Galveston County, Texas - The whole text, 1895 (part 11 of 26)

Mr. Allen did not marry until late in life. His marriage occurred on April 3, i860, and was to Miss Margaret Evaline Caffrey, a daughter of Thomas and Margaret P. Caffrey. Mrs. Allen was born in Yazoo county, Mississippi, but at the time of her marriage was a resident of Galveston. She was educated in Ohio and Kentucky and had good school advantages, being brought up in accordance with the ante-bellum idea of training the young. Mr. and Mrs. Allen have only one child, a son, Augustus C, now

Mr. Allen has never taken much interest in politics and but little in social matters, and yet he is by no means indifferent to the claims which the State holds on him, nor to those which his fellowmen hold. He has always voted the Democratic ticket and has contributed of his m^ans to all charitable works. He has been a member of the Presbyterian Church for forty-six years, and has lived a life consistent with his professions.

While a man's biography may not always hold till his death, either in the amount of property or in his character, the subject of this sketch has been so uniform in his habits, and his character is so firm that what is here said of him, it is safe to say, will stand for all time without any erasures or qualification.

>T^OHN H. HUTCHINGS was born in ^ North Carolina, February 2, 1822. A J He received only a moderate education. At about the age of twentyone he left his native place and went to New Orleans, where he found employment as a clerk in the mercantile business. New Orleans in those days was the chief seat of commercial activity south and west of Philadelphia, - through it poured the ceaseless tide of emigration bound for the trans-Mississippi country, and to it went merchants, stockmen, traders and adventurers from the West to purchase, barter and exchange. In this way its people came to hear much of Texas, the great domain which had but recently been opened up to Anglo-Saxon civilization, and of the splendid opportunities which it offered to men of energy and enterprise. Mr. Hutchings was attracted to the new country, and hither, in the winter or spring of 1845, he came to try his fortunes with the host of others who were then taking up their residence under the flag of the Lone Star. He first settled at Galveston, but in 1847 he went to Sabine, where, forming a partnership with Mr. John Sealy, he embarked in the mercantile business and was profitably engaged in it at that place until 1854. Returning then to Galveston, Messrs. Hutchings & Sealy associated with themselves Mr. George Ball, of this city, and the since famous house of Ball, Hutchings & Company was founded. The business first contemplated was merchandising, banking and commission, but the mercantile feature being dropped shortly afterward, the banking and commission business became the sole reliance. The firm operated successfully on these lines up to the opening of the war, when with the closing of the port at Galveston by blockade, the firm retired to Houston, and there engaged extensively in the importation of arms and other war material, and exported cotton on a large scale by running the blockade. The sagacity, business experience, and business connection of the firm of Ball, Hutchings & Company enabled them to be of incalculable service to the cause of the Confederacy during the trying times of 1861-65, ^^d the fact that they made some money out of their operations in no wise detracts from the value of their services to a cause which they, no less than others of their neighbors and associates, believed to be just, and which they sought in every legitimate way to promote.

After the war the firm returned to Galveston and again engaged in banking, in the building on the corner of Strand and Twenty-fourth streets, which they had erected in 1855, and which they still occupy. They were in a position to take advantage of the era of prosperity following the closing of the war, and from that time until the present they have done a large and steadily increasing business. The firm was augmented in numbers in 1865 by the admission of Mr. George Sealy to a participation in the profits and management of the business, he having been an efficient and trusted employe of the firm for many years prior to that time. In March, 1884, Mr. Ball died, and in August of the same year, he was followed by Mr. John Sealy. The business has continued, however, under the original name, and practically under the same management. Mr. Hutchings is now the senior member of the firm, the interest of each of his deceased partners, as well as that of Mr. George Sealy, continuing in the business. It is hardly necessary to refer to the commercial rating of this house. In the forty years of its existence it has become so well known to all Texas and in the commercial and financial centers of all countries that it is almost a synonym of financial soundness, ranking as the strongest monetary institution in the South, and one of the strongest in the world. With its management the subject of this brief personal notice has been actively connected since its inception, and he has contributed his full share towards its development and success. Private business enterprises of this kind are not supposed to be institutions for the promotion of the public welfare, yet they do perform an important function in facilitating trade, promoting public enterprises and conserving and giving direction to the financial energies of the people, and these things the house of Ball, Hutchings & Company has always done from the beginning. As a member of the firm, and as an individual, Mr. Hutchings has held many important positions in connection with the business interests of this community, and has helped in his way in all public enterprises where his services have been required. As president of the Wharf Company, he negotiated with the city for the bay front, and started the system of improvements which that company has accomplished and is adding to year by year. He has been a director in the Gas Company since its organization, and is now its president. He has for many years been a member of the directorate of the Southern Press Manufacturing Company, of which he was one of the principal organizers, and of which he is now president. He is president and has been for many years connected with the Galveston City Company, organized in 1838, and owner of the unsold lands and lots in the city. He was one of the promoters of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway, and is now a member of its directorate, and was a member of the directorate of the Galveston, Houston & Henderson Railway, one of the pioneer lines of the State. He was also a member of the directorate of the Galveston Cotton Oil Company, is president of the Texas Land & Loan Company, and was a member of the directorate of the Galveston Insurance' Company.

In 1859 and i860 Mr. Hutchings was an Alderman of the city, and negotiated the bonds for the first bridge built across the bay. He was one of the first men of this city to take vigorous hold of the question of the improvement of the harbor entrance and assisted in establishing the Mallory line of steamships between Galveston and New York. He and his partners are large stockholders in that line and he is one of the directors of the compari)', now known as the New York & Texas Steamship Company. In short, without attempting to particularize further, it may be said that whatever will stimulate industry or promote public enterprise meets his cordial approbation and receives his prompt advocacy and assistance. Mr. Hutchings has acquired large means, but he still adheres to business, and his life in all essential features differs but little from what it did in former years, when he was struggling to lay the foundation of his present fortune. He has steadily followed, in private life, the path marked out by himself years ago, assiduously devoting his energies to those pursuits in which he has felt himself especially qualified to succeed, - and that he has succeeded is no less a credit to his energy than to the wisdom of his choice.

In 1856 Mr. Hutchings married Miss Minnie Kno.x, of Galveston, a niece of Robert Mills, a former well-known citizen of this city, and to this union nine children have been born, eight of whom, - four sons and four daughters, - are living. Mr. Hutchings and most of his family are communicants of the Episcopal Church.

Kenry Francis Fisher

KENRY FRANCIS FISHER, a prominent colonizer, was born in Cassel, Germany, in 1805. His father, also named Henry Francis, was an Englishman by birth, his mother of German nativity. He was reared in Germany, and in the schools of that country received a thorough education, scientific and literary.

house as a bookkeeper, where he remained for several years. The opportunities for advancement there not being sufficiently rapid or remunerative to suit him, he emigrated to Te.xas in 1S37, and located in Houston, where he engaged in various enterprises, principallj- in the buying and selling of Te.xas lands. He also held the position of German Consul. His business in lands led to his traveling over a great part of the Republic, and, becoming impressed with its possibilities and the advantages it afforded to the overcrowded countries of Europe, he turned his attention to the colonization of -its vast domain. On June 7, 1842, he, in partnership with Burchard Miller, entered into a contract with President Houston to introduce 600 German families into southwestern Texas, for which he received large grants of land, under the colonization laws passed February 4, 1841, and January i, 1843. These lands he afterward transferred to the German Immigration Company. They were situated along the Perdenales, Llano, San Saba and lower Conchos rivers. This company, from 1844 up to and including 1848, introduced valuable and industrious immigrants, who, land- ?ng at Indianola as their permanent entrepot, made their way to the interior, where they founded the now flourishing towns of New Braunfels, Fredericksburg, Sisterdale and Comfort, a few remaining in Indianola; Victoria, Gonzales and Seguin. The mountainous section of the interior was previously without inhabitants, and then open to the inroads of the Indians, who ravaged those frontiers and from whom these early colonists suffered dire calamities, involving death and captivity, down to the close of the civil war, in 1865.

Fisher continued in the same field of work, though on a smaller scale. He acquired title to other tracts of land in southwest Texas and proceeded to colonize them with the better class of European immigrants; and as a result that section of the State has always been known for the thrift, intelligence, and energy of its citizens. He was an enthusiast on Texas, and upon all proper occasions sought to make known to the outside world her vast resources and advantages. His opportunities for this were unusually fine, because of his business connections in England and Germany, and his wide experience and varied accomplishments. He was master of four languages, - German, French, English and Spanish, - which were especially useful in dealing with the men and measures associated with the enterprises he had to handle. He was a man of large conceptions, sanguine nature and dauntless courage. His adventures on the frontier, in his work of colonization, were exciting and thrilling. He numbered many of the earliest Texans among his intimate friends, and was acquainted with all who were prominent in the early days. He greatly admired Houston, and was in favor of the annexation of the Republic to the United States in 1845, and an advocate of secession from the Unions in 1861. Individually he took no part in politics except such as any citizen might be expected to do.

