Galveston County, Texas - The whole text, 1895 (part 19 of 26)

He went to a friend in Houston, and borrowing $5,000 for a few months engaged in buying and selling cotton, at which he made money rapidly, and by the close of the season of 1865 he was fairly on his feet again. On the recommendation of a number of citizens of Houston Mr. Dooley was appointed by Governor Hamilton Assessor and Collector of Taxes of Harris county and served for the fiscal year of 1865-6, In 1866, under an election proclamation by President Andrew Johnson, James Toole was elected Assessor and Collector of Harris county, but was subsequently removed by the Commissioners' Court, which recommended to James W. Thockmorton, then Governor, the appointment of Mr. Dooley. The appointment was made, but Mr. Dooley, being unable to take the oath of office as then prescribed by Federal authority, did not qualify, and accordingly in his place was appointed by General Griffin, military commander of this district, an ex-Federal soldier. Captain J. W. Wallace. This gentleman took the office, but made Mr. Dooley his deputy, to whom he turned over all the business of the office, and the latter managed the same until the death of Captain Wallace, who was taken off by the j'ellow-fever epidemic of 1867 and before the expiration of his term of office. Upon the appointment of Captain Wallace's successor Mr. Dooley refused to serve longer in the office, and at once turned his attention to real estate. He thus became one of the early real-estate dealers of the city and has been steadily engaged at it since. He gives attention to the handling of farm, ranch and timber land, and is a large operator in city and suburban property. Besides this he represents a number of Eastern antl foreign capitalists and places loans on real estate. He owns a great deal of real estate in this and other counties of Texas, and valuable lots in and around Houston. He is a contributor to all of the churches and to all worthy purposes. Mr. Dooley was married in the fall of 1S60 to Miss Frances F. Bowman, of Houston, a daughter of Charles and Catherine Bowman, and by this marriage has nine children: Charles M. ; Jennie G., wife of C. W. Cahoon ; Willie B. , Frederick, Harry H., Eddie, Arthur, Claude O. and Lillian M.

QRS. EMILIE BERTALLOT. - She whose name heads this sketch has been a resident of the Lone Star State for over half a century, and, although she has attained to the age of seventy-three \ears, she is still in the enjoyment of fair health, is very intelligent, and retains her mental faculties to a remarkable degree.

Ann (Stciser) Ettlinjes, who also were born in that country, where they lived and died, the father at the age of seventy-nine \ears and the mother when eighty-five years of age. Mrs. Bertallot came to the United States with a cousin in 1843, and arrived in the city of Galveston on May 2 of that year, and in March of the following year she was married to Fred Sherman, a native of Germany, and a follower of that calling around which Longfellow and Schiller have thrown a vail of romance, - blacksmithing, - at which he was an expert and from which he derived a comfortable income. To their union three children were given: Mary, Charles, and Louis. Mary was married to Gus Tipp, and has four children, - Robert, who married Mamie Conen and has two children (Robert and Julia L. ); Gus, Eddie and Louis. Charles died at the age of thirtyseven, and Louis is a master mechanic on the Mexican hiternational Railroad in Mexico. In 185S the subject of this sketch was left a widow and her three children fatherless, but she bravel)- put her shoulder to the wheel and cared for them faithfully and well without aid from others until her marriage in 1S59 to Adolpih Bartallot, a native German, who had arrived in this country in 1850. He was a machinist by trade, was a peaceful, honest, law-abiding citizen, for many years in the employ of the late Judge Alex. McGowen. He died in April, 1880. Besides his widow he left two children: Louisa, wife of A. Stude, by whom she has five children, - Henry, Emilie, Adolph, Henrietta and Louis; and Emma, wife of Charles Weiss, who is a son of J. F. Weiss, Sr., a sketch of whose life may be found in this volume, b}- whom she has three children, - Charles, Monday, and Stella. Mrs. Bertallot has seen the country grow from a primitive wilderness to its present settled condition, which result has been brbught about only by great labor. She has possessed considerable strength and force of character to face, as she has done, the privations of pioneer life and to instill into her children principles of truth and right. She has borne her part in life's battles faithfully and well, and, being a church member, she has found much consolation and comfort in the Scriptures. She was in the early days of the State well acquainted with General Sam Houston.

>T^UDGE F. LEE SCHWANDER. - m The younger Pitt, had his lot been m 1 cast in the United States in this day and generation, would not have found it necessary to defend himself against the "atrocious crime of being a young man," as charged against him because of his precocious mental development. In this Republic there is no prejudice against a man merely because he chances to develop in advance of the conventional idea as to time of maturity, but on the contrary it is more likely that the fact will be used as a cause for rewarding his ability by promoting him to places of honor and trust. The subject of this sketch. Judge F. Lee Schwander, of Houston, is a young man who has demonstrated over and over again that the wisdom of age rests upon his shoulders and the judgment of tried experience guides his actions; yet, so far from this being a bar to his advancement, his friends point to the fact with pride and as convincing proof that man ought to be weighed by his sagacity and not by the duration of his days upon earth. Judge Schwander was born in the city in which he now lives, March 8, i868, his parents being Peter W. and Adele J. (Gagne) Schwander, the former of whom was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, and when a lad was brought to the United States by his parents. In 1858 he took up his residence in Houston, but after a number of years' residence here went to New Mexico, where he was engaged in mining up to the time of his death, in 1889. The mother of the subject of this sketch was a daughter of Joseph and Clementine Gagne and was born in Louisiana. She died on the 23d of December, 1872.

The youthful days of Judge F. Lee Schwander were marked by many hardships, for, owing to the residence of his parents being away from Houston, he decided to begin the hard battle of life when but eleven years of age, and did odd jobs about the town, or in the store of G. B. Grassis. When the schools were in session, he worked in the morning, at night and on Saturdays, and he was thus enabled to pursue his studies during the day, for, boy as he was, he realized that a good education was a most necessary adjunct to a successful career, and he determined to have it at all hazards. By the judicious saving of his earnings he was enabled to attend one term of school at Sherman, Texas, and one term at Osage Mission, Kansas, and wisely made the best use of these opportunities. In 1884 he went to Silver City, New Mexico, to assist his father, but at the end of one year he returned to Houston, and for two years thereafter was a clerk in the store of Gagne Brothers, and later was with C. T. Renne. He deserves the greatest credit for the manner in which his life was spent at this time, for although his services were required in the store until nine o'clock at night, he seldom retired to rest until he had devoted two hours to the study of law, in his room, and this course he pursued for four years. For a time he was a clerk in the Southern Pacific Railroad office at Houston, but no matter how arduous had been his duties during the day, or what the hour that he reached home, his Blackstone was brought forth and two hours at least were devoted to its perusal. He jiursued his studies under the direction of G. W. Tharp, and in July, 1889, entered the office of Gustave Cook, with whom he read until the following November, when he was admitted to the bar. He at once hung out his "shingle," but after a few months' practice he entered the office of Henry F. Ring, and assisted him up to the 14th of November, 1890, when he was elected to the office of Justice of the Peace, and to this position he was re-elected in November, 189:!, the duties of which office he is still discharging. In June, 1894, he was made the Democratic nominee for the office of County Attorney, which is equivalent to an election.

fiETER PAUL FLOECK, deceased. - There is no power greater or more effective than the silent influence of a life well spent. This truth is fully illustrated in the career of every good man, and especially in that of the subject of this sketch, who was former]}' jiromincntly connected with the business and social interests of the city of Houston. His career affords an illustration of the connnon observation that honesty and industry, coupled with economy and business methods, are the surest means of winning success.

Mr. Floeck was a native r{ Germany, having been born at Millheim, on the Rhine, August II, 1834. His parents were Michael and Catherine Floeck, both of whom were also natives of Germany. The family emigrated to America in 1848, sailing direct for Texas, the soil of which they first touched at Galveston. They settled on Cypress creek in Harris county, where the senior Mr. Floeck engaged for a year in farming. He then moved to Houston, and here he and his wife passed the remainder of their days, honored and respected by all who knew them. In this city their son, Peter Paul Floeck, the subject of this notice, began his career. ' He received little or no educational advantages during his youth. At the age of sixteen he began to manage for himself, working at whatever honorable employment he could find. He followed this some six years, when, in 1856, he secured a position as porter in the wholesale dry-goods and grocery house of Henry Sampson, of Houston.

