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 49

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 49

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).

FRANK HILTON GREER is a native of Kansas, having been born at Leavenworth on July 21, 1862. He has lived all his life in the West. The parents of Mr. Greer were pioneers in Kansas, and the boy at twelve years of age began making his own living, and has been at it ever since. He is a son of Samuel Wylie and Clotilda Hilton Greer. The father was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, in 1824. He was educated in the Pennsylvania schools and graduated from Oberlin Col- lege, Ohio, as a Presbyterian preacher. He came to Kansas in 1854, in the turbulent days preceding the war, and took an active part in all the anti-slavery campaign of which Kansas was the center. He was one of the first state superintendents of public instruction in Kansas and did much in laying the foundation for the splendid pub- lic school system of that state. Just prior to Lincoln's inauguration he went with seventy-four other sturdy westerners to Washington City as a personal guard for the President. These organized as the "Frontier Guards," the first organization growing out of the Civil war. These men were the first to enlist in that war. The duty of guarding the President during and some time after the inauguration being over, Mr. Greer re- turned with the other Kansans and organized Company I, Fifteenth Volunteer Kansas Cavalry, of which com- pany he was elected captain and served with it through- out the war. The mother was born in Xenia, Ohio, and became a school teacher, and it was at her knee that the subject of this sketch received most of his education, as his opportunity for other schooling was scant, and then only in the common schools. The printing office has been called the best of universities, and it proved so in this case. Here it was that Mr. Greer got his broad and practical education. The father died in 1882 at the age of fifty-eight years, and the mother in 1897, at the age of sixty-four. There were eight children in the family, of whom six are living, Frank Hilton being the fourth in order of birth.

Early in life Mr. Greer went into a newspaper office as a printer's devil and graduated in all the depart- ments of the business, continuing the newspaper profes- sion until four years ago, when he moved to Tulsa. He is now president of the Greer Investment Company, with offices in the Iowa Building.

Mr. Greer is a member of all branches of Masonry- both the Scottish Rite and York Rite, and the Shrine-

and is a K. C. C. H. of the Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite. He belongs also to the Knights of Pythias, A. O. U. W., Elks and Odd Fellows. He is a member of the Episcopal Church. He has held but one publie office, that of a member of the Oklahoma Legislature in 1893.

In 1911 Mr. Greer was married to Laura Leigh Han- son, a woman of fine literary and social attainments, and they reside at 1501 South Baltimore, Tulsa.

Mr. Greer has taken prominent part in all the public affairs of Oklahoma, having located in Guthrie in 1889 on the day of the opening of old Oklahoma to settle- ment. He is a republican in politics, unswerving in his beliefs, not only in politics but in everything else, and although not seeking public office, has been active in everything that he believed would forward the political welfare of Oklahoma. He has taken a prominent part in the state's material progress.

Mr. Greer is one of the directors of the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce, and exerts his public spirit constantly for the growth of Tulsa. He is a fluent and popular publie speaker. His diversion from business is literature, and his home contains probably the largest and best selected private library in Oklahoma.

JOHN K. FAIN. There are two factors that have tended to retard the normal development of Eastern Oklahoma-a general belief that the general run of titles to lands in the former region of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians are clouded; and, second, the activities of land dealers and speculators who sought to accumulate quick fortunes through misrepresentation of values and conditions in the new state. The former factor is being overcome by the process of gradual education, and this is being furthered by a combined effort of legitimate busi- ness men and railroad companies operating through East- ern Oklahoma. Prosecutions have virtually terminated the activities of unscrupulous land dealers, and the pros- pective buyers from other states are exercising more care in making investments in this section of Oklahoma. In answer to the complaint that titles to lands in East- ern Oklahoma are insecurely based, it may be stated that such reliable, enterprising and straightforward real-estate dealers as Mr. Fain are doing all in their power to dis- seminate the truth, and that is that Eastern Oklahoma land titles are not only simple and authoritative but also that they come direct from the United States Govern- ment. Congress has provided the methods by which the Indian lands may be disposed of, and every title has the government's guaranty. This movement is worthy of record in the history of Oklahoma, for it marks the be- ginning of a new era in the development of this region, and the men associated in it are assuredly pioneers of their generation in the establishing of better financial and industrial conditions in the state. This class of land dealers are assisting also in the development of communi- ties, by the sale of land to men of ability and resources. Ten years of their activities have produced a wonderful change in conditions, particularly in the former Choctaw Nation. Most of the men of this sterling class conduct their real-estate business through the personal buying and selling of land, rather than on the commission basis. This gives them a vital interest in the character of the settlers they are instrumental in bringing in, for their theory is that one good purchaser-a man alive to the agricultural and general industrial needs of the com- munity-is worth more than a dozen who have no other interest than speculation or no other ambition than to plod along in the beaten paths that for many years were never marked by any important phase of progress, An illustration of the painstaking methods of Mr. Fain is found in the fact that during the several years he has

