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 6

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 6

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).

ANDREW P. WATSON. The well-deserved title of "Po- tato King of Oklahoma" has been won by Andrew P. Watson, who from the year 1900 has been carrying on extensive operations in the growing of this vegetable in the vicinity of Shawnee, Pottawatomie County, and who, as head of the Potato Growers' Association, has accomplished much in the interests of the tuber shippers

966

HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

of the state. At the present time Mr. Watsou is a resi- dent of Oklahoma City, where he is a member of the State Corporation Commission, on which body he has served since Oklahoma's acquirement of statehood, in 1907. .

Mr. Watson belong to a family of Scotch origin, whose Americau ancestor came to this country prior to the Revolutionary war and settled in South Carolina. His grandfather was a participant in the War of 1812, hold- ing the rank of colonel in the United States army, and in that capacity built the breastworks at Honeyhill, South Carolina. Andrew P. Watson was born at Ac- worth, Cobb County, Georgia, June 11, 1848, the son of farming people, James M. and Nancy S. (Mayes) Wat- son. He received his education in the common schools, and was but sixteen years of age when he laid aside his schoolbooks to enlist under the flag of the Confederacy, refugeeing to South Carolina and joining a volunteer regiment from that state. During the last eight months of the great struggle between the Southi and the North he capably commanded a company of sixteen-year-old boys, and it is a remarkable coincidence that he occu- pied, fifty-two years after their erection, the breast- works which had been built by his grandfather, at Honeyhill. With the fall of the lost cause, Mr. Watson returned to the home of his parents, and with them went in 1867 to Mississippi, which state he made his home until 1900, when he was attracted by the opportunities offered by Oklahoma and, coming hither, settled at Shawnee, where he still has extensive and important in- terests. On his arrival, he at once recognized the ad- vantages of the section for potato-growing, in which he interested himself so actively and intelligently that lie was soon in command of a large enterprise, and since that time has raised more and better potatoes than any other man in the state. He has had two crops a year, with an average as high as 100 acres, and an average yield of 152 bushels for a first crop, and the consummate manner in which he has handled his great operations have fairly won for him the title by which he is known, that of "Potato King." Mr. Watson's business asso- ciates, and the farmers generally in the state, realizing his ability, elected him to represent them in the capacity of head of the Potato Growers' Association of the state, in which office he has carefully watched the markets and production in other sections, notably Colorado, so as to advise the growers of Oklahoma as to the outlook for planting and shipping large crops. No one in the state is better posted upon the potato situation and conditions than is Mr. Watson.

In 1907, at the time of statehood, Mr. Watson was elected a member of the Oklahoma Corporation Com- mission, and drew the short term of thirteen and one- half months. In 1908 he was re-elected for the six-year term, and in 1914 became the democratic candidate for re-election to this office. He has been a democrat since attaining his majority, and has been an active worker in his party's ranks. Fraternally, Mr. Watson is con- nected with the Masons and the Woodmen of the World. With his family, he attends the Southern Presbyterian Church. Mr. Watson has never forgotten his old com- rades of the Civil war, and at present is commander of the Second Brigade, Confederate Veterans, with the rank of brigadier-general. He maintains offices on the fifth floor of the Mercantile Building, while his home is lo- cated at No. 141 East Twelfth Street, Oklahoma City.

Mr. Watson was married in 1873 to Miss Lizzie Strickland, of Brookhaven, Mississippi, who died in 1888, the mother of four children: Madie M., who became the wife of D. A. McPherson, of Aaden, Mississippi; Pickens, who resides at Oklahoma City; James S., who

is a practicing attorney of Oklahom City; and Archie H., cashier of the Bank of Hollister, Oklahoma. In 1890 Mr. Watson was again married, his bride being Miss Adele Stallings, of Starkville, Mississippi. Three chil- dren have been born to them: Louise, Tom P. and Robert M., all residing at home.

THOMAS EMMETT SMILEY. Thirty years a resident of Oklahoma and a pioneer business man of Tulsa, Mr. Smiley was born at Belfast, Marshall County, Tennessee, December 19, 1863, son of Newton J. and Sarah Eliza- beth (Hall) Smiley, both natives of Marshall County, the former a son of Hugh Smiley, who was born in Scotland, of Irish parentage, and who came to America when a young man, first settling in South Carolina and thence removing to Tennessee.

