A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume I, Part 85

Author: Hill, L. B. (Luther B.)
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pubishing Company
Number of Pages: 645

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Reid Riggins was a lad of six at the time of his mother's removal to Texas, and there he grew to manhood's estate and re- ceived an excellent educational training in the graded and high schools and in a normal college. After leaving school he was for two years engaged in rail- road work for the M., K. & T. and T. & P. railroads at Whitesboro, Texas, and for ten years identified with the Santa Fe Railway Co. at Gainesville, Texas ; for five years of this time as cashier of the company. Then going to Duncan, Indian Territory, assisted in organizing the Duncan Bank, a national institution, and continued as its cashier until 1901. The bank at that time changed hands, and Mr. Riggins went to Atoka, in the same terri- tory, and assisted in organizing the Atoka National Bank, and became its cashier, but a short time afterward he accepted the po- sition of assistant cashier -of the First Na- tional Bank of Holdenville, Indian Terri- tory, and remained there until he came to Asher to enter upon his successful connec-

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tion with the Canadian Valley Bank, which is capitalized at ten thousand dollars and is under the supervision of Reid Riggins, president, and F. J. Richards, cashier, while the directors are Reid Riggins, A. T. Douglas and F. J. Richards, all men of prominence and well known ability, and the bank is one of the solid financial insti- tutions of the county.

In Anderson, Indiana, in 1892, Mr. Rig- gins married Fay Mershon, a successful teacher before her marriage and a daughter of J. D. Mershon and a sister of W. R. Mershon, both prominent and well known residents of Pottawatomie county. The three children of Mr. and Mrs. Riggins are Russell, a lad of eleven years; May Jo- sephine, who is three years of age, and Percy, named in honor of Captain P. M. Percy, of the U. S. navy and a cousin of his mother. Mr. Riggins gives a stanch support to the Democratic party, an active worker in its local ranks, and fraternally he is a member of the Masonic order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Knights of Pythias. The family are of the Methodist faith.

I. B. ALBERT. Among the efficient finan- ciers and officials of Oklahoma is recorded the name of I. B. Albert, who is now serv- ing in the office of justice of McComb, an office equivalent to that of judge in other places. During two terms, beginning in 1903, he was the justice of Burnett town- ship, and he also represented the Demo- cratic party as a delegate to its convention in 1906. Throughout the period of his residence here he has been actively inter- ested in all measures advanced for the good of the people, has performed his full share in the development and improvement of the city and county, and many of the finest buildings of McComb and vicinity stand as monuments to his skill. During his early life he learned the carpenter's trade, and has become an excellent contractor and mechanic.

Justice Albert was born in Clay coun- ty, Indiana, in March, 1853, a son of Isaac and Elizabeth (Haney) Albert, both of whom were born in Pennsylvania and were of German ancestry. They were farming

people, and both are now deceased, the father dying in Texas when he had reached the age of sixty years, and the mother's death occurred in Colorado at the age of sixty-seven years. Their family numbered eight children, among whom was the pres- ent justice of McComb, I. B. Albert. When a youth of fourteen he went to Benton county, Missouri, and going from there to Montague county, Texas, in 1874, he spent eighteen months there and then returned to Missouri. Again moving, he was in Cher- okee county, Kansas, spent one year in Texas, and then came to Oklahoma, where in Pottawatomie county he now stands prominently forth on the pages of its politi- cal and industrial history.

Mr. Albert married, in Benton county, Missouri, in 1874, Miss Magdalena John- son, who was born, reared and educated in that county. Her father, John F. Johnson, served as a soldier in the Union army dur- ing the Civil war, and he died in Henry county, Missouri, near Clinton, at the age of seventy-four years. He was a member of the Baptist church. His wife, Mary Wil- helm, died twenty-nine years ago in Mis- souri, aged forty-five years. Of their three children two are living. Of the ten children born to Mr. and Mrs. Albert, five sons and two daughters are living: Mildred, Etta, Jennie, Darrie, Noble, Eugene and Teddy R. The youngest, a little lad of eight years, was named in honor of President Roose- velt. Mrs. Albert is a member of the Bap- tist church. Mr. Albert has membership relations with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge No. 207, of McComb and also represents a good fire insurance company.

