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 18

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 18

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With the sterling qualities of the Scotch-Irish on his father's side, and Scotch on his mother's, Doctor Hardy determined to make a place for himself in life, and at the age of twenty-one years left Tennessee for Cali- fornia, confident of making his fortune in the West. He remained in the Golden State and in Arizona from that year until 1893, being engaged principally as a prospector and miner in the gold fields, but all the time nursed a well-defined ambition to one day return from the West and apply himself to the profession of medi- cine, when he had accumulated sufficient means to pay the expenses of a medical education. This ambition was eventually realized, for in 1896 he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine from the Louisville Medical College, Louisville, Kentucky, and immediately thereafter he located at Wister, Oklahoma. He has since practiced within the border of what is now Le Flore County, Oklahoma, residing at several places, but since 1909 has been permanently located at Poteau. He has won an excellent reputation as a skilled, careful and sympathetic practitioner, and enjoys the emoluments which attend such a position. Doctor Hardy has been an assiduous student, having taken postgraduate courses at Chicago, New York and St. Louis, and his attainments have been recognized by his professional brethren in bestowing upon him the presidency of the Central Dis- trict Medical Society. He holds membership also in the Le Flore County Medical Society, the Oklahoma Medical Society and the American Medical Association. Doctor

8. IHardly

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

Hardy has rendered acceptable service to his community as county superintendent of health of Le Flore County. He is a democrat in politics, and is fraternally affiliated with the Royal Arch Masons and the Knights of Pythias. In church faith he is a Methodist. Aside from his pro- fession, Doctor Hardy is interested in farming, being the owner of 500 acres of well cultivated and val- uable land in Le Flore County. His success in his pro- fession has been entirely self gained, and his standing as a citizen rests upon the support he has given to civic affairs and on his adherence to high principles.

Doctor Hardy was married in 1908 to Miss Grace E. Hodgens, who was born near Greenwood, Arkansas, and to this union there have been born two children: Lucile E. and Willa Grace.

JAMES P. MCRAE, M. D. The life of the pioneer doc- tor in the Indian country is much like that of the early- day missionary, particularly in the respect of travel over a wide and virgin country. While the missionary came first-indeed, coincidentally with the removal of the In- dians to the West seventy or eighty years ago, the hard- ships that he endured were hardly greater than those which beset the career of the doctor who came many years later. The white man may be said to have been a pioneer of the Chickasaw country who settled in it eighteen years ago, for since that time most of the important develop- ment of the territory has been accomplished.

Of this class of pioneer physicians is Dr. James P. McRae, now enjoying a large and profitable practice at Bromide. He was among the few physicians eighteen years ago who frequently drove twenty miles to make a professional call, traveling over an unsettled country practically without roads and following the trails and paths traversing wide spaces of virgin timber, tall grass and the poorly cultivated lands of Indians who had as yet learned little of the essential elements of agricul- ture. It was in 1898 that Doctor McRae came to the Chickasaw country and began the practice of medicine, having pursued his medical studies to a degree that ad- mitted him to practice. Two years later he graduated from the Keokuk Medical College at Keokuk, Iowa. Prior to that time he had spent two years in the Fort Worth Medical College at Fort Worth, Texas. His first practice was done at Eagleton, which occupied the site of the present Town of Coleman. Later he spent a year at Wapanucka, three years at Ardmore, one year at Quincy, Illinois, and established his permanent home in Bromide in 1911.

Born in Labelle, Missouri, in 1869, Doctor McRae is a son of Simeon and Julia (Thrasher) McRae. His father, was a farmer, moved to Grayson County, Texas, in 1881, and lived there until his death in 1893. The pater- nal grandfather was a pioneer settler in Northeast Mis- souri, and in the years prior to the Civil war owned a large body of land and worked it with slave labor. Doc- tor McRae's mother also belonged to an early family in Marion County, Missouri. Doctor McRae has three brothers: Charles N. McRae, a farmer near Walters, Oklahoma ; John T. McRae, of Quincy, Illinois; George W. McRae, a resident of Missouri; and three sisters who live at Direct, Texas.

