BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

William C. Best

William C. Best, the district and county clerk and recorder of deeds of Calhoun county, is one of the most popular and efficient financiers and officials in this section of the state.  For a number of years he has been an honored citizen of Port Lavaca, actively interested in all measures for the good of the people.  He was born in Maury county, Tennessee, July 20, 1864, a son of James O. and Anna (Hunt) Best, both natives of Tennessee, where they were also married.  The paternal grandfather came with two brothers from Ireland to America in an early day, and after their arrival in this country they separated, one going to Kentucky, one to Ohio, and the third, the grandfather of William, to Tennessee, where he established his home, became a prominent agriculturalist, reared his children, and died.  He never aspired to office or public notoriety, but was a plain, honest farmer.  He became the father of two sons, James O. and Carroll, the latter having been killed in the Civil war, and the names of the daughters of the family are forgotten.

In his native commonwealth of Tennessee James O. Best grew to manhood's estate and continued as a tiller of the soil until the opening of the Civil war, when he enlisted in the Confederate service and continued as a brave and valiant soldier until the close of the conflict, undergoing the deprivations, hardships, and exposures which are the lot of the soldier.  With an honorable military record he returned to his home and to the work of the farm, which he there continued until the death of his wife in 1872, when his children were placed in their grandparents' home, and in 1879 he came to Texas.  For a time he was engaged in agricultural pursuits in Collin county, and was there married to a Miss Steward, by whom he had three children.  Later Mr. Best removed to northern Arkansas, where he continued to live and labor until his life was ended in death in 1897, when he had reached the age of seventy-three years.  Although a stanch Democrat in his political affiliations, he never desired the honors or emoluments of public office, but like his father was content to live the life of a quiet, honest farmer, highly respected in the communities in which he made his home.  The children of his first marriage were John H., a merchant of Bell county, Texas; William C., whose name introduces this review; Fannie, of Beeville, Texas; Samuel M., a farmer near Corpus Christi; and Thomas F., of Port Lavaca.  Mrs. Best, the mother, was a daughter of Isaac Hunt, a prominent and highly respected farmer and stock raiser of Tennessee.  It was in his home that the children were reared after the death of their mother, he continuing to kindly care for them, until they were old enough to care for themselves.  He lived and died in Tennessee.

William C. Best when fifteen years of age left his grandfather's home and came to Texas, arriving in Collin county in 1880, and after three years spent as a farm hand he turned his attention to the securing of a better education, thus alternately attending school and farming during the following four years.  Becoming an artist with the pen, he taught penmanship for a time, at the same time diligently pursuing his education.  To such as he belongs the proud American title of a self-made man, a fitting example of the boys who have educated themselves and secured their own start in life.  As a man his business ability has been constantly manifested in one phase or another, showing unlimited possibilities, and the extensive concerns of which he is now the head are monuments to his wonderful power.  From Collin county Mr. Best removed to Bee county, where he was engaged in farming until 1892, the year of his arrival in Port Lavaca.  During the first four years after his arrival in this state he was employed as a barber, and in 1896 was elected the county and district clerk, also the recorder of deeds.  Accurate and painstaking in his work, he won the commendation of all concerned, and when he was again placed in nomination he was elected with a large majority, thus continuing to the present time with the exception of two years when he was employed as a commercial traveler in old Mexico, one year for the El Paso Saddlery Company of El Paso, Tex., and for A. Shillings & Company, grocers, of San Francisco, California for about one year.  During his incumbency in the clerk's office there has never been a legal hanging in the county, while only one man has been sent to the penitentiary, and Calhoun has had less litigation than any county in Texas, the district court never occupying more than one week for the transaction of its civil and criminal business - truly a creditable record.  Throughout the period of his residence in Port Lavaca Mr. Best has been actively interested in all measures for the advancement of his city and county, and among the many enterprises with which he is connected may be mentioned the Port Lavaca Telephone line, connecting Victoria and all intermediate points with a large list of telephones in the circuit, and of which he is the owner and manager; a stockholder and director of the Port Lavaca Fish & Oyster Company, organized in 1905 and which furnishes employment to over three hundred men.  Its annual sales amount to one hundred thousand dollars, and they ship their commodity to all parts of the United States and old Mexico.  He is also a partner in the Texas Oyster & Fish Company, of Paloias, Texas, which gives employment to seventy-five men, and they also ship to many parts of the United States.  He is also a real estate and land agent, buying and selling lands and town property, is a fire insurance agent and is extensively engaged in buying and selling horses.

In 1889 Mr. Best was united in marriage to Miss Bertie Boyd, born in Collin county, Texas, July 5, 1872, a daughter of B. M. and Mildred (Steinbaugh) Boyd.  The father, a native of Missouri, became an early pioneer of Texas, and it was in Collin county that the parents were married, where he was a successful in Allen and Farmersville, later removing to Beeville in 1891, where his life's labors were ended in death in 1893.  A stanch Democrat in his political affiliations, he used his influence for the success of his party, but never aspired to political preferment, being strictly a business man.  He was a deacon in the Missionary Baptist church, and was also a member of the Masonic order, the Odd Fellows and the Knights of Honor.  His widow yet survives and resides at the old home in Farmersville, and she, too, is a worthy member of the Missionary Baptist church.  In their family were the following children: Bertie, the wife of Mr. Best; Claudie, the wife of Walter Harding, of Farmersville, Texas; Alta, wife of C. P. Williams, also of that city; and Blake, a clerk in a general store in Farmersville.  Two little daughters bless the home of Mr. and Mrs. Best: Ora, born August 18, 1893, and noted for her musical ability, and Gladys, born March 6, 1899.  Both Mr. and Mrs. Best are consistent and worthy members of the Missionary Baptist church, in which he is a deacon and superintendent of the Sunday school.  He also has membership relations with the Masonic order, being a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, the Knights of Pythias, the Woodmen of the World, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Fratonians.  Since casting in his lot with the citizens of Calhoun county he has been accorded a leading position among its business men, and his official career has been an honor to the district which has honored him.  

Source: Transcription from the book, A Twentieth Century History of Southwest Texas, volume II, published in 1907; located on the website, Hathitrust Digital Library (http://www.hathitrust.org), accessed on 6 March 2023.