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 50

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 50

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In the Masonic fraternity Doctor Blesh has completed the circle of each the York to Royal Arch and Scottish Rites, and his affiliations are here briefly noted: Guthrie Lodge, No. 3, (now No. 47), Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is a past master; Chapter No. 6, Royal Arch Masons, in Guthrie; the Consistory of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, in which he has received the thirty-second degree; and India Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. The doctor is a knight commander of the Court of Honor, is actively identified with the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, and in his home city holds membership in the Men's Dinner Club, and the Golf and Country Club. His residence in the capital city is at 1316 West Seven- teenth Street and in addition to this property he is the owner of other valuable real estate in the city.

On the 6th of June, 1890, Doctor Blesh wedded Miss Theodora Belle Pickett, daughter of William Pickett, of Frankfort, Kansas, and they have three children- Theodora Belle, Rudolph P. and Howard K. The only daughter is now the wife of J. Gerald Mraz, of Oklahoma City.

JAMES B. DIGGS. Since he identified himself with the pioneer bar of the old Cherokee Strip more than twenty years ago, the career of James B. Diggs has brought him a constantly enlarging volume of legal business and a reputation second to none among the able members of the Tulsa bar. Mr. Diggs has lived in Tulsa for a num- ber of years, and has a commendable record for straight- forward and high professional conduct, and his success has been gained with honor and without animosity. He possesses a broad and comprehensive knowledge of the law, and though at various times he has interested him- self actively in democratic politics, he has concerned him- self chiefly with the pressing and constantly broadening duties of his profession.

His family and antecedents were such that he could well derive inspiration and encouragement for his in- dividual success. He was born at Cahaba, Dallas County, Alabama, October 20, 1862, a son of James S. and Katherine (Evans) Diggs. His father was born at New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1839, received his early education in that city, and began the study of law there. James S. Diggs was a descendant from Edward Digges, who was the fourth colonial governor of Virginia. Another branch of the ancestry was the notable Brisbane family of England. At the beginning of the Civil war James S. Diggs volunteered as a soldier, joining the celebrated Cahaba Rifles, and was with his command until the end of the war except when detailed and put in charge of several government concerns by the Confederate authori- ties. James S. Diggs was a son of James B. Diggs, who

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was a wealthy planter and banker of New Orleans, and had fought under Andrew Jackson at New Orleans as colonel of the provisional mounted guard.

James S. Diggs completed his education at Pough- keepsie College at New York, and after returning South engaged in practice at Cahaba, Alabama. Later he re- moved to Selma, when the county seat of Dallas County was removed to that place, and continued to be engaged in active practice until the time of his death on January 3, 1893. A democrat up to the close of the war, he then allied himself with the republican party, and served four years as solicitor of Dallas County district. He was married in 1860 to Miss Katherine Evans, who was born at Nashville, Tennessee, and who died March 11, 1908, at the age of sixty-seven. She was a granddaughter of R. W. Whyte, justice of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, and was also a niece of Judges George R. and James L. Evans of Selma, Alabama, and her family was allied with the Donelsons and Jacksons of Tennessee. To the marriage of James S. and Katherine Diggs were born five sons, four of them still living. Next to the oldest in the family, James B. Diggs entered the public schools of Selma, Alabama, and subsequently began the study of law under the capable direction of his father. He was admitted to the bar in 1884, and practiced at Selma until 1893. In that year he came West and settled at Perry, Oklahoma, about the time of the opening of the Cherokee Strip. He made himself a factor in the bar and in citizenship in that locality until the fall of 1905, and during that time was assistant attorney of "P'' County, afterwards Noble County. On March 11, 1894, he was appointed probate judge of Noble County, and acted in that capacity for the remainder of the term.

After leaving Perry Mr. Diggs spent a short time at Pawnee and then came, on August 6, 1906, to Tulsa. His offices are on the seventh floor of the Central Build- ing. Since October, 1908, he has been head of the legal department of the Gulf Pipe Line and affiliated com- panies in Oklahoma. Since his arrival he has been one of the busy lawyers of Tulsa, and among the numerous and interesting cases which he has conducted to a favorable conclusion it is difficult to specialize, he having appeared in most of the leading cases in the state. As a citizen he has done liis full share in assisting movements for civic betterment and progress, and in political matters is a democrat.

