JUDGE FRANK B. GUINN. It is one of the old and prominent families of east Texas that is represented by Judge Frank B. Guinn, who has himself been prominently identified with the state as a lawyer, and a well-known public man, and during a long residence and citizenship at Rusk has rendered many important services to that locality.
Judge F. B. Guinn is the son of the pioneer Texas lawyer, Judge Robert H. Guinn, who died at Rusk in 1888, after forty years of active professional life, during which time he had won his way to eminence as a criminal lawyer.
Several generations back in the family genealogy found Emanuel Guinn, who was a Revolutionary soldier on the American side. A son of Emanuel Guinn was James Guinn, and among the children of James was John Guinn, father of the late Robert H. Guinn. John Guinn married Rachel Shields, whose mother was Miss Evans. They had eight children, and six of them went from Tennessee in about 1856 and settled in Iowa. These were named John, Hyrcannus, William, Jackson, Alpha Greenlee, and Hester Bradford. Some of these people were known in the vicinity of Belle Plain and Glidden, and one of the Guinns in Iowa was a member of the legislature. Another son of John and Rachael Guinn was Judge John W. Guinn, who settled in Angelina County, Texas, where he was a leading lawyer and served on the bench. Robert H. Guinn, whose name completes the family of John and Rachael, though he was not the youngest child, was born in Greene County, Tennessee, in 1822. In the same county Andy Johnson, the tailor president, cut out his first frock coat. Robert H. Guinn acquired a fair education and read the law under his brother, James W. Guinn. Moving to Randolph County, Alabama,
he was married there to Sarah J. Hearne, daughter of Asa Hearne. Mrs. Robert Guinn is still living, her home being in Rusk. She was born in Georgia, in 1827. After their marriage, the young couple came west by boat in 1847, as far as Shreveport, in company with Judge Reeves, a noted lawyer of Tyler, Texas, in later years, and another traveling companion was Jack Hamilton, who was also prominent as a lawyer and politician in this state. From Shreveport Judge Guinn's party came by stage down through the timber and sand to their respective destinations. The young lawyer spent his first night in Rusk beneath the roof of the old log courthouse, which then stood in the center of the town. For a few months, he sojourned in the country near the town and established himself at the county seat in 1848, where he was a man of growing prominence from that time until his death in 1888. For several years Judge Guinn, Sr., devoted himself to private practice and he quickly gained a position in the confidence of his new community. In 1853 he was elected to the state senate, was a member of that body until 1866, and did important work on various committees. He was president pro-tem of the senate for the time, was chairman of the finance committee, and had the power in aiding the state in supporting the Confederate government and in looking after the families of men who were in the Confederate army. A strong secessionist, his character and voice were important influences in the secession convention which carried Texas into the Confederacy. He gathered much strength as a politician and was a familiar figure in state conventions, and following the period of reconstruction was a member of the Democratic State Committee. He gave his active aid to the party in various campaigns and was an especially strong follower of Governor Lubbock.
In his law practice, Robert Guinn attained a reputation second to none among the criminal lawyers in his part of the state. He tried cases throughout his district, keeping from the death sentence all his clients except one,-Diamond, who committed suicide after the death penalty had been pronounced for the wanton murder of one of the Bryant children. In his private life, Judge Guinn was clean and a man of kindly and righteous character. He belonged to the Methodist church and was a close reader of the Word. On a small farm near Rusk, he spent many of his years and had little interest in other matters outside of his profession and the education and culture of his children. Money-making had no place in his nature, and his fraternal side showed itself in membership in the two leading fraternal orders, the Masons and Odd Fellows.
Sometime during the decade of the forties, Robert Guinn married Miss Hearne, as already stated, and their children were as follows: Heflin S., whose career has been chiefly spent in engineering work, and as county surveyor of Cherokee county, and who married Mollie Horton; P. P., a farmer of Rusk, who married Mary Clay; Mrs. Callie Reeves, who died at Rusk, leaving a family; Frank B.; William T., who married Laura Cameron, and died in Rusk with a family; James K., of Hughes Springs, Texas, who married Miss Belle Miller; John B., a merchant of Rusk, who married Anna Tucker; Lee D., who is district judge of the Second Judicial District of Texas, living in Rusk and who is married to Miss Florence Crittenden; Lulu J., the wife of E. T. Durrough, of Atlanta, Georgia; and Hubbard G., of Lubbock, Texas. Judge Frank Benton Guinn was born at Rusk, on May 29, 1855. Part of his boyhood was spent during the troublesome period of the Civil War, and in the later reconstruction era, and these conditions necessarily delayed his education. He was a student at the Masonic Institute, and later entered Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee, in the law department. In 1882 he graduated in law and then returned to his native state. Already he had received some official experience as a county surveyor of Cherokee County, an office to which he was elected before completing his law studies. Then in 1882 came his election as county attorney of Cherokee County, and the six years of his service in that capacity were marked by a number of important accomplishments, including his success in breaking up the nefarious practice of playing pool and billiards for the drinks. Eleven of the twelve proprietors of saloons in the county were convicted under his regime, and his administration was salutary in every respect. While in that office Judge Guinn formed a partnership with R. H. Morris, who was at that time district attorney. He was thus given a wide experience as an assistant to his partner in the criminal work of the district courts.
