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 88

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 88

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Born in Bates County, Missouri, September 20, 1888, he is a son of Rev. H. W. and Mary B. (Warren) Allen, and comes of old American stock on both sides. The Allens were of Scotch-Irish descent, and included in one branch of the family the noted Ethan Allen of Revolu- tionary fame. The Warrens are direct descendants from the same ancestry as the brilliant General Warren, who fell at Bunker Hill.

Professor Allen and his ancestors have been promi- nently identified with the Masonic Order for generations, though his father never joined that order. His fore- father, General Warren, was the first master of the lodge in America, serving one term and three years of a second term until he participated in that fateful battle of Bunker Hill and lost his life. In practically every generation since then there have been Allens and War- rens who have gained distinguished rank in Masonry.

Professor Allen's grandfather was William Allen, who was a pioneer of Oklahoma and died at Elk City in this state in 1911. He was born in Bradley County, Ten- nessee, in 1843. In 1852 his parents removed to Illinois, and when he was nineteen years of age he went to the young town of Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri, although at that time Kansas City had hardly come into existence, certainly not as a city. William Allen was proprietor of a hotel in Kansas City and subsequently became a farmer. He served all through the Civil war under Joe Shelby in the Confederate Army, being a quarter master. After the war he removed to Bates County, Missouri, homesteaded a farm, lived there quietly and industriously until 1898 and then once more became a pioneer, this time in Canadian County, Oklahoma. He bought a relinquishment where the town of old Matthew- son was later built. It was his distinction to have erected the first house in D County, now Dewey County, Okla- homa, and he became a general merchant. In 1909 he removed to Elk City and went into the lumber business, and that was his line of work until his death. The farm which he had in Dewey County he subsequently sold to the Leedey Townsite Company.

Rev. H. W. Allen, father of Professor Allen, was born in Bates County, Missouri, in 1869 and died at Weather- ford, Oklahoma, February 9, 1913. His youth and early manhood were spent in Bates County until 1898. In

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IIISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

that year he came to Oklahoma and filed a claim where the Town of Leedey stands. While he gave much atten- tion to farming he was in reality first and last a minister, and was a pioneer missionary of the Church of God. He organized the first church of that denomination in that section of Oklahoma, and worked as a missionary under the national board both in Missouri and Okla- homa, being the highest salaried missionary of the Church of God in any state. In fact, he was at the head of this denomination in the State of Oklahoma. A democrat, he interested himself in politics not for per- sonal advancement but for the good of the party aud for good government. At one time he was president of the Democratic Club at Weatherford, and was twice given a nomination for office by his fellow citizens. He was a member of the Brotherhood of American Yeomen. Rev. Mr. Allen married Mary B. Warren, a native of Ohio, who is still living at Weatherford. Their children were: Harvey Lemuel; Eldon H., who died in Weather- ford, Oklahoma, at the age of fifteen; aud H. F. Allen, who is principal of the schools at Gotebo, Oklahoma.

As a boy Professor Allen attended country schools in Bates County, Missouri. He has allowed no opportuni- ties for learning and self improvement to pass by. In 1905 he attended the Collegiate Institute at Fort Scott, Kansas, one year. He then entered the Southwestern Normal School at Weatherford, Oklahoma, graduating with the class of 1909, and has since received the degree Master of Pedagogy from the Teachers Professional College of Austin, Texas. During 1909-10 he was prin- cipal of the high school at Anadarko, then became super- intendent of schools at Alderson, Oklahoma, for two years, and in the fall of 1912 entered Henry Kendall College for post-graduate work, and at the same time was an instructor in the institution. In 1913 he received his well earned degree of Bachelor of Arts. He has also taken a summer course of study in the University of Missouri. In the summers of 1914 aud 1915 he took courses of instruction in the University of Oklahoma. Professor Allen is a member of the Kappa Delta Pi Greek Letter Honorary Educational Fraternity, the Uni- versity of Oklahoma Chapter.

