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. V, Part 100

Author: Thoburn, Joseph B. (Joseph Bradfield), 1866-1941
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 644

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. V > Part 100

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After duly availing himself of the advantages of the excellent public schools of his native state Doctor Kelly attended the Wisconsin State Normal School at Oshkosh from 1880 to 1884, and after the completing of his effective normal course he turned his attention to the pedagogie profession, of which he became a successful and popular representative as a teacher in the public schools of Wisconsin and later those of North Dakota. After devoting three years to this vocation the doctor was for a time engaged in farming in North Dakota, and then, in consonance with his ambition and well matured plans, he began the work of preparing himself for his chosen profession. He entered the celebrated Rush Medi- cal College in the City of Chicago, in which he was graduated in 1892, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He forthwith entered upon a post-graduate course in the medical department of the University of Illinois, and in 1893 this institution likewise conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Medicine. In the latter year he engaged in the practice of medicine at Watonga, Okla- homa Territory, and in the pioneer community he soon built up a substantial practice that marked him as one of the representative physicians and surgeons of the territory. He early became identified with other lines of productive activity in connection with which he resided for a time at Geary, Blaine County, and Weatherford, Custer County. In 1900 Doctor Kelly effected the organi- zation of the First National Bank of Watonga, and of this institution he served six years as president. In 1894 he passed an examination before the territorial pharmaceutical board and then opened a drug store at Watonga, the same having been conducted in connection with his medical practice. Retiring from the banking business in 1906, he engaged in the real estate business, in connection with which he built up a large and im- portant enterprise in the handling of both town and farm property. In the meanwhile he had become a stockholder in the company that published the Watonga Herald, and to protect his interest he was finally com- pelled to assume control of the newspaper plant and business, the result being that he has become well known also as one of the successful newspaper men of Oklahoma. He is still the owner and publisher of the. Watonga Herald, of the editorial department of which he main- tains personal supervision, and for a time he was the owner also of the Geary Bulletin and the Okeene Leader, in two other of the prosperous towns of Blaine County. The doctor is a member of the Oklahoma Press Asso- ciation, the Oklahoma State Medical Association, the Blaine County Medical Society, the Oklahoma Pharma- ceutical Association, the American Medical Association and the Oklahoma Telephone Association, besides which he was formerly an active member of the Oklahoma Bankers' Association. He is serving as health officer of Blaine County and as a member of the board of United States pension examiners for the county, besides being local surgeon at Watonga for the Chicago & Rock Island

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

Railroad. For the past ten years he has been president of the Watonga Commercial Club and has been a valued leader in the furtherance of its progressive civic policies and ideals, with special influence in giving to this thriving little city its excellent municipal waterworks and electric lighting systems and other public ntilities. Under the energetic and capable direction of Doctor Kelly was constructed the first mile of modern improved road in Oklahoma, and he has been one of the liberal and zealous supporters of the good roads movement. Most of the brick buildings in Watonga were erected by this progressive and public-spirited citizen, and he is still the owner of fully thirty buildings in the town, inclnd- ing business structures and houses. He had also the distinction of being the prime factor in the movement to effect the erection of a snitable . county courthouse at Watonga, and he is looked to for leadership and decisive action in every progressive measure advanced for the social and material benefit of his home city and county.

In the time-honored Masonic fraternity Doctor Kelly has received the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, as a member of the Consistory in the City of Guthrie; his ancient craft affiliation is with Watonga Lodge No. 176, Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons; and at Oklahoma City he holds mem- bership in the Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is past master of the Masonic lodge in his home city, and is identified also with the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

In 1896, at Watonga, was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Kelly to Miss Iva Carpenter, and she was summoned to the life eternal in Jnly, 1911, being snr- vived by two children, Cleo, who is a graduate of the Watonga High School and is one of the popular young women in the social activities of her home city, and William C., who was twelve years of age in 1915 and who is still attending the public schools.

BERT SMITH. On the basis of his record, Bert Smith is nndoubtedly the most popular mau in Garfield County politics. As everyone acquainted with things political in Oklahoma knows, Garfield County has long been one of the republican strongholds of the state, and yet Mr. Smith, as a democrat, has succeeded in overcoming the opposition forces on several occasions, and at the present time is holding the dual office of county clerk and register of deeds.

