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 54

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 54

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William N. Fayant was born at Tamaqua in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, December 10, 1850, a son of Bar- toloma and Elizabeth (Baker) Fayant. His father was

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

born in Alsace, France, in 1805, while the mother was born near the River Rhine in Germany in 1812. Both came when young to the United States during the '30s, and in 1839 they were married in Pennsylvania. In 1856 the family moved out to Wisconsin, and the father died in 1883 and the mother in 1898 at Muscoda, Grand County, Wisconsin. The father was a farmer and stock- man, and in Wisconsin established a flourishing meat business which is one of the oldest institutions of its kind in that section of the state and is still conducted by members of the family. In earlier years he was also a contractor for the United States army, furnishing horses chiefly, and that business took him to all parts of the United States and the Territories. He also spent much time in Florida, where some of his children were born. His later years were passed in comparative retirement and ease. His children were: Margaret, wife of John Neff of Muscoda, Wisconsin; Victor, who now lives in Chicago; Josephine, wife of Frank Neff of Muscatine, Iowa; Francis, who was a member of the famous Iron Brigade, Company K, Seventh Wisconsin Regiment, served all through the Civil war, in one battle had a foot shot off and died largely as a result of his wounds two years after the war; Elizabeth, who became the wife of Joseph Seiger of La Crosse, Wisconsin, and both are now deccased; William N .; Mary, who died in 1900 as the wife of Jacob Huppler; and Theo of Iowa Falls, Iowa. Besides those named two other children died in infancy.

William N. Fayant lived with his parents until he was twenty-one years of age, and at that time his father turned over to him the meat business at Muscoda, Wis- consin. A little later when gold was discovered in the Black Hills of the Dakotas Mr. Fayant turned the busi- ness over to his brother Victor and went out to seek a fortune in that part of South Dakota. He was a miner there until stricken with the mountain fever, when he returned home, but later he moved out to Huron, South Dakota, and became a pioneer business man, establish- ing a meat market which he conducted successfully for a number of years. He was also a member of the town council at Huron and acquired a homestead there. In 1881 at Huron, South Dakota, Mr. Fayant married Miss Susie Shirt, who was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1854. After his marriage Mr. Fayant continued to live at Huron until 1894, when on account of the cold climate he went South, spent several years at Houston, Texas, and then reached Oklahoma in 1901. During his residence in South Dakota he became well known all over the state not only as a buyer and shipper of cattle, but also in a civic way. He built one of the first houses at Huron, and on coming to Oklahoma he constructed the first stone house at Spokogce, now Dustin, and has since built three other stone business blocks on Main Street, and still owns them. He also has several farms near Dustin, owning outright 700 acres and having about 1,000 acres under lease. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and his church is the Catholic.

Mr. and Mrs. Fayant have two children: Joseph W. who is still at home, and Benjamin, who died at the age of seventeen while a student in St. Joseph College at Muskogee. Mr. Fayant now has a partner in his local meat business at Dustin, Samuel A. Walker, and the firm is known as Fayant & Walker.

ALBERT A. BALLARD. About thirteen years ago Albert A. Ballard first identified himself with the newspaper business. Since that tiine he has advanced through all the stages from general office man in a business with which he was unfamiliar to his present post of

publisher and editor of the leading newspaper of his town-the Seiling Messenger. Many vicissitudes beset his path in the years he has devoted to the upbuilding of his present enterprise, but he has won through them all in a manner that speaks of a sturdiness of character and an unswerving purpose, without which few really great successes have ever been realized.

Mr. Ballard was born in Barnard, Lincoln County, Kansas, on September 8, 1880, and he is the son of Isaac A. and Dicy A. (Beement) Ballard. The father was born in March, 1840, in Pulaski County, Kentucky. The mother, too, was a native daughter of the same place, and she was born on September 8, 1844.

The Ballard family is one that was established in Colonial days in old New York, and one line of the family pioneered it to Kentucky in the early days of settlement there. They established homes and became prominent in the affairs of the state, accumulated wealth and enjoyed a prosperity that is oft-times the portion of pioneer families. The Beements, too, were early settlers in New York, and with the Ballards settled in Kentucky.

