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 71

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 71

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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to raise funds to continue the public school at Paul's Valley, and graduated the first pupil in the city. He was a member of the board of education for six years, or from 1902 to 1907, inclusive, and president of that body in 1902 and 1903.

In March, 1911, Doctor Young moved to Oklahoma City to continue his practice, and here he has continued actively engaged in educational work, having been a mem- ber of the board of education since 1912. He has taken an active part in the success of the democratic party, and in the elections of November, 1914, was chosen represen- tative of the Fifth District for the two-year term from January, 1915, until January, 1917. He has continued as an active member of his profession, has built up a large and representative practice, and is highly regarded in the ranks of his calling and among his fellow-members in the Oklahoma County Medical Society and the Okla- homa State Medical Society. Fraternally, he is a thirty- second degree Mason, belonging to Valley Lodge No. 6, A. F. & A. M., of Paul's Valley; Paul Valley Chapter No. 31, R. A. M., and Oklahoma Consistory No. 2, of Guthrie, and has taken all the Scottish Rite degrees. With his family, he attends the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

In 1885, Doctor Young was united in marriage with Miss Fannie L. Wilson, daughter of Dr. C. N. Wilson, of Yellville, Arkansas, and five children have come to them: Dortch; Madge, who is the wife of Samuel Ken- dell, of Paul's Valley; and Macbeth, Ralph and Clyde, living at home. The family residence is at No. 907 North Francis Street.

OTTO ORR. The educational commission appointed in 1915 by State Supt. Robert H. Wilson to make a systematic and thorough study of rural conditions, par- ticularly with reference to illiteracy, found its work enthusiastically welcomed in a majority of communi- ties of former Indian Territory. The interest mani- fested by a local teacher became a sign of his progres- siveness in his profession, and some of these educators exhibited nnusual talent in their activities leading to educational reform.

Otto Orr, at Kemp City, received his commission for the work and set about it in the fall of 1915 with enthusiasm, preparing to initiate every facility of re- form suggested in the commission's program, even to the organization of moonlight schools for the benefit of illiterate adults of the community. He also opened the study of theoretical and practical agriculture in his school and encouraged the work of the county farm demonstration agent in the organization of boys' and girls' agricultural clubs and preparing exhibits for county and state farms.

Mr. Orr was born at Alicia, Arkansas, in 1895, and is a son of Louis S. and Georgia (Cox) Orr, both of whom died when he was small, leaving him to be reared in the home of and educated by an uncle. In the family there was one other son and four daughters: J. J., who is a concrete contractor at Roberts, Wisconsin; Mrs. Charles Snedeker, who is the wife of a farmer at Alicia, Arkansas; Mrs. Lelia Davenport, who is the wife of a merchant at Alicia; Mrs. Audra Green, who is the wife of a railway engineer of Little Rock, Arkansas; and Miss Eunice, who is a school girl at Alicia.

Otto Orr was first placed in an orphan asylum at Batesville, Arkansas, at the age of ten years, bnt, be- coming dissatisfied with his treatment, he soon left with other boys and made his way on foot to the home of his uncle, a distance of seventy miles. His public school education was acquired in the institutions of Arkansas, Illinois and Oklahoma, being completed with

two years of high school at Hugo, Oklahoma, where he prepared himself for teaching. He taught his first school near Swank, Choctaw County, Oklahoma, at the age of sixteen years and remained there for a second year. Recognized at the outset of his career as a thor- ough, capable and progressive educator, he was elected principal of the Kemp City School, an office which he has retained to the present time, being a general fa- vorite with teachers, pupils and parents, as well as the community in general, the people appreciating his ef- forts in behalf of a higher standard of education. The Town of Kemp City is two miles from the old Town of Kemp and two miles from the old Bloomfield Acad- emy, where the postoffice of Hendrix was first estab- lished, although it has since a few years ago been moved to Kemp City.

Mr. Orr is a member of the local lodge of the Wood- men of the World and of the Bryan County Teachers Association. He is unmarried.

