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 57
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While in the army, Mr. Pack wa's married in Virginia to Sarah C. Zimmerman, a daughter
of John and Nancy (Terry) Zimmerman. Her fatlier, of German ancestry, was born in Penn- sylvania, and her mother in Virginia. After being mustered out of the army, Mr. Pack farmed in Virginia one year, and then moved to Knox county, Ill., where he followed the same line of business for seven years. He then moved to Texas, and after farming one year went into the general merchandise business in Salt Creek Station. He followed this for four years in a very successful manner. A cyclone then de- stroyed his entire stock and buildings, parts of his buildings being found six miles away, and though ten people were in the house at the time of the disaster, none was injured. Then going to the Chickasaw Nation, he engaged in farm- ing until the opening of Oklahoma Territory. when he made the run and secured the property he now owns. He has greatly improved the place and is successfully engaged in general farming. Politically, he is a Democrat, and in religious faith is a Baptist. Mr. and Mrs. Pack are the parents of five children: Rebecca J., who is the widow of John Florence, and has a farm near her father's; Mrs. Nancy J. Maxwell, whose husband has a farm here, but is in business in the Choctaw Nation; Clara Bell, wife of George Sparks, a farmer in the Choctaw Nation, Ed- ward F., who lives in the Choctaw Nation; and Mattie L., who lives at home.
W E. McCARRICK is the section foreman of the Rock Island railroad for the stretch of track through Okarche, and has served the company well for eight years. He was a resident of the Chickasaw Nation before his advent in this country, in 1893, and has had an extensive and varied experience on the fron- tier. He was born in Ontario county, N. Y .. near Geneva.
Patrick McCarrick, the father of W. E., is still living, hale and hearty, on his farm near Geneva. where he has had his home for the last half century. He has been highly successful in his chosen pursuit, and is much respected through- out the community. He married Anna Sweeney. and of their children, Nancy, the first-born, is dead: Julia is a widow: George White is the eld- est son: James is a miller at Seneca Castle. N. Y .: Kate is the wife of Charles Deets: Frank is a farmer at Seneca Castle; Sarah is Mrs. John McGrain, of Geneva, N. Y .; Delia is Mrs. Philip Flaxman; and Thomas, a graduate from the New York Law School, is an attorney at Roch- ester, N. Y.
Mr. McCarrick grew to the age of twenty- two on the home place near Geneva, and Was well trained in the local schools. In 1879 In. came to Dickinson county, Kaus., and engaged
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in selling fruit trees, an occupation which he followed for six years. In 1885 he entered the employment of the Union Pacific railroad as foreman, with headquarters at Salina, Kans., and was there and at Solomon for the next four years. In 1892 he united with the Rock Island forces, was put in charge of a section at Siding No. 1, Chickasaw Nation, and in 1803 secured a transfer to Okarche on account of the gool schooling the town affords his children. He look charge of section 236, and has continued here to the present time. For twelve years he has followed railroading, and early won high standing as a vigilant and trustworthy official. He knows his business in every detail, and his friends are confident that the day of promotion for him is not far distant. He has amassed a comfortable fortune, and in a private way does a considerable loan business. In politics he is a Democrat, and in the community upholds good government and progressive methods. In 1879 he was married, in Abilene, Kans., and has four children. Victor, William, Dorris and Harold. Mr. McCarrick is a member of the Pawnee Tribe of Red Men at Okarche, and is a welcome addi- tion to fraternal circles. In June, 1900, a camp of the Modern Woodmen of America was organ- ized in Okarche, and Mr. McCarrick was hon- ored by being selected as its first venerable counselor. As a railroad man he has been sin- gularly successful, having had no accidents on the road under his charge for twelve years, and all his standings in the records are first-class. Ile holds numerous recommendations of a flat- tering character from prominent railroad officials and is equally popular among the employes.
D INTEL MORGAN LENTZ. of Guthrie. has been actively engaged in business here for the past nine years, and has won an unviable reputation as a man of integrity and general reliability. Jacob Lentz, grandfather of our subject, was a native of Germany. His life almost spanned a century, as he died when in the ninety-ninth year of his age. He was a par- Beipant in the war of 1812, and was one of the pioneers of Ohio. His old homestead, situated . Hear Dayton, was considered so beautiful and convenient to the city that a portion of the place was purchased for a site for the Soldiers' Home. the worthy citizen was a Lutheran in religious Mith and reared his children in upright princi-
The parents of D., M. Lentz are Louis and Martha (Zimmerman) Lentz, the former a resi- Sent of Pern. Ind., and the latter deceased. The thur learned the trade of a coppersmith and Honey and for more than a decade was engaged
in carrying on a hardware business in Peru, in which place he has dwelt for the past forty years. Hiswife, who died when in her twenty-ninth year. was a daughter of John Zimmerman, a native of Pennsylvania. He was one of the carly settlers of Greene county, Ohio, and later removed to Indiana. He died near Peru when in his ser- enty-third year. Louis Lentz had four children by his first marriage and two by his second union.
