PADGITT, TOM (1846-1926). Tom Padgitt, businessman, was born near Gallatin, Tennessee, on December 13, 1846. In 1853 his family moved to Texas and settled at Goose Creek and then Houston. In 1858 Padgitt went to work for his uncle, a saddle and harness maker. During the Civil War^qv he worked in a Confederate Army saddle shop in Houston; after the war he opened his own saddle and harness shop in Bryan and then extended his business into Kosse, Groesbeck, and Corsicana. In 1872 Padgitt opened a saddle and harness shop in Waco. During World War I^qv his company filled American and British contracts; later the company carried on extensive trade with Latin America and became one of the most widely known firms in the South. Padgitt organized the first fire-fighting brigade in Waco and the Red Stockings, Waco's first professional baseball club. He was a leader in the development of the Waco Cotton Palace^qv and built a natatorium that housed Waco's first indoor swimming pool. He was married three times, first in 1870 to Amanda Hutchison; they had one daughter before Amanda died. His second wife was Kate Ross Padgitt;^qv they were married in 1878 and had six children. After Kate died, Padgitt married Fannie S. Wall, on October 6, 1914. Padgitt died on October 19, 1926, and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Waco.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Waco Times-Herald, October 19, 1926, June 28, 1936. Waco Tribune-Herald, April 3, 30, 1967.

Merle Mears Duncan