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 14

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 14

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August 8, 1901, recorded the marriage of Doctor Dut- ton to Miss Julia Augusta Russell, who was born at Sunbury, Butler County, Pennsylvania, and they have one child, Genevieve Lydian.

JACK RANSOM, county clerk of McIntosh. County, was born in Ozark, Franklin County, Arkansas, on July 17, 1873, and is a son of Andrew J. and Margaret (Tweedy) Ransom. The parents were natives of Arkansas, and iu 1878, they moved with their family to what is now McIntosh County, Oklahoma, and there the father died in 1879, when he was fifty-six years old. He was a farmer and cattle man, and was a Confederate veteran of the Civil war.

Jack Ransom is the seventh born in a family of nine children. He was reared in McIntosh County, and secured a public school education in Oklahoma schools, -none too good at the time of his boyhood. For some years he was employed with the Burdette Mercantile Company of Eufaula, and he came in time to the man- agership of their grocery and hardware departments. Later, for two years, he kept books for Mr. C. E. Foley, a merchant of Eufaula. His next enterprise was as a merchant on his own responsibility. This venture was not a complete success, and after a year he abandoned the project, after which for three years he served as city clerk of Eufaula. In 1914 he was elected to the office of county clerk, entering upon his duties in January, 1915.

Mr. Ransom is a democrat, and has been prominent in party politics in the county. He is a Scottish Rite Mason of the thirty-second degree, and a member of the Shrine. He was married in 1903 to Miss Maude Linzey, and they are members of the Methodist Church South.

ALINTON RUSSELL TELLE. "Atoka has a big gap in its progress and in its citizenship as a result of the death of Alinton Telle,"' was the remark of a well-known pioneer and citizen of that city. "He fit into any move- ment for betterment-the most all-around man in Atoka."' Alinton Telle is dead, but his virtues and his deeds re- main, entwined in the hearts of his fellow-citizens. His son, Alinton Russell Telle, is following the progressive footsteps of his illustrious father; he believes that the salvation of the Indian race lies in industry and close devotion to labor.

Alinton Telle was born at Luk-Fata, Choctaw Nation, in 1859. He was educated under a special teacher em- ployed by his uncle, Governor Allen Wright, at Boggy Depot. His preparatory work was completed at Kemper Military Academy, and he then entered Southwestern Presbyterian University, at Clarksville, Tennessee, from which he was duly graduated. Following this Mr. Telle took a law course at Albany, New York, and in 1881 re- turned to the Indian Territory and began the practice of law and the raising of livestock. In 1886 he was ap- pointed national secretary to fill the unexpired terin of Thompson Mckinney, and in the year following was elected to the same office by a large majority. From 1896

uutil 1900 he represented the Choctaws on the Dawes Commission. In these various positions of trust he acquitted himself with honor to himself and to his people. In 1900 Mr. Telle resumed the practice of law, forming a partnership with J. H. Chambers, and this combination continued to be in force until the untimely death of Mr. Telle, March 8, 1903, from an attack of pneumonia.

Mr. Telle held just rank among translators and in- terpreters of the Choctaw language. At eight years of age he could speak no language but his native Choctaw; and at twenty-two he was a finished scholar and college graduate. His father was Ima-no-bub-bi, of Mississippi, a member of the clan Ok-lu-ju-luy-a. He married Miss Kate Wright, sister of Allen Wright, and they became the parents of two children: Robinson, who died after reaching manhood; and Alinton.

In 1890 Alinton Telle married Mrs. Emma (Russell) Leary, of Atoka, daughter of W. W. Russell, of Virginia. Two children were born to them: Nanima Louise, who is deceased; and Alinton Russell, of this review. Alinton Russell Telle was born at Atoka, Indian Territory, Feb- ruary 25, 1893. He was educated at the Atoka Baptist Academy and the Atoka High School, graduating from the latter institution with the class of 1911. He was president of his class during his senior year and a dili- gent, assiduous and retentive scholar. For two years after graduation, Mr. Telle was stenographer in the office of W. S. Farmer, United States Commissioner, and from August, 1913, until January, 1915, was ex-officio clerk of the county court. On January 4, 1915, he was ap- pointed deputy court clerk, by James H. Gill, court clerk of Atoka County, a position which he has continued to retain. Mr. Telle also manages the old Telle Ranch near Wapanucka. He has combined the lure of the law with an interest of electricity and in connection with his various duties has made a close study of the latter sub- ject, and intends in the near future to enter some uni- versity to prepare himself for a career in electrical engineering.

