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 108

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 108

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

this improvement was quickly taken up by one after another he found abundant employment for his skill.

In 1892 Mr. Foley returned to Chicago, and in the spring of the following year his father died at Kalamazoo. The mother had passed away about twelve years before. Not long afterwards Mr. Foley came again to the Osage country of Indian Territory, locating at Gray Horse, and soon afterward prepared to make the race at the opening of the Cherokee Strip. He did not succeed in acquiring a claim, but in March, 1894, removed to Tal- ston in Pawnee County, and soon afterward laid the foundation for the first building erected on that town site. He bought a lot, put up a small building, and on the 4th of July celebrated Independence Day by opening his restaurant, which in time was supplemented by a large hotel covering three lots. As the pioneer hotel man and business man of Ralston he was in successful business there until he sold out thirteen years later and identified himself with the community of Fairfax.

On March 28, 1893, Mr. Foley married Miss Maggie Bennett, a daughter of Mathew and Frances Bennett. Mrs. Foley was born in Indiana, but was reared in Kan- sas. She died December 27, 1913, at the age of forty- three, leaving three children: Cornelius, Emmett and Ruth. Mr. Foley is a democrat in politics, and while a resident of Ralston served as a justice of the peace a number of years. His church is the Catholic.

JASPER NEWTON TODD. Among the men who have con- tributed to the commercial upbuilding of the City of Jennings,. one who established a record for business acumen and founded an establishment which still bears his name was the late Jasper Newton Todd. Coming here in 1896 in moderate circumstances, he embarked in mercantile affairs and directed his operations so wisely and well that at the time of his death, August 17, 1913, he was not only one of the substantial men of his adopted; community but had established a firm reputation as a man of the highest business honor. .

Mr. Todd was a native of Missouri, born June 17. 1859, a son of Owen and Elizabeth (Reynolds) Todd. His parents were born iu Kentucky, and went to Mis- souri, where they settled on a farm and passed the remain. ing years of their lives in agricultural operations. There were thirteen children in the family, and Jasper, N., one of the younger members, was given a country school education. He had only ordinary advantages ir his youth, but early showed himself possessed of qual ities of industry and energy that augured well for his future. He grew up as a farmer in the vicinity off Versailles, the county seat of Morgan County, Missouri where he continued to make his home with his parents for a number of years. About 1890 he went to Walla Walla, in Washington Territory, where he began his experience as a merchant, continuing there and at an other town in the same territory for three or four years His advent in Oklahoma occurred in May, 1894, when he located ou a leased farm in Creek County, but afte two years his health failed and he was compelled to seel other employment. Disposing of his interests he gath ered together about $1,700, with which he eame t Jennings, and engaged in business with J. L. Bishop under the firm name of Todd & Bishop. The partner were successful in building up an excellent trade in gen eral merchandise and the association continued satie factorily until the combination was broken, after seve: years, by the death of Mr. Bishop. Subsequently Mi Todd's brother-in-law, C. M. Foil, was admitted t partnership and the firm of Todd & Foil continued i business for about two years, when Mr. Todd bough his partner's interest and continued the business unde

JASPER N. TODD

Paca

kei wis 19

atio Jas

ige

For ity

an at

tal to .

Bist artı

teil

hou

ne T

Tom t a

the Je

attenti

Collier

Gorda

and h

Todd

head,

Missou

the pa

the en

gaged

marrie

teacher

with t

the M

ste ha

Maceal

the ca

ban tin

thing

Hufak

Beutif

family

we of

postmia

Core 6

for the

A sẽ

Huffak

art 21

There

ritorial

gradua

the fol

Grove

Pame to

identifi

the gen

épte

the b

un de

store

ef To

hysine

all OF

worth

welfar

Episen

the lo

many

the

euurte

Bis o

CARL

of the

2125

HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

his own name until his death. He was a man of excellent business and executive abilities, sagacious and farsighted, and by his earnest desire to please his customers and his courteous treatment and fair dealing secured the liberal patronage of which he was deserving. Since his death the business has been continued by his widow and son, under the style of the J. N. Todd Estate. The present store, a stone structure, 25 by 100 feet, two stories in height, was erected in 1902 during the life of the firm of Todd & Bishop, and here is still carried a full line of first-class general merchandise of all kinds. The building is located on Main Street, in the heart of the business district, and trade is attracted not only from all over Jennings, but from the surrounding country- side. Mr. Todd was a democrat in his political views and always gave his party loyal support. As a citizen the best interests of the community found in him a stanch friend, and he withheld his co-operation from no worthy undertaking calculated to promote the general welfare. He was a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was fraternally counected with the local lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows and the Knights of the Maccabees in which he had many sincere friends. Mr. Todd was vice president of the Jennings State Bank, but the greater part of his attention was devoted to the business which still stands as a monument to his industry and business ability.

