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 91

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 91

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JOHN N. INNIS. There is probably no better known on untilr more picturesque figure in Western Oklahoma than iana, he' Jack'' Innis, now settled down to the routine of busi-

ness affairs as manager of the York-Key Lumber Com- pany of Supply. The varied incidents and exciting scenes of the frontier are indelibly impressed as pictures upon Mr. Innis' mind, since he was in this country nearly thirty years ago, followed the range and trail over No Man's Land for several years, was connected with the Government service in the different forts of Western Oklahoma, particularly at Fort Supply, and was at the founding of the modern Town of Supply and gave the community one of its first stores.

As his family were pioneers before him, and moved successively to different points as civilization advanced toward the West, he was well fitted by birth and environ- ment for the accomplishments of his own career. John N. Innis was born in a log cabin in Ripley County, Indiana, September 1, 1863, a son of James Innis. There is another member of the family well known in Western Oklahoma, Joseph A. Innis, also a son of James, and a more particular sketch of the earlier generations will be found under the former name. John N. Innis when three years of age was taken by his parents to Bates County, Missouri, grew up there on a farm and a sufficient amount of education was given him for all practical purposes in the public schools of that section of Missouri.

He was twenty-three years of age when in 1886 he came into Old Indian Territory. It was three years before the first great opening of the Indian lands was made, and his first adventures were as a cowboy on the cattle ranch of Col. C. W. Peary in No Man's Land, as it was then designated in the school geography, and perhaps better known to the present generation as the Oklahoma Panhandle. He followed the trail in that country for four years, and in that time became acquainted with nearly all the picturesque characters, both whites and Indians, who inhabited the extreme western part of Oklahoma. In 1891 he entered the employ of the United States army as a teamster in the quartermaster's department. The headquarters were at Fort Supply, and he is one of the few men who have witnessed the transformation of that noted old military post into a modern city. Subsequently he was corral boss, and worked in that capacity both at Fort Supply and at Fort Sill altogether for four years. Still later he proved up on a claim in Harper County, Oklahoma, but when the new Town of Supply was founded in 1901 he established there the first general store. He con- ducted that successfully and sold goods to all his old friends in that vicinity and to hundreds of the new settlers. When he disposed of his mercantile stock in 1905 he accepted the post of manager for the York-Key Lumber Company at Supply, and has contributed not a little to the business of this large lumber corporation in Oklahoma. At the same time he has made himself a factor in local improvements, is one of the stanchest friends of Supply as a town, and prospective city, and he can always be depended upon for an intelligent and enlightened interest in its welfare. Fraternally Mr. Innis is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America.

At Woodward, Oklahoma, December 27, 1897, he mar- ried Miss Margaret Valker. She was born at old Fort Supply, Indian Territory, December 1, 1874, a daughter of Philip Valker, who was at that time serving as an enlisted soldier in the United States army. Her mother, now Mrs. L. Mason, came to Fort Supply with her parents in 1868 at the time the fort was established. Mrs. Innis was educated in a Catholic school at Purcell, Indian Territory. To their marriage were born seven children, four sons and three daughters: John P., born January 31, 1899; Robert Vinton, born February 20, 1901, and died March 30, 1901; Joseph Everett, born

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July 19, 1903; Archie Ward, born September 28, 1905; Josephine May, boru May 20, 1907; Bessie, born Decem- ber 30, 1910; and Mary Ellen, boru February 19, 1912.

COL. OLIVER R. LILLEY. Always will there be a glamor of romance about those interesting adventurers who participated in the first opening of the Oklahoma lands. Few men took part in more of these openings and endured more of the inconveniences and hardships con- nected therewith than Col. Oliver R. Lilley, who for a number of years has been a prominent citizen of Cushing in Payne County. Colonel Lilley has seen a great deal of westeru life during his career, has been in most of the states west of the Mississippi River, and has been hardy, fearless, enterprising and a ready fighter for any cause he believed to be just and right. While he has been identified with other affairs, Colonel Lilley is perhaps best known among most people as au auctioneer, a profession he has followed since early youth.

