A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume II, Part 5

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.

close of that period the family home was es- tablished in Mississippi, where Dr. Thomas F. Henderson spent several years of his life, then moved to St. Francis county, Arkansas, where his death occurred in 1888, at sixty- two years of age.

The birth of Dr. William E. Henderson occurred in Walton county, Georgia, Sep- tember 28, 1850, but his educational train- ing was received in the schools of Alabama. He began the study of medicine under the preceptorship of his father and graduated from the University of Louisville, Kentucky, in 1873, at once beginning the practice of his chosen profession in Panola county, Mis- sissippi. In 1901 he left there for Shawnee, where he has ever since been in active prac- tive, and for fifteen years, as above stated, has given special attention to the diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. In order to perfect himself in this branch of the profes- sion he pursued courses in New York, Chi- cago and St. Louis, and has attained high rank in his specialty. He is a member of the County, State and American Medical Asso- ciations, and politically is a Democrat.

Dr. Henderson married, in 1875, Miss Sal- lie A. Trammell, who died in 1897. In 1903 he married Miss Ella Trammell, a native of Alabama. He has three children: Clara M., wife of Chas. H. Girvin of St. Louis, Missouri; Willie E., wife of W. D. Wall, of Mississippi; Herbert C., now a resident of Mississippi. All these children are by the first marriage.

DR. JOSEPH M. TRIGG is one of the emi- nent physicians of Shawnee. He was born in Johnson county, Illinois, June 21, 1870, a son of Milton A. and Mary (Barnwell) Trigg, both of whom were born in North Carolina. When but a child, Milton A. Trigg was taken by his parents to Illinois, where he afterward made his home, and there his son Joseph was born and reared to years of maturity, attending the public schools of Johnson county and the State Normal at Carbondale. On attaining the age of nineteen he began the study of medi- cine, and after his graduation in 1893 from a medical college in Keokuk, Iowa, he began practice at Farmersville, Illinois, and con- tinued as a prominent member of the medi- cal profession in that city for ten years. During the following two years he practiced in St. Louis, Missouri, and from there came to Shawnee in 1905 and has since been en- rolled among the city's most eminent physi-

cians. He is a member of the County, State and National Medical Associations, and fra- ternally is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and other societies. He is a Metho- dist in his religious belief.

In 1900 Dr. Trigg was married to Helen Roberts, born in Ashland, Missouri, and he had previously wedded Jeanette Botkin, who died in August, 1898. He has four children : Milton Dorsey, born July 8, 1898; Sarah Elizabeth, born August 26, 1902; Joseph Franklin, born September 28, 1904, and James Richard, born March 24, 1908.

HOWARD A. WAGNER, M. D. traces his ancestry in the paternal line back to the countries of Europe, from whence about 1775 representatives of the family crossed the Atlantic and established their home in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, and the Doctor was born in the old homestead at Bath which had sheltered its members for upwards of one hundred and fifty years. His grandfather, William Glen, and his grandmother, Cora Rous, were Scotch and English, and came to the United States dur- ing the war of 1812. George Wagner, the father of the Doctor, was born in Bath and died in 1903, aged seventy-two. His wife was Sallie M. Gerspach, also born in North- ampton county, Pennsylvania.

Dr. Howard A. Wagner, born on the 4th of October, 1875, graduated from the Bath high school, and then became a student in its normal school. Having chosen the pro- fession of medicine as his life work he en- tered the Jefferson Medical College and graduated in 1900. On the 1st of February, 1901, he arrived in Shawnee, and has since been numbered among the city's best and most competent physicians. He is a mem- ber of the State, County and American Medical Associations and also has member- ship relations with the 32d degree Masons, the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and other societies.

ROBERT J. MCKAY is the secretary and manager of the R. J. Mckay Cigar Com- pany, Incorporated, which was established in 1903, and is now one of the largest con- cerns of Pottawatomie county. Mr. McKay is a splendid specimen of physical manhood, a whole-souled, generous-hearted man, and stands high in the estimation of all who know him. He is a stanch Republican, prominent in the local councils of the party,

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA.

and in November, 1907, he was appointed by Governor Frantz as a delegate to repre- sent Shawnee at the Trans-Mississippi Busi- ness Congress, which met at Muskogee. Whatever he has done has been well done, and he is prominent and well known in both the public and private life of the community.

