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 8
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G EORGE L. WILES, M. D. The science of medicine has an able exponent in Dr. Wiles, who came to Carney in July of 1893, and has since conducted a large and lucra- tive practice. He has won the confidence of
the community by his skill in diagnosis and treatment, and by the application of the highest principles of the profession. It is much to be able to turn our ability in the proper groove, and to seize the opportunity which tends to the de- velopment of our greatest good. This is true of Dr. Wiles, who not only dignifies his calling. but is particularly fitted for it by virtue of natural gifts, and fine social qualities.
A native of St. Joseph, Mo., Dr. Wiles was born, reared and educated in the town of his birth. He early displayed the traits which make for success, and upon deciding to turn his at- tention to the study of medicine, entered Ens- worth College, from which he was graduated in 1891. His first field for the application of his professional knowledge was among the people who had known him from childhood up, and for two years he ministered to the physical woes of his native city. Upon coming to Carney he became the partner of a druggist, and for sev- eral months was interested in the drug business. As proof of his success in this locality of wonder- ful promise, the doctor has amassed considerable of this world's goods and owns considerable real estate in his adopted town.
In 1895 occurred the marriage of Dr. Wiles and May Wood, of Dakota, and a daughter of J. W. Wood, of Carney. Dr. Wiles has received recognition from several different sources, and is medical examiner for the Mutual Reserve Life Association, of New York, and for several other associations. He is fraternally interested in, and a member of, the Woodmen of the World and the Modern Woodmen of America, and is med- ical examiner of both. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Perkins Lodge. In politics he is a firm believer in the principles and issues of the Republican party. With his wife he is a member of the Baptist Church, and active in its works and charities.
As the only practicing physician and surgeon in a continually growing town, Dr. Wiles has every reason to view with kindly expectations his future field of effort. and to rejoice at the many evidences of appreciation which greet him at every turn, and which must needs follow in the wake of the broad and skillful delineation of a noble and resourceful science.
H ON. W. C. STEVENS, member of the Oklahoma legislature, is a well-known citizen of Hennessey. His original ances- try was a blending of Scotch and Irish blood, and his early American progenitors were among the devoted band who settled at and near Plym- outh, Mass., in the hope of founding a colony. the corner-stone of which should be civil and religious freedom. A later generation was
HON. C. J. WRIGHTSMAN, Pawnee.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
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among the early settlers of the Pine Tree state, and it was at Lewiston, Me., that Mr. Stevens and his father, C. P., were born. The latter served with gallantry and distinction from the beginning to the close of the Civil war, enlisting 111 Company E, of the Fifth Maine Infantry. He was three times wounded, once in the arm and twice in the head, but persevered in liis coun- try's service to the end. He was famed for his courage, and wore the shoulder-straps of a sec- ond lieutenant when he received his discharge. After quitting the service he went to Iowa, and from that state, in 1870, to Kansas, settling near Beloit, the county seat of Mitchell county. There he read law and was admitted to the bar, and began the practice of his profession. His innate mental strength, no less than his force of character, soon enabled him to forge to the front. He was elected mayor of Beloit, filling the office for one term. In 1894 he removed to Benicia, Cal., where he filled the office of prose- cuting attorney. In politics he has always been a Republican, and in religion a Baptist. He is connected with the. Grand Army of the Repub- lic. He married Sarah Small, who was born in Lewiston, Me., her father having been a lum- berman and owner of a flour and grist mill in that city. They became the parents of a son and dangliter, the latter being Sarah, wife of Walter Rankin, of Benicia, Cal.
W. C. Stevens was born August 25, 1867, and passed his youth in Kansas, graduating at the high school of Beloit in 1884, after which he took a course of two years in the academic de- partment of the Kansas University, in Lawrence. Abandoning the classical course at the end of his sophomore year, he matriculated in the Uni- Versity law school, from which he received the degree of LL. B. in 1886. For eight years he practiced, with his father, in Beloit, where his professional ability and recognized probity gained for him a large clientage. His fellow- townsmen showed their appreciation of his ripe culture and moral worth by making him a mem- ber of the board of education. In 1894 he trans- ferred his residence to Hennessey, Okla .. and from the time of his arrival his inborn ability challenged and enforced respect. Twice he has Wwen appointed city attorney of Hennessey. In January, 1897, he was the successful candidate, on the Republican ticket, for the office of pro- bate judge, his term expiring in January, 1890. the tender of a renomination being persistently and emphatically refused. Meanwhile, in 1808. he had been unanimously and enthusiastically named, by acclamation, as his party's choice for a seat in the lower branch of the territorial legis- lature, which assembled, in its fifth annual ses- sion, in 1899. His fellow-members were quick to recognize his ability and ready grasp of public
questions, and the position of a leader fell to him, as though by the operation of the law of gravitation. He was given the chairmanship of the committee on judiciary and a seat in other committees scarcely less important. He pre- pared and drafted several of the important meas- ures introduced at that session, looking to the development of the territory and the fostering of its interests. Among these were the Cashion monument bill and a bill for the regulation of elections in Oklahoma, both of which became a part of the territorial statute law.