Born in Whiteside County, Illinois, November 23, 1861, he was taken in the same fall out to Kansas by his pareuts, Joseph John and Anua (Cross) Lilley, who were pioneers in Kansas at the beginning of the Civil war. His father, who was born in Pennsylvania, died in 1880 at the age of fifty on his old homestead in Riley County, Kansas, twenty miles north of Mauhattan. He had located on that home iu the fall of 1861. By occupation he was a farmer and stock raiser. The mother was born in West Virginia, and is uow living at the old home in Kansas at the age of eighty-six. She became the mother of four sons and one daughter, and the father had children by a previous marriage.

Up to the age of ten Oliver R. Lilley lived at home and the next six years were spent in the same locality of Kansas, until the spirit of adventure led him entirely away from home surroundings and out to California. He speut 31/2 years in that state, earning his way at any employment which he could secure. He did his first work as an auctioneer at the age of eighteen, and has since officiated at sales and has sold all manner of goods, live stock, household possessions, land and other property, and his operations have been carried on in Kansas, Missouri, Texas and elsewhere.

Colonel Lilley arrived in Oklahoma June 22, 1890. After that he took part in all the important land open- ings. At some of these openings he has paid as high as 10 cents a glass for drinking water. He lay for hours at a time in the thick dust along the line which marked the limit of the land for which thousands were striving to gain possession. At the opening of the Sac and Fox Reservation he had a fortunate number, No. 370, secured a claim, and lived there and developed it for fifteen years. For several years he lived at Ripley, and his home has been at Cushing since 1907. Here he has spent most of his time as an auctioneer.

Colonel Lilley is credited with many public spirited movements and enterprises in Payne County. He built and still owns the Lilley Hotel, a thirty-nine-room modern hostelry, and managed it himself for three years, and has since leased it. He also has other real estate in Cushing. Up to 1912 he was a republican, and has since been identified with the progressive policies. Colonel Lilley was for two years mayor at Cushing during the great boom following the discoveries of the oil fields. At that time the town was unable to provide accommoda- tions for the hosts of people who flocked to this center, and hundreds of persons lived in tents. Colonel Lilley has always stood for a clean town, has lead the fight against the illegal liquor traffic, and has done much to keep that element of dauger out of the local life. For twenty years he has been a member of the Christian Church, is affiliated with the Scottish Rite Consistory

of Masonry at Guthrie, and with the Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Oklahoma City. He also belougs to the Eastern Star, the Knights aud Ladies of Security, and many other fraternal orders.

On September 22, 1889, Colonel Lilley married Miss Emma A. Hetherington. She was born at Racine, New- ton County, Missouri, February 16, 1872, and died at Stillwater, Oklahoma, April 3, 1915. Their four children, all born in Oklahoma, are named Lenna A., Jessie O., John H. and Oliver L.

CHIEF JAMES BIGHEART. Of all the characters in the history of the Osage tribe undoubtedly the greatest, so far as individual iufluence and forcefulness in politics and all economic measures affecting the tribe are cou- cerned, was the late Chief James Bigheart, who died in October, 1908.

At the time of his death he was eighty-two years old. He was a fullblood Osage Indian, and it is conceded that he was the brainiest member of that tribe during the last century and was one of the keenest and shrewdest Indians ever known.

He had a long and active career. When a young man he served in the Union army during the Civil war and for many years his name was on the pension list. During the greater part of his lifetime Indian lands were held in common, and it was rather as a worker and a handler iu cattle and other transactions that he gained his fortune. Until a few years before his death he was regarded as the richest man in the wealthiest tribe of Indians in the country.

It was due to many other things besides his extensive possessions of land that his name formed so important a feature of Osage life. The flourishing Town of Bigheart is only a small but significant tribute to his life and career.

He held nearly every office among the Osages, includ- ing the position as chieftain, and it is said that he was the most respected and the most dreaded man in the tribe. Though many honors were given him, he showed no tendency toward pompous display. He wore ordinary clothes, was quiet and thoughtful in appearance, and spoke fluently both the English and Osage languages. His name is destined to be long remembered as that of a great man and one whose life was devoted to what' he believed the best interests of the fullblood Indian.

