A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume II, Part 48

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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The efficient cashier, M. L. Thompson, is a native of the Sunflower state of Kansas, born June 21, 1874, and the work of the farm gave him employment and training in his early life, as well as in the early months of his independent career. The parental home was near the town of Anburn for many years, and there and for miles around John Thompson, the father, was known and respected. He was born in Ohio, the son of an Irish father, and after attain- ing to mature years in a rural community of his native state, he went to the then wild domain of Kansas and settled west of To- peka, then on the very border of civiliza- tion, and from there answered the call to arms in defense of the flag in the Civil war, and became a member of the Second Kan- sas Militia, with which he served in the promiscuous fighting along the border of Missouri and in the battle of Westport. In that engagement he was wounded and cap- tured, but was only in the hands of the enemy over night when he was recaptured. He was a farmer in his original locality in Kansas, for more than forty years, or until the Golden State of California lured him further westward, in 1903, where he was a wheat and barley raiser until his retirement to Orange in the evening of a long and active life. Mr. Thompson married in his early life, Miss Helen Dickson, the daugh- ter of a Scotchman, James Dickson, whose

home was near Dayton, Ohio. Their union was blessed by the birth of the following children: Miles L., of Portland, Oregon ; Merrel L., whose name introduces this re- view; Guy A .. and Theodore T., of Cali- fornia ; and Jay J., of Onega, Kansas. The wife and mother died in 1882, and some years later Mr. Thompson wedded Mrs. Mary Spangler, nee Reed, and their two children are Jennie, the wife of Logan Bar- nett, of Temecula, California, and Miss Ada, of the same place.

Merrel L. Thompson was early in life in- ured to the work of a Kansas farm, and the country school near his home and the com- mercial schools of Topeka and Kansas City equipped him for his work in life. After the completion of his educational training he came to the Choctaw Nation, and spent the first half a year here as a stenographer for the Mcalester Coal Com- pany at Hartshorne, while during the fol- lowing eighteen months he was the man- ager of the supply department for the same company, while at the close of that period he entered upon the work for which he seems so admirably fitted, that of banking.

In their political beliefs and practices the Thompson family are Republicans, and John Thompson in his early life made his position well known among his Kansas neighbors, and thus it has been with his son when opportunity has presented itself for forming political lines and waging po- litical battles in Oklahoma. Merrel L. Thompson was nominated by his party as a delegate to the constitutional convention for the Ninety-eighth district, and was de- feated by only a small majority at the polls. The political strength which he showed at that election marked him as one of the coun- ty leaders, and when the vacancy in the postmastership of Hartshorne occurred by the death of Dr. Savage, Mr. Thompson was appointed to the office, taking oath on the 6th of October, 1908. He still retains his connection with the bank, but chiefly as the credit man, while nominally holding the cashiership.

He married on March 31, 1896, Miss El- dora C. Carey, a daughter of Pleasant Ca- rey, of a Quaker family from Marion, Indi- ana. The wife of Pleasant Carey before marriage was a Miss Elliott, and they had seven children. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are Fontella C., Nelma B., and John Carey. Mr. Thompson has served

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as a Republican commissioner of elections in Pittsburg county for a year, and in fra- ternal circles he is a past master of Harts- horne Lodge, No. 91. F. & A. M., a member of the Scottish Rite and a member of India Temple of Oklahoma City. He is also a member of Mcalester Lodge, No. 531. B. P. O. E., and Columbia Lodge, No. 18, Knights of Pythias.

JOSEPH A. BARNETT, one of the pioneers of North Mcalester, for many years one of the cattle "barons" of the Choctaw Nation, and now conspicuous as one of the old regime and a citizen of influence, has filled a niche in the affairs of both natives and whites in his Indian home. Not that he has served them in some official capacity, nor as a leader in some political or social move- ment, but as a prominent plainsman whose life has been devoted from youth to "the Wild" and who has worked his way from the bottom up through the adversities of life on the frontier to a commanding place among the substantial citizens of his local- ity.

Mr. Barnett left his boyhood home in Ar- kansas when a youth and started west in search of employment on the range. That was not long after the close of the Civil war, and at that time no law restrained the red man or held in check the white man whose heart was set against his brother for feloni- ous greed and gain. Into the midst of these conditions young Barnett plunged. He sought the plains of Eastern Colorado and united his fortune with that of Bates & Beals, a Chicago ranching firm, whose in- terests there extended over vast areas and included myriads of cattle. His life during the fifteen years he was on the plains was filled with almost daily incidents pregnant with excitement, often dramatic, as they as- sumed the character of an Indian attack or a defense against the onslaughts of Ameri- can Bedouins bent on pillage.

