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 72

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 72

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ability and well directed eudeavor. He possessed a

strong intellect aud broad views and it is noteworthy that .as a boy engaged in learning his trade he attended a medical school three years, taking up the study of this science chiefly during the evening hours.

Mr. Schmale was married in 1877 and as a bridal trip returned to Germany. They remained in that country a little more than a year, and on coming back to the United States Mr. Schmale established a shoe store on Fulton Street in the City of Brooklyn. Starting with a modest capital, he soon had a trade, and made a specialty of fine custom work iu the manufacture of boots and shoes. He was oue of Brooklyn's merchants until the late '80s. He then moved to the City of Chicago and established a shoe store on the west side of that city. He was in the shoe business uutil the spring of 1893.

At the opening of the Cherokee strip or outlet in September, 1893, Mr. Schmale made the run into the new territory and made his destination the present Town of Perry in Noble County. He did not enter a claim, but on the 23d of November the same year filed a claim to his homestead in Pawnee Couuty. He at once settled down to the hard and practical life of a homesteader and in clearing up his land he found a great many Indian relics and assembled a very interesting collection of such.

In the course of years Mr. Schmale developed one of the model rural estates of Pawnee County. He endured in the meanwhile the responsibilities and burdens which fell to the lot of the pioneer, and it was well for him that he had a trade and could make use of it in providing for himself and family during the early years of stress and comparative poverty. The first two years he spent on his claim, he walked to and from his house to the City of Jennings, 312 miles away, and made boots and shoes and repaired them iu order to earn a living for his household. It is said that he arose at 4 o'clock in the morning, spent several hours working on his land, and then walked to the village and applied himself steadily to the work of his trade oftentimes until late in the evening. To such men success comes as a natural re- sult and as a richly merited reward. Smiling prosperity crowned the efforts of Mr. Schmale long before his death.

Before his death he had about fifty acres of his land under cultivation, and all his farm under lease for oil development purposes. Hence he was in independent circumstances and was well able to retire, though his active spirit did not allow him to forego work altogether, and he spent much time in supervising his farm. For some years he had been a successful grower of Percheron draft horses, had sold a number of fine animals of that type, and a short time before his death owned a herd of about ten head. He also raised a number of mules on his farm. Another feature of his farm was dairying, and he kept for that purpose a herd of Jersey cattle. He was also known in Pawnee County as a successful poultryman, and for several years he had made a specialty of raising chickens and selling eggs. Each season he had two modern incubators employed for hatching.

After taking out his naturalization papers, Mr. Schmale began voting with the democratic party. After the campaign of 1876 he became a republican, but finally gravitated back into the ranks of the democratic, party and to that gave his allegiance the rest of his days. While never a seeker for political office, he was several times given local offices of public trust and was a man who could be depended upon in every such position. Both he and his wife were members of the Lutheran Church.

In New York City in 1877 he married Miss Annie Reckert. Mrs. Schmale was born in Westphalia, Germany, June 22, 1856, and died at her home in Pawnee County,

October 16, 1915, thus preceding her husband to the beyond about six months. She had come alone to the United States at the age of nineteen and found em- ployment in New York City until her marriage. She was a devoted wife and mother, and was a loyal and effective aid to Mr. Schmale in his successful career. She was christened in the Lutheran Church as an infant and was confirmed at the age of fourteen.

The late Mr. and Mrs. Henry Schmale had five chil- dren. The oldest, Fred, died at Guthrie, Oklahoma, at the age of sixteen. The daughter Marie is the wife of Henry Rapp, and they reside at DeQueen, Sevier County, Arkansas. Henry Jr. now has the active supervision of the home farm and also leases an adjoining farm. The younger children, Frieda and Martha, are still at home and in school.

F. E. THURMAN was one of the alert and enterprising young men who were attracted to the southwestern oil fields at the beginning of exploration and ex- ploitation, and for teu years has been a resident of Bartlesville. Formerly in the oil business, he now gives most of his attention to the insurance, surety bond and loan firm of McIlheny & Thurman. In insurance circles he is one of the most prominent men in Okla- homa, and has been officially identified with several organizations covering the activities of that business.

