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 25
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pany, of St. Louis. Fraternally he is asso- ciated with the Woodmen of the World and with the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Mrs. Brown is a member of the Ladies of the G. A. R. and has served as president of Ellsworth Circle, Kingfisher.
Politically Mr. Brown is allied with the Re- publican party, but entertains liberal views regarding the politics of the administration. He is regarded by his friends, associates, and, in fact, by all who come within the range of his fine and genial personality, as a typical American gentle- man of the old and modern schools combined, large-hearted, broad-minded and generous in his estimate of people and things, as well as in his devotion to all interests that require his attention and help.
W ILLIAM HENRY CLAY BROWN. A more prominent and substantial citizen and farmer does not reside within the bounds of Logan county than the gentleman whose name appears at opening of these lines. He bought his present farm in 1893, it being lo- cated on the northwest quarter of section 9, township 17, range 2 west, and he has made nearly all the improvements upon the same. He was born June 10, 1843, in Platte county, Mo., and is a son of John Jay and Sarah (Foster) Brown. His father was born in Tennessee, of Irish extraction, and mother was a native of Kentucky, of Scotch ancestry.
Our subject's father left home during his early manhood, and, going to Kentucky, he made the acquaintance and later married Miss Foster, and they had the following children: Maria is the wife of Napoleon B. Farris, and they have three children; Nancy married Henry Fitzhue, and died, leaving one child, while crossing the plains en route to Oregon; Isaac is now farming in Marshall county, Kans., and is the father of a large family; Louisa was married to John Bur- gess, and they live in California, where she moved with her uncle; she was reputed to have been the most beautiful girl in Buchanan county, Mo .. where she lived at one time with an uncle; Cyrus lives in Buchanan county, Mo .; William Henry Clay is next in the family circle: Marion has not been heard from for many years, but at last re- ports he was in Helena, Mont. A soldier in the Union army, he was in the great massacre in Minnesota; for a time he was not in the U. S. service, but is known to have re-enlisted. Once he was badly hurt by having his horse fall on him.
Our subject's father was a soldier in the Mex- ican war, and for his services he received a grant of land; he was also in the Black Hawk war, and
our subject has a faint recollection of hearing liim say that he was in the posse that captured the troublesome Black Hawk. He was a poor man when he started out in life, but by his thrifty habits and untiring energy he succeeded in ob- taining a large amount of property, which he later lost in going security $3,000 for a friend. He then lost his wife,-our subject be- ing about seven years of age at the time. About two years later lie moved to Page county, Iowa, where he took up a squatter's claim. Selling out a few years later, he went to Johnson county, Neb., where he took up another squatter's claim, but removed to Atchison county, Mo., where he passed from this life in the winter of 1863. About eighteen months after the death of his first wife he was again married, and by his second union had a large family.
Our subject was not very fond of his step- mother, so at the young age of fourteen years he left home, and going to Atchison county, Mo., he lived there some time. This was before his father removed to that county. He hired out to a Mr. Hawkins, whose care toward our subject was like that of a father. He received Sio per month during the summer, while during the win- ter he went to school and worked for his board. He laid aside a goodly portion of his wages and was soon the owner of a horse. The Civil war then broke out, and, as he lived in a community in sympathy with the south, he joined the Mis- souri Home Guard, under General Price and Capt. William Finney, and took part in the bat- tles of Blue Mills and Lexington, Mo. He was taken sick with typhoid fever, after which he was sent to the hospital at Springfield, Mo., but later the hospital was captured by General Halleck, and, after being a captive of the Union army for some time, he was paroled.