Mr. Todd was married in Missouri to Miss Anna Collier, who died in that state, leaving one daughter: Gorda May, who is the wife of T. O. Ham, of Jennings, and has two children, Earl and Mabel. In 1892, Mr. Todd was married in Washington to Miss Alice White- head, who was born November 27, 1874, at Sedalia, Missouri, and was reared in that state. They became the parents of three children: Edmond Jasper, one of the enterprising young business men of Jennings, en- gaged with his mother in conducting the business, who married Miss Nell McLain, of Tryon, Oklahoma, a former teacher in the public schools; and Zoe and Flo, who reside with their mother. Mrs. Todd is a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in the work of which she has been active, as she is also in the Ladies of the Maccabees. The late Mr. Todd, when he could leave the cares of business, enjoyed nothing more than a hunting trip. He kept several hounds and had some- thing more than a local reputation as a deer hunter, seldom returning from a trip without some noble trophy of the chase.

CARL I. HUFFAKER. On other pages of this publica- tion will be found an ample sketch of the prominent Huffaker family, which for many years has been closely identified not only with the history of Kansas but also of Oklahoma. Several active representatives of this family are now found in Northeastern Oklahoma, and one of them is Carl I. Huffaker, who until recently was postmaster of Fairfax in Osage County and has been more or less closely identified with affairs in that section for the past ten years.

A son of Hon. Thomas Sears and Eliza A. (Baker) Huffaker, he was born at Council Grove, Kansas, Janu- ary 24, 1880. He grew up in the old Kansas town where his family have helped to make history since ter- ritorial days, and lived there until 1904. In 1899 he graduated from the Council Grove High School, and for the following 31/2 years was employed in the Council Grove waterworks and electric light plant. He first came to Fairfax, Oklahoma, in 1904, where he became identified with the Santa Fe Railroad Company .. He was with the Santa Fe five years, a part of that time in the general offices at Topeka. The rest of the period, eighteen mouths, he was connected with the offices of the

Cudahy Packing Company, and during this time he was transferred from one place to another in Oklahoma, Colorado, Missouri and Kansas.

In 1910 Mr. Huffaker returned to Fairfax and in the following year was appointed postmaster. Fairfax has a third class office and Mr. Huffaker gave to the service a most capable and painstaking administration. His term of office expired in the fall of 1915, and he is now the owner of the electric light and power plant at Fairfax, which he began to install before leaving the postoffice.

In politics Mr. Huffaker has been a republican ever since casting his first vote. He is a member of the Methodist Church and in the Masonic fraternity is affiliated with the lodge, Royal Arch Chapter, Knight Templar Commandery and the Mystic Shrine. He is unmarried. Mr. Huffaker also owns a half interest in the Fairfax Drug Company.

JOSEPH L. ROGERS. At the time, in 1889, when the present State of Oklahoma had the first portion of its territory thrown open to settlement, just prior to the formal organization of the territory, Mr. Rogers became one of the progressive citizens of Chandler, the present judicial center of Lincoln County, and as one of the pioneers of this commonwealth he has played well his part in aiding the march of development and progress along both civic and industrial lines. Like many others he has met with reverses at certain stages in his career, but he has not been daunted or discouraged, but has pressed forward with ambition and determined purpose, with the result that he now holds place as one of the substantial representatives of the agricultural interests of Pawnee County, where his well improved farm is situated about five miles distant from the Village of Jennings, his landed estate comprising 320 acres. He is one of the substantial farmers and vigorous and public- spirited citizens of Pawnee County, commands secure place in the confidence and good will of the community and is fully entitled to recognition in this history of the state of his adoption.

Mr. Rogers was born at Red Oak, Montgomery County, Iowa, on the 12th of November, 1852, and is a son of Richard W. and Salina (Billman) Rogers, the former of whom was born in Kentucky and the latter in Indiana, their marriage having been solemnized in Jackson County, Illinois, The father passed the closing period of his life in the home of his son, Joseph L., of this review, and thus his death occurred in Pawnee County, Okla- homa Territory, where he passed away on the 10th of March, 1905, at which time he was seventy-five years and four months old; his widow now resides in the home of her youngest daughter, at Centralia, Washington.