Bert Smith was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, Nov- ember 28, 1871, and in 1880, at the age of nine years, went with his parents to Reno Connty, Kansas, growing up on a farm in that section of the Sunflower State. From the farm he entered an office of the Rock Island Railway and learned telegraphy, was a telegraph opera- tor at McPherson, Kansas, and in 1895 was transferred by the Rock Island Company to El Reno, Oklahoma. In 1897, leaving the railway service, Mr. Smith removed to Enid, and the following two years was engaged in farming seven miles west of that city. For ten years he sold nursery stock all over the state. He was also in business as a merchant at LaHoma for two years.

In 1912 Mr. Smith was elected register of deeds of Garfield County, and while he was in that office by act of the Legislature the duties of a register of deeds were combined with those of connty clerk, and in November, 1914, Mr. Smith was elected to the combined office. In that campaign he had a strong. contest with the former county clerk, a republican, who had not only the prestige attaching to him on the ground of his previous service, but also the backing of a normal republican majority

in the connty of 600. In 1912 Mr. Smith had carried the connty with the largest majority ever given to any democrat, going into office with a margin of 731 votes. In 1914 he carried the connty by a majority of sixty- nine. His duties as connty clerk and register of deeds began on January 1, 1915, and he now gives all his time to this office, having three depnties.

Mr. Smith is affiliated with the Masonic and Odd Fellows fraternities. He married Miss Thirza I. Willis of Kirksville, Missonri. They have one danghter, Julia Pauline.

JESSE M. ROBBERSON. Farmer, banker and one of the old-timers of the Chickasaw Nation, Jesse M. Robberson lives at Loco in Stephens Connty, but his interests in farming lands and financial affairs are so extended as to make him one of the leading business figures in the state.

Jesse M. Robberson was born in Cedar Connty, Mis- souri, Angust 4, 1855, and there spent the first six years of his life, after which he went to Dade County, Mis- sonri, in company with his parents, Richard Allen and Maria H. (Mitchell) Robberson. Several generations back the Robberson family were among the pioneer set- tlers of Middle Tennessee. Mr. Robberson 's grandfather, William Robberson, was a Methodist preacher, and lived at Ebenezer, ncar Springfield, Missonri, and probably died there. Robberson Prairie, near Springfield, was named in his honor. The maternal grandfather, Jesse Mitchell, was also a minister of the Methodist Church and spent his last years at Brighton in Polk County, Missouri. In 1865 Richard A. Robberson took his family to Polk County, Missouri, renting a farm near Brighton. While the family lived there Jesse M. Robberson fonnd plenty of work on the farm, after which he spent two years at Pleasant Hope or Pinhook. The father then removed his family to a tract of 160 acres of unimproved timber land, and the son helped to clear and reduce that to cultivation. Finally selling the farm, Richard A. Robberson removed to Panl's Valley, Indian Territory, in November, 1874. Several years later he went on a journey to Bellevue in Cooke Connty, Texas, to make arrangements to secure the benefit of the schools of that place for his children, and fiually went on to Sherman, Texas, to procure lumber for the building of a home for his family in Bellevue. While in Sherman he was taken ill and died there September 28, 1878, and was buried in Sherman. His widow died March 4, 1884, and is also buried at Sherman. Their children, nine in number, are enumerated briefly as follows: Jesse M .; W. F., twin brother of Jesse, who is now a farmer near Edna in Jackson Connty, Texas; James W., who owned a livery stable at Wynnewood, Oklahoma, where he died in 1901; Newton S., who is a retired farmer at Davenport, Okla- homa; Lillian, who died at the age of two years; B. W., who is a farmer near Perry, Oklahoma; Dora, whose clothing canght fire and was burned to death at Paul's Valley, Oklahoma, in February, 1880, she being at that time the wife of John T. Hill, a Paul's Valley farmer, who died in 1914; Alleu G., a well known business man of Loco, of whom there is individual mention in follow- ing paragraphs; and Annie, twin sister of Albert, now the wife of Henry Smith, a farmer and stock raiser at Clarendon, Texas.

