USA > Oklahoma > A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume II > Part 49
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While he has always lived in Mcalester proper and has loyally supported it as against its rival, South McAlester, he pur- chased property on Choctaw avenue of the latter, when that street was laid out, 'and there he built the second three-story busi- ness house in the city, known as the Schreiner building. Also he has other real estate interests within the corporate limits. He was one of the organizers of the old State National Bank, an institution that was merged into the American National Bank. While always taking an interest in good governmental policies, he has never been identified with politics. The only public office he ever filled was that of member of the first town council of McAlester.
In August, 1891, at Wichita, Kansas, Mr. Schreiner married Miss Dilla Adams, who was born and reared in Maine, daughter of E. D. Adams. Their children are: Ger- trude, Earnest, W. C., Carl and Max. Mr. Schreiner has taken the York degree in Ma- sonry and also is a Knight of Pythias and an Elk.
JOHN R. HURLEY, a real estate dealer of McAlester, Oklahoma, and one of its most enterprising citizens, was born in McNairy county, Tennessee, March 19, 1853, and was reared within a mile of the famous battle- field of Shiloh. The founders of the Hurley family in Tennessee were Thomas and Re- becca (Strawn) Hurley, who emigrated from their Alabama home into Hardin coun- ty, where they both died. Their children were: Jack, Henry, Asa C., Thomas, Eliza- beth, wife of Andrew Ledbetter, and Polly, who married a Mr. Pool. Asa C. Hurley was born in Hardin county, in 1832, and was inspired in early life to preach the gospel.
Cochran
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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA.
As a Primitive Baptist, he ministered to the people of that denomination until his death, giving his service gratuitously, according to the tenets of his church. During the Civil war he was in the Confederate ser- vice, and was captured by the Federal forces near Shiloh, but was paroled and did not
re-enlist. While much of his time was given to the work of the ministry, he lived on a farm and carried on farming opera- tions. He married Caroline Evans, who survives him and is now a resident of Stan- tonville, near her old home. The fruits of this union are: Thomas, of McNairy coun- ty: William G., of Arkansas; John R .; George, of Memphis, Tennessee ; Jefferson. of Stantonville, Tennessee: Rebecca, wife of John Mickey, of Terrell, Texas: Cale- donia, wife of Samuel Duncan, who died in Adamsville, Tennessee; Josephine, wife of George Mickey, of Mickey, Tennessee ; Laura, now Mrs. Calvin Howell, of Mc- Nairy county ; Annus, wife of Andrew Smith, of Stantonville, Tennessee ; and Dol- lie, wife of Alexander Simmons, of Kell. Texas.
John R. Hurley gained his education chief- ly in the school of experience. He started out to make his own way in the world at an early age, first as a farmer and later as a merchant in his home town .. He was a member of the firm of Hurley and McDaniel, and afterward, for some years conducted business alone, meeting with a fair degree of prosperity. When he approached the meridian of life, he decided to convert his interests into cash and identify himself with the new and growing West. He first came to the Indian Territory in 1901, while on a tour of the Southwest, and chose McAles- ter as his future home, and two years later he brought his family here and settled in "the old town." Here he invested his means in real estate, which he improved, building business houses and rental cottages, and here he soon gained recognition as an im- portant factor in the town. He was elected a member of the board of education of North McAlester prior to the merging of the two towns, and later was elected recor- der of the town. In the movement to con- solidate the rival towns, Mr. Hurley ac- tively supported the union and when it was consummated he was chosen a member of the first council, from the sixth ward, and has served continuously since. He has served on the committees on ordinance, Vol II-17.
streets and alleys, and sanitation, and has supported measures for the erection of the city hall, the granting franchises for natur- al gas and for the proper modification of the franchise effecting the electric railway. The school and water bonds were voted during this time, and seven ward buildings and the high school building were constructed. Po- litically, Mr. Hurley was reared a Demo- crat and he still supports the Democratic ticket.
He first married, in 1879, Miss Eliza, daughter of Wesley McDaniel. This wife died in 1892, leaving three children: Hes- ter, now the wife of C. V. Brown, of Adams- ville, Tennessee ; Millie, at this writing a clerk in the South McAlester postoffice ; and U'ra. December 11, 1894, Mr. Hurley mar- ried Miss Luvernia Meeks, daughter of Col. O. L. Meeks, of Corinth, Mississippi, and they have two children, Amy and Eunice. Mr. Hurley and his family are members of the Christian church.
