USA > Oklahoma > Portrait and biographical record of Oklahoma; commemorating the achievements of citizens who have contributed to the progress of Oklahoma and the development of its resources, V. 1 > Part 17
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95
H ENRY CLAY CUSEY. This honored vet- eran of the Civil war is in charge of the agency farm maintained by the govern- ment in the interests of the Cheyenne and Arap- ahoe Indians of Darlington and vicinity. He is justly esteemed by all with whom he has deal- ings, for he carries into every transaction the same spirit of fairness and justice which has ani- mated him throughout his life. The following facts which have been gleaned in regard to him will be perused with great interest by his multi- tudes of friends here and elsewhere.
Ilis great-grandfather, John Cusey, was the younger son of an old, wealthy family in England. Rebelling against the time-honored custom of giving estates and the major portion of the family riches to the first-born son, and cordially disliking the army life to which he was muwillingly consigned, he deserted the British forces with sixty other comrades and joined the brave little band of Americans who were fight- ing for independence. He loyally supported their cause under General Washington's leader- ship for six years and seven months, or until victory perched on the patriots' banners. Ile participated in a great many hard fought bat-
tles, and at last was shot through one lung. Thenceforth, until his death in 1796, he suffered terribly, but bravely took up the regular duties of life when his adopted country no longer needed his services. His son, Job Cusey, born in 1794, near Ellicott's Mills, Md., was reared by Ezekiel Weeks, a farmer, and a former comrade of the elder Cusey during the Revolution. Job Cusey possessed the same patriotic spirit that had animated his father before him, and when the second war with England broke out he enlisted, and though he was small for his age, he was employed as a teamster. At the close of the war he went to the Western Reserve, in Ohio. and there reared his family. In 1836 the Cuseys removed to McLean county, Ill., and representa- tives of the family are now to be found in various parts of the west.
Job, father of Henry Clay Cuscy, was a native of Richland county, Md. He married Sarah Ford, who came of a respected family. Her brother, Thomas H. Ford, once acted in the capacity of lieutenant-governor of Ohio; in 1861 had charge of the public printing of that state, and for a period was the partner of Hon. John Sherman, late secretary of state. The eldest son of Job and Sarah Cusey, Hon. John Cusey, occu- pied an important place in his prime, as he was a member of the state board of education and a representative from McLean county to the Illi- nois legislature. Another son, James C. Cusey, was nominated on the Reform ticket for the office of governor of Kansas, and lacked but a few votes of being elected. He now is engaged in stock-raising on a ranch near Medicine Lodge, Kans.
Henry Clay Cusey was born in Bloomington, Ill .. in 1843. and was only three years old when death deprived him of his father. At the age of twelve he accompanied his mother to Humboldt county, Iowa, where he lived upon a farm. His educational advantages were slight, but he was ambitious and about the time that the Civil war broke out he had paid his tuition for five years of instruction at the Mount Vernon (Iowa) Academy.
Possessing the same patriotism for which his forefathers had been noted. H. C. Cusey offered himself to his country and enlisted in Company I, Thirty-second Iowa Infantry, August 22, 1862. Assigned to the department of the Mississippi he served under Generals Sherman and Grant and took part in numerous important cam- paigns. He was actively engaged in the battles of the Red river region, his leader being Gen. A. J. Smith, and after moving against General Price, who was making a raid in Missouri, he returned with his regiment to Nashville. Later he accompanied the Federal troops in the famous operations in Alabama, including the battles of
106
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Spanish Fort and Blakely. Though he was in the thickest of many a fight and had his clothes riddled with bullets on numerous battle-fields, he went through the war without receiving a wound or being captured. He.was acting as an orderly one day when his horse was shot under him and killed, and at Eastport, Miss., while he was occu- pied in unloading a transport, he fell and so badly sprained his ankle that he has suffered great inconvenience with it ever since. He was granted an honorable discharge from the service August 24, 1865.
Mr. Cusey married Mary E. Atkinson in Humboldt county, Iowa, November 22, 1867. She was born and reared in Macoupin county, Ill., and on the 4th of July, 1894, she was sum- moned to the silent land. Her body was interred in the cemetery at Arkansas City, Kans. Three children are left to mourn her loss, namely : Jennie L., Ollie and Ruth. Ollie, who is a grad- uate of the Olathe (Kans.) schools, is employed as a clerk in El Reno. Ruth is a member of the El Reno high school class of 1901.
