-Caveat Lector- Subject: Col. House in Texas The most interesting part of the excerpts are: 1. House's close connection with T.J. Coolidge, Jr. of Old Colony Trust of Boston--a member of the Coolidge family involved in the opium trade. 2. Connection with B.F. Yoakum, the railroad builder who consolidated lines for the Santa Fe Railroad. Yoakum, who had begun his career working for Jay Gould of the International and Great Northern Railroad, also was a big investor in Houston Natural Gas founded by J.H. Kirby, which became Enron. ============== Excerpts from COLONEL HOUSE: THE TEXAS YEARS, 1858-1912 by Rupert Norval Richardson Abilene Printing & Stationery, 1964 E.M. House's sister Mary was the eldest of the House children. She was married to R.J. Caldwell and made her home in Comal County. They were neighbors of A.J. Hunter, whose daughter Loulie became Edward's wife. They married in August of 1881 and travelled in Europe for a year. While they were there, their first child was born-in Naples. On their return, Edward took on the job of appraising the lands owned by his father's estate. They owned 97 sections in the Houston and Great Northern Survey (a section is one square mile, comprised of 640 acres) in LaSalle County, close to the Rio Grande, southwest of San Antonio. The land was arranged in checkerboard fashion and difficult to be used. Another large landowning family in the survey were A.J. and J.J. Dull, Pennsylvania capitalists. Edward worked out a consolidation of lands, ending up with 64,000 contiguous acres (a gain of almost 2,000 acres). The Dull brothers also became partners in the Corpus Christi, San Diego and Rio Grande Railroad with Richard King, Mifflin Kenedy, Uriah Lott, and B.F. Yoakum, who worked for the International and Great Northern Railroad controlled by Jay Gould. Yoakum's father was president of Cumberland Presbyterian College. "Some of the choicest lands that were to come to E.M. House in the division [with his brothers and sister] were cotton plantations in Central Texas, not far from Austin, a fact that may have changed the whole course of his life." He relocated to Austin from Houston in 1885, and this move placed him near his farms, as well as at the state capital, "where he would soon begin a unique career in politics and statecraft." Mostly the lands were leased, and sometimes parts sold off. "E.M. House looked after most land transactions and T.W. House handled the notes. The partnership did business through local land agencies, at Mason, for instance, through the firm of Holmes and Bierschwale...Homes and Bierschwale evidently regarded the House brothers as choice clients.... Edward House, besides developing and selling his inherited lands, also bought and sold other land. He did a great deal of business with T.F. Pinckney, "an ex-Confederate who had ridden with [Bedford] Forrest, spent some years as an employee in the General Land Office and had a knowledge of Texas lands and the Texas land system that was unsurpassed. In the 1880's one could still purchase land directly from the state, provided one had certificates authorizing the purchase; but the state lands were in the main, in western Texas, isolated, semi-arid, and of little value. Experienced land men could, however, discover 'vacancies' occasionally in the better lands of central Texas or the timber lands of eastern counties. These 'vacancies' were parcels of land, generally relatively small, that had never been severed from the state, lying adjacent to or within grants of various sizes made at different times. Pinckney was adept at locating these 'vacancies' and his intimate acquaintance with the state's lands enabled him to make purchases of various sorts to an advantage. Pinckney and House were partners for some years, and House would generally advance the capital that was needed while Pinckney looked after the locating, surveying, and securing of patents. *** House was becoming acquainted with the men at the top in Austin. He knew Governors John Ireland and Lawrence Sullivan Ross, and he became intimately acquainted with James Stephen Hogg, attorney general (1887-1891), and governor (1891-1895). With Hogg he soon developed a friendship strong and unique. They were together a great deal in their homes as well as in their offices, and after 1895 were neighbors for several years. Their families often went together on outings or short vacations, and their children played together. Governor Hogg's daughter, Ima, was about the age of Mona, elder of House's two daughters. The younger was Janet. Mona House married Randolph Tucker of Boston; Janet married Gordon Auchincloss of New York." The platform that Hogg ran on in 1892 "stated opposition to the national banking system and proposed a state banking system, favored a graduated income tax law, demanded a stock and bond law, a law to