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 48
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living in Illinois; Thomas, living in Allen county, Kans .; and Agnes, who is the wife of James Robinson, of Glasgow, Scotland.
William Thomson grew to manliood on his father's farm in Peoria county, and received his education at the public schools. At the age of nineteen he went to Livingston county, and soon after. bought a farm, which he conducted for a time, then carried on a mercantile business at Graymont, Ill., for about two years. In 1801 he sold out and removed to Nebraska, where he drilled wells, but in the fall of the same year he located in Brown county, Kans., in the town of Horton, remaining there nearly two years. In the fall of 1892, leaving his family in Kansas, he came to Oklahoma, and bought the farm upon which he has since lived, and for which he paid $1, 100. The following spring his family came to the territory, and in the spring of 1893 he built the large house, which, at the time, had not its equal for size in the county. The first year the crops were fairly satisfactory, and consisted of two thousand bushels of wheat. The orchard is in a flourishing condition, and is planted with five hundred trees.
Mr. Thomson was married in Illinois May 30, 1882, to Margaret H. Gallagher, and they are giving a home to an adopted son. In politics Mr. Thomson is a Republican. With his family, he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and contributes generously towards its support. He is deserving of all the credit which his friends and fellow-citizens readily accord him ..
M ICHAEL WHITE, one of the wide-awake business men of Guthrie, is a native of West Virginia, his birth having taken place in Lewis county August 31, 1842. He is the eldest born of Thomas and Esther (Eustice) White, who were natives of County Roscom- mon, Ireland, and Lewis county, W. Va., respect- ively. The father crossed the Atlantic and set- tled in Virginia in 1837. He became a well-to-do farmer and was respected by all of his neighbors and acquaintances. Seven of his nine children attained maturity and six of the number are liv- ing to-day.
Prior to the Civil war Mr. White followed the usual peaceful vocations of a country lad, and when the war came on his knowledge of his own state and the Old Dominion made his services as a scout of great value, and he was thus employed for a long time. In 1865 he came west to Kan- sas, and, locating in Lawrence, he engaged in the manufacture of lime, in company with his brother-in-law: In 1868 he embarked in the same line of business on his own account, in 'To- peka, and continued to be thus actively employed
until the Centennial year. At that time he com- menced taking and executing contracts for contracting and building, and, among numerous other structures which he supervised while they were in process of erection, the Grant school. many substantial business blocks and private homes stand yet as a monument to his skill. For six years he then devoted his time and attention exclusively to the construction of bridges in Shawnee county. In 1800 he located in Wash- ington county, Tex., where he was in charge of a stone-crushing plant for the Santa Fe Railroad. In the autumn of iSot he came to Guthrie, and since then has been contracting for brick and stone work for buildings, and has been actively engaged in the laying of brick and flagging side- walks. He built the Guthrie Opera-house, the Oswego block and many other fine public and business buildings and the foundations for scores of others. According to the county specifications for bridges, he has erected the masonry for a number of bridges throughout this county, and has given entire satisfaction. He affords em- ployment to a number of workmen and is highly regarded by all with whom he has dealings.
Politically Mr. White is a stanch believer in the merits of the Democratic party. He is a member of the County Central committee and belongs to the executive committee of that body. In his religious faith he is a Catholic.
While a resident of Lawrence, Kans .. Mr. White married Miss Mary Keefe, a native of Ireland. Their eldest child, Edmond, a graduate of Pond's Business College, in Topeka. is an insurance man of Kansas City, Mo. Nellie, also a graduate of the college mentioned, is a book- keeper for a thriving business house of Topeka. Mary and Julietta are at home with their parents.
G EORGE DEAN. From a sterile and cheerless prairie claim on the southeast quarter of section 2, township 18, range 7. Center township, Mr. Dean has evolved, by dint of untiring energy and practical faith in the pos- sibilities of his land. a farm the equal of which it were hard to find. for many miles around, in Kingfisher county.
