A standard history of Oklahoma; an authentic narrative of its development from the date of the first European exploration down to the present time, including accounts of the Indian tribes, both civilized and wild, of the cattle range, of the land openings and the achievements of the most recent period, Vol. III, Part 111

Author: Thoburn, Joseph B. (Joseph Bradfield), 1866-1941
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 660

USA > Oklahoma > A standard history of Oklahoma; an authentic narrative of its development from the date of the first European exploration down to the present time, including accounts of the Indian tribes, both civilized and wild, of the cattle range, of the land openings and the achievements of the most recent period, Vol. III > Part 111

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Mr. Matson has lived in Oklahoma since 1906, just prior to statehood. He located at Ardmore and soon had a large private practice. In 1907 he was appointed assistant county attorney of Carter County, and held that office until his promotion to the larger responsi- bilities of his present position. Mr. Matson is affiliated with the Lodge No. 648 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, at Ardmore, and is a member of the Chickasaw Lake Club of that city. In June, 1911, he married Miss Janie Gwin, whose father, Darvel Gwin, of Dallas, was long in service with the Texas Rangers.

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

WILLIAM S. HICKS. President of the Hicks Loan & Investment Company, in the Colcord Building at Okla- homa City, William S. Hicks is one of the men of high financial standing in Oklahoma City and over the state in general. His experience in handling mortgage loans and other securities is probably as extensive and covers as long a period as can be credited to any man still engaged in that business in the state. For upwards of twenty years his business field was in Missouri, and he has been identified with Oklahoma since the statehood year.

A native of Missouri, Mr. Hicks was born in Adair County, June 24, 1868, a son of George W. and Elizabeth (Lay) Hicks. His father was a native of Virginia, while the mother was born in Tennessee. They were married in 1855, sixty years ago, and both are still living and one of the oldest married couples in Missouri. George W. Hicks was a farmer all his active career, and during the war between the states was in the Union army and being taken prisoner spent several months in the noto- rious Andersonville prison. His wife's brothers fought on the other side and were soldiers in the Confederate ranks.

The early associations of William S. Hicks were with the Missouri farm and with the country schools of that state. He completed his education in the State Normal School at Kirksville and had taught three terms of country school before taking up his active business career. In February, 1889, a few months before reach- ing his twenty-first birthday, Mr. Hicks started in the business of handling farm mortgages, city loans and investment securities with an office at Kirksville. That city was his home and his business prospered and brought him into extensive relations all over Northern Missouri and in other states. In 1907 Mr. Hicks came from Mis- souri to Oklahoma City, and here developed the business which is now known as the Hicks Loan & Investment Company, of which company he is president.

In less than ten years Mr. Hicks has made himself a substantial figure in the financial circles of the capital city. He is still a bachelor and a member of the leading social clubs and prominent in Masonic bodies. His Masonic affiliations are with Kirksville Lodge No. 105, A. F. & A. M .; Cyrus Chapter No. 7, R. A. M .; Okla- homa Commandery, Knights Templar; and India Temple of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is a member and president of the Pickwick Club of Oklahoma City, a member of the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club, and of the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce. His church is the Methodist Episcopal, South. Mr. Hicks resides at 127 West Tenth Street.

JAMES M. MOOMAU. Since coming from the East and locating in Cleveland County ten years ago, James M. Moomau has advanced rapidly into prominence and suc- cess as a merchant and citizen, and now has one of the leading stores at Norman and is also president of the Chamber of Commerce of that city.

He was born at Greenbank, Pocahontas County, West Virginia, May 8, 1877. His grandfather, John Moomau, emigrated from France and settled in Virginia and died in Franklin of West Virginia, where he had been a farmer and stockman. The father was Dr. J. P. Moomau, who was born at Franklin, West Virginia, in 1840, and died at Greenbank in that state in 1908. He spent practically all his years in one general locality, and after graduating M. D. from the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia practiced as a physician and surgeon and was a kindly family doctor for hundreds of patients in that locality. He also owned and con- ducted a farm. He was a man of considerable promi-

nence and for two terms represented his home district in the West Virginia Legislature. He was a democrat and an elder in the Presbyterian Church. Doctor Moomau married Nannie Arbogast, who was born in Greenbank, West Virginia, in 1850 and still lives there. Their children are: Flora C., living with her mother; E. S., a druggist at Lewisburg, West Virginia; Mary, wife of Dr. C. L. Austin, a physician and surgeon at Cleveland County, Oklahoma; Dr. L. H., who is a graduate of the University of Maryland in the medical department, and succeeded his father in practice at Greenbank, where he now resides; Flora C .; Lillian, Nannie Boone, and Lucy, all living with their mother; and Fred, who manages the homestead farm back in West Virginia.

