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 71
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in Omaha. The spring of the next year found him contracting in Kansas, where he built three miles of the Colby branch of the Union Pacific road. In the fall of 1888 he went to Arkansas, where he had contracts for trestle work on the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Memphis road, and then took a contract on the Mississippi levee at Rescue Landing. In February, 1889, he con- tracted to build five miles on the Arkansas Val- ley Railroad from Wagoner, I. T., running northeast. In August, 1889, he took a contract on the Rock Island Railroad at Pond Creek, Okla .; then south of Kingfisher, on the same road, and two miles at Okarche. In January, 1890, he began work on the Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad, between Junction and Fort Reno, also between El Reno and Yukon. He did the first grading on the road west of South McAllister. In 1891 he contracted for several miles of grading between Yukon and Oklahoma City. 1
In the fall of 1890 Mr. Maney was elected surveyor for Canadian county, and two years later he was re-elected, holding the office four years in all. With W. F. Callahan as partner, in 1892, he began contracting on the building of the Rock Island Railroad south from Minco, I. T., into Texas. In 1893 he built eleven and one-half miles between Pittsburg, Kans., and Joplin, Mo., on the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railroad. At the same time he also had a contract on the same road at Siloam Springs. In 1894 he built ten miles on the Little Rock, Hot Springs & Texas road, between Hot Springs and Benton, Ark. With J. A. Ware as partner, in 1895, he built twenty-two miles of the Choc- taw, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad, between Okla- homa City and South McAllister. His next con- tract was with the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railroad, which occupied his time from June, 1895, until the spring of 1896. In May, 1896, he took a contract on the Texas Midland road for building six miles, after which he returned to the Kansas City. Pittsburg & Gulf Railroad, completing a contract with the same in the spring of 1807. Later he contracted north of Kansas City. In 1898 he had a contract for ten miles on the 'Frisco near Stroud. While working on this contract he formed the firm of J. W. Maney & Co., his partner being J. A. Ware. In the fall of 1898 he took a contract for forty-five miles west of Fort Reno to Weatherford, on the Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf road, and in this contract he did all the grading, bridging and track-laving between the two towns. In the spring of 1809 the firm name was changed to Ware & Maney, at which time they built fifteen miles on the Rock Island road from Chickasha to Mountain View. Going next to Blue Earth, Minn .. they built thirty-two miles on the Iowa, Minnesota &
Northern Railroad, and forty-seven miles on the Rock Island road from Gowrie running north- west to Sibley, Iowa. In the fall of 1899 they began the construction of fourteen miles between Guthrie and Pawnee, on the Eastern Oklahoma Railroad. At the present time (November, 1900) they are engaged in constructing for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe between Olathe and Ottawa, Kans., a distance of thirty-five miles. They have a large outfit, aggregating fifty teanis, and are thus able to turn out work expeditiously and well.
May 12, 1896, Mr. Maney married Miss Marie Alphonsena Gerrer, a native of Alsace, France, and a sister of A. J. Gerrer. One child, Marie, has been born of their union. The family is con- nected with Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in El Reno. In addition to his property in Canadian county, Mr. Maney owns real estate in Stroud and Shawnee, and is a stockholder in the Weatherford (Okla.) Milling Company. At the time of the destruction of Galveston, in 1900. he was in that city and had several ribs broken, in which condition he was forced to stand in three feet of water from nine o'clock at night until four the following morning. Politically he votes with the Democratic party. He has served as a member of the school board, and also held the office of city engineer for one term, in addi- tion to his two terms as county surveyor, pre- viously mentioned.
N. S. SHERMAN, Sr., who conducts, at Oklahoma City, the best equipped ma- chine shop and foundry in the territory. has followed that line of work all of his life, and may properly be termed an inventive genius.
Mr. Sherman was born in Erie, Pa., and is a son of Isaac Sherman. The family was estab- lished in this country about the time of the land- ing of the Mayflower, by three brothers, who settled in New England. The grandfather of our subject was a millwright by trade. Isaac Sher- man was born in Oneida county, N. Y., and there learned the trade of a machinist. In about 1825 he located at Detroit, Mich., where he built one of the first machine shops and became a pioneer marine engineer. In 1840 he returned to Pennsylvania, building machine shops at Gi- rard, but later, because of poor health, he moved to Andover. Ohio. There he died April 21. 1871. He married Mary Pratt, who was born in Oneida county, N. Y., her father, Isaac Pratt, a native of New York and a farmer by occupa- tion, having removed to Michigan, later engaged in farming near Ashtabula, Ohio, and finally settled in Erie county, Pa., where he died. Mrs. Sherman died in 1888 at Dearborn, Mich. Five daughters and four sons blessed this union, and
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three sons and three daughters are now living. Isaac W., Jr., of Bay City, Mich., who served in four different regiments from Pennsylvania dur- ing the Civil war, was first in the drum corps, and at the time he was mustered out held the rank of lieutenant.
