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 38

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 38

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Soam J. Castleman attended the common schools in Pella, Texas, as a boy, and from 1887 to 1892 he was employed in the railroad service. In 1892 he was injured in an accident, a circumstance that brought a sudden termination to his career in that field. He then turned his attention to the matter of furthering his education, and he spent the ensuing year in attendance at the Pella High School, after which he went to Thorndale, Milan County, Texas, and read law in the office of Nat Tracy. In 1898 he was admitted to the bar, and he initiated the practice of his profession in the Town of Cameron, in Texas. He remained there until 1902, when he came to Lawton, Oklahoma, and for fourteen months was engaged in practice. From then to the time when he located in New Wilson in May, 1914, he made a good many changes of location. He moved from Lawton to Snyder, Okla- homa, staying in the latter place two years. From Sny- der he went to Comanche, Oklahoma, remaining there two years. Thence to Tucumcari, New Mexico, where he spent something like nine months in practice, and then on to Altus, Oklahoma, in which place he was occupied for five years. In September, 1913, he settled in Cornish, Oklahoma, and in May, 1914, he came to New Wilson. He is now permanently established, and is conducting a civil and criminal practice with excellent success. In the years of Mr. Castleman's practice he has defended about 300 criminal cases, and of that number only seventeen have received sentences. He has a splendid reputation before the bar as a pleading lawyer, and his standing in the profession is most creditable.

Mr. Castleman is a democrat, and when a resident of Snyder, Oklahoma, he served as city attorney. After a two years' residence in Altus, Oklahoma, he ran for the

office of county attorney, but was beaten by a narrow margin of seventy-five votes. He is a member of the County, State and National Bar associations, and frater- ually, is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Wilson Lodge No. 417. He and his family are members of the Church of Christ.

Mr. Castleman has been twice married. He was first married in 1882 in Milan County, Texas, to Miss Nannie Crow, daughter of James Crow, a prominent farmer of that place, now deceased. She died in 1902, leaving two children-William August, a mechanic now living in Wil- son, Oklahoma, and Ira, attending the New Wilson High School. In 1904 Mr. Castleman married Miss Lida Keithley, in Lawton, Oklalioma, the daughter of Judge Marion Keithley of Missouri, now deceased. Four chil- dren have been born to them. They are LeRoy Bates, Francis Marion, Jessie Jennings, and Albert Castleman. All of them are attending the local schools. The family enjoys a good deal of social prominence, and they are well known in the city and county, though their residence in New Wilson has been a brief one thus far.

WILLIAM THOMAS TILLY, M. D. For nearly twenty years Doctor Tilly has been a prominent practitioner of medicine and surgery in old Indian Terirtory and Eastern Oklahoma, his home having been at Muskogee since 1907. Through his work as a railway surgeon, as presi- dent of the State Board of Medical Examiners, as the founder of one of the most modern hospitals in the state and in other relations he is easily one of the best-known members of the profession in the entire state. Doctor Tilly's attainments and ability are only par with his rep- utation, and particularly as a surgeon, he has few supe- riors in the Southwest.

William Thomas Tilly was born in Monroe County, Tennessee, April 17, 1864, a son of James L. and Sarah (McAfee) Tilly. His father was a native of Tennessee and his mother of North Carolina. The former was a farmer, and Doctor Tilly spent his early life in the rural districts of Tennessee. A common school education was supplemented by a thorough course in the Brown Hill Academy, and with this literary preparation he took up the study of medicine, and in 1894 was graduated M. D. from the Louisville Medical College in Kentucky. While his own practice and experience have made him a man of large attainments in the profession, Doctor Tilly has also taken advantages of some of the best post-graduate schools of the country, and has attended clinics and pro- fessional courses in New York, Chicago and Philadelphia.

His first two years of practice was spent at Mineral Bluff, Georgia, and he then came west and located at Pryor Creek in Indian Territory, and was in a successful practice there until his removal to Muskogee in 1907. Doctor Tilly is a member of the Muskogee County Med- ical Society and the Oklahoma State Medical Society, of the American Medical Association, the Southern Medical Association and of the Southern Association of Railway Surgeons. Since 1910 he has been chief surgeon of the Missouri, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad. He has won a wide reputation as a skillful operator.

