A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume II, Part 93

Author: Hill, L. B. (Luther B.)
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 810

USA > Oklahoma > A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume II > Part 93

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

On August 12, 1892, Dr. Bryan was united in marriage at Pryor Creek, Indian Territory, to Miss Rachael B. Mayes, daughter of William H. Mayes, and niece of Joel B. Mayes, ex-chief of the Chero- kees, both men prominent in the affairs of the Cherokee Indian Nation. The two children born of this union are Joseph Lu- cullus and Mamie Alexander Bryan.

THE CLAREMORE RADIUM WELLS COM- PANY was organized in 1904 at Claremore, Rogers county, to bore for oil and illumi- nating gas. The well was struck in 1903 at a depth of 1,600 feet and a flow of min- eral water found, so offensive in odor and

Not Perhead

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rank in taste, and so destructive to paint, metals and other materials that the people of the town declared that the enterprise was a nuisance. In the little creek where the water ran waste, frogs, turtles, snakes, trees and other vegetation were killed; but the larger animals, such as horses, cattle, hogs and dogs, who simply waded through it, were cleaned of skin diseases, their cuts and bruises were healed and a general puri- fication set up. It then occurred to the people of the vicinity that human beings might likewise profit, and several remark- able cures of blood diseases and impurities were effected. A human stream of the af- flicted soon set in, the waters were analyzed, a few of the progressive citizens of Clare- more raised the money to build bath houses, and now the enterprise is on a substantial basis, founded on the accomplishment of numerous cures of long-standing and se- rious cases. Flowing at the rate of two thousand barrels per day, warmed to a bathing temperature by the burning sulphur in mid-earth, gathering in its ascent the disease-slaying elements of sulphur, hydro- gen sulphide gas, calcium chloride, iron, salt and magnesia, Radium is certainly a re- markable health-giving water.

An analysis of the water by Edward H. Keiser, professor of chemistry at Washing- ton University, St. Louis, Missouri, result- ed in the following report: "I have made a careful analysis of the artesian well water sent to me and find it to be highly charged with hydrogen sulphide gas. This gas burns with a pale blue flame and gives out the odor of burning sulphur ; before burn- ing the gas has the odor of decaying eggs. This is the same gas that is present in the water of Sulphur Springs, Virginia, and other famous spring waters. It has medi- cal qualities and is valuable on this account. The water, when first drawn, has a green, yellowish color. On standing a black sedi- ment collects on the bottom of the vessel, and if the water is exposed to the air a white precipitate of sediment slowly forms throughout the entire body of the water. This is due to the liberation of finely di- vided sulphur from the gas (hydrogen sul- phide) in the water. The black sediment

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that settles, put (as soon as the water stands) into a corked bottle, is chiefly iron sulphide, but contains a little zinc sulphide. There is in solution in this water, besides the hydrogen sulphide gas already men- tioned, a large quantity of mineral salts. The most common of these is common salt, or sodium chloride, of which there are over 1,800 grains to the gallon. Next comes calcium chloride, of which there are over 200, and magnesium chloride, 110 grains to the gallon. There are smaller amounts of other salts. The water contains no sul- phur in solution, and in that respect dif- fers from most mineral waters. I find the quantity of hydrogen sulphide in solution to be 6.864 grains per gallon, which can be driven out by boiling. From the chemi- cal analysis I should judge this to be a val- uable medicinal sulphur mineral water."

WILLIAM JASPER PERDUE, proprietor of the Claremore Radium Wells Company, is a native of Salem, Indiana, born on the 31st of March, 1862, son of Phillip W. and Sarah S. (Thompson) PerDue. His father was a well known merchant of that place, and he received his education in its public schools. As a young man he went west and entered the employ of the Atchi- son, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Com- pany as a brakeman on a freight train. His run was on the division between Topeka, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, but after a short service in the capacity named he was promoted to be freight conductor. Mr. PerDue was thus employed until 1884, when he assumed a similar position with the Missouri Pacific and Iron Mountain road, in the following year being trans- ferred to its passenger service as conductor on the central division. Mr. PerDue faith- fully performed the duties of that position for seventeen years, or until the time of his investments in the Radium Wells Com- pany at Claremore. When the mineral waters now controlled by the company were first brought to the surface by deep boring they were so offensive because of their strong impregnation with sulphur and hydrogen sulphide gas that they were de- clared by the townspeople as a nuisance ;

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but as their wonderful purifying and heal- ing properties were discovered they com- menced to attract ailing and diseased visi- tors, until they are now the basis of a private health resort, which is obtaining wide note and adding to the standing and growth of the town itself. Mr. PerDue, as president of the promoting company, is proving himself a popular and competent manager. In 1881 Mr. PerDue was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth J. Steele, of Topeka, Kansas, and their two children are Ethel S., now Mrs. R. H. Kistler of St. Louis, Missouri, and Pearl, now de- ceased.

