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 60
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wear, when he left for his native country .and there remained two years. With his family he returned to the United States Jame 13. 1896, and at once came to Oklahoma, where he located on hi- present farm. He raises cotton and cereals, as well as fruit and farm stock.
Michael Karner was married June 26. 1881. to Miss Theresia, a daughter of Francis and Isabel (Mort) Flash, and to them have been born five children, of whom the youngest child was born in Oklahoma. They are as follows: Theresia. born October 27. 1882; May. September 20. 1884: Rudolph, May 27, 1888: Francis. April 25. 1806; and Gustav Adolph, August 20. 1897. He and his wife are, devout members of the Lu- theran Church, and he helped build the Emanuel Church, which is located about a mile from his home. Politically he has always voted the Re- publican ticket, and has been a naturalized citizen since 1896.
G EORGE HALES. Probably few business men of Oklahoma are better known than George Hales, who has been closely asso- ciated with the upbuilding of the commerce and general progress of this section of the west since it was opened to the public. eleven years ago. Ile is enterprising and liberal. though entirely unassuming and not desirous of praise for the many deeds of kindness and helpfulness which are justly laid at his door. Education for the young, religion and the preservation of law and good government. everything which tends to- ward the uplifting of society, are matters in which he takes a vital interest. as every citizen of this great republic should.
Lessons of patriotism were early instilled into the mind of our subject by his honored father. Jesse Hales, who was a man that truly possessed the courage of his convictions and who ac- knowledged no higher duty than that which he Felt he owed his country. Though from a south- rt family, a son of James Hales, who remove l From Tennessee to Lawrence county. Ark .. and though reared in those two states. he formed an independent verdict in regard to the great ques- tions of slavery and secession, and. despite the itet that his father and brothers were slave-own- ers, he would have none, and when the war broke out and the others expoused the Confederate cattse he bravely declared himself a Union man. He enlisted in a Missouri regiment and served faithfully until the close of the war, when he quietly resumed his former occupations of fari- my and stock-raising. in MeDonough county. Mo. Ilis eldest son. Anderson. also belonged to the Federal forces, and served throughout the war in the same regiment. He died in Missouri in 1803. having survived his father only two
years. J. L., who is a well-known stock-man, resides in Oklahoma City, and William T., who is engaged in the same line of business as our subject, also makes his home in this city. Mrs. Hattie Seaman, the only surviving daughter. also is a resident here. Five of the children born to Jesse Hales and wife are deceased .. Mrs. Hales, whose maiden name was Martha Jane Beasley, was born in Lawrence county, Ark., a daughter of Lemuel Beasley, a farmer. She is still living. her home being in Neosho, Mo.
George Hales was born in MeDonough county, Mo., February 5. 1859, and was reared to the duties of a farm. At an early age he be- came interested in the raising of live stock, and bought and sold cattle and liorses extensively long before he attained his majority. Thus becoming an excellent judge of animals and prices, he finally concluded to devote his entire attention to this line of business. In 1889 he came to Oklahoma City, where he was the first to start a sale stable. He" built his present quarters, at Nos. 9-15 Main street, and for several years he bought and im- ported horses and mules into the territory, while. now that the demand here has been more than met, he exports them from this locality.
In political matters Mr. Hales is a stanch Re- publican. He belongs to the order of Red Men. and in all local movements calculated to benefit the community.he is an interested participant. His wife, whose maiden name was Fannie Smothers, is a native of Missouri, and their four children are named, respectively: Jesse. Frank. Willie and Earl. The family is identified with the Christian Church.
A NTON FUEHRING. Among the promi- nent citizens of Union City is the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. A dealer in general hardware, owner of considerable real estate in and about Union City, and one of the most progressive and public spirited men of the community, by his honesty and integrity he has established a worthy and excellent reputation.
Our subject is a native of Prussia, Germany, and a son of Conrad Fuehring. At the age of fourteen his father came to this country, and set- tled in Columbia county, Wis., where he died in 1879. Anton Fuchring spent his early manhood days in Wisconsin, and at the age of twenty-one Unlisted in Company E. Twenty-ninth Wiscon- sin Infantry, and for three years served under General Grant, until Vicksburg was taken. Af- terward he served in the Thirteenth Army Corps, and was wounded at Port Gibson and Champion Hill. He then returned to Wisconsin, and in ISOS went to Humboldt county, łowa, which was then a new county. There he bought a farm and
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lived until 1881, when he sold out. His next move was to California, but, not finding a suit- able location, he returned to Humboldt county, and, buying another farm, began general farm- ing and the raising of cattle, horses and hogs. His farm consisted of three hundred and twenty acres. . In 1892 he sold out and moved to Cana- dian county, Okla., where he bought a farm near Union City, and during the same year bought several lots in the town. On one of these lots he built a store and residence, 24x40 feet, and in the fall of 1892 opened a full line of general hard- ware and farming implements. At the present time Mr. Fuehring owns some two hundred and forty acres of land, several lots in Union City, and has built several houses.
