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 47

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 47

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EBEN P. CLAPPER, M. D., a member of the Waynoka medical profession since 1901, is one of the well known residents of Woods County and has enjoyed a life's career which illustrates a high order of intelligence, dignity of bearing, nobleness of purpose and a steady aim; for as a physician he has been successful both in a material way and in the gaining of a reputation, and as a citizen he has been thorough and faithful in the discharge of the duties which have devolved upon him.

Born in Memphis, Missouri, October 28th, 1869, Doctor Clapper is a son of Henry D. and Ann E. (Ford) Clap- per, while his father was a native of Ohio, born June 30, 1834, and the latter was a son of parents who were born in Ohio and Pennsylvania, respectively. Henry D. Clapper was brought up amid rural surroundings and remained on his father's homestead until he was sixteen years of age, at which time he turned his attention to mercantile pursuits, beginning as a clerk in a store at Memphis, Missouri. He was industrious and ambitious, carefully saved his wages, and learned every detail of his chosen occupation, finally entering business on his own account as the proprietor of an establishment at Union- ville, Missouri, and later at Downing, Missouri. He died at the latter place, July 10, 1882, after a long and successfuly career, and was known as one of the sub- stantial men of his conummunity and as a good and public- spirited citizen. He was a member of the Christian Church and supported its movement throughout his life. Mr. Clapper was married in 1856 to Miss Ann E. Ford, who was born August 8, 1831, in Kentucky, a daughter of Minor L. Ford, a native of Kentucky. She died at Palisade, Colorado, February 23, 1909, in the faith of the Christian Church, of which she had been a life-long member. Mr. and Mrs. Clapper were the parents of five daughters and one son, as follows: Ida S., who is deceased; Clara M., who has also passed away; Martha A., who is now the wife of Dr. J. L. Tadlock, of Palisade, Colorado; Ella J., who is deceased; Nancy E., who is the widow of J. M. Guinn, of Bartlesville, Oklahoma; and Dr. E. P., of this review.

Dr. E. P. Clapper was educated in the public schools of

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Downing, Missouri, and as a youth was engaged in work- ing in his father's store as a salesman. He continued thus for a number of years, but had always cherished an ambition to enter the medical profession, and when twenty-seven years of age allowed his inclinations to have full sway, entering the College of Physicians and Surgeons, at Keokuk, Iowa. He was graduated from that institution in 1901, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, and since that time has been steadily engaged in the practice of his profession at Waynoka. Here he now has a large, well-appointed office, with an exten- sive library and all instruments and appliances for handling the most delicate and complicated medical and surgical cases. His acknowledged skill, thorough know- ledge and broad sympathy have attracted to him a large and representative practice, and he is justly numbered among the leading practitioners of Woods County. Doctor Clapper maintains membership in the leading medical societies, is a close and attentive student, and subscribes to the foremost journals of his profession, thus keeping fully abreast of the various changes and advancements made in the calling. He is well known in Masonry and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and with his family attends the Christian Church.

Doctor Clapper was married January 11, 1893, to Miss Belle Guinn, who was born at Coatesville, Missouri, December 22, 1874, and died at Waynoka, Oklahoma, March 21, 1906, daughter of J. C. and Susan E. (Epper- son) Guinn. Two children were born to this union: Leou G., born January 28, 1895, who died December 1st, 1915; and Eben Paul, born December 15, 1893. Doctor Clapper was again married, October 28, 1908, at Cleo, Oklahoma, to Miss Della M. Manley, who was born July 4, 1877, daughter of Elijah W. and Martha (Weinenger) Manley. To this union there have been born two chil- dren: Martha Elizabeth, born December 15, 1913, who died March 27, 1914; and Rachel, born February 16, 1915.

CHARLES W. PENNEL. One of the most reliable and progressive of the younger members of the Washington County bar, who stands high in professional ability and as a man of broad business and financial judgment, is Charles W. Pennel, of Bartlesville, president of the Buzz Oil Company, and an active factor in civic and political circles. Mr. Pennel was born at Peru, Chautauqua County, Kansas, March 15, 1880, and is a son of S. W. and Almyra (Jones) Pennel.

