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 3

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 3

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).

James 1. Wood was born in Marion County, Arkansas, February 3, 1850, grew up on his father's farm in that state and was twenty-three years of age when he accompanied the family to Comanche Couuty, Texas. He continued his efforts there as a farmer for twenty years, and then in the early '90s moved into the Choc- taw country of Indian Territory, establishing a home near Scipio. In that locality he conducted farm and ranch for about thirteen years, and played the part of an industrious and hardworking citizen with only incidental participation in public affairs uutil he was made the choice of his fellow citizens for represeuta- tive in the constitutional convention.

Before leaving Arkansas on March 26, 1872, Mr. Wood married Miss Cynthia A. Dobbs. Her father was Jonathan Dobbs. To their marriage were born the following children: Ada, who married Virgil H. Gran- tham; Jonathan W .; Burr; Olin; Ota, who married E. C. Wingrove; Minuie; and Lafe.

W. T. DODSON. The first organized assault upon illit- eracy in the rural sections of that part of Oklahoma that formerly was the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek and Seminole nations is to be made this autumu (1915) through the activities of a commission that has been se- lected by State Superintendeut Robert II. Wilson. . This commission, of which he is chairman, consists of one pro- fessor from each of the six State Normal schools. Each

956

HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

commissioner is assigned to a district covering counties in this section of the state. The movement is to be state- wide, but the most difficult task is that found in former Indian Territory, Adair County, part of the old Chero- kee Nation, has an illiteracy standing of 20 per cent, while Bryan County, in the former Choctaw Nation, has a standing of 8 per cent.

One of the originators of this movement is Prof. W. T. Dodson, of the chair of history in the Southeastern State Normal School at Durant, and he has already started the organization movement in the old Choctaw Nation. There are twelve counties in his district and over these he expects to travel during the next few months. Each of the county superintendents of schools is a lieutenant under Professor Dodson in the move- ment, and in turn each superintendent will select his own lieutenants among the teachers of his county.

The commission will teach especially along the sub- jects of thrift, good roads, community organization, etc., and wherever necessary organize moonlight schools. After the groundwork of the organization is complete, probably in November, 1915, there will be a rally held at every schoolhouse in the state, which will be attended by pupils and parents and addressed by the best speakers on the work of the commission. Later, there will be dis- trict rallies and still later county rallies, the speaking program being carried out in each. During Thanksgiv- ing week, it is planned, when the State Educational Association holds its annual meeting in Oklahoma City, reports will be made of the character and immediate effects of the organization work. The investigation will be carried to the doorsteps of all rural homes and the reports will contain the best census of conditions that has ever been gathered. This information will be the basis of plans for continuing the reform work in- definitely.

Illiteracy in Oklahoma is due largely to the lack of interest in education in Indian Territory before the days of statehood. Little provision was made for the common schools outside of incorporated towns and cities and the schools conducted under supervision of the United States and tribal governments. There are scores of men and women living in that section who can not read and write, and they have never had the proper conception of education. This movement is in part to teach them the advantages of educating their children. The era of the cattle range has passed and the lands of the Indians are being rapidly sold or leased to white farmers. There is now a schoolhouse and other school facilities in every neighborhood and the state normals are sending trained teachers by the hundred into the communities each year. The commission will seek to supplement the work of these teachers by in- citing a greater interest in education in general.

One of the important hindrances to education in the rural schools of former Indian Territory is the lack of good roads. In some counties section lines have not yet been opened and bridges are scarce. Under a law passed by the State Legislature in 1914 townships are permitted to vote bonds for good road purposes, and this year the roads movement is getting more attention than it has had in a decade.

The man who is largely responsible for this highly praiseworthy movement is W. T. Dodson, who was born January 16, 1871, at Hartville, Missouri, the son of Wilson and Adeline (Rudd) Dodson. P. W. Rudd, his maternal grandsire, fought in the Union army during the Civil war, as a captain. After the war he-devoted much of the remainder of his life to the work of assisting vet- erans and their widows to secure pensions, and he was recognized as one of the chief pension experts in the country.

