B. B. Paddock Family Papers:

A Guide

Biographical Note

Buckley B. Paddock, son of Boardman and Margaret (Buckley), Paddock, was born January 22, 1844, in Cleveland, Ohio. He spenthis boyhood among trappers and loggers in the Northwest. He joined the Confederate Army at age sixteen as a private, and became reputedly the youngest commanding officer in that army when promoted to captain in 1862 at age eighteen. He fought in Wirt Adams Cavalry at Shiloh, Corinth, Vicksburg, and elsewhere with assignments in secret service and signal corps. In 1864, in command of thirteen, he captured an ironclad gunboat and crew of 268. He had five horses shot from under him and after one battle had twenty-seven holes in his shirt yet escaped serious injury. He was the inspiration for George Washington Cable's novel The Cavalier.

After the war Paddock became a lawyer in Fayette, Mississippi, and married Emmie M. Harper, the daughter of a planter, on December 10, 1867. They had four children: Mary, who died young; Wirt; William B.; and Virgile. He arrived in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1872 and spent the rest of his life promoting that city in a variety of ways. Paddock published the Fort Worth Democrat for ten years, where his editorials reflected his vision for Fort Worth and especially promoted it as a railroad center. His "Tarantula Map" envisioned most of the rail lines that were eventually to go through Fort Worth years before they were built. When the Democrat merged with the Gazette, Paddock served as managing editor. He later went into banking and the investment securities business. He was founder and president of the Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railway from Fort Worth to Brownwood, which later became part of the Frisco System. An effort to build the Fort Worth and Northwestern to the coal fields in Young County was pursued sporadically from the 1890s to 1914 but did not succeed. He was involved in organizing the first Board of Trade, which became the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce and, after many years of service, was made honorary president for life. Paddock was president of the Texas Spring Palace Association 1889-1890.

B. B. Paddock also served politically. He was a state representative 1881-1883 and 1913-1915 and served as mayor of Fort Worth 1892-1900. Paddock also wrote or edited four books on Texas history. He died January 9, 1922, and was buried in Fort Worth.

Sources:

• Fort Worth: A Frontier Triumph by Julia Kathryn Garrett (Encino Press, 1972);
• A History of Texas and Texans, Volume V, by Frank W. Johnson (The American Historical Society, 1914);
• The Handbook of Texas, Volume II, edited by Walter Prescott Webb and H. Bailey Carroll (The Texas State Historical Association, 1952).

Scope and Contents

The B. B. Paddock Papers contain correspondence, legal documents, clippings, genealogical information, photographs, and artifacts relating to Buckley B. Paddock and his family and business interests between the years 1862 to 1946. The bulk of the material being personal correspondence between 1862 and 1921, much of that being correspondence between Paddock and his wife, Emmie. They wrote frequently during his Civil War service and the many business trips that Paddock made both in the United States and abroad seeking backing for the railroads.

The collection is divided into seven series: correspondence, legal documents, clippings, genealogical information, printed items, photographs, and artifacts. The correspondence is subdivided into family and business correspondence and is arranged chronologically. The bulk of the correspondence is personal correspondence beginning in 1864 and ending in 1946. Six letters written to then fiancée Emmie Harper while Paddock was an officer in the Confederate Army reflect his views on the state of the war, morale, and what the future might hold. Letters in the early l870s give Paddock's impressions of Texas and especially Fort Worth as he moves his family to that city. Paddock's business interests caused him to travel both in the United States, especially to New York, and also to London and Paris and his correspondence to wife, Emmie, reflects his experiences through the latter nineteenth century. The correspondence is less plentiful in the twentieth century. Included are letters from the children and others. Letters to other members of the Paddock family make up the group from 1922 to 1946 and are few in number. Mrs. Emmie Paddock died in 1926, son William died in 1929. Brief eulogies are included about them. Business correspondence is limited to one folder though references to business matters are included in the other correspondence.

Legal documents are subdivided into business and family categories. Included are some contracts for the Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railway, 1886-1889, and the Fort Worth and Northwestern Railway, 1903, as well as a contract and subscriptions for the Fort Worth, Springtown, and Mineral Wells Interurban, 1908-1909. The family legal documents include an abstract of title and some warranty deeds for lots in Stephenville, Texas. A ledger lists accounts received in Mississippi for legal work and expenses in Mississippi and New Orleans. Following the move to Fort Worth, the ledger was used for expenses and credits in connection with the Paddock printing office and for subscriptions to the Fort Worth Democrat.

The clippings, which have been copied on acid-free paper, include several articles and obituaries about B. B. Paddock and a copy of Paddock's "tarantula map" drawn in July 1873, and reproduced in a local newspaper in 1902. The map depicts the many railroads that he expected to come to Fort Worth.

Genealogical material on the Paddock family and miscellaneous printed items are included. Artifacts and accessories donated in 1993 include clothing worn by members of the Paddock family, sheet music for piano, and buttons, badges, and ribbons worn and collected by the family approximately 1885-1913 at conventions, meetings, and military reunions.

There are sixteen photographs, of which some are unidentified and many are undated. They are divided into Texas Spring Palace photographs, family photographs, and group photographs. Included is an 1862 photograph of Paddock in uniform, five photographs relating to the Texas Spring Palace, Paddock's home "Edge Hill," and several of Paddock.

Restrictions

Access

Open for research.

Literary Rights Statement

Permission to publish, reproduce, distribute, or use by any and all other current or future developed methods or procedures must be obtained in writing from Special Collections, The University of Texas at Arlington Library. All rights are reserved and retained regardless of current or future development or laws that may apply to fair use standards.

Administrative Information

Citation

B. B. Paddock Family Papers, GA194-195, Box Number, Folder Number, Special Collections, The University of Texas at Arlington Library.

Acquisition

Gift, 1981, 1990, and 1993.

The B. B. Paddock Papers were given to The University of Texas at Arlington in December, 1981, by Mrs. Chalmers W. (Virgile Pitner) Hutchison and Mrs. Martha Pitner Cort, granddaughters of B. B.Paddock. The papers were received by Dr. Charles C. Colley, Director of Special Collections. The Paddock account book was donated in July 1990 by Al Peters of Fort Worth. Mrs. Chalmers W. Hutchison donated the clothing worn by members of the Paddock family, the pillow bolster, the badges, and the sheet music in 1993. Also in 1993, Mr. Wallace W. Hutchison, great-grandson of B. B. Paddock, donated the tin box, belt buckle, and epaulets from Paddock's Civil War uniform.

The materials after 1981 were received by Dr. Gerald D. Saxon, Associate Director for Special Collections, and Marcelle Hull, Archivist.

Container List