From 1868 to 1898 Mr. Cusey dwelt in Olathe, Kans., his time for a score of years being devoted to the improvement and cultivation of a farm of threehundredand twenty acres, which he owned. In 1888 he embarked in the hardware business in the same town, and for a decade was engaged in that venture, which proved to be disastrous in the end, though for five years it was a success. Mr. Cusey, unfortunately, lost most of his hardly-won fortune, but he conscientiously met every obligation to the last farthing.
While still a resident of Humboldt county Mr. Cusey was elected to the office of sheriff on the Republican ticket and as such he served until he removed to Kansas. In 1872 he was appointed deputy United States marshal for western Kan- sas, but refused to qualify. On one occasion, when he was ill, and entirely without his sanc- tion or knowledge, he was nominated as county commissioner of Johnson county, but this honor he also declined. In 1800 he was appointed farmer at the Indian school at Chilocco, Okla., and at the end of three and a half years the change of the administration saw a Democrat installed in the office. Later he was appointed assistant superintendent of that agency, but poli- tics again intervened. Soon after President Mc- Kinley's election he was appointed to supervise the agency farm of the Navajo Indians at Fort Defiance, Ariz., and March 20, 1898, he was transferred to the Darlington agency, where he has since been situated. One of his important duties consists in the inspection of all cattle issued to the Chevennes and Arapahoes at this agency, and he has won an enviable reputation for efficiency and fidelity.
Forty-seven years ago Mr. Cusey became a
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and during this long period he has officiated in nearly all of the positions of the several congregations with which he has been connected. For years he served as one of the trustees of the church.
E. A. HUMPHREY, a leading merchant and prosperous business man of Okarche, came to Oklahoma at the opening of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe reservation, in 1892. He is a native of Fulton county, Ohio, and is a son of R. S. and Cornelia (Emerick) Humphrey, natives of New York. The father was born in Rensselaer county, that state, and at an early day removed to Fulton county, Ohio, where he en- gaged in merchandising for forty years, and also built the first flour and saw mill, which now is operated by his former partner. He died while on a visit in Kansas, at the age of sixty-three years, but his wife is still living at the old home- stead in Ohio. Although seventy-eight years of age, she is still well preserved. Of their thir- teen children, nine are living. Our subject's paternal grandfather, one of the early settlers of New York, was a native of Connecticut, and a representative of an old New England family.
E. A. Humphrey was educated in the common schools of Fayette, Ohio, and remained under the parental roof until he attained his majority. When a young man he learned telegraphy, and was employed as an operator by a railroad com- pany five years. In 1886 he went to western Kansas and took up land in Stevens county, where he made his home for six years, being engaged in the banking business at Hugoton, and serving as postmaster under President Har- rison three years, and as deputy county treasurer two years. At the opening up of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe reservation, April 19, 1892, he came to what is now Okarche, bought a lot and erected thereon a good business block, being practically the first to open a general store at that place. Although he began business in a small way, he has steadily enlarged his stock to meet the growing demands of his trade, and now car- ries a stock valued at $15,000. Besides his store in Okarche he operates a branch house at Inde- pendence, Custer county, Okla., and is interested in raising a good grade of white-faced cattle.
In his native county, Mr. Humphrey married Miss Maude Donaldson, and to them have been born two children, Nina and Helen. The family is identified with the Congregational Church. and Mr. Humphrey affiliates with the Masonic Lodge at Kingfisher and the Knights of Pythias at El Reno. By his ballot he supports the men and measures of the Republican party, and takes an active interest in everything pertaining to the upbuilding and advancement of his town and
107
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
county. He is what the world terms a self-inade man, for his success in life is due entirely to his own well-directed and energetic efforts.