F. E. Thurman was born at West Union, Ohio, March 9, 1872, a son of J. M. and Mary Elizabeth (McCormick) Thurman, both natives of Ohio. His father died October 4, 1915, in West Union, while the mother died when F. E. Thurman was seven years old. J. M. Thurman has for the greater part of his active career been a banker at West Union and also for a long time has served as treasurer of Adams County. F. E. Thurman is the only survivor of two children, his brother William having died at the age of thirty-eight.

During the seventeen years that he lived at home he gained a substantial public school education, and his career was early directed to business affairs. His first practical experience was in the Cincinnati branch office of the Dun's Mercantile Agency, and he was soon after- wards sent out as traveling representative, spending seven" years with that firm. At the beginning of the oil excite- ment he came to Neodesha, Kansas, and for two years was connected with the Prairie Oil & Gas Company in the producing department. Then for five years he was con- nected with the Barnsdall Oil Company, after which he entered business for himself in the general insurance, surety bond and loan field. This has been his principal activity since December, 1912.

Mr. Thurman is secretary of the People's Savings & Loan Association, and has held that office since the organ- ization of the association. He is also president of the State Association of Local Fire Insurance Agents and president of the Local Fire Prevention Association. Since May, 1909, he has served as clerk of the board of educa- tion at Bartlesville, and can always be found among those working for the welfare of the city and state. His Masonic connections include the Blue Lodge of which he is a past master, the thirty-second degree consistory, the Mystic Shrine and the Eastern Star. He is also a mem- ber of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. During the Spanish-American war he was in the Fourth Ohio Infantry as corporal, and saw some active cam- paigning in Porto Rico. During that experience he acted as correspondent for the Portsmouth Daily Blade On October 31, 1904, Mr. Thurman married Miss Lucile Elizabeth Calvert, who was born in Kentucky and is a daughter of Isaac Calvert.

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

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CHARLES FRENCH TWYFORD. Now serving as county attorney of Beaver County, Mr. Twyford has been known in different sections of Oklahoma both as a newspaper man and as a lawyer. He has made a splendid record both in his private practice and in the administration of his official duties since locating at Beaver. It is a matter of interest that Mrs. Twyford, his wife, is a graduate physician. The Twyford family has had many interesting associations with Oklahoma affairs ever since the year of the original opening. His father was one of Oklahoma's Eighty-Niners, while his mother has long been distinguished as having taught the first regular public school in Oklahoma Territory, and for her varied achievements and influence in both educational and mis- sionary fields.

It was on a cotton plantation in Pontotoc County, Mis- sissippi, that Charles French Twyford was born, December 1, 1875, a son of Samuel B. and Lucy E. (French) Twy- ford. His father was born April 1, 1843, at Terre Haute, Indiana, a son of Charles C. and Lucy (Belt) Twyford, who were natives of the State of Delaware and of Scotch ancestry. Samuel B. Twyford had a varied and active career. In early years he was a railroad man. At the out- break of the Civil war he was living at Champaign, Illi- nois, and there enlisted with the Eleventh Illinois Volun- teer Cavalry. After serving three months with that regiment he was transferred to Company M of the Fifth Missouri Cavalry, and was given scout duty with the rank and pay of a captain. He remained in active service until the close of the war. He then lived in Illinois for a few years, but in 1872 with an ox team wagon he drove from Illinois to Marion County, Kansas. There he was a grade contractor during the construction of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe. Railroad through that part of Kansas.

In 1873, two years before the birth of his son, Charles F., he removed to Pontotoc County, Mississippi, and engaged in cotton planting there until 1879. Returning to Kansas he resumed farming in Marion County, and lived in that state until 1889. In that year, which marked the opening of Oklahoma Territory, he joined in the rush, and was fortunate in locating a good tract of Government land near the present Town of Edmond. He was one of the best types of early Oklahoma settlers and was a progressive farmer and respected citizen of that locality until his death on March 28, 1898. He was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church all his life.