N. S. Sherman was born June 11, 1852, and was reared in Erie, Pa., where he attended the public and high schools. He was a machinist both by nature and training, working from boy- hood in his father's machine shop and foundry. In 1869 he went to Andover, Ohio, and worked there as a millwright until 1871, when he entered the Brooks Locomotive Works, of Dunkirk, N. Y., as a machinist, continuing until the works shut down in February, 1873, owing to the panic. Going to Butler county, Pa., he worked for his brother-in-law in oil operating, and was super- intendent of oil wells and pumps until 1876, when he became identified with the Sterns Man- ufacturing Company, of Erie. Pa., as a machinist. He served as foreman of the engine erecting gang until March, 1877, when the plant blew up. Next he went to Sevren Bridges, Canada. where he was employed as master mechanic by the Georgian Bay Lumber Company for about two years, until they ceased operations. He then went to Woodville, Mariposa county, and con- ducted a novelty store for six months, when he re-entered the employ of the Sterns Manufac- turing Company as a machinist. After a period of eighteen months with them he worked for the Taper Sleeve Pulley Works at Erie, next was with the Ball Engine Company, and in 1884 went to Jackson, Tenn., where he organized the Sherman Manufacturing Company.
After having manufactured engines, boilers, and saw-mill machinery with some success until 1892, Mr. Sherman moved to Greenville, Tex., and engaged in the manufacture of engines, boilers and nickel machinery. In 1893 he estab- lished the Lone Star Engine and Boiler Works and operated the same until February, 1898, when he sold out and visited in Ohio and Penn- sylvania. On his way back he stopped in Okla- homa, prospecting. In February, 1899, he took a trip through the territory and decided upon Oklahoma City for a location, making all ar- rangements to move at once and establish his business. Arriving May 17, 1899, he at once built the shops and foundry that are the equal of any in the United States. The shops are located on East Main street and occupy one-half block along the Santa Fe Railroad. Mr. Sherman is extensively engaged in manufacturing engines and specialties in agricultural implements and castings. He has the foundry work for the sewer system of El Reno and Guthrie, and Con- tractor Hindershot, in speaking of the character of his work, said that the castings were the
finest he ever had. Both brass and iron castings are manufactured. He has worked out numer- . ous inventions of a high character, the best known of which is a combined corn and cotton planter, stock cutter and roller, by which corn or cotton can be planted two rows at a time, or cut and rolled two rows at a time. He has also in- vented three distinct engines, a steam whistle, and a single bell chime whistle.
At Girard, P'a., Mr. Sherman married Nellie M. Dewey, who was born in Dunkirk, N. Y., and is a daughter of John Dewey, also a native of Dunkirk. He is of an old New England fam- ily, and, with Admiral Dewey, descends from a common ancestor. Four children were born to this union: Nathan Samuel, formerly assistant postmaster of Sulphur Springs, Tex., and now with his father in business; Warden Sevren, who is of a mechanical bent of mind and assisted in the establishment and arrangement of the shops; Nellie V., and Erie Wayne. Religiously Mrs. Sherman is a member of the Baptist Church. Mr. Sherman served as president of the Texas Foundrymen's Association for two years. He is a Republican of the strongest type, and hung up the first banner of that party in Hunt county, Tex., opening the way for other men to come out in support of the party. During his resi- dence in Texas he was a member of the state Republican central committee with John Grant and Edward Green, and the state executive com- mittee, and was very active in affairs of the party, serving as a delegate to all state conven- tions.
W P. STARKS, councilman of Oklahoma City from the third ward, is a well- known business man and a member of the firm of Classen & Starks, blacksmiths and carriage manufacturers.
