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 21

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 21

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DANIEL P. LOWE. The experienced engineer is able to operate noiselessly and smoothly a complicated machine because he understands the power exerted by every minute inanimate part, and it is often a marvelous accomplishment. It is, likewise, a notable achievement when an executive can control wisely and efficiently a great human organization, because, unlike the engineer, it is not possible for him to comprehend fully the capacity of its working parts. The office of a county superintendent of schools is one of honorable but heavy responsibility. In his field there is vital work to be done but not always is he able to find the hidden screw or lift the governing lever, as can the engineer, and only through the knowledge and ripened judgment that long experience has brought about can he satisfy both the public and himself when he assumes the duties pertaining to this office. Beckham County, Oklahoma, in Superin- tendent Daniel P. Lowe has an official thoroughly equip- ped to still further advance the present high standards of the county's educational system, and his untiring efforts are meeting with general approval.

Daniel P. Lowe was born in Cook County, Texas, January 12, 1870, and is a son of J. D. and M. M. (Tittle) Lowe. The Lowe family is of Scotch-Irish descent, early settlement being made in Virginia, from which section they were pioneers in Texas and later a branch settled in Missouri, and in that state the father of Professor Lowe was born, in 1833. From there, in 1859, he moved to Cook County, Texas, where he married M. M. Tittle, who was born in 1838, and to this union six children were born: Joan, who is the wife of Paris Hodge, who is a farmer in Oklahoma; Daniel P .; Janey, who is the wife of J. F. Walker, a farmer near Orr, Oklahoma; Julia, who was the victim of an accident, died at Forestburg, Texas, in her twenty-second year; T. B., who is a farmer and stockman near Sweetwater, Oklahoma; and W. A., who died at Forestburg, Texas, at the age of twenty-five years.

J. D. Lowe in 1873 removed with his family to Mon- tague County. Texas, and from there, in 1907, came to Sweetwater, Oklahoma, where he yet resides, a retired farmer and stockman. During the war between the states he served four years in the Confederate army, enlisting from Texas, in Marsh's Regiment, surviving all the hardships and dangers of that time and returned

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home practically unharmed. He is identified with the democratic party and both he and wife are members of the Christian Church and are people justly held in high esteem.

Daniel P. Lowe began school life in Montague County, Texas, continuing until his graduation from the Ingh school, afterward taking a course in the commercial department of the normal school, some years afterward, in 1905, taking the teacher's course in the Denton Normal School. Beginning educational work in 1897, Mr. Lowe has been almost continuously in this field ever since, in the fall of 1914 coming to Beckham County in his present capacity with eighteen years' of varied educa- tional experience behind him.

At Forestburg, Texas, in 1897, Mr. Lowe had his first teaching experience, remaining there until 1900, after which he taught two years in Fannin County and theu two years in Denton County, when he was recalled to Forestburg and taught there for three more years. In 1907, on the day that Oklahoma became a state, he filed on a claim of 160 acres in Beckham County situated ten miles due north of Texola, later proved up and still owns this property, which has become very valuable. In the same year he began teaching in this county and continued until 1912, when he accepted the position of principal of the high schools of Delhi, Oklahoma, where he con- tinned until November 6, 1914, when he was elected county superintendent of the schools of Beckham County, assuming the duties of this office on July 1, 1915, taking np his residence at Sayre, his offices being in the court- house. Superintendent Lowe has under his care, control and supervision, 72 schools, 130 teachers and 5,000 pupils. In his administration he has proved wise, resourceful and firm and there is great reason for the citizens of this county to be well satisfied with their choice.

At Forestburg, Texas, on December 29, 1900, Mr. Lowe was united in marriage with Miss Josie Wylie, who is a daughter .of J. F. Wylie, who is a retired farmer residing in that city. Professor and Mrs. Lowe have two chil- dren: Fay, who was born January 30, 1912, and D. P., who was born April 3, 1914, both at Delhi, this state.

Although not particularly active in politics, Mr. Lowe has always been firm in his adherence to the principles of the democratic party. He is quite well known in fraternal life, having membership in Erick Lodge No. 327, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Sayre Lodge No. 258, Odd Fellows; and Delhi Camp, Modern Wood- men of America. As a representative educator of the state he is frequently called on for addresses and lectures and is a valued member of both the Beckham County and the Oklahoma State Teachers' associations. Both he and wife are members of the Christian Church.