Leaving the hospital penniless he set out to walk over three hundred miles to the farm of Mr. Hawkins, but, as he was weak and had boils on his limbs, he could only make nine miles a day. After he reached Widow Clark's place in Utica. Mo., he was provided for and became quite at- tached to the family, who also became attached to him. Mrs. Clark sent him to her doctor, who gave him $2. enough money to pay his way to St. Joseph. Mo. Thence he again started to walk. Meeting an old Dutchman with his son, he asked permission to ride, but the Dutchman proved to be very unfriendly and refused con- sent. Nevertheless, our subject informed them he would ride anyway, so he climbed into the wagon. When noon came the Dutchman and his son had dinner, but did not offer our subject a bite to eat, and when night came the two un- friendly men got out and camped for the night. As our subject saw a house about a quarter of a mile away he went there; not knowing their sym-
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pathies, he thought candor the best policy, so told them that he was on his way home and had been a soldier in the Confederate army; the man who greeted hint at the door exclaimed: "God bless you! come in." He was kindly cared for that night, and the next morning he arose early to get off with the Dutchman, but he found that the latter had given him the slip. However, he was picked up by an old neighbor, who carried him nearly to his destination, and upon arriving at the home of Mr. Hawkins he found that his horse had been confiscated. He remained there until 1863, when he joined the Missouri State Militia, which was organized as a protection to homes, and he served in that for nine months. In 1864 he was hired to drive a team of seven yoke of cattle across the country to Fort Collins. Colo .. -his salary for the same being $40 per month. Upon arriving at Fort Collins the government pressed him into service, as there was consider- able trouble with the Indians. However, he was soon released from service, and started to return home. In Atchison county, Mo., he married Therese Waller, in August, 1863, and then he engaged in farming, being furnished with a team, some seed and other necessary articles. Though he succeeded very well, he moved to another farm, where, in 1866, his wife died, leaving two children-Oscar Lee and Marion. The latter died six months later, and the other, Oscar Lee, is still living in St. Joseph, Mo., and is a mechanic by trade.
In 1868 our subject settled near Marysville. Marshall county, Kans .. where he took up a claim of eighty acres and bought another eighty acres adjoining. At that time there were no houses near his claim, on which he put up a mere shanty, and, in addition to farming, he worked on a railroad and at various jobs. He then be- came a salesman for the Gale Sulkey Manufac- turing Company, of Michigan, and during the three seasons he represented them in the state of Kansas he made considerable money. Next he took up life insurance,-representing the Na- tional Temperance Relief Union, and, after working on a commission two years, he was made general agent of the state of Nebraska, with a regular salary. He was also engaged in the patent right business. In 1893 he sold his farm for $5,100, after having made many im- provements upon it. Loading up his things, he shipped them to Guthrie, Okla., where he landed the toth of March, 1803. In the following April he purchased his present claim of two hundred and forty acres, which he has since put under a high state of cultivation. He has a fine orchard. which bears nearly every kind of fruit. Ile is agent for the Brewer & Stannard Nursery, of Ottawa, Kans., and has been instrumental in having many of the fine orchards in this territory
put out. His courteous and pleasant manners to all have gained him the esteem and respect of a large number of acquaintances throughout the county.
Mr. Brown has been twice married. His sec- ond union was with Miss Nannie Garrard, of Marshall county, Kans., a native of Ken- tucky. Her parents died while she was quite young, and she lived with a married sister in Illinois, but later she resided in Marshall county, Kans. Eleven children were born them,-eight of whom grew to maturity and seven are still living, as follows: Cora Estella, Olive Mabel. William Earl, Roy Harvey, Albert Lawson, V'erna Lila (aged eight), and Loyal Dewey (aged six). Theresa died at the age of eighteen months and Palmer died in 1893 when fourteen years old. Politically our subject affiliates with the Populists, though he formerly was a Democrat, and while a resident of Kansas he served as a delegate to several Democratic conventions.
D AVID C. BOTHELL, a thorough and skillful agriculturist, residing on the north- east quarter of section 10, township 14. range 7 west, Canadian county, was born in Armstrong county, Pa., March 28, 1843, and when thirteen years of age removed to Wetzel county, W. Va., with his. parents, David and Diana (McQuimbey) Bothell. Two years later the family went to Pike county, Ohio, where the father purchased land and engaged in the saw- mill business, which he made his life work.
During his boyhood David C. Bothell received a fair common-school education. The Civil war having broken out, he enlisted at the age of twenty, with the intention of entering the heavy artillery service, but abandoned that plan and went in pursuit of Morgan. Later he joined Company H. One Hundred and Seventy-sixth Ohio Infantry, with which he served until the close of the war. During the battle of Nashville he was knocked from the breastworks and had his shoulder broken ; in spite of the injury he did not go to the hospital, but carried his gun on the . left shoulder. He was finally discharged in June, 1865.