The literary education of Doctor McRae was acquired when a boy in Texas, chiefly in the public schools, and he also attended the Basin Springs Academy at Basin Springs that state. He was married at Labelle, Missouri, in 1892, to Miss Mary A. Armstrong, whose father, Dr. J. M. Armstrong, was an early practitioner in Missouri and served as a surgeon in the Confederate army. Doc- tor and Mrs. McRae have four children: Ira J., who is editor of the Bromide Herald; Mrs. Melvin Pierce, wife

of a stockman living near Bromide; Andrew, aged six- teen; and Donald, aged twelve, both at home with their parents. Doctor McRae is a member of the Masonic Lodge, and belongs to the various local organizations that tend toward the development of the community. He has been successful in his profession, and is a mem- ber in high standing of the county and state medical societies.

DAVID CARREY GREEN. The name of David Carrey Green is a familiar one to the people of Alva, as belong- ing to one of its prominent citizens and a man who occu- pies a high reputation in business and public circles. He has been the architect of his own fortune, making his way in the world from a modest beginning, and has proven a fine example of the desirable rewards to be achieved through patient industry, wise economy and good judgment. Mr. Green was born in a log cabin, on a farm in Clinton County, Ohio, November 19, 1846, and is a son of John and Rhoda (Carrey) Green.

John Green was born in Ohio, of a family of old Vir- ginia stock, and was brought up to agricultural pursuits, in which he passed his entire life. A lifelong member of the Society of Friends, he was a man of integrity and probity in all the affairs of life, but never desired public position and preferment, desiring simply to do his full duty as a citizen and neighbor and to rear his children to lives of honesty and usefulness. He died at Martinsville, Ohio, in 1907, at the age of eighty-five years. Mr. Green was married in 1842 to Rhoda Carrey, who was also a member of a Virginia family, a native of Ohio, and a Quakeress, and who passed away in 1878. They became the parents of seven sons and three daugh- ters, namely: Robert and Samuel, twins, born in 1844, the latter of whom died in infancy, while the former is a merchant of Clinton County, Ohio; David C., of this review; Eliel, who is engaged in farming in Clinton County, Ohio; Thomas E., a railroad man of Loveland, Ohio; Joseph, who died in infancy; Enos P., who is a resident of Tacoma, Washington; Mary Jane, who is the wife of E. M. Haworth, a farmer of Clinton County, Ohio; Anna Elizabeth, who is the wife of Oscar J. Moon, a farmer of Clinton County; and Alice, who is the wife of E. W. Prather, an agriculturist of Moline, Kansas.

David C. Green was educated in the public schools of Clinton County, Ohio, and was reared on his father's farm, where he was working when the Civil war broke out. He was only seventeen years of age when, April 5, .1864, he enlisted in Company F, Eighty-eighth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which was stationed on guard duty at Camp Chase and Columbus Barracks, Ohio, dur- ing the term of his enlistment, and Mr. Green continued to be thus engaged until mustered out of the service, July 3, 1865. Following his honorable discharge, he became a tanner, a trade at which he was occupied for three years at New Vienna, Ohio, and in 1868 removed to Hamilton County, Indiana, where he divided his time between farming and operating a sawmill for four years. Returning to his father's homestead in Clinton County, Ohio, he remained thercon until 1879, when he removed to Kansas City, Missouri, where he subsequently took up railroad work as a locomotive fireman. After several years he was promoted to the position of engineer, and for a long period of years acted in this capacity on vari- ous runs out of Kansas City and other points. Mr. Green gave up railroading in 1902, on August 3d of which year he began farming on a tract of Government land in Woods County ten miles from Alva, and there, through industry, enterprise and progressive methods, was able to develop a handsome property which he still owns. In 1909 Mr. Green retired from active participa-

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tion in farming and removed his residence to the county seat, where he has since made his home as one of the substantial members of the retired colony. He has main- tained a helpful interest in the affairs of his community, and in 1910 was elected a member of the city council from the Second Ward, an office to which he was reelected in 1912 and 1915. He has been able to secure many benefits for his constituents and is known as one of the working members of the board of councilmen. In politics Mr. Green is a republican. He is past post commander of Alva Post No. 28, and is well and favorably known in Grand Army circles.

On January 30, 1868, Mr. Green was married to Miss Laura B. Hildebrant, who died in 1879, leaving one child : Ambia Marie, born December 9, 1868, who died in 1884. Mr. Green was again married, June 9, 1887, to Miss Henrietta Ridgely, who was born September 13, 1855, in Wabash County, Illinois. They have had no children.

