USA > Oklahoma > A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume II > Part 86
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As he was reared amid the inferior op- portunities of the Choctaw people, Luke D. Allen matured with little education. Following in the footsteps of his father,
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he became a farmer and afterward a cattle- man. While in the latter business he devot- ed some of his spare hours to the study of pharmacy and a few years later engaged in the drug business. He opened his first store at Stigler, but after two years sold it and located at Kinta, where he was the first to erect a house on the townsite. With the growth of the new place his business flourished, and he continued to conduct and develop it until elected to his present office as sheriff in November, 1907. His strength as a Democrat and his popularity as a man were evinced by the facts that he was nomi- nated against five competitors, and in the general election defeated his Republican op- ponent by three hundred and eighty votes. In connection with his official duties Sheriff Allen still maintains his business, which is actively managed by an assistant, and also owns considerable property in Haskell county. Mr. Allen is warmly welcomed in both social and fraternal circles. In the latter he is a charter member of the Ma- sonic lodge of Kinta and is past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias lodge also of that place.
On January 1, 1889, Mr. Allen was mar- ried in Jenson, Oklahoma, to Miss Annie E. Gamble, a daughter of Henry Gamble, a well known farmer of that place, and their children are Gertie, Ila and Jamie Allen.
ARTHUR L. BECKETT. Although all men are self-made, Judge Arthur L. Beckett, the present county judge of Haskell county, is one of that class who has made his way in the face of poverty and without the bene- fit of parental guidance from an early pe- riod in his youth. At the age of fifteen he left his humble home in the region near Fort Smith, Arkansas, and going to that town commenced his life of progressive strug- gles as a janitor for a number of law offices. At the time he considered himself very for- tunate to secure even such employment, and he soon found that opportunities were thrown in his way for advancement into a much higher grade of work. At the time of this employment there were only three type- writers in Fort Smith, and fortunately the youth obtained the privilege of using one of them and became a proficient operator. With this accomplishment he sought work from various lawyers and officials and was soon earning a fair salary. At the same
time he kept the fact in mind that his edu- cation was defective, and with the money which he earned as a typist he was enabled to complete a high school course and com- menced the reading of law. His preceptors in the law field were Messrs. Winchester and Bryant, of Ft. Smith, and Rowe & Rowe, of Greenwood.
Being finally admitted to the bar, before Judge E. E. Bryant, he commenced practice at Fort Smith, and after remaining there a few months went to Booneville, Arkansas, and thence to Whitefield, then in the Choc- taw Nation, where he formed a partnership with W. B. Jackson. With the dissolution of this connection he associated himself with Fred H. Fannin, and the firm of Beck- ett & Fannin existed until its junior member was nominated for the county judgeship. Judge Beckett's first case at the bar was one in which he successfully defended a man against a charge of larceny and his practice eventually extended to cases of both a crim- inal and civil nature, by which he. earned a reputation for such high general ability as to insure him the nomination for county judge. In the preliminary race for the office he had but one opponent, and was honored with the largest majority of any candidate on the ticket. Since he became of voting age the judge has been a firm Democrat. During the movement for state- hood he favored the union of Indian Terri- tory and Oklahoma into one commonwealth, and had the honor of being selected as a delegate to the first Democratic convention held at McAlester. In his religious faith he is an active Methodist and is now one of the trustees of the Stigler church.
Judge Beckett was born at Spadra, John- son county, Arkansas, March 14, 1870, and comes of an old English family founded in in this country by his great-grandfather, who died in Alabama at the remarkable age of one hundred and four years. His grand- father was Reverend Samuel Beckett, wide- ly known both as a clergyman and a cot- ton planter, who lived many years in Co- lumbia county, Arkansas, where he died in 1880. He reared a large family, consisting of the following: James, father of Judge Beckett : Samuel C., of Magnolia, Arkansas; Zacharia, who was killed during the Civil war: Lou and Carrie, who are both mar- ried, the latter to a Mr. Flint, of Claiborne parish, Louisiana ; and Alice, afterward Mrs.
