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 70
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Mr. Peebly claims Nebraska as the place of his nativity and was born in the year 1865, his parents, E. C. and Sarah J. (McMahan) Peebly, both natives of Missouri, having been numbered among the sterling pioneers of Nebraska, where the father became a successful farmer and stock- grower. He and his wife, now venerable in years, reside npon their attractive homestead farm near that of their son Robert L., in Oklahoma County, to which state they removed in the territorial days.
After duly availing himself of the advantages of the public schools of his native state Robert L. Peebly sup- plemented this discipline by a course in the Nebraska State Normal School at Peru, Nebraska. For five years thereafter he was engaged in the retail grocery business in Nebraska, and for the ensuing two years he was found employed as a commercial traveling salesman. In 1893 he came to Oklahoma Territory, having "made the run" at the opening of the famous Cherokee Strip and having selected a homestead seven miles north of Perry, the present judicial center of Noble County. He never made settlement on this claim, however, and later leased a tract of school land near Oklahoma City. In Oklahoma County he eventually purchased several tracts of land, and, as previously indicated, his present homestead com- prises 240 acres, the same constituting one of the best improved and most valuable places in the county. He has given special attention to the raising of the best grades of live stock, and in the developing of his splendid herd of best bred Jersey cattle he has availed himself of selection of the best types offered at sales in other states of the Union. At the Oklahoma State Fair in 1914 his Jersey bull took the grand premium, and in all exhibi- tions held by the Oklahoma State Fair Association from the time of its organization to the present he has main- tained leadership in the winning of premiums on regis- tered cattle, swine and chickens, his attention having been given definitely to the raising of Berkshire swine and White Leghorn chickens, and his reputation in these lines of enterprise being on a parity with that which he holds as a breeder of fine Jersey cattle. At six out of nine exhibitions held by the state fair association he has taken the grand premium' on Jersey bulls, and in 1914 he had the distinction of winning the highest premium offered by the American Jersey Cattle Club. At the Oklahoma State Fair exhibits he has won his live-stock premiums in competition with the fine exhibits brought here from other states. It is needless to say that his
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careful and progressive activities have had much in- fluence in raising the standard of the live-stock industry in Oklahoma, and within recent years he has expanded the scope of his operations by the extensive propaga- tion of fruits, forty acres of his farm being given to the raising of Elberta peaches, his orchard being given the best scientific care and showing large and profitable pro- duction.
Mr. Peebly was one of the organizers and first stock- holders of the Oklahoma State Fair Association and has done much to promote its interests and to make it an effective exponent of the resources and development of the state. He is president of the Oklahoma State Dairy- men's Association and of the Oklahoma Jersey Cattle Club, besides holding membership in the Southwestern Cattle Breeders' Association, the headquarters of which are in Kansas City, Missouri; he is a member of the National Farmers' Educational & Co-operative Associa- tion; the Farmers' Institute of Oklahoma County; and the Oklahoma Anti Horse Thief Association. With char- acteristic liberality and civic loyalty, Mr. Peebly has done all in his power to foster the establishing and effective work of the agricultural colleges and minor schools of Oklahoma, and to some of these institutions he has sold blooded stock from his, fine farm.