HARRY JENINGS, lawyer and postmaster of Claremore, Rogers county, was for years one of the most prominent men connected with the affairs of the Cherokee Nation, whether in business or official life, legal or journalistic matters, or as a stalwart and untiring Republican leader and organizer. For the past nine years he has resided in Claremore, has been a prime factor in the progress of education, agriculture and com- merce, and, under statehood, is still the same able, strong and liberal citizen, al- ways alert and busy, but never too absorbed to neglect any matter which promises to advance the well being of his community.

Postmaster Jenings is a fine type of the Americanized Englishman, born in London July 28, 1854, son of John Richards Jen- ings, a manufacturer. His mother (for- merly Eliza King ) was the daughter of the land steward of the Marquis of Hastings, a public position of responsibility and honor. The son received his education at the pre- paratory and collegiate institute located at St. John's Wood, a suburb of London, and was employed in England as bookkeeper with the Bickle Furniture Company of Hastings, being thus engaged until he be- came a resident of the United States. His first location was in Chicago, but instead of continuing toward the west he retraced his steps and settled at Midland, Canada, there becoming bookkeeper for the C. Beck Lumber Company. But the wide west drew him, and in 1888 he commenced a prospecting tour which covered a year's time and much of the country to California.

He finally located at Bartlesville, Indian territory (now Washington county, Okla- homa ), and became bookkeeper for Johnson and Keeler, general merchants and stock- men, who also transacted a considerable banking business in the line of Indian pay- ments. In the meantime Mr. Jenings had been studying law with his usual energy and aptitude, and in 1892 was admitted to practice, opening his first office at Bartles- ville. He also founded its first newspaper, the Bartlesville Maguct, now known as the Eraminer, and conducted it with good judg- ment for some time. Among its other ef- fects it added to his strong standing as a Republican.

Upon his appointment as United States commissioner for the third district of In- dian territory Mr. Jenings disposed of his newspaper, and in 1899 removed to Clare- more. While holding the commissioner- ship he was very active and strongly in- fluential in the support of the statehood movement, and is considered one of the creators of the commonwealth. He was the first secretary of the Republican organiza- tion of the Cherokee Nation, and has been a member of all the important standing committees of his party. The postmaster has also been an active and practical pro- moter of the industries, agriculture and commerce of his residence communities. He was a pioneer in the development of the Cherokee oil and gas fields, personally in- ducing numerous good citizens to settle in the country under the generous land-grant inducements offered by the Indian council. He has served as secretary of the Clare- more Commercial Club and of the Clare- more County Fair Association, and has held the same position with the Claremore Athletic Association and the Claremore Odd Fellows' Building Association, while his leadership in educational matters is in- dicated in that he is chairman of the Clare- more School Board. His commission as postmaster dates from February I, 1905, and his courtesy and efficiency as a gov- ernment official have since been in constant evidence.

Postmaster Jenings has been married three times. His first wife was Miss Milli-

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cent Sneath, of Penetanguishene, by whom he became the father of the following : Alfred H .; Eunice Fiorence, now wife of Walter Downing, of Muskogee, Oklahoma ; Ethel Mary, Mrs. Homer Needles, of the same place; Lucy Mary; and Wilfred, a machinist in the employ of the Grand Trunk Railway Company. The second marriage was with Miss Emma Hobart, of Mar- seilles, Illinois, and the children of this union are Winifred, Gwynne Hobart and Kathlene and Evelyn (deceased). Mr. Jen- ing's present wife was Miss Lillie Conley, of Caney, Kansas. With his official duties and his many outside interests and re- sponsibilities, the postmaster is a very busy man ; yet he finds time to range through a wide field of literature and general read- ing and has both an extensive and a select library.