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Taylor, of the same parish. James Beckett, the father of Judge Beckett, was born March 18, 1837, and passed his earlier years near Raleigh, North Carolina. There he was married, and before the opening of the Civil war removed with his small family to Co- lumbia county, Arkansas, and at the close of the war he removed to Johnson county, to the town of Spadra, the birthplace of Judge Beckett. Having passed all of his life as a son of the south and becoming familiar with the institution of slavery, at the out- break of the rebellion he naturally joined the Confederate army, and in General Pat Cleburne's division fought valiantly until the war ceased. He was made a prisoner at Fort Donelson, sent to Fortress Monroe, escaped from that Union stronghold and rejoined his comrades in the field, continu- ing to support the Confederacy in the ranks of General Lee's army until the final sur- render at Appomattox. He then returned to Arkansas, where after conducting various commercial enterprises with indifferent suc- cess he returned to the farm. He removed from Johnson to Sebastian county, and re- mained there until his family interests and ties drew him into the Choctaw country and to the town of Spiro, where he now resides. James Beckett's wife was a na- tive of North Carolina, born in 1842, and the children of their union are: Dr. James B., a practicing physician of Spiro, Okla- homa ; Hattie E., wife of Alexander Martin, also of that place; and Judge Arthur L. Beckett, of this notice.
On October 24, 1894, Judge Beckett was married at Booneville, Arkansas, to Miss Ola Sadler, daughter of W. Doak and Lydia (Ayres) Sadler, both old settlers of that country and originally from Missouri. They have become the parents of four chil- dren: Lida, Hazel, Jewell and Ola Beckett.
JOSEPH S. STIGLER, the father of the town which bears his name, has also been a con- stant director of its material and civic prog- ress, and has justly shared in the general prosperity of the place. Since the establish- ment of the new town he has devoted him- self to the improvement of his property and the handling of real estate, as well as in sharing the responsibilities of the local gov- ernment with other good citizens of Stig- ler. The Stigler family is of German origin, and among its first members to settle in the United States were those who settled
in Mississippi in its territorial days. When it became a state in 1811 Simeon Stigler, grandfather of Joseph S., was a school boy, and, after passing his entire life within its limits, died during the progress of the Civil war. The children born to him were John, Benjamin, James, George, Edward B. (the father of Joseph S.), Annie and Ella, who never married, and Fannie, who became the wife of Robert Gwinn.
Edward B. Stigler, the father, was born in Holmes county, Mississippi, in the year 1835, and was reared in the comfort and with the superior educational advantages befitting the son of a prosperous planter. Before the outbreak of the Civil war he had himself become a substantial planter and naturally the owner of many slaves. At the outset of hostilities he joined the Twenty-second Mississippi Infantry, and was in Hood's army at the battles of Franklin and Nashville. Had he been a man of less hardy mould the effects of the war would have ruined him, both in estate and ambition, but he early adjusted himself to the changed conditions and died in cir- cumstances of comparative comfort. Mr. Stigler's first marriage was to Emeline Long, widow of a Choctaw Indian and a daughter of William Baker, and by this union he became the father of three daugh- ters and of Joseph S. Stigler. Two of the daughters migrated to the Indian Territory at an early day, one of them marrying a Mr. Byrd and the other, a Mr. Puryear, and, after his death, Captain Welch. The former died in the Poteau bottoms and the latter now resides at Talihina, Oklahoma. The third daughter, Mollie, married W. C. Durham, of Durant, Mississippi. The mother of these children died in 1869, and Edward B. Stigler married as his second wife Miss Martha Rogers, who bore Ed- ward S. Stigler as her only child.
