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 52

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 52

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John W. Ricketts was a child at the time when the family home was established in Lawrence County, Ohio, where he was reared to manhood and received the ad- vantages of the public schools, the while he early began to assist in the work and management of the home farm. In 1886 he went to Minnesota, in which state he main- tained his residence until Oklahoma Territory was thrown open to settlement, in 1889, when he came to the new territory, which was not formally organized until the following year, and numbered himself among the pioneer settlers of Payne County, where he secured Government land and reclaimed an excellent farm, his homestead place having been developed into one of the excellent farms of the county and the property being still in his possession. He served four years as carrier on a rural free delivery mail route from Perkins, and on the 5th of March, 1908, he was appointed postmaster at Perkins. the office being of the third class. He has since held this position and his continuous tenure of office indicates the popular estimate placed upon his administration,

Upon coming to Payne County, in 1889, Mr. Ricketts filed claim to the southwest quarter of section 1, town- ship 17, range 2, east, and this is the well improved homestead which he still retains, the farm being cligibly situated one-half miles west of the Village of Perkins.

In politics Mr. Ricketts gives his allegiance to the republican party, and his civic loyalty and progressiveness have been manifested in his effective service in township offices and as a member of the school board of his dis- trict. He and his wife became charter members of the Cougregational Church at Perkins, and he is a trustee of the same, besides which he contributed liberally to the erection of the church building. He is a Master Mason and maintains affiliation with the lodge at Perkins.

In Ohio, in 1872, Mr. Ricketts married Miss Sadie R. Ferguson, who was born and reared in that state, and who died on the home farm in Payne County, Oklahoma, about the year 1892. Of the three children of this union the eldest is William, who is a resident of the City of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Homer is now in Mexico: and Mrs. Mamie Banks is deceased. In 1901 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Ricketts to Miss Christine B. Harpold, and no children have been born of this union.

MARTIN RYAN, D. D. S. Doctor Ryan has been a resident of Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, since 1906, and was engaged in the practice of his profession in the Village of Beggs, this county, until 1912, when he was elected county treasurer and removed to Okmulgee, the county seat, where he has since continued as the efficient and popular incumbent of this important fiscal office, in which he has given a most careful and acceptable ad- ministration and in which he is now serving his second term, through re-election in the autumn of 1914. His being called to this office offers the most effective evi- dence of the high place which is his in the confidence and esteem of the people of the county, and he is known as a loyal and progressive citizen of the state of his adoption.

Doctor Ryan was born in Outagamie County, Wiscon- sin, on the 30th of May, 1874, and is the youngest in a family of eight children, of whom three are living. He is a son of Daniel and Winifred (Powers) Ryan, both natives of Ireland, where the former was boru in County Tyrone and the latter in County Clare. Daniel Ryan came to the United States in 1846 aud his marriage was solemnized in the City of Boston, Massachusetts. In company with his young wife he soon made his way to the west and numbered himself among the pioneers of Outagamie County, Wisconsin, where he reclaimed and developed an excellent farm and where he and his wife passed the residue of their lives. Mrs. Ryan passed to the life eternal in 1903, at the age of seventy-two years, and Mr. Ryau died in 1905, at the venerable age of eighty-four years.

Doctor Ryan was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm and profited duly by the advantages afforded in the excellent public schools of his native state. In preparation for the profession of his choice he entered the Chicago College of Dental Surgery, in which institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1895 and from which he received his well earned degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. After his gradua- tion he was engaged in the practice of his profession at Marion, Waupaca County, Wisconsin, until 1906, when he came to Oklahoma Territory and established himself in practice at Beggs, Okmulgee County, where, as previously stated, he continued his professional en- deavors until his election to his present office, in 1912.

In politics Doctor Ryan accords unwavering allegiance to the democratic party and he has been one of its in- fluential representatives in Okmulgee County. He was reared in the faith of the Catholic Church, of which he and his wife are communicants, and he is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Modern Woodmen of America.

