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 60

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 60

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Mr. Cope served as deputy county attorney of Canadian County from 1901 to 1904, and in 1907 was elected a member of the first State Legislature. In the proceed- ings of that body which put into effect the organic constitution of the state, his name is frequently men- tioned, and in many ways he left the impress of his influence on the first body of statutes of Oklahoma State. In 1908 he was re-elected to office, and served two terms in the Legislature. As a lawyer his practice has been of gratifying proportions almost from its beginning. From 1907 to 1913 he was associated in practice with James I. Phelps.

Mr. Cope was appointed postmaster of El Reno by President Wilson, May 22, 1913. Most of his time is now given to the affairs of an office which in extent of receipts and business transactions is one of the largest in Oklahoma. Mr. Cope has for a number of years been one of the democratic leaders and in 1912 was chairman of the Canadian County Democratic Central Committee.

Fraternally his membership is in the Masonic Order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. He is a member of the Christian Church.

In 1905 Mr. Cope married Miss Ethel Bradley of El Reno.

GEORGE W. CANFIELD. The men who have given of their energy, ability, enthusiasm and ambitious vigor in the development of a community are entitled to the gratitude and respect of their fellow citizens. In every undertaking there must be a beginning, and the indi- vidual who lays the foundations for what may in future years become a large, prosperous and flourishing city, must be possessed of the courage of his convictions, unlimited faith in the future of the community he selects as the scene of his activities, and the ability to direct the affairs thereof. When, in 1900, he purchased the townsite of Yale, George W. Canfield looked far beyond the narrow horizon of that day and in his mind's eye saw the possibilities of this rich and fertile section of country. His judgment has been vindicated, for today this is one of the most promising localities of Central Oklahoma, and he has prospered by his foresight and acumen, being the owner of some of the richest oil land in the world and the head of the Yale Wholesale Grocer Company, a concern which has been developed to splendid proportions under his personal direction.

Mr. Canfield was born at Mattoon, Illinois, February 1, 1863, and is a son of Jesse and Catherine (Bausman) Canfield. His father was born in Virginia and his inother in Pennsylvania and they were married in Ohio, following which they first moved to Indiana and later to Illinois. In 1869 they again turned their faces toward the West, following other pioneers to Cherokee County, Kansas, where Mr. Canfield secured a claim, subsequently becoming one of those to lay out the Town of Columbus. Later he returned to Carroll County, Arkansas, and then went to Madison County, in that state, where he died in 1888, at the age of forty-nine years. Mrs. Canfield sur- vived her husband many years and passed away at Jen- nings, Oklahoma, at the age of sixty-ninc. During the greater part of his life Mr. Canfield was an agriculturist, but he was also successfully engaged in the sawmill business and conducted a gristmill. He was a republican in politics. There were eight children in the family, as follows: W. E., who is engaged in business operations at Yale in partnership with his brother; Miss Ida, who lives at Yale; Anna C., who is deceased; George W .; Charles, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Laura Bradshaw, of Kingston, Arkansas; Jesse, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and Willis, a hardware merchant at Yale.

George W. Canfield received a country school educa- tion and remained with his parents until twenty-two years of age, at which time he left home and spent one year in cotton picking on the Arkansas River. Returning to Kingston, Arkansas, with a capital of $7.50, he started a grocery store in a small way, and subsequently added a modest stock of drugs. His business prospered and after three years he sold his store and came to Okla- homa, being first located at Soonersville, near Cushing, later at Jennings, and finally at Yale. In 1910, with others, he purchased the townsite of Yale, and two years later laid out the town in company with his brothers, W. E. and Willis Canfield, Dr. E. G. Newell, E. F. Knowl- ton and G. M. Weems. This community has since been his home and the scene of his almost phenomenal success. With his brother, W. E., he soon bought the State Bank of Yale and continued in the banking business for two years, and when he retired from that enterprise started the Yale Wholesale Grocer Company, of which he has been manager and president to the present time. A

