A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume II, Part 17

Author: Hill, L. B. (Luther B.)
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 810

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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA.

ing four years, Mr. Mitchell was employed either in farming or teaching, and in the meantime studied law. Subsequently ad- mitted to the bar to practice before the Uni- ted States court of the southern district of the Indian Territory, he practiced his profes- sion individually for awhile, afterwards be- ing associated with Judge J. B. Thompson. In September, 1907, at the first election held by the new state, Mr. Mitchell was elected judge of Garvin county, and, having been sworn in at Guthrie, assumed the duties of his office on November 16, of that year.

In the town of McGee, now known as Stratford, on February 22, 1900, Mr. Mitchell married Ida Hyden, and into their pleasant home one child has been born, William B. M. Mitchell, Jr. Mrs. Mitchell's father, Whit W. Hyden, who is identified, relatively, with the Choctaw tribe of Indians, is a man of prominence in his community, and is the commander-in-chief of the Confederate Vet- erans of the Chickasaw Nation. Faithful to the teachings of his youth, the judge is still interested in the art and science of agri- culture, and indulges to some extent in farming, both as for a recreation and for the development and betterment of the new country.

PEARL BRADFIELD. A woman of culture, talent and eminent ability, Pearl Bradfield has won an honored position among the leading educators of Oklahoma, and as coun- ty superintendent of the schools of Garvin county is meeting with gratifying success. She is widely known, not only in education- al affairs, but also as a woman of progres- sive thought and wide and liberal interests. A daughter of John W. and Sallie E. (Tow- ers) Bradfield, she was born in Hopkins county, Texas, and was there brought up on a farm. She received her early education in the district in which she was born, attend- ing the school that, in honor of her father, was named the Bradfield School.

After her graduation from Central Col- lege, at Sulphur Springs, Texas, Miss Brad- field taught school for a year near her coun- try home, and was afterwards a teacher in the public schools of Sulphur Springs. In 1896 she came to the Indian Territory, lo- cating at Wynnewood, and in the following years became identified with the subscrip- tion schools of that place as a teacher. 'I nereafter, with the exception of two years spent as a teacher at the Harley Academy. the government school for Indian boys, at

Tishomingo, she remained one of the corps of instructors in the Wynnewood schools until elected to her present position as sup- erintendent of the Garvin county public schools. Miss Bradfield was the Democratic nominee for the superintendency, and was elected on the Democratic ticket, but she has the moral support of every voter, her efficiency being recognized and appreciated. Self-reliant and earnest in purpose, her ability and consecration to her work make her an able co-operator with teachers and school directors, and a favorite with both old and young.

WILLIAM COLUMBUS HIGH, M. D. Al- though he has been a resident of Maysville, Garvin county, but a very brief period, Wil- liam C. High, M. D., has given evidence of his skill and ability as a physician and surgeon, and is rapidly winning his way to an honored position among the medical fra- ternity of this part of Oklahoma. A son of Thomas J. and Mary (Paschall) High, he was born, March 18, 1870, in Canton, Texas, in the free state of Van Zandt county.

Laying a substantial foundation for his future education in the public schools of his native state, William C. High was fitted for his professional career at the University of Dallas, where, with the class of 1901, he received the degree of M. D. Beginning the practice of his profession in his home county, Dr. High built up a fine practice, remaining there until 1908. Wishing then to broaden his scope of action, the Doctor came to the new state of Oklahoma, and after spending a short time in both Marietta and Hewitt, located in Maysville, where he has already established an excellent reputa- tion as a physician and surgeon, and is meet- ing with encouraging results in his practice.

In August, 1891, Dr. High married Alice Cooner, of Gainesville, Texas, and they have two children, namely: Ulysses and George. Genial, companionable people, the Doctor and his wife have formed a large acquain- tance since coming to this vicinity, and their pleasant home is a center of social activity. The Doctor is especially fond of outdoor sports, and takes great pleasure in both hunting and fishing.

WHIT W. HYDEN is a prosperous farmer near the new town of Stratford, which with the building of the Oklahoma Central Rail- road has succeeded McGee as a commercial center of northeastern Garvin county. For a number of years he was engaged in busi-

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA.

ness as a merchant at McGee, but he and his children now reside on a fine tract of one thousand acres directly north of the Stratford station. One evidence of nis ad- vancement as a modern farmer is his large orchard, and otner improvements are in keeping.

