A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume II, Part 7

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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HENRY G. LOWRY, the proprietor of Or- chard Hill Farm, was born on a farm in Ripley county, Missouri, July 29, 1856, and is a member of a prominent early family of that county who were formerly from Ken- tucky. William Augustus Lowry, his father, was a descendant of a family from the high- lands of Scotland, and his death occurred in Missouri in 1865, after many years devoted to agricultural labor. He married in his early life, Sarah Dunn, who was born in Kentucky and died in Texas at the advanced age of eighty-seven years, both passing way in the faith of the Christian church.

H. G. Lowry, one of their family of six sons and five daughters, remained in his native state of Missouri until he had reached the age of thirty-four, when he went to Texas and from there to the Chicka- saw Nation in Indian Territory in 1893. There he maintained his home until his re- moval to Pottawatomie county, Oklahoma, in 1905, where he soon afterward purchased his homestead farm, known as Orchard Hill, a beautiful estate of one hundred and twenty acres and on which he is extensively en- gaged in the raising of thoroughbred Poland China hogs, the best in the county.

At the age of twenty, Mr. Lowry was united in marriage to Susan E. Anders, who was born June 15, 1859, and reared in Mis- souri, a daughter of Eli and Matilda Anders, the father a native of Missouri and the moth- er of Virginia, both now deceased. Eleven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Lowry, seven sons and four daughters, namely: Luzetta, Kitty, Emerson, William, Claud, Clarence. Daisy, Lumie, Don, Her- bert and Dee. Mr. Lowry is prominent in the local councils of the Democratic party, and in the fall of 1907 was elected the clerk of Avoca township. He and his wife are both members of the Church of Christ, of which he is an earnest worker and a dea-

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA.

con. He affiliates with the Order of Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World.

JESSE J. VULGAMORE, proprietor of the Earlsboro Saw and Grist Mill, is at the head of one of the leading industries of Pottawa- tomie county. The mill is located one mile southeast of the town, and was built in 1904, modern in all its appointments and contains a twenty horse power engine. The building is a substantial oak frame of native timbers, thirty by fifty feet in dimensions, and has a capacity of two thousand feet of lumber a day. It is strictly a custom mill and an- nually transacts a large business. Mr. Vul- gamore devotes the Saturday of each week to the grinding of meal and feed, and the mill is patronized by the residents of Pot- tawatomie county for a distance of many miles.

His identification with the interests of Oklahoma covers a period of thirteen years, arriving here in 1894, and he first located twelve miles north of Shawnee, where he leased and farmed until coming to his pres- ent location. Here he was for a time en- gaged in the dray and transfer business, finally buying his present tract of eleven acres. His little tract contains the best of water for both his house and mill purposes and is one of the valuable homesteads of the community.

Mr. Vulgamore was born in Athens coun- ty, Ohio, near the town of Athens, in 1863, a son of Joseph and Amelia (Baldwin) Vul- gamore, natives respectively of Ohio and the state of New York, and they now re- side in Earlsboro township, adjoining the home of their son, Jesse. The father has now reached the age of three score years and ten, and is a carpenter by trade. The mother is a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church, and in their family were nine children, three sons and six daughters.

In 1889 Jesse Vulgamore married Isabell Butler (Magruder) Armstrong, who was born in Missouri, a daughter of Josiah Magruder. Nine children, one son and eight daughters, have also been born to Mr. and Mrs. Vulgamore, including the fol- lowing: Hattie, Joseph, Minnie, Alta, Nora, Dora and Jessie. Mr. Vulgamore gives his political support to the Democratic party, and the family are Baptists in their religious views.

JOHN L. SHELTON, is numbered among the educators of Pottawatomie county, where he has taught for three years, and for

five years he has been identified with the work in Oklahoma. He now has charge of the second grade in the Earlsboro school. Mr. Shelton was born at Vandalia, Fayette county, Illinois, in 1878, a member of one of the early pioneer families of that county, but his paternal ancestors were originally from Kentucky, his grandfather moving from that commonwealth to Indiana in 1812. His father, Joshua Shelton, was born and reared in Fayette county, and when the Civil war was inaugurated he espoused the cause of the north and served four years in the Union army, a member of the Four- teenth Illinois Infantry. With his wife he is yet living in Fayette county. She bore the maiden name of Mary Marion, and was native of the Blue Grass state of Kentucky.