February 28, 1857, he married Miss Elizabeth Schultz, then residing in Houston, but a native of Prussia, Germany, and, with the counsel and assistance of a good wife he entered upon the business career which is here outlined. With their combined means, about $600, he and his wife opened a bakery, confectionery establishment, restaurant and coffee-house in this city, at which they prospered sj:eadily from the beginning, and, notwithstanding their establishment was destroyed by fire at the end of the first year, they persevered, until at the end of twenty years they found themselves the possessors of considerable means, wrung from fortune by hard and persistent effort and the most economical business-like management. In 1876 Mr. Floeck gave up the bakery and confectionery business and engaged in banking, which he followed, however, only about five years, when he again put his funds in more active pursuits, embarking in the sash, door and blind business, at which he continued up to the time of his death, November 6, 1887. It was Mr. Floeck's poHcy through hfe to keep his funds invested in his own business; yet his enterprising disposition led him to lend his aid to whatever promised legitimate returns, and on this account he was more than once induced to invest in things which turned out disastrously for him. He lost over $80,000 in one such investment, but this did not impair his credit. He paid dollar for dollar on his indebtedness as long as he lived, and left a handsome estate unincumbered at his death. Mr. Floeck's walk through life was characterized by honorable business methods, by his devotion to his family and by the interest he took in his fellow-men. He was warm in his temperament, firm in his convictions, and true in all the relations of life. He took very little interest in anything outside of his business pursuits, and yet he gave his support to every measure set on foot for the benefit of the community in which he resided. He served as Alderman of the city a term or two before the war, but could never be induced to accept any other public trust.

Surviving him he left a widow and eight children. Since his death his widow has had charge of his estate, and the business training which she got during his life in assisting him has enabled her to handle his business interests successfully since his demise. Mrs. Floeck, who, as has been stated, was born in Germany, came to the United States in 1852, with her parents, Christof and Elizabeth Schultz, and resided on Bear creek, in this county, where they settled, until her marriage to Mr. Floeck. Her parents both died in Harris county.

Two sisters of hers are now living in this county; Dora, now Mrs. Henry Glabow; and Louisa, now Mrs. Frederick Wiess, of Houston. To Mr. and Mrs. Floeck ten children were born, eight of whom are still living; Kate, the wife of William Hempstead; William; Paul; Annie, wife of Charles Maurice; Clarence; Jesse; Edna, and Peter, - all of whom reside in Houston, most (jf them remaining with their widowed mother.

m industries of Houston, Texas, are /> 1 of an important character, ably and successfully carried on, the products being such as have secured for the place a reputation of which any city might be proud. Prominent among the leading citizens and former manufacturers of the place is John Frederick Weiss, who was born in Bavaria, German)', April 3, 1823, a son of Jacob and Elizabeth Weiss, who were also natives of Germany, where they lived and died. The father was a wheelwright by trade and under his able instruction his son, John Frederick, obtained a thorough knowledge of the work, and in 1849 decided to ply his trade beyond the Atlantic, and accordingly boarded the "Mary Florence," a sailing vessel, and after a voyage of six weeks landed at New Orleans, at which place he at once secured work at his trade. He continued to labor faithfully and earnestly there until the spring of 1851, when he came to Houston, of which city he has since been a resident. In 1855 he embarked in business here for himself as a worker in wood, in which he was very successful, and in addition to pursuing this calling he also, in 1874, opened a store here, which he conducted,

1892. He is one of the substantial nu-ii of Houston, and by his correct mode of living has gathered about him a large circle of friends and acquaintances.

Jul}' 8, 1S54, he was married to Miss Louisa Schultz, who was born in Prussia, German}', September 16, 1835, a daughter of Christian and Elizabeth (I'reyer) Schultz, who took up their residence in the United States in 1851, landing at Galveston. From that place they proceeded at once to Houston and settled on a tract of land about five miles south of the place, where the father was successfully engaged in farming until his death, which occurred at the age of seventy-four j-ears, his wife also dying at that age. To Mr. and Mrs. Weiss a family of seven children have been given: jcjhn F. , Jr.; Louisa, Charlie, Emma, William, Eddie, and Mary.

The eldest son, John F., Jr., was born in Houston, August 31, 1S54, and at the age of si.xteen years began learning the baker's trade, under John Springer and others, at which he ^^-orked up to June,

1893, when he became a partner in the baker}', confectionery and coffee house of J. J. Weiss, the style of the firm being J. J. Weiss & Company. Their ]ilace of Inisiness is at 8 14 Preston avenue, and, under the able management of these wide-awake and intelligent gentlemen the enterprise is thriving. John F. Weiss, Jr., is a "chip off the old block," for he is proving himself a substantial, law-abiding and public-spirited citizen, and that he will one day be a wealthy citizen cannot be doubted when the success which has already attended his efforts is taken into consideration October 19, 1880, witnessed the celebration of his marriage with Miss Bertha C. Meier, a native of

Galveston and a daughter of John and Mary Meier, and by her he has three interesting little children: Johnnie, eleven years of age; Barbara, who is eight years old; and Anna, aged three.

HE KICHARDSONS, - Stephen, .\lfred Stephen and Walter I-iagh. - The Richardson family, * though by no means large, is one of the first settled families of Texas. Stephen Richardson, the father of Alfred Stephen and Walter Raleigh, and the one who brought the name to the Southwest, was a native of Mount Desert island, Hancock county, Maine, where he was born June i, 1794. He landed in Texas December 22, 1822, having been shipwrecked near the mouth t)f the Brazos river while on his way fr()in New Orleans to Tampico, Mexico, whither he was bound with a cargo of merchandise. Cast ashore by the angry winds and tides, his vessel and merchandise lost, he had no choice but to seek safety and the means of livelihood in the nearest friendly settlement. South Texas was then a wilderness ciumtr\- and the nearest and only American settlement of any consequence was that established just twelve months previous, bv Stephen F. Austin, at San P'elipe, the Jamestown of the Southwest. To this place Mr. Ivichardson made his way. From 1822 to 1828 he resided at San Felipe, engaged in teaching school and in helping administer the affairs of the colony in different civil capacities. He married, at San Felipe, in 1828, Miss Lucinda Hodge, a daughter of one of the colonists, and the same year settled on a farm in what is now Austin county, near the present town of Wallis. For four years he resided at this place, and in 1832 he moved to Chocolate bayou, settling near the present town of Alvin, in Brazoria county, where he began the erection of a sawmill, to be run by water power, but before it was finished the floods of that spring swept it aw?y, and in the summer of the same year he moved to a point lower do\\'n on Chocolate bayou, where the town of Liverpool stands, and here put up another sawmill, the motor power of which was an inclined plane, operated by oxen on the principle of gravitation. Here he was residing when the trouble broke out, in 1835, between Mexico and the Texan colonists. He joined the patriots in the fall of that year, took part in the "Grass Fight," November 26, and in the storming and capture of San Antonio December 5th following, being a member of Captain Frank W. Johnson's company. He was near Colonel Milam when he fell, and was probably the last one to whom that gallant soldier and patriot ever spoke. After the battle of San Jacinto, and when the peaceful order of things had in a measure been restored, Mr. Richardson moved, in January, 1838, to Harrisburg, where he erected a steam sawmill, which he operated for a period of about ten years. In 1849 he moved to Houston and here passed the remainder of his life, dving July 6, i860.

With the exception of the minor local positions which he held at San Felipe, he had but little to do with public matters, devoting all the best j-ears of his life to business pursuits. He was a man of patriotic spirit, however, well read in the history of his country, and firfnly attached to the principles of self-government. He always took an active, though not a partisan interest in public affairs, and was fond of political discussion when conducted ex foro. 'His late years were passed quietly with his family and among his friends, to whoui he was fond of recounting his early experiences and observations; for he had not only seen much of Texas' early history but had served in the war of 1812-14 with Great Britain, under Colonel (afterward General) John E. Wool, and had traveled over a good portion of the Central and Southern States in pioneer days, having taught scho(jl in Illinois and flat-boated on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers as far south as New Orleans, and had repeatedly visited Campeachy, Tampico, and other seaports in Mexico. He had enjoyed reasonably good educational ad\ antages in youth, and improving on these as he grew up he came to possess a large fund of valuable general information. He was an enthusiast in the matter of education, and never lost an opportunity to render the cause such assistance as he could. Mainly through his exertions at school, whose attendance aggregated between seventy-five and one hundred, was built up and maintained during the years 1834-5-6 at Liverpool, in Brazoria county, thus making that one of the principal educational points in Texas at that time and a power for good, under the existing conditions of society. His wife, a woman of warm heart and bright, receptive mind, fully shared his views and feelings in this matter, and ably seconded and assisted him in his efforts in behalf of education, she herself having been a pupil of Henry Smith, the first provisional Governor of Texas. She died in September, 1880.

But two out of a family of seven children born to this pioneer couple ever reached maturity, and these two yet survive, being Hon. Alfred Stephen Richardson, of Houston, and Rev. Walter Raleigh Richard-

Alfred Steplien Richardson was born August 16, 1830, near the present town of Walhs, in Anstin county (then the municipality of Austin). He was reared partly at Liverpool and partly at Harrisburg, receiving the usual educational advantages of that day in Texas. He read law in the offices of Judge Edward A. Palmer and Judge Peter W. Gray, of Houston, finishing his course of legal studies at Cambridge, Massachusetts, and began the practice of his profession at Anderson, in Grimes county, in 1853. fn 1857 he came to Houston, and was in the active practice here, first as a member of the firm of Palmer & Richardson, and later as a member of tlie firm of Richardson & Botts, until the opening of the war. In 1867 he was appointed secretary of the Houston & Texas Central Ivailroai.l, and hekl this position until 1884, a period of nearly seventeen }'ears. In 1884 he was made executor of the will of the late \\'illiam J. Hutchins, and in 1885 was appointed Master in Chancer^' of the Houston, East and West Texas Railroad, the duties of which two positions occupied his time until April, I 890, when he was appointed Secretary of the city of Houston, which office he still holds.

