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 84

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 84

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John W. Lee was born in Virginia, in 1840, and was a small boy when taken by his parents to Ohio County, Kentucky. There he learned the trade of stone mason, which he followed for a number of years, although later his attention was almost entirely devoted to the vocation of farming. When he retired from active labor he removed to Magazine, Arkansas, in 1905, and there made his home with his son, Ira A., and died in 1910. He was a democrat, but not active in public life, his activities therein being confined to the performance of the duties of good citizenship. Mr. Lee married Miss Polly J. Stidum, who was born in Ohio County, Kentucky, in 1848, and they became the parents of two children: Dr. Ira A., and Hardin R., who is a mechanic and resides at Erick, Oklahoma.

Dr. Ira A. Lee received his early education in Ohio. County, Kentucky, where he was graduated from the high school in the class of 1893. Securing a certificate as a. teacher, he entered upon a career in educational work, and from 1893 until 1897 was principal of the country schools in Ohio County. During this time he had become interested in the study of medicine, and finally entered Louisville (Kentucky) Medical College, which he attended two years. Subsequently he became a student at the Kansas City Eclectic Medical University, where he was graduated in 1905, with the degree of Doctor of Medi- cine, and his first practice was at Magazine, Arkansas, where he remained for only a short time. In 1905 he came to Indian Territory and practiced two years, then returned to Arkansas for a like period. In 1909 he settled permanently at Erick, Beckham County, Okla- homa, and this flourishing little city has continued to be the scene of his professional activities and successes, his offices being now located in the First State Bank Build- ing. He carries on a general medical and surgical prac- tice and is regarded as a learned practitioner, skilled in diagnosis, and as a careful and steady-handed surgeon. He holds membership in the Beckham County Medical

O.G.Bacon

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Society, the Oklahoma Medical Society, the American Medical Association and the Southwestern Medical Society, and keeps himself thoroughly informed with regard to the constantly advancing standards of his call- ing. He is a democrat, but has not entered into public life, preferring to devote himself wholeheartedly to the duties of his rapidly increasing practice. His fraternal affiliation is confined to membership in Magazine (Arkansas) Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.

In 1897, in Ohio County, Kentucky, Doctor Lee was married to Miss Nellie B. Martin, daughter of William H. Martin, a farmer of Ohio County, Kentucky, and four children have been born to this union: Myrtle, born October 21, 1901; Robert, born July 1, 1903, and Mabel, born March 8, 1906, all attending public school at Erick; and Fitzhugh, born in June, 1910. Doctor Lee is a citizen who has at all times been willing to support measures for the public welfare and through a high order of citizenship has won and retained the regard of his fellow-townsmen.

JUDGE WILLIAM B. MORTON. There are many points of more than ordinary interest in connection with the career of Hon. William B. Morton, especially as touching the pioneer history of the great western division of our national domain, and relative to his personal prestige as a lawyer, legislator and progressive and influential citi- zen. He is now known and honored as one of the repre- sentative older members of the bar of Creek County and is engaged in the practice of his profession in the Town of Kiefer, of which he is a pioneer and with the civic and material development aud upbuilding of which he has been closely identified.

Mr. Morton is a native of the Hawkeye State and a scion of one of its earliest pioneer families. He was born at Muscatine, Iowa, the judicial center of the county of the same name, on the 2d of May, 1848, when that now important and metropolitan city was a mere hamlet, his parents having been numbered among the first settlers in the wilds of Muscatine County. He is a son of William B. and Permelia (Bell) Morton, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio, in which state their marriage was solemnized, the names of both families having been worthily linked with Ameri- can history for many generations. William B. Morton, Sr., and his wife removed from the old Buckeye State to Iowa in 1839 and established their home in Muscatine County, where Mr. Morton entered claim to Government land and essayed the onerous task of reclaiming a farm from the frontier wilderness. He and his devoted wife lived up to the full tension of the early pioneer era and contributed their quota to the civic and industrial de- velopment and progress of Muscatine County, upon the enduring roster of whose sterling pioneers their names merit high place. Mr. Morton died in 1854, when about fifty-five years of age, and his wife survived him by nearly forty years, she having been summoned to the life eternal in 1892, at the venerable age of eighty years. They became the parents of five sons and three daughters.

