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. IV, Part 106

Author: Thoburn, Joseph B. (Joseph Bradfield), 1866-1941
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 656

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. IV > Part 106

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The educational training with which Mr. Garner started life was acquired in the public schools at Gaines- ville, and he was graduated from the high school with the class of 1886. The next fourteen years he spent as a Georgia farmer. In January, 1900, lie came to Okla-

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homa, for about three weeks was located at El Reno, and then went out to Dewey County, where he spent twelve months in preparing the first and only map of its kind showing in red ink the allotments of every Indian of the Kiowa, Comanche aud Caddo reserva- tion. Obviously this was a work of great value to the early settlers there. Having perfected this map, Mr. Garner bought a farm of 320 acres three miles north- west of Fay. He still owns that property, though it has been operated under a renter since 1906. In 1905 Mr. Garner moved to Thomas, and was actively engaged in the mercantile business there until 1910. The greater part of that year he spent on the old home farm of 350 acres near Gainesville, Georgia, and this estate is now included in his property holdings. Returning to Thomas in October, 1910, he resumed his merchandising activ- ities, and gave them his active supervision until August 12, 1913. At that date he became identified with the Farmers State Guaranty Bank as cashier. A few weeks later, October 15, 1913, he reorganized the bank, and has since been its executive head. Mr. Garner is an ex- cellent financier, and under his management the bank has prospered as never before in its history, and the State Banking Department has had occasion to com- ment most favorably several times upon its manage- ment.

The Farmers State Guaranty Bank of Thomas was established July 12, 1909, as a state institution. The present officers are: John D. Garner, president; A. E. Stevenson of Enid, vice president; Ray Wycoff, cashier, and W. D. Alexander, assistant eashier. The capital stock is $25,000, and surplus $5,000. The quarters for the bank and for offices were built of brick and stone in 1910 at the corner of Main Street and Broadway. Mr. Garner owns a half interest in this bank building aside from his share as a stockholder.

Politically he has always been a democrat, and for two years was mayor of Thomas. He belongs to the Baptist Church, and has taken much interest in Masonry. For four years he served as master of Thomas Lodge No. 265, Ancient Free aud Accepted Masons; was high priest five years of Thomas Chapter No. 53, Royal Arch Masons; and is a member of Weatherford Commandery No. 17, Knights Templar, and India Temple of the Nobles of the Mystie Shrine at Oklahoma City. He also belongs to the Thomas Chamber of Com- merce and the Oklahoma State Bankers Association.

At his old home at Gainesville December 18, 1889, he married Miss Mellie Thompson, a daughter of the late Andrew J. Thompson.

DR. VICTOR CLIFFORD TISDAL, a widely known and highly successful surgeon of Elk City, and member of the firm of Tedrowe and Tisdal, owners of the Frances Hospital, has been engaged in practice here only since April, 1913, but has already established himself firmly in the confidence of a large clientele and of his professional brethren. Prior to entering upon the practice of his calling he received a thorough and comprehensive train- ing, and has never ceased to be a student, his constaut devotion being one of the reasons for his success in his profession. He is a Texan by nativity, born January 3, 1886, in Fannin County, and is a son of Carroll Watson and Mollie E. ( Morehead) Tisdal.

The Tisdal family is of Irish origin and its first American settler located in Pennsylvania prior to the Revolutionary war. From the Keystone State the family moved to Tennessee, where, in 1862, was born Carroll Watson Tisdal. As a young man he went to Arkansas, where he was married and engaged in farming and stock- raising, and in 1885 went to Fannin County, Texas, there

continuing to be engaged in the samo vocations until September, 1893, when he removed to Cordell, Oklahoma, where he now resides. Since 1906 he has devoted his activities exclusively to stock buying. He is a steward in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, aud a demo- crat in his political views. Mr. Tisdal married Miss Mollie E. Morehead,, who was born iu Arkansas, in 1866, and they became the parents of the following children: Victor Clifford; Wilmoth, who is the wife of Lot M. Jones, an educator of Cordell, Oklahoma; Carroll, who. has charge of a geutlemeu's furnishing store at Hen- nessy, Oklahoma; Velma, a teacher, who resides with her parents; Chesley, who is a sophomore in the Cordell High School; Willie, who is iu the seventh grade of the publie schools at Cordell; and William, a pupil in the fourth grade.