D. M. Lentz, who was born in Fairfield, Greene county, Ohio, September 16, 1860, was taken to the Hoosier state when he was an in- fant. He attended the public schools until he was sixteen years old, and then devoted his whole attention to the mastering of the trade of carriage painting. He became an expert in that line and then acepted a position as a car painter in the shops of the Indiana, Peru & Chicago railroad, at Pern. He commanded high wages, as he was a skilled workman, and made a spe- cialty of fine lettering and ornamental painting. At length he was promoted to the post of fore- man in the shops, and then for a year occupied an important position in the Pullman Palace Car Company's works, near Chicago. Thence he was transferred to the same corporation's shops in Detroit, and subsequently became an employe of the Gilbert & Bush Car Company, at Troy, N. Y. As for some years preceding this he de- voted his time to the ornamental work and fine lettering, it so happened that he was detailed to decorate the special car in which Madame Ade- lina Patti made her first tour through America. For about fifteen months he resided in New York City, being employed as usual, and later went to St. Louis, and was similarly occupied there and at Topeka, Kans. At the last-named place he worked for the Santa Fe Railroad Company. and after an interval, during which he operated the Ashland (Kans.) Mills, he returned to his former position with the Santa Fe. and after- ward was with the Union Pacific, in the com- pany's shops at Grand Island. Neb.
In the summer of 1800 Mr. Lentz came to this territory, and for some time lived in different places, but in the following year decided to make his permanent home in Guthrie. Flere he hes been successfully engaged in contracting. sign painting and decorating, and many of the finest residences and public buildings in the city bespeak his skill and excellent taste. At his place of business. No. 113 East Oklahoma avenue, he keeps a good selec- tion of wall paper, paints and oils. In 1804 he organized the firm of Lentz & Young. Subse- quently the firm became Lentz & Mc Millan, but he is now doing business independently. He frescoed and adorned the Masonic Temple an ! many of the leading places of business in the
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city. As formerly, he makes a specialty of fine sign painting.
Fraternally, Mr. Lentz is a member of Guthrie Lodge No. 2. A. F. & A. M., and Guthrie Valley Consistory, Scottish Rite Masons; Guthrie . Lodge No. 3. 1. O. O. F., and is also associated with the Modern Woodmen of America. In po- litical belief he is a Republican of firm convic- tions. His marriage to Miss Amanda Ellen, daughter of J. J. Kennedy, a representative busi- ness man of this city, was solemnized in 1891. The young couple have a little son, Lloyd, the sunshine of their pleasant homc.
W ILLIAM ALLEN KETCHAM. The month of August, 1893. witnessed the permanent settlement of Mr. Ketcham on the southeastern quarter of section 31, town- ship 18, range 3, Logan county, to the improve- ment of which he has bent his energies since that time. The result is a fine farm, with sub- stantial modern buildings, orchards, a flourishing vineyard and all the appurtenances of a well- appointed homestead. Industry and good judg- ment and the thrifty habits inherited from a line of worthy ancestry have wrought his success.
Reverting to the progenitors of our subject, we find that he is the son of Danicl and Louise Davis Ketcham, who were both natives of the Blue Grass state, where the father spent his life and died in 1834. The mother spent her last years in Van Buren county, lowa, died there in 1858, and was buried in Birmingham, that state. The paternal grandfather lived in Ken- tucky during its pioneer days, and was captured by Indians. Fortunately, he made his escape one night, and often regaled the younger genera- tions with the thrilling tales of happenings be- fore and after the time of Daniel Boone. The birthplace of our subject was in Shelby county, Ky., and he first opened his eyes to the light December 2. 1825. He lived in his native state until the spring of 1856, when he emigrated with his family to Iowa, settling in Appanoosc county. He remained there on the farm until 1862, and then engaged in farming near Oskaloosa. In 1867 Mr. Ketcham took up his abode in Decatur county, Jowa, and followed farming until his re- moval to this section. In the Hawkeye state he was superintendent of the Poor Farm of De- catur county for nine years.
