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 5

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 5

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In the year 1900 was solemnized the marriage of Mr Larsh to Miss Alice E. Davis, who was born in Missour.' and whose father, Nicholas S. Davis, is now a resident of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The family home in Oklahoma City is at 2811 Classen Boulevard, and Mr. and Mrs. Larsb have three children-Marguerite, Leander and Mary Elizabeth.

P. R. DAVIS, M. D. A physician and surgeon of dis- tinctive ability and of high standing in the ranks of his profession, Doctor Davis has been engaged in active gen- eral practice since 1907, and in the spring of 1915 he established his home in the progressive Town of Wirt, where he has since been associated in practice with Dr. James H. Smith, of whom individual mention is made on other pages of this publication.

Doctor Davis was born at Powell, Marion County, Arkansas, on the 1st of December, 1884, and is a son of Dr. A. B. Powell, who is now numbered among the representative physicians of Oklahoma and who is en- gaged in the practice of his profession at New Wilson, a brief review of his career and of the family history be- ing given elsewhere in this volume, so that it is not necessary to repeat the data in the present connection. Shortly before the subject of this sketch celebrated his tenth birthday anniversary his parents came to Okla- homa Territory, in 1894, and established their home near Keller, Carter County, whence they later removed to their present place of residence, after having passed several years in the State of Texas.

Dr. P. R. Davis gained the rudiments of his education in the schools of his native state, later attended the pioneer schools of Oklahoma Territory, and in 1898 he accompanied his parents on their removal to Texas, the family home being there established at Waelder, Gonzales County, in the southern part of the state. In Waelder Doctor Davis continued his studies in the public schools until he had completed the curriculum of the high school, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1901. In 1902-3 he was a student in the University of Oklahoma, at Norman, and he then entered the Dallas Medical College, in the City of Dallas, Texas, in which institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1907 and from which he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine. In the same year, that which marked the admission of Oklahoma as a state, he engaged in the practice of his profession at Sneed, Carter County, where he continued his labors until the close of the fol- lowing year. He then removed to Healton, this county, where he practiced until the latter part of the year 1910, when he returned to Texas and established his residence and professional headquarters at Anderson, the county seat of Grimes County, which locality continued to be the stage of his successful activities until he located at Wirt, Oklahoma, in 1915, since which time he has here been associated in practice with Dr. James H. Smith, under the firm title of Smith & Davis. He is a member of the Carter County Medical Society, the Oklahoma State Medical Society, and the American Medical Asso- ciation. Doctor Davis owns a well improved farm of 320 acres, two miles northeast of Keller, Carter County, and the same is devoted to diversified agriculture and the growing of excellent grades of live stock. He still owns his residence property at Anderson, Texas, and while there engaged in practice he served as health officer of Grimes Connty.

The Doctor gives unqualified allegiance to the demo-

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cratic party, takes lively interest in all that concerns the general well being of his home community, and his activities in fraternal circles are indicated by his affilia- tions, which are as here noted: Sneed Lodge, No. 184, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Anderson Lodge, No. 17, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Jerusalem Chapter, No. 3, Royal Arch Masons, at Anderson, Texas; Ivanhoe Commandery, No. 8, Knights Templar, at Bryan, that state; and the camp of the Woodmen of the World at Sneed, Oklahoma.

In 1905 was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Davis to Miss Ida M. Lowery, daughter of the late James Lowery, of Ardmore, Oklahoma, and the three children of this union are: Juanita, Clyde and Geneva.