Reared on the old homestead farm, Thomas Emmett Smiley attended the schools of Marshall County, Ten- nessee, and lived at home until 1882. At the age of nineteen he went to the Southwest, remaining in Texas about one year, and iu the summer of 1884 came to Indian Territory. He reached Tulsa, then a mere village, on the 2d of June. He was employed for some time as a clerk in the pioneer mercantile establishment of the H. C. Hall Merchandise Company, and later worked at the carpenter's trade. For some time he was on the Turkey-Track Ranch in the Sac and Fox Indian Nation. Later at Tulsa Mr. Smiley developed a business in the buying and selling of walnut logs and other hardwood products, and finally became one of the interested prin- cipals of the Dickinson-Goodman-Smiley Lumber Com- pany, of which he was one of the organizers. With this company he continued actively for a period of fourteen years. At Tulsa he has had at different times a share in the local government, and has identified himself with! most of the movements of a social and civic nature. He is a democrat, and in the Masonic fraternity has affilia- tions with Tulsa Lodge No. 71, A. F. & A. M .; Tulsa Chapter No. 52, R. A. M .; Trinity Commandery, Knights Templar, Akdar Temple of the Mystic Shrine; and Indian Consistory, Scottish Rite, at Guthrie, in which he has received the thirty-second degree. He is a member also of Tulsa Lodge No. 946, B. P. O. E.

Mr. Smiley married Miss Nora Perryman, who was born and reared in Indian Territory, and who died! October 6, 1898. She is survived by three children, Lottie, Emmett and Allen, and the only daughter is now the wife of William Smith, of Tulsa. June 16, 1901, Mr. Smiley married Miss Sarah Fortner, who was born in Kansas. The two children of this union are Keith W. and T. E. Jr. Mr. Smiley has his business office in the First National Bank Building and his home is at 616 South Detroit Street.

JAMES WOOLLEY. The preseut efficient and popular sheriff of Tulsa County has been a resident of the South- west from the time of his birth, early became prominently identified with the great cattle industry, long before the immense open ranges had suffered restriction, and his operations were not confined to his native State of Texas but extended also into Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory-the present State of Oklahoma, within whose borders he has maintained his home about twenty-eight years and with the civic and industrial progress of which he has been closely concerned. He is the owner of a well improved farm property in Tulsa County, besides being interested in productive and development work in the oil fields, and his popularity has been signified by his being chosen to various positions of public trust, his service as a member of the board of county commissioners having immediately preceded his election to his present

Selwyn Douglas

ate

HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

967

office, in which he is giving a vigorous and effective ad- ministration.

Mr. Woolley was born at Weatherford, the judicial center of Parker County, Texas, on the 20th of May, 1868, and was the eighth in order of birth of the nine children of Elijah and Elizabeth (Howard) Woolley, both of whom were born near Springfield, Missouri, in Greene County. The parents passed the closing years of their lives in Texas and each attained the age of sixty-four years. In his native state Elijah Woolley was reared to manhood, and there he continued to be identified with farming and stock-raising until 1866, when he removed with his family to Texas, where he became a pioneer agriculturist and a prominent and suc- cessful stockman, his operations in the cattle business having been of extensive order. He was a man of sterling worth, energetic and resourceful, loyal as a citizen and a staunch supporter of the cause of the democratic party.

After availing himself of the advantages of the pub- lic schools of the Lone Star State the present sheriff of

to the civic and material advancement of the county and the city of Tulsa. In the meanwhile he gave his general supervision to his well improved farm, which is one of the valuable properties of Tulsa County, and also oper- ated oil wells, these lines of enterprise still receiving his active attention. Mr. Woolley has shown himself to be most liberal and public-spirited and as a stalwart in the camp of the democratic party he has been influential in political affairs of Tulsa County. In November, 1914, he was elected sheriff of the county, and he assumed the duties of this office on the 4th of January, 1915, his pre- 'ferment in this connection giving evidence of the con- fidence and esteem reposed in him by the people of the county. The sheriff is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is well known in the state of his adoption and may consistently be termed one of the pioneer citizens of the City of Tulsa.

