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 13

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 13

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who lent their influence to the establishment of prohibi- tion in Kansas. In general politics he was a republican, was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1869 the father married for his second wife Amelia Wright of Peru, Illinois. By this marriage there were three sons and one daughter, Olin W. Meacham is the only survivor of the first marriage, two children having died in infancy.

In 1874, when eighteen years of age, Olin W. Meacham left home and went to Marion, Kansas. In the meantime he had acquired a common school education. At Marion he was associated with E. W. Hoch, who a few years ago filled the distinguished position of Governor of Kansas. Mr. Hoch at that time had a printing office at Marion, and the two young men "bached" in the little building which served as an office and home. Mr. Meacham be- sides doing his share of the work around the printing office also performed the cooking, and on Sundays made the little office an impromptu barber shop. There was no regular barber in the town and he shaved most of the men who needed or wanted such service. He was associated with Mr. Hoch for a year and a half and employed his razor to good effect when Hoch celebrated his marriage.

He afterwards went to Augusta, Kansas, and worked on the Southern Kansas Gazette eight years. From there he went to Leon, and in 1881 married Olive L. Chambers, who was born in Missouri and was reared chiefly iu Kansas. After his marriage Mr. Meacham returned to Augusta, conducted a paper for some time, later bought the Leon Quill and after selling that property moved to Greensburg in Kiowa County, where he managed the Kiowa County Times 21/2 years. Then he was again in Augusta, where he managed the Augusta News, this later becoming the Industrial Advocate, and the plant was afterwards sold and moved to El Dorado, Kansas.

Mr. Meacham came to Oklahoma City in 1890, and was made foreman of the Daily Evening Gazette, being connected, with that pioneer newspaper three years. From there he went to Norman to take charge as editor and manager of the Norman Transcript in 1893. He was with that journal three years. In 1896 he went to Shawnee, and with J. E. Queen established the Shawuee Quill. After 21/2 years this paper was sold, and Mr. Meacham was then foreman on the Vinita Leader until 1900.

In that year he gave up journalism and associated with G. F. Clarke and-Lake Moore chose and laid out the townsite of Henryetta. This town had its practical beginnings in March, 1900, and in September Mr. Meacham was appointed postmaster, succeeding Ed Ray, who had filled the office for about two months. For thirteen years he had full charge of the local postal service, from September, 1900, until July, 1913. When he took charge of the office the mail was kept in a cracker box, but when he left it thirteen years later the office was one feature of a thriving little city, and the fixtures alone were worth $2,500. He left it as a third class office, and in the meantime had given a service which was beyond criticism and which made him many strong personal friends in spite of politics. In fact, though he was a republican and living in a democratic com- munity, a large number of his political opponents peti- tioned for him to keep the postoffice. From September, 1913, to February, 1914, he was in the banking business at Dewar, Oklahoma, and has also been identified with insurance. For one year after leaving the postoffice lie was local editor of the Free Lance, but in 1915 was elected mayor, and is now giving most of his attention to that office. Henryetta's normal political complexion is about 400 democrats to 200 republicans, but he was elected on the republican ticket as mayor by a majority of 103.

Mr. Meacham served as secretary-treasurer of the Henryetta Townsite Company, and was also identified with the Kusa Townsite Company. A number of years ago (1895) he assisted Professor Amos in organizing the State Historical Society. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and Knight of Pythias, also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and is an elder in the Christian Church.

Mr. Meacham has two daughters: Bertha I., who is the wife of James Hawes of Henryetta and their children are named Olive Vermelle and James. Mary Vermelle, Mr. Meacham's younger daughter, has been connected with the Henryetta High School for the past eight years, and for four years was its principal.

DELANY G. ROGERS, of Buffalo, Oklahoma, has been an early settler in both the States of Kansas and Okla- homa. In fact, he has lived nearly all his life close to the frontier and in intimate touch with the people and the activities of a new country. Mr. Rogers only recently retired from the office of postmaster at Buffalo, a position he had held for a number of years. His chief vocation

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in life has been farming and stock raising, and it is the testimony of his friends and neighbors that whatever he does he does well.