Mr. Fisher was married in Houston, Texas, in 1841, to Mrs. Mary E. Kessler, widow of Henry Kessler, and daughter of Antonio Bonzano, of Italian extraction, but herself a native of Wurtemberg, Germany. The issue of this marriage was four daughters and one son, all of whom are still living. He died in Weisbaden, Germany, in 1867, while there on a visit. His widow

Mr. Fisher's work as a colonization agent was of great benefit to the infant Republic, and the class of emigrants brought to it through his exertions have made a lasting impress upon the population of this State. They came to a wilderness, and by their industry made it a populous and wealthy community; and by their examples and teachings they have aided in its progress and advancement from a state of savagery to its present civilized and enlightened condition. He was in all respects a public benefactor, and when the day comes when the people of this great State see fit to bestow honor on those who were instrumental in laying the foundation of its present prosperity, high standing and greatness, the name of Henry Francis Fisher will not be the least among those to whom such honor is given. He was a man and a patriot to whom the present generation owe an untold and unacknowledged debt.

^^ J York, sixteen miles south of Utica, in the town of Bridgewater, in the year 18 14. His father was Reynolds Kirkland, and his mother before marriage was Percy Pratt, both of whom were natives of Essex, Connecticut. His ancesters settled in New England more than two centuries ago, coming originally from Scotland and England.

Stephen Kirkland was reared in his native county. He was troubled with asthma, and on the advice of his physician came to Texas in 1838, landing at Galveston in the summer of that year. Galveston had then but recently been laid out, and Mr. Kirkland, who came in company with Jacob L. Briggs, from Oswego, New York, afterward used to tell with what difficulty they got ashore, there being no wharves here at that time. For some years after coming to Galveston, Mr. Kirkland followed different pursuits until a short time prior to 1850, when he formed a partnership with James M. Brown and embarked in the hardware business. He was successfully engaged in this business until his death, accumulating some means, represented by his mercantile interest and investments in Galveston city property.

As early as 1841, the year after the incorporation of Galveston, Mr. Kirkland's name appears as one of the Aldermen of the city, and he was twice thereafter a member of the board, in 1847 and 1853. He was always proud of Galveston, interested himself in its future, and strove to promote that interest in all practicable ways. He helped to organize one of the first fire companies ever organized in the city, of which he was for some years an active member; and he also took an active part in establishing here the first two fraternities organized in the place, the Masonic and Odd Fellows.

On November 12, 1850, at Galveston, Mr. Kirkland married Miss Mary A. Emerson, daughter of Joseph and Rebecca Emerson, and a native of Thomaston, Maine, she having come to Galveston in 1 846. Her father, who had for many years been a merchant in New Orleans, came to Galveston in the early '40's. He was a resident of this city some eight or ten years, when he went to California, where he died. Mrs. Kirkland's mother died in the North before the removal of the family to Te.xas.

years in Galveston Mr. Ivirkland died, May 16, 1859, being then in his forty-fifth }'ear. Surviving him he left a widow and three children. The eldest, a son, Stephen Edwin, died some ten years ago (in 1884), aged thirty-three, unmarried; Mary A., the second, now Mrs. Adam Bardash; and the youngest, Emma H., now Mrs. Ormerod Heyworth, reside in Galveston, as does also their mother. Mr. and Mrs. Bardash were married December 15, 1875, and have one daughter, Hortense. Mr. and Mrs. Heyworth were married August 17, 1880, and have one daughter, Emma C. So that of this pioneer settler but four descendants are now living, and none bearing his name. Mr. Kirkland had a large number of brothers and sisters, but none of them ever became residents of Texas, most of them remaining at the North. The family was noted for longevity, he being the only one that died in middle life. His mother lived to the advanced age of ninety-two.

HOxMAS COLLINS. - This old and respected citizen, recently deceased, was a native of Ireland, having been born in the county of Mayo, in the year 18 18. At the age of twenty he emigrated to America, stopping for a time in New York, whence he went to New Orleans, where he was employed in a large shipping house, and resided for a period of about ten years. In the meantime (October 22, 1848), he married, and shortly afterward, having been assigned to the position of discharging clerk aboard one of the vessels owned by the firm for whom he worked, he visited all of the then principal ports along the coast of Texas and Mexico, as far south as Manititlan, South

America. In this way he came to see Galveston and to form the opinion of it that determined him to make it his home. He settled here in 185 1, securing a position in the custom-house, through the influence of friends. He invested at once in real estate in the city, purchasing a lot of ground in the present Sixth ward, and also a bunch of cattle of a New Yorker named Goodwin. Later he bought a place of Joshua C. Shaw, south of the city, to which he moved, and there established the afterward popular inn known as the Sixteen-Mile House and stagestand. Mr. Collins and his wife lived at this place and dispensed a hospitality to the traveling public, and entertained excursion parties from Galveston that made their house famous for good cheer and themselves justly celebrated "through all the country round." With the opening of the war, however, their property ceased to be a paying investment, and closing its doors they sent most of their bedding to the Texas soldiers then serving in the Confederate army from the vicinity of Galveston. They continued to reside at the Sixteen-Mile House all during the war, and, as it was a convenient place for soldiers to rendezvous, rest and recruit, Mr and Mrs. Collins were rarely ever without "some of the boys'' with them. What they did in numberless, now forgotten, instances for the sick and disabled is best expressed in the following resolution:

"Memorial to Mr. and Mrs. Tom Collins from the surving members of DeBray's Texas Cavalry. At a reunion held in Galveston, August 6 to II, 1886, the following resolution, offered by Captain R. L. Fulton, was adopted: Resolved, That many members of DeBray's regiment have a vivid and kindly recollection of the preserving kindness to us in sickness and in health by Mr. and Mrs. Tom Collins during our sojourn on Galveston island as Confederate soldiers during the war. It is therefore resolved that we hereby tender to them our heartfelt and ever-enduring thanks for the same, and the Secretary is hereby instrncted to furnish them with an official copy of these resolutions.

At the close of the war Mr. and Mrs. Collins bought two and one-half acres of land on the south side of the island at the end of Tremont street, paying therefor $250, and there opened a dairy, which they conducted successfully for sixteen years, until their possessions were swept away by the great flood of 1875. After that, having received a good offer for their land, - $9,000, - they sold it to the City Street Railway Company and moved to the corner of Twenty-first street and avenue N, where they bought three lots, on which they built, and there Mr. Collins lived until his death, and there his widow still resides. Mr. Collins died November 20, 1892. Never having had any children, his domestic responsibilities were light, and during the last fifteen or sixteen years of his life he gave up all active pursuits. He served, however, six years as a member of the City Council during this time, and always exhibited much interest in what was going on around him. He was also an active member of the Emmett Benevolent Association, and at the time of his death was the oldest member in the city. Mrs. Collins, his widow, was born in county Kildare, Ireland, her maiden name being Ellen Malone. She was a daughter of James and Bettie Malone, and at the age of fourteen came to America in company with her two brothers, settling at New Orleans, where she met and was married to Mr. Collins. She has lived on Galveston island for forty-three years, never having once been off the island since she came"here in 1851. She is well known to, and held in kindly remembrance by, many of the old settlers of the island and city, whom she has entertained at one time and another at the Sixteen-Mile House.

eRNST H. SIELING was born September 5, 1 82 I, in Hanover, Germany, which was also the native place of his parents, Ernst H. and Rosina Sieling. His father, a professional soldier, served many years in the Hanoverian army as a member of the historic "Black Dragoons," with whom he took part in most of the wars by which continental Europe was desolated during the first quarter of the present century. The mother of the subject of this sketch was a lady of intelligence, and belonged to a family of wealth and influence. Both parents died near the same date, and when their son was as yet only a child. However, proper provision for his care and maintenance was made by the laws of the land, in recognition of his father's military services, and his lines in early life were cast in pleasant places. At about the age of fifteen he was put to the trade of a saddler, which he mastered in accordance with the customs of the craft, and subsequently devoted some time to perfecting himself as a workman, by visiting different cities in his native country where superior opportunities were afforded him to learn all the details of the business.

from Germany to the coast country of Texas, and sailed from Bremen aboard the ship "Weser" for Galveston, which place he reached in the closing days of November, 1842. He at once located in this city, and taking up quarters with some of his countrymen, he soon secured employment at his trade with John Dorr, who then conducted a little saddle-shop in a one-story frame building on Market street, one door west of Center. For two years Mr. Sieling worked industriously at his trade, at the end of which time he had saved enough from his earnings to engage in business for himself, and he accordingly opened a shop on the west side of Tremont street, on the lot where now stands the Janke music store, moving thence after two years to the opposite side of Tremont street, and one block further north, where he became more immediately and more actively connected with the business interests and general welfare of the community. For twelve years he industriously plied his trade, supplying from the product of his handicraft the local demand in his line, until, having accumulated some means and earned what he considered a season of rest, he disposed of his shop and its belongings and paid his native country a long-anticipated visit.