On the 16th of November, 1898, Mr. Woolley wedded Miss Texana Dawson, who was born and reared in Texas, and they have three children-Irene, William E. and Leon.

1535237

CATTLE RANGERS

Tulsa County continued to be associated with his father's farm and cattle business until he had attained to the age of nineteen years, when he initiated independent operations in the handling of cattle. He gained broad and practical experience in this field of industrial enter- prise, in connection with which he handled thousands of cattle in Texas and later in what is now the State of Oklahoma. Here he grazed large herds on the open range and in pastures, and his cattle were shipped to the markets in St. Louis, Kansas City and Chicago. His ability and energy brought to him marked success and prestige, and for a long period he was known as one of the representative cattlemen of the Southwest, his ship- ments from Oklahoma having averaged from 8,000 to 10,000 head annually. Later he became actively con- cerned in the mining and shipping of coal, and his opera- tions in the Oklahoma coal fields continued until 1907, the year of the admission of Oklahoma as a state. In this year he was elected a member of the first board of county commissioners of Tulsa County under the state government, and of this important office he continued the incumbent two successive terms, within which he advo- cated and upheld progressive policies that tended greatly

ZADOC J. HARRISON. From an historical and general civic standpoint one of the most gratifying of the condi- tions and influences that mark the present era in the vigorous young State of Oklahoma is that involved in the fact that here are found as representative figures in profession and business life and as progressive and liberal citizens concerned with governmental and other public affairs many sterling native sons who can claim a strain of Indian blood in their ancestry and personalities and who are thus proving useful scions of those whose first was the dominion in this now opulent common- wealth and who are honoring the Indian as well as the white race by their character and achievement. Such a citizen is Mr. Harrison, who has won for himself strong vantage-place as one of the representative citizens of Bryan County. Apropos of his career the following ap- preciative statements have been written, and they are well worthy of perpetuation in this connection:

"That Indian citizens of this generation have made progress equally as meritorious as that of the white man has no better illustration than that afforded by the fact that in Oklahoma so many young men of Indian blood are filling positions of honor and responsibility, further

968

HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

interest being implied in the circumstance of their having received their early education in the leading schools of the various Indian Nations that were formerly con- stituent parts of Indian Territory. In the Choctaw Indian section of Oklahoma there are now very few in- stances to be found in which educated Indians revert to the customs of their ancestors, though such action in former years proved a discouraging element in connec- tion with educational work among the youth of the various Nations.

"The Jones Academy at Harshorne, Pittsburg county, in which scores of Indian boys have been educated, un- doubtedly is to be considered as one of the institutions of foremost rank in its service to the Indian youth and in the number of young men it has prepared for business and professional vocations. From this school came Zadoc J. Harrison, and from it in recent years have come also many other sterling young men of Indian lineage who are making for themselves places of usefulness and honor in professional and business activities of the State of Oklahoma. It is probable that of the school- mates of Mr. Harrison a majority have become identi- fied with the banking business. Every county in the former Choctaw Nation has a few of these young men in its banking institutions; others have entered the legal profession and have gained success in the same.

"The admirable intellectual and professional training which Mr. Harrison acquired eminently betokens the interest manifested in education by the Choctaws of recent years. The percentage of Indian boys who reached the academy stage of education and who have then become definitely ambitious for the gaining of more liberal education, has proved to be appreciably larger than that of the white boys of the same locality and genera- tion. Many of the youth of Indian strains of blood have attended from two to six schools before initiating active careers of usefulness. For example, Mr. Harrison was afforded the advantages of the public schools of Lehigh and then continued his studies in the Baptist Academy at Atoka. Later he was a student in Spencer Academy, of the Choctaw Nation; Harrell Institute, at Muskogee; Jones Academy, at Hartshorne; the law school of Ep- worth University, in Oklahoma City; and Draughon's Business College, in the same city. That he has dis- tinctive business ability is evidenced by his successful association with banking institutions since receiving his education. "'

Mr. Harrison was born at Atoka, the present judicial center of the Oklahoma county of the same name, and the date of his nativity was July 29, 1888. He is a son of Robert W. and Sarah (Scoggins) Harrison. His father was born in Kiamichi County of the former Choctaw Nation, and in his maturity became a prominent and influential citizen of that nation, in the legislature of which he served with marked loyalty and efficiency, besides which he held for eight years the office of clerk of Atoka County while that county was still a part of the Choctaw Nation. After the admission of Oklahoma to statehood he continued his effective service as county clerk for a further period of four years. He retired from this office in 1912 and he and his wife have since maintained their residence on their well improved home- stead farm near Kenefick, Bryan County.