On June 24, 1908, Mr. Diggs married Miss Edith Maclary, a native of Maryland. To them have been horn two sons: James B., Jr., born March 7, 1910, and Robert Maclary, born January 14, 1912.

HON. VANNER LAMB. From the time he entered upon his career as a lad, Vanner Lamb has always depended upon his own resources and abilities to gain him those things which he has desired in life. With no advantages save a public school education, he was content to accept conditions as he found them, to make his own opportu- nities and to work faithfully and energetically toward the attainment of his ambitions, and gradually has worked upward to a substantial position in the business world, and to the mayoralty of one of the most prosper- ous and progressive' cities of Southeast Oklahoma, Wag- oner.

Mayor Lamb was born on a farm in Grant County, Arkansas, November 20, 1872, and is a son of Leroy and Elizabeth (Headdon) Lamb. His father, a native of Georgia, was brought as a boy to Arkansas by his par- ents, and in that state met and married Elizabeth Headdon, who had been born in that state, a daughter of parents who had come from Tennessee. Leroy Lamb was a shoemaker by trade, and followed that vocation at various times, although he also devoted much of his

attention to farming and raising stock, and it was on the home farm in Arkansas that Vanner Lamb was reared. He attended the public schools of Grant County until he was fourteen years of age, at which time he went to Malvern, Arkansas, and for three years worked at the trade of shoemaker, associated with his father. His next venture was in railroading, as a mechanic, a capac- ity in which he was employed for six years, at the end of which time he decided he was ready to embark in business life as the owner of his own establishment, and accordingly, December 7, 1894, came to Wagoner, Oklahoma, where he founded a modest shoemaking shop. Excellent workmanship and fidelity to all engagements contributed to the success of this enterprise, which devel- oped into quite a pretentious retail shoe store, which Mr. Lamb conducted until 1904, at that time disposing of his interests to embark in the hay and grain and real-estate business, with which he has been identified to the present time. In this direction he has rapidly ad- vanced to an acknowledged position of prestige and has large and important interests, which include the owner- ship of valuable farming land in Wagoner and adjoining counties. From the time. of attaining his majority, Mr. Lamb has been a stanch and active democrat, and in recent years has been prominent in civic affairs of Wag- oner. After capably serving two terms as a member of the Wagoner City Council, in 1914 he was the choice of his fellow-citizens for the mayoralty, being elected to that office for a term of three years. As in his vari- ous other connections, Mayor Lamb has shown himself one who can accomplish things, and under his administra- tion the civic affairs of Wagoner have developed and prospered. He has been prominent in Masonry, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree, and is a Knight Templar and a Shriner.

Mayor Lamb was married in 1897, at Wagoner, to Miss Frank McAnnally, of this city, daughter of W. H. McAnnally, the first white settler of Wagoner, who came here from his native state of Alabama, and was married to a native of the Cherokee Nation. To Mr. and Mrs. Lamb there have been born a daughter, Willie, and two sons, S. K. and Charles.

TOM G. TAYLOR. In the vital little City of Idabel, judicial center of McCurtain County, Tom G. Taylor is editor and publisher of the Democrat-Record, one of the vigorous newspapers of the state and one which he has made an effective exponent of local interests as well as of the cause of the democratic party. That he is a liberal and progressive citizen, popular and influen- tial, needs no further voucher than the statement that he figured as representative of McCurtain County in the lower House of the Oklahoma Legislature in its Fifth General Assembly, that of 1914-15, his re-election for this session having come after he had impressed a dis- tinct influence upon state governmental affairs during his previous term as a member of the Fourth Legisla- ture. His high civic ideals and broad views of economic and governmental policies have been definitely vitalized and matured through his long and active association with the newspaper business, and he is well equipped for leadership in popular sentiment and action. Suc- cessful in private business activities, he proved loyal and successful as a legislator, and his record in the lat- ter connection redounds to his credit and reflects honor on the county and state of his adoption.