After the marriage of Isaac A. Ballard to Dicy Bee- ment, in Pulaski County, Kentucky, they moved to Illinois, and thence to Saline County, Kansas. In 1871, still unsettled, they went to Lincoln County, Kansas, and it was there the subject was born. The family continued in residence there for some years, and it was not until September 27, 1897, that they moved to Oklahoma, settling in Dewey County. Mr. Ballard, though well advanced in years, was a pioneer to the Dewey County district in the truest sense of the word, and he helped to establish the Town of Bcement, and was largely instrumental in getting the postoffice for that town. Today he has his home five miles west of the Town of Cestos, on the site of the former Beement. He has a homestead farm, and though now in the seventy- eighth year of his life, he is active and energetic, and farms forty acres of his tract, which comprises the regular homestead allotment of 160 acres.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Ballard were seven in number, and may be mentioned briefly at this point. The eldest, Sarah M., is deceased. She married O. B. Dryden, a farmer, who survives her and lives at Vici, Oklahoma. Martin O. is a farmer and lives at Silt, Colorado. The next two, Edwin and Alfred, died young. The fifth child is Albert A., of this review. Kittie died in Fresno, California, September 21, 1914. She was the wife of John B. Vincent, a grocer now in business in Oakland, California. Grover C., a farmer and rural mail carrier, is located at Reason, Oklahoma.

Albert A. Ballard attended the country schools of Barnard, Lincoln County, Kansas, up to the age of sixteen years. His educational advantages, it will be seen, were not of the best, for the district school in any locality is apt to lack much that is desirable in the training of youth, and when he had finished that schooling he turned his attention to the farm, and for six years applied himself diligently to farm work under his father's direction. He was, therefore, twenty-two years old when he made his first attempt at anything beyond farm work, and he made the attempt in the office of a Geary, Oklahoma, publication. That was in November, 1902. In February, 1903, he went to Seiling, Oklahoma, where he soon became manager of the old Sciling Guide. He was in that position for two years, during which time W. G. Smith was editor of the paper. Mr. Ballard then went to Hitchcock and was employed in an important capacity on the Hitchcock Vanguard for a year. In February, 1906, the town was wiped out by a fire. Mr. Ballard saved enough equipment

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

from the ruins of the plant to make it possible to bring out a news sheet on schedule, but the following month moved the remains of the plant to Seiling and joined in the work of producing the Seiling Messenger. The work was successful, but three years later it seemed expedient to consolidate with the Seiling Guide, the name of Messenger being retained, and Mr. Ballard is now editor and publisher of the paper.

He is the owner of the plant on Main Street, and also has a nice resideuce property in the town. The Messenger is an independent sheet, voiciug no political sentiment, and circulates widely in Dewey and surround- ing counties, with a good sized foreign list as well. It serves well the best interests of Seiling and its people, and is a cleau, well managed and healthy publication, wielding an influence for good in those communities where it circulates.

Mr. Ballard is an independent republicau. He has served as town clerk here, and has also been a mem- ber of the local school board. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is superintendent of its Sunday School. He is affiliated with the Oklahoma Press Association, and fraternally is identified with the Modern Woodmen of America, being clerk of Seiling Lodge No. 7345.

On May 7, 1901, Mr. Ballard was married in Wood- ward, Oklahoma, to Miss Sarah E. Hatfield, daughter of J. A. Hatfield, a well known contractor and builder in Bennington, Kansas. Mr. and Mrs. Ballard have one child, Sibyl Berenice, born October 3, 1907, and now attending the local schools.

PROF. JEFFERSON D. CAMPBELL. A man of fine intel- lectual attainments and of thorough executive ability, Professor Campbell has been a resident of Oklahoma since 1902. His career for many years has been identified with educational affairs, and to his work in Oklahoma he brought a long experience both as an educator and public official in his native State of Missouri. He has taught and supervised the instruction of a host of young people, many of whom have now grown to manhood and womanhood, and his position as an Oklahoma educator at the present time is in the important and exacting office of county superintendent of schools in Okmulgee County. He is now serving his second term and his administration has been characterized by a general rais- ing of the standards of the schools of the county and the working out of effective systems for unity and symmetry in the school service.

