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 21
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On February 16, 1905, Mr. Nichols was married in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, to Mrs. Martha (Car- roll) McDowell, daughter of A. C. Carroll, deceased, of Indian Territory, but a native of Missouri. Mrs. Nichols is the widow of John McDowell, who was a farmer of Pottawatomie County, where he died. One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Nichols: Eura Fae, born February 28, 1908. Three children were born to Mrs. Nichols by her former marriage: Ira Ray, who is
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a graduate of the graded schools and now an apprentice in the office of The American; Rua Rufus, who is in seventh grade of the public schools; and Iva, who is a scholar in fifth grade.
GEORGE A. COFFEY. There is no profession to which men devote their energies more dignified in its ethics or more reasonably helpful to their fellow-men than that of education, the always advancing standards of which demand of its devotees constant study and a keen and comprehensive knowledge of a wealth of subjects. These demands, in turn, redound to the benefit of the com- munity, for not infrequently the capable educator is chosen for positions in the law-making department of our government, where he is able, through his superior attainments, to contribute materially to his locality's development and progress. Of the educators of West- ern Oklahoma who have won prominent positions in their calling and at the same time have served the com- munities capably in legislative office, one of the best known and most popular is George A. Coffey, ex-state sen- ator and at present superintendent of schools of Carter, Beckham County. His labors as an educator have cov- ered a period of more than twenty years, and his advance- ment in his profession has been steady and consistent. Few men have contributed in greater degree to the cause of education, and no man has a better record for straight- forward, energetic effort as a public servant.
Mr. Coffey was born in Saline County, Illinois, January 13, 1874, and is a son of Rev. J. M. and Mary R. (Glasscock) Coffey, and a descendant of Irish ancestors who came to America in Colonial days and settled in Vir- ginia. His father was born in Saline County, Illinois, in 1846, and as a young man adopted the vocation of farmer, an occupation he has followed throughout his life, in connection with his labors as a minister of the Mis- sionary Baptist Church. With the exception of a year spent in Kansas, he resided in Saline County, Illinois, until. 1888, in that year removing with his family to Baylor County, Texas, and two years later going to Brown County, in the same state. There he made his home until April, 1893, when he took up a homestead in Washita County, Oklahoma, and after proving his claim disposed of his land and bought his present farm, also in Washita County. He is now living a retired life, being in comfortable financial circumstances. Mrs. Cof- fey, who survives at the age of sixty-seven years, is a native of Tennessee.
Mr. Coffey of this review comes of a race of people noted for longevity, none of his ancestors, male or female, having died under the age of seventy-five, and some of them reaching the age of 112.
George A. Coffey attended the country schools of Saline County, Illinois, until he was fourteen years of age and at that time went with his parents to Baylor County, Texas. He went to the high school at Seymour, and in 1890, when his parents went to Brown County, Texas, he entered Howard Payne College and finished the teachers' training course in 1894. In the meantime he had already entered upon his educational career, having taught several terms in Oklahoma and Texas, and in 1894 began to devote his entire time to his chosen calling, as a teacher in Erath County. In the term of 1895-6 he was principal of schools at Huckaby, Erath County, Texas, and during the terms of 1896-7, 1897-8 and 1898-9 was teacher at Alexander, Texas, while in 1899, 1900, he was engaged in the same capacity at Walnut Springs, Texas. On Decem- ber 25, 1899. Mr. Coffey came to Oklahoma and filed on a claim in Washita County, on which he began to live March 10, 1900, and continued to reside thereon for five years, finally proving up and selling it. During this time, in 1900-01, he had continued his professional
labors as principal of schools at Gage, Oklahoma, con- tinued as such in the term of 1901-2, and in 1902-3 was principal of the schools at Cordell, there organizing the first graded school in Washita County. In the terms of 1903-4 and 1904-5 he was superintendent of schools at Port, Oklahoma, in 1905-6 at Rocky, Oklahoma, in 1906-7 at Port again, and in 1907-8, 1908-9 and 1909-10 at Lone Wolf, Oklahoma. During the time he resided at Lone Wolf, Mr. Coffey served as a member of the Oklahoma State Senate, to which body he was elected on the democratic ticket. His service therein was a notable one, he being chairman of the committees on Penal Institutions and Enrolling and Engrossing Bills, and a member of the committees on Public Service, Fees and Salaries, Education, Insurance, Mines and Manufac- turing, Public Health and Military Affairs. He intro- duced and secured the passage of the bill for State Aid for Consolidated Schools, the first bill of its kind and now a law. He was one of the authors of and introduced into the Senate the bill which created the present State Board of Education, and of the bill that secured the large appropriation for the buildings at the Granite Reformatory. Mr. Coffey took a leading part in the fight against the Muskogee Fair Bill, and opposed a large appropritaion for the governor's inaugural ceremony. For a number of years Mr. Coffey has been a lcad- ing figure in all the prohibition campaigns, being a stump speaker of forcible address and convincing argu- ment against the liquor traffic.