Joseph S. Stigler, the only son by his father's first marriage, was born in Holmes county, Mississippi, on the 31st of October, 1859. In that section of the state he re- ceived a fair education and a training both on the farm and in the store. On Decem- ber 25, 1879, having just entered his twenty- first year, he commenced farming in the Poteau bottoms, near Fort Smith, and, after spending two years in that employment, became a driver for the Muskogee Stage Company, on the line between Fort Smith
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and Muskogee. The mail contract was then held by Col. D. M. Wisdom and Colonel Canaday, and there were four stations be- tween Fort Smith and Muskogee-Camp Creek, in what is now Sequoyah county ; Childers Station, near Sallisaw; Webber's Falls and Taylor's Stand. The fare over the line was eight dollars. On quitting the stage line Mr. Stigler located at Blaine, on the Arkansas river, in Haskell county, and was there employed in a store and on the Moore ranch until 1887, when he married a one-sixteenth Choctaw woman, Mary A., daughter of Walker Folsom, and estab- lished himself as a farmer. Soon afterward he was appointed deputy marshal under Thomas B. Needles, the succeeding four years also including service under Marshal McAlester. At the conclusion of this period he settled on the prairie, on the present site of Stigler. In 1892 he secured the location of the Newman postoffice there (named after Dr. Newman), and after it was re- christened Stigler, in his honor, he was him- self appointed postmaster-then so empty an honor that it is said the government business easily passed through a bureau drawer. But the location was on the direct line of travel westward from Fort Smith, and Mr. Stigler occasionally induced a trav- eler to stop over and even to settle, among his fortunate victims being Messrs. Mays, Jetung and Teavers. One of these opened a small store, another became the promi- nent gin man of the place, and they were all glad that they took Mr. Stigler's advice. Then a daily mail was established from Vian, and with the building of the Midland Valley Railroad the new town was founded. For several years prior to that event, Mr. Stigler was occupied with his farming and live stock interests, but when the Muskogee Southern Railroad commenced its survey into Haskell county he encouraged the lo- cation of a new town as one of its stations. This was finally laid off by the Midland Val- ley Railroad, which, in association with Mr. Stigler and the capitalists he enlisted in the project, may be called the founder of the new and progressive city of Stigler. The railroad also platted the two hundred and fifty acres along its line which has become such an important portion of the city and in which Mr. Stigler acquired and has re- tained a leading interest. Since the found- ing of the Stigler of today he has erect-
ed a number of substantial business houses, and took the initiative in the erection of a twelve thousand dollar school building, which should be worthy of the progressive spirit generally exhibited. In every way possible he has been a loyal supporter of the cause of public education, being one of the most active members of the school board. He is president of the city board of trustees, game warden for Haskell county, and in all his official and business relations a stanch leader and an honorable citizen. In his politics he is a Democrat.
Mr. Stigler has been twice married, and by his first wife is the father of Edward B., William Grady, Hettie Lee and Rupert Ber- nard Stigler. His second wife, whom he married in 1908, was Mrs. Ada Beggs, a sister of the Hon. C. G. Jones, of Oklahoma City.
HON. ROBERT JAMES DIXON, of Weleet- ka, Okemah county, is a leading Republican of Oklahoma who is serving in the lower house of its legislature, and is widely known throughout this section of the country as a successful lumberman and dealer in farm lands and loans. A native of Kane county, Illinois, he was born June 20, 1866, a son of Andrew P. and Hannah E. (Ingham) Dixon, his father being a substantial farmer of that state and a man of public affairs. Mr. Dixon is of true British blood, the pa- ternal branch of his family tracing its origin to Scotland and Ireland, and the maternal, to England itself. Naturally, therefore, he has inherited marked traits of versatility, elasticity, perseverance and sound judgment, which, with his thorough and broad mental training, have brought him a signal and substantial success in business operations and affairs of state.
Mr. Dixon obtained his elementary educa- tion in the public schools of Plano, Illinois, afterward pursuing higher courses at the Augustana College, Beloit, Iowa, from which he graduated in 1888 with the degree of B. S. His first business experience was at Gal- veston, Texas, where he became identified with the lumber trade, continuing his con- nection therewith at Winnie, same state, as a retail merchant and member of the Dixon Lumber Company. Then transferring the scene of his activities to Indian Territory, he located at Okmulgee and became asso- ciated with the Fullerton-Stewart Lumber
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Company, continuing his connection with that corporation at Beggs. At Weleetka his interests were with the Dixon Lumber Company, and after disposing of them to the Spurrier Lumber Company he established the business in farm lands and loans which he has developed to such extensive propor- tions and such a profitable condition. His strong interest in educational matters has led to much broad and practical work, and that his efforts have been appreciated is evident from the fact that he is now serving as president of the Weleetka Board of Edu- cation.
Mr. Dixon's Republicanism has always been of the sturdy and fearless kind, and, although not a bitter partisan, he has been an honest fighter for his rights. At the first state election he received a majority of the votes cast for the representative from his district, this being a plurality of three hun- dred seventy-six, but as the returning board, on a technicality, refused to canvass the Van Zant precinct (embracing the town of Boley), he, with other Republicans, were deprived of their seats. As stated, however, he was elected to the second legislature and took his seat, having proved to be a practical representative who is fully com- petent to judge what measures have the broadest usefulness for his constituents. Mr. Dixon is married to the lady who was formerly Miss Cora Martin, of Canton, South Dakota, their union occurring in 1896. His wife is a daughter of George W. Mar- tin, and has borne him one child, Robert Allen Dixon.
