Gregg County
BIOGRAPHIES
If you have any Gregg County biographies you would like to see
added, or information to add to the current biographies, please
email:Etta, Sheila, & Elaine. NOTE: Click on a picture
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C
Callahan
- Rev. James P. Callahan arrived in Longview from
Chicago, Ill., where he had been born and raised. He was
ordained on June 7, 1931 in St. Louis, Mo. by Archbishop
Glennon. He became pastor of St. Anthony's Catholic Church
in Longview and watched it steadily grow. In 1931
St. Anthony's was a small church, which soon grew to a
membership of over 500 regular members. They soon needed
a new church which Rev. Callahan spearheaded in 1938. |
Campbell
- Thomas Duncan Campbell, Sr. was one of the first
mayors of Longview, having moved to the area in the late
1850's. . We also know he was one of the first officials
elected, as he became the first peace justice of Precinct
1 for Gregg County. |
Campbell
- (1856-1923). Thomas Mitchell Campbell, governor
of Texas, was born at Rusk, Texas, on April 22, 1856,
the son of Thomas Duncan and Rachel (Moore) Campbell.
He attended common schools at Rusk before entering Trinity
University (then located at Tehuacana) to study law in
1873. Lack of finances forced him to withdraw after a
year, but he got a job in the Gregg county clerk's office
and studied law at night. In 1878 he was admitted to the
Texas bar and began his practice in Longview. In the same
year, he married Fannie Irene Bruner of Shreveport, Louisiana;
they had five children.
Campbell practiced
law in Longview until he was appointed a master in chancery
for the troubled International-Great Northern Railroad
in 1889. Financier Jay Gouldqv had allowed the ailing
railroad to default on its debts in 1888 and then forced
it into federal receivership in order to gain eventual
control of it. Campbell soon found himself deeply involved
in guiding the railroad's recovery. He became its court-appointed
receiver in 1891 and moved his family to Palestine.
The next year, after lifting the line from bankruptcy,
he remained in Palestine as the general manager of the
railroad.
However, Gould managed to gain control anyway,
and Campbell found his own attitudes clashing with the
business practices of his employer. Campbell distrusted
monopolistic big business and sympathized with organized
labor. He shared many of the reformist political views
of his lifelong friend, former governor James Stephen
Hogg.qv In 1897 Campbell resigned from the railroad,
returned to private law practice in Palestine, and became
active in Democratic partyqv politics. He attended several
Democratic conventions and subsequently, at Hogg's urging,
decided to run for governor. Though Hogg died before
the campaign got underway, Campbell used his endorsement
and promised to resurrect his friend's antitrust policies.
His campaign gained added impetus when Senator Joseph
Weldon Baileyqv threw his support to the Palestine lawyer,
and Campbell was elected governor in 1906.
In his two terms in office, 1907-1911, Campbell
initiated a number of reforms involving railroad regulation,
antitrust laws, lobbying restrictions, equitable taxation,
and pure food and drug laws. Under his administration
the Robertson Insurance Law (1907) brought to a halt
the insurance companies' practice of realizing large
profits in Texas without investing policy reserves in
the state. The most significant legislation centered
on prison reform, as Campbell's administration ended
the contract lease system for inmates and implemented
more humane treatment of prisoners. Under Campbell many
state agencies also came into being, including the Department
of Insurance and Banking (see DEPARTMENT OF BANKING),
the Bureau of Labor Statistics (see TEXAS DEPARTMENT
OF LICENSING AND REGULATION), the State Board of Health
(see TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH), and the Texas State
Library.qv
Upon leaving the governorship Campbell returned
to private law practice in Palestine but remained active
in Democratic politics. In 1916 he ran unsuccessfully
for the United States Senate. In 1917 he served on the
exemption board for World War I.qv He died in Galveston
on April 1, 1923, and was buried in Palestine.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Thomas Mitchell Campbell Letters
and Papers, Texas State Archives, Austin. Thomas Mitchell
Campbell Papers, Barker Texas History Center, University
of Texas at Austin. Ross Phares, The Governors of Texas
(Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican, 1976). Janet Schmelzer,
"Thomas M. Campbell, Progressive Governor of Texas,"
Red River Valley Historical Review 3 (Fall 1978).
Janet Schmelzer |
Canida
- Ruby Canida, a Longview native and a member of the Jerusalem
Baptist Church. A tireless social service worker and has
served at least 2 terms as president of the East Texas
District Congress of Parents & Teachers of the Texas
State Congress of Negro Parents & Teachers. She has
received numerous honors throughout the state of Texas
for her work with parent & teacher groups. A wonderful
example of leadership and has helped many to strengthen
their personal lives. (This information was found among
loose papers at the Longview Library in the Genealogy
Dept.) |
Cargill, Robert & Pauline
- This bio is too long to include on this page
so please click on their names to be transported to the
actual bio page. |
Carlton-
J.S. Carlton operated the Longview Spring and Frame Company
in Longview. It was one of the most modern plants in East
Texas for repairing automobile springs and other specialized
automobile work. His business has done so well that he
has enlarged it several times, each time adding new equipment.