In the fall of 1913 Professor Allen accepted the position of dean of the Collegiate Institute at Fort Scott, Kansas. During the next year, 1914, he was superin- tendent of schools at Cleo Springs, and in the spring of 1915 he accepted the heavy responsibilities of super- intendent of schools at Tecumseh. He now has under his supervision four public schools, with a staff of nine- teen teachers, and a total enrollment of 733 scholars. He has been re-elected superintendent of schools of Tecumseh for 1916-17, and is assisting in erecting a splendid new high school building.

Politically he is a democrat, and is a member of the Church of God, the denominatiou in which his father was a minister. Fraternally he is almost by inheritance identified with Masonry. He has filled chairs in Anadarko Lodge No. 21, Aucient Free and Accepted Masons; is a member of Indian Consistory No. 2 of the thirty- second degree Scottish Rite at MeAlester; a member of the Order of Eastern Star at Alderson; and is also a member and has served as chaplain of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Alderson. In educational circles his acquaintance is widespread, and he is an active member of the County and State Teachers' associations. At one time he was chairman of the Young Men's Democratic Club at Weatherford. The wide scope of his interests is shown by the fact that for three years he was a member of Company B of the Second Missouri Militia. He is also a stoekholder in the Farmers State Bank at Weatherford.

In 1912 Professor Allen was married at Mounds,

Oklahoma, to Miss Neva Young. Her father, A. J. Young, is a Union veteran of the Civil war, a republican in politics, and has long been a farmer, and now resides at Quiney, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Allen have one child, Geraldine, born October 22, 1914.

REDMOND SELECMAN COLE. The achievement of such a position as that occupied by Redmond Selecman Cole in legal circles of Oklahoma, when attained by one still so young in years, is typical of American grit and the true western spirit of enterprise. A resident of Pawnee since 1909, he has attracted to himself a wide and influ- ential clientele, and at the same time has become one of the democratic leaders of Pawnee County.

Mr. Cole was born east of Savannah, in Andrew County, Missouri, August 22, 1881, and is asson of James Buchanan and Virginia Lee (Bedford) Cole, and on both sides of the family traces his ancestry back through gen- erations of distinguished men and gentle women, promi- nent in the professions and arts, in business, society and politics, and in military and civil life. His grand- parents on the paternal side were Capt. James L. and Eliza (Patterson) Cole, of Washington County, Vir- ginia; his great-grandparents, Peleg and Mary (Wil- liams) Cole; his great-great-grandfather, John Cole, and his great-great-great-grandfather, Joseph Cole, who set- tled on the Holston River, in southwestern Virginia, in 1774, and was captain of a company of Patriots at King's Mountain during the War of the Revolution, On the maternal side, Mr. Cole's grandparents were Lieut. Alexander Marshall and Mary (Selecman) Bedford, his great-grandparents John and Elizabeth Burk (Howard) Bedford, his great-great-grandparents, John and Mary Ann (Marshall) Bedford, his great-great-great-grand- parents, Thomas and Mary Ligon (Coleman) Bedford, and his great-great-great-great-grandfather, Stephen Bedford, who died in Charlotte County, Virginia, in 1758. Thomas Bedford was selected a member of the Committee of Safety for Charlotte County, Virginia, January 13, 1777. The grandfathers of Mr. Cole, Capt. James L. Cole and Lieut. Alexander M. Bedford, secured their titles as officers of the Confederacy during the Civil war. On the Selecman side, Mr. Cole's grand- parents were Henry W. and Mary (Simpson) Selecman, his great-grandparents, George and Jane (Davis) Selec- man, and his great-great-grandparents, Henry and Mar- garet (Harmon) Selecman, who emigrated to America from Germany shortly before the War of the Revolution and settled below Washington on Occoquan River, in Virginia. Redmond Selecman Cole is the namesake of Redmond Selecman, who served in the Confederate army with the rank of lieutenant.

Redmond S. Cole passed his boyhood days in Andrew County, Missouri, where he secured a common school education, this being supplemented by attendance at the Kirksville (Missouri) Normal School from 1899 until 1901. He spent eight years, from 1901 until 1909, at the Missouri University, Columbia, and his college career was one that was replete with brilliant achievements and well-earned honors, As editor of the college paper, the Independent, from 1905 until 1907, he gave the student body a well-edited journal; in 1909 he acted as colonel of cadets at the Missouri University Military School; at various times he represented his college in debates with the Universities of Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma, in which his oratorical powers and skillful and forceful logie did much to uphold the prestige of his alma mater. He received the degree of Fellow in Economics, 1905-9, the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1905 and the Master of Arts degree in '1906, and following this studied in the law school for two years. In fraternity circles he was always

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

popular, and still retains membership in the Delta Tau Delta, Delta Sigma Rho (honorary debating) and Phi Alpha Delta (honorary law) societies.

