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 31

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 31

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Doctor White is an uncompromising and zealous sup- porter of the cause of the democratic party, and as a citizen is distinctively progressive and public-spirited. In his home city he is affiliated with the lodge and chap- ter of the Masonic fraternity and with the lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, besides being a popular member of the Rotary Club. Both he and his wife hold membership in the Baptist Church. In 1901 Doctor White married Miss Helen E. McLain, who is a

popular figure in the representative social life of Mus- kogee.

JOHN W. BURNS. Of the progressive man of affairs in the younger generation in Oklahoma City not. a little precedence must be accorded to John William Burns, both as a lawyer and as a progressive business man of much constructive ability. In the practice of his pro- fession he is associated with Patrick J. Hodgins, under the firmn name of Burns & Hodgins, and he is president also of the Credit Reference Company, of which Mr. Hodgins is secretary and general manager, a brief re- view of the career of the latter being given on other pages of this publication.

Mr. Burns takes a due amount of pride and satisfac- tion in reverting to the fine old Hoosier State as the place of his nativity and he is a scion of a sterling pioneer family of the state, within whose borders were born his parents, Oliver P. and Mary C. (Conner) Burns, both of whom still reside on their well improved and valuable farm in Spencer County, that state, this old homestead having been the place of the birth of their son, John William, the date of whose nativity was February 17, 1880.

John W. Burns attended the public schools of his native county and after completing his studies in the high school he entered Westfield College, at Westfield, Illinois, in which institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1899 and from which he re- ceived the degree of Bachelor of Arts. While attend- ing college he devoted his attention at intervals to teaching in the district schools. In preparation for his chosen profession Mr. Burns was matriculated in the Indianapolis College of Law, in the beautiful capital city and metropolis of his native state, and in the same he was graduated in 1902, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, besides receiving the second prize for the best general work as an undergraduate. He was ad- mitted to practice in the State and Federal courts of Indiana and initiated the practice of his profession at Rockport, the judicial center of Spencer County, where he remained until 1910 and where, in 1906, he was appointed prosecuting attorney to fill an unexpired term. In the election in the autumn of the same year he was duly elected to this office, that of prosecuting attorney for the Thirteenth Judicial District, compris- ing the counties of Spencer and Warrick, his term being of two years' duration and his administration having marked him as a resourceful and versatile trial lawyer and effective public prosecutor. From the time of his appointment until the completion of his regular term in January, 1909, he thus served nearly three years in this important office, and his personal popularity was shown in the fact that he was elected as candidate on the republican ticket in a district that normally gives a heavy democratic majority.

In the autumn of 1909 Mr. Burns came to Oklahoma and engaged in the individual practice of his profession in Oklahoma City, and after building up a substantial law business he formed, in 1912, a partnership alliance with Patrick J. Hodgins, his present valued coadjutor, their general practice extending into both the criminal and civil courts of the state, as well as into the Federal courts. This law firm also figures as general counsel for the Credit Reference Company, in which its mem- bers are interested as principals, as indicated in a preceding paragraph.

Mr. Burns has been president of the Credit Reference Company since 1912, and the business is incorporated under the laws of the State of Arizona, with a capital stock of $5,000,000. The company does a general mer-

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

cantile reporting business besides interposing in the collecting and settling of accounts and the adjusting of controversies between business men. The home offices of the company are in Suite 606-11 American National Bank Building, Oklahoma City, and with branch con- nections established at eligible points, the company has facilities for the handling of business in all sections of the United States. Its inception dates back to 1909 and its record has been such as to make its reputation unassailable. Mr. Burns is president also of the Schrimpsher Oil & Gas Company, which was organized in January, 1914, and which has valuable holdings and two producing wells in the Healton District of Okla- homa at the time of this writing, in the spring of 1915.

