Memorial and Biographical History of Dallas County, Texas. Page: 442 of 1,110

4[ISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.

bard. Mr. Bean's stepmother is still living
and is now sixty-five years of age.
Solomon H. Bean was married in Alabama,
September 10, 1854, to Miss Sarah
Walker, who was born August 14, 1831.
Her father was Jesse Walker. For the history
of the Walker family see the biography
of John Florence.
On the 7th of May, 1862, Mr. Bean enlisted
in the Thirtieth Alabama Regiment,
and served during the war, participating in a
number of important engagements. He was
twice captured-first. at Baker's creek, and
after being held three months was exchanged.
At the battle of Nashville he was
taken prisoner and sent to Camp Douglas
at Chicago, Illinois, where he was kept till
the close of the war.
Returning home, he engaged in farming
there until 1882, when he moved to Texas, and
settled where he now lives, fifteen miles east
of the city of Dallas. At that time he
bought fifty acres of land, and since then he
and his son-in-law have made other purchases,
now owning 350 acres in partnership. The
whole is well fenced and 230 acres are under
cultivation, 150 acres being devoted to the
production of cotton.
Mr. and Mrs. Bean have one child, Mary
Jane, wife of W. S. Jobson. Mr. Bean is a
Mason, holding his membership in Alabama,
and both he and his wife are members of the
Baptist Church.
ILLIAM JOHN CAVEN, who has
been a leading real-estate dealer in
Dallas since 1872, is a native of the
State of Georgia, but was reared in Alabama.
He is a son of David and Eliza (Scott) Caven,
the father coming from Belfast, Ireland, and
the mother from Augusta, Georgia. His

father was a merchant and planter by occupation.
In 1859 his father moved to Texas,
settling in Harrison county, where he passed
the remainder of his life. He died in 1883;
his wife had preceded him twenty-two years;
she died in 1861. Their family consisted of
six children, all of whom lived to maturity.
Previous to his removal to Texas Mr. Caven
served in Alabama as Judge of the County
Court, proving himself an efficient and reliable
officer.
The subject of our sketch received more
than ordinary educational advantages, taking
up the pursuits of his father on leaving
school. On the breaking out of the civil war
he enlisted in the Third Texas Cavalry,
which formed part of what was afterward
known as the Ross brigade, in which he saw
a great deal of active service, first in Missouri
and Arkansas. Later on, beginning the second
year of the war, their brigade crossed the
Mississippi and joined the Army of the
Tennessee. He was twice wounded; once
seriously at Rome, Georgia, and again at
Iuka, Mississippi. He was four years in the
service, proving himself a faithful and gallant
soldier and officer. After the surrender he
returned to Texas, resuming farming in Harrison
county and taking charge of the home
plantation, in the management of which he
was very successful. Later he invested in
considerable real estate, particularly in Dallas
and Fort Worth, where he bought quite
heavily in 1872, and from which purchases
he has realized a profitable income, it being
the foundation to the increase of his fortune
to a quarter of a million of dollars. This
property and the care of it necessitated his
leaving the plantation, which he soon after
did, and took up his residence in Dallas,
though still retaining possession of the home
farm. He has one of the finest homes in the