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 42
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
George H. Dodson was born October 11, 1863. near Russellville, Ark., and when his father was killed, and his brother, who was a deputy sheriff. liad to flee for his life, and all of the family were cruelly harassed, he became the hope and main- stay of his mother. He manfully shouldered the unusual responsibilities thus devolving upon him in his twelfth year, and until he was eighteen years old attended school only six months. He was a diligent student, however, and at length entered the Little Rock University, where, at twenty, his course was interrupted by the death of a brother. Returning home, he managed the farm for a period, and then, entering the employ of the Standard Publishing Company, of New York city, represented the firm as general agent in the southern states. Leaving that company after three years, he went to San Diego, Cal., where he was connected with the Daily Bec Local paper, for a year or more. Then, sum- moned home by the illness of his mother, he severed his relations with the California journal and later made arrangements to enter the law office of Colonel Whipple, of Little Rock, when the proposed opening of Oklahoma changed his plans.
With the vast multitudes seeking a home in this territory Mr. Dodson came on that 22d of April, 1889, and, after serving as a clerk in the Guthrie postoffice, under Mr. Flynn, for nearly six months, was appointed postmaster of Or- lando, and continued in that position for about three years. In 1892 he was elected on the Re- publican ticket to the county recordership, and on the expiration of his term of office was re- elected by a large majority, serving until the beginning of 1897. Since 1893 he has been en- gaged in business on his own account, possess- ing. as he does, a full set of the abstracts of Logan county, and conducting a large insurance business in the city of Guthrie. In addition to this he carries on a real estate and loan business, and personally owns two farms in this county and considerable city property.
In the multiplicity of his duties Mr. Dodson would not be so successful as he undoubtedly is were it not for the fine system which he employs, and the clear, keen way in which he solves diffi- culties. In April, 1898, he was appointed libra- rian of Oklahoma by Governor Barnes, and has succeeded in collecting and systematizing the official documents and records in a masterly way. His prominence in the Republican party ranks needs no special reference, for his devotion to the cause is well known. He is an influential
268
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
member of the Guthrie Club, was a member of the Oklahoma Territorial Republican Commit- tee from 1894 to 1896, was secretary of the Logan County Central Committee in 1896, and is now connected with the Logan County Re- publican League. Fraternally he stands high in the councils of the Knights of Pythias, being grand chancellor of this territory in 1897 and 1898, and at the last convocation of the grand lodge in Guthrie was honored by being made supreme representative to the supreme lodge of the United States. He also belongs to the Uni- form Rank of the Knights of Pythias.
While a resident of Orlando nine years ago the marriage of Mr. Dodson and Miss Anna B. Glazier, one of the leading society ladies of that ยท place, was solemnized. She is a native of Mis- souri, and her father, Col. H. E. Glazier, now a prominent citizen of Guthrie, won his title in the Civil war, and for a number of years has been extensively engaged in mining in the zinc min- eral fields of the Joplin district of Missouri. Mrs. Dodson is a lady of superior education and social attainments, as she is a graduate of the Columbia (Mo.) College, where the degree of Bachelor of Arts was conferred upon her, and for about a year subsequently she was numbered among the editors of DeKalb county, Mo. Mr. Dodson is identified with the Methodist Episco- pal church, being one of its trustees, and he and his wife are generous contributors to many worthy enterprises.
B ENJAMIN J. DOBSON. The change in the life of Mr. Dobson from a peaceful agricultural existence in Kansas to the un- certainties existing in newly-opened Oklahoma were attended by unexpected drawbacks more convincing than agreeable. Partly from an ar- dent zeal in the application of humanitarian principles, and partly from complications arising from the grasping and tenacious proclivities of human nature, when it goes forth to find and possess land, his movements were much ham- pered and the enthusiasm supposed to exist in the pioneer breast considerably modified.