W. T. Dodson had his early education in the public schools of Missouri, and he was graduated from college at Mountain Grove, Missouri, with the degree A. B. For three years thereafter he did post graduate work in the University of Missouri. His first teaching experience was in the eighth grade of the public schools in Moun- tain Grove, and after that he was for nine years principal of the schools there. In 1906 he resigned that position to become superintendent of schools at Frederick, Okla- homa, a position he held for five years. During the first year he had a faculty of five teachers and 239 students, and in the last year his faculty numbered thirty teachers, with 1,200 students. While in Frederick Professor Dod- son organized' the Southwestern Oklahoma Teachers' Association, the first district organization of teachers in the state. There were three teachers in the organiza- tion at the outset, but in a few years the membership had reached the 2,000 mark. Professor Dodson accepted the position of head of the history department of the Southeastern State Normal School in 1911, and by virtue of his incumbency of that position and his wide experi- ence in public school work, he was made assistant to the president of the institution, which position he still holds.

Professor Dodson was married in 1892 at Mountain Grove, Missouri, to Miss Katie Olive Stephens. They have seven children. Miss Grace, a graduate of the class of 1915 of the Southeastern State Normal, is a primary · teacher in the public school at Boswell. Faye will grad- uate from the State Normal in 1916, and will also follow teaching as her profession. Merle, Vance, Jewell, Lin- nette and Ethlyne are yet at home.

Professor Dodson is a member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, South, and has been superintendent of its Sunday School in Durant. He is a member of the Masons and of the Odd Fellows, and while in Missouri filled all chairs in the local lodges of those orders. He is a member of the Bryan County Teachers' Association, the Southeastern Oklahoma Teachers Association and the Oklahoma Educational Association.

GUY E. BLACKWELDER. With remarkable efficiency and success has the commission system of municipal government been tried out in Oklahoma since its intro- duction, in 1911, and the admirable results attained have been due to enlisting the services of citizens of utmost loyalty and distinctive ability in the official adjustment and control of the various departments of the city government. Such efficiency has clearly marked the administration of Guy Elliot Blackwelder in his adminis- tration of the important affairs of the office of com- missioner of public works, of which he is the present zealous and valued incumbent. He has been a resident of Oklahoma from his early youth, having accompanied his parents to the Territory soon after it was opened to settlement and having been at the time about sixteen years of age. Thus he has literally grown up with this vigorous young commonwealth, and none who know him can doubt that he fully exemplifies its progressive spirit.

Mr. Blackwelder was born at Haddam, Washington County, Kansas, on the 10th of November, 1874, and his parents, Martin Luther Blackwelder and Emma (Elliot) Blackwelder, were both born at Litchfield, Illinois, where they were reared and educated. They were numbered among the pioneers of Kansas, where they remained until Oklahoma Territory was thrown open to settlement, when they here repeated their pioneer experiences, as early settlers of Oklahoma County.

In the public schools of his native state Guy E. Black- welder acquired his early education and after the family removal to Oklahoma he attended the schools of Okla- homa City until his graduation in the high school, as a member of the class of 1895. In 1897-98 the ambitious

J. S. Buchanan

957

HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

young man traveled through the Territory as a spe- cial agent and adjuster for fire insurance companies, and he then became associated with his father in the real estate business in Oklahoma City, the firm of M. L. Blackwelder & Son having been one of the foremost in its operations and in its reputation for stability and integrity during the progressive period during which a seemingly magic city was in process of evolution. Thus it was given to the subject of this review to aid materially in the development and upbuilding of the fine city which is still his home and to which his loyalty is unflagging, even as is his appreciation of its manifold advantages and attractions.

In 1911, when the city adopted the commission form of government, Mr. Blackwelder was elected commissioner of public works, for a term of two years, and he had the distinction of being the only republicau thus elected to the first board of commissioners and his vigorous and effective administration bringing about his re-election in 1913, for a term of four years. In his division of the city government he has the general supervision of the construction of sewers, viaducts and bridges, sidewalks and crossings, as well as the engineering department, which controls the opening of streets and the grading, paving, lighting, cleaning, repairing and sprinkling of streets. It will thus be seen that he has heavy responsi- bilities in directing matters of the most vital importance to the community, and he has proved equal to all demands thus placed upon him, has shown much initiative and administrative ability aud has aided in bringing Okla- homa City into the front rank of American municipalities in the matter of public improvements, cleanliness and effective sanitary conditions.