After an absence of over a year in Europe, Mr. Sieling returned to Galveston and again engaged in the saddle and harness business, which he followed thereafter for a period of more than thirty years, always with energy and constantly increasing success. As a result of the time and effort so spent Mr. Sieling laid the foundation of a comfortable fortune; and now, at the age of seventy-three, he surveys the past with satisfaction and views the future in cheerful ease. His career has been distinctly one of a business nature. He has traveled very little outside of the beaten paths of trade. Twice he has served as an Alderman of the city, twice on detail duty in times of war (from 1846 to 1848 and from 1 861 to 1865), and has taken the usual amount of interest in the progress and prosperity of the city and the State. He has been connected with some civic organization, - notably with Washington Fire Company and Harmonie Lodge, I. O. O. F. , both pioneer institutions, of which he was a charter member. He is also a member of the German Lutheran Church of Galveston, to the support of which he has been an unfailing and liberal contributor.

In 1849 Mr. Sieling married Mrs. Anna Officier, of Galveston, who died a year later, leaving one daughter, Anna, now also deceased. November 10, 1857, he married Mrs. Gisena Fruh, of Galveston, and by this union has four children: Ernst H., Jr., Adella C, Mary and Clara.

Mr. Sieling has witnessed many changes in Galveston since locating in the city more than fifty years ago, having seen it grow from a handful of houses to its present proportions, and in all that has fallen to his lot he has discharged acceptably the duties of a good citizen.

^ AMILTON BLAGGE was born in New, York September 18, 1839. \ W His boyhood was chiefly passed in his native State, in the schools of which he received his early mental training. At about the age of fifteen he went to South America to become his father's assistant in business, but, his father dying shortly afterwards, he returned to New York, where he remained till 1859. At that date he came

South, stopping awhile in Louisiana, and in May, i860, coming to Texas. Locating at Galveston, he was engaged as a bookkeeper nntil the opening of the war, when he entered the Confederate army, enlisting in Captain Medard Menard's company, Col. X. B. DeBray's regiment, in which he served until the fall of 1863. Securing a discharge at that time he went to Havana. Cuba, and thence to New York, where he remained until the close of hostilities. In 1865 he returned to Galveston, and has since made this place his home. He has been variously engaged, having in former years been in the mercantile business and latterly devoting his attention to real estate, insurance and accounting. On leaving New York for Galveston after the war Mr. Blagge brought a loaded schooner, which was the first to enter the port of Galveston after the port had been declared open. This was in July, 1865. In November following, the steamer "Arthur Leary," from New York, was consigned to him, this being the first steamer to land at the docks after the war. "

Mr. Blagge married Miss Maggie James, at Houston, Te.\as, October 23, 1862, Mrs. Blagge being a native of Galveston, and a daughter of Alfred F. James, who was for many years a prominent figure in the history of this city. The issue of this marriage has been si.x children: James H., Harry W. , Grace, Ada, Shearer and Fannie. Mr. Blagge is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Humbolt Lodge, No. 9; Knights of Honor, Lodge No. 774; Ancient Order of United Workmen, Lodge No. 62; and Knights and Ladies of Honor, Lodge No. 253, being Secretary, Recorder and Keeper of the Records of each of these, according to official designation. The religious connection of his family is with the Episcopal

Church, by the service of which church Mr. and Mrs. Blagge were married b}' the Rev. Dr. Eaton, the pioneer minister of that denomination in this city.

*m ^ ARRY W. BLAGGE was born l'^"\ in the city of Galveston, January J _ * 12, 1 84 1, was mainly reared in New York and received his education at Lawrence Academy, Groton Center, Massachusetts. During his youth he was a clerk in a wholesale dry-goods house in New York city, and book-keeper in an uncle's bank in Cuba, New York. At the opening of the war he was fired with a zeal to serve the land of his birth and started South to enter the Confederate army, working his way with some difficulty from point to point until he finally reached Galveston. liere he enlisted in the Twenty-sixth Texas Cavalry (Company F, Captain Medard Menard), with which he served during the remainder of the war, taking part in the defense of the Gulf coast aiid the series of engagements following the Federal General Banks' campaign up the Red river. Mr. Blagge was made Sergeant Major of his regiment immediately after it was formed, and after the battle of Pleasant Hill was commissioned as Captain Aide-de-camp, and so served from that time until the surrender. After the war he took up his residence in Galveston and has lived here since, having been engaged in various business pursuits and identified with the usual number of local enterprises, being now largely interested in the Dickinson Land Company and other realestate matters; and was for ten years secretary of the Galveston Board of Underwriters. September 26, 1865, Mr. Blagge married Mrs. Caroline E. Butler, a daughter of Mrs.

Ellen M. Gibbs, of Galveston, for many years a resident of Texas, and a sister of Mrs. Thomas F. McKinney, a pioneer merchant of Galveston. The issue of this union, one daughter, Carrie, died at the age of seven.

eETER H. MOSER. - This pioneer Texan was born at Manheim, Germany, April 23, 1817, being a son of John and Elizabeth Moser, of German nativity, born at Maiiis-on-the- Rhine. He came of a family distinguished for scholarship, his paternal uncle being a tutor to the great Schiller. Peter H. was the youngest of a large family of children and left home at the age of eighteen, coming in 1835 to America. He settled at Nacogdoches, Texas, about 1836, where he worked at the carpenter's trade, building houses for the afterward well-known firm of P. J. Willis & Brother until 1839, when he came to Galveston. Here he was for some years in the employ of William Aylott in the sash and blind business. He was not regularly enlisted in the army during the late war, but performed guard duty in and around Galveston when the city was threatened by Federals, and lent his support to the Confederate cause all during the period of hostilities. After the war he embarked in real-estate operations, at which he made some money, and was so engaged up to the time of his death, August 25, 1883.

Mr. Moser was a volunteer in two or three Indian expeditions in Texas during the days of the Republic, and tendered his services for the defense of Galveston island when it was threatened by the Mexicans from 1 846 to I 848. He was a charter member of the German Benevolent Association,

March 17, 1846, he married Elizabeth Showmacher, a daughter of Henry and Dorathea Showmacher, who emigrated to Galveston June 19, 1845, from Mecklenburg, Germany, where Mrs. Moser was born. The issue of this marriage was twelve children, six of whom are living: Johanna H., John H., Elizabeth (Mrs. T. J. IvirkJ, Paula, Agnes (Mrs. J. B. Roemer) and Anna (Mrs. Fred Wimhurst), - all of whom reside in Galveston, as does also the widow, who is still livin".

^'^USTAV YOUNG. - The present ^^ year, 1894, marks the fiftieth an- ^lB niversary of the date of the arrival of the subject of this sketch on Galveston island. Could a faithful record of his observations and experiences during that time be written out, it would comprise a vast deal relating to the history of this section of the State, and particularly to the "Island City" and its local affairs. Mr. Young belongs to a generation now gone, very few of those with whom he began the race of life remaining. He, however, is still vigorous, both in mind and body, and it was a pleasant half hour which the writer of this article passed in his company, listening to his recital of events during his long residence in Texas.

Mr. Young is a native of Germany, born in Nassau on the 6th of September, 1826. His parents were people in moderate circumstances, and he early learned to depend on his own resources for a livelihood. He came to America at the age of eighteen, sailing direct from the port of Antwerp for the port of Galveston, Republic of Texas, arriving here on December 30, 1 844. He took up the butcher business soon after reaching Galveston, and followed it first as a helper and later on his own account, until the opening of the war. With the outbreak of hostilities between the North and South, he offered his services to the Confederate government, and was detailed to go into the cattle districts of the State and procure beef cattle to be forwarded to the troops at the front. Mr. Young's instructions not only authorized him to accept such contributions as generous sympathizers might see fit to make, but he had special instructions to "press good beef cattle" wherever necessary, giving in return properly executed papers, pledging the credit of the government to indemnify the owners against loss. Armed with such credentials and upon this mission he scoured all the coast country adjacent to Galveston, and helped to gather the means by which the troops of Texas were kept in the field. His experiences while engaged iri this service were oftentimes of a very unpleasant nature, and he relates numerous incidents that befell him which show how much men sometimes overestimate their patriotic impulses in the absence of any actual pledge of good faith.

After the war Mr. Young resumed business as a butcher, and continued as such up to 1875, when he retired. Like many of his associates of former years, he never profited very much in a financial way by his long residence in Texas, but he has always managed to win an honest livelihood, and he has discharged in a creditable manner the various duties imposed upon him since he has been a resident of this community.

by this union has had six children still living: Caroline, now Mrs. John Dixon; Louise, now Mrs. William Dncie; Henrietta, now Mrs. Oliver; Lorenzo; Frank; Katie, now Mrs. George Kuntz; and Gustav.