PHINEAS D. KENYON. Now living retired in Oklahoma City, Captain Kenyon is a citizen to whom is consist- ently accorded the fullest measure of popular approba- tion and esteem, for his has been a career of signal use- fulness and honor. In both direct and collateral lines he is a representative of families whose names have been prominently and worthily linked with American history since the early colonial era, and on the paternal side the genealogical record shows that in England a remote ancestor was John Rogers, who was burned at the stake, by order of the queen who is known in history as "Bloody Mary." The original English ancestor in the Rogers line accompanied William the Conqueror from Normandy, France, and the family early became promi- nent and influential in England, whence two representa- tives came to America on the historic ship Mayflower. One of the descendants in the line was banished from Massachusetts with Roger Williams and aided in found- ing the Rhode Island colony, the first in which religious freedom was established in America. It will be recalled that it was through the intervention, prayers and diplo- matic efforts of Roger Williams that the Indians were dissuaded from their determination to exterminate the Massachusetts colony after the banishment of Williams to Rhode Island. William Kenyon, great-grandfather of him whose name introduces this article, was eight years of age at the time of the family immigration from England to Rhode Island, in 1726, and he was a patriot soldier in the war of the Revolution, in which he gave valiant service in Captain Clark's company in the regi- ment of Rhode Island troops commanded by Colonel Dyer. He enlisted in December, 1775. His son David, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Providence Town, Rhode Island, in 1754, and served in the same regiment as did the father in the Revolution, and he was wounded at Newburgh, New York, while with Washington's army in an engagement with the Hes- sian cavalry. A daughter of the Rogers family was the mother of the author of the famous hymn of patriotism, "Hail, Columbia."

Phineas Daniel Kenyon was born at Hague, Warren County, New York, on the 29th of July, 1840, and is a son of Pennewill Rogers Kenyon and Maria (Allen) Kenyon, the latter of whom was a direct descendant of . Ethan Allen. She had in her possession for many years two silver spoons that were made from the spurs worn by her grandfather in the war of the Revolution, and several of her uncles were valiant soldiers in the war of 1812. J. B., eldest brother of Phineas D., was a soldier in the Mexican war, and also in the Civil war, in which latter conflict he served as a member of the Thirty-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He enlisted in 1861 and died in 1863, of typhoid fever, which he contracted at the siege of Vicksburg.

When Phineas D. Kenyon was but three years of age his parents removed from the State of New York and Vol, IV-2

became pioneer settlers in Carroll County, Illinois, where he was reared to adult age and where he received not only the advantages of the common schools but also those of Mount Carroll Seminary.

When the Civil war was precipitated young Kenyon responded to President Lincoln's first call for volun- teers, and it was given him to uphold fully the high military honors of the family name. On the 22d of April, 1861, about three months prior to his twenty- first birthday anniversary, Mr. Kenyon enlisted as a private in Company K, Fifteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with which he served four years and six days- covering virtually the entire period of the war. He made a record of exceptional gallantry, and for meritorious service performed in the battles at Fort Donelson and Pittsburgh Landing, where he lost twenty-six men out of his company of fifty-two, he was promoted first lieutenant, after having been in command of his con- pany in the engagements mentioned. In November, 1862, he was promoted captain, after having taken active part in the siege of Corinth, Mississippi. For one act alone does Captain Kenyon merit enduring honor on the pages recording the history of the great conflict through which the integrity of the nation was preserved. With 600 men under his command he held for a day and a half 9,000 of the Confederate forces under Generals Hood and Stewart, and thus saved Altoona Pass, the key to the rear of Sherman's army. In this engagement he was captured with five companies and thereafter he languished five months in the odious Andersonville Prison before his exchange was effected. He received his honorable discharge at the close of the war and his record as a loyal and gallant soldier of the republic shall ever reflect honor upon his name and memory. He and other representatives of the family take justifiable pride in the fact that none of its members has ever borne arms against his country and none has ever been charged with or convicted of a felony.

After the close of the war Captain Kenyon engaged in farming, in the State of Missouri, where he later became identified with the milling and lumber business. He continued his residence in that state until 1894, when he came to Oklahoma Territory and entered claim to a tract of land in Greer County. After remaining on this land until he had perfected his title to the same he removed to Oklahoma City, where he was engaged in the manufacturing of brick for a period of six years. After disposing of this business he continued to be identified with various departments of the city government until 1911, since which time he has lived virtually retired, his pleasant home being at 901 West Washington Street. Mr. Kenyon is a stalwart supporter of the cause of the republican party, and is a valued and honored comrade of the Grand Army of the Republic, through his associa- tion with which he perpetuates the more gracious memo- ries of his long and arduous military career.