The fine old Empire State of the South has given a due quota of valuable citizens to the new common- wealth of Oklahoma, and Mr. Taylor takes due pride in claiming that state as the place of his nativity, besides which he is a scion of one of the fine old families whose

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

nanie has been long and worthily identified with the annals of the South. Mr. Taylor was born in Cobb County, Georgia, in the year 1875, and is a son of Alfred P. and Alice (Hales) Taylor, the other surviving chil- dren being: Arthur P., who is a prosperous fruit- grower at DeQueen, Sevier County, Arkansas; W. H. Taylor, with his brother Arthur; Charles E., who is identified with railway service at Shreveport, Louisiana; Alfred W., who is attending school at DeQueen, Arkan- sas; Mrs. William W. Robinson, whose husband is in the United States mail service at DeQueen; and Miss Jessie, who is a successful teacher in the public schools at DeQueen.

The father of Mr. Taylor was born in South Carolina, and became a successful farmer, horticulturist and contractor, his operations having been successively in the states of Georgia, Alabama and Arkansas. He was a boyhood friend of the late Hon. Henry W. Grady, the distinguished Georgia statesman and orator, was himself a man of fine intellectuality and was influential in public affairs. He served two terms in the Legis- lature of Alabama, during a period of stormy conflict between the old-line democrats and the political or- ganization of the Farmers' Alliance, of which latter he was a prominent representative.

The career of Tom G. Taylor has signally shown the consistency of the statement that the discipline of a newspaper office is equivalent to a liberal education, and he attributes quite as much to such discipline as to that received in the public schools for the broad scope of his concrete information as well as for the rein- forcement of his opinions concerning business affairs and public policies. By attending school a portion of the time in his boyhood and youth and in the interim find- ing employment in newspaper and printing offices he completed what may well be termed a liberal and prac- tical education. At the age of eleven years he entered upon a virtual apprenticeship to the printer's trade, in the office of the Edwardsville Standard at Edwardsville, Alabama, and when but seventeen years of age he established at Cullman, that state, a paper to which he gave the title of the People's Protest, the same being made an organ and mouthpiece for the Farmers' Al- liance. In the meanwhile his father had purchased the plant of a paper known as the Plowboy, in Cleburne County, Alabama, and after remaining a year at Cull- man the subject of this review assumed the practical charge of the paper of which his father had become the owner. In 1905 the family removed to Sevier County, Arkansas, and there Mr. Taylor became asso- ciated with his father in the manufacturing of lumber, in farming and fruit-growing and in the general mer- chandise business. They were pioneers in the develop- ment of the fruit industry in that section of the state and produced fine varieties of pears, plums and peaches, on their exhibition of which they received premiums at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, in the City of St. Louis. Through their efforts and pronounced success great interest in horticulture was aroused in Sevier County, and within its borders is now to be found prob- ably the largest peach orchard in the world, the same comprising 4,700 acres.

In 1907 Mr. Taylor purchased the DeQueen Democrat, a weekly paper published at DeQueen, Sevier County, and in 1910 he removed the plant to Idabel, Oklahoma, and utilized the same in the founding of the Idabel Democrat-Record, of which he has since continued pub- lisher and editor. With his original plant he later con- solidated that of the MeCurtain County Record, which had been published at Valliant, and still later assimilated

in a similar way the plant and business of the Idabel Beacon-Times, with the result that, with his policy of keeping his printing and newspaper office up to high standard in all departments, he now has one of the largest and most modern printing plants in the south- eastern part of the state.

