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 51

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 51

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).

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

ator Gore, then young lawyers, were among the charter members, and George D. Key of Tulsa, twice a can- didate for attorney general, was its first president. In 1903, when W. J. Bryan visited the new Town of Lawton and was guest at a banquet of democrats, Mr. Hunter was also a guest of honor and delivered an address on Jackson Democracy. He has been an active participant in every democratic campaign in his county since locating there, makes a powerful appeal whether in the court room or in a political speech, and in 1912 took the stump in favor of Champ Clark's nomination for President.

Elected to the Legislature in 1914, Mr. Hunter was made a member of Judiciary Committee No. 2, Con- gressional Redistricting, School Lands, Oil and Gas, Geological Survey and Levees, Drains, Ditches and Irri- gation. He introduced a bill forbidding the taxing of mortgage indebtedness of homesteads, which was passed in the House of Representatives, but failed in the Senate. Another bill of his made an appropriation for the Cam- eron School of Agriculture at Lawton. Mr. Hunter is an ardent state's rights democrat, and led the fight in the House against a resolution favoring national prohib- ition on the ground that such a measure trespassed on state's rights, robbed the states of police power and centralized the government in opposition to the prin- ciples of Jeffersonian democracy. He also fought another bill giving the governor power to suspend and dismiss elected county, city or state officials found remiss.

Mr. Hunter was married in 1903 at Lawton to Mrs. Nannie J. Wilson, a native of Boonville, Indiana. They have one child, Robert Thomas, aged seven. A brother of Mr. Hunter, Jesse E., a teacher in Comanche County, died in 1913. His four living brothers are: George L., a teacher at Lawton; John G., superintendent of schools at Faxon, Oklahoma; Alvin A., a farmer at Fletcher, Oklahoma; and Willis M., a farmer at Lawton. Mr. Hunter is a member of the Presbyterian Church, of the Masonic Lodge and of the Comanche County and the Oklahoma Bar associations.

GABRIEL N. WRIGHT. A character for vigorous and . successful management has marked the entire career of Gabriel N. Wright, now one of the foremost business men and citizens of Tulsa. Mr. Wright is a young man in years, but has a record of accomplishment which might well become one many years his senior. He is the execu- tive head of the Merchants and Planters Bank of Tulsa, has a large business as a merchant and manufacturer, and is usually found associated with any movements for local betterment or upbuilding.

Gabriel N. Wright was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas, March 2, 1877, the youngest of the five living children of Gabriel N., Sr., and Martha R. (Woodruff) Wright. Both parents were natives of Georgia, the father passing away at the age of seventy-six and the mother at sixty- five. During the Civil war his father was engaged in the manufacture of potash, an important commodity for use in the powder mills, for the southern government. At the close of the war he left Georgia and located at Fort Smith, Arkansas. By profession he was an archi- tect and mechanical engineer, and after coming to Arkan- sas took the contract and built the first structures on the campus of the State University at Fayetteville. After following his business as a builder and contractor for a number of years he bought a plantation near Van Buren and became extensively engaged in the raising of cotton. Subsequently he removed to Oklahoma City, and invested largely in real estate in that locality, but lived retired for several years before his death. He was a democrat in politics.

Gabriel N. Wright, Jr., grew up in Arkansas, partly

in the City of Fort Smith and partly on his father's plantation, was educated in the public schools and after- wards took a course in a business college at Oklahoma City. His first regular employment was in a lumber yard, from which he drifted into clerking for a merchan- dise house at Oklahoma City. Still later he was advanced to the position of manager of a department store, and varied that employment with travel on the road as a com- mercial salesman, for a dry goods house. Mr. Wright was one of the early settlers at Tulsa, having located there in 1905, when that town was just beginning its great boom. Here he opened a stock of clothing and still maintains that business, though it is now only one of his several activities.

In 1909 Mr. Wright became one of the leading stock- holders in the Merchants and Planters Bank of Tulsa and was soon afterwards elected president, an office he still holds. The Merchants and Planters Bank at the close of 1914 showed total resources of over $700,000. It has a capital of $50,000, with surplus and undivided : profits of over $15,000, and the item of deposits figures at over $650,000. The list of directors include some of the leading business men in Tulsa and vicinity, and the other officers beside Mr. Wright are: E. L. Talman, J. Truman Nixon and F. M. Wooden, vice presidents, and F. A. Haver, cashier.