It is said that for many years he had more influence in the Interior Department than any other living Indian. For fully twenty years he was a controlling factor in his tribe, and his word was practically law among the fullbloods. About two years before his death he was stricken with paralysis but up to that time the affairs of the tribe were largely a reflex of his action and influence. He was constantly consulted and the tribe would practically refuse to act on any important matter until his advice could be obtained. In 1896 Chief Big. heart advocated the investigation of the citizenship rolls, and though defeated at first he persistently and doggedly kept up the work until a second investigation was ordered by Congress. He was bitterly opposed to the allotment of the Osage lands, and many say that he delayed that event for at least ten years. No doubt his dominant characteristic was an unflinching courage and a determination that knew no defeat. When he undertook anything, he persisted in it until it was finished to his satisfaction. While many of the definite details of Chief Bigheart's career can not be obtained it is only proper that the history of Oklahoma should give at least this brief character sketch of one of the foremost among its fullblooded Indian citizens.

Chief Bigheart married Alice McIntosh, a Cheroke Indian, and of a prominent old family of Oklahoma

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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA

To Mr. and Mrs. Bigheart were born seven children. Four of them are still living. The daughter Mary mar- ried Tom Clendenning, and they have two sons named James and Jack. Rosa married Sherman Heal, and became the mother of five children named Francis, Oliva, Julia, Roselay and Josephine. Lillian married W. C. Spurrier, referred to, on other pages of this work. Isabel lives at home with her mother.

On February 26, 1910, Mrs. Chief Bigheart, who is still living, married Mr. J. C. McGraw. Mrs. McGraw was married both times very close to the locality where she was born. She is a woman of unusual intelligence and ability, and her character is well reflected in the lives of her children. Mr. McGraw is one of the leading citizens of the Town of Bigheart, has prospered as a cattle man and farmer, and is filling a place of useful- ness and honor in the Osage country. Mr. and Mrs. McGraw are the parents of three children: Blanche, Leo and Sylvester.

CHRIS E. HERSCHBERGER. There is a reason for Mr. Herschberger's successful work as an editor and news- paper owner, being proprietor of The Supply Republi- can at Supply, and there is also ground to expect much from him in the future, judged by what he has done in the past. Mr. Herschberger educated himself, has been a worker ever since early boyhood, and has found in teaching, printing and publishing congenial tasks which have furnished a solid foundation upon which to rear a superstructure of important accomplishment. Born May 23, 1888, on the farm in McPherson County, Kansas, he is a son of Moses C. and Mary (Bontrager) Herschberger. Originally the family was undoubtedly German, but several generations or more of the Hersch- bergers have lived in America. Moses C. Herschberger was born in the State of Indiana October 17, 1860, while his parents before him were natives of Ohio. Farming has always been his vocation since he reached mature years, and in 1881 he ventured into what was then an unproved country, Kansas, buying land in McPherson County. That was his home until 1889, after which he spent three years in the State of Missouri, but then re- turned to Kansas. In 1899 the family came to Oklahoma, locating on a farm near Jet in Alfalfa County until 1906. Moses C. Herschberger is now in the grain business at Blackwell. He and his wife were married at McPherson in 1882, and the latter was a daughter of John C. and Elizabeth (Miller) Bontrager, who were natives of Penn- sylvania. She was born October 21, 1864, in Holmes County, Ohio. They are the parents of six children, three sons and three daughters, namely: John Carl, born March 28, 1886; Chris Earl; Clarence Austin, born June 25, 1891; Mabel E., born September 24, 1893; Susana Grace, born July 21, 1896; and Alta Mae, born August 20, 1901.

When Chris E. Herschberger came to Oklahoma with his parents in 1899 he was only eleven years of age. In the meantime he had profited by such opportunities as were afforded him to attend the public schools of south- ern Kansas. After coming to Oklahoma he worked three years in a general store at Jet. Then in 1902 began his experience as a printer's apprentice in the office of U. Finch. He learned the printing trade, and developed no little talent for artistic job work and also a tendency to the broader field of newspaper work. During 1906-07, in order to remedy some of the deficiencies of his early education, he attended the Woods County High School and during 1907-08 was a student in Goshen College at Goshen, Indiana, where he took the business course. Then with the equivalent of a substantial education, he took the post of editor of the Jet Visitor for two years,

but in 1911 bought the fort Supply Republican at Supply, Oklahoma, and has been identified with the progress and success of that journal ever since. He conducts an excellent paper, bright, newsy, a good medium for local advertising, and a vigorous supporter of all public im- provements. Mr. Herschberger is popular as a citizen and in 1915 was elected city clerk at Supply. In the spring of 1916 he was also selected as chairman of the Executive Committee, having charge of the Tri-County Farm Products Exhibit, which has done much during the past few years in encouraging the farmers of Harper, Ellis and Woodward counties in producing bet- ter live stock, more and better crops, etc.