In 1912 Mr. Taylor was elected a representative of MeCurtain County in the Fourth General Assembly of the Oklahoma State Legislature, after having made a somewhat vigorous campaign against the socialist party contingent in his county, and that without assist- ance on the part of other democratic candidates. In the Fourth Legislature Mr. Taylor was the joint author of a bill for the granting of pensions to former soldiers in the Confederate armies, but though this bill passed the house it was defeated by remaining on the calendar of the senate until the close of the session. He was the author also of a bill revising the fish and game laws of the state, and after its enactment this measure was vetoed by Governor Cruce, though most of its important features were embodied in measures enacted by the Fifth Legislature. The estimate placed upon the services of Mr. Taylor was significantly shown in 1914, when he was re-elected to the Legislature by the largest majority 'ever given to a candidate for that office in MeCurtain County. In the Fifth Legis- lature Mr. Taylor was made chairman of the committee on publie printing, and assigned to membership also on the following named committees of the House: State and school lands, public buildings, state militia, rela- tions to the Five Civilized Tribes and other Indians, fish and game, retrenchment and reform, and capitol building. At this session Mr. Taylor was the author of a bill establishing the landlord's lien, of a bill creating a poll tax, and of a bill segregating the funds derived from taxes received from white and negro tax-payers and prorating them according to the respective white and black elements of population, this measure being in harmony with laws now in effect in Mississippi, Ala- bama and Texas. Representative Taylor also gave spe- cial attention to the championship of a bill requiring all boards handling public money to publish monthly statements of their receipts and disbursements, as well as of a bill requiring persons applying for articles of incorporation to publish a statement of the objects of the proposed corporation in newspapers in the county where it was to transact business. He also supported vigorously a bill providing that all state printing shall be done in the state and authorizing the State Board of Public Affairs to fix the prices for printing.

During the period of his residence in Oklahoma Mr. Taylor has been an ardent worker in behalf of the cause of the democratic party and has attended as a delegate each of its successive state conventions in Oklahoma during this period. He had previously been active in political affairs in Arkansas, and he is well fortified in his convictions as to economic and govern- mental policies. He is the very incarnation of the spirit of progress and takes a lively and liberal interest in all that tends to advance the civic and material wel- fare of his home city, county and state. Mr. Taylor is a member of the Idabel Retailers' Association, and is actively identified with the Oklahoma Press Associa- tion and the Southeastern Oklahoma Press Association. He is affiliated with both the lodge and encampment bodies of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in the latter of which he has served as high priest, and he holds membership also in the Woodmen of the World, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Improved Order of Red Men, and the Woodmen's Circle.

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

WILLIAM VINCENT PROVOST. Perhaps there are 110 more progressive and enterprising agriculturists than those who, like William Vincent Provost, of Lambert, have made their own way, unaided, in the world. The necessity for self support seems to develop in some men latent abilities which would perhaps have lain dormant under other circumstances. At any rate, Mr. Provost started to make his own living when he was but ten years of age, and the success which he has made of life would seem to indicate that the training in self reliance was au excellent one. At this time he is the owner of 360 acres of well cultivated land, situated three miles from Dacoma, on which he has resided continuously since his arrival in 1893.

William Vincent Provost was born May 17, 1862, on his father's farm in Tazewell County, Illinois, and is a son of Lawrence R. and Carrie M. (High) Provost. His father was born in 1834, at Newark, New Jersey, at which place his parents, natives of France, had settled on their arrival in the United States. As a young man he learned the trade of carriage maker and followed that vocation in his native state and elsewhere, and at the outbreak of the Civil war was living at Norfolk, Virginia. A stanch friend of the North and a bitter enemy of the institution of slavery, he was accused of being connected with the underground railway, the famous organization which assisted escaping slaves to run away from their masters and reach the safe haven of Canada, and the suspicion of being connected with this institution, caused the threats of the Southern sympathizers to become so strong that he deemed it better to seek a residence elsewhere and accordingly went to Tazewell County, Illinois. There he was engaged in carriagemaking for a time and then moved to Decatur, Illinois. In 1868 Mr. Provost removed to Kansas, where he homesteaded a claim in Osage County, but remained only until 1871, when he went to Goshen, Indiana, resumed his trade, and for eight years conducted a carriage factory. At the end of that time he returned to Decatur, in the vicinity of which city he is now engaged in growing fruit. When he first arrived in Illinois after being driven from Virginia, Mr. Provost was without canital and in a community where he was unknown. A life of industry and perseverance, however, has gained him a handsome competence, and he is now accounted one of the substantial men of his locality. Mr. Provost has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Carrie High, with whom he was united in 1851, and who died in 1870. They became the parents of five sons and two daughters: James; Emma; Jasper; William Vincent, of this review; Mary; George and Lawrence, all of whom are living. In 1874 Mr. Provost was married the second time, his wife being Nannie Scroggs, and to this union there were born two daughters, Sadie and Daisy, who also survive.