When Judge Guinn's term of county attorney expired he declined another term and spent two years building up a private practice. About that time his relations with Mr. Morris were discontinued and in 1890 he was elected county judge and served on the bench for six years. As ex-officio county superintendent, he rendered valuable aid to the public schools by adopting, independently, a system of textbooks that proved most beneficial and established a precedent that in later years was applied throughout the state and has resulted in a complete system of books for use in the public schools. This new plan, as inaugurated by Judge Guinn, created a wide interest in public school work, and was one of the many things that his constituents held in his favor. In 1894, when the populist party gained its greatest victory in Cherokee County, Judge Guinn was one of the few Democrats elected and led the ticket with a majority.
In 1896 Judge Guinn retired to the private practice of law, and at the same time engaged in real estate activities. In this latter field, he took up local development and has probably done more than any other individual to improve agriculture along modern lines. He has introduced the culture of both vegetables and fruits and embarked on the truck and fruit business and was chosen president of the Rusk Truck Growers' Association, and the Rusk Fruit Growers' Association, at the same time being made chairman of the County Association of Truck and Fruit Growers. When the railroad companies proposed to furnish transportation to delegates to study fruit culture, picking, packing, and marketing in the states of Colorado and California, Judge Guinn was appointed one of the commissioners and was selected to make the report to the meeting of the various growers at Tyler. For some years Judge Guinn planted and maintained an orchard of seven thousand trees in this section, but after fruit culture had proved unprofitable, he shifted his interests to pecan growing and is now one of the most extensive growers of "paper shells" in Texas. He has taken a deep interest in the work of the Farmers' Congress and is a member of the State Horticultural Society of Texas.
In 1902 Judge Guinn was elected to the Twenty-eighth Legislature of Texas, was chairman of the committee on penitentiaries, and introduced and passed a bill appropriating $150,000.00 for the rehabilitation of the Rusk prison iron industry, which gave new life to the institution for several years, and gave the state some standing and respect as a competitor in the markets of the country. He was on the committee on the Public Lands of the senate, and in the twenty-ninth legislature was the author of the present fruit and nursery inspection law. With the aid of Bennett, of Erath, he got through an amendment to the constitution, making it lawful to levy a tax for the payment of juror fees instead of using the funds of the bridge and road account for that purpose. Subsequently, and when not a member of the legislature, he used his influence for the building of the Texas and New Orleans Railway into Rusk and is admittedly the cause of the construction of the Gallatin spur.
Judge Guinn owned the Rusk Press-Journal, edited it during a portion of 1907 and 1908, and was chairman of the local committee in charge of the building of Texas and New Orleans Road to this point.
In 1907 Governor Campbell appointed Judge Guinn assistant financial agent of penitentiaries, having been in charge of the penitentiary at Rusk. During the early part of his three years of service, the iron industry here became prosperous. Misfortune subsequently befell the plant because of its physical condition and when the board of managers declined to respond to its needs, Judge Guinn sent in his resignation. In local affairs, Judge Guinn has been identified with the educational matters of Rusk for many years and is chairman of the school board.
On December 5, 1882, Judge Guinn married Miss Mary Pope, a daughter of Capt. John T. Aycock, and a granddaughter of Dr. C. G. Raines. Mrs. Guinn died in 1899, leaving the following children: Dr. Fred. B., of El Paso; Charles R.; Frank R., and Pope A., the last three of Rusk. On February 18, 1903, Judge Guinn married Miss Stella Cox, and by this marriage are two children,— Mildred and Evelyn. Judge Guinn is not a member of any church. Fraternally he is past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias and has sat in the Grand Lodge of the State.
Source:
A History of Texas and Texans
Volume 5
By Frank White Johnson, Eugene Campbell Barker, Ernest William Winkler · 1914
Contributor: Kerry Ann Szymanski # 49782268
Son of R. H. Guinn, born in Tennessee, and Sarah Jane Hearn, born in Georgia.
Husband of Stella E. Guinn.
He was a lawyer, 76 years old, married, and a lifetime resident of Rusk, Texas. The informant was John B. Guinn, Rusk; burial was on March 1, 1932. W. H. Wallace, Rusk, was in charge of arrangements.