For a number of years Mr. Blackwelder was a member of the directorate of the American National Bank of Oklahoma City, one of the strongest and best of the financial institutions of the state, but he resigned this position when he assumed his present municipal office, which he considers worthy of his undivided time and attention. In politics he accords unswerving allegiance to the republican party and has given efficient service in the furtherance of its cause in Oklahoma. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks. It has been earnestly stated that Mr. Blackwelder is one of the most capable and popular officials ever elected in Oklahoma City, and his attitude is shown in the following estimate given by one altogether familiar with his career: "He knows everybody and everybody knows him, and no one is ever ahashed or disconcerted if called upon to approach him in his official capacity, for in all of the relations of life he is considerate, courteous and kindly."

On the 25th of June, 1902, Mr. Blackwelder wedded Miss Cora Bell Baumann, daughter of James J. and Edna P. Baumann, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and the three children of this union are: Phillip E., James J. and Bettina.

JAMES SHANNON BUCHANAN. Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Oklahoma, James S. Buchanan has held the chair of history in that institution for twenty years, and in point of service is now next to the oldest member of the university faculty. Education has been his life work, and in the course of his long service at Norman he has exercised a stimulating influence on thousands of young men and women pre- paring for the serious responsibilities of life, and has also come into contact with the life of the State in other ways than through his position as a professor.

James Shannon Buchanan was born at Franklin, Ten- nessee, October 14, 1864, and comes of a distinguished family of that State. His parents were Thomas and

Jane (Shannon) Buchanan. His father was born in Tennessee and was a grandson of Major John Buchanan, who was one of the earliest settlers of the Tennessee country, having come at the same time with James Robertson, the founder of the City of Nashville. This emigration occurred before the American Revolution. Major Buchanan took up land ten miles from Nashville, and that property was developed by several successive generations of the family and remained in their owner- ship until quite recent years. Thomas Buchanan died at Normau, Oklahoma, in 1907. His wife passed away in 1880. Professor Buchanan had three sisters, all now deceased, and a brother, John P. Buchanan, who was governor of Tennessee from 1891 to 1893.

James S. Buchanan was graduated Bachelor of Science from Cumberland University at Lebanou, Tennessee, in 1885, and almost immediately began the work which has chiefly distinguished his career. From 1886 to 1891 he was principal of the Connersville Academy at Conners- ville, Tennessee, and from 1891 to 1893 was assistant state superintendent of schools in Tennessee. In 1893-4 he held a scholarship in Vanderbilt University, where he did his graduate work. He was one of the early educa- tors in Western Oklahoma, and during 1894-95 was pro- fessor of history at the State Normal School in Edmond. In the fall of 1895 he accepted the call to the chair of history at the University of Oklahoma, and has ever since been at the head of the history department. In 1908 he was given additional responsibilities, and duties as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the uni- versity.

Professor Buchanan had an important share in formu- lating the first constitution of Oklahoma. He was elected a delegate in 1906 from District No. 34, and was a hard working member throughout the session and served on the following committees: Committee on Preamble and Bill of Rights; Municipal Corporations, being chairman of the sub-committee which prepared the plan for municipal corporations which was afterwards adopted ; Geological Survey; State Militia; Immigration; Privi- leges and Elections; Compilation, Revision, Style and Arrangement.

In 1896 Professor Buchanan married Miss Vinnie Gal- braith, daughter of J. W. Galbraith of Terrell, Texas, and a sister of Judge C. A. Galbraith of the Supreme Court of Oklahoma. They have three living. children: Frances, James and William.

Professor Buchanan is a past master of. Norman Lodge of the Masons and is past high priest of Lyons Chapter, R. A. M., at Norman. He is a member of the Beta Theta Pi and is one of the two Buchanans listed among the "distinguished Beta Theta Pi in America." His church is the Presbyterian and he is president of the board of trustees of that church in Norman.