K^^ ENJAMIN BLAGGE. - A full list If*"^ of the early merchants of Galves- J^^J ton would properly include the name of Benjamin Blagge, who, though a resident of this city for only a few years, was one of the first to engage in business here. Mr. Blagge was born in England, June I, 1 8 16, during the temporary stay of his parents in that country. He came of old New England ancestry, his father, Benjamin Blagge, and his paternal grandfather, Samuel Blagge, as well as his mother's people, having been born on this side of the Atlantic, most of them in Massachusetts. His ancestors on his father's side settled at Bcston in 1630, coming originally from Cornwall, England. Samuel Blagge, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, moved to New York city and war. a prosperous merchant in that place for a number of years, serving also as Alderman of the city and was at one time the Swedish Consul at that port. Benjamin Blagge, of this article, was chiefly reared in Boston, but went, when a young man, to New York and there married Miss Fannie B. Keown, a native of that city. In 1840 he came to Texas, landing at Galveston in November, of that year. He had been induced to come to the country through favorable reports received of it by a friend, Edwin B. Settle, who had come out some time before, and was then engaged in the mercantile business at Quintana, the old town at the mouth of the Brazos. Mr. Blagge came out for the purpose of embarking in mercantile pursuits, and brought with him what for those _\ears was a considerable amount of capital. He invested this in real estate in Galveston and in business here, and entered on a promising business career. But misfortune overtook him, and after losing most of what he had he gave up his residence in Galveston, and in 1843 returned to New York. Being a man of energetic nature he was not disposed to accept the results of his first venture, but again engaged in business, in a small way, in New York, and having accumulated some means launched an enterprise of large proportions, this being the establishment of an extensive trade between South America and the United States.

After getting this enterprise on foot Mr. Blagge turned his attention to the matter of shortening the water route to the Pacific ocean, and secured from the government of New Grenada the first grant ever obtained by an American from that government for a canal across that country. Before, however, doing much with this, and even before he had reaped any substantial fruits from the trade established by him, he died, his death occurring at Savanilla, New Grenada, September 28, 1855, while he was there in the prosecution of his plans. Mr. Blagge was only thirty-nine years old when he died, but he had had a varied career for one of his_age. He was an adventurous spirit, and of a speculative disposition. Having been educated for a civil engineer he had been a great deal on the frontier, and was full of the energy and nervy faith that prevails in new countries. He surveyed the pioneer railway of Florida, the "Florida Western." Like most enthusiasts, he possessed a genial temperament and social ways. He was a high Mason.

Surviving him Mr. Blagge left a widow and four children. His sons, Hamilton and Harry W., are and have been for many years residents of Galveston. The daughters, Mrs. Josephine Montgomery and Miss Ida Blagge, together with the widowed mother, make their home in New York.

W "% Andrew and Anna Catherine Bald- \ ^r inger, was born in Galveston, January 15, 1841. He was reared in this city, in the schools of which he received his education. He was engaged in clerical pursuits until the opening of the war, when he entered the Confederate army and was in the army more or less until the close of hostilities, doing service along the Gulf coast and on the Rio Grande. Mr. Baldinger has been engaged in business pursuits in Galveston all his mature years, most of the time in the mercantile business. In 1866 he married Catherine Simmler, of Houston, a daughter of E. Simmler, who settled in Houston in 1S38, where Mrs. Baldinger was born and reared. The issue of this union has been four children, now living, - Catherine, Emelie, Alfred and Susanna.

-HEODORE KLEINECKE. - This well-known pioneer citizen of the city of Galvestoii is a native of Hanover, Germany, born January 18, 1823, and is a son of Charles Augustus Kleinecke and Johanna Wolfe, the former of whom was born in Schwartzburg and the latter in Braunschweig, Germany, and were married in Hanover, where they lived for a number of years, emigrating thence in 1846 to Texas, and settling in Galveston. Here they both died, surrounded by their large family of children, all of whom, twelve in number, they lived to see become men and women, the mother dying in 1865, the father in 1870. The elder Mr. Kleinecke was a butcher and followed his trade for twenty years or more in Galveston before retiring from business pursuits on account of age.

Theodore Ivleinecke, of this sketch, was the eldest of his parents' children, and was the first of the family who came to Texas. He arrived in Galveston in 1846, aboard the sailing vessel, Flavius, after a voyage of eleven weeks out from Bremen, Germany. He was one of 1 18 German passengers who came to Texas at that time under the auspices of the German Colonization Society, for the purpose of settling in the new Republic. After arriving at Galveston Mr. Kleinecke, then a raw youth with no means or knowledge of the English language, turned his hand to the first thing he could find to do, which was a job of driving a dray, and followed this until the opening of hostilities with Mexico, when he hired as a teamster to take an outfit to Mexico, where he remained some six or eight months. Returning to Galveston, at the end of that time, he secured employment at the butcher's business in this city with F. W. Schmidt, for whom he worked for four years, when he was enabled to engage in the business for himself, opening a stall in the city market, where he was successfully engaged in this business for a period of twenty-two years. Later he embarked in mercantile pursuits, - retail groceries, - which he followed until his retirement in 1884.

Braunschweig, Germany, where she was born September 17, 1824, having emigrated to Galveston with relatives in 1S46. The issue of this union was three children, now living: Mrs. Johanna Pichard, widow of A. V. Pichard; August and Dorathea, - all residing in Galveston.

Mr. Kleinecke has for many years been a member of Herman Lodge, No. 5, I. O. O. F., of Galveston, and of the German Lutheran Church of this city, and of the German Friendship Society. The ship in which Mrs. Kleinecke came to Galveston was the Babylon, Captain Mencke; time, seven weeks. In 186S Mr. and Mrs. Kleinecke took their family and spent six months visiting their old home in Germany.

-HOMAS WILLIAM HOUSE. - Most men are born in a iield of action which they accept as sufficient for them. The world of human life, however, has been advanced from its old places to its new by men who have not been content with their surroundings, but who have gone forth and found or made something new or different from the narrowness in which they began. Of both classes it is true that the success attained by each individual is very nearly measured by his perception of the requirements of his surroundings. This perception is not the result of education, but belongs to those faculties which we designate as native or intuitive. When it is possessed by any one in that degree that it leads him unerringly to great success through the mazes of commercial or professional life, it rises to the dignity of genius, and should be so classed. It is as much the indespensible requisite of the successful merchant as the successful statesman, lawyer or artist, and a review of the life of any successful man of business will show at every turn in his career that he possessed this faculty.

No better example of the correctness of the foregoing observations could be asked for than that found in the life of the late Thomas William House. He was born in Stockest Gregory, Somersetshire, England, on the 4th day of March, 1814. He came of respectable parentage and good old English stock, though there never was an effort on the part of his people to connect themselves with the nobility in any manner nor to trace their origin to a royal source. His family concerned itself but little with anything beyond the problems of daily life, loyalty to the government under which they were born and lived, and with the usual attachments of home and fireside.

It is questionable if one should say that Thomas W. House had not the advantages of a good education. That he did not receive any school training to speak of in his youth is certain, but whether if he had received any such training he would have been any the better qualified for the labor which afterwards fell to his hands is doubtful. To one of his vigorous understanding and practical perception the world really offered the best school, and the time which he might have spent conning over books and mastering rules and formulas and tenses was perhaps better spent in grappling with the actual solution of those problems which, after all, as many a college graduate has learned, fail to 3ield to the methods laid down in the books. He seems to have been somewhat variously employed in his boyhood and youth, but, tiring of the restrictions and limitations under which he was born, and with which he felt himself so closely hedged about, he did as many another of his countrymen has done, turned his eyes toward the more promising fields of activity on this side of the Atlantic. He came to America in 1835, soon after attaining his majority, landing at New York city, then, as now, the gateway of the continent and the place where the emigrant spends the first few months of his life in the new world. In that city young House soon found employment at the baker's trade, which trade he learned there and followed in that city over a year. In the meantime he met a Mr. McDonnell, proprietor of the St. Charles Hotel, New Orleans, and was induced by that gentleman to come South and take charge of the bakery department of that famous hostelry. He resided in New Orleans, working for Mr. McDonnell, until the latter part of 1837 or the early part of 1838, when he came to Texas and located at Houston. Houston had but a short time before been made the temporary seat of government for the new Republic; and hither had flocked from all quarters of the globe a miscellaneous population bent on various enterprises and schemes, but all agreeing in at least one particular, namely, that they must be fed. Mr. House had saved the wages which he had earned in New York and New Orleans, and he invested them in a bakery and confectionery establishment immediately after locating here, forming a partnership with a man named Loveridge. Their place of business, like all of the early business houses, was near the bayou, being situated about midway of the block on Main street between Franklin and Commerce. The following year Mr. House became associated with Charles Shearn, with whom he was in partnership about two years, cementing the friendship which sprung up between him and this good man by marrying the latter's daughter. After the withdrawal of Mr. Shearn from the business Mr. House was alone for nearly ten years. His business grew rapidly, and the lines were extended so as to embrace a general assortment of merchandise. He did a considerable wholesale business in confectioneries with smaller dealers in interior Texas; but finding that to develop any one branch to its utmost possibilities would necessitate the neglect of the others, he began to gradually discontinue the candy and confectionery department, and give his attention more especially to dry goods.

In 1853 he purchased the large and flourishing jobbing establishment of James H. Stevens & Company, who dealt heavily in dry goods and groceries; and, along with the stock, bought the ground and stores, the site being the same as that now occupied by the bank on Main street, between Franklin and Congress avenues. For all this he paid the sum of $40,000, this being the largest single transaction of the kind that had ever been consummated up to that time in the city of Houston. During the same year Mr. House took into partnership E. Mather, who had been with him as an employe since 1841, and the firm of T. W. House & Company soon came to do the largest wholesale dry goods and grocery business in the State. The money transactions of this establishment were considered as extraordinary for the time, and its reputation spread to the remotest parts of the State.