S. W. Peunel was born at Taylorville, North Carolina, May 4, 1845, and was a mere youth when he enlisted for service in the Confederate army during the Civil war, in which he served four years as a private in a North Carolina regiment, being with General Lee at the time of his surrender. After the war he moved to Leaven- worth, Kansas, where he received an appointment under President Grant to assist the Osage Indians in their re- moval from Kansas to Indian Territory, where he was placed in charge of the Osage Reservation. In that capacity he rendered invaluable services in teaching the Government's wards how to farm, assisting them in rais- ing the first crop of wheat grown in Indian Territory. While thus engaged he met and married Almyra Jones, who was born at Dows, Iowa, October 12, 1847, educated well in her native state, and at the time of their mar- riage, in 1873, a teacher in the Government Indian schools. Following their marriage they purchased a farm one-quarter of a mile across the Kansas line, where they have since resided, Mr. Pennel being engaged in farming and raising stock. He has been prominent in local affairs and is known as one of the influential men of his com- munity. There were four sons and three daughters in

the family: R. L., postmaster of Lewiston, Idaho; Charles W., of this notice; Maude, who is the wife of John W. Oaks, of Peru, Kansas; Mollie, who is the wife of W. E. Green, of Okmulgee, Oklahoma; G. C., an at- torney of Nezperce, Idaho; T. F., who is engaged in the oil business and resides with his parents; and Jennie, who is the wife of Willard Hills, of Peru, Kansas.

Charles W. Pennel attended the country schools of Kansas, after leaving which he taught school in his home district for one term. In 1900 he entered the State Normal School, at Emporia, Kansas, from which he was graduated in 1902, and in that year became superin- tendent of schools at Moline, Kansas, a capacity in which he acted for two years. In the meantime he had applied himself to the study of law, and in 1904 entered the Val- paraiso (Indiana) Law School, where he was graduated in 1906, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, and at once settled at Bartlesville, Oklahoma, where he has since continued in a general law practice. He has personally represented a number of large interests in important litigation during the last few years, and is now an active and successful practitioner. In addition to his practice, Mr. Pennel is largely interested in the oil business, and at present is president of the Buzz Oil Company. He is a democrat in his political views and has taken an active part in the movements of his party during the past several years. His religious connection is with the Methodist Episcopal Church. Aside from the organiza- tions of his professiou, Mr. Pennel belongs to the local lodge of the Masonic order and to the Bartlesville Gun Club.

On June 11, 1911, Mr. Pennel was married to Miss Jennie Saxon, a native of Chautauqua County, New York.

THOMAS JEFFERSON WATTS. With the exception of a short period at Sallisaw, the entire professional career of Thomas Jefferson Watts has been passed at Muldrow. Admitted to the bar of Oklahoma in 1898, he has at- tained a position of leadership among the fraternity here through his own efforts and ability, and has always used his fine legal talent in the furtherance of movements for the community welfare. Mr. Watts is an Arkansan by nativity, his birth having occurred at Fort Smith, Se- bastian County, July 4, 1876, and is a son of Alfred J. and Mary (Reed) Watts. His parents, natives of Ten- nessee, went as children to Arkansas with their respective families and there met and were married, and in 1876 removed from Fort Smith to a farm located on the present site of Muldrow, in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma. There the parents continued to be engaged in the pursuits of farming and stock raising during the remaining years of their active lives.

Thomas Jefferson Watts was an infant wheu brought by his parents to Sequoyah County and here grew to manhood. His early education was secured in the district schools while he was helping in the work of the home farm and later he further pursued his studies at Hiram and Lydia College, in Arkansas. Thus prepared, he be- gan teaching in the public schools, but after two or three years devoted to this vocation entered upon the study of law in the office of Winchester & Martin, attorneys of Fort Smith, Arkansas, a concern with which he remained for several years, first in the capacity of student and later as clerk. Mr. Watts began the practice of his pro- fession at Muldrow in 1898, and here has continued to energetically represent and protect the interests of his clients, with the exception of the short time passed at Sallisaw, as before noted. Mr. Watts is possessed of an excellent practice, both civil and criminal, and seems to be thoroughly trained in each branch of his calling. As a citizen he has been concerned as an active factor in his

Chas H. Jennel.

HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

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support of or opposition to almost every measure of vital importance, for he has been as strong in denouncing movements which he has believed bad as he has in pro- moting enterprises which his judgment has told him would be beneficial. Politically a strong and active democrat, he has not sought public office, preferring to devote himself to his large and constantly growing pro- fessional business. He belongs to the various associa- tions of the profession, and is fraternally identified with the Masons, in which he has attained the master's de- gree, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Aside from the law, Mr. Watts is widely interested in agriculture, being the owner of 1,000 acres of river bottom land and 150 acres of land devoted to the raising of alfalfa, perhaps one of the largest and best of its kind in Oklahoma.

