USA > Oklahoma > A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume II > Part 41
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Mr. Speer, although so closely allied with the interests of Oklahoma, is a native of Iowa, born on a farm in Madison county, near Winterset, in 1865, and he was reared on the farm and was a thorough farmer boy until he reached his majority. He remained in Madison county until he was twenty-six, and in 1893 took part in the notable run to the now historic opening of the Cherokee Strip, Oklahoma, locat- ing near Stillwater, in Payne county. He did some farming there and later located in Stillwater, where he was engaged princi- pally in the real estate business. His early experiences in the new state were varied, but he recalls that at different times he taught
school, studied law, was a commercial trav- eler and engaged in the insurance and ab- stract business. It was in the latter line that he decided to specialize, and, locating at Sapulpa, he has achieved distinguished success. Mr. Speer married in Sapulpa, in December, 1907, Miss Ethel Jones, of that city.
Ross B. DINGMAN, one of the largest real estate dealers in this section of Oklahoma, was born at Rice Lake, Dodge county, Min- nesota, in April, 1862. Just five years after bis birth, in 1867, his parents moved to Black Hawk county, Iowa, where lived until the age of fourteen. He then went to Colo- rado, and for several years thereafter was engaged in the typically varied and pic- turesquely eventful life of the Colorado min- ing camps in their boom days, particularly of Leadville, where he was located at the time of that city's first great mining excite- ment. About the time he became of age he engaged in the real estate business, becom- ing saturated with a breezy western spirit of optimism and enterprise that has re- mained one of his most valuable assets in business.
Colonel Dingman, as he is familiarly called, is essentially a town and country builder. He left Colorado about 1884 and, going to Kansas, was for several years thereafter actively engaged in business, mostly real estate and townsite operations in various cities, but principally in Kansas City, Joplin and Muskogee. In 1902 he lo- cated permanently in Sapulpa, and has been one of the leading forces in promoting the growth of this, the leading oil town in the world. On first coming to the city he in- vested heavily in local real estate, having a faith in its future that has been rewarded by Sapulpa's present splendid prosperity and its possession of fine buildings, side- walks, pavements and modern metropolitan improvements. To aid in bringing about these results Mr. Dingman spent generous- ly of his capital in advertising the city far and wide, and not only has he received ben- eficial results from this himself, but the cit- izens and property owners generally have also been greatly benefited.
As a real estate operator, Colonel Ding- man handles his own property exclusively. and owns extensive interests in Sapulpa in both residence and business property. He purchased, laid out and promoted the two finest residence additions to Sapulpa-North
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Heights and Buena Vista, on the north side. His own residence is the principal building on North Heights, occupying the most elevated site in the city, on the hilltop, and it commands a truly majestic and in- spiring view of all the surrounding country, including the great oil fields. The residence is thoroughly modern, built after Mr. Ding- man's own plans and ideas, and with his wife's assistance in adding to it the innum- erable things pertaining more essentially to the home, it comprises as complete, comfort- able and artistic a residence as one could desire. The residence is equipped with pri- vate waterworks and drainage system and heated and lighted by natural gas and elec- tricity, while above all the home is notable for its never failing good cheer and hos- pitality.
Mrs. Dingman, who presides over this home, as well as assists her husband in his business office, was before her marriage Miss Lena Reynard, and was born in Kan- sas City and reared in Wabaunsee county, that state. Her parents were natives of Al- sace-Lorraine, coming to America soon after their marriage, and they became highly esteemed residents of Wabaunsee county, where they lived for many years. Colonel and Mrs. Dingman have two children, a daughter and a son: Miss Fannie E. Ding- man, a young lady now in college and of notable accomplishments, particularly in music, and Reynard B. Dingman, a bright young fellow of seventeen years, who is a natural inventor and electrician. He has a crude wireless tower that he put up himself.