James M. Moomau was given a substantial educa- tion, first in grammar and high schools and subsequently in the Danville Military School at Danville, Virginia, where he completed his course in 1895. During the vacation periods he helped to pay his way by various- lines of mercantile employment and that was also a val- nable experience when he entered business for himself. From 1895 he spent several years in mercantile employ- ment, and from 1901. to 1902 had charge of a dry goods. store at Coatsville, Pennsylvania. He was next manager of a general store at Belington, West Virginia.

In January, 1905, Mr. Moomau came to Norman, Oklahoma, and after one year as a farmer worked as a clerk in that city until 1908. Here he established a clothing and men's furnishing store on East Main Street under the firm name of Moomau & Kimberlin, a partnership which was dissolved in August, 1915, leav- ing Mr. Moomau sole proprietor and owner of one of the principal stores of its kind in Cleveland County.

For the past three years Mr. Moomau has been an alderman of Norman and for two of these years was president of the council. He is president of the Cham- ber of Commerce, is a democrat in politics, is a director and secretary and treasurer of the Presbyterian Church, and, affiliates with the Knights and Ladies of Security and with Norman Camp of the Modern Woodmen of America.

In 1896 at McDowell, Virginia, he married Miss Mat- tie Peterson, daughter of the late Charles Peterson, who was a cattleman and land owner in that state. They have four children: Hattie Poyntz, now a freshman in the Norman High School; Mary Catherine, in the eighth grade; James P., in the third grade; and Fred Taylor.

JOHN LEE SMITH. At the head of Waynoka's post- office is John Lee Smith, a well known and substantial citizen who has for many years beeu engaged in journal- ism in the Southwest. Since young manhood a stanch adherent of the principles of democracy, he has steadily followed his party's fortunes, giving most loyal services, but his present office is the first he has held. While he has been postmaster for only a comparatively short period he has already displayed executive ability of a high order, and has proved to be a most popular and efficient official.

Mr. Smith was born March 16, 1868, at Starrville,. Smith County, Texas, and is a sou of William Henry and. Mary Ann (Bobbitt) Smith. His father was born February 14, 1838, at Nashville, Tennessee, and in early life learned the trade of shoemaker, which he followed' throughout his life with the exception of several years. passed in the hotel business at various points. When the Civil war came on, Mr. Smith enlisted in a Confederate. regiment from Tennessee, and during the greater part of his service was employed at making shoes for his.

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

comrades in the ranks. At the close of that struggle, he went to Terrell, Kaufman County, Texas, where he was engaged in business as a shoemaker for thirty years, subsequently removing to Dallas, where he died in 1897, at the age of fifty-nine years. Mr. Smith was married in 1863 to Miss Mary Ann Bobbitt, who was born in 1841, in Tennessee, a daughter of M. G. and Martha Bobbitt, and died at Terrell, Texas, in 1896. She was a lifelong member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. and Mrs. Smith were the parents of three sons and four daughters, namely: Ida E., who is the wife of N. E. Leatherwood, of Dallas, Texas; Jessie, who is the wife of J. R. Howell, of Scurry, Texas; Walter, editor of the Enterprise and postmaster of Grandfield, Okla- homa; John Lee, of this review; Eva L., who is deceased; Mattie L., now the wife of R. L. McKellar, a real estate broker of San Diego, California; and Clarence R., a printer.

John Lee Smith received ordinary educational advan- tages in the public schools of Terrell, Texas, and at the age of fourteen years started on his life's career when he became apprenticed to the trade of printer, in which he served three years. He became a newspaper pro- prietor on his own account in 1885 when he established the Seagoville Star, at Seagoville, Texas, a small sheet of which he continued to be the editor and publisher for years, during which time he secured some very valuable experience. His next venture occurred in 1888, when he established the Journal, at Edgewood, Texas, continuing to conduct this for two years. Various other enterprises followed, and in 1907 he came to Oklahoma, where, at Grandfield, he remained one year. In 1908 he became the founder of the Dill City News, at Dill City, Okla- homa, which he published until 1911, and then came to Waynoka and purchased the Tribune, the name of which he subsequently changed to the Waynoka Democrat. He has continued to publish this newspaper, which he has conducted in a clean, reliable and trustworthy manner, filling its columns with good news of events local, state and national, bright and timely editorials and other interesting matter, and has received the support of both subscribers and advertisers. As before noted, Mr. Smith has always given his support to the democratic party, and in 1914 an appreciation of his services as well as his fitness for the office came in an appointment from Presi- dent Wilson to the office of postmaster of Waynoka, the duties of which he assumed August 1st. He has con- scientiously endeavored to discharge his responsibilities in a thorough manner, and has visibly improved the mail service here. Mr. Smith is a popular member of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

