By Brian Gunn
When W. H. Flippen arrived in Dallas in 1880, he quickly became a force in the city’s financial landscape. Teaming up with French emigrant J. Bertrand Adoue and Galveston banker Joseph Lobit, Flippen cofounded the banking firm of Flippen, Adoue & Lobit.
The trio commissioned noted architect James Flanders to design their firm’s headquarters at the southwest corner of Elm and Poydras Streets.
A year later, Flippen again enlisted Flanders—this time to design a stately home at 281 Ross Avenue, nestled between Oleander (now Ervay) and Masten (now St. Paul). His address placed him among some of Dallas’s most prominent residents: Jules Schneider next door, Mrs. Caruth on the other side, John T. Trezevant across the street, and Alfred Belo down the block.
In addition to his banking career, Flippen served three terms as Dallas City Treasurer, balancing civic duty with business acumen. Tragically, his life was cut short at age 52 due to heart complications. His obituary painted a poignant picture:
For several months preceding his death, he accustomed himself to sleep in a sitting posture, the peculiarity of his disease preventing him from lying down, and he frequently remarked to his friends that he was living by the clock, expecting the last day at any moment—but always maintaining a cheerful disposition.
W. H. Flippen now rests at Greenwood Cemetery, among the city’s early pioneers.
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