While a young attorney in Beloit, Kans., Mr. Stevens married Miss Alice E., daughter of Paul Casley, who was United States mail agent for the Union Pacific road at Beloit. Mrs. Stevens was born in Michigan, and graduated from the high school of Beloit, Kans. They have one child, LaVerne. Mr. Stevens is a member of the Rebekahs and Encampment of the Odd Fel- lows, also the Woodmen of the World and the Modern Woodmen of America. In March, 1899, he was elected a member of the board of trustees of Kingfisher College. While in Beloit, he be- came a charter member of the Sons of Veterans there and was the first captain of the post. He contributes liberally to philanthropic and relig- ious movements, especially to the Baptist Church, of which Mrs. Stevens is a member.
H ON. C. J. WRIGHTSMAN. As one of the most conspicuous figures in the first dec- ade of Oklahoma's territorial existence, Hon. C. J. Wrightsman is deserving of special mention. The distinctive position which he holds as a statesman is equaled by his precedence in the field of jurisprudence, and few men of his years have risen to such high honors. Political power, to him, has meant an opportunity of pro- moting the welfare of the public, and conscien- tiously, according to his light, he has fulfilled his obligations to his fellow-men.
On the paternal side, Mr. Wrightsman comes of an old Southern family. His grandfather. Daniel Wrightsman, was born in Virginia, and there owned and managed a plantation. During the war of 1812 he enlisted and served at the bat- tle of New Orleans, under General Jackson, with the rank of an officer. Later he became a resi- dent of Tennessee, where he entered a tract of land, his home being in or near Limestone. He was opposed to slavery on principle, and rearcd his sons as true patriots.
One of the number, Dr. P. R. Wrightsman, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in the Old Dominion, is a graduate of the Cincin- nati Eclectic College, and, after practicing his profession in Dayton, Ohio, and South Bend, Ind,, removed to Atlanta, Ga., where he is pros-
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
pering. During the Civil war he rendered the Union army valuable service as a scout, as he was familiar with the part of Tennessee in which he had been reared. For a wife he chose Eliza- beth, daughter of Samuel Witter, who was a na- tive of Pennsylvania. He was one of the earli- est white settlers in St. Joseph county, Ind. Mrs. Wrightsman was born on her father's old homestead near that city, and two of her children survive, namely: C. J. and Mary C., the latter living in Atlanta, Ga.
The birth of C. J. Wrightsman took place in Dayton, Ohio, September 7, 1868. He attended the public schools of South Bend, and the nor- mal at Emporia, Kans., after which he matricu- lated in Georgetown University, near Wash- ington, D. C. He was graduated there May I, 1890, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, and at once was admitted to the supreme court of the District of Columbia.
Wisely deciding to become a citizen of Okla- homa, Mr. Wrightsman located in Oklahoma City, in the autumn of 1890, and was engaged in law practice there until September 22, 1891, when he removed to Tecumseh, county seat of Potta- watomic county, Okla. In 1892 he was elected to the second general assembly of this territory on the Democratic ticket, receiving a flattering majority. In that honorable body he played a very active part, as he was the author of the Wrightsman anti-gambling bill and nine other bills of importance, which became laws and re- main on the statute books of the territory. Al- together, the young man enjoys the honor of having piloted more bills through the legisla- ture than any other statesman, notwithstanding the fact that great opposition was offered to several of them. He was the chairman or mem- ber of a number of important committees, and won the admiration of the general public by his fearless, convincing attitude on all questions of vital interest.
