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 124

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 124

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In 1893, at the opening of the Cherokee Strip, Mr. Key went to Woodward and opened for his firm the first mercantile house in the town. The Key Building and the Post Office Building are two of the most mod- ern business blocks in Woodward or in Western Okla- homa, and that is only two of the many monuments to Mr. Key's personal enterprise and public spirit. His company were among the first to operate a general store and line of lumber yards in this section of Western Okla- homa, and in neary every live and bustling Oklahoma town is to be found tangible evidence of the influence and enterprise of this company. A few years ago the company closed out its mercantile stores and is now confining the business to a line of lumber yards.

Thus, for more than twenty years, Mr. Key has through his individual enterprise and through the com- pany of which he is the active head, been closely identi- fied with the welfare and benefit of Western Oklahoma.

Those who have observed his activities and influence most closely are positive in their assertions and belief that no one has done more to promote the welfare of the Town of Woodward and the schools of Woodward, or the town and school interests of any other place in North- western Oklahoma, where one of the York-Key Lumber Yards is located, than Mr. Key himself. It is said that he has always instructed his men to vote for any measure for the permanent advancement of the town and espe- cially the schools and county roads. He has done this notwithstanding the fact that he had no children of his own to educate and realized that voting for such meas- ure would increase the taxes on his property. That is the quality of public spirit such as few business men can exemplify.

Mr. Key is now living retired in a comfortable home in Galveston, Texas. He is connected with some of the

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

chief fiuancial interests of that city, and is president of the Security Trust Company of Galveston, a three hun- dred thousand dollar corporation; is president of the Gulf Lumber Company of Galveston; vice president of the City National Bank of Galveston; and a director of the American National Insurance Company of Galveston.

SAMUEL ECKER. A great many citizens of Texas County know Samuel Ecker ouly in his capacity of . he was appointed United States Commissioner for the

United States Commissioner and through his active rela- tions as a citizen of Guymon and with the real estate aud loan business there. However, he has had many other experiences, and has traveled about the western world a great deal, has been in many of the most noted mining districts of both North and Central and Southern America, and for two years he was a United States soldier in the Philippine Islands. In fact, he comes of a military family, aud his father gained the rank of colonel in the Confederate army during the war between the states.

He was born June 27, 1872, at 3036 Lucas Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri, a son of Samuel and Margaret (Gerbig) Ecker. His father, who was born in 1837, in France, came along to America at the age of twelve years, locating at New Orleans .. From there he went up the river by steamer to St. Louis, but at the outbreak of the Civil war returned to the South and enlisted in the Confederate army with a Louisiana regiment. He was in active service until the close of hostilities, and was mustered out with the rank of colonel. After the war he returned to St. Louis, and became a hotel man. It was in the hotel business that he was actively engaged until he retired, and many thousands of travelers have known him as a genial and successful boniface. From

St. Louis in 1888 he moved to El Paso, Texas, and was at the head of a hotel there until it burned in 1892. From there he went to Denver, Colorado, conducted a hotel until 1900, and has since lived retired, his home being now in Chicago. In 1865 Samuel Ecker, Sr., mar- ried Miss Margaret Gerbig, who was born in Germany November 20, 1845. Six children were born to their union, two sons and four daughters, namely: Emma Margaret, born February 9, 1886, is now the wife of Major James E. Normoyle of the United States Army and they have one child named Margaret; Anna Laura, born February 12, 1868, is the wife of Eugene C. Morton of Chicago and their one child is named Eugene Ecker; Samuel, Jr .; Helen Marie, horn February 17, 1876, is unmarried and living with her parents in Chicago; Jessie Dorothy, born February 20, 1878. is also at home with her par- ents; Eugene Chester, born December 20, 1880, recently retired from the United States regular army with the rank of second lieutenant.

Samuel Ecker, Jr., was reared and educated in his native city of St. Louis, and completed his education in the Christian Brothers College. After that he spent four years in Mexico, in the gold mines of that country. He continued his adventurous life in the Latin Ameri- can Republic by a prospecting tour through Central and South America, but finally returned to the States and was living at Pueblo, Colorado, at the outbreak of the Spanish-American war. At the first call for volunteers he enlisted in Company A of the First Colorado Regi- ment, United States Volunteer Infantry. He was mus- tered in May 1, 1898, the day of Dewey's great victory in Manila Bay, and soon afterwards sailed as a private on June 15th for the Philippine Islands. He was gone two years, and participated in many of the campaigns which finally brought about the subjugation of the Fil- ipinos and eventually returned with his command to San Francisco, where he was mustered out in September, 1900. At that time he was regimental sergeant major.

