Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas Page: 881 of 894

756

INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.

Partly as revealing a prominent characteristic of
the man and partly as a lesson to young men who
may read this biography, it may be stated that
when Capt. Getzendaner arrived in Waxahachie he
had but five dollars and was forty dollars in debt.
He at once went to work, in no way disheartened
by his impecunious condition, and by diligence,
study, application and economy, dealing fairly and
honorably with all men and thereby gaining their
confidence, he attained success in his profession
and accumulated property. He is now owner of
a residence and several business houses and lots
in town, a farm of 1,400 acres in Ellis County,
9,000 acres of unimproved land in Ellis and
other counties, besides his bank stock, bonds and
notes.
In appearance Capt. Getzendaner is rather prepossessing,
standing five feet eight inches in height,
with blue eyes and prominent features, and weighing
155 pounds. In form he is broad, muscular

and strong, the physical corresponding with the
intellectual man. His manners are retiring, but he
is an active and energetic business man.
He is a man growing in the estimation of the
people and rising to prominence. As a business
man, he is a success, making money rapidly by his
energy, tact and capacity. His moral worth is unexcelled.
He is social and companionable, but his
principal characteristics are firmness, pride of
opinion and financial ability. He is an independent
thinker, and does not always follow a beaten track.
He is grateful to those who have done him a favor,
and is a liberal and charitable citizen.
Mr. Getzendaner represented his district in the
State Senate from 1882 to 1884, and since then has
often been urged to canvass the State for Governor,
but having no taste for politics he refused all
importunities, preferring the enjoyment of the
fruits of his well-spent life around his fireside with
his family.

. _ _

JOSEPH

CHRISTOPHER TERRELL,

FORT WORTH.

Joseph Christopher Terrell was born in Sumner
County, Tenn., October 29, 1831, while his father's
family were en route from Virginia to Missouri to
make a new home. His paternal grandfather was a
Virginian, and his grandmother, whose maiden
name was Johnson, was of the same State. They
were Quakers, and when they died left two children.
Dr. C. J. Terrell, the elder, was a graduate
of Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, emigrated
and settled in Boonville, Mo., in 1831, and
died there in 1832, leaving a large estate to his
three children. These children were: A. W. Terrell,
now State Senator, and formerly Judge of the
Capital District at Austin, Texas; Dr. John J.
Terrell, of Campbell County, Va., and Joseph C.
Terrell, the subject of this sketch.
Joseph C. was reared on the farm near Boonville,
Mo., left by his father as part of his estate. Having
wealth, and, therefore, no necessity to work,
his boyhood was spent in idleness and in doing whatever
his fancy dictated. He had no taste for books
and despised study, a disposition which contrasts
strangely with his subsequent application and studious
habits. Notwithstanding his antipathy to the
acquisition of knowledge, he was sent to school, his

teacher being Prof. F. T. Kemper, of Boonville, one
of the most finished scholars, strictest disciplinarians
and accomplished instructors in the Westaccurate,
methodic and energetic. From his teacher,
therefore, young Terrell learned useful lessons in
system and order, which he has appropriated and
made useful in his later life. Although his education
thus forced upon him had little effect at the
time, yet Prof. Kemper, who is still (1881) teaching
in Boonville has influenced his entire life. Though
considered " wild" in his youth, the young man
was never led into the dissipation that usually accompanies
such a life, but studiouly advoided gambling
and the use of intoxicants.
Leaving the Kemper school, he began the study
of law in the office of his brother, A. W. Terrell, and
after two years' reading was admitted to the bar at
St. Joseph, Mo., in 1852. Immediately after receiving
his license, he set out on a visit to the Pacific
Coast. In 1853-54 he practiced law in Santa
Clara, Cal., and in Monterey in the same State in
1854-55. But he had as yet no fixed purpose in life
and was rather drifting on the surface of occasion.
He had gone to the West rather for adventure than
for work, and steady employment in a fixed place