September 16, 1893, Mr .. Wrightsman, who had been appointed county attorney of Pawnee county, took up his residence here, and con- tinued to discharge the duties of that office until July 31, 1894, when he resigned, in order to accept a position as United States commis- sioner. That his labors were arduous may be inferred when it is stated that, with one excep- tion, he handled more criminal cases than any United States commissioner within the bounda- ries of this republic during the same period. In February, 1898, in order to devote his entire time to the general practice of law, he resigned, and now enjoys a large and representative pri- vate practice. His library is one of the finest to be found in the territory, and his standing is high in the Territorial Bar Association and in the Pawnee County Bar Association. He is the
local attorney of the Santa Fe and is legal ad- viser for five banks in Pawnee county.
As previously indicated, Mr. Wrightsman is considered a factor of no small importance in Democratic circles. He has served in the terri- torial committee, was the chairman pro tem. of the congressional convention in 1898, and nominated Judge J. R. Keaton as a delegate to congress. In 1900, at the Democratic national convention at Kansas City, he was chosen as chairman of the Oklahoma delegation, and was also elected vice-president of said convention in behalf of Oklahoma Territory. In the fra- ternal organizations he is an Odd Fellow, a Knight of Pythias and a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He belongs to the Alumni Association of Georgetown University.
The attractive home of Mr. Wrightsman is presided over by his accomplished wife, formerly Miss Edna Wrightsman, a sixth cousin, and a native of Nevada, Mo. Her father, William Wrightsman, was born in Illinois, and for sev- eral years was a merchant of Nevada. The only child of our subject and wife bears the name of Charles Bierer. Mrs. Wrightsman has made a specialty of vocal music under foreign masters, and possesses an exceptionally rare and artistic voice. She holds membership in the Congre- gational Church of this city, and is as popular with her acquaintances as is her husband in his special circles of activity.
W B. WEBB, the well-known and popular clerk in charge of the Pawnee agency
. in Oklahoma, was born in Ewing. Franklin county, Ill., on the 4th of January, 1863, his parents being Elijah T. and Priscilla (King) Webb, also natives of that county, and representatives of prominent pioneer families of Illinois. Our subject's paternal great-grand- father was born in Virginia of Irish descent and was the founder of the family in the Prairie state. He was a soldier of both the Revolu- tionary war and the war of 1812. The grand- father, Lewis Webb, was born in Franklin county, Ill., where he spent his entire life. dying there at the age of forty-nine years. He was a farmer and merchant, conducting the first store in his locality, it being a country store two miles from Ewing. The father of our subject was also an agriculturist. At an early day he removed to Kansas, but after spending about two years in Humboldt, he returned to Illinois and located on his father's old homestead, where he still re- sides at the age of sixty-three years. Ilis wife died in Illinois. She was a daughter of Baker King, who was born in Virginia, in 18to, and removed with his father to Ilinois at a very early
G. H. PHILLIPS, M. D ..
Pawnee.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
of
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day in the development of that state. Our sub- ject is the eldest in a family of three children, his brother being Riley D., a farmer of Illinois ; his sister died in infancy.
W. B. Webb remained on the home farm until eighteen years of age, and in the meantime ac- quired a good education in the district schools near his home, the high school of Ewing, and Ewing College. On leaving the parental roof he was employed as bookkeeper at Evansville, Ind., for one year, but at the end of that time returned to the farm. In 1888 he was elected circuit clerk and ex-officio county recorder of his native coun- ty, which position he acceptably filled four years. At the end of that time he resumed farming, and is still the owner of a valuable farm of two hun- dred and twenty acres, two miles from Ewing.
While a resident of Illinois, Mr. Webb mar- ried Miss Dollie Nave, also a native of Franklin county, and a daughter of Isaac Nave, who fol- lowed farming there and served in an Illinois regiment during the Civil war. Mrs. Webb was educated at the Southern Illinois Normal School at Carbondale. Three children were born to our subject and his wife, namely: Clarence, who died at the age of two and a half years; and Ralph and Leslie, who are still living.
In July, 1893, Mr. Webb was appointed clerk in charge of the Otoe agency and came to Ponca, Okla., but on the first of the following September he was promoted to clerk of the Pawnee agency and has since had charge of the same, perform- ing its duties in an able and creditable manner. He has charge of the government reserve of seven hundred and fifty acres of land on Black Bear creek, which has been set aside for gov- ernment purposes. His political support has al- ways been given the men and measures of the Democratic party, and he takes an active and commendable interest in public affairs. He is a member of Benton Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and his wife holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church.