After a youth and early manhood spent on his father's farm in Randolph county, Ill., and an education received in the district schools, Mr. Dean, who is a son of John and Jane (Burns) Dean, went to Texas, at the age of twenty-one. and, after a year of prospecting. located. in 1882. in Kansas. As a means of livelihood he assisted various farmers of the state in their farm work. and after two years returned to his native county in Illinois. In 1888 he made a trip to the far west, visiting Washington territory, and engag-
R. B. FORREST, El Reno.
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ing in the lumbering business until the opening of the Oklahoma strip in 1889. With the vast army of other seekers for homes he made the run on the memorable 22d of April, and filed the claim to the land which has since been the scene of the success of his life.
As a preliminary, Mr. Dean at once erected a small cabin, and dug a well, and, to assist in the financial aid necessary for the further develop- ment of his property, spent the first two summers in Kansas, working in the harvest field. The first Oklahoma crops planted by Mr. Dean were put in the ground in 1892, and consisted of corn and wheat, of which there was an abundant yield. At the present time one hundred and forty acres are under cultivation, and a ten-acre or- chard has come up to all expectations. The fine quality of peaches is especially worthy of men- tion, as are the invariably excellent corn and wheat crops. A large herd of hogs and numer- ous horses and cattle show evidences of careful raising, and, unlike many farmers of the locality, Mr. Dean feeds his animals in the winter time. To add to the comfort of the family, to the ap- pearance of the place, and to the credit of the community, there is the large brick house, which is regarded as one of the most substantial and complete of any north of the Cimarron river.
Mrs. Dean was formerly Nora Snyder, a daughter of John Snyder, this township. The children of their union are John and Annie. It is generally conceded that Mr. Dean is entitled to a vast amount of credit for attaining to the reliable position which he occupied in the minds of his fellow-townsmen. In 1889 he had little to depend upon save his own unaided ability and perseverance, which have been turned to the best possible account. as evinced by his splen- didly improved and well managed place of resi- dence.
R ANDOLPH B. FORREST, an influential member of the El Reno bar, and a promi- nent factor in local judicial and legal mat- ters, was born in Scioto county, Ohio, October 20, 1850. His parents, Joseph H. and Vanceline (Vance) Forrest, were natives respectively of Guernsey county and Belmont county, Ohio. Both the Forrests and the Vances were among the earliest settlers of Virginia. As civilization advanced they crowded to the front among the hardy frontiersmen who drove back the sav- ages and converted the wilderness into harvest fields. The ancestry of the famous Confederate General Forrest, members of the same family, settled in Tennessee in 1808. Archibald For- rest, father of Joseph H. Forrest. settled in Guernsey county in 1809, where he was a suc- cessful farmer, and reared a family of children
who were a credit to themselves and the com- munity in which they lived. He was a soldier of the war of 1812. He was of Scotch-Presbyterian lineage. His death occurred in Guernsey county in 1857.
In 1851 Joseph H. Forrest settled in DeWitt county, Ill., of which he was a pioneer, in the vicinity of Waynesville, but later moved over the line to Logan county and made his home in Atlanta. During the Civil war lie was a soldier on the side of the Union, his services continuing for three years. In his family, born to Vanceline Forrest, who died near Waynesville in 1853, there are now two children, R. B. and Mrs. Mary A. Stevenson, of Arkansas.
The childhood of R. B. Forrest was passed in Illinois on his father's farm, and was uneventful, being surrounded by the usual hardships and in- fluences incident to the life of the average farm- er's son. More fortunate than many in his opportunities for acquiring an education, he studied diligently at the district schools, and the High School of Atlanta, after which he took a course in the Illinois State Normal School. For two years he taught school in Logan county, after which he engaged in newspaper work in Lincoln, editing and publishing the Logan County Journal, the name of which was after- ward changed to The Times. During 1873-74 he was engaged in this enterprise, but discontin- ued it to enter upon the study of law under Bea- son & Blinn, of Lincoln.
In June of 1876, Mr. Forrest was admitted to the bar before the Supreme Court of Illinois, and at once began the practice of law at Lin- coln, Ill., having as his partner Edmund Lynch. After an association of three years, he conducted an independent practice. In 1880 he had so far distinguished himself as to win the approval and appreciation of the community, and he was elected state's attorney on the Democratic ticket. This position he held for four years, after which he resumed a general practice. In 1885 he changed his location to Minneapolis, Minn. In 1893 he came to El Reno, where he has been successful to a gratifying degree. In 1894-95 he was a member of the committee on statehood, representing the interests of Okla- homa at Washington.