His wife, Lucy E. French, whom he married at Green- field, Illinois, December 1, 1874, was born. at Hamilton, Ohio, March 17, 1844, a daughter of John and Jane (French) French, who were natives of Hastings, England. Mrs. Twyford is a graduate of the Illinois State Normal School at Bloomington and took special work in the Illi- nois State University at Champaign. For five years she was a teacher in St. Louis and later did missionary work for ten years in Mississippi, organizing a number of churches and also conducting schools. In 1879, in addition to the burdens of her household and the care of her children, she began teaching in Kansas, and for nine years conducted schools at different points in that state. Soon after coming to Oklahoma with her family, in 1889, she organized and directed as teacher the first public school opened in the territory. The session began in September following the opening in April, and that was Edmond's first public school. It was conducted for a term of nine months, and this school graduated the first eighth grade class graduated in Oklahoma Terri- tory or Oklahoma State. This class, all of whom were girls, and eleven in number, made up the first enrollment at the Central State Normal of Edmond. During the

First Territorial Legislature Mrs. Twyford was one of the committee of five named by the governor to draft school laws and apportion school districts. In 1891 she took up church work under the auspices of the Congregational Church, and was engaged in organizing and building churches up to 1901. In the year that she retired from active responsibilities she had completed more than thirty years of active service in behalf of schools and religion. While in Oklahoma she was the prime factor in the erection of five rural churches in the vicinity of Edmond. She was regularly ordained to the ministry in 1891, and filled the pulpit in each of the churches which she organized. Since she retired in 1901 she has been regarded as one of the most useful women Oklahoma ever had. She now lives at 1015 North Kelly Street in Oklahoma City. To her marriage with Mr. Twyford were born five children: Charles French; Mary A., born August 5, 1877; Ethel, born June 20, 1879, and died in infancy; Theresa, born June 17, 1881; and James S., born June 5, 1882.

The atmosphere of culture and good ideals, every incen- tive to a life of integrity and honorable activity, were afforded Charles F. Twyford from childhood up. He obtained his education at the Central State Normal in Edmond and at Kingfisher College. He paid his way while in college by work as a printer, a trade which afforded him his livelihood for a number of years. Sub- sequently he became one of the editors and publishers of the Oklahoma Labor Signal and the Oklahoma Farmer. In 1903 he established the News at Bridgeport, con- ducted it twelve months, and then went to Topeka, Kansas, where he was employed at his trade as printer three years.

In 1909 Mr. Twyford entered the Epworth University School of Law at Oklahoma City, remained in attendance three years, and was admitted to practice June 12, 1911. In 1913 he located at Beaver, and has already secured a satisfying share of practice and his thorough qualifica- tions were the basis for his successful candidacy as repub- lican nominee for the office of county attorney of Beaver County in 1914. Fraternally he is a member of the Alva Lodge of Elks.

On September 17, 1913, at El Dorado, Oklahoma, Mr. Twyford married Miss May Drew, daughter of William H. and Ethelda (Wilson) Drew, who were natives of the State of Michigan. Mrs. Doctor Twyford was born in Greer County, Oklahoma, September 15, 1892, was edu- cated at Fort Worth, Texas, in the university there, and with the class of 1913 graduated from the medical depart- ment of the University of Oklahoma and was awarded the degree Doctor of Medicine.

CLIFFORD G. MILLER. Having won a place among the progressive newspaper men of Western Oklahoma solely through the medium of his own efforts, Clifford G. Miller is eminently entitled to the confidence and esteem of his fellow men which he enjoys. Like the greater number of newspaper men in this part of the state, he has worked his way to the top from the most humble position, having commenced his career as a pressman's apprentice and being at this time proprietor and editor of a publication which has its acknowledged place among the journals of Beckham County-the Elk City Leader.

Mr. Miller belongs to a family which originated in France, and the American progenitor of which was his great-grandfather, David H. Miller, who was a pioneer of Missouri and homesteaded land on the present site of the City of St. Joseph. His son, Jonas Miller, was born on the Missouri farm, residing. there until the period of the Civil war, when he went to Texas and became a pioneer of Grayson County, where he owned a gristmill

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

and also followed the trade of blacksmith and wheel- wright. Later he moved to Carroll County, Missouri, and there his death occurred about the year 1908, when he was sixty-one years of age.