GEORGE W. EATON. A retired business man of Claremore, Rogers county, George IV. Eaton is a pioneer of the city and per- haps its main builder. He was born in Henderson, Rusk county, Texas, on the 15th of December. 1845, being a son of John C. and Cincinnati Caroline (Melton) Eaton. He is the son of a mechanic and received the usual common-school educa- tion in his Texas home, and was still a student when he enlisted for service in the Confederate army. He first joined the in- fantry branch, but on account of his youth and ill health was unable to perform his duties in the ranks. Later, however, he joined a cavalry regiment, Morgan's Bat- talion, commanded by Colonel Parsons of Steele's brigade, and remained in the serv- ice until the disbandment of the command in May, 1865. During this period he par- ticipated in the Yellow Bayou engagement, and was assigned to various points in Texas for the succeeding two years.

On Christmas of 1867, about two weeks after he had celebrated his twenty-second birthday, Mr. Eaton located a mile and a half below the Arkansas line in Indian ter- ritory, near what is now the Oklahoma state line. He then removed to Batie Prairie, re- maining there until May, 1874, engaged in farming and as a salesman for the Mus- grove and Jackson Tobacco Manufactur-

ing Company, his field in the latter capac- ity including Indian territory and Texas and his goods not only tobacco but various articles of merchandise. His next removal was to Claremore Mound, five miles north of the present city site, which is historically famous as the last battle ground of the Cherokee and Osage Indians. Mr. Eaton there located on a fine tract of 700 acres which he skilfully cultivated and wisely improved until 1896, when he moved to Claremore, which was then a town only in name, and commenced its substantial development by erecting its first brick store in which he installed his stock of general merchandise. He afterward established a grocery, erected other creditable buildings, and in a dozen ways promoted the growth and solid advancement of Claremore.

In 1903 Mr. Eaton organized a company for the purpose of developing the adjacent oil and gas fields. His first deep drilling of 1,095 feet resulted in a strong flow of water; another vein of water was tapped at 1,100 feet and still a third at 1,105 feet. Although it was found that the water was highly charged with salt, sulphur and gas, it was at first generally declared that the failure to strike oil rendered the work en- tirely profitless ; but on a more careful and scientific investigation of the water its properties were found to be purifying, stimulating and decidedly medicinal. Mr. Eaton was tireless in his experiments and investigations. For instance, he subjected a mangy and sick dog to five baths and the animal quickly took a new lease of vigor- ous life. In fact, he was convinced that it was business policy to stop boring for oil and utilize these wonderful waters which he had accidentally tapped, and despite some adverse opinions and not a little op- position he built bath houses, drilled two more mineral water wells, and established a health resort which has brought fame to the town itself. The so-called Radium water is carried to the health seeker at a pressure of fifty-two pounds, and its pro- nounced curative powers are now beyond question. Mr. Eaton's wife, known before marriage as Nancy Elizabeth Williams, was related to the famous Cherokee family of

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Wards, and is now deceased. The four children of their union are Caroline; James Calvin ; Martha P., now Mrs. M. York, of Claremore; and Joel Merritt Eaton.

DAVID NELSON MEEK is proprietor of the Fairview Farm, in which connection he is a worthy representative of the agricul- tural interests of Pottawatomie township and Pottawatomie county. In fact, he is numbered among the prominent, intelligent and early settlers of this locality, having come here in pioneer times. The year of his arrival was 1891 and he has since been an active, helpful and influential factor in what has been accomplished as the work of development and improvement have been carried forward. A native son of the Buck- eye state, he was born in Belmont county, Ohio, January I, 1855, and comes of a good family, noted for integrity, diligence and courage. His father, Henry Meek, was born in Pennsylvania and was a son of George Meek, also a native of that state, of Pennsylvania German extraction. Henry Meek, having arrived at years of maturity, was married to Miss Catherine Lucas, who was born in Ohio, and was a daughter of David Lucas, a native of the Empire state. Mrs. Catherine Meek died in Ohio at the advanced age of eighty years. Her hus- band had previously passed away, dying at the age of seventy years. Both were de- voted and consistent members of the Meth- odist Episcopal church and led earnest Christian lives. Mr. Meek followed farm- ing throughout the entire period of his manhood and in all of his business rela- tions was reliable and trustworthy. His political allegiance was given to the Democ- racy. In the family were thirteen children, seven sons and six daughters, but David N. Meek is now the only one living in Oklahoma. He has one brother who yet occupies the old homestead in Ohio.