The marriage of Mr. Forrest took place in Logan county. Ill., in 1872, and united him with Mary E. Randolph, of that county. Her father, W. H. Randolph, was born in 1819, and settled in Logan county in 1829. He was a member of an old Virginia family. He died at his home in Kenney, Ill., in November, 1890. To Mr. and Mrs. Forrest have been born three children: Gertrude, who is the wife of C. F. Trader, of Kenney, Ill .; Alma, who is married to S. . 1. Mann, of Salt Lake City; and Randolph J., a
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member of the class of 1903, University of Okla- homa at Norman.
The political affiliations of Mr. Forrest are . He was held at Belle Island for six weeks, after
with the Democratic party. He is respected by his party associates for his loyalty to party in- terests. He regards fidelity as the highest of virtues, and its breach by an acknowledged friend is to him unpardonable. He has never sought political promotion, though he has twice been prominently. mentioned as candidate for Congress. At the Democratic convention of 1900 he could easily have been nominated, but declined to make the race unless the Demo- cratic party should name the candidate without going into a joint convention with the People's party. Fraternally, he is associated with the Knights of Pythias and with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is connected with the Territorial Bar Association. In his chosen profession, he has attained a degree of eminence at once praiseworthy and lucrative, as well as far-reaching in its influence, extending to the west and south, and embracing to a large extent the most important cases in the surrounding counties. In addition, he is esteemed for his many estimable traits of mind, character and attainment. He is the acknowledged Shakes- perian reader of Oklahoma, and is famous for his familiarity with all the classics and general history. He has remarkable reserve forces, which always come into requisition on the high- est occasions. He is also esteemed for an unselfish interest manifested in all of the intelligent movements for the upbuilding of Oklahoma and the improvement of his place of residence.
C YRUS W. YAGER, a farmer of Logan county, has always followed the occupation of an agriculturist, in which he has been quite successful, and at present he is pursuing his independent vocation on the northeast quar- ter of section 1, township 17, range 2 west, which he purchased in July of 1889. He is a native of Madison county, Ill .. and was born March 29. 1837. his parents being Buford T. and Juda A. (Wilhoit) Yager.
Until twenty-three years of age Mr. Yager re- mained under the parental roof, during which time he assisted his father in running the farm and also attended the public school in his vi- cinity. After his marriage he settled on a rented farm, but in 1862 he ceased tilling the soil and took up arms in defense of the Union. In Au- gust of that year he enlisted as a private in Com- pany B, Eightieth Illinois Infantry. During his service he fought in twenty-three battles. besides many skirmishes. He was in the battles of Perry- ville, Ky .; Missionary Ridge, Dalton, Big Cabin,
Peach Tree Creek and Pine Mountain, and in the latter engagement he was taken a prisoner. which he was exchanged. His next important engagements were at Franklin, Atlanta, and the two battles of Nashville, Tenn.
Upon being honorably discharged from ser- vice in June, 1865, Mr. Yager returned to Madi- son county, Ill., where he resided until 1868, and in that year he moved to Greenwood county, Kans., where he spent one season. In the spring of 1869 he moved to the Osage Nation, near what is now Independence, Kans. At that time the country had not been opened by the govern- ment, but when the land was available for settle- ment he pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres. He made many improvements upon the place and continued to farm it until 1879, when he sold out. Going to Chautauqua county, Kans .. he purchased eighty acres, upon which he farmed until Oklahoma was opened, and on that famous day he made the run, but was not successful in locating a claim. Going back to Kansas, he returned to Oklahoma in July. 1889, in which month he bought his present farm, sit- uated ten miles from Guthrie and south of the Cimarron river. All of the present improvements have been made by our subject, who is a good. conscientious and steady workman, and he has put out a fine orchard consisting of four acres.