Arriving on the scene of chance the day of the famous opening, Mr. Dobson staked his claim, but surrendered the right to the same after listening to the tale of a grief-laden seeker for a home. Reluctantly returning to his home in Kansas, he tarried there until 1891, when he again started out with hopes of success, only to be confronted to an intensified degree with his former bad luck. Nothing daunted. he decided to conquer rather than be conquered. The crowd accompanying him were desirous of acquiring the fine bottom lands lying just across the Cim- arron river, and the northwest quarter of section
17, township 17, range I east, Logan county. was considered the finest piece of land in the Iowa reservation. As proof of the wisdom of their choice, they found twelve men on said claim, each with a firm determination to make it his permanent abiding place. After an expendi- ture of words and energy worthy of not a better. but a more hopeful cause, all but two of the con- testants withdrew from the scene of hostilities. leaving Mr. Dobson and a cowboy, named For- rest Halsell, to finish the contest at their leisure. The matter was taken for adjustment to the courts, and tried in the Guthrie land office. Wid- mer & Lindsey representing Mr. Halsell and George Cunningham representing Mr. Dobson. For forty-one days the dreary proceedings dragged along, the testimony filling six hundred typewritten pages. After all the legal trouble the parties decided to compromise, Mr. Dobson paying Mr. Halsell $1,coo to leave him in undis- puted possession. Thus ended the most stub- born contest of the kind in the county, at a cost to each claimant of more than $1,000.
It is safe to assume that, in the minds of the community, Mr. Dobson has won a name syn- onymous with determination and inflexibility. and that no one entertains any serious thought of involving himself in contest with him. The spirit of force has pervaded all of his efforts, and lie has forged ahead regardless of obstacles. His mueh-contested claim was but the nucleus of his possessions in the territory, for he has added two quarter sections, adjoining, and also owns forty acres just south of the original claim and also a quarter section on Fitzgerald's creek. He also owns, jointly with his wife, four hundred and eighty acres in Kansas. Most of the land is rented out on the tenant system. The Kansas property is devoted mostly to the raising of corn, ' and in Oklahoma they raise corn and cotton, with a decided preference for the latter.
The personal life of this land owner must nec- essarily be of interest, for the acquiring of the same indicates commendable enterprise. the watchword of all who proceed beyond the aver- age. He was born in Kane county, Ill .. Feb- ruary 5. 1854. His parents came from other, but not distant shores. His father, George. Dobson. was born in New Brunswick, and his mother, Elizabeth (Goodwin) Dobson, was a native of Nova Scotia. They came to the United States at an early day, and were among the prosperous and courageous pioneers who aided so much in the development of the country. Their son, Ben- jamin. received a thorough home training, but his opportunities for acquiring an education were meager. indeed. In 1867 he moved with his family to Osage county, Kans., where they were the first white settlers in the county. During the tliree years of their stay in. Osage county he
.
J. S. MORRISON. El Reno.
02271
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
attended but one term of school. In 1870 they went in search of better conditions to Butler county. Kans., and engaged in agricultural pur- suits. In 1875 he married Rebecca J. Fillmore. Her father, John, and her mother, Eliza (Ogden) Fillmore, were natives of New Brunswick, and emigrated first to Illinois and later to Kansas. Mrs. Dobson had, like her husband, been handi- capped as far as acquiring an education was concerned, and after taking up their life and work in Kansas they attended the schools of their district, thereby fitting themselves for their fu- ture conflicts and successes.
When only seventeen years of age Mr. Dobson bought his first land. lots 4 and 5, located on section 30, township 27, range 8 east of the prin- cipal meridian of Kansas, and to this he kept adding until the four hundred and eighty acres were acquired. His agricultural pursuits in Kan- sas were attended by gratifying success, and he attained to prominence and influence in the county. In politics he has transferred his al- legiance from the Greenback and Populist par- ties to the Republican party, with the issues of which he is in warm accord. In all matters per- taining to the public welfare he is foremost, and he is accounted one of the town's most stanch and reliable citizens.
To Mr and Mrs. Dobson have been born four children : John, Hazel, Benjamin Harrison, and Ethel J. With the exception of the latter, all were born in Kansas.
JESSE STEWART MORRISON, who may safely be said to be the oldest inhabitant of Oklahoma, is a typical representative of the hardy pioneers of the western plains. He served as scout for many years and was also an Indian trader. He acted as interpreter as well as scout for the generals in command in the west. speak- ing several Indian languages, including the In- dian sign language. Many thrilling adventures characterized his early life, and his many friends never tire of hearing of his buffalo hunts and ex- citing experiences. Ile is now a prominent real- estate dealer of El Reno and was agent for Lemps Brewing Company of St. Louis for some time.