LEON L. COLE, M. D. Though a young state, the medi- cal profession of Oklahoma is noted for the excellent attaiments and high character of its members, and in the ranks of active practitioners are men whose ability classes them among the best representatives of the pro- fession in the West. One of the men who have given dis- tinction to the profession as a specialist is Doctor Cole of Lawton, who thongh classified as a general physician and surgeon, is primarily a specialist in diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, and the demands upon his pro- fessional service have become such as to make it neces- sary to confine his attention to special and chronic cases. Doctor Cole is treasurer of the Oklahoma Association of Orificial Surgeons, is a Fellow of the American Physio- Therapeutic Association, a member of the American Association of Orificial Surgeons, and vice president of the Oklahoma Eclectic Medical Association.

Leon L. Cole was born in Independence, Virginia, April 18, 1870. The Cole family came from England prior to the Revolution and settled in the Old Dominion. Isaiah Cole, his father, was born in Grayson County, Virginia, in 1845. He lived at Independence for several years and subsequently removed to Carsonville, Virginia, in which neighborhood he has spent most of his life as a farmer. He is a member of the Baptist Church and a stanch democrat. During the war between the states he was in the Confederate army from almost the opening of hostilities, and in one battle received a severe wound throngh the thigh which kept him in hospital during the last six months of the war. He married Nannie Brown, who was born in Virginia in 1847 and died at Carsonville in 1914. Their children were: William, who was a teacher and farmer and died of pneumonia at Fries, Virginia, at the age of thirty-five; Dr. Leon L .; Rosa, deceased wife of William Warrick, a farmer at Carsonville; Lenora, wife of Miles King; Minnie, wife of William J. Bartlett, farmers at Carsonville.

Doctor Cole spent his youth on a Virginia farm. He attended public school at Independence, graduating from the high school in 1887. He taught school a few years and was bookkeeper for a large firm at Allisonia, Vir- ginia, for some time. He was also postmaster at Alli- sonia, Virginia, at one time. He early formed a deter- mination to pursue the study of medicine and took his first course in the Tennessee Medical College at Knox- ville. March 13, 1894, he graduated M. D. from the medical department of the university at Lonisville, and in the past twenty years has been almost as constant a student as a practitioner. He took post-graduate work at the National College of Electro-Therapeutics in Lima, Ohio, from which he received the degree Master of

Malcolm & Passer.

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Electro-Therapeutics. Other post-graduate work has been done at the Illinois College of Electro-Therapeutics, for two terms, and he has a certificate of proficiency from the Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat College of Chicago.

After his graduation in 1894 his first year in practice was spent at Stevens Creek, Virginia, then one year at Friendsville, Tennessee, followed by three years more at Stevens Creek. Doctor Cole was located at Millerstown, Kentucky, until the fall of 1908, since which date he has practiced at Lawton, doing office work exclusively. He now specializes in chronic diseases, with emphasis on the eye, ear, nose and throat cases, and has a special reputation over Southwestern Oklahoma for his pro- ficiency in diseases of the eye. He also uses electro- therapeutics in his practice. His offices are as com- pletely equipped as the most modern sanitariums.

Doctor Cole is a democrat, a member of the Baptist Church and a Mason, having taken the Royal Arch degree. He served as master of his lodge at Millerstown, Kentucky, three terms. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, Woodmen of the World; Wood- men Circle; Knights and Ladies of Secruity and United Benevolent Association. In a business way he is a director in the Bank of Clarkson in Kentucky.

In December, 1901, Doctor Cole was married at Mil- lerstown, Kentucky, to Miss Effie Waters, daughter of John and Marian Waters. Her mother is still living, with residence at Millerstown, where John Waters was a merchant and postmaster. Doctor Cole and wife have six children: Pauline, who died at the age of eight years; Mabel, attending the seventh grade of the Law- ton public schools; Leon L., Jr., Hazel, and Hattie Lee, all in the public schools, and a son who was born on December 22, 1915.

MALCOLM. E. ROSSER, now engaged in active practice as one of the representative members of the bar of the City of Muskogee, not only has the distinction of having served as a member of the Supreme Court Commission of the State of Oklahoma, but is also to be considered as one of the pioneer representatives of his profession in the state.

Malcolm Edward Rosser was born on the parental homestead farm near Fayetteville, Washington County, Arkansas, and the date of his nativity was January 16, 1870. He is a son of William E. and Virginia Frances (Hudson) Rosser, the former of whom was born in Campbell County, Virginia, and the latter of whom was born in the State of Mississippi: she still survives her honored husband and maintains her home in Washington County, Arkansas.