In politics Mr. Burns is a stalwart advocate of the cause of the republican party, he and his wife hold membership in the First Christian Church of Oklahoma City, and he is affiliated with local organizations of the Masonic fraternity and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, besides being a member of the Evansville Lodge, No. 114, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, in the City of Evansville, Indiana. It may be noted in a retrospective way that the paternal grand- parents of Mr. Burns immigrated from the vicinity of Aberdeen, Scotland, to the United States, though they came at different times and their marriage was solemnized in Kentucky, whence they later removed to Indiana and became pioneers of that state; the grand- father, Stephen Burns, attained to the patriarchal age of ninety years.

In the year 1902 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Burns to Miss Maude Clement, who likewise was born and reared in Spencer county, Indiana, and who had there been a successful and popular teacher prior to her marriage. She is a daughter of George J. Clement, owner of an extensive grain and milling busi- ness at Chrisney, that county, where he also conducts a hardware establishment, besides having served twelve years as a member of the board of county commission- ers of Spencer County. Mr. and Mrs. Burns have three children, Ruth, Mary Catherine, and John William, Jr.

LON MORRIS. The legal profession is ably represented at Walters, Oklahoma, by Lon Morris, who is now serving in the office of county attorney of Cotton County. While he has been a resident of this city only since 1912, he is already recognized as a thorough, profound and con- scientious lawyer, with a mastery of the principles and precedents of the law, and as a public official whose appreciation of the responsibilities of office make his service an especially valuable one.

Mr. Morris was born in Ellis County, Texas, June 27, 1872, and is a son of B. W. and Julia (Craig) Morris. The family originated in Scotland and its progenitor in America came to this country prior to the Revolutionary war and settled in the Colony of Virginia. B. W. Morris was born in Texas in 1845 and became a pioneer of Ellis County, from whence, in 1872, he moved to Gran- bury, Hood County, Texas, where he was likewise one of the early settlers. He still resides in that community, being a retired farmer and stockman and owns consider- able property. A democrat in his political views, Mr. Morris has been one of the prominent and influential men of his locality and at various times has been called upon to fill offices of importance. For twelve years he served as county assessor, for fourteen years was sheriff of Hood County, and on one occasion was sent to repre- sent his district in the Texas State Legislature. During the period of the Civil war he served three years in the Army of the Confederacy as a member of an Arkansas regiment of infantry. Mr. Morris is a member of the

Missionary Baptist Church. He married Miss Julia Craig, a native of Arkansas, and they have been the parents of the following children: Lon of this notice; Samuel, who is a merchant of Abilene, Texas; Walter, who is engaged in the practice of law at Albany, Texas; Charles, the proprietor of a mercantile establishment at Stamford, Texas; Lucy, who is the wife of Fred Reich- stetter, a traveling salesman of New Mexico; Thomas, who is a printer of Dallas, Texas; Misses Emma and Lottie, who are unmarried and reside with their parents; and Jacob, who is a showman, at present traveling in Europe.

Lon Morris was an infant when taken by his parents to Granbury, Texas, and there he received his early education in the public schools. Subsequently he was sent to Granbury Methodist College, from which he was graduated in 1891, and his literary training was com- pleted in 1893, when he left Add-Ran University, Thorp 's Spring, Texas. This was supplemented by a course at the Agricultural and Mechanical College, at Bryan, Texas, where he was graduated in 1896, following whichi he entered a law office at. Granbury, being admitted to the bar two years later. With this excellent equipment, Mr. Morris started the practice of his chosen profession at Granbury, where he remained until 1905, then coming to Oklahoma and settling at Temple, where he engaged in the practice of law and in banking, and in the "Big Pasture," until 1910. At that time Mr. Morris' services were secured by a combination of business men to go to tropical Mexico and give his opinion as to the value of a land project. The unsettled conditions in that country, however, owing to the activities of the revolu- tionists, caused him to leave Mexico and in 1912 he came to Walters, which place has since continued as his home. He is now engaged in a general practice of his pro- fession, having his office in the First National Bank Building. He has already been identified with a num- ber of cases which have brought his name prominently and favorably before the public, and he is justly accounted one of Cotton County 's reliable and thoroughly learned practitioners. A democrat in politics, while a. resident of Granbury Mr. Morris was elected on that party's ticket to the county attorneyship of Hood County, and while there also served as assistant sergeant- at-arms of the Twenty-fourth Texas Legislature. In November, 1914, he was elected county attorney of Cotton County, taking office the first Monday in January, 1915, for a term of two years. He is a member of the official board of the Christian Church. Fraternally Mr. Morris is widely and favorably known, being affiliated with Granbury Lodge, No. 392, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Archer City Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Archer City, Texas, in which he is past grand as well as past deputy grand of the Grand Lodge; the Knights of Pythias, of Granbury, in which he is past chancellor; and the Granbury lodges of the Modern Woodmen of America, the Woodmen of the World, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Improved Order of Red Men.