Meantime. March 17, 1852, Mr. Ketcham was married. in Louisville, Ky .. to Miss Lnev Wat- kins, of Oldham county, daughter of John and Luvisa (Cooper) Watkins, natives, respectively, of South Carolina and Kentucky. The mother spent her last years in Kentucky, and the father subsequently died in lowa. Of their children,
John W. now is in Kansas; Mrs. Frances King lives in Appanoose county, Iowa; Mrs. Eliza- beth Harding lives in Chicago, Ill .; Sarah was married and died in Missouri, leaving a family . Martha J., Mrs. J. Vaught, is a resident of Ap panoose county, Iowa; and Malinda, who was married three times, died in lowa, leaving a family.
Of the three children born to our subject an ! wife, Collin M. has been an agent of the Chicago. Burlington & Quincy railroad for over twenty- one years. He married Miss Dell Lunbeck, live- in Iowa, and has two children now living, Wil- liam C. and Collin Edgar. Oscar S. also took to railroading and has been an agent of the Chi- cago Great Western, residing in Malvern. Marshall county, for a number of years. He married.Miss Lizzie Smith and has four children : Harry, Raymond, Hulbert and Collata. Charles B. came to the territory with his father, married Miss Sallie Reary of Kingfisher, and is a resi- dent of that place. They are the parents of three children: Ruth, Naomi and Edith.
Politically, the sympathies of Mr. Ketcham are decidedly with the Republican party. For that he cast his first vote, and has always been a stanch supporter of its principles. He aided in the organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Crescent, and with his worthy help- meet has uniformly given to it his aid and en- couragement. Their children have been reared in the same faith. Mr. Ketcham joined the Ma- sonic fraternity in 1854, and continues in the brotherhood. being a charter member of Lodge No. II, in Crescent City, in which he has passed all the degrees. His sons follow his footsteps in this matter.
After making his first purchase of land. Wil- liam A. Ketcham went back to Iowa by team and returned here the same way. He secured one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 7, on a mortgage, and subsequently sold it to his son, Oscar, who continues to improve it. Our subject also owns a quarter-section of section 7. and altogether owns three hundred and twenty acres of land.
Calvin Ketcham, a brother of W. A. Ketcham. settled in Appanoose county, lowa, in 1853, and in 1863, after the outbreak of the Civil war, en- listed in the Thirty-sixth Iowa Infantry. and died at Little Rock, in the hospital. of camp fever, two years later; John D., another brother, enlisted in an Illinois regiment. and served throughout the war, receiving a wound from which he never fully recovered: he died. leaving a wife and two children. Benjamin en- listed at Centreville, Appanoose county. served until the close of the war, and, though his health was greatly impaired, is still living and conduct- ing a farm in that county. Thomas, the eldest
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brother, died in Mississippi in 1860, leaving a . county, Ind., April 19, 1877, with Ellen Smith, wife and two children; Keziah, a sister, died in Omaha, Neb., in 1896; Mary M., Mrs: Mitch- ell, is living in Clark county, Ind .; Eliza J. and Sarah H. are deceased; Louisa, Mrs. John Mil- ler, is living in Illinois.
S EGES MONT LAMBLIN, a very successful farmer of Logan county, is located on the southwest quarter of section 13, township 16, range 4 west. his postoffice being Guthrie. Mr. Lamblin was born in the department of High Seine, France. November 11, 1851, and is a son of Victor F. and Mary (Simons) Lamblin. He was less than two years old when his parents came to America and settled in Fort Wayne. Ind. His father, who was a farmer, had spent eight years in the army before his marriage. After coming to this country he rented land and farmed near Fort Wayne for a few years, and when our subject was about fifteen years old moved to Kankakee county, Ill. He purchased a farm of forty acres about seven miles from the village of Kankakee. and after tilling it for a period of seven years sold out and moved to Benton county. Ind .. our subject accompanying him and assisting him in improving one hundred and sixty acres of wild land. which he bought. Two years later he sold his property and moved to Prairie county. Ark .. where he bought land. and he and his wife there remained until death.
Having married in 1877. S. M. Lamblin did not accompany his parents to Arkansas, but started for himself in Indiana, where he remained two years. He then moved to Allen county. Kans., and improved some railroad land. His wife died in the spring of 1886, leaving four children, and he also had the misfortune to lose all of his property. However, he continued to live in Kansas, buying and selling stock until Oklahoma was opened. He came to Guthrie on the day of the opening. on the third train, and got a lot on Noble street. He remained until July and then returned to Kansas until the fol- lowing spring. He then went back to Logan county, Okla., and settled on his present home. which he had filed upon July 22. 1880. He brought his children and built a sod-house, 14x14 feet, in which he lived until roco. When he came lie possessed only one yoke of oxen, which had been given him by friends. In the fall of isot he put out about sixteen hundred trees of differ- ent kinds, and in 1892 set out many more, and at the present time has four thousand five hundred living trees. He has a fine vineyard of five acres and about three acres of blackberries, and has been very successful since coming here.