ALBERT G. COCHRAN, register of deeds and for many years a citizen of Oklahoma and one of the promoters of the state constitt- tion, came hither from Faulkner county, Ar- kansas. He was born in Yalobusha county. Mississippi, November 28, 1860, son of Thomas J. Cochran, a native of the same state, who married Adaline Cochran and died before the birth of his first child. Mrs. Thomas J. Cochran was a daughter of John Cochran, a native of Kentucky, and was no relation to her husband. Her first husband was a poor man and after his death her struggles to maintain her family were brave and incessant and finally she migrated with her children to Arkansas and resided in different portions of that state. She re- mained a widow for some time and then mar- ried 1. M. Cook and became by this union the mother of William and Arthur, now resi- dents of Oklahoma. She passed away at Red Oak, Oklahoma, in November, 1892.
Albert G. Cochran was not only retarded in his early intellectual development by the family circumstances, but also because he became a permanent cripple when four years of age from the effects of a serious attack of typhoid fever. In spite of these draw- backs he acquired sufficient education to become a teacher in the rural schools and with the proceeds of this work was enabled to obtain a commercial course in a business college at Fort Smith, Arkansas. After the completion of this course, Mr. Cochran as-
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sumed a position with the firm of Grady & Freeny, at Hartshorne. first becoming an accountant and later bookkeeper for William Grady with whom he remained for ten years. This clerical and business experience well fitted him to assume the duties of the office of register of deeds. His preliminary ex- perience as a public man, however, was ob- tained in the Constitutional convention and in that body he served on the committees of legislation, municipal corporations, privil- eges and elections and crimes and punish- ments. On his return from the Constitu- tional convention he became a candidate for register of deeds and was nominated in the primaries against two opponents, being elected over his Republican opponent by a flattering plurality. As a citizen of Harts- horne, Mr. Cochran had been identified with its public affairs, serving three terms as its treasurer and resigning to assume the of- fice of register of deeds. Besides creditably serving in that capacity he is a stockholder in the First National Bank of the city. His fraternal connection is with the Odd Fel- lows and the Knights of Pythias and he is a leader in the work of the Christian church, being an elder of the congregation and ac- tive in its Sunday school work.
BENJAMIN A. ENLOE, JR., has for the past five years been connected with the develop- ment of McAlester. He is a member of the firm of McEachen & Enloe, cement con- tractors, and as such has entered prominent- ly into the work of equipping the city with substantial sidewalks. Mr. Enloe was born in Lebanon, Tennessee, February 22, 1872, and is a descendant of one of the pioneer families of Tennessee. Benjamin S. Enloe, his grandfather, was a native of North Carolina, from which state he went to Ten- nessee and settled in Carroll county. where he passed his life as a farmer. During the Civil war he was a strong sympathizer with the Union cause. Among his several child- ren was Benjamin A., the father of Benja- min A., Jr., whose success in politics and business made him a credit both to his family and to the state he served.
Benjamin A. Enloe, now chairman of the Board of Railroad Commissioners of Ten- nessee, was born in Carroll county, that state, in 1848. When a young man he was employed in the newspaper business, and became editor and owner of the Jackson Tribune and Sun. In this way he got into politics. He was nominated by the Demo-
cratic party for Congressman from his dis- trict, and in this capacity was retired for a period of ten years.
Retiring to private life, he became editor of the Nashville Sun, and subsequently filled the editorial chair of the Louisville Dispatch. In the preliminary work of his state for representation at the St. Louis World's Fair, he was appointed by the state governor to organize the exhibit of the common- wealth, and he had charge of it throughout the exposition. Becoming again accessible for responsible duties to his state, he was nominated for Railroad Commissioner and elected, and was subsequently made chair- man of the board. Mrs. Enloe was, before her marriage. Miss Fannie Ashworth. She was born in Tennessee, daughter of Jasper R. Ashworth, whose ancestors were North Carolina people. The children of Benja- min A. and Fannie Enloe are: Benjamin A., Jr .: Adele, wife of George L. Wilkin- son, an attorney in Chicago; Fantene, now Mrs. A. M. McClain, of Lebanon, Tennes- see, and Marie, wife of C. M. Murray, of Jackson, Tennessee.