Mr. Morris was married at Granbury, Texas, in 1895, to Miss Ida Henderson, a native of Granbury, and daughter of J. F. Henderson, a pioneer into Texas from Missouri who now resides near Temple, Oklahoma, on his farm. Three children have been born to this union: Guy, who is a blacksmith at Walters; Toby, who is a sophomore at the Walters High School; and Madden, a pupil in the sixth grade of the public school.

EDMUND M. FRY. Prominent among the men who in recent years have contributed by their services and abilities to the progress and upbuilding of Oklahoma's

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

public institutions, one who has labored faithfully and with helpful results is Edmund M. Fry, deputy warden of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester. Not alone as a capable official, an excellent handler of inen and an executive of capacity has Mr. Fry been useful since coming to the institution in 1909, but in his pro- fessional capacity of civil engineer, in which he has been one of the leading factors in the inauguration and carry- ing through of a number of projects which have added to the worth and efficiency of the institution.

Mr. Fry was born at Lake Village, Chicot County, Arkansas, October 29, 1873, and is a son of Reuben M. and Eliza B. (Hutchins) Fry. His father was a Virginian by nativity, born at Orange Court House, Orange County, of English lineage, and served as a soldier of the Confederacy, being one of six brothers who enlisted in Virginia regiments and served gallantly in the support of the lost cause. At the close of the struggle between the forces of the North and the South, Reuben M. Fry removed to Lake Village, Arkansas, in an endeavor to build up his fallen fortunes. There he was married, his wife being a native of Mississippi, a member of an old and distinguished family of that state, and also of English ancestry. At Lake Village, Reuben M. Fry engaged in mercantile pursuits until 1880, in which year he moved to Fort Smith, Arkansas, and there con- tinued merchandising. His death occurred at Fort Smith, in 1905, after several years passed in the office of United States internal revenue collector, and other public posi- tions. He was one of his community's substantial, reliable, progressive and public-spirited citizens, esteemed and respected by those who knew him and with a large circle of warm friends and admirers.

In the graded and high schools of Fort Smith, to which city he was taken as a lad of seven years, Edmund M. l'ry received the foundation for his education. Sub- sequently he took up the study of civil engineering, a subject which he thoroughly mastered, and for ten years, at intervals, was identified with the work of the United States Geological Survey. During this period, when not in the employ of the Government, he rendered services to gold and silver mining companies of the United States and Canada. In 1895 he moved to Muskogee, Oklahoma, where for three years he was connected with the work of the Dawes Commission, and at the time of statehood was appointed deputy register of deeds for Muskogee County, a position which he held until October, 1909. At the latter time he was appointed deputy warden of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, at McAlester. He has not only given valuable assistance to Warden Robert W. Dick in making this the ideal institution of its kind in the United States, but his knowledge of civil engineering has led him into work in which a mastery of this voca- tion has been necessary. He belongs to the Oklahoma Engineer Society, and also to the National Geographical Society. Mr. Fry is a democrat in his political views, and fraternally is affiliated with the local lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

In 1908, Mr. Fry was married to Miss Nita Williams, of Ardmore, Oklahoma, and they are the parents of one son, Philip Hutchins, born at McAlester in January, 1912.