Mr. Fuehring was married in Wisconsin to Margaret Sackman, and they have reared five children, namely: John, William, Annie, Louis and Margaret. The oldest son is on the home farm and the younger is in the United States navy. The family attend the Catholic church. Mr. Fuchring is a Republican in politics, and is a member of the school board in Union City.
W ALTER SCOTT COOPER. One of the prominent and thoroughly public-spirited citizens of Guthrie, Walter Scott Cooper, is now acting as a member of the council, repre- senting the fifth ward, and, as .was confidently expected of him, is doing everything within his power to promote the well-being of this com- munity. His record, both as a business man and in the field of politics is of the best, and his exam- ple in every respect is worthy of being emulated.
Mr. Cooper's parents. Edward and Emily J. (Willis) Cooper, are natives of Mount Vernon, Ohio and Illinois, respectively. The father is a son of Roger Cooper, who was engaged in farm- ing in Ohio until 1870, when he removed to Sew- ard, Neb., and there passed the rest of his life. Edward Cooper learned the trade of a bricklayer in carly life, and for many years was actively engaged in contracting and building in Iowa. About 1874 he located in Seward, Neb., where he owned a brickyard, and managed the most exten- sive building and contracting business of any in that section. He built the Seward Opera-honse, and for some time owned the Windsor Hotel, the largest hotel in the town. Seven years ago he retired, with a competence, and has made his home in Guthrie, as four of his five children live in Oklahoma, the other being in Colorado. Dnr- ing the Civil war he served as a non-commis- sioned officer in Company L, Second Iowa Cavalry. Mrs. Cooper is a daughter of James Willis, who was a farmer in Pennsylvania and later in Illinois and Towa.
Walter Scott Cooper was born July 1, 1865,
near the town of Maquoketa, Iowa. He received an excellent education in the public schools of Seward, and, after being graduated at the high school there, he entered the University of Ne- braska, at Lincoln, and continued his higher studies until his sophomore year. Under hi- father's instructions, he had mastered the ma- son's trade and had learned the business of man- ufacturing brick, and in 1885 commenced taking contracts for work which he had executed him- self. Besides building numerous. houses and public. structures in Seward and vicinity. he erected the State Industrial Home at Milford. Neb., the high school at David City, Neb., and many other important buildings in different places. In 1890 he located in. Ogden, Utah, where he continued to increase his reputation as a builder, and in April, 1893, came to Guthrie. Here he established one of the first brickyards in the territory, and to-day it is one of the most flourishing industries in the city. It is modern in every respect, equipped with improved ma- chinery, and having a capacity of thirty-five thousand bricks a day. In addition to running this plant, Mr. Cooper has continued his build- ing and contracting, and has erected the Good- rich and Victor blocks and part of Gray's block. the Lyon, the Dewey and the Black & Anderson business blocks, and the Oklahoma Hotel, be- sides many others of lesser importance. He has furnished the bricks used in all of the public schools of this place, and at Perry carried out a contract for building the fine school there. Lit- tle by little he has branched out in other direc- tions, buying and investing to a large extent in desirable real estate in Guthrie and vicinity, and in May, 1899, opened a grocery on Harrison street, under the firm name of Warren & Co .. and this enterprise also is prospering.
In David City, Neb., the marriage of Mr. Cooper and Alma L. Myers, a native of Des Moines, was celebrated October 1. 1889. With her parents, John T. and Rachel (Crawford) My- ers, she had removed to David City when she was a child, and in the high school there was graduated. Her father, who was a native of Ohio, and a son of Thornton Myers, of Virginia. was one of the early settlers of Butler county. Mo .. and later was one of the oldest members of the David City bar, where he attained promi- nence. Both himself and wife died at their home in that city, honored and esteemed. Four chil- dren bless the union of our subject and wife. namely: Lillian, John, Willis and Dale.
