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 98

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 98

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For the past three years Mr. Barrows has found pleas- ure, recreation and satisfaction in developing his magni- ficent fruit farm, concerning which adequate mention has already been made in this context. In the year 1914 he and his family indulged in a most interesting tour of the Northwest, and in the same they visited Montana, Idaho, Washington, the Yellowstone National Park and other points of interest in that section, after which the trip was continued into California.

Broad-minded, progressive and public-spirited as a citi- zen and taking vital interest in all that touches the wel- fare of the state that has represented his home from early youth, Mr. Barrows has had naught of ambition for public office, though he is found aligned as a staunch supporter of the principles and cause of the republican party. In the time-honored Masonic fraternity he has the distinction of having received the thirty-third and maxi- mum degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, this honor having been conferred upon him in Washington, D. C., on the 22d of October, 1909. He is an appreciative student of the history and teachings of this great fra- ternal organization and is influential in the same in Okla-

homa. At Oklahoma City he is affiliated with Siloam Lodge, No. 276, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons; Cyrus Chapter, No. 7, Royal Arch Masons; and Oklahoma Com- mandery, Kuights Templar; and at Tulsa he holds mem- bership in Akdar Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine and is also a member of Oklahoma Consistory, A. A. & A. S. R., at Guthrie, Oklahoma.

On the 14th of March, 1901, was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Barrows to Miss Katherine Kramer, who was born at Rockport, Spencer County, Indiana, and they have one son, John Kramer Barrows. The beautiful family home, just outside the city limits of Tulsa, in "Morningside" Addition, is a center of much of the representative social activity of the community.

SAMUEL MORTON RUTHERFORD. Among the members of the Oklahoma legal profession, none has a better record for straightforward and high professional con- duct, or for success earned with honor and without animosity, than has Samuel Morton Rutherford, one of the oldest aud ablest practitioners at the Muskogee bar. While Mr. Rutherford's practice is broad and general in character, he is probably best known as a master of the criminal branch, in which he has won distinction by an excellent display of unusual pro- fessional talents.

Samuel Morton Rutherford was born at Lewisville, Lafayette County, Arkansas, February 16, 1859, his father being Robert B. Rutherford, a noted lawyer of the bar of Arkansas, born in that state at Little Rock, and a member of a Scotch family which on coming to America first made its home in Virginia. Mr. Ruther- ford's mother belonged to a well known family of South Carolina, where she was born at Greenville, and bore the maiden name of Sallie Wallace Butler. Robert B. Rutherford, born in 1837, passed his life in Arkan- sas, and for many years successfully practiced law at Fort Smith, also for several terms serving on the bench of the Circuit Court. He was a Confederate veteran of the Civil war, and was highly esteemed both as a citi- zen and a legist. His death occurred in 1901, when he was sixty-nine years of age.

Samuel Morton Rutherford was reared, at Fort Smith, where he received his early education in the' public schools. After some preparation he entered Emery & Henry College, where he was graduated in 1883, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and following this became a law student in a law office at Fort Smith, where he was admitted to the bar. Scarcely had he commenced practice when he was appointed, in 1884, under sheriff of his county, a position which he held until 1892, and then removed to Atoka, Indian Terri- tory, where for two years he was United States Com- missioner. In 1895 Mr. Rutherford was appointed United States marshal for the Northern District of Indian Territory, and continued to act in that capac- ity for two and one-half years. On March 28, 1895, Mr. Rutherford became a resident of Muskogee, which city he has continued to make his home. When he left office as United States marshal, he began to give his entire attention to the practice of law, and soon attracted to himself business of the most desirable kind. While in the main his practice has been general in character, he has won the reputation also of being one of the ablest criminal lawyers in Oklahoma. He has long been active among the leaders of the democratic political party, having been chairman of the Indian Territory delegation to the National Democratic Con- vention held at St. Louis in 1904, and in 1908 served in the capacity of presidential elector. Fraternally,

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

Mr. Rutherford is a prominent Mason, belonging to the Knights Templar and the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also well known in Odd Fellowship and has numerous friends in fraternal circles, all over the state. With his family, he attends the Episcopal Church. In 1890 Mr. Rutherford was married to Miss Sallie Dillard, and to them there have been born four chil- dren, namely : Helen K., Samuel Morton, Jr., John Dillard and Jane Wallace.