GEORGE W. KNOX. In the technical and scientific work of his profession Mr. Knox, the general manager of the Oklahoma Railway, has achieved distinctive success and specially high reputation, and there are few electrical engineers in the United States who have been more prominently concerned with the construction and opera- tion of urban and interurban electric transit lines than has he, the consistency of this statement being assured when it is known that from 1893 to 1900 he was chief

electrical engineer and engineer of construction of the Chicago City Railway, the lines of which cover the entire south side of the great western metropolis. In his present position he has, as may well be supposed, brought the street-car and adjunct electric systems of Oklahoma City up to the highest standard of efficiency, and as one of the progressive and public-spirited citizens of the Okla- hona capital city he merits special recognition in this history of the state.

George Washington Knox was born at Milledgeville, Carroll County, Illinois, on the 21st of June, 1865, and is a son of George W. and Mary J. (Palmer) Knox, the former of whom was born in Grayson County, Kentucky, and the latter at Ashtabula, Ohio. The genealogy of the Knox family traces back to distinguished English origin and the subject of this review is a direct descendant of Doctor Knox, who served as a surgeon in the English army, in the command of the famous General Brad- dock. The Knox family has been established in America for more than a century and here its record is that of worthy achievement and high personal honor, as one : generation has followed another on to the stage of life's activities. The paternal grandfather of Mr. Knox was born and reared in Pennsylvania, and marked the pass- ing years with admirable accomplishment in connection with the normal activities of life. He removed from the old Keystone State to Kentucky and became a prominent and influential citizen of Grayson County. George W. Knox, Sr., father of him whose name initiates this re- view, may be considered as having been a pioneer settler in the State of Illinois and was actively identified with the development and upbuilding of that great common- wealth, where the father resided until his death and where his wife continues to reside.

The general manager of the Oklahoma Railway is in- debted to the public schools of Illinois for his prelim- inary educational discipline, and in 1885 he was gradu- ated in the Northern Illinois College, at Fulton, as a civil and mechanical engineer. Of him the following estimate has been made: "Immediately after his graduation he jumped into the vortex of advanced scientific develop- inent and practical application, and though he is now in the very prime of life, the story of his career reads like a romance recording the doing of things worth while. His initiative and administrative ability had been on a parity with his fine technical skill, and his success has been of distinctive and unequivocal order."

Mr. Knox was the engineer and builder of the first electric street-car line in the City of Chicago,-the Forty- seventh Street line,-which was placed in operation on the 10th of May, 1893, the year in which Chicago came gloriously to the front through the medium of the World's Columbian Exposition. The success of this venture led to the retention of Mr. Knox as chief electrical and con- struction engineer of the Chicago City Railway Com- pany during the development and construction of its gigantic electric street-car system, which now covers all parts of the south side of Chicago and the service of which is unexcelled by those of any other of the great metropolitan centers of the country.

After leaving college Mr. Knox was for two years in the service of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, and thereafter he was identified with the street- car department of the Pullman Palace Car Company until he turned his attention specially to electrical work, in the employ of the Thomson-Houston Company, as a repre- sentative of which he had charge of the equipping of the first electric street cars that were placed in service west of the Mississippi River,-those for the City of Omaha. In 1889 he joined the Sprague Company of New York City, with his executive headquarters in Chicago. There- after he had the supervision of the construction of electric

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

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street and interurban lines of the most important order, including such facilities in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Milwau- kee, and Cincinnati, as well as in Columbus and Newark, Ohio; Lincoln and Springfield, Illinois; St. Joseph, Mis- souri, and many other important cities. In the autumn of 1891 Mr. Knox was sent by the General Electric Com- pany to install the motors and generators on the Kansas City Elevated Railway. While in that city, through the late M. K. Bowen, he was tendered a position with the Chicago City Railway Company, and the 200 miles of the street-car lines of this company were equipped through- out under his personal charge and direction. In addition to serving as electrical engineer for the company he was made also its engineer of construction, in charge of all track and special work. Mr. Knox remained in the service of this great Chicago public-utility corporation until 1900, when he resigned his position to turn his attention to general railway-construction work, in which connection he became associated with Kohler Brothers, of Chicago, as manager of the firm's railway department. Early in the spring of 1901, however, he severed his connection and in Chicago engaged in independent business as an elec- trical engineer and builder of electric railways and light plants.

