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 80

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 80

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To the public schools of his native place George M.

Porter is indebted for his early educational discipline, and after his graduation in the high school he entered the Iowa College of Law, which is now the law depart- ment of Drake University, in the City of Des Moines, but the death of his father prevented him from completing the full course in this institution. He returned to Cen- terville, where he proved himself eligible for and was admitted to the bar, and where, in January, 1900, he entered upon his novitiate in the active practice of his profession. In February of the following year, how- ever, Mr. Porter came to Indian Territory and estab- lished his residence at Eufaula, the present judicial center of McIntosh County, Oklahoma, where he con- tinued in active general practice for seven years, within which period he built up a substantial and remunera- tive law business and established a firm reputation for versatility and strength as a trial lawyer and as a safe and conservative counsellor. He served as city attorney of Eufaula and made an admirable record for fearless and successful work in prosecuting violators of the law. Many pleasant memories are his in connection with the associations and incidents of that period during which he was struggling to win his way to the front in the exacting profession of his choice, and he retains a lively interest in the town and county in which he won his spurs as a barrister. When Oklahoma was admitted to the Union as a sovereign commonwealth Mr. Porter felt prompted to seek a broader field of professional labor, and in September, 1907, about one month before the admission of the new state, he established his resi- dence in McAlester, where he has since continued in successful practice as one of the representative members of the bar of Pittsburg County and where he and his associate control a specially large and substantial general law business. Though he has had no desire for public office and has found the work of his profession insistent in its demands upon his time and attention, Mr. Porter served one year as city attorney of. McAlester. IIe has beeu active and influential in the councils of the demo- cratic party in Oklahoma but has labored for the suc- cess of the cause and for the advancement of the in- terests and political fortunes of his friends rather than to further in any way his own political prestige. In the time-honored Masonic fraternity he has received the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scot- tish Rite, besides being affiliated with the adjunct organ- ization, the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and also with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is an, appreciative and popular member of the McAlester Country Club, of which he is president, 1915-16. Both he and his wife are active members of the Presbyterian Church.

Mr. Porter has identified himself fully with the in- terests of his home city, county and state, and has con- tributed much in influence and tangible co-operation in the furtherance of the civic and material development and progress of McAlester and Pittsburg County. He is a stockholder and director in various banking insti- tutions, is the owner of a well improved ranch in Pitts- burg County, and has other capitalistic interests of im- portance.

In 1903 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Porter to Miss Ethel Clark, of Centerville, Iowa, and their two children are Margaret and Mary.

HON. RAPHAEL F. WILSON. The boundary margin between Indian tribal government and state government was infinitesimal. It began when President Roosevelt made the first penmark of his signature on the proclama- tion and ended when his signature was complete. In Oklahoma the proclamation became one of the great

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instruments of the state's history and it left in another era most of the men who had been part of the govern- ment of that period. A few crossed the boundary shortly, among them Hon. Raphael F. Wilson, of Val- liant, and a good many others accomplished it later. That is to say, the people of Oklahoma found in tribal officials some of the material out of which to make state officials. It may be said as approximating the fact that Mr. Wilson stepped from the office of judge of the Second Judicial District of the Choctaw Nation, to the office of a member of the State Board of Agriculture.

Mr. Wilson had been sheriff of Towson County and district clerk of the Second Judicial District, composed of several counties, and a member of the Choctaw Legis- lature before his people made him district judge. To him and his district clerk, Crawford J. Anderson, of Talihina, was given the duty of clearing the dockets of the court before the tribal government ceased to exist; and the work for more than one term of court was arduous as well as it was sad-sad because it was the last step toward the abandonment for all time of all that was sacred in Choctaw government. No cases of the docket were of particular importance. A citizen here and there, accused of a crime had to be taken by the sheriff to a tree and whipped for his sins. The citizenship was composed of all races by blood, adoption or intermarriage. There were several murder cases but no convictions; in fact, it never became the duty of Judge Wilson while he was on the bench to impose the extreme penalty for murder. When it was all over, the bells rang in the era of statehood. At that time Gov- ernor Haskell sent for Judge Wilson and gave him a commission as a member of the first State Board of Agriculture, of which board he held the responsible position of treasurer, and served as a member for five years.