He whose name initiates this review was reared under the conditions and influences in the pioneer era of the history of Iowa, and he continued to reside on the old homestead farm until the death of his father, when his widowed mother and her children removed into the City of Muscatine, which was then an ambitious little city that was giving excellent auguries for its future im- portance as one of the populous and opulent municipali- ties of the Hawkeye State. From an early period in its history to the present time Iowa has maintained an ad- vanced position in the domain of educational advantages, and even gained prestige as having the smallest per-

centage of illiteracy of all states in the Union. This it was the privilege of Mr. Morton in his youth to avail himself of the excellent opportunities afforded in the schools of his native county, and after the removal of the family to Muscatine he there attended 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 1868. Thereafter he gave close attention to the study of law in the office and under the preceptorship of one of the leading members of the bar of Muscatine, and such was his ready absorption and assimilation of the involved science of jurisprudence that in 1871 he proved himself eligible for and was admitted to the bar of his native state. Thereafter he continued in the active general practice of his profession at Muscatine until 1879, when he removed to Boone County, Arkansas, and turned his attention to agricultural pursuits and the conducting of a general store in the rural community. He continued to reside on his farm for a number of years, and in the meanwhile found frequent requisition for his professional services, besides which he became a prominent and in- fluential factor in political affairs in his county. In 1894 he was elected representative of his district in the upper house of the Arkansas Legislature, in which he had the distinction of being the only republican member of the Senate. Senator Morton proved a loyal, zealous and efficient legislator, and though he was emphatically in the minority side of the Senate in a political sense, he proved an influential and popular member of that body during his regular term, which comprised four years. He did not appear as a candidate for re-election. After his retirement from the Legislature Mr. Morton established his residence at Harrison, the judicial center of Boone County, and in the first administration of President Mc- Kinley he was appointed postmaster of that place, an office of which he continued the incumbent until 1906, when he came to Indian Territory and soon established his residence in the embryonic Town of Kiefer, now one of the thriving and important villages of Creek County, Oklahoma. He was numbered among the first settlers of the village and from the beginning has lent his ener- gies and effective influence in the furthering of measures and enterprises that have tended to advance the social and material wellbeing of the town and the county. He has served as city attorney since the time of the incor- poration of the village and is recognized as one of the able and representative members of the bar of Creek County, virtually his entire time and attention being now given to the practice of his profession and his law busi- ness being of substantial order, as based upon unqualified popular confidence and esteem. He is an appreciative and valued member of the Creek County Bar Association and in a fraternal way is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has never wavered in his allegiance to the republican party and is one of its promi- nent and influential representatives in Creek County.

In the year 1883 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Morton to Miss Sarah R. Franklin, who was born in the State of Tennessee, on the 10th of June, 1854, and who was eleven years of age at the time of her parents' re- moval to Arkansas. She is a daughter of David D. Franklin, who continued his residence in Boone County, Arkansas, until the time of his death and whose wife preceded him to eternal rest. Mr. and Mrs. Morton have two sons,-Oscar, who remains at the parental home, and Edgar, who resides in Kiefer. Edgar Morton mar- ried Miss Edith Chapman and they have one son, Byron E.

F. E. WALKER, M. D. It is just eleven years since Dr. F. E. Walker came to Lone Wolf, a young physician, barely a year out of medical school. His rise has been

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steady, consistent with his talent and devotion to his profession, and today he has a splendid standing in the community. Doctor Walker is a native of Alabama, born in Plevna, that state, on November 28, 1875, and he is a son of Rev. W. J. and Nannie (Jones) Walker.