Mr. Yager married Miss Martha E. Hunt, a native of Madison county, Ill., and a daughter of William and Cynthia (Fay) Hunt. She died in 1877 and now lies buried in the cemetery near Independence, Kans. She left a family of four children, as follows: Cyrus T. is a widower and has a son named Jesse: Alice is the wife of James Amos of Pawnee county, Okla., and they have four children ; William lives at home, and Chiarles is married and lives in Oklahoma. Our subject was old enough to cast his vote in 1860, but his first presidential ballot was not cast until 1868. when he supported General Grant. He contin- ued to vote the Republican ticket until 1880. when he entered the ranks of the Populists. He is a member of Caney Post No. 342, G. A. R., in . Montgomery county, Kans. Since 1895 he has been drawing a pension from the government.
L AFAYETTE ABRAMES. When the race for homes took place in Oklahoma April 22. 1880, the above-named gentleman succeeded in landing on the southeast quarter of section 10, township 17, range 2 west, and from his claim he has developed one of the improved farms of Logan county. He is a native of Darke county, Ohio, where his birth took place .August 19, 1852, his parents being James and Martha (Bonner) Abrames.
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Mr. Abrames was a lad of fifteen years when his parents moved to Terre Haute, Vigo county, Ind., but two years later they settled in Tazewell county, Ill. After one year they made another move, establishing their home in Saline county, Neb., where both died in 1871 within four days of each other. AAfter their death their son Lafayette went to Jasper county, Mo., where he hired out by the month, remaining there about three years. Two years after his marriage he returned to Saline county, Neb., but remained there only a short time, when he moved to the Cherokee Nation and rented a tract of land from the Indians.
From that country Mr. Abrames, at the open- ing of Oklahoma, came to his present home, which is located seven miles from Guthrie. He rode in from the east, coming on horseback, and while he stayed on his claim he sent a man back for his team, wagon and plows. In June he went back to Cherokee for his wife and children, and they moved into the house which he com- pleted the following month. His first crop con- sisted of six or seven acres of corn, some millet, watermelons, pumpkins and other vegetables. Hle has since put up a barn and has a four-acre orchard containing many different kinds of fruit. The farm is provided with an abundant supply of water, which is conveyed to the house by means of pipes.
Mr. Abrames was united in marriage with Miss Belle McWethy, whose acquaintance he liad made in Saline county, Neb., she having lived there prior to the settlement of her parents in Jasper county, Mo., where the marriage oc- curred. She is a native of Darke county, Ohio, and a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Strait) Me Wethy. Six children have been born to her marriage: Albert, James Burrell, Henry Clyde. Swain, Madge and Cecil. The three last-named were born on the present family homestead. while the three eldest were born in Cherokee. Although he votes the Democratic ticket regu- larly, Mr. Abrames does not aspire to office.
P. M. AHLSTROM. Sweden has furnished . to the United States multitudes of our best citizens, and, with few exceptions. they are loyal to the institutions of their adopted country. and in every possible manner carry forward the grand march of progress and civilization. P. M. Vlilstrom, manager of the Canadian County Milling and Elevator Company, at Hennessey. is a worthy and honored citizen of this place, and is entitled to representation in the history of this thriving community.
His father. John. and grandfather, Jonas Ahl- strom, were extensive land-owners in the vicin- ity of Laholm, Halland, Sweden, the former
owning and cultivating several farms. Our sub- ject's mother, Ingre L., was the daughter of Peter Peterson, who also was a farmer by occu- pation. John Ahlstrom departed this life when he was in his prime, and his widow is still living upon the old homestead in Sweden, their only daughter residing with her. Two of the children of John Alilstrom and wife are deceased, and the two sons who survive are in the United States. August being a resident of Omaha, Neb., where he deals in mantels and tiling.
P. M. Ahlstrom was born near Laholm, Hal- land, Sweden, June 8, 1866, and was reared in the quiet pursuits of rural life. He obtained a general education in the public schools, and at fourteen embarked in the business world. He was employed at merchandising at Engleholm, Skane, for six years, and then determined to try his fortune in America. Bidding farewell to the scenes and friends of his youth, he sailed from his native land to Glasgow, Scotland, and there took passage on a vessel bound for New York. Proceeding to Stanton, Neb., the young man ob- tained a position on a farm, where he soon picked up a fair knowledge of the English language and customs. Soon lie accepted a position as a clerk in a store at Stanton, and in the spring of 1893 came to Kingfisher, Okla. He was employed by J. N. Mills, a grain dealer, and continued with him for some time, assisting in the building of the Kingfislier elevator, later owned by the Cameron Mill and Elevator Company. He was the manager of that concern until in the spring of 1897 he came to Hennessey as the manager of the Canadian County Milling and Elevator Com- pany. The elevator, which has a capacity of fifteen thousand bushels, is a well-constructed, modern building, where a large share of the grain produced in this region is handled each season.
