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 31

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 31

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Mr. Burrow was married February 14, 1909, to Miss Ada Vandervort, daughter of Rev. W. S. Vandervort, a preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church, who is re- tired and resides at Aledo. They have two children: Myrle, born January 11, and Adele, born October 11, 1913.

MICHAEL H. LYONS. All honor is due to Sergeant Lyons for his loyal and efficient service of thirty years as a member of the United States army, in which he attained to the rank of ordnance sergeant. He gained wide experience in connection with military operations at the various military posts of the West and Southwest, took part in a number of engagements with hostile Indians, was with the reinforcements that arrived on the scene of the historic massacre of General Custer and his gallant soldiers within two days after that dis- astrous engagement, and otherwise grew familiar with life on the frontier. His service extended into the original Indian Territory, and while still in the army he was one of the pioneers in entering claim to land within the borders of Oklahoma Territory when it was thrown open to settlement, more than a quarter of a century ago, and here he had become a successful agri- culturist and stock grower long before his retirement from the military service that so long engrossed his attention and in which he won distinction as a faithful, efficient and valiant soldier and officer. Sergeant Lyons is now an honored and influential citizen of El Reno, the judicial center of Canadian County, and through his distinctive business acumen and well ordered enterprise he has accumulated a substantial competency, so that he may well feel that, with troops of friends about him, his lines are indeed "cast in pleasant places."

Michael H. Lyons was born in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, on December 25, 1856, and is a son of Patrick and Elizabeth (Hicky) Lyons, both natives of Ireland. The sergeant passed the period of his child- hood and early youth at Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, where he acquired his rudimentary education in the paro- chial and public schools, and he was fifteen years old

at the time of the family removal to the City of Phila- delphia, where he continued to reside until he had at- tained to adult age.

In 1876, in Philadelphia, which city was then a point of national interest by reason of being the stage of the great Centennial Exposition, Sergeant Lyons, as a youth of twenty years, enlisted as a private in the United States Army. After a service of about two years he was promoted corporal and later a sergeant, and in 1885 he was advanced to the rank of first sergeant, an office iu which he continued to serve eleven years, after which he held the office of ordnance sergeant until the date of his retirement from the army, in. Jauuary, 1907. The initial military service of Sergeant Lyons was in Dakota Territory, and thence he proceeded with his command into Wyoming, where these forces arrived on the Custer battlefield the second day after the historic massacre. Thereafter he was with his command in Texas and his final service was in what is now the State of Oklahoma. He participated in a number of spirited engagements with hostile Indians, and concerning his admirable record as a member of Troop K, Fifth United States Cavalry, the following statements are self-explanatory and signifi- cant, the same having been written as a testimonial at the time when the subject of this review was appointed ordnance sergeant, in 1894, and the author of the com- mendatory words having been Capt. A. E. Woodson, who later rose to the rank of brigadier general. In recommending Sergeant Lyons for promotion, Captain Woodson wrote as follows: "He was at all times, in the garrison and in the field, an excellent soldier, ever ready when called, quick to respond, a leader of men, cheerful in disposition, and an exemplar to the men of his command."'

Though a stickler for discipline and always found at the post of duty, the buoyant and genial nature of Ser- geant Lyons won him the high regard of his comrades and superior officers, and to-day he has many friends of high standing in the United States Army, in public life and in business circles,-in fact, it may consistently be said that his circle of friends is limited only by that of his acquaintances. Though he has had no ambition to enter the arena of practical politics and has had no desire for public office, the sergeant has given loyal sup- port to the cause of the republican party and has aided in the election of its candidates, both national and local. Both he and his wife are communicants of the Catholic Church.

In 1885 Sergeant Lyous came with his cavalry com- mand for the first time to old Fort Reno, Indian Terri- tory, a military post near the present thriving City of El Reno, Oklahoma, and while here stationed he was promoted first sergeant. Later he was with his troop in Texas, where they were stationed in turn at Fort Brown and Fort San Antonio, and in 1896 he was sent back to Fort Reno, as ordnance sergeant at this post. Here he continued until the expiration of his service in the army, and since his retirement he has maintained his residence principally in the city of El Reno. While at Fort Reno he was sent by the commander of that garrison to lay off the grounds for the railway station of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad at Oklahoma City, and this duty he discharged with characteristic efficiency and fidelity.