In the high school at Jackson, Tennessee, and in the Southwestern Baptist University, Benjamin A., Jr., received a liberal educa- tion, and on leaving college he went to Washington as his father's private secre- tary. While in the national capital he made his initial preparation for the law and when he returned to his home he resumed read- ing and entered the Lebanon Law School, where he finished the course. After prac- ticing law in Jackson for a short time, he abandoned his profession and embarked up- on a business career. About this time he was attracted to Southern California, and settled in Los Angeles, engaging in the real estate business. At the end of three years, he canie to Indian Territory, and since then has been identified with McAlester.
December 21, 1902, in Paris, Texas, Mr. Enloe married Miss Gladys Kirkpatrick, daughter of H. H. Kirkpatrick and Mabel (McClannahan) Kirkpatrick, former resi- dents of Mcalester. Mr. and Mrs. Enloe have two children, Henry K. and Peyton A.
CALEB W. DAWLEY, of McAlester, Pitts- burg county, has for the past fifteen years been largely concerned in the develop- ment of the industries of this city. He came to McAlester in 1893 for the purpose of instal- ling one of the first ice plants put in opera- tion in this section of the territory. With the
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growth of population, especially with the in- coming of settlers in comfortable circum- stances his business expanded and warranted him in extending its operations to other points in Oklahoma. The consequence was that he erected and put into operation ice manufactories at Haileyville, Hugo and Ok- mulgee. At that time the plants were de- voted to the manufacture of ice only but since then the three plants mentioned above have extended the scope of their business and now furnish light and power as well as ice. In February, 1908, Mr. Dawley joined Colonel Busby in assuming control of the Choctaw Railway and Lighting Company of which he was made vice president.
Mr. Dawley comes of an old Welsh fam- ily, the first American members of which em- igrated to the new world in the colonial period and established themselves in the Old Dominion. The great-grandfather of Caleb W. is known to have served in the American navy during the war of the Rev- olution and while thus giving himself to his country s cause, was lost at sea. His youngest son, Caleb Dawley, was the grand- father of Mr. Dawley of this sketch, and at the opening of the nineteenth century mi- grated from Virginia to the territory of Ken- tucky where he passed the remainder of his life. The father, James S. Dawley, of Paris, Texas, was born in Gallatin county, Kentucky, in 1826 and in 1868 left his native state to locate in Jackson county, Missouri. He remained there as a hard working and honest farmer until 1907 when he located at Paris, Texas. His wife, the mother of Ca- leb W., was formerly Nannie H. Ambrose, daughter of Rev. Joseph Ambrose, a Bap- tist minister of English parentage, who passed his entire life in the state of Ken- tucky. The issue of this marriage was: Caleb W .; William H., of Paris, Texas ; and James W., a resident of Hugo, Oklahoma.
Caleb W. Dawley is a native of Gallatin county, Kentucky, born April 2, 1859. When nine years of age he removed with his parents to Belton, Missouri, in which locality he obtained his early educa- tion. Before its completion he attended the Baptist College at Liberty, Missouri, and finished his higher studies at the Missouri University from which he graduated with the degree of A. B. After his graduation he entered the teaching profession in con- nection with the Jackson county schools and
earned his first money in that line of work. His energetic and practical temperament, however, craved something more active and profitable and he therefore assumed the management of the Gas Light Company, at Springfield, Missouri. During the four years of his work in this position he ac- quired a thorough knowledge of the busi- ness and also collected a small capital which enabled him to enter as a proprietor into a similar line of business. In association with several men of means he erected a gas plant at Fort Smith, Arkansas. After a time he sold the plant and with the proceeds went to Texas and began a long and active career in the erection of ice plants throughout the eastern portion of that state. Many years of this period were passed as a resident of Dallas and during this time he erected a plant at Paris and the manufactories of the Denison Crystal Ice Company, the Corsi- cana Ice Company, the Terrell Ice Com- pany, the Texarkana Ice Company, the Shreveport Ice and Brewing Company, of Shreveport, Louisiana, the Tyler Ice Com- pany, the Lufkin Ice Company, and the Nacogdoches Ice and Cold Storage Com- pany. As these plants were erected his business also increased and he conceived the idea of extensively embarking in the ice ma- chinery and supply business. He there- fore removed to St. Louis, Missouri, and formed a partnership with A. Ruemmelli, the firm name becoming the Ruemmelli- Dawley Manufacturing Company. Mr. Dawley continued actively connected with the firm and its growing business until 1893 when he established his home and his business headquarters in McAlester. His record since that time has already been giv- en.
