A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume I, Part 91

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

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On January 9, 1904, Mr. Harris married Miss Florence Whitlow, a daughter of Dr. and Mrs. F. M. Whitlow, of Hickory Plains, Mississippi, where Mrs. Harris was born. Mr. and Mrs. Harris have two chil- dren, Frances M. and Hetty Lou. Mrs. Harris is a member of the Methodist church at Hugo.

ANDREW J. STEEN, county treasurer of Choctaw county, whose home residence is at Boswell, has been identified with the prog- ress of this section of southern Oklahoma for the past five years. He is a native of Ala- bama, born in Lauderdale county, August 10, 1874, being the son of Christopher Y. Steen, a South Carolina farmer, who re-

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moved to the former state, married twice, and in 1882 migrated to Texas, dying in Hopkins county of that state in 1885. The son, Andrew J., was reared and educated in an humble country home, the country schools of Hopkins county furnishing him with his mental training. As his father died when he was eleven years of age, he early became a self-supporting member of the community. He was mainly engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1903, when he located at Boswell and engaged in the livery business. Later he became a grocer and, as his influence and finances strengthened, one of the organizers and stockholders in the Boswell Mercantile Company. After a time he disposed of his interest in the lat- ter and, with a brother, embarked in the grocery business on a more extended scale, withdrawing from this field only when making preparations to assume the duties of the county treasurership.

Mr. Steen's entrance into politics dates . from his election as tax assessor and col- lector of Boswell, and during. the time of service in that capacity he was chosen a member of the city council for a term of two years. He relinquished these offices when he became a candidate for his present position at the first election under the state government. One of four candidates of the fifteen hundred votes cast at the Demo- cratic primaries, Mr. Steen received six hundred and defeated his Republican oppo- nent at the general election by a majority of more than five hundred. Since the per- formance of his official duties has necessi- tated a residence at Hugo, Mr. Steen has purchased a comfortable home and other valuable property at the county seat, and is a firm believer in its continued and greater prosperity. In Masonry he is now a can- didate for the Scottish Rite.

On July 10, 1892, Mr. Steen married Miss Nancy E. Ellis, who was born in Ala- bama, a daughter of W. M. Ellis, also a native of that state. Mr. and Mrs. Steen were the parents of one child, Lola, who was born May 5, 1903, and died Octo- ber 5, 1903.

Christopher Y. Steen, the father, was born in 1815, and by his first wife became the father of John, now of Lauderdale

county, Alabama, and an ex-Confederate soldier; Howard, who died in Alabama, without family; Hannah, who married James Butler and died in the same state ; and Mary, who became the wife of William Porter and is a resident of Van Zandt county, Texas. For his second wife Mr. Steen married Miss Edna Wilson, and the children of this union are as follows: Rob- ert. L., a resident of Hugo, Oklahoma ; Christopher C., of Boswell, that state; Fan- nie, widow of Thomas Taylor; Adaline, Mrs. W. R. McCafferty ; Andrew J., of this sketch; Nannie B., who married Frank Stewart, of Boswell; and Wilson Steen, now clerk of the county court of Choctaw county.

JOEL SPRING, who died at Hugo, Feb- ruary 21, 1908, was one of the founders of the new metropolis of southern Okla- homa, and was a man whose genius and honor displayed themselves in whatever direction his efforts were spent. His part in the founding of the city was so broad and enduring that the "Hugo Husonian" voiced the popular sentiment in the fol- lowing words: "As a town builder and a developing force he was without a peer in southern Oklahoma. He was a person of wealth and resource and owned much prop- erty in this city. During the past five years he erected seven large brick buildings here, all of the very best and constructed with a view to permanency, majestically beauti- ful, and an ornament to a city of many thousand people. As are all great men, he was at times subjected to unjust criti- cism, but when a task was completed no fault could be found with it. He was chari- table and liberal, giving freely to the con- struction and maintenance of the churches and other moral institutions. At one time, several years ago, the Methodist church was advertised for sale to liquidate its in- debtedness, and it was Joel Spring who came to the rescue. He made a large dona- tion and placed the then struggling band upon their feet, and that with only an ex- pression of regret that they had not made him fully conversant with conditions before resorting to such extremities. By spending his money so freely to develop the town

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he encouraged others to do so; and he was in deed and in truth the 'Father of Hugo.' However great it may become in the future will be due to his efforts in its struggling pioneer days. Some day, when Hugo shall have become a large city, we wish to stand on one of our principal streets with un- covered head before an imperishable statue dedicated to the memory of this tireless man who was such a great factor when the town was in its infancy."