Mr. Watts was married December 7, 1900, to Miss Zoe A. Wyly, daughter of the late Judge R. F. Wyly, who was attorney general for the Cherokee Nation for a number of years. To this union there have been born three daughters, namely: Mildred, Mary and Helen.

LOUIS CAMPBELL LEFLORE. There are three families in the old Choctaw and Chickasaw nations that stand out prominently for their size and distinguished part in the development of these two Indian tribes. They are the LeFlores, the Colberts and the Folsoms. The his- tory of these two tribes would be incomplete without a history of these families, and extended mention of them will be found in the pages of this work.

The LeFlore family is of French origin, as is also the Colbert family, but the Folsoms are of English origin. The LeFlores were established in America with the ar- rival of three brothers from France, who settled on a homestead tract near where the City of Mobile, Alabama, now stands. Two of the brothers married into Indian families of prominence and wealth-one in the Choctaw tribe and the other in the Chickasaws. Greenwood and Basil LeFlore were own brothers, while Benjamin and Forbes LeFlore were the half-brothers of the two first named-all of them the sons of a full-blooded French- man and Indian women of purest Indian ancestry. Ben- jamin LeFlore was the grandsire of L. C. LeFlore of this sketch. He was married to Miss Mary Juzan of the Chickasaws, and Louis LeFlore, father of Louis Camp- bell LeFlore of this review, was their son. The uncle of Louis, Greenwood LeFlore, was chief of the Choctaw tribe in Mississippi, and when they came west he re- mained in Mississippi, later representing his district in the State Senate. For him LeFlore County in Mississippi was named, and the county seat was designated as Greenwood in his honor.

Louis LeFlore, father of Louis Campbell LeFlore, was born in Mississippi in 1835. Before the war he was a prominent and wealthy planter and slave owner, but he suffered the loss of his wealth during the war, as did others throughout the Southland. When the war broke out he enlisted in the Confederate service, and he served in the command of Colonel Ross. He died when the war was nearing its end, and while still in the service. He married Josephine Carrington, the daughter of W. D. Carrington, formerly of North Carolina, but then a resi- dent of Tennessee, and later of Texas. He finally died in Mississippi. In Texas the family was among the first settlers of Leon County, and they were representative and prominent people wherever they made their home. The children of Louis and Josephine LeFlore are as follows : Louis Campbell, of this review; Abbott, who lives near Kenefick; Felicia, who married J. M. Goddard, of Caddo. Two died young. Marcellus, the third born

child, died in Texas, and Phoebe was but an infant when death claimed her.

Louis Campbell LeFlore was born near Carthage, Leake County, Mississippi, on July 23, 1857. He was educated in the common schools of Mississippi before his migration to Texas, at the age of thirteen years. He remained in that state for ten years, during which time he attended school in Austin, and gained a very credit- able education, under the guidance of his mother's peo- ple, who were then residents of Texas. In 1874 he came to the Indian Territory. His stay was brief, however, and two years later saw his return to Texas, where he remained until 1896. In Texas he devoted himself to the merchandise business, and was successful in that line. In 1903 Mr. LeFlore was appointed by the government as one of a committee of three to remove and locate about 300 Mississippi Choctaws in the Indian Territory. He was engaged in that work until April, 1904, when he was appointed office deputy United States marshal, with headquarters at Atoka. He filled that office until the coming of statehood, when he was appointed as Choctaw townsite commissioner to appraise the lots of townsites located on the segregated coal lands. On that commission Mr. LeFlore represented the Choctaws and Mr. Charles A. Wilson represented the white population. In 1910 Mr. LeFlore saw the possibilities in the new town of Kenefick, which had just been started in Feb- ruary of that year, and which was located on the M. O. S. G. Railroad, then in course of construction from Muskogee to Denison, Texas. He established a mercantile business in the embryo town, and so well did it succeed that he is still. actively engaged in business. there, In 1914 he installed an ice plant, and in the past few months he has secured the franchise for a. lighting plant, which it is his plan to bring to comple- tion in the coming year. Besides being a successful mer- chant and a town builder, as he may well be said to be, Mr. LeFlore owns and manages a large black-land farm near Kenefick, which is a source of much pleasure to him, as well as not a little profit.

In 1883 Mr. LeFlore was married to Miss Keturah Coleman, of Texas birth and parentage. To them have been born the following children: 'Mrs. Rosa Dennett, of 'Carter, Wisconsin; Michael, who manages the ice plant for his father; Mrs. Josephine Kirkendall, of Atoka; Helen, who lives with her mother at the LeFlore home in Atoka; Campbell, Jr., who is attending the University of Oklahoma, and who, during his vacations, is associated with his father in the mercantile business at Kenefick.