F RED N. KERN, who has conducted a tail- oring establishment in El Reno since 1891, is one of the most enterprising and success- ful business men here. Born in the village of Steinmark, Bavaria, Germany, December 7, 1852, he is a son of Peter and Catherine ( Pfen- nig) Kern. His grandfather, Peter Kern, came to America and settled in New York. In 1849 he went west to the gold fields of California. and died there in Kern county, which takes its name from him. Peter Kern, the father of our subject, was born in Bavaria, Germany, and has served on the police force all of his life. He was in the German Army, and now resides in that country, at the advanced age of eighty-six years. He married Catherine Pfennig, who also was born in Bavaria, Germany, and died there when our subject was but seven years of age. Eight children were born to them, as follows: Adam, who served in the German army during the war of 1870-1871, and lives at the old home; An- drew, now a conductor on the railroad in that country; John Peter, who served in the German army nine years, and now is a tailor in Illinois; F. N., whose name heads this sketch; two sons who died in' the German army; and two chil- dren, who died when young.
Fred N. Kern was reared in Steinmark and attended the public schools. At the age of four- teen he was apprenticed to a tailor for three years, and thoroughly learned the trade. The next five years were spent in traveling in Ba- varia, Baden, Wurtemberg. Alsace-Lorraine and Switzerland. Then sailing from Bremen, on the steamer Rhine, he landed in Boston July 3. 1875, the trip consuming thirteen and one- vighth days. Following his trade in that city for eighteen months, then for a similar period in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, he next located at Chi- cago, then in Freeport, Ill., where he engaged in merchant tailoring for a period of nine years, with much success. In February, 1885, he went to Coldwater, Comanche county, where his brother had located before, and there they en- gaged in tailoring together. In December. 1891, they came to El Reno, and started in busi- ness under the firm name of Kern Brothers. J. P. Kern, who served two years in the council at El Reno, continued as a partner until 1899. when the firm was dissolved, and our subject has since continued in business alone. He is the oldest tailor of the city and has the largest busi- ness. He built a comfortable home on Barker avenue.
Mr. Kern was united in marriage February
26, 1880, with Mary Bruwo, who was born in Brandenburg, Germany, and came to America with her parents, who located in Illinois. They are the parents of five children: Emma, Ed- ward, Fred K., Grover and Bessie, who died at the age of six years. Fraternally, he is a mem- ber of the Sons of Herman, of which he is treas- urer; has been a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen for twenty years; the Knights of the Maccabees, of which he is com- mander; the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows; the Encampment; and Order of Rebekahs. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, al- though his parents were Lutherans. In poli- tics he is a Democrat and has served as a com- mitteeman and delegate to various conventions.
J AMES E. KELSO, one of the oldest and most highly respected merchants of El Reno, O. T., has become prominent as a business man through fair dealing and perse- vering industry and to-day occupies a high posi- tion as a citizen. A son of J. B. Kelso and grandson of William Kelso, he was born Feb- ruary 2, 1862, in Albion, Noble county, Ind.
William Kelso was born near Kelso, Scot- land, and was the founder of the family in Amer- ica. Locating in Pennsylvania, he engaged in farming there during the remainder of his days. He was a prominent Presbyterian. J. B. Kelso was born in Pennsylvania, but during his early manhood, located in Noble county, Ind., where he engaged in contracting and building. About 1868 or 1869 he went to Bloomfield, Iowa, where he still resides, and has served as one of the city officials. He married Miss Bonner, who died in Indiana, and of their two daughters and two sons, one son died.
Mr. Kelso was a lad of five years when his father moved to Bloomfield, Iowa, and there he received his early schooling. When eleven years of age he began clerking in a grocery store, and in 1881 went to McPherson, Kans., where he was employed as a clerk for five years in a dry-goods store. At the end of that time, he went to Hart- land. Kearney county, Kans., and opened a gen- eral merchandise store. He continued there until the fall of 'go, when he came to Oklahoma territory, and in the spring of the following year he started his present dry-goods and gro- cery store in El Reno. His store is 50x108 ft. in dimensions, and he carries one of the best lines of goods in the town. By giving his entire attention to his business, in which he is thor- oughly posted, and being a man of strict integ- rity and perseverance, he has met with merited success. Enterprising and public spirited, he lends his assistance in the promotion of the gen- eral welfare of his adopted community.
---
108
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Mr. Kelso was married in El Reno to Miss Rosa Goenawein, a native of Dearborn county, Ind. She is a member of the Methodist Church of El Reno. Our subject is an active member of the following orders: the Knights of Pythias, in which he has served as past chancellor; Uniformed Rank, Knights of Pythias; I. O. O. F., in which he has served as past grand noble; and the Encampment. In politics he is a stanch Republican, has been chairman and secretary of conventions, and has served in the city council. He belongs to the El Reno Club. Mr. Kelso was at one time a stock-holder in the Exchange National Bank, but, as he could not give the position the proper amount of attention, he withdrew from the same.
