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 63
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Always in touch with the needs and necessities of the stricken and oppressed, Mr. Twamley and Captain MeReynolds, during the residence of
the former in Guthrie, had inserted in one of the papers a header called "A Sure Go," stating that five hundred men, with arnis, were wanted to hunt geese in the Gulf of Mexico. Further light upon the subject developed the fact that this was the first intimation received by the citizens of Guthrie that an appreciable interest was being agitated for the cause of stricken Cuba. To Mr. Twamley is due the credit for having assembled the first meeting in the United States, during the progress of which resolutions were passed call- ing upon congress to interfere in the name of humanity. An article in Carter's Monthly of August, 1897, gives the history of the first meet- ing. In keeping also with his attitude toward the unfortunate, Mr. Twamley became vitally interested in the original designs of the general- issimo Coxey, and his expedition received his cordial support. As general for the division for the south and west, he issued orders and had nine hundred men enrolled. The recent splen- didly large-hearted project of Mr. Coxey in building an enterprise which will give employ- ment to thousands of men may have been fore- seen in the abstract of this other friend of the unfortunate and misguided.
In early life Mr. Twamley was associated with the Democratic party, and voted for MicClellan in 1864. At its organization in the territory he became interested in the undertakings of the Populist party, to whose interests he has since been devoted. In Troy, N. Y., when twenty-one years of age, he acted as secret agent for the Fenian cause, and collected arms and supplies for the adherents. He became a member of King Solomon's Primitive Lodge No. 91. A. F. & A. M., and later of the Apollo Chapter of Troy. He is now the commander of Guthrie Com- mandery No. 1, and a member of the thirty- second degree, Scottish Rite, and also holds membership in the Mystic Shrine at Salina. Kans. Mr. Twamley enjoys the benefits of a pension, being totally disabled. He has been prosperous in the acquisition of this world's goods, and owns two residences and several lots in Guthrie.
While benefiting from a well earned rest. it is but natural that so ardent a champion of all that lives and breathes and develops in the sunshine of human sympathy should have a mind respon- sive to the graceful and lovely in the world, and should find expression therefor that others may be influenced to a broader interest in those around them. And so it is that Guthrie has a gifted singer in rhyme, who fashions his beauti- ful and finely spun thought after the manner of a truly devoted Pegasus. Among his numerous contributions may be mentioned an harmonious requiem to a departed friend, which begins as follows:
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The silent earth is curtained o'er with night;
No echoing voice disturbs the solemn gloom. I sit alone and meditate on death,
And deem his visit is to us a boon.
J UDGE WILLIAM M. ANDERSON. Among the many who have come from the
East and have lent their enthusiasm and ability to the development and improvement of the comparatively new country of Oklahoma, may be mentioned Judge William M. Anderson, who has become substantially identified with the undertakings of the city of Enid.
Judge Anderson was born in Springfield, Ill., January 3, 1867, and is a son of George W., a native of Sangamon county, Ill., and of Melinda F. (Moran) Anderson, who was born in Mary- land, thirty-five iniles southeast of Baltimore. Her father, William Moran, also is a native of Maryland, where he farmed for a livelihood. subsequently settling near Athens, Menard county, Ill., where he conducted large farming and stock-raising interests. He is of Irish de- scent, and comes of an old Maryland family. During the Civil war two of his sons were sol- diers in an Illinois regiment. George W. Ander- son was educated at Illinois College, Jackson- ville, Ill., and when old enough to earn his own living engaged in farming in Watt township until 1876, when he removed to Sedgwick county, Kants., and continued his agricultural interests until 1884. At Mount Hope he later became cashier of the Farmers' and Merchants Bank, which he successfully carried on until 1893, when he removed to New Mexico, and undertook the raising of sheep in the north- western portion of the country. He is a promi- nent man in the community, and is a Knight Templar Mason.
The great-grandfather of Judge Anderson came from Virginia, and became one of the carly settlers of Kentucky. His son, Moses K., was an early settler in Sangamon county, where he pre-empted land twelve miles northwest of Springfield, in Watt township, on the old Beards- town road. He was a large land owner and stockman, and was prominently identified with the growth of the community in which he lived. and, while amassing wealth beyond the average in those early days, filled numerous positions conferred by the people of his locality. He was a broad and liberal-minded politician, and served for years as justice of the peace. As a military man he served in the Black Hawk war, with the commission of major, later being appointed ad- jutant-general, and being in command of the forces at Nauvoo, Ill. He organized the com- pany of which Lincoln was made captain, and conducted the election. Lincoln was elected
over Kirkpatrick by a majority of two to one. He was a master Mason, and died at the age of seventv-eight years. One of his sons, Frank. served with the Illinois regulars during the Civil war.