In 1862 Mr. Richardson represented Harris count}' in the Legislature. He became identified with the Masonic order in 1857, and has passed through all its degrees from an apprentice to that of Knight Templar; was Grand Commander of Knight Teirijilars of this State from June, 1871, to June, 1873, and was Grand Master of Masons in 1890. He became an Odd Fellow in 1855, and was Grand Master of Odd Fellows of Texas in 1866. Being confirmed in the Episcopal Church at the age of nineteen, he has been officially connected with the church for more than forty years, filling during that period every office in the diocese to which a layman is eligible, and almost continually representing it in the diocesan councils and having represented the diocese in se\eral meetings uf the General Convention of the United States, being now a member of the standing committee and Chancellor of the Diocese. He has been Vestryman, continuously, of Christ Church at Houston for thirty-six )cars.

Mr. Richardson renieml)ers many circumstances connected with the early history of Texas; remembers when his father left home for San Antonio in 1835; recalls the incidents of the "Runaway Scrape," and remembers hearing the guns at San Jacinto; became somewhat proficient in Spanish from talking with the prisoners there captured, and in fact is now a general referee on questions of business and history touching this localit}' for the past sixty years.

\\'alter Raleigh Richardson was born May 3, 1837, at Li\erpool, Brazoria county. He w^as educate J at the local schools and at St. Paul's College, in Grimes county, taught in that college and at Harrisburg and Austin, at which last named place he began preparations for the ministry in the Episcopal Church, under the instruction of the Rev. Charles Gillette. He attended Berkley Divinity School at Middletown, Connecticut, in i860, leaving there after the outfjreak of the war, in '61, and with his mother returned home after successfully running the inland blockade. He took his first mission charge at Victoria and Goliad in 1862; was called to St. Stephen's Church, at Huntsville, in January, 1864, where he remained till called to St. Mark's, in San Antonio,

June I, 1868. He was ordained a priest June 5, 1864, and has ever since been actively engaged in the discharge of his ministerial duties. He has been several times a Deputy of the General Convention, and has been a member of the Standing Committee of the church in western Texas since its organization in 1874. The principal scene of his labors has been in San Antonio, where he has been rector of St. Mark's Church for more than a quarter of a century. The lengthened term of his ministration evidencing the estimation in which he is held by his congregation and upon the creation of Western Texas into a separate missionary jurisdiction in 1874, his name was strongly urged for the position of Bishop of that jurisdiction, the choice, however, falling instead upon the late Bishop R. W. B. Elliott.

*w ^ ENRY SCHMIDT. - The intelli- I^^^V gent and capable housewife knov.'s \^r well that the healthy condition of her family is, in a great measure, due to the eating of wholesome food, and for her supplies she depends on the honesty and reliability of her grocer. It is, therefore, most necessary that he should at all times keep a well-selected and extensive stock of goods on hand, so that his patrons may have unlimited choice, and also that he be thoroughly honorable and reliable. Such a man is Henry Schmidt, whose place of business is an exceptionally popular one, conveniently located at the corner of Tenth and Preston streets, Houston, Texas. Like the great majority of successful business men, he is self-made, and from poverty and obscurity he has made his way to his present position. Coming, as he did, to this country with extremely limited means, a total stranger, and with an imperfect knowledge of the English language, he was compelled to labor under disadvantages, under which many less ambitious and determined would have succumbed without a struggle. He was made of sterner stuff, and the greater the obstacle encountered, the greater became his determination to surmount it.

Mr. Schmidt was born in Germany, at Kurhessen, January 21, 1838. His father gave him good educational advantages, and he made the most of his opportunities. At the age of twenty years he decided to come to America, and in 1 8 5 8 he landed in the city of New York. Very soon after he turned his footsteps westward and joined his uncle in Connersville, Indiana, the latter being successfully engaged in the management of a large porkpacking establishment. Here Mr. Schmidt at once found employment, and here he made his home for one year, at the end of which time he went to New Orleans, where, on October 4, 1859, he accepted a clerkship in a feed store, but later occupied a similar position in a grocery establishment of that city. In 1863 he became a clerk in the sutler's department of Banks' army, and in this capacity was in various parts of Louisiana, subsequently becoming a partner in interest, and continuing as such until the war closed. On the 4th of October, 1865, in company with a Mr. Liebermann, he opened a grocery store in Galveston, Texas, the style of the firm being Liebermann & Schmidt, where they continued to do business up to August, 1866, at which time Mr. Schmidt retired from the firm, and on the 4th of October, 1866, opened a grocery store in Houston, at the corner of Railroad and Milam streets. His increasing business ne- cessitated his removal to more coiiiniodious quarters in May, 1868, and he moved to the Market square, on Travis street, where he did a successful business up to 1873. In the meantime he built his present place of business, on the corner of Tenth and Preston streets, and on the 12th of July, 1873, took possession of this establishment. Here he has since held forth, and here his patrons may usually find him, intent on business, alert and desirous of jileasint;^ them, and prompt and accurate in filling all orders. With these qualifications it is almost unnecessary to make the statement that his business career has been a successful one, or in addition that he has those qualities of thrift, energy and honesty which are the chief characteristics of the German race. It is a fact worthy of note that his business career in the cities of New Orleans, Galveston and Houston began each time on the 4th of October, and each time the mo\e resulted in his own good. He has alwa_\s had the greatest confidence in Houston, so much so that he has judiciously invested, from time to time, considerable of his means in city real estate, and is now the owner of valuable residence and business property, as well as a considerable amount of land in the vicinity of the city. He is a conservative business man, but has identified himself with the interests of the city, county and State, and gives generously of his means to the support of any cause tending to benefit them, and is not onlv a credit to the land which gave him birth but also to his adopted country, which appreciates and acknowledges his worth.

>-T*AMES H. BRIG H T. - No field of ^ nu^dern enterprise affords safer or /- 1 more favorable opportunities for the investment of capital, either in large or small sums, than the real-estate business. Among the most successful and best known of the new real-estate firms of Houston should Ije mentioned J. H. Bright lS: Company.

The senior member of the firm, James H. Bright, was born in Fa}ette\ille, Lincoln county, Tennessee, May 16, 1856, a son of James R. and Priscilla (Maneyj Bright, the former of whom was born in Tennessee, and was an attorney by profession. He became a noted chancery lawyer and was for several years Supreme Judge of Tennessee. He also took great interest in Masonry and was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee for many \ears. He died March 15, 1868, at the age of forty-seven years. His father, James Bright, was a Virginian b\' birth, was a ci\'il engineer by calling, and surve\'ed the State line between Tennessee and Kentucky. He lived to be ninety-eight years old and always attributed his long life and good health to the ont-door life he led and temperate habits. He was a son of James Bright, a native of Wales. The mother of James H. Bright, Priscilla (Maney) Bright, was born in North Carolina, a daughter of Major Henry Maney, who was born at Maney's Point, same State. In 1854 he moved to Te.xas, and, after a short residence in Caldwell county, moved to Guadalupe county, where he died, at the age of sixty-seven years, having followed the occupation of planting throughout life. His father, William Maney, was a native of France.

family being Anna, wife of R. M. Hibbett, of Nashville, Tennessee, and Elizabeth, wife of James H. Douglass, who lives in East Nashville, Tennessee. In the public schools of his native town the subject of this sketch pursued the paths of learning until he was twelve years old, when \\& was placed in Cumberland University, at Lebanon, Tennessee, for two years, where he was fitted to pass the examination of the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, but after successfully doing so was dissuaded from entering the marine service by his mother. He also attended Bingham's school, in North Carolina, for two years, after which he began the study of law with Boyles & Burham,and after being admitted to the bar, in February, 1874, he went to Huntsville, Alabama, and began clerking in a store for Campbell & Bailey. After one j'ear's experience with this firm he went to Nashville, Tennessee, and was in the employ of Douglas, Son & Company up to 1S76, at which time he came to Texas. After spending some time in Guadalupe county, he came to Houston. Here he was employed by the late E. H. Cushing, in the book and stationery business, up to September, 1879, when he went to Galveston and accepted a situation as traveling salesman for P.J. Willis & Brother, remaining in the employ of that firm up to January, 1881. He then resigned to accept the position of cashier and teller in the bank of Miller & Sayres, Gonzales, Texas, which position he held for eighteen months. He then organized and conducted a banking business for W. W. Lipscomb, at Luling, Texas, but owing to ill health he was compelled to leave the house and once more became a traveling salesman, this time with John P. Richardson, of New Orleans, a successful dry-goods merchant. He subsequently resigned to accept a similiar place with Sweetser, Pembrook & Company, of New York city, with which firm he was connected until January, 1S90, when he resigned his position to open a real-estate office in Houston. Those who have real estate for sale, or who wish to buy. will find the firm of J. H. Bright ready at all times to serve the public and prepared to do it in as acceptable manner as any other agency in the city of Houston.