H. A. LEDBETTER. Few members of the Oklahoma bar have accomplished more of the pioneering and founda- tion work in legal procedure than this well-known Ard- more lawyer, who has been identified with that city professionally, in church affairs, and in business for almost twenty years. Mr. Ledbetter gained a reputation for himself and constituted some lasting precedence in Indian land cases when he directed, for a period of nine years, one of the causes celebres originating in this state. In 1906 he commenced a lawsuit involving 200 acres of the townsite of Middleburg, Oklahoma. This involved the allotment of Buckner Burns, an intermarried citizen. The first suit was tried in the Grady County courts, it went into the higher state courts, into the Federal District Court, and finally into the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Ledbetter secured a mandamus proceeding in Washington for the issue of patents, and after nine years of vigorous contest against opposition and the forces of delay and obstruction he obtained in February, 1915, a final judgment in favor of his client. The array of precedence brought forward in the course of this litigation and wrought into the final decision have already settled and will continue to settle more cases of Indian land litigation than any case ever brought before the court. The states of Minnesota, Wyoming and others have already made use of this decision rendered, and it is one of the most conspicuous cases ever originating in Oklahoma and reflects great credit upon this Ardmore attorney.

Mr. Ledbetter is a native of Texas, born in Fayette County, February 18, 1876. The Ledbetters originally came from England during colonial days and were pio- neer settlers in Tennessee. From Tennessee T. A. Led- better, father of the Ardmore lawyer, and who was born in Middle Tennessee in 1831, was taken by his parents to Texas in 1836, the year that Texas gained its inde- pendence from Mexico. The family not long afterward settled in Fayette County, where they cleared and culti- vated some of the best land redeemed from the wilder- ness. T. A. Ledbetter grew up in Fayette County, became a farmer and cattleman, there, but many years later, in 1899, moved to Ardmore, Oklahoma, where he is now practically retired, although he has interests in business and real estate in Texas. He is a member of the Methodist Church, is a democrat, and during the Civil war served with the Home Guards of Texas. T. A. Ledbetter married Miss Almeda Robinson, who was born in Texas in 1834, when Texas was a Mexican province. She died at Ardmore in 1910. There was a numerous family, and most of them are well situated in their respective spheres. W. A., the oldest child, is an attor- ney at Oklahoma City. Ada, who lives at Fort Worth, Texas, married R. E. Dortch, who went to the Philippines during the Spanish-American war, having enlisted in 1898, and has never returned from the Far East and prob- ably died while in service. H. C. Ledbetter is in the real estate and loan business at Ardmore. Annie married R. E. Green, a sculptor, and they reside in Australia. Lena J. married John W. Teer, who is manager for the Westheimer & Daube mercantile establishment at Ard- more. Seth has a position in the Oklahoma state admin- istration under Governor Williams at Oklahoma City.

Guy T. is in the real estate business at Ardmore, and the eighth child is H. A. Ledbetter. Amie married J. R. Cox, who is auditor for the Texas & Pacific Railroad at Dallas. Bertha married Homer Wilson, who is in the lumber business at Terre Haute, Indiana.

The career of H. A. Ledbetter has been one of con- stant seeking after opportunity and active service since he was a boy. He attended the public schools in Fayette County, Texas, was graduated from the LaGrange Highf School in 1894, and subsequently at Gainesville, Texas, took special work in the high school and studied law under W. O. Davis. His arrival in Ardmore was on May 27, 1896, and he is one of the oldest white citizens of that town. Here he entered the office of his brother, W. A. Ledbetter, and S. T. Bledsoe, and took charge of the commercial end of their business until the fall of 1903. He then became general representative for J. S. Mullen in his varied land litigation, and looked after his interests until 1913.

In the meantime, in 1898, Mr. Ledbetter was admitted to the Oklahoma bar, beginning practice in the Circuit Court, and was admitted in the fall of 1911 to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States. In 1913 he opened his offices in the Baird Building, on the south side of Main Street, and from this point has since directed his large law practice, which is exclusively confined to land litigation. Outside of his profession he is connected with several oil companies and has interesting farm lands in Grady and Carter counties.

