|
W. G. Lee Woods, one of the prominent
 and
leading merchants of Del Rio, is conducting a lumberyard, where he handles
lumber and all kinds of building materials. although one of the more
recent arrivals in this city, he has through his reliable and
straightforward business methods already won the confidence and good will
of the general public and is now enjoying a large and increasing
patronage. He is likewise acting as vice-president of the Woods
National Bank, at San Antonio.
Mr. Woods was born in Fayette County, Texas,
November 28, 1864, but was reared in Hallettsville, Lavaca county.
He is the elder of two sons born to John and Mary E. Reishinger Woods, his
brother being W. F. Woods. The father was born and reared in
Alabama, where he received a liberal education. Deciding upon a
professional career he chose that of an attorney. After careful
preparation in this line he was admitted to the bar and located in
Hallettsville, Lavaca county, Texas, for the practice of his profession.
In connection with his practice he also was engaged in a mercantile
enterprise, and later had charge of a large estate and operated a farm.
He was very successful in his practice and was elected to the lower house
of the state legislature in the eighteenth general assembly, after which
he was elected to the state senate in the nineteenth and twentieth general
assemblies. He likewise opened and conducted a bank in
Hallettsville, which he continued successfully until 1889, when he removed
to Del Rio and opened a similar enterprise under the firms style of John
Woods & Sons, this being conducted as a private institution and governed
by the state laws. In 1896 he closed out his business in Del Rio and
took up his abode in San Antonio, where he organized the John Woods & Sons
Bank, so continuing until 1904, when the bank was nationalized and is now
under the style of the Woods National Bank, with John Woods, president;
W. G. Lee Woods, vice-president; and W. F. Woods, cashier. The bank
is conducted on a strict business basis and with the long experience of
Mr. Woods in banking institutions it is a success.
W. G. Lee Woods acquired his elementary
education in the schools of his native city, this being supplemented by
two and a half year's study in the State University, by which he was well
qualified for the responsible duties connected with a business career.
He accompanied his parents on their various removals through Texas, and
following the removal of his family to Del Rio he was connected with his
father and younger brother in the banking business, remaining in this city
for seven years, during which time he gained a wide acquaintance. He
removed with his father to San Antonio, where he became vice-president of
the Woods National Bank and has continued his connection therewith to the
present time [1907]. In May, 1906, he returned once more to Del Rio,
where he purchased the lumber business of the J. A. Price estate, and he
is now conducting a large and profitable business in this line, for he
carries a complete stock of lumber, building materials, doors, blinds,
paints and builders' hardware. He has through his efforts made this
one of the most important commercial enterprises of the city, for he ever
adheres to strict business principals, and this combined with his
excellent ability and sound judgment has made it a profitable concern.
It was during his former residence in this city
that Mr. Woods was united in marriage to Miss Belle J. Price, who was born
in Houston, Texas in 1874, a daughter of J. A. and Bessie (Throop) Price.
The Throop family originated in England, where they were connected with
the nobility of that county. The father of Mrs. Price was an eminent
physician and surgeon of Kentucky, where several of his children were
born, and at an early day he removed with his family to Texas, first
settling at Mission Valley, in Victoria county, subsequent to which time
he practiced at Anderson, Gaines county, and also in Lavaca county,
practicing successfully for a long period. His family numbered the
following: Thomas R., deceased; Ben B., a resident of Austin, Texas;
Bessie, who became the wife of J. A. Price, the latter being now deceased;
Mrs. Bell Wadkins, of Fort Worth, and Mrs. Jennie Merriman, of Haskell.
Thomas R. Throop at age fifteen years joined the army, becoming a member
of Green's brigade, of Company C, and served through the war of the
rebellion. Following the death of J. A. Price in 1904 Mr. Throop
assumed the management of the lumber business for his sister, being thus
engaged until his death, which occurred very suddenly in March, 1906.
J. A. Price made his home in Harris county for many years, where for a
time he was engaged in farming operations, and he was an inventor.
In 1884 he established the pioneer lumber business of Del Rio, first in
company with Mason & Black. He eventually purchased the interest of
his two partners, after which Mr. Price conducted the business alone until
his death in September, 1904, when he had reached the age of eighty years.
He was a public-spirited, enterprising and charitable man, highly
respected in business and social circles. By a previous marriage Mr.
Price became the father of two sons: George L., cashier of the
Commercial National Bank, of Houston, and Richard S., a prominent merchant
tailor of that city. By his marriage to Bessie Throop there were
three children: Anna V., the wife of W. A. Gordon, a banker of San
Antonio; Belle J., now Mrs. Woods; and Adrienne.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Woods has been blessed
with a daughter and two sons: Bessie B., who was born June 21, 1897;
John Price, born February 25, 1903; and W. G. Lee, Jr., whose birth
occurred September 27, 1904. The parents are worthy and consistent
members of the Methodist church, of which he is acting as a trustee and a
member of the board of stewards, while he is likewise treasurer of the
West Texas conference and treasurer and a member of the committee of the
Rescue Home at San Antonio. Mr. Woods leads a very active, busy and
useful life, conducting various important business enterprises. He
is a courteous, genial and affable gentleman, winning friends wherever he
goes.
A Twentieth Century History of Southwest
Texas, Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1907, pages 311-313.
|