THEODORE BERRYHILL was born in Bu- chanan county, Missouri, October 20, 1874, and is a member of the Berryhill and Glenn families who own the lands in the Glen Pool, from which millions of dollars worth of oil has been taken out. His paternal grand- father was John Dallas Berryhill, a half- blood Creek Indian who emigrated with the Creeks from Alabama to Indian Territory and settled in the Creek Nation. He did not live there long, however, and while re- taining his land and rights as an Indian citi- zen removed to Buchanan county, Missouri, which seemed to him a more desirable place of residence, and there he was married and there his son, George W., was born. Sev- eral other members of the Berryhill family moved to Missouri and located in Buchanan and Jackson counties, while still others re- mained in the Creek Nation, several of them
owning valuable lands in Glenn Pool and the surrounding oil territory. Some time after his marriage John Dallas Berryhill came back to the Creek Nation to live, but later returned again to Buchanan county and died there.
George W. Berryhill, his son and the father of Theodore, moved with his family from Buchanan county, the place of his birth, to the Creek Nation in 1884, and lo- cated at Stone Bluff, on the Arkansas river. He died there in 1898, but he is still sur- vived by his widow, her home being in Sa- pulpa.
To Theodore Berryhill was given but a limited educational training in his early youth. He attended school only a short time in Buchanan county, and after coming to Stone Bluff his other manifold duties prevented his continuing his attendance. He was ambitious to learn, however, and when he was twenty he entered upon a term of schooling and besides this procured books and studied at home, often pouring over them at night when all the other members of the family had retired. In this way, through self-teaching, he became fairly well educated. In 1891, at the age of seventeen, and with his brother, William Berryhill, then a'lad of nineteen, they left the home at Stone Bluff to select homes of their own according to their rights as Creek Indian citizens, locating where is now the famous. Glenn Pool. Theodore selected one hun- dred and sixty acres for himself lying partly in section 16 and partly in section 9, but at that time there was no hint of the won- derful oil developments to take place later, for they did not begin until the bringing in of oil on the Ida Glenn allotment, in 1905. Mrs. Glenn and Mr. Berryhill are cousins, and his allotment lies to the west of hers and nearly adjoins, and the allot- ments of his four children are also in the famous Glenn Pool and, like his own, are rich in oil productions. In the spring of 1907 he moved with his family to Sapulpa.
For several years Mr. Berryhill carried on ordinary farming operations. He had se- lected his land purely from its advantages for agricultural pursuits and location for a home, and recalls that he paid another In- dian then occupying the place fifteen dollars to move, the latter being perfectly willing to do so and select another allotment else- where. The great wealth that has come to Mr. Berryhill and his family is regarded
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by him as providential and to be tended sacredly as a trust. He does not have the least wish or inclination to spend money in extravagant ways of living or for lux- uries. He is a devoted Christian, an earnest member of the Independent Holiness church, and his chief aim is to do good and be of assistance to his fellow men through religious work and to extend charity and financial assistance without stint in all worthy cases which, from his personal in- vestigation, are worthy of his help.
He married, in the Creek Nation, Miss Rilla Wilson, a native of Kentucky, and their four children are Lony Love, Jackson, Sylvester and Earl.
HARRY H. McFANN, the well known oil producer and operator of Oklahoma, widely and prominently known as the manager and superintendent of the Laurel Oil Company, was practically reared in the oil buisness, for his early home was in an oil and gas district, and he has been actively engaged in this occupation all his life. He was born in Butler county, Pennsylvania, in 1876, a member of a well known family in western Pennsylvania, of Scotch-Irish descent. His grandmother was a cousin of General George B. McClellan. His education was received at Fairview, Pennsylvania, and at the Prospect Normal Academy. Almost from the time of leaving school he has de- voted his time to oil production, drilling, installing machinery, securing leases, pro- moting and developing and managing com- panies. He was engaged extensively in this work in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, for several years, but when the Spanish- American war broke out he put aside all personal considerations and enlisted in But- ler county, in Company E, Fifteenth Penn- sylvania Volunteer Infantry, and was sta- tioned at Fort Washington and at Athens, Georgia.
He was married in Armstrong county, to Miss Mary Olive Rankin, of that county, and they have two children, Mary Alice and Kenneth. Fraternally, Mr. McFann is a member of Masonic order and the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks.
JOSEPH M. DELOZIER. On the roster of the public officials of Oklahoma is recorded the name of Joseph M. DeLozier, the post- master of Sapulpa. He entered upon his .duties as such on the 15th of July, 1906, and under his administration and energetic man- agement the facilities of the office, the con- venience and accommodations for the public have been notably improved. Entire new equipment and furniture were installed in the latter part of 1907, at the time of mov- ing into the new quarters on Hobson street, and in July of 1908 this office will be ad- vanced from the third to the second class.