Mr. Ledbetter is now vice president of the Oklahoma State Bar Association, and for four years was chairman of its grievance committee. He also belongs to the American Bar Association, is a democrat in politics, attends the. Episcopal Church, and is affiliated with Ard- more Lodge No. 648 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Ardmore Lodge No. 31, A. F. & A. M .; Ardmore Camp of the Modern Woodmen of America; and also the County Bar Association.

In 1899 at Davis, Oklahoma, he married Miss Mabel Ellis. Her father, D. F. Ellis, is a banker, merchant, cattleman and prominent citizen at Davis. By this mar- riage there are three children: Hugh Ellis, born April 1, 1901, now in the eighth grade of the public schools at Ardmore; Alma Louise, born March 12, 1903, and in the seventh grade, Ruth Anita, born March 4, 1906, and in the fourth grade of the public schools. In 1911, at Oklahoma City, Mr. Ledbetter married Miss Lela Duke, daughter of the late B. A. Duke, who was a cattleman at Paris, Texas.

HORACE A. LEDBETTER, engaged in the real estate, loans and insurance business at Ardmore, is a brother of H. A. Ledbetter, the prominent attorney of that city, whose sketch will also be found in these pages.

Born in Fayette County, Texas, July 16, 1866, Horace A. Ledbetter attended the public schools of his native county, and after his parents removed to LaGrange in 1884, he attended a business college in Austin up to 1887. Returning to LaGrange, he was appointed deputy district clerk, and held that office until 1892. He next served a year as deputy sheriff, and then occupied the office of justice of the peace until May, 1908. At that date he came to Ardmore, and has since been actively identified with local business affairs, having one of the principal agencies and offices for the handling of loans, real estate and insurance. His territory covers Carter and the surrounding counties. He has well furnished offices in the Ledbetter-Frensley Building. With his brother, G. T. Ledbetter, he owns 320 acres of farm land in Carter County, he himself owns many lots in Fort Worth, and his own comfortable homestead is at 1101 B Street, Northwest, in Ardmore.

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

Mr. Ledbetter is a democrat, a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church and a man of natural leadership wherever he goes. On September 8, 1889, at LaGrange, he married Miss Mary A. Gregory, daughter of T. C. Gregory, who for many years conducted a drug business at LaGrange, Texas. Their two children are: Olive, a graduate of the Selridge Business College of Ardmore; and Laura, wife of L. A. Jones, in the fire insurance business at Ardmore.

THOMAS C. HARRILL. Every man is a leader or a follower. He must serve in the ranks or wear the shoulder straps of authority. Which he does in the battle of life depends largely or chiefly upon himself. There is always room at the top, and if he has the qualities to make a good officer or a commanding gen- eral, he will find his way to his proper position in due time without much extraneous assistance, if any. The truth of these remarks is exemplified in the career of Thomas C. Harrill, banker, farmer and prominent citi- zen of Wagoner, Oklahoma. Mr. Harris was born in Rutherford County, North Carolina, November 17, 1863. His parents, William H. and Drucilla (McBrayer) Har- rill, were both of Scotch-Irish lineage, their respective families going to North Carolina originally from Vir- ginia. Mr. Harrill's mother was related to General Nathaniel Green of Revolutionary fame. His father was a Confederate soldier who surrendered with Gen- eral Lee's army. He was a farmer of small means, and reared his family in his native county, where . the brothers and sisters of the subject of this sketch still reside.

Thomas C. Harrill, owing to poor school advantages incident to the reconstruction days after the Civil war, received but a meager education. At the age of twenty ycars he left the parental home to begin the battle of life for himself. Going to Texas, he was there vari- ously employed for a few years, and then, as a young married man, went to Ardmore, Indian Territory, whence he came to Wagoner, January 4, 1894. Here he has since resided. At first, for a short time he was a salesman for a house dealing in wrought-iron ranges, and he then engaged in the cattle business, to which was subsequently added farming. Success attended his efforts, and he has long been numbered among the most extensive farmers and largest cattlemen of Oklahoma, owning several large farms. When the Citizens State Bank succeeded the City National Bank of Wagoner, Mr. Harrill became a large stockholder in the new in- stitution and has served as its president from its or- ganization. He aided in organizing state banks at Locust Grove and Inola, Oklahoma, and is a director in both, and president of the former.