Mr. Hyden was born in Lee county, Vir- ginia, July 7, 1845, son of Samuel and Nancy D. (Lockhart) Hyden. This Vir- ginia family moved to Missouri about 1850, and after living on a farm in Clay county for sixteen vears, moved to Falls countv, Texas, in 1866. Here the father died in 1880, aged seventy-two, but his widow sur- vived until March, 1904, when she died at McGee, Oklahoma, aged eighty-six. Both parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal church south. Whit W. Hyden has two brothers and two sisters living, there having been seven children altogether. When a boy of sixteen, Whit Hyden went from the farm in Clay county to serve in the army, first as a member of the Missouri State Guards for six months, and then in the First Missouri Battalion of Partisan Rangers. His first commander was T. R. Livingston, but during the latter part of the war he was under the famous guerilla chief- tain, Quantrell. After the war he lived in Falls county, Texas, until 1825, from which date until March, 1908, he was actively en- gaged in selling goods and handling cattle in Indian Territory. Mr. Hyden affiliates with Ada Commandery of the Knight Tem- plar Masons, and is a Democrat in politics, while his wife is a member of the Baptist church.

His first marriage occurred in Falls coun- ty, Texas, in 1867, to Miss Martha Withers. She died in Indian Territory in 1905, aged forty-six, leaving the following children, namely : Frank S., an Ardmore merchant, who married Georgia Bowman and has three daughters, Maud, Marguerite and Apalaho- ma ; Leonard, a farmer near Stratford, mar- ried Ruth Lewis; Ida is the wife of W. B. M. Mitchell, county judge of Garvin county ; Whit W., Jr., married Dora Watts and has one daughter, one son being deceased ; Cleve- land, who lives near Stratford, married Mag- gie Griffin and has one child; Benjamin and Ruth are at home. Mr. Hyden married for his present wife Miss Dove L. Farriss, daughter of Judge W. J. Farriss, formerly of White county, Tennessee, who now lives

in Stratford and is a justice of the peace. Mr. and Mrs. Hyden have one son, Joe F.

LORENZO D. DICKERSON. One of the best known officers of the federal law in Indian Territory was Lorenzo D. Dickerson, who at this writing (November, 1902) is deputy United States marshal with headquarters at Purcell. He has been identified with this section of the old Chickasaw Nation for a number of years. He first entered the serv- ice of the federal department of justice in 1889 as deputy to his brother, J. J. Dicker- son, who was then United States marshal for the eastern district of Texas, with head- quarters at Paris. At that time the Texas eastern district had jurisdiction over a large portion of Indian Territory and old Okla- homa, including the strip originally known as No Man's Land. From this latter place, then the haunt and prize refuge for escaped criminals, the Dickerson brothers captured and brought to justice the participants in the noted Haystack murder case, which was one of the notable events in the early crim- inal history of the territory. After serving for a time as field deputy, Mr. Dickerson be- came office deputy under his brother at Paris, and in 1893 was appointed United States commissioner at Stonewall, in the Chickasaw Nation, a position he held until 1896. In 1898, having been appointed field deputy United States marshal under Cap- tain Hammer, he served for two years with headquarters at Ardmore, and for the fol- lowing two years lived on his ranch in the Chickasaw Nation. His present position as deputy marshal at Purcell came in 1902 with his appointment under B. H. Colbert, and serving under the latter's successor, G. A. Porter.

Between the years 1902 and 1906, Mr. Dickerson had the unique distinction of holding simultaneously three different re- sponsible public positions under separate branches of the government-deputy United States marshal in the federal service, repre- sentative in the Chickasaw Indian council of the Chickasaw Nation at Tishomingo un- der the Indian department, and mayor of Purcell under the local municipal govern- ment. Mr. Dickerson has been identified with public service almost continuously since he became of age. He was born in Massac county, Illinois, in 1867, in 1872 moved with his parents to Fort Bend coun- ty, in southern Texas, and soon after reach- ing majority took office under his brother.

L. D. Dickerson

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA.

He has prospered in material affairs, and is owner of a fine ranch twelve miles below Purcell, in what is now the county of Mc- Clain. Mr. Dickerson, by his marriage, in 1894, to Miss Lillie Byrd, became connected with some of the most prominent names of the Chickasaw Nation. Mrs. Dickerson is a niece of Ex-Governor William L. Byrd of this nation, and is also related to the Col- bert and Love families, so prominent in the Chickasaw Nation. The five children of their marriage are Cecil R., Leo E., Robert Roy, Fleda and Thelma.

