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 63
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CHARLES J. BENSON. Though a well trained lawyer by profession, Charles J. Benson since he came to Okla- homa nearly twenty-five years ago has been primarily identified with banking. He has been at the head of a number of prosperous and substantial institutions in various parts of the state, and is now president of the First National Bank of Sapulpa. He bought the chief interests and assumed the management of this bank in the fall of 1914. An indication of its steady growth since that time is found in the statistics relating to deposits. At the end of September, 1914, the deposits aggregated $435,000, while by June, 1915, that item was approximately $512,000, an increase of almost $100,000 in less than a year. The First National Bank of Sapulpa has resources totaling over $640,000. The officers are: C. J. Benson, president; W. S. Bunting, vice president : R. Steinhorst, cashier.
Though most of his active career has been identified with Oklahoma, Charles J. Benson is an Ohio man and was born at Akron November 27, 1869, a son of J. E. and Sarah (Underwood) Benson. His parents spent all their lives on a farm in Ohio, and Charles J. was the
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next to the youngest of eight children. He grew up on a farm but attended the public schools in Akron, and completed his education in the law department of George- town University at Washington, D. C., where he received his degree LL. B. in 1891.
Shortly afterwards, at the opening of the Pottawato- mie Reservation, he came to Tecumseh, and for about a year made the law his primary business. He then was drawn into banking affairs, as cashier of the Tecumseh State Bank in 1893, moved from there to Shawnee, was made cashier of the Shawnee State Bank in 1895, and in 1897 became cashier of the Shawnee National Bank. In 1900 he bought the Oklahoma National Bank, of which he became president, and remained at its head until 1907. In 1911 he removed to Bristow, and was president of the Bristow National Bank and is still at the head of that institution, though his home is in Sapulpa. In October, 1914, he acquired most of the stock in the First National Bank of Sapulpa, and has since been its active manager and president.
While his time has been so completely absorbed with banking, Mr. Benson has always shown a public spirited attitude toward local affairs. He has the distinction of having been the first county superintendent in Potta- watomie County, but held the office only one year. For six years he was a member of the board of regents for the Agricultural and Mechanical College, and was its treasurer. Besides banking he has some extensive oil interests, and is president of the Layton Oil Company. Mr. Benson is a republican, is affiliated with the Order of Elks, is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, belonging to the Consistory at Guthrie, and to the Mystic Shrine at Tulsa. He is a director in the Sapulpa Com- mercial Club.
In 1894 Mr. Benson was married at Tecumseh to Miss Grace Adams. They have one son and one daughter. Richard W. and Grace Alice.
BEN B. BURNEY. A great deal of history is connected with the name of Burney in Oklahoma, as there is also about the names of Cheadle, Overton, Harris, Byrd, Guy and Maytubby in the old Chickasaw Nation, for Ben C. Burney, father of the county treasurer of Marshall County, was one of the several governors of the Chick- asaw Nation. Governor Burney, who has been dead for several years, was born in Louisiana while his parents were en route from Mississippi to Indian Territory dur- ing the historic migration of the Indian tribes. For many years he was one of the leading men of the nation and once was a delegate from that nation to Washington, District of Columbia. He was a full-blooded Chickasaw and possessed much of the sort of talent that made the government of the Chickasaw Indians prob- ably the best ever conceived and conducted by red men.
County Treasurer Ben B. Burney, of Madill, Oklahoma, was born in 1881, near the present Town of Aylesworth. eleven miles east of Madill. His mother, who was also of Indian extraction, was before her marriage Miss Louisa Alberson. Mr. Burney's education was acquired in Harley Institute, at Tishomingo, an institution con- ducted by the Chickasaw Government, and in the public and high school at Pottsboro, Texas. After finishing his education at Pottsboro, he returned to Indian Territory and for five years conducted a ranch at Cumberland in Marshall County, and after statehood, in 1907, was se- lected as deputy county clerk of Marshall County, a posi- tion which he held for two years. In 1914 he was elected county treasurer, having for the democratic nomination defeated Miss Ava Milner, of Madill by seven votes. He took possession of the office, July 1, 1915.