In 1910-11 Mr. Coffey was superintendent of schools at Mountain Park and Retrot, Oklahoma, in 1911-12 at Spring Creek, in 1912-13 at Sentinel, and in 1913-14 at Spring Creek again, and in the fall of 1915 was called to the position of superintendent of schools at Carter, Oklahoma, with a corps of six teachers and a scholar- ship of 300 pupils. Mr. Coffey is a valued member of the Washita County Teachers Association and the Okla- homa Teachers Association. He has at various times been honored in a professional way, having served as a member of the Board of Examiners of Erath County, Texas, for four years, and of Washita County, Okla- homa, eight years. During the greater part of this time he has devoted the summer terms, when others are enjoy- ing vacations, to faithful and energetic work in the sum- mer normal schools. A recent review of the life and labors of Superintendent Coffey said in part as fol- lows: "He is a man of versatile ability, being known for twenty-three years to the people of Southwestern Oklahoma in the various capacities of pioneer and pro- gressive educator, fraternal and religious lecturer, pro- hibition speaker and school legislator. He has ever been in the front ranks of every fight for better government, better schools, morality and decency. His fearless stand for humanity and the right has made him a host of friends. In the school room, in the state senate, in his home, and among his neighbors and friends, he has ever been the same common, plain, unassuming man. The humblest citizen and smallest child in the county may approach him on the same plane of confidence and friendship and be assured of receiving the same consid- eration and courtesy that would be given to the highest educators and officials of the state with whom he has frequently associated. In his work he has enjoyed the friendship and respect of the ablest men of the state, yet he has spent his time for the uplift of the common people; and the overwhelming support that they have given to all his public aspirations gives proof that they fully appreciate his efforts in their behalf." With his family, Mr. Coffey belongs to the Baptist Church. His fraternal connections are with Lone Wolf Lodge, A. F. & A. M .; the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Sentinel, and the Rebekahs of the same; the Woodmen
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of the World, at Sentinel, and the Modern Woodmen of America at Lone Wolf.
Superintendent Coffey was married in Erath County, Texas, in 1895, to Miss Julia Gordon Lockhart, daughter of the late Elder J. C. R. Lockhart, who for more than seventy-five years was a Baptist preacher in Alabama and Texas. Four children have been born to this union: John L., who is a teacher in the public schools of Carter, under his father; Mary L., who is a member of the sopho- more class, at Carter High School; Georgia, who is in the seventh grade of the public schools at Carter; and Geordia, twin of Georgia, also in seventh grade.
ADDIS A. BROWN, Attorney. An efficient lawyer of the younger generation practicing successfully in Vinita is Addis A. Brown, who has been an Oklahoman for about nine years. He is of Indiana nativity, being the son of the late William R. Brown, of Fort Wayne. Formerly, however, the Brown family were of Pennsylvania stock, William R. Brown having been born in Somerset County in the Keystone State in the year 1843. Our subject's father was brought by his parents from the Pennsylvania home to Allen County, Indiana, in 1846 and there was reared and educated in the public schools of the com- munity As a young man, he enlisted for service in the Union Army during the troubles of the '60s. He was a member of Company D, Thirtieth Regiment Indiana Vol- unteers. Entering the army in 1861, he served his full time of thirty-seven months, under Captain Henry W. Lawton, who later was distinguished as Major-General in the Philippine War. Major Lawton captured the famous Apache Indian chief, Geronimo and was later him- self killed in the Philippines by a sharp shooter named Geronimo. William R. Brown participtaed in all the skir- mishes and battles which engaged the attention of his command during the sectional struggle, including the en- gagements at Shiloh, Stone River, Lookout Mountain, Chickamauga and many more. He returned to Allen County, Indiana, where he was occupied with agricultural enterprises, specializing in stock raising. He married Miss Anna A. Hines, a native of Ohio. Six children were born to them, of whom five are living, the fifth in line being the subject of this review. Mrs. Brown, the mother, is still living in Fort Wayne, to which city her husband retired in 1904, living until 1913. He is re- membered as a loyal republican, a patriotic member of the Grand Army of the Republic and as a lover of fine cattle, skilled in developing superior breeds of these indispensable creatures.