WILBERT W. BRUNSKILL. A considerable part of the enterprise and energy that have gone into commercial and agricultural development in and about Elgin has been supplied by Wilbert W. Brunskill, president and owner of the Bank of Elgin. Mr. Brunskill is a banker of long experience, having been identified with that business back in Iowa, and is also a large land owner and is identified with several of the most important enterprises at Elgin.

The Brunskills were pioneer settlers in the vicinity of Dubuque, Iowa, where Mr. Brunskill's grandfather, Joseph J., who came from England and first settled in Ohio, located about the time Iowa was admitted to the Union and before any railroads had been constructed to Dubuque. He was identified with the development of the lead mines in that region, and owned some large interests of that kind. He died at Dubugne. It was in Dubuque City that Wilbert W. Brunskill was born April 15, 1877. His father, J. W. Brunskill, who was born at Dubuque in 1848, removed not long after his marriage to Cherokee

County, Iowa, where he was a farmer and also in the grain and general merchandise business. In 1884 he re- moved to Hawarden in Sioux County, Iowa, where he was a hardware, harness and implement dealer, also owned the opera house at the time, and had farming property. In 1902 J. W. Brunskill left Iowa and settled at Bridge- water, South Dakota, on a farm, but since 1907 has been a farmer at Sauk Center, Minnesota. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and of the Masonic fraternity. His wife was Maria Frost, who was born in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1850, and died at Hawarden in Sioux County of that state in 1892. The children now living are: Nettie E., a resident of Petaluma, California; Wilbert W .; Grace M., of Gray Eagle, Minnesota; and J. William, who is with his father at Sauk Center, Minnesota.

Most of his early schooling Wilbert W. Brunskill ac- quired in the public schools of Hawarden, Iowa, where he was graduated from the high school with the class of 1894. He had already become connected with the Northwestern State Bank of Hawarden, and was assistant cashier in that institution until 1900. That year he became vice president of the Bank of Chatsworth, Iowa, but in 1906 removed to Elgin, Oklahoma, and for the past ten years has made himself one of the leading factors in the development of that town. On coming to Elgin he bought the Bank of Elgin, but sold out in 1908, and the following six years were spent in other local affairs. In February, 1914, he again acquired the sole ownership of the bank, and both during his former ownership and at present has been president. The Bank of Elgin was established in 1902 as a state bank by J. A. Butler and F. R. Dykeman. Its building, situated on Main Street, was erected in 1902. While Mr. Brunskill is president, the vice president is B. M. Brunskill and the cashier is A. L. Roberts. The bank has a capital stock of $5,000, and surplus of $3,500.

Mr. Brunskill is also secretary and treasurer of the Elgin Farmers Telephone Company, is owner of the Elgin elevator and Elgin flour milling plant, and one of the largest stockholders in the Elgin Bonded Cotton Ware- house Company. His interests as a farmer are extensive, including the supervision of the efforts of a number of tenants who employ his 800 acres situated in Cotton, Co- manche and Garfield counties for diversified agricul- ture. He is a member of the Oklahoma State Bank Asso- ciation and the Oklahoma Grain Dealers Association, has served on the local school board, and in 1915 was elected mayor of Elgin. In politics he is a republican.

At Lyons, Nebraska, in 1900 Mr. Brunskill married Beatrice Coffin, whose father, L. C. Coffin, is a general merchant and. farmer at Elgin, Oklahoma. Four chil- dren have been born to their marriage: Donovan W. is a student in the state university at Norman, where he is specializing in the Spanish language and in music; Hollis W. is in the fourth grade of the Elgin public schools; and the two younger children are Milo S. and James Bonar.

FREDERICK R. DOLSON, M. D. The first physician and surgeon to locate permanently at the new Town of Faxon in Southwestern Oklahoma was Dr. Frederick R. Dolson, who has been identified professionally with that community for the past eight years and has also con- tributed to the commercial life of the village by estab- lishing and maintaining the only drug store. He is other- wise a factor in public affairs and has a large practice and is one of the most useful members of the com- munity.