Vietor C. Tisdal, after graduating from the Cordell High School, entered the University of Oklahoma, and was duly graduated therefrom. His medical studies were prosecuted in the medical department of Fort Worth (Texas) University, where he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine iu 1910. In 1913 he took a post- graduate course in the Chicago Post-Graduate School, specializing in diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, and in 1914 took another course in the same institution, specializing in surgery. In the meautime, in 1910, he had commenced practice at Hammon, Oklahoma, from whence, in April, 1913, he came to Elk City. Here he has carried on a general medical and surgical practice to the present time, specializing in the latter branch of his calling, in which he has won something more than a local reputation. The Frances Hospital, owned by the- firm of Tedrowe & Tisdal, was established in 1913, and has accommodations for twenty patients. It is a modern institution, located on West Broadway, and is equipped in every way for the care and handling of the most delicate and important cases. Doctor Tisdal's offices and those of the firm are located on Broadway. The esteem in which the doctor is held by his professional brethren and their appreciation of his abilities are shown by the fact that he is at present serving in the capacity of president of the Beckham County Medical Society. He belongs also to the Oklahoma County Medical Society, the American Medical Association, the Southwestern Medical Society, the Southern Medical Society, the West- ern Oklahoma Medical Society and the Fort Worth (Texas) Medical Society. He is a stockholder in the Wichita Southern Life Insurance Company. Fraternally, the doctor is well and widely known, belonging to Elk City Lodge No. 182, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is past master; Elk City Chapter No. 50, Royal Arch Masons; Elk City Commandery No. 15, Knights Templar; and Shriner Lodge No. 1144, Elk City, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and the local lodges of the Modern Woodmen of America, the Woodmen of the World, the Woodmen's Circle, the Royal Neighbors and the Tribe of Ben Hur. His religious connection is with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in the work of which he has taken an active and helpful part, being president of the board of stewards and a member of the board of trustees. He is a democrat in his political views, and at present is serving Elk City in the capacity of health officer.

Doctor Tisdal was married at Cordell, Oklahoma, in 1907, to Miss Inez Smith, daughter of J. H. Smith, a farmer of Cotton, Georgia. They have one son: Clifford Victor, Jr., born December 24, 1910.

ROBERT H. SPECK. The present postmaster of Vici, Oklahoma, is Robert H. Speck, a resident of the place. since 1902, and for years engaged in a mereantile enter-

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il prise until his appointment to his present position on September 14, 1914. Mr. Speck is a native of the State of Iowa, born in Wapello, Louisa County, on September 29, 1885. He is the son of Henry and Elizabeth (Brown) Speck.

Henry Speck was born near Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in 1837, and he died at Vici in April, 1914. He came of an old German family that had been identi- fied with North Carolina for several generations, and he left his native state for Iowa when quite a young man. It was in Iowa he met and married his wife, who sur- vives him. The family moved to Oklahoma in 1902 and bought a relinquished land claim of 160 acres, lying one-half mile west of the Town of Vici, and that acreage is still a part of the estate he left. Mr. Speck was all his life a farmer and stock man, and he enjoyed a good deal of success in his work. He came to Oklahoma when it was in the pioneer stage, and in the years of his activity in this vicinity he did his full share toward the development of the community. He was a lifelong democrat and a member of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church, of which he was a trustee for many years. To him and his wife were born four children. Elmer A. is the owner of the Vici Telephone Exchange. Dora married George S. Marshall and lives in Louisa County, Iowa, where Mr. Marshall is agent for the Over- land Automobile Company. Rosetta married John H. Beard, and both are now deceased. The fourth child was Robert H., the subject of this review.

Robert Speck was reared on his father's farm to the age of eighteen years, securing what education he might in attendance on the schools of the home community. When he was eighteen he branched out for himself, working independently of his father for two years. When the family moved to Oklahoma, in 1902, young Speck came with them, and in the years of 1905-6-7 he was associated with his brother in the mercantile busi- ness in the old Town of. Vici. In 1908 Vici was wiped out by a cyclone. Mr. Speck did not join his brother in a new mercantile venture, but secured a position with a wholesale house and traveled for it for two years. In 1910 he once more joined his brother in business, and two years later they sold out to Cuberly Brothers, after which Mr. Speck traveled for the Angldile Scales Com- pany for two years, resigning his position on his ap- pointment to the postmastership of Vici on September 14, 1914.