Since Mr. Harrill came to Wagoner he has been a leader among the founders and builders of the city. His influence has reached even beyond its limits and in state affairs also he has been prominent. A staunch friend of education, he was a prime mover in organizing the first public school at Wagoner, which was the first in Indian Territory for whites. He has held several positions of honor and trust, but no elective offices. In politics he has long been active as a democrat. He was a member of the first democratic committee for In- dian Territory, and continued a member of this com- mittee into statehood, and since then has been a mem- ber of the Oklahoma State Democratic Committee-a period of eighteen years. Of this committec he has served as chairman. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and a noble of the Mystic Shrine.

Mr. Harrill was married in Texas, April 15, 1891, to Miss Alice Thompson, a native of that state, and daugh-

ter of James R. and Lucebra (Edwards) Thompson, her parents being Kenutuckians. Mr. and Mrs. Har-, rill have three children, Thomas C., Jr., Alice and Katherine. A leader among men, Mr. Harrill has left his impress for good on his city, county and state. He was a strong advocate of "State Bank Guarantee"' and of the "Grandfather Clause" in franchise legisla- tion. Whenever an important movement is set on foot to promote the progress and prosperity of the city or county, or their advance along moral lines, his fellow citizens know that they have in him a wise counsellor and guide, if, indeed, he is not its originator.

BENJAMIN F. RICE. A substantial member of the legal profession of Tulsa, Benjamin F. Rice has been engaged in practice here since 1904, and as a member of the firm of Rice & Lyons has been connected with much important litigation. He was born in Washington, D. C., January 9, 1875, and is a son of Hon. Benjamin F. and Nancy (Riddell) Rice.

Hon. Benjamin F. Rice was a native of the Empire State, where he was born in 1828, and there received good educational advantages, prepared for the law and was admitted to the bar. After several years of practice there, he removed to Irvine, Estill County, Kentucky, where he was married, and subsequently went to Wash- ington, D. C., being also engaged in practice there. Prior to the Civil war he came to Minnesota, and when the struggle between the North and the South came on, en- tered a volunteer infantry regiment from Minnesota, and rose therein to the rank of major. Some time after the close of the war he went to Little Rock, Arkansas, where he was engaged in practice, and while residing there was elected to the United States Senate, in which he served one term. He then went to Washington, D. C., and con- tinued in practice there until 1905, when, while on a visit to Tulsa, Oklahoma, he died, aged seventy-five years. Mrs. Rice, who was a native of Kentucky, died in 1888, when forty-seven years of age. There were three children in the family: Laura, who is the wife of Harry Riddle; Fannie, who is the wife of Lawrence Hunt; and Benjamin F.

Benjamin F. Rice received his early education in the public schools of Washington, D. C., and after some fur- ther preparation under the able preceptorship of his father entered the law department of the University of West Virginia, from which institution he was graduated in 1897 with his degree. He first came to the West in 1901, when he located at Lawton, Oklahoma, and there continued in active practice until coming to Tulsa, in 1904. Here he was engaged in practice alone for several years, when the firm of Rice & Lyons was formed, this being now considered one of the strong and successful legal combinations of the state. In political matters Mr. Rice is a republican, but is not a politician, preferring to give his undivided attention to the demands of practice. On May 19, 1903, Mr. Rice was united in marriage with Miss Mabel Painter, of Guthrie, Oklahoma.

ARTHUR ARMSTRONG. It is pleasing to be able to enter in this publication a review of the life history of such a noble and honored representative of the Delaware tribe of Indians as is this sterling pioneer of Washing- ton County, where he has maintained his home for vir- tually half a century. His present modern residence is situated within the city limits of Bartlesville, the judi- cial center of the county, and he has in the homestead place a tract of thirty acres, the remainder having been platted into city lots. Mr. Armstrong is of French and Delaware Indian blood and came to Indian Territory at the time when the Government sent the Delawares to

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ARTHUR ARMSTRONG

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the reservation. His is a strong mind and he has lived a godly, righteous and Christian life, has been the fore- runner of progress in educational and religious affairs in what is now Washington County; he served as a soldier of the Union in the Civil war; and his life has been one of kindliness, of helpfulness and of impregnable integ- rity, so that he may well be accorded consideration in this history of a great state, the development of which he has witnessed and assisted in.