Born at New Orleans, Louisiana, November 6, 1869, Doctor Dolson has had a life of varied effectfulness and experience. His early schooling was continued only to

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about twelve or thirteen years of age, at which time he went out to the great cattle range of Kansas, and for several years pursued the active and exciting life of a cowboy. He became ambitious for a good education and for a work of more permanent usefulness than that of cattle herder, and while in Kansas he attended night schools at Wichita for six years and also completed a three years' course in a preparatory college conducted by the Adventist Church at Battle Creek, Michigan. In 1898 Doctor Dolson completed his medical course in the Tulane University at New Orleans, where he was grad- uated M. D., and almost immediately after leaving college enlisted for service in the Spanish-American war as a surgeon. He was surgeon on duty at Fort St. Philip at the mouth of the Mississippi two months, was then trans- ferred to the First Army Corps, and sent to Jackson- ville, Florida, two months, then to Savannah, Georgia, and finally to Cuba. His service with the army con- tinued for two years. After this experience as an army surgeon Doctor Dolson practiced medicine at Fort Worth, Texas, from 1900 to 1903, removed to Lawton, Oklahoma, in the latter year, and maintained his office in that city up to 1907, in which year he identified himself with the newly established Town of Faxon. Both his business and reputation have been of growing proportions since locating there, and in 1907 he also opened a drug store now the only enterprise of that kind in the village, situated on Main Street.

Doctor Dolson's grandfather emigrated from England and settled near Chatham, Ontario, Canada, where he was a hardware merchant. He also lived in Louisiana for a time, where his son J. A. Dolson was born in 1838. Doctor Dolson's father died at Frankfort, Indiana, in 1880, having removed to that locality from Louisiana. He was a stock broker by trade, and during the war between the states had served 31% years in a Louisiana regiment in the Confederate army. He was once wounded and taken prisoner. In religion he was a Presbyterian, and was affiliated with the Masonic Order and the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. His wife was Jane Cham- bers, who was born in Ohio, in 1823, and died at Frank- fort, Indiana, in March, 1915. Her children were: Stella, who is the wife of Fred Mash and lives on their farm near Tulsa, Oklahoma; Nettie, who is still living at Frankfort, Indiana; Bessie, who died in 1900 when about twenty-two years of age; John, who is a con- tractor and builder in California; and Doctor Frederick, the youngest.

Doctor Dolson is a democrat, and for the past seven years has been city treasurer of Faxon. He is affiliated with Faxon Lodge No. 534 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is also identified with the various medical organizations. At Lawton in 1908 he married Miss Ida Covell, whose father, Winkell Covell, is a resi- dent of St. Louis, Missouri. They have one son, Jack Woodrow, who was born August 27, 1912.

HON. JERRY C. DULANEY. A representative of the type of citizenship which has been the main factor in the upbuilding and development of the newer towns of Okla- homa is found in the person of Hon. Jerry C. Dulaney, mayor of Devol and proprietor of the only drug establish- ment at this place. Since his arrival here, in 1909, he has identified himself with the best interests of this thriv- ing community, and in his official capacity, in which he has served since 1912, has instituted many reforms and secured numerous advantages which have combined to add to the importance and prestige of his adopted place.

Mayor Dulaney was born February 11, 1864, in Texas, and is a descendant of ancestors who came to America from France prior to the Revolutionary war. From one

of the eastern states members of the family migrated as pioneers to Mississippi, where in 1829 was born the father of Jerry C. Dulaney, William Payton Dulaney. The latter, as a young man of twenty years, moved to Texas and engaged in farming, and continued to be so occupied until 1863. In the meantime he had enlisted in the Home Guards, and was made captain of his com- pany, and in the year mentioned was sent out to hold the hostile Indians in check, taking his family with him. He had reached Weatherford, Parker County, Texas, when he met his death, shot by one of his men for an Indian. In December, 1863, Mrs. Dulaney, who had been born in Mississippi in 1830, at once started back toward Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas, with her children, but ere she could reach there, her child, Jerry C., was born, about two months after his father's death, Mrs. Du- laney bore the maiden name of Lucinda White, and sur- vived her husband many years, dying at Devol, Oklahoma, in January, 1915, when in her eighty-third year. She and her husband were the parents of eight children : T. J., who resides in Harper County, Oklahoma, and is engaged in agricultural pursuits; Susie, who married James Chappell, a farmer of the State of New Mexico; J. N., who carries on farming at Temple, Oklahoma; Sarah, who married S. A. Ritchie, and resides at Paris, Texas, Mr. Ritchie being a carpenter and builder; J. W., the proprietor of a cotton gin at Altus, Oklahoma; J. G., who was a merchant at Paducah, Texas; J. D., who is a carpenter and builder of New Mexico; and Jerry C., of this notice.