From the first Mr. House received cotton in exchange for goods. Gradually, as the cultivation of this staple increased and the handling became more an object of commercial importance, he entered the market as a buyer. The growth of this branch of his business kept pace with that of the others, and when it reached such proportions as to demand a separate department; this was added, the date being 1S53.

Mr. Mather retired from the iirm in 1862 and Mr. House again became sole owner. While the unsettled condition of things brought on by the war interfered very materially with his trade, there was never any suspension, but he continued, all through the troublous times of 1861-65, to do a reasonably large and prosperous business. At times he did a very heavy business in the way of handling cotton, buying and shipping to English markets, to reach which he had to run the blockade established by the Federal Government. He owned several vessels which were engaged at different times in this business. He also shipped thousands of bales through Mexico, freighting them from this point to Mexican ports by wagons. After the war Mr. House's business was in prime condition for the era of prosperity which followed, and it made rapid strides in the widening sphere of commercial activity.

There were but few banks in Texas in an early day, the banking business being done by the larger merchants. Mr. House began to receive deposits as early as 1S40. Later he began issuing exchange, and in this way the foundation of his banking business was laid. This business was of steady growth, and came by imperceptible degrees to claim more and more attention. Soon after the war a separate department was created for the transaction of this branch of the business, and for a period of about fifteen years the several lines, - wholesale drygoods and groceries, cotton dealing and banking, - were carried along and developed, each in accordance with the demands of the times. Mr. House also had large realestate interests, owning immense quantities of land, improved and unimproved, and lots and business houses in other towns in the State. Among his larger real-estate holdings was the "Areola Sugar Plantation," purchased in 1S71, which he greatly improved, and which still belongs to his estate. The sugar product from this plantation took the premium at the New Orleans Exposition in 1884, in a contest where the chief sugar-raising countries of the world were competitors. A stock ranch of 70,000 acres in La Salle county was one of the important holdings of this nature which Mr. House developed.

While immersed in these various enterprises and pursuits Mr. House yet found time to assist in carrying on the municipal government which protected his property, to help develop enterprise of a public nature, and to perform, in general, the duties of a citizen of the community in which he lived. On the organization of Protection Fire Company, in 1848, he became a member and remained one as long as he lived. In 1857, and again in 1S61, he wj.S' chosen a member of the Board of Aldermen of the city, and served two terms of two years each. In 1862 he was elected Mayor and held this otTice one term. He was a charter member of the Ship Channel Company, and was always a stanch friend of that enterprise. He was one of the originators of the Houston Gas Company, and was for a number of years its president, and probably its largest stockholder. He was at one time a director of the Houston & Texas Central Railroad, and lent that enterprise substantial aid when aid was needed. He was also a stockholder in the Houston & Great Northern, and the International, before their consolidation, and in the Houston Tap & Brazoria Railroad. In 1874 he was elected president of the Texas Western Narrow Gauge, and built that line to San Felipe. In the Houston Direct Navigation Company, the Houston City Street Railway Company, and the first two compress companies, - the Houston City and the People's, - he was a large investor. In fact it may be said without any exaggeration that he contributed liberally of his means to all public enterprises, and, whenever occasion demanded, lent his personal influence and active effort for the success of any movement which he believed to be for the welfare of the community in which he lived.

A career so exceptionally successful in a financial way as that of Mr. House's would, one must think, be signally lacking in completeness if it were not rounded out by a happy domestic life, and if it did not show scattered by the wayside those many evidences of a broad and generous nature which we naturally expect to find in a man of such superior makeup. He married Miss Mary Shearn, daughter of Judge Charles Shearn, anothei' of Houston's honored old citizens, a biography of whom will be found under an appropriate title in this volume. "Abetter and a truer woman than Mary Shearn House," says an old citizen, "never lived." So, too, thought her husband, and he paid her at all times the honest, manly devotion of a truly chivalrous and noble nature. The result of this union was eight children, one of whom died in infancy, one in youth and six of whom became grown, one dying about the age of maturity. The eldest of the six was a daughter, Mary, who was married to R. M. Caldwell, both herself and husband being now deceased. The four sons now living are: Thomas William, Jr., John H. B., Charles S. and Edward M. Mrs. House died on the 28th day of January, 1870, and was followed ten years later by her husband, who passed away on the 17th day of January, 1880.

The death of Mr. House was one of the most serious losses of the kind that this city ever sustained. He was one of its oldest citizens and had been foremost in almost everything pertaining to its history. The institutions with which he was connected were its chiefest pride, and his name was a tower of strength in all transactions with which he had to do. His funeral was attended in great numbers by all classes and conditions of people, who testified in every appropriate way to the esteem in which he was held by them. The Cotton Exchange, of which he was a member, passed suitable resolutions; and expressions of regret on account of his loss, and of sympathy and condolence for his family were general not only in this city but throughout the State.

It is an interesting and profitable study to trace the career of a man like Thomas W. House, - one who without aid of any kind from without, rose by force of his own genius from a position of poverty and obscurity to one of affluence and honored distinction. That his rise was not without great labor and many trials of his strength it is needless to say; but that he was equal to every test, and, what is more, never throughout his long career, yielded one jot or tittle of his character as a high-minded and honorable gentleman, is perhaps the most creditable thing that can be said of him. The fortune that he left at his death, estimated at some two and a half millions of dollars, was an immense estate for one man, beginning with nothing, to accumulate in little over forty years; but this is not the principal monument he left to his memory. His virtues were greater than his achievements; his personal worth more than his gains. Wedded to a brain of surpassing native force he had a heart that was attuned to the faintest murmurings of his race. Never a fellow mortal went to him in distress and left empty-handed. Once satisfied that his help was needed he ask no questions, but gave generously, as became one of his means.

But perhaps the most signal trait of his character was that which enabled him to draw men around him, inspire their respect and hold them with unvarying devotion to himself and his interests. There are now gray-haired men in the bank which he founded, who entered his employ as striplings, and the writer has the first one yet to meet who was ever with him in any capacity, that did not speak most feelingly of him and his many expressions of kindness and friendship for them. And here probably, along with his keen mental insight and his superior knowledge of men, is to be found the source of his great success, - his ability to organize and to infuse into those to whom his affairs were entrusted a sense of pride and personal responsibility in the work in hand.

Mr. House was not a member of any secret society nor of any church. But he was a constant attendant on the services of the Methodist Church, and was considered one of the largest contributors to the support of that denomination in the city.

The termination of the Me.xican war of 1S46-8 in favor of the United States, and the disbanding on Texas soil pf many volunteer regiments from the older States, brought to the feeble settlements of this State a large number of valuable citizens whose services were needed in the communities where they took up their residence. One of these volunteer soldier citizens who thus became a resident of Texas, was the subject of this brief notice. He was a native of North Carolina, but was chiefly reared in the vicinity of Memphis, Tennessee, to which locality his parents moved during his early years. He volunteered in a Tennessee regiment for service in the Mexican war, in 1846, being then in his nineteenth year, and followed the stars and stripes through Mexico to the final triumph of the United States army. He served alternately as wagon-master and quartermaster. After the termination of hostilities he made a brief visit to his old home in Tennessee, and then came to Texas and settled at Richmond, in Fort Bend county. There he was engaged in various pursuits and met with a fair degree of success. He married Miss Nicholas F. Lookup, of Richmond, and by this union had one child, a daughter, Ida Lowther Branch. She was married to Charles W. Eckman, and in January, 1886, died, leaving three children, - Nicholas Branch, Carl Camilla and Ida Branch. Mr. Branch was a great sufferer during his later years from a lung trouble which was brought on in the army, and from the effects of which he finally died, about 1S70. He died at Round Top, in Fayette county, whither he went about a J ear and a half previously for the benefit of his health. He was for many years a member of the Episcopal Church. He was active in politics, though never to the extent of asking office for himself. His surviving widow moved to Galveston in 1887, after the death of her daughter, for the purpose

Mrs. Branch was born in Dumfries, Scotland, and came as a member of her father's family to Texas, when she was about twenty years old. Her father, Alexander Lookup, was a man of prominence in Dumfries, being a member of the town council for more than twenty years, and an Elder in St. Michael's Church (Presbyterian) in that place. He was also a prominent Mason, and was buried with Masonic honors at Columbus, Texas. Mrs. Branch is the third of a family of four children born to her parents, the others being : William, who went when a young man to Buenos Ayres; Thomas, a physician of New York; and Elizabeth A., widow of Thornton Thatcher. Mrs. Branch had one halfbrother, Alexander Lookup, who was for years Clerk of the District Court of Colorado county, Texas, and who died in Virginia in 1872, having gone there in search of health. Mrs. Branch also had one half-sister, Mary A. Lookup, who was married to Alexander Buchanan of Marion, Virginia.

aC. SWEENEY. - The late C. C. Sweeney filled for nearly a quarter of a century a noteworthy place in the commercial and political history of Galveston. He was a native of the old Bay State, having been born in the city of Boston in the year 1838. His boyhood and youth were spent in his native city and his early education was such as the public schools of Boston then afforded. At about the age of fifteen, he went to sea and followed the life of a sailor some years, until 1856, when he settled at Galveston. After locating in this city he immediately turned his attention to business pursuits, engaging in stevedoring, which thereafter formed the chief occupation of his life. He soon attained a good standing in this line of business and through it accumulated some means. He always took great interest in shipping matters and was the prime mover in the organization of the Galveston & Liverpool Steamship Company, which constructed a line of steamships specially designed for the Texas cotton trade between Galveston and Liverpool. Another company in which he was also interested put in a line of sail vessels, five in number, named the "C. C. Sweeney," the "Jennie Sweeney," the "Thomas H. Sweeney," the "John Sweeney" and the "George W. Sweeney," - that is, for himself, daughter, brother and two sons, - for the cotton trade between Galveston and New England points. When the late war between the States came on, Mr. Sweeney promptly cast his fortunes with the Confederacy, enlisting in Company B, Cook's artillery, with which he served until his company, which was largely composed of seafaring men, was placed in the marine corps of the Gulf, where he continued in the service until the close of the war.