John L. Shelton, one of their seven chil- dren, three sons and four daughters, grew to a sturdy and useful manhood in his na- tive county of Fayette, and in the mean- time he attended its public schools and the Austin College at Effingham, Illinois. When he had reached the age of nineteen he entered upon his career as a teacher, first in the schools of his home county, and from there he came to Woods county, Ok - lahoma, where he continued the work near Alva for two years. He then returned to Fayette county, but shortly afterward com- ing again to Oklahoma he taught the Union school in Earlsboro township for two years, and then accepted the call to the grammar school of Earlsboro. He has given excel- lent satisfaction in his present position, and his efforts have contributed materially to the raising of the standard of the school.

At Wewoka, Oklahoma, in 1905, Mr. Shelton married Blanche Day, who was born in Illinois, and was reared in that state, Texas and Oklahoma, a daughter of Henry Day, who died in 1883 and left two children, Mrs. Shelton and Fay White. Both Mr. and Mrs. Shelton are members of the Presbyterian church, and he is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge No. 77, and of the M. P. L., No. 205. His political affiliations are with the Republican party.

PROFESSOR W. W. CUNNINGHAM, past prin- cipal and superintendent of the Earlsboro school, had charge of this institution of learning for two years, and in that time brought the school up to its present high state of excellence. The school building was crected about four years ago, and is

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA.

well adapted for the comfort of pupils and teachers. It contains four rooms, while the total enrollment is three hundred and fifty pupils over which Mr. Cunningham had en- tire supervision and was the teacher of the eighth grade or high school class. The second room is under the supervision of J. L. Shelton, the third under May Olney and the fourth under Mrs. Compton. Professor Cunningham has had nine years of exper- ience as a teacher, and now stands in the front rank of the educators of Oklahoma. The professor is now superintendent of the school at Wewoka, taking up his duties in the fall of 1908. This school has six teach- ers.

He was born in West Virginia, Fayette county, in 1875, a son of J. V. and Emma Cunningham, both natives of the Old Do- minion state. Their son was eleven years of age at the time of their removal to Wise county, Texas, where the father followed his trade of a mechanic, and he was an ex- cellent workman in his line. They afforded their son an excellent educational training, he having attended the public schools of both Virginia and Texas and his higher training was received in the normal college at Denton, Texas, and in the University of Fort Worth, that state. Since the comple- tion of his education, nine years ago, he has been an earnest and proficient instructor. For four years he taught in the graded school at Justin, Texas, and during the fol- lowing year was a member of the school faculty at Walters, Oklahoma. While in Texas he received the first-class certificate for state work, and he also holds the first- class certificate for Oklahoma.

In Denton county, Texas, in 1900, Profes- sor Cunningham was united in marriage to Miss Ira McDowell, who received her edu- cation in Texas and for a number of years was engaged in teaching. She is a daughter of James O. and Lovina J. (Wynn) Mc- Dowell, originally from Alabama but now in Texas. Professor and Mrs. Cunningham have three children,-W. Hollis, Donnella and Corine. Mrs. Cunningham is a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, and the professor is a Presbyterian religiously. He is also a member of the Odd Fellows fraternity at Pleasant Hill, Texas.

ANDREW M. GROUND, the proprietor of the Alfalfa Short Horn and Durham ranch,

is one of the largest stockmen of Seminole county, and also has the honor of being one of Oklahoma's pioneer settlers. He was born in Johnson county, Indiana, in 1870, a son of Rev. Philo and Priscilla (Herna) Ground, both of whom were born in Ken- tucky. The father was a Union soldier dur- ing the Civil war, and he died in Indiana at the age of forty-two years, honored and revered by all who knew him. The mother died aged thirty-eight, leaving four children, one of whom, a son, Lewis, lives near Ok- mulgee, Indian Territory, a prominent stock man.

Andrew M. Ground is the only member of his family living in Oklahoma. He was reared in his native state of Indiana, receiv- ing an excellent education in its schools and he is a graduate of Purdue University. His health failed shortly after leaving college, and on the advice of his physician he came to Oklahoma and spent the summers for several years on the range as a cow boy, teaching school during the winter months. The outdoor life eventually restored his health, and with the advancing years he has become one of the leading stockmen of this part of the state. Since 1905 he has lived on the allotment belonging to his wife, a tract of eight hundred and eighty acres of choice land, well adapted to the raising of cotton, alfalfa and the cereals. He also owns a splendid ranch of five hundred and twenty acres near Okmulgee, Indian Territory.

