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 77

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 77

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Frank H. Roberts was educated in the public schools of Leon, Iowa, and was twenty years of age when he removed with his parents to Nebraska, in 1885. There for three years he was engaged in working on a stock ranch and at the end of that period accepted a position as a salesman for a clothing house at Fremont. After five years in this position he was sent on the road as traveling representative in the Black Hills country, a vocation in which he met with success and formed a wide acquaintance all over that region. Mr. Roberts came

to Quinlan in 1902, and here established himself in the real estate and loan business, an enterprise in which he has continued with success to the present time. He has been successful in interesting outside capital in Wood- ward County lands and has encouraged settlement, both in the towns and farming districts, while his broad and practical knowledge has made him a valuable medium in the consummation of a number of important deals. He is a democrat, but has not cared for public office, pre- ferring to be known as a business man without political aspirations. Fraternally he is well known in Masonry, being a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of Guthrie Consistory.

Mr. Roberts was married June 11, 1895, at Genoa, Nebraska, to Miss Minnie G. Gardner, who was born September 11, 1868, at Lostant, Illinois, a daughter of Milton G. and Louise J. (Kays) Gardner, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Illinois .. Prior to her marriage Mrs. Roberts was engaged in teaching public school for a number of years, and became known as one of Iowa's efficient and popular educators. Mr. and Mrs. Roberts are the parents of two daughters: Frances Louise, born at Genoa, Nebraska, April 12, 1905; and Ruth Elizabeth, born at Woodward, Oklahoma, Jan- nary 31, 1907.

JAMES H. SMITH, M. D. The original American pro- genitors of the family of which Dr. James Harrison Smith, of Wirt, Carter County, Oklahoma, is a scion, settled in the Carolinas in the colonial era of our na- tional history, and in later generations representatives of the family have been worthily concerned with civic

Or GIN. Smith.

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and material progress iu various other states of the Union. Doctor Smith first came to Oklahoma Terri- tory in 1901, and since 1907, the year that marked the admission of this state to the Union, he has been estab- lished in the successful practice of his profession at Wirt, a thriving little town attractively situated on the Cimarron River, about 150 miles distant from the City of Guthrie, the former territorial capital. He has won secure prestige as one of the able and successful phy- sicians and surgeons of Carter County, and at Wirt he is one of the interested principals in the Smith-Mc- Knight Company, which here conducts a. well equipped and appointed drug store, the same having been estab- lished in September, 1914.

Doctor Smith was born at Cumming, the judicial center of Forsyth County, Georgia, on the 6th of No- vember, 1878, and is a son of William E. and Julia (Kemp) Smith, both natives of that state. William E. Smith continued his residence in Georgia until 1892, when he removed with his family to Texas and estab- lished his residence at Snow Hill. In 1902 he removed to Floydada, Floyd County, that state, and he now resides on his well improved stock ranch in that county, where he has achieved excellent success both as a stock- grower and as a farmer, his vocation in his young manhood having been that of a mechanic. He is an uncompromising advocate of the principles of the demo- cratic party, is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and both he and his wife are zealous members of the Baptist Church, in which he holds the office of deacon. Of the children Doctor Smith of this review is the firstborn; Alvis is a prosperous farmer and stock-raiser of Floyd County, Texas; Nora is the wife of Joseph Sparks, a substantial farmer in the vicinity of Henryetta, Okmulgee County, Oklahoma; Vige is a farmer in Floyd County, Texas; Jasper is engaged in the hardware business at Farmersville, Col- lin County, that state; Flora is the wife of Johu Pen- nington, a farmer near Lockney, Floyd County, Texas; and Zora remains at the parental home.