C HARLES S. KETCH, a thrifty and suc- cessful young farmer of Grant township, Kingfisher county, is a native of Clinton county, N. Y., his birth having occurred in 1867. His father, Mordecai S. Ketch, was born in 1846 in the same locality and was a life-long farmer, also dealing extensively in live stock. In 1869 he removed with his family to Illinois, where he dwelt for ten years, after which he be- came a resident of Kansas. At the time of his death he was in his prime, -- forty-two years of age,-and his loss has been deeply felt by his hosts of friends. For a number of years he was prominent in the ranks of the Democratic party, and served as a member of the Kansas state cen- tral committee. He was of German extraction, his ancestors having been early settlers of New York state, and his father having passed his en- tire life there. The mother of our subject also came from an old and honored pioneer family of the Empire state. Prior to her marriage she was Miss Caroline E. Finn, and her birthplace was in Clinton county, N. Y. At present she lives with her son, Albert L., in Otter township. Kingfisher county. Her other sons are Charles S., Frank, of Kingfisher, Mordecai S. and John. and her only daughter, Jennie, is the wife of Sylvester Mount.
The early life of Charles S. Ketch was spent in Illinois and Kansas, chiefly, and most of his education was gained in Lane county, Kans. He mastered the various departments of agri- culture, and after reaching his majority was em- ployed for a couple of years on the Union Pacific and the Kansas Pacific railroads. He continued to make his headquarters at home until Okla- homa was opened to settlement, when he de- cided to make the race for a home of his own. Coming here from Buffalo Springs, he secured the southeastern quarter of section 4. Grant township, and at once began the task of culti- vating the tract. For about two years he lived
in Kingfisher, where he was employed in a gen- eral store, but in the fall of 1899 he returned to the homestead. One hundred and thirty acres are under cultivation, wheat being the principal crop raised, and this is of a fine quality. The large orchard which he set out several years ago is in a thriving condition, and many other im- provements have added much to the value of the place. To some extent the owner is occupied in raising cattle, and in all of his ventures he is meeting with success.
For several years Mr. Ketch has been an act- ive member of the school board of his district, using his means and influence toward the eleva- tion of education and in the promotion of all public improvements. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as also is his es- timable wife, and at the present time he is serv- ing in the capacity of superintendent of the Sun- day-school. In his political creed he is a Dem- ocrat.
In 1891 Mr. Ketch married Miss Nora Smith, daughter of William R. Smith, and six years later she was called to the silent land, leaving two children, namely: Charles William and Lynnora E. In 1898 Mr. Ketch wedded the lady who now bears his name, then Mrs. Ida (Og- den) Spencer, and their little daughter is called Nora O.
E MMETT E. MARLEY. Oklahoma has been the stage for much action during the past decade, and, though many obstacles, natural and external, were experienced by the pioneers in the first years of their residence here, success has crowned the labors of these heralds of advancing civilization in nearly every in- stance.
Among the prosperous farmers of Grant town- ship. Kingfisher county, Emmett E. Marley takes a prominent place. His paternal grand- parents were natives of Ireland and Washing- ton county, Pa., respectively, the grandmother being of Scotch descent. His parents, George and Harriet E. (Hibbard) Marley, were born in Cochranton, Pa., and near Meadville, Pa .. re- spectively. It was not until eight years ago that George Marley left his old home in Meadville, and since that time he has dwelt in Kingfisher county, where his two sons, Emmett E. and John H., reside. Femma, the only surviving daughter, is the wife of A. E. Ryan, of King- fisher, and Minnie M., deceased, who was the youngest of the family, married Robert Lyle, of Kingfisher. The birth of Emmett E. Marley occurred in Meadville, Pa., January 20, 1860, and in that locality he lived until he was twenty- six years of age. Having mastered the details of agriculture and the carpenter's trade, under
CAPT. GROSS LONGENDYKE. Kingfisher.