Jesse M. Robberson continued to aid in the operation of the home farm until 1874, when he removed to Paul's Valley in the Indian Territory and for a year continued at home helping his father. For five years following 1875 he was afflicted almost to the point of being : cripple by rheumatism and a malady of the eyes. H. was employed with the firm of Miller & Green, Panl'

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Valley merchants, until September, 1878, and then went to Cooke County, Texas, with the intention of attending school, but changed his plans and went out to Hall County, Texas, with a bunch of 3,500 head of cattle, he and his mother and brother owning ninety-six head of that lot. There he was engaged in the care and raising of the cattle until 1883, when he sold out for $6,500, giving his mother a third of the proceeds.

His next location was at Fort Arbuckle, where he was employed for wages in the winter of 1883. In the spring of 1884 he and his brother went to Hall County, where they obtained thirteen saddle horses, and at Ganes- ville bought 337 head of yearlings, which they drove to the Grant and Beeler's Ranch, where Chickasha, Okla- homa, is now located. In this venture they were in partnership with their brother, W. F. Robberson. After holding the cattle until they were three years old they sold but realized no profit on the investment. Jessc Robberson was afterward employed by Ed Huntley in the cattle business until the succeeding fall, when they went to Belcher, Texas, and purchased 350 two-year-old steers, driving them to the Polk Ranch on Mud Creek, owned by Florence Hall. The next July the cattle were sold at a profit for $1,500. Mr. Robberson then took a trip on horseback to Belcher, Henrietta and to Stephens County on a cattle-buying expedition. After returning home they went to Quanah, Texas, and bought 251 head of three- and four-year-old steers, rounded them up and had them driven to Hamilton, that state. Jesse M. Robberson took charge of a cattle drove to Mud Creek, where he sold 177 head to McCaughey Brothers for "feeders, " and eighty to his brothers, A. G. and B. W., and including the remainder, which he sold the following June, he realized a profit of $1,500.

In the spring of 1899 he dissolved partnership with his brother and went to Gainesville, Texas, where he purchased 350 head of yearlings, which he drove to Mud Creek, continuing in the cattle business at that place until the fall of 1900, when he sold out for $25,000. On January 13, 1891, with his brother, A. G., he engaged in the mercantile business at Dixie, Oklahoma, under the name of J. M. Robberson, and they continued this as a successful enterprise until selling out on January 13, 1908. In 1893 Mr. Robberson also opened a store at Loco, which he sold to his brother, A. G., in February, 1912. In 1897, in connection with A. S. Hathaway, he erected the cotton gin in Loco, and sold his interest in that enterprise in 1909. For many years he has been extensively interested in raising mules, horses and hogs.

Mr. Robberson is the largest individual taxpayer in Stephens County. He owns 2,500 acres in Stephens, Jefferson, Carter, Grady and Garvin counties, Oklahoma, and also in Texas. He is a stockholder and director in the Oklahoma National Life Insurance Company of Okla- homa City and is president of the First State Bank of Ringling, having organized that bank in April, 1914, and opening it for business on May 11, 1914. He is also president of the State Bank of Loco. This was estab- lished as a private bank by Mr. Robberson in 1903, M. M. Bowman being bookkeeper. It became a state bank in 1907, Mr. Bowman resigning at that time. The present officers of this bank at Loco are: J. M. Rob- berson, who has been president since its organization; J. F. Stotts of Ringling, vice president; Percy W. New- ton, cashier; Miss Lulu Cain, assistant cashier. The bank has capital stock of $10,000 dollars, and its present surplus amounts to $2,500.

Mr. Robberson is a democrat and for a number of years during territorial days served as a member of the school board of Loco. He is affiliated with the Masonic and Odd Fellows orders. On March 21, 1898, he married

at Grand View, Texas, Miss Nora Conner, daughter of Dr. L. H. Conner, of that place. Their first child, Jesse, was born June 30, 1900, and died October 12th of the same year. They now have a daughter, Gracie Jurhee, who was born February 5, 1902, and is a student in the seventh grade of the public schools at Loco.

ALLEN G. ROBBERSON. A young brother of Jesse M. Robberson, whose career as a business man and whose family history has been detailed in preceding paragraphs, Allen Green Robberson was for a number of years asso- ciated with his brother in their business undertakings and is one of the leading merchants, farmers and citizens of Stephens County.

