EDITOR’S NOTE: The original version of this story contained an incorrect spelling of the last name McGowan, due to a historical error. The article has been corrected to reflect the correct information.
It was 100-years-ago this month when the wealthiest man in Texas died, and it’s noteworthy that his death was reported in almost every newspaper in America — and pretty widely throughout the English-speaking world.
His name was Joseph D. Sugg, commonly called either “Ikard,” or sometimes “Acker” depending on the source, and his story is emblematic of the possibilities available in the new American West in the late 1800s.
Sugg’s story began in Mississippi where he was born as the youngest of 13 children.
He and an older brother, Eli Calvin Sugg, made it to Texas and began in business right away, living very frugally and saving every cent they earned, so they could invest in cattle and land.
The pair formed a formidable partnership, and it wasn’t long before they began making headlines in the Lone Star State.
Interestingly, they did not live in Texas, although business frequently brought them to San Angelo and dozens of other commerce centers. They lived in The Indian Territory, in what is now Oklahoma.
Early mentions of the Suggs in Texas newspapers prove they went from strength to strength.
AUSTIN WEEKLY STATESMAN
April 28, 1881
–-Raising cattle in Texas will pay. Mr. E.C. Sugg, the senior of Sugg & Putnam, who have just sold their cattle for $100,000 … Sugg emigrated from Mississippi to Brown County nine years ago, and for some time thereafter he mauled rails for $1 a hundred. He saved his money and put it into “something that would eat grass,” and now he effects a sale of which his share is $55,000, and still has 500 head left.
GALVESTON DAILY NEWS
THU JAN. 26 1882
E.C. Sugg & Bro. of the Indian Territory, have sold their entire stock of cattle at range delivery, to T.J. Allen of Kansas City, and Wilson & Faulon of Leavenworth, Kansas, for the tidy little sum of $350,000 cash…
On May 13, 1883, the Galveston paper related in a list of cattle shipments from that port, that the Sugg Brothers had amassed a new herd of at least 4,500, which is the number of head loaded onto boats after being driven cross country.
The Sugg family homestead at this time, situated on a ranch established between Beaver and Cow creeks by the brothers around 1874 in what was then the Chickasaw Nation. They also had a mercantile there called “Sugg’s Den,” and a little settlement eventually grew up around it, and today it can be found in Chickasaw County, Okla.
A New Century
By the turn of the century, the Sugg Brothers had accumulated a vast fortune, even with some considerable reversals, and they were preparing to close on one of the biggest land deals in West Texas history.
FORT WORTH RECORD AND REGISTER
Nov. 1900
BIG LAND DEAL CLOSING
Sugg Bros have moved to close the largest deal that has been made in this section for years, whereby they become owners of of 137,000 acres of grass land heretofore owned by the Houston and Texas Central Railroad Company. The land is located in Irion and Tom Green counties, and includes much of the best grazing portions in this section…
That report goes on to mention that, according to rumors, the deal had been shrewdly brokered by the brothers, who were buying the land in bulk for $1 per acre.
FORT WORTH RECORD AND REGISTER
TUE DEC 11, 1900
San Angelo Standard: Sugg Bros. bought the river surveys in Ed Passow’s pasture, 3190 1/2 acres, from Edward H. Pardue, at $3 per acre. This property is located on Middle Concho river, ten miles west of San Angelo, and will be used by Sugg Bros. as a pasture in which to hold their shipping cattle. Sugg Bros. also closed the deal for all of the Houston and Texas land in Irion County, and a few sections in Tom Green, a total of 136,570 acres for $136,570. This land was in the name of F.E. Olcott. L.L. Farr of the firm of Broome & Farr of San Angelo assisted in closing these transactions.
End of an Era
J.D. Sugg lost his older brother in April of 1902; E.C. Sugg was 52 years old.
FORT WORTH RECORD AND REGISTER
WED APRIL 23, 1902
Gainesville, Indian Territory, April 22 — E.C. Sugg, one of the best known cattlemen in the Territory, died here this morning at 6:15…Sugg was a pioneer settler in the Indian Country, and lived there when conditions were wild and turbulent. At the time of his death he owned many thousands of acres of pasture and grazing lands. His wealth is estimated $1,500,000. His home was at Sugden, a town on the Rock Island Line, named by the company in honor of Mr. Sugg who had rendered valuable assistance while the railroad was building. he leaves a wife and three children.
In other reports it was noted that “Colonel” Sugg’s land was mostly in the Concho Country, where he owned the Comer and J.B. Wilson ranches in Irion County.
Another report called Sugg “one of the foremost operators in the southwest.”
According to historical accounts, J.D. Sugg carried on with their tradition of big deals, as reported June 4 in the Record and Register, Sugg “had 7 cars of cattle, 295 head, in the yards en route from San Angelo to Sugden…” that day.