Mr. Lamblin was united in marriage in Benton
a native of Richmond, Ind., daughter of John Adam and Hannah (Mongar) Smith, and they became parents of four children: Charles J., who was born in Benton county, Ind., is a stationary engineer: Perry W., who was born in Allen county, Kans., is a farmer here; George Harvey died . August 20, 1900; Mary Alice lives at home. In politics he is independent, and served one term in Kansas as township trustee.
P ROF. WILLIAM A. JACKSON, who oc- cupies a chair in the University at Langs- ton, as superintendent of the industrial department, possesses fine ability, and has uni- formly improved every opportunity to advance himself in the ranks of his important calling.
Professor Jackson was born May 31, 1868. in Monroeville, Huron county, Ohio, and is the son of Henry and Caroline ( Williams) Jackson. The father was born in slavery in Virginia, and the mother, it is believed, in West Virginia. The mother and child were taken to Missouri, and the father ran away to Ohio at the beginning of the Civil war. He found work and remained there until after the close of the war. Meantime he became reunited with his family, and with them went to St. Louis county, Mo., where he bought a small farm-fifty-seven acres in extent -and cultivated the soil successfully, saving enough to purchase a farm of three hundred and fifty acres. The mother of our subject died when he was a lad of eight years. and is buried in St. Lonis county, Mo.
William A. Jackson was a small boy when the family went to Missouri, and remained on the farm with his parents until a youth of eight- een years, meanwhile attending the district school. Having a liking for study, and there- fore having improved his time in school. he then leit home and entered Lincoln Institute at Jef- ferson City, Mo., where he was a student for seven years. Meantime he held the position of professor of sciences, and taught and . studied alternately until he was graduated, in 1895, the only graduate in the class. He then became a -- sistant superintendent of the industrial depart- ment of the institute, which position he held until coming to Langston.
Professor Jackson was married. in Glasgow. Mo. June 30, 1807. to Miss Anna J. Watts, who was born in the city of St. Louis, and is the daughter of William and Frances J. Watts, the former of whom died when the daughter was a young girl of fifteen years. Mrs. Jackson was educated in the schools of St. Louis and Gla -- gow, mostly, finishing her studies in Lincoln Institute. She began teaching at the age of
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twenty in the country districts, and thereafter for six years taught in the graded schools of Glas- gow. The professor became acquainted with his bride during her attendance at the Institute. He is independent in politics and in religion inclines to the doctrines of the Presbyterian Church.
In the summer of 1894 Professor Jackson went to Cleveland, Ohio, and took a regular course in mechanics at the Case School of Ap- plied Sciences. The Collier Engineering Com- pany of Scranton, Pa., sent work to Jefferson City, Mo., for the professor to do, in theoretical engineering, and were so pleased with his work that they recommended him for the position which he now holds. The plant of Langston University was installed by Professor Jackson, who received a certificate as first-class engineer from the Collier Egineering Company.
D AVID M. THOMAS is the proprietor of a fine farm consisting of the northwestern quarter of section 3, El Reno township, and is a good representative of the agricultural interests of Canadian county. He came to Okla- homa in the spring of 1889, from Wayne county, Iowa, bringing with him the push and thrift characteristic of that great state. He was born in Brown county, Ill., and is a thoroughly west- ern man in all his thoughts and ideals. His father, George Thomas, came from Kentucky, and settled in Illinois, but did not remain there long, moving to fowa in 18440, where he found a home in' Lee county. Ile spent his remaining days in that state. and died in 1860. He was a farmer all of his life, and had much experience in the darker phases of pioncering. His wife, Mary (Guthrie) Thomas, was born in Indiana, and became the mother of eleven children. Two of these are living in Oklahoma, David M., and his brother. Lemuel. in Payne county.