In the year 1900 was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Ryan to Miss Anna Laura Donahue, who likewise was born and reared in Wisconsin, a daughter of Michael Donahue. The six children of this union are: Clement, Lucile, Martin, Jr., Earl, Carl and Mary.

R. B. F. HUMMER. The popular and energetic young city attorney of Henryetta, R. B. F. Hummer, has won his way to his present position and standing entirely through the medium of his own abilities and efforts. His career is notably illustrative of the opportunities offered by Oklahoma for advancement to the young and energetic men of other sections of the country, who are possessed of the ambition, initiative, determination and ability to win. He is a native of Pennsylvania, and was born at Penbrook, near the City of Harrisburg, Dauphin County, January 21, 1886, his parents being John W. and Alma (Yorty) Hummer, natives of Pennsylvania and still resi- dents of Penbrook, where Mr. Hummer is engaged in business as a painting contractor. There were four sons and one daughter in the family.

After attending the public schools of Penbrook, R. B. F. Hummer went to the state normal school, at Millers- ville, Pennsylvania, and was graduated therefrom in 1909. Both before and after graduation he had engaged in teaching school, in order to pay his way through school, and in the meantime devoted his leisure hours to the study of law, having decided upon a career in that diffi- cult profession. Eventually Mr. Hummer entered the law school of Georgetown University, at Washington, D. C., where he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws, in June, 1913. Not long thereafter he determined upon Oklahoma as the best field for the display of his abilities, and accordingly came to this state and in December, 1913,

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

took the examination for admission to the bar. He passed second in the class of seventy-five applicants, being beaten for first place by H. H. Hagan, now of Oklahoma City, a former classmate at the Georgetown University Law School. Admitted to the bar at that time, Mr. Hummer formed a partnership with R. E. Simpson, the firm of Simpson & Hummer continuing in existence until the senior partner was elected county attoruey, when he was forced to retire from the concern in order to give all his attention to the duties of his office. Mr. Hummer has since practiced alone aud has been identified with much of the important litigation that has come before the courts in recent years. In the spring of 1915 he came before the people of Henryetta as the democratic candidate for the office of city attorney and was elected by a handsome majority, for a term of two years. His conduct in that office has shown that he possesses high executive talents. Mr. Hummer is secretary of the Roos- terfood Oil Company of Henryetta, and is counsel for the Henryetta, Oklahoma & Western Railroad, the new electric transportation line which will connect all the towns of this thriving and prosperous miuing community. He has always been a stanch and unswerving democrat and at this time stands high in the councils of his party in Okmulgee County. While he is a Lutheran in religious faith, owing to the fact that there is no church of that denomination at Henryetta, he is active in the Baptist Church and especially so in the Sunday school, in which he teaches a class of young men. Fraterually he is a thirty-second degree, Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner, a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, secre- tary of the Loyal Order of the Moose, an Eagle at Henry- etta, and a member of the Junior Order of American Mc- chanics at Penbrook, Pennsylvania. He is also a meni- ber of the Oklahoma Bar Association. Mr. Hummer is unmarried and one of the most popular young men in social circles of Henryetta.

In speaking of Mr. Hummer a contemporary news- paper recently said: "The voters of Henryetta have seen demonstrated in the official acts of our city attorney, R. B. F. Hummer, the wisdom they displayed in select- ing Mr. Hummer for this position of trust and honor. Mr. Hummer's name is no misnomer, for in his official and private actions he is regarded as one of the hustlers. A man that to be contented must be occupied in some work or accomplishment. R. B. F. Hummer previous to his accepting the position of city attorney was recog- mized as one of the foremost successful young lawyers of this district, being of a studious nature, Mr. Hummer was always prepared when making a court appearance with the law and evidence in any way bearing upon an action in which he was interested. He is one of the attorneys who never failed in the service rendered a client to give them adequate service and sufficient study so that they had the advantage of a full knowledge of the law in every case undertaken by him.

"Mr. Hummer's acts as city attorney have added to his laurels as a successful practicing lawyer. He has contributed no little in his official position toward com- pelling a respect on the part of the criminally inclined to a due respect of the law, and in prosecuting the city cases he has shown himself a man and an attorney above re- proach, being no respecter of classes. We unhesitatingly commend Mr. Hummer to our readers both as an official and an attorney, and close this short review with a hearty wish for his advancement and a long continuance of our present relations."