Mr. Speck is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, Vici Camp No. 11310, and at one time was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is the owner of considerable real estate in Vici, including the post office block, his own residence and some build- ing lots in the town.

On September 28, 1910, Mr. Speck was married in Vici to Miss Jessie M. Schranling, daughter of D. J. Schranling, a prominent rancher of this community, liv- ing on his property four miles east of Vici. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Speck. Claudine E. was born August 4, 1911, and Daniel Woodrow was born on March 20, 1913.

It is perhaps unnecessary to add that Mr. Speck is a staunch democrat in his political faith.

EZEKIEL E. TAYLOR. One of the oldest residents of Paden, Okfuskee County, is Ezekiel E. Taylor, now retired after a long and strenuous career which began with his service as a Confederate soldier and which has taken him into various sections and activities of Arkan- sas, Texas and Oklahoma during the past half century.

He was born near Knoxville, Tennessee, October 21, 1842, a son of Garland and Nancy (Hammack) Taylor.

The paternal grandfather Taylor came from England when a boy and located in North Carolina, and the family was afterwards located in Tennessee, where Gar- land Taylor was born. In 1818 the family moved from Tennessee to Benton County, Arkansas, and Garland Taylor, though quite an old man at the time, gave two years of his service to the Confederacy. He died Octo- ber 2, 1865, when forty-eight years of age. He was a farmer, an active man in the democratic party, and a member of the Baptist faith. His widow survived many years and died in Benton County, Arkansas, in 1901, at the age of seventy-six. Ezekiel E. was the oldest of their children. A brief record of the others is as follows : James W., who served three years and nine months in the Confederate Army in the same company and regiment as his brother Ezekiel, being in the First Missouri Bat- tery in Cockrell's Brigade, and he is now living in Benton County, Arkansas. Elizabeth, the third child, is now deceased. E. P. Taylor lives in Texas and was also in the Civil war with his father. Eliza Ann Mitchell lives in Benton County, Arkansas. Nancy J. Mitchell is de- ceased. Garland resides in Rogers, Arkansas, and that is also the home of his sister, Polly Kelley. R. E. L. Taylor, born May 5, 1866, lives at Grant, Oklahoma. William J. is deceased, and John lives in Benton County. Another child died in infancy.

Ezekiel E. Taylor grew up in Benton County, Arkan- sas, gained a common school education, and in February, 1862, enlisted in the Confederate army, becoming a mem- ber of the First Missouri Battery. He was in active service for over three years, and finally surrendered with the troops under Joseph Johnson at Greensboro, North Carolina. Following the war he returned home and applied himself to the rehabilitation of the neglected farm.

On October 18, 1865, in Benton County, Mr. Taylor married Mary Braden. She was born in McMinn County, Tennessee, July 3, 1844, a daughter of Hunt and Nancy (Greene) Braden, both of whom were natives of Tennessee. Her mother died in MeMinn County, and in 1854, at the age of ten years, she came with her father to Arkansas and her father passed away at Pine Bluff in that state a victim of cholera. A brother of Mrs. Nancy (Greene) Braden, mother of Mrs. Taylor, was Capt. Matthew Greene, who was in active service during the Civil war under Gen. Stan Waitie and was in the fight at Cabin Creek, Oklahoma. Captain Greene's father was William Greene, a soldier of the War of 1812, and was in turn related to General Greene of Revolu- tionary fame.

After his marriage Mr. Taylor spent four years in Benton County, Arkansas, on a farm, then moved into the famous fruit section of Northwestern Arkansas, Washington County, and continued farming there until 1870. He then went out to the frontier of Northwest Texas, Parker County, where he farmed for a time, and in 1886 he was made first deputy in the office of sheriff and served four years. For about seven years he was employed with the secret service force for great cattle raisers of Western Texas.

It was in October, 1905, that Mr. Taylor removed to Paden, Oklahoma, and has since been one of the leading men of that community. For some years he continued to follow his trade as carpenter but is now living in com- fortable retirement. He is a democrat, and he and his wife are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

On October 18, 1915, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor celchrated that impressive and interesting event, a golden wedding anniversary. Two of their three children are still liv- ing. W. H. is a well known resident of Okfuskce County and is mentioned in succeeding paragraphs.

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Nancy J. Tims is also the subject of an individual sketch on other pages. The youngest child, Theodosia, died at the age of two years.