Returning to his old home in Pike county, Mr. Bothell lived there until 1869. during which time he was employed on the Ohio canal, and after making one trip was promoted to be captain. On leaving there he went to Osage, Osage county. Kans., where he bought property and made his home for twenty years, being exten- sively engaged in the stone quarry business and having one hundred men in his employ.
In Pike county, Ohio, January 27, 1874. Mr. Bothell married Miss Mary J. Merritt, who
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J. W. PERRY, El Reno.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
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was born, reared and educated there. They are now the parents of three children: Harry V., a student in the Agricultural and Mechanical College at Stillwater, Okla .; Icy Blanche, wife of Charles Standard, a teacher of Okarche; and Maude, a pupil in the schools of Okarche.
On coming to Oklahoma in May, 1889, Mr. Bothell located upon his present farm in Cana- dian county, his first home here being a frame shanty of one room, 12x14 feet. In the following June, through his efforts, a postoffice was estab- lished upon his place, it being the first postoffice south of Kingfisher. He laid out a town on the survey of the Rock Island Railroad, and ex- pected to have a station here. but the railroad officials changed their plan and went west of his place. At one time there were three stores in the village, and the postoffice was kept up for nine years (long after one was established at Okarche), Mr. Bothell serving as postmaster during the entire time. As a Republican he takes an active interest in politics and attends the conventions of his party, but has never been a politician in the sense of office-seeking, though he was the first justice of the peace appointed in Rock Island township. He was reared in the Methodist Epis- copal faith and attends the church of that denom- ination in Okarche.
J. W. PERRY is numbered among El Re- no's representative business men. To his genius and painstaking care, as shown in our beautiful city park, comprising five and one- half acres, the citizens owe a debt of gratitude. He it was who planned and executed all of the landscape gardening, and his keen eve for beau- tiful effects quickly saw the possibilities and nat- ural advantages of the tract of land set apart for the park and thus a great deal was accom- plished with comparatively small expenditure.
Mr. Perry is a descendant of a fine old south- ern family, of English extraction. His grand- father, Roundtree Perry, was a native of North Carolina, whence he went to Tennessee, and there carried on a plantation. Later he was one of the pioneers of Illinois, his home being near Marion, Williamson county. He lived to the ripe age of eighty-four years. His son, Hardy W .. father of J. W. Perry, was born in Tennessee, and was reared on the old Illinois homestead. lle became an influential agriculturist and for many years occupied the office of a justice of the peace. Death claimed him when he was in the prime of life, forty-five years of age. Ilis wife, who passed into the silent land when she was in her fifty-first year, was Miss Lethea Ann Spiller prior to their marriage. Her father, Jesse Spiller, was a native of Tennessee, and was
one of the very first settlers in Illinois. Mrs. Perry was born in Williamson county, and there made the acquaintance of her future husband. Of their eleven children, eight grew to maturity.
The eldest, J. W. Perry, was born November 7. 1844, on the old farm in Williamson county, and there learned the details of agriculture. Such education as fell to his share was obtained in the public schools, and it was not until he was in his twentieth year that he concluded to set forth upon an independent career. In 1865 he commenced working for the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad, serving that corporation as section foreman, with his headquarters in Bu- reau, Ill., for some four years.
In 1869 Mr. Perry came to the west, locating upon a farm near Douglas, Butler county, Kans., and there he was very successfully occu- pied in general farming and stock-raising until 1893. In the meantime he started a nursery on his farm, and for a decade carried the palm for having the largest and finest nursery business in that section of the state. In September, 1893, he located in Frisco, where he had started a nursery the previous year. From time to time he has extended its dimensions until he now has sixty-five acres closely planted, and another forty acres will be added in the spring of 1901. Thus he is easily the largest nurseryman in Oklahoma, and the same success which attended his efforts in Kansas is rewarding him to-day. The originator of the popular Hooker seedling apple, he has introduced the variety into all parts of this territory, and many other peculiar varieties of fruit and shade trees have long been raised by him.