CHARLES K. CARY. Something like thirteen years of experience in the teaching profession was Charles K. Cary's before he lent his attention to the study of

law. Such an experience is, of its very nature, bound to add something of value to the equipment of a conscientious man, and Mr. Cary may truthfully be said to have been the recipient of every benefit that could accrue to him in those years of faithful work. He began in 1888 with a country school under his guidance. His last connection with the profession was in 1901, when he concluded a four years term of service in the office of county superintendent of schools of Dewey County.

Mr. Cary was born in Livingston County, Missouri, on March 9, 1870, and is the son of Edward G. Cary, who was born in Northeastern Ohio, in the year 1846, and who died in the vicinity of Kanima, Haskell County, Oklahoma, in 1908.

Edward G. Cary was a preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church for many years. As a boy he did not receive many advantages in an educational way, but he had a good home and his mother taught hin much that could never be learned of books or school- masters. When he was a boy of about eight years the family moved to Iowa, locating in Decatur County, and there Mr. Cary lived for many years thereafter. In 1868 he moved with his family to Missouri, finally locating in Livingston County, where the subject of this sketch was born. He returned to Iowa in the fall of 1873, but two years later removed to Washington County, Kansas, for the purpose of entering government land. It was here that he entered the ministry, later becoming a member of the Northwest Kansas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

For many years he was a pioneer circuit rider of that part of the state, occupying the pulpit iu many a rude hamlet which has since grown to be a thriving city. He later removed to Arkansas and still later to Haskell County, Oklahoma, where his death occurred in 1908. The many moves made by Reverend Cary was largely the result of the policy of his church, which for many years opposed long terms as pastor in one place.

Rev. Mr. Cary was a veteran of the Civil war, having served a year and a half in the Third Iowa Cavalry. He was in after years prominently identified with the Grand Army of the Republic. In 1866 he married Rebecca J. Exley, a native daughter of Iowa, born there in 1848. She survives him, and is now living in Smith County, Kansas.

To these worthy people were born seven children, briefly mentioned as follows: Ralph C., the eldest, is a resident of Western Nebraska. He is station agent for his town, and is also a farming man of some prom- inence in his community and the publisher of a thriving newspaper. The second child was Charles K., mentioned in greater detail in later paragraphs. John E. lives at Laramie, Wyoming. Bertha married John A. Fay, a clerk in the United States army, and they are now in Seattle, Washington, where Mr. Fay's regiment is stationed. Lillian Grace married John Oliver, and they live on his ranch in Western Nebraska. Leonard B. is a copper miner and lives at Bisbee, Arizona. The seventh and youngest child is Lila N., who married William H. Foster, a farming man, and they live in Smith County, Kansas.

Charles K. Cary was privileged to attend the country schools in Northern Kansas up to the age of seventeen, and in 1888 he began to teach school in his district. He . was so occupied until 1896. Up to the year 1895 he had been filling positions in Northern Kansas, but in that year he came to Dewey County, Oklahoma, to take a home- stead. He filed on a government homestead of 160 acres, following which he returned to Kansas and speut another winter in school teaching. Returning to Dewey county late in that year he located in a spot near

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

where the Town of Cestos is now established, teaching a district school during the winter months. Mr. Cary 's homestead claim was located ten miles west and three miles north of the Town of Taloga. He was careful to improve it in accordance with the demands of the land office, and in time was able to "prove up" on his claim. Soon after he did so he had an opportunity to sell to advantage, having lived on the place about a year and a half in all.

On January 1, 1897, Mr. Cary was elected to the office of superintendent of schools for Dewey County, and he served four years in that office, retiring on July 1, 1901, with a splendid record for efficiency and service in the office. During that time Mr. Cary succeeded in appreciably raising the standard of the schools of the county, never too high in a new and undeveloped dis- triet, and his efforts to that end were ably seconded by all who came under his jurisdiction. As a builder of educational standards he carried out a work in those four years of service that will have a lasting effect on the public school system of Dewey County.