Mr. Wright is also president of the Wright Producing Company, an important firm engaged in bringing in and | developing gas and oil wells in this vicinity. He is presi- dent of the Oklahoma Glazed Cement Pipe Company of Tulsa, the largest concern of its kind in this section of the state, and its products have a steady and growing demand in Tulsa and surrounding country and towns.

In this brief sketch only the major activities which have engaged Mr. Wright's attention have been noted, and Tulsa people say that for ten years he has been a ready and willing factor in helping to forward any move- ment to give Tulsa a better position among Oklahoma cities. At the present time he is serving as president of the Commercial Club, is a charter member of the Tulsa Lodge of Elks and is also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. Politically his associations are with the demo- cratic party.

On November 25, 1905, Mr. Wright married Eliza M. Stinson. Mrs. Wright is a native of Texas. They are the parents of three children: Norman, Jeannette and Catherine.

MICHAEL B. HICKMAN. Prominent in democratie poli- tics in Oklahoma, Mr. Hickman has served as postmaster of Coalgate since August 30, 1913. He is president of the Coalgate Publishing Company and for one term gave efficient service as mayor of Coalgate. For many years he has been connected with the upbuilding of Coal County and has just reason to be proud of the fact that to his efforts can be traced many a substantial enter- prise or advancement contributing greatly to the growth and prosperity of this section of the state. In every sense he is a representative citizen and a business man of marked capacity.

At Paris, Logan County, Arkansas, February 7. 1876, occurred the birth of Michael B. Hickman, who is a son of the Rev. I. B. and Cora (Rhyne) Hickman, both of whom were born and reared in Arkansas, but who are now residents of Coalgate. Since locating in Okla- homa the Reverend Hickman has devoted considerable time to the profession of teaching, and he is now preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, at Coalgate. Reverend Hickman and three of his broth- ers gave valiant service in the Confederate army during the Civil war, as did also one of Mrs. Hickman's broth- ers. Seven children were born to Reverend and Mrs.

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

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Hickman, as follows: John R. is a member of the State Senate; Horace is a printer in the Record-Register office at Coalgate; Bert S. is a carpenter in Dallas, Texas; Harvey lives with his parents in Coalgate; Willie is the wife of Os M. Stevens, a sketch of whose career appears elsewhere in this work; Irene is the wife of and Frank Keller, a member of the Record-Register staff; and Michael B. is he whose name initiates this review. In the public schools of Arkansas Michael B. Hickman received his primary educational discipline, which was further supplemented by a practical course of training in a printshop. His career as a newspaperman was be- gun in Booneville, Arkansas, and in 1901 he removed to Coalgate and purchased the plant of the Courier, a weekly paper, which he finally sold but repurchased sev- eral years later. Subsequently he bought an interest in the Independent, a paper that had been founded by George E. Jahn, of Coalgate, and the name of this publication was changed to the Record. In 1910 J. Y. Brice opened up the office of the Register, which he sold to Mr. Hickman the following year, the latter con- solidating it with the Record under the name of the Record-Register, which paper is being published at the present time with both daily and weekly editions. The morale of this paper is of the highest standard and through its columns are endorsed many improvements. for the good of Coalgate and the surrounding district. Not many years ago, when the coal mines of the county were in operation and all conditions were prosperous, the element of society that favored a wide-open town as regards the sale of intoxicating liquors was in the great majority. The Hickman publication took a stand for better morals and prohibition and in the course of time swerved public opinion until the majority favored a closed town and prohibition.