As a member of the Choctaw Legislature, under an administration of Governor Green McCurtain, Mr. Wil- son's principal activities were those connected with the effort to keep from the tribal rolls any whose claim to citizenship was not established beyond doubt. They were rather stormy days at the capital at Tuskahoma, for applicants for enrollment came by the hundreds and presented all manner of claims. It required the exercise of extreme care and well-balanced judgment for the men of the Legislature to exercise the qualities of fair- ness and justice in all cases. As a member of the board of agriculture, Mr. Wilson joined in the election of J. H. Connell as first president of the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College after statehood, and his Board built, equipped and hired teachers for and prepared courses of study for the six secondary agricul- tural and mechanical schools that were established after statehood. The value of Mr. Wilson as a member of the Board lay largely in his knowledge of what the old Indian nations of the eastern side of the state required at the hands of the state and the board. In the moun- tains near the old Village of Alikchi he is still operating a large ranch where 1,800 acres are under fence and 10,000, acres lie outdoors for his use. Here he has been raising cattle and hogs and growing feed and other crops, and illustrating what was possible for a progres- sive Indian to accomplish under the arts of civilization.

Mr. Wilson was born in 1870, within two miles of the present site of Valliant, which is his home. His parents were John and Jane (James) Wilson, and his father, a one-eighth Choctaw, who was born in Mississippi, came with the Choctaws when they migrated to Indian Ter- ritory. John Wilson was a farmer and stockman. He first settled near Wheelock Academy and later moved to what became his permanent home near Valliant, and Vol. III-18

there resided until his death, an event which took place in 1892. John Wilson was a man of big brain and progressive outlook on life. He was so well loved by his people that they kept him in the office of county judge of Towson County for nearly twenty years. Mr. Wilson was a nephew of Bazil LeFlore, the first governor of the Choctaws in Indian Territory, for whom LeFlore County was named. The mother of Raphael F. Wilson was of Chickasaw parentage, and her brother, George James, who lived at Stonewall and was for a time superintendent of a tribal school there, was for many years one of the leading educators among the Chickasaw people. John and Jane Wilson became the parents of four sons, namely : Raphael F., of this notice; W. W., who is engaged in banking and merchandising at Fort Towson; and J. D. and F. H., who are engaged as stockmen at Fort Towson.

The first school attended by Raphael F. Wilson was taught in a log schoolhouse in the timber near his birth- place, and E. S. Cruit, a white man, licensed by the Choctaw Board of Education, was its teacher. Later Mr. Wilson attended Spencer Academy, being there under the administrations of O. P. Starks and H. R. Schemmer- horn, and at that institution was a schoolmate of Thomas Hunter, of Hugo; Alexander Williams, for many years a Methodist preacher; Solomon Homer, who became a distinguished lawyer and brilliant poet, and Hampton Tucker, a prominent citizen of McAlester at this time. He entered public life after leaving school and devoted many years to its duties. As district clerk he succeeded Ben Watkins, an intermarried citizen, who published one of the first defineries of the Choctaw language. As district judge he succeeded Gilbert W. Dukes, who afterwards became governor of the nation, and its representative at Washington, D. C. He has an elegant home at Valliant and in recent years has devoted much of his time to his ranch interests.

