A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume II, Part 83

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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Professor Cooper became a resident of Oklahoma in 1905, when he was called to Konawa, Seminole county, as principal of its graded schools. His record in that posi- tion marked him as worthy of greater hon- ors and fully able to bear greater respon- sibilities, and in the election of November, 1907, both came to him as the choice of the voters of the county for their first county superintendent of schools under state gov- ernment. No officer of Seminole county had a more difficult task to perform than he. He found already established twenty-five government schools, which he placed, as soon as possible, on a common-school basis, at the same time adding new institutions. Within the first year he had organized the county into forty-two districts, with sixty schools (twenty for colored scholars) and five thousand five hundred pupils enrolled. The latter number included Indians, who attend the schools in common with the whites. In addition, Professor Cooper has placed on a good working basis some thirty

summer schools. There is also in course of erection more than thirty school buildings at a total cost of more than one hundred thousand dollars. As the county system is supported by state appropriations, the work of development under the energetic and pop- ular superintendent is not embarrassed, al- though the marked increase of population and influx of new schools have tended to overcrowd some of the schools.

County Superintendent Cooper is a son of Cornelius T. and Margaret (Pippin) Cooper, both natives of Mississippi. The family is of English origin. Three brothers planted the family in this country, its mem- bers scattering both into the southern and the northern states. William Cooper, the paternal grandfather of William F., located in Alabama, being both of English and Irish blood. His son, Cornelius, removed to Mis- sissippi, and has long resided at Meridian, as a blacksmith, a mill and gin operator, and a general mechanic of remarkable abili- ty. The elder Mr. Cooper is an earnest adherent of the Missionary Baptist faith. He has been for some years a deacon of this church, and is highly honored for his pronounced virtues of industry, integrity and unaffected piety. His wife, who also survives as his solace and useful helpmate, is a daughter of Ferdinand Pippin, also a farmer, planter and skilled mechanic, who, with his wife, is still living at the advanced age of about ninety years. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius T. Cooper were as follows: William F., of this sketch ; Ad- eline, Frances, Joseph, David W., Bessie, Curtis L., Thames, Maud and Ulysses E. Cooper. Professor Cooper's wife, whom he wedded in Alabama, was Miss Lucy O. Hendrix, who was born in that state in 1880, being a daughter of Henry A. and Vir- ginia (Williamson) Hendrix. Her father was a planter, merchant, mill man, and a highly respected member of the community, being a good citizen and long a leader in the Methodist church. He was accidentally killed in 1907, and the widow still is resid- ing on the old Alabama homestead. The children of the Hendrix family were. Jo- seph A., a leading merchant; John H., a physician ; Lucy O., Mrs. Cooper; Lena, Mrs. H. M. McCoy : Charles I., also engaged in mercantile pursuits ; Minnie, Mrs. L. Johnson ; Nellie, unmarried ; Daniel, a sales- man ; and Thomas, deceased. The profes-

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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA.

sor and his wife have become the parents of Lois, born in 1905: Mildred, born in 1907; and Ruth, born in 1908. Mrs. Cooper is a Methodist, while her husband is a Baptist. Professor Cooper has also a wide and an active connection with the fraternities, be- ing a Mason, a Knight of Pythias, an Odd Fellow and a Modern Woodman.

J. N. HARBER, M. D. Pottawatomie county has its full quota of skilled physicians and surgeons, and among them may be noted the subject of this review, Dr. J. N. Harber, who has practiced at Seminole since the opening of the town in 1906. He is a grad- tate of the Barnes Medical Institute, of St. Louis, Missouri, a member of its class of 1905.

The Doctor was born in Arkansas, in the county of Izard (named in honor of Gov- ernor Izard), in 1879, a son of Richard Harber, of a prominent old family of that state and of German descent. The mother was a member of the Tennessee family of DeRhozo, and they had ten children, seven sons and three daughters, and one of the daughters is now living in Oklahoma. Dr. Harber received a high school and academic education, attending the academy at Mel- bourne, Arkansas, and for four years he was successfully engaged in teaching. Dur- ing this time he also began the study of medicine, and was in practice two years before graduating from a medical college, this proving a valuable experience in his later study and practice. He has kept him- self well informed in all matters pertaining to his profession, and Seminole may well be proud to number him among her physicians and surgeons. He is prominent as well in the public life of the community, public- spirited and progressive, and actively in- terested in all matters for the upbuilding of the town and county.