1112

HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

been engaged in the real-estate and farm-loan business he has never had a foreclosure, which means simply that he has been careful of investments for the financial firms he represents and careful to conserve the interests of the persons who borrow the money. And this is of distinctive value to Oklahoma, even as it is complimentary to the individual, for it betokens a business acumen that was necessarily brought into play to eradicate slipshod meth- ods and get-rich-quick schemes that not only hindered the development of the state's splendid resources but also gave the commonwealth an unsavory reputation abroad. The year 1913 marked a steady advance of these new and legitimate methods, and it is of special significance that in that year the railroads saw the necessity of aiding in the movement. Such men as Mr. Fain are responsible for the inception of this important movement.

John Kelly Fain was born in Webster County, Missouri, on the 20th of May, 1874, and is a son of Rev. Isaac R. and Catherine E. (Bowman) Fain, the other surviving children of whom are three sons and three daughters: Jesse F. is a farmer in Webster County, Missouri; Mrs. Dora Jones is a resident of Miami, Oklahoma, where her husband is identified with mining operations; Mrs. Anna A. Barnes is the wife of a printer and publisher in Kan- sas City, Missouri; Mrs. Louise M. Slater resides in Kansas City and her husband is in the employ of the Frisco Railroad Company; and Martin A., a painter by trade and vocation, is a resident of Webb City, Missouri. Rev. Isaac R. Fain was a native of Illinois, settled in Missouri in 1857, and labored long and zealously as a clergyman of the Baptist Church. His marriage was solemnized in Missouri, to which state the parents of his wife removed from Tennessee.

After availing himself of the advantages of the public schools of his native state, John K. Fain completed a course of higher study in Pleasant Hope Academy, in Polk County, Missouri. . After teaching school three terms, in Polk and Greene counties, he became identified with the newspaper business at Cartersville, that state, where, in 1889, he became associated with George N. Barnes and Thomas J. Shelton in founding the Carters- ville Daily Record. A few years later he severed his association with this enterprise and turned his attention to corresponding for the Mining World, of Chicago, as a representative in the mining districts of Missouri. At the same time he corresponded also for the Joplin News Herald and other newspapers.

In 1906 Mr. Fain established his residence at Stone- wall, Indian Territory, and in this village, now in Pon- totoc County, Oklahoma, he assisted in the organization of the Farmers & Merchants Bank, the business of which was later liquidated, the assets being transferred to Atoka, where they were utiilzed in connection with the organization of the American National Bank, with which Mr. Fain continued to be closely associated for several years. At Stonewall he initiated his operations in the farm-loan business, and in this field of enterprise he continued after his removal to Atoka, where he has since maintained his home and where he has long controlled a large and representative business in the handling of real estate, the extending of loans on approved farm securi- ties and the general underwriting of insurance. In the handling of capital invested in farm mortgages in Okla- homa, Mr. Fain represents Robert E. Holmes, a substan- tial capitalist of Winstead, Connecticut, and also the First Trust Company of Wichita, Kansas, which succeeded to the business established by L. W. Clapp, the pioneer farm-loan man of Oklahoma. The conservative business operations of such men as Mr. Fain have brought about the development of agriculture in Atoka County from five to twenty-five per cent, these figures representing the progress of land cultivation within a period of a few

years. In furthering the development and progress of the county Mr. Fain is devoting appreciable time and capital to improving two valuable farms, consisting of more than 500 acres. This land he has reclaimed from the timber and it is situated in one of the most fertile sections of the county. On one of the farms he has intro- duced and is extensively propagating Bermuda grass, for the purpose of developing the land for grazing purposes and having in view the raising of high-grade cattle and horses of thoroughbred strains. Mr. Fain is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America and both he and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in which he has served as steward and trustee of the church at Atoka.

