It has been within a comparatively
short period that the possibilities of Texas as a
fruit-producing state
have been demonstrated, but within a comparatively
few years it has
been shown that the soil of Texas under scientific
care can be made to
produce as fine fruits as can be raised in the
world. Rev. Mikels,
having retired from the active work of ministry,
is today recognized as
one of the leading representatives of
horticultural interests in Texas,
with a fine fruit farm that is pleasantly and
conveniently located
about four miles east of Denison.
He was born in Davis County,
Missouri, October 8, 1844, a son of William and Sarah (Rouark) Mikels,
both of whom were natives of Kentucky. The father
was a Baptist
minister and farmer, devoting his life to
agricultural pursuits in
Missouri and Indiana. He died in the latter state
when about fifty
years of age, and his wife passed away in the same
state when
seventy-three years of age. In their family were
eight children, but
only two are now living, the elder brother being W. R. Mikels,
who is a Methodist minister engaged in preaching
in Indiana.
Rev. Frank Mikels pursued his early
education in the public schools of Indiana and
continued his literary
course in Thornton Academy. Subsequently he
studied theology at the
Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois, a
Methodist school, and
was a graduate of the conference class. Coming to
the Southwest, he
directed his labors for the benefit of the church
and his fellow-men
until a very recent date, but in September 1903
[he] retired from
active work of the ministry, and in June 1904
purchased his present
farm and home.
He owns sixty acres of land about
four miles east of Denison, which is a
well-improved property, largely
planted to fruit trees and devoted to market
gardening. There is a
peach orchard of thirty-two acres with apple trees
planted in alternate
rows, and there are four acres of fine pear trees.
From the orchard,
Mr. Mikels sold in 1904 about fifteen hundred
bushels of fine peaches.
He is continually adding to the number of his
fruit trees, and there is
no finer fruit farm to the found in Texas. The
place is supplied with
excellent water, and, in addition to his orchards,
Mr. Mikels has five
acres of blackberries and raspberries. His home is
a fine two-story
residence containing fourteen rooms, and [it] is
one of the handsomest
country homes in northern Texas, being supplied
with every modern
convenience that adds to its comfort and
attractive appearance.
On the 12th of December, 1865, Mr.
Mikels was married in Thorntown, Boone County,
Indiana, to Miss Mary
A. Ross, whose birth
occurred in Tippecanoe County, that state, and
they have two living
children, William A.
and Lena Belle, both of
whom
were born in Indiana. The latter is the wife of E. E. Bailey and has
two
children, Ross M.
and Bessie Ruth.
At the time of the Civil War, Mr.
Mikels, responding to the call of the Union,
enlisted on the 15th of
October, 1861, in the Fortieth Regiment of Indiana
Volunteers and
became a private in Company K, with which he
served for a little more
than three years. He was in a number of hotly
contested engagements and
was injured in the charge of Kennesaw Mountain,
sustaining a slight
scalp wound. It was following his military service
that he entered the
ministry, devoting a number of years to the active
work of the church.
He belongs to the Knights of
Pythias and Masonic fraternities, and also to the
Grand Army of the
Republic, having been made a member of the last
named in Indiana. His
political views accord with Republican principles.
He is now directing
his energies entirely to the development and
improvement of his
splendid fruit farm and intends to make it a model
in every respect.
His intellectual qualities, business integrity,
and genuine personal
worth have already won for him the friendly regard
of many with whom he
has come in contact during his residence in
Denison, and the circle of
his friends is constantly growing.
[Source:
B. B. Paddock, History
and Biographical Record of North and West
Texas (Chicago:
Lewis Publishing Co., 1906), Vol. I, pp.
629-630.]