Judge Anderson is one of a family of six sons and one daughter, who are all living at the pres- ent time. F. W. is in the railway mail service at Kansas City, Mo .; J. W. is in charge of the Deering Harvester Company's works at Man- kato, Minn .; Jennie is the wife of Dr. Mayberry. of Enid; D. G. is a farmer in Washington town- ship, Garfield county; J. B. is with the railway mail service at El Reno, Okla .; and J. T. is the editor of the Daily Journal. William M. Ander- son was reared in Illinois until 1876, when he went with his parents to Mount Hope. He was educated in the public schools of Mount Hope. in the high school at Wichita, and at the Em- poria Normal, from which he retired upon reach- ing the senior year. After teaching school in Mount Hope for a time, he entered the law office of Dale & Wall, with whom he remained for two years, at the same time taking a course in law at the law school of the Garfield University, at Wichita, from which he was graduated in 1895, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. For the two following years Mr. Anderson continued with the firm of Dale & Wall, subsequently act- ing in the capacity of deputy county attorney for one year, from which position he resigned to take up his residence in Enid in 1893. He took up a claim in Washington township. Garfield county, but from the first conducted his law practice in the town.
In the fall of 1894 Mr. Anderson was nomi- nated for probate judge on the Democratic ticket and was defeated by a small majority. Upon being on the same ticket in 1896. and endorsed by the Populist ticket, he was elected by a large majority, and served as probate judge in 1897- 98, but upon his renomination in the fall of 1898 was defeated. In January of the same year he formed a partnership with J. B. Ferguson, and the affairs of the firin were conducted under the firm name of Ferguson & Anderson. This asso- ciation has since been amicably continued and a general law business is carried on.
In Garfield county occurred the marriage of Judge Anderson and Lillie Benn, a native of Pike county, Ill., and a daughter of Henry Benn, a farmer of Garfield county. Mrs. Anderson is a graduate of the Wichita high school, and is the mother of two children, Jennie and Moses M.
As a Democrat, Judge Anderson has been conspicuously identified with the undertakings of liis party in other lines than that of the judge- ship. He was chairman of the second county convention, has served on various Democratic committees, and is now chairman of the terri-
.
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torial committee. Fraternally he is a Mason, being initiated into the order at Mount Hope, Kans. A charter member of Enid Lodge No. 19, A. F. & A. M., he was its first senior deacon, and is now serving as past master. In 1895 he became a member of the grand lodge of Okla- homa, and was elected junior warden in 1897, senior warden in 1898, deputy grand master of the grand lodge in 1899, and during February of 1900, at Oklahoma City, was elected grand mas- ter of the grand lodge. He also is a Royal Arch Mason at Enid. With his family, the judge is a member of the Christian church, and contributes generously toward its support.
G EORGE A. OKESON, whose home is lo- cated in Oklahoma, in the southeastern quarter of section 4. township 16, range 3, Logan county, was born in Juniata county, Pa., February 20, 1870. His parents were Samuel and Mary E. (Manifold) Okeson, of Juniata and Washington counties, Pa., respectively. Samuel Okeson was a soldier during the war of 1861-65, enlisting in the Forty-fourth Pennsylvania Cav- alry, and serving for four years. He participated in many large battles and minor engagements, and during the battle of Gettysburg had two horses shot under him.
. When too young to appreciate the loss, George A. Okeson was deprived by death of his father, and his mother took him to Washington county to his grandfather Manifold's farm. Here he had a good home and a thorough, practical train- ing, which later fitted him to assist his grand- father in return for his many kindnesses to him. When he had reached his sixteenth year his mother married the second time and went to Des Moines, Iowa, which was to be her future home. While there the youth had excellent edu- cational advantages in the public schools, sup- plemented by a course of study at the Des Moines Business College, from which he grad- uated in 1888. His first independent business venture was when he became a clerk in a large mercantile establishment, which position he sus- tained for several years. He then started a meat market in Washington county. Pa., which he car- ried on for four and a half years.