Richard W. Rogers removed from Illinois and became one of the pioneer settlers in Montgomery County, Iowa. He assisted in the erection of the first three houses in that county and there became a substantial farmer and honored and influential citizen. He represented the county several terms in the Lower House of the Iowa Legislature and was called upon to serve also in various local offices of public trust. His entire active career was one of close identification with the basic industry of agriculture, and he reclaimed and improved one of the excellent farms of Moutgomery County, Iowa. This sterling citizen showed his intrinsic loyalty and patriot- ism through his valiant service as a soldier in the Mex- ican war, and he went forth also as a soldier of the Union in the Civil war, his widow now receiving a pension in recognition of his services in the Mexican war. He was a stanch supporter of the cause of the democratic party and many years ago both he and his wife became zealous members of the Missionary Baptist Church, in

2126

HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

which he served as a deacon for a very prolonged period and virtually until the time of his death. Of the eight children the subject of this sketch was the second in order of birth, the eldest being William, who maintains his home in the State of New Mexico; Alice is the wife of Ves. S. Hibbins, of Lincoln, Illinois; Isaac is a resi- dent of Prescott, Arizona; May is the wife of Frank Meadows, of Pawnee County, Oklahoma; Richard met an accidental death, having been killed by a fall from a bridge near the City of Albuquerque, New Mexico, he having been a bridge-builder by occupation at the time; Ida Belle is the widow of George Fiske and resides at Chandler, Oklahoma; and Artie is the wife of Edward A. Bacon, of Centralia, Washington.

In his native county Joseph L. Rogers was reared to the age of fourteen years and there he acquired his early education in the district schools. At the age noted he accompanied his parents on their removal to Cherokee County, Kansas, where his father repeated. his experiences as a pioneer farmer, the family home being there estab- lished for many years. He continued to attend school at such times as his services were not demanded in con- nection with the work of the home farm, and when twenty years of age he went to Chautauqua County, Kansas, where he continued his identification with agricultural pursuits until 1889, when he became one of the pioneers in Oklahoma Territory, as previously stated. At Chandler he engaged in the grocery and feed business, and there he continued operations until the Cherokee Strip was thrown open to settlement, in 1893, when he made the run into this new country and filed claim to his present homestead, which he has developed into one of the excellent farms of Pawnee County, the rev- enues from the same being materially augmented by the leases which he had made in connection with the oil development work in this section. There is one produc- ing oil well on the farm at the present time, and in addition to his general farm industry Mr. Rogers oper ates each season his two modern threshing outfits, with which he covers a wide area of country and does a profitable business. At Cleveland, Pawnee County, Mr. Rogers operated a cotton gin and corn mill until the line of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad was extended through that place, when the railroad com- pany condemned his property for its use and purchased the same. Mr. Rogers has devoted one year to railroad contract work since he established his residence on his present homestead, which he now gives over largely to the raising of excellent grades of live stock. He was associated with the Canfield brothers in the organization of the Jennings State Bank and was its first president. This was the first bank in the village and he assisted materially in its development and upbuilding, though he has since disposed of his interest in the same. Mr. Rogers has served in various township offices since he established his residence in Pawnee County, and is one of the influential representatives of the democratic party in this county.

On the 25th of December, 1878, Mr. Rogers married Miss Marian M. Rawlings, who was born in Jackson County, Illinois, on the 4th of March, 1859, a daughter of David and Sarah (Carr) Rawlings, both of whom were born in the State of Tennessee, their marriage hav- ing been solemnized in Illinois, and the closing period of their lives having been passed in Ripley County, Mis- souri. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers became the parents of four children, of whom only the firstborn is living, William M., who resides upon and has practical charge of the home- stead farm of his father. He wedded Miss Laura Will and they have six children, Manila, Chelsea, Robert, Iris, Laura May, and Leon. Bertha, the second child of

Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, died at the age of eighteen months; Pollie died at the age of four months; and Callahan died at the age of four years.

W. B. ALLEN of Bartlesville has practiced law in Washington County for the past fifteen years, thoughi a part of that time was spent in school work and he is well known in Northern Oklahoma in educational circles and still keeps an active interest in that department of public affairs. His own education was secured only through hard and constant labor and sacrifice, and it is probable that his remembrance of his own early struggles has been the cause of devoting himself so zealously to higher standards of public school training. He is one of the prominent and capable members of the Wash- ington County bar and has handled a very high class and important practice.