G EORGE HARRISON PHILLIPS, M. D. The first regularly located physician and surgeon in Pawnee, and for eleven years recognized as a leading member of his profession in Oklahoma, Dr. George H. Phillips has earned a place of honor among the founders of this future state. His influence is confidently counted upon by the promoters of progress and public improvements, and in every phase of human activity having for its object the eleva- tion of the race he is thoroughily interested. Broad-minded and liberal, le wins friends read- ily and is popular with the general public.
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The paternal great-grandfather of the doctor was John Phillips, a native of Dorchester
county, Md., and an early settler of Kentucky, where he owned and operated a mill. The next in the line of descent, Rev. William Phillips, like- wise was born in Maryland, and also was a pio- neer of Kentucky. Though he died when in the prime of his life, at the age of thirty-seven, he already had made a wide reputation as a polemic writer and editor of the Western Christian Ad- vocate, a Methodist Episcopal journal, pub- lished in Cincinnati.
The parents of our subject were Rev. Frank- lin W. and Lucy J. (Dungan) Phillips, natives of Kentucky. The father was born November 5, 1827, in Montgomery county, and was orphaned at the age of nine. He was reared in Paris, Ind., and Cincinnati, Ohio, and, in order to have col- legiate advantages, worked at the carpenter's trade in his youth. He pursued a course in Woodward College, and in 1848 was ordained as a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. For eight years he labored in that denomina- tion, spending two years in the Kentucky moun- tains, where the hardships and exposure to in- clement weather so affected his throat that he was finally obliged to give up public speaking. Consequently he turned his attention to another field of usefulness, and, after attending lectures in the Kentucky School of Medicine, at Louis- ville, commenced practicing his new profession in Livermore, Ky. Later he went to Todd county, Ky., where he built up an extensive practice. As he was loyal to the Union during the Civil war, he was persecuted by the guer- rillas and Confederates, who made frequent raids upon his effects, and threatened him with dire fates. When he could no longer stand the pres- sure which was being brought to bear upon him, he removed to Illinois, and from Decem- ber, 1864, until his death, in January, 1888, was a resident of that state. His health having been benefited, he again entered the ministry, and occupied pastorates at Mattoon, Jacksonville. Springfield and Danville. In the last-named place he was the presiding elder for one year. and in June, 1874, was elected superintendent of the state institution for the blind at Jacksonville, where he did a noble work. He was connected with that successful educational school for thir- teen and a half years, or until his life came to a close. He was a Knight Templar Mason and an active Republican. His marriage to the daughter of Rev. Richard Dungan took place in October, 1853, and for over thirty-four years they pursued the journey of life together. Her father was a great worker in the Methodist de- nomination in Kentucky, where his entire life was spent, and her brother, Rev. G. W. Dungan. a minister of the same church, is at present lo- cated in Springfield, Ill. She was summoned to the better land April 11, 1895, and three sons
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
are left to mourn the loss of a faithful, noble mother. One, Rev. William S., is pastor of a Methodist Church at Rossville, Ill., and another son, Richard M., is a farmer living near Yates Center, Kans.
Dr. George H. Phillips was born August 4, 1858, in Livermore, Ky., and when six years of age went to Illinois, where he was reared. In the Centennial year he was graduated in the high school at Jacksonville, and then entered Illinois College, having as one of his class- mates, in his junior year, William J. Bryan. Having determined to enter the medieal profes- sion, he commeneed studies along that line under the instructions of Dr. David Prinee, and March 1, 1880, was graduated in the Miami Medieal College at Cineinnati. In the follow- ing autumn he eommeneed praetiee in Parsons, Kans., and, after an illness of his own, located in Chapin, Ill., where he remained for about eighteen months. Going then to Yates Center, Kans., he spent seven years there, meeting with success which brought his name into favorable notice.
In September, 1889, Dr. Phillips was ap- pointed physician to the Pawnee Indians, and continued at the agency until November, 1892, when he was transferred to the Chilocco Indian school, still aeting in a professional eapacity. September 1, 1893, he was assigned to the posi- tion of superintendent of the Pawnee Indian sehool at Pawnee, and served until June, 1894. Later he engaged in general practice and acted as surgeon for the Santa Fe Railroad in this locality. July 1, 1900, he was appointed physi- cian to the Pawnees. He is also superintendent of the county health department, and is a physician on the board before which insanity cases appear.