Mr. Hickman has been a leader in the ranks of the democratic party in his county for many years and his paper has been one of the foremost in the eastern part of the state in advocacy of the principles of the party. For years he served as secretary of the county election board and he has also given efficient service as secre- tary of the Coal County Democratic Central Committee. With one exception he has attended every democratic state convention since statehood. It was through his efforts that the first free school was established in Coal- gate prior to the admission of Oklahoma to the Union as a state. In 1911 his fellow-citizens honored him with election to the office of mayor of Coalgate and it was during his incumbency that the city's first pavement was laid. Many other important improvements were undertaken and the regime of the editor-inayor was a big success. On the 30th of August, 1913, in recogni- tion of the high quality of his citizenship, he was ap- pointed postmaster of Coalgate, an office he is still filling with credit to himself and to the community. He is public-spirited in every sense of the word and is held in high esteem by his fellow-citizens. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Coalgate Commercial Club and of the Okla- homa Press Association.

At Coalgate, June 3, 1903, Mr. Hickman married Miss Maggie Davidson. This union has been prolific of three children: Lucile, born in 1905; Bruce, born in 1907; and William, born in 1910.

DAVID RUSSELL LUTTRELL. In the insurance field of Oklahoma City, a name that has come rapidly to the forefront in recent years is that of D. R. Luttrell, head of the D. R. Luttrell Insurance Agency. Formerly con- nected in various capacities with financial institutions, Mr. Luttrell entered the insurance business in 1912, and in three years has developed one of the strongest

agencies in the state, representing six of the largest fire insurance companies in the world. Mr. Luttrell was born at Amissville, Virginia, May 19, 1876, and is a son of Burrell Edmond and Mary (Richie) Luttrell, natives of the Old Dominion state.

Mr. Luttrell received his education in the public schools of his native town, following which he took a complete course in a business college, and fortified with this preparation entered upon his career as a telegraph operator and stenographer. His first employment was with the Norfolk & Western Railway, but shortly re- signed this position to accept a more advantageous offer with the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad, and subsequently held important posts with the Lake Erie & Western and Wabash Railroads, in the former being chief clerk to the superintendent. Mr. Luttrell came to Oklahoma City in 1908 to accept a position as book- keeper in the Columbia Bank & Trust Company, and his capable and faithful services were recognized eight months later by his appointment to the position of pay- ing teller. When the Columbia Bank & Trust Company closed, in 1909, it was succeeded by the Central State Bank, in which Mr. Luttrell was made assistant cashier, but resigned that post a few months later to travel in the interests of the Peoples National Bank, of Kansas City, Kansas. In 1910 he was made assistant cashier of the Oklahoma State Bank, and continued to act in that capacity until resigning to establish his present business.

For some time prior to 1910, Mr. Luttrell had been interested in the sale of fire insurance, which he had carried on as a side line, and he finally decided that this field presented favorable opportunities to an euer- getic and progressive concern. Accordingly, in the year mentioned, he founded the D. R. Luttrell Insurance Agency, of which he has been the directing head for three years and which he has built up, as previously noted, to one of the foremost agencies in the state. There is a loan branch now connected with the business. Six of the largest old line fire insurance companies in the world are represented, and the business has grown steady since its modest inception, now occupying offices at Suite No. 908-10-11 Herskowitz Building. As an active, efficient, courteous, polished business man and gentleman, Mr. Luttrell stands among those at the top of the list of bright young business men in a city which does not lack for men of this character, and in the midst of stern competition has steadfastly maintained his place. Mr. Luttrell is president of the Sons of the American Revolution, which now has a membership in the state exceeding 100.

At Detroit, Michigan, July 29, 1903, Mr. Luttrell was united in marriage with Miss Edna Clark, daughter of J. W. and Mary (Rufner) Clark, of that city. The family residence is at No. 1319 West Sixteenth Street, Oklahoma City. Mr. and Mrs. Luttrell are members of the First Christian Church of Oklahoma City, and he has served the church as financial secretary and is now a member of the official board.

L. R. HUGHEY. The science of stock breeding, under the ideal conditions offered in the agricultural regions of Oklahoma, has attracted the activities of some of the most progressive of the farmers of this state, who have directed their operations in such a capable and intelligent manner that this state is becoming famous for its stock farms. One of the foremost of these is to be found in Alfalfa County, thirteen miles south of the City of Alva, where is located the breeding farm of L. R. Hughey, a man who has made a lifelong study of his vocation and whose success is strong evidence of the value of a

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scientific training for those who make livestock growing their vocation.