While thus engaged in Chicago in 1902, Mr. Knox made the original report on the Oklahoma railway situation, and in consonance with his report was instituted the con- struction of what is now admitted to be one of the model electric street-car and interurban systems of the West. From the initiation of the great project Mr. Knox acted in the capacity of consulting engineer, and on the 1st of August, 1911, he was elected second vice president and general manager of the company. He forthwith estab- lished his residence in Oklahoma City, and here he has since accomplished a wonderful work in the development of the fine electric railway system and in gaining to it, through effective service, the strongest popular commen- dation and supporting patronage. As a citizen, the people of Oklahoma uniformly admire Mr. Knox and are appreciative of his character and achievement, for he is as liberal and aggressive in civic affairs as he is vigorous and efficient in the work of his chosen profession.

Mr. Knox is actively identified with the American Association of Electrical Engineers and the American Electric Railway Association, and it has been said, with full measure of consistency, that "wherever an electric current is carried from a power house to a trolley, there the name of George W. Knox is known." In the City of Chicago Mr. Knox still retains membership in the Union League Club, one of the representative and most influen- tial organizations of its kind in the Union. He also re- tains his interests in the engineering concern which he established in Chicago in 1901. In politics he is aligned as a staunch supporter of the cause of the republican party. He is a Scottish Rite or thirty-second degree Mason, also has received the chivalric or Knights Templar degrees and is affiliated with the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.

On the 5th of September, 1898, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Knox to Miss Alice H. Meers, daughter of Robert A. and Emily (Burton) Meers, of Evanston, Illinois, and the two children of this union are Alice Hen- rietta and George Washington III.

WILLIAM H. EBEY. The work and influence of Mr. Ebey, who is now engaged in the insurance and loan business in the City of Ada, Pontotoc County, touch most closely much of the important history of the pio- neer days in Oklahoma Territory, as well as the record of development and progress since the admission of Oklahoma as one of the sovereign states of the Union. Many facts that are of great and enduring value and

interest as pertaining to Oklahoma history have been by him furnished for publication in this work, and those who have the publication in charge accord to him definite recognition of his co-operation and interest, even as the present and future citizens of the state must needs owe him a debt of gratitude for his contributions, which are of authoritative order.

The activities of Mr. Ebey as an official of the United States Government, as a business man and as a leader in the ranks of the democratic party were those of a man on the firing line in the battle to establish civilized and progressive communities on the wide stretches of terri- tory that had for years been the grazing grouud of the buffalo and the cattle herds of the great representatives of this line of industry in the Southwest when the ranges were still open and untrammeled. Mr. Ebey was the first secretary of the Oklahoma City Commercial Club and when the same was succeeded, a few years later, by the chamber of commerce he became the first secretary of the latter organization. In 1892, during President Cleveland's term, he was appointed clerk of the United States Court of the Third Judicial District of Oklahoma Territory, with headquarters at Oklahoma City. Prior to coming to Oklahoma Mr. Ebey had been for a time engaged in the newspaper business, and he was one of the early representatives of the Associated Press in Oklahoma, being succeeded in this position by Frank McMaster, a pioneer newspaper man of Oklahoma City. After maintaining his residence in Oklahoma City for a period of seven years Mr. Ebey passed a few years at Terrell, Texas. He then returned to Oklahoma and established his residence at Lawton, the present judicial center of Comanche County, being virtually one of the founders of the town, shortly after the opening to settle- ment of the Kiowa and Comanche Indian country. He afterward spent a year in California and upon his return to Oklahoma he established his permanent home at Ada, the thriving and attractive little city that is the county seat of Pontotoc County. Here he has devel- oped a substantial and important insurance and loan business, a line of enterprise in which he gained his initial experience when a young man and just after he had completed his studies in the public schools.

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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