Doctor Smith acquired his early education in the public schools of his native county and was about fourteen years of age at the time of the family removal from Georgia to Texas, in 1892. He was associated with his father in the work and management of the home ranch in the Lone Star State until he had at- tained to the age of twenty years. After formulating his plans for entering the medical profession he at- tended the Dallas Medical College, in the City of Dal- las, Texas, for three years, and he left that institution in 1903, with a standing in his advanced studies and work that practically entitled him to graduation. In 1901 Doctor Smith had established his, residence at Comanche, Stephens County, Oklahoma, and there en- gaged in the mercantile business. In 1906 he was licensed to practice medicine in Oklahoma Territory, and he continued his residence at Comanche until the following year, when he removed to Wirt, Logan County, where he has since continued his successful and unremitting labors as a physician and surgeon and where he commands high esteem both as a representa- tive of his profession and as a liberal and public- spirited citizen. The drug store at Wirt in which he is associated in the ownership was the first here estab- lished and controls a large and appreciative patronage. At Healdton, Carter County, Doctor Smith is the owner of residence property, and he also has a well improved farm near that place. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Church of Christ.

Doctor Smith is actively identified with Healdton Lodge, No. 23, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, of

which he is past junior wardeu; with Healdton Camp, No. 333, Woodmen of the World; and with Ardmore Lodge, Improved Order of Red Men. He is a member of the Logan County Medical Society, the Oklahoma State Medical Society and the American Medical Asso- ciation.

At Blue Ridge, Collin County, Texas, in the year 1896, was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Smith to Miss Clarinda Driggers, daughter of the late Thomas Driggers, who was a representative farmer and stock- grower of that section of the Lone Star State. Dr. and Mrs. Smith have five children, namely: Ethel, Charles, Jarrett, Elmer, and Velma.

Doctor Smith maintains his office in the drug store at Wirt and since the spring of 1915 he has had as a valued coadjutor in the work of his profession Dr. P. R. Davis.

JOHN F. EGAN. If any one citizen of Sapulpa deserves special credit for the influences and activities which have brought about the development of this center of popula- tion and industry, it is John F. Egan. Mr. Egan came to this section of Indian Territory in the early '90s and was an Indian trader at Sapulpa when there were few white people in this part of the Creek Nation. He has been a merchant, banker, rancher and stock raiser, public official, and in a great many ways that could not be distinctly named he has given vitality to the community where he has been so important a factor for more than twenty years.

It was largely under Mr. Egan's leadership that Sapulpa was incorporated as a city. He was the agent who went before the United States judge at Muskogee and secured the original charter. He became the first city recorder, and has been first in a great many public movements.

Johu F. Egan was born in Eldorado, Fayette County, Iowa, June 9, 1860. His parents, Peter and Maria (Jackson) Egan, were both born in County Roscommon, Ireland, and about 1850 they came with relatives to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, aud later moved out to Iowa, where they were married in 1854 at West Union. Peter Egan spent the rest of his life as a farmer and merchant in Iowa, and died in 1884 at the age of fifty-three. The mother survived liim many years and passed away iu Tulsa, Oklahoma, October 30, 1907, aged seventy-three.

The oldest in a family of nine children, five of whom are still living, John Egan grew up on the old farm in Fayette County. He attended public schools of Wau- coma, and for fourteen terms was one of the popular and successful school teachers of his native county of Iowa. In the meantime he became interested in mer- chandising, and was associated with his brother in a store at Waucoma, and later for seven years was witlı the Webster Brothers Grain Compauy at Fredericksburg, Iowa. His record as a business man, educator and citizen back in Iowa was as creditable as his subsequent record in Indian Territory and Oklahoma.

In was in 1892 that Mr. Egan sold out his Iowa inter- ests and came to Indian Territory, and in the fall of 1893 he established a store at Sapulpa as a licensed trader with the Indians. This business was conducted under the firm name of Egan Brothers, and he continued trading with the Indians for some five or six years. In 1896 he was appointed postmaster of Sapulpa during President Cleveland 's second administration, and held that office four years, six months, seven days, until July 7, 1900. It was a fourth class postoffice when he took charge, and during his administration its business in- creased many fold and it was made a money order office.

Since leaving the postmastership fifteen years ago Mr. Egan's career has been one of constantly broadening

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and influential activities. On leaving the postoffice he went into the real estate and insurance business, but in a short time was appointed a United States constable by United States Judge Raymond, and gave most of his time for the next four years to the duties of that posi- tion. Since 1906 his chief business concern has been the handling of real estate and oil interests. While in the office of United States constable he took up the study of law and was admitted to practice before one of the Fed- eral judges, but has used his professional knowledge chiefly to facilitate the handling of his private business interests, though he is a regularly admitted lawyer of the Oklahoma bar. For a number of years Mr. Egan has also used some extensive farm interests in the vicinity of Sapulpa, and conducts one of the model dairies near that city.