În 1908 Mr. Cole became associate editor of the Colum- bia, Missouri, Sentinel, but in the same year resigned that position to accept that of editor of the Herald, a daily and weekly publication, issued at the same place, and continued as its editor until entering upon the prac- tice of his profession. Admitted to the bar in Missouri, in January, 1909, on April 26th of that year he came to Pawnee, Oklahoma, where he became associated in prac- tice with George E. Merritt, under the firm style 01 Merritt & Cole. On February 8, 1910, he was appointed county attorney of Pawnee County, to fill a vacancy, and in November, 1910, was elected to succeed himself, his popularity and the recognition of his ability being indi- cated by the fact that he ran 300 votes ahead of the democratic candidate for governor. He was re-elected to succeed himself in November, 1912, but January 4, 1915, retired from office to devote his attention to his rapidly growing law practice, although he has continued to main- tain his interest in politics, and is accounted a demo- cratic party leader in Pawnee County. Mr. Cole frater- nizes with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. While a student at the University of Missouri, he acquired a fondness for history and research work, and has continued to indulge his taste for these interesting labors, being at present a member of the state historical societies of Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Kansas and Oklahoma, of which last three named he is a life member. He is now engaged in the preparation of a comprehensive history of Pawnee County.

On June 11, 1905, Mr. Cole was married at Columbia, Missouri, to Miss Mary Thompson Cross, who was born at Ladonia, Missouri, October 22, 1884, daughter of John Newton and Olivia McClure (Harris) Cross, now of Keyes, California, granddaughter of William Blythe and Mary Jane (Shores) Cross, great-granddaughter of John and Sally (Blythe) Cross, great-great-granddaugh- ter of William and Sarah (McCowan) Cross, and great- great-great-granddaughter of James Cross, who came from England in 1773 to fight with General Braddock and who later fought in the Patriot army in the Revolutionary war. On the maternal side, Mrs. Cole is the grand- daughter of Thomas Banks and Margaret Dun (Thomp- son) Harris, and great-granddaughter of William and Margaret (Downing) Harris, and of Morgan N. and Elizabeth (Williams) Thompson. Mrs. Cole graduated from the Mexico (Missouri) High School in 1902, and in 1908 received the degree of Bachelor of Sciences from Missouri University. Mr. and Mrs. Cole are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They are the parents of one child, Olivia Harris Cole, born at Pawnee, Okla- homa, June 27, 1913.

WILLIAM H. HILLS. In the field of corporation law one of the ablest attorneys in Western Oklahoma is William H. Hills, who has been identified with the Enid bar since 1902. Mr. Hills has had a varied experience during his career, and gained his law education while working for the Armour Packing Company in Kansas City, study- ing at night. As a lawyer he has since handled many important cases, involving large values and grave prin- ciples, and has likewise taken a leading part in politics, church and social affairs.

William H. Hills was boru in Crawfordsville, Indiana, October 6, 1869. His father, Captain Francis E. Hills, who is a pioneer of the Cherokee Strip, was born in Xenia, Ohio, went to Indiana as a boy, and at the outbreak of the Civil war enlisted as a private in the famous

Indiana Zouaves commanded by Colouel, late General Lew Wallace, the noted soldier-author of Crawfordsville, Iudiana. Few men had a longer or more active service. He was in the army four years and eight months, and was with Grant at Belmont, Missouri, at the beginning of the great campaign for the wresting of the Missis- sippi Valley from the Confederacy, and was under that leader at Richmond, at the end of the war. He par- ticipated at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg, where he was wounded, in the Atlanta campaign, was with Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley, and thence in the final opera- tions leading up to the fall of Richmond. He went into the army as a private, and was discharged with the rank of captain of Company I of the Eleventh Indiana Infantry. From 1870 he lived in Iowa for about six years, and then removed to the vicinity of Kansas City, Missouri, in 1876. In 1893 at the opening of the Cherokee Strip he made the race into the new country, secured a farm in Mc- Henry Township twenty miles northwest of Enid, and has lived there ever since. He is recognized as one of the best farmers of the county, and has also made himself an influence in politics. He is a republican, served as chairman of the County Central Committee, and has been a member of the school board of his locality for twenty years or more.