In the spring of 1899 Mr. Perry turned his extensive nurseries into the hands of his son, Albert S., who is a thoroughly practical business man, well trained in his father's calling. In Sep- tember, 1894, our subject came to El Reno, and embarked in his present undertaking. He owns five acres of land here and operates a large, well equipped greenhouse. He handles cut flowers of all kinds and makes a specialty of decorations and fine set pieces. Besides this, he furnishes. a great variety of plants and all kinds of nursery stock. His greenhouse is the most extensive in western Oklahoma, and for some time he has been a valued member of the Oklahoma Nur- serymen and Florists' Association.
In his native county in Illinois Mr. Perry married Miss Ellen Kellems, whose birth had taken place in Champaign county, same state. Their only child is Albert S., previously men- tioned in this article. Mr. and Mrs. Perry are members of the Methodist Protestant Church. In his political preference, he is a Republican. and heartily believes in the policy adhered to by his party.
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W TILLIAM J. BROWN has surmounted many obstacles, and endured many hard- ships, while aspiring to his present posi- tion as one of the most successful farmers of Kingfisher county. He inherits a capacity for application and hard work from a long line of ancestors who were successful in trade and agri- culture.
In Milford, Clermont county, Ohio, he was born June 18, 1847. He received a fair education in the public schools. His father, Adam Brown, was a cooper by trade and was quite prominent in Milford, holding a number of local political offices and being identified with the Whig party, until his death at the age of thirty-six. The pa- ternal grandfather, Joseph Brown, was born in Pennsylvania, and came to Ohio in the early days, where he plied his trade of shoemaker with success. He had much to do with the improve- ment of the locality in which he lived, was prom- inent in the Whig party, and a justice of the peace for several years. He was a man of deep and sincere convictions and a stanch supporter of the Methodist Episcopal church. His ances- tors emigrated from Scotland in the beginning of the century and located in Pennsylvania. Some of the members of the family were Dunkards. The mother of William J. was formerly Eliza- beth Sealey, a native of Ohio, and a daughter of Robert Sealey, who emigrated from Ireland be- fore her birth. She was the mother of four children: Sally, William J., Adam and Henry (who is deceased). Mrs. Brown died in Ohio.
Under his father's instruction William J. Brown learned the cooper's trade, to which he diligently applied himself until the breaking out of the war. His patriotism was not permitted full sweep, for, being a cripple, he was unable to serve as a soldier. His services were, however, accepted in another capacity, and as a teamster he watched the hostilities, following the army through Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia. Upon returning from the war the cooper shop was again the scene of activity, and for several years the patronage from the citizens of Milford. Ohio, constituted a fair means of livelihood. In 1868 began a series of changes and adventures in untried country, and the journey to Washing- ton and California by way of New York and the Isthmus of Panama was indeed a departure from the hitherto uneventful life of the industrious cooper. For three years he labored in the lun- ber woods of Washington and Puget Sound, and upon his return to Ohio married Elizabeth Bate- man, a daughter of Benjamin Bateman, of Mil- ford.
Subsequently Mr. Brown embarked in the cooper manufacturing business, his successful patronage necessitating the employment of eighteen men. After three years he located on a
farm in the vicinity of Milford, but, having an insufficient amount of land, changed his place of residence to western Kansas and took a home- stead. Here he carried on extensive stock oper- ations, a specialty being made of a fine grade of cattle and sheep. There were one thousand and five hundred sheep and five hundred cows, These animals came to a tragic and untimely end dur- ing the blizzard of 1884, and this loss, added to his failure to prove the title to the homestead, somewhat dampened Mr. Brown's ardor for a time. A little later he succeeded in buying up land which amounted in all to eight hundred and eighty acres, which, at the opening of the terri- tory in 1889, he either sold or gave away, in order to avail himself of the larger possibilities in the undeveloped country.
The original claim secured by Mr. Brown in Grant township, Kingfisher county, is located on the southwest quarter of section 32, and is under a high state of cultivation. In 1898 there was added another claim, on section 8, upon which he at present resides. The three hundred and twenty acres are used for various purposes, although a specialty is made of the cultivation of wheat. The average per acre is twenty bushels. but in 1895 the average was thirty-five bushels to the acre. Much attention is given to the raising of fine stock, and there is a fruit-bearing orchard. A fine house erected by himself was destroyed by fire in 1896, but was soon after rebuilt, and later he moved it to his present claim.