Joel Spring was born within three miles of where Hugo now stands, on the 2nd of February, 1863, and was therefore only forty-five years old at the time of his death. He came of most remarkable lineage. His grandfather, Christian Spring, was born in Switzerland of German parentage, was edu- cated in Germany and gave the legal period of his life to the military service. Later he was a commissioned officer in the army of Napoleon, and after Waterloo emigrated to America, landing at New Orleans, drift- ing into Mississippi and marrying Susan Bohannan, a lady of French-Indian extrac- tion. His son, Samuel Spring, married Elizabeth Le Flore, who was a representa- tive of the family which for generations had furnished the Choctaws with their hereditary chiefs. Of this family was Greenwood Le Flore, the author and nego- tiator of the celebrated Dancing Rabbit treaty of 1830, of whom President Jackson said "there is no greater statesman among any people." The marriage of Samuel Spring and Elizabeth Le Flore is by no means a rare instance of the union of good European and Choctaw blood caused both by the fall of Napoleon and the French revolution, with the consequent emigra- tions to the United States. Mrs. Joel Spring is a granddaughter of Governor Basil Le Flore, and she and seven children survive the husband and father. The father of the deceased was a Confederate soldier who died in the service during the year of his son's birth, and who never saw his child. His mother also died when he was young, and he was taken into the home of his uncle, the late "Uncle" Billie Spring, who when the lad was about twelve years of age sent him to old Spencer Academy. But the schoolroom became irksome to his

restless disposition and he ran away to Texas, wandering to the vicinity of White- wright, where he met a kindly farmer named M. E. Savage, who took a liking to the boy and induced him to assist him around the farm and household for two years. He then returned to his home, and after working for his uncles for some time began clerking for V. M. Locke, near Ant- lers, now in Pushmataha county, south- eastern Oklahoma. Later he bought a small store on Roebuck Lake and then formed a partnership with his uncle, Billie Spring, the business being removed to the old Rock Wall place, a short distance south of the present site of Hugo.

On September 20, 1883, a short time after making this business arrangement, he married Miss Winnie Gooding, daughter of H. L. Gooding, of Old Goodland, the groom being nineteen years of age and the bride fifteen. The wife brought as a dower a small herd of cattle, which were sold and the proceeds used to purchase Uncle Billie's interest in the store. The store was re- established at Roebuck Lake, and the youthful couple began housekeeping in a one-room log cabin. This was the com- mencement of Joel Spring's real life, and henceforth he was always a progressive, dependable, high-minded member of the community-one of few words but of many and honorable deeds. From the commence- ment of his business career he was a model of method and precision, as an examination of his early business books and records clearly shows. From Roebuck Lake Mr. Spring removed to Clear Springs Court Ground, about two miles west of the pres- ent Hugo and then the seat of Kiamichia county. After the building of the Frisco Railway through that section of the coun- try he removed his business and his house- hold to Goodland, where for years he con- ducted one of the largest mercantile estab- lishments in the Indian Territory. When Hugo was established in 1902 he quickly saw its great promise and located there as one of its first merchants, and certainly its most prominent business man and citizen. He at once acquired an interest in the town site on the east side, erected a large, at- tractive and beautifully furnished residence

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on an eminence in that part of the city, built a number of the most substantial busi- ness houses of the place, and in every prac- tical way showed his unbounded faith in Hugo and its people. And the feeling was heartily reciprocated, for citizens and coun- trymen trusted in his justice, integrity and generosity with unbounded faith, placing often in his keeping their property and their future with no security other than that of his long-tried character. He be- came the friend, adviser, banker and father of the entire community, but with all his

ways cast an affectionate eye over the struggling days of his early life. On the walls of his beautiful residence in Hugo is a reproduction of the tiny log cabin in which he commenced married life on the banks of Roebuck Lake, showing the proud nineteen-year-old husband standing in the yard and his fifteen-year-old bride in the doorway. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Joel Spring are: Joel, born January 24, 1888; Lawrence E., December 13, 1889; Jesse H., August 4, 1891 ; Winnie, Novem- ber 20, 1894; Dewey L., May 14, 1898; Robert M., October 27, 1899; and Cicero O., December 23, 1903. The widow and her family of maturing children have every reason to take the highest pride in the career and enduring works of Joel Spring.