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modest concern in 1907, in 1915 this company did a business amounting to $400,000, with a branch office at Drumright, Oklahoma, its statement of March 1, 1914, showing the following figures: Liabilities: Accounts payable, $40,223.48; bills payable, $11,339 .. 83; cash on deposit, $703.72; capital stock, $75,000.00. Total, $127,- 267.03. Assets: Inventory of stock on hand, $27,775.26; accounts receivable, $83,434.69; bills receivable, $4,- 648.02; furniture, fixtures, etc., $769.30; real estate, $9,212.13; cash on hand, $1,427.63. Total, $127,267.03. In December, 1913, Mr. Canfield built his present business house, a structure erected of native stone, 50 by 124 feet, with basement under all, one of the finest buildings iu this part of the county. The development of this great industry is a striking example of American enterprise and of western grit and initiative. Mr. Canfield is also the owner of some of the most valuable oil land in the world, and is interest in the Twin State Oil Company and the Sun Oil Company of Yale, as well as the Webster Refining Company of this place, of which he is president. He has large holdings also in the Yale State Bank and the Farmers National Bank of Yale. His brother, W. E. Canfield, is associated with him in the great number of his interests. Mr. Canfield was the owner of a town lot at Perry which he secured after making the run to the Cherokee Strip, September 16, 1893, and which later he disposed of, and also has a valuable claim north of Jennings, which he obtained shortly afterward. In poli- tics a republican, he is ably discharging the duties of citizenship as a member of the Yale City Council. Fraternally he is a Mason and an Odd Fellow and has passed all the chairs in both lodges.

In 1893 Mr. Canfield was married to Miss Roxie Wright, who was born in Arkansas, a daughter of J. M. Wright, and six children have been born to this union: Jesse, Ralph, Roy, Teddy, Ira and Wright.

Mr. Canfield belongs to a family which can trace its ancestry back for generations in this country, pointing with pride to nine Canfield brothers who fought iu the Revolutionary war. His success, however, has rested entirely upon himself, and has naught to do with ances- try, save as he may have inherited the sterling traits of sturdy ancestors. There may be a feeling of family pride when an individual points to lands and possessions which his forefathers have gained and given to him, but how much more gratifying it must be to realize that one is the builder of his own fortune and that the credit belongs to himself alone for obstacles overcome and successful results accomplished.

WILLIAM W. CHILDERS. About twenty-five years ago Mr. Childers began his career as a teacher, after obtain- ing the benefits of a school and college education, fol- lowed that profession in Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas, had a somewhat extensive business experience in the latter state, and since 1909 has been identified with the flourishing Town of Tinton in Tillman County, where he is now cashier of the Farmers State Bank. He was one of the organizers of this institution, and its capital stock is $12,000 with surplus and undivided profits of $6,000. The modern brick bank building was erected in 1911 at the corner of Broadway and Main Street, and contains the largest vault in Tillman County. The pres- ident of the bank is C. W. Howard of Frederick, while the other officers live at Tipton, including R. S. Carlile, vice president; Mr. Childers, cashier; and Miss Clara Childers, assistant cashier.

The Childers family originated in Ireland, and was established in one of the Carolinas during the colonial era. The grandfather of the Tipton banker was James Childers, a native of Tennessee, whence he removed to Mississippi, and was killed while a soldier on the Confed-

erate side during the war between the states. William W. Childers was born at Corinth, Mississippi, March 14, 1874. His father, S. H. Childers, who was born in Ten- nessee in 1845, grew up on his father's plantation in Mississippi, and in 1861 enlisted and was a Coufederate soldier throughout the course of the war. He was with a regiment of Mississippi cavalry under the command of the noted Bedford Forrest, and in one battle was wounded in the left arm. After the war he returned to Missis- sippi, and since 1875 has lived at Ripley with the excep- tion of about three years spent iu Corinth. He has been a farmer and stock raiser, and still occupies the old homestead at Ripley. He is an active member of the Baptist Church and in politics a democrat. The maiden name of his wife was Melinda Griffin, a native of Alabama. Their living children are: Etta who mar- ried John D. Wammack, a farmer uear Ripley; Jennie, wife of R. E. Clark, also a farmer near Ripley; William W .; Luther M., who is cashier of Bank of Elmer, Elmer, Oklahoma, and owns a stock ranch in Texas; John Y., a merchant at Clarysville, near Ripley, Mississippi; Escar, a farmer and stock man in Mississippi; J. E., who is now a practicing physician iu Natchez, Mississippi; Obie, who lives on the farm with his parents; and Clara, assistant cashier of The Farmers State Bank, Tipton, Oklahoma.