He was born in Polk County, Missouri, July 16, 1866, a son of Richard A. and Maria H. (Mitchell) Robberson, concerning whom information is given above. In 1874 the family removed to the Chickasha Nation, locating at Paul's Valley, and Allen G. Robberson completed his education in Cooke County, Texas, in private schools. At the age of fifteen he left school and went to the cattle range of the Texas Panhandle and spent six years in the exciting and arduous experience of cowboy. In 1887 he located on Beef Creek, near the Washita River in Indian Territory, and was for three years engaged in general farming. During 1890 he was for three months a clerk under his brother, W. F. Robberson, at Robberson near Honey Creek in Indian Territory. On January 13, 1891, he and his brother, Jesse M., bought out a general store at Dixie, and he was actively identified with the management of that successful concern for seventeen years, until January 13, 1908, when the business was closed out. He then removed to Loco, and after four years spent in trading and collection, in 1912 bought the large general store which had been established many years before by his brother, Jesse, and is now the proprie- tor of this establishment, which, though located in one of the small towns of Southern Oklahoma, has an immense volume of trade, drawn from Stephens, Carter and Jef- ferson counties. The store occupies 30 by 97 feet of ground and is located on Main and Broadway streets in Loco. His attention, however, is divided between the management of this mercantile concern and his extensive farming and stock interests. He is the owner of 1,100 acres of land situated in the northeast corner of Jefferson County, six miles north of Ringling. He cultivates 200 acres of this himself, while tenants handle the rest.

For many years Mr. Robberson has been one of the hard-working, shrewd and intelligent business men and citizens of the old Chickasaw Nation. He is a democrat, has helped to. provide good schools for Loco as a member of the school board and was county representative in the organization of the state. He is affiliated with Loco Lodge No. 361 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Camp No. 682 of the Woodmen of the World at Loco.

On June 18, 1900, at Bettina, Oklahoma, he married Miss Pearl Price, daughter of William P. Price, who up to his death was a farmer and stock man at Bettina. To their marriage have been born four children: Pricc A., born January 29, 1901, and now a freshman in the Loco High School; Annabett, born in 1903 and in the sixth grade of the public school; Lucile, born in 1905 and in the fifth grade; and Hylagene, born January 28, 1912.

CHARLES NAPOLEON PRUDOM. The fact that one of the streets of Pawhuska is named Prudom is a small but lasting tribute to the services of an Osage citizen who has lived in that community since early boyhood and who has identified himself public spiritedly with nearly everything of importance that has been a part

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

of the general progress and upbuilding of this section of Oklahoma.

A casual acquaintance with Mr. Prudom does not reveal the depths of his character and the great sources of his ability. He has that quiet efficiency which ao- complishes a great deal with very little noise and no confusion. He has a mind which comprehends large things, and his energy makes every plan a definite result. He is truly a self made man, and has not only pulled his own weight in the world, but has borne heavy responsibilities for others.

His has been an interesting as well as a fruitful career. Born near Topeka, Kansas, January 8, 1856, he takes justifiable pride in his ancestry and the blood that flows in his veins. His father, Peter Prudom, was born in Missouri and was a Frenchman with a quarter blood of the New York Indian stock that was part of the seven great tribes around the Great Lakes. His mother, Mary B. Revlett, also a native of Missouri, was of French ancestry, and a one-eighth blood Osage Indian. Peter Prudom, who was a farmer and cattle man, died in 1870 a few months after he and his family had settled in the Osage Nation. Among the seven children in the family Charles Napoleon was the oldest, and after his father's death the care of the household and outside affairs devolved largely upon his youthful shoulders. It is said that he practically reared all the other members of the family, four of whom reached maturity. Most of his early schooling came from the old Mission School in Neosho County, Kansas.

Coming to the Osage Nation when a boy of fourteen and losing his father a few months later and his mother in March, 1875, Mr. Prudom showed an unusual respon- siveness to those duties which early became his lot. He started life with a meager education. Poor, with industry as his chief asset, he became one of the pioneer farmers and cattle raisers along the Caney River just south of the Kansas line in the Osage Nation. With those operations he was identified until 1883.

