Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas Page: 174 of 894
762 p., [172] leaves of plates : ill., ports. ; 30 cm.View a full description of this book.
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158
INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
Waters S. Davis, Jr. (Ninth Grade); Anna M.
Swain, Virginia M. Sanford, Mamie Boyd (Eighth
Grade); Maggie A. Maher, Marie Foeke, Sebastian
Tinsley, Harry Martin (Seventh Grade).' "
Elsewhere in the News of the same issue appeared
the following: "To-day all that was mortal of a
man whose memory will be cherished as long as the
city stands, will be consigned to the tomb to be
seen no more forever in the city in which he was an
important member for more than forty years. Retiring
and quiet in his tastes and habits, his name
was yet as familiar as that of the city itself, and
the notoriety which he shunned was supplanted by
the substantial respect and friendship of the people,
who admired his virtues and integrity of character
and felt the benefits of his designs and farreaching
public spirit and charity. In the presence
of the chaste and severe simplicity of such a character
the ordinary forms of praise are out of place,
and only those who know perfectly
and none
knew more than partially--the beneficent acts
which he performed under a cold demeanor or concealed
even from the beneficiaries, can realize to a
fair extent the admirable equipoise of his character.
As a man of business, he was as methodical and
regular as a machine. In his charities, he would,
if possible, have been so, but in the impossibility
of discriminating in all demands upon it, he doubtless
erred in being too liberal rather than too rigid.
The great commercial house of which he was the
senior member has doubtless given far more for
religious and charitable purposes and aided more
in enterprises for the public good than any other in
Texas. There is probably not one among the many
churches of Galveston which has not been aided by
them. Hospitals and asylums for the orphan and
afflicted have been equally remembered, while steamships
and railroads have been greatly aided by their
ample means. Mr. Ball himself was the reputed
owner of about one-eighth interest in the famous
New York and Galveston Line of steamships. The
house of which he was a senior member was doubtless
the main instrument in making the Santa Fe
Railroad, what it has proved, the most important
element of its kind in the prosperity of Galveston.
Hotels and city railroads have received important
aid at their hands, and no enterprise for the benefit
of the city has asked help from the firm in vain,
while the business men of the city, whether merchants
or mechanics, have often been sustained and
encouraged by the house. It would be hard to
name a worthy object needing aid which has not
received it at their hands. But, besides this, Mr.
Ball's private charities are known to have been
large though even his nearest friends do not knowtheir extent. He studiously concealed many of
them. Even the crowning gift that became public
before his death was made to take effect during his
life with much reluctance, because he dreaded the
talk and notoriety it would cause. It is understood
that he had last year or before made provision
by will for the appropriation of $100,000.00
out of his estate to provide a home for aged
women, but on reflection he concluded to give half
of the amount for the erection of the public school
building which is now arising as a fitting monument
to his fame, which is destined to rise higher after
his long and useful life has ended. * * * Though
a strictly business man and supposed to look mainly
to profitable results, he loved a good name better
than riches, and would have preferred any pecuniary
loss to a tarnished reputation or any violence to his
own conscience. * * * Mr. Ball's was in every
sense of the word a remarkable and admirable
character. Indeed he may have been taken as the
type of the ideal business man. Of a fine and impressive
personal appearance, with a massive and
well-shaped head and keen, yet kindly eyes, his
outward appearance rightly indicated his mental
and moral qualities. It has been said by good
judges, themselves able business men, that, in their
opinion, Mr. George Ball was the most sagacious
business man in the State and, perhaps, in the
South. He was possessed of an eminently conservative
turn of mind, of a sharp insight into men
and affairs, and, when occasion demanded it, he
acted promptly and decisively. The admirable
blending of these two qualities, caution and decision
of character, gave him the key to that success which
he invariably commanded.
' By a wise management of his affairs, Mr. Ball
acquired a large estate.
' No man will ever know the amount of unostentatious
beneficence that is surely credited to this
self-poised but truly modest and kind-hearted
man. * * * He ever and conscientiously declined
election to public office. His life was
wholly occupied by his business and his family,
and, dying, he left no enemies, no animosities, no
heart-burnings behind him. His self-reliant and
yet retiring disposition shaded him, as it were,
from public notoriety, but those who knew him well
will not think it at all extravagant when we say
that he possessed abilities that would have enabled
him to fill any position in the country with distinction.
And that as a symmetrical character
and an upright man we do not know of his
superior."
It is a hard struggle to fight one's way to financial
independence and harder still to achieve that
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Brown, John Henry. Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas, book, 1880~; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth6725/m1/174/?rotate=270: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.