taken. The Indians, who were then on terms of peace with the whites, revealed the plot, and the attack was thus averted and a massacre probably prevented.

From 1834 to 1838 Mr. Allen made Nacogdoches his home, although he spent considerable time between that place and his old home in New York, where his father still lived, and where the family still had some interests and investments. In November, 1S38, he came to Houston, which place his brothers, Augustus C. and John K., had just previously laid out. Here he at once embarked in the mercantile business, - receiving and forwarding goods. His warehouses and office were located near the head of the bayou at the foot of Main street, corner of Commerce, on the lot now occupied by W. I). Cleveland's wholesale grocery house. Houston, then the newly located county seat of Harris county, and the capital of the new Republic and the head of salt-water navigation, soon developed into an important commercial pouit, and Mr. Allen did a large and successful business for a number of years after locating here. He was alone until 1846, when he associated with himself Mr. Thomas M. Bagby, and the firm of Allen & Bagby did the principal business in their line until the opening of the war. Mr. Allen says that he has received and shipped goods at Houston to points in Texas as far west as any settlement and as far north as Red river, and, in fact, to the Indian Territory, during the dry season when Red river was low and the Indian country was not accessible by that stream.

During the war with Mexico he was a sutler in the American army, and furnished supplies for n.ost of the American forces o,jerating along the Southwestern frontier.

It was while in the lower coast country, engaged in this business, that he was taken with fever, with which he returned to Houston, and was for a number of months confined to his bed, his life being despaired of.

Recovering, however, after a long period of suffering, he entered actively into business pursuits, purchasing a stock of goods, which he sent by freight-wagons to the vicinity of New Braunfels, expecting to sell them at a good profit to the German colonists, who were then being located there by Fisher & Miller. This venture, however, proved unprofitable, and gave Mr. Allen no end of trouble from beginning to end. In the first place he gave the freighters who hauled his goods ten days or two weeks the start of himself, he going horseback, so that they would reach their destination by the time he got there. But when he reached the colony the goods were not there, and no tidings of them had arrived. After waiting a day or so he mounted his horse and "took the back track," making inquiries along the way. He finally heard of the wagons in the vicinity of Bastrop, and after making diligent search located them. The goods were in the wagons just as they had been loaded, and were in a good state of preservation, the freighters simply having stopped "to work out their crops" before proceeding on their journey.

After getting his goods to New Braunfels Mr. Allen met with great difficulty in disposing of them because the new settlers had but little to buy with. He finally succeeded, however, in exchanging them for a bunch of steers, for which he found a more ready sale, as these were in great demand by the colonists in opening up their farms. He took drafts for the amount of his sales - about $4,000 - and returned to Houston.

The drafts were placed with a local merchant for collection, and one can readily understand that Mr. Allen was very much surprised, not to say disgusted and discouraged, when his drafts were returned protested. After considerable effort he got his drafts exchanged for stock in the Fisher & Miller company, and this stock he still holds, never having realized a cent on it.

Mr. Allen's business suffered a temporary suspension during the war, but as soon as the blockade was removed and commerce between the States became free, he again opened his warehouses and for about seventeen years he did a large cotton and commission business, continuing, in fact, up to 1880, when he retired. For six years following that date he resided mostly on his farm in Bosque county, where he found pleasant and profitable employment, looking after his farming and stock interests.

In 1887 he returned to Houston to remain permanently. He has not attempted during the last six or seven years to interest himself in any sort of active pursuits, although he still gives his personal attention to his own business, looking after his rents, repairs, taxes, insurance, etc. , etc. He still enjoys good health, and is vigorous and alert mentally and physically.