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 111

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 111

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1723

HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

Oklahoma, in 1852, about the time of the birth of his son, Herman J., father of Doctor Vann.

Doctor Vann acquired his early educational discipline n the public schools of Muskogee County, and supple- ented this by a four years' course in the Cherokee National Male Seminary, at Tahlequah. Thereafter he vas for one year a student at Worcester Academy, at inita, Craig County, and thus admirably fortified for ducational work of a more technical order, he followed he course of his ambition and entered the medical depart- nent of Vanderbilt University, at Nashville, Tennessee, n which iustitution he completed the prescribed cur- iculum aud was graduated as a member of the class f 1903. After thus receiving his well earned degree f Doctor of Medicine, Doctor Vann returned to Okla- oma and initiated the practice of his profession in Muskogee County, where he remained thus engaged until Christmas day of the year 1913, when he removed to the hriving industrial town of Cement, Caddo County, where ie has since continued in active and specially successful general practice as a physician and surgeon, with well appointed and eligibly located offices and with an attrac- tive residence property of which he is the owner. He has not permitted himself to lose touch with the advances made iu medical and surgical science, and is a close student of the best standard and periodical literature pertaining thereto, besides which, in 1905, he completed in his alma mater, Vanderbilt University, an effective ost-graduate course in which he specialized in microscopy and bacteriology. The doctor is local surgeon for the Frisco Railroad and is identified with the Caddo County Medical Society, the Oklahoma State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.

Doctor Vann accords staunch allegiance to the demo- cratic party, is past grand of the Cement Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is affiliated also with Forum Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.

At Claremore, Rogers County, Oklahoma, on the 31st of December, 1904, was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Vann to Miss Mary Belle Starr, who was born and reared at that place and who is a daughter of the late Watt Starr, a representative agriculturist of Rogers County at the time of his death. Doctor and Mrs. Vann have three children: Lillian, Vera, and Herman Johnson, the only son having been named in honor of his paternal grandfather.

THOMAS FLEMING SOUTHGATE. Twenty-three years is a long time in Oklahoma, and spans almost the entire period of development and improvement. That is the length of residence of Thomas F. Southgate of Wauette. Mr. Southgate was first a pioneer homesteader in the vicinity of Shawnee, but for the past ten years has lived at Wanette, where he has been closely identified in busi- ness and civic affairs with the growth of that community. His interests are now varied and include the ownership of a large amount of land, a position as cashier in the First National Bank of Wanette, and several official relations with the town and community.

A Kentuckian by birth Mr. Southgate was born at Walton, in Boone County, January 25, 1866. He comes of an old American colonial family, the Southgates hav- ing emigrated from England to Virginia before the Revolutionary war. Richard Southgate, the first of the name in this country, became a planter in Virginia, and spent his life there. Mr. Southgate's father was Dr. B. W. Southgate, who was born in Virginia in 1830 and died at Walton, Kentucky, in 1872. Growing up in Virginia, he subsequently moved to Ohio, where he married, and then for a long period of years practiced his profession as a physician and surgeon at Walton,

Kentucky. He was a member and elder of the Presby- terian Church. Doctor Southgate married Eleanor Flem- ing, who was born in Ohio in 1837 and died at Walton, Kentucky, in 1873. A brief record of their children is as follows: Miss Louise, who is now a well established medical practitioner in Cincinnati, Ohio; George M., a farmer at Shawnee, Oklahoma; Eleanor, wife of R. C. Green, cashier in the Walton Deposit Bank at Walton, Kentucky; Virginia, who is principal of one of the grade schools at Cincinnati, Ohio, and lives in Covington, Kentucky; Thomas F .; and Bernard, whose home is in Covington, Kentucky, but who is employed as a chief inspector of lighthouses by the United States Govern- ment.

Thomas Fleming Southgate as a boy attended the public schools in Walton, Kentucky, graduated from high school with the class of 1884. He then crossed the Ohio River, spent two years as a bookkeeper in Cincinnati, was employed in a mercantile establishment at Canton, Ohio, four years, and after one year of resi- dence in Kansas arrived at Shawnee, Oklahoma, in 1892, when that town was still in its pioneer days and stages: His first venture here was to settle on a claim of 160 acres five miles east of Shawnee. He proved up that claim, made it a farm and still owns it. Since then his interests in Oklahoma farm property have been constantly growing, and he is now proprietor of 560 acres, all located close around his original quarter section.