Zadoc Harrison, grandfather of him whose name in- troduces this article, came with the Choctaws from Mis- sissippi to Indian Territory in 1832, and he settled at what is now Kent, in Choctaw County, where he engaged in the mercantile and live stock business and eventually became one of the wealthiest and most influential men of the Choctaw Nation. The maternal great-grand- father of the subject of this sketch was an interpreter for the United States Government and assisted in the

transferring of the Indians to Indian Territory. H died in Vicksburg, Mississippi, after returning to tha state for another detachment of Indians.

Zadoc J. Harrison was admitted to the Oklahoma ba in 1911, but from that time forward until August, 1915 he was actively concerned with the banking business In this field of endeavor he initiated his service in th Oklahoma State Bank at Atoka, under J. D. Lankforc who has since served with marked ability as State Ban Commissioner of Oklahoma. After two years Mr. Hai rison was transferred to the Planters' State Bank a Tushka, Atoka County, where he remained one year He then, in 1913, assumed the position of assistan cashier of the Oklahoma State Bank at Caddo, Bryar County, and of this position he continued the incumben until August, 1915, when he was appointed by th superintendent of Union Indian Agency, at Muskogee as appraiser of Indian lands. He has done effective work in his profession, has proved himself a loyal ant public-spirited citizen of broad and well fortified con victions concerning governmental policies, is affiliate with the Masonic fraternity, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Baptist Church.

In 1911, at Tushka, was solemnized the marriage o: Mr. Harrison to Miss Frances Herndon, and they have winsome little daughter, Francile, who celebrated het third birthday anniversary in 1915.

ADOLPH OSCAR JOHNSON has been identified in on capacity or another with the Commercial National Ban] of Checotah since its organization in 1901 as the Citizen Bank of Checotah. Today he is president of the Com niercial National, and one of the foremost men of the town and county.

Mr. Johnson was born in Fremont, Nebraska, on Janu ary 20, 1882, and is a son of Gust and Sarah L. (Matti son) Johnson. They were both natives of Sweden, and the father was a farmer all his life. Adolph Johnson had his early training on a Nebraska farm, went to schoo when it was possible, finishing his training in the higl : school at Wausa, Nebraska, and followed that with course in the normal school at Fremont, Nebraska. H specialized in commercial work there, and when he cam to Indian Territory in 1902, he secured a position with the Citizens Bank at Oktaha, in what is now Muskoger County. Mr. Johnson held that position until May 15 1904, when he became bookkeeper for the Citizens Ban! of Checotah. This bank was organized in 1901, and it 1906 it was reorganized, the Commercial Bank, a stat institution, being evolved. The Commercial Bank was in turn succeeded by the Commercial National Bank in, 1911, Mr. Johnson being named for the presidency upor reorganization. The bank has a capitalization of $50,000 and in July, 1915, its official report showed a surplus o $10,000. Several prominent men of Checotah are identi fied with the bank and its progress has been continually upward. Its volume of business increases yearly, and i is regarded as one of the most solid among the banks o: Eastern Oklahoma. Mr. Johnson has advanced from the post of bookkeeper in the old Citizens Bank to cashier of the Commercial Bank, and still later to the presidency of the bank on its reorganization to a national institu -. tion. He is regarded as a capable financier, and he ha !! had much to do with the rise of the bank in the past few - years. He is also held in high esteem as a citizen, as ha: been indicated by his election to the office of mayor of Checotah in 1915. He is distinguished in the office a: being the first republican to hold that chair.