James H. Bright was married in 1879 to Miss Katie Walker, by whom he has one living child, James Douglas. In 1886 he was left a widower, and for his second wife he espoused Miss Belle Tatten, of Sherman, Texas, and by her has one child, Marie. Mr. and Mrs. Bright are attendants of the Episcopal Church, and are highly esteemed in the social circles of Houston.

of the many who are called upon to contribute their quota of what is needed to make up the necessities or luxuries prepared for the comfort and well-being of the inner man is the dealer in family groceries, and one of the most farseeing and successful of these in Houston is William J. Frederick, who is also well equipped to look out for the comforts of the "outer man," for he keeps a well-selected stock of dry-goods also, his place of business being advantageously located at San Felipe street. No. 307.

Like so many of the prominent business men of Houston, he is a German by birth, his natal day being September 30, 1840, and in that country his parents, Joachim and Sophia Frederick, were also born. The father came to the United States in 1846, for the purpose of permanently locatinpj in this country, if it pleased him, and became so impressed with its possibilities for acquiring riches that in 1852 he returned to Germany for his family. The same year he landed at Galveston with his wife and children and at once proceeded to Houston, where he at once began following his trade of carpenter and builder, and to this calling devoted his attention the remainder of liis days. He paid the last debt of nature in May, 1878, at the age of si.\ty-five years, having been an honest, whole-souled and hard-working man. His widow survives him at the age of eighty-one years.

\Mien William J. Frederick was a lad he learned the carpenter's trade under Bering Brothers, but fortunately his education was not neglected, and besides the education which he had acquired in his native land he attended school at Chapel Hill, W'ashington count}-, Texas, for some time.

When the great Ci\il war came up his sympathies were with the South, the land of his adoption, and he entered the Confederate service, and was Sergeant in Hughes' battery until the war closed, his operations being confined to the States of Texas and Louisiana. Like many another brave soldier boy, he returned home penniless, but, unlike a great many, he did not sit down and uselessly repine over what " might have been," but with unabated ardor once more took up the duties of everj'-day life.

He was very anxious to embark on the mercantile sea, and his father, who held a note on the late Hon. William R. Baker for $300, gave this to him and told him if he could collect it he could have it. The note was presented and paid, and this little sum was the "nest egg" of his present comfortable fortune. He opened a small store on the corner of Brazos and Lamar streets, a few years later moved to the corner of Frederick and Robbins streets, and from there he came to his present quarters, where he has since held forth. His career has proven his business ability, and during the thirty }-ears that he has been in mercantile life his honor has remained untarnished and he has acquired a most thorough knowledge of his calling, a fact which his brother merchants are not slow to recognize. He is an excellent judge of the articles he handles, is a close and careful buyer, and accordingly can dispose of his \\ares at prices within the reach of all. He is the owner of the property where he does business, besides other valuable real estate in Houston.

In 1886 he was married to Miss Johanna Grusendorf, who died about a year later, and for his second wife he took Mrs. Dorothea Reichardt, by whom he has six children: Benjamin, Charles, Sabbath, Elizabeth, Willie, and Henr}-. By her first husband, Francis Reicliardt, Mrs. Frederick became tlie mother of two children: Anna and Francis A. Mr. Frederick is a member of the German Methodist Church, and his father built the first German church of that denomination in Houston. Socially he belongs to the Knichts of Honor.

>Y'AMES E. archer. - The average ^ citizen, interested as he may be in /- J the progress of the city and section in which his interests are centered, pursues the even tenor of his way with little thought of the immense amount of labor that is being consumed in the construction of the network of railroads all over the country, or the care, thought and responsibility involved in successfully conducting them after they are completed. To reach a position of responsibiHty and trust on any railroad is not the work of a day, but it involves years of earnest labor, and this position has to be attained by commencing at the lowest round of the ladder.

James E. Archer, well known in railroad circles and at present a passenger conductor on the Southern Pacific Railroad, between Houston and Lafayette, called the Louisiana division, is a native of Huntsville. Walker county, Texas, born November 8, 1850, a son of Robert P. and Marion (Dobyns) Archer, the former of whom was born near Richmond, Virginia, and the latter in Memphis, Tennessee. They now reside in Houston, Texas, and are among its most substantial and highly esteemed citizens.

The early scholastic training of James E. Archer was received in his native county and his education was completed in the Huntsville Male College, then under the control of Dr. McKinney, and since succeeded by the Sam Houston Normal College.

From the time he finished his literary education up to 1876, his time and attention were given to agriculture, but in that year he did his first railroad work, and in various capacities has been connected with different roads up to the present time. He was first a brakeman on a freight train on the International & Great Northern Railroad, from which position he was promoted to passenger brakeman and then to baggageman. He remained with this road up to 1879, then became passenger brakeman and baggageman on the Galveston, Houston & Harrisburg Railroad, but left it in 1880, and on February 1 2 of that year became an employe of the Louisiana Western Railroad as baggageman, freight conductor and yardmaster, his headquarters being at Beaumont, Texas, from January, 1883, to January, 1884. In the meantime this road was absorbed by the Southern Pacific, and in January, 1884, he was transferred to the Sabine & East Texas branch of the Southern Pacific as freight and passenger conductor, and remained with this road until September, 1887, at which time he was transferred to Houston as passenger conductor on the main line, and his home has since been in that city.

In December, 1883, Mr. Archer married Miss Alice Lege, of San Antonio, Texas, and to their union a son has been given, who is named Palmer. Mr. Archer is a gentleman of the highest standing in business circles, and in social life as well as in business is esteemed as a representative and worthy citizen. He is a typical Southern gentleman, courteous and sincere in manners, and so far as lies in his power he endeavors to make traveling pleasant and comfortable for his passengers. Notwithstanding the fact that his lot has often been cast with a rough class of men, he has always retained his dignity and self-respect, and in the strict performance of every duty assigned him he has won the highest regard of the officials of the road and the respect and good will of such of the traveling public as he has come in contact with. Mr. Archer is a member of the K. of P. and of the Houston Division, No. 7, of the Order of Railway Conductors. He possesses a fine physique, is preposessing in personal appearance and is of a social and genial disposition.

HUGUST PRIEST. - A life-time of earnest endeavor in pursuing the occupation to which he now gives his attention, coupled with strict integrity, has resulted in placing Mr. Priest among the respected and honored citizens of Harris county, Texas. While a man of no great wealth, he is the possessor of that which is far more valuable, - an honorable name and the confidence and friendship of those who know him best.

He was born in the county in which he he mow resides, near Houston, August 23, 1858, a son' of John and Sophia (Stall) Priest, both of whom were born in Germany, the father May 12, 1827, and died January 9, 1874, in Houston, Texas. His life was worthily spent, and the occupation to which his attention was devoted throughout life was farming. His union resulted in the birth of four children: John, who has followed his father's footsteps, and is engaged in farming on Bray's bayou; Fredericka, wife of Antoine Eufultz; Edith, wife of Robert Tauffley; and August. The life of August Priest has been spent in the county of his birth, and it is not to be wondered at that he is public-spirited and loyal to the interests of the section in which his life has been spent. In early manhood he began learning the trade of butcher, under George Bouse, and to this occupation his attention has been principally given to the present. He has been reasonably successful, being the owner of three lots where he resides, near the city limits, besides two houses and lots on the Harrisburg road, in the corporate limits of the city of Houston. August 26, 1 88 1, he married Miss Alwine Nitze, who was born in Germany March 10, 1855, a daughter of Christian and Fredericka Nitze. For facts of Mrs. Priest's family see sketch of her brother, E. H. Xitze, elsewhere in this volume. To Mr. Priest and his wife six children have been given: Peter, born July 30, 1882; Victoria, born May 8, 1885; Annie, born May 14, 1887; Elnora, born

September 23, 1889; August, born August 21, 1890; and Herman, born September 10, 1892. Mr. Priest has always been an industrious, law-abiding citizen, and his correct mode of living has won him many friends.

K.,/'^\ M- ANGEE. - In the vocabulary I B of this gentleman there is no such A^^_^ word as "fail." Notwithstanding the fact that lie has met with many and heavy financial reverses, he has always been found to "bob up serenely" and once more plunge into business life with renewed zeal, determination and earnestness. He has for years been prominently connected with the lumber manufacturing interests of Te.xas, and at the present time is the very efficient general manager of the Crystal Springs Lumber Company at Str}'ker, Te.xas, the main office being i 18 Main street, Housttin, Texas.