JAMES HOUSTON JACKSON, cashier of the Hugo National Bank, is one of the pro- gressive men of that place and a promoter of both the substantial and the higher in- terests of Choctaw county. He is a Mis- sissippian, born in Pontotoc county on the 30th of December, 1872. His father, Churchwell C. Jackson, is now a merchant of Hugo, having been a farmer during his mature years until 1892. He is a native of Cherokee county, Alabama, born in 1847; as a boy, fought in the Confederate army toward the close of the Civil war; removed first to Mississippi, and to Deport, Texas, in 1892. It was at this place that he first entered the mercantile field, and in 1902 established himself as a merchant at Grant, Oklahoma, and in 1908 located at Hugo. The Jackson family is of Irish line- age, James, the grandfather of James H.

Jackson, being an Alabama slave owner of the olden time, and a near descendant of the founder of the American branch. He left that state about 1853, and died in Mis- sissippi, the father of six children. His son, Churchwell C., married Miss Anna Simmons, daughter of John Simmons, also of Irish blood and a Mississippi planter. Three children were born of this union: Cordelia, now the wife of Wallace Hill, of Hugo; James H., of this sketch; and Alma Jackson, also a resident of Hugo ..

The boyhood of James H. Jackson was later affluence and unique standing he al -. spent in Mississippi and Texas, his educa- tion comprising courses in the public schools and literary and commercial courses at Paris, Texas. He began his career as a working member of the community in the capacity of overseer of negroes on a Red River county plantation, afterward becom- ing a partner of his employer in the mer- cantile establishment of the farm and the active manager of the business. He was 'then identified with the wholesale drug business for five years, and filled the posi- tion of a traveling salesman for some time before he located in Hugo as assistant cashier of the National Bank. A year later he was promoted to the cashiership, and the detailed management of the affairs of the institution devolved upon him.

The Hugo National Bank was organized in June, 1905, and is officered by J. F. Mc- Reynolds as president, J. H. Jackson as cashier, and B. A. Nelson as vice president. The board of directors is composed of the officers named, with J. W. Wood, J. W. Davis, J. H. Miller, T. L. Griggs, George Y. Harris and W. H. Carson. In his ca- pacity of cashier the practical management of the bank in all its details is entrusted to Mr. Jackson, and its progress and standing indicate that he is fully equal to the press- ing and varied duties which have devolved upon him. The erection by him of a fine cottage home on Cherry and Wade streets is also evidence that his residence in Hugo has proved both pleasant and profitable. In politics Mr. Jackson is a Democrat; in his fraternal relations, a Mason; and in his religious faith, a Baptist. He was married in Red River county, Texas, on the 30th of July, 1902, to Miss Helen B. Caldwell,

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daughter of T. Butler Caldwell, a Texas pioneer who married Minnie, a daughter of Marshall Hooks. The other Caldwell children are Hooks Caldwell, agent of the Frisco road, Randolph, Oklahoma; and Frank, Bee and Blake, residents of Hugo. Mr. and Mrs. James Jackson are the parents of Bertha, born May 20, 1903, and Dorris, born May 15, 1905.

BITHEL A. NELSON, of Grant, and a member of the mercantile firm of Miller- Nelson Company, dates his advent to Okla- homa from 1887, when he took a position as clerk at Doakesville, but after two years returned to Texas and passed four years as manager of the mercantile house of J. H. Johnson, of Jonesboro. Save for this inci- dent he has been an Oklahoman for the last quarter of a century, for he then came to the state line and was in charge of the store of W. R. Douglas, and then crossed the river and took up his permanent abode in Grant. At this juncture the firm of the Miller-Nelson Company was organized, and has continued to successfully operate ever since as one of the chief factors of the place.

Mr. Nelson was born in Murray county,. Tennessee, August 1, 1863. William D. Nelson, his father, was born in the same state in 1838, served as a private in the Confederate army, and in 1869 left the state and located at Paris, Texas, where he re- sided until the death of his wife, when he soon took up his residence with his son in Grant. His father was John Nelson, who died in 1842 at. Columbus, Tennessee. William D., the father, married Virginia Moss, daughter of Thomas J. Moss, a far- mer in Tennessee. Mrs. Nelson passed away in 1900, after becoming the mother of the following children: Bithel A., of this sketch; Sue, widow of William H. Williams, of Paris, Texas; W. E., of Gal- veston ; Tom, who married T. Johnson, of Denison, Texas, a conductor on the K. T. railway system; Maud, deceased, who mar- ried Rue Davis, of Denison ; and J. W., a clerk with Miller-Nelson Company.