At Mount Carroll, Illinois, on the 17th of June, 1866, was solemnized the marriage of Captain Kenyon to Miss Louise Sarah Bowman, daughter of John B. and Han- nah (Snyder) Bowman, the father having been a sub- stantial farmer of Carroll County. Concerning the chil- dren of this union the following brief record is given in conclusion of this sketch: Mrs. Stella Bradley, a resi- dent of Kansas City, Missouri, was born February 7, 1867; Howard B., who was born July 31, 1868, is now a resident of Dallas, Texas; Albert G., who maintains his home at Portales, New Mexico, was born March 10, 1870; Frank L. was born October 20, 1872, and is a resident of Oklahoma City; Warren J., who was born June 23, 1873, resides at Athens, Texas; Austin W., a resident of Oklahoma City, was born July 1, 1876; Lyda

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Eva, who was born April 7, 1879, died in August, 1881;

April, 1889, he became a resident of Oklahoma, firs Linnie Hannah, who was born March 19, 1885, is the - locating at Oklahoma City, where he continued in the wife of F. J. Whitney and they reside in Oklahoma City, as does also Benjamin C., who was born September 13, 1889. It is interesting to record that Captain and Mrs. Kenyon have thirteen grandchildren and three great- grandchildren.

LUTHER MORTON KEYS is one of the able lawyers of Oklahoma, and also one of its versatile, broad and sub- stantial citizens, and in each connection has won a high and honorable reputation. Quiet, determined, indus- trious, and at the same time a brilliant and original speaker, he has won fame all over the state as a criminal lawyer, while at the same time has held high standing as a practitioner in corporation law. Mr. Keys was born in a log cabin on his father's farm in Hamilton County, Indiana, near Noblesville, November 6, 1858, and is a son of Henry L. and Susan (Rich) Keys. He is of Scotch-Irish descent, his ancestors having come to America from Lower Scotland prior to the Revolutionary war, and joining the Pennsylvania Colony, and is a direct descendant of Col. Hardy Murfree, the founder of Murfreesboro, the county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, whose granddaughter was the grandmother of Mr. Keys.

Henry L. Keys, the father of Luther M. Keys, was born in 1836, in Randolph County, Indiana, from whence he removed as a young man to Hamilton County, in the same state, and settled on a farm which was practically undeveloped. After living there for a number of years, in the spring of 1868 he went with his family to Em- poria, Kansas, and in 1897 came to Oklahoma City, Okla- homa, which continued to be his home until 1904. He then returned to Kansas, settling at Lawrence, but in 1907 came to Bartlesville, Washington County, Okla- homa, which has continued to be his home to the present time. Mr. Keys has been a farmer and stock raiser all his life, and through industry and intelligent manage- ment has accumulated a satisfying property. He has been a lifelong republican and member of the United Brethren Church, and is fraternally affiliated with the Masons and the Odd Fellows. Mr. Keys was married to Miss Susan Rich, who was born in Hamilton County, Indiana, in 1838, and died there in 1863, and they became the parents of two children: Albert V., born in 1856, who is a farmer and stock raiser of Bartlesville, Okla- homa; and Luther Morton, of this review.

Luther Morton Keys attended the public schools of Emporia, Kansas, where he received what is the equiva- lent of a present-day high school education, and follow- ing this enrolled as a student at the State Normal School at Emporia, where he passed through the sophomore year. From early boyhood it had been his determination to follow a professional career, and when only sixteen years of age, while living on his father's farm and engaging in its work, he devoted all of his spare time to the read- ing of law. He finished his reading in the office and under the predilection of Isaac Lambert, who for a num- ber of years was United States district attorney for the southern district of Kansas, and also a well-known crim- inal lawyer, who had done his own studying under Robert Green Ingersoll, the famous lawyer and agnostic. No doubt the influence of Mr. Lambert over his young pupil tended totperfect him particularly in criminal law, for it is in this department that Mr. Keys has estab- lished a reputation second to no lawyer in Kiowa County.