Mr. Telle is at present living with his mother at Atoka. He is a member of the Methodist Church, and gives his political support to the policies and candidates of the democratic party.

JUDGE WILLIAM H. H. CLAYTON, of McAlester, Okla- homa, stands out as one of the prominent figures in the history of his locality. Judge Clayton was born on his father's farm near Delaware Bay, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, October 13, 1840, and is a descendant of William Clayton, who came to this country with the Penn colonists in 1664. The direct line of descent is as fol- lows: William, Richard, Powell, John and William H. H. The old house in which John Clayton and his sons were born was built about the time of the first settlement at Philadelphia. John Clayton married Miss Ann Clark, a daughter of Captain Clark, of the English army; and their sons grew up to occupy honored and influential positions in life. John M. Clayton, a twin brother of the judge, served in the Union Army, was a member of both branches of the Arkansas Legislature, three times was elected and served as sheriff of Jefferson County, Arkansas, and in 1880, died at the hand of an assassin at Plummerville that state. Other brothers are Thomas J. Clayton, ex-judge of the Common Pleas Court of Dela- ware County, Pennsylvania; and Gen. Powell Clayton, who rose from the rank of captain to that of brigadier general in the Union army and was governor of Arkansas from 1868 to 1872, and from 1872 to 1878 was a United States senator from Arkansas.

William H. H. Clayton was reared on his father's farm, and received his early education at the Village Green Seminary. In 1864 he was a teacher of military

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

tactics in that institutiou. Previous to this service, he had in 1862, raised a company in Delaware County, Penn- sylvania-Company H-which was assigned to the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Pennsylvania Infantry, under Colonel Hawley. With his company, as second lieu- tenant, young Clayton marched to the scene of action and fought for the Union cause, iu the battles of South Moun- tain, Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. After the expiration of his service in the army Mr. Clay- ton went to Pine Bluff, Arkansas, where he rented a plantation from the Government, and raised a crop of cot- ton. He then joined his brother, Powell, in the purchase of a large tract of land in that state, and was engaged in cotton raising until the spring of 1868, when he sold his interest in the property to his brother.

In 1868 Mr. Clayton received the appointment of cir- cuit superintendeut of public instruction for the Seventh Judicial Circuit, comprising seven counties of Arkansas. This district at that time did not have a single public school, and illiteracy and prejudice against public edu- cation were universally prevalent. The result of Mr. Clayton's work here was approximately forty schools to the county, with an average of forty pupils to the school. In many communities school buildings were erected, aud in localities where young men and women of twenty years of age were wholly illiterate and not one.in forty o1 the children could read and write, Mr. Clayton created a friendly sentiment for public education.

When yet on the farm, in 1867, Mr. Clayton began his preparation for the law by a course of reading. The next year he joined the class of Judge Stevenson, at huntsville, and in 1871, was admitted to the bar before that official. March 23, 18/1, Mr. Clayton was ap- poiuted prosecuting attorney for the First Judicial Cir- cuit of Arkansas. April 23rd, two years later, he was ap- pointed by Governor Baxter, to the position of judge of the First Judicial Circuit, which he filled till July, 1874. The following August, President Grant appointed him United States district attorney, for the western dis- triet of Arkansas, comprising one-third of the state and all of the Indian Territory which at that time included all of the territory comprising what now is Oklahoma. He was re-appointed by President Hayes, January 20, 1879, was continued by President Arthur in 1883, and in 1889 his appointment to the same place was renewed by President Harrison. During President Cleveland's t administrations, Judge Clayton was engaged in the practice of law at Fort Smith. At the hands of Presi- dent Mckinley, Judge Clayton received the appointment of judge of the Federal Court for the Central District of the Indian Territory; in December, 1901, he was re- appointed by President Roosevelt, and in 1905, again appointed to succeed himself. During the period of his judgeship he was a member of the United States Court of Appeals of the Indian Territory, and was, for a time, its chief justice.

In the spring of 1907, President Roosevelt appointed Judge Clayton a member of the districting and canvassing board, with Hon. Tams Bixby chairman of the Commis- sion to the Five Civilized Tribes, and Judge Joseph A. Gill, which board arranged the constitutional delegate dis- tricts and conducted the election of delegates to the con- stitutional convention of Oklahoma. By virtue of his being the senior judge of the United States Court of Appeals, Judge Clayton with Governor Frantz, certified the result of the delegate election, and delivered the con- stitution to President Roosevelt for his action. Upon the advent of statehood the old federal judgeship of the Indian Territory expired, and Judge Clayton re- sumed the practice of law in McAlester, where he has maintained his residence since 1897.