Reverend Walker was one of the strong men of his day in that he spent his life in a fight for the right. He was born in Plevna, Alabama, in 1847, and died there in 1909. He was a Cumberland Presbyterian preacher, and was pastor at Plevna for many years. He also traveled much as an evangelist preacher for his denomi- nation throughout the southern states, and was widely known for his good works. Always a staunch prohibi- tionist, he fought the good fight with all his might, and when he died in the town of his birth he was monrned by all. His wife was a daughter of Col. Bill Jones, who was concerned in bringing the Cherokee Indians from Alabama to the Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma. She, too, was born in Plevna, Alabama, in 1849, and died there in 1900. They were the parents of eight children. Herbert L. is a Presbyterian minister, and missionary for the State of Alabama. Like his father, he has come out strong for the prohibition canse, and he is well known in prominent circles in his state for his attacks on the liquor and cigarette traffic. He has his home in Russellville, Alabama. Madeline married G. B. Warren, a farmer, near Branchville, Alabama. F. E. Walker was the third child. Edgar is a grocer and has a business in Birmingham, Alabama. Mary married William Miller, the proprietor of a foundry in Nashville, Tennessee. J. E. Walker is a physician and surgeon at Huntsville, Alabama. C. J. lives at Plevna, Alabama, and is a farmer there. H. O. is a student in the University of Alabama. and is in preparation for a career in medicine.

Doctor Walker attended school in Plevna and was grad- uated from the high school in 1892. He then entered Cumberland University, at Lebanon, Tennessee, and was graduated in the class of 1897, with the degree A. B. He took a position as principal of the high school at Gurley, Alabama, and after a year in that work entered Grant University at Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was graduated from the medical department with the class of 1900 and his M. D. degree was conferred upon him at that time. Doctor Walker's first practice was in Kelso, Tennessee, where he was located for one year. In 1901, about August 5th, he came to Oklahoma, settled at Hobart, and remained there for about six weeks, when he determined to move to Lone Wolf, his present location. That change proved itself an advantageous one, and from that time he has been busily engaged in his profession, his practice being a general medical and surgical one. He has his offices in what is known as the "Live and Let Live Drug Store." This store was established in 1908, but in 1912 Doctor Walker bought out the pro- prietor and has since conducted it himself.

Doctor Walker has been prominent in Lone Wolf, not alone as a medical man, but in its civic life. He is a democrat and served as town treasurer during the first four years after it was incorporated. He has been a member of the council for three years and at the present time he is filling the office of health physician for the town.

The doctor is a member of the Presbyterian Church, the faitli in which he was reared, and his fraternal con- nections are with the Modern Woodmen, the Woodmen of the World, the Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. In a professional way he is connected with the Kiowa County, Oklahoma State and American Medical societies.

In 1900 Doctor Walker was married at Kelso, Ten- nessee, to Miss Susie Edwards, daughter of A. O. Edwards, a Confederate veteran, now deceased. They have no children.

W. H. HENKE. Of the young men who have shown ability in handling the larger responsibilities of finan- cial institutions in Oklahoma, special mention should be made of W. H. Henke, cashier of the Erick State Bank, who has been identified with banking in West- ern Oklahoma for the past twelve years. His many friends say that he has some unusual talents as a finan- cier, and his good judgment is as much considered as his- thorough integrity is considered above question.

Born at Westphalia, Osage County, Missouri, October 23, 1881, William H. Henke is a son of Henry H. and Mary (Radnacher) Henke. His father was born near Osnabruck, Prussia, in 1848 and the mother at Van Buren, Missouri, in 1853. While living in Germany the father served the regular time in the Prussian army, also learned the trade of merchant tailor, and was well prepared to make a living for himself and family when he came to America in 1869. He located at Westphalia, Missouri, and is still living in that village, being now retired from active affairs. He and his wife are the parents of five children: Joseph J., a physician of Hydro; William H .; Charles, a mechanic still living at Westphalia, Missouri; Annie, wife of Henry Eicholz of St. Louis, Missouri; and Regina, wife of Andrew Fenne- wald, a dry goods merchant at Westphalia.

It was in Westphalia that W. H. Henke spent his youth and early boyhood. He attended the public schools, graduated from high school at the age of six- teen, and very soon afterwards qualified and began to teach school in Osage County. He remained at that work three years, and the patrons and pupils would have been glad enough to have retained his services in a position where he was giving so much satisfaction. However, his tendency was towards business, and in 1903 he moved to Hydro, Oklahoma, and organized the bank of Hydro. . He remained as cashier in active charge for five years. On September 1, 1909, he trans- ferred his services to Erick and became cashier of the Erick State Bank.

