H. J. Justin

Herman Joseph Justin was born April 7, 1859 in Lafayette, Indiana to Nicholas Wilhelm Justen and Katherine Hubertz Justen. Both of his parents were born in Germany. H. J. was the oldest of their six children. Some biographies, including the Justin Boots website, list Nicholas’ profession as cigar maker, but in the 1870 and 1880 census he is listed as a tailor.

H. J. struck out on his own at the age of 18 and boarded a train for Texas in 1877. He had learned the trade of shoe making as an apprentice in Indiana before moving to Texas. The legend is that H. J. carried with him his only possessions, a hammer and an awl. He moved to Cooke County for a short time before settling in Burlington, now known as Spanish Fort, Texas, located just off the Red River north of present day Nocona. The little community was formerly on a branch of a cattle trail flowing north until it fell out of use likely in favor of the Great Western Trail to the west. He operated out of a one room building near the river bank. While there he began by first doing repairs before he acquired enough materials to make his own shoes and boots. Ten years later in 1887, H. J. was married to Louanna F. “Annie” Allen, daughter of a local doctor. Annie had been born in Lipan, Hood County, in 1865. By 1887, H. J. had developed a nice following and around 1889, he decided to move the business a few miles south to a new town called Nocona, Texas.

For a while, Nocona was served by a short line called the Gainesville, Henrietta and Western Railway, connecting with the MKT railroad. A local rancher named Jordan had pledged to donate land for a town site. The advantage of rail shipping appealed to H. J. The factory operated there for about thirty-eight years until 1925, seven years after the death of H. J. During that time, the boots became even more popular. In an article by Jane Pattie (1), the author credits Annie Justin with coming up with a self-measuring kit where potential customers could order boots by mail. The kit she designed had a measuring chart and an order form. Two of the Justin sons, John and Earl, were the first to be active in the business and in 1908 the name of the company was changed to H. J. Justin & Sons, a partnership. Another son, Sam, joined the business as well. Acknowledging tradition, boots were still advertised as “H. J. Justin Hand-Made Boots.”

H. J.’s health began to decline around 1916 and the sons took on more of the management. H. J. died on July 14, 1918 and was buried in Nocona Cemetery. Around 1925, the sons moved the business to Fort Worth where there were potentially better facilities, a larger work force and opportunities for shipping and sales.

Children of the H. J. and Annie were John Sullivan (1888 – 1959), William Earl (1890 – 1952), Fern (1892 – 1980), Enid (1894 – 1990), Samuel Avis (1896 – 1983), Anis (1898 – 1983) and Doris Myrl (1907 – 1985).

When the company moved to Fort Worth, Enid Mae Justin Stelzer, elected to remain in Nocona and founded Nocona Boots, operating out of the former Justin factory. For a while, Enid was known as the only female boot maker. As an aside, according to an article in the Colorado Springs (CO) Gazette-Telegraph of September 4, 1972, an Oklahoma couple was passing through Nocona in 1958 and visited a museum where a woman’s group was selling selected artifacts to raise money. The couple was looking at a curved white object about six inches long. They became interested and bought it. When they inquired about what it may have been used for, they were referred to Enid, who identified it as a tool made of bone that H. J. had used to smooth out small wrinkles in the leather. Enid also added that if her father were still alive, he would have wanted the business to remain in Nocona.

By 1939, the Fort Worth factory was employing 100 people and celebrated its 60th anniversary at its new location on West Daggett and Hemphill streets. Earlier that year, Annie Justin had passed away. She was also buried in Nocona as are more than a dozen members of the Justin family.

John, Earl and Sam are known to have been active in the business during their adult lives. John Sullivan Justin, Sr. worked at the plant until 1959. John Sullivan Justin, Jr. came into the business and served as president beginning in 1951. Following the death of John, Sr., John, Jr. acquired the remaining family owned shares and became Chief Executive Officer two years later.

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The company operated primarily in the boot and shoe industry until around 1968. That year, it began to expand into other lines of business as it consummated the merger with Acme Brick. Acme Brick was likewise a well known old company, having been organized in 1890. Acme Brick is not to be confused with Acme Boots, a different company that is not associated with any of the Justin entities. The next company acquired was their sister Enid’s company, Nocona Boots, in 1981. By then, Enid was well over 80 years old. Four years later, the company acquired the Chippewa Shoe Manufacturing Company. The company was originally founded in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin in 1901. Chippewa supplied boots to the United States military during World War I and World War II and continued to provide specialty military footwear in later situations. Next, the company acquired another major western boot company, Tony Lama. Its namesake, Tony Lama, was of Italian heritage, born in 1887, making him about the age of some of the second generation Justin family members. Like H. J. Tony Lama began his business on a small scale and expanded into a successful national marketer of boots and shoes. It always operated out of El Paso, was a competitor in the boot business and was acquired by Justin in 1990.

The company added to its building material companies by acquiring Featherlite, Texas Quarries, American Tile and possibly others. It also acquired a publishing company. In 1989, it survived what is called a hostile takeover attempt by another company in the building materials business. The effort to take over Justin Industries, Inc. was unsuccessful.

An umbrella holding company had been created called First Fort Worth. In 1972 its name was changed to Justin Industries, Inc. It operated independently as a private company for many years. It later went public and traded on the NASDAQ exchange under the ticker symbol JSTN until 2000 when it was acquired in a tender offer from Berkshire Hathaway. Currently, the Justin related companies are still owned and operated by Berkshire Hathaway.

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(1) “Encyclopedia of the Great Plains,” edited by David J. Wishart, page 424.

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