Beginning his education in the public schools at Ripley, Mississippi, William W. Childers continued in the high school at Chalybeate, Mississippi, and in 1894 graduated from the Southern Tennessee Normal School. In 1896 he graduated bachelor of science from the West Tennes- see Christian College. With this thorough training he taught school in Tennessee two years, and in 1898 re- moved to Southwest Texas and continued his professional work there six years. From 1904 to 1908 he was in business at Lake Victor, Texas, and then spent oue year in the real estate business at San Antonio. In 1909 Mr. Childers removed to Tipton, assisted in organizing the Farmers State Bank, and became its cashier. He is vice president of The Bank of Elmer, Elmer, Oklahoma.

In politics he is a staunch democrat of the old line school. He has served as city clerk at Tipton, is now clerk of the local school board, is city treasurer, and for two years was a member of the village council. He is one of the strong supporters of church activities, is a steward in the Methodist Episcopal Church South and superintendent of the Sunday School. In the Tipton Lodge No. 417, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, he is serving as senior warden, also belongs to Frederick Chapter No. 41, Royal Arch Masons, has membership in the lodge of Knights of Pythias at Burnet, Texas, and formerly was affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Tennessee.

In 1905 at Marble Falls, Texas, Mr. Childers married Susie Browning Parkhill, who died at San Antonio in 1909. The one daughter of that marriage is Ethel, now attending public schools at Tipton. At Tipton in 1912 Mr. Childers married Miss Mattie Reeves, who came from Mayfield, Kentucky.

JOHN SKELLEY. To say that John Skelley of Min- eral, Cimarron County, has lived in the Panhandle dis- trict of Oklahoma for a period of thirty years is suffi- cient to classify him with the real old timers and pioneers. He has spent all his life in the Far West, and it was only a few years ago that civilization caught up with him. For years he lived and worked on the open range, when the country was innocent of settlers or civilization, except a scattered population of pioneers, and when towns, railroads, and the institutions of developed society were far and isolated.

He was about five years of age when brought to the western country from Montgomery County, New York,.

0 te C L C

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where he was born April 2, 1864. His parents were Michael and Louise (Bailey) Skelley, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of New York. Michael Skelley, who was born in Ireland in 1820 and came to America in infancy, had a career of exceedingly varied experi- ence. In the early days he conducted a boat on the old Erie Canal in New York State. In 1869 he came out to Colorado and followed various occupations afterwards, principally ranching and running a wagon freighting train, in connection with his brother, from various points on the Kansas Pacific Railroad, hauling supplies to mili- tary posts and the settlements in New Mexico until the building of the Santa Fe Railroad through that territory in 1880. He was a well known man in his day. He died at Pueblo, Colorado, in 1890. His wife, Louise Bailey, was born in New York State in 1839, a daughter of George Bailey, a native of the same state. She died January 3, 1903, at Sheridan, Wyoming. There were eight children in the family, four sons and four daugh- ters, five of them still living.

John Skelley came out to Trinidad, Colorado, with his parents in 1869. As a boy he attended the public schools in Trinidad, Colorado. When only fourteen he started out as a cowboy on a ranch. The next seven years were spent in the free and open life of the old time cattle man on the ranges of New Mexico and Wyoming. For one year during this period he was a government teamster with the quartermaster's department of the United States Army in Wyoming and the Black Hills of South Dakota, and he spent one year with a government surveying corps in northwestern Nebraska. After this, in 1885, a little more than thirty years ago, John Skelley directed his operations to what is now Cimarron County, Oklahoma, then described in the school geography as No Man's Land. His headquarters have been here ever since, except a period of two years, 1892 and 1893, when he went to Montana. He was first a teamster and cow- boy, working for wages for different pioneers and ranch companies, but gradually his activities became his own, and for a number of years his operations have been such as to constitute him one of the leading ranchmen and citizens in this district of the Southwest. He now has a large ranch twenty-four miles northwest of Boise City at the old Mineral Postoffice in Cimarron County, comprising eight hundred acres of deeded land and eight thousand acres leased for ranch purposes. It is a ranch in size and equipment equal to the best still found in the ranching country. He has partly modern build- ings, has set out a great many trees, and has considerable land under cultivation. The water for his ranch is furnished by both wells and stream. His home is noted for its hospitality, where the weary traveler gets both bed and board without question or price, should they need it.