On March 27, 1890, at Terrell, Texas, Mr. Smith was united in marriage with Miss Rebecca Ballard, who was born June 30, 1870, at Paris, Illinois, daughter of David B. and Mary Ann (Noel) Ballard. They have one son : Marvin Leslie, born July 2, 1891, who is serving as clerk in the postoffice, while Mrs. Smith is assistant post- mistress. All are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

BENJAMIN F. RAMEY. Another of the sterling pio- neers who has contributed his quota to the civic and industrial development of Oklahoma is Benjamin Frank- lin Ramey, who came to Oklahoma Territory in the year that it was opened for settlement and prior to its formal organization. He had previously had wide experience in the cattle business on the great ranges of the West and he stands representative of that sturdy type of pioneers who have pushed forward the march of civilization in the great western sections of our national domain, who have wrought unobtrusively, have lived plain and upright

lives and have proved themselves worthy as productive workers and loyal citizens. He is now one of the pros- perous agriculturists and stock-growers of Pawnee County, where. his well improved homestead place is situated near the Village of Jennings, which is his post- office address.

Mr. Ramey was born in Iroquois County, Illinois, on the 11th of October, 1849, but was reared to adult age in Jasper County, Indiana, where his parents established their residence within a short period after his birth. He is a son of Thomas and Polly Ann (Park) Ramey, the former of whom was born in Virginia and the latter in Maryland, the respective families having been founded in America in the colonial era of our national history. Thomas Ramey went to the State of Indiana when a young man of about twenty-two years, in 1836, and there his marriage was solemnized, his wife having been a child when she accompanied her parents on their removal to the pioneer wilds of the Hoosier State. After their marriage Thomas Ramey and his wife resided for a time in Illinois and upon their return to Indiana he engaged in farming in Jay County, where he continued his opera- tions until 1863, when removal was made to Champaign County, Illinois. There he continued to be identified with the same line of industrial enterprise until 1865, when he drove through to Kansas and became one of the pioneers of Linn County, the Civil war having come to a close while he and his family were en route across the plains to the new home in the Sunflower State. He entered claim to a tract of Government land and re- claimed a productive farm in Linn County, where both he and his wife passed the residue of their lives, upright persons of unassuming worth and well entitled to the esteem in which they were uniformly held. Mrs. Ramey died in February, 1884, when about seventy-three years of age, and her husband followed her to the life eternal in the autumn of the same year, he having attained to the age of seventy-eight years. The names of both merit enduring place on the roll of the honored pioneers of Kansas. Mr. Ramey enlisted for service as a soldier in the Mexican war, but his command was not called to the stage of conflict. He was a democrat in his political proclivities and both he and his wife held membership in the Baptist Church. Concerning their children the following brief data are available: Mrs. Eliza Bass died at the age of thirty-five years; Mrs. Susan Haw resides at Pleasanton, Kansas, as does also Mrs. Sarah Parks; William Nelson resides in Barry County, Mis- souri; Mrs. Emily Dunn maintains her home in Douglas County, Illinois; Martha died in childhood, as did also Asa; Benjamin F., of this review, was the next in order of birth; Mrs. Mary Jane Bell is deceased; and James is a resident of the City of Chicago.

Benjamin F. Ramey gained his early education in the common schools of Indiana and Illinois, accompanied his parents on their immigration to Kansas, and there con- tinued to be associated with the work and management of the home farm until 1869, when, at the age of about twenty years, he took unto himself a wife and established himself independently as a farmer and stock raiser in Linn County, Kansas. In the same year he made the overland trip to Texas with a band of cattle, and his identification with the cattle industry led to his spending much time in the saddle during a period of about forty years, though he gave the overland drover's trail in the winter of 1874.