In 1893 Mr. Ground was united in mar- riage to Jeanette Steadham, a daugliter of John and Susan (Chupka) Steadham. She was born near Okmulgee, and was reared and educated in Muskogee and Eufaula, Indian Territory, receiving an excellent edu- cation in the government school of her na- tive race. They have six children, five sons and a daughter: Lewis, Leo, Ida, Andrew M., Jr., Charles and Henry. Mr. Ground is a Republican politically, a stanch Roosevelt man, and he is a member of the Masonic order at Okmulgee, Indian Territory. He was reared in the faith of the Lutheran church, and his wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

I. P. MALONEY, proprietor of the Ma- loney Gin Press, is perhaps one of the best informed men in the ginning business in Oklahoma, for he has had many years of experience in the business, and his father before him was a ginner. He began the work in his boyhood days back in his old

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA.

home state of Georgia, and from that time to the present he has been more or less iden- tified with the business. He came to Okla- homa in 1892 from the Chocktaw Nation in the Indian Territory, where he had resided for twelve years near McCurtain, and dur- ing the first few years of his residence here he lived on a homestead. Coming thence to Earlsboro, he resumed his occupation of gin- ning, and is now the proprietor of one of the largest mills in the county, which has a capacity of thirty bales of cotton a day and during the past season of 1907 the amount baled was seven hundred and eighty bales.

Mr. Maloney is a native son of Georgia, born near Acworth in Cobb county in 1855, a son of John Maloney, who conducted for many years the first gin operated in the state, known as the old Watson Gin Mill, and where his son as a boy learned the de- tails of cotton ginning. The father was born in North Carolina and died in Texas, being still survived by his wife, who is now seven- ty-eight years of age, a faithful and earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Of her six children, four sons and two daughters, one son, Gus, is a resident of Hico, Texas. W. P. Maloney accompanied his parents on their removal from Georgia to Texas, removing from there in 1882 to Indian Territory, and twelve years after- ward, as above stated, to Oklahoma. In 1893 he was united in marriage to Anna Hare, who was born and reared in Missouri, a daughter of Joseph Hare, a Kentuckian by birth, a Union soldier during the Civil war and who died in Oklahoma. The six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Maloney are Robert Lee, Lydia, Hattie, Emily, Zola and William P., Jr. Mr. Maloney is a Democrat politically.

NAPOLEON C. HUDSON, proprietor of the Grand View Percheron Stock Farm, is one of the largest breeders of draft horses in this part of the state and is one of the county's leading business men. He has been prominently identified with the business in- terests of Oklahoma since coming to the county in 1899 to secure the right of way for the railroad here. His stock farm near the town of Shawnee is a valuable tract of eighty acres, well adapted for his large stock business, and in addition to being one of the largest breeders of Percheron draft horses in the county, he has also one of the most noted packs of hounds in the state. The leader of the pack, a black and tan, has a

state record as a runner, and his young hounds of five months have a record for the killing of wild cats. Four acres of the Grand View farm is devoted to orchard purposes.

In 1893 Mr. Hudson married Amelia Bourbonnais, who died when but twenty- two years of age, in 1901, and in 1906 he married his present wife, Ella Bicknell. She was born in the Blue Grass state of Ken- tucky, but was reared and educated in Texas, a daughter of W. Bicknell. In his political relations, Mr. Hudson is a Demo- crat.

CHARLES RODMAN. Among those who have been prominent in furthering the busi- ness interests of Pottawatomie county and especially Earlsboro, stands Charles Rod- man, the well known druggist. He was one of the first settlers of the county, coming in when it was opened for settlement and has resided in the county ever since. He settled on a farm three miles west of Te- cumseh on which he lived for seven years before moving to Earlsboro. Mr. Rodman was born in Kentuckytown, Grayson coun- ty, Texas, on the 25th day of June, 1866, a son of Benjamin F. and Mary A. Rodman, who were both natives of Kentucky. Mr. Rodman's father served in the Civil war on the Confederate side and now fills a sol- dier's grave in Cave Hill Cemetery, Louis- ville, Kentucky. At the age of seven, Mr. Rodman's parents moved to Atoka, Indian Territory, where he resided for some time, afterwards moving to McAlester, where he resided until coming to Pottawatomie coun- ty. He has been a resident of the state of Oklahoma for thirty-five years, and has been a practical druggist for twenty years of that time. He was married in McÅlester to Miss Rosa Spivey, who was born in Erie, Kan- sas, and they have two sons, Carl, aged four- teen, and Doyle aged five years.