His birth occurred in a log house on a farm in Jeffer- son County, Indiana, on April 6, 1862. His birth occurred while his father was away fighting the battles of the Union in the Civil war. His parents were Gamaliel and Lydia (Lewis) Rogers. His father was born Novem- ber 17, 1840, in Jefferson County, Indiana, and was still a very young man when the war broke out. He served three years as a private in Company C of the Sixth In- diana Infantry, but with the exception of that service has spent all his active life as a farmer. From Indiana he moved out to Kansas in 1886, locating on government land in Clark County. That was his home for six years, after which he spent two years in Mead County, then returned to Clark County for eight years, and finally moved to Texas County, Missouri, where he still has his home. He has now reached the age of three quarters of a century, and has lived so usefully he can enjoy the com- forts of retired existence. In 1858 Gamaliel Rogers mar- ried Lydia Lewis who was also born in Jefferson County, Indiana, August 17, 1840. To their marriage were born ten children, four sons and six daughters, uamely: Flo- rence, born December 5, 1860, was married in 1880 to Merritt M. Cosby and they now reside at Protection, Kansas; Delany G., who was the second in order of birth; Willis born in 1864 and died in 1885; Jessie, born in 1868, was married in 1888 to Charles Pauley, and they now live at Oklahoma City; John Belle, born in 1870, is now an osteopathic physician at Hastings, Oklahoma, and in 1905 she became the wife of Charles Morrison; Celia, born in 1872, married in 1910 Mr. L. Dees, and they now live at Rosston, Oklahoma; Samuel Nicholas, born in 1874, is a farmer in Harper County, Oklahoma; Tena, born in 1876, was married in 1908 to Charles Sworkey and they now live at Norman, Oklahoma; Pearl, born in 1878 was married in 1905 to William and they live in Beaver County, Oklahoma.

It was on a farm in Jefferson County, Indiana, that Delany G. Rogers spent his early youth. He had the advantages of the local public schools. The discipline of farm work gave him a rugged constitution, and an experience which he has utilized in his own active career. In 1884 he moved out to Clark County, Kansas, and secured a tract of Government land in a district which at that time had very few agricultural and permanent settlers. Mr. Rogers lived in Kansas until 1899, and in the meantime had improved an excellent farm there. In the latter year he moved to old Woodward County, Okla- homa, and again acquired a homestead, situated two miles from the Town of Buffalo. While Mr. Rogers' activities have kept him in town for a number of years, he still owns considerable land and has most of it under improve- ment.

On February 23, 1907, he was appointed postmaster of Buffalo, and continued the incumbent of the office through two terms until February 23, 1915. He is an active republican, is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church.

On October 16, 1884, at Taylorsville, Indiana, Mr. Rogers married Miss Isabelle Phillips, daughter of Madison and Mary (Wallace) Phillips. Mrs. Rogers was born June 11, 1860, in Jefferson County, Indiana, and her parents were natives of the same state. It will be recalled that Mr., Rogers left Indiana and went out into the new country of Kansas in 1884. He made that trip as his wedding journey, being accompanied by his young bride, and they journeyed across the country by wagon and team, like some of their pioneer ancestors who had

come from a point still further east to the region of the Ohio Valley. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers are the parents of seven children, four sons and three daughters, namely : Ora Lawrence, born August 14, 1885, now the wife of Irwin Baker of Ashland, Kansas; Madison Gamaliel, born May 25, 1888, and still living at Buffalo; Estella Iris, born March 10, 1890, was married in 1908 to Pirl Baker, and they now live at Protection, Kansas; Alta Rachel, born February 19, 1892; William McKinley, born May 10, 1894; John, born February 14, 1896; and Edward Taft, born August 20, 1907, died July 20, 1908.

WILLIAM C. PENDERGRAFT, M. D. The most enlight- ened tenets of medical and surgical science have found expression in the career of Dr. William C. Pendergraft, a general practitioner of Hollis, Harmon County, since 1902, a leading and progressive factor in business and financial circles, and a potent influence in advancing the civic interests of Hollis and the welfare of its people. He was born in Polk County, Missouri, September 22, 1864, and is a son of Joseph A. and Irene (Self) Pender- graft, and a member of a family which, originating in Germany, emigrated to England, came thence to America in colonial days, and from its original settlement in New York went during the pioneer days to Tennessee.