(Texas death certificate# 5622)
Judge F. B. Guinn is the son of the pioneer Texas lawyer, Judge Robert H. Guinn, who died at Rusk in 1888, after forty years of active professional life, during which time he had won his way to eminence as a criminal lawyer.
Several generations back in the family genealogy found Emanuel Guinn, who was a Revolutionary soldier on the American side. A son of Emanuel Guinn was James Guinn, and among the children of James was John Guinn, father of the late Robert H. Guinn. John Guinn married Rachel Shields, whose mother was Miss Evans. They had eight children, and six of them went from Tennessee in about 1856 and settled in Iowa. These were named John, Hyrcannus, William, Jackson, Alpha Greenlee, and Hester Bradford. Some of these people were known in the vicinity of Belle Plain and Glidden, and one of the Guinns in Iowa was a member of the legislature. Another son of John and Rachael Guinn was Judge John W. Guinn, who settled in Angelina County, Texas, where he was a leading lawyer and served on the bench. Robert H. Guinn, whose name completes the family of John and Rachael, though he was not the youngest child, was born in Greene County, Tennessee, in 1822. In the same county Andy Johnson, the tailor president, cut out his first frock coat. Robert H. Guinn acquired a fair education and read the law under his brother, James W. Guinn. Moving to Randolph County, Alabama,
he was married there to Sarah J. Hearne, daughter of Asa Hearne. Mrs. Robert Guinn is still living, her home being in Rusk. She was born in Georgia, in 1827. After their marriage, the young couple came west by boat in 1847, as far as Shreveport, in company with Judge Reeves, a noted lawyer of Tyler, Texas, in later years, and another traveling companion was Jack Hamilton, who was also prominent as a lawyer and politician in this state. From Shreveport Judge Guinn's party came by stage down through the timber and sand to their respective destinations. The young lawyer spent his first night in Rusk beneath the roof of the old log courthouse, which then stood in the center of the town. For a few months, he sojourned in the country near the town and established himself at the county seat in 1848, where he was a man of growing prominence from that time until his death in 1888. For several years Judge Guinn, Sr., devoted himself to private practice and he quickly gained a position in the confidence of his new community. In 1853 he was elected to the state senate, was a member of that body until 1866, and did important work on various committees. He was president pro-tem of the senate for the time, was chairman of the finance committee, and had the power in aiding the state in supporting the Confederate government and in looking after the families of men who were in the Confederate army. A strong secessionist, his character and voice were important influences in the secession convention which carried Texas into the Confederacy. He gathered much strength as a politician and was a familiar figure in state conventions, and following the period of reconstruction was a member of the Democratic State Committee. He gave his active aid to the party in various campaigns and was an especially strong follower of Governor Lubbock.
In his law practice, Robert Guinn attained a reputation second to none among the criminal lawyers in his part of the state. He tried cases throughout his district, keeping from the death sentence all his clients except one,-Diamond, who committed suicide after the death penalty had been pronounced for the wanton murder of one of the Bryant children. In his private life, Judge Guinn was clean and a man of kindly and righteous character. He belonged to the Methodist church and was a close reader of the Word. On a small farm near Rusk, he spent many of his years and had little interest in other matters outside of his profession and the education and culture of his children. Money-making had no place in his nature, and his fraternal side showed itself in membership in the two leading fraternal orders, the Masons and Odd Fellows.
Sometime during the decade of the forties, Robert Guinn married Miss Hearne, as already stated, and their children were as follows: Heflin S., whose career has been chiefly spent in engineering work, and as county surveyor of Cherokee county, and who married Mollie Horton; P. P., a farmer of Rusk, who married Mary Clay; Mrs. Callie Reeves, who died at Rusk, leaving a family; Frank B.; William T., who married Laura Cameron, and died in Rusk with a family; James K., of Hughes Springs, Texas, who married Miss Belle Miller; John B., a merchant of Rusk, who married Anna Tucker; Lee D., who is district judge of the Second Judicial District of Texas, living in Rusk and who is married to Miss Florence Crittenden; Lulu J., the wife of E. T. Durrough, of Atlanta, Georgia; and Hubbard G., of Lubbock, Texas. Judge Frank Benton Guinn was born at Rusk, on May 29, 1855. Part of his boyhood was spent during the troublesome period of the Civil War, and in the later reconstruction era, and these conditions necessarily delayed his education. He was a student at the Masonic Institute, and later entered Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee, in the law department. In 1882 he graduated in law and then returned to his native state. Already he had received some official experience as a county surveyor of Cherokee County, an office to which he was elected before completing his law studies. Then in 1882 came his election as county attorney of Cherokee County, and the six years of his service in that capacity were marked by a number of important accomplishments, including his success in breaking up the nefarious practice of playing pool and billiards for the drinks. Eleven of the twelve proprietors of saloons in the county were convicted under his regime, and his administration was salutary in every respect. While in that office Judge Guinn formed a partnership with R. H. Morris, who was at that time district attorney. He was thus given a wide experience as an assistant to his partner in the criminal work of the district courts.