Later on, in times of peace, Mr. Sweeney's counsel and advice in civil affairs were sought, and almost unconsciously he became the leader of the Democracy of southern Texas. He was a spontaneously free-hearted and open-handed man, and was constantly befriending others. It was these admirable traits of character that in a large measure won for him the popularity he enjoyed, and that gave him such great influence, especially among the plain people. Though not an office-seeker he held some positions of distinction, and always exercised a strong political influence in his party.

He was a delegate to three different national conventions of his party, being a member of the convention that nominated Grover Cleveland for, the pr^idency the first time. Mr. Sweeney was appointed Collector of the port of Galveston, in 1885, which position he held for a term of four years.

C. C. Sweeney was more than an ordinary man of business. He was a reader of books and a student of the current affairs of life. Though the fact is not generally known, he left one of the best libraries in the city of Galveston. He spent his money unsparingly for good books, and he took special pride in the treasury which he thus accumulated. Frank, earnest and liberal by nature he dealt liberally with all men and all subjects, striving to find that which was good in each and looking with the broadest charity on failings of all. He held in the greatest respect the religious opinions of others, and was himself a member of the Catholic Church.

About 1858, Mr. Sw-eeney married Miss Martha J. Smith, of Galveston, and the issue of this union was three sons and one daughter: John, Charles, George W. and Jennie (now Mrs. D. J. Buckley). Mr. Sweeney died August 22, 1892, from a sudden stroke of apoplexy, having enjoyed vigorous health up to within a year of his death. Surviving him he left a widow, one son, George W. Sweeney, and one daughter, Mrs. D. J. Buckley.

George W. Sweeney, son of C. C. and Martha J. Sweeney, was born in the city of Galveston, June 22, 1867. He was accorded the advantages of a good education and early entered on business pursuits, being now a member of the firm of T. L. Cross & Company, ship-chandlers of Galveston. On October 9, 1893, he married Miss Janie full list of the surviving old settlers of Galveston island, so far as it is possible to make such a list, discloses the interesting fact that more than two-thirds of the number are women. It argues well for the fortitude and endurance of these pioneer wives and mothers that so many of them have outlived their companions. Especially is this so in view of the fact that the trials and hardships incident to the settlement of this island and the building of this city certainly bore equally as heavily on the female as on the male portion of the population. Galveston has passed through nine yellow- fever epidemics, and was blockaded, constantly menaced, and more than once attacked during the Mexican and the late Civil wars. The care, anxiety and suffering which these special visitations entailed are to be added to the labors and vicissitudes inseparably connected with the settlement of a new place, and that the women of this city bore them so well and are still living to tell the story of their hardships, while in many cases their husbands, and sons also, have passed to the great beyond, stands to their especial credit. One of the early settlers here referred to, a lady who has remained as constantly on this island during her forty-odd years' residence here as any of her sex, is Mrs. Editha Reybaud, widow of Hippolite Reybaud and former wife of Rufus Simons, both also old settlers of Galveston. Mrs. Rey- baud was born in St. Martinsville, Louisiana, being a daughter of Eugene and Cleonide Pellerin, of French descent. She was mar- - ried to Rufus Simons in her native place, in 1843, and in 185 i came to Galveston, landing here October 13. After the death of Mr. Simons in 1853 she was married to Mr. Reybaud, whom she now survives. All the hardships and annoyances that could come to one in her condition in life, Mrs. Reybaud knew after settling in Galveston; and whatever homage or credit the general public is prepared to bestow on the pioneer women of this city, she is entitled to a share of it.

Mrs. Reybaud has been the mothei of ten children, eight of whom she raised to maturity. But five of these are now living, two by the first marriage, - Felix and Mrs. Julia Hawkins, widow of W. H. Hawkins; and three by the last, - Mrs. Louise Ayers, wife of Theo. C. Ayers; Henry, and Gabrielle. All of these reside in Galveston. Two sons and a daughter, - Adam, Sarah and Joseph, - by the first marriage died in childhood and youth, and two by the second marriage, both daughters, Rose and Clara, died, the former at seventeen, of yellow fever, in 1867, and the latter, in 1889, being the wife of Bluford W. Oliphant.

Mrs. Reybaud's husbands were both of French descent, Mr. Simons having been born in Alsace, in 181 8, and Mr. Reybaud in France, March 17, 1S28. The former was a merchant all his life, having been engaged in business in New Orleans before coming to Galveston. After settling in Galveston, Mr. Reybaud also devoted himself to mercantile pursuits. Both gentlemen were numbered among the steady-going, sound, conservative business men of this community and enjoyed the esteem and good will of all with whom they had business or social relations.

HNDREW BALDINGER was born in Canton Aargau, near the river Rhine, Switzerland, December, 181 3. He was reared in his native place to the age of eighteen, when he came to America and located at Baltimore, Maryland. There he learned the baker's trade, and lived until coming to Texas. Mr. Baldinger first came to Texas in the early spring of 1837, and, after looking over the country and not finding much going on, returned to Baltimore, but came out again in the fall of the same year. A settlement had in the meantime been started on Galveston island, and here he took up his residence. He and Christopher Fox were the first two bakers on the island, both locating and opening up in business before the city of Galveston was organized. There was some rivalry between Mr. Baldinger and Mr. Fox as to who should enjoy the honor of baking the first loaf of bread in the new town, the honor being won, however, by Mr. Fox, who, having secured the services of the only brick-mason in town, got his oven in first, Mr. Baldinger having to do the mason work on his oven himself.

Mr. Baldinger's bakery was located on the alley, east side of Tremont street, between Mechanic and the Strand. He subsequently formed a partnership with John U. Durst, and, under the firm name of Durst & Baldinger, was in business on the southeast corner of Mechanic and Twentysecond streets. Here Messrs. Durst & Baldinger put in an extensive plant, purchased at Jersey City, New Jersey, and did a large and profitable business for a number of years. They dissolved in 1848, and the same year Mr. Baldinger moved to the southwest corner of Mechanic and Twentysecond streets, where he went into the gro- eery, crockery and queensware business, which he followed up to 1875, when he retired, turning his establishment over to his sons. He was thus in business in this city for a period of ncarlj- forty years; and, while he did not meet with the success that some of his contemporaries did, he always enjoyed a reasonably good patronage and amassed some property. The store buildings erected by him at the corner of Mechanic and Twenty-second and Strand and Tremont streets were among the most substantial buildings in the city at the time, and evinced his disposition, manifest on all proper occasions, to add to the solidity and taxable wealth of the city by re-investing his money where it was made.

Mr. Baldinger was a member of the City Council in 1842, and again in 1862, and was two or three times a member of the board of County Commissioners, never seeking office, but promptly responded to the call of his fellow-citizens, when made, and giving them the benefit of his best services when accepting a trust. During the war, when the city was invaded by the Federals, ravaged by yellow fever, and distress and suffering were on every hand, Mr. Baldinger was especially active, giving his services both as an official of the city government and as a citizen to those in need of them. He joined Herman Lodge, No. 5 1 , Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at an early day, and for many years held an active membership in the order. He was also a member of the Lutheran Church at Galveston.

In 1840 Mr. Baldinger married Anna Catherine Wild, daughter of Samuel and Verona Wild, originally from Canton Glarus, Switzerland, where Mrs. Baldinger was born. Her family emigrated to the United

States in 1830, settling at Philadelphia, where the father was engaged in business, and died, his family moving to Texas in 1838 or 1839. Mrs. Baldinger died November 7, 1877, followed by her husband a little more than two years later, his death occurring June 6, 1880.

Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Baldinger, two of whom died young, the remainder becoming grown. These are Henry A. and Mrs. Mary H. McKee, of Galveston; Andrew, who died in this city some years ago at about the age of thirty; Mrs. Clara Appell, of Waco; William H. and Edward E., of Galveston, and Samuel W., of Dallas.