In politics Mr. Peebly pays unfaltering allegiance to the democratic party and that he has been prominent and influential in its activities in Oklahoma needs no further voucher than the statement that for twelve years he was a member of the Democratic Central Committee of Oklahoma County and that for five years of this period he was chairman of the same, besides which he has served also as a member of the Democratic State Central Com- mittee. He has held various township and school district offices and has been twice elected to the Legislature since the admission of Oklahoma to statehood. In the Third Legislature Mr. Peebly was chairman of the House Com- mittee on General Agriculture, and as a member of this committee was the author of and ably championed to enactment the bill making imprisonment for a term of five years the minimum penalty for horse-stealing, a meas- ure that has undoubtedly reduced by seventy-five per cent such misdemeanors in the state. The same committee prepared the pure-feed bill that was passed at the same legislative session, this measure having resulted in great saving to the farmers of the state, as its provisions require that different varieties of stock feed be so labeled that the purchaser may know the amount and constituency of the same. In the Fifth Legislature, that of 1915, Mr. Peebly was again made chairman of the Committee on General Agriculture and again proved his aggressiveness and maturity of judgment in the furtherance of the interests of the agriculturists and stock-growers of the state. In this Legislature he was assigned also to mem- bership on the following named committees of the House of Representatives: Congressional Redistricting, Public Buildings, Public Health, and Pure Food and Drugs. He was the author of a bill providing for the transfer of school children and their pro rata part of the school funds from one district to another, this valuable measure making it possible for school children in rural districts to obtain high-school advantages without additional cost. At this session Mr. Peebly also formulated and intro- duced a bill defining poultry-stealing as a felony, and as enacted this measure has proved a great protection to poultry-breeders. As a legislator Mr. Peebly has stood firmly for the economical administrations of the various departments of government in the state and as the advo- cate of progressive policies. He was one of the organ- izers and is an influential member of the Oklahoma Fruit Growers' Association and the Oklahoma County Fruit
Growers' Association. Both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
In Oklahoma County the year 1898 recorded the mar- riage of Mr. Peebly to Miss Anna Lewis, who is a lineal descendant of Francis Lewis, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Mr. and Mrs. Peebly have two children, James Sterling, who was born in 1899, and Edmund Eugene, who was born in 1903.
WILLIAM MOSLEY, JR. One of the progressive young bankers and business men of Oklahoma, William Mosley, Jr., is cashier of the People's Bank of Hickory. His father William Mosley, Sr., is vice president of this in- stitution, and the president is A. G. Adams, who is also president of the First National Bank of Ada. The bauk is capitalized at $10,000 and has surplus and undivided profits of $7,500. The bank was established in 1904, and in 1908 became a state bank. A building was con- structed for its use in 1907, but was burned in 1909, and the present bank building on Jefferson Street was erected in 1911.
Born in Troy, Mississippi, August 5, 1887, William Mosley, Jr., is a son of William and Mollie (Garrett) Mosley. His father was born in Bedford County, Ten- nessee, in 1854, and his mother near Troy, Mississippi, in 1855. The Mosleys were Scotch-Irish people who set- tled in Tennessee in very early times. William, Sr., was reared in the vicinity of Okolona, Mississippi, and after his marriage moved to Troy, a place not very far dis- tant from Okolona. In October, 1887, he went to Love Station, twenty miles below Memphis, and in 1891 to Houston, Mississippi. In 1900 he came to Davis, Okla- homa, and in the same year moved to Hickory, where he became one of the pioneer merchants. He has been engaged in the mercantile business for the past thirty- five years. While living at Houston, Mississippi, he served as town marshal and for four years has been a member of the school board at Hickory. He is a demo- crat, a member of the Baptist Church and is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Woodmen of the World. His children are: Pearl, wife of Dr. B. F. Mc- Neil of Swifttown, Mississippi; Zach T., who is a part- ner with his father in business at Hickory; Wade H., a partner in the same business; William, Jr .; and Annie, bookkeeper for the mercantile firm of Mosleys. .
The early education of Mr. Mosley was acquired in the common schools at Houston and the high school at Okolona from which he graduated in 1903. For two years he attended college at Paris, Texas, and in 1905, at the age of eighteen found a position as clerk in the store of his uncle J. B. Mosley at Hickory, Indian Ter- ritory, for two years. Then in association with his father, and his two brothers Zach and Wade, he bought out the general store of J. B. Mosley and the business has since been continued by other members of the fam- ily. In 1906 William Mosley, Jr., left the firm and went to Draughon's Business College at Denison, Texas, and finishing the course was bookkeeper for the Mosley mercantile house until February, 1913. He then bought an interest in the People's Bank of Hickory, and has since been not only cashier but active manager in full charge of the institution.
In politics he is a democrat, is a member of the Baptist Church, belongs to the Oklahoma State Bankers Association, and is affiliated with Camp No. 236, Wood- men of the World, at Hickory.