As the years rolled by, J.D. Sugg made the newspapers everywhere he went, and his business carried him all over. He lived in hotels, ranch homes and owned homes in San Angelo and other towns important to his operations.
In 1905, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported, in an agricultural dispatch from San Angelo, that Sugg “purchased from J.B. Murrah 1,500 head of bred ewes at $3.25 per head and sold the wool on their backs for next spring’s delivery to A.W. Littlehale at 20-cents per pound.
Mr. Sugg is one of the biggest cattlemen in Texas and owns the biggest ranch in this western section, the O H Triangle ranch in Irion County. He is also a director at the National Exchange Bank of Dallas. This is his initial venture into the sheep business.”
Sugg was also a pioneer in the feedlot business, as seen in this dispatch from the February 2, 1905, Star-Telegram.
“A great many Concho Country steers are on feed in pens at different places. J.D. Sugg has a big lot on feed at Belton, there are a lot at Ballinger, Cameron, Temple and other places. Reports from the feeders state that their steers are putting on fat at a great rate and if there is anything like a good market in the spring they stand to make a good profit on their feeding operations.”
The size of most cattle sales involving Sugg is telling of the resources covering his vast rangelands in Texas and the new state of Oklahoma.
At a time when the average ranch owner in Texas might run a herd of 500 to 1,000 head on a decent-sized spread, Sugg routinely sold cattle by the thousands.
Two deals in 1910 illustrate this.
In the first, it’s mentioned in the San Angelo newspaper that Mr. Sugg had recently sold 4,000 head of cattle to a Lee Russell for the sum of $100,000. Russell purchased 115,000 head in a single week, according to the report.
In an April 21 dispatch in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, it’s reported that W.T. Waggoner, son of the Waggoner Ranch founder, was in San Angelo to buy 5,000 head of 2-year-old steers from J.D. Sugg and the Montague Brothers for shipment to Wichita and Wilbarger counties for a reported price of $133,500.
While always known as a cattleman, he eventually was listed as a director of several banks in Texas and Oklahoma, and had extensively diversified holdings, earned mostly before the income tax.
(He also went on to invest in the new industry of petroleum refining, perhaps foreshadowing the natural resource that became the family’s principal source wealth — Oil and gas royalties.)
Saturday, August 15, 1925
AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN
BARTLETT, Aug. 15 — Word has been received here telling of the death of J.D. Sugg, aged 74, at his home in Chickasha, Okla. Mr. Sugg is a millionaire cattleman owning about 600,000 acres of land in the San Angelo country, and also the Bartlett Oil Mill and the oil mills at Granger and at Belton.
Joseph D. Sugg was buried in Gainesville, in Cooke County, Texas, just south of the Red River.
In September, The Waurika News-Democrat, published in Jefferson County, Okla., reported extensively on the details of his last will and testament.
Friday, September 4, 1925
Details from the Last Will and Testament of J.D. Suggs were reported as follows:
MART MITCHELL, aged and respected Negro of Waurika, and one of the most familiar figures about town, was remembered in the will of the late J. D. SUGGS, filed for probate at San Angelo, Texas last week. MART was left the income from a $5,000.00 bequest for the term of his natural life and a mortgage on his home in Waurika was also extended during Mart’ life time.
Mart was an old time employee of the Sugg family and had rendered them much service. He was a little disappointed in the terms of the will as he has expected to have the legacy left to him absolutely and this was one of the provisions of a will made by Mr. Sugg in 1915, but the later will made the change as it did in many other provisions of the first will.
Mart was the faithful employee of the Sugg brothers for many years and herded cattle for them all over this part of Oklahoma. Mart says that when he first went into their employ, that they did not have much money but that though the pioneer years of this section, their holdings gradually grew larger and larger until they became two of the richest men of the Southwest.
There has been a story current around here for many years that the Sugg brothers would leave Mart a good legacy and he still believes that there was something wrong when he was not remembered in the will of CAL SUGG, who died some years ago. The rumor was also current that the legacy would come because Mart save the life of one of the brothers at one time, but Mart says this is an error.
The old Negro states that this story probably came from the incident in which he probably saved the life of R. L. GIBSON of Sugden, when Gibson was a small boy. This was in 1877 when Mr. Gibson was just a lad. He hen lived at Spanish Fort, Texas and was visiting his uncles on their Oklahoma ranch. BOB was out riding with Mart on the ranch, when his bronco came to a sudden stop and threw him off catching one foot in the stirrup. The horse was a wild one and it was Mart’s presence of mind to cut the saddle girth and release the boy that saved his life.
ROBERT L. GIBSON, of Sugden, and each of his children, were left $10,000.00 and in addition, Mr. Gibson was given the 16,000 acre HAINES ranch in Iron County, Texas. Mr. Gibson is a nephew of the Sugg brothers.
The will filed for probate in Iron Co. court names his nephews and nieces as the principal beneficiaries after special bequests and all debts and taxes are paid. The estate was estimated to be worth between $3,000,000 and $4,000,000.