RALPH A. DILL, one of the enterprising real estate dealers residing and doing business at Okemah, Oklahoma, will form the sub- ject of this biography. Mr. Dill was born in Champaign county, Illinois, in the vicin- ity of Dillsburg, named for his father, Se- bastian Dill. His father was prominent in the history of Champaign county, Illinois. His mother was Rosa Stricker. Both pa-
rents were natives of Germany who came from the famous Rhine river country and from the city of Strasburg. They selected Illinois as their American home, bringing the spirit of fair and correct living with them, and they soon came to be true adopt- ed citizens.
The son, Ralph A. Dill, who was educated in the common schools of Champaign coun- ty, Illinois, and also attended the city
schools of Rantoul, Illinois, from which he graduated and then entered Dixon Business College, at Dixon, Illinois. His first busi- ness experience was in assisting his father in his mercantile operations at Dillsburg, where he was employed three years. Hear- ing and reading of the great and rapidly ad- vancing territory country of the southwest, he was attracted to that section. He located at Okemah, Oklahoma, and there embarked in the banking business as assistant cashier of the First National Bank, and later as cashier of the Citizens' State Bank and Trust Company at Okemah. In 190% he received the nomination of register of deeds for Okfuskee county at the instance of the Republican party and was duly elected to this position. The returning board, how- ever, refused to canvass the Van Zant pre- cinct, and as a consequence he was not de- clared elected or given an opportunity to qualify. At this writing (August, 1908) the contest is still pending in the courts, so far without results. Mr. Dill is therefore still engaged in the real estate business.
He was married to Miss Daisy Roberts, who became a resident of the territory coun- try in 1902. She is the daughter of H. W. Roberts, a native of Ohio. Mr. Dill devotes much of his time to the improvement of his home premises. His residence is far in ad- vance of any within his community as to . points of correctness in architecture and equipment.
GEORGE DREW HARVISON. Through both sides of the family prominently identified with the history and development of the Creek Nation, George D. Harvison, now manager of the J. A. Patterson Mercantile Company at Okemah, Okfuskee county, was born at Fame, McIntosh county, Ok- lahoma, and is a son of Thomas C. and Suie (McIntosh) Harvison. His father is a na- tive of Alabama and his mother is a daugh- ter of Colonel D. N. McIntosh, a Confed- erate veteran of the Civil war. William McIntosh, the maternal grandfather, was one of the representatives of the Creek Na- tion in the early negotiations with the gen- eral government for the setting aside of Indian Territory and Oklahoma as a home for the Five Civilized Tribes. He was one of the commissioners in behalf of his people who signed the ordinance for the sale of the valuable Creek lands in Alabama, but owing to dissatisfaction on the part of some of
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the Indians over the transaction he was treacherously killed before the tribe started for their western reservation. The blood of the Creek Nation comes directly to Mr. Harvison through his maternal grandfather, who was Red Eagle, a renowned chief of the tribe.
Mr. Harvison attended the national schools of the Creek Nation, where he re- ceived his early education and completed his mental training at the Baptist Indian University at Muskogee. His first business experience was as a clerk connected with the J. A. Patterson Mercantile Company, of Muskogee, in whose employ he remained for about eight years. His services proved so valuable to his employer that he then secured an interest in the business and lo- cated at Morse, Indian Territory, as man- ager of one of the branch stores. In 1902 he located at Okemah and assisted in the incorporation of the J. A. Patterson Mer- cantile Company of that place, of which he was elected a director and its treasurer and secretary. Since that time Mr. Harvison has become a leading business man of the place and also a representative public citi- zen, having been elected to the mayoralty of Okemah as well as its treasurer. He is still the incumbent of the latter office. Mr. Harvison's wife was formerly Miss Lulu E. Foster, and their children are: Nellie M., Thelma B., and Hazel V. Harvison.
MANFORD BURNS CASTLE, a resident of Oklahoma for ten years, is the found- er of the town which bears his name in Ok- fuskee county, Oklahoma. Although the town of Castle is young it has enjoyed a substan- tial prosperity, and its founder is now one of the prosperous farmers and merchants of this section of the state. Mr. Castle is a native of Johnson county, northeastern Kentucky, where he was born April 1, 1861, a son of James C. and Catherine ( Selsor) Castle. The family is of ancient Scotch-Irish origin, but both parents were natives of Virginia, its American ancesters settling in that section of the country.