William E. Rosser was a scion of an old and influen- tial Virginia family and his father, Colonel Rosser, was a prosperous planter in the Old Dominion State, besides serving as an officer in the Virginia militia and as high sheriff of his county. About the year 1850 Colonel Rosser removed with his family to Texas, and after the close of the Civil war he established his residence in Washington County, Arkansas, where he passed the resi- due of his life. William E. Rosser was a boy at the time of the family removal to Texas, and thus he was reared and educated under the conditions and influences that obtained during the pioneer era in the history of the Lone Star State. He was an ambitious student and eventually became a man of high scholastic attainments. When the Civil war began he tendered his aid in defense of the cause of the Confederacy, and he served as a val- iant soldier during virtually the entire period of the great conflict between the North and the South. He took part in numerous engagements in Missouri and Arkansas, as a member of a Texas regiment, and in one engagement was severely wounded. While recuperating from the in-

jury thus received he sojourned in Washington County, Arkansas, and after the close of the war it was largely through his persuasion that his father and other members of the family established their home in that county. William E. Rosser became an agriculturist and stock- grower in Washington County, but during the greater part of his active career he followed the pedagogie pro- fession, in which connection he was long a successful and popular teacher in the schools of Washington County; Arkansas, the while he gave also a general supervision to his farmn. He was a teacher for more than forty years and his death occurred on his old homestead in Wash- ington County, in 1914, at which time he was seventy years of age.

The early educational discipline of Malcolm E. Rosser was largely gained in the schools of his native county and under the able direction of his honored father, be- sides which he attended an excellent graded school at Prairie Grove, Arkansas. In preparation for the work of his chosen profession he was signally favored in being able to complete his technical course in the law depart- ment of the historic old University of Virginia, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1891 and from which he received his degree of Bachelor of Laws. Shortly after his graduation he came to Oklahoma Terri- tory and initiated practice at Mangum, the present county seat of Greer County. Soon afterward, however, he transferred his residence and professional headquar- ters to Talihina, LeFlore County, in which county he re- mained nearly a score of years and where he gained precedence as one of the leading members of the bar of that section of the territory. In the meanwhile he re- moved to Potcau, the judicial center of the county, of which progressive little city he was elected mayor in 1902, his administration continuing for one term. He was twice clected to the bench of the fifth judicial dis- trict, as judge of which he continued in effective service four years, at the expiration of which he resigned the office to assume that of Supreme Court Commissioner of Oklahoma, a position to which he was appointed in 1911 and which he resigned in 1913, for the purpose of re- suming the private practice of his profession, his field of labor as an attorney and counselor at law having since been in the City of Muskogee, where he controls an excellent practice of representative order and is known as one of the prominent and influential legists and jurists at the bar of Muskogee County.

The political allegiance of Judge Rosser has ever been given to the democratic party, he is identified with the Muskogee County Bar Association and the Oklahoma State Bar Association, and he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Knights of Pythias.

In the year 1898 was solemnized the marriage of Judge Rosser to Miss Mary E. Rodgers, who was born and reared in Oklahoma and who is a daughter of Walker E. and Frances (Rutherford) Rodgers, sterling pioneers of this commonwealth. Judge and Mrs. Rosser have three children-Frances, Malcolm E., Jr., and Louise.

WILLIAM O. DICKERSON has, during the past ten years, been associated with very many of the largest aud most important real estate transactions at Tulsa. That he has attained more than usual success and demonstrated marked ability in this field is seemingly a refutation of the old adage that "the shoemaker should stick to his last, " for his inclinations as a youth led him to a widely different channel of activity. At the present time he devotes himself to transactions in real estate and oil properties, and his great capability and thorough knowledge of values, render him a valued medium for the successful carrying through of real estate deals.

Mr. Dickerson was born in Russell County, Virginia,

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July 8, 1876, the seventh in order of birth of the nine sons of Oscar F. and Mollie Elizabeth (Provance) Dickerson. He belongs to an old American family, which was founded in this country as early as 1630 by the original emigrant from England, and the title to the old family homestead in Virginia was issued to the family during the settlement of the colony, by the Colonial Government. Oscar F. Dickerson was born on the family estate in the Old Dominion, in 1848, and was reared to agricultural pursuits. He came West in 1888, on November 7th of which year he located at Wichita, Kansas, residing there two years and then moving to Grayson County, Texas, where he engaged in a variety of pursuits, including farming, the raising of cattle and the operation of a cotton gin. Mrs. Dickerson, who was born at Dandridge, Tennessee, died in 1900 at the age of fifty-two years, and at that time Mr. Dickerson began to make his home with his sons, with whom he lived until his death in 1910, when sixty-two years of age. Of the nine sons of the family, eight are still living. Mr. Dickerson was a democrat, but while he took an active interest in the success of his party was not an office- seeker.