Mr. McKay was born in Sparta, Illinois, December 7, 1857, a son of John L. and Mar- garet (Torrence) Mckay. The mother was a native of Scotland. John L. Mckay was also born in the land of hills and heather, and they were married there. He came to the United States in the early '40s, and after landing in New Orleans made his way up the river to Sparta, Illinois. With the martial blood of his Scotch ancestors flowing in his veins he enlisted in the Thirty-first Illinois Regiment to fight for his adopted country in her Civil war and finally laid down his life on its altar, for he was drowned in the Cumberland river when on duty.

After obtaining his education, Robert J. McKay learned the plowmaker's trade in the shops of Sparta, and from that city he went to Parsons, Kansas, where he con- ducted a blacksmith shop for a year. Dur- ing the following ten years he was engaged in the same business at Medicine Lodge, Kansas, and from that city. in 1894, he came to Oklahoma. For a short time he made his home in Enid, and it was in 1897 that he came to Shawnee. After conducting a blacksmith shop for a short time, he became engaged in the restaurant business, and in 1901 was elected the chief of the police for one year, but at the close of the period re- turned to the restaurant business. In 1903 the R. J. Mckay Cigar Company was in- corporated, with Mr. McKay as the secre- tary and manager, and with the passing years the business has expanded and in- creased until it now ranks with the leading ones of the county.

Mr. Mckay married, October 27, 1881, Laura I. Gibson, a native of Randolph coun- ty, Illinois, and a daughter of William Gib- son. They have four children: Harry S., a resident of Parsons, Kansas ; Edith T., the wife of Dr. Montgomery, of Shawnee; Wil- liam J., who is in business in Shawnee, and Francis K., a teacher in the public schools of Shawnee.

THOMAS' W. ALFORD, chief clerk of the Indian Training School at Shawnee, is a na- tive of the southwest and has been identi- fied with its interests throughout his entire

life. In 1891 he was a member of the gov- ernment survey for the Indian allotments in the Pottawatomie reservation, thus as- sisting in the surveying of the Sac and Fox reservations, and in 1893 he assisted in sur- veying the Kickapoo reservation under Moses Neal, the government allotment chief for the United States.

In 1904 Mr. Alford was made the chief clerk of the Indian Training School, and previously he had taught for five years in the institution, and was one of the first seven students of the Indian school mission. The Indian Training School was founded by the United States government in 1873, taking it from the Quakers who had established it as a mission school in 1872, and the first superintendent of the present institu- tion was J. S. Newsom, of Indiana. There is also a Quaker church under the super- vision of Rev. W. P. Hayworth. The church buildings were burned in 1903, but have since been replaced. The school now has an enrollment of one hundred and twenty-five pupils, including among the stu- dents both Shawnees and Kickapoos, and three teachers form the corps of instructors. This includes an industrial or farm teacher, who instructs the children in agriculture on a fine farm of three hundred and twenty acres connected with the school. The land of this farm is rich and fertile and is splen- didly improved with buildings. The prin- cipal of the school is Frank A. Thackery. Professor James Odell, industrial teacher, is an educator of well known ability.

Thomas W. Alford, its chief clerk, was born in 1860, three miles southeast of Shaw- nee, and is a prominent representative of the Shawnee race. During the Civil war, the Shawnees, of which his parents are also members, went north, and his father served as a sergeant in the Fourteenth Kansas Regiment of Volunteers in the Union army. Returning to Oklahoma in 1869 the son grew to mature years on the homestead farm near Shawnee and received a good educa- tional training. By his present wife, Fan- ny Tyner, he has become the father of four children, while by a former marriage he also had three children. He is a stanch sup- porter of Republican principles, a Thirty- second degree Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner and a Quaker in religion. He is a popular citizen in Pottawatomie county, and as the chief clerk of the Indian Training

Those Alford

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA.

School he has become prominent in educa- tional circles.

FRED W. CHRISTNER. During the past five or six years some of the most important financial interests of Shawnee have been conducted under the Christner name, whose most active representative is Fred W. Christner. He has been identified with the business affairs of Shawnee since 1901, and his father and other members of the family moved to this city the next year. For a time he and his younger brother, George M., were engaged in the real estate business. In 1902 he organized the Conservative Loan and Abstract Company, and with it con- ducted an insurance business. In 1906, in connection with and as an outgrowth of the other business, was organized the Union Savings Bank, of which F. W. Christner is president and his brother cashier. This is one of the sound financial enterprises of Shawnee.