The Erick State Bank was established in 1901 by Mr. Jones as a state institution and at the present time the officers are: L. B. Meyers, president; D. R. Meyers, vice president; W. H. Henke, cashier; E. T. Cook, assist- ant cashier. The capital stock is $10,000 and surplus $1,000. A modern brick bank building both for bank quarters and offices was constructed in 1912 at the corner of Main Street and Broadway, and this is now the best known corner and business center of the town.

Mr. Henke is a republican in politics, and for four years gave Erick a very capable administration as mayor. He is a member of the Oklahoma State Bankers Asso- eiation and well known among the men of his calling throughout the state. He is also a stockholder in the Farmers State Bank of Mead, and is interested in mer- cantile enterprises at Willow and Moravia, Oklahoma. His possessions also include a ranch of 1,450 acres north of Erick and a cotton gin in that village. For a man not yet thirty-five years of age his prosperity seems unusual, and is due entirely to his vigorous efforts and a thorough business ability.

At Hydro, Oklahoma, in 1908 he married Miss Golda Sniker. Her father, S. D. Spiker, is a hotel proprietor at Corpus Christi, Texas. Mr. and Mrs. Henke have two children, William Douglas, born January 19, 1909, and now at publie school; and Beatrice May, born March 25, 1912.

F. W. FISCHER. Though one of Oklahoma's younger attorneys, F. W. Fischer has already accomplished much in his profession, and his general ability and standing are well illustrated in the position he now holds as

2. A. Bir cher

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Oklahoma general attorney for the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railroad Company. Mr. Fischer has been a member of the Oklahoma bar for six years, and has always practiced in Oklahoma City.

F. W. Fischer was born on a farm near Clarington, Ohio, in 1888, a son of John and Eliza (Davis) Fischer. The Fischer family as the name indicates are of German stock, and one of the most notable characteristics of the family through successive generations has been military service. The great-grandfather of the Oklahoma attor- ney was Capt. Conrad Fischer, who was commander of a company in one of the Prussian regiments that arrived under General Blucher on the field of Waterloo in time to save the day against Napoleon. Mr. Fischer's grand- father had participated actively in the revolutionary struggles in Germany during the decade of the '40s, and it was his activity in behalf of the liberalism and the democracy that caused his removal to America. He died shortly after coming to this country, and his oldest son carried forward the military proclivites of the family by serving in the war between the States.

John Fischer, father of F. W. Fischer, was born in Germany, and came to the United States with his parents in 1860. After the death of his father he was the head of the family consisting of his mother and five children. Though quite young, he enlisted in the Union Army and saw active service during the entire period of the war under General Custer and General Sheridan. In the com- pany in which he served were three brothers, natives of Ireland, named Davis. They all became great friends during the war, and all three of the Davises gave up their lives as sacrifices to the Union cause. In response to a promise made to these brothers, after the close of the war, John Fischer visited their family. He thus became acquainted with the sister of his comrades, Eliza Davis, also a native of Ireland, and they were subsequently married and settled on a farm at Clarington, Ohio. John Fischer is still living, but his wife died in July, 1914.

F. W. Fischer grew up on a farm, and as a boy received only the advantages of the district schools. At the opening of the Kiowa and Comanche country in Oklahoma, though still a lad, he came into this section of the Southwest, located near Lawton, and spent several years working on a farm. In the meantime he took up the study of law, reading his boks at night and at any leisure moments he could secure, and under the direction of several lawyers at Lawton studied with such good results that he was admitted to the bar in 1909. As soon as admitted to practice Mr. Fischer removed to Oklahoma City, and entered upon a general civil practice. His success in handling litigation is evidenced by his employ- ment in 1914 as general attorney for Oklahoma for the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railroad Company, the office to which he gives most of his attention. Mr. Fischer is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and is affiliated with Lodge No. 417 of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks at Oklahoma City. He is unmar- ried and resides at 1411 West Fourteenth Street.