His administration of the office of district attorney is

noted for its terror to evil doers. During the sixteen years of his incumbency of that office, his convictions for murder ran into the hundreds. Judge Parker with whom Judge Clayton served, said of the latter: "He is a close, shrewd and prudent examiner of witnesses." From another associate at the bar, we quote: "Judge Clayton has a most wonderful method of presenting to a jury the strong points of his case. He is a man of great energy and concentration of thought, active and pushing, prompt and reliable. "

October 15, 1869, Judge Clayton married, at Pine Blunt, Arkansas, Miss Florence A. Barnes, daughter of William K. and Caroline (Skull) Barnes, the latter a daughter of Hugh Skull. Mrs. Clayton was born at Arkansas Post, December 10, 1846, and died at McAles- ter, November 16, 1906. Her grandmother was a Miss Bogy, an aunt of the late United States Senator Bogy of Missouri, of French origin. Judge and Mrs. Clay- ton became the parents of the following named children : Mary I., born iu 1870; Ann, born in 1872, is the wife of Charles C. Parker, of Durant, Oklahoma; Florence, born in 1877, is the wife of H. S. Kaiser, of Buck, Okla- homa; William H. H. Jr. was born in 1879; Melanie, born in 1881, married J. E. LeBosquet, of McAlester; Adele, born in 1883, is Mrs. S. G. Brink, of McAlester, and Beatrice, born in 1891, is a student in Visitation Convent, St. Louis, Missouri.

William H. H. Clayton, Jr., is a graduate of the high school at Fort Smith, Arkansas, the Michigan Military Academy at Orchard Lake, Michigan, and holds the de- grees of A. B. and LL. B., from the University of Michi- gan. He was admitted before the United States Court of Appeals to practice law in all the Federal courts of the Indian Territory. After practicing law three years in Muskogee, as a partner of Erz Brainerd, he joined his father, in December, 1907, at McAlester, and they have since conducted a law practice under the firm name of Clayton and Clayton.

As intimated from his connection with office, Judge Clayton is a republican, as also are his worthy and dis- tinguished brothers. Gen. Powell Clayton represented our country as ambassador to Mexico under the Roose- velt administration, and is among the distinguished men of his party. Judge Clayton has lived in the stronghold of democracy ever since the war, but he has upheld his party 's banner. In Arkansas, Judge Clayton was promi- nently identified with the Masonic Order. He is a thirty- second degree Mason, is a past grand master of the grand lodge of Arkansas and a past grand commander of the Knights Templar of the same state. Also the judge is identified with the B. P. O. E. He is the first exalted ruler of the lodge at McAlester. Reared by Methodist pareuts he is in sympathy with Christian work.

ALEXANDER B. LEEDS, M. D. In the capacity of assist- ant county physician of Grady County since Oklahoma was granted statehood, Dr. Alexander B. Leeds, of Chick- asha, has been one of the leading couservators of health, and therefore one of the most valuable citizens of the community. Under his able supervision of affairs, epi- demics have been nipped in the bud and the county has been comparatively free from contagious diseases. Not only is he prominent in the ranks of his profession, but as one of the city 's representative commercial and indus- trial boosters, a capacity in which he has contributed materially to the city's reputation and hygienic welfare by the installation of a process for the successful sterili- zation of Chickasha 's water.

Doctor Leeds was born November 4, 1876, at Berrien Springs, Michigan, and is a son of L. C. and Martha B. (Bartholomew) Leeds. His father was for many years an extensive and successful dealer in lumber in Michi-

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

gan and Texas, removing to the latter state when Doctor Leeds was a boy and locating at Dallas, where his death occurred in 1901. The elder Leeds was a native of New York and was descended from a notable family of that name in England as well as in America during colonial times. In Doctor Leeds' possession is a Leeds eoat-of- arms, dated 1601, which has passed down throngh the generations. The City of Leeds, England, was named for one of the early members of this family, and for many years the family was noted for the great number of its members who became sea captains. The ancestry of the mother of Doctor Leeds has been definitely traced baek to the year 1500, and in its ranks have been found many who have followed the medical profession.