William H. Taylor, son of Ezekiel E., was born in Benton County, Arkansas, October 1, 1866, and was still a child when he moved with his parents to Parker County, Texas. He grew up in that then frontier dis- trict of Northern Texas and his early life was spent on a farm. He had an education in the country schools, and in 1887, at the age of twenty-one, he went out to the Panhandle of Texas and became a veritable cowboy. For a quarter of a century he was active in the work of the ranch and range and for two years of that time was with the noted Panhandle rancher, Charles Good- night. He was also with the Continental Land and Cattle Company, and has had to do with every phase of the cattle business. At one time he had charge of an entire division of the large cattle corporation just mentioned. In 1911 he removed to Paden, Oklahoma, for about two years was in the mercantile business, and he also acquired some local interest in banking and be- came a director of the Peoples State Bank. He has since disposed of these interests and now gives much of his time to his good farm north of Paden and the manage- ment of his town property, and he has done much in the way of building improvement. He is a democrat, a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the Eastern Star.

In 1897, in Texas, William H. Taylor married Sarah Jane Merrill, who was born in San Saba County, Texas, October 9, 1878, and died in Hall County of that state October 10, 1911. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor were the parents of three children: Ray, Anna May and Robert. On October 2, 1912, in Stephens County, Oklahoma, William H. Taylor married Grace Rains, who was born in Benton County, Arkansas, August 1, 1881, and lived in her native state until removing to Oklahoma in 1906. By this mar- riage there is one child, Jewell Juanita, born January 24, 1915.

CHARLES GUY KEIGER. In a new state like Oklahoma, where town sites are being developed from the raw prairie in a remarkably brief time into flourishing cities, one of the most important professions is that of munici- pal engineering and those that practice it have splendid opportunities for service both to the present and to the future generations. A young man who has already reached no small distinction in this field is Charles Guy Keiger, who is now county engineer of Kiowa County, is a graduate engineer from the University of Oklahoma, and since leaving the university has been continuously identified with engineering work in connection with various Oklahoma cities.

The family of Keiger belongs among the pioneers of Oklahoma. The Keigers came orignially from Germany, and Mr. Keiger's father is a well known attorney at Norman. Charles Guy Keiger was born in Sumner County, Kansas, October 25, 1886. His father, C. M. Keiger, was born in Indiana in 1861 and was married in that state to Miss Nannie Guy, who was born in the same state also in 1861. The Guy family originated in England and settled in Virginia during the Colonial days. After his marriage C. M. Keiger moved from Indiana to Sumner County, Kansas, and in 1893 par- ticipated in the opening of the Cherokee Strip and located in Grant County, Oklahoma. His home for several years has been in Norman, where he has a successful practice as an attorney. He has served as city attorney at Norman and takes an active part in civic and political affairs. He is a republican, a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Ancient Order of United Work- men. Of the two children, the daughter Nina is a grad-

uate of the University of Oklahoma at Norman and is now a teacher in the Sapulpa High School.

Charles Guy Keiger was about seven years of age when brought to Oklahoma and gained his early educa- tion in the public schools of Grant County, graduating from the high school there in 1904. In 1908 he com- pleted the regular collegiate course in the University of Oklahoma, gaining the degree A. B., and specialized in civil engineering. On leaving the university he spent the years 1908-10 as a civil engineer in municipal work at Oklahoma City, was employed in a similar capacity for one year at Norman, and then in various other cities of Oklahoma until June, 1911, when he removed to Hobart. Since coming to Hobart he has taken up his duties as county surveyor of Kiowa County, an office to which he was appointed May 6, 1914, for a term of two years. His offices are in the courthouse at Hobart.

Mr. Keiger is a democrat, and is affiliated with Hobart Lodge No. 881, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Norman Lodge No. 38, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Hobart Chapter of the Eastern Star.

ROBERT CHOWNING. From the time of his earliest residence at Oklahoma City, Robert Chowning has been recognized as one of the stable, capable men of character and activity, and a member of that class which has had much to do with the material development of this ideal city in the few years it has been in existence. Long a member of the firm of Blackwelder & Company, as such he has been accounted one of the prominent realty inen of the Southwest, while in various public capacities he has rendered capable service to the city of his adoption, and at the present time is contributing of his best energies in the office of inspector of paving and sewerage.