Doctor Tilly was for two years vice president of the American Association of Medical Examiners for Life Insurance. He was the first president of the Oklahoma State Board of Health after statehood, and was presi- dent of the State Board of Medical Examiners, and in that capacity, under the State law, signed not only the licenses for practice to new physicians, but licenses for every physician then in practice in the State. This was an unprecedented incident in the history of any state so far as the medical profession is concerned. Doctor Tilly remained president of the State Board of Medical Examiners throughout the administration of Governor

1472

HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

Haskell, by whom he was appointed, and resigned the office in 1911. In 1912 he founded what has since be- come one of the best hospitals in the state. It is known as the M. O. & G. Hospital and contains fifty rooms, all with hot and cold running water, and also a number of private rooms with private baths attached. Doctor Tilly is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite and a Knight Templar Mason, a member of the Mystic Shrine, and also affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias. On September 20, 1880, he married Miss Alice E. Hall of Tennessee. Their three children are named Ethel, Cecil H. and Oliver J.

J. J. KINNEY. The virile characteristics of the American people as a whole, their enterprise and pro- gressiveness is often ascribed to the complex mingling of races from the various European nations, the in- dividuals of which by intermarriage transmit to their offspring the better and more forceful qualities of the races to which they respectively belong, this process being repeated and the result intensified in succeeding generations. A still more interesting process may be witnessed in some parts of the great West, where men of white blood have intermarried with the original pro- prietors of the soil-the American Indians. That the red man possessed, and still possesses, certain noble and praiseworthy characteristics will not be denied by the unprejudiced student of ethnology, and the mixture of Indian blood with that of Northern whites especially has produced a new race which is already developing in a highly interesting and satisfactory manner and giving evidence of power and capacity that may make it an important factor in shaping the destinies of this country. In any event it seems bound to take a worthy place as a component element of American civilization. A major- ity of intermarried citizens in Oklahoma came from the southern states. In the person of J. J. Kinney, how- ever, we have the grandson of a former governor of the Chickasaw Nation and the son of a Pennsylvanian who nearly half a century ago drove out into the West in search of adventure and fortune. Mr. Kinney was born January 13, 1889, near Sulphur, Idaho Territory, his parents being John H. and Minnie (Harris) Kinney. The father was an interesting figure of the early terri- torial days. For four years he drove a stage coach through the wild country of the Chickasaw Nation, be- tween Boggy Depot and Pauls Valley, and for several years he was a deputy United States marshal when outlaws and thieves were overrunning the territory. Mr. Kinney's mother was a daughter of former Governor Cyrus Harris of the Chickasaw Nation, who died over forty years ago, near the old capital.

J. J. Kinney in his boyhood acquired the elements of knowledge in the common schools of the Indian country, his education being continued by a subsequent course in the Selvidge Business College at Ardmore, in which he prepared himself for the banking business. He then be- came assistant cashier of the Bank of Commerce at Sul- phur, and afterwards was assistant cashier for three years in the Farmers State Bank at Holdenville. In 1914 he went to Ardmore, where he was engaged in bank- ing for one year, remaining there until December, at which time he removed to Mill Creek, becoming assistant cashier of the First State Bank. Mr. Kinney is recog- nized as a successful business man, and he is also an ac- complished musician, having unusual talent, which is be- ing constantly developed. As a tenor singer he has made a number of public appearances, his voice and style win- ning him unstinted praise and admiration. His appear- ance once before the Baptist State Convention at Shaw- nee was an event, and it is probable that his talent may lead him to the Chautauqua platform, and that later,

after the close of the present war, he may seek advanced instruction from some of the great vocal masters of the Old World. The principal part of his vocal training hitherto was received from Prof. Fred H. Poulter. Mr. Kinney is also an accomplished violinist, having received instruction on the king of instruments from Professor Brower of Mill Creek, one of the most talented violinists in the state. Mr. Kinney is a member of the Baptist Church and of several fraternal orders, including the Homesteaders, the M. W. A., the K. L. of S. and the Praetorians. He is interested in valuable properties in the Healdton oil fields and takes a lively interest in the development of his farm near Mill Creek. Mr. Kinney has three brothers and four sisters: James C. Kinney is en- gaged in the grocery business in Oklahoma City. Levi Kinney lives in Sulphur. Ludie E. Kinney is connected with the Roberts, Johnson & Rand Shoe Company at Buckhannon, West Virginia. Mrs. Nannie Polk is the wife of a ranchman near Sulphur. Mrs. Ida Jackson is the wife of an oil operator at Muskogee, and Mrs. Lillie Cozby is the wife of a farmer near Mill Creek.