Mr. Angle is a native of New Jersey, born January 18, 1845, a son of Abram and Mary (Strykerj Angle, the former of whom was born in Warren count)', New Jersey, grandson of David Angle and John Stryker, and great-grandson of Paul Angle, who was one of the first settlers on the upper Delaware, purchasing under King George. D. M. Angle is the eldest of four children born to his parents, the other members of the family being: George W. , of Velasco, Texas; Samantha, deceased; and Sarah, wife of Henry Farker. The father of the subject of this sketch died when the latter was about eleven years of age, and he was the eldest of the familj', and was compelled to begin the battle of life when young. He received only a common-school education, finishing with a term or two at the Lenni

Lenape Institute, of New Jersey. At about the age of twenty years he secured employment on the old New Jersey Central Railroad, was later with the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, in the freight department at Hoboken, New Jersey, and finally abandoned this life to open a clothing establishment at Easton, Pennsylvania, which he sold at the end of five years to come to Houston, in 1874, for the benefit of his health.

The climate in this section agreed with him, the country pleased him, and he soon decided to enter business here, opening a commission house in Houston, but closed it soon after to organize the Willis Manufacturing Company, at Willis, Texas, the incorporators being himself, W. D. Cleveland, and B. A. Botts. They also conducted a general store at that place and did a very prosperous business, but eventually Mr. Angle became the sole proprietor by lease for a time, S(Jon after which he constructed a sawmill plant in Walker county, at Angle Station, and did a remarkably large and profitable business for about three years. The entire plant was then consumed by fire, without a dollar of insurance on it, and the loss was estimated to reach $25,000, including a large stock of lumber and machinery. Nothing daunted, he moved what available machinery there was to Polk county, Texas, and organized the Angle Lumber Company, which did a large business for about two years, when this plant also caught fire and burned to the ground, together with about 3,000,000 feet of lumber, the total loss being some $35,000. On the same ground Mr. Angle at once began the work of rebuilding, and after the plant was completed successfully operated it for two years, when the "fire fiend" once more swept away his possessioiiS, the planing mill and lumber alone being saved on this occasion. This loss reached the $18,000 mark, but Mr. Angle was not one of the kind to give way to despair, for on a still more elaborate scale he rebuilt the mill; but, ovi'ing to the numerous heavy losses which he had sustained, it went into the hands of a receiver in 1892. However, for one year thereafter he managed the business for J. W. Roberts, the receiver, and then the plant was disposed of. Soon after this Mr. Angle organized the Crystal Springs Lumber Company, of which J. W. Roberts was made superintendent and Mr. Angle general manager, and a business of large proportions has since been done, both the sawmill and planing-mill averaging 75,000 feet daily. Mr. Angle deserves much credit for the manly and courageous way in which he met and surmounted the numerous financial difficulties which have strewn his pathway, and his career should be emulated by those who are but too ready to succumb when reverses overtake them. He is a prominent and successful millman, and one whose business ability is recognized throughout the State. While he has been wholly devoted to business pursuits and chieiiy to those of a private nature, he has nevertheless found time to take some interest in local enterprises of a general nature, and has always stood ready to give his support to any movement looking to the advancement of the welfare of the community in which he has resided. He, associated with others, organized the Houston Printing Company, for some time publishers of the Daily Tribune, and he was also the chief promoter of the Texas Building and Manufacturing Company, of Houston, the object of which was the manufacture of portable houses, this en- terprise, however, never having been fully carried out on account of the heavy losses sustained by Mr. Angle by hre about the time it was set on foot.

On the 19th of April, 1869, he was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Lommasson, daughter of Lawrence Lommasson, of New Jersey, to which union four children have been given: W. \''erner, George B., Mala, and Marshall. Mr. and Mrs. Angle are members of the Presbnterian Church, and are highly regarded in the social circles of Houston.

eUGENf; JOSEPH CHLMENE, deceased. - The sketch which is given below is that of a gentleman who, though passed to his final reward, still lives in the wholesome and kindly influence that emanated from him while on earth. We find no one more worthy of mention, or whose life of usefulness is more worthy to be chronicled, than this gentleman, whose honesty and integrity as a man of business were proverbial in the community. All his characteristics were worthy, and his accumulations were the result of many years of hard labor.

He was born in Bordeaux, Erance, in 1820, and when a young man came with his brother to the United States, and landed at New Orleans, from which place he started out as peddler of notions, and soon found his way to Houston, Te.xas, where he made his headquarters for some time. At this calling he made considerable money while traveling throughout the State. In 1S47 he returned to his old home in France, and there married a third cousin. Miss Matilda Chimene, who was also born in Bordeaux, being but sixteen years of age at the time of her marriage. Her parents were Abraham and Sarafine (Mindes) Chimene, while her husband's parents were Eugene Joseph and and Sarah (Rophes) Chimene.

In 1850 Mr. Chimene returned to the United States with his young bride and for some time after their arrival in Houston they kept a dairy, but later this gave place to a fruit store, and still later to a restaurant, in which business he was building up a reputation and doing remarkably well financially, when the great war cloud, which had so long hovered over the country, burst with all its destructive force, and the hard-earned possessions of Mr. Chimene were swept away. When the war closed he once more turned his attention to the pursuits of civil life and began working at the upholstering business, which soon began to net him a comfoi"table income, and in a short time he added a stock of furniture to his establishment, and was successfully engaged in that line of business up to the time of his death, which occurred October 4, 1875, since which time the business has been abl}- carried on by his widow, who has shown that she is possessed of excellent judgment and a discriminating knowledge of the business affairs of life. While attending to these duties she has never neglected her duties as a mother, and has wisely reared her children to honorable manhood and wornanhoijd. They are named as follows: Alfred, Aleda, Alphonse, Caroline, Ferdinand, Leah, Albert, Caliste, and Armand.

bama and settled at Montgomery. After several years' residence in that place they came to Texas, in 1829, locating on Mill Creek, m Austin county. From this place they moved, in 1831, to the Colorado, and there the following year Mr. Bostick died. His widow survived about ten years, dying at the same place in 1840. They were the parents of nine children, six of whom accompanied them to Texas, the two eldest daughters having married and settled in Alabama before the family's removal from that place, and a third daughter, who also had married, moving to Texas at a later date. It need not be added that this is one of the pioneer families of Texas: the dates given show that fact. Whatever measure of honor the public is prepared to accord to the memory of those brave men and women who left the comforts of civilized life and came to this wilderness country to plant the seeds of civilization, Levi Bostick and his faithful wife are entitled to, for they were among the first, and helped to bear the burdens incident to the opening of this fair domain to settlement by the white race. They were not permitted to live long enough to gather any benefits from their toils and hardships, but they died with the consciousness of having been, in their humble and unpretentious way, instrumental in blazing the road to a better state of things for their posterity than was open to themselves on the threshold of life, and it is to their credit also that their descendants properly appreciate the gifts so secured to them, these having received along with the greatest material blessings the yet greater blessing of intelligence, coupled with honest pride and patriotic sentiment.

them to Texas were; Comfort, who was subsequently married to Washington H. Secrest; James H. ; Amanda, who was married first to William Eaton, the celebrated William B. Travis being their groomsman, and after the death of Mr. Eaton, in 1836, she was married to Frederick Scranton; Levi T. ; Sion R. ; and Martha Ann, the last named married to Felix Secrest. Three daughters, being the eldest of the family, Sarah, Elizabeth and Mary, were married in Afontgomery before the parents moved to Texas. Sarah was married to Alexander Shaw and died in Alabama; Elizabeth, who was married to David Pogue, still lives, at the advanced age of ninety years; Mary was married to Daniel T. Fitchett, and subsequently (1833) came to Texas. The three sons were in the service of the Colonists during the troubles with Mexico, in 1835-6, all of them belonging to Houston's army, the two eldest being on detached duty, and the youngest, Sion R., being present at and taking part in the battle of San Jacinto. Levi T. Bostick was also a volunteer in the Confederate army and died during the war, in North Carolina. James H. Bostick died at his home in Austin county, this State, in 1839. The youngest, Sion R., is still living, being a resident of San Saba, Texas, and is now (1894) the only survivor of the three men who captured General Santa Anna the day after the battle, about eight miles from the camp. All the daughters but one, Mrs. Amanda Scranton, of Houston, are deceased. But there are many grandchildren, the descendants of Levi Bostick and wife now numbering between eighty and ninety souls.

