CHARLES W. BATSELL. The deserved reward of a well spent life is an honored retirement from business in which to enjoy the fruits of former toil, and today after many years of earnest work Mr. Batsell is quietly living at his pleasant home in Sherman, surrounded by the comforts that former labor has brought to him. He is a native son of Kentucky, his birth having occurred in Taylor county on the 23rd of August, 1839, his parents being James M. and Mary (Reynolds) Batsell, both also natives of that commonwealth. There the father followed agricultural pursuits for a time, but in 1850 left his native state and with a colony of Kentuckians came to Texas and founded the town of Kentuckytown. Ever since arrival in this state he has maintained his home in Grayson county, being now a resident of Whitewright. Although he has reached the ninety-second milestone on the journey of life, he is still hale and hearty, and his name is engraved indelibly on the pages of Grayson county’s history. Mrs. Batsell died when seventy-eight years of age. To this worthy couple were born eight children, six of whom still survive, as follows: Thomas H., who served as a lieutenant in the Sixteenth Texas Regiment during the Civil war, and died from the effects of wounds received in the battle of Milliken’s Bend; Charles W., whose name introduces this review; Eliza J., the wife of S. B. Sivells, a retired farmer of Whitewright; Catherine, now Mrs. McKenna, and also a resident of Whitewright; John F., a farmer of Fort Worth, Texas; James A., who was a well known merchant at Whitewright, and there his death occurred when in middle life; Mary K., wife of M. A. Ayers, who resides near Whitewright; and Mrs. J. H. Reeves, also a resident of that city.
Charles W. Batsell received his educational training in the public schools of Texas, and after reaching years of maturity engaged in mercantile pursuits, being thus engaged at Pilot Grove, Kentuckytown, and Sherman, meeting with a well deserved success in all these places. He also owned and operated the Sherman Street Railroad for the long period of fifteen years, but recently put aside all business cares, with the exception of the superintendency of a cigar and tobacco stand in his son’s drug store. He is, however, still a property owner, owning lands both in the city and county. At the time of the inauguration of the Civil war Mr. Batsell offered his services, and was made a member of Company G, Sixteenth Texas Regiment, in 1861, under Colonel Fitzhugh, and served throughout the entire struggle, being stationed during all that time west of the Mississippi river. He entered the ranks as an orderly sergeant, but was transferred to the Second Mississippi Department as purchasing agent. When his country no longer needed his services he returned home and again took up the duties of a business life, and through his own efforts he has risen to a position of prominence in industrial circles.
In 1861 Mr. Batsell was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Clement, a native of Grayson county, and they became the parents of three children, the eldest of whom, Tom Annie, married, and died in young womanhood in Sherman, Texas. The second child, James M., is engaged in the livery business in that city. He married a Miss Dodge, and they have three children living. Charles W., Jr., the second son and third child, is a well known and prominent druggist in Sherman. He married Miss Stella Reeves, and they have one little daughter, Annie. Mrs. Batsell died in 1878, and Mr. Batsell afterward married Mrs. Rosa F. Tutt, who bore the maiden name of Thomas. She is a member of the Christian church, and Mr. Batsell holds membership relations with the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained the Royal Arch degree. His political affiliations are with the Democratic party, and as its representative he was nominated for the office of county commissioner on the 6th of July, 1884, to which he was elected in the following November, representing precinct No. 1. His reputation in business has ever been unassailable, and in all the walks of life he is found true to duty and the trusts reposed in him.
Source: B. B. Paddock, History and Biographical Record of North and West Texas (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1906), Vol. I, pp. 636-637.