THOMAS H. SPRINGER, a wholesale and retail furniture dealer of El Paso, was born in St. Mary’s county, Maryland, May 23, 1859, and is a son of Thomas H. and Elizabeth (Hardin) Springer, both of whom are now deceased. The father was born in Wilmington, Delaware, and the mother in Philadelphia.
After leaving Maryland at the age of seventeen years Mr. Springer spent four or five years at Wilmington, and then came to the southwest. He resided in Dallas for a few months and in 1883 arrived in El Paso to become one of its pioneer residents. Here he has lived continuously since. For a time he was employed by others, when, in 1887, he established the furniture business by opening a small second-hand store on North Stanton street. From this beginning, however, he has developed an enterprise to its present pretentious proportions and is now conducting an extensive wholesale and retail establishment in the heart of the business center of the city as Nos. 216-218 San Antonio street, where he has two large and beautiful store-rooms, one for furniture and one for chinaware. He likewise occupies the second and third floors of these buildings, and has had an unusually successful career as a merchant, his trade constantly increasing as the result of business methods which commend him to the confidence and support of the public, for his principles are such as neither seek nor required disguise.
Mr. Springer was married at Abilene, Texas, to Miss Mary Louise Rogers, and they have six children. In community affairs he has figured prominently, especially in connection with the chamber of commerce and the fire department. He has contributed liberally toward the successful establishment of plans and movements for the general good, and he was elected councilman to represent the third ward during the administration of Mayor C. R. Morehead, which was marked by successful and business-like results. In the control of his private interests he has progressed with the growth and development of the city and has wrought along modern lines of trade until today he ranks with the leading merchants of El Paso.
Source: B. B. Paddock, History and Biographical Record of North and West Texas (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1906), Vol. II, pp. 360-361.