After leaving the army Mr. Ecker engaged in the real estate and oil business in Indiana for three years. In 1903 he came to Oklahoma, was at Oklahoma City for several years, and during 1905-06 was au assistant secre- tary to the secretary of the State School Land Com- mission. In 1907 he located at Guymon, and with that city he has since been closely identified not only as a business mau but as an upbuilder of the town. In 1910

Western District of Oklahoma. Politically he has always been active as republican, and for six years has been chairman of the Texas County Central Committee. Fra- ternally he is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner and also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He and his family are mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

On December 25, 1907, at Guthrie, Oklahoma, Mr. Ecker married Miss Joan Massey. She was born in Marshall County, Kansas, August 14, 1883, a daughter of John and Said (Allen) Massey, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Illinois. Her parents came to Logan County, Oklahoma, at the original opening on April 22, 1889, and her father and mother arc now living retired in Guthrie. Mr. and Mrs. Ecker have one child, Helen Marie, who was born at Guymon, March 4, 1909.

WILLIAM H. LEWIS, of Laverne has been a partici- pant in the pioneer activities of two states, Kansas and Oklahoma. He came to Oklahoma with the opening of the Cherokee strip in 1893, and for many years was a factor in business and public affairs in old Woods County. He moved to Laverne with the opening of that town, as is now proprietor of the Laverne Electric Light, Ice and Power Company.

Still a comparatively young man, with all the vigor of his prime, he was born August 22, 1870, at New Waterford, Ohio, a son of Stephen and Mary (Schrum) Lewis. His father, who is now living retired at Alva, Oklahoma, is a veteran of the Civil war, having been for three years a member of the Twelfth Ohio Infantry under the late President William McKinley, who was a major in that regiment. Stephen Lewis was born in Indiana April 5, 1836, and in 1859 was married in Ma- honing County, Ohio, to Miss Mary Ann Schrum. She was born in Mahoning County, Ohio, April 10, 1838, a daughter of Joseph Schrum, a native of Germany. She died at Alva, Oklahoma, September 14, 1900. Through practically all her years she was a devoted member of the Christian Church. There were ten children, six sons and four daughters namely: Myron, now deceased; Ollie, the wife of Henry Moore, of Ellsworth, Kansas; Rhoda, wife of W. S. Kessler, a retired farmer at Guthrie; Wil- liam H .; Ida, wife of John G. Smith of Alva, Oklahoma; Frank J., farmer at Waynoka, Oklahoma; Charles F. of Beaver, Oklahoma; Elmira, wife of Christopher Web- ber, a merchant at Alva; Clark and Arthur, both of whom are merchants at Canadian, Texas.

In 1876, when Wiliam H. Lewis was six years old, his parents removed to Russell County, Kansas, where his father took up a tract of Government land. Later they went to Fort Kit Carson, Colorado, where at the age of twelve years William participated in a buffalo hunt. About the same time he made a 300 mile horseback ride back to civilization in Kansas. The first school he ever attended was at Bunker Hill, Kansas, where he entered as a student at the age of fourteen. After attending there one year he entered the law office as office boy of Judge Jamcs Lewis, an uncle, at Scotia, Nebraska. Having read law three years he was admitted to the Nebraska bar, but has never followed the law as a profession.

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

With all these varied activities and experiences William H. Lewis lived the first twenty-three years of his life, and was about that age when in 1893 he participated in the opening of the Cherokee strip in Oklahoma. He secured a claim in the southwest portion of Woods County, and remained there to develop a good farm and cultivate it for ten years. During the following three years he conducted a real estate business, and also had a grocery store at Alva, of which city he was a resident until 1912. Then with the opening of the new town- site of Laverne he joined his fortunes with a new community, and took an active part in one of Okla- homa's leading agricultural industries by buying and shipping broom corn on a large scale. In 1915 he se- cured a franchise for an electric system in Laverne, built the plant, and gave that town the first electric light service in that section of the state. In 1915 Mr. Lewis increased his public utility by the erection of a modern building in which he installed an eight ton ice plant. The business is now conducted under the firm name of W. H. Lewis & Son. Fraternally Mr. Lewis is an Odd Fellow.