David N. Meek was reared upon the old home farm and was early trained in the habits of industry, perseverance and in- tegrity. The public schools afforded him his educational privileges and in the periods of vacation he worked in the fields, becom- ing familiar with the best methods of plow- ing, planting and harvesting. At the age

of twenty-seven years he made his way westward to Nebraska and worked on the college farm at Lincoln. He afterward removed to Portland, Oregon, and subse- quently went by water to San Francisco, California. While in the Golden state he was employed upon a ranch in Napa county, California, for eighteen months, after which he returned eastward to Kansas City, Missouri. His next removal took him to Harper county, Kansas, where he remained upon a ranch for a year and half. He afterward spent two years in Colorado and was engaged in freighting there and also took up a tree claim in the southeastern part of the state. He freighted from La- mar, Colorado, and afterward from Trini- dad to the mountains, while subsequently he went to Golden, Colorado, and as a freighter hauled lumber to the mining camp. He is familiar with all of the ex- periences of frontier life on the plains and in the mountain districts of the west and has met many of the hardships and priva- tions incident to such experiences. In 1889 he came to Oklahoma and on the opening of the territory filed a claim in Payne county. Later, however, he came to Pot- tawatomie county with the Fox and Sacs Indians, freighting under Isaac McCoy.

While thus engaged Mr. Meek was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Monroe, a lady of intelligence, education and cul- ture, who was educated in the government school at Wabash, Indiana, and later be- came a teacher in the government school in this locality. She was born in Kansas and was a stepdaughter of Isaac McCoy. Her father was a member of the Ottawa tribe and her mother of the Sacs and Foxes. On the apportionment of govern- ment territory Mrs. Meek received about one hundred and fifty-seven acres of land, while Mr. Meek purchased one hundred and five acres. Their holdings, therefore, comprise two hundred and sixty-two acres, constituting one of the best farms in Pot- tawatomie county, known as the Fairview Farm. There is no better land in the val- ley, it being especially adapted to the pro- duction of grain and to the raising of cat- tle. Mr. Meek's first house upon this place

David Ch. meek.

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was a log cabin, but he has since erected a modern residence at a cost of six thou- sand dollars. It stands upon a hill over- looking the valley, commanding a splen- did view of the surrounding country. It is modern in all of its equipments, contain- ing nine rooms with attic and cellar and bath. It is furnished in elegant manner, indicating the refined and cultured taste of the inmates and the other buildings upon the place are such as are always found upon a model farm. There is a large barn and windmill and large corral and, in fact, it is a model farm property. Broad acres are devoted to the raising of alfalfa, while in the pastures are found high grades of cattle. Everything about the place indi- cates the progressive spirit of the owner, who thus keeps in touch with the advance- ment made in modern farming, and who in his well controlled and intelligently di- rected business affairs is meeting with grati- fying success.

The home of Mr. and Mrs. Meek has been blessed with seven children, namely: Rilla ; Susie, a student in the Haskell Insti- tute at Lawrence, Kansas; Thurman; Leah; David; Ethel; and Ella Beatrice.

Mr. Meek has been a Democrat of the Jefferson school, yet has a warm admiration for President Roosevelt. In matters of citizenship he is loyal and gives his sup- port to many movements for the public good, and throughout the community he has a large circle of friends and is recognized not only as a business man of ability but one whose word is as good as his bond.

H. S. MATHIS. The name of Professor Mathis stands in the front rank in the his- tory of education in Pottawatomie county. His identification with the work covers the long period of thirty years, and in that time he has always kept in touch with educa- tional advancement, giving special attention to the improvement that is continually be- ing made in methods of teaching. The school over which he now has charge was built in 1905 at a cost of five thousand dol- lars, and has a total enrollment of two hundred and forty-one pupils. Professor Mathis spares himself no work to make the

school of the highest possible standard, and his zeal is appreciated by the citizens.

