Freestone County, Texas
Biographies 



Biography of Thomas Marion West
(Nov. 5, 1834-Jan. 27, 1912, buried White Rock Cemetery in Ross, McLennan Co., TX.) 

A History of Central and Western Texas, Volume 2
Lewis Publishing Company, 1911; pages 784-785


   Thomas M. West, the pioneer for whom the town of West, Texas, was named, joined
the scattered settlers of the "Lone Star State" in Denton county in 1856. He 
first stopped at a ranch within the limits of that county at a time when there 
was an Indian scare in the locality, and his first act was to join a squad of
settlers to proceed against the threatening marauders. This work was finished
without encountering the enemy. Mr. West then went south to Freestone county, 
where he engaged in farming during the season of 1857, and raised a fair crop.
Having established a neighborhood confidence in Freestone, he was employed by a
planter as an overseer of slave labor, and was thus occupied until 1859, when he
collected a number of cattle and brought them to McLennan county. He was engaged
in the care of this stock when the war broke out. A southern man with true 
southern sympathies, he forgot his own personal interests in what he believed to
be his duty to his country and at once enlisted for service in the Texas wing of
the Confederate army.
   Joining Captain John M. Stone's company, Colonel Burford's regiment, Parson's
brigade, Mr. West saw all of his service in the Trans-Mississippi Department. 
With his command he marched and counter-marched through Missouri, Arkansas and 
Louisiana fighting Steele's and Banks' armies, participating in the historic Red
River campaign against the latter, and being wounded in a small engagement in
Missouri with the former. And now as he approaches the evening of life the wound 
then received is more clearly a reminder of those days.
   When the war ended Mr. West's command was in Texas, and his company was 
disbanded in Walker county. Returning home, he sought to gather up the cattle
belonging to him and resume the stock business. After some search he found
evidence of skullduggery by crooked "cow men" so flagrant that he was not 
disappointed when comparatively few of his cattle retained an unchanged brand.
However, he made the best of a bad situation, and remained in the business till
1879. In the meantime he had bought, for three dollars per acre, the quarter
section of land upon which West is built, making the purchase from G. R. Bennett,
the man who first settled it; and here Mr. West devoted himself to farming later
becoming interested in other affairs in connection with the pioneer settlement.
He opened the first store at West, and secured the location of a post-office 
bearing his name.
   When the M. K. & T. railroad came Mr. West was one of the few settlers who
welcomed it. Believing that its advent would in time be an advantage to the country,
he arranged with the railroad company to locate a depot at his store, and when 
this was accomplished a town site was laid out, lots were sold, and the real
building of a town was begun. In this work of building he took an active share.
He erected a business house in which he sold goods until 1892, twelve years after 
the railroad came. As a result of the influx of immigration it became necessary
for him to branch out in business, which he did by adding a stock of vehicles,
implements and lumber, and he closed it all out when the conditions justified a
division of business in the town. When a bank was needed Mr. West responded with
the West Bank, which he established in 1893, and of which he is still the 
president. Other enterprises have been inaugurated since 1892, which Mr. West 
aided by a subscription to stock. He holds the largest amount of stock in the 
artesian water company, and he joined with a number of citizens here in encouraging
the building of the cotton factory, an institution employing much of the labor of
the town. And to him is the town indebted for its electric light plant, he having 
installed it and is its owner.
   Mr. West's ancestors several generations remote were Scotch and English. He
was born in Christian county, Kentucky, November 5, 1834, son of William West, a
farmer, who died there about 1866, at near the age of seventy years. William West
was born in North Carolina, son of Charles West, a native of Virginia, who moved
to Kentucky by way of North Carolina, and there passed the rest of his life and
died. Charles West was a soldier in the war of 1812, and helped General Jackson
whip the British at New Orleans, while his father performed a like service with
General Washington in the Revolutionary war. Charles West married Aquilla Buckner,
and their children were as follows: Jesse, Martha, William, Polly, and R. R., all
of whom died in Kentucky. William West married Narcissa Stroud, and she also died
in Christian county, Kentucky. Their children were James, Clayborn, William, 
Thomas M., Orrin and Benjamin, the last two still being residents of Christian 
county.
   In August, 1866, Thomas M. West married in McLennan county, Texas, Mrs. Mary 
J. Steele, who was born in Illinois, daughter of Jefferson Adams, a native of 
that state, and they have three children: Jefferson West, cashier of the West
Bank; Laura, widow of John Casey; and Florence, widow of Mr. Yergan. Mr. West
and his family are identified with the Presbyterian church.