regulate the issue of securities by counties and cities, and opposed the further operation of land corporations." Hogg's victory "created a political climate for the development of such young men as E.M. House and the outstanding party leader W.S. Fly. It made way for the liberalism of such officials as Senator Horace Chilton, Congressmen Robert Lee Henry, and Thomas H. Ball, and Wilson's cabinet members, Albert S. Burleson, David F. Houston, and Thomas Watt Gregory. "Adding to the completeness of Hogg's victory was the fact that the new legislature was friendly and helped him complete his reform program. One of its important acts gave the railroad commission supervision over the issue of all railroad stocks and bonds. Also, at Hogg's request, the legislature enacted a county and municipal bond law, designed to check what seemed to be an unwarranted upsurge of local public indebtedness; at least it would require more discretion in acts involving debt....At last, in response to the Governor's urging, the legislature passed an act, approved March 24, 1893, defining perpetuities and requiring that corporations designed for holding lands, or other corporations holding lands beyond their needs, dispose of their lands within fifteen years. The law did not accomplish its purpose however. "...House was the governor's liaison man, the apologist for his administration, 'the man to see,' the line through which the governor could be reached on any subject at almost any time, and a mouthpiece for explaining the governor's point of view. "On one occasion Robert Scott Lovett, the railroad attorney, destined one day to head the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads, wished the confer with the governor and [railroad attorney and Houston Post owner E.P.] Hill knowing House as 'the man to see,' wrote House, requesting that he accompany Lovett to see Hogg. He made the same request a month later when three other railroad officials wished to call on the governor. ******* "The land business has been described in an earlier chapter; now several other activities call for notice. With a substantial amount of capital that increased from year to year through land sales, House found it necessary to invest relatively large amounts of money from time to time. Apparently for awhile he either owned or controlled an operating interest in the Austin Street Railway; he invested in Houston Transit Company stock; and his correspondence indicates a variety of loans, made principally on real estate as security. He also onwed considerable amounts of stocks and bonds. He did investing for Charles A. Culberson and Mrs. Culberson and often invested with them.... "[T]he roar of the Spindletop oil gusher at Beaumont caught House with its magic spell, and he set out to make a fortune in oil. House and [Frank] Andrews had an oil company drilling a well or ready to drill by June 1, 1901. House appealed to his Boston friends; and excitedly he wrote Andrews: 'My friends in Boston have decided to go in with us to the extent of a half million as a starter...the collective fortunes of those who have subscribed $100,000 apiece would be some $200,000,000.' He wrote of 'another scheme on foot besides the oil refinery,' and added, 'It looks as if the world and the fullness thereof will soon be ours.' "....The scanty data do not reveal the history of these concerns, but it is evident that House realized little or nothing out of them." "A venture in railroad building was more profitable. A Houstonian by birth and a great believer in her possibilities, House gave considerable thought to better inland connections for the city. He believed that a more direct rail connection between Houston, the port city, and the great Central Texas blackland cotton country lying to the south of Fort Worth and Dallas would bring a reward to the promoter. Perhaps Spindletop oil field gave additional impetus to the importance of better railroad facilities from the interior to the coast. "Among the influential and rich friends House had made during his sojourns in Massachusetts was Thomas Jefferson Coolidge, Jr., founder of Old Colony Trust Company. Some of the convincingness that had proved so effective in Texas politics must have been brought to bear on Coolidge, for he visited Texas, looked over the railroad proposition which House had presented, and agreed to promote the financing of it. Indeed, he believed in it enough to invest some of his own money in it. A syndicate was formed, consisting of Gordon Abbott, Samuel Carr, and Neal Ratoul. Abbott was president of the Old Colony Trust Company and Samuel Carr was a director. No doubt they were men of stature in staid old Boston. Coolidge, a descendant of Thomas Jefferson and son of a former minister to France, had other important business connections. After listing a half dozen directorates