On February 10, 1894. occurred the marriage of Mr. Okeson and Mary T. Fulton of Wash- ington county. Of this union there are three children, William, Samnel and George. Mrs. Okeson, a daughter of William and Emily J. (Beatty) Fulton, previous to her marriage had been a school teacher, and was a graduate of the Normal School at Edinboro, Erie county, Pa.
In 1894 Mr. Okeson changed the scene of his efforts to Brown county. Kans., where he as- sumed the charge of his uncle's farm, and in
1899 came to Oklahoma, where he has since lived. In politics he is a Republican, but has no political aspirations. The family is numbered among the active and helpful members of the Presbyterian church.
G I RANVILLE SPENCER. The claim of Granville Spencer is the southwestern quarter of section 12, township 17, range 4 west, Logan county, and is a well-improved, practically conducted homestead, with fine house, well constructed outhouses, and modern labor-saving appliances. The claim is given over to general farming, stock raising and horticul- ture. There are one hundred apple trees, one hundred and fifty- peach trees, and large quanti- ties of small fruits.
The genial owner of this prosperous farm has resided here since April 22, 1889, and in 1897 he added to his possessions more property in Cres- cent City, where he now owns a general mer- chandise store. The early history of Mr. Spencer was more or less uneventful, and laid along the usual lines of the average farmer lad's existence. He was born in Jennings county, Ind., and is a son of Jackson and Julia A. (Childs) Spencer. Jackson Spencer was a native of Jennings county, and died when his son Granville was six years old, his wife surviving him until after she had taken up her residence in Kansas. On the farm in Jennings county young Granville received a good home training, and studied diligently at the district schools. In the family there were, be- sides himself, two brothers and three sisters: WV. H. is a farmer in Noble county, Okla. : Jasper. also a farmer, is in Jennings county, Ind. ; Lillie. who married Mr. Thomas Baxter, and now is a widow, is living with the subject of this sketch; Etta, who is the wife of Alfred Chastine, lives in the Creek Nation: and Mrs. Jane Weaver resides in Indianapolis.
In 1880 Mr. Granville Spencer left his home associations and came west to Sumner county. Kans., where he located on a farm and engaged in agricultural pursuits. He was married in 1880 to Lizzie Sturges, of Atchison county, a daughter of John II. Sturges. Of this union there are three children, Forest, Raymond and Carl Spen- cer.
In political faith Mr. Spencer holds to the prin- ciples of the Democratic party, but has never been an office-seeker. His first presidential vote was cast for General Hancock. Fraternally he is associated with the Modern Woodmen and the Masonic lodge of Crescent City. He is esteemed for his many good traits and for his interest in the enterprises and institutions of the comin- nity in which he lives.
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JOHN WESLEY ELLIS, of Logan county, resides on the southeastern quarter of sec- tion 20, township 17, range I west, and is one of the most substantial and progressive far- mers in that section of the county. His birth took place December 15, 1853, in Platte county, Mo., and lie is a son of Doctor and Josephine (Timberlake) Ellis.
Reared on a farm, at twenty-one J. W. Ellis commenced earning his own livelihood, at first by farming and operating a threshing machine in Platte county, Mo. In 1891 he took up his pres- ent abode in Oklahoma, settling on his home- stead, which is situated as given above, and in addition to this he now owns a quarter of section 21, which he purchased in 1899. He raises con- siderable live stock, and his farm is one of the best improved in Logan county. It is rendered very desirable by a good house, into which his family moved February 6, 1891; a large barn; three wells and a pond that covers one and one- half acres. He has a threshing outfit, which he runs every summer. Our subject has many ac- quaintances throughout the county and is- esteemed by them all.
Mr. Ellis was married December 4, 1878, to Miss Hattie Lowe, a native of Missouri, and a daughter of John and Margaret (Simpson) Lowe. Mr. and Mrs. Ellis have nine children: Walter, Claude, Maude, James, Myrtle, Chester, Frank, Clarence and Ralph, the last three born in Okla- homa, while the rest are natives of Platte county, Mo. He has always voted the Republican ticket, but is not an office-seeker, being too much taken up with his present duties to enter political life.