The efficient postmaster, Joseph M. De Lozier, was born in St. Clair county, Mis- souri, in 1881. His parents, H. F. and Em- ma (McConnell) DeLozier, were both born in Missouri and both are now living in Sapulpa, H. F. DeLozier being the live stock agent for the Frisco Railroad Com- pany. He was prominent in the public and political life of Missouri, and was sheriff of St. Clair county for two terms, from 1900 to 1904.
Before entering upon the duties of post- master of Sapulpa, Mr. DeLozier, the son, was engaged in the drug business for sev- eral years, entering that line of busines in his youth, and he was for some time a clerk in a drug store at Osceola, Missouri, having graduated from the Kansas City College of Pharmacy with the class of 1903. It was in the latter part of that year that he came to Sapulpa and entered the drug business for himself, thus continuing until his appoint- ment as postmaster. His wife before mar- riage was Miss Maud Workman, of Sen- eca, Missouri.
It was in 1903 that Mr. McFann came to the Indian Territory oil fields, and he has EDWIN C. REYNOLDS is a well known throughout the southwest and particularly in Tulsa and Sapulpa, as a successful pro- moter and builder of public utility industries, being at the present time president of the Sapulpa Light & Power Company and pres- ident of the Sapulpa Interurban Railway Company. He came to Tulsa in 1902 with a stock of hardware, and established a retail First and Second, this business later be- since then been continuously engaged in operations in this country. He is the gen- eral manager and superintendent of the Laurel Oil Company, one of the largest operators and producers in the territory, having a large number of producing wells in the districts of Nowata, Claremore, Allu- we, Morris and Glenn Pool. Mr. McFann has shown particular tact and ability in se- , hardware store on Main street, between curing leases.
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coming the well known Hale-Reynolds Hardware Company, in the same location and still conducted under that name, al- though Mr. Reynolds retired from the firm in 1906. He promoted and erected the plant of the Peoples Gas and Electric Com- pany in Tulsa, which in 1907 was sold to Messrs. Ball, Anderson & Murphy, who, later, formed the Tulsa Corporation and combined the plants for furnishing electric lights, power, water and ice in that city.
In the latter part of 1906 Mr. Reynolds came to Sapulpa and organized and built the plant of the Sapulpa Light and Power Company, of which he is the president and manager. In 1907 he organized and is now promoting the building of the Sapulpa and Interurban Railway, local, electric and sub- urban lines, the work on which is continu- ing successfully. The local line for the city of Sapulpa is now in operation, and after this is completed it is projected to extend the lines to various points in the oil fields and to Tulsa. During the finan- cial panic of the latter part of the year 1904, Mr. Reynolds did not lose courage and discontinue work of his industries, but putting forth extraordinary efforts to ob- tain capital he kept things going, and in this way contributed largely to the return of confidence and the restoration of normal conditions.
Oklahoma's chief promoter and builder is a native son of the Sunflower state of Kansas, born at Baldwin, in Douglas coun- ty, in 1867, a son of C. and Olinda (Routh) Reynolds, residents of that county since 185%, but the father was born in North Car- olina and the mother in Indiana. They reared their son as a farmer lad, and he continued at farming pursuits and at home until he was twenty-eight, receiving his education largely in Baker University, at Baldwin. In 1896 he went to Coffeyville, Kansas, as one of the sales force in a hard- ware store at that point, and from there, in 1902, he came to Tulsa, Oklahoma, with a stock of hardware and entered upon a career in the new southwest which has placed his name at the head of the builders of ()kla- homa.
Mr. Reynolds was married in Douglas county, Kansas, to Miss Hattie Bodwell, who was born and reared in that county. He is a Thirty-second degree Mason, be- longing to the Consistory at Mcalester ; and Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
CAPTAIN FREDERICK BALLARD SEVERS. Through his early and prominent identifi- ation with Okmulgee, Captain Severs has justly earned the title of Father of the City, and he is also one of its first merchants. Born in Washington county, Arkansas, Au- gust 13, 1835, he is a son of Charles J. and Besima T. (Ballard) Severs, early settlers in Washington county, where they estab- lished their home on a plantation near the line of the Cherokee Nation. Mr. Severs was born in Tennessee and his wife in South Carolina, and they were both mem- bers of well known southern families. He was a kind and generous father and gave to his children excellent educational advan- tages, and his home before the war was famous as a place for good living and hos- pitality.