From farming Mr. Southgate turned his attentiou to banking, and in 1902 became assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Tecumseh. His home was in Tecumseh until 1905, when he moved to Wanette and took the post of assistaut cashier in the First National Bank. He was made cashier in 1909, and now has practically the entire executive management of this substantial institution.

The First National Bank of Wanette was established February 6, 1903. It has a capital stock of $25,000, surplus of $5,000, and is housed in a substantial building at the corner of Main Street and Clardy Avenue. The preseut officers are: J. M. Ayedelotte, of Oklahoma City, president; S. C. Vinson, of Shawuee, vice presi- dent; Mr. Southgate, cashier; and C. E. Cotton, assistant cashier.

Mr. Southgate is president of the Pat Murphy Oil & Gas Co. of Wanette, Oklahoma, and is a stockholder in the Wanette Development Company. He has been one of the movers in and closely associated with all town improvements at Wanette for the past ten years. He is uow treasurer of the Wanette School Board and has served as town treasurer. In politics he is a democrat and is chairman of the Democratic County Central Com- mittee of Pottawatomie County, a position which gives him an influential place in county politics. Fraternally he has been chiefly interested in Masonic work, and is a member and worshipful master of Wanette Lodge No. 171, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons; a member of Norman Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; of Oklahoma City Commandery of the Knights Templar; of India Temple of the Nobles of the Mystic Shriue at Oklahoma City; and is worthy patron of the Wauette Chapter of the Order of Eastern Star. He is an active supporter of all religious and moral movements iu his home com- munity, and is a deacou in the Baptist Church and superintendent of its Snuday-school.

At Tecumseh, in 1902, Mr. Southgate married Miss Hattie Durham. Her father, the late W. M. Durham, was well, known in Pottawatomie County, and at one time filled the office of county treasurer. To their marriage have been born three children: William M. died in infancy; Thomas F., born January 25, 1906, and

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

George M., born September 19, 1908, are both attending the Wanette public schools.

WALTER L. CLEM is an Oklahoma newspaper man, with twenty years of experience in conducting live and enter- prising weeklies in different towns iu the northern and northwestern part of the state. He is now editor and owner of the Laverne Leader at Laverne.

Like many of the carly settlers in this state he is a Missourian, aud was born on a farm in Livingston County, January 6, 1876, a son of William H. and Sarah (West) Clem, both of whom were natives of Sullivan County, Missouri. His father was born in 1845, and has been a farmer all his active career. In 1897 he moved to Oklahoma and is now living on his farm in Roger Mills County. In 1870 he married Miss Sarah West, who was born in 1847. Their five sons and one daughter are: John A., now a salesman in South America; William A., a farmer in Roger Mills County, Oklahoma; Walter L .; Edith, wife of Warren Pugh, a farmer in Carter County, Oklahoma; Willis V., also a Carter County farmer; and Ralph, a telegrapher.

Walter L. Clem received his education in Livingston County, and also attended the Humphrey College and Business Institute at Humphrey, Missouri. His first twenty-one years were spent on his father's farm, but in 1895 he moved to Oklahoma Territory and at Taloga established the Dewey Couuty Leader, the first demo- cratic paper in that vicinity. A year later its name was changed to the Taloga Advocate, which after editing for eight years he sold. After an interval of one year he became manager of the Taloga Tiines and held that post two years.

In 1907 he transferred his interests to the north- western part of the state, establishing the News at Eagle City in Blaine County. After publishing that one year he founded the News at Oakwood, of which he was publisher four years, and in 1912 he removed to Laverne, then a newly established town, aud founded the Leader, which has since been the most influential paper in that community.

In the past four years Mr. Clem has been very closely identified with the development of his home town in all movements for the public welfare. In 1915 he was elected police judge of Laverne. In a business way he is also interested in the manufacture of a patent whiffle tree, which is having a large sale and is a popular device uniting both simplicity and safety.

Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masonic Order. On November 25, 1903, at Taloga, Oklahoma, he married Miss Charlotte I. Cheney. Mrs. Clem was born at Sac City, Iowa, a daughter of Chester A. and Louise Cheney, who came to Dewey County, Oklahoma, in 1895, and now reside at 'Taloga.