E. E. CORNELL. For six years the name of Professor Cornell was inseparably inter- woven with the history of the educational interests of Oklahoma, and he was prom- inently before the people as the principal of the McComb public school. Here he had supervision over a four-room building with an enrollment of eighty-eight pupils, and the school is in a prosperous Condition. The principal stood in the front rank of the educators of Oklahoma, and his ever broad- ening influence upon the educational inter-

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ests of Pottawatomie county is incalculable. have achieved results. He is the genial In the spring of 1908 Professor Cornell gave up teaching to engage in mercantile business.

Born in Arkansas, near Mountain Home, in the centennial year of 1876, he is a son of Abraham and Abbie (Melcher) Cornell, natives respectively of the states of New York and Maine. The father was a me- chanie, a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war, a Republican politically, and his death occurred in Arkansas. Of the six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Cornell, three sons and three daughters, one son is now deceased. Mrs. Cornell is a member of the Baptist church. The educational training of the son, E. E. Cornell, was re- ceived in the public schools of Arkansas, and by diligent study at home, and for some years after entering business life he worked in a sawmill. Since attaining the age of twenty-four years he has been identified with school work. In political matters he upholds the principles of the Republican party, and fraternally he has achieved high rank in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, holding membership in Lodge No. 207, and he has represented the order in the Grand Lodge. He is also a member of the order of Masons.

In McComb, in April, 1907, Mr Cornell married Blanche Pitman, who was born in Indian Territory, but was reared and edu- cated in Oklahoma. Her father is J. H. Pit- man. Professor Cornell takes a sincere in- terest in the welfare. of McComb and Pottawatomie county, and his genial per- sonality makes and retains him many friends.

ALPHEUS M. TRIBBEY. The name borne by Alpheus M. Tribbey is closely identified with the history of Tribbey and Potta- watomie county, and he worthily bears the name of the father of the town. He came to Oklahoma from Indian Territory, and securing a homestead in Pottawatomie county platted and laid out thereon the town of Tribbey in October of 1905, and throughout the three succeeding years he has been closely allied with its interests and upbuilding. He is of the highest type of business man, and his enterprise and ability

proprietor of the only hotel of the town, the Tribbey House, being well fitted for this position by two years of hotel pro- prietorship at Tecumseh, the county seat of Pottawatomie county, and is the pro- prietor of two drug stores, one in Tribbey and the other at Maud, in this county, con- ducting the latter in company with his son, Thomas Tribbey. In addition to all this Mr. Tribbey owns his homestead farm of one hundred and sixty acres. As a busi- ness man in many lines of endeavor, as a citizen, and above all, as the founder of Tribbey, we would preserve the record of his career among a people who have learned to honor and esteem him.

Born in Knox county, Illinois, near the town of Galesburg, June 10, 1856, he is the son of a farmer, Joseph W. Tribbey, who was born in Ohio, and was one of three brothers who served their country faithfully and well in the Union army during the Civil war. He died in Indian Territory at the age of seventy-four years, and his wife, nee Elizabeth Kibbey, passed away in Texas when aged sixty-two. Her family were also represented in the Union army in the Civil war, where three brothers fought during the conflict. At her death she left six children, and three are yet liv- ing: George W., a resident of Tonkawa, Oklahoma, and Paul Lincoln, whose home is in Cumberland Hill, this state.

Alpheus M. Tribbey, the third of the sur- viving sons, spent the early years of his life on a farm in Illinois, and at the age of twenty-one, after receiving a common school education, he went to Denton, Jack county, Texas, and in Tarrant county, of that state, in the following year, he wedded Mrs. Catherine (Bower) Salicinus, whose people were from Tennessee, and their chil- dren are: Martha A., Julia, whose home is in Maud, this county; Thomas H., Ar- thur, a student in the State University; Floyd, in the drug store with his brother, Thomas, in Maud; Roy, in school, and Vir- gie Lulu, at home. The eldest son, Thomas H., is a graduate of pharmacy at the State Normal, where he was a member of the col- lege football team, and he is now the pro-

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prietor of a drug store in Maud. Mr. Trib- bey cast his first presidential vote for a Re- publican candidate, R. B. Hayes, but he now supports the principles of the Democ- racy.