The natal day of Addis A. Brown was January 20th, 1879, and the place of his birth was Monroeville, Indiana. The Allen County schools of the Hoosier State were the field of his earliest education and from these he went to the Monroeville High School. Completing a course there, he entered upon the profession of teaching, which he continued for about four years. At the end of that time, he became a student of law in the University of Indiana. In 1904, he received his degree of Bachelor of Laws, and, being admitted to the Indiana bar, he began the practice of law at Bluffton, Indiana.
In 1906, Attorney Brown followed the westward tide of professional and commercial enterprise and located in Vinita, Oklahoma, where he has ever since been engaged in legal practice of gratifying quality and proportions. In 1912, he was honored by Judge Ralph E Campbell with the appointment to the office of United States Commissioner, a civic position worthily bestowed and capably administered.
It is perhaps needless to say that Mr. Brown is a republican in politics. He is moreover a very popular man about town, having many fraternal affiliations and
distinctions. He is a member of Vinita Lodge No. 5 of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and is also a member of the Indian Consistory at McAlester, being a thirty-second degree Mason. The Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks also claims him in Vinita Lodge No. 1162.
For his life comrade Mr. Brown chose and won a young lady who was born in Vinita and has always resided here. Miss Mabel L. Gunter became Mrs. Addis A. Brown on July 15th, 1909. Mr. Brown's interests are thus very closely bound with those of Vinita's older families and deeper interests, thus making him one of the most sub- stantial citizens of the town, which profits by his talents and sterling qualities of typical American manhood.
REUBEN M. RODDIE. The career of Reuben M. Roddie, of Ada, as a public man in Oklahoma is one of unusual interest for the reason that, as a member of the Senate in the First Legislature, he was a joint author with J. Roy Williams, of Comanche County, of the notable Bank Guaranty Act, which was the first of its kind passed in the United States, and for the additional reason that he is the author of an insurance code enacted by the Second Legislature that is said to have been one of the best in the country. In the Fourth Legislature, he was chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitutiona. Amendments, and was the joint author of several that were submitted to the people by that session. In that Legislature, also, he was democratic caucus chairman and chairman of the steering committee, in both of which capacities the wisdom with which he acted brought him high praise from the Senate, and there never was a criticism from his party over his activity in arranging the calendar during critical periods when it was neces- sary to depart from the regular order of arrangement made by the rules of the body. In the Second Legisla- ture, rather than sacrifice his honor by casting a vote fixed for him to cast in a trade with republicans that would have resulted in the seating of a republican over a democrat in a contest that arose in Hughes County, Mr. Roddie was in a measure responsible for the passage of a bill locating a State Normal School at Ada, his home. This sacrifice cost him much criticism at home, but he redeemed himself in the graces of his people later in the session when he secured the passage of another bill that located the East Central State Normal at Ada, and it was the sacrifice made earlier in the session that won him the confidence, esteem and support of republican members who stood by him in the second fight.