Within a short time after Oklahoma Territory had been opened for settlement, Sergeant Lyons filed claim to a homestead of 160 acres in Canadian County, and this property he developed into a fine ranch. For twenty- five years, while still in active service a portion of the period in the army, he here devoted attention to the breeding and raising of registered short-horn cattle,

MH. Lyons

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

and in this field of enterprise he had met with gratify- ing success long before he disposed of his interests in the same. His excellent judgment and business sagacity have conspired to bring to him a comfortable fortune since his days of active military service, and he is one of the best known and most popular citizens of Canadian County, with a wide acquaintanceship also in other parts of the state.

In 1885 was solemnized the marriage of Sergeant Lyons to Miss Maggie Cambric, who was born in the City of Toledo, and she has proved a devoted companion and helpmeet during their long years of wedded life, the while she is a popular chatelaine of their attractive home in El Reno, where they delight to welcome their many friends. They have no children. They reside in the Lyons apartment building, a modern building which was erected and is owned by Sergeaut Lyous, who has also other valuable city real estate in El Reno.

JAMES J. CAVINESS; M. D. Among the younger gen- eration of professional men of Jackson County, oue who is rapidly winning success and position is Dr. James J. Caviness, physician and surgeon, who since 1912 has been engaged in practice at Headrick. During this time his skill in diagnosis and his successful treatmeut of compli- cated and long standing cases have created a gratifying demand for his services and laid the foundation of what promises to be a career of exceptional breadth and use- fulness.

Doctor Caviness was born at Danville, Yell County, Arkansas, July 13, 1889, and is a son of R. S. aud Margaret (Costen) Caviness. The Caviness family is of Scotch-Irish extraction and its members have been pio- neers of several states in the Union, notably those of Oklahoma and Texas. R. S. Caviness was born at Paris, the county seat of Lamar County, Texas, in 1860, and was there reared and educated. When still a young man he went to Danville, Arkansas, where he embarked in business as a merchant, and continued to be so occupied successfully until 1904, iu which year he returned to Texas and settled at Memphis, where he followed stock raising for four years. Mr. Caviness came to Oklahoma in 1908, when he took up his residence at Eldorado, and since that time has been proprietor of a pharmacy. Mr. Caviness has shown versatility in his business ventures, and in each has won a satisfying measure of success through the exertiou of energy and enterprise, good management and foresight. In political matters he is a stanch democrat, and in each of the communities in which he has resided has taken an active part in political and civic matters, although rather as an influence than as a seeker for the honors and emoluments of public office. Throughout his life he has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in the work of which he has taken a helpful part, and at the present time is a member of the official board of the church at Eldorado. He is well known in Masonry, belonging to Eldorado Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Eldorado Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Eldorado Commandery, Knights Templar, and Consistory No. 1, Valley of Guth- rie, of the thirty-second degrec. While residing at Dau- ville, Arkansas, Mr. Caviness was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Costen, who, was born in 1870, in Georgia, and they have been the parents of five children, as follows: C. A., who resides at Eldorado, and is asso- ciated with his father in the conduct of the drug busi- ness; Dr. James J., of this review; Ruth, who is the wife of C. A. Hatch, a practicing attorney at Eldorado; Naomi, who is the wife of Earl Messersmith, proprietor of a general merchandise store at Eldorado; and Baxter,

who resides with his parents and is a student in the Eldorado High School.