Leaving Colorado, Mr. Barnett drifted into the Choctaw country and, in 1813, set- tled at McAlester, selecting a location for his ranching and beginning with only a very small herd of cattle. Soon he married a Choctaw woman and thus gained a right to the nation equal to that of an Indian. At one time no less than seven or eight thon- sand head of cattle roamed over his range and bore his brand. A quarter of a century in the business sufficed to assure him com- fort and independence during his declining

years, and in 1898 he sold his stock. Since then he has led a partially retired life. He invested his means in real estate in the Mc- Alesters, and has improved property in both. Recently he engaged in the shoe business, as a member of the firm of Bar- nett & Walker, and this, with other affairs. keeps time from hanging heavily on his hands.

Mr. Barnett was born in Sebastian coun- ty, Arkansas, in June, 1852. His father was Josiah Barnett and his mother was Fannie Holloway, the former a native of Kentucky, and the latter of Tennessee. The father passed his life as a farmer, and died soon after the close of the Rebellion : the mother passed away in Sebastian county. Their family comprised: Leonard, who died in Arkansas: Henry, a Confederate veteran, died at Stigler, Oklahoma; Mary A., wife of LaFayette Moore, died in Jefferson City, Missouri : Martha, died in Pittsburg county, Oklahoma, as Mrs. Frank Holloway; Jo- seph A .: Elizabeth, wife of George Fair- banks, of McAlester, and Frank, who died in Arkansas.

Joseph A. Barnett in his boyhood days had limited advantages for obtaining an education, but in the school of experience he gained a wide range of knowledge. In 1822, he married, at old Perryville, Amelia, daughter of William Holloway and Re- becca (Holston) Holloway, of the Choctaw tribe, and who came here from Mississippi. Mrs. Barnett died. December 25, 1906. She was the mother of three children, all of whom died when young.

ELMER C. MILLION, alderman and an in- fluential public man and financier of McAl- ester. Pittsburg county, is a native of Wis- consin, born at Argyle, LaFayette county, May 8, 1866. His father was Alfred Mil- lion and his mother, Agnes Patterson, a lady of Scotch parentage, both 'families establishing themselves as pioneers of La- Fayette county in the year 1847. The Mil- lion family was founded in that state by Washington Million, the grandfather of El- mer C., who migrated from Missouri, where for some years he had been engaged in farming. Among his children was Alfred, a Kentuckian by birth, but who was reared in Wisconsin and inspired by the prevailing Union sentiment of that state. In 1861 he entered the Federal army and served there- in for more than four years, receiving his honorable discharge shortly after the sur-

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render of Lee. His record was one which might be made the basis for an interesting juvenile novel, founded upon the excitement and uncertainties of the Civil war. At one time he was left for dead upon the battle- field of Cedar Mountain, and was twice cap- tured by the Confederates, but escaped without seeing the walls of a rebel prison. The last two years of his service he passed as a scout with Sherman's army, being one of the twenty-two assigned to the personal staff of the great commander. Mr. Million died in the late sixties, leaving two chil- dren : Elmer C., and Bertha, the latter of whom is the wife of C. B. Willey, of Rand- olph, Nebraska.

After his graduation from the high schools at Argyle, Wisconsin, Elmer C. Mil- lion became a student at the Western Nor- mal University, at Shenandoah, Iowa, and later attended the Campbell Normal Uni- versity, at Holton, Kansas. Despite this thorough normal education, he determined to be a business man, first locating at Ne- ligh. Nebraska, where he obtained a posi- tion as deputy treasurer of Antelope county. and after serving in that position for six years he became identified with banking. His financial career, preceding his location at McAlester, covered a period of thirteen years, and included service in the following important positions: Cashier of the First National Bank of Elgin: president of the Antelope County Bank at Oakdale; presi- dent of the Citizens State Bank, at Ains- worth, Nebraska: vice president of the Southern Trust Company, at Denison, Texas; president of the Caddo National Bank, Caddo, Indian Territory; vice presi- dent of the American National Bank, at Tishomingo, Indian Territory; vice presi- dent of the Atoka National Bank, Atoka, Indian Territory ; and cashier of the Coal- gate National Bank, Coalgate, Indian Terri- torv.