When Judge Guinn's term of county attorney expired he declined another term and spent two years building up a private practice. About that time his relations with Mr. Morris were discontinued and in 1890 he was elected county judge and served on the bench for six years. As ex-officio county superintendent, he rendered valuable aid to the public schools by adopting, independently, a system of textbooks that proved most beneficial and established a precedent that in later years was applied throughout the state and has resulted in a complete system of books for use in the public schools. This new plan, as inaugurated by Judge Guinn, created a wide interest in public school work, and was one of the many things that his constituents held in his favor. In 1894, when the populist party gained its greatest victory in Cherokee County, Judge Guinn was one of the few Democrats elected and led the ticket with a majority.
In 1896 Judge Guinn retired to the private practice of law, and at the same time engaged in real estate activities. In this latter field, he took up local development and has probably done more than any other individual to improve agriculture along modern lines. He has introduced the culture of both vegetables and fruits and embarked on the truck and fruit business and was chosen president of the Rusk Truck Growers' Association, and the Rusk Fruit Growers' Association, at the same time being made chairman of the County Association of Truck and Fruit Growers. When the railroad companies proposed to furnish transportation to delegates to study fruit culture, picking, packing, and marketing in the states of Colorado and California, Judge Guinn was appointed one of the commissioners and was selected to make the report to the meeting of the various growers at Tyler. For some years Judge Guinn planted and maintained an orchard of seven thousand trees in this section, but after fruit culture had proved unprofitable, he shifted his interests to pecan growing and is now one of the most extensive growers of "paper shells" in Texas. He has taken a deep interest in the work of the Farmers' Congress and is a member of the State Horticultural Society of Texas.
In 1902 Judge Guinn was elected to the Twenty-eighth Legislature of Texas, was chairman of the committee on penitentiaries, and introduced and passed a bill appropriating $150,000.00 for the rehabilitation of the Rusk prison iron industry, which gave new life to the institution for several years, and gave the state some standing and respect as a competitor in the markets of the country. He was on the committee on the Public Lands of the senate, and in the twenty-ninth legislature was the author of the present fruit and nursery inspection law. With the aid of Bennett, of Erath, he got through an amendment to the constitution, making it lawful to levy a tax for the payment of juror fees instead of using the funds of the bridge and road account for that purpose. Subsequently, and when not a member of the legislature, he used his influence for the building of the Texas and New Orleans Railway into Rusk and is admittedly the cause of the construction of the Gallatin spur.
Judge Guinn owned the Rusk Press-Journal, edited it during a portion of 1907 and 1908, and was chairman of the local committee in charge of the building of Texas and New Orleans Road to this point.
In 1907 Governor Campbell appointed Judge Guinn assistant financial agent of penitentiaries, having been in charge of the penitentiary at Rusk. During the early part of his three years of service, the iron industry here became prosperous. Misfortune subsequently befell the plant because of its physical condition and when the board of managers declined to respond to its needs, Judge Guinn sent in his resignation. In local affairs, Judge Guinn has been identified with the educational matters of Rusk for many years and is chairman of the school board.
On December 5, 1882, Judge Guinn married Miss Mary Pope, a daughter of Capt. John T. Aycock, and a granddaughter of Dr. C. G. Raines. Mrs. Guinn died in 1899, leaving the following children: Dr. Fred. B., of El Paso; Charles R.; Frank R., and Pope A., the last three of Rusk. On February 18, 1903, Judge Guinn married Miss Stella Cox, and by this marriage are two children,— Mildred and Evelyn. Judge Guinn is not a member of any church. Fraternally he is past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias and has sat in the Grand Lodge of the State.
Source:
A History of Texas and Texans
Volume 5
By Frank White Johnson, Eugene Campbell Barker, Ernest William Winkler · 1914
Contributor: Kerry Ann Szymanski # 49782268
Son of R. H. Guinn, born in Tennessee, and Sarah Jane Hearn, born in Georgia.
Husband of Stella E. Guinn.
He was a lawyer, 76 years old, married, and a lifetime resident of Rusk, Texas. The informant was John B. Guinn, Rusk; burial was on March 1, 1932. W. H. Wallace, Rusk, was in charge of arrangements.