Dr. Harber married, in July, 1906, at Shawnee, a native daughter of the Old Do- minion state of Virginia, Helen, a daughter of J. A. Hunter, also of that state. She is a member of the Christian church. Dr. Harber is a Democrat politically, and he has fraternal relations with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

JESSE B. HAMMONS, who is at the head of the ginning firm of Hammons & Co., of Konawa, Oklahoma, and one of the pioneer settlers, has been active in the rapid devel- opment of the town and surrounding coun-

try. He was born in White county, Ar- kansas, August 31, 1866, and .reared on a farm. He is the son of Jacob A. and Jennie (Goodman) Hammons. Both parents were born in Alabama, in which state they were united in marriage in 1850, and removed to Arkansas, where they improved a farm. The father died in 1897. He served in the Confederate army during the Civil war, be- ing assigned to the Trans-Mississippi De- partment, under General Price, and was in Arkansas and Missouri. His experience was one fraught with many a tiresome and dangerous march and weary campaign. He was in many a hotly contested battle and was taken prisoner of war, but subsequent- ly exchanged and joined his command again, serving until the war had ended. After the war ended he resumed farming and con- tinued at this calling with success the bal- ance of his active life. Politically, he was an uncompromising Democrat, but never sought office or public favor. He was a plain, honest farmer, in whom all had the utmost confidence. He was a steward in the Methodist Episcopal church and a worthy member of the Masonic fraternity. His wife died in 1896. She, too, was an exemplary Christian and belonged to the Methodist church. The children born to Jacob A. and Jennie (Goodman) Ham- mons were as follows: Mattie, Mrs. Mor- ris; John W., a life insurance agent, of Ar- kansas; Menerva, Mrs. Penitt ; Hannah, died unmarried; Jesse B., of this memoir; Nan- nie S., Mrs. S. Pennington ; Ella, Mrs. Jeff Pennington ; Daniel W., a Methodist Epis- copal minister.

Jesse B. Hammons received a good edu- cation, having attended high school. He remained with his parents until he was twenty-one years of age, when he went to Texas, remained two years and then re- turned to Arkansas and engaged in mercan- tile business, which he followed with suc- cess for ten years. After the death of his parents he went west again. This was in 1901, and he located in Washita county, where he purchased a claim from a squatter. This land he improved and continued to cultivate, remaining thereon until 1903, when he sold and went to the Seminole country, stopping at Winwood for four months and, July 1, 1904, came to Konawa, the railroad having just been completed to that point and the place platted. There he

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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA.

erected the first business house and with a partner engaged in merchandising under the firm name of Hammons & Crabtree. They carried a general stock of merchandise, which from the first opening found a ready and profitable sale. During the same year he also erected the first cotton gin of the place, in company with a partner-the firm being Hammons & Akin. After two years of successful mercantile operations the store was sold. The gin had four stands and all were equipped with modern machinery, having a daily capacity of eighty bales. The first season the output was seventeen hundred bales of cotton. In 1905 a second gin was provided in the town and after one season this firm bought it and controlled the ginning business of the place. The busi- ness greatly increased and the output was thirty-five hundred bales. A third gin was constructed, but was burned the same sea-

son. The total output of bales of ginned cotton that year was four thousand five hundred bales. The number baled in the season of 1907-08 was five thousand bales. The country round about Konawa is within the heart of the best cotton belt in the fam- ous southwest and Konawa has never had a boom, but a steady growth, and Mr. Ham- mons has always been foremost in all that tends to the upbuilding of the town and county in which he is a resident. He has erected a handsome cottage residence in a fashionable portion of the town and is a stockholder and director in the First Na- tional Bank. Both he and his estimable wife are consistent members of the Meth- odist Episcopal church.

Coming to the domestic side of Mr. Ham- mons' life, it should be recorded that he was united in marriage in Arkansas, in 1892, to Miss Maggie N. Morris, a native of Arkansas, born in 1873. Her parents were Charles and Catherine (Burris) Morris, both of Alabama, in which state they were united in marriage. and moved to Arkansas. The father was a school teacher of considerable experience and much note as an instructor. He entered the Confederate army and was accidentally wounded by a kick from a cavalry horse, which gave him a severe blow on the head. He was taken to hospital, but later recov- ered. After his homecoming he still suf- fered from the effects of this wound and other army exposure. He resumed teach- ing and followed it through the remainder

of his active years. In church affiliations, he was of the Presbyterian faith and was also a bright light within Masonic circles. His good wife died in Arkansas in 1883, she being of the same church faith as her hus- band. Their children were: Etta, Mrs. R. Sebotka; Maggie, wife of Mr. Hammons; Dana, Mrs. Trobaugh; Lulu, Mrs. Gray ; Lyman, died aged twenty-eight years, left a wife and son; John, a merchant; Lucy, who married Rev. J. A. Reynolds, of Barl- ing, Arkansas, January 12, 1909.