Joseph A. Pendergraft was born in 1838, in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, and as a young man went to Polk County, in the same state, where he was married and where he subsequently engaged in farming and stock- raising. Later he went to Arkansas and continued his agricultural operations until removing to Western Texas, where he lived on a ranch until 1899, and in that year came to Hollis, Oklahoma, and lived a retired life until his death in 1913. While a resident of Missouri, during the war between the states, Mr. Pendergraft enlisted in the Confederate army and served four years under Price and Shelby, and toward the close of the struggle was taken prisoner and confined in a Federal prison until peace was proclaimed. He was a stalwart democrat in his political views, and a lifelong member of the Chris- tian Church, in which he served as elder for many years. He was married in Polk County, Missouri, to Miss Ireue Self, who was born in Tennessee, in 1835, and died in Polk County, Missouri, in 1878, and they became the parents of six children, as follows: L. J., who is the widow of J. N. Hofman, a farmer, and resides in New Mexico; L. E., deceased, who was the wife of W. H. Hofman, also deceased, who was a mechanic in the employ of the Frisco Railroad Company for a period of forty years; S. E., who is the wife of R. C. Hodges, a farmer and stockman of Hollis, Oklahoma; J. M., who is an agriculturist of Harmon County; James C., who died in infancy; Mary E., who is the wife of M. C. Dodd aud resides on the old homestead in Polk County, Missouri; and Dr. William C., of this review.

William C. Pendergraft received a graded and high school education in his native county, and after some preparation entered the Missouri Medical College, at St. Louis, Missouri, which he attended two years. He next entered the St. Louis College of Physicians and Surgeons, from which he was graduated in 1892, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, and since that time, in 1915, has taken a post-graduate course at the Chicago Post-Graduate Medical School. Doctor Pendergraft en- tered upon the practice of his calling at Pleasant Hope, Missouri, where he continued to maintain his office until 1898, in that year going to a larger field at Springfield, in the same state, that being his place of residence until 1901. Coming next to Hollis, Oklahoma, he soon at- tracted to himself a large and representative practice, and has continued to make this thriving community his

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field of labor, his offices now being located in the Hollis Drug Company 's building on Broadway, corner of Main Street. His practice is broad and general in its lines, and professionally he may be said to belong to the eman- cipated class whose mind is open to light and who sanction the beliefs of the past only insofar as they are in harmony with the greater progress and enlightenment of the present. In his private practice he has had charge of the welfare of the most representative families of Hollis, and has officiated at the birth of two sets of triplets and one set of quadruplets, the latter born to Mrs. F. M. Keys, of Hollis, June 4, 1915. In this case all four are girls, and it is the only case on record where all four have been of one sex and where all have lived. Aside from his private practice, Doctor Pendergraft is local surgeon for the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad and medical examiner for more than a dozen of the old line life insurance companies. He holds membership in the Harmon County Medical Society, the Oklahoma Med- ical Society and the American Medical Association, and has been health officer of Hollis since the attainment of statehood. Doctor Pendergraft is one of those men who may be said to have chosen well their vocation. Pos- sessed of a kind, sympathetic nature, a keen sense of dis- crimination, and a natural taste for the various branches of his honored profession, he has achieved a signal suc- cess. In politics he is a democrat, and was a member of the First Oklahoma Legislature. With his family he belongs to the Baptist Church. Doctor Pendergraft's fraternal connections are numerous. He belongs to Hol- lis Lodge No. 219, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, in which he has filled all chairs save that of master; Hollis Camp, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he is past grand; Hollis Camp, Woodmen of the World and the Woodmen Circle, of which he is medical examiner; the Modern Woodmen of America, of which he is med- ical examiner; and the Fraternal Union. He belongs also to the Commercial Club. The Doctor has also taken an active part in business affairs and is vice president of the State National Bank of Hollis and of the Hollis Drug Company, Incorporated.

In 1886, at Pleasant Hope, Missouri, Doctor Pender- graft was married to Miss Lena Mayfield, daughter of the late H. B. Mayfield, a farmer, and to this union there have been born three children: one who died in infancy ; Roy L., a senior in the medical department of the Ten- nessee University; and Glen, who belongs to the fresh- man class at the Hollis High School.

JUDGE HENRY M. FURMAN, who died at his home in Oklahoma City in April, 1916, was one of the able lawyers and jurists who helped to mold and formulate the early jurisprudence of the state. From statehood until he had to retire on account of ill health he was one of the judges of the Oklahoma Criminal Court of Appeals.

His valuable services to the Oklahoma judiciary had their best appreciation and description in the words of Judge Thomas H. Doyle, presiding judge of the Criminal Court of Appeals, who was associated with Judge Fur- man as a member of that court from its organization. Judge Doyle has said:

"Judge Henry M. Furman, full of years and full, of honor, has passed from life's labors to his eternal rest. He was an extraordinary man and a lawyer and jurist of rare endowments. His professional learning and abil- ity was not the fruit of any advantages in legal educa- tion, but was founded on his large experience and inexhaustible diligence. In intellectual power he was a giant, and a logician of the highest order, and he was a consummate master of the rhetorical art.