Mr. Thomas was a child of two years when his parents made their final move to their Iowa home, and in that state he passed his boyhood. Tic attended the common school. and was reared to a farming life, which has always seemed pecu- Harly noble to him. He spent several years in buying and shipping grain. He was energetic, and. owning a farm of four hundred and forty acres, carried on operations on a large scale, giv- ing much attention to high-grade stock and blooded horses. He sold out in 1887, and spent the next two years in traveling through the en- tire West from Colorado to Washington and Oregon, looking for a desirable location. He made the run April 22. 1880. into Oklahoma, From the Cherokee Strip line to Payne county. Fdine along the Stillwater river for twelve miles. lait failed to locate a claim. In the next May he opened a general store in Frisco township,
Canadian county, and gave his personal atten- tion to it for about a year. His was the first fam- ily to enter that town. Buying his present home May 13. 1890, lie immediately began its improve- ment. He engaged in a wise system of general farming, and .now has one hundred and twenty acres under cultivation, with good orchard and vineyard. Last year he put in a hundred acres of wheat, and has much success with his corn. He sent selections to Omaha in 1898 for exhibi- tion. He has choice Shorthorn cattie, and re- cently sunk three wells in order that they may have abundant water. A successful business man, he owns two lots and a house in El Reno. in addition to his farm.
Mr. Thomas is a Democrat, and when he was in Iowa held the office of township clerk for four years. He was treasurer of the school board for fourteen years, and postmaster for two terms at Harvard. In 1879 he laid out a small town en his land, which was first called Grainville, and later Harvard, and he was its first postmaster. Since coming to Oklahoma he has taken a keen interest in educational affairs, and has served on the school board for six years, part of that time being treasurer of the board.
Mr. Thomas has an enviable record as a sol- dier in the great war for the Union. He enlisted in 1862, in Company F, Thirty-fourth Iowa Vol- unteer Infantry, and served three years, princi- pally in the Sixteenth Army Corps. He took part in the siege of Vicksburg, the Red River expedition and the battle of Arkansas Post. In 1863, while digging a rifle pit before Fort Mor- gan, in Alabama, he was knocked down by a cannon ball passing over his head. He had many close calls, but "lives to laugh at war's alarms." He belongs to Reno Post No. 13. G. A. R., and was its commander in 1899. Mr. Thomas was married to Miss Alice Entsminger in 1889. She also was from Iowa, and they have one child, Merritt.
P HILIP J. GERLACH is an industrious and successful farmer, whose home is on sec- tion 24, El Reno township, Canadian county, and who has taken a leading position among the tillers of the soil since his arrival here in 1891. He came from Marion county, Kans .. and was thoroughly familiar by long experience with all possible phases of pioneer life. He was born in Germany, in 1846, and was reared a farmer, but learned the stonemason's trade. He served four years in the army, and actively par- ticipated in the Franco-German war of 1870-70.
In 1880 our subject came to this country with his family, and settled in Marion county. Kans .. where he followed farming on rented land until 1891. That year he came to Oklahoma and
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bought a half-section of land in El Reno town- ship. He has made substantial improvements, carries on general farming and stock-raising, and has brought his land to a high pitch of fer- tility. It is generally pronounced one of the best and most attractive farms in the county. Hle has been equally successful as a farmer and a stock raiser and dealer. He keeps a high grade of cattle and horses and is recognized as an au- thority in all matters that relate to Oklahoma stock and farming.
Mr. Gerlach is a member of the Baptist Church at. El Reno, and is quite active in its be- half. IIe was married in Germany to Caroline Hlochile, a native-born German. They have no children, but adopted a son who has been with them since a boy. He bears their name, and hardly realizes that he is not of their blood. He is known as Albert Gerlach, and his home is in 1:1 Reno.
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JOSEPH G. STREET, M. D. Among the leading business men and public-spirited citi- zens of Oklahoma Dr. Street unquestionably ranks. He is a representative of a sterling soutli- ern family, originally from England. His paternal grandfather emigrated from Virginia or North Carolina to Tennessee, and our subject and his father. Hon. John T. Street, were both born at Chapel Hill, that state. The father, who was a merchant, resided upon a plantation on which fierce battles were waged during the Civil war. For several years he presided over the courts of his county, and was further honored by being chosen to represent his district in the Tennessee legislature. Subsequent to the war he removed to Texas, and for a number of terms officiated as mayor of Grosbeck, that state. IIe stood high as a business man, and was greatly esteemed in the Masonic fraternity, where he was a Mas- fer Mason. Tle also took an important part in the work of the Cumberland Presbyterian t hairch and for years was an elder. He died at his home in Dallas, Tex., in January, 1899. when eighty years old. His wife, who also died in the Lone Star state, bore the maiden name of Lucinda D. Riggs. She was born in Tennessee and at an early age was bereit of her parents. Of her eight children, five grew to maturity, but only two are now living. Mrs. R. H. Wade, our subject's sister, is a resident of Oak Cliff, Tex.
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