JAMES W. ROGERS, M. D. Numbered amoug the able and popular physicians and surgeons of the younger generation in the City of Tulsa, Doctor Rogers has here been engaged in the practice of his profession since 1913, and his success stands in evidence alike of his technical ability and his earnest application.

At Ozark, the judicial center of Christian County, Missouri, Dr. James Winston kogers was born on the 9th of October, 1889, and he is a son of John and Ivy (Southwick) Rogers, the former of whom was born in Webster County, Missouri, in 1853, and the latter of whom was born at Titusville, Crawford County, Pennsyl- vania in 1863. The Doctor was the fourth in order of birth of five children, all sons: Herbert N. is assistant cashier in a bank at Ozark, Missouri; Robert E. is a lien- tenant iu the United States Navy; John B. is a civil

958

HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

engineer by profession and resides at Tulsa; and Charles is a reporter on the staff of the Tulsa World.

John Rogers was reared and educated in his native state and became eventually one of the prominent and influential citizens of Christian County, Missouri, where he served two terms as register of deeds and where he has served as cashier of the Christian County Bank, at Ozark, since 1875.

After completing the curriculum of the high school at Ozark Doctor Rogers pursued a course in Drury Academy, at Springfield, Missouri, and in 1911 he was graduated in the University of Oklahoma, with the de- gree of Bachelor of Science. In preparation for the exacting profession of his choice he entered the medical department of the great University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, in which institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1913 and from which he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Shortly after his graduation he established his residence at Tulsa, and in this city his effective and earnest services in his profession have enabled him to build up an excellent practice, which is constantly expanding in scope. He is a popular and appreciative member of the Tulsa County Medical Society, besides being identified with the Okla- homa State Medical Association and the American Medi- cal Association. Liberal and progressive as a citizen, he takes a lively interest in public affairs of a local order and his political allegiance is given to the democratic party.

On the 28th of September, 1913, was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Rogers to Miss Frances Dorchester, who was born and reared in Oklahoma, and their one child is a winsome little daughter, Frances May.

LESLIE T. HUFFMAN. When Leslie T. Huffman in 1912 accepted the position of secretary to .the State Board of Education, he gave up his administrative duties as city superintendent of the McAlester schools, a city which owes much to him for his progressive leader- ship in educational matters. Mr. Huffman is an edu- cator of many years' experience, and before coming to Oklahoma was connected with several school systems in the State of Kansas.

Leslie T. Huffman was born in the City of Des Moines in Polk County, Iowa, July 10, 1876, son of Ezekiel aud Martha E. (Wells) Huffman. His father, born in Indiana, at the age of fourteen entered an Indiana regiment and became one of the youngest sol- diers from that state in the Civil war. His service was during the last month of that struggle between the North and South. He was married in his native state to Martha E. Wells, also of Indiana, and afterwards moved to Iowa, where he engaged in farming. He later moved to Kansas, where he was engaged in the mer- cantile business. He is now municipal judge of Pitts- burg, Kansas.

Leslie T. Huffman as a boy, after some schooling in country districts, attended the grade and high schools at Pittsburg, Kansas. Later he entered the Kansas State Normal School at Emporia, and during 1899-1900 taught a portion of the time he was a student in the normal. In 1901 Mr. Huffman became city superintendent of the schools at Erie, Kansas, remained there three years, then in 1904 accepted the city super- intendency of the schools at Galena, Kansas, and from there in 1909 came to McAlester, Oklahoma. McAlester was then entering upon a new era in its local school history, and soon after Mr. Huffman took the city superintendency the facilities were greatly increased and improved by the addition of new schools, and it fell to the responsibility of Mr. Huffman to organize the Mc- Alester school system on modern and progressive lines.

The fact that that city now has some of the best schools to be found in the state is largely credited to Mr. Huffman's leadership. He remained at McAlester three years and in 1912 Mr. R. H. Wilson appointed him secretary of the State Board of Education. As secre- tary to this body Mr. Huffman has largely under his direction the preparation of the courses of study for the schools and normal institutions of the state, also the drawing up of questions for examination of teachers, and the general supervision of the professional end of tho state school system.

