Content taken from TEXAS and TEXANS, page 2028, circa 1910

James W. Garrett was born in the Cottonwood community of Henderson county, Texas, nine miles north of Athens, on the old Garrett homestead, January 19, 1873. His grandfather, Stephen Garrett, moved from South Carolina to Alabama and died there. His father, William Percy Garrett first settled in Texas in 1869, having been a soldier in the southern army during the war.

James' life upon the farm was a counterpart of that of other country youths in that time and place, and his education came from the rural college of the same neighborhood, being finally completed by a high school course in Athens. His home remained with his parents until he was twenty-three years of age, when he yielded to the example of his older brother, John H. Garrett, who had already made a successful start as a merchant in Athens, and himself became a clerk in the house of W.C. Scott & Company, with which firm his brother was a silent partner. He applied himself as diligently behind the counter as he did formerly behind the plow, and made rapid progress toward the time when he could see his own name listed among the commercial firms of Athens. He clerked seven years, and then engaged in the grocery business on the east side of the public square. As a merchant his start gradually ascended until it reached the zenith of prosperity, when he constructed his own business house, a two story double brick structure at the southwest corner of the square. This house he occupied in 1910, and it represents his contribution to the substantial growth of the county seat. In dimensions it is forty-two and a half by sixty-eight feet, and makes one of the conspicuous corners of the city.

As a citizen of Athens, Mr. Garrett has been content to give his time wholly to his personal business. Politics have not noticed him, and he has confined himself to a quiet and industrious calling of his private affairs. He is a vigorous specimen of physical manhood, and everything he does seems typical of his personality, which is frank and genial and reliable to the last. His name, "JIM GARRETT", in big letters on the outside of his store, seems to convey confidence to all who see it.

In the neighborhood in which he was brought up Mr. Garrett was married on October 24, 1895 to Miss Mary Roberson, a daughter of R.E. Roberson and Mary (Wilman) Roberson, both of whom came originally from Alabama. Mr. and Mrs. Garret's household contains the following children: Eugene, Elmer, Lillian, Pearl, Robert, Jack, Pauline and John. Fraternally, Mr. Garrett is affiliated with the Masonic Blue Lodge, with the Knights of Pythias, the Knights and Ladies of Honor and the Modern Woodmen of America. His church is the Christian denomination.

Name James Walter Ganett
Gender Male
Race White
Death Age 56
Birth Date 19 Jan 1872
Birth Place Henderson
Death Date 3 Jul 1928
Death Place Athens, Henderson, Texas, USA
Father William Peny Ganett
Mother Sarah Cowen