HUBERT L. BOLEN. An able member of the Oklahoma bar, who has for some years been prominent in demo- cratic politics, Hubert L. Bolen, of Oklahoma City, has been entrusted at various times with high and responsi- ble office, and at the present time is serving as col- lector of internal revenue for the District of Oklahoma. The Bolen family, of which Mr. Bolen is a worthy rep- resentative in the West, is ancient and sturdy. Origi- nating in England, it was founded in America prior to the Revolutionary war, becoming one of the first families of Virginia. Among its members have been many who have distinguished themselves at the bar in the Old Dominion State, and prior to the war between the South and the North the family was noted for its broad and valuable plantations and its many slaves. Hubert L. Bolen was born at Front Royal, Warren County, Vir- ginia, in 1876, and is a son of Newton L. and Lucy E. (Grant) Bolen. His father, an extensive planter and slaveholder, cast his fortunes with the South during the days of secession, and during the struggle which fol- . lowed served valiantly in the ranks of the Confederate Army. Hubert L. Bolen grew up on his father's planta- tion, and in his boyhood attended the common schools, his academie course being pursued at the Shenandoah Normal College. Following this, he entered the George- town University, at Washington, D. C., and there studied law, graduating in 1905 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was almost immediately admitted to the bar and in December of the same year turned his face to the West and located at Oklahoma City, which has since been his field of practice. Shortly after coming to Oklahoma, Mr. Bolen began to interest himself in demo- cratic politics, and soon became recognized as a worker who could produce results. He assisted the candidacy of various aspirants until November, 1910, when he was elected to his first public office as a member of the Third Legislature, for the sessions of 1911 and 1912. His work in that distinguished body was such as to warrant his re-election in 1912, and he again served efficiently and conscientiously in the sessions of 1913 and 1914. During his first term of office he was chairman of the Committee on Municipal Corporations, and was one of those who introduced the Capitol Bill, working for that measure in both the third and fourth sessions and finally securing its passage. In 1912 Mr. Bolen was chosen as manager of the campaign of Robert L. Owen, at the democratic primary election for United States senator, and in that same year was chairman of the State Democratic Campaign Committee, in both of which capacities he displayed a high order of political capacity and the same energy which had characterized his earlier activities in campaign work. On July 21, 1913, Mr. Bolen was appointed by President Woodrow

Wilson to the office of collector of internal revenue for the District of Oklahoma, a position which he has since retained. Mr. Bolen continues his law practice, and is well known as a capable and thoroughly learned member of his profession. He maintains membership in the Oklahoma City Bar Association.

Mr. Bolen was married in January, 1911, to Miss Eva J. Klomann, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and to this union there has been born one son: Ralph Leslie. The family home is at No. 225 East Tenth Street.

DAN J. DAVISSON. One of the prominent and aggres- sive representatives of the real-estate business in the City of Tulsa, Mr. Davisson has been associated with ' business interests in this thriving and ambitious city since 1904, and since 1908 has given his atten- tion to his present important line of enterprise, his opera- tions as a real-estate broker having been of extensive order, his methods and policies of progressive order, and his every transaction having been based upon abso- lutely reliable representations, so that his reputation in his chosen field of endeavor constitutes his best business asset and most effective advertising.

Mr. Davisson was born in the City of Ottawa, Frank- lin County, Kansas, on the 1st of December, 1865, and is a scion of a representative pioneer family of that sec- tion of the Sunflower State, he having been the second in order of birth in a family of eight children, of whom five are living. He is a son of Green B. and Julia B. (Buchanan) Davisson, the former of whom was born in Cass County, Missouri, and the latter at Aurora, Dear- born County, Indiana. The father died at the age of forty-four years and the mother was sixty-one years of age when she was summoned to eternal rest. Green B. Davisson was reared and educated in Missouri, and among his youthful schoolmates was Hon. Frank Cockrell, who later represented that state in the United States Senate. In 1855 Mr. Davisson made the weary and hazardous journey across the plains to California, the trip having been made with wagon and ox team. In the New Eldo- rado he was measurably successful in his mining opera- tions and other enterprises, but within a comparatively short period he made the return trip and settled as a pioneer in Kansas, where he became a farmer and stock- grower, the closing years of his life having been passed on his farm in Franklin County, Kansas. He was a stal- wart democrat in his political proclivities and both he and his wife held membership in the Cumberland Pres- byterian Church.