Mr. Johnson is a Scottish Rite Mason, and has taker the thirty-second degree. He is at present master 01 the blue lodge in Checotah, and is a member of the shrine. He also has membership in the Knights of

rep gen

FRA gaine trolen inentl of oil active prise City ing. place famili at Pl 28th of bi living line Count 1837 having Ste devel rania suppl was tion i the f time A. B of th war, dang the in th cienc non large chara tions of al and camp the Th Fran wer colle ing an War con lso In iden and ton the suece devel prise of in tent in th

Pythia With Luthe In they

969

HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. With his family, he has a place in the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

In 1906 Mr. Johnson married Miss Pearl Gentry, and they have one son-Adolph Oscar, Jr.

FRANK BARNES. When a mere youth Mr. Barnes gained his initial experience in connection with the pe- troleum industry and in later years he has been prom- inently identified with the development and production of oil and gas in various fields. Since 1905 he has been actively concerned with these important lines of enter- prise in Oklahoma and he maintains his residence in the City of Tulsa, with business offices at 612 Daniels Build- ing. Mr. Barnes claims the old Keystone State as the place of his nativity and is a scion of old and honored families of that historic commonwealth. He was born at Pleasantville, Venango County, Pennsylvania, on the 28th of September, 1871, and was the fourth in order of birth in a family of seven children, all of whom are living except one. He is a son of Stephen A. and Caro- line G. (George) Barnes, both natives of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, where the former was born in 1837 and the latter in 1842, the death of the father having occurred in 1893 and that of the mother in 1905.

Stephen A. Barnes was one of the pioneers in the development work in the oil fields about Oil City, Pennsyl- vania, and later was engaged in the oil development and supply business in the City of Pit Hole. Thereafter he was an influential factor in oil development and produc- tion in the field in Venango County, Pennsylvania, where the family home was maintained at Pleasantville at the time of the birth of the subject of this review. Stephen A. Barnes rendered specially valuable service in behalf of the Union during the climacteric period of the Civil war, and his intrepid valor led him into many specially dangerous positions and hazardous undertakings, since the major part of his service was in capacity of scout, in the command of Gen. Benjamin Harrison, his effi- ciency and courage having made him distinctly persona non grata to the Confederate authorities, who offered a large reward for his capture. He was a man of strong character and impregnable integrity in all of the rela- tions of life, commanded the confidence and good will of all who came within the compass of his influence, and was a loyal and patriotic citizen, a stalwart in the camp of the republican party and a valued member of the Grand Army of the Republic.

The public schools of his native village afforded to Frank Barnes his early educational advantages, which were supplemented by an effective course in a business college in the City of Cleveland, Ohio. After this train- ing he held for a short time a position as bookkeeper, and he then identified himself with the oil industry, in Warren County, Pennsylvania, where he was actively concerned with the drilling of new wells, as was he later . also in Butler County, that state.

In 1905 Mr. Barnes came to Oklahoma Territory and identified himself actively with the development of oil and gas wells in the field about Bartlesville, Washing- ton County, his operations later having extended into the Bristow fields, in Creek County, where he did a successful business in the leasing of properties and the developing of oil and gas. With these lines of enter- prise he is still actively concerned and his interests are of important order, his business activities having been centralized at Tulsa during the period of his residence in this city.

Mr. Barnes is a liberal and progressive citizen, is a republican in national politics, but in local affairs, where general governmental issues are not involved, he gives his support to the men and measures meeting the approval

of his judgment. He is a trustee and a member of the executive board of Kendall College, and both he and his wite hold membership in the Presbyterian Church.

In Bartlesville Lodge, No. 284, Ancient Free & Ac- cepted Masons, at Bartlesville, this state, Mr. Barnes was raised to the degree of Master Mason, and he still retains his affiliation with this lodge. In his home city he holds membership in Tulsa Chapter, No. 52, Royal Arch Ma- sons ; Trinity Commandery, No. 20, Knights Templars; Akdar Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also an appreciative member of Tulsa Lodge, No. 946, Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, to identify himself with which he received a dimit from the lodge at Bartlesville.

On the 28th of February, 1900, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Barnes to Miss Hortense Mallory, of Toledo, Ohio, and the three children of this union are Reginald William, Elizabeth and Katherine L.

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