Mr. Burney has one brother and one sister: Paul E.,
who was formerly county clerk of Marshall County and is now assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Woodville; and Mrs. R. E. McGaugh, who is the wife of a farmer and stockman at Aylesworth. Mrs. W. M. Archerd, of Lynn, Marshall County, Oklahoma, and Mrs. J. J. McAlester, of McAlester, Oklahoma, wife of a former lieutenant-governor of the state, are sisters of Governor Burney, and E. S. Burney, of Chickasaw, is a brother.
Mr. Burney is a member of the local lodge of the Woodmen of the World, and is one of the county's most progressive young men. He belongs to that interesting class of native sons to be found in Oklahoma, a class that is helping to make the state more prosperous and cul- tured. It is especially interesting, as well as fitting, that the son of a former governor of the Chickasaw Nation should be engaged hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder with the white man in the conduct of the busi- ness of government. Mr. Burney has shown his faith in the future of his state by investment in property, is an active agriculturist and is the owner of a valuable farm in the vicinity of Aylesworth, Marshall County.
FRANK L. MARS. One of the most reliable and pro- gressive members of the Creek County bar, who stands high in professional ability and as a man of broad business and financial judgment, is Frank L. Mars, of the firm of Mars & Brown, at Sapulpa. He has not alone an excellent record as a trial lawyer, but his con- structive ability, as demonstrated by the various organizations with which he has been identified, has won for him a still higher place in the esteem and confi- dence of his clients.
Frank L. Mars was born in Campbell County, Tennes- see, July 19, 1872, and is a son of Wellington R. and Elizabeth Young (Owens) Mars. His grandfather, James Mars, was born in Ireland and was an early settler of Virginia, from which state he moved to Eastern Tennessee and was a resident there at the organization of Campbell County. A mason by trade, he gradually developed into a leading contractor in brick and stone, and in addition to erecting many fine buildings was also extensively engaged in farming and stock raising, and had large agricultural interests. He died in Campbell County at the age of eighty-four years. Of his children, four grew to maturity: Wellington R., Lou, Sarah and Patsie. Wellington R. Mars was born in Fincastle, Vir- ginia, in 1834, and was a child when taken by his parents to Tennessee. There his subsequent life was passed in the pursuits of farming and raising stock, his death occurring in 1877. He was a republican and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mrs. Mars died in Tennessee, July 26, 1872.
After completing his early education in the graded and high schools of his native locality, Frank L. Mars entered the University of Tennessee for special work. About the year 1892 he went to Missouri, where he studied law in the University of Missouri, at Columbia, for two years, and then further prepared himself by reading law in an office at Carrollton. He likewise spent a short period at St. Louis, and in 1897 came to Sapulpa, Oklahoma, at that time a town of less than five hundred population. For a time he practiced alone, but was subsequently a member of the firm of Mars & Mars, and later of Mars, Burke & Harrison, with which concerns he built up an enviable reputation and a large profes- sional business. In 1912 Mr. Mars went to California, where he had large business interests, but in the spring of 1915 returned to Sapulpa, where he has since been a member of the firm of Mars & Brown, the concern specializing in estates, land titles and corporation law.
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Mr. Mars' practice has covered a wide range and he has persoually represented a number of large interests in important litigation in the Oklahoma courts-cases neces- sitating the possession of an intuitive spirit of compre- hension, iunate sagacity and great powers of persuasion. Aside from his profession, Mr. Mars has numerous interests. In California, he is connected with a number of corporations, including the Co-operative Loan Asso- ciation, the Miti-Liquid Company and the Pacific Specialty Company, while iu Creek County he has exten- sive farm holdings, on which are to be found large oil producing properties. He is a republican, but has not sought preferment in public life.
In 1907 Mr. Mars was married to Miss Grace Inez Bolinger, of Brush, Colorado, and they have had two children: Marguerite Geraldine, who is seven years old and attending school; and Gertrude Franklin, who died in infancy. Mrs. Mars is a lady of many accomplish- ments, a talented pianist and vocalist and a leader in church aud social circles. She has been particularly active iu the work of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
RICHARD FREDERICK CAMPBELL. What is now Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, has profited by the stable citizenship and faithful industry of the Campbell fam- ily for a quarter of a century. Practically all bearing the name have been interested to some extent in agri- culture, but their services have been extended also to politics, education, religion and society. A worthy rep- resentative of this name is found in Richard Frederick Campbell, who in 1914 was elected county treasurer of Sequoyah County, an honor rarely conferred upon one of his years in a county of the size and importance of this. In spite of his youth, however, or perhaps because of it, he is proving an able, energetic, conscientious official, who has ideals in regard to the responsibilities of public service.