was a native of Accomac county, Virginia, where he was reared until he was a lad well up in his 'teens. He was educated in Baltimore, Maryland, and in that cit\- began his career as a clerk in the mercantile business. He went to Alabama when a young man, and at Montgomery met and married Mary Bostick. He resided in Montgomery several years after his marriage, coming thence to Texas in 1833. He was thus also an early settler of this State, and shared, to some extent, the privations of the pioneer band. He settlei.1 at first on the Colorado, near where his father-in-law had settled, but moved in a year or so to Brazoria. While residing here he took part in the organization of the first Masonic lodge ever organized in Te.xas, this being the one afterward revived as Holland Lodge, No. i, of Houston. From Brazoria he moved to Columbia, and finally to Houston, in 1842, where he died with the yellow fever two years later. His widow lived to the age of eighty-four, dying at the residence of her granddaughter, Mrs. William Anderson, in Kerr county, in 189J. They were the parents of five children, fcjur of whom, Mary Ann, William Henry, Martha Jane, and Virginia E., were born in Montgomery, Alabama, one Daniel T. , being born soon after the family's arrival in Texas. All of these became grown, were married and had large families. The eldest, now Mrs. Mary A. Bryan, widow of Dr. John L. Bryan, is a resident of Houston, being, in point of actual residence in the State, one of the oldest Texans in the city. Mrs. Bryan has a funtl of recollections of Texas in early da\'S, and oftentimes delights her friends and visitors with her reminiscences. The following report of a half hour's conversation with her, is {:i\'en almost in the language in which she spoke, and is reproduced here as an appropriate close to this brief family sketch:

Asked if she remembered the trip to Texas in 1833, Mrs. Bryan answered: "Very well, indeed. I was then a girl often; saw and heard nearly everything that was going on and recall the most that f saw and heard very distinctly. Our family, consisting of father, mother, and four children, left Montgomery, Alabama, for Texas in the latter part of August, 1833. We came by steamer across Lake Pontchartrain to New Orleans and thence up the Mississippi to Red river, and uj) that stream to Natchitoches, Louisiana. After a week's rest at that place my father bought an ambulance and team of horses, packed the vehicle with supplies suitable for an overland journey of 400 or 500 miles, loaded us in, and started for my Grandfather Bostick's place on the Colorado, nine miles above where the town of Columbus now stands. I remember that I looked forward to this part of the trip with a good deal of interest, for I had li\'ed all my life in town, antl, girl-like, I had enough of the romantic in my nature, even at that age, to relish the idea of an overland journey through the \\ilderness country of Texas. I was not disappointed in my anticipations; for the first day out I was charmed with the novelty of the sensations I experienced, and each succeeding day brought a wealth of entertainment for my youthful mind. From Natchitoches, Louisiana, we took the usual route of travel to Nacogdoches, Texas, which latter place I remember now as an exceedingly shabby-looking old town, part Mexican and part American, the plaza, as they called the business portion of it, being crowded with wagons drawn by oxen and horses, and a large number of very rough-looking men on horseback, thrown in, as it seemed to me, for good measure. The men all wore big hats, and I recollect that I was especially impressed with the immense quantity of rope which those on horseback had about their saddles, as well as with the general elaboration of their equipments, including a liberal display of firearms.

"As far as I can now remember our journey to the Sabine was accomplished without incident. W^e crossed that stream on the 1st of September and camped near the house of a settler, who had planted his roof-tree thus far in the wilderness and was enjoying life in the primeval forest, while at the same time he had surrounded himself with most of the material comforts of civilization. I remember this old settler with especial gratitude, for a little boy being added to our family the night we pitched our tent near his place, and I but ten and the eldest of four children, we needed some friendly assistance, which was extended to us in the spirit of the good Samaritan by the ladies of the old settler's household, and continued as long as there was need for it. We remained at this place for something like a month, when we resumed our journey, my mother being sufficiently strong at the end of that time to warrant the undertaking.

"We followed the old Nacogdoches and San Antonio road, then called the ' King's Highway,' and crossed the Trinity and Brazos by means of ferries, though at what points I have forgotten, if indeed I ever knew; but I remember the Trinity bottoms. For si.x miles, or further, we pulled through this densely-timbered stretch of country, and I recollect distinctly seeing the driftwood up in the trees, thirty to forty feet high, my father said, though it seemed to me much higher. We were told that the Trinity had

"I have since becoming grown, heard old hunters talk feelingly and with fire in their eyes of the pleasures of the chase in Te.sas in early days, and while I, being a W'Oman, could never, of course, enter with spirit and understanding into their conversations on this subject, I think I can understand something of the feeling, from what I saw of the hunter's paradise which this country offered before it was settled. Not a day passed, hardly an hour in the day, on our trip that we did not see herds of buffalo, antelope, deer, and flocks of wild turkey, not to mention bands of mustangs and Mexican wild cattle and other animals, offering in fact opportunities for any sort of sport, as well as the means of subsistence. There was but little underbrush then, the fires put out by the Indians every year keeping this burnt down, and one could see even in the thickest timber for half a mile. The prairie as well as the woodlands were covered with grass as high as a man's head, and this great ocean of billow}' verdure was painted with flowers of a thousand hues, making a scene of bewildering beauty and grandeur, and one that I never recall without feelings of the keenest delight. It was nature just as it came from the hand divine, and outrivaled, as, in my judgment, nature always does, the works of art.

' ' We reached Grandfather Bostick's place early in October, and found there Grandmother Bostick and her three sons and three daughters. Grandfather Bostick having died the j-ear before. The meeting was a joyful one; for while our trip had not been very unpleasant, all things considered, still we were glad to be once more among our people and have the comforts of home. My father settled on a farm where the town of Columbus now stands, but after a residence here of a little over a year he moved to Brazoria, in order to send us children to school, and at this place and at Columbia, to which he subsequently moved, he spent the most of his life in Texas. My father rented the first house of any size in Brazoria, and for some years kept a place of public entertainment. I remend)er that Stephen F. Austin was his guest once after his return from Mexico, and while on his way to old San Felipe he was given a banquet, which was attended by all the important people of the place. While residing in Brazoria one of our neighbors was Dr. Anson Jones, afterward President of the Republic, then, however, onl}' a practicing physician, but the leading one in that section of the country and a most estimable gentleman,

"I was old enough to understand to some extent the significance of the poHtical aiul military movements that took place in rapid succession during the year of 1835, and when hostilities actually began between the settlers and Mexico and the nevvs came flying across the country that the dictator, Santa Anna, had invaded Texas with a large army, the incidents of the Run-away Scrape became firmly impressed on my mind; but these things have passed intu the general history of those times, with which I do not doubt you are quite familar, so that what I might say would neither add to }'our knowledge nor afford you much entertainment. I always feel interested in these matters, however, and, having lived so long in Texas and become so much attached to the State and its people, I earnestly hope that sufficient interest will be awakened in those olden time, and the brave and generous men and women who figured in them that enough of their lives,, characters and services to mankind will be preserved to do their memories justice in years to come. The early Texans had a thrilling history. They were a unique people, and there is, as it seems to me, material for all sorts of literature to be found in a studv of their lives, experiences and adventures. The reader of the history of those times may miss much of the real flavor of the li\-es of those (jld pioneers, - will probably never see in the flesh such men and women as the first Texans were, - but he can gain an approximate idea of them and the conditions amidst which they lived; and I am sure that no more interesting or instructive line of investigation can be taken up than that of early Texas history and the ways and customs of early Texas people."

the United States. From her overcrowded cities and thickly-settled rural districts large numbers of her thrifty people have come to help fill the ranks of the different trades and professions, and to reduce to cultivated and arable fields the forest and prairie wilderness of the great West. Special effort was made in the early days of Texas to secure as large a number of German settlers for the new Republic as possible, and, as a result, beginning around the early '40's, German immigration poured into the coast country of this State very rapidly. Galveston, as the entrepot for nearly all of Texas at that time, received and retained a large proportion of this immigration.

of the early immigrants of German nativity to Texas. He was born in the village of Dollendorf, Prussia, November 5, 1831, being a son of Nicholas and Catherine Gengler, who were also nati\'es of Prussia. The elder Mr. Gengler landed with his family at Galveston in December, 1846. Peter at that time was in his sixteenth year. He had had but slender educational advantages, but such as they were they had to suffice, for immediately on landing here he turned his attention to business. In connection with his brother, John, he became a dealer in family supplies, beginning in a small way, but extending his operations and establishing, for this purpose, a line cf wagons, which were run successfully for several years throughout the city and on the adjacent mainland into a number of the counties in the vicinity.

In time they laid by what, for that method of doing business, was a considerable sum of money. With his share of it Peter embarked in the grocery and bakery business, in 1854 opening a small store on Twentieth street, between Market and Mechanic. Some four years later he purchased the lot on Market street, where the Gengler building now stands, to which he moved; and, having discontinued the bakery branch of his business, he extended the grocery branch, and there carried on a large and successful trade for a period of nearly thirty years, until his death.

Mr. Gengler was, in the strictest sense of the word, a man of business. He never held any public office, not even that of Alderman, and he took but little more than a passing interest in political matters. His attention was always concentrated on his business, although he was not unmindful of his duties as a citizen. As the result of his patient, plodding industry, strict devotion to his personal affairs, and fair dealing he accumulated a considerable amount of property, and left, at his death, one of the most ffourishing retail mercantile houses in the city of Galveston. While disposed to encourage all public enterprises, as far as his means would allow, it was his policy to keep his funds invested where they would be under his own supervision, and what he didnot use in trade he invested in leal estate in the city.

