Career
He is one of the most progressive men in the industry..a favorite with both the young and the old—famous for the virile optimism that makes him a figure of natural prominence in any lumber gathering."
After attending Central College at Fayette, Missouri, he first went into business as a dry goods merchant, worked for several years in California, and in 1867 began his long and noteworthy career as a lumberman. In 1888 he was founding partner of the firm of Burton-Lingo Company, which became one of the great lumber firms of the Southwest and was an important factor in town construction in Texas. He also organized the Lingo-Leeper & Company lime yard firm, which expanded to more than fifty cities and towns in North Texas and Oklahoma.