Mr. Hughey is a product of the farm and has spent his entire life amid agricultural surroundings. He was born on his father's homestead place in Clinton County, Ohio, November 12, 1874, his parents being T. H. and Sarah (Botts) Hughey, who are natives of the Buckeye State. Their lives have been passed in the pursuits of the soil, first in Ohio, and later in Nebraska, to which state they migrated in 1884, and from which they came to Oklahoma in 1899, being at the present time residents of Texas County. They have been industrious and energetie people all of their lives and are now in comfortable circumstances, passing their declining years surrounded by the comforts of life. They were married in Ohio in 1870, and have been the parents of seven sons and three daughters, namely: Elbridge; L. R., of this notice; Charles Otterbein; Alvira, who is deceased; William M .; Harley; Leota, who is deceased; Albert; Izette; and one son who died in infancy.

The early education of L. R. Hughey was secured in Clinton County, Ohio, where he divided his boyhood between attending the publie schools and work on his father's farm until he was ten years of age. In that year he accompanied the family to Nebraska, and there he completed his education in the public schools and continued his operations in agricultural work. From early boyhood he was interested in the raising and breeding of stock, and as he grew older he became con- vinced that scientific methods were the solution of the successful breeding of animals, and particularly of horses and jacks. Accordingly, he began to apply himself to the study of the subject, securing all information avail- able pertaining to the matter, and finally entered Graham's Scientific Breeding School, of Kansas City, Missouri, where he took a complete course and was duly graduated. In 1900 he left Nebraska and came to Okla- homa, where he purchased a property in Alfalfa County, 41/2 miles from Dacoma and thirteen miles southeast of Alva, where he commenced the establishment of an up-to-date stock farm. As the years have passed he has added from time to his buildings and equipment until he now has a model farm of the most modern character, complete in every respect, with large breeding barns, all appliances and appurtenances of the most approved nature, and a number of innovations which are inventions of his own. Here have been bred some of the finest horses and jacks that liave come out of the State of Oklahoma. In his stable now are to be found such noble and valuable animals as "Moselli, " an imported stallion, American No. 5117, Belgian stud book No. 58726, imported from Belgium in July, 1910, by Finch Brothers, of Vernon and Joliet, Illinois, and said to be one of the finest Belgian draft horses in this country; and "Gover- nor Hadley," a jack, No. 29292, a registered Black Mammoth animal, which was sired by "Cyclone II," a Missouri animal. Mr. Hughey holds yearly demonstra- tions, during which breeders come from all parts of the country. In his own particular field he has gained a rapidly-growing reputation, of which he may be well proud, for it has been gained through his own unaided efforts and the following out of ideas which originated with him.

Mr. Hughey was married April 15, 1895, to Miss Carrie Peas, who was born at Victoria, Illinois, daughter of Alonzo and Emily (Strong) Peas, of Johnson County, Nebraska. Four children were born to this union: Lynn LeRoy, Harold and Charles, who are deceased; and Rozella, who was born June 25, 1904, and is now attending the public schools. Mr. Hughey and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church,

in the work of which he has taken a keen interest, having been superintendent of the Sunday school for five years. His fraternal connection is with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

JOHN O. MITCHELL. Ten years has seen the making of Tulsa as a city and commercial center of Oklahoma. Even for the Southwest, Tulsa's growth has been re- markable. It has been well said that men not buildings and material things make a city, and wonderful though Tulsa's position and resources are, it has required the faith, enthusiasm and enterprise of such men as John O. Mitchell to produce the modern Tulsa. Hand in hand with his extended business activities has gone a public spirit which has kept a continuous directing force in those movements most vital to Tulsa's prosperity. It was a singularly fitting recognition of his business and civic leadership when he was called to become the presi- dent of the first commission government in Tulsa, and as Tulsa was the first city in the state to acquire that progressive type of municipal organization he was the first commission mayor in Oklahoma.