Mr. and Mrs. Hammons are the parents of the following children : Rena, died aged ten years; Jewel, born, 1897; Kate, born October, 1901. Mrs. Hammons is a lady of culture and refinement.

DENTON SPENCER, the proprietor of the Seminole Gin Mill, is the pioneer of the gin milling business in Oklahoma. He came to Oklahoma at the opening of the terri- tory to settlement in 1892, and although he was not successful in obtaining a home- stead he later on bought government land and was also for a number of years engaged in the milling business in Tidmore. From there he came to Seminole in 1905 and pur- chased the gin of Frank Watson. The mill at the present time is equipped with all mod- ern machinery, including the circulating sys- tem and many other improvements over the old way of ginning cotton, and during the past season the mill turned out eight hun- dred and forty bales.

Mr. Spencer is a native Ohioan, born in Holmes county, near Millersburg, thirty- eight years ago, a son of Elias and Jasinda (Lockey) Spencer. The mother was of French parentage, and died in 1906, leaving six children, five sons and one daughter, and three of the sons are living in Payne coun- ty, Oklahoma, and the daughter, Lucinda, is also in the state. Mr. Spencer, the father, was born in Pennsylvania, and was a sol- dier in the Civil war, a member of the Sec- ond Pennsylvania Cavalry. Coming to Payne county, Oklahoma, he died here at the age of fifty-six years. He became very prominent in the public life of his adopted home, and served as a member of the Okla- homa legislature when Pitcher was its pres- ident. He was an agriculturist and a Quak- er in religion.

In 1902, during his residence in Payne county, Oklahoma, Denton Spencer mar- ried. Mrs. Spencer was born at Sterling,

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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA.

Whiteside county, Illinois, a daughter of a Civil war soldier, and she has the honor of being one of the pioneer teachers in Payne county, having taught several years before her marriage. Mr. Spencer supports and upholds the principles of the Democratic party.

RUFUS W. ALLEN, owner of the plant of the Ada Milling Company, was born near Gainsboro, Jackson county, Tennessee, Oc- tober 6, 1863. In Jackson county he was educated and took his first lessons in farm- ing and milling, for his father operated large farming interests and became known throughout Jackson county, as well as in White, the adjoining county, as a mill man. The father, Mr. Allen, Sr., was born in the year of 1827, and occupies his farm on the Cumberland river, six miles north of Gains- boro, Tennessee. He was identified with the early milling interests of Jackson coun- ty, and built and operated two burr mills, one four miles and the other ten miles east of Gainsboro, and when he disposed of those he built the first mill of the roller process type in White county, at Sparta. When he sold the plant he went out of the milling business actively, but still having capital invested in a plant at Salina, Ten- nessee. Mr. Allen married Sallie Loftus, who was of an old Tennessee family. She died in 1875, and Mr. Allen then married Sallie Denton. By his first marriage there were, Almeda, who married Cook Terry, of Gainsboro, Tennessee ; Elizabeth, who mar- ried a Mr. Langford; and Sarah, wife of Samuel Hawkins, of Jackson county ; Rufus W., of this memoir ; and Monroe, of Overton county, Tennessee. By Mr. Allen's second marriage the issue was: R. D., of Salina, Tennessee; Susie, wife of Leo Purcell, of Gainsboro ; and A. Dallas, of Salina, Tennessee.

The author of this branch of the Allen family was Duke Allen, who married a Miss Langford and reared a large family in Ten- nessee. Duke Allen was born in 1782, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and lived to the ripe old age of ninety-six years, while his wife, who died the same year as her hus- band, was aged ninety years.

After Rufus W. Allen had finished his school days in the common schools of his state, he was engaged in mill- ing with his father until past his ma- jority, when he built a mill at Cooke- ville, Tennessee, and was its proprie-

tor seven years, when he disposed of it and came to Oklahoma. Coming into a new country he cast about for a location offering the best inducements and at the same time promising the most for his enter- prise for the future. He finally selected Ada, and in 1901 erected a one hundred and fifty barrel mill, ample to supply the local trade tributary to this point. He has fur- ther manifested a permanent interest in his faith in Ada by the erection of a splen- did home on Sixteenth street, where his eleven-room cottage is recognized as one of the best residences in the sprightly little city. While he is out of harmony with the politics which dominated Oklahoma's first State administration, he is in accord with the policies which under Rooseveltism have forged for advancement to the front rank in the galaxy of states in this nation and maintained an era of prosperity for ten years never before experienced by the most favored nations of the earth.