In May, 1915, the democrats of Valliant elected Judge Wilson mayor of the town. This was fitting, for he is the father of the town and the namer of its streets, it having been built on land that he held. He had shot deer and turkey here many years before, and for several years was a member of the town board of trustees, filling that office when electric lights were installed and side- walks built, and the water system constructed which is the pride of the locality and is considered one of the best in the entire state, for a town of this size. For many years he was a member of the town board of edu- cation, and was instrumental in the erection of the mod- ern school building. Since he has been mayor bonds have been voted for a county fair ground and buildings. It has been erroneously stated that Dalton Avenue in Valliant, which is the main business thoroughfare, was named for the Dalton band of outlaws who once made an escape from Texas through this section of the terri- tory. In fact, the street was named in honor of an official of the Frisco Railroad Company. Mr. Wilson has all proper modesty regarding his own accomplish- ments in the world, and he shows most enthusiasm and pride when speaking of his little town, which he has seen come up from nothing, and in which development his friends say he has been the factor of foremost influence from the beginning. He helped to organize the first bank in the town, of which he held the position of vice president for many years, and was also interested in the first store.

Mr. Wilson was married in 1896 to Miss Emma Bohannon, an orphan girl who was educated at Wheelock Academy and who lived at the time of her marriage in the home of Judge Henry Harris, where the cere- mony was performed by W. H. Wagoner, a Methodist

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preacher. They have five children: Toru, Raphael, Eleauor, McCurtain and Waldo Franklin, all of whom are at home. Mr. Wilson is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, the Woodmen of the World lodge and the Texas Cattle Raisers' Association.

LEO J. F. ROONEY. In view of the marvelous resources of Oklahoma, it is not strange that the state has at- tracted to residence here many men of talent, high attainments and positions of influence from other states. An excellent example of this class of men is Leo J. F. Rooney, who a little more than six years ago identified himself with Tulsa after a successful career in engineer- ing aud business affairs in the East. Mr. Rooney is a consulting engineer with offices in Tulsa and gives particular attention to mineral lands, mines, railroad construction, and general industrial development. He is a member of the firm of Brennan & Rooney, contractors and engineers.

Born in Friendsville, Susquehanna County, Pennsyl- vania, in 1864, Mr. Rooney came of pioneer stock in that section of Pennsylvania, his grandparents on both sides having cut their farms out of the wilderness nearly a century ago. His father was a merchant at Bingham- ton, New York, just across the state line from Susque- hanna County, Pennsylvania. Mr. Rooney was still a child when his father died and the family then moved to Philadelphia, in which city he attended the public schools until about fifteen, after which he spent four years in Mouut St. Mary's College at Emmitsburg, Maryland. He received the degree A. M. in 1886.

After leaving college in 1883 up to 1890 Mr. Rooney was connected with the civil engineering department of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company and the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company. He was promoted in the service until he became assistant engineer in charge at Scranton of one of the Reading's allied lines. Somewhat later he accepted an invitation from his brother-in-law, Thomas H. Downing of New York City, to go to New York and associate himself with the cus- toms and transportation business of R. F. Downing & Company, the oldest and best known firm in that line in the city.

Almost immediately after taking up his residence in New York Mr. Rooney joined the Seventh New York Regiment, National Guard, and enjoyed many positions of honor in the regiment up to the breaking out of the Spanish-American war. The Seventh Regiment not tak- ing the field for active service, Mr. Rooney at once trans- ferred into the famous old Sixty-ninth New York In- fantry, as a private, but in less than three weeks was commissioned a lieutenant by Gov. Frank S. Black of New York. Within another two weeks he was serving as aide-de-camp and engineer officer to his brigade commander, General Andrews. General Andrews was soon transferred to another brigade, and Lieutenant Rooney was detailed to the same position by the succeed- ing general, James Rush Lincoln, and was on General Lincoln's staff until the close of the war. For his services in that brief but momentous conflict with Spain he has a number of letters and evidences of esteem from his commanders.

On being mustered out of service at New York with his regiment in the spring of 1899, Mr. Rooney decided to resume his old profession of engineering, and was engaged by the president of the Pittsburg, Shawmut & Northern Railroad and Shawmut Mining Company to take charge in Western Pennsylvania of the work of con- struction and development of these great properties. While with these organizations he was elected treasurer of the St. Mary's Trust Company of St. Mary's, Penn-

sylvania, continuing an officer in that institution for more than three years. He was also secretary of the local Commercial Club, and otherwise interested in the development of that section of the state.