Mr. Rodman has always been a strong advocate of Democratic principles and has taken an active part in every campaign in Pottawatomie county since its organization. He was chairman of the county campaign committee in 1907 during the campaign for the adoption of the constitution, and by vigorous work increased his party's ma- jority from 800 to 1,550 in his home county. He has served as delegate to most of the Congressional conventions and was a dele- gate to the first Single Statehood convention held in the state, at Muskogee in 1900. He

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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA.

is senior warden of Earlsboro Lodge, No. 62, A. F. & A. M. He is an ardent ad- vocate of the rod and gun and many a deer and turkey have fallen by his hands. He has in his drug store a magnificent head of antlers as proof of his skill as a hunter. He has the first gun he ever owned which was carried through the Civil war by a Confed- erate soldier and presented to Mr. Rodman when a boy. He is one of Earlsboro's best known citizens.

JOHN W. PADDOCK, the proprietor of Rose Hill Orchard Farm, one of the most beau- tiful estates in Pottawatomie county, has the honor of being one of the early pioneers of the Indian Territory, where he estab- lished his home as early as 1884. His first residence was at Fort Arbuckle, locating there when the country was wild and un- improved, from whence he subsequently went to the Chickasaw Nation, which was his home until his removal to Pottawatomie county in 1896.

Mr. Paddock was born in Washington county, Kentucky, January 12, 1846, a son of Alfred, who was also born in that county, and a grandson of John C. Paddock, who was of Kentucky birth and of Scotch-Irish descent. His wife bore the maiden name of Sally Holderman, and was a member of an old family of that state. Alfred Paddock married Rebecca Van Sickle, and her father, Samuel Van Sickle, was one of the most prominent citizens of his day in Kentucky, a famous distiller. Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Paddock had two children, John W., and Sarah Collitt, the wife of a prominent rail- road man at Popular Bluffs, Missouri, and in 1849 with their family they left Kentucky and located sixty miles south of St. Louis, Missouri, where the husband and father died when but thirty-three years of age, and the wife survived until the age of forty-eight.

Thus John W. Paddock was reared on a Missouri farm, where he was taught by his mother to be honest and industrious, and during the Civil war he served as a Con- federate soldier in General Joe Shelby's command and took part in many battles and skirmishes. From Missouri he went to Young county, Texas, in 1872, where he maintained his home for twelve years or until his removal to the Indian Territory in 1884. After a time he became the owner of his present beautiful farm in Pottawa- tomie county, Oklahoma, which contains eighty acres of rich and fertile land, splen- Vol. II-3.

didly improved. He has one field devoted to the growing of roses, and in his orchard he raises many varieties of fruits, including as ornaments, a few oranges and lemons. The Rose Hill Orchard Farm is known the country over for its beauty and value.

Mr. Paddock married Lovina C. Bough, of Missouri, and this union was blessed by the birth of six children, namely: Alfred, who is married and lives on a farm in Avoca township, and he has two children ; Mrs. Etta Copeland, who has three children, and her home is also in Avoca township; John W., Jr., who is married and has one child, and three who are deceased : One, Dora McNeal, died and left four children, and Ida Brown left two children at her death. These six grandchildren are with their grandparents, Mr. Paddock and his wife. Mr. Paddock votes with the Demo- cratic party, and he is both a Mason and an Odd Fellow.

WILLIAM MONROE MONTGOMERY, whose homestead farm lies in section 32, Earls- boro township, has been identified with the agricultural interests of Oklahoma since his arrival here, September 22, 1891, when he secured one hundred and sixty acres of government land. His farm is now under an excellent state of cultivation, improved with a good orchard of five acres, good buildings and other conveniences. At the present time he is serving as a member of the school board.

Shortly after his marriage, when a young man of twenty-two, Mr. Montgomery came to the southwest, spending two years in the Creek Nation, Indian Territory, and from there he came to Oklahoma in 1891. He was born in Perry county, Illinois, near Duquesne, September 2, 1860, and is of Irish descent. His father, Harvey Montgomery, also a native of Indiana, was a son of a Kentuckian, Nelson Montgomery, and he in turn was a son of Jack Montgomery, also from that state. Harvey Montgomery mar- ried Sally Harris, a daughter of one of the early pioneers of Indiana, John Harris, originally from Kentucky. He had a broth- er, Jose Harris, who served with General Jackson at the battle of New Orleans in the war of 1812. Harvey Montgomery died in the Seminole country, Indian Territory, at the age of sixty-two years, his death result- ing from a fall from a wagon, and he left five children : William Monroe, Thomas J., Cynthia E., Robert N. and John Harris. A

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA.

daughter, Emma A., died at the age of twen- ty-two, and a son, Andrew J., died at the age of seventeen. The mother now makes her home with her son, William M., having reached the age of seventy years.