CHARLES HENRY DREW. Perhaps no appointment was ever more satisfactory to the Indians of Seminole and Hughes counties than that of Charles Henry Drew to the position of United States District Indiau Agent. Mr. Drew took up the responsibilities of this office in 1915. He is a Creek Indiau himself, has spent all his life in old Indian Territory and the new state of Okla- homa, is fully conversant with tribal affairs, and for a number of years was an important official under the Dawes Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes.

He was born December 9, 1882, at Broken Arrow in Tulsa County, Oklahoma, a son of Daniel and Maggie (Seaman) Drew. His father was an adopted Cherokee while his mother was of three-fourth Creek lineage. Daniel Drew spent most of his life as an employe in the stores of Indian Territory, being counected with a licensed trader's store at Tulsa, and could speak the

Creek languages fluently. He was closely related to Col. John T. Drew, who made a gallant record as an officer in the Confederate army. He died at his home near Broken Arrow December 25, 1891, at the age of forty-one. His first wife, the mother of Charles H. Drew, died August 28, 1886, and he afterwards married again, his second wife being a fullblood Creek Indian. Charles H. Drew was one of five children: Amos W. of Broken Arrow; Legus C., who died in 1906 at the age of thirty-six years at Broken Arrow; David D. of Broken Arrow; Ella, wife of R. J. Moore of Broken Arrow; and Charles Henry.

By the death of his father Charles H. Drew was left an orphan at the age of ten years. As his stepmother employed no other language than the Creek, he had no opportunity to acquaint himself with the English tongue until at the age of fourteeu he entered the Coweta Mission School, which was conducted under goveril- ment auspices. There he learned to read and write the English language, and after three terms there entered the Eufaula High School, also a government school. He graduated in 1900, then attended the Bacon University at Muskogee, where he was a student from the spring of 1901 until he graduated from the academic department in 1902, and his education was finished with a course in the Fort Smith Commercial College at Fort Smith, Arkansas, where he graduated in 1903.

His first business experience was as bookkeeper with the Farmers and Merchants Bank at Coweta. In 1907 he accepted a position with the Dawes Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, and gave all luis time and energy to his duties with that commission until August 11, 1915. He was an invaluable aid to the commis- sion, because of his fluent understanding of the languages of the Five Civilized Tribes and his thorough English education. His principal work was as custodian of the enrollment records, and he examined all the enrollment records which had been collected by the Dawes Com- mission during the allotment of Indian lands. These documents are of priceless value and absolutely neces- sary in all transactions involving the sale or lease of lands within the district of the original Five Civilized Tribes. Mr. Drew's initials, C. H. D., appear on prac- tically every document involving laud titles in this dis- trict of Oklahoma from 1908 to 1915.

With this experience and long association he was thoroughly qualified for his promotion on August 11, 1915, to the post of United States District Indian Agent. He is the first Creek Indian to occupy such a position, and his appointment was highly gratifying to both the Creek and Seminole tribes. He is considered by these tribes as a native and one of their own people, as in fact he is, and at the same time he has a high sense of responsibility regarding the dignity and impor- tance of his position, and is thus exceptionally qualified for the duties which he has to perform.

Mr. Drew was reared a Methodist, while his wife is a member of the Baptist Church. On December 30, 1903, he married Miss Bettie McCombs, daughter of Rev. William McCombs of Eufaula. Mr. and Mrs. Drew have four children : Charles Haskell; Wynema Phrona; Edna Beatrice; and Grace Helen. Mr. Drew is now teaching his children the English language and intends to make them acquainted with the Creek tongue after they have acquired some proficiency in English.

Mr. Drew is one of the noted representatives of the Indian people of Oklahoma. He is one of the few men of his people who have never tasted liquor or tobacco, and he has enjoyed the highest standing and some of the highest positions among the Creek Nation. Before he was twenty-one years of age his home dis- trict of Broken Arrow elected him a member of the

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

House of Warriors in the Creek National Council. After serving two terms in that position he was elected a member of the senate and still enjoys the title of senator, and was the youngest ever chosen by the Creek Nation to such a post. In the fall of 1915 his name was prominently mentioned as successor to Hon. Moty Tiger, who is the present governor of the Creek Nation. In general politics Mr. Drew maintains an independent attitude. Mr. Drew has a fine farm and a modern residence near Eufaula, and he employs his land for the raising of registered Berkshire hogs and draft horses.