The early educational training of William Vincent Provost was decidedly limited in its character, as his father was in modest circumstances, and such assistance as the boy could give was an appreciated help in the family resources. He attended the public schools at times, but as he began to make his own way when ten years of age. the greater part of his training came in the schools of hard work and experience. He was sixteen years of age when he returned to Kansas, and there for a number of years worked as a farm hand in various communities, always showing himself faithful and industrious and winning the friendship and commenda- tion of his emplovers. In 1893 he came to Oklahoma and settled on Government land, three miles from where Dacoma now stands, where he has continued to reside to the present time. At the present time he has

360 acres of rich and productive land, all under cultiva- tion, where he is carrying on diversified farming, as well as breeding Jersey cattle, in which department he has met with decided success. His property has been improved with modern buildings, substantial in character and hand- some in architecture, which not only add to its appearance but also enhance its value. He is a firm believer in the use of modern machinery and methods, is shrewd, careful and persistent in his operations and displays great vigor in his undertakings, but is honorable and straightfor- ward in his transactions and has won the confidence of those with whom he has been associated. His energy and business acumen have carried him into other lines of enterprise, and at present he is a member of the board of directors of the Bank of Dacoma and of the Dacoma Grain and Elevator Company, prominent enterprises of this community.

Mr. Provost has been twice married, his first union taking place August 4, 1883, when he was united with Miss Carrie M. Hopkins, who was born July 30, 1866, in Pennsylvania. She died February 8, 1909, having been the mother of thirteen children, as follows: Warbass R., born November 21, 1885; James E., born November, 11, 1886; Clarence, born May 14, 1888; Grace, born June 1, 1890; Muriel M., born November 15, 1892; Caroline M., born February 9, 1894; Wilhelmina, born April 14, 1896; Emma, born February 19, 1897; Mae, born July 24, 1901, who died in infancy; George Wesley, born November 19, 1902; Dora, born August 27, 1904; Lenora, born December 14, 1905; and Nina, born December 9,. 1908. Mr. Provost's second marriage occurred April 6, 1911, to Mrs. Anna D. Hollenbaugh, a native of Penn- sylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Provost are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

HON. LEWIS HUNTER. A resolute and aggressive member of the Fifth Legislature, where he made his impress on current legislation, Lewis Hunter comes from Comanche County, is an able member of the Law- ton bar, and has been identified with that section of the state since the opening of the Kiowa aud Comanche · Reservation.

Born on a farm near Greenville, Illinois, February 18, 1878, Mr. Hunter is a son of Robert M. and Eliz- abeth (Williford) Hunter. His parents, who now live at Lawton, were natives of Illinois, where his father for many years was a prosperous farmer. The earliest ancestor of the family in America was Thomas Hunter, who came from Tyrone County, Ireland, and settled in the colonies during the Revolution. Mr. Hunter's mater- nal ancestors were from England, and on coming to America settled in Virginia. During the Civil war both the grandparents of Mr. Hunter, though living in the North, were sympathizers with the cause of the South.

As a boy he attended the public schools, and later the University of Valparaiso in Indiana, graduating in the scientific course in 1899 and in the classical course in 1900. He had already begun the reading of law in a private office, and in 1901 was admitted to the bar. In the same year he came to Lawton and began his professional career there. During the days preparatory to the opening of the Kiowa and Comanche Indian lands he registered at Lawton, but did not draw a lucky num- ber. Later he bought a homestead in what was known as the "Big Pasture" in the southern part of Comanche County. Mr. Hunter is accounted one of the most successful young lawyers in Southwest Oklahoma, and his particular forte is the criminal law.

He was one of the organizers of the first Democratic Club in Lawton, the organization being completed in his office. Congressman Ferris and United States Sen-

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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