James J. Caviness received the early part of his edu- cation in the public schools of Danville, Arkansas, aud when fifteen years of age went with the family to Memphis, Texas, where he completed the studies of the primary grades. He was graduated from the Memphis High School in the class of 1907, and following this began preparing for the medical profession which he had chosen in his youth as his life work. He eventually entered Vanderbilt University, of Nashville, Tennessee, where he pursued a full course of study and was duly graduated from the medical department with the class of 1912, and with his newly acquired degree of Doctor of Medicine settled down to practice at Eldorado, whence the family had moved. After three months of practice at that place, Doctor Caviness decided better opportuni- ties awaited him at Headrick, where he settled September 18, 1912, and where he has since remained in practice, having offices in the Headrick Drug Store. Doctor Caviness is thoroughly at home in all branches of his calling, and carries on a general practice in both medi- cine and surgery. To a thorough professional equipment, he adds a kindly and sympathetic manner, a genuine liking for his calling and a ready adaptation to its multi- tudinous and exacting demands. He has never ceased to be a student, passing much of his time in personal research and investigation, and maintaining membership in the Jackson County Medical Society, the Oklahoma State Medical Society and the American Medical Asso- ciation. While he is a stanch democrat in politics, he has confined his activities in that direction to casting his vote, although always eager to add his name to the list of supporters of any good and progressive movement. Fraterually, the Doctor is affiliated with Headrick Lodge No. 311, Free and Accepted Masons, and Headrick Camp No. 128, Woodmen of the World.

On June 17, 1913, at Nashville, Tennessee, Doctor Caviness was married to Miss Mary Moore, daughter of J. T. Moore, who resides at College Grove, Tennessee, and is a prosperous farmer and stockraiser. One child has been born to this union: James J., Jr. Doctor and Mrs. Caviness are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and are general favorites in social circles of their home community. Doctor Caviness expects to locate in Altus about July 1, 1916.

MILLARD T. KIRK. Since coming to Oklahoma, in 1906, Millard T. Kirk has taken an active and purpose- ful participation in the affairs of his adopted community, where his influence has always been exerted in behalf of advancement and progress in business and civic life. For a time he was connected with various mercantile concerns, and also served acceptably in the capacity of postmaster of Bartlesville, but since his retirement from that position has been engaged in general and dairy farming three miles northwest of the city. He is now the owner of a valuable and well-improved property, and is making a decided success of his new venture.

Mr. Kirk is a native son of Kentucky, boru at Inez, the county seat of Martin County, July 6, 1876, a son of James D. and Mahala (Canfield ) Kirk. His father was born at Wayne, West Virginia, July 31, 1845, and his mother in Greenup County, Kentucky. James D. Kirk moved from his West Virginia home to Kentucky in young manhood, and at the outbreak of the Civil war enlisted in the Thirty-ninth Kentucky Regiment, with which he served with valor and bravery for three years. On his return at the close of hostilities, he became one of the foremost men of the community of Tnez, and served as county clerk of Martin County for

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

twenty-six years and as county judge for eight years. He is now living in quiet retirement after a long and useful career. Mr. Kirk is a republican. Mrs. Kirk died in 1880, leaving four children, namely: Willa, who is the wife of Capt. A. Allen, and a resident of Bartles- ville; Laura, who is the wife of J. P. H. Tinkaus, of Kuoxville, Tennessee; Millard T., of this review; and Jennie, who is the wife of John F. Algeo, of Bartles- ville, a merchant.

Millard T. Kirk received his early education in the public schools of Inez, following which he became a student in the University of Kentucky, but left that institution during his junior year, because of poor health. He soon secured a position with the Triple State Natural Gas and Oil Company, of Inez, being connected with that firm for five years, and then established himself in a general merchandise business at Iuez, in which he had three years of experience. Subsequently he went to West Virginia in charge of a large mercantile establishment and remained there three years, and in 1906 came to Bartlesville, Oklahoma, with John F. Algco. He remained with Mr. Algeo as bookkeeper for a short period and then accepted the position of assistant postmaster under Wil- liam Higgins, retaining that office for five months and then resigning to take a position with H. M. Preston, who is now a resident of Tulsa. Mr. Kirk was appointed postmaster of Bartlesville, January 27, 1911, and served very ably in that office until March 15, 1915, when the change of administration made itself felt by his being succeeded by a democrat. When he left official life, Mr. Kirk established himself on his present farm, located on Butter Creek, three miles north of Bartlesville. Here he has since carried on general farming and dairying, lines in which he has already been so successful that his future prosperity may be safely prophesied. As a busi- ness man he has always merited the high esteem in which he has been held by his associates, and his public life has been above reproach. Since attaining his majority Mr. Kirk has been a warm supporter of the principles of the republican party, and he still retains member- ship in the Methodist Episcopal Church, in the faith of which he was reared. His fraternal connections are with the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Commandery of the Masonic order at Bartlesville, the Shrine at Tulsa, Lodge No. 1060 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, at Bartlesville, of which he is past exalted ruler, and the Knights of Pythias, in which he is a charter mem- ber of Bartlesville Lodge.