Born near Paris, Monroe County, Missouri, January 11, 1863, Professor Campbell is a son of Morton and Mary (Northern) Campbell, both of whom were born and reared in Kentucky, where they married. They then came to Missouri, and the mother died there in 1874 when Professor Campbell was about eleven years old. His father, who died in 1885, had a long and unusually inter- esting career. He was one of the adventurous argonauts who crossed the plains and became pioneers in the gold fields in California in 1849. After a year he returned home, but later made a second trip to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama. Prior to that he had served in the Mexican war and for four years was in the Con- federate army during the Civil war, becoming a non- commissioned officer. The papers granting him a Govern- ment pension as a veteran of the Mexican war came to him only a few days prior to his death. In a business way he was long numbered among the prosperous agri- culturists and stock raisers of Vernon County, Missouri, was influential in community affairs and was an able and high-minded citizen. Politically he was identified with the democratic party and served many years in the office

of justice of the peace. Incidentally it should be noted that his brother William was for many years on the bench of the District Court in their native State of Kentucky. Morton Campbell was the father of six sons and three daughters, and of the number three are still living.

After the death of his mother in 1874 the home was broken up, and Professor Campbell spent much of his early youth in the home of a devout English couple. When only twelve years of age he began working on a farm by the month and thereafter not only earned his own living but paid his way through school and college. He attended the public schools of Missouri and in 1892 graduated from the Missouri Normal School at Clarks- burg. Later he attended the University of Missouri at Columbia. Thus by his own efforts and in the inter- vals of farm work and school teaching he gained a liberal education, and has long been recognized for his proficiency as a teacher and his ability to impart to others the knowledge and character which he himself possesses.

For about twenty years he was in successful work as a teacher in his native state, and in him the profession has been dignified and honored. For four years was county superintendent of schools in St. Clair County, Missouri. This and other offices were forced upon hin by his friends and his party associates, and for four years he served as county clerk, and for another six years was a member of the county board of education. His service as county clerk of St. Clair County was at a

peculiarly interesting period in the local history of that county. In the early days of railroad construction in Missouri, St. Clair County had bonded itself for a large sum to pay for a proposed railroad. The bonds were sold and the promoters of the enterprise used the funds without showing any net results in the way of a railroad, and with a deep sense of indignation at the swindle the people of St. Clair County thereafter persistently refused to pay the county bonds when they became due, and in consequence the county judges had to hold court in con- cealment, and every judge elected studiously kept out of the way of officers from the United States courts. Pro- fessor Campbell was one of such officials, and in those days the county officers held what was called "brush court," and he and the county attorney virtually con- ducted the entire business of St. Clair County, and with great credit to themselves.

When he came to Oklahoma in 1902 Professor Camp- bell assumed the position of principal of the high school at Mounds, Creek County. He was also for two years mayor of that town. From there he went to Beggs, in Okmulgee County, and became principal of the high school. His work as an educator in that county con- tinued until 1912, at which time evidence of popular appreciation of his services was shown when he was elected county superintendent of schools. A still stronger testimonial to his ability was given him in 1914 when he was re-elected for a second term of two years. The county will always owe him a debt for the splendid service he has given in upbuilding its school system, which is not excelled by any other county in the state.

Politically Mr. Campbell has always been in line with the principles and policies of the democratic party. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and he and his wife are active in the Christian Church. They have a. fine family, and move in the best social circles of the county. In 1884 Professor Campbell married Miss Fre- donia May Teaney. A native of Tennessee she was a child when her family moved to Missouri, where she was reared and educated, being a daughter of James and Mary (Lambert) Teaney. Mrs. Campbell gave four

J. D. Complais,

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years of her early life to the work of the schoolroom. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell have six children: Lena Mabel, James M., Fannie L., William Clyde, Dorothy and Gor- don L. Lena Mabel followed the example of her father and mother and was a popular teacher until the age of twenty, and is now the wife of Arthur M. Miller and they reside in Okmulgee County. James M. is serving as deputy county clerk of Okmulgee County, and Fannie L. is also a teacher in the county schools. The younger children are still at home.