William O. Dickerson was educated in the public schools of Virginia, Kansas and Texas, and entered upon his career as a clerk in the store of F. R. Phillips, at Leigh, Texas, of which his brother, C. H. Dickerson, was manager. He continued thus engaged until 1904, at which time he became manager of the United States Government's Philippine exhibit, at the St. Louis Ex- position, continuing in charge thereof for eight months. Subsequently he was connected with the Bank of Com- merce, at Haileyville, Indian Territory, but in 1905 resigned this position to come to Tulsa and engage in the real estate aud oil business, in which he has con- tinued to the present, now having offices at No. 221 Towa Building. Mr. Dickerson has achieved such a thorough knowledge of and proficiency in all points regarding his business, that although still a young man he is generally considered an especially sound authority on real estate and oil matters. He is a democrat, al- though not a politician, and fraternally is affiliated with Tulsa Lodge No. 71, A. F. & A. M.

While a resident of Texas, May 26, 1899, Mr. Dicker- son was married to Miss Stella M. Younkman, who was born in Kansas, and to this union there have been born three sons and one daughter, namely: Harvard Glenn, David Edward, Mattie Elizabeth and Robert L.

GEORGE M. HAGAN. No individual in a community wields a greater influence in the molding and shaping of character than the educator. The capable, conscien- tious teacher is always a force for progress and develop- ment, and as a result it is of the utmost importance that men of ability be placed in the positions of responsi- bility where they have charge of the plastic mind of youth. The present superintendent of schools of Adair County, George M. Hagan, has devoted his entire career to teaching and has fairly won the success that has come to him in his vocation. He entered upon the discharge of the duties of his office in 1912 and the abilities which he has displayed in the maintaining of a high educational standard have given him a firmly-established place in his profession and in the confidence of the people of the community.

Mr. Hagan was born at Uniontown, Crawford County, Arkansas, a son of Doctor Crawford and Josephine (Aldridge) Hagan. His parents were natives of Arkan- sas, and when George M. was about seven years of age moved to Evansville, that state, where, in the public schools, the youth received his early education. Subse- quently, he took summer courses at the University of

Arkansas, and at the age of nineteen years entered upon his career as a teacher in the public schools. He met with signal success from the start, continuing to teach in Arkansas and Oklahoma until becoming county super- intendent of schools of Adair County, to which office he was elected in 1912. His first term was eminently satisfactory to the people, who chose him for another term in the elections of 1914. His continuous private study has kept him abreast of the times in the onward march of the profession, while his executive ability has been demonstrated in his capable management of the schools under his charge. Personally, Mr. Hagan is popular alike with teachers and pupils, a pleasing and unassuming personality having played no small part in his success. He is a democrat in politics and is frater- nally affiliated with the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Mr. Hagan was married June 14, 1906, to Miss Addie Lee Gibney, a native of Arkansas, and they are the parents of three children: Guy Thomas, James Von and Ruth Marie.

JOHN T. SLOVER, M. D. A physician and surgeon at Sulphur, Doctor Slover has been in practice in that city since 1904, and is a physician of the highest standing not only in his own community but in the state at large. He formerly served as first vice president of the Okla- homa Medical Society, and is now councillor for the Ninth District of the same society.