Mr. Morrison was born at Ridgebury. Orange county, N. Y .. December 25, 1840, and is a son of Andrew and Jane ( Kerr) Morrison. His father was born in Paterson, N. J .. and engaged in farming in Orange county. N. Y., until 1849. when he went around Cape Horn to California. where he died. He married Jane Kerr, who was born in Orange county. N. Y., and died in New York City at the age of thirty-four years. Her Esther, William Kerr, of Scotch-Irish parentage, was born in Ireland, and because of political per-
secution came to this country, locating in Orange county, N. Y. He married Elizabeth Stewart, who came of a prominent New York family, Gilbert Stewart being a cousin of her grand- father. Her grandfather served in the war of 1812. Mr. and Mrs. Morrison were the parents of two children: Jesse Stewart, and Emma J., wife of A. L. Jones.
Until fourteen years of age Jesse Stewart Mor- rison was reared in Orange county. From that time until he was sixteen he lived in New York City and Brooklyn. He attended school at Wil- liamsburg, Long Island, completing his course at the age of sixteen. In 1856 he went to Cedar county, Iowa, and lived with an uncle. Robert Kerr, for one year, after which he lived one year in Gentry county, Mo. In 1858 he went to Texas, near Sherman, Grayson county, and be- fore the Civil war went to the Indian territory, but shortly afterward located in western Kansas. He followed hunting and traded with the Indians during the war, spending several years on the plains. In 1865 he came with Indian traders and located five miles above the present site of Darlington, where they established a trading outfit and spent the winter, and their return in 1866 opened what has since been known as the Chisholm trail. In 1866-67 he was employed as scout and interpreter for Col. E. Wynkoop, In- dian agent for the Cheyennes and Arapahoes at Fort Larned, Kans., Colonel Cody and himself serving at the same post. On his return he had many robes and other goods, and built a log house where Council Grove is now situated. leaving them there until he could send for them. They went to Council Grove, Kans.
Taking an outfit from Great Bend ranch, or Ellensville, Ark., to the Cimarron, now Okla- homa territory, Mr. Morrison traded with the Chevennes and Arapahoes. Then, with Colonel Wynkoop, he started as scout to establish an agency near Fort Sill. Colonel Wynkoop re- turned cast before this was accomplished. and Mr. Morrison joined Sheridan at old Fort Cobb and came with him to establish Fort Sill. He was also with General Custer on various expedi- tions during that winter. When General Sheri- dan returned east he was employed as interpreter for General Hazen as long as he remained on the frontier. He then left the army, and from Fort Leavenworth was sent by way of Fort Gibson to the Cherokee Nation to put in some bids for the forage contract at Fort Sill. He continued to follow Indian trading for some years in western Oklahoma, and has traded for as high as ten thousand buffalo robes in one winter.
Next Mr. Morrison engaged in the cattle busi- ness on his ranch on the North Canadian, with headquarters at Council Grove. After this he was one of the original lessors of the Cheyenne
272
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
and Arapahoe reservation, where he started in the cattle business, but later sold out to Wert & Bugby. He then went into the cattle business at Council Grove and had over five thousand head. About 1887 he sold out his cattle and embarked in the mercantile business at Darlington until the opening of Oklahoma, when he became one of the first settlers in Reno City, where he en- gaged in merchandising until the Chicago & Rock Island country was opened. He then went to Arapahoe and carried on a similar line of busi- ness, but his health failed and he removed to El Reno to recuperate. For some years after 1896 he was agent for the Lemp's Brewing Com- pany of St. Louis, and he is now interested in real estate. He laid out Morrison addition, a tract of thirty acres in the west part of the city, and besides owns one hundred and fifty acres adjoining El Reno on the west, and one hundred and sixty acres three miles north of El Reno, on the North Canadian river. He is a highly re- spected citizen of El Reno and is a member of the Masonic fraternity.
J JAMES D. FALKENSTEIN. Not unlike the hero of Falkenstein, the subject of this article has crowded into the span of his years inuch of the adventurous and romantic. though in place of feudal castles and hair-breadth escapes from pursuing enemies have been sub- stituted for the modern Falkenstein the broad sweep and freedom of the western plains and the wild and unhampered existence of the old-time frontiersman and cowboy.