Admitted to the bar in Kansas, in 1881, Mr. Keys practiced at Emporia for a time and at Rush Center, Rush County, Kansas, for two years, and while at the former place was police magistrate for three terms. In

enjoyment of a successful practice until August 6, 1901 during which time he was the incumbent of a number of important offices, including those of assistant United States attorney at Oklahoma City, during President Mc. Kinley 's administration, city attorney of Oklahoma City for one term and assistant county attorney of Oklahoma County for one term. On coming to Hobart, in 1901, he was appointed the first county attorney of Kiowa County, an office which he held for two years, and then settled down to a general civil and criminal practice, in which he has continued to the present time, his offices being located in the First National Bank Building. Mr. Keys has equally distinguished himself in both the civil and criminal courts, and has displayed rare skill in the hand- ling of litigation, whatever has happened to be its nature. He has defended or prosecuted sixty-one murder cases, more than forty in Kiowa County, or all with the ex- ception of one or two which have occurred within the limits of the county. While he has an important criminal practice, he is also widely and favorably known as a corporation lawyer, and among other large industries and institutions is counsel for the First National Bank of Hobart, the First National Bank of Mountain View, the Hobart Elevator Company, the Rock Island Railway, at Hobart, and the Orient Railroad, in Kiowa County. He is a stockholder in the Bank of Gotebo, Oklahoma. Mr. Keys is a member of the Kiowa County Bar Associa- tion, and has been a member of the Oklahoma State Bar Association since its organization, prior to which time he was identified with the Oklahoma Territorial Bar Association, and was present at the amalgamation of that organization with the Indian Territory Bar Association. His fraternal connections are numerous and important, he being a member of Hobart Lodge No. 198, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Hobart Chapter No. 37, Royal Arch Masons; Hobart Commandery No. 10, Knights Templar; Hobart Council; and India Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of Mystic Shrine, Oklahoma City, of the Masonic Order; of Oklahoma City Lodge No. 2, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is past noble grand, and of the Encampment of that fraternity at Hobart, as well as the Canton and Rebekahs, and of Lodge No. 881, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, at Hobart. He has maintained membership in the Society of Friends, having been reared in the Quaker faith.

On May 3, 1884, at Emporia, Kansas, Mr. Keys was married to Miss Elfleda Clark, of Sedalia, Missouri, and five children were born to them: Albert Darrell, who, because of an injury, did not attend the public schools but received a thorough training from a private in- structor, Mrs. Selwyn Douglas, and is now successfully engaged in farming in Kiowa County; L. Clyde, who died at Hobart in 1907, aged twenty-one years; Norwood Leon, a senior in the law school at Lebanon, Tennessee, and a member of the graduating class of January, 1916; Henry Norton, a graduate of Hobart High School and Hobart Business College, who attended Maryville (Ten- nessee) College for one year, as well as the law depart- ment of the University of Oklahoma, and is now reading law in the office of his father, for whom he is acting as clerk; and one child who died in infancy.

ROY F. FORD. The career of Roy F. Ford is one notably illustrative of the pushing, persevering and ener- getic spirit of the West, containing, as it does, all those elements which have combined to give Oklahoma its rightful position among the states. Deprived of his education by unforeseen misfortune, as a youth Mr. Ford did not give up his ambitions to succeed in a learned

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profession, but through his own initiative, persistence and dogged spirit won his way steadily forward, so that today, as a member of the firm of Ford & Threlkeid, he 'is considered one of the most promising of the younger members of the Oklahoma City bar.

Roy F. Ford was born in a log cabin in Cowley County, Kansas, September 18, 1888, and is a son of Sylvester G. and Katy L. (Payne) Ford, the latter of whom is related to Captain Payne, of Oklahoma fame. Sylvester G. Ford was a native of Effingham County, Illinois, from whence he went to Kansas with his father in 1865, settling on the prairies of Cowley County, where for some years they were successfully engaged in agricul- tural pursuits. The grandfather erected the third house at Arkansas City, Kansas. At the opening of the Chero- kee strip, in March, 1894, Sylvester G. Ford moved with his family to Kay County, Oklahoma, and there was engaged in farming for some three years, when he moved to the City of Newkirk, Oklahoma, that place continuing to be his home up to the time of his death. A man of business ability, he was widely known for his absolute integrity, and in November, 1907, was elected sheriff of Kay County. He had held this important office only a few months when, in March, 1908, while on official business, he was killed by a railroad train at Ponca City. Mr. Ford was a man of dauntless courage and high executive ability, and had hosts of well-wishers and friends in business and official life. His loss was widely mourned.