On coming to McAlester, in 1903, Mr. Million purchased an interest in the Ameri- can National Bank, of which he is still pres- ident. In June, 1907. he also assisted in the organization of the McAlester Trust Company and was elected its first president, this institution having a capital of $200,000 and transacting a general banking busi- ness. Further, he aided in the reorganiza- tion of the McAlester Grocer Company. capitalized at $15,000, and of which he is secretary and treasurer ; was also one of the

incorporators of the McAlester Fuel Com- pany, which organized on September 1, 1901, with a capital of $100,000, and of which he is vice president. To add to the long list of important corporations in the development of which he has played so important a part, it should be stated that he is president of the Bank of Stuart and the Bank of McAlester, as well as the Burdett Mercantile Company: that he is vice president of the First National Bank of Keota, the Eufaula National Bank, the Bank of Canadian, the Bank of Krebs, the Farmers' State Bank of Kiowa, the first Na- tional Bank of Wilburton, and the Citizens National Bank of Calvin, Oklahoma; that he is co-executor of the Burdett estate of Eufaula, Oklahoma, and director in the Choctaw Railway and Lighting Company of McAlester, the Ash Flat Valley Bank of Olney, and the Bank of Guertie, Raydon, Oklahoma.

Mr. Million's executive and administra- tive talents are further evinced by the im- portant part which he has played in poli- tics and the public affairs of his locality. He has always been an earnest Republican and especially active during the time pre- ceding the statehood movement. faithfully attending the conventions and other gath- erings which preceded the realization of the state government. Locally, he has been chosen to the city council, representing the First ward on the board of aldermen and. notwithstanding his private interests, large and absorbing, he is always accessible in the furtherance of any cause which will pro- mote the welfare of his city.

In September. 1887, Mr. Million was mar- ried at Neligh, Nebraska, to Miss Winnie Stevens, daughter of John A. Stevens, a well known hotel proprietor of that place. Her father was for many years a resident of Des Moines, Iowa, where Mrs. Million was born, May 16. 1869. The two children of Mr. and Mrs. Million are: Beatrice M. and Paul T. Million. Mr. Million is a Ma- son of high standing, having attained the thirty-second degree, and is a member of the Mystic Shrine, and also identified with the B. P. O. E. His church connections are with the All Saints Episcopal church. of which he is a vestryman.

WESLEY S. AMBROSE, vice president of the First National Bank of Mcalester. and secretary-treasurer and manager of the Choctaw Ice & Cold Storage Co.,

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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA.

was born in Callatin county, Kentucky, November 3, 1867. When a boy of twelve years he moved with his pa- rents to Belton, Missouri, where he grew to manhood, with no other educational advantages than those afforded by the public and commercial schools. Starting out in life for himself, he turned to the gro- cery business, in which for four years he was engaged in Kansas City. Then, through a relative, C. W. Dawley, Mr. Ambrose became connected with the ice industry, beginning in the delivery service, on a wag- on, in Corsicana, Texas. His faithfulness and good work soon earned him promotion, and a few months later he was taken into the office, and it was not long before he be- came manager of the business at McAlester, then South McAlester, Indian Territory.

Mr. Ambrose's identity with Mcalester dates from 1893. That year he took charge of the ice plant here, it being one of a sys- tem of plants established in the then Indian Territory by Mr. Dawley. This plant opened with a capacity of less than four tons daily, and its business has increased and its capacity enlarged almost annually until, in 1909, its output is one hundred tons per day. In addition to being secretary- treasurer and manager of the plant at Mc- Alester, Mr. Ambrose fills the same official position with the Indianola Ice, Light & Power Co., of Hartshorne, another plant of the Dawley system. During the fifteen years of his residence in McAlester. Mr. Ambrose has accumulated considerable property, and he now has numerous other business interests besides those with which he is actively connected. He was made president of the South Western Ice Manu- facturing Association, in New Orleans, No- vember 16, 1908, and, as already mentioned, is an officer of the First National Bank.

The "Old Dominion" was the home of Mr. Ambrose's early ancestors. His grand- father. Joseph Ambrose, a noted Baptist preacher, moved from Virginia to Ken- tucky in the pioneer history of the latter state. He died in Gallatin county, Ken- tucky, in 1884, at the advanced age of ninety years. His son, James H., the father of Wesley S., was born in Gallatin county, and lived there until his removal to Mis- souri ; his death occurred in Belton, Mis- souri, in 1898. hu Gallatin county, James H. Ambrose married Miss Mary Dawley, daughter of Delaware Dawley, a farmer of

that county. Mrs. Ambrose died in Galla- tin county in 1827, leaving six children, as follows: Joseph D., of Corsicana, Texas; Addie M., wife of W. A. Halloway, of Bel- ton, Missouri ; Sallie H., wife of Albert Mc- Fadden, of River Park, Missouri; Wesley S .; Minnie A., now Mrs. Earnest L. Hal- loway, of Alva, Oklahoma; and Nannie May, wife of Charles H. Hess, of McAlester, Oklahoma.