.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
GA III
the instruction of his father, he spent a number of years in these vocations in the Keystone state. In 1885 he went to Riley county, Kaus., and re- sided upon a small farm near Green for about five years. Selling out in the fall of 1890, he came to Kingfisher county and purchased his present property on section 31, Grant township. In the spring of 1891 he planted corn, and though for three seasons there was somewhat of a drought, and crops were not very good, he per- severed and finally was rewarded. Soon he had one hundred acres under cultivation, about four hundred fruit trees planted in his orchard, and a sinall vineyard, all in fine condition. He raises sonie cattle, but gives his chief attention to the raising of cereals. For eight years he and his family were sheltered in a house 12x20 feet in dimensions, and in 1899 he erected a new dwell- ing 26x40 feet in size. Now he is on the high road leading to prosperity, and is beginning to realize from his long-continued labors. He has served as a member of the school board of dis- trict No. 85, and uses his influence on behalf of progressive educational systems. In the fall of 1896 he attended the county convention of the Populists, and is an active worker in the ranks of that party. For four years he has served as a justice of the peace, and in 1898 was elected to the office of township clerk, in both capacities discharging his duties in a creditable manner. One of the organizers of the Farmers' Elevator Company at Kingfisher, he has since been a stockholder in that prosperous concern.
On the 28th of May. 1881, Mr. Marley mar- ried Flora, daughter of Oliver P. Unger, a na- tive of Minnesota. Mrs. Marley was born in Virginia, and grew to womanhood in Penn- sylvania. Four children bless the union of our subject and wife, namely: Ralph H., Archie B., Harriet E., and George Perry.
C APT. GROSS LONGENDYKE. The story of this gentleman's life is, indeed, "stranger than fiction," and possesses much of interest to the general public. He has sailed the high seas of every clime, has visited inany of the most important ports of the earth, has seen life in every phase, has met royalty of numerous lands, and has experienced the vicis- situdes of frontier life for the past quarter of a century. In marked contrast is his present quiet career, as a citizen of Kingfisher, but he never has seen cause to regret his choice of a place of abode for his declining years.
His ancestors came to America with Henry Hudson in 1616, from Holland, and settled in Albany and Mohawk Valley. Subsequent to the dreadful Mohawk massacre, they located in Sullivan and Ulster counties, same state, and
for generations were numbered among the peo- ple of that region. Our subject's paternal grand- father, John Longendyke, a native of Sullivan county, was born on the site of Rockland, which place he lielped to found in later life, and there was connected with its mercantile enterprises. His father was a hero of the Revolution and many Indian wars, and he served in the war of 1812. His son, Peter, father of Gross Longen- dyke, was born at Stone Ridge, Ulster county, N. Y., and, like his patriotic ancestors, he en- listed in his country's army, and served in the Mexican war with the rank of an officer. For years he successfully conducted a hotel in his native county, and in 1872 he removed to Monti- cello, Iowa, where he died after reaching three- score years. His wife, Elizabeth, daughter of John Sparling, was of . Holland-Dutch descent, and, with her father, who was born during the war of 1812, she was a native of Ulster county, where the family settled at an early period. He was a worthy man, a builder by trade, and very devout, for years serving as sexton of the old Dutch Reformed church at Stone Ridge. Mrs. Longendyke also died in Iowa, and of her six children two are deceased.
The birth of Gross Longendyke took place in Kingston, Ulster county, N. Y., May 10, 1842, and in the public schools and Kingston Acad- emy he obtained a liberal education. The ad- venturous spirit always was characteristic of the youth, and at sixteen he embarked on the whaler Falcon, and sailed from New Bedford. This barque, then owned by Thomas Knowles, is yet afloat, after a lapse of forty-two years, and prob- ably is one of the oldest ships in active service. The lad's first experience as a whaler was in the vicinity of St. Helena, where sperm whales were their prey, and later, when the ship sailed to the vicinity of Cape Good Hope, they sought right whales. On returning to St. Helena, our subject became a member of the crew of the barque, Washington, of Sag Harbor, L. I., and went on a seventeen months' cruise, chiefly in the south seas. This ship also hovered around the Cape of Good Hope and St. Helena, and the western coast of Africa. Rising to the dig- nity of a harpooner, the young man had some exciting hunts, and on one occasion, when in the neighborhood of St. Helena, the infuriated whale which was being attacked by the crew, turned on the little boat and smashed it, but the men fortunately escaped with their lives. At the close of two years and five months' absence from America, our hero landed in New York City.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.