Mr. Campbell was born in Crawford County, Arkan- sas, June 30, 1884, and is a son of Benjamin F. and Orra (Thompson) Campbell, and the grandson of a Confederate soldier. Benjamin F. Campbell was born in Tennessee, to which state the family had come from its original settlement in Virginia, and was about six- teen years of age when taken by his parents to Arkan- sas, in 1870, the journey being made by wagon. There he grew to manhood as a farmer and met and married Orra Thompson, who had been born in Georgia and was a girl when taken to Arkansas, and in that state they resided until 1890, when they removed with their chil- dren to the Indian Territory, settling in what is Sequoyah County. Mr. Campbell has since continued to be engaged in farming and stock raising, being one of the substantial men of his community and one who has worked out his own success through industry and integrity. Mrs. Campbell passed away in 1898, having been the mother of two children: Richard Frederick, of this review; and Viola, who is the wife of Cyrus Gradv, of Riverside, California.
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Richard Frederick Campbell was reared on his father's farm and after attending the public schools entered a business college at Fort Smith, Arkansas, where he pur- sued a commercial course. In 1904 he was married to Miss Ella Wood, and at that time established a home of his own and settled down to farming not far from Sallisaw. While thus successfully engaged, he interested himself to some extent in civic and political affairs, and in 1910 was made deputy county clerk, a capacity in which he acted for one vear. This appointment was followed by one to the position of deputy county treas- urer. in 1911, and after he had discharged the duties of that office for three years he was elected, in the fall
of 1914, to the treasureship and became the incumbent of that office July 6, 1915. He has conscientiously and ably discharged the duties of his post, and has already firmly established himself in the confidence of the people.
Mr. Campbell is a sturdy democrat and has been faithful in his allegiance to the principles of his party and its candidates. He is interested in fraternal affairs, being a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, the Woodmen of the World and the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and with his family belongs to the Baptist Church. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell are the parents of four children, namely: Perry Benjamin, William Worth, Freda and Richard Frederick, Jr.
RANDALL ULYSSES LIVESAY. Prior to his removal about fifteen years ago to Anadarko, where he is now one of the leading members of the bar, Mr. Livesay was a teacher and lawyer in the States of Iowa and Kansas, served from the latter state in the Spanish-American war, and gained his first experience as a lawyer in Kansas. As a lawyer he has been identified with much of the importaut litigation tried in the courts of Caddo County, has given several years of public service to the commun- ity, and is well known over the state in the Orders of Masonry and Odd Fellowship.
His family came from England and in colouial times made settlement in what is now Greenbriar County, West Virginia. They were there before the Revolution, and when that locality was still known as Western Vir- ginia. The Livesays were of the fine old Southern stock, and Patrick H. Livesay, who was born in Lee County, Virginia, in 1837, became a Confederate soldier in the war between the states, aud was under the command of tho great cavalryman, General Forrest. Later he be- came a farmer and stock raiser in Lee County and married Elizabeth Anderson, who was born in Hawkins County, Tennessee, in 1838. They lived in Lee County, Virginia, for several years after the war, and in that locality Randall Ulysses Livesay was born January 20, 1868. When he was about nine years of age, in 1877, the father moved out to Jefferson County, Iowa, and in 1885 to Barton County, Kansas, where Patrick H. Live- say died in 1911. He was a successful farmer and stock raiser both in Iowa and Kansas. The children were: J. G. Livesay, who is assistant postmaster of Blanchard, Oklahoma; James M., a farmer at Hooker, Oklahoma; Randall U .; Jennie, wife of E. B. Whaley, a farmer and stock man at Great Bend, Kansas; and Maggie, wife of James R. Hall, one of the leading farmers, stock raisers and a banker and prominent citizen of Hoisington, Kan- sas; and Virginia, wife of Frank Gustin, their home being on the old farm in Barton County, Kansas.