On March 18, 1894, at Alva, Oklahoma, he married Miss Marcie Keith, who was born in Kentucky in 1878, a daughter of Rev. E. R. Keith of Courtland, Kansas, also a native of Kentucky, and Mrs. Lewis is a niece of the late Governor Gobel of Kentucky. The one son of their union is Elmer Reed Lewis, who was born at Alva No- vember 3, 1896, was educated in the Alva public schools, graduating from high school at the age of sixteen, and is now actively associated with his father in business.

JAMES GEORGE WRIGHT. Peculiar qualities are de- manded in those dealing with the Government wards, the Indians. Not only must a man be capable, but he has to understand the Indian character and while proving him- self their friend, impress upon them the dignity of the government. J. George Wright, formerly commissioner of the Five Civilized Tribes at Muskogee, Oklahoma, and later superintendent of the Osage Indian Agency at Paw- huska, Oklahoma, is one of the most efficient of the Government's trusted officers.

Mr. Wright was born at Naperville, DuPage County, Illinois, January 8, 1860, being the son of the late James G. Wright and Almira (Van Osdel) Wright, pio- neers of Naperville. The father a farmer and banker, a strong republican, was postmaster under President Lincoln and served six terms in the State Assembly of Illinois and later as United States Indian Agent at the Rosebud Reservation in Dakota.

J. George Wright attended the public school and the Northwestern College at Naperville, Illinois. In 1883 he was appointed clerk of the Rosebud Indian Agency, in Dakota, where his father was Indian agent, and later was made agent in charge. Showing marked abil- ity and tact in handling these Sioux Indians, he was in 1889 appointed United States Indian agent of the agency by President Harrison upon the recommendation of Gen. George Crook and others, and though a repub- lican he was reappointed by President Cleveland. In 1896 he was appointed United States Indian inspector by Presi- dent Cleveland, reappointed by President Mckinley and President Roosevelt, serving in such capacity until 1907, and during most of this period he had the superin- tendency of Indian matters in Indian Territory with the exception of the allotments of land.

In 1907 he was appointed as commissioner of the Five Civilized Tribes in Oklahoma. In 1914, by an act of Congress, this office was abolished by its consolidation with the office of superintendent and Mr. Wright was appointed to his present position as superintendent of

the Osage agency and assumed its duties in February, 1915, with headquarters at Pawhuska.

A man of marked ability, thoroughly conversant with all matters pertaining to the care and supervision of the Indians, Mr. Wright has served the Government faith- fully and acceptably for a period of thirty-three years.

WILLIAM S. MATHEWS. Among the prominent men of the Osage Tribe during the last half century probably none was more distinguished for his personal individual- ity and his varied service in business and public affairs than William Shirley Mathews, who died at his home in Pawhuska March 15, 1915, at the age of sixty-six years and six months. To the modern City of Pawhuska Judge Mathews was perhaps best known as a banker, but during his long residence in the Osage country had filled nearly all the important posts of honor and respon- sibility in the tribal government, and possessed that strength of character, judgment and ability which made him a natural leader of his people.

The mother of Judge Mathews was a half-blood Osage Indian, and this fact accounts for his member- ship in the tribe and also his primary qualification for the various honors which he received at the hands of his people. William Shirley Mathews was born near the old Creek Agency near Muskogee September 15, 1848. His father was born in Kentucky but in the early days moved to Indian Territory, and was long identified with the Osage tribe, at first in Kansas near Oswego, and later in the Indian Territory. The ancestry of this branch of the Mathews family extends back to Judge Mathews' great-great-grandfather, John Math- ews, who served as a sergeant in General Washington's army during the Revolution. Judge Mathews' mother was also of prominent stock. She was a daughter of William Shirley Williams, of Vermont, who discovered and named Williams' Peak in the moutains of Colorado.