Arthur Armstrong, whose Indian name is Sikalace, and who retained his constant use of the Delaware lan- guage until he married a white woman, was born at the confluence of the Missouri and Kaw rivers, Kansas, on the site of the former City of Wyandotte, now known as Kansas City, Kansas, and the date of his nativity was July 16, 1848. He is a son of James Armstrong, who was one-half Delaware Indian and one-half French blood, and whose Indian name was Nespanaqua, though he used also the English name of Armstrong. His wife also was of Delaware Indian and French blood, and both were born in the South, whence they accompanied other members of the Delaware tribe when they were removed by the Government to Kansas. Both died when their son Arthur of this review was about six years old, and they are survived also by an older son, Henry, who resides at Coody's Bluff, Nowata County, Oklahoma.

Arthur Armstrong was a youth when he came with the other members of the Delaware tribe to Indian Ter- ritory, about fifty years ago, in consonance with the demands of the Government. During the long inter- vening years he has maintained his home in what is now Washington County, and, like other members of the Delaware tribe, he has been a successful exponent of agricultural industry, these sterling Indians having been content to follow peaceful vocations and to hold aloof from the turbulence of other tribes, as history fully records to their credit. The allotment of which the present attractive little homestead of Mr. Armstrong is a part originally comprised 160 acres, and his modern residence is at the east end of First Street, Bartlesville. The remaining 130 acres are now included in the City of Bartlesville and this property has been sold by him for platting purposes. His original domicile was within a stone's throw of the present courthouse of Washington County. Mr. Armstrong is the owner of a large and well improved landed estate, one farm, of 500 acres, being situated on Curl Creek, at a point sixteen miles distant from his place of residence. On his land was put down the first oil well in the vicinity of Bartlesville, and three producing wells are now in operation on his property. From nine wells he formerly received $403 a month on lease and still more remuneration when the production of oil ensued.

Mr. Armstrong takes an intelligent and lively interest in public affairs, especially those pertaining to his home county and state, and his political support is given to the republican party. At the time of the Civil war he served one year and three months as a soldier of the Union. He was a member of Company M, Sixth Kansas Cavalry, within the ranks of which were a total of eight Delaware Indians, including his brother, Henry. Mr. Armstrong was for a time confined to a military hos- pital at West Point, Missouri, and was with his command at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, at the close of the war, his honorable discharge having there been received. It is gratifying to record that he is an appreciative and honored member of the Bartlesville Post of the Grand Army of the Republic, and also that he receives from the Government a pension of $22 a month in recognition of his gallant service as a soldier.

Mr. Armstrong has been a member of the Baptist

Church about forty years, and his zeal and devotion have been in harmony with his characteristic loyalty and nobility of character. In the early days he used to go once a month to Nowata, a distance of about thirty miles, for the purpose of listening to the preaching of Chief Johnnycake, and these journeys were made on horseback, along the old trails. Mr. Armstrong well remembers Chief Hardrope and his tribe of Osages, who frequently camped in the vicinity of the present City of Bartlesville, where they would give their war dances and indulge in horse races during the summer seasons, after which they would go forth to hunt buffalo, to pro- vide meat for the winter.

About the time when he "found. Christ, " as he him- self has expressed it, Mr. Armstrong built a little cabin on the banks of Caney Creek and designated the same as Union Church, this having been the first church building on the site of the City of Bartlesville. In this primitive edifice a clergyman of any denomination was given wel- come and the privilege of conducting services, and with the passing years the founder has not abated his toler- ance of spirit, but is ready to aid all denominations and to do all in his power to further the cause of the Divine Master. The little building was utilized also as the first schoolhouse in the community, and later, when white settlers arrived, the little church and schoolhouse was not disturbed, but adjoining it the white pioneers erected a somewhat more pretentious building for combined church and school purposes, the new structure being on the land owned by Mr. Armstrong. During the earlier period of his farm operations in Washington County Mr. Arm- strong and his family had no neighbors nearer than a mile or more distant, and when he needed groceries he was compelled to go to Baxter Springs, Kansas, about 100 miles distant, the while he went to Parker, now known as Coffeyville, that state, for his mail, until the establishment of the Star route from that place into Indian Territory. In those days Mr. Armstrong did much hunting and fishing, finding an abundance of deer and turkeys, buffalofish and catfish, all of which trophies of his skill aided in replenishing the family larder.

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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