On December 1, 1910, at Hickory, he married Miss Cora Lee Mitchell, daughter of J. P. Mitchell, a farmer at Hickory. They are the parents of two children: Jack, born January 27, 1912; and Malcolm, born No- vember `6; 1913.
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GEORGE FREDERICK NEWELL. That Oklahoma as a whole has made a wonderful progress in educational development since statehood is due not only to the more systematic organization introduced by a state govern- ment and by the command of greater resources and increase of population, but also by the presence in the state of many high-minded and efficient school adminis- trators. One among these that deserves special mention is George Frederick Newell, who has recently retired from four years of service as county superintendent of the schools of Grady County.
Mr. Newell was eminently successful in carrying out many of his ideals in organizing and effecting the schools under his supervision. One direction of his effort was toward beautifying the school grounds and buildings and he also labored earnestly to increase the school spirit, not ouly among the scholastic population, but also among the patrons, working to change the latter from a passive to a vital attitude toward school affairs. He did mnuch to stimulate interest in school work by organizing athletics and also introducing literary and other com- petitive features, such as debates and athletic and scholastic contests among the different school districts. He also accomplished considerable consolidatiou, and left the county with twelve high schools outside the City of Chickasha. Thus practically every family in the county has convenient access to a graded and efficient high school. Credit must be given him also for introducing the physical inspection of children. Each year during his superintendence he caused to be examined between 10,000 and 12,000 children. In this work he was prop- erly a pioneer, since he had introduced the method two years before the State Legislature enacted a law which made physical inspection a regular part of school activi- ties. As a result of the examinations thus conducted it became possible for those in charge of the graded county schools to classify the students both with respect to mental and physical attainments, and in hundreds of cases the attention of parents was directed to physical ailments, resulting in defective eyes, ears and other organs, and from this has come about noteworthy improvements in the general efficiency of the scholars, permitting a generally higher standard of school work to be done.
George Frederick Newell has done most of his educa- tional work in Oklahoma, but is a native of Illinois, born near Shawneetown, Gallatin County, January 2, 1884. His parents were Andrew Jackson and Edith (Weather- ford) Newell. Both his parents were natives of Eastern Ohio, and his father became an Illinois farmer. Andrew J. Newell died in 1898, and the mother passed away in 1885, when George F. was seventeen months old.
His education, begun in the Illinois public schools, was completed in the Southern Illinois Normal Univer- sity at Carbondale. He was fourteen years old when his father died in 1898, and this threw upon him the responsibilities of taking care of the farm, and he had other duties which interfered with the regular pursuit of his school curriculum. Thus it was not until 1906 that he was in a position to take up his chosen profession as an educator. During 1906-07 he taught in the schools of Gallatin County, and in 1908 came to Oklahoma. In September of that year he took charge of the Ninnekah schools in Grady County, and by his work there and among the teachers' organizations soon came to be recog- nized as an unusually forceful teacher and executive. In November, 1910, Mr. Newell was elected county school superintendent of Grady County and entered upon the duties of his office January 1, 1911. His term expired July 1, 1915. Mr. Newell has done much work as a teacher and conductor of summer normal schools in
Oklahoma. During his residence in Gallatin County, Illinois, he was a member of the Illinois National Guard for several years, and was color guard of his company.
Mr. Newell is a member of the Christian Church, and affiliates with Chickasha Lodge No. 44, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Washita Valley Lodge No. 143 of the Knights of Pythias; and Chickasha Lodge No. 755, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Mr. Newell on the paternal side is of Scotch-Irish ancestry, while his mother was of German and English stock. One of his uncles was killed at the battle of Shiloh while serving in the Union army. Mr. Newell was married in Chickasha in 1911 to Miss Anna Hill, daughter of J. T. and Susan Hill, of South Carolina. Her father was a veteran of the Civil war and served throughout that con- flict with the South Carolina regiment in the Confederate army. He finally came to Oklahoma, and for a number of years was well known in Grady County, where he served as register of deeds. Mr. and Mrs. Newell, who reside at 1801 South Seventh Street in Chickasha, have had two children: Mary Jane and Virginia Ann Newell, but the last named is deceased.