Mr. Ramey continued his residence in Linn County, Kansas, until 1889, when, slightly anticipatory to the formal organization of Oklahoma Territory, the western part of the present state was thrown open to settlement and he became one of those who "made the run" into

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the new domain. He entered claim to a tract of land six miles east and one-half mile south of Guthrie, which place became the territorial capital. On this homestead claim, situated on Bear Creek, he remained seventeen years, within which he developed the same into a pro- ductive farm. Prior to disposing of this property he had purchased his present homestead, near Jennings, Pawnee County, and after here providing a suitable home for his family he went to the eastern part of the state as now constituted and established a stock ranch in Cherokee County. There he continued successful operations four years, at the expiration of which he returned to the home place, where he has since given his attention to diversified farming the raising of livestock on a minor scale. His home place, comprising eighty acres, is sit- uated one mile east of Jennings, and further to the south, on the river, he owns an additional tract of 160 acres, both places having received substantial improve- ments aud the larger farm being used principally for livestock. He and his sons own a total of 440 acres of valuable land in Pawnee County, and all are known for their progressiveness and productive industry.

In the year 1869 Mr. Ramey wedded Miss Polly Ann Parks, who was born in Tazewell County, Illinois, in 1850, and who thus was about seventen years old when she accompanied her parents on their removal to Kansas, in 1867, her father, Elbert Parks, having become a pio- neer agriculturist and stock raiser in the Sunflower State. Mr. and Mrs. Ramey have two children: Norton Elbert, who is engaged in the real estate, insurance and loan business at Jennings; and William Taylor, who resides on the larger of the two farms owned by his father.

JAMES R. ARMSTRONG. It was about five years be- fore the creation and admission of the State of Okla- homa to the Union that James R. Armstrong became a member of the bar of Indian Territory. His subsequent career has made him well known not only in the old judicial district where he gained his first successes as a young attorney, but over the state at large, and he is now serving his second term as a judge of the Criminal Court of Appeals of Oklahoma. He has been a member of the Court of Appeals since 1910, and prior to that had served on the district bench of the old Sixth Ju- dicial District. Aside from his professional and official activities Judge Armstrong has become closely identified with the development of the oil industry in Oklahoma, and is one of the most loyal and progressive citizens of the new state.

His family, of Scottish origin, was founded in Vir- ginia before the war of the Revolution, and by his ancestry and his own personal attributes Judge Arm- strong is an American to the core. Some of his early ancestors were men of prominence in Virginia, and in a later generation in the State of Tennessee and also in Alabama. Major Armstrong, a member of this same family, served with General Washington in the Revo- lution.

James Reverdy Armstrong was born near Stevenson, Jackson County, Alabama, January 26, 1876, a son of Rev. William Henry and Mary (Roberts) Armstrong. Both parents were born and reared in Alabama, where his father was a clergyman of the Baptist Church. Later he represented his church and carried the influence of religion into Arkansas and still later into Indian Terri- tory, where, in 1904, he established his home at Boswell, Choctaw County. Honored and influential for his work as a churchman, he was also a man of leadership in civic affairs, and was elected a member of the First State Legislature of Oklahoma. His death occurred on the day of adjournment of the first legisature in 1908. His

widow is still living in Boswell, where Judge Armstrong also has his home.

Reared in a home of culture and among refined peo- ple, though with limited means, Judge Armstrong suc. ceeded in gaining a solid education, which he provided largely through his own efforts. As a boy he attended Ouachita Baptist College at Arkadelphia, Arkansas, and after that became a student in the Southern Normal University at Huntingdon, Tennessee. In Jackson the same state, he completed the course in the law depart- ment of the Southwestern University, graduating bache- lor of laws with the class of 1901. While still a student at the normal in Huntingdon he had taken the required examination and had been admitted to the bar of Tennessee in 1900. For several years he had studied law under the direction of older men in the profession. On leaving law school Judge Armstrong went to Arkan- sas, was admitted to practice in that state, but in the following year, in 1902, established his residence at Boswell, Indian Territory. In that community he prac- ticed in the federal courts and the general jurisdictions then prevailing over Indian Territory up to 1907, in which year Oklahoma was admitted to the Union. He then removed to Hugo, the county seat of Choctaw County, and became a member of the law firm of Stew- art, McDonald & Armstrong. This firm represented some of the best legal talent to be found in that section of the state, and he was one of its members until the spring of 1910. At that date Judge Armstrong took his place on the bench of the Sixth Judicial District, now the twenty-seventh district. In January of the follow- ing year, following his election in November, 1910, he began a four-year term as judge of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. In 1914 he was re-elected to the Criminal Court of Appeals, but this time for a six-year term. As a jurist Judge Armstrong is regarded as one of the ablest men on the bench in Oklahoma. His de- cisions have been marked by a broad and accurate knowledge of the law and the temper and integrity of the just and impartial administrator of justice.