Fred \V.' Christner was born in Gray coun- ty, Ontario, Canada, November 10, 1869, son of John L. and Sarah (McMillen) Christner, who were both born in Canada and are now esteemed residents of Shawnee. John S., who has followed the vocation of farmer, moved to Ohio in 1875 and in 1887 to Nebraska, where he lived until coming to Oklahoma. Fred \V. Christner was edu- cated in the public schools of Ohio and graduated from Doane College, in Nebraska, in 1887, after which he spent a year in the University of Illinois. A man of superior education as well as marked financial and business ability, he began his career, in 1888-89, as editor of the Crete (Nebraska) Herald. He has been noted as a conserva- tive business man, although in many ways he has taken the lead in business circles of Shawnee. He has served two terms as presi- dent of the city school board, and much of the credit for Shawnee's advancement as an educational center must be given to him. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, is a Mason, and clerk of the local lodge of Modern Woodmen. He married, in 1902, Miss Neva E. Haight, a daughter of M. E. Haight of Crete, Nebraska. Their one daughter, Helen M., was born May 20, 1907.

GEORGE E. McKINNIS, prominent in the educational, political and business life of the territory, has been identified with the inter- ests of Pottawatomie county since the open- ing and settlement of Tecumseh, 1891. He was one of the organizers and now the vice-

president of the State National Bank, Shaw- nee, Oklahoma, one of the largest banking in- stitutions in the new state, also having bank- ing interests in various other parts of the state, and is a member and a director of the Chamber of Commerce. He is also one of the community's largest real estate owners and has laid out many of its most highly improved additions, and is foremost in all movements for the welfare and development of his city and state. He is also a man of the highest integrity of character, and is known throughout the state as an enthusiastic and permanent church and Sunday school work- er; is now the state president of the Interde- nominational Sunday School Organization, Shawnee, Oklahoma.

Mr. McKinnis was born in Missouri, No- vember 23, 1869, but received his education in the schools of Tennessee also working on the farm. His father, J. A. McKinnis, was born in that commonwealth and is a minis- ter of the Baptist church. In 1884 he re- moved with his family to Kansas, and from there in 1891, Geo. E. McKinnis came to Ok- lahoma, and has since been prominently identified with its interests. During his first two years in this state he was in the lumber business, and following this taught school until 1895, the year of his arrival in Shaw- nee. He came from Tecumseh to this city on the 4th of July on the first train which ran into the town. After two years as the principal of a school he embarked in the real estate and loan business and thus con- tinued until entering upon his four years administration as postmaster. He assumed the duties of the office in 1903, and during his term the office was made the best in equipment and service west of the Missis- sippi river, Mr. McKinnis having made sev- eral trips to Washington in its interest. After the close of the administration he re- turned to the real estate and loan business.

In 1897 he married Miss Mamie Dixon, a native of Paris, Texas, and they have one son, George E. Jr., born July 23, 1901.

J. S. CANNON, M. D., has been practicing medicine in Shawnee since 1900. Recog- nized as a thoroughly trained and experienced physician, and possessed of many personal qualities of heart and mind that complete the equipment for this profession, he has built up a large practice and is well known among the citizenship of Shawnee. Dr. Can- non is a graduate of the Medical College of Memphis, in the class of 1892-93, and is also

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA.

a graduate of the Beaumont Hospital Medi- cal College of St. Louis, Missouri, in 1894, and has taken post-graduate courses in the schools of Chicago. He was born in East Tennessee, January 16, 1854, son of A. J. and Melinda (Sawyer) Can- non, both natives of Tennessee. The father moving to Arkansas in 1859, the son, J. S., was educated in this state and in Missouri, and early determined upon a career as physician. He was engaged in practice in Arkansas for ten years, and in 1891, while Oklahoma was still very young, came to the territory and practiced two years at Norman. After this he practiced eight years in Illinois before permanently locating in Shawnee. He is a member of the County and State Medical Societies and the American Medical Association, and for one vear was president of the local society. He affiliates with the Shawnee Masonic lodge and with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows. Dr. Cannon married, in 1899, Miss Lettie Whitson of Missouri, and they have three children : Newton J., Emma and Houston B.