W. E. CECIL is a successful farmer and has a choice farm on section 7, El Reno township, Canadian county. He came to Oklahoma . in 1890 from Saline county. Mo., and has made these years highly productive. Mr. Cecil was born in North Carolina, of which state his father, Solomon Cecil, also was a native. He removed to Missouri in 1869 and spent several vears there, but in 1895 went back to North Carolina, where he died in 1808. He was a far- mer all of his life, as were the Cecils before him. They came to this country long before the Rev- olutionary war, and have always been closely identified with the cultivation of the soil. He married Edith Kennedy, also a native of North Carolina. She bore him five children, four of whom are now living: W. E., Sarah, Charles C. and Ellen Marticia.
WV. E. Cecil was born in 1854, and was brought to Missouri by his parents in 1869. Reared to an agricultural life, he has had no desire to break 'away from it. He remained in Missouri until 1890, that year coming to Canadian county, and
buying a quarter section in section 7. This has been his home to the present time, and since his arrival here he has purchased additional land until he now owns six hundred and forty acres, all of which is available for tillage. He has han- dled about three hundred acres of wheat, and gives much attention to high-grade cattle. Ile has made liberal improvements, has extensive orchards and a vineyard. He was appointed postmaster at Liberty postoffice in 1896 under President Cleveland. Ile is a director of school district No. 37, and always has taken a lively interest in educational matters. He was mar- ried to Sarah Burnett in Saline county. Mo., and they have five children: Robert W., Hugh, Walter, Lou and Goldie May. His family are members of the Christian Church, and he has been an elder for several years.
J OHIN BERG, a well-known farmer and mer- chant of Logan county, owns a farm on the southwest quarter of section 6, township 15. range 3 west, his postoffice being at Navina. He is extensively engaged in general farming and stock-raising, and runs a store at Navina, which is located on a part of his farm. He also operates a grain elevator for the Purcell Milling Com- pany.
Mr. Berg was born in Crawford county, Ohio. May 21, 1858, and is a son of George and Anna (Nuhfer) Berg. His grandfather Berg came to America when George was but two years of age, and died about 1860, and then the grand- mother, Margaret Berg, lived with our subject's parents for many years. George Berg was born in Germany and his wife was born in Buffalo, N. Y. He took up the ministry as his life's work and preached in many cities, including Pittsburg, Pa., where he remained for a time, and Cleveland, Ohio, where he was located for four years. He was obliged to give it up on ac- count of poor health, and purchased a farm in Lorain county, Ohio, nine miles from Oberlin, where he lived until our subject was about eight- cen years of age. In 1876 he moved to Leaven- worth county. Kans., ten miles south of the city of Leavenworth. There he purchased a farm, which was conducted by his sons while he preached when his health would permit of it. He and his faithful wife now reside in Sparks county. Ga.
John Berg was reared in Ohio, and there re- ceived his intellectual training in the public schools. He then worked upon his father's farm in Kansas until 1880, when he was married. and purchased eighty acres of land, upon which he lived until 1891. He then moved to Okla- homa and purchased his present farm in Logan county. . Ile then had a few hundred dollars.
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but he had one hard year here and had to go back to Kansas and work by the day in order to get funds with which to subsist and also pur- chase seed. Since then he has been very pros- perous and fortunate in his business ventures.
Mr. Berg was united in marriage, January 22, 1880, to Lily D. Truskee, of Leavenworth county, Kans. She was born in LaSalle county, Ill., and is a daughter of Gustav and Frederica (Grube) Truskee, and is possessed of a good education. They have five children, the three oldest having been born in Kansas, namely: Mervin, Edwin, Ethel, Alvina, Chester Arthur, Leslie George and Lily Esther. He is a Republican in politics, and cast his first ballot for Garfield in 1880. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and helped to organize the first congregation in this locality, of which he has since been a trustee.
D. P. RICHARDSON, M. D. Prominent among the well-known physicians and druggists of Union City, Canadian county, is the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this personal biography. He came to Union City in 1894 and has won for himself an enviable reputation and a host of well wishing friends. All his time is spent in the study and practice of his chosen profession, and he has gained a practice and custom which would do credit to an older man.