December the 25th, 1889, Wesley S. Am- brose was married in Kansas City, Missouri, to Miss Elizabeth Caroline Jennings, daugh- ter of Wiley and Caroline Jennings. She was born in Lexington, Missouri, in 1869, her father, Wiley Jennings, being an old Missouri river steamboat pilot. He died in 1877, her mother moving soon after to Kan- sas City, Missouri, where she is still living, and for the past seventeen years has made her home with her daughter. The children given to Mr. and Mrs. Ambrose are: Wiley H. Ambrose, born in Kansas City, Missouri, September 20, 1890; Kenneth E. Ambrose, born, March 21, 1896; Ernest Dawley Am- brose, born in McAlester, June 14, 1899. The eldest son. Wiley, at this writing is a student in the State University of Arkan- sas. Mr. Ambrose built the home where he and his family now live, at 524 East Grand avenue.

He is one of the pioneers of McAlester, serving the city as alderman in the First ward for two terms. He was one of the aldermen who helped work out the first bond issue that built the present water- works system for McAlester, and he was chairman of the fire and water committee and organized the first fire fighters. He was one of the aldermen who granted the city the first street car franchise, and was also chairman of the street and alley com- mittee. The Ambrose family are all identi- fied with the Christian church and Mr. Am- brose has filled the office of treasurer for the past twelve years. He is an Elk and Scottish Rite Mason.

PETE HANRATY. Having long been a leader of organized labor and a strong pro- moter of its interests in the Constitutional convention, the legislature and in the field, Pete Hanraty, chief inspector of the mines of Oklahoma, is one of the most influential men identified with the labor movement in the state. For the past twenty-five years he has been connected with the mining in- dustries of the MICAlester district. Born

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in Lanarkshire, Scotland, of Irish parents, Mr. Hanraty's birthday is December 28, 1864. His parents, Bernard and Catherine (McGuire) Hanraty, were humble Irish peo- ple, whose sole earnings were devoted to the feeding and clothing of their family, necessarily their educational advantages were somewhat limited. The father died in 1879, and several years thereafter the wid- ow brought her family to the United States, her son, Pete, having preceded the other members, in 1882.

When Mr. Hanraty emigrated to this country he went into the coal fields of Ha- zleton, Pennsylvania, and after remaining there a short time he went west and located at Krebs, Indian Territory. Although then but eighteen years of age, he had been a miner for nine years, and his resources were, therefore, confined to his skill as a mine worker, as his education had been vir- tually neglected. But he soon perceived that the men of influence around him were not only energetic and intelligent, but edu- cated, and he therefore applied himself to remedy these mental defects, studying hard during all his spare time. In 1892 he moved from Krebs to Coalgate, Indian Territory, and, in 1899, was elected the first mayor of Coalgate, for a period of three months, and in April of the same year was re-elected for one year. Mr. Hanraty possesses the distinction of being the first man elected to public office in Indian Territory.

In June, 1900, he was chosen president of District 21, United Mine Workers of Ameri- ca, the district being composed of Arkansas, Indian Territory and Texas, and he held that office until April, 1907. When he as- sumed the presidency the organization numbered less than four hundred members. When he retired there were sixteen thou- sand organized miners in this district. Prin- cipally through his efforts the coal oper- ators met in St. Louis, Missouri, where he succeeded in getting for the miners the eight hour day, semi-monthly pay day, and five cents per ton more for the Indian Ter- ritory miners than they had asked for. He was one of the principals who succeeded in getting the coal operators and miners of Districts 14, 21 and 25 to meet in their first joint conference in Pittsburg, Kansas, in 1903, and agree upon a scale of wages. The amicable status there established has since continued. Mr. Hanraty is a firm believer

in the joint method of settling labor dis- putes.