Mr. Kirk was married December 5, 1906, to Miss Sarah Cassady, who was born at Inez, Kentucky, a daughter of Philip Cassady, a merchant and cattleman of the Bluegrass State. To this union there have been born five children, namely: Dorothy, Darwin, Eliza- beth, Rae and Joseph P.

FRANK R. NOE came to Eastern Oklahoma some months after statehood, and by his activity as a mer- chant and citizen made himself a very popular and useful factor in Seminole County. Governor Cruce selected him for a local appointment, and he is now filling the office of county treasurer, and is giving the people a systematic and thorough administration of the fiscal affairs of the county government.

Ancestrally Mr. Noe descends from a French line, but they have been identified with America for many genera- tions. Frank R. Noe was born at Pineville, Arkansas, October 19, 1880, a son of Rev. Frank R. and Serena (Matthews) Noe. His father was a native of Spring- field, Missouri, and his mother of Arkansas. Rev. Frank R. Noe served all through the Civil war as a corporal in the Confederate Army. After that his active career

was spent as a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church South and he was connected with the White River Conference in Arkansas. He died in 1906, at the age of sixty, highly honored and respected. The mother of Frank R. Noe died when he was two years of age at the age of thirty-five, and he was one of four sons and two daughters. The father married again and had three sons and one daughter by the second marriage.

Frank R. Noe lived with his father until he was tweuty years of age, and spent most of his early youth in school. At the age of twenty he went to Memphis, Ten- nessee, kept a set of books for the William R. Moore wholesale dry goods house for eight years, and in 1907 went out to California, participating in the activities of the mining district for a time, and spending one year in Los Angeles. From there he came to Seminole County, Oklahoma, and for some time was associated in general merchandising business with his brother T. D. Noe, under the firm name of Noe Brothers. He is still a mer- chant and one of the prospering men of this section.

In 1912 Governor Cruce appointed him county assessor of Seminole County, and he was elected to that office in 1913. In 1914 he was chosen county treasurer, and most of his time is now given to the duties of that office.

He has been a democrat since casting his first vote, is affiliated with the Woodmen of the World and the Modern Woodmen of America, and is loyal to the church of his father, the Methodist Episcopal South.

On January 1, 1906, Mr. Noe married Miss Cecil Price of Beebe, Arkansas. She died in 1912, and of her two children Carroll, seven years old, is with his Grandmother Price at Little Rock, Arkansas, while Mildred died in infancy. In December, 1914, at Springfield, Missouri, Mr. Noe married Phyllis Duncan.

ALLEN J. JETER, M. D. Engaged in active general practice as a physician and surgeon, Doctor Jeter now holds precedence and priority as the dean of his pro- fession in the thriving town of Foss, Washita County, where he established his residence in 1902, no other physician who was his contemporary in the early years of practice here being now a citizen of this village, so that he is the veritable pioneer of his profession here, his practice being extensive and of representative order --- implying due recognition of his high attainments, effec- tive ministrations and personal popularity.

The original American progenitors of the Jeter family were two brothers who emigrated from Denmark in the colonial era of our national history, one settling in either North or South Carolina and the other in Virginia, the one who figures as the ancestor of Doctor Jeter having been the Carolinian. James Jeter, grandfather of the Doctor, was a soldier in the War of 1812 and participated in the battle of New Orleans, under General Andrew Jackson. He became one of the prominent planters and slaveholders of Louisiana, and in 1862, after the initial activities of the Civil war, he sought refuge in Texas, his death having occurred in Hopkins County, that state, after he had reached venerable age.