Born on a farm in Butler county, Mis- souri, near Poplar Bluff, in 1859, he was reared to the healthy life of a farmer in that state and in Illinois, a son of Thomas and Sarah (Lightner) Mathis. The father met a soldier's death in the Confederate army during the Civil war, leaving a wife and three children, but the wife and mother, a native of Tennessee, is also now deceased. By attending the district schools near his home and by study at home their son ob- tained a fair elementary education, and finally became a student at the normal school at Cape Girardeau. When a young man of eighteen he began teaching, and taught for several years in his home state of Missouri, and for twenty years he was identified with the educational interests of Arkansas and Louisiana. In 1905 he went to Indiana and later to Oklahoma, where he took charge as principal of the Wanette schools. He votes with the Democratic party. is a member of the Masonic and Knights of Pythias fraternities, and is a valued member and earnest worker in the Methodist Episcopal church. He has served both his church and Sunday school in an official capacity.

In Varner, Missouri, in 1884, Professor Mathis wedded Anna Ezell, a native of Kentucky and a daughter of Marshall Ezell. Their four children are Gertrude. Dean, Oliver and Alton A. The eldest daughter has also become interested in the work of teaching and is now a teacher in Holdenville, Oklahoma.

J. F. GILBERT, one of the most promi- nent farmers and stock raisers in Eason township, came to Pottawatomie county, on the 17th of December, 1890, coming from Pottawatomie county, Kansas, near Lewisville, where he had lived for several years. He was born in Tazewell county, Illinois, November 14, 1861, and is of Scotch descent on the paternal side. His father. Thomas Gilbert, was born in Illi- nois, while his mother, nee Marie Beard. was also born in that state and was of Scotch-Irish descent. Both had brothers in

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the Union army during the Civil war. In 1871 Thomas Gilbert and his family left Illinois for Sumner county, Kansas, where he died at the age of fifty. His life's occu- pation was farming, and he was a Demo- crat politically. His wife is now living near Wheatland, North Dakota, aged sixty. Of their family of six children, four sons and two daughters, two sons are living in Oklahoma, the brother, A. E., residing three miles northwest of Wanette.

J. F. Gilbert was ten years of age when the family left his native state of Illinois for Kansas, and he spent the remainder of his boyhood days on a Kansas farm. In 1884 he located in Pottawatomie county, that state, where a few years afterward, in 1887. he was married to Laura Lewis, who was born in Wabaunsee county, Kansas, and was educated at Lewisville, that state. Her father, Wesley Lewis, is a prominent pioneer resident of Pottawatomie county, Oklahoma. In the fall of 1890 Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert made the overland journey with team and wagon to this state, locat- ing on the farm on which they now re- side, but the land at that time was wild and unimproved. As the years have passed, however, he has developed and improved the farm, and the homestead, known as Fairview, is now one of the most valuable places in Eason township. Mr. Gilbert is extensively engaged in the raising of stock, being a stockholder in the Wanette Horse Company, and he has some high grade Durham and Jersey cattle.

Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert have had four children, namely: W. W., in school at the State University, Norman, Oklahoma ; Nellie L .; Charles E .; and Roy W. Mr. Gilbert is a prominent worker in the local ranks of the Democratic party, and for ten years he was a central committeeman of precinct No. 1 in Eason township. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

A. T. MORE. This narrative will treat of the More and Isaacs families. A. J. More is one of the pioneers of Oklahoma, having resided here ever since 1893. He was born near St. Joseph, Buchanan county,

Missouri, in 1875, of an old Missouri fam- ily of pioneer fame. His father was Jo- seph More, a native of Missouri, and a soldier in the Confederate army under Gen- eral Price. The mother was Sally ( Black) More, born in Missouri. The children of this union were five sons and one daughter, including A. T. More, who was reared on a Missouri farm and taught to work and lead an honest and upright life. He went to Oklahoma and settled in Bales township, Pottawattomie county, in 1893. In 1899 he was united in marriage to Mrs. Conie (Isaacs) Bainum, who homesteaded the place where they now reside in May, 1893. She was then a widow, but with true cour- age and grit such as genuine pioneers are made of built her a house-an eight by ten shack, with a dirt floor-which she called home and where she royally received all who chanced to call that way. She was born near Princeton, Illinois, daughter of A. B. Isaacs, a native of Indiana, and Pauline Seger, of Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Isaacs were united in marriage by Rev. Lovejoy, the great Abolitionist, of Illinois. She received a good education in Illinois and when six- teen years of age, with her parents, went to Kansas, locating at Moran. The father died in 1907, having been a merchant and postmaster several years. Politically, he was a sound Republican and in religious faith, a member of the Christian church. The mother lives at Moran, Kansas, and is now over seventy-one years of age. They had nine children-six sons and three daughters. One son, D. W. Isaacs, lives at Shawnee, Oklahoma, a cattle dealer. Mrs. More was first united in marriage to A. B. Bainum, by whom she had five chil- dren-two deceased and three living: Neil, Eugene, and Eva. Mrs. More was among the pioneer English teachers and taught in Oklahoma City for three years and two years at McLoud. She also taught in the Indian government school, at Darlington, Oklahoma. Her uncle, J. H. Seger, was the government superintendent of this school, and opened the school at Fort Reno. As a teacher she was a very successful in- structor, and popular among the people. Many of the first she taught among the