Mr. Starks was born in Wadesboro, Calloway county, Ky., August 19, 1855, and is a son of Reuben and Martha (Aimes) Starks. Ilis grand- father, Marshall Starks, was born in Virginia in 1809, and was an early settler in Kentucky, where he was a planter, merchant and tobacco manufacturer, living six miles north of Wades- boro. During the Civil war he was a stanch Union man and served as provost marshal of Paducah. His death occurred in 1894. Reuben Starks was born in Todd county, Ky., in 1837. and throughout his entire life was engaged in agricultural pursuits, dying in 1896. He mar- ried Martha Aimes, a native of Kentucky and daughter of Perry Aimes, who was of New Eng- land stock and followed the trade of a cabinet- maker. She was born in 1841. and now resides on the old farm in Kentucky. Six sons and
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three daughters blessed this union, and all are still living, with the exception of one son.
W. P. Starks, the oldest child born to his parents, was reared on the old homestead in Kentucky, and attended the public schools of Wadesboro. In 1879 he left Kentucky and traveled extensively through Illinois, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arizona and Col- orado. In June, 1889, he located in Oklahoma - City, Okla., where he has since resided. A skilled mechanic and carriage-manufacturer, he is now a member of the firm of Classen & Starks, who conduct a large business in blacksmithing and carriage-manufacturing, having shops on the corner of California street and Broadway.
At Oklahoma City Mr. Starks married Miss Lucy Avery, who was born in Hutchison, Ky., and they have two children: Arthur Perry and Sibyl. A Republican politically, in the spring of 1900 Mr. Starks received the nomination for alderman from the third ward and was elected by a good majority in a ward usually Demo- cratic by one hundred votes. At this writing he is chairman of the printing committee and a member of the sanitary and public buildings committees. Fraternally he is a Mason, having joined that order at Morgan, Tex., and is a charter member of North Canadian Lodge No. 3. He also belongs to Cyrus Chapter No. 7, R. A. M., and the Woodmen of the World.
H ENRY LESLIE STROUGH, who has a most interesting record for service during the Civil war, is a large contractor of Okla- homa City. He was born at Avoca, N. Y., May 19, 1847, and is a son of Joseph and Rena (Gui- wits) Strough. Johan Strough, his great-grand- father, was born at Darmstadt, Hessen-Darm- stadt, and was one of the Hessian soldiers hired by King George of England and brought to America to serve in the British army. He de- serted and joined the American forces, serving until the close of the Revolutionary war, after which he settled on a farm in Pennsylvania. Daniel Strough was born in Pennsylvania, and at an early age moved to Montgomery county, N. Y., but subsequently located in Jefferson county, the same state, where he died. His son, Joseph Strough, was born in New York, and en- tered the ministry of the Presbyterian Church, but, while in the midst of a useful career, he died at Liberty at the age of thirty-one years. He was united in marriage with Rena Guiwits, who was born in Montgomery county, N. Y., and was a daughter of Henry Guiwits. The latter was also born in Montgomery county, where he followed agricultural pursuits for many years, but died in Rochester, N. Y. Her grandfather was of German descent and was killed in the
Revolutionary war. She now resides in Avoca, N. Y., and is the mother of two children: H. L. Strough; and Mrs. Mary E. Clough, who resides in Bath, N. Y.
Henry Leslie Strough was reared in Steuben county, N. Y., until he was fourteen years old, after which he lived in Jefferson county. He received his education in the public schools and Rogersville Union Seminary. When fifteen years of age, August 20, 1862, he enlisted in Company G, Tenth New York Artillery, and was mustered into service at Sackett's Harbor. serving in the defense of Washington until the second battle of Cold Harbor, in which he par- ticipated. Afterward he took part in all the bat- tles of his regiment until the fall of 1864, when he went up the Shenandoah with the Sixth Army Corps and wintered along the James river. He was then on provost duty in Petersburg until after the close of the war. During all of his service he was never away from his regiment for a longer period than forty-eight hours. Be- fore he was eighteen years old he served as quartermaster sergeant. He remained in Peters- burg until he was mustered out June 25, 1865, receiving his honorable discharge in July at Sackett's Harbor.