William M. Montgomery spent the early years of his life on an Illinois farm, and at the age of twenty-one he was married in that state to Mary Jones, who was born in its county of Franklin, a daughter of Willis Jones and Amanda (Renfrew) Jones, who are living in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. The three children born to Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery are Minnie M., Thomas Irvin and Willis I., and they also reared a granddaughter, Izetta Harris. The political affiliations of Mr. Montgomery are with the Democratic party.

CHARLES H. MCALISTER, a prominent agri- culturist in section 21, Earlsboro township, came from Gainesville, Texas, where he had lived for eight years, to Oklahoma in 1892 and secured one of the choice tracts of land in Pottawatomie county, a quarter section. He was born in DuBois county, Indiana, in 1832, but was reared in Parke county of that state, a son of Merritt and Margaret (Barnes) McAlister, both of whom were born in the Blue Grass state of Kentucky. The paternal family are of Scotch ancestry and of old Virginia stock. In 1850 Merritt and Margaret McAlister went with team and wagon to Wapello county, Iowa, and both are now deceased, the father dying in Wayne county at the age of seventy-five, and the mother lived until the age of seventy-seven. They left the following children at their death : Charles H., who is mentioned later ; J. L., whose home is in Iowa; Joseph, liv- ing north of Asher in this county; Elvira A. Young, of Nevada; and Margaret, of Iowa.

Charles H. McAlister was eighteen years of age at the time of the removal of the fam- ily from Indiana to Iowa, and in 186? he went overland with ox teams to Oregon, a member of the Adell train of fifty-six teams and one hundred and fifty armed men, un- der the leadership of Captain Jim Morrison, a noted veteran scout of that time and an excellent leader. They spent five months on the journey, and although they had no fights with the red skins en route they buried several who had been killed by the Indians. Their train finally arrived at Bak- er City, Oregon, on the 1st of ()ctober, 1862, and Mr. McAlister spent five years in Walla Walla of that state engaged in freighting.

He then returned to Wapello county, Iowa, making the return journey with mule teams, and from there he later went to Texas, from whence he came to Oklahoma. In section 21, Pottawatomie county he owns an excel- lent farm of one hundred and sixty acres, well cultivated and improved.

In Indiana, at the age of twenty-one years, Mr. McAlister married Catherine Logan, who was born in Indiana and died at the age of twenty-nine years, leaving three chil- dren, Howard, of Iowa: Charles P., of Colo- rado; and Warner, of Oklahoma. Four chil- dren were born of the union, Charles P. died in Colorado, leaving a wife and seven children, another child, a daughter, died in infancy. In 1868 Mr. McAlister wedded Amanda Jane Wood, who was born and reared in Wapello county, Iowa, a daughter of James and Maria (Ellis) Wood, both of whom were born in Parke county, Indiana, and were early pioneers of Wapello county. The father died in Appanoose county, Iowa, when seventy-nine years of age, and the mother when sixty-six, and of their twelve children eleven grew to mature years and married. The parents were members of the Baptist church. The two children born to Mr. and Mrs. McAlister are Mrs. Beda Biv- ins, of Okeene, Oklahoma ; and James L., on the home farm. The family are of the Bap- tist faith and Mr. McAlister is a Mason of good standing at Thackerville, Oklahoma.

HENSCHEL BARRETT, a farmer in section 18, Earlsboro township, was born in Car- roll county, Georgia, October 5, 1853. His father, Levi Barrett, was also born in Geor- gia, and was a bound boy and reared by an uncle. He married a lady from his own state, Jane Barber, and is living now in Arkansas, aged eighty-seven. He is a farm- er and a Confederate war veteran, serving under Generals Lee, Johnston and Bragg. His religious views are in harmony with the teachings of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Of the nine children, five sons and four daughters, born to Mr. and Mrs. Barrett, Henschel is the only one living in Oklahoma. He was reared to farm work in Sebastian county, Arkansas, receiving his educational training in the old-time log cabin schools of that state. In his young manhood he married Lydia Haney, who was born in Marion county, Illinois, but was reared and educated in Arkansas, a daughter of Hiram and Jane Haney, both from Illinois, and both

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A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume II, Part 7

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