(Texas death certificate# 5622)
JUDGE FRANK B. GUINN. It is one of the old and prominent families of east Texas that is represented by Judge Frank B. Guinn, who has himself been prominently identified with the state as a lawyer, and a well-known public man, and during a long residence and citizenship at Rusk has rendered many important services to that locality.
Judge F. B. Guinn is the son of the pioneer Texas lawyer, Judge Robert H. Guinn, who died at Rusk in 1888, after forty years of active professional life, during which time he had won his way to eminence as a criminal lawyer.
Several generations back in the family genealogy found Emanuel Guinn, who was a Revolutionary soldier on the American side. A son of Emanuel Guinn was James Guinn, and among the children of James was John Guinn, father of the late Robert H. Guinn. John Guinn married Rachel Shields, whose mother was Miss Evans. They had eight children, and six of them went from Tennessee in about 1856 and settled in Iowa. These were named John, Hyrcannus, William, Jackson, Alpha Greenlee, and Hester Bradford. Some of these people were known in the vicinity of Belle Plain and Glidden, and one of the Guinns in Iowa was a member of the legislature. Another son of John and Rachael Guinn was Judge John W. Guinn, who settled in Angelina County, Texas, where he was a leading lawyer and served on the bench. Robert H. Guinn, whose name completes the family of John and Rachael, though he was not the youngest child, was born in Greene County, Tennessee, in 1822. In the same county Andy Johnson, the tailor president, cut out his first frock coat. Robert H. Guinn acquired a fair education and read the law under his brother, James W. Guinn. Moving to Randolph County, Alabama,
he was married there to Sarah J. Hearne, daughter of Asa Hearne. Mrs. Robert Guinn is still living, her home being in Rusk. She was born in Georgia, in 1827. After their marriage, the young couple came west by boat in 1847, as far as Shreveport, in company with Judge Reeves, a noted lawyer of Tyler, Texas, in later years, and another traveling companion was Jack Hamilton, who was also prominent as a lawyer and politician in this state. From Shreveport Judge Guinn's party came by stage down through the timber and sand to their respective destinations. The young lawyer spent his first night in Rusk beneath the roof of the old log courthouse, which then stood in the center of the town. For a few months, he sojourned in the country near the town and established himself at the county seat in 1848, where he was a man of growing prominence from that time until his death in 1888. For several years Judge Guinn, Sr., devoted himself to private practice and he quickly gained a position in the confidence of his new community. In 1853 he was elected to the state senate, was a member of that body until 1866, and did important work on various committees. He was president pro-tem of the senate for the time, was chairman of the finance committee, and had the power in aiding the state in supporting the Confederate government and in looking after the families of men who were in the Confederate army. A strong secessionist, his character and voice were important influences in the secession convention which carried Texas into the Confederacy. He gathered much strength as a politician and was a familiar figure in state conventions, and following the period of reconstruction was a member of the Democratic State Committee. He gave his active aid to the party in various campaigns and was an especially strong follower of Governor Lubbock.
In his law practice, Robert Guinn attained a reputation second to none among the criminal lawyers in his part of the state. He tried cases throughout his district, keeping from the death sentence all his clients except one,-Diamond, who committed suicide after the death penalty had been pronounced for the wanton murder of one of the Bryant children. In his private life, Judge Guinn was clean and a man of kindly and righteous character. He belonged to the Methodist church and was a close reader of the Word. On a small farm near Rusk, he spent many of his years and had little interest in other matters outside of his profession and the education and culture of his children. Money-making had no place in his nature, and his fraternal side showed itself in membership in the two leading fraternal orders, the Masons and Odd Fellows.
Sometime during the decade of the forties, Robert Guinn married Miss Hearne, as already stated, and their children were as follows: Heflin S., whose career has been chiefly spent in engineering work, and as county surveyor of Cherokee county, and who married Mollie Horton; P. P., a farmer of Rusk, who married Mary Clay; Mrs. Callie Reeves, who died at Rusk, leaving a family; Frank B.; William T., who married Laura Cameron, and died in Rusk with a family; James K., of Hughes Springs, Texas, who married Miss Belle Miller; John B., a merchant of Rusk, who married Anna Tucker; Lee D., who is district judge of the Second Judicial District of Texas, living in Rusk and who is married to Miss Florence Crittenden; Lulu J., the wife of E. T. Durrough, of Atlanta, Georgia; and Hubbard G., of Lubbock, Texas. Judge Frank Benton Guinn was born at Rusk, on May 29, 1855. Part of his boyhood was spent during the troublesome period of the Civil War, and in the later reconstruction era, and these conditions necessarily delayed his education. He was a student at the Masonic Institute, and later entered Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee, in the law department. In 1882 he graduated in law and then returned to his native state. Already he had received some official experience as a county surveyor of Cherokee County, an office to which he was elected before completing his law studies. Then in 1882 came his election as county attorney of Cherokee County, and the six years of his service in that capacity were marked by a number of important accomplishments, including his success in breaking up the nefarious practice of playing pool and billiards for the drinks. Eleven of the twelve proprietors of saloons in the county were convicted under his regime, and his administration was salutary in every respect. While in that office Judge Guinn formed a partnership with R. H. Morris, who was at that time district attorney. He was thus given a wide experience as an assistant to his partner in the criminal work of the district courts.