In July, 1909, J. J. Kinney was united in marriage with Josephine Kuykendall of Cleburne, Texas, daughter of a well known missionary Baptist preacher, who fol- lowed his sacred calling for a number of years in Texas, was a missionary in Mexico for seven years, and who now lives in Hornbeck, Tennessee. Mr. and Mrs. Kin- ney have two children: Maurice Julia, aged four, and William Randolph, aged two years.

CHARLES C. SHAW. In his course as a physician, lawyer, legislator and public-spirited citizen Senator Shaw has been guided by the conservatism of discretion, with a native cleanness of thought and action. In his career there has been naught of the spectacular, but he has hewcd straight to the line and has made his influence potent for good in all of the relations of life. He is engaged in the successful practice of his profession at Tishomingo, the judicial center of Johnston County, has been an influential figure in the councils of the democratic party in Oklahoma, and has effectively and worthily represented the Twenty-sixth Senatorial District of the state in the Fourth and Fifth General Assemblies of the Oklahoma Legislature.

Charles Cicero Shaw was born in Scott County, Arkan- sas, on the 6th of December, 1877, and is a son of William A. and Ellen Shaw, the former a native of Georgia and the latter of Alabama. The Shaw family was founded in America in the early colonial era, and representative of the same were patriot soldiers in the war for independence, so that by ancestral heritage Senator Shaw, of this review, is eligible for membership in the society of the Sons of the American Revolution. William A. Shaw became one of the pioneer settlers of Scott County, Arkansas, and was there a successful con- tractor for a long period prior to his death, which occurred in the year 1884, his devoted wife having been summoned to eternal rest in 1881, when her son, Charles C., of this sketch, was a child of three years. Her father was an able and influential clergyman of the Baptist Church in the State of Alabama.

Senator Shaw, who is a physician as well as a lawyer, acquired his rudimentary education iu the public schools of his native state and was about seven years old at the time of his father's death, so that he was doubly orphaned when a mere lad. In 1895 he went to Texas, in which state he continued his educational discipline, and in 1901 he became a resident of Oklahoma. Within a short time thereafter he went to Kansas City, Missouri, where he entered the University Medical College, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of

1473

HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

1904 and from which he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Thereafter he was engaged in the practice of medicine at Ada, Oklahoma, until 1907, the year which marked the admission of the state to the Union, and in the meanwhile he had studied law and been admitted to the bar, his tastes and ambition having led him thus to make a radical change of profession-a change which his success in the practice of law has fully justified.

In 1907 Senator Shaw removed to Johnston County, where he has since continued in the active practice of law and where he holds distinctive precedence as one of the leading members of the bar of this section of the state. He became actively associated with political affairs in the formative period of the state government and has proved a veritable stalwart in the camp of the democratic party. In 1910 the doctor was chairman of the Johnston County Democratic Convention, and, from 1910 to 1912 he represented that county as a member of the Democratic State Central Committee. As a sup- porter of Hon. William H. Murray, democratic candidate for governor, Doctor Shaw was specially active in the campaign of 1910, and in 1912 he was elected to the State Senate as representative of the Twenty-sixth Dis- trict, his loyal and effective service continuing through the Fourth and Fifth General Assemblies of the Legisla- ture. In the Fourth Legislature Senator Shaw was chairman of the committee on revenue and taxation and was assigned also to membership on the following named committees: Legal advisory, constitution and constitu- tional amendments, appropriations, privileges and elec- tions, fees and salaries, public buildings and capitol, public printing, public health and congressional appor- tionment. In the Fifth Legislature he was chairman of the committee on public-service corporations, and a member of the committees on legal advisory, rules and procedure, judiciary No. 2, appropriations, roads and highways, education, public buildings, public health and committee on committees.