WILLIAM WESSELHOFT, the postmaster of McComb, was born in Nazareth, Penn- sylvania, in 1832, of German parents, John G. and Johanna (Monsees) Wesselhoft. The father was excellently educated in his native language, and was an educator and writer of note and was the editor of the "Old and New World," the first German paper of any importance published in the United States. This publication was widely circulated all over the United States and brought its editor into prominence as a writer. He died at the age of fifty-nine years, a Lutheran in religion, and his wife was only thirty-seven at the time of her death. She left two children, one of whom, William Wesselhoft, was well educated in two of the large cities, Philadelphia and St. Louis, completing his studies at the lat- ter place, and afterward, for a time, he as- sisted his father in his work in a book store at St. Louis. At the age of twenty-one he went to Hermann, Missouri, working there on a farm and in vineyards and nurseries some thirteen years. He then, after serv- ing as postmaster and county and circuit clerk, became secretary and treasurer of the Bluffton, Missouri, Wine Company, which transacted a large business for some time until, through some fault or act of the di- rectory of the company at St. Louis, it was dissolved, and Mr. Wesselhoft, after work- ing a few years in Sedalia and Columbia, Missouri, went to Wichita, Kansas, and was employed there in the city clerk's of- fice, until he came to Oklahoma in the fall of 1891. This was soon after the opening of the Pottawatomie county to settlement, and he entered a claim here and became a notary public and the first postmaster of Burnett. At the establishment of the office at McComb in July of 1903 he was made the postmaster, and he was further one of the chief promoters of this office. The re- ceipts for the first year of the McComb of- fice were $322.66, and in the year' of 1907 they had increased to $733.66. The office

is well managed, and now has two rural routes, one of which was established eight- een months ago and the other about four months ago, and each supports daily car- riers. Mr. Wesselhoft is a stanch and effi- cient supporter of the Republican party and voted for General Fremont in 1856, he hav- ing ever since supported its nominees. He is a Thirty-second degree Mason and an Odd Fellow, and his religious affiliations are with the Lutheran church.

He was married at Belleville, Illinois, to Emma Metz, and their two children are George and Sadie Hartman. The son is a carpenter and merchant of McComb, also a farmer, and they also had a daughter, Jessie, deceased, she having died when a young woman of nineteen at Sedalia, Mis- souri.

J. W. FORSTER. As the proprietor of one of the leading gin and sawmills in Tribbey, J. W. Forster is well known in the business circles of Pottawatomie county. His resi- dence in this section of Oklahoma covers the intervening period from January 27, 1893, when he located on a homestead five miles south of Tribbey, township 7, range 3 east, section 19, and during the first ten years of his residence here operated a gin at Moral. From there he came to Tribbey and entered actively into the business life of the town. His gin was built in May, 1905, and contains a fifty-horsepower en- gine and boiler, housed in a room eighteen by twenty-six feet, while the mill proper is a building twenty by sixty feet, with a corn burr room twelve by fourteen feet. The capacity of the mill is thirty bales a day of ten hours, and during the season of 1907 the output of the mill was nine hundred and sixty bales of cotton.

Tribbey's popular gin and sawmill pro- prietor, J. W. Forster, was born in Belmont county, Ohio, September 5, 1845, and was reared on a farm in Hancock county, that state, one of thirteen children, eight sons and five daughters, born to William and Jane (Sheldon) Forster, who came origi- nally from Maryland. They were farming people, and both died in Ohio. When he had attained the age of twenty-seven J. W. Forster married Susan Babcock, who

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was born and reared in Franklin county, that state, a daughter of Jacob Babcock, and in 1881 he moved with his wife to Mor- gan county, Missouri. Ten children have been born to them, but only eight, five sons and three daughters, are now living, name- ly: Bertha, Jesse, whose home is in Port- land, Oregon; Retta, and one other de- ceased; Lawrence, Jacob O., Nancy, Wash- ington L., who has been a successful and popular teacher in the county for six years; Porter, an engineer, and Clara. The politi- cal affiliations of Mr. Forster are with the Democratic party, and he has fraternal re- lations with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

THOMAS F. SOUTHGATE is a banker of high standing in the commercial circles of Pottawatomie county, and is the assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Wa- nette, the successor of the old Bank of Wa- nette and of which he was the first cashier. He was born in Kentucky on the 25th of January, 1866, and he was reared on the old homestead of his father, B. Southgate, in that state, attending both its common and high schools. (See his brother George's sketch for family record.)

In 1892 he came to the then territory of Oklahoma and located four miles east of Shawnee, in Pottawatomie county, and this farm he yet owns and has it improved in a fine manner and well supplied with valu- able stock. It is a valuable farm of rich and fertile land and conveniently located near the growing town of Shawnee. When the old bank of Wanette was organized in 1903 Mr. Southgate was made its first cashier, but previously he had served as Assistant cashier in the First National Bank of Tecumseh, so that he is a banker of long standing and experience and has made a success of the business.