His business installed one of the first wheel alignment
machines in the East Texas area. |
Carmack-
Butch Carmack was a native Texan having been born in 1910
in Bivins, Texas. He attended school in Atlanta, Texas
and graduaded from High School there in 1928. He returned
to Bivins and worked in a grocery store for awhile, then
became the Post Master for the next 3 years. He arrived
in Longview in 1931, working for the Packing House and
Cutrate Grocery for several years. He married Bernice
Dancer of Greggton ca. 1938. Butch and Ray Howard decided
to go into business for themselves and opened the Fairway
Food Store in October of 1937. They opened a second Fairway
Food Store in Greggton one year later in October of 1938. |
Chaffin
- C. E. Chaffin was a civic worker and outstanding businessman
of the Longview & Kilgore areas. He was widely known
for his superservice food stores, Big Grocery, in Longview,
Greggton & Kilgore. His success was contributed to
the fact that he was able to buy in large volume and have
a quick turnover. |
Chandler - Jim Chandler
came to Texas in 1865 at the age of 16. He and William
"Bill" Skipper migrated down from Alabama. Jim married
Mary Baton who was born in Rusk County. Their children
were: Emily Chandler (married Hillyer Dickerson), Bryan
Chandler (married Ras Mercer), Loddie Chandler (married
John Henry Laird), Oren Chandler, Kate Chandler (married
Ben Laird) and Alf Chandler (married Zonie Lacy). (This
information was found in a book titled Early Kilgore Families) |
Clements, V.A. Jr. &
Sr. - This bio is too long to put here so
please click on the name and you will be transported to
the actual bio. |
Cooksey
- Jon Douglass Cooksey, a native Longview man he received
his education at Butler College of Tyler, Bishop College
of Marshall and Berkeley Divinity School of California.
He served for over 20 years as a minister, and numerous
years in employment personnel. His activities included:
Bethel Baptist Church of Longview, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity,
photography, and the Advisory Board of Womack Cosmetology
Department. (This information was found among loose papers
at the Longview Library in the Genealogy Dept.) |
Craig-
Lonnie Craig Jr. was a native Texan, being born in Tatum,
Texas. His formal education came from Texas Southern University
of Houston, Bishop College of Marshall, and the Gupton-Jones
Morticians School. He served the Longview community as
the insurance agent and manager for the Lewis-Craig-Garrett
Funeral Home of Longview. He was a Baptist, a member of
the masonic Lodge, the Voter's League, and a member of
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People. |
Crane - Dr. James Madison Crane
came to Kilgore in 1906. He married Mary Ann Bartlett
and their children were: Nettie Lee Crane, James Bennett
Crane (Dr. and married Lucy Esquridge Brown), Nannie Crane
(married John Visage), James McMurray Crane (married Faye
Patrick), Nannett Hodges Crane (married William Kenneth
Wickham), Marian Crane (married Langston Smith), Joe Bartlett
Crane and Lucretia Crane (married to Leo Carothers). (This
information was found in a book titled Early Kilgore Families) |
Crim - Wiley N. Crim was married to Dora
Culp, whose parents came from Tennessee to Texas when
she was only one year old. Their children were: Mable
Crim, Gladys Crim (married will Utzman), Grace Crim (married
Homer Sparks), Aline Crim, Lois Crim, Louise Crim (married
Charles K. Huffman, Connally Crim (married Mildred Henderson)
and Reuben Crim (married Lilliebell Hineman). (This information
was found in a book titled Early Kilgore Families) |
Crim - William Riley Crim, born in 1859,
came to the now Crim's Chapel, Texas from Alabama with
his parents in a covered wagon in 1870. He married Lou
Della Thompson on March 13, 1888, the daughter of Captain
& Mrs. John M. Thompson, who were born at Laird Hill
on a farm...the very farm that the all important oil discovery
was made in 1930. William and Lou Della met while students
at the Alexander Institute. Their children were: Pauline
Crim (married Verner Florence 1st & P.K. McIntosh
2nd), J. Malcolm Crim (married Katie Mae Birdwell, John
T. Crim (married Maggie Lynn Brown), Robert Lee Crim who
died in WWI, William Phillip Crim (died young), Liggett
N. Crim (married Johnnie Ruth Elder and Ben Franklin Crim
who died as a baby. (This information was found in a book
titled Early Kilgore Families) |
Culp - John Franklin Culp arrived in Kilgore
in 1907. He was married to Mary Jeanette Brown. Their
children were: Frankie Malvin Culp (married Preston Allison)
and Lucy (married William B. Ainsworth). (This information
was found in a book titled Early Kilgore Families) |
Culpepper,
Cody - This
bio is too long to put here so please click on the name
to be transported to the actual bio. |
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