Up to the beginning of the Civil war the Mathews fam- ily resided near Oswego, Kansas, and Judge Mathews gained his early education at the hands of the Jesuits in charge of the old Osage Mission where the present town of St. Paul, Kansas, is located. During the war the family removed to Texas, but after its close Judge Mathews came to Indian Territory and worked as a cattle herder in the Cherokee Nation. He was employed by a number of the big cattle outfits of Texas, and frequently took cattle over the trails through Indian Territory to Kansas, his most frequent route being the old military trail that passed through Fort Gibson,

From 1874 until his death Judge Mathews was a resi- dent of Pawhuska, the old capital of the Osage Nation. It should be remembered that Pawhuska was in no sense a city at that time nor for many years afterwards, since the real municipal history of that community covers hardly more than ten years. The first two years he spent at Pawhuska was in the employ of Isaac T. Gibson, the old Indian agent. He was also interested in cattle ranch- ing until an injury resulting from a fall and causing the injury of one leg caused him to give up ranching and he finally turned his energies almost altogether to banking. He was one of the original founders of the Osage Mercantile Company, and also helped organize the First National Bank at Pawhuska, but subsequently sold his stock in that institution, He was one of the organizers of the First State Bank at Hominy and the bank at Grayhorse, but disposed of his interests in those towns when he organized what is now the Citizens National Bank at Pawhuska. This was organized in August, 1905, and he became its first president. After the reorganization of the bank in 1909, Judge Mathews remained one of its directors until his death.

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Pawhuska had no more public spirited and enterpris- ing citizen in promoting its general upbuilding than Judge Mathews. He was always generous of his time and meaus to forward improvements in which he believed, and was also willing to serve in public offices that meant only work and neither compensatiou nor any special honor. For two terms he was a member of the city council, and at the time of his death was serving as a member of the board of education. Earlier, in the Osage tribe, he filled the office of national treasurer from 1882 to 1886. From 1890 to 1892 he was chief justice of the Osage Nation, and from 1894 to 1896 was national attorney. He was also a member of the national council several times before allotment and twice afterward. The tribe frequeutly chose him to look after the interests of the nation in Washington. He was a man of strict and rigid integrity, and commanded the respect of all who knew him or had business rela- tions with him. Judge Mathews was deeply interested in Osage history and tribal affairs, aud was regarded as one of the authorities whose knowledge of Osage annals was almost enclyclopedic.

Judge Mathews was affiliated with Pawhuska Lodge No. 31, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and his family were members of the Catholic Church. At his funeral the service was preached by the pastor of the local Catholic Church, and as a tribute to his long and useful life the public schools and various business houses closed their doors. Judge Mathews was married April 11, 1887, to Miss Eugenia Girard. Mrs. Mathews, who is still living at Pawhuska, was born in Missouri and is of French ancestry. Her five children are also still living, namely : Sarah Josephine, John Joseph, Marie Imogene, Lillian Bernard and Florence Julia.

RALPH E. CAMPBELL, whose commission as United States district judge for the eastern district of Okla- homa commenced in November, 1907, was born in Butler County, Pennsylvania, May 9, 1867. His parents were Washington and Ann Eliza Campbell. Judge Campbell received his degrees of B. S. from the Indiana Normal University in 1891, A. B. from the same institution in 1892, and LL. B. from the University of Kansas, in 1894. For several years he had a leading couuection with the legal department of the Colorado, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad, being its assistant general solicitor at South McAlester, Indian Territory, and at Little Rock, Arkan- sas, from 1895-1901, and general solicitor of that cor- poration in Oklahoma Territory during 1901-03. From 1905 to 1907 he was engaged in general practice at South McAlester, in the fall of that year being appointed to the . Federal bench, his commission dating from the following January and his headquarters being Muskogee.

FRANK DALE. One of the leading lawyers and jurists of the Southwest, Frank Dale, of Guthrie, is a native of Illinois, born in DeKalb County, November 26, 1849. He laid the basis of his education in the public schools of Leland, Illinois, and settled at Wichita, Kansas, in 1872. Four years later he was admitted to the bar in that city and iu 1880-05 served as prosecuting attorney for Wichita and Sedgwick counties. Judge Dale was ap- pointed register of the United States land office at Wichita, 1885, and held the position until 1889, when he moved to Guthrie, Oklahoma. He then and there resumed practice; from May to September, 1893, was associate justice of the Territorial Supreme Court and chief justice, from 1893-98. At the conclusion of his judicial term, he continued the practice of his profession, being a member of the law firm, Dale & Bierer, of Guthrie.