DORSET CARTER, of Purcell, McClain coun- ty, is already recognized as an able corpora- tion lawyer, and has promoted several enter- prises which are proving of great benefit to his residence city and the state generally. At the present time he is president of the Purcell Water Company, which he organized in 190? and which furnishes electric light, water and ice to the municipality and its citizens. He also holds the same position with the Oklahoma Central Railroad, which he incorporated in 1904. The road began construction in 1906, was completed March 1, 1908, and has already been the means of developing a large section of the state trib- utary to it. Many new towns in Oklahoma owe their origin directly to the energy, in- spiration and constructive ability of Dorset Carter, who has not yet reached his thirty- fourth birthday.

Mr. Carter is a Texan, born at Bonham, on the 26th of December, 18:4, son of Sam- uel T. and Sallie ( Brazelton) Carter. His father is a well known cotton buyer of the Lone Star state, in whose public schools the son received his early education. He com- menced the study of law in his native town, for that purpose entering the offices of Tay- lor, Galloway and McGrady. In 1893 he was admitted to the bar, and has now been a practitioner and enterprising citizen of Pur- cell for about twelve years. Besides the establishment of a substantial practice, he has faithfully compiled the Statutes of In- dian Territory (1899), in which work he has done a creditable piece of legal authorship. In 1899, at Purcell, Mr. Carter married Miss Murphy Johnson, and they have two sons, Dorset Carter, Jr., and Harry Keefe Carter.

HON. JOHN FLETCHER SHARP, an able law- yer and prominent Democrat residing at Purcell, McClain county, is one of the found- ers of that city, one of the pioneers of his profession within the present limits of Okla-

homa and, from the first, has been actively identified with the development of its rail- road facilities. Born in Adams county, Illi- nois, on the end of March, 1865, he is a son of James and Parmelia J. (Bates) Sharp, and was reared in an agricultural community of that state. After receiving a preliminary education in the public schools of his native county, he attended the Chaddock College of Quincy, Illinois, and then pursued a law course at the University of Missouri, Co- lumbia, graduating from the latter in 1889 with the degree of LL. B.

After his graduation in the law, Mr. Sharp came directly to Muskogee, Indian Terri- tory, being present at the first term of the federal courts held there and hearing the first case argued before that body. Within a week. however, he decided to cast his pro- fessional lot with Purcell, and there com- menced practice and his career as a citizen of broad caliber and abilities. Early recog- nized as a stalwart Democrat, in 1892 he attended the first convention of his party whose representation really covered the Ter- ritory, and has ever since been widely known as a leader of wide and safe influence. In 1900 he was selected as a delegate-at-large to the national Democratic convention held in Kansas City. With Dorset Carter, he was also one of the most active factors in the organization and promotion of the Oklahoma Central Railroad, of which he is a director and the general solicitor. Mr. Sharp's local position, both in the professional and civic affairs of Purcell. is of the most substantial and honorable character. He was a member of the first school board of the place, and has twice served as its mayor, being elected the second time without opposition. In other ways he has been such an influential participant of municipal and public affairs that he is considered one of the "city fa- thers" in the broad sense of the term .. In 1892 he was married at Winfield, Kansas, to Miss Bessie C. Grady, and has become the father of Helen Irene Sharp and John F. Sharp, Jr.

FRANK CLARY ANDERSON, M. D. Since 1906 the leading physician of Byars has been Frank Clary Anderson, M. D., who has a large practice and is identified closely both with the professional and civic progress of the town. He is a member of the North Chickasaw Medical Society, the McClain County Medical Society and the Oklahoma State Medical Association, and is also reg-

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA.

istered with the American Medical Associa- tion. Dr. Anderson is a registered physician in three states-Tennessee, Alabama and Oklahoma.

Dr. Anderson belongs to the modern type of medical practice. He received his train- ing at one of the leading professional schools, and has been identified with prac- tice in such a way as to prepare him for a broad and successful career in his chosen profession. Born in Bedford county, Ten- nessee, August 12, 1880, a son of Rev. G. W. and Sophronia (Meadows) Anderson, the former a Methodist minister, he received his early education in the public schools and in 1896 graduated from the Dixon Normal School of Tennessee. From this general course of training he turned to prepare him- self for a profession, 'and was graduated from the medical department of Vanderbilt University, at Nashville, with the class of 1901, with the degree of M. D. As interne attached to the staff of the hospital of the Tennessee state prison at Nashville, he had begun practice six months before gradua- tion, and on leaving school he became sur- geon for the Jenefer Furnace Company at Jenefer, Alabama. This position, which was especially valuable to him from the stand- point of experience, he held from 1901 to 1904, and he was then engaged in private practice at Birmingham, Alabama, for a short time. Before coming to Oklahoma he also served as surgeon to the Charity Hospital of the Alabama Consolidated Coal and Iron Company at Brookwood. At Bir- mingham, Alabama, Dr. Anderson was mar- ried, July 17, 1906, to Miss Mabel Strickland, whose father is a lumber merchant. They have one daughter, Corinee E. Dr. Ander- son has since the above was written sold his practice in Byars and removed to Shawnee to take up special work in that city.