In Jacksonville, Ill., Dr. Phillips became a Mason, and now is a eharter member and past master of Pawnee Lodge No. 17, A. F. & A. M. He was raised to the Royal Areh and Knight Templars degrees in Arkansas City, and is a charter member and past high priest of Pawnee Chapter No. 20, R. A. M. Besides he is a Knight of Pythias, a Knight of the Maccabees, and belongs to the Fraternal Aid Association, the Home Annuity and the American Fraternal organizations. He is connected with the Paw- nee Commercial Club, and was a member of the city council for one year. In the Republican party he has been an active worker, for a period was seeretary of the County Central Committee, and now is a member of the Territorial Central Committee.
In November, 1881, the marriage of Dr. Phil- lips and Miss Nellie G. Martin took place in Jacksonville, Ill., where she had been graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts from the Illi-
nois Woman's College. They are the parents of one child, Franklin Murrey. Mrs. Phillips was born in Ashley, Mo., a daughter of Dr. Samuel M. and Elizabeth (Kerr) Martin, natives of Leesburg, Va., and Ashley, Mo., respectively. Her grandfather Martin was a pioneer ,farmer of Morgan county, Ill., and her grandfather, William Kerr, who was a native of Kentucky or Virginia, was a very early settler in Mis- souri. Dr. Samuel M. Martin was a leading edueator in Morgan county for years, being superintendent of the county sehools for several terms and also aeting as county elerk for four years. Early in his educational career he was in eliarge of. a women's seminary at Canton, Mo., and later in life he was graduated in a Chicago medieal college, after which he prac- tieed in Montana for five years, and for a long time was a sueeessful physician of Alameda, Cal. His last years were spent at his old home. in Jacksonville, Ill., where he died in 1897. He was a Knight Templar Mason, and was a elass- leader in the Methodist Episcopal Church. His wife departed this life in Jacksonville, in 1886. All' of their children survive. Arthur L. is a eitizen of Oakland, Cal., and Murrey K., is en- gaged in educational work in Chicago, Ill. Mary L. is a teacher in the Illinois Institute for the Deaf and Dumb; Mrs. Annie H. Robinson re- sides in Winfield, Kans., and Mrs. Minnie E. Bagby lives in Pawnee. Dr. Phillips and wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he being one of the trustees.
M. F. LAKE. There are in every community men of great foree of character and ex- eeptional ability, who, by reason of their capacity for leadership, beeome recognized as foremost citizens, and bear a most important part in the development and progress of the lo- cality with which they are connected. Such a man is M. F. Lake, of Pawnee, who was born in Ripley, Tenn., August 13, 1854, and is a son of Hon. M. F. and Lueinda (Braden) Lake, also natives of that state, and the latter of Irish descent. The paternal great-grandfather, John Lake, spent his entire life in North Carolina. The grandfather, Elijah Lake, was born in that state, and became an extensive planter of Ten- nessee, as was also the father of our subject. With two of his sons, the latter was a member of Colonel Forrest's Confederate Cavalry during the Civil war, and was captured while home on a furlough, being sent as a prisoner of war to Alton, Ill., where he was held for some time. After the war he made his home in Tennessee until 1860, when he removed to Washington county, Ark., and was there engaged in farming
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Harper JEningham
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
until his death, in 1896. He was a member of the constitutional convention of Arkansas, and was quite a prominent and influential man in his community. His wife died in that state in 1869. Oi their ten children, six reached adult age and are still living, our subject being the only one of the family in Oklahoma.
The first fifteen years of his life M. F. Lake spent in his native state, and then accompanied his parents on their removal to Arkansas. He was reared on a farin and educated in the dis- trict schools of the neighborhood. On leaving the parental roof in 1872 he went to Young county, Tex., and was engaged in cattle herding all over that state until 1876, when he returned to Arkansas and conducted a general store at Viney Grove for four years. The following ten years were passed at Dallas, Ark., and he was subsequently engaged in the livery business in Vernon, Tex., until April, 1893, when he was appointed clerk in charge of the Otoe agency in this territory. Mr. Lake resigned that position in September following to make the race to Paw- nee, and succeeded in locating a claim of eighty acres adjoining the city, which he has since con- verted into a fine farm.
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