The conditions and influences of the pioneer farm in Kansas compassed the boyhood days of Dan J. Davis- son, and in the meanwhile he availed himself of the ad- vantages of the public schools, which he continued to attend while assisting in the work and management of the home farm. Finally he became a traveling salesman for a leading wholesale grocery house at Kansas City, Missouri, and after representing the firm in this capacity for a period of five years he was made manager of an- other Kansas City firm at Joplin, Missouri, where he con- tinued to be thus engaged until 1904, the year of his removal to Tulsa, Oklahoma Territory. Here he assumed the position of manager for the firm of Ratcliff & Sand- ers Grocery Company, engaged in the wholesale grocery trade, and of this position he continued in tenure until 1908, since which year he has been actively and suc- cessfully identified with the real-estate business, his oper- ations including the handling of both farm and city properties and all property and his business being now one of broad scope and importance. The political al- legiance of Mr. Davisson is given to the democratic party and both he and his wife hold membership in the First Presbyterian Church of Tulsa, of which he is a trustee.

Hubert 2. Bolen

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The marriage of Mr. Davisson occurred on the 17th of January, 1897, when he wedded Miss Mae Johnson, who likewise is a native of Franklin County, Kansas, and of the two children of this union the younger, Dan J., Jr., is living, the first born, Dorothy Mae, having died at the age of ten years.

E. S. RATLIFF. Aside from a successful record as a lawyer and his position as a wise and able mayor of Ada, two achievements of Mr. Ratliff distinguish him among representative, high class citizens of Oklahoma. One of these was his membership in the first and second state legislatures, at which sessions were adopted so many important fundamental laws which served to vital- ize the many forward-looking provisions of the constitu- tion. Probably of even greater importance was his serv- ice in conceiving and giving effect to the idea and plan of the Municipal League of Oklahoma, an organization that has contributed much to properly conducted munici- pal government, and one issue of which has been the extension division of the State University to promote the study of municipal problems. As a member of the First Legislature, to which he was elected from Pontotoc and Seminole counties without opposition, Mr. Ratliff was author of the law that provided for the transfer of cases from the Federal courts of Oklahoma and Indian Territory to the proper state courts that had been cre- ated by the constitution. As a member of the Second Legislature he, jointly with Senator Jesse Hatchett of Durant, was author of the anti-nepotism bill that became 'a law. In that legislature also he secured for Ada the location of the East Central State Normal School and an appropriation of $100,000 for the erection of the first building. He was chairman of the Committee on Pri- vate Corporations and vice chairman of the Committee on Public Buildings. Some of his advanced ideas on municipal government are embodied in the Ada commis- sion form of government charter, and he was the first mayor elected under that charter.

Mr. Ratliff is president of the Municipal League of Oklahoma, with Guy E. Blackwelder of Oklahoma City as secretary. While this league has done a great and important work in Oklahoma since its organization, it will not be out of place to mention here the objects of the organization. These objects as stated in the league's constitution are in general "the general improvement and facilitation of every branch of municipal adminis- tration by the following means: First, the perpetuation of the organization as an agency for the cooperation of Oklahoma cities and towns in the practical study of all questions pertaining to municipal administration; Sec- ond, the holding of annual conventions for the discussion of municipal affairs; Third, the establishment and main- tenance of a central bureau of information for the col- lection and compilation and dissemination of statistics, reports and all kinds of information relative to munici- pal government." Practically all the progressive towns and cities of Oklahoma are now active members of this league, in addition to hundreds of individuals who have official relations with or are otherwise interested in municipal improvement. and affairs. The bureau of information, of which the league's secretary has active charge, has been engaged in collecting reports and other data concerning municipal operations in Oklahoma and from other states, and this information is at the service of all the towns and cities of the state, and the officials of every such corporation thus have access to data and experience which enable them to avoid many of the usual difficulties of municipal administration and keeps the examples of the most progressive localities constantly before them as a stimulus and guide.