While at St. Mary's, Pennsylvania, Mr. Rooney mar- ried Miss Mary Oberkirch, of Erie, Pennsylvania, whose brother has for many years been president of the St. Mary's Sewer Pipe Company, one of the most successful industrial institutions of Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Rooney have one daughter, Mary Martha Helen. In 1906 Mr. Rooney was persuaded to go to New York to associate himself again with his brother-in-law, Mr. Downing, whom failing health kept from business much of the time. For the succeeding two years and a half Mr. Rooney was confined closely to a most difficult task.

Having many friends in the new State of Oklahoma who continually wrote him of its possibilities, he spent a vacation here in the spring of 1909. After a visit of thirty days, he fell a victim to the wonderful charms and industrial possibilities of the new state, and decided then and there to cast his fortunes with it. Moving his family to Tulsa, he has ever since been an important factor in that city and in the state at large. As a result of his broad professional experience, his service has been of particular note in behalf of deep waterways and similar movements to furnish Oklahoma the best possible system of transportation for its wonderfully varied product. He has been chairman of the Deep Waterways Committee of the Tulsa Commercial Club, and is a director for the State of Oklahoma in the National Rivers and Harbors Cougress of the United States. Before coming to Tulsa he and his brother, Judge John Jerome Rooney, organ- ized the Rivers, Harbors and Terminals Transportation League of the State of New York, and his brother has been president of that organization. His brother was appointed presiding judge of the Court of Claims of the State of New York by former Gov. William Sulzer. The Rooney family through all its branches have been staunch and aggressive members of the democratic party, have rendered untiring service to the cause, but until the elevation of this member to judicial office have never held any positions of emolument in the party, though frequently given responsibilities that carried with them hard work and the honors of party distinction.

Mr. Rooney is a life member of the Military Order of Foreign Wars of the United States, and is present com- mander of Fitzhugh Lee Camp No. 15 of the United Spanish War Veterans of Tulsa. He is also a member of the Veterans of the Seventh Regiment, N. G. N. Y., Veterans of the Sixty-ninth Regiment, N. Y., is an alumnus of Mount St. Mary's College, a director of the Tulsa Commercial Club, and is connected with many other organizations. His college associations and profes- sional experience have thrown him much in contact with the people of the South, and he has worked among them and lived with them for many years.

PINK W. MCKAY. Another of the native sons of Oklahoma who is giving admirable account of himself as a young business man of marked progressiveness and as a loyal and appreciative citizen is Mr. McKay, who is president of the First National Bank of New Wilson, Carter County, who is a member of one of the sterling pioneer families of Oklahoma, within whose limits his father settled more than thirty years ago.

Pink W. McKay was born in what is now Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, and the date of his nativity was March 5, 1884. He is a son of George W. and Nannie (Bell) Mckay, the former of whom was born in the Dominion of Canada and the latter in the State of Mis- souri, where their marriage was solemnized. As a young

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man George W. Mckay went from Canada into the State of Massachusetts, and later he removed to Missouri, where he engaged in farming and stockraising, with which line of industrial enterprise he continued to be identified after his removal to Texas. In 1881 he came with his family from the Lone Star State to Indian Ter- ritory and became one of the pioneer agriculturists and stockgrowers of Pittsburg County, and he later removed to McClain County. His experience has thus covered industrial and civic activities in Indian Territory, Okla- homa Territory and the State of Oklahoma, and through his well-ordered efforts he has achieved definite pros- perity within the period of his residence in the present vigorous young State of Oklahoma. He and his wife now maintain their home at Byars, McClain County. From Pittsburg County he removed to Pottawatomie County, where he remained until he established his resi- dence in McClain County. He is a staunch democrat in his political proclivities and both he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. His paternal grandfather, of Scotch-Irish lineage, immi- grated to America and settled in Canada, where he passed the remainder of his life.