and other business interests, Samuel Carr stated for Who's Who that he was 'organist and director of Music, Old South Church, Boston, for many years.' "The railroad, named for the two rivers between which it was to run, was called the Trinity & Brazos Valley Railway Company. It was chartered for fifty years and the company organized October 17, 1902. The trunk line should run from Hillsboro to Galveston, which extensions contemplated to Dallas, Fort Worth, and some point on the Brazos River....Incorporators were Edward M. House, R.H. Baker, and E. Sammons of Austin, Thomas W. House, and John H.B. House of Houston, William Malone of San Marcos, J.C. McDermott of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and S.R. Withington, Harold Williams, Jr., and Stephen E. Young of Boston. Sammons was House's business manager; Malone managed his farms; R.H. Baker was an intimate friend and business associate. The only outsiders were the Northern men. "In the organization, E.M. House took the post of chairman of the board; R.H. Baker was made president, and John H.B. House vice president, E.M. Sammons, E.M. House's business manager, was to be secretary and treasurer. But the Bostonians held on to the purse strings by having James A. Parker of Boston made assistant treasurer. William Malone, manager of House's farms, was to be right-of-way agent, J. Gorman, superintendent, and Benjamin Thompson, chief engineer. "...Headquarters office for the railroad was in the same building with House's regular business office and railroading became the most important business that he dealt with. It kept him very busy for two years..... "House apparently had no notion of continuing for long in the railroad business. He inquired of Coolidge about the advisability of selling the Trinity and Brazos Valley line, and assuming that Coolidge would be agreeable, suggested that Coolidge take the matter up with E.H. Harriman. He suggested that they sell the line and consider building other railroads to make connections he deemed strategic. Harriman apparently was not interested. "Fortunately another buyer was at hand; and the line, which was not proving profitable, was disposed of to advantage. House's friend, Benjamin F. Yoakum, of the Frisco lines and with various other railroad connections, was seeking to establish a railroad system that would connect Chicago and Mexico City directly. Although it was a north and south line, the Trinity and Brazos Valley fit into Yoakum's plan as a proposed feeder and connecting road, so he purchased the line late in 1904. Railroad man Coolidge congratulated House on his bringing railroad man Yoakum 'up to scratch' in the transaction.... "Through his acquantances with Boston capitalists, House sought to serve both the cities of Austin and Houston by promoting projects of first magnitude. The Austin Dam on the Colorado, built in 1890 and impounding Lake McDonald, was the most important project of its kind in Texas....The dam was swept away by a flood in 1900. "Colonel House spent much time and effort in promoting the idea of rebuilding the structure. 'As for me, I am interested in rebuilding the dam only in so much as it is of interest to the city,' he was quoted as saying. He emphasized the fact that he had no personal monetary interest in it. Through his friend, President Abbott of the Old Colony Trust Company, he succeeded in getting an engineer sent to make an estimate of the proposal, and they in turn interested the transportation firm of Stone and Webster. The company submitted a proposal to the city; but apparently no agreement was arrived at, and the dam was not rebuilt until 1911-12. House's efforts were not lost altogether, however. He had kept the question before the public. "Meanwhile House had been seeking to promote an electric interurban line between Houston and Galveston. He succeeded in interesting Guy Eastman Tripp, a Boston capitalist linked with the gigantic Westinghouse interests and with Stone and Webster, so the two-million dollar line was built. House and R.H. Baker, president of the Trinity and Brazos Valley Railroad, had charge of right of way matters for the company. In spite of these efforts, farming was still paramount in House's enterprises. C.W. Malone, vice-president of the Second National Bank, and son of William Malone, who managed House's farms for years, with headquarters at Hunter, stated in a letter to the author that House had leased or own a big farm in Bastrop county at one time and another near Mart. C.W. Malone also "invested funds for House in substantial amounts during later years and was well acquainted with his affairs." His prized farmland was in southern Williamson County near Hutto, a farm managed by E.J. Barkley. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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