"No judge ever more clearly realized the wide scope, exalted dignity and consequent responsibility of the judi- cial office, and no judge could be more scrupulous in inflexible fairness and impartiality. The force of his noble character and powerful mind is demonstrated by the results of his judicial labors. The value of his services and the high character of his contributions to the development of our criminal jurisprudence will grow in appreciation as years go by.

"Many of his opinions are now published as leading cases, and they have given the progressive criminal jurisprudence of Oklahoma an international reputation. I do not think it would be an extravagant statement to say that among the names of the great judges who adorn the annals of American jurisprudence will be found the name of Henry M. Furman.

"Personally Judge Furman was a kindly, genial, warm hearted man, whose devotion to high ideals, capacity for friendship, high minded patriotism and loyalty to duty and honor could be fully appreciated only by those who knew him intimately. The benevolence of his heart was in full accord with his master mind. I can safely say without disparagement to others that no man in public life in Oklahoma was held in higher esteem by the people of the state than Judge Henry M. Furman."

Judge Furman was a resident of Oklahoma twenty years. He was born in the Village of Society Hill, South Carolina, June 20, 1850, a son of Dr. Richard Furman, a Baptist minister, whose father was the founder of Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina. He acquired his primary education in Greenville and Sumter, South Carolina, spent several years working on a farm, and in 1871 came west, spending a year or so in the office of Judge J. L. Whitaker at New Orleans, and in 1872 going to Texas, where he taught school. In 1874 he was admitted to the bar at Brenham. After a brief practice at Comanche, Texas, he located in Bell County, and in 1876 was elected county attorney. This office he resigned the following year and entered upon the prac- tice of his profession at Fort Worth. There he met Miss Frances Virginia Hutcheson, who, in May, 1879, became his wife, and who with their children, Henry Marshall Furman, Jr., and Miss Florence Furman, survive him. Their married life was an uninterrupted period of mutual love and comfort. In 1890 he moved to Denver, Colo- rado, and there engaged in the practice of law. In 1893 he moved back to Fort Worth. In 1895 he moved to Ardmore, and in 1904 he moved from there to Ada, Indian Territory.

He was the founder of the Masonic Home now located at Darlington, Oklahoma. At the democratic primary preceding the first state clection he received the second highest number of votes for the office of United States senator, but in deference to a resolution passed at a previous meeting of the State Democratic Committee that the senators should be elected one from each of the former territories, he waived his right to the nomina- tion. First appointed in 1908, he was twice elected as a judge of the Criminal Court of Appeals of Oklahoma, which position he held at the time of his death, being presiding judge the first four years of his service.

WILLIAM H. CAMPBELL, M. D. For the greater part of twenty years Doctor Campbell has practiced his pro- fession in old Indian Territory and Oklahoma. He is now in the enjoyment of a substantial business at Hick- ory and has a high standing among Oklahoma medical men.

He was born in Randolph county, Arkansas, November 22, 1872. His great-grandfather was a Scotch-Irishman who came to this country and settled in Tennessee as a pioneer. Doctor Campbell's grandfather was Judge

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Campbell, a native of Tennessee, a farmer by occupation, and a Confederate soldier who lost his life during the struggle between the states. He was shot by an enemy who was hiding in the bushes and was at home when his death occurred. John Stone Campbell, father of Doctor Campbell, was born in Illinois, and died from drowning in Eleven Point River near Pocahontas, Ran- dolph County, Arkansas, September 16, 1915, aged sixty- eight years, six months, twenty-five days. He spent practically all his life in Randolph County, Arkansas, as a farmer and stockman, and during the last two years of the Civil war served in the Confederate ranks and in one battle received a bullet through the thigh. For a number of years he was regarded as a power in local democratic politics and was active both in his town and county affairs. His church was the Christian. John S. Campbell married Mrs. Alcy (Hufstedler) McClain. She was born in Tennessee in 1836 and died in Randolph county, Arkansas, on the old homestead in January, 1901. The children of this marriage were: J. W. Campbell, who is a teacher by profession living at Shreveport, Louisiana; Dr. William H .; T. W. Camp- bell, an attorney at Pocahontas, Arkansas; and J. N. Campbell, a railroad man at Shreveport.

