Julian Campbell Clopton, Sr. of Kentucky and Texas

Born at Jordan Station, Fulton County, Kentucky, on May 28, 1875, Julian Campbell Clopton was the son of Reuben Monroe Clopton and his first wife, Sarah "Sallie" Clopton Campbell. He is a direct descendant of the first William Clopton, Gentleman, and Ann (Booth) Dennett Clopton. On July 10, 1906, he married a young widow, Alma Cruse in Dallas, Texas. Her maiden name is not known, nor have death certificates been found for either Julian or Sallie. They had two children, Marian Elizabeth Clopton Palmer and Julian Campbell Clopton, Jr.

As the result of a disagreement with his father, Julian left home and school. Julian himself explained this early period of his life in a letter to his nephew, Robert Walter "Bob" Clopton on the occasion of Bob's graduation from high school.

Austin, Texas
May 14 (19)41

My Dear Robert

You will never know how happy your high school announcement made me feel. You did what I could not do 50 years ago on the very same spot. No fooling.

Dr. John F. Moore now of Houston was the teacher or "prof." Those days Judge Ben Powell was chairman of the board. We were living on the old Hucker place So. Of Montgomery. Dr. John F. Moore whipped me. Papa whipped me and Judge Powell expelled as chairman.

So I left home for parts unknown and stopped at Cleburne, Texas, where I contacted Bro Sydney and bunked up with him and his wife, got me a job tiren (tying?) up express packages at $20 per month-Brother Sydney to fall back on. Well I fell back on him in one week at Mr Willicys request, he told Bro Sydney I was not worth Dam, sho enough, no fooling. I could write and tell you lots of things that happened. You getting a degree from the very same school that I got kicked out of makes me very happie. I am glad you are a Clopton and I am your uncle. A little Remembrance, get your self (something). Son was hom this week and I told him about you. He was glad too.

Your Uncle

Julian C. Clopton
2001 Forest Trail
Austin, Texas

Julian arrived in Fort Worth shortly after he was fired from his job in Cleburne. His first job was selling the old Fort Worth Gazette on the streets. He soon established a reputation of reliability and developed a paying route, the largest in town. He continued this for 18 months, saving his money, then took a job as a messenger with the Santa Fe Railroad. After a stint in eastern Texas with a lumber mill, he again joined the Santa Fe in the building department, helping build bridges for two years.

Julian then had his first experience in the hotel business as a night clerk at the Metropolitan Hotel in Fort Worth. After two more years he became chief clerk, and, except for a year in St. Louis, remained in the business for most of the rest of his life.

The first hotel he owned, the Harris in Terrell, Texas, was bought mainly on "nerve," not capital, but he prospered and was able to meet all of his obligations. After a few years he sold out and moved to Mineral Wells, where he built the Oxford Hotel. The hotel burned, and without insurance, Julian found himself with only $35 cash and a wife and a baby daughter to support. Back in Fort Worth, he went to work for a café, but he stayed there only a short time.

With the backing of friends, he built and equipped the Modern Terminal Hotel, across the street from Forth Worth's Union Terminal. Within three years he had paid off all his debts and became the sole owner of the hotel. He sold it in 1910 and with a partner bought the Siebold Hotel in the middle of downtown Fort Worth, their efforts described in a publication of the day as "modernized in every detail from collar to dome, making it a strictly first class hotel." And the Siebold Café became the place to go, especially for business leaders during the lunch hour, and became a meeting place for the "best people" of the city. It maintained this reputation well into the 1940's, but is no longer in existence. He want on to own the very hotel in which he received his first experience as a night clerk, the Metropolitan Hotel. The History of Texas and Texans, printed in 1914, states:

Long years of identification with the hotel business have given to Julian Campbell Clopton a reputation as a host with the traveling public that is indeed enviable, and his own native business ability has been the cause of his excellent success. He has owned and operated a number of hotels in Fort Worth and in other places of the state and has seen misfortune in his day, but he is at the present time regarded as one of the most successful and prosperous men of the city and there is every reason for that belief.

The 1920 Fort Worth Directory has an entry for Julian C. Clopton as a broker and as vice-president of the Western Truck Company. He then went to Conroe, Texas in the early days of the Conroe Oil Field. Soon after that he went back to Austin and was manager of the Austin Hotel and was a member of Governor Dan Moody's staff. He was also active in civic affairs. The last hotel he managed was the Kyle Hotel in Temple. He retired to Austin in 1938 because of bad health.

Based on:

Articles by James M. McMillen , mcmillen@arlington.net
Isabel Lancaster (Clopton) Steiner,
Carter Belle (Munt) Clopton,
and Robert Walter Clopton,
Originally Appearing In The April and August 1991 Issues of the Clopton Newsletter