SAMUEL ROBERT FISHER, merchant and mayor of Byars, McClain county, long con- nected with the mercantile interests of Pauls Valley, Garvin county, is one of the leading Democrats and influential citizens of this section of Oklahoma. He was born in Pettis county, Missouri, son of Bartlet G. and Sallie J. (Ferguson) Fisher, and re- ceived his middle name in honor of Robert E. Lee. His father, a farmer of that state, died when Samuel R. was quite young, and while the boy managed to obtain a common school education he commenced work on the home farm soon after his ninth year, and

at the age of fifteen became a clerk in the store of H. M. Lockett at Houstonia, Mis- souri, in his native county. Soon after- ward he went to western Kansas, as a helper on a cattle ranch, and there developed into a typical cowboy, ranging over western Kan- sas and eastern Colorado. His ambitions were beyond this life, however, and during all its change and excitement he so prose- cuted his studies that he finally entered the Central Normal School of Kansas, at Great Bend, in order to prepare himself for teach- ing. He graduated from this institution in 1891, being a "cow puncher" during his va- cations and also teaching school at times during his college days. At his graduation he commenced regular teaching at Johnson, Kansas, which was in the vicinity of his ranching exploitations, and he finished his first term attired in the typical cowboy cos- tume, high-heeled riding boots and all. In fact, in that district such a dress, even when donned by a schoolteacher, attracted less notice than the conventional outfit. When he left the state in 1895 he had the reputa- tion of being a good teacher, as well as one of the most expert cow-ropers and all-round plainsmen in western Kansas.

In the year mentioned above, Mr. Fisher located at Pauls Valley, Garvin county, and engaged in the grocery business in partner- ship with his brother. Selling his interest therein, he was then employed for five years by J. T. Jones, hardware and furniture deal- ers of that place, this period of his career covering 1898-1903. In the following year he served as marshal of Pauls Valley, and then came to Byars while the town was yet new and practically without civic organiza- tion. He at once established a furniture and undertaking business, and in 1906 was elected the first mayor of Byars, by his re- election in 1907 being still an occupant of the chair. He is president of both its Com- mercial and Social clubs, and his influence as a Democrat is partially indicated by his positions as president of the local club and as committeeman of the county and con- gressional organizations. Mayor Fisher's wife was formerly Miss Carrie Gamel. Their only child, Harold, a boy of three years, died May 13, 1908.

C. M. MCCLAIN. McClain county which originated in the subdivision of the Chick- asaw Nation into counties by the consti- tutional convention, was named in honor of one of its pioneer settlers and a delegate

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA.

to the constitutional convention from the eighty-sixth constitutional district-the Hon. C. M. McClain, of Purcell. He has lived at Purcell or vicinity since 1885, two years be- fore the town was founded, and has through- out been one of the most highly esteemed citizens. Under the new county organiza- tion he was further honored, at the election of September 11, 190%, by being chosen the first register of deeds for the county.

Mr. McClain was born in St. Clair coun- ty, Missouri, in 1840, lived there till he was eighteen, when he moved to Gallatin, Ten- nessee, and during the Civil war enlisted in Company B, Seventh Tennessee Infantry, serving with the Confederate army through- out the war. Most of his service was in Vir- ginia, and he participated in most of the his- toric battles in that state, also at Gettysburg, and at Chancellorsville was wounded in the head by a bullet. After living a few years in Tennessee after the war, he moved to Gainesville, Cooke county, Texas, in 1871. During the pioneer years of that county he was a cattleman. In 1885 he moved into the Chickasaw Nation, and located a ranch on the Washita river not far from the present site of Purcell. Purcell was not founded un- til the completion of the Santa Fe Railroad to that point in the spring of 1887.

In business Mr. McClain is best known through his connection with insurance, he being the oldest insurance man of the Chick- asaw Nation, and an accepted authority on fire insurance laws and regulations. This technical knowledge and experience of an important branch of business enabled him to perform important service in the making of the first constitution of the new state of Ok- lahoma. As a delegate from his district, when the convention was organized in the fall of 1906, he was made chairman of the committee on insurance. His principal ser- vice was in the enactment of measures for regulating and collecting revenues in taxes from the insurance companies, so that the revenues from this source, under the state government, will be more than double those collected under the territorial regime. He was also active in shaping the general insur- ance law. It is believed that his work will be worth $85,000 a year to the new state in increased revenues. He also took an active part in the constitutional enactments on the initiative and referendum. His long resi- dence and many activities in business and public life have made Mr. McClain one of

the best known citizens of his section of the state. He has a family of five children : Mrs. Mary Belle Murray, William H., Katy, Charles R., and Joseph. Their mother,be- fore her marriage to Mr. McClain, was Mrs. Paralee Forsythe.