J. W. Miller, son of Jonas Miller, and father of Clif- ford G. Miller, was born December 3, 1859, in Grayson County, Texas, and in 1865 was taken to Carroll County, Missouri, where he passed many years in agricultural pursuits. In 1898 he went to Buchanan County, Mis- souri, where he continued his farming and stock-raising operations until 1906, since which time he has been a resident of Elk City, employed in the construction de- partment of a railroad. He is a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows at Elk City. Mr. Miller was married in 1883 to Miss Hattie E. Teter, of Dewitt, Carroll County, Missouri, who was born in that county in 1863. Four children have been born to this union: Clifford G .; Russell W., who is a general workman and resides at Elk City; and Jenevieve and Joe W., who reside with their parents.

Clifford G. Miller attended the public schools of Car- roll County, Missouri, being graduated from the high school at Saxton Station, Buchanan County, in the class of 1904. In 1905 he attended Hill's Business College at St. Joseph, Missouri, but in the meantime, in the fall of 1903, had entered upon his business career as an employe in the general offices of the Burlington Rail- road at St. Joseph, remaining there for about two years. Mr. Miller received his introduction to the printing busi- ness as an employe of the Combe Printing Company at St. Joseph, where he acted as pressman 's apprentice from 1905 until October, 1906, when he came to Elk City, Oklahoma. He first worked at various jobs, accepting such honorable employment as came his way until he could gain a foothold, and in the spring of 1909 joined the Sayre Headlight, with which he was connected only for a short time. Later he was with the George Winn Printing Company until October 1, 1909, and then with J. W. McMurtry, printer, for two months, and December 3, 1909, went to Clinton, where he helped George Rhine- hart start the Clinton Times. From Clinton Mr. Miller went to Arapaho, where for two years and two months he was connected with the Arapaho Bee, with J. W. Wagner, editor, and in November, 1914, returned to Elk City. Here, December 28, 1914, he bought a one-half interest in the Elk City Leader, and published the first edition January 7, 1915. Nine days after its appear- ance G. F. Stayton bought the other one-half interest, and the partners continued the publication of this sheet until August 3, 1915, when they sold out. On the 30th, how- ever, Mr. Miller was given the opportunity of buying the paper again, and, the deal being consummated, he has continued to publish the Leader to the present time. The paper is independent in politics and circulates in Beckham and the surrounding counties, already having a respectable foreign list. The plant is situated on Jefferson Street and is modernly equipped for the pub- lication of a neat, clear and attractive newspaper. The Leader has proven an excellent advertising medium, and under Mr. Miller's able management is daily growing in public favor and confidence.

Mr. Miller was married April 16, 1911, at Arapaho, Oklahoma, to Miss Dovie M. Miller, daughter of G. W. Miller, an extensive farm and ranch owner of Custer County, Oklahoma. They have no children.

ROBERT N. THOMAS. A member of the banking fra- ternity of Blaine County who has gained a substantial position in the confidence of the people of his community is Robert N. Thomas, cashier of the Greenfield State Bank of Greenfield, who became connected with this institution in 1909 as bookeeper and after three months

was promoted to his present capacity. Mr. Thomas be- longs to the young and enthusiastic element which has been mainly instrumental in the development of the town, and has been a leading factor in educational affairs here, having been an instructor before entering upon his career as a banker.