Jerry C. Dulaney received his education in the public schools of Texas, which he attended, off and on, until he was twenty-one years of age. He was reared to agricul- tural pursuits, and when he entered upon an independent career started farming in Falls County, Texas, where he remained until 1888. In that year he entered the drug business at Durango, Texas, where he remained three years, subsequently drifting from place to place in Western Texas for two years, and finally coming to Ryan, Oklahoma, where he remained three years as a druggist. Returning to Falls County, for four years he had a pharmacy of his own, and in 1901 returned to Ryan, Oklahoma (then Indian Territory), and con- ducted a drug store until the opening of the Comanche country in the fall of the same year. At that time he obtained a claim south of Temple, Oklahoma, on which he lived until he had proved it, and in 1907 went to Temple and engaged in the grocery business, remaining something more than a year. In 1909 Mr. Dulaney came to Devol and started a drug store, and this has since continued to be the only establishment of its kind in the city. The business is located on Wichita Avenue, where Mr. Dulaney carries an up-to-date line of drug goods of all descriptions, attractively arranged and moderately priced. He has built up an excellent busi- ness through good management and a spirit of progress and enterprise, and is known as one of the substantial merchants of the city. A democrat in his political views, Mr. Dulaney 's well known ability caused him to be chosen by his fellow-citizens for the office of mayor, in 1912, and he still retains that office, his administra- tion having been marked by faithful and efficient per- formance of duty and careful conservation of his city 's interests. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, is an active worker in the Devol Com- mercial Club, and fraternally is affiliated with Lodge No. 548, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is past grand; and Devol Lodge No. 11,823, Modern Woodmen of America, of which he is past venerable consul.

Mr. Dulaney was married in 1896, in Lee County,

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Texas, to Miss Arbie Martin, of Giddings, Texas, daugh- ter of C. M. Martin, who is now a farmer and resides at Devol, Oklahoma. To this union there have been born seven children, as follows: Willie Earl, who died at the age of eighteen months; Ima, who is a freshman at the Devol High School; Ila, who died at the age of eight years; LeRoy, who died at the age of six years; Thelma, who is attending the public schools; and Edna and an infant daughter.

WILLARD R. BLEAKMORE. Prominent among those who are lending dignity and distinction to the bench and bar of the State of Oklahoma is Judge Bleakman, who has served as associate justice of the Supreme Court of this commonwealth, who has been a resident of Oklahoma since 1890 and a representative mem- ber of its bar since 1892.

Judge Bleakmore is a scion of an old and honored family of the historic Old Dominion and takes just pride in reverting to that commonwealth as the place of his nativity. He was born in the City of Rich- mond, Virginia, on the 22d of September, 1872, and is a son of Wylie H. and Mary E. (Goddard) Bleakmore, who now maintain their residence at Ardmore, Okla- homa, where they established their home in 1894 and where the father is a representative merchant and an honored and influential citizen, he having been an able representative of the newspaper fraternity prior to turn- ing his attention to his present line of business enter- prise.

He whose name initiates this review was a boy at the time of his parents' removal to the State of Iowa, where he was reared to maturity and where he duly availed himself of the advantages of the public schools. In 1890, when seventeen years of age, Judge Bleakmore came to the Territory of Oklahoma and established his residence in Oklahoma City, where he studied law under effective preceptorship and where he was admitted to the territorial bar in 1892. He was here engaged in the practice of his profession until 1894, when he removed to Ardmore, now the judicial center of Carter County, where he has since maintained his home save for the time that his official duties on the supreme bench have demanded his presence in the capital city of the state. At Ardmore he was engaged in the active general practice of his profession until his eleva- tion to the bench of the Supreme Court, in 1914, and from 1898 to 1910 he was there a member of the repre- sentative law firm of Cruce, Cruce & Bleakmore. In 1912 Judge Bleakmore was elected county attorney of Carter County, of which office he continued the incum- hent until May 25, 1914, when he was appointed an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the state, to fill out the unexpired term caused by the retirement of Judge Stillwell H. Russell. He continued a zealous, cir- cumspect and valued member of the supreme tribunal of the state until the expiration of the term for which he was appointed, in January, 1915, when he resumed the private practice of his profession at Ardmore, where he retains a substantial and representative clientage.