Reuben M. Roddie was born in January, 1874, in Giles County, Tennessee, and is a son of William L. and Martha F. (Poston) Roddie. His father, now seventy- five years of age, is a teacher in the East Central State Normal, completing his fiftieth consecutive year as a pedagogue in 1916. Mr. Roddie's mother's father was a well known and well to do cotton planter for many years in Paint Rock Valley of Jackson County, Ten- nessee, and one of her uncles was a brevet captain in the battle of Franklin during the Civil war and met a sol- dier's death on that famous and bloody battleground. She is a cousin of Dave Poston, for many years a well known lawyer of Tennessee, who was killed by Col. H. Clay King, of Memphis, whose sentence was commuted by Governor James P. Buchanan. This act was one of the last performed by Buchanan before his retirement from office and because of it he was hanged and burned in effigy in a public street of Memphis. The Postons were Scotch- Irish people and early settlers of East Tennessee. The Roddie family has an excellent military record, one of Mr. Roddie's direct ancestors having been Bill Tipton, who was a colonel in the patriot army during the Revolu- tionary war and fought as such at the battle of Stark's
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Mountain, while his grandfather, Col. Reuben M. Roddie, was a colonel in the United States army during the Mexican war, and fought in that struggle as a member of the staff of General Jackson. Mr. Roddie has two sisters and three brothers: Hume P., who is engaged in the wholesale wool and produce business at Brownsville, Texas; William S., who is a farmer and resides near Al- len, Oklahoma; Miss Jennie, who resides with her parents at Ada; Mrs. Ruth Lindstrom, who is the wife of a train dispatcher for the M. O. & G. Railroad Company, at Muskogee, Oklahoma; and James A. Bostick, who is a member of the senior class of the East Central State Normal.
Reuben M. Roddie was educated in the public schools of Tennessee and at Vanderbilt University, from which he holds the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He studied law in the office of Martin & Littleton, at Nashville, Tennessee, and was admitted to the bar in 1896, although he did not enter practice until 1907, after he had become a resident of Oklahoma. During the interim he was engaged in the writing of life insurance in Tennessee, Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma and Indian Territory, in which he made a notable record .* He was elected a member of the First State Senate, in 1907, and served during the First, Second, Third and Fourth State Legis- latures; in 1914 he ran for the democratic nomination for Congress in the Fourth District and with others was defeated by William H. Murray, of Tishomingo.
Mr. Roddie was married in July, 1898, in Giles County, Tennessee, to Miss Cora Young, a descendant of the Bass family that was noted among the early settlers of North' Carolina and one of whose ancestors was the author of an arithmetic that was taught in the public schools of the South many years ago. They have two children : Lenox Y., aged eleven years; and Nadine, who is nine years old. Lenox, at the age of five years, was a page in the Oklahoma Legislature, being appointed by Lieutenant-Governor George Bellamy, and was said to be the youngest page in a legislative body in the United States. Being the son of a senator, he served without pay. Two years later he was again appointed page by President Pro Tem. J. Elmer Thomas of the Senate.
Mr. Roddie is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, of the Ada Commercial Club, and of the Pontotoc County and Oklahoma State Bar associations. He has been in the forefront of the town's progress since statehood, and has taken a particular interest in educational mat- ters. It is an abiding, almost paternal interest he has in the East Central Normal, and much of his time during several years has been devoted to the advancement of that institution. Three times movements have been set on foot to abolish certain of the higher educational insti- tutions of the state, and each time Mr. Roddie has helped to guard the interests of the school he helped to create.
FORREST L. HUGHES. Of Forrest L. Hughes, yet in his twenties. however guardedly one must speak on the score of youth, it may be stated unhesitatingly that few young lawyers today in Oklahoma City give better promise of future achievement. The qualifications and characteristics necessary to the attainment of position in the legal profession are of so varied and peculiar char- acter that few men are found to possess them. A mind of extraordinary activity, retentive and receptive, a devotion to the calling, a will firm to assert and honora- ble principles are qualities which, perhaps, find their best opportunity for display in the legal profession. These qualities are possessed by Mr. Hughes in bounte- ous measure, and through their possession he had suc-
ceeded in the attainment of a large practice and a substantial standing.
Mr. Hughes is a son of the West, was educated in the cultured Old Dominion, and has now returned to the West to carry on what he has chosen as his life work. He was born in San Diego, California, in 1888, his parents being Judge Wilmer and Olive (Hudson) Hughes. Judge Hughes was a native of Virginia, where he was reared and educated, and, choosing the law as his voca- tion, was admitted to the bar and engaged in practice there for several years. Later he migrated to Texas, where he was married and followed his profession until 1887, when he went on to California, settling in the - City of San Diego. There he attained high distinction, both as lawyer and jurist, being the first judge of the Superior Court of that state, and such a high place did he hold in the esteem and regard of his fellowmen that just prior to his death, in 1900, he was elevated to the bench of the Supreme Court of California. Mrs. Hughes, who is a native of Texas, survives her husband, and still resides in California.
