Excerpt from History of Texas, Vol. 4: Fort Worth and the Texas Northwest Edition J. A. Douglas smith. A highly successful oil operator and a pioneer in the oil develop ment of Wichita County. J. A. Douglas Smith, of Burkburnett. Has never been a soft-handed. White-collar man, but grew up inured to the work and hardships of the cattle range. And acquired initiative, self-reliance and resource fulness in a business even more uncertain and requiring fully as much nerve as operating for oil. If; He was born in County. Texas. In 1870. -\t that time Wise County was well out toward the frontier and the fear of Indian incursion had not yet subsided. His parents, 8. M. And Margaret (shinn) Smith, now de ceased, were early settlers in Texas. His father was a native of Mississippi and served with a regiment from that state throughout the four years of the Confederate war. In Jan uary, 1870. He brought his family to Texas and settled in the Pleasant Valley section of \vise County. About two miles from old Bridgeport and about twelve miles from the county seat of Decatur. He was a farmer and cattleman and also a school teacher. In 1881 he taught the first school in Pleasant Valley, the schoolhouse being a log structure. He was a genuinely good man and upright citizen. And impressed his sturdy character on that pioneer community. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.