Prior to his removal to Tulsa in 1904 Mr. Mitchell's life and activities were centered largely in Southern Missouri. He was born in Dade County in that section · of the state October 22, 1862, a son of DeWitt C. and Nancy (Carey) Mitchell, who were natives of Tennessee. His father was born on the Holston River not far from Knoxville in 1833, and died in 1880 when but forty-seven years of age. In 1855 he removed to Dade County, Mis- souri, became a pioneer farmer and stock raiser, and was content to be recognized as a substantial agricul- turist, and never entered politics for the sake of office. He was a republican, during the Civil war participated as a soldier in the Union army, and was in the crucial battle of Wilson's Creek on August 10, 1861, in which the lamented General Lyons lost his life. Mrs. Mitchell was born at Jefferson, Tennessee, and died in 1908. Of her ten children, nine are still living.

The third in order of birth, John O. Mitchell, spent his early life in Southern Missouri, attended the publie schools and was also a student at Ozark College. Like many other successful men he began his career as a school teacher, and for eight years had various schools under his charge. In the meantime he was also work- ing at farming and stock raising, and also operated a general merchandise store. For many years his interests were chiefly as a farmer, and he developed his holdings to large proportions. He is still recognized as one of the leading live stock men in Dade County, and for a number of years bought cattle, hogs and mules and was frequently seen in the Kansas City market. Mr. Mitchell still has extensive holdings in Southern Missouri, owning about 1,400 acres near Lockwood, a farm from which he produced in 1915, 4,000 bushels of wheat, and also keeps 180 head of cattle and 200 hogs. He was also identified with the Dade County Bank, and was one of its directors until his removal to Tulsa in August, 1904. The first political honors he ever received were in his native state. Without solicitation on his part he was nominated as a candidate for the General Assembly 011 the democratic ticket in a strong republican county. Congressman David DeArmond was a candidate on the same ticket. Mr. Mitchell's popularity and reputation was such that in spite of normal conditions he lost the election by only eighty votes. He was a member of the convention that nominated David Francis for gor- ernor of Missouri at Sedalia.

With an unusual breadth of experience and with ex- tensive resources in a business way Mr. Mitchell became an aggressive factor in the development of Tulsa as soon

John Omitehule

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as he located there. That same year he was a Tulsa committeeman in the delegation which went from Okla- homa to Washington for the purpose of advocating joint statehood, and the committee's decision was one of the important factors in influencing the deliberations of Congress, which less than two years later enacted the statehood law for Oklahoma and Indian Territory. In 1906 Mr. Mitchell was elected mayor of Tulsa on the democratic ticket and served one term. In 1910, after the legislature had granted the city a commission char- ter, he was elected mayor and his personal influence was important in making this municipal experiment a suc- cess in Oklahoma, and as a result many other cities have since followed the example of Tulsa and are now efficiently governed by the commission charter.

Only a brief outline can be attempted of Mr. Mitchell 's varied business associations with Tulsa and Oklahoma. He became interested in the Illinois Oil and Gas Com- pany of Red Fork, which built a brick plant using for fuel some of the abundant natural gas produced in that section and the brick was shipped in large quantities to Tulsa during its great building boom and also to other points in Oklahoma. In 1907 he was one of the organizers of the Central National Bank of Tulsa, was elected its first vice president, and still holds that office. He was vice president and one of the large stockholders in the Barnes Oil Company, which in 1909 sold its interests for $750,000 to the Prairie Oil & Gas Com- pany. He was also at one time owner of the Galbreath Oil & Gas Company of Tulsa, which subsequently was sold to the Oklahoma Natural Gas Company. Mr. Mitchell was associated with that pioneer oil man, Robert Galbreath, in the development of the famous Glenn Pool, and he still retains large holdings in the oil and gas producing companies in Northeastern Okla- homa. Outside of Oklahoma Mr. Mitchell has valuable business property on Walnut Street in Kansas City,' owns a half interest in the Mitchell & Barnes Addition on Grand Avenue in the City of Dallas, Texas, a prop- erty valued at $200,000, and he laid out and developed the suburb of West Tulsa, and also has extensive real estate holdings in Tulsa proper. Mr. Mitchell is presi- dent of the Democratic Printing Company of Tulsa, All who are at all familiar with the development of Tulsa within the last decade freely credit Mr. Mitchell with a most important share in the business and civic activities of the city. His name is usually found at the top of any roll of supporters of public spirited move- ments, and it has been his privilege to have initiated enterprises that have been of marked material benefit to the city.

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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