In various ways his abilities as a business man have been shown during his residence in Oklahoma, and he has taken an important part in the development of the oil fields of the state. He is interested in oil operations in nearly every oil district in Oklahoma. He has proved himself one of the stalwarts in the democratic party, and has shown a consistent advocacy of its principles and policies. Judge Armstrong and wife are members of the Baptist Church, and he is well known in Masonic affairs. He is affiliated with Indian Consistory, No. 2, of the Scottish Rite at Macalester, having attained the thirty-second degree; belongs to India Temple of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine at Oklahoma City; and is also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Hugo, and of Boswell Lodge of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows.

Judge Armstrong married Miss Bertha Scott in June, 1901. She is a daughter of Capt. John R. Scott, who was a gallant soldier and officer in the Confederate service during the Civil war, and is now a resident of Horatio, Arkansas. Judge Armstrong and wife have two sons: William Jefferson and Jasper.

CHARLES H. RUTH. The ordinary individual whose years are prolonged beyond middle age sees a future ahead wherein ease and a competency may await him, and, patiently or otherwise, performs his duties until the appointed time and then sinks more or less into oblivion. There are extraordinary men, however, who have already achieved distinction and won merited rewards before this middle age is reached, and when- retirement comes

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in one direction just as efficiently prove their vitality in other fields, and, in fact, never find lack of interests to inspire or duties to church, family or community to gladly perform. With commendable achievements in the line of contracting and building to his credit, Charles H. Ruth, one of Oklahoma City's most valued citizens, has been equally successful in the field of law. Mr. Ruth, attorney and influential politician, has succeeded Mr. Ruth, contractor and builder, and as he is still prac- tically a young man he should go far in his calling.

Mr. Ruth was born in Newcastle County, Delaware, in 1866, and is a son of Allen and Sarah C. (Wilson) Ruth. He comes of excellent stock, the Ruths being Holland Dutch Quakers who moved from William Penn's Penn- sylvania colony to Delaware, while Mrs. Ruth is of Scotch stock, descended from one of the Wilsons of Pennsylvania, one of her great uncles being James Wilson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Allen Ruth was a native of Delaware, where he was engaged during practically all of his life in the business of contracting and building. For sixteen years he was a member and president of the school board of Wilming- ton, and was also a commissioner of the water depart- ment of that city, and as such constructed the Cool Spring Reservoir and installed the first modern water system at Wilmington. He died in 1882, while Mrs. Ruth, also a native of Delaware, still survives and makes her home at Wilmington.

Charles H. Ruth received his education in the public schools of Wilmington, but his desire to join the world's workers caused him to give up his studies when within two months of being twelve years of age and start to learn the trade of bricklayer. After he had mastered this vocation he traveled to various points in the United States as a journeyman, and finally located in New York, where he engaged in a contracting and building business on his own account. In this he continued for a number of years, although the greater part of his work was done at Washington, D. C., and Wilmington, Delaware. While he was eminently successful in this line of work, Mr. Ruth had for some time determined to pursue a pro- fessional career, and in 1893 entered Georgetown Uni- versity, Washington, D. C., where he completed his law course and received his degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1895. At once admitted to the bar, he engaged in prac- tice at Washington, D. C., aud Newport News, Virginia, until 1908, which year marked his advent in Oklahoma City. Here he has continued in active practice, grad- ually rising to a place of distinction in the legal fra- ternity. He now maintains offices at No. 208 Security Building. Mr. Ruth is a member of the Oklahoma County Bar Association and the Oklahoma State Bar Association, and amoug his fellow-members in the pro- fession is accounted a worthy opponent and a valuable associate. He is a Blue Lodge and Royal Arch Mason and holds membership in the Knights of Pythias, and has numerous friends in fraternal, professional and pub- lic life. In 1909 Mr. Ruth, who has taken an interest in politics ever since his arrival, was elected a councilman of Oklahoma City, to fill an unexpired term of about eighteen months.

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Author: Thoburn, Joseph B. (Joseph Bradfield), 1866-1941 Publication date: 1916 Publisher: Chicago, New York, The American Historical Society Number of Pages: 660

Author: Thoburn, Joseph B. (Joseph Bradfield), 1866-1941
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 660