For thirteen years Mr. Skelley conducted a general store at old Mineral City in No Man's Land, where he still resides, his postoffice address being Kenton, Okla- homa, and during that time his store was also the location of the postoffice, this office being established in 1888 and discontinued in 1911, and he served as postmaster thir- teen years. In 1904 he was appointed United States Court Commissioner for the Western District of Okla- homa, and in 1907 was made a regular United States. Commissioner, an office he filled for four years. He is a republican, though he has been too busy with practical affairs to seek office, and the few honors of that nature that have come to him came unsolicited. He is very popular with the native Mexican population of that part of Oklahoma and New Mexico, and he speaks the Mexican language like one of them and has their respect and confidence.

On April 25, 1895, Mr. Skelley married Miss Lucy Dacy, who was born in Kansas City, Missouri, October 12, 1871. She was a daughter of James Dacy, a pioncer who settled in No Man's Land in 1887 and who died in 1891. To their marriage have been born five children, two sons and three daughters: John Dacy, born De- cember 27, 1896; Mary Catherine, born June 7, 1898, and died July 23, 1898; George Lewis, born May 23, 1899; Frances Louise, born April 5, 1902, and Lucy Elizabeth, boru June 4, 1904.

P. R. WILLIAMS. When Mr. Williams started his busi- ness career fifteen years ago, in 1900, he had cash capital of less than $100. In Missouri and in Northeastern Oklahoma he has been steadily working upward, first as a merchant and subsequently as a banker, and is now the cashier of the First State Bank at Wynona and is a stockholder in four other banking institutions in this part of the state. He is one of the men who are provid- ing the business leadership for Osage County.

Born in Lawrence County, Missouri, February 8, 1879, Mr. Williams is still a young man and his many friends predict a great deal for his future. His parents were Jesse A. and Eva (Ham) Williams, the former a native of North Carolina and the latter of Alabama. His mother came to Missouri with her parents, while his father removed to that state after he was grown, and was married in Lawrence County and both died on the homestead which he had acquired before his marriage. He passed away at the age of sixty-five, when his young- est son, P. R. Williams, was eight months of age, and the mother lived for a number of years and died at the age of fifty-nine. During the Civil war he was a soldier in the Union army with a Missouri regiment. The two oldest children are John, now living in California, and Jessie A., of Missouri.

P. R. Williams was reared on a farm, and in 1899 finished his education in the Collegiate Institute at Marionville in his native county. He soon afterwards became identified with merchandising at Verona, Mis- souri, and that was his home until he removed' to Oklahoma in 1909. One year was spent at Mannsville, and he then came to Wynona, in Osage County. He and his brother-in-law, J. M. Browning, organized the First State Bank of Wynona in September, 1909, and Mr. Williams has since been its cashier. Mr. Browning has organized six different banks in this part of Oklahoma and Mr. Williams has an interest as a stockholder in five of them. The officers of the First State Bank are: J. M. Browning, president; J. A. Owens, vice president; P. R. Williams, cashier; and Mrs. Myrtle Williams, wife of Mr. Williams, assistant cashier. The bank has its deposits guaranteed by the Depositors Guaranty Fund of the State of Oklahoma.

Mr. Williams is active as a member of the Methodist Church, though he was reared a Presbyterian, and his wife is also active in the same denomination. In 1901 he married Myrtle Browning, who was born in Lawrence County, Missouri, a daughter of G. W. Browuing. Mrs. Williams was graduated from the high school at Verona, Missouri.

JOHN S. BURGER. One of the dominating members of the Blackwell bar is John S. Burger, whose ability to render skillful service in the profession has brought · him rapidly to a place of prominence in his section of the state. Mr. Burger is a former county attorney of Kay County, and is one of the pioneers of the old Cherokee Strip, having made the run to this country in September, 1893. He was at that time a young man, and for a number of years before taking up the law was a successful and popular teacher.

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John S. Burger was born in Barry County, Missouri, February 25, 1871. The name is of German origin, but the family have been identified with this country for several generations. His grandfather was Rev. Jacob Burger, who became well known as a Methodist circuit rider both in Tennessee and in Missouri. He was one of the leaders in the abolition movement before the Civil war and preached and practiced that belief at a time when it was an exceedingly unpopular doctrine and ex-

posed him to a great deal of personal danger and inconvenience. Rev. Jacob Burger died at Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1902, at the age of eighty-seven years. The father of the Blackwell lawyer 'was Lieut .- Col. George Burger, who was born in Tennessee, and he and his brother Samuel and their father were all soldiers in the Union army. Colonel Burger made a gallant record both as a soldier and officer. He was a mechanic and farmer, moved out to Fort Scott, Kansas, many years ago, and died in Noble County, Oklahoma, at the age of seventy- seven. He was a strong republican and a member of the Methodist Church. He was married in Bourbon County, Kansas, to Nancy Ellis, who was born in Eng- land, her family having come from that country and settled in Kansas. Colonel Burger and wife were the parents of five children. The daughter, Jennie, now lives in Grant County, Oklahoma; the next is John S .; W. F. is a railroad man living at Seattle, Washington; and Finis is an educator at Billings, Oklahoma.