On the 15th of December, 1891, at Carthage, Missouri, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Fain to Miss Julia N. Hobbs, and they have two children-Mabel Louise and John Kelly, Jr.

RICHARD EDWIN SMITH, who holds a law degree from the University of Wisconsin, spent five years in the practice of his profession in the new State of Oklahoma, and in that time gained a large acquaintance over the state and still has many firm and loyal friends here.

On coming to Oklahoma in March, 1910, Mr. Smith located at Davis, where he formed a law partnership with his brother-in-law Senator C. B. Kendrick, later president of the Oklahoma State Senate. Mr. Smith continued in active practice at Davis until January 9, 1915, when he moved to Oklahoma City and opened a law office in that city. On the first of July, 1915, he disposed of his Oklahoma interests, since his health would not permit of his remaining in Oklahoma and having gone back to his old home state of Wisconsin he has resumed his work in journalism, in which he had made a name and reputation for himself before moving to the Southwest.

Richard E. Smith was born at Elmira, Benzie County, Michigan, January 9, 1877, a son of James and Anna (Wright) Smith, the former a native of Sullivan, Wis- consin, and the latter of the State of Vermont. Soon after his birth his parents moved to New Lisbon, Wis- consin, and there he was given the advantages of a good public school training. In 1895 he graduated from the high school at Glenwood, Wisconsin, and then entered the University of Wisconsin, where he graduated LL. B. in 1900. His father was a lawyer, and the son on leav- ing university entered the senior Smith's office as part- ner at Phillips, Wisconsin. A year later the firm opened an office at Park Falls, Wisconsin, with Richard E. in active charge. It was at Park Falls that Mr. Smith began his career in the newspaper business and politics. He bought the Park Falls Herald, of which he became editor in time to take issue with the other papers of the county and espouse the cause of Robert M. La- Follette, whom he admired for his gallant fight against corporations and the old republican machine of the state. It was a hot state campaign, but in spite of the machine opposition and despite the most tempting overtures made to thwart his course, Mr. Smith suc- ceeded in giving LaFollette his county by an over- whelming majority.

As a result of the LaFollette victory in the state and in fitting recognition of Mr. Smith's ardent support throughout the campaign, the young editor was at once recognized by the incoming administration in ap- pointment as assistant attorney general of Wisconsin by the principal of that office, Hon. L. M. Sturdevant. After ably filling the position for two years and five months, he resigned to indulge again in a newspaper

at Blush

1113

HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

venture at Galesville. Here he again championed the forces marshalled by the indomitable LaFollette. As head of the Galesville Independent Mr. Smith threw his whole soul into the work of the campaign, but then sold his interest in the paper and removed to Tomah, Wisconsin, and resumed the general practice of law. It was from Tomah that he went to Oklahoma in the spring of 1910.

After leaving Oklahoma Mr. Smith went back to his old home at Park Falls, Wisconsin, and there founded another and second newspaper, the Park Falls Independ- ent. He is now member of the firm of Smith & Fuller, printers and publishers at Park Falls. The first volume of the Park Falls Independent was issued September 15, 1915.

Mr. Smith has always been an ardent lover of fine harness horses and has raised and kept several horses with a high class record. He is a Knight Templar Mason, and is a past master of Tyre Lodge No. 42 at Davis, Oklahoma. He also served as District Deputy Grand Master of Oklahoma under Grand Master Charles E. Reeder and Grand Master William P. Freeman. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. At Mondovi, Wisconsin, Mr. Smith married Miss Georgina Baker, daughter of George W. and Eulalia (Sholts) Baker of that city. Her father was a direct descendant of Gen. Ethan Allen of Fort Ticonderoga fame, his mother being an Allen. The military spirit of the old hero seems. to have been passed down, as George Baker served during the Civil war in the Union ranks until he lost his arm at Petersburg, when he was honorably discharged. His wife's only brother, Wilson Sholts, marched with the forces of General Sherman to the sea. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have three children: Geor- gina, born March 12, 1903; Wilson James, born April 23, 1912; and Richard Edwin, Jr., born September 19, 1913.