He has seen much of Oklahoma life during the past quarter of a century, and in the early days took part in the great land opening and was an applicant for a claim at El Reno, but did not succeed in drawing a prize. For the past two and a half years he has given considerable . of his time to work as collector for the State Banking Board. Mr. Egan has written a number of articles for magazines, largely concerning his experiences in the Southwest. He knows personally practically all of the great political leaders who have been prominent in Okla- homa during the past quarter of a century, and he has also come into personal touch with many of the noted outlaws of the Southwest. He himself had experience in three holdups, but was not molested by the outlaws when they discovered his identity.

In politics Mr. Egan was a loyal democrat up to 1896, but has since been a republican on national issues, and votes a split ticket for the most part. He organized the first school board in Sapulpa and was its first president, and helped to maintain the local schools for eighteen years. He was the first president of the Creek, County Free Fair Association, which was organized in 1915 under the provisions of the Free Fair Bill, and the first fair was held in Sapulpa in November, 1915. Mr. Egan is a member of the County Bar Association, is a member of the Catholic Church, and of the Knights of Columbus.

In May, 1884, he married Miss Matilda J. DeCramer, who was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, April 18, 1865, a daughter of Joseph and Camilla (Enoch) DeCramer. Her parents were both born in Belgium. Mr. DeCramer died at Sauk Ceuter, Minnesota. The DeCramer family moved out to Fayette County, Iowa, when Mrs. Egan was twelve years of age and she grew up there and they were married at Waucoma, Iowa. To their union have been born three children. Minnie C., who now lives at home, is a talented artist, and was a student at Loretto Academy in Kansas City, Missouri, in the Institute of Fine Arts at Chicago, and also at Bridgeport, Connec- tieut. The second daughter, Lucile, is the wife of J. A. Mckeever, who is one of the editors of the Tulsa World, and they have one son named John Edwin, now seventeen months of age. Mrs. McKeever also was a student of art and graduated from the Loretto Academy and in a special course at Chicago and won two gold medals for her work at the Loretto School and one for her work at Chicago. The only son of Mr. and Mrs. Egan is John Sterling, who is a young boy still at home.

ARTHUR O. KINCAID. This pioneer real-estate dealer of Woodward, judicial center of the county of the same name, established his home here at the time when this section, a part of the historic Cherokee Strip, was thrown open to settlement. He has played a large part in the development and progress of the county, has been influential in its governmental affairs and served as county clerk pro tem. until the first election was held

after the creating of the county. Through his well ordered activities in the handling of real estate and the extending of loans on real-estate. security he has con- tributed much to the march of progress and has been able to aid many of the sterling citizens who have here established permanent homes.

Mr. Kincaid is a scion of staunch old Southern stock and was born at Cave Spring, Floyd County, Georgia, on the 14th of August, 1860, his native state having within a short period thereafter become the stage of polemic activities incidental to the' Civil war. He is a son of Dr. John and Cornelia (Connor) Kincaid, the former of whom was born in South Carolina and the latter in North Carolina. Doctor Kincaid, a man of specially fine pro- fessional attainments, devoted his entire mature life to the practice of medicine, and during the war between the North and the South he gave effective aid to the Confederate cause through his service as surgeon in the Sixth Georgia Cavalry, with which he did well his part in connection with the many important engagements in which the command was involved. Doctor Kincaid con- tinued to be known and honored as one of the represen- tative physicians of Georgia until the time of his death, which occurred at Rome, that state, in 1910, his wife having passed away in the year 1891. Their marriage was solemnized in the year 1858, the father of Mrs. Kincaid having been William Connor, a prosperous planter of North Carolina. In a family of three sons and four daughters Arthur O. Kincaid of this review was the first in order of birth; Ivan D. is a prosperous agri- culturist and stock-grower in Oklahoma County, Okla- homa; Paul met his death at the age of twenty-six years, as the result of injuries received when he fell from a tree, in the State of California; May is the wife of Charles Hunt, of Abingdon, Virginia; Etta, who still resides in Georgia, is the widow of J. Harris Chappel, who was the founder and president of the Georgia In- dustrial School at Milledgeville, that state; Willie is the wife of Alvin Norvill, of Jacksonville, Florida; and Wessie, twin of Willie, is the wife of John Bartleson, of the same city.