But it had been Mr. Cary's ambition for years to fit himself for the profession of law, and he felt then that he could not afford to defer his activities in that respect any longer. In 1901 he entered the law department of the University of Kansas, and in June, 1903, was graduated with the degree LL. B .. He was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Kansas in the same month of his graduation, and almost immediately there- after established himself in practice in Taloga, where he has since conducted a general civil and criminal prac- tice. He has enjoyed a success that is well worthy of his efforts, and he has a splendid reputation iu profes- sional and other circles as a lawyer of ability, and a man with an assured future in his chosen field.

In 1907, at the statehood election, Mr. Cary was elected to the office of county attorney for Dewey County. He was a candidate on the republican ticket, though in earlier years he had given his vote to the populist forces. He served two full terms as county attorney, and retired on January 1, 1913, declining to stand for nomination a third time.

Mr. Cary has never ceased to manifest a healthy interest in local school affairs, and he is now serving the city as a member of its school board, in which position by reason of his former experience in the teaching profession he is able to render invaluable service to his community. He and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is a member of its board of trustees. He is a Mason, and is a member of Taloga Lodge No. 179, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Taloga Chapter No. 54, Royal Arch Masons.

On April 12, 1894, Mr. Cary was united in mar- riage in Smith County, Kansas, to Miss Lillian L. Sheddy, daughter of William B. Sheddy, a well known Kansan. One child has been born to the Cary family : Daphne L., now a student in Southwestern College at Winfield, Kansas.

STANLEY CUSHING TYLER. The exceptional climatic conditions in Western Oklahoma have been responsible for the presence here of many of the most energetic and enterprising citizens. Continued ill health back in his old homestead in Massachusetts, made it impossible for Stanley Cushing Tyler to successfully prosecute a. business career, when about thirty-seven years ago he came west and became identified with the vast open range of the Texas Panhandle and No Man's Land of what is now the extreme western district of Okla- homa. Here he has since lived, a leading man of affairs, and now president of the First National Bank of Guymon,

general manager of the Guymon & Hansford Telephone Company, and president of the Latham Dry Goods Company.

Born June 4, 1857, at Lowell, Massachusetts, Stanley Cushing Tyler is a son of Artemas S. and Angeline (Cushing) Tyler. His father was also a native of Lowell, Massachusetts, born November 2, 1824, of old New England stock, and spent all his active career as a banker. He died at Lowell, Massachusetts, October 14, 1901. He was at one time a member of the Massa- chusetts General Assembly, having been nominated and elected by both republicans and democrats. His first wife, Miss Angeline Cushing, died in 1860, leaving two children, Stanley Cushing and Artemas Lawrence, the latter now deceased. His second wife was Ethelinda Cushing, a sister of his first wife. There were two daughters by this union, both deceased.

In his native City of Lowell, Stanley C. Tyler was reared, and as his father was a man of affluence and prominence, he had all the advantages of a good home and the best of schooling. He attended the public schools and a private institution, and at the age of seventeen entered his father's bank. Ill health com- pelled him to make a change of scene and he next tried work in Boston with a wholesale drug house. He was finally obliged to give up employment in the East alto- gether, and in 1879 he went to Colorado, but in the same year came to the Panhandle of Texas. Here he took up the cattle business on the opeu range. It will be recalled that thirty-five years ago there was no railroad within hundreds of miles of the Texas Panhandle, the buffalo had not disappeared, and even the Indians were still occasionally troublesome. It was a great lonely land of adventure and hardship, but one eminently cal- culated to restore vigor to the constitution of any per- son who could endure its primitive hardships. Mr. Tyler regained not only rugged health but has prose- cuted a flourishing business in this locality for many years. He has never given up the cattle industry, though years have compelled him to modify his efforts according to changing conditions. In the early days he raised his stock on the open range, and took it over the old cattle trails across country to Dodge City, Kansas. From the beginning his operations have included portions of No Man's Land, or the old Cimarrou District of Oklahoma. He still owns a 5,000 acre ranch in Hansford County, Texas, forty-five miles south of Guymon, Oklahoma.