In addition to his various home interests, Mr. Brown is actively engaged with the Oklahoma Mutual Insurance Company, which insures crops for the farmers, and he was one of the organizers of the Farmers' Elevator at Kingfisher, and holds stock therein. In politics he is a Repub- lican at all times and on all occasions, never deviating from the straight and narrow path bounded by the principles of the party. With some of the local offices he has been identified. but has never desired official recognition. He is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has been superintendent of the Sun- day-school for many years.
To Mr. and Mrs. Brown have been born the following named children: Willis T .. a farmer in the Cheyenne and Arapahoe strip: Fannie, de- ceased: Charles S., who is in the Cherokee strip; Earl and Ernest, who are farmers in Kingfisher county: Eva. Ray, Dale, Frank, Olive, Edwin.
S HERMANBENJAMIN BUXTON. Though lie is a recent addition to the legal profes- sion in Guthrie, Sherman Benjamin Buxton already has come to the front rank's, and is rapidly extending his patronage among our rep- resentative citizens. He is engaged in a general
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law practice and has been admitted to all of the courts. His office, which is centrally located, is in the International building, at the corner of Harrison and Second streets.
On both sides of the family Mr. Buxton is de- scended from sterling old New England pio- neers. His great-grandfather, Luther Buxton, of English extraction, was a participant in the Revolutionary war. The grandfather. Benjamin Buxton, was born in Tinmouth, Vt., and for many years was numbered among the agricul- turists of Danby, that state. Our subject's father, Chester Buxton, is a native of the town of Pati- let, Vt., and is still living in the Green Mountain state, his home being near Danby. His wife, whose maiden name was Henrietta L. Nichols, was born in Bennington county, Vt., the daugh- ter of Hon. Sherman Nichols, an attorney-at-law, at one time a member of the state legislature and at different times a public official. Mrs. Buxton died at her old home in Vermont, and left seven children to mourn the loss of a de- voted mother.
S. B. Buxton, the eldest of the family, was born November 9, 1872, and for fifteen years dwelt upon the old homestead near Danby, Vt. He is the only member of his immediate family in the west, and his first step in severing the dear home ties occurred in 1887, when he matriculated in the academy at West Hebron, N. Y. Two years later he was graduated in that institution, and, desiring to see something of his country, he went two Waukon, Iowa, where he obtained a position as a clerk on one of the Mississippi river steamers. He was thus employed for three and a half seasons, his run being between Still- water, Minn., and St. Louis, Mo. His next ven- ture was as an agriculturist, in Allamakee county, Iowa, where he bought a farm and carried it on with marked success for two years. His next undertaking was of greater magnitude, for he purchased a hotel at Waukon Junction and per- sonally conducted it for some time. He became very popular in the community and was ap- pointed to the postmastership. He served in that office until he was about to remove to Dixon, Ill., in 1897, and there he entered the Northern Illinois Law School. He had previ- ously been preparing himself for this step by taking a course under a preceptor's guidance, and on the 12th of May, 1899, he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He at once came to Guthrie, opened an office and em- barked upon his chosen career. He possesses undoubted ability and aptitude for his profession, and his future is exceptionally full of promise. Many cases of importance have been placed in his hands by persons residing in different parts of the territory, and his fame is constantly in- creasing.
Mr. Buxton stands well in several organiza- tions, among them Guthrie Lodge No. 1, A. F. & A. M., the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Giant Oaks. He is a charter member of Capitol Lodge No. I in the last named order, and now is the supreme councillor of the supreme council of Giant Oaks. Politically he is affilia- ted with the Republican party.
During his residence in Waukon, Iowa, Mr. Buxton married Miss Nellie Cahalan, who was born and reared in the town mentioned. Her father, Patrick Cahalan, is a well-to-do farmer and is highly esteemed in his community.
H ARMON B. CLOUD. The life of Harmon B. Cloud possesses many points of interest and inspiration to the public, for, notwith- standing the many serious obstacles and reverses he has had to contend with, he has faithfully and conscientiously adhered to duty, and in the end has gained many a victory over circumstances.
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