Arthur O. Kincaid acquired his early education in the schools of Cave Spring and Rome, Georgia, and at the age of sixteen years he obtained a position as sales- man in a mercantile establishment at Huntsville, Ala- bama, where he remained thus engaged for a period of eight years. In 1883 he went to Fort Worth, Texas, and there he was employed three years as salesman in a dry-goods store. In 1886 he engaged independently in the grocery business, at Henrietta, that state, and in 1888 he disposed of his stock and business, after having developed a prosperous enterprise.

In 1889 Mr. Kincaid was one of the vigorous men who availed themselves of the opportunities afforded when the original portion of Oklahoma Territory was thrown open for settlement, and he made the historie run into the new country on the 22d of April of that year, a year prior to the formal organization of the new territory. He eutered claim to a tract of government land eight miles east of Oklahoma City, and in due time perfected his title to this property. Later he was employed as a mercantile salesman in Oklahoma City until the throwing open of the Cherokee Strip to settlement, in 1893, when he came to the new district and established his residence at Wood- ward, where he was appointed the first county clerk of old N County, by Governor Renfrow, an office of which he continued the incumbent until the first general election was held, this being antecedent to the formal organiza- tion of the County of Woodward as now constituted. In 1895 he was appointed deputy clerk of the district, and in this office he served three years.

In 1898 Mr. Kincaid engaged in the cattle business

18 N

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on the still open range in this section of the territory, and with this line of enterprise he continued to be actively identified twelve years, his operations being definitely successful. Since his retirement from the cattle business he has maintained his residence at Wood- ward and been engaged in the real-estate business on an extensive scale, he himself owning a large amount of valuable land in this section of the state and his opera- tions being in large degree in the handling of his own properties. Mr. Kincaid is well known in this part of the state and has at all times exemplified the spirit of civic loyalty and progressiveness, the while he has never deviated from a line of strict allegiance to the democratic party. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

At Perry, Oklahoma Territory, on the 6th of August, 1894, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Kincaid to Miss Maude Morgau, who was born in West Virginia, and who came with her parents to Oklahoma Territory in an early day. Mr. and Mrs. Kincaid have five children, all natives of Woodward County, and their names are here noted: Johu Morgan, Helen, Leslie, Virginia, and Robert E.

RANDOLPH LEE MONTGOMERY, M. D. One of the pioneer physiciaus and surgeons of Oklahoma, who lias been practicing at Marlow, now in Stephens County, since 1893, Dr. Randolph Lee Montgomery has attained a distinguished position in the medical profession of the southern part of the state. When he came here he was practically a stranger, but his skill in diagnosis and his successful treatment of complicated and long standing cases soon created a gratifying demand for his services and laid the foundation for what has since grown into a career of exceptional breadth and usefulness.

Doctor Montgomery was born in Chickasaw County, Mississippi, May 25, 1866, and is a son of Jacob Perry and Regina ( Taliaferro) Montgomery. The founder of the family in the United States was the great-grand- father of Doctor Montgomery, a native of Ireland, who emigrated to this country shortly before the Revolution- ary war and settled in Kershaw District, Kershaw County, South Carolina. Espousing the cause of the patriots, and being fearless in expressing his views, he was in disfavor with the Tory elemeut, and when he came home on a furlough from the army was one night called to the door and shot down by a party of royal sympa- thizers, his son, the grandfather of Doctor Montgomery, ' being at this time an infant.