In the month of February, 1884, Mr. Allen married Leon Morgan, a daughter of Austin Morgan, a Presbyterian minister and a busi- ness man of Jackson county, as well as a representative of an early family of that state. Rev. Morgan married, first, a Miss Johnson, and secondly, Amanda Maxwell, who became Mrs. Allen's mother. The issue of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Allen is: Clio, wife of James Shaw, of Asher, Okla- homa : Lola, Edgar, Dewey and Harold.

WILEY P. CASEY, who has been identified with varied interests in the new and thriv- ing town of Roff during the eight years he has lived in Pontotoc county, was reared in Palo Pinto county, Texas and in Wynne- wood, Oklahoma, and acquired such educa- tion as could be obtained from the schools common to those places. With this equip- ment he started his business career, and the impetus and aid which actual business experience has given him in various aven- ues of the commercial world has won him a place among the successful business men of his vicinity. He was born in Jackson county, Georgia, May 25, 1873, a son of Wiley D. Casey, born in the same county and state in 1852. His mother was Eliza- beth Ewing, a danghter of Thomas Ewing, a Georgia farmer. Mrs. Casey's first hus- band was a Mr. Pirkle, and Mrs. Lula V. Sell, of Wynnewood, Oklahoma, and C. T. Pirkle, of Roff, are her first children.

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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA.

It was in 1876 that the Caseys left Geor- gia and settled in Palo Pinto county, Texas, and in 1887 the parents brought their fam- ily to Wynnewood, Oklahoma. At that date Wynnewood was not found on the map and comprised only a couple of stores. Wiley P. Casey left the student's rank at the age of sixteen years and began clerk- ing in Wynnewood. After a few years he studied dentistry with a competent dentist there, and when ready for practice himself bought out the doctor and carried on the profession four years. On severing his con- nection with Wynnewood he located in Roff after about one year's prospecting, and followed the profession a year longer. He then sold out and took up the real estate business. Later he joined A. L. and Ed Nims and C. S. Hudson, of Roff, and organ- ized the American Trust Company, with E. D. Nims as president and W. P. Casey as vice-president, and they capitalized at fifty thousand dollars. The business of the com- pany was to deal in and handle real estate, and Mr. Casey was connected with it two years, and on selling out resumed the real estate business. In 1908 he engaged in the house furnishing business with J. A. Cor- bitt, but was interested only a few months, when he disposed of his investment and for the third time engaged in the real estate business. In addition to his property in- . terests in Roff, he has embarked in the grow- ing of fruit at Roff, having one hundred and eighty-two acres devoted to several kinds of fruit, including one hundred acres of El- berta peaches, ten acres of pears, thirty acres of apples and twelve acres of miscellaneous fruits of the berry family.

In fraternal society relations Mr. Casey is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Politically, he is a supporter of the Democratic party. As a citizen he is always reliable, never shirking a public duty and has ever followed the trend of his con- victions whether executing his own will or the same thing in behalf of the people. For some time he was identified with the school board of Roff, both under the old regime and under the new law, and as clerk of the new board he declined to sign a bond issue for school purposes which he believed was il- legally voted. His declination and refusal resulted in his removal from the board, and the question, in the shape of an injunction

against the issue and sale of the new board bonds, is now before the courts for final determination.

On October 5, 1895, he was united in mar- riage at Thackersville, Oklahoma, to Julia A. Walker, a daughter of George Walker and wife, Florence (Robinson) Walker. Mr. Walker was a Choctaw Indian, a native of Oklahoma and a coal inspector for the In- dian Nation. Mrs. Casey was the only issue of the parents' union. Mr. and Mrs. Casey have children: Pushmatha, Juanita, Jack C. (deceased), Gertrude Faber and Lahoma Oteka.

ISAAC HUGH STRICKLAND vice-president of the First National Bank of Stonewall and proprietor of the Stonewall Telephone Com- pany, was born in Hunt county, Texas, Sep- tember 3, 1874. The public schools of his county furnished him with a fair education, and the experience of business during a career of many years has strengthened and added to his knowledge of the world. The first known ancestor of the Strickland fam- ily was Isaac, the father of three sons: Si- meon, Winship and William, who migrated from his native state of Tennessee and set- tled in Benton county, Arkansas. In this locality, William, the youngest son, passed the last years of his life, having served in the Union army during the war of the re- bellion. Winship Strickland lost his life during that conflict in which Simeon also participated.