During the twelve years of his residence in the United States Mr. Ahlstrom has made many friends wherever he has lived, and all respect him for his upright, reliable qualities. He is a Knight of Pythias, a member of the Select Friends, and of the Knights of Pythias Benevolent Associa- tion. He gives his political allegiance to the Re- publican party and keeps thoroughly posted in the important questions of the day. Religiously he is a Lutheran, as his forefathers have been for generations.
G EORGE W. BEAR. Very few citizens of Hennessey have accomplished more for her permanent upbuilding than has the subject of this article, who. moreover, is known far and wide throughout Kingfisher county and . adjoining territory on account of the material assistance he has been to the farming commu- nity. He has been a resident of this county since
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April 22, 1889, and has been actively associated with its development from its infancy. He en- joys the confidence and esteein of the general public and has an enviable reputation for integ- rity and fair dealing.
On both sides of the family George W. Bear comes of Pennsylvania stock, and his grand- fathers, Samuel Bear and John Longenecker, were numbered among the agricultural class of that, their native state. Our subject's parents, Major John W. and Mary (Longenecker) Bear, were natives of Harrisburg and Carlisle, Pa .. respectively. At an early period Major Bear settled in Decatur, Ill., of which city he served subsequently as the mayor. He also held other important public positions, being United States marshal, United States collector and sheriff of his county for some time. During the Civil war he was identified with an Illinois regiment, serv- ing as captain of a company and later being promoted to the rank of major for meritorious service. He was celebrated as a mathematician and civil engineer, and from 1872 to 1890 was one of the leading citizens of Wichita, Kans., and for years acted in the capacity of city en- gineer of the place. In 1890 he removed to Los Angeles, where he is passing his declining years. He is a loved member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and kept a warm place in his heart for the boys who wore the blue in the years of strife.
George W. Bear was born in Decatur, Ill., February 22, 1839, next to the youngest of seven children, two of whom are deceased. His brother, Ben L., is a pharmacist of Phoenix, Ariz. When he was in his fourteenth year our subject removed with the family from Illinois to Wichita, where he grew to manhood. He at- tended the public schools until he was about sixteen, when he commenced learning the sad- dler's trade with McComb Brothers, of Wichita. Later he became a clerk in a drug store of that city, of which place he was a resident until fifteen years ago. In 1885 he located in Argonia, Kans., and there was engaged in the drug busi- ness until Oklahoma was opened to settlement.
Making the run on that memorable spring day, Mr. Bear decided to make his home in Hen- nessey, and soon commenced building a store, in which he conducted a drug business for a short time. He then embarked in the real estate and loan business, and at once found himself launched upon a tide which bore him to success. He has represented the Deming Investment Company and other eastern moneyed firms, and has made a specialty of loaning money on farms. That he has been extremely judicious in his deal- ings and has treated the people with scrupulous honor may be seen in the fact that, though he has loaned much more than $100,000 for the
Deniing Company within the past seven years, he has made no foreclosures on property and has had but one delinquent. He also represents ten of the old-line insurance companies, and for four- teen years has been a notary public. During this period he has handled from one hundred to one hundred and fifty pension vouchers each quarter of the year, and never has neglected the least of his duties in this line, no matter how pressing his other business matters have been. He has devoted considerable attention to the improvement of city property, and personally has supervised the construction of the two-story brick Bear block and five modern residences. besides building twenty houses for the Aetna Building and Loan Association within the past year. Among his many other enterprises, he aided in the organization of the Citizens Bank, now known as the First National Bank of Hen- nessey, and from its inception has acted as one of its directors.
In political affairs Mr. Bear is a stanch Re- publican, and for one term served as city clerk in Hennessey. Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Home Forum. Religiously he is a Congregationalist.
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