Mr. LeFlore is a Mason, a Pythian Knight, an Odd Fellow and a Woodman of the World. He is a demo- crat and has always loyally supported the men and principles of that party. The family home is maintained in Atoka, where the LeFlores are socially prominent and popular, as they are wherever they are known.

HON. GUS HADWIGER. Whether as jurist, legist, soldier or citizen, the record of Hon. Gus Hadwiger, of Alva, Oklahoma, is one which reflects honor upon him and entitles him worthily to the confidence and esteem so freely granted him by his fellow-citizens. The present county judge of Woods County was born May 31, 1869, in the State of Moravia, Austria, and is a son of Augustine and Louise (Heinz) Hadwiger. His parents came to the United States in 1878, locating ou Govern- ment land in Barton County, Kansas, but subsequently removing to Harper County, where they engaged in farming. Augustine Hadwiger died at Attica, Kansas, in 1896, at the age of sixty-two years, while the mother still survives at that place and is seventy-five years of age. They were married in 1868, and eight children were

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born to them, namely: Gus, of this notice; Louise, who is the wife of Jacob Beberstein, a farmer of Harper County, Kansas; Frank, who is engaged in farming at Ashley, Oklahoma; Albertina, who is the wife of Joseph Baird, a farmer of Attica, Kansas; Augustina, who is deceased; Ralph, a farmer of Alfalfa County, Oklahoma; Odella, who is the wife of John Yoocum, of that county, an agriculturist; and William, who is also engaged in farming there.

Gus Hadwiger commenced his education in the schools of his native land, which he attended for three years. On coming to the United States he went to the district schools of Barton and Harper counties, Kansas, and when he was only eleven years old went to Pueblo, Colorado, where he started life as a newsboy, and con- tinued to be so engaged for two or more years. From that time forward he was engaged in a variety of pursuits, accepting whatever honorable employment would give him advancement, and in 1893 made the run from a point near Kiowa, Kansas, at the opening of the Cherokee Strip, and settled on Government land in old Woods County, near the present Town of Ingersoll, which at this time is in Alfalfa County. In 1895 Mr. Hadwiger was appointed deputy sheriff of Woods County, a capacity in which he served for three years, and at the same time acted as United States deputy marshal.

On July 30, 1899, Mr. Hadwiger enlisted as a private in Company F, Thirty-second Regiment, United States Volunteer Infantry, and went from Alva with the only organized detachment from Oklahoma to the Philippine Islands, at the time of the native insurrection. He served with this regiment until May 8, 1901, and rose from private through the various grades from corporal to second lieutenant, being one of the only three pro- moted from the ranks in the regiment. He participated in eighteen engagements and skirmishes, and his various promotions all came as a result of bravery and gallantry in action. On being mustered out of the service he was recommended for and was tendered a commission in the regular United States Army, but declined. In 1908, on examination by a board of regular army officers, he was awarded a certificate of eligibility for captain of infantry of volunteers, in case of another war, issued by the United States Secretary of War. Mr. Hadwiger was commissioned second lieutenant in the Oklahoma National Guard in 1905 and has since been promoted to captain and quartermaster of the First Infantry. As a member of the Oklahoma Rifle Team, he attended the National Rifle Shooting Tournaments, in 1908, 1909, 1910 and 1912, at Camp Perry, Ohio; in 1913 he was coach of the Oklahoma Rifle Team, and in 1911 and 1913 was captain of the Evans Skirmish Match Team, winning second prize in the former year, and the first prize, the Evans Skirmish Match Trophy, in 1913.

After his return to the United States in 1901, Mr. Hadwiger settled again in old Woods County, where, in 1904, he was elected sheriff, an office in which he served for three years. He was then engaged in farming for a time, but finally decided upon a career in the law, and accordingly entered the Valparaiso (Indiana) Law School, from which he was graduated in 1910 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. After an examination before the Supreme Court of Oklahoma, Mr. Hadwiger was admitted to the practice of his profession, and at once settled at Alva, where he continued in the enjoy- ment of a constantly-increasing professional clientele until 1914, when he was elected county judge of Woods County, a position which he still retains. As a judge he has shown himself possessed of a thorough knowledge of the law, as well as a fairness and impartiality that

makes him one of the most popular judges in this part of the state. He is a republican in his political views, and has long been a distinct influence in his party, but has not allowed partisanship to enter into his judicial decisions. His fraternal connection is with the Masons.