Simeon Strickland, the father of Isaac H., was born in Tennessee about 1826, and like the paternal grandfather was a farmer throughout his entire life. During the per- iod of the Civil war he was a resident of Mis- souri and joined the Union service from that state. He was married to Miss Callie Smith and afterward migrated southward into Texas, locating in Hunt county. Here were born the following children: Isaac H., of this sketch ; Walter, now a resident of Stone- wall, Oklahoma ; Exie, wife of Rufus Jones, of Hunt county Texas; and Rudolph, who died when young. After some years passed in Texas Mr. Strickland returned to the vicinity of his early home in Benton county, Arkansas, and there he died in 1881. Sev- eral years afterward the widow married Stephen Prewitt, and her children by this marriage were: Elbert, now a resident of New Mexico; Otho, of Atoka, Oklahoma ; Effie, who died unmarried; and Annie of

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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA.

Stonewall. The mother still resides at this place.

In Hunt county, Texas, where he passed his childhood, Isaac H. Strickland learned his trade as a blacksmith from Robert Green- house, a well known master of that craft. At the completion of his apprenticeship Mr. Strickland opened a shop in White Rock, his native county, and conducted it suc- cessfully for several years. In 1901 he came to Oklahoma, establishing himself at Stone- wall, where he continued his trade until 1905. In that year he purchased the tele- phone plant of the new town and centered all his energies upon the development of the new enterprise. Afterward he became interested in the First National Bank of Stonewall, of which he is now a director and vice-president. He is also a consider- able property owner, and is ranked among the substantial citizens of the place.

On December 25, 1895, in Hunt county, Texas, Mr. Strickland married Miss Viola Voyles, a daughter of Jonathan and Floy- dia (Hambrick) Voyles. His wife, who was also a native of Hunt county, Texas, was born February 22, 1877, and died in Stonewall, March 27, 1906. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Strickland are: Ayton, Con- nor, Marion, Olin and Viola.

HANS ADOLPH KROEGER, lawyer and business man of Francis, is a native of Benton coun- ty, Iowa, born February 4, 1872. His par- ents are Mars and Amalie (Emke) Kroeger, both natives of Schleswig-Holstein, Ger- many, and his ancestry so far as known has always been of pure German blood. The father was about sixteen years of age when he emigrated from the fatherland and es- tablished himself at Davenport, Iowa, but soon moved further west, locating in Ben- ton county of the same state. There he was married, and at once established his home- stead on a farm in the county named. He was engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1878, when he purchased a hotel at Traer, where he still lives and thrives. The chil- dren born to Mr. and Mrs. Mars Kroeger are: Rala, wife of John Ladd, of Marion, Iowa; Hans A., of this sketch; Dora, now Mrs. T. H. Greelis, of Traer ; G. E., of Los Angeles, California; and May, unmarried and living at Traer.

When Hans A. Kroeger was six years of age his father, as stated, abandoned the farm and established himself as a hotel proprietor

in the little city of Traer. Here the son attended high school and at the age of six- teen commenced clerking in a local dry goods store. After four years in this em- ploy he entered the Davenport Business Col- lege in order to obtain a broader business training. Subsequently he became a book- keeper in the bank of Brooks and Moore at Traer but when the Cherokee Strip of Okla- homa was opened for settlement he resigned his position in order to obtain a claim in the new country. He entered the territory from Caldwell, Kansas, by way of the Rock Is- land railway and saw Enid start as a town of tents when "water sold for five cents a glass," and after making an unsuccessful effort to locate a claim he returned to Traer, entering the employ of H. L. Daniel & Company as a clerk and bookkeeper. He continued in their employ until the winter of 1894, when he entered upon the study of law and entered the law department of the University of Michigan, where he remained until his graduation in June, 1896. He then returned home and after passing the ex- amination before the state supreme court of Iowa, opened his first law office at Rockford, Iowa. He there spent two years in practice, and then removed to Des Moines, where he continued his professional work until 1901, when he came to Oklahoma, and after examining various localities he finally de- cided upon Francis as his future home. One of the matters which claimed his attention early in his residence in this city was the organization of the State Bank of Francis, in the founding of which he was an active practitioner. He served as its cashier for about four years and a half and then re- turned to the active practice of law. In the meantime he had commenced active dealings in real estate and upon severing his con- nection with the bank he devoted himself largely to the development of these interests in connection with the practice of the law. He platted and put on sale the Frisco addi- tion, containing one hundred and seventy- five lots situated on an elevation which has made it a popular residence district. Mr. Kroeger is also interested in farm lands, and has both lands which are under im- provement and those which he cultivates in connection with others. While identified with banking he was partially interested in the erection of three of the most substantial stone business houses in Francis. Mr.

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A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume II, Part 83

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