Dr. Alexander B. Leeds received his publie school edn- cation at Dallas, Texas, and in 1898 received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the Fort Worth ( Texas) University. In 1902 he was given the degree of Doetor of Medicine by the medical department of that nniversity. His edn- cation has been entirely self-gained, as during his liter- ary course he paid his way by keeping the books, while during his medical conrse he acted in the capacity of secretary of the college. In 1912 Doctor Leeds com- pleted a post-graduate course at Tulane University, New Orleans. He entered npon the practice of his chosen profession at Chickasha in 1902, and has here achieved an enviable reputation in his calling, holding a place of esteem among his fellow-members in the American Medi- cal Association, the Sonthern Medical Association, the Medical Association of the Southwest, the American Academy of Medicine, the Oklahoma Medical Society, the Central Oklahoma Medical Association and the Grady Connty Medical Society.

Doctor Leeds was married January 3, 1900, at Dallas, Texas, to Miss Ethel Cates, and to this union there have. been born two children: Martha Orlene and Helen Vir- ginia. He was again married, June 6, 1909, at El Reno, Oklahoma, to Miss Lillie Chandler. Doctor Leeds has three brothers and one sister: L. C., who is secretary of the Union Oil Company, of Los Angeles, California; William L., who, is manager of the Miller-Stemmons Insurance Company, of Dallas, Texas; Carl W., who is agent for the United States Fidelity and Gnaranty Com- pany, at New Orleans, Louisiana; and Mrs. Walter Clark, who is the wife of a member of the firm of the Eaton & Clark Printing Company, at Dallas.

Doctor Leeds is a member of the Episcopal Church. His fraternal connections are numerons and important, and include membership in the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Commandery of Masons, at Fort Worth; Hella Temple, Ancient Arabie Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Dallas, and the Fort Worth Lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. For two years he has been grand medical examiner for the Ancient Order of United Workmen of Oklahoma. In regard to civic affairs, he has been connected with every movement which has spelled beneficial reform, being affiliated with the Grady Connty Farm Bureau, the Chickasha Chamber of Commerce and the Chickasha Retail Merchants' Association. The extent of his interests has led him into membership in the National Geographic Society. Prior to statehood, Doctor Leeds was president of the Republican Club of Chick- asha, and in 1904 served as city physician. As one of the leading members of his profession here, he is serving as surgeon for the Chickasha oil mills, light company, street railway company, flour mills, iron fonndry and cotton compresses. He makes his home at Chickasha, where he and Mrs. Leeds are widely known in social cireles and have a large number of friends.

Vol. III-4

ALPHA M. HASSLER. A scion of an ancient Swiss family of marked distinetion and of one whose name has been one of much prominence in the annals of American history since the early part of the nineteenth century, it has been given to this well known and highly honored citizen of Tulsa, Oklahoma, to do well his part in upholding the prestige of the patronymic and to have had wide and varied experience in the great West, where he has witnessed and aided in the march of civie and industrial development and progress, been a prodnetive worker and an example of strong and upright manhood. Mr. Hassler is now engaged in the real-estate and loan business in the City of Tulsa and is one of the snccess- ful and influential representatives of this important line of enterprise in this section of the state.

Mr. Hassler was born at Ripley, the judicial center of Jackson County, West Virginia, on the 25th of May, 1869, and is a son of John J. S. and Ida (Manning) Hassler, the former of whom was born at Bedford, Som- erset Connty, Pennsylvania, in 1833, and the latter of whom was born in New York City. The father was a resident of Enid, Oklahoma, at the time of his death, in ' 1889, and passed away at the age of fifty-six years, his death having occurred only a short time prior to the formal organization of the Territory of Oklahoma. His widow still survives him, and of their twelve children, of whom the subject of this review was the fonrth in order of birth, six attained to maturity and five are now living.