Bithel A. Nelson attended the common schools, and when eighteen years of age began life for himself in the role of a clerk

for J. H. Bywaters, of Paris, Texas, from whose employment he went to work for W. R. Douglas, and finally entered the ter- ritory and took the position at Doakesville, where he was located at the commencement of this narrative.

He commenced life's work single-handed and without capital save his own hands and a determination to do and accomplish something in the great busy world. His first net earnings he invested in a stock of goods, wishing to do business on his own account. By careful, correct business methods he has been enabled to forge his way to the front rank among his fellow workers. Among his large enterprises at Grant may be named the two cotton gins, of which he is the present manager, and his farming has also been successfully car- ried on under his personal supervision. His landed estate, including his family allot- ments and purchased lands, constitute no small fortune in themselves. In political matters he carries the same thought and casts the same ballot as did his forefathers -the Democratic. He is a member of the Masonic and Modern Woodmen of the World fraternities.

He was married March 29, 1888, to Fan- nie, daughter of Charles D. Oakes, a citi- zen of the Choctaw nation. Mrs. Nelson is one-eighth Choctaw and is the mother of Albert J., Louise B. and Florence Nelson.

THOMAS W. HUNTER, of Hugo, clerk of the district court of Choctaw county, and for years one of the prominent young In- dian citizens of the Choctaw nation, was born in old Blue county, September 18, 1869. His childhood and youth were passed on the home farm near Bennington, now Bryan county, and his early activities were those of the rural sort. Mr. Hunter ob- tained his education in the Indian schools of the Choctaw nation and at Roanoke Col- lege, Salem, Virginia, where he finished the work of the junior year. His father having died in 1887, the business of the family estate claimed his attention for some time after his return from college. When he left home it was to assume a teacher's posi- tion at Jones Academy, which he held for a year and a half, after which, in 1894,

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he filled a similar position at Armstrong Academy for six years and a half.

In 1900 Mr. Hunter retired from his work as an educator and located on his country homestead, giving his attention to his farm and to the political and public affairs which had been obtruding them- selves upon his time and abilities. He had enthusiastically supported the statehood movement, and in December, 1905, accom- panied the delegation from Oklahoma City to the national capital for the purpose of assisting in the work of impressing upon Congress the importance of the early pass- age of an enabling. act. After that meas- ure was passed, in the following year Mr. Hunter actively participated in the selection of a delegate to the state constitutional con- vention, and entered the speaking campaign for the Democrats in two delegate districts. He repeated his effective work in the first state election, having been nominated for clerk of the district court against four com- petitors, and by a majority of six hundred and sixteen votes over his Republican op- ponent. Besides being prominent among the efficient officials of the new state, Mr. Hunter is a leader in fraternal activities. He is a member of the Blue lodge of Ma- sons and has filled the office of junior war- den in his lodge, and is also an Odd Fel- low and an Elk. He is a man of large property interests in "Choctaw county and is regarded rather as a citizen of affairs than one who is confined to any particular vocation.

Benjamin Hunter, the father of Thomas W., was a full-blooded Choctaw who set- tled in the Indian territory in 1832, with other members of his tribe who migrated from Mississippi. He established his homestead near Bennington, where he was engaged in farming and stock-raising until his death in 1887. He was a good and use- ful citizen, but was never drawn into In- dian politics. Benjamin Hunter married Tennessee Risner, a lady of white blood and a native of the state after which she was named, the issue of their union being as follows: Thomas W., of this sketch; Mary J., wife of J. A. King, of Durant, Oklahoma ; Emma, wife of E. T. Dwight, of Boswell, that state ; and George Hunter,

of the same place. On March 17, 1897, Thomas W. Hunter wedded Junia Folsom, daughter of Judge J. C. Folsom, of Atoka, Oklahoma, also a citizen of the Choctaw nation.