C. O. Richardson, the father of our subject, a native of Virginia, was an early Missouri farmer, and still resides ini that state. Dr. Richardson was born in DeKalb county, Mo., and for some time dwelt in Gentry county, Mo. He received his education in the Stanberry normal school, from which he was graduated in 1890, and taught school for four years, part of that period before his graduation.
Dr. Richardson began reading medicine in Gentry county, and in 1894 was graduated from the Louisville Medical College, being given the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Having also taken a special course in chemistry and surgery, he has found the knowledge thus gained of great valne in his chosen work.
Opening an office in Union City during Sep- tember, 1894, Dr. Richardson soon acquired a large practice, and in 1897 bought out Mr. Lead- better's stock and opened a large drug store, carrying a full line of drugs. By close applica- tion to his work, and through his honesty and integrity, he has won an enviable place in the esteem and respect of his fellow townsmen. He is the local medical examiner for the New York Life Insurance, the Mutual Life of New York, the Equitable Life Insurance Company of Buf- falo, and the Modern Woodmen of America, being a member of the last-named order. He
is also a member of the Canadian County Medi- cal Association and the Territorial Medical As- sociation. In politics he adheres to the Demo- cratic party.
The doctor was united in marriage with Miss Katie Telford, of Illinois, in 1893. They have one child, Ivan Glenwood Richardson.
A NDREW J. MOORE. The carly child- hood days of Andrew J. Moore were spent on his father's farm in Logan county, Ohio, where he was born August 2, 1843. His early opportunities for acquiring an education were of the most limited order, there being no free schools at that time, and, had there been, he shared the necessity, common among most farmers' sons, of having to share the work around the farm. His parents were Tobias and Rachel Miller Moore, the former a native of Virginia, the latter a native of Highland county, Ind. They were early settlers in Stett- ben county, Ind., where for many years they conducted agricultural enterprises, and where they died, the father in 1866, and the mother January 16, 1885, and they are buried, respect- ively, at Pleasant Lake and Mount Zion ceme- teries. They were married in 1830, and were industrious and enterprising members of the community in which they resided.
In 1861 Mr. Moore enlisted in the Eleventh Ohio Cavalry, and served for nearly six years. His first experiences were of the interesting and exciting order, and, in fact, the whole of his service would fill all the requirements of one looking for adventure. He was first sent to Idaho to prevent the Indians from destroying the telegraph poles and wires, his headquarters being at Fort Laramie chiefly, until relieved from duty by the regulars. At Wind river they encountered serious obstacles in the shape of a desperate lot of red men, who were, however, forced to retire with great loss to their number. There was also another hard fight at Rush creek, where the Indians found the garrison with but nine men, who heroically held out until re-enforcements could reach them. At Coles Springs Mr. Moore was wounded in the side by a ball, as he and five others were carrying mail, and fording a stream called Lapperal creek. He was the only one of the five who escaped, though one man was picked up later by an ambulance and re- stored irom an apparently dying condition. Mr. Moore was. mustered out of service at Fort Leavenworth, Kans., and discharged at Co- lumbus, Ohio. Upon his safe return to his former home in Steuben county, Ind., the joy of reunion was saddened by the almost immedi- ate death of his father. Ile consequently took up the work of the home farm, and in 1867 was
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married to Eveline Thompson, a daughter of William and Abigail Thompson, who were born in Long Island. The father died in Travis county, Mich., in 1896, and the mother in Steu- ben county, Ind., in 1869. To Mr. and Mrs. Moore were born four children: Della is the wife of W. E. Bryan, a farmer living in Wood- land township, and has three children; Charles was killed in 1893 in the Sac and Fox country by the Shawnee Indians; Fred married Liddie Simmons, of Crescent. township, Logan county, has three children, and lives in Garfield county, Okla., and Benard died in infancy.
In 1887 Mr. Moore left Steuben county, Ind., and came to Wabaunsee county, Kans., and thence to Shawnee county, where he lived until 1891, when he and his family took up their res- idence in Oklahoma. The claim taken up by Mr. Moore is located on the southwestern quar- ter of section 25, township 17, range 4 west, Logan county, and is a highly improved and cultivated piece of land. The house, outhouses, fences, wells and apparatus for carrying on the most scientific farming are of the best possible construction.
In politics Mr. Moore is a Republican, but has 1 never been an office-seeker. He is public-spir- ited and enterprising, and interested in all that pertains to the public welfare.
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