WILLIAM C. HENDRICKS. Success to some individuals seems an evasive substance, but failure is generally found to be the result of a lack of possession of one of the qualities which may be acquired by all-persist- ence, industry, enterprise and resolute purpose. An inquiry into the life records of successful men shows that these qualities have been in large measure the causa- tion of their prosperity, and such has been the case with William C. Hendricks, of Dacoma, a successful insurance broker and dealer in real estate.

Mr. Hendricks was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, Septem- ber 22, 1861, and is a son of Sylvester and Phoebe (Pyphron) Hendricks. His father was born in 1827, in Ireland, and was fourteen years of age when he emigrated to the United States, locating in the vicinity of Cincinnati, Ohio, where he engaged in farming. He continued to be an agriculturist throughout his career, and died in Ohio in September, 1869, when but forty- two years of age. He was married in 1854 to Miss Phoebe Pyphron, who was born February 22, 1837, in Hamilton County. Ohio, a daughter of parents who were New Jerseyans. She died at Toledo, Ohio, May 18, 1913, having been the mother of four sons and three daugh- ters: John, who is deceased; Howard, who is a mer- chant of Toledo, Ohio; Elizabeth, who is deceased; Wil- liam C., of this review; Anna G., who is the wife of Milton Jones, a merchant of Toledo, Ohio; and Charles G. and Minnie, who are both deceased.

William C. Hendricks was educated in the public schools of Hamilton County, Ohio, and his father having died when he was but eight years of age, he early learned not only to be self-supporting, but to contribute to the family income. When still a lad he secured his first

business experience in the capacity of clerk in a store, and also worked on the farm, continuing to be thus engaged until 1882, when he removed to Peabody, Kan- sas, and there for seven years followed contracting and building. He later turned his attention to the lumber and hardware business at Lincolnville, Kansas, being thus employed for three and one-half years, and in 1893, when the Cherokee Strip was opened, came to Oklahoma and settled on a tract of Government land, three miles from the present Town of Dacoma. Mr. Hendricks con- tinued to be personally engaged in farming and stock- raising on this property for sixteen years, and brought it to a high state of cultivation, making improvements of a modern character and erecting fine and substantial buildings. In 1909 he left the farm and moved into the city, where he has since been engaged in the real estate and insurance brokerage business, although he continues to own the homestead, where operations are being carried on by his superintendent.

Mr. Hendricks has been successful in building up a prosperous realty and insurance business, and has served as the medium through which some large transactions have been carried on. He is an enthusiastic booster of Dacoma and has been a large contributor to the town's prosperity as a builder and in attracting outside capital here. It was through his individual efforts that the first rural free delivery mail route was established out of Alva, and he was one of the organizers of the Hopeton Tele- phone Company, which has done much to build up this locality, and of which he has been president for several years. His well-known business integrity and straight- forward manner of dealing brought him favorably before the public. and in 1911 he was elected to the office of mayor of Dacoma, serving therein during 1911 and 1912 and making an excellent official under whore adminis- tration a number of reforms were inaugurated. He is active in republican politics, having served as delegate to both county and state conventions. Fraternally, Mr. Hendricks is affiliated with the Masons, in which he has attained to the Scottish Rite degree, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. With his family, he attends the United Brethren Church.

Mr. Hendricks was married November 9, 1882, at Macon, Missouri, to Miss Annie M. Beeton, who was born November 2. 1861, at Cherry Grove, Ohio, daughter of Ephraim and Melisa Beeton, the former a native of England and the latter of Ohio. Mrs. Hendricks died November 7, 1910. Three children were born to this union : Howard C., horn July 29, 1884; Bessie M., born March 9, 1886; and Everett J., born June 19, 1888, who died November 24, 1912.

