Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas Page: 880 of 894
762 p., [172] leaves of plates : ill., ports. ; 30 cm.View a full description of this book.
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INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
755
W. H. GETZENDANER,
WAXAHACH IE.W. H. Getzendaner was born May 14, 1834, in
Frederick County, Maryland. His father, Abram
Getzendaner, was a farmer, as were his thrifty
Swiss ancesters for several generations before him.
The family settled in Maryland in 1730, when it
was a wild and sparsely inhabited country. His
mother, Mary, was born in Frederick City, Maryland,
in 1814, and was the daughter of Peter Buckey,
a tanner and farmer. Her mother's maiden name
was Mary Salmon, whose father was an officer in
the Revolutionary army, though before the war
began he was a retired officer of the British
army.
W. H. Getzendaner was reared on the farm until
he was nineteen, when he attended Frederick Academy
for two years. In 1855 he was sent to Dickinson
College, Carlisle, Pa., to complete his education,
and graduated in that institution with the
degree of bachelor of arts in 1858. During the
senior year of his collegiate course he pursued the
study of law, which he more fully mastered in the
office of W. J. Ross, in Frederick City. Thus prepared
to enter upon the practice of his profession,
he went to Huntsville, Texas, in the latter part of
1858, where he remained six months. In 1859 he
removed to Waxahachie.
In the latter year he was admitted to the bar at
Tyler, and practiced in Waxahachie from 1859 to
1875, except during the Civil War and two years
following. The latter period he devoted to improving
and cultivating his farm. His practice was remunerative
from the beginning, and he acquired a
high character as a lawyer and advocate.
In 1861 he recruited and organized Company E,
Twelfth Texas Cavalry, for the Confederate army.
In this company he was a Lieutenant; but after the
fighting was over he was assigned to duty as Quartermaster
of the regiment, with the rank and pay of
Captain. He was also for a time Adjutant-General
of Parson's cavalry brigade. During the war he
was in more than thirty engagements, and was
wounded both at Cloutierville and Yellow Bayou.
After the war he turned his attention somewhat to
agriculture, but in 1867 returned to Waxahachie.
In 1872, at the solicitation of his fellow-citizens,
he accepted the office of Mayor of the city, organized
the corporation, drafted the ordinances and
set in motion the municipal machinery. After oneyear's service he retired, his health, from overwork,
having partially failed.
July 1, 1868, the firm of Ferris but in twelve years, so
greatly had the operations of the bank increased,
the capital had grown to $100,000. It has for correspondents
S. M. Swenson
Ball, Hutchings Louisiana National
Bank, New Orleans; Continental Bank, St.
Louis; First National Bank of Houston, and the
City National Bank of Dallas. The partnership
and individual property of this banking house
amounts to about $200,000. It is, therefore, on a
safe basis and enjoys the confidence of the business
men of Texas.
He is a Master Mason and a communicant of the
Episcopal Church. Up to the war he was an " Old
Line" Whig, but since that time has voted and
acted with the Democrats. He voted for the ordinance
of secession after his return from the expedition
in Clay, Archer and Jack Counties against the
Comanches in 1860-61.
Capt. Getzendaner was married, in Ellis County,
Texas, August 2, 1865, to Mrs. Willie Neel, widow
of Hon. T. C. Neel, formerly State Senator, who
died in 1862. She was born in Hancock County,
Ga., August 29, 1832, and is the daughter of John
B. Latimer, a large planter and slaveholder. She
is the granddaughter of Maj. Gonder, of Georgia,
and related by marriage to Judge Thomas Linton
Stephens, and other distinguished families of that
State. Her brother, Mark Latimer, was formerly
a banker at Ennis, Texas. By her first husband
she has one daughter, Mattie, born in Hancock,
Ga., educated at Emmetsburg, Md., in St. Joseph's
Academy, and married to Frank Templeton, formerly
editor of the Waxahachie Argus, and now a
farmer in Ellis County. Mrs. Getzendaner is a
member of the Baptist Church.
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Brown, John Henry. Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas, book, 1880~; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth6725/m1/880/?rotate=270: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.