EDWARD E. HEYL. The present county attorney of Washington County became a member of the bar of Indian Territory in 1904, and he established his home at Ramona, Washington County, in the spring of the following year, there continuing iu the practice of his profession until his election to his present office, in the autumn of 1914, his assumption of the position of county attorney being marked by his removal to the City of Bartlesville, the judicial center of the county. With a well proved reputation for ability, close application and high ideals as pertaining to the work of his profession, Mr. Heyl had gained the distinctive success and prestige that marked him as specially eligible for the office iu which he at the present time is giving a most effective administration and justifying the popular choice.
Mr. Heyl was born at Hecker, Monroe County, Illinois, on the 1st of October, 1875, and is a son of William and Lena (Wagner) Heyl, the former of whom was born in the same house as was his son, subject of this review, and his wife having been born in Saxony, Germany, whence she accompanied her parents to America when she was a child, the family home being established in Illinois, where she was reared and educated and where her marriage was solemnized, she having been forty-three years of age when she was summoned to the life eternal. William Heyl, who was born September 20, 1838, was reared to manhood in Monroe County, Illinois, and there was actively and successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits for many years. He is still a resident of that county, is living retired from the active labors and responsibilities that so long marked his course, aud is one of the venerable and honored pioneer citizens of his native state, where his father, Christopher Heyl, a native of Germany, settled in an early day, there passing the residue of his life and being a pioneer farmer who did his part in the industrial and civic development of Illinois. He whose name initiates this article is a mem- her of a family of nine children, all of whom are living except two who died in infancy.
The invigorating discipline of the home farm com- passed the formative period in the life of Edward E. Heyl, and he made good use of the advantages afforded him in the excellent schools of his native state. At the age of eighteen years he there began his service as a teacher in the district schools, and he devoted eight years to successful work as a representative of the pedagogic profession. In consonance with his ambition and well formulated plans, he entered, in September, 1902, the
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St. Louis Law School, in the City of St. Louis, Missouri, and in this institution he was graduated in June, 1904. After thus receiving his degree of Bachelor of Laws the young disciple of Kent and Blackstone passed the ensuing summer in the office of the state's attorney of Rosebud County, South Dakota, and in the autumn of 1904 he came to Indian Territory, his home having been established at Ramona, in the present County of Wash- ington, in April of the following year. A few days after his arrival in the village he was appointed village attorney, and he there continued in successful practice until December 28, 1914, when he removed to Bartles- ville, after his election to the office of county attorney, to which he has since given his undivided time and attention. While a resident of Ramona Mr. Heyl served as a director of School District No. 16, and within his tenure of this position the present commodious and sub- stantial school building was erected, at an expenditure of $65,000. In March, 1911, Mr. Heyl was appointed postmaster at Ramona, and he resigned this office when he became candidate for that of county attorney, in the fall of 1914. He has been a stalwart and influential representative of the republican party in Washington County and served as a member of its precinct committee until his appointment as postmaster. Mr. Heyl has been affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America for twenty years, and has filled the various official chairs in the same, as has he also in his lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, both he and his wife being now members of the First Presbyterian Church of Bartles- ville. .
On the 1st of November, 1905, was solenmized the marriage of Mr. Heyl to Miss Ora May Druse, who was boru near Kahoka, Missouri, and who is a daughter of Joseph and Alida Druse. They have one child, Ernest William.
WILLIAM BLAKE. An alert and broad member of his profession and a keen and farsighted business man, Wil- liam Blake, of the firm of Dillard & Blake, of Tulsa, possesses in generous measure those qualities which are necessary in the makeup of the successful corporation lawyer. He has won success in this difficult department of the law, in which vigor of professional treatment, fertility of resource, hard fact and solid logic, are relied upon, and since locating at Tulsa, in 1912, has been identified with a number of important cases.