Judge Bleakmore is prominently identified with the Masonic fraternity, in which, in addition to being affil- iated with the lodge, chapter and commandery bodies of the York Rite, he has received the thirty-second de- gree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, and holds membership in India Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine at Guthrie. In his home city he is affiliated with Ardmore Lodge, No. 648, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Both he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church of Ardmore, and his political allegiance being indicated

by his zealous and effective advocacy of the principles and policies, of the democratic party.

In the year 1892 was solemnized the marriage of Judge Bleakmore to Miss Annie Hazen, daughter of Alonzo E. Hazen, of Oklahoma City, and they have four sons, Frank W., Jack K., Robert and Kenneth.

THOMAS LANE, M. D. A worthy and capable repre- sentative of the medical fraternity of Oklahoma is found in the person of Dr. Thomas Lane, who since 1899 has been engaged in an ever-increasing practice at El Reno. That measure of resource, energy and broad-mindedness which is required of the professional man of today seem to be an integral part of his equipment, and being an enthusiastic and careful thinker, while he' maintains a respect for tradition, he is not afraid of untrod paths, or independent individual effort.

Doctor Lane was born near Springfield, Missouri, August 10, 1858, and is a son of Calvin and Cynthia (Harris) Lane. When he was four years of age his mother died, and only one year later his father passed away, so that he was taken to the home of his grand- parents in Illinois, and by them was reared. His literary education was obtained at Mountain Grove (Missouri) Academy and Blackburn University, Carlinville, Illinois, and thus equipped entered upon a career as an educator, but after four years thus spent turned his attention to the study of medicine, for which profession he had had a predilection from boyhood. He subsequently entered the Missouri Medical College, now the medical department of Washington University, St. Louis, from which he was graduated with his degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1886. He at once entered upon the practice of his profession at Mountain Grove, Missouri, and continued there for fourteen years, building up a very satisfying professional business. In 1899, seeking a wider field for his labors, Doctor Lane came to El Reno, Oklahoma, where he has continued as a practitioner to the present time. Doctor Lane's practice is broad and general in its character, he being equally at home in the various departments of his profession. His superior talents and abilities have been demonstrated on numerous occasions, and among his professional brethren he enjoys a high reputation as one who observes the unwritten ethics of the calling. He has kept fully abreast of the various advancements made in medicine and surgery during recent years, and, unlike many others, did not cease his studies when he left college, for he has continued to be an earnest, zcalous and painstaking student, and has pursued post- graduate work at various institutions in Chicago, St. Louis and New Orleans. Doctor Lane's professional connections include membership in the Canadian County Medical Society, the Oklahoma State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. In his political views he is a democrat, but confines his public activities to taking a good citizen's interest in matters that affect the welfare of the community. Fraternally he is con- nected with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Modern Woodmen of America, and is also a Mason and a past master of his lodge.

In 1884 Doctor Lane was united in marriage with Miss Emma Dora McCuiston and to this union there have been born three children: Gertrude, Ray and Lorraine.

H. M. FREAS. Every community owes a debt of grat- itude to the men who protect it from the depredations of the criminal classes. A once popular song contained the line, "A policeman's lot is not a happy one," and it is often the case that the ardnous duties of the guardians of the law are faithfully performed without meeting with

W.R. Blakemore.

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an adequate reward or a due measure of appreciation. The latter, however, cannot be said of H. M. Freas, of Pawhnska, Oklahoma, whose services as sheriff of Osage County for the last five years are highly regarded by his fellow citizens. Sheriff Freas was born in Berwick, Col- umbia County, Pennsylvania, March 15, 1863, and is now therefore in the prime of life. His parents were Jona- thau and Susanna (Campbell) Freas, who in 1868 moved to Sterling, Illinois, and later to southeastern Kansas, the father dying at Independence, Montgomery County, that state, in 1909, at the advanced age of eighty-seven years. He was a farmer by occupation, and a veteran of the Civil war, having served as captain of Company G, One Hundred and Fifth Pennsylvania Infantry. . A re- publican in politics, he belonged also to the Grand Army, and was a loyal, patriotic and useful citizen, in short, a good American. His widow is still living and is a resident of Independence. They were the parents of five children, namely: H. M., the subject of this sketch; Sadie, who resides in Waterloo, Iowa; Ella, wife of W. H. Tasker of Tyro, Kansas; Ida, wife of Frank Shudy, of Okmulgee; and Bertha, who married W. H. Harper, and resides with her husband in Independence, Kansas.

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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