In 1906 he was elected to represent the Ninetieth district in the Constitutional Con- vention, and was chosen vice president of that body. His record as a leader of organ- ized labor gave him prestige which brought him much subsequent influence. He was honored with the chairmanship of the com- mittee on labor and arbitration. He was also appointed on the following commit- tees : Municipal corporations ; mines and mining; coal, oil and gas; public debt and public works; and counties and county boundaries. He was regarded in the con- vention as an honorable and upright rep- resentative of the rights of labor, and sev- eral of the most important provisions of the Constitution are the result of his intelli- gence and forethought. He introduced the following propositions, which became part of the Constitution: Employers' liability and the doctrine of fellow servants; when a judge is disqualified to act; to prevent government by injunction ; duties in locat- ing railroad lines ; eight hours of labor on municipalities and public works ; prohibiting convict labor from coming in competition with free labor ; immigration and labor ; the rights of labor; mines and mining: free passes and franking privileges prohibited : that all convention printing bear the union label; child labor prohibited in mines and factories. In fact his work in the Consti- tutional convention was so satisfactory to the cause of union labor that it resulted in his becoming a Democratic candidate for chief mine inspector, and he was elected to that position by a majority of thirty-four thousand votes. He assisted in drafting the mining law that went into effect in April, 1908.

Mr. Hanraty was married in 1888, in Krebs, Indian Territory, to Miss Louise Jung, a daughter of Joseph Jung, a former citizen of Kentucky, and born of German ancestry. Mrs. Hanraty was herself born in Kentucky, in 1871, and is the mother of Charles, Mary. Pete, Jr., Margaret, Joseplı, Louise, John and Ellen. Mr. Hanraty's fra- ternal relations are with the United Mine Workers of America and the Knights of Columbus.

E. WILLIAM SCHREINER, of McAlester, Oklahoma, has been identified with this locality for twenty years. He has from time to time associated himself with various in-

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dustrial institutions, and as an organizer and promoter has contributed to their success. Mr. Schreiner was born at Pomeroy, Ohio, September 22, 1862, a son of German parents, natives of Worms, the old town where Mar- tin Luther was tried before the Diet of the Catholic church for heresy. Jacob Schrein- er, the father, emigrated to the United States at the age of eighteen years, and took up his abode at Louisville, Kentucky, where he subsequently met and married Miss Ger- trude Schoneberger. In 1855 they moved to Ohio and settled at Minersville, near Pom- eroy, where he engaged in merchandising. In 1860 his vote was one of the only two Abolition votes in his precinct. Early in the '80s he brought his family west to Kan- sas, and has since been a resident of Par- sons, that state, where he has been occupied in mercantile pursuits. His children are : Christina and Mary, of Parsons, the latter the wife of C. A. Lamb; E. William and Henry, of McAlester, Oklahoma; Amelia, of Parsons, Kansas, and Jacob, of Fort Worth, Texas.

E. William Schreiner grew to manhood in the vicinity of his birthplace, and sup- plemented his common school education with a course in the National Norman Uni- versity, at Lebanon, Ohio. Realizing the superior advantages offered a young man in the West, he left Ohio, in 1882, and went to Bozeman, Montana, where he sold goods for several months. The next year he joined his parents in Parsons, Kansas, where for a time he taught school, and sub- sequently took an interest with his father in the store. . After six years in Kansas, he was influenced by a friend who was at that time agent of the M., K. & T. Ry., at McAlester, to take the place of helper at the station, and this step opened a future to him in Oklahoma which has brought him a tair measure of success.

On leaving the station, Mr. Schreiner ac- cepted the agency for the Waters Pierce Oil Co., in McAlester, and he also engaged in the wholesale grain and produce business and remained in the business ten years. He had accumulated some capital, and he then organized the McAlester Vitrified Brick & Tile Co., with a capital stock of $24,000, having associated with him in this enter- prise some capitalists of Coffeyville, Kan- sas. Five years later the company was re- organized, Colonel Busby, of McAlester. buying the interests of the Kansas stock-

holders, and the firm name was changed to the MICAlester Brick Company. About this time the Brewer Coal and Mining Company was on the market, and, with two other men, Mr. Schreiner bought the plant located at Johnsonville, in the McAlester district. Of this company Mr. Schreiner is now vice president and general manager : G. W. Ma- ser, president, and H. W. Adams, secretary and treasurer. Their capital stock is $100,- 000, the property comprises three mines. and their daily production is equal to 865 tons. Mr. Schreiner was one of the organ- izers of the German Land and Improvement Co., of McAlester, a corporation for the pur- pose of dealing in real estate, and of which he is president.

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A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume II, Part 48

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