When Judge Guinn's term of county attorney expired he declined another term and spent two years building up a private practice. About that time his relations with Mr. Morris were discontinued and in 1890 he was elected county judge and served on the bench for six years. As ex-officio county superintendent, he rendered valuable aid to the public schools by adopting, independently, a system of textbooks that proved most beneficial and established a precedent that in later years was applied throughout the state and has resulted in a complete system of books for use in the public schools. This new plan, as inaugurated by Judge Guinn, created a wide interest in public school work, and was one of the many things that his constituents held in his favor. In 1894, when the populist party gained its greatest victory in Cherokee County, Judge Guinn was one of the few Democrats elected and led the ticket with a majority.
In 1896 Judge Guinn retired to the private practice of law, and at the same time engaged in real estate activities. In this latter field, he took up local development and has probably done more than any other individual to improve agriculture along modern lines. He has introduced the culture of both vegetables and fruits and embarked on the truck and fruit business and was chosen president of the Rusk Truck Growers' Association, and the Rusk Fruit Growers' Association, at the same time being made chairman of the County Association of Truck and Fruit Growers. When the railroad companies proposed to furnish transportation to delegates to study fruit culture, picking, packing, and marketing in the states of Colorado and California, Judge Guinn was appointed one of the commissioners and was selected to make the report to the meeting of the various growers at Tyler. For some years Judge Guinn planted and maintained an orchard of seven thousand trees in this section, but after fruit culture had proved unprofitable, he shifted his interests to pecan growing and is now one of the most extensive growers of "paper shells" in Texas. He has taken a deep interest in the work of the Farmers' Congress and is a member of the State Horticultural Society of Texas.
In 1902 Judge Guinn was elected to the Twenty-eighth Legislature of Texas, was chairman of the committee on penitentiaries, and introduced and passed a bill appropriating $150,000.00 for the rehabilitation of the Rusk prison iron industry, which gave new life to the institution for several years, and gave the state some standing and respect as a competitor in the markets of the country. He was on the committee on the Public Lands of the senate, and in the twenty-ninth legislature was the author of the present fruit and nursery inspection law. With the aid of Bennett, of Erath, he got through an amendment to the constitution, making it lawful to levy a tax for the payment of juror fees instead of using the funds of the bridge and road account for that purpose. Subsequently, and when not a member of the legislature, he used his influence for the building of the Texas and New Orleans Railway into Rusk and is admittedly the cause of the construction of the Gallatin spur.
Judge Guinn owned the Rusk Press-Journal, edited it during a portion of 1907 and 1908, and was chairman of the local committee in charge of the building of Texas and New Orleans Road to this point.
In 1907 Governor Campbell appointed Judge Guinn assistant financial agent of penitentiaries, having been in charge of the penitentiary at Rusk. During the early part of his three years of service, the iron industry here became prosperous. Misfortune subsequently befell the plant because of its physical condition and when the board of managers declined to respond to its needs, Judge Guinn sent in his resignation. In local affairs, Judge Guinn has been identified with the educational matters of Rusk for many years and is chairman of the school board.
On December 5, 1882, Judge Guinn married Miss Mary Pope, a daughter of Capt. John T. Aycock, and a granddaughter of Dr. C. G. Raines. Mrs. Guinn died in 1899, leaving the following children: Dr. Fred. B., of El Paso; Charles R.; Frank R., and Pope A., the last three of Rusk. On February 18, 1903, Judge Guinn married Miss Stella Cox, and by this marriage are two children,— Mildred and Evelyn. Judge Guinn is not a member of any church. Fraternally he is past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias and has sat in the Grand Lodge of the State.
Source:
A History of Texas and Texans
Volume 5
By Frank White Johnson, Eugene Campbell Barker, Ernest William Winkler · 1914
Contributor: Kerry Ann Szymanski # 49782268
Son of R. H. Guinn, born in Tennessee, and Sarah Jane Hearn, born in Georgia.
Husband of Stella E. Guinn.
He was a lawyer, 76 years old, married, and a lifetime resident of Rusk, Texas. The informant was John B. Guinn, Rusk; burial was on March 1, 1932. W. H. Wallace, Rusk, was in charge of arrangements.