After the family removed to Jefferson County, Iowa, Randall U. Livesay continued his public schooling, and in 1892 graduated from the Central Normal College at Great Beud, Kansas. Most of his teaching was donc in Barton County, Kansas, where he was connected with the local schools until 1898. On May 13, 1898, he en- listed in Company A of the famous 21st Regiment of Kansas Infantry for service in the Spanish-American war. He became quartermaster of the company and was with it in camp at Chattanooga, Tennessee, and at Lex- ington, Kentucky, and was finally mustered out at Leaven- worth, Kansas, December 10, 1898. Returning to Great Bend he was appointed sergeant at arms in the Kansas State Senate for the session of 1899. Having formed a definite purpose to study law, he pursued his reading in the office of D. A. Banta, who is now judge of the District Court at Great Bend and was admitted to the Kansas har in 1900. For the first year he practiced at Galena, Kansas. and in August. 1901. came to Anadarko about the time the Kiowa and Comanche reservation was
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opened to settlement. He has been particularly success- ful as an advocate in both civil and criminal cases and has had a large amount of experience, having served as deputy county attorney from statehood in 1907 to 1911, and during 1903-04 was city attorney of Anadarko. His offices are in the Barber Building. Mr. Livesay is a democrat and attends the Presbyterian Church. He served one term on the Anadarko School Board. He is now serving the fifth term as district deputy grand master of the Masonic Grand Lodge and has local affiliations with Anadarko Lodge No. 21, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he was master in 1908. He is also a thirty-second degree Mason, and Knight Commander Court of Honor, and belongs to Consistory No. 1 in the Valley of Guthrie. In the Modern Wood- men of America he is a member of Camp No. 10025 at Anadarko. He is past noble grand of Anadarko Lodge No. 184, Independent Order of Oddfellows, and is now a district deputy grand master of that order. Mr. Live- say is president of the Anadarko Commercial Club. His wife was formerly from Great Bend, Kansas, where they wero married. Her maiden name was Ella M. Day, and her father was Judge Samuel J. Day, now deceased, at one time a judge in Great Bend. Their one child is Randall U., born March 28, 1909.
LEWIS B. JACKSON. Some of his more intimate friends recall the fact that Lewis B. Jackson arrived in Sapulpa about eleven years ago in the role of a very poor lawyer. What he has been able to achieve since then is pretty well known all over Creek County. Mr. Jackson is presi- dent of the American National Bank of Sapulpa, is one of the wealthiest oil producers in this section of Okla- homa, and now finds time for only an occasional law case, since his business interests have overshadowed his pro- fession. One distinction that should be mentioned was that he was the first county attorney elected by Creek County after statehood.
Born October 27, 1875, in Decatur County, Iowa, he is a son of W. C. and Elizabeth (Beal) Jackson. His parents were natives of Ohio and came to Iowa when children with their respective families, and they were married in Clark County, Iowa. The father died when his son Lewis was five years of age. The mother left Iowa in 1904 and is now living at Stockton, California. W. C. Jackson was a man of considerable prominence in the State of Iowa. He was a school teacher for a number of years, and a short time prior to the Civil war lost a leg, and thus handicapped he found nevertheless many opportunities for useful service. He served three terms as auditor of his home county and was also superintend- ent of the public schools. At the time of his death he was candidate for secretary of state. There were eight children in the family, but of the five sons Lewis B. Jackson was the only one to reach maturity. His sister Ella G. Warner lives in Stockton, California. His sister Mary, now deceased, was the wife of C. W. Hoffman, now an attorney at Leon, Iowa; and Ester is now Mrs. E. R. Patch of Chico, California.
Lewis B. Jackson was reared and lived in Decatur County, Iowa, until 1904, which year he came to Sapulpa. After graduating from the public schools at Leon he attended Drake University in the law department, and was admitted to the Iowa bar in 1900. He began prac- tice at Leon, Iowa, enjoyed some success there, but was not fairly started in life when he came to Sapulpa. Here he continued in practice and at statehood was elected the first county attorney for Creek County, an office he filled for three and a half years. Mr. Jackson was an active member of the Sapulpa bar until about two years ago, but is seldom seen in court cases any more. Since
then he has given his time to his extensive business as an oil producer and to the American National Bank of which he is president. He has been identified with this institution since its organization, and was vice president for a time. His interests as an oil producer are in Creek, Tulsa and Okmulgee counties. He also helped to organ- ize the Sapulpa Storage and Transfer Company, now one of the largest business concerns in the city.
Politically Mr. Jackson has been a democrat all liis life and along with other service he was for one year city attorney of Sapulpa. He is affiliated with the Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks.