If any man can say that he has seen Pawhuska rise from the wilderness into a thriving city it is Mr. Pru- dom. His first visit to the town was in 1872, when he was a boy of sixteen. At that time the only structure of importance on the site was a little building used for the Indian Agency, whose quarters were in one end, while the other end was a shoe shop. Since 1883 Mr. Prudom has been continuously identified with the town, which then however was only a small Indian village. In that year he bought a ranch just below Pawhuska and engaged extensively in the cattle and horse business until about three years ago, when he sold his stock and most of his land and retired to a town home in Pawhuska,

In these thirty or more, years Mr. Prudom's means and enterprise have gone liberally to the upbuilding of his home locality. Those who are in a position to know say that he has done as much if not more to promote the material interests of the city as any other man. He still owns several brick blocks that he built, besides residences and other pieces of property, and has handled and developed much real estate in the city. His capital has been used almost wholesale in the development of the town, and on every hand might be pointed out some conspicuous building which was erected directly by him or with his financial support.

On retiring from his country home he bought a beautiful place on a hill overlooking the city and com- manding an extensive view of the surrounding land- scane for many miles. There he erected a home de- signed to satisfy all the cultured tastes of the family

and provide every modern comfort. It is a large and ample mansion, complete even down to the smallest detail, including sleeping porches.

His name has been associated with every public enterprise of importance at Pawhuska. He assisted iu organizing and establishing nearly every church, gave financial assistance to building their edifices, and has been a factor in various fraternity organizations. He is a Knight Templar Mason, is a charter member of the Lodge at Pawhuska, and also a charter member of the Knights of Pythias.

Ever since Bryan came out for free silver he has voted the republican ticket. During territorial days he was a member of the Osage council six or seven times, was a member of the committee called to allot the land of the Osages, and performed several mis- sions for his people in Washington. In fact during the last generation every affair of importance concerning the Osage Indians has been impressed with the advice and ability of Mr. Prudom.

He was one of the first men to find gas in Osage County and is a stockholder in the Pawhuska Oil and Gas Company. He is a director and stockholder in the First National Bank, an old and stable institution that is the outgrowth of a little bank started in pioneer times. ' Mr. Prudom was one of those who bought and reorganized the bank as the First National. He is also president and the largest stockholder of the Prue State Bank and is a stockholder in the Midland Conti- nental Life Insurance Company.

Through all these years since he reached his ma- jority he has enjoyed a happy home life. He is properly proud of his family, and his children and grandchildren give him the affection and respect paid to the patriarchs of old. To his wife he gives credit for a loyal and faithful co-operation with him through adversity and success. She has never failed him and her influence has been a factor in his material prosperity as well as in the successful training of their children. On March 28, 1875, he married Anna Eliza Norbury. Mrs. Prudom, who was born in Iowa, is of German and English descent. Of the ten children of their marriage six died in infancy. The four still living are daughters. Three of these are married and Mr. Prudom finds great satisfaction in his sons-in-law, who are capable business men in and around Pawhuska, and Mr. Pru- dom has been associated with them in varied enter- prises. The daughter Lula married Thomas Mosier, of the well known family mentioned on other pages of this publication. Maud is the wife of Henry Prue, a large rancher near Pawhuska. Norine lives at home with her parents. Nettie is Mrs. A. W. Lohmann, whose husband is

a rancher near Pawhuska.

Mrs. Prudom is an active member of the Catholic Church, which Mr. Prudom generously supports, and she reared her children in the same faith. Mr. and Mrs. Prudom have a number of grandchildren and as they take great pride in these members of the younger generation, and as some of them are now working for Mr. Prudom, it is but proper that their names should be appended to this article. The names of the grand- children are: Chas. Prudom Mosier, Thomas Mosier, Jr., Edwin Mosier, Christina Mosier, Luther Mosier, .Tames Mosier. Hattie M. Prue, Charles Franklin Prue, Everett H. Prue, Floyd B. Prue, Annabell Prue, Annetta Lohmann, and August W. Lohmann.

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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: 644

Author: Thoburn, Joseph B. (Joseph Bradfield), 1866-1941
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 644