Born in that part of Europe which is now Prussia, but which was at the time a valued pos- session of France, Mr. Falkenstein is a son of C. A. Falkenstein, who came to the United States in 1849 and settled in Texas, where he lived until 1870, when he returned to Europe. James D. passed his childhood on the ranch in Texas, and when fifteen years of age entered upon an open-air existence on the plains, and for about ten years traveled from the Rio Grande to Nebraska, driving cattle on the trail. His work was not without danger, for the Indians still considered themselves masters of all they sur- veyed, and the pale face was to them an intrusion and menace. Following his cattle experience, Mr. Falkenstein freighted for five years between Hays City and Camp Supply at Dodge City and Fort Elliott, as well as over the entire south- west country. When the business was dull he made extra money as a railroad constructor, and in this capacity built the grades on the Santa Fe, Missouri Pacific, and Mexican Central, on the latter of which he constructed several hun- dred iniles of road. When the railroad work slacked up the freighting enterprise was re-
sumed on a large scale, and the long train wound its way over the prairies, composed of about eighteen wagons hauled by mule teams.
In 1887 Mr. Falkenstein somewhat changed his habits of life, and went to Colorado and en- gaged in mining and building. He superintended the construction of twenty-five miles of a diteli for the Emmett Canal and Reservoir Company. In July of 1889 he came to Oklahoma and for $500 purchased the claim upon which he has since lived. The next year, having secured his claim at the United States land office, he started with his grading outfit for Simmesport, La., and took a contract for building the levees along the river for six miles. Returning to Oklahoma he at once began the improvement of his claim, and among other things set out a fine orchard.
Not having sufficient land to adequately carry on farming and stock-raising, Mr. Falkenstein purchased the northwest quarter of section 14. Center township. Kingfisher county, and at the present time also leases another section, the whole being devoted to wheat, corn, oats and stock. Of this, five hundred acres are used for farming. In 1899 was erected a commodious house, and the other buildings and appurte- nances are on an equally substantial and reliable scale. A specialty is made of fine horses and inuch care and attention given to their best de- velopment. For the first six years of his exist- ence in the territory the erstwhile frontiersman kept exclusive bachelor quarters in a dugout, which lonely condition was relieved by his mar- riage, in August of 1896, to Carrie M. David, a native of Hennessey, Okla. To Mr. and Mrs. Falkenstein have been born two children, Mary May and James D., Jr.
To Mr. Falkenstein is due large credit for his meritorious rise in Oklahoma, which had little foundation save his own enterprise and ability. He is variously interested in the different enter- prises instituted for the well-being of the com- munity and has borne a part in their organiza- tion and perpetuation. Fraternally he is asso- ciated with the Masonic lodge at Hennessey.
JAMES J. ESTUS. Few of the pioneers of Oklahoma have accomplished more toward its progress on broad and liberal lines, and the amelioration of certain conditions incident to the growth of all new lands, than has James J. Estus. His claim, located on the northwest quarter of section 34. township 19, range 2 west. Logan county, is among the best improved in this section of the country.
James J. Estus was born in Trimble county. Kv., October 21, 1851. and is a son of Ambrose and Mahala J. (Conner) Estus, of Kentucky. His great-grandfather, William Estus, and his grand-
273
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
father, Phelan Estus, were natives of Virginia. William Estus died shortly after his marriage, and little is known of him by his descendants.
The young life of Ambrose Estus was sad- dened by the carly loss of his father, but his uncle Jael gave him a comfortable and pleasant home and bound him out at the age of fourteen to a blacksmith, for whom he worked for several years without remuneration. He subsequently availed himself of his ability to be independent and worked at his trade for several years in his native county, continuing the same occupation after removing to Illinois. The year 1864 found him in Clinton, DeWitt county, Ill., and in 1870 he went to Dallas, Tex., where he lived for two years. Upon his return he accompanied his father and two brothers to the Osage fruit region, where they bought lands, and where his father died April 15, 1898, at the age of seventy- eight years. He is survived by his wife, now living in Kay county, Okla., with her son Alonzo. Of this family there were five sons and one daughter.