Mr. Huffman is affiliated with McAlester Lodge No. 9, A. F. & A. M., the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of Galena, Kansas, belongs to the Young Men's Democratic Club of Oklahoma City, and is a member of the Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church of Oklahoma City.

In November, 1902, Mr. Huffman married Miss Jessie White, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Rauch) White of Mulberry, Kansas. Their three children are Leslie T., Jr., Clarence W. and Elizabeth R. Mrs. Huffmau's father, William White, was a native of Ken- tucky, and during the war between the states served in the Confederate army. He was afterwards a successful farmer and stock raiser, and practiced the principle of selling his farm products in the shape of livestock. He not only prospered in a material way, but had the dis- tinction of rearing a family of eleven children, of which Mrs. Huffman was the tenth in order of birth. Mr. and Mrs. Huffman reside at 1401 West Twenty-third street, while his offices as secretary of the board of edu- cation are on the fourth floor of the Mercantile Building.

HON. EVERETT B. HOWARD. As a direct result of the high record for efficiency made in the office of member of the State Board of Public Affairs, in which he served four years, and the efficient manner in which he handled the interests of the various state departments and institutions, Everett B. Howard was elected on the democratic ticket, in November, 1914, to the high office of state auditor of Oklahoma, for a term of four years. Although he has been in his new office only a short time, Mr. Howard has already demonstrated that the people will have no regrets for placing their faith in his fidelity and ability, and the present outlook promises that he will make one of the best auditors the state has known.

Mr. Howard was born at Morgantown, Butler County, Kentucky, September 19, 1873, and is a son of Addison A. and Addie (Harreld) Howard. His father, who was a timber merchant in Kentucky, came to Oklahoma at the opening, April 22, 1889, and settled three miles north of Edmond, where he continued to be engaged in agricultural operations until his death in Mrs. 1894 Howard still survives and is a resident of Edmond.

Everett B. Howard was educated in the common schools of Kentucky, in which state he lived until he was sixteen years of age, but before leaving for Okla- homa had already become self-supporting. Those who hold that the acquirement of a trade is a valuable ad- junct to the attainment of success will find an excellent illustration of their argument in Mr. Howard's career, for when he was but twelve years of age he began to learn the printer's trade, an occupation in which he was practically engaged from 1885 until 1899, and through which he came into connection with influences that pre- pared him for efficient service in public life. He came to Oklahoma with his parents in 1889 and resided in this state until 1893, when he went to Missouri, and in that state was appointed to the important position of assistant state labor commissioner, under Gov. Lon Stevens, an office in which he first displayed the pos-

K son Ho

Cla Cr

lic

959

HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

session of marked executive capacity. He left that office in 1905, in which year he returned to Oklahoma, and, locating at Tulsa, engaged in the brick manufac- turing business, with plants at Tulsa, Red Fork and Claremore. In 1911 he was appointed by Governor Cruce a member of the State Board of Public Affairs, and it was in this connection that he was so favorably brought into public favor. Mr. Howard assumed the duties of the office of state anditor in January, 1915, and his term will expire in January, 1919. In his pnb- lic life he has always demonstrated that he is a man who can accomplish things, and has surrounded himself with men of energy and integrity, in whom he seems to have been able to instill his own progressive spirit and vigor.

In 1895 Mr. Howard was united in marriage with Miss Hollis Hope, daughter of Col. John C. Hope, of Kansas City, Missonri, who during the Civil war was one of Shelby's officers in the Confederate army. One son has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Howard: Paxton Hope. Mr. and Mrs. Howard are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and are well known in social circles of Oklahoma City. They reside at 232 East Eleventh Street.

T. MYRON PYLE. One of the representative lawyers of the younger generation in the capital city of Okla- homa is T. Myron Pyle, who is now serving as deputy collector of internal revenue for the state, and whose prestige in his profession and as a progressive and pnb- lic-spirited citizen mark him as one of the valued and popular citizens of Oklahoma City. Though a native of the historic Old Dominion, Mr. Pyle has gained varied experience in connection with life in the West and exem- plified fully the ambition and progressiveness for which this section of our great national domain has ever been celebrated.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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