He is a Texas man by birth, born in Cherokee County of that state August 23, 1871. About the time the May- flower brought the first load of pilgrims to Massachu- setts, some members of the Slover family emigrated to this country. A few years later the family was set upon and massacred by Indians, and the only two to escape were Abraham and John. Doctor Slover is de- scended from John, who was one of the early settlers in New England. The doctor's father is T. Slover who was born in Georgia in 1837. In 1847 his parents removed to Texas in which state he grew up. During the war between the states he served in the Confederate army, and late in the war was taken prisoner and kept in a Federal prison in Arkansas until peace was declared. He was married in Rusk County, Texas, to Miss Martha Runnels, who was born in Alabama in 1845 and died at Shawnee, Oklahoma, in 1901. After their marriage they removed to Cherokee County, and in 1876 to Collins County, Texas. Mr. T. Slover has been a farmer and stockman all his active career and is now living retired at Sulphur, Oklahoma. In politics he is a democrat. The children are: Rachel, who married D. D. Boyle, a minister of the Christian Church, and she died at the age of twenty-eight; S. P. Slover was a cotton buyer and died at Wynnewood, Oklahoma, at the age of forty- nine; Frankie lives at Shawnee and is the widow of L. C. Lane, a merchant; G. W. Slover is a graduate of the Missouri Medical College and is a physician and surgeon at Sulphur; W. Z. Slover's present residence is un- known; the sixth in order of birth is Dr. John T .; B. W. Slover is a physician and surgeon, also a graduate of the Missouri Medical College and practices at Blanchard, Oklahoma; J. L. Slover is state inspector of cattle, living at Sulphur.

Doctor Slover attended the public schools in Collins County, where he was reared from the age of five years. He also attended high school and was graduated from Grayson College of Whitewright, Texas, in 1891, receiv- ing a teacher's first grade certificate. For a number of years he actively followed education as a profession and taught in Collins County for seven years. He be- gan his medical studies in Baylor University in Dallas for one year and in 1904 graduated M. D. from the

Nelson F. Carr And Family

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Dallas Medical College after a two years' course. He subsequently in 1907 took post-graduate at the Barnes Medical College at St. Louis, Doctor Slover was one of the first physicians to permanently locate at Sulphur in 1904. His offices are in the Good & Lidy Building on Davis Avenue. Besides his large private practice he is local surgeon for the Santa Fe Railway and is examining physician for the Mutual Lite, the Aetna Life, the Kansas City Life, the New York Life and the Bankers Life Insurance Company. For the past five years he has also been physician in charge of the Oklahoma State School for the Deaf, and was county health officer during the first administration after state- hood.

He is an active member of the Murray County Medi- cal Society, the American Medical Association, and as a democrat served as a member of the city council of Sulphur for five years. He is affiliated with Sulphur Lodge No. 144, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Sulphur Lodge No. 353, Independent Order Odd Fel- lows, Sulphur Camp of the Woodmen of the World and the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Knights of Pythias Lodge at Sulphur.

In Grayson County, Texas, November 11, 1896, Doctor Slover married Miss Lillie Julian, daughter of J. C. Julian, who is a minister of the Free Will Baptist Church living in Fannin County, Texas. To their mar- riage have been born two children: Joe Bailey, who was born August 6, 1897, and is now a senior in the Sulphur High School, with a record of never having been absent or tardy since he started to school; Lena, born March 10, 1901, and a sophomore in the high school, and who has a similar record as to attendance as her brother, and both are bright and studious young people.

NELSON F. CARR. It is with the title of "The Pioneer of Big Caney"' that Nelson F. Carr has long been known to the people of Bartlesville and Washington County. He was the first white settler of any real importance along that river, and nearly fifty years have elapsed since he and Mrs. Carr, his noble wife, began housekeeping in the wilderness which has since been transformed by civilization and is now one of the richest sections in the Southwest, with its great oil and grain fields and with the great development of railroads, cities and general industrialism.

He was born in Wilton, Saratoga County, New York, September 2, 1844, a son of William Henry and Saralı M. (Clancy) Carr. His father was born in New York State and his mother in Vermont. The father died in September, 1848, at the age of thirty-one, and of him Nelson F. Carr has only a faint recollection. In 1859 the widowed mother brought her son and two daughters to the western frontier. Mr. Carr was fifteen years of age at the time and was born only sixteen years after the first railroad was put in operation in the United States. When the family came out to Fort Scott, Kansas, in the year 1859, they rode a railroad train only as far as Pleasant Hill, Missouri, then the terminus of the Missouri Pacific. From there they journeyed by stage as far as the present Kansas City and Mr. Carr's active lifetime covers the entire period of railroad development in the country west of Missouri. Mr. Carr's mother remained a widow for sixty years, and died at the age of eighty-nine in California. Her two daughters were: Anna Bridgman, now deceased; and Jennie Bent, of Colorado, who has two sons and one daughter.

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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