Mr. Dawley has never been interested in politics but has taken an active part in fra- ternity matters, being a Scottish Rite Mas- on, and a member of the B. P. O. E. Like other men whose time and strength are largely absorbed by business matters he has several varied forms of recreation, name- ly, traveling and fishing. In recent years his vacations have been frequently passed on the gulf coast of Texas and one of his fav- orite fishing haunts is the famous tarpoon grounds at Rockport. It should be added that Mr. Dawley now holds the champion- ship for the capture of the largest species of that fish on the Texas coast. He is fond of
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travel both for the information it provides and for its complete change of scenes and the consequent recreation. His journeys have extended not only through a great number of the states but into Alaska as well.
W. PERRY FREEMAN for eight years clerk of the U. S. Court of Appeals at McAlester and now junior member of the law firm of Fannin and Freeman of this city, came to the Indian Territory in 1898 to take the clerkship to which his friends had secured his appointment. His duties began Febru- ary 1st, of that year and from thence for- ward his identity with Oklahoma affairs assumed a serious turn. His conduct in of- fice and as a citizen endeared him to all alike and now at the very meridian of life, he finds himself in the enjoyment of ample emolu- ments for his material use and in the pos- session of that universal friendship among his fellows which classes him among the first citizens of McAlester.
In Tuscumbia, Miller county, Missouri, in a humble rural home, W. Perry Freeman was born June 15, 1858. His father, Andrew Freeman, was a native of Tennessee, by av- ocation a farmer. He enlisted in the Union army from Miller county, and was killed in the battle of Tupelo, Mississippi. He mar- ried Editha Tinsley, a daughter of William Tinsley, a Virginian, a blacksmith and a far- mer. The children of this marriage were: Perry; Lucy, wife of William Golden, of Aurora, Missouri; Paralee, who married James Cox, of St. Louis; Belle, wife of Fer- nando Hooker, of Linn Creek, Missouri ; and Dora, who became Mrs. John Keown of the same place.
Perry Freeman was handicapped by the loss of his father and was rather compelled to look out for himself as soon as his ser- vices were worth money. At ten years of age he went to Tuscumbia and became a roustabout in the office of the Miller Coun- ty Fidette and there he received his educa- tion. He remained with the paper until grown when the roving spirit captured him and he was, in turn, connected in some ca- pacity with the Richland Sentinel, the Leb- anon Journal, the Eureka Springs ( Arkan- sas) Herald and the Patriot Advertiser of Springfield, Missouri.
About this date he got into active poli- tics in his home county, attended county and state conventions of the Republican party and was made a deputy in some of the coun-
ty offices. He was then elected clerk of the circuit court and while filling the office studied law and was admitted, subsequently, to the Miller county bar. He was elected to the lower house of the legislature and was chairman of the committee on penitentiaries, was on the committee of internal improve- ment, private corporations and agriculture.
Returning from the legislature and taking up civil life he engaged in the practice of law in Tuscumbia where he was admitted be- fore Judge Dorsey W. Shackelford. His practice was uninterrupted until when, while a delegate to the Missouri State Convention and because of an incident which contributed to his sudden and substantial popularity, he was nominated for secretary of state and polled the vote of his party but was defeated. Two years later we find him appointed to his clerkship to the court of appeals at Mc- Alester, one of the most lucrative positions in the gift of the department.
His earnings Mr. Freeman has judiciously invested from time to time in property and enterprises in McAlester and all have proved the wisdom of such a course. He is a di- rector of the First National Bank of McAl- ester, a director in the New State Iron and Supply Company, in The New Process Laundry and in the Citizens' Bank of Wil- burton, Oklahoma.
In Camden county, Missouri, September 19, 1881, Mr. Freeman married Miss Allie Harris, a daughter of R. Boone Harris who was killed during the Civil war by the bush- whackers. One child has resulted from the union, Elsie, wife of Lewis A. Ellis, with the Jefferson Trust Company, of McAlester, who has a daughter, Sibyl.
The Freeman home is a commodious one on the colonial plan, on Adams Avenue, and is noted for its hospitality and good cheer. Mr. Freeman is a Knight Templar Mason and is one of the few thirty-third degree Ma- sons of Oklahoma.