William H. Hills lived at Kansas City from 1876 until June, 1902. His common school education was acquired at Liberty, Missouri, and he also took a classical course in the William Jewell College at Liberty, graduating in 1893. He attended the Kansas City School of Law, and received his degree from that institution iu 1900. For thirteen years off aud on he was in the employ of the Armour Packing Company at Kansas City, most of the time as superintendent of the lard department.

In 1902 Mr. Hills removed to Enid and has since been in a general practice. For six years, however, he has specialized in corporation cases, and now handles business in all the courts. In several important cases he has appeared before the United States Circuit Court of Ap- peals at St. Paul. A varied corporation practice has come to him, and he is entrusted with the arguing and handling of cases involving banking and other impor- tant matters. As a citizen Mr. Hills served on the city council one term, and also on the board of education. Under the auspices of the county and state committee he has been an active campaigner in the interests of the republican ticket, and has served as a delegate to various local and state conventions. He has also attended na- tional conventions of both parties as a spectator, and heard Bryan make his great speech in the old Chicago Coliseum in 1896. Mr. Hills is a Mason and is well. known in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, being a past exalted ruler of his lodge and having sat in the supreme lodge.

In church affairs Mr. Hills is a Presbyterian. Under the influence of a celebrated evangelist he was converted about six years ago, and it being his nature to enlist him- self with a whole heart in every cause, he became an enthusiastic Christian worker, believing that the greatest happiness to self and humanity comes as a result of the Christian life. He served as president of the Union Churchmen's League, an organization which developed its strength to 600 members.

Mr. Hills was married at Kansas City, Missouri, in January, 1896, to Miss Elsie C. Lindgren, of Rockford, Illinois. She graduated from the Kansas City High School, and became the mother of one daughter, Florence E., who is now a student in the Scarritt School at Kansas City. Mrs. Hills died November 22, 1914, and is buried at Kansas City beside her mother.

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

JOHN W. BROWNING, M. D. Among the leading meni- bers of the Blaine County medical fraternity is found Dr. John W. Browning, in whose long and uniformly progressive career several personal traits are noticeable, these including versatility of talents combined with thoroughness of preparation and depth of medical and surgical knowledge. A man of broad education and ex- perience, of high personal character, courteous and capable, he is justly accounted one of Geary 's foremost citizens.

Doctor Browning is a member of a family which was founded in America by three brothers of the name who immigrated from England and settled during colonial days, one in Virginia, one in Maryland and one in Penn- sylvania, Doctor Browning being descended from either the Virginia or Maryland branches. He was born at Limestone, Washington County, Tennessee, December 23, 1869, his parents being William A. and Betty (Carr) Browning. William A. Browning was born at Boone's Creek, Tennessee, in 1840, and was reared to agricultural pursuits, in which he was engaged at the outbreak be- tween the states. He enlisted in a Tennessee volunteer cavalry regiment, in which he served during the war. Since the close of the struggle he has devoted his energies to general farming, and is now a resident of Washington College Station, Tennessee. He is a republican in his political belief, and a consistent member of the United Brethren Church. Mrs. Browning was a Dunkard. She was born in Tennessee in 1839 and died in January, 1915, the mother of seven children, as follows. Anna, who is the wife of H. H. Diveley, of Guthrie, and she is a teacher in the Methodist Episcopal College at that place; Dr. John W. Browning; Bertha, who died at Limestone, Tennessee, at the age of ten years; Dora, who resides on the home farm with her father; Rev. Samnel, who is a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church South at Knoxville, Tennessee; Rev. William E., also a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, with a charge in Tennessee; and Maggie, who died in infancy.