Mr. E. S. Ratliff was born in Hickam County, Ten-

nessee, March 26, 1878, a son of Marcus L. and Nar- cissus Jane (Beasley) Ratliff. His father, a native of Tennessee, a number of years ago moved to Texas, and is now a successful farmer and stockman at Stamford in that state. Mr. Ratliff's grandfather was John Ratliff, who was devoted to the southern cause and served throughout the war in the Confederate army.

The public school education of Mr. Ratliff was acquired partly in Tennessee and partly in Texas. For fifteen years his home was at Valley View in the latter state. At the conclusion of the course in the publie schools he entered the University of Texas, and grad- uated from the law department in 1903. He has two terms of school teaching to his credit, one before he entered the university and one after completing his studies.

In 1904 Mr. Ratliff located at Ada and began the practice of law, and he has for ten years been regarded as one of the best qualified attorneys in that section of the state. However, his active part in public affairs has brought him his chief recognition over the state at large. He was a leader in the democratic party in the election of delegates to the constitutional convention, and was elected a member of the First State Legislature in 1907 and re-elected in 1908, serving throughout the Second Legislature. He subsequently resumed the practice of law and gave practically all his time to the profession until 1912. In that year he was elected mayor of Ada under the new commission charter, and in 1914 was re-elected for a second term of two years. During his. administration he has reduced the tax levy from seven mills to five mills, and has completed a municipal water system that from the standpoint of supply and method of conducting water to the city is probably the most ideal in the state. The position of mayor combines that of commissioner of justice and safety. There are two other commissioners : W. E. Conger, commissioner of accounting and finance; and H. C. Evans, commissioner of public works and public property. The commission has by ordinance adopted initiative, referendum and recall provisions, the latter providing that a recall peti- tion must be initiated by at least ten freeholders and petitions must be signed in the city hall, thus dispensing with the system of circulating petitions. Senator Roddie of Ada made an effort to get this novel feature of the ordinance adopted into the state laws. Students of municipal problems will probably regard this require- ment for the signing of petitions as an advanced step of many obvious advantages, since it is well known that circulated petitions often do not adequately represent a real public opinion.

Mr. Ratliff was married in May, 1906, to Miss Cath- erine Underwood of Valley View, Texas. They have two children: Louis, aged eight, and Catherine, aged six. Mr. Ratliff has six brothers and three sisters: John B. Ratliff, a traveling salesman living at Amarillo, Texas; L. D. Ratliff, a lawyer at Decatur, Texas; W. H. Ratliff, a Dallas lawyer; Charles Ratliff, a farmer- stockman at Stamford, Texas; Mrs. Roy Long, wife of a farmer at Valley View; Mrs. Eva Jeffries, whose hus- band is a stockman at Bastrop, Texas; B. E. Ratliff, a farmer at Stamford; Miss Albin Ratliff and Ellis Ratliff, both living at home with their parents at Stamford.

Mr. Ratliff is a member of the Christian Church, and is affiliated with the lodges of the Elks, the Woodmen of the World and the Moose at Ada, being president of the Elks lodge. He is also president of the local bar association, is a member of the Ada Commercial Club, and of the Pontotoc County Bar Association, the Okla- homa Bar Association and the Lincoln Highway Asso- ciation. A few years ago while living at Stonewall, Oklahoma, he was for two years city attorney. He is a

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valuable and progressive citizen of the town and county, as this brief sketch adequately proves, and ranks high among the municipal officials of the state.

J. C. GUNTER. Among circles of old cattlemen will be frequently heard the tradition that the Indians first taught cattle the art of stampeding. Whether there is any truth in this cannot be established, but it is certain that either meanness or mischief has led many a red- skin to precipitate a herd into riot apparently without the slightest provocation. An instance is given by Jot C. Gunter, a prominent ranchman of Bromide, and an early cattle dealer in the Chickasaw and Choctaw coun- try. A few years ago he was in charge of a herd of 1,500 steers being driven from the 7 J N Ranch near Durant to the Lazy S Ranch, a few miles west of Dun- can in the Comanche Indian country. The herd was resting for the night on Wild Horse Creek. The weather was calm and the cattle were still and peaceful. Toward midnight an Indian came out of the timber with a red blanket over him and threw it into the midst of the herd. They were seized with panic, flew madly in various directions, and scattered over a territory so large that it required Gunter and his men nine days to recover them and get ready for the rest of the drive.

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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