DR. WALTER N. JOIIN, a leading medical practitioner of Hugo, Choctaw county, has been prominently identified with the pro- fessional progress of this section of the former territory and the present common- wealth for the past fifteen years-in fact, ever since his qualification as an M. D. He comes of Welsh ancestry, his earliest American forefathers being pioneers in the settlement of Chester county, Pennsylvania, and his father, Rev. Isaac G. John, an ear- nest and powerful leader in the Methodist church and one of the founders of the faith in Texas. It appears that the first of the name to be recorded in American history was Griffith' John, who emigrated from Wales with William Penn and settled in a colony of his countrymen in Pennsylvania. His son's name, in direct descent, is not known, but from the time of his grand- son, Robert John, the genealogy is com- plete. The latter was a native of Chester county, married Asenath Fips and died in early life, leaving one son, Jehu John, who was also born in that county, December 2, 1759, and married Elizabeth David. Mrs. Jehu John was a daughter of Enoch and Elizabeth David and was born in Phila- delphia, August 4, 1763. Her father, who was a native of that city, born in 1718, was a Baptist clergyman and died in 1795. In his youth Jehu John served in the Revo- lutionary war. After his marriage he re- moved to Fayette county, Pennsylvania, where Enoch John, one of his eight chil- dren, was born. The family afterward set- tled in Franklin county, Indiana, where the parents spent their last years. Enoch D. John was born February 7, 1791, and was married four times. His first wife was Eloisa N. Noble, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Noble, who was born December 29, 1791, and became the mother of Noah Noble and Eloisa Noble John. Nancy S. Stewart, the second wife, was the daugh- ter of Abraham and Elizabeth Stewart, was born in Fayette county, June 8, 1799, died

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in 1838, and was mother of four children: Anna D., Alfred S., Isaac G. and Rebecca S. The third wife of Enoch D. John was Rebecca Stewart, sister of his second wife, who died without issue, and his fourth mar- riage was to Sarah R. Parry, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Parry. The father himself died in 1872. It was after his re- moval to Franklin county, Indiana, January 14; 1827, that Isaac G. John, the father of Walter N., was born to Enoch D. John's marriage to Nancy S. Stewart. His birth- place was Evansville. In 1843, while still a youth in his seventeenth year, he migrated to Texas, prepared himself for the Meth- odist ministry at Ruitersville College, and in 1845 was ordained to the ministry and attended the first Methodist conference held in the Lone Star state. He was the founder of the "Christian Advocate" of Texas, serving as its editor for nineteen years, and for eight years was secretary of the board of missions of the Methodist Church South. Rev. Isaac G. John mar- ried Miss Ruth Alexander Eblen, born in Bastrop, Texas, on the 28th of August, 1833, daughter of George Eblen, of Ger- man descent and an early member of the Austin colony. His ancestral seat in the fatherland was on an island on the coast of the Baltic sea, and soon after coming to Texas he received a patent of a large tract of land, including the site of the present town of Lagrange, Fayette county. Rev. Isaac G. John died at Nashville, Tennessee, in April, 1896, and was the father of seven children, as follows: Alfred S .; George E .; Anna A., who married John Stone, a resi- dent of Texas; Robert A., Ruth H., who became the wife of Richard Mood, also a Texan; Walter N., of this sketch; and Margaret S., who married John J. Morgan, also a citizen of the Lone Star state.

Walter N. John, who was born at Gal- veston, Texas, May 18, 1871, received his earlier education at Nashville, Tennessee, completing his high school course in that city. He then entered the University of Texas, graduating from its medical depart- ment with his professional degree, May I, 1894. The following year was spent as an interne at John Seeley Hospital, Galveston, and in October, 1894, he located at Nelson,

Indian Territory, to accept the government position of physician to the Choctaw school known as Spencer Academy. When the school building was burned in 1897 he es- tablished himself in private practice and remained at Nelson until 1902, when he located at Antlers Jack fort, now in Push- mataha county, Oklahoma. Dr. John prac- ticed at that point until 1908, serving as county health officer and surgeon of the Frisco railroad, and in the year named be- came a resident of Hugo. He stands high with the profession and the public, and has a wide and popular connection with the fraternities, being a Royal Arch Mason, an Odd Fellow, a Pretorian and a Maccabee, as well as a member of the Woodmen of the World and Modern Woodmen of America. On February 15, 1899, the Doc- tor was united in marriage with Miss Otie Harris, of Clarksville, Texas, born Decem- ber 10, 1879, a daughter of Frank M. and Nannie B. (Parks) Harris. The Harris family was originally from Virginia, Mrs. John's grandfather, Robert C. Harris. mi- grating from that state to the Red River district, Texas, in 1854. The father, Frank M., was born in the Old Dominion in 1850, and was therefore only four years of age when the family came to Texas. Dr. John and wife are the parents of the following : Lucy Beverley, born May 7, 1901 ; Mary M., born December 21, 1903; and Ruth E., born October 27, 1906.

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A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume I, Part 91

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