(Texas death certificate# 5622)
Judge F. B. Guinn is the son of the pioneer Texas lawyer, Judge Robert H. Guinn, who died at Rusk in 1888, after forty years of active professional life, during which time he had won his way to eminence as a criminal lawyer.
Several generations back in the family genealogy found Emanuel Guinn, who was a Revolutionary soldier on the American side. A son of Emanuel Guinn was James Guinn, and among the children of James was John Guinn, father of the late Robert H. Guinn. John Guinn married Rachel Shields, whose mother was Miss Evans. They had eight children, and six of them went from Tennessee in about 1856 and settled in Iowa. These were named John, Hyrcannus, William, Jackson, Alpha Greenlee, and Hester Bradford. Some of these people were known in the vicinity of Belle Plain and Glidden, and one of the Guinns in Iowa was a member of the legislature. Another son of John and Rachael Guinn was Judge John W. Guinn, who settled in Angelina County, Texas, where he was a leading lawyer and served on the bench. Robert H. Guinn, whose name completes the family of John and Rachael, though he was not the youngest child, was born in Greene County, Tennessee, in 1822. In the same county Andy Johnson, the tailor president, cut out his first frock coat. Robert H. Guinn acquired a fair education and read the law under his brother, James W. Guinn. Moving to Randolph County, Alabama,
he was married there to Sarah J. Hearne, daughter of Asa Hearne. Mrs. Robert Guinn is still living, her home being in Rusk. She was born in Georgia, in 1827. After their marriage, the young couple came west by boat in 1847, as far as Shreveport, in company with Judge Reeves, a noted lawyer of Tyler, Texas, in later years, and another traveling companion was Jack Hamilton, who was also prominent as a lawyer and politician in this state. From Shreveport Judge Guinn's party came by stage down through the timber and sand to their respective destinations. The young lawyer spent his first night in Rusk beneath the roof of the old log courthouse, which then stood in the center of the town. For a few months, he sojourned in the country near the town and established himself at the county seat in 1848, where he was a man of growing prominence from that time until his death in 1888. For several years Judge Guinn, Sr., devoted himself to private practice and he quickly gained a position in the confidence of his new community. In 1853 he was elected to the state senate, was a member of that body until 1866, and did important work on various committees. He was president pro-tem of the senate for the time, was chairman of the finance committee, and had the power in aiding the state in supporting the Confederate government and in looking after the families of men who were in the Confederate army. A strong secessionist, his character and voice were important influences in the secession convention which carried Texas into the Confederacy. He gathered much strength as a politician and was a familiar figure in state conventions, and following the period of reconstruction was a member of the Democratic State Committee. He gave his active aid to the party in various campaigns and was an especially strong follower of Governor Lubbock.
In his law practice, Robert Guinn attained a reputation second to none among the criminal lawyers in his part of the state. He tried cases throughout his district, keeping from the death sentence all his clients except one,-Diamond, who committed suicide after the death penalty had been pronounced for the wanton murder of one of the Bryant children. In his private life, Judge Guinn was clean and a man of kindly and righteous character. He belonged to the Methodist church and was a close reader of the Word. On a small farm near Rusk, he spent many of his years and had little interest in other matters outside of his profession and the education and culture of his children. Money-making had no place in his nature, and his fraternal side showed itself in membership in the two leading fraternal orders, the Masons and Odd Fellows.
Sometime during the decade of the forties, Robert Guinn married Miss Hearne, as already stated, and their children were as follows: Heflin S., whose career has been chiefly spent in engineering work, and as county surveyor of Cherokee county, and who married Mollie Horton; P. P., a farmer of Rusk, who married Mary Clay; Mrs. Callie Reeves, who died at Rusk, leaving a family; Frank B.; William T., who married Laura Cameron, and died in Rusk with a family; James K., of Hughes Springs, Texas, who married Miss Belle Miller; John B., a merchant of Rusk, who married Anna Tucker; Lee D., who is district judge of the Second Judicial District of Texas, living in Rusk and who is married to Miss Florence Crittenden; Lulu J., the wife of E. T. Durrough, of Atlanta, Georgia; and Hubbard G., of Lubbock, Texas. Judge Frank Benton Guinn was born at Rusk, on May 29, 1855. Part of his boyhood was spent during the troublesome period of the Civil War, and in the later reconstruction era, and these conditions necessarily delayed his education. He was a student at the Masonic Institute, and later entered Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee, in the law department. In 1882 he graduated in law and then returned to his native state. Already he had received some official experience as a county surveyor of Cherokee County, an office to which he was elected before completing his law studies. Then in 1882 came his election as county attorney of Cherokee County, and the six years of his service in that capacity were marked by a number of important accomplishments, including his success in breaking up the nefarious practice of playing pool and billiards for the drinks. Eleven of the twelve proprietors of saloons in the county were convicted under his regime, and his administration was salutary in every respect. While in that office Judge Guinn formed a partnership with R. H. Morris, who was at that time district attorney. He was thus given a wide experience as an assistant to his partner in the criminal work of the district courts.