He was born in Franklin County, Kansas, May 20, 1868, a son of William J. and Charlotte (Stith) Allen, both of whom are natives of Tennessee, but were mar- ried at Petersburg, Illinois. In 1862 William J. Allen enlisted in the One Hundred and Fourteenth Regiment of Illinois Infantry, took part in the Vicksburg cam- paign, and in 1864 was in the expedition sent after General Forrest. At Guntown, Mississippi, he was wounded, his hip bone being broken, and falling into the hands of the enemy he was confined in Cahaba Prison until the close of the war, when he returned to Illinois. The next year he removed to Kansas, located on a farm in Franklin County, went from there in 1872 to Chau- tauqua County, and continued farming until his death in 1895 at the age of sixty-one. His family were whigs in early American politics, and he gave his constant and loyal support to the republican organization. His wife, who was born in 1841, died at the age of fifty years. Of their six sons and four daughters, three sons and one daughter are now deceased, and W. B. Allen was fourth in order of birth.

With an early training on the home farm and in the district schools of Kansas W. B. Allen at the age of twenty entered upon his career as teacher. Most of his education in the meantime had come from study during spare times between farm duties, and when he became a teacher he entered upon his work with an enthusiasm and understanding that brought a high appreciation to his service. He taught for ten years in the country schools, then for five years was a salesman for a whole- sale house on the road, and with the means he had thus accumulated he took up the study of law at Fort Scott. Kansas, in the office of Judge J. D. Hill. Admitted to the bar in 1899, after two years of practice at Fort Scott Mr. Allen located at Dewey, Oklahoma, in 1901. Dur. ing 1901-02 he was superintendent of schools at Dewey and for the following year taught and served as super intendent at Pryor. Then came two years in the Towr of Talala, but in 1905 he returned to Dewey and resumed practice. In 1914, in order the better to attend to his large clientage, Mr. Allen moved to Bartles ville. He is a constant student, keeps fully abreast of the advancements made in his calling, and holds mem bership in the leading legal organizations.

Politically he was a republican until the campaign of 1912, when he became a progressive He is less a party man than a public spirited citizen working for the best interests of his home county and state. While a Dewey he spent three years as a member of the schoo board and was an influential factor in bringing abou the erection of a new high school building at a cost o $40,000, and when this was destroyed by fire anothe structure was erected costing $75,000. The movemen for a new courthouse in Washington County had twic

rie wife Pissouri; de was a EchROR, of fourteen States Em

was ma Panty. Mia, Bor about 18 arrived County, here we John, wh ment an ptree vea sukse quen repointed Renfro, a ho oficial wtil 1900 Haboma

fertile ment: man Chief Borz County This fat in the another Ciril w Maryla

Stat Okla achi the Is

of s

2127

HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

suffered defeat when Mr. Allen was made chairman of the committee. He brought the plan and proposition so forcibly before the people that at the next election an overwhelming majority was given for the new court- house, fully 80 per cent of the votes being in favor of the measure. As city attorney, an office he filled several years, Mr. Allen was fought constantly by the worst element, but stood unflinchingly for a strict euforcement of the law. His own private life has beeu exemplary. He has never touched liquor nor tobacco, has never gambled, and since early manhood has applied himself unceasiugly to the service and duties which have been his lot. He finds his greatest pleasure in his home, and his leisure is usually spent there surrounded by his books and papers. He is also a man of genial fellowship, and is a member of the Masonic fraternity.

In 1897 Mr. Allen married Miss Susie Keefer, who was born at Van Buren, Arkansas, in 1876. Her father, Louis Keefer, now a resident of Bartlesville, was born in Alsace, France, and during the American Civil war served in the Third Wisconsin Cavalry. They are the parents of two children: Ida Grace, born in 1902; and Wendell B., born in 1904.

STRINGER W. FENTON. A small, quiet, unassuming man, with a keen eye, a quick wit, an alert body, muscles of steel and a nerve of iron, such, at a glance, is the chief of police of Cleveland, Oklahoma, the hero of a hundred battles with desperate outlaws, the man whom his friends claim to be the best detective in the United States, Stringer W. Fenton. The criminal history of Oklahoma is one which is crowded with the deeds and achievements of men of courage aud daring, officers of the law who have repeatedly taken their lives in their hands in their endeavors to rid one of the country's most fertile, wealthy and beautiful states of its criminal ele- ment; but in the entire record there is found no oue man whose achievements have overshadowed those of Thief Fenton.