In April, 1898, Mr. Cooper was nominated on the Republican ticket for councilman from the fifthi ward, and in the following election received a good majority of votes. He has been watchful for the best interests of his fellow-townsmen. and, besides serving efficiently upon several
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committees, is acting as chairman on the com- mittee having in charge streets and alleys .. He is a member of the Guthrie Club and the Guthrie diun Club, and is very popular in both organiza- tions. In the Odd Fellows society he is past noble grand and grand warden of the grand bulge of Oklahoma, and is district deputy grand patriarchi of the Encampment. He also is a trus- tee of the Woodmen of the World, and, with his wife, holds membership with the Daughters of Rebekah. Both occupy an honored position in local society and their pleasant home is the scene of many a happy gathering.
H IRAM F. BUTLER, one of the oldest es- tablished contractors and builders of Okla- homa City, is a native of Maine, his birth having occurred July 3, 1842, near Farmington lill, Franklin county. He is a son of Elias But- ler, a native of Kennebec county, Me., and grand- son of Benjamin F. Butler, who was the uncle of the renowned Gen. Benjamin F. Butler. Our subject's grandfather was born in Massachusetts and at an early day removed to Maine, be- coming a successful contractor and builder, and a farmer, as well. He enlisted and served in the war of 1812, and the patriotic spirit which he displayed now possesses his descendants.
Elias Butler, who followed in his father's foot- steps in business, as in every way, came to the prairies of Illinois in 1849. and for years was one of the most respected and prosperous settlers of Freedom township, La Salle county. Later he took up his abode in Iroquois county, same state. and there dwelt until his death, at the age of sixty-two years. His wife, formerly Mehitable Hinckley, departed this life in Nebraska when she was in her eighty-fourth year. She was of English descent, and came from a promi- nent Maine family. Her grandfather, Capt. John Hinckley, won his title by gallant ser- vice in the war of 1812. His people were long the first settlers of Maine and were actively engaged in the early colonial wars with the native Indians of that region. He occupied numerous local offices in his county and always discharged the duties placed upon His shoulders in a thorough and satisfactory way.
Miram Franklin Butler is one of three sons. MI of whom enlisted in Company A, Sixty-fourth Minois Volunteer Infantry. The eldest, Addison K. Butler, died a few years ago in Nebraska. Granville E. Butler served through the Civil war, dthough he was wounded by grape-shot in the head at the battle of Antietam. He now is en- Kaged in the managenient of a large stock ranch " northern Nebraska. Our subject was seven vars old when he accompanied his family to Minois, and his youth was passed on a farm.
He was graduated in the Ottawa high school in 1862, and enlisted among the recruits for Com- pany A, Sixty-fourth Illinois Infantry, being inustered into the service at Corinth. Miss., and three days later received his baptism of fire in the hard-fought battle of Corinth, where he was twice wounded, in the left leg and in the left hand. He was sent to the hospital at Jefferson Barracks, and, on account of permanent injury to liis left hand, was finally mustered out and honorably discharged from the army December 12. 1862.
Not long afterward Mr. Butler went to Atch- ison, Kans., where he bought some mule teams and started across the plains along the Platte river route to Denver, the journey taking thirty- two days. He continued in the freighting busi- ness on the plains until the autumn of 1866, haul- ing goods from Missouri to Helena, Mont., and to Denver, and altogether made twenty-seven trips. In the fall of 1864 he and others of his caravan had a severe fight with the Sioux In- dians at Alkali Station. He and others had gone out as scouts, and, having seen traces of the red men, returned and barricaded their camp, and during the whole day they bravely defended their property. The Third Colorado Cavalry came to the relief of the besieged party, and together they went to Ogallala, where they were out of dan- ger. In the following spring our subject and his friends had another encounter with the red-skins near Valley Station, and from their corral they held the foe at bay four hours, when some cay- alrymen from Julesburg came to the rescue of the white men.