Mr. Blake was born in Ottawa County, Illinois, Febru- ary 19, 1866, and is a son of Harvey and Mary (Jeffer- ers) Blake. Harvey Blake was born in Massachusetts, in 1820, and became a pioneer resident of the farming district of Ottawa County, Illinois, where for many years he was engaged in agricultural pursuits, later removing to Western Kansas, where he was associated with the cattle business on the old open range. He died in 1880, at the age of sixty years. Mr. Blake was a democrat in politics. Mrs. Blake was born in New York State, and died at the age of fifty years. Of the thirteen children in the family, William was the twelfth in order of birth and is the only one now living.
The early education of William Blake was secured in the academy conducted by his brother, Harvey Blake, at St. Johns, Kansas, and subsequently he pursued a course in the Valparaiso Normal School, now the Northern University of Indiana. He was twenty-three years of age when he removed to Kansas, and for three years was engaged in teaching in the public schools. He began the study of law in the office of C. T. Atkinson, at Arkansas City, Kansas, and in 1883 was admitted to the bar. His professional work was commenced at Arkansas City, where he remained until 1903, then com- ing to Cleveland, Oklahoma, which was his field of prac- Vol. III-16
tice until 1912, in which year he came to Tulsa. On March 1st of that year he associated himself with Francis B. Dillard, under the firm style of Dillard & Blake, and this concern has since continued, with offices at No. 301 Central National Bank Building. While the firm has carried on a general practice, it has specialized in the field of corporation law, a field in which is de- manded not only the possession of unusual ability, but strenuous, continuous and intense application and in- dustry. Mr. Blake is a republican, but the continually growing duties of his profession have made it impera- tive that he give all his attention thereto, to the exclu- sion of participation in public affairs, save as a public- spirited citizen.
In 1903 Mr. Blake was united in marriage with Miss Louise Farnsworth, a native of Colorado.
JAMES A. YOUNG, M. D. In considering the career and character of Dr. James A. Young, the impartial observer will be disposed to rank him not only among the most distinguished members of the Oklahoma med- ical fraternity, but as one who is entitled to great con- sideration for the signal services he has rendered in the field of education. The worthy motives which have impelled him through a long and busy life, the skill which he has brought to a difficult profession, and the profundity of his knowledge and aptness in imparting instruction, combined with his earnest and untiring efforts to further the cause of education, all stamp him as a man of unusual attainments and of great public spirit.
Doctor Young was born January 28, 1863, at Yellville, Marion County, Arkansas, and is a son of Allen A. and Sarah Jane (Abee) Young. His father, a native of Ten- nessee, removed to Arkansas in 1858, and there engaged in farming until the beginning of the Civil war, when he enlisted in the Confederate army and saw some active service. When his term of enlistment expired he re- turned to his farm and continued in agricultural pur- suits during the remainder of his active life. Mrs. Young was of Dutch descent.
James A. Young was given good educational advan- tages in his youth, starting in the district schools of Marion County, Arkansas. Subsequently, he went to the Academy of La Crosse, Arkansas, and then entered upon his medical studies at the Memphis Hospital College, Memphis, Tennessee, from which institution he was graduated in 1891, with his degree of Doctor of Medi- cine. He at once opened an office and commenced prac- tice at Yellville, but after two years removed to James- town, Arkansas, where he remained for four years. In 1898, seeking a wider and more prolific field, he removed to Paul's Valley, Indian Territory, and there his real career began. A pioneer of that city, in the years that followed he became probably its foremost citizen, at least in so far as accomplishing achievements for his community was concerned, and few men had a better record for citizenship and efficient public service. A stal- wart democrat, he was the second mayor of Paul's Valley and the first one elected on party lines, and in that office served two terms, 1900 and 1901, his administrations being characterized by advancement and improvement in municipal affairs and along civic lines. He was also a member of the city council during nearly the entire period of his residence at Paul's Valley. One of the acts that stamped him as a man of particular public spirit was his signing, with other members of the coun- cil, a note for $500 to take care of the small-pox epidemic in 1900. He was also a prominent man of business at Paul's Valley, but it was probably his work along educa- tional lines that brought him most favorably before the public. In 1899, with a few others, he gave a joint note
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