In 1856 Mr. Gengler married Miss Agnes Fink, of Galveston, she being a native of Erbach, Germany, and having accompanied her parents to Galveston when she was young. The issue of this union was six sons, Peter, John, Henry, Matthew, Charles, and Joseph. Mr. Gengler died in October, 1887, and was followed two months later by his wife, who died in December. Their sons John and Henry died in boyhood; Peter died in March, 1890, leaving, of the family, only the three youngest. Of the three brothers and four sisters who accompanied Mr. Gengler to Galveston as members of his father's family but one, John, is now (1894) living. Most of them died in this city, as did also the parents. The religious connection of the family was with the Catholic Church, to the support of which the subject of this memoir was a constant and valued contributor.

EON. R. L. FULTON. - In reviewing the record of the lives of successful men of the day and generation in which we live, it is interesting to note from how many standpoints we must consider what may and \\ hat may not be regarded as a successful career, and what is most worthy in such records of preservation, in order that we may present a true photograph of the character and achievements of the sulijects of such sketches. This is particularly the case in undertaking the task of inditing, with any consideration for bre\ity, the political and otflcial life of the suliject of this sketch, the Hon. R. L. Fulton, (.)f Galveston, Texas.

From the volumes of matter, in the way of newspaper clippings, carefully pasted in well-bound scrap-books, it would be an easy matter to compile a voluminous history of interesting events of more than a quarter of a century with which he has been a prominent actor; but to condense such a volume into a short biographical sketch, and at the same time preserve every feature of the strong characteristics of his life, is next to impossible.

Roger Lawson Fulton was born in Randolph county, Georgia, in 1.S39. Idis father, James H. Fulton, wlio died when the subject of tliis sketch was only four years old, was an educator of note in Georgia. The death of his father left the responsibility of rearing and educating nine children upon his motlier, Mar\' F. Fulton, with only limited means, but she was a woman of extraordinary energy and strong common sense, and she so wisely managed her small means as to gi\e to ciich of her children a fair education and send them forth fairly equipped for tlie battle of life. Her high character and indomitable purpose seemed to have been impressed upon her offspring, and her iidluence over them was irresistible up to the time of her death, which did not occur until she was past four score years of age. She died respected and

The eldest brother of the family, Thomas H. Fulton, removed to Texas in 1852, and settled at Lockhart, Caldwell county, and engaged extensively in mercantile pursuits. Six 3-ears later (1858J, R. L. Fulton the subject of this sketch, then only nineteen years of age, by his elder brother's request, joined him in Texas and assisted him in business.

Being, however, in delicate health, and finding sedentary pursuits incompatible with a preconceived spirit of adventure (which manifested itself before his leaving Georgia in his attaching himself to an expedition that had for its object the dislodging of the Indian chief, Billy Bowlegs, from his jungle, in the Florida-Indian war), he concluded that, inasmuch as the Mexican bandit, Cortina, \\ ith a large force of Mexicans, was invading Texas, near Brownsville, he would join Colonel ("Old Rip"j Ford, who was raising a force to drive them from Texas soil.

Upon the ad\"ance of the Texas forces, Cortina retired into Mexico, and soon after, young Fulton, with ten ;.;rdlant and adventurous }oung men who had accompanied this expedition, went on horseback, by way of Fl Paso, into Mexico, Arizona and New Mexico, and spent eleven months in those countries, encountering many dangers and difficulties, both from roving bands of Mexicans and tribes of warlike Apache Indians, in one of winch battles twenty-odd Indians were killed, and young Fulton was shot through the thigh with an arrow, from which he still carries an honorable scar.

Ascertaining, while in Arizona, that the Civil war between the North and South was in proijrefs, he hastened to lis home in Caldwell county, Texas, and joined a cav- airy company in the Confederate States service, in which he was chosen a Lieutenant. Later on he was elected a Captain, and, his command being sent to Louisiana to meet the threatened advance of General Banks into Texas, he saw hard service in that campaign, in which he had two horses shot from under him, and was highly complimented by the officers in command, both for his courage and devotion to duty.

After the surrender (or "break-up") of the Trans-Mississippi forces congregated at Houston, Texas, many excesses were committed in Houston by the disbanded Confederate soldiers, half starved and desperate at the result of the struggle in which they had been so long engaged; but Captain Fulton kept his company together, and, using them as a police force, guarded the persons and property of the citizens until every straggling soldier had left the city. After giving each of his companj- an honorable discharge, and bidding each of them a sad farewell, he returned to Lockhart, where he again engaged in commercial pursuits until the latter part of 1867, when he went to Galveston, where he has since resided.

Finding in Galveston many of his old soldier friends, with whom he was a prime favorite, he soon became the leader of the young Democracy of the Southern section of the State, and in 1869 he was put forward by that party as a candidate for Congress from the Galveston district. Nearly every newspaper in the district advocated his claims for the position, but owing to the fact that several other candidates of the same political faith came into the contest, which jeopardized the success of the Democratic party, and threatened the election of an extreme Republican to Congress, Captain Fulton, although the acknowledged favorite.

withdrew from the contest for the purpose of securing harmony in the Democratic ranks. Other candidates on the Democratic side refused to follow his disinterested example and caused the election of a Republican in the district.

Upon his withdrawal as a candidate for Congress, a strong pressure was brought to bear upon him, by the press and people of the State, t(j become the Democratic standard-bearer for Governor of Texas, but he steadfastly refused, upon the ground that his experience in public affairs was too limited to justify his entering upon such a contest.

Having been for some years a writer of acknowledged ability for some of the leading newspapers of the country, he was in 1872 employed by Colonel Willard Richardson, proprietor of the Galveston News, the leading Democratic paper of Texas, if not of the South, as one of the editors of that paper, and continued in that position until he was nominated by the Democracy of Cialveston as a candidate for Ma3or, when he sent in his resignation, claiming in that document that he regarded his candidacy for the most important office within the gift of the people of the city as incompatible with the duties that devolved upon him as an impartial chronicler and commentator of current events in a first-class newspaper. During his connection with the Galveston News, Captain Fulton waged a merciless and exterminating war against corruption, both in high and low places, and it was not to be expected that the corporations, combinations and rings that had their grip upon the throats of the people would submit to his election, if fair or foul means could be sufficiently invoked to prevent it. All that money could do to accomplish his defeat was done; not only did his enemies induce a man who was a delegate in the convention that unanimously nominated him to become a candidate against him, but by a fabulous expenditure of money induced the Repblicans to nominate their candidate against him. Because of his late warfare in the News, on capitalistic "rings" in Galveston, his enemies undertook, in the press and otherwise, to make it ap[iear that C'aptain Fulton was a communist and agrarian by principle, and was seeking to arrav the ])()"r against the rich, to the detriment of the established order of things, and to the damage of the welfare of the country. Notwithstanding the falsity of these charges, unsustained by a single utterance he had ever made, they had a certain effect on the more conser\ative \'oting elements of the city, and, together with the Countless thousands of dollars that were spent to debauch voters an(f judges of elections, resulted in his feeing counted out by twelve votes. The frauds perpetrated in the vote and the count became the by-Word of all honest citizens, and not even the enemies of Capitain F'ulton had the hardihood to dispute that he \\'as elected, though he was robbed for two jears of the fruits of his well-merited victory-

Two years later Captain b'ulton was again nominated for Ma\or, and, although the same influences were used against him, and he was opposed loy such a popular candidate as ex-Go\ernor F. K. Lubbock, he was triumphantly elected by a majority of 2,533 votes fn his appointment to office he brought confusion upon his enemies h\ appointing such men as forbade the thought that he was imbued with any other than patriotic principles in his aspirations for place and power. For instance, he nominated for City Collector his opponent for the nomination, ex- Governor F. R. Lubbock; for City Engineer, General Braxton Bragg; and for City Attorney, ex-Congressman and ex-Supreme Judge A. H. W'illie; and others of almost equal repute to fill all the other offices. With such heads of departments, it was next to impossible for the administration to be otherwise than successful. .'\t its beginning city script was l)eing h i\\ ke<l about the streets at fifty cents on the tlollar; at its close all the city's promises to pay were paid at par by the City Treasurer. .\t its beginning the sanitary c<.)nditic>n was a stench in the nostrils of the communit}'; at its close, two years later, it was acknowledged by press and people to be better than was ever before known. And so it was in every other department of the city government.

Iiut in other respects he came into office at a fortunate time, - at a time when he had an opportunity to do Galveston, Texas and the South great good by cultivating amicable relations with Northern capitalists and people. In 1S75 he recei\e<l an invitation from the mayor of Boston to accept the hospitalities during the celebration of the centennial of the battle of Bunker Hill.