Frederick B. Severs spent his boyhood days on this old southern homestead, re- ceiving his education at Cane Hill College. In 1852 he came to the Creek Nation to teach school. With the exception of the war period and a short time following, the Creek Nation has been his home ever since that year. At the breaking out of the con- flict between the north and the south, Cap- tain Samuel Checotah, a Creek Indian, or- ganized a company of his own people for service in the Confederate army, and young Severs was made the second lieutenant of the command, which rendezvoused at Blue Creek. Later, these troops were organ- ized into a regiment, known as the First Creek Regiment, of which Captain Checo- tah was made lieutenant-colonel and Mr. Severs was advanced to the rank of a first lieutenant. Jack Burgess was made cap- tain of the company, but his death occurred late in 1861 and Mr. Severs succeeded him to the captaincy and commanded the com- pany throughout the remainder of the war. His services were in Indian Territory and portions of Arkansas and Missouri.
After peace was declared, Captain Severs went to Fannin county, Texas, where he lived with his uncle, Tom Ballard, near Bonham, for a few months, working for his uncle and also teaching in the schools of that county. About this time, how- ever, his old home in Arkansas, which had been sorely devastated by both armies, re- quired his assistance, and he returned to Washington county. The only fortunate feature of that year for the old home place was a generous crop of apples, and pro-
Frederick, B. Severs
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curing a large wagon and four mules, Mr. Severs started for Texas with as large a load of this fruit as he could haul, dispos- ing of them there at from five to six dollars a bushel. He worked his way on to Nav- asota, and even as far as San Antonio, that state, carrying on a trading business, and in this way earning money enough to render substantial aid to his folks at home, par- ticularly in supplying them with bacon, which was very scarce and high priced just after the war.
After making further trips to Sedalia. Missouri, and to Fort Gibson, Indian Ter- ritory, Mr. Severs, in 1868, returned to the Creek Nation and established a store three miles west of Okmulgee, but soon after- ward he moved the business into the town and was one of the first to erect a building here. He started in business on a small scale, buying hides, pecans, etc., and selling goods, but from year to year his trade grad- ually grew and prospered, and it was not long until he had become a merchant of ample financial resources and with a large general trade, extending for many miles in all directions. In 1878 he erected the first two-story building in the town, the large stone structure on the corner of Sixth street and Grand avenue, the west and south walls of which still remain as a part of the splen- did, new Severs Block, the finest in the city and completed in 1907. The building has a two hundred feet front on Sixth street by one hundred and twenty feet deep on Grand avenue. Thus to Captain Severs belongs the distinction of being the pioneer and the largest individual merchant in Okmulgee and the surrounding country, and his resi- dence here forms a continuous chain from the beginning of the town to its splendid large proportions, and not alone has he witnessed these wonderful developments. but his typical generosity and public spirit in all worthy enterprises have made him one of its builders.
He married in Concharty, in the Creek Nation, Miss Annie Anderson, and they have three daughters-Mrs. Bessie E. Eng- lish, Mrs. Mary L. Owen and Mrs. Annie Cook. In 1856, Captain Severs joined Mus- kogee Lodge, No. 1, A. F. & A. M. Polit- ically, he is a Democrat.
WILLIAM WIRT WITTEN has many claims to prominence in Oklahoma, being one of its most prominent lawyers and citizens. a pioneer of '89, an influential Democrat
and prominent in the public affairs of the state. He was born at Raleigh Court House. West Virginia, then a part of Vir- ginia, in 1860, but was reared in Trenton, Missouri, where his parents moved during his childhood days. Returning to West Vir- ginia to study law in the office of his uncle, Judge Ward, at Guyandotte, he was admit- to the bar there in 1880, and at one went back to Trenton to begin his practice in that city. On the 22d of April, 1889, he made the run into the Territory of Oklahoma from Purcell, and located at Oklahoma City, where he established himself in the practice of law. He soon became associ- ated as a partner with the well known law firm of that day, Hammons, Witten & Mit- chell, but on the advent of the Cleveland national administration Mr. Witten was a prominent candidate for the appointment of governor of the territory, which was re- ceived, however, by Governor Renfrow. Soon after this Mr. Witten was appointed clerk of the United States district court at Oklahoma City. for the district embracing the counties of Oklahoma. Cleveland and Pottawatomie, remaining in that office until 1899.