ABRAHAM L. BLESH, M. D. In those attributes of character and those high technical attainments that make for special precedence in the profession of medicine and surgery Dr. Blesh is admirably endowed, and there. can be no measure of inconsistency in pronouncing him one of the foremost surgeons of the Southwest. He has been engaged in the practice of his profession in Okla- homa since 1893 and since 1902 has, with marked cir- cumspection, concentrated his efforts in a field of practice that may well demand the undivided allegiance of a skilled representative of his profession, for he has given his special and practically exclusive attention to the practice of surgery, his well equipped offices being in Suite 606-10 State National Bank Building, Oklahoma City, and his practice being of broad scope and import- ance-a just reward for the careful attention he has given to fortifying himself for his humane vocation, which has been signally dignified and honored by his

1114

HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

achievement. The doctor has carried his research into original channels and has availed himself of the best of facilities and advantages along scientific and specifi- cally professional lines, as shown by the fact that he completed, iu 1910-11, au effective course of post- graduate work in the medical department of the great University of Vienna, Austria. In addition the exigent demauds placed upon him in connection with his private practice he has served since 1911 as chief surgeon of Wesley Hospital in his home city, and has been active also in the educational work of his profession.

Doctor Blesh was born at Lock Haven, the picturesque and thriving judicial center of Clinton County, Pennsyl- vania, and the date of his nativity was January 6, 1866. His parents, Rudolph and Sarah Frances (Bartholomew) Blesh, were natives respectively of Switzerland and Holland and their marriage was solemnized in Pennsyl- vania, where they continued to maintain their home until 1871, when they removed to Kansas, where they became pioneer settlers and where they passed the residue of their lives. Doctor Blesh was a lad of five years at the time of the family removal to the Sunflower State, and after there attending the public schools he completed a course in the Campbell Normal School, at Holton. In preparation for his chosen profession he entered the medical school of Northwestern University, in the City of Chicago, and in this institution he was graduated in 1889, with the degree of doctor of medicine. For about a year thereafter he was engaged in practice at Rio, Columbia County, Wisconsin, and he then returned to Kansas and established himself in practice at Hope, Dickinson County, when, in 1891, he removed to Lost Springs, Marion County, that state, where he continued his successful practice until 1893, when he cast in his lot with the pioneers of the newly organized Territory of Oklahoma, an action that he has never found cause to regret, the while he has maintained the most loyal appreciation of and interest in the vigorous young com- monwealth within whose borders he became a resident in the early pioneer epoch of its history.

From the year of his arrival in Oklahoma Doctor Blesh was engaged in the general practice of medicine and surgery at Guthrie, the territorial capital, until 1908, the year following the admission of the state to the Union, when he removed to Oklahoma City, which has since represented his home and been the stage of his earnest and effective professional labors. When the medical department of the University of Oklahoma was established Doctor Blesh was appointed associate pro- fessor of general and clinical surgery in the same, and with the exception of the year which he devoted to post- graduate study in Europe, he has since continued the popular and valned incumbent of this position. He was formerly a member of the board of directors of the Post- Graduate Medical College of Oklahoma City, and since 1911 he has been chief surgeon of Wesley Hospital, as previously noted in this article.

Doctor Blesh is a fellow and now a governor also of the American College of Surgeons, of which national association of surgeons he was one of the organizers. He is actively identified also with the American Medical Association; the Medical Association of the Southwest, of which he was president in 1911-12; the Oklahoma State Medical Society, of which he was president in 1903-4; and the Oklahoma County Medical Society. The doctor has made many valuable contributions to the standard and periodical literature of his profession and has thus "stolen time" to be of assistance to his fellow practitioners and to advance the interests of medical and surgical science in general. Among a few of his prolific and admirable articles may be mentioned those designated by the following titles: "Puerperal Fever:

Etiology, Prophylaxis and Treatment," published in the American Practitioner, May, 1889. "Sprains: Con- sequences, Treatment, " published in the Medical Record, February, 1893. "What of the Future." President's address before the Oklahoma Territorial Medical Associ- ation; published in Oklahoma News-Journal, 1904. "Pertinent Facts About Appendicitis," published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, January, 1908. "Sur- gical Role of the Pneumococcus," published in Okla- homa State Medical Journal, March, 1909. "Chorion- Epithelioma," published in the Texas State Journal of Medicine, March, 1909. "Diffuse Suppurative Periton- itis, "' published in the Oklahoma State Medical Journal, October, 1909. "Surgical Colon," published in the Proctologist and Medical Journal, June, 1913. "Indi- cations and Limitations of Local Anesthesia, "' published in the Medical Journal of the Southwest, August, 1913. "Mechanics of Perineal Repair,"' published in 1915, in the Journal of the Southwest.

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