He visited Boston and participated with great credit in all of the festivities of that extraordinary occasion, and at the conclusion of the celebration, by invitation of the mayors of New Haven. New York, Philadelphia and other great cities, he was the official guest of many of the largest cities in the country, and by his popular numners, his intelligence and his broad, patriotic views he did much to allay the bitter jealousies and animosities engendered by the war, and to invite capital and emigration to the South.

of the City Council of Galveston, which resolution recites the fact of his accomplishing much good by a former trip North, visited Philadelphia, and was a guest of the city authorities of that " City of Brotherly Love,' during the Centennial celebration of 1876, and again, by invitations of the mayors before mentioned, he revisited, with his family, and was the guest of, the cities he had formerly visited. The complimentary mentions of Mayor Fulton, by the press of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, New Haven, etc., during his sojourn in the North and East, offer satisfactory evidence of the creditable manner in which he discharged the delicate duties of representing properly, in these centers of wealth, culture and population, the best elements of the sentiment and manhood of Texas and the South.

Upon the expiration of the term of his office, his friends desired that he might again submit his name to the Democratic convention for a renomination, but he declined to do so, insisting that if the people at large, without regard to political considerations, desired to retain his services, they could do so at the ballot-box, but not through convention manipulations. Notwithstanding this determination, and the subsequent action of the Democratic convention in nominating a most unexceptionable candidate for the position, and the fact of another ex-ma3'or running for the office on the independent ticket, quite a large number of his old friends, regardless of the fact of the certain election of the Democratic nominee, voted for him on election day, as a testimonial of their unwavering confidence and esteem.

selfish schemes for plundering the honest tax-payers of their legitimate possessions, - were delighted to see Mayor Fulton retired from the head of the city government, a great number of the best citizens deplored the event, for the reason that they knew him to be the personification of honesty, and knew that he would permit no jobbery in the administration as long as he could prex'ent it. In all the wicked war of villification and misrepresentation that had been waged against him by those whose dishonest schemes he had exposed and thwarted, no person or newspaper had ever had the hardihood to so much as insinuate that he was wanting in personal honesty or official integrit\'. Is it not surprising, therefore, that at the next succeeding election a large number of persons who desired to have at the head of the city government a man above suspicion should seek to induce Captain Fulton to again permit the use of his name for the office.'' But he declined for the reason that he knew that the honest elements were not sufficiently solidified to contend with the sinister influences that were at work to get certain legislation of doubtful validity through the council, which same it was known he would oppose to the bitterest extremit}' in the event of his election.

For the same reason he was unsuccessful, two years later, in overcoming the adverse tide of "ring" manipulation; but in 1883 - six years after the ending of his first term of office - the honest masses, becoming again disgusted with the methods of successive administration, called in thunder tones for Captain Fulton to again come to the rescue, which he did; and he was elected by 984 majority, in spite of the vast amount spent to accomplish his defeat.

against him, and such frauds practiced at the ballot-box, through a lavish use of mone}', as to cause everv' honest Galvestonian's face to blush with shame. Fraud triumphed, however, for only a short season (one month), when it was o\-erthrown by an honest election, and Ma\or Fulton was again re-elected by a majority of 825 V(_)tes. In 1887 another effort was made, by the same influences, to overthrow the "OKI I'ieliable," as Mayor Fulton has come to be called, but it was no use, as he was again re-elected by 1,146 plurality, three candidates being in the held against him. .And again in 1889, with two fmniidable candidates in the field against him, he was reelected bv a pluralit}' vote of 853 and a majority vote of 347 over both of his opponents.

In 1 89 1 Captain Fulton was re-elected Mayor of Ciah'eston and served until June, 1893, at which time he was again a candidate for the ofiice, but \^-as defeated by Dr. A. \^^ Fly. He thus served as Maj'or (.)f this city tweh'e years, being re-elected for five ccnsec,iti\'e terms. It is a notable fact that he is the (.)nly man who has ever been elected to the office for more than one term since tlie war.

And it would be interesting, just here, to consider the peculiar characteristics of this "man of the people," and find if we can the secret of the power that he has shown himself able at all times to exercise o\'er his fellow-citizens, f(.ir the betterment of local selfgo\'ernment antl the general welfare of the people. It certainly cannot be claimed by any one that the influence lie has shown himself able to wield comes from the lavish use of money, for it is known to every one in Galveston, and to people generally elsewhere, that Mayor Fulton has been a poor man ever since he entered public life. Nor has he ever been patronized in his political undertakings by the wealthy or powerful of Galveston or elsewhere, f(.)r the reason that all who know him are perfectly aware that he cannot be induced, for any consideration, to do the bidding of any person, company or corporation, in his official capacity, unless he conscientiously believes that what is asked for is for the benefit of the connnunity at large. If proof of this is wanted it can l)e had in abundance b}" a perusal of his many able veto messages, all of which breathe the same spirit of adherence to the political motto he has always acted upon as a public man, - "The greatest good to the greatest number of honest and law-abiding citizens." And it is doubtless to his firm and unde\'iating adherence to this principle in political and official life, that he owes most of the success he has attaineti in public affairs, as well as his long-continued popularity with all classes of good citizens in Texas.

It is his pride and his boast that fortune so cast his lot that he was compelled, in his boyhood and youth, to work hard in the cotton and corn fields of his native State, and it is to the experiences of this early training and his mothers's fortitude and example under adverse fortune that he attributed largely the sympathy he has always felt and expressed tor the toiling millions, whose future for weal or for woe so greatly depends upon the statesmanship of the hn\- makers of this and other go\'ernments of the world.

It was the strong sympathy so often expressed in his jniblic utterances that brought down upon his de\-oted head from the hirelings of capitalistic power the imputation that his political views were of a

In defending liimself against such a charge, he, in 1879, in an open letter addressed to parties who had written to him upon the subject, so eloquently vindicated himself in the estimation 'of all just-minded men, that a sketch of his life would scarcely be complete without giving a brief extract from this letter. It is as follows:

"Whatever political issue I have attempted to make in Galveston was not that of 'labor against capital', but the more comprehensive one of 'honest against dishonest methods' of transacting official and other public business. And in my efforts in that behalf, - in organizing the forces to carry out my views of political duty, - neither the wealth of the man, the poverty of the man, the nationality of the man, nor the occupation of the man, has had anything to do with the estimate I placed upon him as a factor of the body politic.

"The question with me was whether or not he was in favor of the perpetuation of the rule of a corrupt, speculating 'ring,' who were adding to their ill-gotten wealth by dishonest methods of transacting official and other public business. If yea, I wished no further political fellowship with him. If nay, then I desired to have him as a political ally, whether he was rich or poor, learned or unlearned.

"This is my political creed; this is the kind of demagogue I am, if demagoguery you can call it; this is the extent of my communistic sentiments, and this is the 'head and front of my offending' against the capitalists of Galveston."

But the influence of Captain Fulton, as a public man, has not been confined to his connection with the city government of Galveston. It has been his good fortune to fill many places of honor and trust, and always with fidelit}' to his constituency. He has been chosen as a delegate to almost every Democratic State convention held since the war, over some of which he has had the honor to preside, and in others has occupied positions on the Committee on Platforms and Resolutions, and at other places on the State Executive Committee, and at all was an influential factor in shaping the policy of the Democratic party of the State.

He also, as the representative of the city, during his mayoralty, filled for ten years the position of Wharf Company director, and a director in the City Railroad Company, and for over- eight years was a Trustee in the public free schools of Galveston. He has also been for six years the president of the Board of Health of Galveston, and, for some time, a trustee of the Texas Medical College and Hospital, - all of which positions have given him a great knowledge of rnen and affairs.

The fame and popularity of Mayor Fulton is not confined to Galveston, or, for that matter, to the State of Texas. Considering the fact that he has never held a State or national office, he is perhaps better known throughout Texas than any other public man; and it is doubtful if there are any in Texas (who have not attained to higher official stations) who are more widely known outside of the State. If space permitted we could gi\-e abundant proof of this fact from letters and telegrams sent to him from the leading public men throughout the United States, congratulating him upon his several elections as Mayor of Galveston, as well as from the great number of complimentary editorial mentions he has received from the leading newspapers of the country during his public career; but we must content ourselves with quoting from two leading newspapers, one representing the sentiment of the industrial classes of Texas, and the other the opinion entertained of Mayor Fulton by those with whom he came in contact while a delegate representing Galveston at the Deep Water Convention, at Denver, in I 888.

The Texas Farmer, published at Dallas, Texas, is, to all intents and purposes, the organ of the farmers of the State, and especially so of the Grangers and Patrons of Husbandry. During the time its editorial management was under the direction of Captain J. F. Fuller, of Belton, Texas, who was at the time also the traveling orator of the Patrons of Husbandry, that gentleman, as the editor of the Farmer, wrote and published the following, as representing the views of the farmers of the State of Texas:

"Hon. John H. Reagan cheerfully admits that he has an ambition to become Governor of Texas. This is not strange, when we remember that such men as Hon. Barnett Gibbs aspire to the same honor. The wisest of our wise men might justly feel proud to occupy the executive office of so great a State, and, judging from the material politicians sometimes suggest for the head of State affairs, it would not be presumptuous for any well-informed, practicalminded citizen to aspire to such an honor.