Doctor Jeter was born in Union Parish, Louisiana, on the 14th of February, 1862, and, his father being at the time a soldier in the Confederate ranks, the Doctor was taken by his mother and paternal grandfather to the Lone Star State, the removal to Texas having been made to escape the perils and ravages incident to the war. He is a son of Allen W. and Susan (Seale) Jeter, whose marriage was solemnized in Texas, from which state he and his wife returned to Union Parish, Louisiana. He was born at Columbus, Georgia, in 1832, but when he was very small moved with his parents to the State of Louisiana, and was reared and educated in that state, whence, as a young man, he removed to Texas. He was

Islay Table

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

a resident of Louisiana at the inception of the Civil war and promptly tendered his service in defense of the cause of the Confederate States, his service as a soldier having continued four years-virtually the entire period of the great conflict between the South and the North. In 1865, soon after the close of the war, he established his resi- dence in Van Zandt County, Texas, where he became a prosperous agriculturist and stock-grower. He was pre- paring to establish his home in New Mexico many years later, and while making a preliminary visit to that state, which was then a territory, his death there occurred, in 1907, after he had passed the psalmist 's alotted span of three score years and ten. His widow, who was born in 1840, still maintains her home in Van Zandt County, Texas, she being a devoted member of the Missionary Baptist Church, of which her husband was an active mem- ber for many years prior to his demise. Mr. Jeter par- ticipated in many engagements during the Civil war, was wounded and taken prisoner, but after his exchange had been effected he resumed his service with his old regi- ment, his interest in his former comrades being per- petuated in later years through his affiliation with the United Confederate Veterans. He was for many years actively affiliated with the Masonic fraternity.

Of the children of Allen W. and Susan (Seale) Jeter the firstborn is he whose name introduces this article; Sarah Jane is the wife of Thomas G. Hayden, a pros- perous farmer and stock-grower of Van Zandt County, Texas; Mary Elizabeth died at the age of one year; Rev. Elias D., a clergyman of the Missionary Baptist Church, is now a resident of Lawton, Oklahoma; Dr. Thomas M., who was graduated in the Fort Worth Medical College, is now engaged in the practice of his profession in the City of Fort Worth, Texas; Minnie is the wife of James M. Gillian, a farmer of Denton County, Texas; Ella and her husband, Wm. Comford, are mis- sionaries in China; Joseph J. is engaged in the drug busi- ness at Maybank, Texas; and Dr. Drayton, likewise a physician and surgeon, is engaged in practice at Murkison, Texas. James and William Jeter, son of the first marriage of Allen W. Jeter, are representative agriculturists of Western Texas.

As previously stated, Dr. Allen J. Jeter was an infant when he was taken by his paternal grandfather to Texas, where he attended the public schools of Van Zandt Coun- ty until he had been graduated in the high school. In consonance with his ambition and well formulated plans for a future career, he finally entered the Memphis Hos- pital Medical College, in the City of Memphis, Tennessee, and in this institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1893, with the well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. His progressiveness in the line of his pro- fession has been manifested in the insistent care he has taken to keep at all times in touch with the advances made in medical and surgical science, and in this con- nection it should be noted that in 1895 he completed a post-graduate course in the New Orleans Polyclinic, and that in 1904 and 1907 he took effective post-graduate courses in the Illinois Post Graduate Medical School, in the City of Chicago.

From 1893 until 1897 Doctor Jeter was engaged in the practice of his profession in Ellis County, Texas, and from the latter year until 1902 he practiced successfully at Plano, Collin County, that state. In April, 1902, he established his residence at Foss, Oklahoma, where he has since continued his able and unremitting service as a physician and surgeon, with well appointed offices in the Temple Building. He has been one of the loyal and progressive citizens who have contributed to the develop- ment and upbuilding of the village along both civic and material lines and he is known and honered as one of the pioneer representatives of his profession in Washita

County, his circle of friends being coincident with that of his acquaintances. He has served as village health officer, and he is actively identified with the Washita County Medical Society, the Oklahoma State Medical Society and the Southwestern Medical Society. The Doctor is affiliated with Foss Lodge No. 204, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and also with the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias. At Clinton, Custer County, he is the owner of a modern business building, known as the Jeter Building, and in addition to the ownership of his attractive residence property in the western part of Foss he has in his possession a small tract of valuable land near the village. His political allegiance is given unreservedly to the democratic party, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Missionary Baptist Church.

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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