In 1865 and again in 1866 Mr. Butler was en- gaged in the livery business at Black Hawk. Colo., and at Cheyenne, Wyo. In his youth he had mastered the trade of a carpenter, and for a period he was employed in this line of business at Cheyenne. In 1867 he took a contract for supplying two hundred and fifty thousand ties for the Union Pacific railroad, after completing which work he was employed in the construction department of the line two years. In 1871 he was connected with the building of the Missouri. Kansas & Texas railroad for a period, and car- ried on lumber yards at Appleton, and Butler. Mo. In 1872 he commenced buying cattle and continued in this venture about two years, when he was so unfortunate as to lose a large pro- portion of his stock in a terribly dry season. From 1874 to isso he was occupied in contract- ing and building at Wichita, and then, as a mem- ber of the firm of Butler & Jewell, he conducted a liquor business in the same city two years. He then went to Freemont, Neb., where he became a member of the liquor firm of Butler & Shatt- ner, and remained in that connection seventeen months. Later he was similarly engaged in
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business at Dallas, Tex., two years. Then for two years he was a contractor and builder at Ardmore, I. T., and on the memorable 22nd of April, 1889, made the run to Oklahoma City, where he located a lot, but lost it in the contest which followed. However, he began putting up a building April 25th, using lumber from the car that was first unloaded. He also built nu- merous other buildings that were among the very first erected here, and since that time has been given a large share of the finest work in the place. Among others, he built the Interna- tional Hotel. the Acme Elevator, Kramer's Ele- vator. the Bacon & Cook Block, the cotton-seed- oil mill, and the fine residences of Governor Stone, Judge Stewart, T. M. Richardson, S. S. Price and E. L. Dun.
In St. Louis, Mo., Mr. Butler married Annic Fogarty, a native of Indiana. They have two daughters and three sons, namely: Ernest, Edith A., Osa M., Roy J., and Robert G. The family occupies an attractive modern home at No. 219 East California avenue, this residence having been erected by our subject.
Politically. Mr. Butler is a Democrat of marked influence. . He was elected as a member of the city council from the fourth ward, and was ap- pointed to act on the committee having in charge the matter of selling the quarter-section of school lands belonging to the city. He has served on the committee on water-works and gas-plant property and sewers, and was in- spector of the latter department until he re- signed. He was in charge of the construction of the county and city jails and discharged all of his obligations in a thoroughly satisfactory man- ner.
M ORGAN R. STAFFORD, whose home is in the southeastern quarter of section 17, township 13. range 6. Canadian county. with postoffice at EI Reno, was born in Greene county. Ind .. April 4. 1837, and is a son of Jesse and Pamelia (Harrison) Stafford. The father was born near Louisville, Ky., and the mother. a first cousin of General Harrison, was born in Ohio. Her parents moved to Kentucky when she was a girl, and the town of Cynthiana, Ky .. was named after two of her sisters, Cynthia and Anna. Mr. and Mrs. Stafford were married in Kentucky, and soon afterward moved to In- diana, where our . ubject was born. By a former marriage he had two children, and fourteen by his second marriage, eleven of whom grew up. As far as known. there are four living: Joseph . V., who is in the Klondike: Mrs. Sarah E. Hous- ton, who lives in California: Zephanich, who lives in Canadian county, Okla., and Morgan R. Jesse Stafford died in Greene county. Ind.,
in 1844, and his widow and ten children moved to Scott county, lowa, in 1846, where she rented and carried on a farm. She did fairly well and was enabled to buy land there. In 1855 our sub- ject was with General Harney in Kansas during the Sioux war, and in 1856, with his mother, he went to Woodbury county, Iowa, and settle on Floyd river, where they improved a farm and lived until 1861. In the meantime our sub- ject spent a few months near Pike's Peak, land- ing there April 10, 1859. When the Civil war broke out, nine of the family owned adjoining farms, but those unsettled times, when the In- dians became very troublesome, caused them to scatter and they have never been together since.
Morgan R. Stafford was married in Plymouth county, Iowa, February 12, 1860, to Catherine Schmidt, and in 1861 moved to Boone county. where he bought eighty acres of land and lived until the spring of 1864. He sold out and went to Montana to mine for gold, leaving his wife with her parents. He was absent for three and one-half years, and upon his return bought land in Boone county, and lived there until the fall of 1870, when he went to Missouri for the win- ter. He then located in Sedgwick county, Kans .. and took a pre-emption. After improving his place, he sold out and went to Clark county. Kans., where he lost everything. He then came to Oklahoma, April 22, 1889, and made the run with a yoke of cattle, but they gave out on the way and he gave his wagon to a man for drawing the load to Kingfisher. He took lots in that city, and as he had only one cow and seventy- five cents in money, which was small capital to provide for a family of eight. he went to work as a common laborer, and his wife took in washing until they had enough money to start a restaur- ant in Kingfisher, which they conducted until the next fall. He had located the claim on which he now lives in the preceding May, and on this he moved with his family. He built his present home, set out an orchard of five acres, made many other improvements. and has since pro -- pered.