JESSE J. DUNN. Although comparatively a young man during his activities in Oklahoma, Judge Dunn made a decided impress upon both the territory aud the state. He was born in Channahon, Illinois, October 2, 1867, the son of James McCann and Alta F. (Lewis) Dunn. Judge Dunn obtained his higher education at the Illinois State Normal School, the Garden City (Kansas) Business Col- lege and the University of Kansas, graduating from the last named in 1893 with the degree of LL. B. He served as county attorney of Woods County, Oklahoma Territory from 1896-1900; was chairman of the democratic terri- torial committee in 1904, aud as chairman of the demo- cratic state committee in 1906 conducted the campaigu for the election of delegates to the constitutional con- vention and wrote the platform on which the contest was waged. His term as associate justice of the state Supreme Court commenced in 1907 and concluded in 1913. He resigned as chief justice iu 1908. After his retire- ment from the Supreme bench Judge Dunn moved to Oakland, California, where he is now practicing his profession.

ROBERT MCINTYRE. The late Robert MeIntyre, Methodist Episcopal bishop of Oklahoma, was born at Selkirk, Scotland, November 20, 1851. He graduated from Vanderbilt University, Tennessee, in 1877, and received his D. D. degree from the University of Denver. In 1878 Bishop MeIntyre was ordained to the Methodist ministry and served as pastor of churches at Easton, Marshall, Charleston, Urbana and Chicago, Illinois; at Denver, Colorado, and Los Angeles, California. His active ministry was concluded in 1908, when he was elected bishop of Oklahoma. From that time virtually until his death at Chicago, August 31, 1914, he ably served the church in that capacity, with headquarters at Oklahoma City. Bishop McIntyre was an able writer, as well as preacher and administrator of church affairs. Among his literary productions he was the author of the poems "At Early Candle Light" (1899) and "A Modern Apollos" (1900).

TAMS BIXBY. Although preferring to be known simply as a "newspaper man," Tams Bixby has left a decided impress on both Indian Territory and Oklahoma State. He is a Virginiau, born at Staunton, December 12, 1855, but was educated in the public schools of Red Wing, Minnesota. Mr. Bixby entered the newspaper field early in life, and became a leading republican of the state. In 1888-9 he served as secretary of the railroad and warehouse commission of Minnesota and has acted as private secretary of three governors-William R. Mer- riam, in 1889-92; Knute Nelson, in 1892-6; and David M. Clough, in 1896-7. Throughout these periods, he had been acquiring leadership in the field of journalism and in 1896 became editor and proprietor of the Red Wing (daily) Republican. In 1888-9, or the year previous to becoming the gubernatorial secretary, Mr. Bixby served as secretary of the railroad and warehouse commission of Minnesota, and at various times was chairman of the republican county committee, secretary of the state repub- lican league and secretary and chairman of the republican state central committee of Minnesota.

Mr. Bixby's record as a factor in the development of the southwestern county commenced in 1897 when he was appointed a member of the commission of the Five Civ- ilized Tribes of the Indian Territory. He served as chairman of that body from the year named until 1905 and was a member of the commission for two years there- after. He was general manager of the Pioneer Press Company of St. Paul in 1907-9, and since the latter year has been editor and proprietor of the Daily Phoenix, at Muskogee.

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CHARLES D. CARTER. The congressman from the third Oklahoma district was long identified with the govern- mental and educational affairs of the Chickasaw Nation before he entered national politics. He was born near Boggy depot, at the old fort in the Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, August 16, 1868, and is the son of . Winsor and Serena Josephine (Guy) Carter. Mr. Carter was educated in the district schools and at the Chickasaw Manual Labor Academy, Tishomingo, Indian Territory, and in December, 1891, married Miss Gertrude Wilson, of Ardmore, who died in January, 1901. Until 1892 he worked on a ranch and clerked in a store, and in the year named became auditor of public accounts of the Chickasaw Nation, holding that office for two years. From 1894 to 1896 he served as superintendent of schools for the Indian Territory; was a member of the Chickasaw Council in 1897, and in 1900-04 mining trustee of the territory. From June to December, 1906, he was secre- tary of the first democratic executive committee for the proposed State of Oklahoma, and in 1907 commenced his terms of service as congressman from the third district which will cover the sixtieth to the sixty-fourth con- gresses, inclusive, and conclude with the year 1917. Since 1905 he has been a member of the Carter & Cannon Fire Insurance Company, Ardmore, and is a director of the City National Bank of that place. He is a leading Methodist and identified with Masonry and the order of Elks, having served as exalted ruler in the latter organi- zation.

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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