ICHAEL KIMLEY. - When the subject of this sketch came to Galveston island it was but little more than a barren stretch of salt bayous, forming the haunts of various wild animals.

Mr. Kimley is a native of Bavaria, Germany, born May 2, 181 5, came to the United States in 1832, and lived for several years in and around Philadelphia. He was in that city when it was scourged by cholera in 1834, and still recalls with vividness the scenes of suffering and desolation which he witnessed at that time. He came to Galveston December 28, 1839. For many years he was employed in the custom house in this city, holding a position therein during the administrations of collectors Gail Borden, Jr., A. M. Jackson, Major J. Cox, Harden R. Runnels and Dr. William Smith. Afterward, giving up his place in the custom house, he obtained a situation with George Frank, a butcher, with whom he continued until he engaged in the butcher business for himself, in 1853. For years he ran a stall in the city market house and did a large and profitable business. Mr. Kimley lost heavily by going security and trusting others too far, but he has a competence, and is spending his declining years in comfort and ease. He has held the usual number of local offices, including one term as Alderman from the ward in which he lives.

In 1850 Mr. Kimley married Miss Anna B. Frabe, who was born in Bavaria, Germany, and came to Galveston in 1846, the issue of which union has been five children, who became grown: Annie, who was married to Charles Wild, and is now deceased; Caroline, wife of Louis Duffard; Joseph; Emma, widow of Frank Mitchell, and Michael, Jr.

^^^EORGE DUMBLE, deceased, in ^^ his lifetime an honored resident of \^^f Houston, was born in the town of Coburg, Canada, September 4, 1833. His parents were William and Sarah Dumble, who were natives of England, whence they emigrated in 1830 to Canada, where they settled and spent the remainder of their lives.

The subject of this sketch, one of the younger of a family of thirteen children, was reared in his native place to the age of sixteen, in the schools of which place he received a limited education. He there also learned the tinner's trade, and after the death of his parents went to Rochester, New York, while still a lad, and thence to Madison, Indiana, where he joined several of his brothers and sisters. In each of these places he worked at his trade, earning his own liveliiiood. In 1852, in company with two of his brothers, James F. and John, and a sister, Eliza Ann, he came to Texas and settled at Houston. Here he resided the remainder of his life, a period of more than forty years. During the greater part of this time he was actively connected with the business interests of this city, being one of its oldest merchants and most highly respected citizens. His honest integrity of character and gentleness of manner won the admiration of all, both men and women, who came in contact with him. His beginning was necessarily modest, but by persistent effort and the observance of strict business methods he rose in the commercial world until, at the time of his death, he was the head of one of the leading mercantile establishments in the city, - that now known as Dumble, Armistead & Cronan, dealers in heavy hardware and mill machinery.

During the war Mr. Dumble was in the Confederate service, having enlisted in Company G, Cook's regiment, from which he was detailed to work in the government shops. He never filled any public positions, though often solicited to do so, never seeming to to care for popular applause. In earlier life he joined one or two social orders, but gradually dropped out of these, and in time gave up his connection with them altogether. He was a zealous member of the Church, however, and gave a great deal of attention to church work. He united with Shearn Memorial Church in this city in 1S54, and to the day of his death was a constant attendant on its services and a liberal contributor to its support.

Soon after coming to Houston, Mr. Dumble purchased half a block (his brother owning the other half), on the southwest corner of Crawford street and Preston avenue, and here in a small frame dwelling he established himself in bachelor quarters and continued to live here alone until June 5, i860, when he married Mary Elizabeth King, of Houston. After this event his bachelor quarters were displaced by a more commodious and better appointed building, and this in turn gave way at a later date to a more modern structure. Mr. Dumble was greatly attached to his home and family, and here spent all his leisure hours. Great fondness for floriculture marked his domestic life, and through flowers he studied nature, his love for these drawing him nearer, to nature and the God who gave them. He made every reasonable provision for those dependent on him and seemed to derive his highest pleasure in ministering to their happiness. Of a family of nine children born 'o him and his excellent wife, si.K are living: Mary Georgia, now Mrs. H. B. Rice; William King; Edwin Harrison; Agusta Ruth, now Mrs. Percy Allen; Davy Harvey and Robert Norman. The fifth child, Sarah Flake, died in childhood, and two others died in infancy.

In personal appearance Mr. Dumble possessed the characteristics of his English ancestors, standing five feet and seven or eight inches in height, weighing between 160 and 165 pounds, being compactly built and having a strong muscular frame, inclining somewhat to rotundity. He had dark brown hair, which toward the latter part of his life was sprinkled with gray, and his eyes were a light blue. He was frank in manner and of very kindly disposition. At his death, the Cotton E.xchange and Board of Trade, of Houston, bulletined the following tribute to his memory: "A good man has gone before. George Dumble, one of nature's noblemen, honored and respected by all, departed this

Mrs. Dumble, whom he married, as already stated, in Houston, is a native of Texas, being a daughter of William and Margaret King, who were early Te.xans. Her father, a native of Baltimore, Maryland, came to Te.xas in 1837, and settled in Burleson county, becoming one of the first residents of the town of Caldwell, the county seat, and was one of the first Postmasters at that place. Holding a Captain's commission from the Republic of Texas he organized companies at different times and assisted in protecting the frontier in an early day against the Indians. In 1845 he moved to Houston, and subsequently served as Alderman and Mayor of this city. He died here January 8, 1867. Mrs. Dumble's mother died when Mrs. Dumble was young, leaving only one other child, Crockett McDonald Kine.

subject of this brief sketch is of Scotch and English descent. His paternal grandfather, Malcolm McAlpine, and wife, luc Mary Smith, emigrated to America before tlie Revolution and settled on the line of what are now Robertson and Cumberland counties, North Carolina. They had eleven sons and one daughter, among the elder of whom was John, the father of William K. John Mc- Alpine was born in North Carolina and there passed his entire life, being a farmer of small means but of industrious habits and good repute.

native of Georgetown district, South Carolina. John McAlpine died at a comparatively early age, leaving his widow with nine children to provide for, - next to the youngest of whom was the subject of this sketch. He was born in Richmond county. North Carolina, in 1822, and was there reared, growing up on the farm and receiving very limited educational advantages. At the age of nineteen he started West to seek his fortune, his destination being the home of his paternal uncle, Dugald McAlpine, in Alabama. This uncle subsequently moving to Texas, William K. also came on to this State and took up his residence with him in Grimes county, in 1851. In April, 1853, William K. McAlpine married Miss Sarah J. Perry, a daughter of Dr. D. A. Perry, of Washington county, Texas, and settling on a farm in Washington county, was successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits until the opening of the war. When the call was made by his State for volunteers for the Confederate army he responded by enlisting in Company C, Twentieth (Ellmore's) Regiment of Infantry, of which he subsequentl)' became Adjutant, and served in the defense of the coast country of Texas. He took part in the celebrated battle of Galveston, January I, 1863, but with the exception of this engagement, saw but little active field service. After the war, in the spring of 1867, Mr. McAlpine gathered together all his available means, and, moving to Galveston, he engaged in business as a cotton factor, and was so engaged until 1886, when, having accumulated a competency, he retired. During his business career of twenty 3ears in this city, he established a reputation as a man of sound financial ability, having not only amassed some wealth for himself, biit having helped to develop a number of Galveston's business enterprises, with some of which his name is still connected as director. Mr. McAlpine's life, so far as seeking "the bubble, reputation " is concerned, has been of the most unassuming nature. He has never held even the office of alderman of his ward, thouijh by no means lacking in public spirit or proper appreciation of the duties of good citizenship. He simply has not cared for the honors of office, and, having always found his own business sufficiently remunerative to afford him proper means of support, with some surplus for investment, he has kept out of politics.

In 1885 Mr. McAlpine lost his wife, her death occurring at their home in Galveston. Her remains were buried in the old family burying-ground in Grimes county, where rest those of his mother, who came to Texas after the removal of her sons here, and died therein 1872. Mr McAlpine has one brother, John, and two uncles, Dugald and Malcolm McAlpine, also buried in Grimes county, and one brother, Franklin McAlpine, still living there, - all of whom came to Texas in the '50s, and settled in that county. His uncle, Dugald McAlpine, was a well-to-do and highly respected farmer of Grimes county for many years. Most of the paternal uncles of William K. McAlpine - ten in number - settled in Alabama and Mississippi early in this century, and there they subsequently lived and died, several of them serving in the frontier Indian wars, and one, Alexander, being with Jackson at New Orleans during the war of 1812-14.

Mr. McAlpine has raised a family of eight children, four daughters and four sons, most of them married and all residents of Texas, - these being Mrs. J. H. Gibson, of Calvert; Mrs. Henry Sales, of Abilene;' Mrs. W. J. Hughes, of Galveston; Mrs. J. M,

The religious connection of the family was originally with the Presbyterian Church, but by removal and intermarriage with those of other faiths representatives of the name are found in each of the churches, - Cumberland Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and Episcopalian.