The will appoints JUDGE E. S BRIANT of San Angelo, business manager of Sugg’s West Texas properties, as independent executor without bond. Judge Briant had been appointed temporary administrator in Oklahoma by the probate court of Grady County.
Sugg’s will was executed Feb. 2, 1915 and codicils were appended in April, 1921 and July 1925. He left the O. H. Triangle and 7 D ranches in Irion, Sterling, Reagan and Tom Green counties, embracing approximately 280,000 acres and all livestock on them to his nephews, CALVIN and A. A. SUGG, and MISS ELLA SUGG, a niece, all of Los Angeles, sons and daughters of CALVIN SUGG, a deceased brother.
Other bequests are to MRS. BELL MCCOWN of Fort Worth, a niece and her children, the Sugg Theatre building in Chickasha and $5,000 each; to MRS. NELLIE MCCOWAN of Cotton Plant, Arkansas, a niece and to her children, the Twin Mountain ranch of 10,000 acres, a few miles west of San Angelo and also stock in the Occidental Oil Company at Belton, Harlett, and Granger, Texas and $5,000 cash.
The Fairview Cemetery Association at Gainesville, in which Sugg was buried, will received $5,000 as a permanent maintenance fund, his nephews STEPHEN, GIBSON, and TILLMAN Sugg of Lubbock and WILLIAM SUGG of Wellington, Texas and each of the children of William Sugg will get $5,000. Sugg left to FRANCES M. DAUGHTERY of Gainesville 200 shares of the capital stock of the First National Bank in Chickasha and 10 shares of stock in the Gainesville Sanitarium, to MISS HATTIE GREEN of San Angelo, all his stock in the Central National Bank at Chickasha, 476 shares and two brick buildings on East Beauregard Avenue in Chickasha, one of three stories, the other o a two story structure, to the two sons of BEN F. CAMPBELL of Dallas, 165 shares of the capitol stock of the Southern Life Insurance Company of Dallas, to MISS NELLIE HARPER of Sanger, Texas, all his tock in the First National Bank of Gainesville, 1227 shares to CASSIE BROWN of Ryan, a niece and her daughter, KELLY MAJOR, $25,000 each.
The daughters of MRS. NELLIE MCCOWAN of Cotton Plant, Arkansas, a niece, will receive for life the Sugg Bank Building in Chickasha which revert to the estate upon their deaths. All the indebtedness of A. B. BLACKWELL to Sugg is remitted. A. A. DEAVORS, long a Sugg employee, will draw for life the interest from a $5,000 fund to be invested for him, the fund reverting to the estate on Deavor’s death. The Kozy Theatre building in Chickasha goes to J. D. LINDSAY of that city for life, reverting to the estate on his death. JOHN SCARN of Chickasha received the cattle feed pens there, which will also revert to the estate after his death, and JOHN YEARY of Chickasha gets 160 acres of land adjoining Chickasha.
All the residue of the estate, after all bequests have been paid, obligations met, will be converted to cash and will be divided equally among Sugg’s nephews and nieces.
The Sugg Family in San Angelo
The Sugg family has been involved philanthropy extensively in San Angelo for well over 100 years, supporting the Arts, and other causes important to them.
In recent years, a generation of the family born before World War II came to a close.
A.A. “Andy” Sugg Jr. died in 2019. He was a resident of Texas and California, and began superintending the famous O H Triangle Ranch in Irion County and other properties at a young age. The O H Triangle is still very much in business today.
Brothers Cal and Joel Sugg were the sons of Calvin Holt Sugg, and they grew up in Texas and California as well. Although each had separate careers, they continued the family tradition of a partnership between brothers, working to develop the finest livestock and rangelands.
Cal Sugg died on Feb. 4 of this year. He was preceded in death by his brother Joel, born in 1939 died on May 1, 2023.
The McGowan Family
From Elizabeth McGowan Blount
Nettie Bagby McCown of Cotton Plant, Arkansas, the daughter of J.D. Sugg’s older sister, Mary Sugg Bagby, had three children; Etoile Canterbury, Dorothea McGowan and Calvin Meehan McGowan, and inherited the Twin Mountain Ranch west of San Angelo.
Calvin Meehan McGowan married Pauline McFall and had three children, John Meehan McGown, Calvin Browning McGowan and James Bagby McGowan, all of Cotton Plant, Arkansas.
Calvin Browning McGowan inherited the Twin Mountain ranch land from his grandmother, Nettie McGowan and began his ranching career upon his graduation from Texas A&M University in 1948 with a degree in Animal Husbandry.
He owned and operated the Twin Mountain Ranch from 1949 until his death in 2016. He married Charles Anne Walling in 1951 who was also in the ranching industry.
They were residents of San Angelo, Texas for over 70 years and had 4 children.