In the Fourth Legislature Senator Shaw was the floor leader of the majority in the memorable contest over the state capitol bill, the passage of which resulted in an early institution of the construction of Oklahoma's fine capitol. He was the author of the primary election law enacted in the same session of the Legislature, and in the Fifth Legislature he took a leading part in efforts to amend the election law of the state. As a loyal friend and supporter of the governor, Senator Shaw earnestly championed the policies of the admin- istration in reference to a revision of the laws pertaining to courts and court proceedings and in the creation of a state tax commission. Concerning him the following estimate has been given and comes from an authoritative

source : "Senator Shaw is a conservative political partisan and is one of the most popular members of the upper house of the Legislature. Quiet and unassuming, he has taken little part in debate, but his broad concep- tions of governmental matters, his mature judgment and his talent for work have made him one of the useful of the law-makers of Oklahoma." On June 1, 1916, Doctor Shaw was appointed physician and surgeon for the Oklahoma State Penitentiary located at McAlester, Oklahoma.

In the time-honored Masonie fraternity Senator Shaw has received the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, as a representative of which he is affiliated with the consistory at McAlester. He .is identified also with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows and the Woodmen of the World, is a valued and appreciative member of the Johnston County Bar Asso- ciation and the Oklahoma State Bar Association, and

both he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church South. It may be noted that Senator Shaw has two brothers but no sisters and that both of his brothers are residents of Oklahoma, David A. being engaged in the practice of law at Poteau, LeFlore County, where he is also editor and publisher of the Poteau Sun, and William C., who is a traveling sales- man, being a resident of Ada, Pontotoc County.

In May, 1899, in Hunt County, Texas, was solemnized the marriage of Senator Shaw to Miss Emily Jane Edwards, and they have three children-Otto Edward, Charles Haskell and Jewell.

CLAROUS R. JOHNSTON. " It is not necessary that the man who achieves success be made of sterner stuff than his fellow man but there are certain indispensable characteristics that contribute to the prosperity of the individual; these are energy, enterprise and determina- tion and the ability to recognize and improve opportuni- ties. These qualities are cardinal elements in the character of Judge Clarous R. Johnston and have accompanied him on his progress from a humble station in life to one of prominence and affluence. Self- educated, inasmuch as he made his own way through school, his career as a successful attorney is most interesting. He is judge of Caddo County and resides in the City of Anadarko.

In Monroe County, Indiana, September 24, 1880, occurred the birth of Clarous R. Johnston, a son of A. H. and Debbie J. (Morgan) Johnston. The father was born in Harrodsburg, Indiana, in 1857, and he has been a farmer and stockraiser in the vicinity of that place during the entire period of his active career. He is a stalwart democrat and for four years gave efficient serv- ice as trustee of his home township. He is an elder in the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which both he and his wife are devout members. Mrs. Johnston was born in Harrodsburg, Indiana, in 1856, and she and her hus- band are parents of the following children : Clarous R., of this notice; Dr. R. E. was graduated in the Louis- ville Medical College of Kentucky and is successfully engaged in the practice of his profession at Bridge- port, Oklahoma; Gertrude is the wife of W. W. Wilson, an electrician in Indianapolis; Hansel T. is a mer- chant in Indianapolis; Goldie was graduated in the Indianapolis Conservatory of Music in 1915 and resides at the parental home; O. A. is studying dentistry in Indianapolis; Bessie is the wife of Claude Rogers, manager of a wholesale grocery concern in Arizona; Mary is a junior in high school at Smithville, Indiana; and Ava, Truly and Catherine are pupils in the public school of Harrodsburg.

Judge Johnston was graduated in the Harrodsburg High School in 1896 and for six years thereafter was engaged in teaching school in Monroe County, Indiana, serving a part of the time as principal. During tho spring and summer terms of the last three years of that period he attended the University of Indiana and in that way completed his freshman year in college. In 1902 he was matriculated in the university as a regular student and in 1905 was graduated in the law depart- ment, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He initiated the active practice of his profession at Bloomington, Indiana, and in 1906 located at Bedford, Indiana, remaining in the latter place until 1909. In December of that year he came to Caddo County, Oklahoma, and after spending a couple months in Bridgeport he settled permanently in Anadarko, here entering into a partner- ship alliance with R. K. Robinson. In May, 1912,, le became interested in politics and was induced to run for the office of judge of Caddo County on the demo-