Mr. and Mrs. Stafford became the parents of ten children, eight of whom grew up. They are as follows: Dorothy, who died in Sedgwick county. Kans .. was the wife of George Mackey, and left one child, Arminta, who lives with onr subject: Mary, who married Charles Combs. and has two children; Anna, who married Charles Sheets of Canadian county, and has three children: Martha Sophia, who married Charles Shaw, and has three children: Addie, who married Lowell Shaw, by whom she has four children: Minnie Belle, wife of William Smith, and mother of two children; George F .: and Emma, who lives at home. Mr. Stafford cast his first vote in 1860 for Abraham Lincoln. In
S. R. OVERTON, Hennessey.
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
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Ford county, he was importuned to run for probate judge, but refused. He has served as a school director for seventeen years, was iden- :sed with the Alliance, and served as president of the local lodge. He has been a member of the Methodist Church since 1876, has been a class leader and superintendent of the Sunday- school.
S. R. OVERTON. To Mr. Overton belongs the distinction of being the oldest agent on the Chicago & Rock Island Railroad in Oklahoma. The business was conducted at the beginning of his residence in Hennessey in the rather limited compass of a box car, but has long since outgrown these primitive surroundings, and is now located in the brick block on Main street. 25x90 feet in dimensions, erected by this enterprising representative of a great railroad.
The ancestors of the Overton family were citi- zens of the English crown. The grandfather, John Overton. after coming to America, settled with his family at Sandusky, Ohio, and later re- moved to Wisconsin. His grandson, S. R. Over- ton. was born in Lodi, Dane county, Wis., and is a son of John and Lucina (Otto) Overton, natives. respectively, of England and Schenec- tady, N. Y. John Overton came from England with his father, and passed his childhood in San- dusky, Ohio, going thence to Dane county, Wis., and from there in 1877 to Parker, S. D., where for many years he engaged in general farming.
Lucina (Otto) Overton was a member of the distinguished Teller family, her father. John Otto. having married Eliza Teller, a daughter of Tohn Teller, who was born in Schenectady, N. Y., February 15, 1800, and located on a farm in Alle- gany county, N. Y., but later removed to Girard, Erie county, Pa. In 1862 he settled in Morrison. Whiteside county, Ill., where he died in 1879. The founder of the Teller family in America was William. a native of Holland, who was born in :620. In 1639 he came to New York and set- dled at Fort Orange, where the king of Holland had appointed him trustee of a tract of land. His descendants have been conspicuous in vari- ous walks of life, perhaps the most brilliant of that name being Hon. Henry Moore Teller, whose career in the United States senate while repre- senting his adopted state of Colorado has been characterized as the splendid achievement of a truly great and noble man. The Otto family is of German descent, and the great-great-grand- father was the son of Duke Otto, and came to the United States during the early part of the last century. His son, Otto, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war and the grandfather of Lu- cina Overton, who died in Dakota. She was the mother of twelve children, five of whom are 19
living, three daughters and two sons, of whom S. R. is the youngest son and the only one re- siding in Oklahoma; one son, John, is living in South Dakota: Adele has attained distinction in the intellectual and social life of Denver, Colo .. and in 1871 became the assistant principal of the Denver high school, the same year she had graduated from the University of Wisconsin with the degree of A. B. She is a member of the Daughters of the Revolution, and treasurer of the Colorado State Society. Marie is living in Denver, where she is engaged in teaching; and Hattie is in Chicago, having married George Otto, of that city.
Succeeding his birth, which occurred De- cember 22, 1859, Mr. S. R. Overton received his early training in Wisconsin, and studied at the public schools and at the high school, from which he graduated with honors. At the early age of sixteen he began to teach school and con- tinued the same for three terms, later going to South Dakota, where he taught for two terms. In the meantime he had taken up the study of telegraphy, and in 1878 began to operate for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, transferring his station in 1880 to Dakotah City, Iowa. In 1881 he located at Laurens, Iowa, where he spent four years, and later he lived in Luverne, the same state, for two years. From 1887 to 1889 he was engaged in the same occupation at Octavia, Neb., when he retired for a time to en- gage in business at Lincoln, Neb. Subsequently he engaged with the Chicago & Rock Island Railroad, being located for a time at Pratt City. Kans., before taking up his permanent residence at Hennessey in 1889.
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