WILLIAM H. BRANT

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Indian pupils have come to be prominent men, both in business and the legal and medical professions, as well as in the min- istry. Her work will stand long after she has laid down life's burdens and cares.

The homestead which she braved the dangers of pioneer life to defend and keep good in title has come to be a magnificent farm, with beautiful shade trees and groves of timber flourishing, which gives ever a feast to the eye of the weary passer-by. Her house is modern and well planned. Mr. More being an excellent farmer, has kept all in perfect shape, and tills his fields with taste, profit and care, even to the minutest detail. The "Bainum Farm" is known far and near, not only as a land- mark of old Oklahoma territory days, but as one of the pretty agricultural spots of the early nineteenth century.

WILLIAM H. BRANT is a self-made man, who, starting out in life empty-handed at an early age, is now the prosperons and well known proprietor of the Orchard Val- ley Farm and one of the most extensive fruit growers of Pottawatomie county. His place is located in Earlboro township and there he is extensively engaged in horticul- tural pursuits. He is one of the oldest settlers of this part of the state, having taken up his abode here in the spring of 1881, since which time he has been an ac- tive and helpful factor in developing the interests and promoting the welfare of this locality. A native of Ohio, he was born in Harrison county in 1854 and is a son of Porter Brant, also a native of the Empire state. The father served his country as a soldier in the war of 1812 and was wounded in battle, being shot in the leg. He mar- ried Miss Olive Smith, who died in Ohio, and the father has also passed away.

William H. Brant, whose name introduces this review, had but few opportunities, edu- cational or otherwise, in his youth, and at the age of twelve years started out in life on his own account. He went west to Michigan, settling in Berrien county about the close of the Civil war. He worked in the pineries and on the head waters of the Mississippi river in Minnesota. He was connected with the lumber drives and in

floating the rafts down the streams to mar- ket, meeting all of the experiences of a lum- ber camp with its hardships and pleasures. For nine years he was thus employed in the pineries of the north, and in 1873 he re- turned to Michigan, working in the pineries along the Muskegon river for three years. On the expiration of that period Mr. Brant continued on his westward way until he reached Wabaunsee county, Kansas, and made a location there about forty miles west of Topeka. There he continued until he came to Oklahoma, arriving here in the year 188 [.

Mr. Brant had been married previously in Kansas, the wedding being celebrated in Alma, Wabaunsee county, in 1879, Mrs. Hannah Cummings becoming his wife. She was reared and educated in the Sunflower state and was a daughter of Samuel Cum- mings, who served his country in the Mexi- can war. He was a native of Boston, Massachusetts, but left that state at the age of fourteen years. His first wife was Mary (Wells) White, who was born in Wisconsin, and died in Wabaunsee county, Kansas, when Mrs. Brant was a child. She left five children, of whom one son, Henry, Cummings, is now living in Pottawatomie county, Oklahoma. The father died here in October, 1904, at the age of seventy- four years. Having lost his first wife he married again, and his widow now draws a pension in recognition of the valiant aid which he rendered to his country during the dark days of the Civil war.