EDGAR E. RICE, M. D., has practiced medi- cine and surgery at Shawnee since 1901. An attack of malaria was the immediate cause of his leaving a good practice in Indiana and seeking recuperation in Oklahoma, and hav- ing lived here awhile he was so pleased with the country that he established himself per- manently at Shawnee and has since been one of that city's leading physicians. He has a large general practice, although sur- gery is his specialty. A live member of his profession, he has kept advancing since leav- ing his preparatory studies, and each year has taken post-graduate courses, either in Chicago, New York or New Orleans. He is a member of the American Medical Asso- ciation, is chairman of the section on path- ology in the Oklahoma Medical Association, and organized the local society in Pottawa- tomie county and served as its secretary, president and member of board of censors.

Dr. Rice was born in Kokomo, Indiana, July 7. 1870. His grandfather, Peter B. Rice, was a pioneer settler of Howard county, In- diana, having come from Pennsylvania, and attained the advanced age of ninety-three years. The Doctor's parents were George W. and Mary A. (Bright) Rice, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of Ohio. The father died March 7, 1880. One of a family of four children, Edgar E. Rice was

educated in the public schools of Kokomo, and graduated from the Logansport Normal College with the degree of A. B. He pre- pared for his profession in the medical de- partment of the Central University at Louisville, Kentucky, where he graduated in 1896. Before coming to Oklahoma he was engaged in practice at Vincennes, Indiana. Dr. Rice married, in 1893, Miss Drusilla Zeilinger, daughter of John Zeilinger, of Vin- cennes. They have one child, Eugene, born September 2, 1899. Dr. Rice affiliates with the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen, and is recognized as one of the public-spirited citizens of the growing city of Shawnee.

CHARLES KIRST, the proprietor of Broad- way Park and Kirst's Addition to Shawnee, Oklahoma, is the pioneer settler who has made North Shawnee famous for its beau- tiful park, with its artificial lake, its pretty boats and large skating rink, its easy rustic seats, its pavilion, shade trees, and a score and more attractions, pleasing to the eye and elevating to the mind of the populace. Here thousands of dollars have been ex- pended in improving and adorning this por- tion of the city.

Mr. Kirst was born in Galena, Joe Daviess county, Illinois, near General U. S. Grant's old home, on the heights of that picturesque city of former and early-day lead mine fame. He was born in a two-room log cabin, his parents being poor, but respectable people, who were carpet weavers. The first work Charles Kirst had, was to sew carpet rags for a carpet for Mrs. Grant. His parents were John and Wilhelmena (Byers) Kirst, both born and reared in Germany, and there united in marriage. The father of the man for whom this memoir is written, joined a German cavalry regiment and was sent to St. Louis, Missouri. Later the wife and children joined him, the wife giving him money with which to buy powder and shot to go hunting with, for which she was to be severely punished, but she made her escape with the children and later the father joined them at Burlington, Iowa, and from there went to Galena, Illinois, where the father died, and the mother went to West Point, Nebraska, where she died, leaving four chil- dren: Louisa, of Galena, Illinois ; John, of Nebraska ; Amanda ; and Charles of this no- tice.

Charles Kirst was reared in Galena, Illi- nois, and taught to work at a very early age,

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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA.

thus inculcating in him the industrious habits which have ever been a heritage to him. He attended the excellent public schools of Galena. In 1881 he went to West Point, Nebraska, where he bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres which cost fifteen hundred dollars, and upon which he remained fifteen years, then sold it for seven thousand five hundred dollars. He left West Point in 1896, on account of the ill health of his wife, and started for the milder cli- mate of Tennessee, stopping in Oklahoma, however, to visit friends. He decided to lo- cate in Oklahoma, and purchased a quarter section of land, where he now lives, paying twenty-two hundred dollars for the tract. He has sold off the greater part of this land, but retained about two thousand feet front- ing on Broadway, where he has a beautiful home. His residence is a modern structure, costing him six thousand dollars. It is up- on a lawn embellished with forty-two kinds of roses, all set with care and artistic beauty. When the Guthrie delegation visited the town of Shawnee, as a prospective site for a capitol of the new state of Oklahoma, they were banqueted at this place, which over- looks the city from a high eminence.