In January of 1902, in Tecumseh, Mr. Southgate was united in marriage to Hattie Durham, who was born in Texas but she was reared and educated in Tecumseh, Oklahoma, and is a daughter of William and Sarah Durham, prominent and well- known citizens of Mobeetie, Texas. Mr. Durham is well remembered as a former treasurer of Pottawatomie county. Mr.

and Mrs. Southgate have had two sons, but the first born, W. M., died when but two years old, and the second, Thomas F., Jr., was born January 24, 1907. Mr. Southgate is a Mason, a member of the chapter and commandery and India Temple in Okla- homa.

DR. R. M. C. HILL. Among those who have attained prestige in the practice of medicine and surgery in Oklahoma stands Dr. R. M. C. Hill, of McLoud. He is one of the prominent representatives of the profession of medicine. He is a graduate of the class of 1883 at the Hahnemann Medical College, of Chicago, Illinois, and three years later he graduated at the To- ledo (Ohio) Medical College.

The Doctor is a native of Prospect, Ma- rion county, Ohio, born thirty-seven miles north of Columbus, June 19, 1860. His father, the Rev. Caleb Hill, was a well- known minister in the Methodist Episco- pal church and was a native of Delaware county, Ohio. The Hills are noted for their patriotism and loyalty to their country, and they have been represented in the Indian, Revolutionary and Civil wars. Of the same family is Senator Hill, of New York, and General Hill, both men of note. Rev. Caleb Hill died at the age of seventy-one years, leaving three children: Mrs. J. W. Free- man, of Prospect, Ohio; Mrs. C. W. Moots, of Toledo, that state, and R. M. C.

The early years of the life of Dr. Hill were spent in traveling a Methodist circuit, thus attending various schools, and later pursuing post-graduate work at the Univer- sity of Tennessee. He received the hon- orary degree of Master of Science in 1888 at the Ohio Normal University, of Ada, Ohio, now the Ohio Northern University, and was elected a member of the Toledo Medical faculty, but ill health prevented him from accepting the honor. He was a member of the visiting staff of the Toledo Protestant Hospital, and leaving that city he went to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he was in practice for nine years. In that time he was made professor in the Ten- nessee Medical College of Knoxville, was also the secretary and treasurer and a mem- ber of the medical staff of the Tennessee

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Medical and Surgical Institute, and was also physician in charge of the Mt. Rest Home for Aged Women, of Knoxville. But again ill health made it necessary for him to seek a change of climate, and re- signing his various positions in Knoxville, he went to Delphos, Ohio, where he was in practice for three years. Going then to the northwest in search of health and strength, he was at St. Paul, Minnesota, for two years, and from there he came to McLoud, Oklahoma. He is now professor of princi- ples and practice of medicine in Oklahoma Medical College, of Oklahoma City, and president of the Canadian Valley Medical Association.

Dr. Hill has been twice married, wed- ding first at Lafayette, Ohio, Alice Me- haffey, and their only child is Miss Alice M. Hill. On the 26th of November, 1907, in Oklahoma, he wedded Mrs. Rosa B. Blalock, from Tennessee. Dr. Hill is a stanch and true Democrat, and was at one time a candidate for the legislature. He has served as a delegate to many of its conventions, and he is a member of the Odd Fellows' order and the Court of Honor. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, and his wife to the Baptist.

GEORGE A. STROUSS. One of the most beautiful resorts in Oklahoma, known as The Dam, the property of George A. Strouss, who owns half interest with John Provvens. It is located on the North Ca- nadian river at the Big Dam and Mill, and is a most delightful place for fishing, bath- ing and boating, and is unsurpassed in beautiful scenery. The river is a beautiful stream fully six miles in length, with a safe, sandy bottom at the resort for bath- ers, and ten boats are kept in excellent re- pair for those who care to enjoy the pleas- ures of boating. The old grist mill is one of the most picturesque scenes along the river, and is a favorite spot for picnics and pleasure parties, and at the resort there is also a dancing pavilion twenty-two by forty feet. Mr. Strouss has been a tire- less worker in promoting the interests of The Dam, and his efforts have been amply rewarded for the resort has become fa-

mous throughout Oklahoma and is almost unsurpassed in beautiful scenery.