In 1900 he came to Okmulgee, which was then but a small, quiet village. its chief claim to distinction being as capital of the Creek Nation. The advent of the Frisco Railroad in that year gave the town an im- petus toward a new growth that has since continued with gratifying results to its citi- zens. It can now lay claim to being one of the wealthiest and most enterprising cities in the eastern half of the new state, its growth being greatly augmented also by the discovery of oil and gas here in 1905. Be- sides a large general practice of the law, Mr. Witten is variously interested in the com- mercial and civic affairs of the city, and was formerly president of its Chamber of Commerce. He has throughout the entire period of his residence here been promi- nent in the councils of the Democratic par- ty. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Mr. Witten married, at Trenton, Missouri, Miss Nannie L. Harber.
JUDGE ORLANDO SWAIN, lawyer. judge. president of the Chamber of Commerce and one of the most prominent and conspicuous citizens of central and eastern ()klahoma. was born in Bureau county, Ilinois, in 1851. but was reared near Plymouth, in Marshall
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county, Indiana, where the family had moved during his childhood days. In 1876 he went from Indiana to Nebraska, where he was engaged in farming and other occu- pations, in Gage county, particularly school teaching, teaching both in Gage county and in York College, at York, Nebraska. The study of law also claimed a part of his time and attention, and at Beatrice, that state, where he had previously studied, he was admitted to the bar in 1896. Before his ad- mission to the bar, however, he had become quite prominent in the political life of his community and had served during one ses- sion of the Nebraska legislature as a com- mittee clerk.
Judge Swain came to Okmulgee, then the capital of the Creek Nation, in 1901, when it was yet a small and obscure village, for its growth to its present proportions and importance has taken place since the advent of the railroad, about that time. He at once entered into the practice of law in the United States court, which then had sole jurisdiction in Indian Territory, and also served for five years as United States commissioner. He enjoys a large and suc- cessful practice of a general nature, but is particularly well known in land title litiga- tion.
In Nebraska, Judge Swain was united in marriage to Miss Lydia Lash, and they have four chidren-Edward T., Paul E., Ar- thur and Helen. In civic affairs the judge is a public spirited citizen in promoting the growth of Okmulgee, and he is president of the Chamber of Commerce. He is a mem- ber of the Knights of Pythias. His church faith is that of the Methodist church.
DAVID M. SMITH, banker, farm owner and capitalist, came to Indian Territory in 1893, locating at Checotah, where he first em- barked in the hardware business, and was thus successfully engaged until his removal to Okmulgee, in 1902. Here he at once identified himself with the Citizens Bank, which became the Citizens National Bank in May, 1902, and for several years Mr. Smith served as the president of this large bank- ing house. Although he retired from its presidency in 1907. he still retains his finan- cial interest in the bank and is one of its directors. He also owns valuable farming properties, and is interested financially to quite a large extent in oil production and other enterprises of a capitalistic nature, particularly enterprises connected with the
growth and development of Okmulgee. He is a Republican in politics, and belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and to the Masonic order, being a Knight Tem- plar.
Mr. Smith, although he has allied his in- terests so prominently with Oklahoma, is a native Texan, born in Hunt county, No- vember 3, 1870. During his childhood his parents moved to a farm in Cooke county, that state, where he was reared to farm life and received his education, principally at Grayson College, in Whitewright. After the close of his school days he taught in the schools of Hopkins county.
He was united in marriage to Miss Amelia Corley, originally from Hunt county, Texas, and they have two sons, Corley and David.
WILLIAM S. TURMAN joined the Okmul- gee bar in 1902, and besides taking court cases and attending to other details of prac- tice in this growing city of the old Creek Nation, he has become one of the men financially and actively interested in the development of the oil fields of this vicinity. He is one of the successful producers in the Bald Hill, Glenn Pool and other districts in the Creek Nation. He has standing and prestige as a lawyer, though he is one of the younger members of the Oklahoma bar.
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