The country schools of Kay County furnished Roy F. Ford with his elementary training, following which he pursued the course at the Newkirk High School, and in 1906 entered the preparatory department of the University of Oklahoma. The death of his father, how- ever, in March, 1908, cut short his college career, and when he returned to his home he found it necessary that he take his place among the world's workers. Accord- ingly, he accepted a position in a mercantile establish- ment, and while thus employed during the daytimes, spent his nights in tireless and assiduous study, so that, in December, 1909, he was able to pass the bar examina- tion, and was admitted to practice by the Supreme Court at Guthrie. Mr. Ford at once moved to Oklahoma City, where he has continued to follow his chosen profession with success. From January, 1910, until 1913, he prac- ticed alone, and in the latter year formed a partnership with Albert H. Meyer, under the firm style of Meyer & Ford, which continued until October, 1914, when it was mutually dissolved. Mr. Ford then became associated with L. D. Threlkeid, under the firm style of Ford & Threlkeid, and this combination has continued to the present, the offices of the firm being located at 630-634 American National Bank Building Mr. Ford's practice is general in character and includes all the courts. He has shown himself a thoroughly learned, capable legist, convincing in argument and sound in judgment, and through his connection with a number of important cases has won standing among his fellow-practitioners. What success he has gained has come entirely through his own efforts, for when he entered upon his career he had no capital or other helpful influences to aid him. Mr. Ford holds membership in the various organizations of his profession. He is not a politician, but has taken a helpful part in aiding movements which he has felt were for civic betterment. Fraternally, he is connected with Oklahoma City Lodge No. 36, A. F. & A. M .; Lodge No. 417, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias.

Mr. Ford is unmarried and makes his residence at the Martinique Hotel, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

RUSSELL G. LOWE. Possessing that rare combination of qualities that approaches quite the ideal in the pro- fession of law and insures success-a keen, alert and vigorous mind, broad and comprehensive in its grasp, yet masterful and careful of detail-Russell G. Lowe has steadily advanced to a position of prominence among lawyers of Oklahoma, and in his long and active career at the bar has illustrated in marked degree the best traditions of the profession.

Mr. Lowe was born at Washington, Washington County, Kansas, November 12, 1877, and is a son of the late Judge Joseph G. and Minez A. (Vedder) Lowe. His father, a native of Indiana, was an early resident of Iowa, and subsequently went to Washington, Kansas, as a pioneer settler. There he became one of the prominent men of his day and locality and was frequently called upon to fill positions of public trust and importance, being twice a member of the Kansas Legislature, a mem- ber of the State Board of Railway Commissioners under the administration of Governor Morrill, and until his death, in 1908, judge of the District Court in the district em bracing Oklahoma and Canadian counties in Oklahoma, a capacity in which he rendered distinguished and emi- nent service. Mr. Lowe's mother, who now resides at El Reno, Oklahoma, is a native of the State of Illinois, and a member of the distinguished family of Vedders who were taken as characters for one of Washington Irving's books, and which family produced Elihu Vedder, one of the greatest of American artists. In the family of Judge and Mrs. Lowe there were five daughters and two sons to grow to maturity: Russell G., of this notice; Mrs. F. T. Stackpole, whose husband is a banker and real estate dealer at El Reno, Oklahoma; Mrs. Ralph E. Runkle, who is the wife of an eye, ear and nose specialist at El Reno; Mrs. Tracy D. Brown, who is the wife of a practicing attorney at Muskogee, Oklahoma; Mrs. Bert Lloyd, who is the wife of a claim agent in the employ of the Rock Island Railroad at El Reno; Miss Ruth, also a resident of that city, with her mother; and Joseph G., who is cashier of the Hodiamont State Bank, at St. Louis, Missouri.

Russell G. Lowe received his education in the public and high school at Washington, Kansas, and after com- pleting this training adopted the vocation of educator and for a few years was engaged in teaching in the public schools. Following this he devoted his attention for several years to newspaper work, but while in the field of journalism devoted his spare time to the study of law, and so closely applied himself to this study that in 1899 he was admitted to the bar. In the following year he became a practitioner at Perry, Oklahoma, where he opened an office and continued in practice for seven years, and while there was attorney for Gum Brothers, an important loan and financial institution of Oklahoma City. He came to Oklahoma City in 1910, and became a mem- ber of the firm of Flynn, Chambers & Lowe, from which later Mr. Flynn retired, and Mr. Ames and Judge Rich- ardson entered, the firm then becoming, as now, Ames, Chambers, Lowe & Richardson.

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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