On September 22, 1909, about the time he moved to Supply he was married at Cherokee, Oklahoma, to Miss Rhea McDaniel, daughter of George W. and Rachel McDaniel, who were natives of Indiana. Mrs. Hersch- berger was born May 4, 1889, at Anthony, Kansas, and gained her education in Oklahoma, where she attended the Northwestern Normal at Alva, and prior to her marriage spent two years as teacher in Alfalfa County. To their union have been born two children: Max C., born July 4, 1910; and George Glenn, born April 5, 1913. Mr. and Mrs. Herschberger are members of the Christian Church.

CHARLES EDWIN FOY. A service record which will always make his life one of interest and esteem to his family and descendants was that portion of his early manhood which Charles E. Foy spent as a soldier in the Civil war. Since then, for a period of more than a half century, he has been successively identified with farming enterprise in various states, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Mr. Foy, as a result of good business man- agement and long continued industry, is now comfortably situated, owns both farm and city property, and is living retired at Cushing.

Born on a farm in Hancock County, Illinois, January 28, 1844, he is a son of George and Nancy (Jones) Foy. His father was born in New York State and his mother in Kentucky. George Foy at the age of eighteen came west to Illinois, was married in Hancock County, and two years after the birth of his son, Charles E., moved to Whiteside County. He lived there nearly all the rest of his life, and finally went to Missouri, where he died shortly afterwards on April 10, 1896, at the age of seventy-seven. His wife passed away in Whiteside County, Illinois, in 1899, aged seventy-seven. George Foy was a farmer all his active career, exercised unusual thrift and intelligence in the management of his affairs, and came to be regarded as one of the most prosperous citizens of Whiteside County. He was a great reader of current literature, always kept himself informed on public affairs, was a republican voter and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In the family of eleven children Charles E. was the oldest, four of the children died very young, and the others are briefly mentioned as follows: Mary, wife of George Klock of Bureau County, Illinois; Augusta, wife of Hubert Bonker of Denver, Colorado; Elmira, deceased wife of Edward Forward; Wilber, deceased; Edgar, deceased, who was a physician; and Freeman, who lives in Bureau County, Illinois.

The early life of Charles E. Foy was spent on a farm in Illinois, and he gained such education as the local schools had to bestow. When he was about nineteen years of age, on January 1, 1863, he enlisted in Whiteside County and went out with the Union army as a member of Company B in the Thirty-fourth Illinois Infantry. His service continued until the close of the war. He was with Sherman in the Atlanta campaign, on the march

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to the sea, in the campaign through the Carolinas, and finally took part in the glorious review of the victorious troops at Washington. While at Atlanta he suffered a flesh wound in the left leg as a result of an exploding shell, and was in the hospital two weeks. While on a foraging expedition in North Carolina he was captured, but was held a prisoner only about three honrs until the Union cavalry came to his rescue and released him.

After the war Mr. Foy lived in Whiteside County ou the old farm for a year. In 1866 he married Miss Adelia Arnold, who was boru in Illinois and died in Nebraska in 1890. For several years after his marriage Mr. Foy followed farming in his native state, and in 1874 settled near Hastings in Adams County, Nebraska. He seenred a homestead there and practically all the country was undeveloped, and most of the people lived in sod houses and had to fight all the plagues which assailed agricultural efforts in Nebraska during those years, including grasshoppers and many successive dronghts. He continued a Nebraska farmer until the death of his wife, and then lived for a time in Kansas City, Missouri. The year followiug the opening of the Sac aud Fox Reservation he came to Oklahoma and bought a quarter of section of land six miles west of Cushing. He developed a farm out of what had been for centuries a wilderness, and was quietly and indus- triously occupied with the farming interests there until he sold out in 1905. His next purchase was a farm two miles south of Drumright. Three years later he retired to Cushing, but still owns the farm of 160 acres near Drumright. Mr. Foy also has fourteen lots on East Broadway in Cushing, and has part of this developed, owning three residences. At the present time his farm, which is situated in the oil belt, is leased for productive operation. Politically he is a republican and has an honored membership in the Grand Army of the Republic.