John W. Browning laid the foundation for his educa- tion in the public schools of Limestone, Tennessee, and afterward pursued a business course at Washington Col- lege in his native state. He next turned his attention to the study of medicine, and after some preparation in the Baltimore Medical College of Baltimore, Maryland, he entered Barnes Medical College, St. Louis, Missouri, from which he was graduated in 1899 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. While he began practice at that time he did not cease his studies, for he has always been a close student and has taken several post-graduate courses, one at the Chicago Polyclinic in 1903, and he attended the New York Post-Graduate School in 1908. At the time of securing his degree in May, 1899, Doctor Browning came to Geary, Oklahoma, and here his entire professional career has been passed. He devotes his learning, skill and energies to a general medical and surgical practice and has offices in the Gillespie Building, where his many patients find conveniences and equipment for the handling of the most delicate and complicated cases. His ability has been recognized by his profes- sional brethren, who elected him president of the Blaine County Medical Society, of which he is still a member, as he is also of the Oklahoma Medical Society and the American Medical Association. Fraternally the doctor is a member of the Masonic Order, and his political affiliation is with the republican party.

In 1899, at Wilson, Texas, Doctor Browning was mar- ried to Miss Ida E. Clarke, a daughter of the late Preston J. Clarke. Mr. Clarke, a man of broad education, was a. justice of the peace in his native State of Georgia, and later became postmaster at Wilson, Texas, where he was a leading democrat and influential citizen. Four children

have been born to Doctor and Mrs. Browning: Vanda, who is a member of the sophomore class at the Geary High School; Margaret, a pupil in the eighth grade of the public schools; Grace, in the seventh grade; and Verona, attending the second grade.

HENRY J. STURGIS. Before coming to Enid at the opening of the Strip in 1893, Henry J. Sturgis was already a well seasoned lawyer and for seven years had practiced in Kansas. Mr. Sturgis is one of the prom- inent men of Western Oklahoma, with recognized ability and attainments in the law, and has made himself an influential figure in politics and social life.

Heury J. Sturgis was born in Fayette County, Penn- sylvania, March 5, 1862, a son of respected and sub- stantial farming people. His early life until twenty-one was spent on a farm, with such education as the district schools and the neighboring academy afforded. Having resolved to study law, he entered the law department of the University of West Virginia at Morgantown, and was graduated with his class in 1885. He was admitted by examination before three circuit judges, and in 1886 came out to a comparatively new country to begin prac- tice. His location was at Great Bend, Kansas, which was then a frontier town.

On September 16, 1893, Mr. Sturgis made the run at the opening of the Cherokee Strip, and arrived in Enid by train from Hennessey. From the day of his arrival he made himself known as a lawyer and has been iden- tified with a substantial general practice for many years. A high tribute to his ability as a lawyer came when he was nominated by the republican party as candidate for justice of the Supreme Court in 1914.

His public service has been of varied and responsible character. From 1903 to 1905 he served as county attor- ney of Garfield County. He was chairman of the Repub- lican County Central Committee in 1906 and in 1907 dur- ing the statehood election. From 1907 to 1912 he served as federal referee in bankruptcy. He has been a delegate to numerous state and local conventions, and is noted as a forceful campaigner.

Mr. Sturgis was honored by election as the first pres- ident of the Garfield County Bar Association upon the reorganization of that association in 1908 following state- hood. He did much to promote the welfare and member- ship of the organization, and continued to preside over its meetings for two years. Each year the annual ban- quet is held on Lincoln's birthday. He is also a mem- ber of the State Bar Association. For many years he has been identified with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and was the first exalted ruler of the lodge at Enid, and has attended two grand conventions, one at Los Angeles and the other at Buffalo.

At Great Bend, Kansas, in 1890 Mr. Sturgis married Miss Lulu Luttrell, who was born in Illinois. Their one daughter, Roqua, completed her education in 'St. Joseph's Institute at Enid.

DAVID B. BELLIS. Prominent among the retired citi- zens of Cushing, Oklahoma, is found David B. Bellis, who has resided in this state since the opening of the Cherokee Strip. During the more than twenty years of his residence here he has been interested in farming and stock raising and kindred enterprises, and now, in the evening of life, is resting from his labors, having accumulated a satisfying property.

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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