Returning to Avoca, Mr. Strough began to learn the carpenter's trade, which he completed at Utica. He was married in 1870, and returned to Avoca, where he remained until 1873, then entered the employ of the Erie Railroad. For some years he was foreman of the bridge gang on the Rochester Division, being located at Avon Springs. His wife died in 1878, and in 1881 he was again married and moved to Coffey- ville, Montgomery county, Kans., where he en- gaged in stock-dealing for two years, afterward conducting a real-estate and insurance business for three years. April 22, 1889, he came north from Purcell on the first legal train, at once lo- cating a claim at Edmond; on the same evening he took the first train for Guthrie, where he in- mediately began the business of contracting. He built many of the business buildings and private residences, including H. L. Miller's town and country residences, McCord building and Sta- pleton building. Next going to the Chickasaw Nation, and thence to Gainesville, Tex., he en- gaged in contracting until October, 1898. Since that date he has been successfully engaged in contracting and building in Oklahoma City. He superintended the construction of the Reding building, built the plant of the Reed Furniture Company, and the Barnes building, and finished the Seymour Price residence.
March 16, 1870, Mr. Strough was united in marriage with Anna H. Gossin, who was born at Marey, N. Y., and died at Avon Springs. They had two children, one of whom is living: Fred
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L., now an advance agent for theatrical com- panies. His second marriage was to Mrs. Eliz- abeth Jerems, who was born in Utica, N. Y., and is a daughter of James Jerems, a native of England. In politics Mr. Strough is a strong Democrat. Fraternally he was made a Mason at Avoca, N. Y., and now belongs to Guthrie Lodge No. 2; and is a member of Guthrie Chap- ter, having been made a Royal Arch Mason at Independence. He joined the order of Odd Fel- lows at Utica in 1868, and is now a member of Gutlirie Lodge No. 3. He is a charter member of Oklahoma Encampment No. I, of Guthrie, and was Grand Patriarch of the Grand Encamp- ment of Oklahoma in 1900. He is past grand . representative from the Grand Encampment of Oklahoma. Formerly a member of Hartranft Post No. 2, G. A. R., and commander of the post at Coffeyville, Kans., he is now affiliated with Grant Post No. I of this city. Mrs. Strough was the first lady to pass through the chairs of a Rebekah Lodge in the territory.
D R. E. G. SHARP. The subject of this 110- tice fully "holds his own" among the most reputable physicians of Logan county, and among the citizens of Orlando. He is es- sentially a western man, a native of Illinois, having been born in Douglas county, that state, December 31, 1866. He is the son of W. P. and Anna T. (Higgins) Sharp, of Bainbridge, Ind. During his younger years he lived with his parents in Newman, Ill., and attended the public school until fourteen years of age, when his father, who had been a teacher for many years, decided to change his occupation, and, crossing the Mississippi, located on a farm in Coffey county, Kans. Later he moved to Elk county, where he still lives, engaged in stock-raising.
Young Sharp attended the graded school at Longton, Kans., also the Normal Institute, and at the age of eighteen years began teaching, which occupation he followed for four years. During the last eighteen months of that period he read medicine, having in view its practice as a profession, under the instruction of Drs. Flack & Flack, of Longton. In 1890 he entered the Eclectic Medical Institute, at Cincinnati, Ohio, from which he was graduated in 1893. In June of that year lie came to Oklahoma, locating in Orlando. This move was not premeditated, Dr. Sharp simply expecting to make the run for land when the strip opened, but before this was ac- complished he was being called upon for medical services, and soon had as much business as lie could manage, and this state of things has con- tinued to the present time. He began practicing before the roads were laid out, and it was no ull-
common thing for him to lose his way in travel- ing over the country at night.
Upon the opening of the Cherokee strip in Oklahoma, Dr. Sharp selected the northwest quarter of section 34, township 20, range 2 west, where he has made good improvements, sur- rounding himself with all of the comforts of life and many of its luxuries. He was the first man to advertise for final proof and the second one to "prove up" in Lowe township, Noble county, and would have been the first had he not been compelled to wait upon the movements of the land office. -
In December, 1893, Dr. Sharp was united in marriage with Miss Anna L. Mitchell, the daughter of a prominent nurseryman at Long- ton, Kans. Their married life was brief, as Mrs. Sharp passed away five years later, in 1898. She leit a son, Eugene S., who lives with his maternal grandparents in Kansas. Dr. Sharp votes the Republican ticket, and has served as township committeeman. He is an enthusiast in his pro- fession, keeping abreast of modern methods, and in touch with modern theories and ideas by con- stant reading and study. During the present year (1900) he took a post-graduate course in the Chicago Hospital and received his diploma. He is a member in good standing of the Na- tional Eclectic Medical Association.