Politically, Mr. Kirst is a supporter of the principals of the Republican party. In church faith, he is of the German Methodist. He is public-spirited, progressive and has much faith in the future of his beautiful city -Shawnee.

Mr. Kirst was united in marriage when twenty-six years of age, at West Point, Nebraska, to Louisa Brackman, a native of Walworth county, Wisconsin, where she was reared and educated. She has proven a lov- ing and helpful wife, and has been of great material good to her husband. At one time she drove the team for her husband in the busy days of hay- ing and harvest. To her must be awarded much praise for the handsome com- petency which now surrounds this worthy couple. She is the daughter of Carl Brack- man, born in Germany. He went from his old home in Wisconsin to Nebraska, with an ox team, the trip consuming six weeks time. He now lives in Los Angeles, Cali- fornia. To Mr. Kirst and his estimable wife has been born one daughter-Minnie M., born in West Point, Nebraska.

PIKE BAKER. Coming to Shawnee in 1905, Mr. Pike Baker has succeeded in build- ing up an extensive real estate business, and

is one of the well known younger business men of that city. His interests in Shawnee date from the year of the opening of this country, and both he and his father have been well known here since that time. Pike Baker was born in Shelby county, Missouri, January 28, 1873, and his father, William S., was a native of the same county, the family having been connected with that section of Missouri since pioneer times. William S. Baker moved to Grayson county, Texas, in 1877, and lived there until the Oklahoma opening when he moved into the territory and he and his son made the run into the Cherokee Strip. He has since been located in Shawnee, having watched the place grow from its first settlement, and is now busi- ness manager of the Shawnee Independent Gin.

Pike Baker was reared and received his education in Denison, Texas, and was a very young man when he first took up the real estate business. For a number of years he was immigrant agent for the Katy Rail- road, being located at Smithville, in Bastrop county, Texas. His interests in Shawnee property and his faith in the future growth of the city caused him to establish his busi- ness here. He has known Oklahoma and Indian Territories since comparatively early days. At Shawnee he is a member of the Christian church and is affiliated with the Order of Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was married, July 17, 1897, to Miss Zetta Curry, a native of Kan- sas.

JESSE W. RUBEY. The name of Jesse W. Rubey is prominently associated with bank- ing institutions, and he is now at the head of one of Shawnee's leading industrial insti- tutions, the Oklahoma National Bank, of which he was made the president in 1906. His birth occurred in St. Louis, Missouri, October 3, 1873, and his father, Thomas Rubey, was also, a native son of that com- monwealth. After completing his educa- tion in the schools of Moberly, Missouri, Jesse W. Rubey entered upon his long and successful career as a banker. He was first associated with the National Bank of Com- merce in Kansas City, where he remained for three years, and in that time gained a thorough knowledge of the business. Go- ing from there to Golden, Colorado, he be- came the managing partner of the Woods & Rubey Banking Company, who estab-

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA.

lished a bank in that city and made of it a great success. Although Dr. Woods was financially interested in the institution it was conducted by Mr. Rubey. On account of the failing health of his wife he was obliged to seek a change of climate, and in 1906 he left that city and came to Oklaho- ma, although he still has financial interests in Golden which are now conducted by his brother. After establishing his home in Shawnee, Mr. Rubey purchased a control- ling interest in the Oklahoma National Bank, which was organized in 1900, and as above stated was made its president in 1906. He has also dealt largely in real estate since coming here and has property interests in Colorado.

Mr. Rubey married Miss Julia, the only daughter of Dr. William S. Woods of Kan- sas City, Missouri. Dr. Woods is one of the best known bankers and financiers in the country, having not only achieved renown as the president of the National Bank of Commerce of Kansas City but also as a builder of railroads. He is a giant in the world of finance, but amidst life's busy cares he has found time to devote to hu- manity and the advancement of his fellow men. The William Woods College of Ful- ton, Missouri, was founded and maintained by this gifted philanthropist, and it has fitted hundreds of young women for the battle of life who otherwise would have been helpless. He is a graduate of the Columbia College with the class of 1861 and of the St. Louis and Jefferson Medical Colleges.

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A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume II, Part 5

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