In his youth James J. Estus was surrounded by excellent influences, which tended to develop the best part of his nature. He studiously availed himself of the benefits to be derived from close application at the public schools, after which he studied at the Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Ill. He was one of the three brothers to take up land in Cowley county, Kans., where he lived until 1889, when, having sold his land in Kansas, he joined the rush at the opening of Oklahoma. July 30 of the same vear he located on his present farm, his family following in the fall of 1890. From time to time additions of land have been made to the present farm, until it now contains five hundred and twenty acres. No pains have been spared in working the farm up to a high degree of cultiva- tion, the barns, house and outhouses being of the best possible construction.
Mr. Estus is a Republican and voted for Grant in 1872. He has been active along political lines, and in 1898 was elected county commissioner, which position he filled in a most commendable way. His enterprise, untiring willingness to work for the public good, and his ability to inter- est others in his schemes, and secure their co- . operation, have made him a valued and promi- nent benefactor to Logan county. During his term of office he secured the erection of fifty-four steel bridges, from twenty to one hundred feet in length. In line with his advanced ideas and progressive spirit he has opened many miles of roads for traffic, and securing the lessening of taxes. In fact, no other administration of the kind has been conducted with such prolific re- stilts for the common good of the residents in the locality.
.
Mr. Estus was married March 9, 1880, to Hes- ter J. Scott, a native of Carroll county, Ohio, and a daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Mary (Elder) Scott, who went to Kankakee connty, Ill., in 1869, then to Benton county, Ind., and to Kansas in 1871.
E DMUND MILFORD HEGLER. A young man of talent and ability, broad and pro- gressive in his views, Mr. Hegler has been actively identified with the legal and judiciary affairs of Oklahoma since taking up his residence in El Reno, in 1892, having been connected with the second district court as clerk or deputy clerk for several years. He was born in Attica, Foun- tain county, Ind., September 15, 1869, a son of Capt. Benjamin F. Hegler, now clerk of the supreme court of Oklahoma.
His paternal grandfather, Jacob Hegler, a portrait painter by profession, was a native of Switzerland, whence he emigrated to America while yet a young man, eventually settling in Indiana. He married Julia A. Richards, belong- ing to an influential family of the Old Dominion State, her father and grandfather having both been prominent ministers of the Baptist denom- ination.
Benjamin F. Hegler, father of E. M. Hegler, was born in Fort Wayne, Ind., November 27. 1842, and received his education in the public schools and at the printing press, carly in life entering the fields of journalism and law. The very day after the fall of Fort Sumter he offered his services to his country, enlisting in Com- pany A, Fifteenth Indiana Infantry, of which he was made sergeant. During the summer of that year he was in West Virginia, under Gen. Joseph Reynolds, in the Elkwater and Tygart valleys. taking part in the battle of Greenbrier and in the operations at Cheat Mountain. In the fall of 1861 he came down the Ohio river to Kentucky to join Nelson's division of Buell's army, and was soon afterward promoted to the rank of first lieutenant, as such participating in the bat- tle of Shiloh, the siege of Corinth, in the Buell- Bragg campaign to Louisville, and in the en- gagements at Perrysville and Stone River. In the last-named battle the heaviest. loss in the Union army was in his regiment, one hundred and eighty-eight men having been shot, among the number being twenty-eight men out of the forty-three men composing his company. He was then captain of Company A, being then but twenty years of age. A month later he was captured by the enemy and confined in the .It- lanta and Libby prisons until exchanged.
On rejoining his regiment, he was appointed provost-marshal of his brigade, and under Gen- eral Rosecrans took part in the operations
274
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
against Tullahoma; was with his brigade when Chattanooga was occupied; was at the battle of Missionary Ridge, where his regiment, the Fifteenth Indiana, belonged to Sheridan's Divi- sion, which, with Woods' Division, made the assault on the center. In that battle he was assigned as ranking captain to assist in the com- mand of the regiment, of which he afterwards had the entire command, his superior officer hav- ing been wounded before the ridge was taken. while the loss to the regiment was two hundred men killed or wounded out of a total number of three hundred and thirty-four, the entire loss being inflicted in the ascent of the ridge, that lasted but forty-five minutes. Captain Hegler, who then lacked two days of being twenty-one years old, was hit three times in the fight, had his horse shot under him, and was stunned by concussion, but he maintained his courage, and for his gallant conduct received special mention. He continued in command of his regiment through the Knoxville campaign for the relief of Burnside, in the winter of 1863 and 1864. re- maining in service until June, 1864.
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.