When Judge Guinn's term of county attorney expired he declined another term and spent two years building up a private practice. About that time his relations with Mr. Morris were discontinued and in 1890 he was elected county judge and served on the bench for six years. As ex-officio county superintendent, he rendered valuable aid to the public schools by adopting, independently, a system of textbooks that proved most beneficial and established a precedent that in later years was applied throughout the state and has resulted in a complete system of books for use in the public schools. This new plan, as inaugurated by Judge Guinn, created a wide interest in public school work, and was one of the many things that his constituents held in his favor. In 1894, when the populist party gained its greatest victory in Cherokee County, Judge Guinn was one of the few Democrats elected and led the ticket with a majority.
In 1896 Judge Guinn retired to the private practice of law, and at the same time engaged in real estate activities. In this latter field, he took up local development and has probably done more than any other individual to improve agriculture along modern lines. He has introduced the culture of both vegetables and fruits and embarked on the truck and fruit business and was chosen president of the Rusk Truck Growers' Association, and the Rusk Fruit Growers' Association, at the same time being made chairman of the County Association of Truck and Fruit Growers. When the railroad companies proposed to furnish transportation to delegates to study fruit culture, picking, packing, and marketing in the states of Colorado and California, Judge Guinn was appointed one of the commissioners and was selected to make the report to the meeting of the various growers at Tyler. For some years Judge Guinn planted and maintained an orchard of seven thousand trees in this section, but after fruit culture had proved unprofitable, he shifted his interests to pecan growing and is now one of the most extensive growers of "paper shells" in Texas. He has taken a deep interest in the work of the Farmers' Congress and is a member of the State Horticultural Society of Texas.
In 1902 Judge Guinn was elected to the Twenty-eighth Legislature of Texas, was chairman of the committee on penitentiaries, and introduced and passed a bill appropriating $150,000.00 for the rehabilitation of the Rusk prison iron industry, which gave new life to the institution for several years, and gave the state some standing and respect as a competitor in the markets of the country. He was on the committee on the Public Lands of the senate, and in the twenty-ninth legislature was the author of the present fruit and nursery inspection law. With the aid of Bennett, of Erath, he got through an amendment to the constitution, making it lawful to levy a tax for the payment of juror fees instead of using the funds of the bridge and road account for that purpose. Subsequently, and when not a member of the legislature, he used his influence for the building of the Texas and New Orleans Railway into Rusk and is admittedly the cause of the construction of the Gallatin spur.
Judge Guinn owned the Rusk Press-Journal, edited it during a portion of 1907 and 1908, and was chairman of the local committee in charge of the building of Texas and New Orleans Road to this point.
In 1907 Governor Campbell appointed Judge Guinn assistant financial agent of penitentiaries, having been in charge of the penitentiary at Rusk. During the early part of his three years of service, the iron industry here became prosperous. Misfortune subsequently befell the plant because of its physical condition and when the board of managers declined to respond to its needs, Judge Guinn sent in his resignation. In local affairs, Judge Guinn has been identified with the educational matters of Rusk for many years and is chairman of the school board.
On December 5, 1882, Judge Guinn married Miss Mary Pope, a daughter of Capt. John T. Aycock, and a granddaughter of Dr. C. G. Raines. Mrs. Guinn died in 1899, leaving the following children: Dr. Fred. B., of El Paso; Charles R.; Frank R., and Pope A., the last three of Rusk. On February 18, 1903, Judge Guinn married Miss Stella Cox, and by this marriage are two children,— Mildred and Evelyn. Judge Guinn is not a member of any church. Fraternally he is past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias and has sat in the Grand Lodge of the State.
Source:
A History of Texas and Texans
Volume 5
By Frank White Johnson, Eugene Campbell Barker, Ernest William Winkler · 1914
Contributor: Kerry Ann Szymanski # 49782268
Son of R. H. Guinn, born in Tennessee, and Sarah Jane Hearn, born in Georgia.
Husband of Stella E. Guinn.
He was a lawyer, 76 years old, married, and a lifetime resident of Rusk, Texas. The informant was John B. Guinn, Rusk; burial was on March 1, 1932. W. H. Wallace, Rusk, was in charge of arrangements.
(Texas death certificate# 5622)
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