John S. Burger was reared in the states of Missouri and Kansas, and largely through his own well directed efforts secured a liberal education. He is a man of fine physical frame and constitution and owes its develop- ment largely to the discipline of a Kansas farm while he was a boy. He attended the public schools at Winfield and Ureka, Kansas, was also a student in the State Normal, and spent five years in the active work of teach- ing. Some years after locating in a homestead in Clay County, Oklahoma, he returned to Kansas and entered the university at Lawrence, where he was graduated from the law department with the class of 1903. Since then he has been engaged in a successful practice at Black- well. He was elected county attorney of Clay County in 1912, and the following two years gave a most effective administration to that office. He is a well read lawyer, and stands high in his profession. In politics he is a democrat.

Mr. Burger was married May 30, 1897, in Kansas, to Miss Carrie Barkly. Mrs. Burger was born in Illinois but was reared in the State of Kansas, and her father, J. S. Barkly, now lives at Tonkawa, Oklahoma. To this union have been born two sons and four daughters: Marietta, Altha, John S., Jr., Irena, William and Leonora. Mrs. Burger is a member of the Christian Church. He has taken much interest in Masonry, and is affiliated with the lodge, chapter and commandery, and is also a member of the India Temple of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine at Oklahoma City. Mr. Burger, along with a fine knowledge of the law, has the ability of the forcible speaker, and these qualities, united with a frank and genial manner, have brought him hosts of friends/ as well as a conspicuous position in his profession.

JAMES H. TOWNSEND. In the autumn of 1914 Mr. Townsend was elected sheriff of Payne County, where- upon he removed from the Village of Cushing to Still- water, the county seat, and his alert and efficient administration is clearly proving that he is the right man in the right place and that the confidence of the electors of the county was fully justified when they called him to his present important and exacting office.

Sheriff Townsend was born at Sulphur Springs, the judicial center of Hopkins County, Texas, on the 22d

of July, 1875, and is a son of William A. and Elizabeth (Perry) Townsend, the former of whom was born in Mississippi and the latter in Alabama, she having been fourteen years of age at the time of the family removal to Texas, prior to the Civil war, and having been reared and educated in the Lone Star State, where her marriage was solemnized. When the subject of this review was a child of six months his parents removed from his native place to Checota, Lamar County, Texas, where he re- ceived his early education in the public schools. The family then removed to Montague County, in the northern part of the state, and the present sheriff of Payne County, Oklahoma, was still a mere lad when he came with his parents to Indian Territory, about 1887. Mr. Townsend thus gained varied experience in connection with frontier life in old Indian Territory and is con- sistently to be designated as one of the pioneer citizens of Oklahoma, where he has kept step with the march of development and progress and has witnessed the up- building of a vigorous and prosperous commonwealth .. The parents of Sheriff Townsend have maintained their home in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, for nearly a score of years and the father has become one of the repre- sentative farmers and influential citizens of that county. Of the children Sheriff Townsend is the eldest; John is deceased; Joseph is now a resident of McNabb, Arkansas; and Jennie is the wife of Frederick W. Hutsey, of Okla- homa City.

The present sheriff of Payne County remained at the parental home until he had attained to the age of sixteen years. As a youth he was identified with the cattle industry on the ranges of Western Texas and the Indian Territory, and about 1891 his operations brought him into Indian Territory. He passed about two years in the Chickasaw region and then returned to Texas. He has maintained his permanent residence in what is now the State of Oklahoma since 1895. He resided in Ponto- toc County until 1901 and then established his home at Sapulpa, Creek County, where he remained until May, 1913, when he became a resident of Cushing, Payne County. While a resident of Cushing Mr. Townsend was elected sheriff of the proposed County of Shaffer, but in the popular election the county failed of organi- zation by a majority of sixty votes, so that the officers elected in anticipation of its establishment were not called upon to serve.

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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