FRANK W. BROOKS. The highly successful character of the commission form of government has been due in many cases to the efficient personnel of those selected by the citizens to take charge of their municipal affairs. A case in point is that of Frank W. Brooks, water com- missioner of Enid, who, with the mayor and the com- missioner of streets and alleys, constitute the goveruing body of the city. Enid has been under a commissiou form of government since 1908.

Mr. Brooks was made superintendent of waterworks at Enid April 12, 1907, and had charge of the local water plant as superintendent until his election in April, 1913, as water commissioner. Mr. Brooks has thus had super- vision of this important public utility throughout the most important period of its development and extension.

Few cities in the Southwest have a better system of waterworks, either as to source of supply or system of distribution, than Enid. The source of supply is thirty- two deep wells, reaching down below the surface about fifty feet into an apparently inexhaustible undergrouud stream flowing through gravel strata. Each well is con- nected directly with the main pipe line, leading from two great twin pumps. For 400 feet each way from the engiue house the water is carried through a tunuel 5 feet wide and 61/2 feet high, 31 feet below the surface. The wells are located 112 miles northwest of the city. The cost of sinking the wells, constructing the tunnel and installing the engines at the main plant was $40,000.

This is an excellent example of municipal operation and ownership. Every one of the 15,000 inhabitants of Enid has an interest in the waterworks plant. The city was bonded for $240,000 in order to construct and equip the waterworks, and it is claimed that the enterprise is more than worth what it cost. In 1907 there were 431 meters in use, while at the present time the number has increased to 1,831. For the year ending in June, 1914, these consumers paid a total of over $18,000 for water service, and the expenses of running the plant for the same year were over $11,000. Thus the profit over operations was about $6,000, though that was not sufficient to pay the interest on the waterworks bond. The fourteen miles of water mains in 1907 have increased to thirty-one miles. During one year the extensions required twenty-two carloads of pipe. There are 159 fire hydrants, and service for these is supplied free, whereas under private ownership the charge would ap- proximate probably $10 per hydrant. The water depart- ment has eight employes, six of them being engineers and firemen, with two others employed in the general water service.

Frank W. Brooks is a native of Ohio, and when nine years of age moved out to Nebraska in 1875 and grew up in what was then a raw western state. His education came from district schools, and his early life was spent on a farm. His first independent enterprise was as a liveryman at York, Nebraska, and for several years he was also a salesman in the hardware and agri- cultural implement trade. On September 16, 1893, in company with his brother Jerome, Mr. Brooks made the race into the Cherokee Strip. The brothers secured

adjoining quarters in section 15, three miles southeast of Enid. Frank W. Brooks lived there and developed a farm until 1905, though for several years his chief business was as traveling salesman. His brother still owns and operates the farm near Enid. Mr. Brooks left the road to assume the superintendency of the water- works plant at Enid, and his long and thorough experience in that department made his choice for the office of water commissioner one that was based upon the utmost con- sideration of fitness.

Mr. Brooks was married February 27, 1888, at York, Nebraska, to Miss Annie Bennett, a native of Illinois. They have a family of six children: Clarence L., who is employed by the Alton Mercantile Company at Enid; Lois M., a vocalist at York, Nebraska; Hazel, a stenog- rapher in the Telephone Company at Enid; Laura, a vocal teacher; Bessie, a member of the high school class of 1915 at Enid; and Harold. Mr. Brooks is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America, is secretary of the local chapter of the United Commercial Travelers at Enid, is a republican in politics, and a member of the official board of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

CHARLES W. GOREE. The unequivocal verdict of ap- probation passed upon Mr. Goree in the City and County . of Okmulgee is shown forth most conclusively in his incumbeney of the office of county clerk and in the fact that he is the only democrat who has been elected to this office in the history of the county. He is one of the appreciative and loyal citizens of Oklahoma, a man of marked public spirit, and is well entitled to specific recognition in this history.