Frederick Hassler, grandfather of him whose name initiates this article, was for a number of years a prom- inent citizen of Bedford, Pennsylvania, but shortly after the death of his wife he removed from the old Keystone State to West Virginia, in company with his three sons. 'Thereafter he assisted in important work for the Gov- ermnent, as he became assistant superintendent of the United States coast and geodetic survey along the Atlantic seaboard, and he was in North Carolina at the time of his death. His father, Prof. Ferdinand R. Hassler, was born and reared in Switzerland and was a man of fine education and high intellectual and scien- tific attainments. Professor Hassler became a man of distinctive prominence and influence in his native land, where he made the boundary survey between that coun- try and France, this important work having been done at his own expense. The boundary thus defined was later surveyed by the great Napoleon, who claimed that the line was on French soil, but the stone boundary marks that had been placed by Judge Hassler were never removed. The judge later became a member of the Swiss Senate and served also as attorney general of his canton, the constitution of which was written by him. He served also on the bench of the Criminal Court of Switzerland, and his plenary powers were such that no lawyer was permitted to appear in this court without his official sanction. This distingnished man came to America at the instance of President Thomas Jefferson, and he defined and perfected the system of weights and measures now in use in the United States. He also served as a member of the faculty of the United States Military Academy, at West Point, in which he held the chair of mathematics, and was superintendent of the United States coast and geodetic survey,-a man of ex- alted character and great ability, and one whose name merits enduring honor on the pages of American history.

John J. S. Hassler fully exemplified the admirable in- tellectual capacity and mature judgment which he might almost have claimed as a natural heritage, and prior to the Civil war he was found engaged in the successful . practice of law in the City of New York. Well may this and other historical publications record that his was the honor of having, in association with three other

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

young men, effected the organization of the first com- pany formed for the defense of the Union when the Civil war was precipitated on a divided nation. When President Lincoln made the first formal call for volun- teers he enlisted for the term of ninety days, was made captain of his company and with the same took part in the first battle of Bull Run. Later he was appointed a second lieutenant in the regular army of the United States, as a member of Company K, Fourth Regiment of the United States Infantry, and Company K was made the personal body guard of General Grant, who had previously been a member of the same. Thus Cap- tain Hassler was in direct service under General Grant during the progress of the Civil war and was with this great commander at the time when he received the sur- render of the gallant General Lee. Captain Hassler con- tinued in the regular army after the close of the war and was assigned to various posts in turn on the west- ern frontier, where he took part in the Indian war of 1869-70. Soon after this conflict he resigned his com- mission and established his home at Ripley, Jackson County, West Virginia, where he erected a woolen mill and engaged successfully in the manufacturing of woolen goods. In the first administration of President Cleve- land Captain Hassler was appointed chief clerk of the appropriation division of the Department of the Inte- rior, under Hon. L. Q. C. Lamar, secretary of that de- partment. In this capacity he continued to serve until the election of President Harrison, and when Grover Cleveland was again elected to the presidency Captain Hassler was appointed chief clerk of the Department of the Interior, in which capacity he had charge of contracting for all Indian supplies. Later he was made receiver of public moneys at the United States Land Office at Enid, Oklahoma, at the time when the famous. Cherokee Outlet was thrown open to settlement, but his death occurred during President Harrison's adminis- tration. As may naturally be inferred, he was an un- compromising advocate of the principles of the demo- cratic party, and at the time of his demise he was depart- ment commander of the Oklahoma Department of the Grand Army of the Republic, in the affairs of which great patriotic organization he had taken the deepest interests and in the ranks of which he was held in the highest esteem.

Afforded excellent educational advantages of a pre- liminary order, it was the privilege of Alpha M. Hassler to continue thereafter his higher academic training in the University of West Virginia, at Morgantown, and in Georgetown University, at Washington, D. C. from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Law. After effective post-graduate work in Columbian University, in the same city, he received therefrom the degree of Master of Law, this institution now being known as George Washington University. He was a student in Columbian University during the second administration of President Cleveland, and while prosecuting his studies he held also a position in the United States Senate Committee of Education and Labor. Finally going to New York City, Mr. Hassler was there actively identified with the wholesale importing and jobbing business about four years, and he then went to South Dakota, where he passed three years in effective service in con- nection with the construction of the Forest City & Sionx John B. Pope was reared on the home place in Red River County, Texas, where, while gaining a good publie school education, he learned also the homely lessons of the virtues of honesty, integrity and perseverance which have characterized his career and have enabled him to battle against the handicap of poor health with a fair account it was as a teacher in the public schools, a vocation which he followed for eight years, becoming City Railroad. When South Dakota was admitted to statehood its first chief executive, Governor Melette ap- pointed Mr. Hassler a member of his military staff, with the rank of colonel, and when settlers of the new com- monwealth became alarmed by the menacing activities of the Sioux Indians, the governor assigned to Colonel . degree of success. When he began life on his own Hassler, who had received excellent military discipline while a student at State University of West Virginia to

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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