When William H. Brant came to Pot- tawatomie county it was a new and unde- veloped district. The plow had not turned the furrows in the fields and the work of improvement had scarcely been begun. He lived in a tent until he could build a log house, and the latter structure was only twelve by fourteen feet. When he moved into it it had no door or window and boxes or blocks served for chairs. As the years have advanced he has entirely transformed the appearance of his place, which com- prises one hundred and sixty acres of rich and productive land in Earlboro township. The soil is alluvial, being all bottom land, particularly well adapted to the production

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of cotton, potatoes and alfalfa. These crops he raises on an extensive scale and for his products finds a ready sale on the market. In 1903 he erected a modern home thirty by thirty-two feet. There is a porch across the front and a piano and other fur- nishings are indications of the cultured and refined taste of the inmates. The house stands upon a natural building site and near by are all the necessary sheds and outbuild- ings for the shelter of grain, stock and fruit. Mr. Brant is particularly well known because of his horticultural pursuits, being more extensively engaged in fruit-raising than any other resident of the county. He has twenty-three acres planted to apples and also there are four hundred peach and pear trees upon the place. He likewise has two acres planted to grapes and his farm is ap- propriately named the Orchard Valley Farm. He has closely studied the condi- tions of soil and climate in regard to his fruit-raising and the production of his crops and his work has been based upon practical ideas, resulting in success.

Mr. and Mrs. Brant have three sons and two daughters: Lewis, who is now a young man of twenty years and assists in the work of the home farm; Walter, seventeen years of age ; Naomi, fourteen years of age ; Sam, who is in his twelfth year; and Alice, two years old. They also lost three chil- dren : Eva, who was the first born and died at the age of eighteen years; Selja Nelson, who died at the age, of twenty-four years in October, 1905; and Tracie, who died in December, 1903.

Mr. Brant gives his political allegiance to the Democracy, although he was for- merly a supporter of the Republican party. He belongs to the Fraternal Order of Eagles, while in religions faith he is liberal. His wife, however, is a member of the Catholic church. Mr. Brant is one of the best known citizens of Pottawatomie county, not only because of his long resi- dence here but also owing to the fact of the active part which he has taken in the de- velopment of the county and in the pro- motion of its successful business interests. He is much esteemed by all who know him

and well deserves the high regard in which he is held.

DR. L. K. TRUSCOTT has gained an envi- able prestige as one of the able and suc- cessful physicians and surgeons of Potta- watomie, and his name is indelibly traced on the records of the early history of the southwest. Born near Kane in Greene county, Illinois, October 5, 1861, he is a grandson of a native Englishman, James Joseph Truscott, Sr., and a son of James Joseph and Eliza A. (Kirkland) Truscott. The mother was born in Montgomery county, Illinois, and her death occurred at the age of thirty-nine years, leaving five children, three sons and two daughters, and one son, George E., is now in business in Maud, this county. The father's home is in Olustee, Oklahoma, and he is now sev- enty-six years of age, a farmer and a mem- ber of the Christian church.

Dr. Truscott was a boy of thirteen when he went with his parents to Texas, and for a number of years thereafter he em- ployed his time as a cowboy on the range, studying meanwhile as he rode over the plains on his horse. In the same way he also pursued his medical studies for four years, and at the time of his entrance in the Missouri Medical College of St. Louis he ranked well in his studies and gradu- ated with high standing with the class of 1891. During the seven years following his graduation he practiced in Chatfield, Texas, and from there came to Remus in 1898. The Doctor owns a valuable little farm of eighty acres in Pottawatomie county, where he has an excellent orchard of forty-five hundred trees, comprising fruits of all kinds grown in this climate. He is thoroughly familiar with Oklahoma and its resources through his long identifi- cation with its interests, and although his residence here dates only from 1898 he came into the territory as early as 1876 with his cattle from Texas, driving them over the first cattle trail across the plains, and he stopped on Deer Creek, near where Guthrie has since been built, with the first herd of stock cattle located in the territory of Oklahoma. He is thoroughly familiar

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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA.

with the pioneer experiences of the south- west, and his life is in harmony with its wonderful development, for as a cowboy on the range he has risen in only a few short years to rank with the most able physicians and surgeons of Pottawatomie county, one of the largest and most pro- gressive counties of the state.

At Paducah, Kentucky, in 1891, Dr.

Truscott was united in marriage to Maria Tully, a daughter of Judge John C. Tully, of that place, and their four children are Losetta Estelle, Lucius King, Patsy Bryan and Dixie. The Doctor is an active worker in the local ranks of the Democratic party and is a member of the medical societies and of the Woodmen and the Knights of Pythias.

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A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume II, Part 93

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