WILLIAM M. COPELAND. The Copeland family had its establishment on American soil in early Colonial days, and with the passing years its branches have reached out and taken root in many parts of the country. Iu South Carolina they first found American homes, and a son of the family moved to Virginia in Revolutionary war days. It was in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, that William Copeland, grandfather of the subject, was born in 1789, and he died in Logan County, Illinois, in 1854. His son, William, was born in Perry County, Ohio, in 1818, and he died at Clarinda, Iowa, in January, 1907.

William Copeland was a carpenter by trade and his work took him into various sections of the country. In young manhood he went to Shelby, Indiana, and there married Rosanna Baker, who was born in Kentucky in 1822, and died in Page County, Iowa, on November 21, 1876. In 1849, following his marriage, young Copeland moved to Waynesville, DeWitt County, in the expecta- tion that Waynesville was due to be chosen as the capital city of the state. He was the proprietor of a hotel there for a while, and his son, William Marshall Cope- land, was a great favorite with Abraham Lincoln in those days. In 1853 the Copelands moved to Page County, Iowa. There Mr. Copeland bought a tract of Government land among the Pottawatomie Indians, and he carried on his trade as a carpenter as well as working the farm during the remainder of his life. He was a republican and a member of the Christian Advent Church and served on its official board through many vears. He was a veteran of the Civil war, having served 21/2 years in the Seventh Missouri Cavalry. This regi- ment was particularly unfortunate. It was literally shot to pieces and those who escaped with their lives were taken prisoner at Lexington. Mr. Copeland was later exchanged and joined the Twenty-fifth Missouri Regi- ment Volunteer Infantry, serving to the close of the war, when he again took up farm life.

William Marshall Copeland was born at Shelbyville, Indiana, on June 14, 1847. Between the years of 1853-8 he attended a subscription school in Page County, Iowa, following that with attendance in the public schools during three winter terms. He then went to a graded school at Clarinda, finishing his schooling in the winter of 1864. He made the best of such advantages as came his way, and before he saw the inside of a school he could read well and was an excellent speller, which training his mother gave him. When he was seventeen years old he went to work with his father and assisted him in carpentering in Page and Taylor coun- ties, as well as helping on the home farm. In 1871 he left home, thinking it time to begin to make his way alone. He went to Winfield, Kansas, making the trip alone and on horseback. For two years he worked at carpentering in and about Winfield, acquired a farm of his own, and then returned to Page County, Iowa, where he engaged in farming and cattle dealing for four years. In 1878 Mr. Copeland went back to Kansas to his farm. Vol. IV-25

After two years he sold the place, moved to Sumner County, Kansas, where he bought another farm. This, too, he sold after a year of possession, and then he engaged in the grain business, which occupied him suc- cessfully for fourteen years. In 1895 he withdrew from all business. One year of idleness was all he could endure, and in 1896 he was elected to the office of clerk of the District Court of Sumner County, Kansas, serving one term of two years, when he was elected sheriff, serving fourteen months.

It was during that time that Mr. Copeland made acquaintance with Oklahoma, for his business took him to Washita County a number of times. With the close of his term he immediately came to Cordell, and he has since that time, 1900, been engaged in the loan and insurance business. His activities extend throughout Washita and several adjoining counties, and the business increases steadily.

Since coming to Cordell Mr. Copeland has served ably as a member of the council, and he has been prominent in many ways in the community. He was chosen a delegate to the National Republican Convention from the Seventh Congressional District of Oklahoma in 1916. He is republican in his politics and a member of the Odd Fellows.

On February 14, 1876, Mr. Copeland was married to Miss Mary C. Kizer, near Winfield, Kansas. She is a daughter of Sebastian Kizer, a farmer, who is now deceased. To the Copelands five children have been born. Stella married C. E. Lucas and lives 41/2 miles southwest of Cordell, where her husband is prominently engaged in farming and stock raising. Carl is an actor and makes his headquarters in New York. William S. is engaged in business with his father. Christopher C. is connected with the Rumley Threshing Company, and has his headquarters at Parsons, Kansas. Dr. Julian I. is a dentist.