Jacob Perry Montgomery was born in Kershaw Dis- trict, South Carolina, March 1, 1816, and as a young man moved to Chickasaw County, Mississippi, where he was married. He became the owner of a broad planta- tion and many slaves and throughout his life was engaged in the pursuits of the soil, although these did not occupy his entire attention, as he was also well known in professional fields. A graduate of Charleston Medical College, he practiced medicine for many years, and was assistant regimental surgeon during the Mexi- cau war and regimental surgeon of a Mississippi regi- ment in the Confederate army during the war between the North and the South. He was a democrat in poli- tics, an adherent of the faith of the Baptist Church, and a member of the Masonic fraternity. Doctor Mont- gomery died in Houston, Mississippi, in 1892, honored and respected by all who knew him. He was married the first time to Miss Louise Brownlee, who was born in Mississippi in 1820 and died at West Point, Mississippi, in 1892, the mother of one child: Louise, who is the wife of Gen. Josialı Henry Briuker, superintendent of the department of documents, at Washington, D. C. Mr.

Montgomery's second marriage was to Miss Regina Taliaferro, a member of the famous southern family of that name, whose great-grandfather was the original emigrant from Rome, Italy, and settled in South Caro- lina in early colonial times. Mrs. Montgomery was born in South Carolina in 1832, was married to Doctor Mont- gomery in 1856, and died at Houston, Mississippi, in 1892. They became the parents of seven children, as follows: Hugh Roderick, born in 1857, who was mana- ger of Ned Richardson's store until his death in Louis- iana in 1883; John, who died in infancy; J. T., a promi- nent practicing attorney of Wichita Falls, Texas; Zelda, who died at the age of sixteen years; Randolph Lee, of this notice; David Milton; and Annie B., who is the wife of M. D. Herbert, county attorney of Ector County, Texas, residing at Odessa. David Milton Montgomery, of the foregoing family, is a graduate of Marion Sinis Medical College, Saint Louis, class of 1893, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, and has been engaged in practice at Marlow since August, 1893, at this time having offices in the Montgomery Building. He is one of the leading physicians of the county, and has taken a lively and helpful interest in civic affairs, being at this time a member of the school board. He is a democrat in politics, and fraternally is connected with Marlow Lodge No. 103, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Duncan Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, but prefers heavy insurance in old line companies to membership in social or fraternal organizations. He married Miss Lucy Dun- can, of Texas, and has three children: James, in the eighth grade of the public schools; David Milton, Jr., in the fifth grade, and Mary, who is a pupil in the first grade.

Randolph Lce Montgomery attended the common schools of Chickasaw County, Mississippi, and further prepared himself at the Agricultural and Mechanical Col- lege, Starkville, Mississippi, after leaving which he entered Louisville Medical College, where he was duly graduated with his degree in 1888. His first practice was in his native state, where he remained for five years, then removing to Seymour, Texas. After six months at the latter place, July 15, 1893, he moved to Oklahoma (then Indian Territory ), taking up his residence at Mar- low, where he has since continued in a successful gen- eral practice. Doctor Montgomery has kept himself fully abreast of his profession, has been a close student and an ardent and zealous investigator, and has taken post-graduate courses at the New York and Chicago Polyclinic Colleges. He belongs to the Stephens County Medical Society, of which he has served as president, and to the Oklahoma State Medical Society, and is now serving in the capacity of health officer of Marlow. Doctor Montgomery maintains a handsomely equipped suite of offices in the Montgomery Building, which struc- ture was built and is owned by him. He has various busi- ness interests at Marlow and in the surrounding country, and is president of the Hoxie Oil and Gas Company. In his profession he is known as a careful and dependable practitioner, who recognizes and lives up to the best professional ethics. Doctor Montgomery is a member of Marlow Lodge No. 103, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Camp No. 93, Woodmen of the World; Lodge No. 57, Ancient Order of United Workmen; the Knights and Ladies of Security; and the Brotherhood of Ameri- can Yeomen.

On June 29, 1898, Doctor Montgomery was married at Woodland, Mississippi, to Miss Minuie McArthur, daugh- ter of J. A. and Eliza McArthur, a well known planter of West Point, Mississippi. To this union there have been born three children: Zelda, who is in eighth grade of the Marlow Public Schools; Lena, a student in the fifth grade; and Jacob Randolph, in the third grade.

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

J. N. THOMPSON. For fully a quarter of a century, members of the Thompson family have been exceptionally active in all the business and civic affairs of Eastern Oklahoma, both in Tulsa and Okmulgee County. J. N. Thompson is one of the vigorous young business men of Beggs, where in association with his brothers he handles some extensive stock and oil interests and is also a real estate dealer.

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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