Forrest L. Hughes received his early education in the public schools of Texas, and after some preparation was sent to the University of Virginia, where he was gradu- ated in 1908 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Fol- lowing this, he entered upon the study of law, at the same institution, receiving his degree of Bachelor of Laws and being graduated with the class of 1910. He also engaged in some post-graduate work, and in 1910 was admitted to the Virginia bar, spending a short period in practice in that state. Mr. Hughes returned to the West in 1911 and located at Oklahoma City, where he has continued in the active practice of his calling, and where he has met with well-deserved success. At this time he maintains offices at No. 328 American National Bank Building.
While the duties of his profession have occupied Mr. Hughes' attention in large degree, he has found time to devote to politics, and has already gained a substan- tial position in the ranks of the democratic party. In 1912 he was made manager for the congressional cam- paign of Hon. Claude Weaver, which culminated in the election of that gentleman to the office of congressman at large. Mr. Hughes is a member of the First Pres- byterian Church. He is unmarried and resides at the Long Hotel, Oklahoma City.
DANIEL W. PURCELL. Of the men who, coming as pioneers of the white race to that part of Indian Terri- tory which is now included within the boundaries of Stephens County, Oklahoma, have since continued to de- vote their energies to the building up of enterprises which have contributed to the business prestige and material prosperity of this thriving locality, Daniel W. Purcell is an excellent example. In the year 1893, when his advent occurred, there were attractive advantages offered men of ability, courage and industry, and Mr. Purcell so improved his opportunities that he was able to build up a business that still stands as one of the leading enterprises of the City of Marlow.
Daniel W. Purcell was born at Marseilles, LaSalle County, Illinois, September 4, 1848, and is a son of Pat- rick and Hannah (O'Brien) Purcell. His grandfather, Thomas Purcell, was the original ancestor of the fam- ily in America, emigrating from his native Ireland to Canada, where he passed the remaining years of his life in farming. On the maternal side, Mr. Purcell's father was John O'Brien, also a native of Erin, who died after some years spent in farming in Canada. Patrick Pur- cell was born in the Province of Ontario, Canada, in 1807, and there was engaged in farming up to the time
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of his marriage, when he came to the United States and settled at Marseilles, Illinois. In 1866 he came to the Southwest, settling in Robertson County, Texas, and there passed the remaining years of his life as a farmer and stockman, dying in 1867. Mrs. Purcell, who was born in Canada, in 1812, died the same year as her hus- band. They were the parents of five children: Thomas, a justice of the peace at Calvin, Oklahoma; Daniel W., of this review; Margaret, who is the widow of Mr. Malone and resides in Wise County, Texas; Katie, who died in Wise County, Texas, was the wife of Robert P. Webb, now a farmer of Clay County, Texas, and Elijah, who resides at Fort Worth, Texas.
The public schools of LaSalle County, Illinois, and Robertson County, Texas, furnished Daniel W. Purcell with his education, and until he was twenty years of age he was engaged in assisting his father on the home farm. He was then offered and accepted a position as overseer of a large plantation in Milam County, Texas, on which there was much stock, and capably performed the duties of the ranch for three years, at the end of which time he turned his attention to sawmilling in Eastern Texas. For a quarter of a century Mr. Purcell was widely known as a prominent millman, principally in Cass County, where he built up a firmly established repu- tation for integrity and fair dealing, qualities which have characterized his operations in each locality in which he has been a resident. In 1896 Mr. Purcell moved to Wise County, Texas, where he engaged in deal- ing in lumber, cotton and grain, and continued there until 1903 when he came to Marlow, then in Indian Terri- tory. Here he erected a cotton gin, which has since grown and developed to large proportions, being located on Main Street, east of the tracks of the Rock Island Railroad. His gin has a capacity of fifty bales a day, and his trade is attracted from all over this and sur- rounding counties. Mr. Purcell has always been active in politics and civic affairs, has served on the school boards of both Texas and Oklahoma, and for two years was mayor of Marlow, his term ending May 1, 1915. In public life as in business affairs, he has evidenced a con- scientious desire to discharge efficiently every duty de- volving upon him, and those with whom he has come in contact as an official bear testimony to his absolute integrity and probity of character. He is a democrat in politics and accounted an influential man of his party at Marlow, is a faithful member of the Christian church, and is fraternally connected with Marlow Lodge No. 102, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he was past grand in Texas, and the Woodmen of the World, in Texas.
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