Robert N. Thomas was born at Osage City, Osage County, Kansas, September 18, 1884, and is a son of Jesse and Hattie (Jones) Thomas, and a member of a family that, originating in Wales, emigrated to this country at an early day and became pioneers of Mis- souri. His father was born in 1833, near Springfield, Clark County, Ohio, and from his native state re- moved to Detroit, Dickinson County, Kansas, where he was married. After some years passed in agricultural pursuits there he removed to Osage City, Kansas, in 1882, and continued as a farmer and stock raiser until 1892, then coming to Oklahoma and taking up a home- stead of 160 acres, 31/2 miles northeast of Greenfield, in Blaine County, which still belongs to his estate, and on which he died in 1910. Mr. Thomas was a stanch demo- erat and good citizen, and was fraternally connected with the Masons. Mrs. Thomas was born in Wales in 1855, and when fourteen years of age came to this country with her parents, the family settling near De- troit, Kansas. She still survives and makes her home at Stillwater, Oklahoma. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas became the parents of seven children: Mary, who is the wife of Harry Ellenwood, of Williamstown, Vermont, formerly a contractor, but now an agriculturist; Alice, who is the wife of C. C. Walker, a farmer near Greenfield; Jesse R., a graduate of Stillwater (Oklahoma) Agricultural College, class of 1915, and now a demonstrator for that institution, with his residence at Medford, Oklahoma; Robert N .; John J., who died at Greenfield, aged seven- teen years; Olive Branch, a senior at the Agricultural and Mechanical College, Stillwater; and Martha O., a member of the sophomore class at the same college.

The early education of Robert N. Thomas was secured in the public schools of Greenfield, following which he took a course in the Central Normal School, Edmond, Oklahoma. In 1908 he came to Greenfield as principal of the public school, but after one year gave up teaching to engage in banking, entering the Greenfield State Bank as bookkeeper. His abilities soon recognized, after three months he was made cashier of this institution, a position which he has retained to the present time, the other officials being: George M. Matlock, president; and E. G. Demunbrun, vice president. This bank was founded in 1909 as a state institution by I. E. Hem- mingway and has grown steadily since its inception, being regarded as one of the safe and reliable concerns of Blaine County, managed in a conservative way by men whose fortunes and reputations are wrapped up in its success. It has a capital of $10,000, with a surplus of $5,000, and owns its own handsome bank building on Main Street, which was erected in 1906. It is a recog- nized factor in the business life of the community and is well patronized by the thrifty people of the county.

Mr. Thomas is a republican, but his activities in a political way are limited to an effort to secure good men and beneficial measures for his community. He is fra- ternally affiliated with Watonga Lodge No. 176, A. F. & A. M., in which he has made many friends, and is a member also of the Oklahoma State Bankers Association. He is unmarried.

JOHN A. WIMBERLEY. An Oklahoma eighty-niner, John A. Wimberley's name was found in the annals of some of the first political conventions held in the old territory of Oklahoma and he has been actively identified with the territory and state both in business and politics

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for more than a quarter of a century. For the past ten years Mr. Wimberley has lived at Pawhuska, and has extensive business interests in that locality.

A Tennessean, he was born in Henry County of that state April 20, 1865, and represents some fine old south- ern ancestry. His parents were Noah and Martha (Lee) Wimberley, who were married in Tennessee and in 1866 moved to Illinois. His father was a Union soldier, having served for four years and three months in the army. By occupation he was a farmer, was a member of the Methodist Church and a democrat in politics and his death occurred in Massac County, Illinois, in 1879. His wife, who was a member of the prominent Lee family of old Virginia, died in Massac County, Illinois, in 1870.

The youngest of five children, John A. Wimberley spent the first sixteen years of his life on an Illinois farm and during that time acquired all his school train- ing. In every sense he is a self-made man. In 1882 he went out to Kansas and was engaged in farming with a brother in Kingman County until 1889. In that year, which marked the opening of the original Oklahoma territory, he located at Kingfisher and secured a Govern- ment homestead, whose cultivation he directed and on which he lived until 1900. After a short time at Pawnee he again participated in 1901 in a land opening, when the Kiowa and Comanche reservation was allotted to permanent settlers. For several years Mr. Wimberley lived at Anadarko, but in 1905 came to Pawhuska, which has since been his home. He has extensive interests as a farmer and stock raiser and for a number of years has also handled real estate, operating in lands not only in Osage but in several other counties of Oklahoma.

Though Mr. Wimberley can properly claim a diploma only from the post-graduate school of hard experience, he has seldom been unsuccessful in his business under- takings and has shown a great deal of enterprise and persistence in carrying out everything to which he directs his attention. This is a fine business trait, and it has been responsible not only for his success but for the useful part he has been able to play in local affairs and in politics in general. Throughout his career he has been identified with the republican party.

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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