On March 2, 1902, he married Miss Pearl Burk, who was born in Ohio, a daughter of Henry Burk. They are the parents of three children: William C., Christine and Lewis B., Jr. .
ROBERT WILLIS HAMILTON. The vice president of the Parkinson-Trent Mercantile Company of Okmulgee, Mr. Hamilton is one of the oldest business men of Indian Territory and Eastern Oklahoma. His experience in this section covers a period of fully thirty years. He helped to sell goods here when the population was made up almost altogether of Indians and intermarried citizens. He is first and last a business man, a merchant of ex- ceptional ability and progressiveness, and his own carcer has been one of progress from the time he was eighteen years of age.
He is a Canadian by birth, having been born at Elgin Mills, Ontario, January 2, 1865. His parents were John and Jessie (Montgomery) Hamilton, natives of Scot- land, who married after they went to Toronto. Ilis father spent most of his active career in the cooperage business and had a large plant at Elgin Mills.
One of a family of nine children, Robert W. Hamilton lived in his native town and acquired an education fromn the public schools until the age of eighteen. He gained his first mercantile experience at Toronto in a whole- sale dry goods house, the firm Ogilvy & Company, and later went to St. Louis, where he was connected with the firm of Samuel C. Davis & Company until 1885.
In 1885 young Hamilton became one of the employees of Capt. F. B. Severs, whose career was one of such striking prominence as a merchant, trader and general business man in old Indian Territory. Mr. Hamilton spent about fifteen years with Captain Severs and then started in business for himself with C. J. Shields as a partner. A year later the business was taken over by the Parkinson-Trent Mercantile Company, and since then Mr. Hamilton has been identified with that large and important concern, of which he is now vice president. This firm has been responsible for giving Okmulgee one of the most complete dapartment stores found in the state. Its trade in the course of a year reaches the volume of almost $200,000. The business was established at Okmulgee in 1902, and it is now housed in a large two-story building occupying ground space 150 by 210 feet. From fifteen to twenty people find employment in the store and Mr. Hamilton gives his entire time and energies to the management of the dry goods department of the concern.
He is also a director in the Guaranty State Bank of Okmulgee and has some interests in oil property. Politically he is a democrat, a member of the Presby- terian Church, and is a Knight Templar Mason and Shriner.
In 1894 Mr. Hamilton married Miss Sue C. Thompson of Tahlequah, Indian Territory, daughter of Rev. Joseph F. Thompson of Tahlequah Methodist Episcopal Church South, one of the oldest ministers of this section. They
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are the parents of three daughters: Manell, Waunett and Jessie Elgin. The two oldest girls graduated from high school at Okmulgee and also from Howard Payne College at Fayette, Missouri.
MARGARET J. MITCHELL. Sociological work in Chicago, including teaching in Hull House, and research work of a historical nature among the Indian tribes of the West, constitute two of the important lines of endeavor in the educational career of Miss Mitchell, who is now head of the department of history in the Central State Normal School at Edmond, and is recog- nized as one of the leading teachers of history in the Southwest.
Miss Mitchell was born at Monroe, Iowa, a daughter of Andrew and Mary (Conner) Mitchell. Her father was a native of Scotland, and a graduate of the Uni- versity of Edinburg. Coming to the United States at the age of thirty, he followed his profession as a civil and mining engineer both in California and Iowa. Miss Mitchell's maternal grandparents and some other fore- bears were natives of Virginia, her mother being a cousin of Gen. Robert E. Lee, and the family was also related to the Harcourts of Virginia. Miss Mitchell has two sisters: Mrs. M. A. Ebright, wife of a business man at Redwood Falls, Minnesota; and Miss Lela Mitchell, president of an abstract company in Albany, Oregon.
After her primary education in the public schools of Monroe, Miss Mitchell attended the Iowa Teachers Col- lege at Cedar Falls, where she received the Master's and Bachelor's degrees in Education. Her degrees, Ph.B. and M. A., come from the University of Chicago, where she emphasized historical studies. For several years she was a teacher in Iowa high schools, and for three years principal of a high school in the State of Wash- ington. On coming to Oklahoma she was selected head of the history department of the high school at Chicka- sha, and from there was called to head the department of history at the Central State Normal in Edmond. Three of her summer vacations she spent as an instructor in the University of Chicago.
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