George A. Strouss is a native of Ger- many, born there forty-five years ago, and he was a lad of seven when he came with his parents to the United States. The fam- ily first located in Brown county, Kansas, near Hiawatha, from whence they later moved to Nemaha county, that state, near Seneca. At the opening of Oklahoma to settlement Mr. Strouss made the race and secured a claim near the present Oklahoma City, but this land was afterward contested by a "sooner," and some years later Mr. Strouss sold it and bought his present place. He built the mill there and has splendidly improved his farm of one hun- dred and thirty-five acres.

In Oklahoma, in 1893, he was united in marriage to Mary Crawford, who was born in Kentucky, but was reared and edu- cated in this state, and their two children are Eva and George. Mr. Strouss gives his political support to the Democratic party. Mrs. Strouss is a teacher and a member of the choir in the Sunday-school of the Union Sunday school.

JAMES G. EVANS, proprietor of Sunny Slope Farm in Earlsboro township, was born in Cherokee county, Georgia, near Canton, on the High Tower river, July 16, 1852, a son of John Miller and Jane (Gar- vin) Evans, natives respectively of Georgia and South Carolina. The father, who was a farmer, died in 1854, a member of the Baptist church, and the mother died in 1886, leaving three children, but only the two now living are James G. and Artie, the latter a resident of Georgia.

James G. Evans spent the early years of his life on a Georgia farm, but in 1878 left the state of his birth for Erath county, Texas, locating fifty miles west of Fort Worth, near Stephenville and Bluffdale. After eight years there he came to Okla- homa and secured a claim of one hundred and sixty acres one mile from Norman, but after pre-empting the land and farm- ing it for some time he went into the Creek Nation of Indian Territory and from there came to Pottawatomie county in 1903 and

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secured his present homestead, now known as Sunny Slope Farm. The farm contains one hundred acres of good land, much of it improved and under cultivation, and the homestead is located three miles east of Shawnee. In addition to this farm he also owns a good business building in Holden- ville, Oklahoma.

At the age of twenty-one, years Mr. Evans was united in marriage to Margaret Turner, who has proved to him a loving companion and helpmate in the establish- ment of their home in the new southwest, and their union has been blessed by the birth of eight children: Otilla Belle Den- nis; Albert S., whose home is in Seattle, Washington; Artemas Musson; Yuree Alice; Lula Maud Schneither, of Shaw- nee; Nora Oklahoma, whose birth occurred in this state; James William, and Joseph Ellsworth. Mrs. Evans is a daughter of Hayden and Polly (Cantrell) Turner, North Carolina people, and the father was a Confederate soldier during the Civil war. They are members of the Christian church. Mr. and Mrs. Evans are respectively mem- bers of the Baptist and Christian faith, and Mr. Evans is a Republican in his po- litical affiliations.

DR. W. W. FARRIS, one of the best known of the medical practitioners of Moral, is a graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of St. Louis, Missouri, with the class of 1907, and in the same year of his graduation he came to Oklahoma and began practice at Moral, where his large patronage is indicative of his skill and ability.

The Doctor was born in Franklin coun- ty, Illinois, near Mulkeytown, April 6, 1878. His father, James K. Farris, is an Illinois farmer and a native of Tennessee, and his mother is Julia (Wade) Farris, and in their family were twelve children, of whom five sons and five daughters are yet living. The family are Methodists in religion, and the father is a member of the A. F. and A. M.

Dr. Farris was reared to the life of a farmer, and passing from the common schools to Ewing College, in Illinois, he studied in that institution for some time

and later for four years was a successful school teacher. He is a member of the order of Masons and of the Modern Wood- men of America, and his politics are Dem- ocratic. He is a young man of most pleas- ing personality, and in his practice he has already shown that he is well informed concerning the principles of medicine and surgery. On May 12, 1908, he married Miss Maude McGinnis, who was born in Franklin county, Illinois, and educated in the common schools and at Ewing Col- lege, where she taught four years.

LEE TROUTMAN, the clerk of Burnett township, has served in this official ca- pacity for three terms, elected in 1902, and his administration has been characterized with efficient service. Born in Westmore- land county, Pennsylvania, near Mount Pleasant, forty-nine years ago, he is a mem- ber of a German family and a son of Isaac and Eliza (Hiner) Troutman, both of whom were also born in that state. There were nine children in their family, four sons and five daughters, but Lee and a sister are the only representatives in the west, her home being at Enid, Oklahoma.

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A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume I, Part 85

Author: Hill, L. B. (Luther B.) Publication date: 1908 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pubishing Company Number of Pages: 645

Author: Hill, L. B. (Luther B.)
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pubishing Company
Number of Pages: 645