1474

HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

cratie ticket. Owing to political exigencies he was defeated and he continued in his law practice until the spring of 1913, when he was elected city attorney. November 6, 1914, he again entered the race for the county judgeship and met with success at the polls. He resigned his office as city attorney in order to assume the responsibilities of his new and more important office and he is proving unusually capable and energetic as county judge. For one who had his own way to make on the ladder of achievement his rise has been rapid and spectacular, showing that he possesses the ability and determination to make the best of, adverse circum- stances and forge ahead in spite of obstacles which beset his path. While in college he was truant officer of Monroe County, Indiana, for one year, being the only democrat in office at that time.

December 28, 1911, at Bedford, Indiana, Mr. John- ston was united in marriage to Miss Lulu G. Cobb, a daughter of C. H. Cobb, a retired business man at Bed- ford. Judge and Mrs. Johnson have one daughter, Mary Frances, whose birth occurred September 22, 1912. In religious faith the Johnstons are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

CHARLES A. VAUGHN. Before coming to Oklahoma thirteen years ago, in 1903, Mr. Vaughn was a very suc- cessful farmer and stock raiser in Southern Illinois, and his first intention on coming to Oklahoma was to con- tinue in the live stock industry. His attention was diverted to other lines, and he has been one of the factors in the development of oil interests in and about Sapulpa. At the same time he has taken an active part in demo- cratie politics both in his county and state, and is serving as the present postmaster of Sapulpa.

He was born near the bank of the Mississippi River at Jerseyville, Illinois, December 25, 1867, a son of Josiah and Mary (Pruitt) Vaughn. Both parents were born in Madison County, Illinois, near the City of Alton, his father on December 5, 1822, and his mother on March 2, 1830. His parents were married in 1846, on her birthday, and soon afterwards moved from Madison to Jersey County, where they spent the rest of their lives. His mother died there June 6, 1874, and the father on July 10, 1890. The latter was a farmer all his career, and a very successful and energetic one, and at one time owned about 500 acres. He was a lifelong democrat and filled various places of trust and responsibility, chiefly on the town board and in township affairs. They were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and were the parents of twelve children, four of whom reached maturity. Josiah, the oldest of these, died in 1914, at Gregory, South Dakota. James F. died in Kansas. Edward J., the youngest, is an attorney at law at Granite City, Illinois.

Charles A. Vaughn lived on the old home place in Southern Illinois until about two years before he came to Oklahoma. After his father gave up the heavy re- sponsibilities of the farm the son took charge, and con- tinued the farming operations for about ten years. Iu 1902 he came to Sapulpa, and he had planned to acquire some extensive tracts of land and raise shorthorn cattle in connection with farming. However, he entered the real estate business instead, and his activities soon in- cluded the handling and development of oil leases. He finally sold out the real estate department and has been interested in oil and particularly in the manufacture of gasoline. He is a director in the Fidelity Gasoline Com- pany of Sapulpa, which he helped to organize and which he named in honor of his old home town in Illinois.

He was reared in a democratic home and has espoused the cause of that party since casting his first ballot.

Since coming to Sapulpa he served a term as city clerk, and on February 6, 1914, was appointed postmaster. Sapulpa is a second class postoffice, and Mr. Vaughn's administration has gained many favorable commenda- tions from the local patrons of the office. He has also served on the board of education and as justice of the peace, and for two terms was a member of the State Cen- tral Committee. His church home is the Presbyterian.

On March 2, 1896, he married Miss Lulu Shimmel, who was born at Brighton, Jersey County, Illinois, May 20, 1874, a daughter of Henry and Marie (Reiustadtler) Shimmel. The parents were both natives of Germany and came to the United States as young people. They were married in St. Louis and later went to Illinois. They were farming people. There Mr. Shimmel died at the age of seventy-two years and his widow passed away aged sixty-nine. They were members of the German Lutheran Church. Mr. and Mrs. Vaughn are the parents of two children : Marie, who was born in the same house as her father on December 30, 1898, and Pauline, born at Jerseyville, Illinois, September 9, 1901.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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