ABNER L. BRUCE. Since the original opening in Okla- homa more than a quarter of a century ago Abner L. Bruce has been a resident either of Oklahoma or Indian Territory and the present state. In that time his occu- pations and interests have been of a varied nature, though mnuch of the time since he took up his home in Creek County he has been identified with the official service. He has the distinction of having been Creek County 's first county clerk, and is now, under appointment by the county commissioners, a statistician, keeping track of the tax statistics of the county. The many friends who have followed Mr. Bruce's career in public service have a great deal of admiration for both the honesty and efficiency of

his record. He is thoroughly popular, and he has actually conferred honor and dignity upon every public post with which he has been entrusted.

He was born on a farm in Wilson County, Kansas, September 23, 1871, a son of Coleman R. and Alpha A. (Moore) Bruce. His parents were both born in Moniteau County, Missouri, and now live on a farm twelve miles north of Bristow in Creek County, Oklahoma. His father has spent all his active career as a farmer.

Abner L. Bruce, who was the oldest sou and second child in a family of one daughter and five sons, spent the first eighteen years of his life in Missouri on a farm, getting such education as the local schools could bestow. He then came to Indian Territory with his parents, and when the original opening of Oklahoma lands was made his father took up a claim six miles east of Oklahoma City. That was their home for six years, but in April, 1895, the family came to the Creek Nation, and since then Abner L. Bruce has lived in and about Sapulpa. He remained at home with his parents until his marriage, and his education was found in the common schools of Missouri and in a business college at Oklahoma City. For a year or so he was engaged in the real estate business in and around Shawnee, but for ten years was one of Creek County 's active and progressive farmers.

When the first state elections were held in Oklahoma in September, 1907, he was elected county clerk of Creek County, and held that office for three consecutive terms, seven years all told. On retiring from the office of county clerk he was appointed to his preseut position. Thus Mr. Bruce has been identified with the county government ever since statehood. At the solicitation of his friends he became a candidate for state treasurer in 1914. He made an excellent showing in the primaries, and his de- feat was in no wise discreditable, and was largely due to the fact that he is best known in the county where he has lived for so many years and has made little effort to court recognition over the state at large. It is with special satisfaction that Mr. Bruce can regard the fact that though a democrat, he succeeded in overcoming a strong republican majority each time he was elected to the county clerkship.

He is a member of the Baptist Church and in Masonry has attained the thirty-second degree Scottish Rite, is also a member of the Mystic Shrine, and affiliates with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

On April 18, 1895, he married Miss Ella May Stow, who was born in Osage County, Kansas, June 27, 1876, a daughter of Richard Leonard and Jennie Rebecca (Butler) Stow. Her mother is now deceased and her father lives six miles east of Oklahoma City. Mr. and Mrs. Bruce have one son, Leo Frank, who is attending the Baptist University at Shawnee.

DR. THOMAS LEO WILLIS. The Willis family had its origin in England, and the first of the name to seek American shores was one John Willis who came in Colonial days and located in Virginia. From that state representatives of the family migrated to Alabama, others to Tennessee, and it was there that the subject and his father were born and reared. Doctor Willis of this review was born in Willow Grove, Clay County, Ten- nessee, on January 13, 1880, and he is a son of John Willis, born in the same town in 1848.

John Willis is today a resident of Granite, Oklahoma, where he came from his native state and community in the autumn of 1910. He has been a merchant, a farmer and a lumberman, and has been prominent in whatever industry he has been occupied. Today Mr. Willis is serving as town judge in Granite. He was county judge for years in Clay County, Tennessee, and was prominent also in civie affairs there, as he is in his present location.

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He is a member of the Christian Church and an elder therein. John Willis married Sarah Willis, a distant relative, who was born in Willow Grove in 1849. They have seven children, Doctor Willis of this review being the eldest. Ara married Ed Parson, a farmer in Salina, Tennessee. Roxie is the wife of E. W. Leadbetter, a farmer in Granite. Ora is still with her parents. Mattie married V. Maynard, and they live in Granite. Burl and Della are also at home with their parents.

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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