Born June 15, 1865, near Lexingtou, Rockbridge County, Virginia, Chief Feuton comes of fighting stock, his father, Stephen J. Fenton, having been a lieutenant n the famous "Stonewall Brigade," under that intrepid outhern leader, Gen. Thomas J. Jackson, during the Civil war. Lieutenant Fenton was boru at Baltimore, Maryland, and early in life engaged in contracting and building, his work taking him to Virginia, where he as married to Mary E. Enroe, a native of Rockbridge County. In the early '70s he took his family to Colum- ia, Boone County, Missouri, where his death occurred bout 1875, when he was sixty years of age. The mother urvived until August, 1899, and died at Slater, Saline 'ounty, Missouri, aged seventy years. In the family here were seven sons and four daughters, as follows: ohn, who enlisted with his father in a Virginia regi- hent and fought in General Jackson's division, now a esident of Howard County, Missouri; G. S., who served hree years during the Civil war under General Gordon, ubsequently became a pioneer farmer of Oklahoma, was ppointed the first sheriff of Kay County by Governor enfro, and died at Newkirk, Oklahoma; J. H., holding n official position at Pawhuska, farmed in Missouri ntil 1900, when he became a pioneer agriculturist of klahoma; Mary, who died as the wife of the late Jacob romwell, of Saline County, Missouri; Mattie, who is he wife of D. P. Meng, of Marshall, Saline County, fissouri; William, a resident of Elk, New Mexico, where e was a pioneer; Jennie, who is the wife of William [obson, of Kingman, Kansas; R. T. who for the past ourteen years has been connected with the United tates Enforcement Department of Indian Service; Vol. V-24

Stringer W., of this notice; S. P., who is engaged in merchandising at Pawhuska; and Sallie, deceased, who was the wife of J. H. Joues.

Stringer W. Feuton was a child wheu takeu to Missouri, and there he grew to young manhood, attending the district schools and working in a store at Slater during the winter months and spending his summers in working on the farm. When eighteen years of age he went to Kingmau, Kansas, where he was subsequently employed by C. D. Hutchings, George F. Berry & Company and Gillette & Company. At the age of twenty-one years he returned to Missouri for a short time, but returned to Kingman, and remained there, employed as stated, until the opening of the Oklahoma country in 1893, when he decided to try his fortunes in the uew commonwealth. First locating at Newkirk, he subsequently went to Pawhuska, aud after eight years came to Cleveland, in 1903, this city since having been his home.

On his arrival in Oklahoma Mr. Fenton gave his attention to farming pursuits, but it was not loug before his courage, strength and alertuess attracted attention and he was drawn into police work. He became a gov- ernment official in Osage County (theu Osage Reserva- tion) and continued as a deputy United States marshal until the close of Aberuathy's administration. At the time of the attainment of statehood, he was appointed by Governor Haskell a member of the body of meu form- ing the State Euforcement Officers, and continued to hold that position for four years, when he became spe- cial agent for the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad. He resigned iu December, 1912, to go to Mexico, where he passed the wiuter in viewing the iusurrectiou, and on his returu to Cleveland was elected chief of police, an office to which he was reelected iu 1915.

During his long and exciting career, Chief Fenton has passed through many interesting and dangerous ex- periences, of which but a few can be mentioned iu this article. The Martins and Simons, notorious bank and train robbers, had his skill and courage to thank for their capture. One of his notable achievements was the capture of Henry Starr, the bank robber, a feat which illustrates the swiftness with which Chief Fenton works, in that, leaving Bartlesville May 5, 1910, he caught his man at Bouse, Arizona, took him back to Phoenix, in the same state, then to Lamar, Colorado, and arrived in Oklahoma again on the 25th. Another noted capture was that of C. Henry, wanted for the murder of two men, who it was said had five murders behind him, and who, until Chief Fenton got on his trail, had eluded the officers of the law for two years. He has been par- ticularly active and successful in running down boot- leggers and confiscating many carloads of whiskey, an extremely dangerous and difficult work, entailiug de- tective ability of uo small order and clear headed cour- age to offset the criminal desperation of bad men made doubly bad by the alcohol which they have freely sampled while bringing their illegal cargo into the state. It was this indefatigable western Vidocq who rounded up the train robbers at South Coffeyville, and who killed the notorious Ehner McUrday, who held up the Missouri, Kansas & Texas train and robbed it at Okesa, Oklahoma.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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