Joining the Masonic fraternity, at Uniontown, Alabama, soon after attaining his majority, Mr. McAlpine has held a membership in the order for more than fifty years, and is now Past Grand High Priest of the Grand I-^oyal Arch Chapter of Texas.

aAPTAIN JOHN CHUBB is one of the pioneer residents of Galveston and an early-day mariner of the Gulf coast. The circumstances that brought him here in 1839 are recited somewhat in detail elsewhere in this volume, in an extented sketch of his elder brother, the late Commodore Thomas Chubb. Captain Chubb was second mate of the brig Silicia, mentioned in the sketch of his brother, and at the time of its landing at Galveston, in 1839, he was a youth of nineteen.

The appearance of Galveston island at the present writing is in striking contrast with what it was when Captain Chubb first saw it, more than fifty years ago. Where then a barren waste of wire grass and wandering bayous stretched far into and across the island, now stand solid blocks of business houses and handsome residences with well paved streets and all the accompaniments of a thrifty and progressive city.

in 1839 was an event of some importance in the history of the city. The vessel was loaded with lumber and other building material, including a number of houseframes ready for erection, all of which was in demand. As a matter of historical interest it may be mentioned that one of these frames still stands, being that in a small building on Fifteenth street, between Market and Postoffice. Such material was scarce in those days, lumber of common quality selling readily at $100 per thousand feet, and other material at corresponding prices.

The Messrs. Chubb simply came to Galveston at the time referred to in the regular course of trade, and with no intention then to locate. After discharging the cargo of their vessel they went to Virginia Point, where they took on a load of cattle and started for Havana, Cuba. They had got only fairly out from land when a rough sea was encountered and the Silicia was soon on her beam-end, the cargo shifted and a continuance of the voyage rendered impracticable. The vessel was headed for New Orleans and the cargo discharged at Algiers, the destination being changed, and a load of molasses taken on instead of the cattle. This last shipment was consigned partly to Philadelphia and partly to Boston.

Captain Chubb had seen enough of Galveston during his brief visit to satisfy himself that it would be a desirable place for a young man in his condition, and he soon after returned to make it his home. He at once identified himself with the shipping interest of the city, and for a period of more than fifty years following he built, owned and commanded various small craft and engaged in coast-wise trade in this vicinity. During the war Captain Chubb commanded the Confederate gunboat, Liverpool, which did effective work in local harbor defense, the boat being a well equipped craft carrying small mounted guns and having a crew of nine men. Later Captain Chubb was superintendent of the Confederate naval works at the head of Galveston bay in Harris county, where he was serving at the close of the war.

From 1865 till 1881 Captain Chubb was engaged in local marine traffic, and did a very creditable business. He sold his last vessel, the Coquette, in 1891.

There have been no happy strokes of fortune in Captain Chubb's life, what he has accomplished havi.ng been done by tenacity of purpose, promptness in execution and a broad sense of duty, which characteristics not only directed his course over many a stormy sea, but have been the basis of a reasonably successful business career on land.

May 28, 1840, Captain Chubb married Mary Ann Abbott, of Charlestown, Massachussetts, she being a native of that State, and a member of a respectable family, and a lady of intelligence and domestic culture. Captf.in Chubb and wife have one adopted daughter, now Mrs. Thomas Bollinger, of Galveston.

aHARLES F. HASSELMEYERwas born in the village of Lippe-Detniold, near Bremen, Germany, October 3, 1 817, and was there reared. He learned the trade of tailor in Bremen, and served four years in the German army. In 1843 he married Emilie, daughter of George and Mary Franck, who was born near Hamburg in 1823. In 1846 Mr. Hasselmeyer emigrated to Texas, landing at Galveston just before Christmas of that year. He engaged at his trade here, working, at different times, for Seligman, Maas & Keough, early-day merchant tailors, until- about 1851. He then abandoned the tailoring business, and, investing his savings in ten acres of land lying west of, and at that time considerably beyond, the corporate limits of the city, he embarked on a small scale in the dairy business. By thrift and industry his means accumulated from year to year, and, having bought another ten-acre tract of land adjoining his first purchase, he improved the whole of it, and there resided the remainder of his life, engaged in dairying. This property, bought by Mr. Hasselmeyer for $2,400, has increased many times that amount in value, being now within easy reach of the city and forming eligible sites for suburban homes. It still remains in the family, having been divided between his sons, who make their homes on it.

Mr. Hasselmeyer died August 28, 1881. He had been a member of the Presbyterian Church for many years, and was very generally respected by those who knew him. His widow subsequently married Mr. William Platzer, another old citizen of Galveston, and the two still reside in this city. Mr. and Mrs. Hasselmeyer had ten children, five of whom became grown, these being Charles F. ; Emelie, wife of John G. Rost; Louis G. ; Henry, who died June 16, 1893; and John W. The four now living are residents of Galveston. The eldest of these, Charles F., was born in Germany, in March, 1844, and was an infant when his parents came to Texas. His entire life has been spent in this city. He began his business career here at the age of twenty-three, as a butcher, and with the exception of a short

He served in the Confederate army during the late war, - marine department, - in which he was assistant steward at different times on the Bayou City, Island City and Diana.

Mr. Hasselmeyer married Bettie Harmes, of Galveston, her parents being natives of Germany, who resided in Galveston when she was young, her father and two brothers dying here of yellov/ fever. By this marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hasselmeyer had seven living children: Charles F., Jr., John, Ludwig, Henry, Gus, Bettie and Mollie, the wife being now deceased.

Down, Ireland, March 19, 1827, being a son of Daniel and Margaret Carville, both also natives of Ireland. The father came to America in 1828, followed two years later by his family, and settled in Perry county, Ohio, where he spent the most of the remaining years of his life. He was a farmer by occupation, a man of small means, but of industrious habits and upright life. He died at Martinsville, Morgan county, Indiana, in 1853, at the age of fifty. His widow survived many years, dying at the home of her son in Galveston, in 1890, at the advanced age of ninety-seven. The subject of this sketch was one of four children of his parents, the others being: John, who was a resident of Galveston a number of years, dying at New Orleans in 1859, leaving no descendants; James, who lived and died in Galveston, also without issue;

Patrick H. Carville was reared and educated in Perry county, Ohio, and learned the trade of a cooper in Chillicothe, in that State. After working at his trade in Peoria, Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri, and New Orleans, Louisiana, he came to Texas aboard the steamer Mexico, landing at Galveston November 4, 1850. He secured employment, shortly after reaching this place, with John Tronson, who ran a small cooper shop on the corner of Mechanic and Twentieth streets. From the employ of Tronson he went to Brazoria county the following spring, where he worked for two seasons on the Darlington plantation, making molaases barrels. Returning to Galveston, he started in business for himself, opening a little shop on Twentieth street, between avenues A and B. After two years spent there, and a year on the corner of Strand and Bath avenue, his business assumed such proportions that he felt justified in enlarging his plant and extending his lines of operation, and accordingly leased a lot on the south side of Mechanic street, between Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth, where he carried on his business successfully until he was burned out in 1883. He then bought a lot on Mechanic, between Twenty-seventh and Twenty-eighth, where he put in another shop, and has since conducted his business. Mr. Carville has thus been constantly in business in this city for forty years, during which time he has made thousands of cisterns and barrels, adding his due proportion to the manufactured products of the city, and incidentally thereto amassing some wealth for himself. His investments, made from time to time as his means have accumulated, have steadily grown in value, and he is now one of the comparatively large taxpayers of the city. His policy has been to improve his holdings, and thus derive from them some revenue, and at the same time add to the wealth of the community. During the war Mr. Carville enlisted in the Confederate army, and was placed on detail duty, so serving till the close of hostilities. He joined Washington Fire Company, No. i, in 1851, and was a member of it till Island City Company No. 2 was organized, March 7, 1856, when he joined the latter, and was an active member of the same until the opening of the war. He was a member of the City Council in 1866-7-8, and in 1873-4-5-6. In 1854 he joined the Odd Fellows and Chosen Friends in this city, and was an active member of each a number of years.

In July, 1859, Mr. Carville married Miss Johanna Dwyer, then of Galveston, but a native of Ireland, where she was born in 1835, and came to Galveston in 1855, and the issue of this union was eight children, but three of whom became grown, namely: Margaret, who was married to F. P. Killeen, of Galveston, and is now deceased; Lillian, now Mrs. William E. Doyle, of Galveston; and Nellie, unmarried.

With all the heterogeneous elements that enter into the constituency of our national life there is no foreign land that has perhaps contributed more effectively to the vitalizing and vivifying of our magnificent commonwealth, with its diverse interests and cosmopolitan make-up, than has the Emerald Isle, the land of legend and romance, the land of native wit and honest simplicity of heart, the land of sturdy integrity and resolute good nature. To Ireland we owe the inception of many of our most capable, most honest and most patriotic families in these latter days; and there has been no nationality that has been more readily assimilated into the very fabric of complex elements that go to make up the nation, no class of people that has been more in touch with the spirit of progress that is typical of our national life. The subject of this brief sketch is an exemplification, in a large measure, of the foregoing statement, and certainly in the somewhat long list of honored pioneers of this island which appears in the present volume, none have achieved more substantial financial results with so little aid, or reached a more secure place in public esteem than has the one of whom we here write.