In religious matters Dr. Sharp inclines to the doctrines of the Christian Church. To the erec- tion of the neat church building at Orlando he contributed generously, and serves as clerk and treasurer of the society. He belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen at Orlando, and is medical examiner for this fraternity and the Mutual Life. In addition, he is serving upon the United States pension examining board, being the first member appointed in Logan county, outside of Guthrie. His life so far has been an extremely busy one, and taking into account the fact of his energy and ability, is likely to continue crowded with professional and social activities.
J. ST. CYR TUCKER, professor of sciences in Langston University, was born in Dead- wood, S. D., in 1869. He is of Indian and African parentage, his father, Yellow Smoke, having been an educated interpreter of the Iowa tribe. and his mother, Marian St. Cyr Tucker, of African descent.
.After ten years spent on a farm in Dakota, St. Cvr Tucker was sent to Washington, his parents being desirous of giving him every possible ad- vantage, educationally and otherwise. When fourteen years of age he entered Carlisle (Pa.) school and acquired the preparatory training necessary for his acceptance at Howard Univer-
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sity. ""here he gained the respect and admira- tion of pupils and faculty by his aptitude, application and rapidly expanding mind. Among other honors conferred upon him was one for excellence in the Spanish language. In all, Mr. Tucker speaks seven languages, including the Iowa and the Sioux. He was graduated from Howard University in 1895, and at once began to work in the chemical laboratory of the agri- cultural department under Secretary Rusk, his hours being from four P. M. until eleven P. M. Previous to his graduation he had been in the same department under Secretary Rusk, and received from his alma mater the degree of Bachelor of Sciences. ·
In 1895 Mr. Tucker was elected principal of the Guthrie high school, in which capacity he served until, in the fall of 1899, he entered upon his present duties as professor of sciences in Langston University. Among those who are privileged to know him, Mr. Tucker is esteemed for his many estimable traits of character and mind, his scholarly acumen, his advanced meth- ods of conveying his knowledge to students, and his charming, adaptive personality, which render him a source of pleasure and profit to friends, students and associates.
C HARLES WHITE. In spite of many ob- stacles in his pathway, Charles White, a well-known and respected citizen of Logan county, has made his way toward his goal, a competence and the independence which comes to the prospering agriculturist. He is thor- oughly deserving of success, for he is indefatig- able in his efforts to improve and cultivate his homestead, and is systematic in all of his meth- ods.
Hezekiah White, father of Charles White, was a native of Kentucky, but his ancestors were English. The mother of our subject, whose maiden name was Mary Hudnall, was likewise born in Kentucky, while her forefathers were of German and Scotch extraction. During the progress of the Civil war Hezekiah White was heavily taxed by his responsibilities at home, and, as he had young children who needed his care and support, he did not enlist in the service, and even when he was drafted into the army he sent a substitute.
Charles White was born on the parental home- stead in Warren county. Ky., March 23, 1859, and his youth was spent in the varied labors of the farm. He attended the common schools and obtained a practical education. When he was twenty he embarked in business ventures upon his own account. and in 1883 he went to Sumner county, Kans .. where he bought a farm. This place he soon disposed of to good ad-
vantage, and for several years he continued to buy and sell property in Kansas. At the time of Oklahoma's being opened to white settlers he was a resident of Pawnee county, Kans., whence he proceeded to Purcell on a train, and, having selected the northeastern quarter of section 25. township 15, range 3, he lived in a tent until July, in the meantime building a log house. When he came to this locality his means were limited, but, with hope and energy, he bravely set about the improvement of his land, and of late years has been reaping his just reward. His family joined him about the Ist of Novem- ber, and for two years they suffered many in- conveniences, especially because of the unusually dry seasons. Later our subject purchased an- other tract of one hundred and twenty acres, which property he finally sold, investing a por- tion of his capital in another eighty-acre farm. He now owns three hundred and twenty acres.
In his political faith Mr. White is independent of party lines at present, though formerly he was associated with the Democratic party and voted for Cleveland. Fraternally he is a member of the Woodmen of the World.
When he was but little over twenty years of age Mr. White married Miss Etta White, of Kansas, and soon afterward the couple began housekeeping in Sumner county. The wife died during their residence on the homestead, and left one child, Ethel. In 1885 Mr. White made the acquaintance of Mrs. Nannie Williams, and their marriage took place in Newton, Harvey county, Kans. They are rearing a little boy, Howard Frasier White, the son of a former neighbor.
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