George W. and Nannie (Bell) Mckay became the parents of five children : Frank is a merchant at Maud, Pottawatomie County; Maggie is the wife of Charles B. Çatron, a merchant at Byars, McClain County; Pink W., of this review, was the next in order of birth; Hugh is engaged in the mercantile business at Asher, Potta- watomie County, and his twin sister, Lulu, is the wife of James W. Green, likewise a prosperous merchant at Asher.

In the pioneer schools of Pittsburg and Pottawatomie counties Pink W. Mckay acquired his early education, his parents having removed to the latter county in 1894, when he was a lad of about ten years. He early gained practical knowledge of farming and the cattle business, and when but fourteen years of age he began independent operations in the handling of yearling cattle, his asso- ciation with the cattle business continuing for four years. Thereafter he was engaged in the mercantile business at Asher, Pottawatomie County, until 1912, when he removed to Carter County and assumed the position of assistant cashier of the State Bank of Hewitt. Two months later he sold his interest in that institution and became one of the principal stockholders in the Bank of Commerce at Pooleville, in the same county. He served one year as president of this bank and then sold his stock in the same and removed to the ambitious young Town of New Wilson, Carter County, where, on the 11th of July, 1914, he effected the organization of the First National Bank, of which he has since served as president and as chief executive of which he has brought to bear progressive policies and marked discrimination as a financier, with the result that the institution has become an important factor in connection with commercial and industrial activ- ities in Carter County. In May, 1914, was completed the attractive bank building owned and occupied by the institution and eligibly situated at the corner of Main Street and Broadway. The bank bases its operations on a capital stock of $25,000 and maintains a surplus fund of $5,000, Clyd W. Henson being its efficient cashier.

Mr. McKay is unfailing in his support of measures and enterprises tending to advance the civic and material progress and prosperity of the community, is liberal and public-spirited and is actively aligned as a supporter of the cause of the democratic party. He is a member of the Oklahoma State Bankers' Association and in a fra- ternal way formerly maintained active affiliation with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

As Asher, Pottawatomie County, on the 19th of Novem- ber, 1911, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. MeKay

to Miss Vernon Kenmore, daughter of William W. Ken- more, a representative merchant of that place. Of the two children of this union the firstborn, a daughter, died at birth on April 30, 1913, and the surviving child, Pink William Kenmore Mckay, was born November 17, 1914,

LILLIAN PEARCE. Thirty-five years ago the destinies of the members of what has been called the Five Civil- ized Tribes was a doubtful issue. For centuries the American Indian had lived in primitive luxury and com- fort without much labor, content with their lot. Then came civilization to the tribes inhabiting the South- land, and with the changed order prominent families in these tribes came to own their hundreds of slaves. The Civil war was an era of disaster to them as well as to many another in the South, and their homes and vast possessions were swept away. The Five Civilized Tribes were homeless, without wealth and without any great ability to provide for themselves, yet thrown upon their own initiative. Would they succeed in carving from the wilderness of ruin a worthy destiny, or would they sink into the nameless grave of oblivion? Time has given the answer to that question. From the battle scarred remnant who returned from the conflict and from those who had of necessity remained in the homes, there arose on all sides men and women of Indian ancestry who joined their white brothers and sisters in the thankless task of recreating a land of plenty from a barren waste. Dominated by blood and example, with the tireless energy of the proud Anglo-Saxon before them, they took their places behind the plows to make green the fields again, and in the saddle they labored untiringly to cover the hills with cattle. When the white man fal- tered, these Red brothers went on relentlessly, the greater endurance keeping them to their task against every hindrance. Their children were educated in the best schools the East afforded, and from these educated sons and daughters of toiling citizens have come men and women imbued with a realization of the dignity of labor. All over the nation today will be found the descendants of the Civil war veterans of these tribes fill- ing the places of honor and working for the betterment of their kind.

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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