W. M. NEWELL, senior member of the fav- orably known firm of Newell and Jackson, is highly respected both as an attorney and a citizen of Norman, Cleveland county. Born at Fairview, Guernsey county, Ohio, on the 10th of November, 1862, he is a son of Oran and Nancy M. (Aten) Newell. From the public school system he graduated to the Gardner College of Ohio, and after study- ing one year under a private tutor took a business course at the Atchison Institute of Kansas. He then commenced the study of law in the offices of Webb and Martin of that city, being admitted to the Kansas state bar in 1884, and subsequently to the bars of Texas and Indian Territory.

Mr. Newell commenced the active practice of his profession at Atchison, Kansas, con- tinuing there alone from 1884 to 1891. He then removed to Oklahoma City, and for three years was there associated with Hon. B. F. Williams, under the firm name of Will- iams and Newell. In 1894 he located in Nor- man, and continued the partnership until 1898, when, with William J. Jackson, he formed the firm of Newell and Jackson. In 1893 Mr. Newell married Miss Mattie Will- iams, of Oklahoma City, and their daughter, Ruth B., is now attending the University of Oklahoma.

WILLIAM J. JACKSON, of the law firm of Newell and Jackson, Norman, Cleveland county, is a native of Indiana, born on the 6th of January, 1858, son of Solomon and Patience (Garris) Jackson. His father was an intelligent, prosperous farmer, and like the typical American citizen of his class made it his duty as well as pleasure, to pro- vide his children with a thorough education. After mastering the common schoo] branches, William J. became a student at the Indianapolis high school, from which he graduated, and subsequently entered the University of Kansas in the prosecution of his law course.

Graduating from the institution above named in 1886, with the degree of LL. B., Mr. Jackson established himself for practice at Eldorado, Kansas, and afterward removed to Coldwater, also in that state. In Febru- ary, 1896, he became a resident of Oklahoma,

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA.

by locating at Norman and, after a season of individual practice, associated himself with W. M. Newell, thus forming, in 1897, the firm of Newell and Jackson. Mr. Jack- son has been twice married. His first wife was formerly Ella Price, whom he married at Indianapolis, Indiana, and their children are as follows: Froma M., now Mrs. J. W. Bar- bour, of Norman; Robert O. and Walter E. His second wife was formerly Mrs. Emma I. Williams, whom he married at Shawnee, Oklahoma.

JOHN B. DUDLEY. Among the representa- tives of the Oklahoma bar is J. B. Dudley, whose ability has gained him a large and distinctively representative clientage. He stands as that type of citizenship that is promoting the interests of the new state along substantial, progressive lines, labor- ing effectively and untiringly for its welfare. He was born in Perry county, Tennessee, December 20, 1877, his parents being George H. and Charlotte (Greer) Dudley. He be- gan his education in the public schools and afterward attended Dickson's Normal Col- lege at Dickson, Tennessee, from which he was graduated with the class of 1897, receiv- ing the degree of Bachelor of Science. Sub- sequently he engaged in teaching in the pub- lic schools of the state until 1899, when, am- bitious to promote his own education, he matriculated in the Southern Law College of Nashville, Tennessee, and prepared for a professional career, being graduated in 1900 with the degree of Bachelor of Law. Again he engaged in teaching school for a year in connection with the schools of Lobelville, Tennessee, and then came to the territory of Oklahoma in 1901. He made his way direct to Cleveland county and here began the practice of law at Norman, the county seat. For the first two years he was alone in practice, after which he became associ- ated with John Mosier, under the firm name of Mosier and Dudley. This relationship was continued until the latter part of 190}, when upon the removal of Mr. Mosier from the county Mr. Dudley resumed the practice of law alone. He was the first city attorney of Norman after the adoption of the present city charter and for three years filled that position. He is a capable lawyer, preparing his cases with care and precision and pre- senting his points before the court in a clear, logical. forceful manner. His understanding of legal principles and his correct application thereof has given him a strength before the

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A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume II, Part 17

Author: Hill, L. B. (Luther B.) Publication date: 1909 Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 810

Author: Hill, L. B. (Luther B.)
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 810