When the Rock Island Railroad was built through No Man's Land Mr. Tyler turned his attention to the development of Guymon, and local citizens say that he has done as much if not more than any other individual to place that city to the front in the way of business institutions and municipal improvement. He established the First National Bank of Guymon, organized the Guy- mon & Hansford Telephone Company, and became presi- dent and has remained in that office with each of these concerns. Subsequently he organized the Texas County Bank, which he subsequently sold. He also organized the Guymon Electric Light and Power Company, built the ice plant and installed Guymon's system of water- works.

Mr. Tyler has had a happy home life, and for his wife he returned to his native state and was married at Bos- ton, January 30, 1884, to Miss Mary Elizabeth Ayers of Boston, daughter of Oliver and Mary Ireland (Hooper) Ayers, both of whom were born in the State of New Hampshire of Mayflower stock. Mrs. Tyler was born September 18, 1860, in Boston, and was educated in private schools. To their marriage have been born five children, three daughters and two sons, namely: Mary Angeline, now the wife of Lewis E. Latham of Guymon; Stanley Cushing, Jr., who died in infancy; Ethel Maria,

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

now the wife of James Rutledge Henderson of Zulu, Texas; Oliver Stanley, now a cattle man in Baca County, Colorado; and Fanny Stanley, the wife of Samuel Alba of Liberal, Kansas.

As a republican Mr. Tyler has interested himself in political affairs, but more particularly with the practical welfare of every community where he has lived. He was at one time elected county judge in Hansford County, Texas. He and his family are members of the Episcopal Church. In Masonry he has attained the thirty-second degree of Scottish Rite, is also a Knight Templar and Shriner, and is district deputy grand master for the First District of Oklahoma, consisting of Beaver, Texas and Cimarron counties.

FRED L. WENNER, It was as a special correspondent for Eastern newspapers that Fred L. Wenner, now secre- tary-manager of the Guthrie Chamber of Commerce, first became identified with this state. His acquaintance and association with men of affairs in Oklahoma are based upon twenty-five years of experience as a news- paper man, public official, farmer and fruit grower and business man. While he now gives much of his time to the Guthrie Chamber of Commerce, he resides on his fruit farm outside the City of Guthrie and it is probable that he is the only active head of a city commercial organization who makes his home on a farm.

He is of German descent, his paternal grandparents and his maternal great-grandparents having come from Germany. Fred L. Wenner was born at Tiffin, Ohio, January 8, 1865, a son of Henry S. and Sarah (Kaull) Wenner, who went to Ohio from Eastern Pennsylvania. Henry S. Wenner was a pioneer carriage manufacturer in that state.

The morning after he graduated from the high school at Tiffin, Fred L. Wenner started out gathering news as a reporter for the Tiffin Daily Herald. Since then, for a period of more than thirty years, he has never been permanently dissociated from the newspaper pro- fession, and while engaged in that work has also kept up writing for the press and for special purposes.

From reporter he became first city editor of the Tiffin Daily Herald and later filled the same position with the Tiffin Daily Tribune. In 1889 he was sent to Okla- homa as a special correspondent for the New York Herald, Cleveland Press and Chicago Times, and sent back for publication in these metropolitan journals a great many interesting articles that described the early rush and settlement of the original Oklahoma Territory. For a number of years he was employed as special cor- respondent for the papers just named and for other journals. For a year he was city editor of the Okla- homa Daily State Capital at Guthrie and for two years was editor and owner of the Kingfisher Free Press.

His work as a newspaper man naturally brought him into close touch with public affairs and public men. From 1897 to 1902 Mr. Wenner was secretary to the territorial governors of Oklahoma, serving under Governor C. M. Barnes, Governor William Jenkins and Governor T. B. Ferguson. From 1901 to 1903 he was secretary of the Oklahoma Commission to the St. Louis World's Fair, and from 1903 to 1908 served as secretary to the school land board for the Territory of Oklahoma.

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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