By his first marriage there were six children, two of these died in infancy and the four still living are: Charles Edmund, who lives in Seattle, Washington; Arthur Elberton, also of Seattle; George, of Scattle; and Edgar, whose home is in Logan County, Colorado. In 1895 Mr. Foy married for his second wife at Guthrie, Oklahoma, Mrs. Anna (Kilmer) Parker. She was born in Van Buren County, Iowa, a danghter of Chandler Kilmer, and her first husband was Thomas Parker. Mr. and Mrs. Foy have one child, Hazel Fern, who is the wife of Lnther Toalson of Cushing, and by this union Mr. Foy has a grandchild, Marlin Lucile.

BENJAMAN ELLIOTT ADAMS JR. Now proprietor and editor of the Okeene Leader, Mr. Adams is an Oklahoma pioneer by virtue of the fact that he came with the family to this territory as early as 1892. His trade and profession as printer and newspaper man were learned in Kansas, and while most of his active career has been spent in that line of work, he has also been identified with local affairs and business interests, and is a former postmaster of Okeene. The Okeene Leader is now one of the most influential newspapers in Blaine County, has a large circulation both in that and in Major and neigh- boring counties. Mr. Adams owns the plant, which is situated on Fifth Street near Main Street. The Leader was established July 12, 1906, as a democratic paper, but under Mr. Adams' management reflects republican sentiments.

Born at Grafton, Chautauona County, Kansas, Decem- ber 16, 1874, Benjaman Elliott Adams Jr. is a son of Benjaman Elliott Adams Sr., who carries in his veins a mixture of both English and Cherokee Indian stock. The original Burns of the Adams family came to Vir- ginia from England in Colonial times. The senior Mr. Adams was born in Johnson County, Missouri, in 1846,

and now lives on a ranch in Ellis County, Oklahoma, with his son Edgar A. He was one of the men who helped to develop the rich land of Chautauqua County, Kansas, for agricultural purposes, having removed to that section iu 1870 from Missouri. In 1880 he went to Sedan, Kansas, and served as undersheriff for twelve years. In 1892 he came to Blaiue Connty, Oklahoma, aud made the run at the opening of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe reser- vation, obtaining a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres two miles sonth of Watonga. He lived on that place and developed it as a fine farm for ten years, and on selling out went to Ellis Couuty, where he is still liviug. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity. The senior Mr. Adams married Miss Hattie Narrou, who is of German stock. Their children are: Oliver J., who died in Artesia, New Mexico, in February, 1915, at the age of forty-five; Benjaman E. Jr .; Edgar Allen, who is a rancher in Ellis County, Oklahoma; Maude, wife of D. D. DeLancy, who is assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Taloga, Oklahoma; Otto, an electrician living at Whittier, California.

Benjaman E. Adams Jr. speut all his early youth in Kansas, completing a high school education at Sedan. Ou leaving school in 1890 he spent two years in learning the printing trade in the office of the Sedan Republican, which at that time was under the editorial management of former Governor T. B. Ferguson. In 1892 he came with his father to Blaine County, and for several years handled a plow and other implements in subduing the virgin soil of his father's homestead claim. He then allied himself again with T. B. Ferguson on the Watonga Republican, and continued that work off and on until 1900. Then going to Homestead, Oklahoma, he took charge of the Homestead News for W. W. Waterman, and in 1901 bought the paper and it was continued under his effective editorial control until the spring of 1907. Selling out he then removed to Okeene, and had charge of the Okcene Eagle during the statehood campaign. For several years after that Mr. Adams was not actively identified with newspaper work. For two years he was a director and assistant cashier of the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Okeene, and in 1910 President Taft appointed him postmaster, an office to which he devoted his time and attention until August 25, 1914. In April, 1915, he bought the Okeene Leader, and is making that one of the very successful newspapers in his district.

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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