The Copeland family is prominent and popular in Cordell, and they enjoy the esteem and consideration of a wide circle of friends in the county.

FLOYD E. ROYER is editor and owner of The Week's Review, at Apache, Oklahoma, and he has been identified with local journalism since 1901. The dissemination of news, the discussion of public questions, and the pro- motion of the general welfare of his community through the columns of his paper constitute life's object with him as a private citizen. It is interesting to note that he . served as a volunteer in the Spanish-American war, prior to reaching his majority.

At Elmwood, Nebraska, February 7, 1880, occurred the birth of Floyd E. Royer, who is a son of Isaac M. and Josephine Elizabeth (Mishler) Royer, the former of whom died at Elmwood, Nebraska, in 1882, and the latter of whom is now a resident of Cherrydale, Virginia. The Royer family is of German origin, two brothers of the name, born in Alsace-Lorraine, having come to America in an early day; one settled in Missouri, near St. Louis, and the other in Pennsylvania. The subject of this review is descended from the Pennsylvania branch. Isaac M. Royer was born in Pennsylvania in 1847, and thence he removed to Illinois, where was celebrated his mar- riage, and in the grasshopper year he located in Kansas. After a year in the latter state he went to Elmwood, Nebraska, and there resided until he was summoned to the life eternal, in 1882, as noted above. He was a farmer and carpenter by occupation, was republican in his political affiliations, and in religious faith was a Dunkard. He and his wife became the parents of six children, concerning whom the following brief data are here incorporated : Rosa married Edward Searle of

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

Pawnee, Oklahoma; Arthur is a newspaper man at Geneva, New York; Elizabeth is the wife of F. V. Wright, a well known attorney at Scotts Bluff, Nebraska; John H. is employed in the war department at Washing- ton, D. C., and he resides at Cherrydale, Virginia; Floyd E. is the subject of this sketch; and Isaac is a carpenter and maintains his home at Lone Oak, Arkansas.

After completing the curriculum of the common schools of Elmwood, Nebraska, Floyd E. Royer was for two years a student in a high school in Lincoln. After that he spent a year and a half in the State Preparatory School at Boulder, Colorado. In 1892 he began serving his apprenticeship in printing offices, and he completed his school work in the spring of 1900. June 6, 1898, after the declaration of the Spanish-American war, he ' enlisted for service in Company B, Third Nebraska Volun- teer Infantry, being promoted to the office of sergeant. He was mustered out of service May 13, 1899, at Augusta, Georgia. In 1900 he went to Okarche, Oklahoma, and there was associated for a year and a half with his brother, J. H. Royer, in the publication of the Okarche Times. In August, 1901, he came to Apache, Oklahoma, and on the 13th of September, that year, he established The Week's Review, which well known paper he still owns and edits, the same having its offices on the corner of Evans Avenue and Oak Street. This publication has a large circulation in Caddo and Comanche counties ; it maintains an independent attitude in politics and gives a loyal support through its columns to all matters projected for the good of the general welfare.

Mr. Royer is a Republican in his political affiliations and he gave efficient service as town treasurer of Apache for one year. He owns a tract `of ten acres of land half a mile east of Lawton and the same is improved with modern buildings and is well cultivated. In religious faith Mr. and Mrs. Royer are members of the Christian Church, in which he is chairman of the board of elders. He is a man of broad humanitarian principles, is upright and honest in all his dealings and he commands the unal- loyed confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens.

At Apache, December 25, 1902, Mr. Royer was united in marriage to Miss Ola Rundle, a daughter of N. C. Rundle, whose demise occurred September 21, 1914. Mr. Rundle was a retired farmer. There are two children in the Royer family: Fred Phares, born December 13, 1905; and Harry Floyd, born August 21, 1910.

WILLIAM B. MCDANIEL, M. D. The experience O Doctor McDaniel as a physician and surgeon covers al- most a quarter of a century. Twenty years ago he came to Oklahoma and practiced in several different localities, but since 1908 has been well established in his profession at Byars, and in point of service is now the oldest physician and surgeon of that town.

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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