Mr. Chowning was born at Lathrop, Missouri, Feb- ruary 10, 1857, and is a son of Levi and Sarah A. (Dunlap) Chowning, natives of Kentucky. Just before his birth, his parents removed from Owen County, Kentucky, to Clinton County, Missouri, where the family resided for many years. The public schools of Lathrop furnished him with his education, and when he com- pleted his literary training and entered upon his career, he turned his attention to farming and stockraising in that rich section of Missouri, where he resided until July, 1897. At that time he sold out his holdings and came to Oklahoma City, at once investing in Oklahoma City real estate extensively and identifying himself with the real estate firm of Blackwelder & Company, of which concern he is still a member. For many years this company was one of the real active factors in the advancement of Oklahoma City, purchasing acreage, platting it into lots, and selling to the buying public. Mr. Chowning himself purchased a tract of land at that time adjoining the city on the south, platted it and sold it in lots to the public. Practically every pair of lots on the Orndale Addition to Oklahoma City, as this tract is known, has upon it today brick blocks and valuable homes. Through the company with which he is identi- fied, Mr. Chowning has been interested in platting and selling such additions as Vernon Heights, Guernsey Park, West Main, Orchard Park, Parker & Colcord, Wheeler Park and several other more remote additions to the growing city he had chosen as a permanent home.

Mr. Chowning was a member of a special committee created by the Oklahoma City Council when the present city water works system was in course of con- struction, and the large sewerage system of the city built throughout the business section. The members of this committee were accorded a vote in the council on every question connected with this big improvement made at that time. He also served as a member of the

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board of the Carnegie Library for four years, only . leaving that position when the commission form of government was adopted by the city, in 1911. In 1910 he was elected a member of the Charter Writers' Com- mission, chosen to prepare a charter, which was sub- sequently adopted, and under which the city administra- tion has been operated since 1911. Being one of the best posted men on paving and sewerage in the city, after passing the civil service examination Mr. Chown- ing was appointed as superintendent of paving and sewerage, which important position he still holds, with over 125 miles of paving and a greater number of miles of sewerage under his personal care and direction.

At Lathrop, Missouri, March 6, 1879, Mr. Chowning was married to Miss Ella E. Ramp, daughter of John and Martha Ramp, natives of Pennsylvania, and to this union there were born one son and three daughters, namely: Anna Bell, born January 15, 1880, now Mrs. A. J. Hunt, of Davis, Oklahoma; Harry L., born July 12, 1883, now clerk of Oklahoma City; Eva, born Feb- ruary 26, 1896 (leap year), a graduate of Oklahoma City High School, class of 1915; and Ida May, born March 20, 1897, who died at the age of six years. The mother of these children died at Oklahoma City, in 1910. Mr. Chowning was married there a second time, Decem- ber 24, 1912, when united with Mrs. Alice A. (Murdock) Thompson, daughter of Dr. William and Mrs. Murdock, natives of South Carolina, but now residents of Ralston, Oklahoma. Mrs. Chowning has one son by her former marriage: Nathan A. Thompson, who is a machinist connected with the Oklahoma Gas Engine and Auto Repair Company, 317 N. Western Avenue, Oklahoma City. Mr. and Mrs. Chowning are members of the First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City and earnest workers therein. The pleasant family home is at No. 712 West California Avenue.

ROBERT JAMES FRENCH: One of the vigorous young business men of Boise City, where he is an expert ab- stracter, Robert James French has a distinction such as belongs to comparatively few young men already enjoy- ing a substantial position in business affairs in Okla- homa. He was born in Oklahoma, September 10, 1894, in a log house on a farm in Lincoln County.

His parents are Hugh R. and Mary Elizabeth (David- son) French. His father was born in Virginia in 1856, a son of Jehu F. and Sarah (Hazlett) French. In 1860 the French family moved from Virginia to Kansas, and acquired land in Johnson County, where Hugh R. French was reared and engaged in farming until 1889. Though he was a participant in the first rush for Oklahoma lands in April, 1889, he failed to secure a claim at that time, but in 1891, on the opening of the Sac and Fox reserva- tion he settled on a claim in Lincoln County. In that section of the state he enjoyed the position of a substan- tial farmer until 1906, when he came out to the extreme western part of the state and located in Cimarron County. Since then his home has been on a farm five miles north- west of Boise City. His activities as a farmer and stock raiser have enabled him to provide liberally for his grow- ing family and secure a competence against his declin- ing years. He is active in democratic politics and belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

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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: 656

Author: Thoburn, Joseph B. (Joseph Bradfield), 1866-1941
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 656