EBEN N. ALLEN, M. D., of McAlester, has been a practicing physician in what is now Oklahoma since 1885, when he located in the Choctaw Nation and opened an office in old McAlester. Dr. Allen's grandparents, Richard Allen and wife, nee Hughes, were born, reared and married in Ireland, and soon after their marriage emigrated to America and settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where, some years later, he died, leaving his widow with four children, namely : Rob-
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ert T. P., Richard N., Eben N., and Eliza- beth. Robert T. P. graduated at West Point Academy, afterward went to Kentucky and established the Kentucky Military Institute, which he conducted until some years after the close of the Civil war, with the excep- tion of a few years during that war, when the school was closed and he was colonel of a Tex- as regiment in the Confederate service ; late in life he sold his school, and went to Flor- ida, where he was accidentally drowned. Eben N. was a master mechanic in the em- ploy of the Ohio Railroad Company, at Wellsville, Ohio, where he died. Elizabeth married Mr. Jay Cooke, the financier of New York, whose failure in 1823 precipitat- ed the famous financial panic of that year.
Richard N. Allen was born in baltimore, Maryland, December 25, 1819. After grad- uating from a law school at Meadville, Penn- sylvania, he settled at Alton, Illinois, where he entered upon the practice of his profes- sion. From his mother he inherited slave property which, of course, he could not take to Illinois, and for this reason he bought a farm in Franklin county, where he kept his negroes until the Emancipation Proc- lamation set them free. In the meantime his brother, as already stated, founded the Kentucky Military Institute, and Richard N. gave up his law practice and accepted a position as teacher in the school. During the Civil war, although a strong believer in the righteousness of secession and of the war which followed, he did not participate in it actively, but was engaged with his brother-in-law in floating the bonds of the United States with which to carry on the war, traveling over the Missouri and other Mississippi valley states and in this way aided the Union cause.
In 1815, he left Kentucky and settled near New Home, Bates county, Missouri, where he purchased a large farm and turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. Soon, however, he was induced to take up school work again, and for a number of years he taught in the public schools of Bates coun- ty. When well advanced in life he moved to Butler, Missouri, where his death oc- curred in 1899. He and his wife were de- voted Christians, members of the Metho- dist church, and in this faith they reared their family. In early life he was a Whig, subsequently a Democrat ; believed in tar- iff for revenue only and was opposed to the
importation of objectionable foreigners. Not only did he hold these beliefs, but also he was an able exponent of them; indeed. he was a ready speaker upon all topics of general interest. In New York state, Rich- ard N. Allen married Miss Jeannette Camp- bell, a native of Cattaraugus county, and a daughter of Hugh C. Campbell, a descend- ant of Sir Colin Campbell, the noted Scotch- man. The children of this marriage are : Sarah, wife of J. B. Batchelor, of Deep Wat- er, Missouri ; Dr. William H., of Rich Hill, Missouri : Robert T. P., of Elk City, Okla- homa, a farmer; Richard N., of Grant conn- ty, Oklahoma ; Dr. Eben N., whose name in- troduces this sketch; Rev. Hugh C., of Or- egon ; Jacob D., of Butler, Missouri, editor of the Bates County Times, and Elizabeth, wife of Rev. Bewley, of Webb City, Missou- ri.
.Eben N. Allen obtained his early educa- tion in the common schools, and finished the sophomore year in the Kentucky Mil- itary Institute, after which he gave his at- tention to farming, and was thus occupied until the removal of the family to Missouri. Then he studied telegraphy, and was soon able to take a position with the M. K. & T. Railway. Soon, however, he resumed farm- ing. In 1878 he began the study of medi- cine, in the office of Dr. W. H. Allen, at Rich Hill and during the winter of 1848-9 took a course of lectures in the Louisville Medical College. Being graduated from the Kansas City Medical College, March 2, 1880 Dr. Eben N. Allen soon afterward opened an office at Austin, Cass county, Missouri. Two years later he went to Coolidge, Kan- sas, where he practiced until January, 1885, when he came to his present location at alc- Alester, where his professional career, cov- ering nearly a quarter of a century, has been marked with more than ordinary success. In addition to his general practice. Dr. Al- len is general surgeon of the Choctaw dis- trict of the Rock Island System, his field extending from Texola, Texas, to Memphis, Tennessee, and from Little Rock, Arkansas. southward to Eunice, Louisiana. He has been connected with All Saints Hospital, of McAlester, since it was founded, and served as its first house surgeon. Among the med- ical associations with which Dr. Allen is identified are the following: the State Med- ical Association, the Pittsburg County Med- ical Society, the American Medical Associa-
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