Mr. Goree was born at Lumpkin, Stewart County, Georgia, on the 10th of November, 1867, and is a son of William A. and Louvisa (Hardie) Goree, the former of whom was born in Virginia, of Irish lineage, and the latter of whom was born in Georgia, her ancestry tracing back to staunch English origin. The Goree family was originally established in France, and from that country representatives of the name early immigrated to Ire- land, with whose history the name has been identified for many generations. The paternal grandparents of the subject of this review immigrated from the Emerald Isle to the United States and established their home in Virginia, where they passed the residue of their lives.

He whose name initiates this review was a child at the time of his parents' immigration from Georgia to Navarro County, Texas, where he was reared and edu- cated, his father being now a resident of Lubbock, that state, and his mother having died at Chillicothe, Harde- man County, Texas, in August, 1908, at which time she was sixty-seven years of age.

Charles W. Goree attended the public schools of the Lone Star State until he had profited duly by the ad- vantages of the high school, and in the autumn of 1886 he entered the college at Summer Hill, Texas, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1890. Thereafter he was for thirteen years an ambitious and successful teacher in the schools of Texas, where he con- tinued to maintain his home until 1904, when he came to Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, where he continued his effective services as a representative of the pedagogic profession for the ensuing four years. Thereafter he was engaged in the grocery business at Okmulgee until the autumn of 1912, when he was elected county clerk. His careful and efficient administration resulted in his re-election in the fall of 1914, and, as previously stated, he has the distinction of being the only democrat elected to this important office in Okmulgee County. In addi-

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tion to giving most punctilious attention to his official duties Mr. Goree maintains a general supervision of his well improved dairy farm, eligibly situated a short dis- tance west of the city. In honor of his collegiate alma mater he has named this well improved place Summer Hill Dairy. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows aud both he and his wife hold member- ship in the Baptist Church. Mr. Goree is the eldest in a family of eight children; Texanna, the next in order of birth, is the wife of Rev. John A. Jones, of Chilli- cothe, Texas; Mrs. Mary Lovett is deceased and is sur- vived by three children; William H. has for the past fifteen years been in the employ of the great meat- packing firm of Armour & Company, at its establishment in the City of Forth Worth, Texas; Roland E. has the active management of the dairy farm of the subject of this sketch; Lena became the wife of Richard Rhyne and was a resident of Alvord, Texas, at the time of her death; Frederick E. has been associated with the building of the Government canal across the Isthmus of Panama, where he still remains in the employ of the Government, as a stenographer; aud Orren C. is a resi- dent of the City of Dallas, Texas.

At Corsicana, Texas, on the 10th of Juue, 1891, was solemnized the marriage of Charles W. Goree to Miss . Mary Elizabeth Stroder, who was born and reared in Texas and who was a schoolmate of her husband when they were young. She is a daughter of Alexander aud Catherine Stoder, who are still residents of Texas. To Mr. and Mrs. Goree have been born ten children, the first of whom, Katie, died at the age of 21% years; Gladys is a popular teacher in the schools of Okmulgee County; Ioua is deputy in the office of the county treas- urer; Mattie and Thomas Bryan are, in 1916, students in the Okmulgee High School; and the younger children of the gracious home cixcle are Verna, John Gordon, Maggie May, Charles Stroder, and Sidney Frederick.

In 1904 Mr. Hodges came to Oklahoma and here his first service was in connection with a restaurant at Muskogee. He next became a solicitor for the Muskogee Democrat, and he coutinued his work in this capacity after the consolidation of the paper with the Muskogee Times. Since 1909 he has beeu manager of the Okmulgee Daily Democrat, and since January, 1915, he has been owner of a half-interest in the large and important publishing business in which his associate is James J. Moroney, of whom specific mention is made on other pages of this work, the firm publishing not only the Okmulgee Daily Democrat but also the Okmulgee Prog- ress, the Mid-Continent Oil and Farm News, and the Morris News, at Morris, Okmulgee County. Mr. Hodges is also the owner of a half-interest in the Wagoner Demo- crat, published at the county seat of Wagoner County.

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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