Judge Hadwiger was married April 29, 1896, at Alva, Oklahoma, to Miss Elizabeth Braden Smith, who was born in Sullivan County, Missouri, March 15, 1871, a daughter of Liberty R. Smith. To this union there has come one son: Robert Lee Spence, who was born July 17, 1902.

LOUIS ALLEN MORTON. A resourceful and widely experienced educator is now superintendent of schools for Stephens County. Louis A. Morton has some high ideals as an educator, and has done much to give prac- tical efficiency to the various school systems under his charge at different times, and can properly be given credit for a share in the remarkable progressive move- ment which has been under way in Oklahoma school matters for the past five or six years since he is by no means among the least influential and able of the men who are carrying forward this great work.

Louis Allen Morton was born in Russellville, Arkansas, August 19, 1877, a son of Reuben O. and Madrid (Love) Morton. There are few older families in America than the Mortons. They came originally from England, the emigrant ancestor having been John Morton, who served as secretary to Governor Bradford of the Massachusetts colony. Mr. Morton's great-grandfather, though des- cended from this New England settler, was for half a century a sea captain, and was at first impressed into the service by the British, and, later, sailed under the American flag on the Atlantic.

The grandfather was Thomas H. Morton, who became a large planter and slave owner in Mississippi, died at Meridian in that state. Reuben O. Morton was born on his father's plantation in Kemper County, Mississippi, in 1847, and is still living with home in Arkansas. Though but a boy at the time he served during the last two years of the war between the states, having enlisted at the age of fifteen in the Thirty-third Regiment of Mississippi Infantry. In 1869 he removed to Russell- ville, Arkansas, and in 1884 to Pottsville in that state. Farming has been his regular vocation, though for a few years he was in the drug business. He is now presi- dent of the Citizens Bank of Pottsville. He became a charter member of the Masonic Lodge in his home locality in Arkansas many years ago, is a past master, and is now and has been for many years clerk in the Baptist Church. His wife was born in Pope County, Arkansas, June 1, 1851. Their children are: Thomas H., who when a young man entered the railroad service, and at the age of twenty-six was on his way South to visit the Texas oil wells, and was killed in Houston, the circumstances of his death indicating that he was way- laid and robbed; Annie, who died in childhood; Louis A .; Hugh D., a resident of Arkadelphia, Arkansas, who in 1915 was graduated A. B. from the Ouachita Baptist College of Arkansas; Lorenzo D., who is a traveling salesman with headquarters at Amarillo, Texas; Lillie, who was educated in the Mountain Home College and the Ouachita Baptist College in Arkansas, and is now the wife of W. H. Rankin, who is the owner of a large cotton plantation and owns and operates several cotton gins along the Arkansas River and lives in Russellville; Corrinne, who is graduated in art from the Mountain Home College and the Ouachita Baptist College and is the wife of J. E. Allmon, a cotton planter and gin owner at Pottsville, Arkansas; Arkadelphia, who acquired her education in the Mountain Home and the Ouachita Bap-

LA Morton

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tist colleges, and is now the wife of Neal Campbell, principal of the high school at Gravelly, Arkansas; Blanche, who was educated in the same institutions attended by her sisters, and is now living with her parents.

Louis A. Morton spent his early years on his father's farm in Arkansas until 1897, and in the meantime had acquired the fundamentals in the public schools of Potts- ville, and graduated from the high school of that place with the class of 1896. In 1907 he took the degree A. B. from the Ouachita Baptist College at Arkadelphia. However, he had early in life taken up the practical work of education, and for four years before his gradua- tion from college served as county examiner or county superintendent of schools in Baxter County, Arkansas. He was president of Mountain Home College four years, 1902-1906. From 1907 to 1911 Mr. Morton was city superintendent of schools at Comanche, Oklahoma. Dur- ing 1911 and 1912 he taught Latin and Science in Duncan public schools, and in November, 1912, was elected county superintendent of schools of Stephens County, beginning his official duties in July, 1913. By re-election on November 6, 1914, he has another two year term to serve. His jurisdiction as county superintendent extends to seventy-two schools in the county, one hundred fifty teachers and a total enrollment of 8,371 scholars. In many ways he has helped to coordinate the instruction and training of the local schools with the practical needs of modern life, but has probably gained his chief reputa- tion over the state as an educator through his having originated the plan to get every school in his county to build "a mile of good roads," and as a result of his leadership in this matter forty miles of first-class high- way have been constructed in Stephens County up to the present writing, May 15, 1915. In this connection it should be noted that Mr. Morton is secretary of the Stephens County Good Roads Association.

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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