Doctor Campbell acquired a high school education in Randolph County and grew up on his father's farm there until seventeen. He then came with his parents to Erath County, Texas, in 1889, but in 1891 the family returned to Randolph County, Arkansas. While in Erath County Doctor Campbell did some independent farming for himself until 1893, and then re-entered the public schools and remained for a year.

He began his medical studies in the Fort Worth Medi- cal College, now the Fort Worth University, and applied himself industriously to the courses for one year. As an undergraduate he began the practice of medicine in Indian Territory, being located four years at Co- manche, at Rush Springs a year and at Healdton for one year. The years 1903 and 1904 he spent in the J. Marion Sims Medical School of St. Louis, where he was graduated M. D. in 1904. Returning to Indian Territory, he practiced at Lone Grove until the begin- ning of 1907. He then went to New Mexico and prac- ticed in the vicinity of Roosevelt until January, 1910, at which date he came to Oklahoma and located at Ponto- toc. There he carried on a drug business in connection with his private practice for three years. After another year at Mill Creek, in February, 1915, he located at Hickory, where he already has a satisfying practice. His offices are in the H. C. Bowen drug store.

While at Lone Grove he served as health officer, and is a member of the Murray County and the Oklahoma State Medical societies and the American Medical Asso- ciation. At Mill Creek he was a member of the city council. He is a democrat, a member of the Christian Church and affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

While living in Erath County, Texas, in 1892, Doctor Campbell married Mrs. Cordelia (Kennedy) Craig, widow of Frank Craig and daughter of Sabert Kennedy, a Texas farmer, who accidentally shot himself while his daughter Cordelia was an infant. Doctor Campbell and wife have five children: Hallie May, wife of Charles Mosman, who is an oil tank builder and lives at Wilson, Oklahoma; Darrel, wife of W. B. Norman, a farmer near Pontotoc, and they have two children, Delilah and Camilla; Oran, Farris and Jirl D., all of whom are in the public schools at Hickory. Mrs. Campbell had three children by her first husband, Barto, Bertha and Bert Craig. Barto Craig married Miss Anna Holemberg, of

Fort Worth, Texas, and they have one child, Jack Craig, Jr.

JESSE WILLIAM BELL. Since he was seventeen years of age Jesse William Bell has found a sphere of use- fulness and honorable activity as a citizen in Oklahoma. He prospered as a farmer, and has also been in mer- cantile activities and is publisher of one of the leading papers of the county, aud at the present time is serving as postmaster of LaKemp.

He was born in a log house on a farm in Franklin County, Missouri, April 8, 1881, a son of William La- fayette and Amy Lee (Farrar) Bell, both of whom were natives of the same county. His grandparents were Rus- sell and Elizabeth (Caldwell) Bell. Russell Bell was a Confederate soldier during the Civil war, and was captain of a company in the army commanded by General Sterling Price. William Lafayette Bell was born August 20, 1854, and died in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, Septem- ber 29, 1902. His life was spent as a farmer, and in 1898 he came to Oklahoma and his closing years were spent in this state. On June 12, 1873, he married Amy Lee Farrar, who was born in Franklin County, Missouri, July 31, 1854, and is now living at LaKemp. Her parents were Jesse P. and Mary (Bullock) Farrar. He was born in Missouri and she in Ohio. William L. Bell and wife were the parents of eleven children, five sons and six daughters, nine of whom are still living: Edward Russell, who was born April 23, 1874, and is now a farmer in Beaver County, was married in 1896 to Susie E. Hethcock; Birtie E., born February 6, 1876, married in 1908 Samuel McGrath and they now live at Seattle, Washington; Mollie Virginia, born July 12, 1878, in Texas, was married in 1895 to Marion F. Hethcock and they live on a farm in Beaver County; the fourth in age is Jesse William; Thomas Franklin was born September 21, 1884, and lives at May, Washington; Minnie Pearl, born May 18, 1886, and was married in 1912 to Bruce Eslick, and they live in Montana; Drusie was born in 1888 and died iu 1891; Arthur Lafayette, born March 5, 1891, died Jauuary 9, 1916; Ollie Clinton, born Novem- ber 3, 1893, is now a farmer in Baca County, Colorado; Sylvia Mabel, born September 24, 1897, was married in 1915 to Howard Gordon, who is a farmer in Baca County, Colorado; Girtie Lee was born February 3, 1901, and is now with her mother.

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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