Manford B. Castle received his education in the common schools of Kentucky, attending them until fifteen years of age, when he lo- cated on a farm near Sedalia, Missouri, and in the midst of his labors thereon found time to continue his schooling. In fact, he be- came so deeply interested in education mat- ters that for years it seemed doubtful whether
he would continue as an agriculturist or as an educator. In 1885 he became one of the or- ganizers of the business college of Moore and Fraker, now so well known as the C. W. Robbins Business College. For a number of years he was one of the teachers in that in- stitution, and in 1898 removed to Shawnee, Oklahoma, where he had abundant oppor- tunities to put his business theories into ac- tive practice. At that point he engaged in the furniture and undertaking business, and after disposing of his establishment he re- moved to the Creek Nation, Indian Territory, and settled upon a tract of land which af- terward became the site of the town of Cas- tle. He staked out the original town upon his land and for sometime seemed to monop- olize its chief activities, for he was not only a farmer but a general merchant and also acted as postmaster of the place. He is still engaged in agricultural and mercantile pur- suits, and with the solid growth of the town has himself become remarkably prosperous. Mr. Castle is married, his wife being known in her maidenhood as Miss Mary A. Divers, daughter of John Divers, who resides near Lamont, Pettis county, Missouri. Their five children are: George Edward, Groll M., John B., Lois C. and Charles L. Castle.
MRS. LUCY TALBOT. The name Talbot is widely associated with the development of various sections of Arkansas and Oklahoma. and Mrs. Lucy Talbot, the present postmis- tress of Paden, Okfuskee county, is continu- ing its good and useful work. She herself was born at Bessemer, Alabama, October 17, 1871, and a daughter of Trust and Eliza- beth (King) Talbot, her father being long known as one of the prominent citizens of Muldrow, Oklahoma. Both of her parents were descended from old Southern families, and their old-world forefathers came from Scotland and Ireland. Trust Talbot, her fa- ther, was a well known planter and slave owner of ante-bellum days, his estate being in the vicinity of Bessemer, Alabama. Some years after the Civil war he came with his family to the far southwestern country, then upon the frontier of the United States, and first located at Clarksville, Arkansas. After remaining there for some. time he migrated to Muldrow, Indian Territory, and there con- tinued his career as a farmer and an influ- ential man of local affairs.
Mrs. Talbot received her early education in the public schools of Clarksville, and from
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there graduated to the Arkansas Cumber- land College, located at the same place. She completed the regular course with credit, and at the age of eighteen graduated from that institution with the class of 1889. In the same year, on the 20th of April, she was tinited in marriage with Paden Talbot, and the four children born to them were: Mary Eleanor, Paden Talbot, Jr., Tom and L. M. Talbot.
Paden Talbot was long known for his brave and faithful work in connection with the shrievalty of Johnson county and the United States marshalship in the various sections of Arkansas and Indian Territory. The town of Paden, of which his widow has been post- mistress since January, 1906, was also found- ed by the deceased husband. Mr. Talbot's first experience as an officer of the peace was as deputy sheriff of Johnson county, Arkan- sas, and later he was attached to the United States marshal's office as deputy at Fort Smith that state, being still later transferred to Muskogee and Vinita, Indian Territory. With the subsequent change of the court districts, at a still later date he changed his residence to Weleetka, Okfuskee county. Fi- nally resigning his position in the marshal's office he accepted a place in the service of the Ft. Smith and Western Railway, act- ing for some time as claim agent and special officer. His previous experience made him almost invaluable in this latter capacity, as he was not only alert and astute but was very expert in the handling of a repeating rifle. It was while thus engaged that he founded the town of Paden. His death oc- curred on the 20th of April, 1904, on the fifteenth anniversary of his marriage. It should be added that Mr. Talbot played a very prominent and pioneer part in prepar- ing this part of Oklahoma for the coming of desirable residents. When he first entered the country it was new and infested with thieves and various classes of desperadoes, and as deputy United States Marshal he was largely instrumental in weeding out these undesirable residents and driving from the country bands of marauding ruffians. This kind of work required not only unfailing bravery but cleverness and good judgment, and Mr. Talbot never failed to successfully meet any crisis. Besides accomplishing this work he was one of the chief promoters of the building of telephone lines connecting the settled district of Arkansas with the new
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