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 81
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95
Wilson Martin Warren was reared in Iowa and attended the public schools, but at the age of thirteen years turned his attention to learning the barber's trade. In 1874 he went to Los Angeles, Cal. After following his trade there for one year, he removed to Eureka, Nev., and subsequently returned to Des Moines, where he established a very successful business, running two shops for some three years. fle then moved to Omaha and conducted a shop for one year. In 1891 he came to Oidlahoma City, where he
started the Coney Island barber shop in the City building. Through his efforts he built up the leading business of the city in that line, and continued thus engaged until 1895, when he was appointed sanitary police by Mayor C. G. Jones. At that time the streets were in the poorest pos- sible condition, but he was not long in effecting a desirable change. He served with credit until 1899, when he was elected street commissioner on the Republican ticket, carrying every ward in the city, and running far ahead of the ticket. His term of office is for two years. He has raised and graded many of the streets, and has a number of men under him, personally superin- tending their work.
At Norman,- Okla., Mr. Warren was united in marriage with Tillie Stibbins, who was born in Kankakee, Ill. Politically, Mr. Warren is a sturdy supporter of the Republican party, and served one term as a member of the council. He built the fine residence at No. 121 Washing. ton street that he occupies. Personally he is a gentleman of high character, and enjoys the confidence and respect of the citizens of Okla- homa City.
J OHN BURY, one of the thrifty farmers of Logan county, is a native of Baden, Ger- many, his birth having occurred June 24, 1853. He is a son of Fidel and Kathrina (Muel- ler) Bury, who were agriculturists in the vicinity of Heidenhofen. He received the advantages of the common schools, and when he was nine- teen years of age embarked for the United States on the steamer America. He arrived at his destination at the end of a two weeks' voy- age, and proceeded at once from New York to Chicago, where his brother had preceded him. After spending one winter there, during which period he was employed chiefly in a factory, he went to the country, about twenty-eight miles from the city, and entered into an agreement with a farmer to work for him for one hundred and twenty dollars a year.
At the end of the year he returned to Chicago and worked for his brother for the ensuing three years. Later he went to a farm near Aurora, where he was employed two years. In the mean- time he had carefully husbanded his earnings. andto this amount several hundred dollars, inher- ited from his father's estate were added. He then married and commenced housekeeping upon a rented farm near Aurora. About two years later he removed to Kossuth county. Iowa, where he leased a homestead for seven years. He pros- pored, and in 1888 located in Barton county. Mo .. whence, in 18go, he came to Oklahoma. Here he purchased the place where he now re- sides, the northwestern quarter of section 15.
25
W
524
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
township 17, range I west. He has made all of the improvements which may be observed upon the homestead, including a substantial house and good barns. He has a fine orchard of some five acres, which he planted himself, and each year he harvests a good crop of peaches, apples, grapes and other fruits. In December, 1898, he bought another quarter section, adjoining his first farm, and thus he is the owner of a splendid tract of land. Well applied industry and energy have brought deserved success, and his future is full of promise.
The marriage of Mr. Bury and Miss Maggie Bornholdt took place September 21, 1878, in Kane county, Ill. She is a native of Germany, her birth having occurred near the village of Goethebye. When she was in her fifteenth year she accompanied her parents, Henry and Kather- ine (Erickson) Bornholdt, to America. and lo- cated in th vicinity of Aurora, Ill., where she lived until her marriage. Six children were born to our subject and wife, namely: Albert J., born in Kane county. Ill., December 1, 1879: Charles H., who was born in Kossuth county, Iowa, May 9. 1883: Dora K., who was born in Kossuth county, Iowa, July 8, 1885: Louise M .. born in Barton county, Mo., July 17, 1888: George M., in Barton county, Mo., August 3, 1890; and Bertha J., born in this county October 14, 1893.
The first presidential ballot of Mr. Bury was cast for James A. Garfield. and since that time he has been a sincere supporter of the Republican party. Both himself and wife are members of the Lutheran church and have been influential in the building of the church in this locality. In addition to contributing twenty-five dollars in cash, Mr. Bury donated the land on which the church was built and has faithfully contributed to its regular maintenance.
T THOMAS BENTON DAVIS. The fortunes of Mustang township. Oklahoma county, are closely interwoven with the wise and progressive ideas of Mr. Davis, who, in his ca- pacity of farmer and stock-raiser, and all-around substantial citizen, has made a perceptible im - pression upon the intellectual. agricultural. po- litical and religious growth of his adopted locality. Not only in the territory has his influ- ence for progress been felt. but in whatever state and county he has resided the best interests of the community have been coupled with his en- ergy and good management. His sons, in turn, have inherited his prosperity and capacity for taking advantage of the opportunities at hand, and are thrifty and industrious members of so- ciety. Samuel W., the eldest, is the possessor of three and one-fourth sections of land, upon which
he conducts large general farming and stock- raising interests, making a specialty of hogs, corn and wheat; the second son, William, is de- voted to stock-raising on his father's farm.
Before coming to this township of promise Mr. Davis led a somewhat varied life, in the course of which he engaged in a number of oc- cupations in different localities. A native of Davis township, Caldwell county, Mo., he is a son of Samuel S. and Margaret (Owen) Davis, natives, respectively, of Illinois and Indiana. The paternal grandfather, Dennis Davis, was born in Maryland, and was a courageous soldier in the war of 1812. Samuel Davis attained to considerable prominence during his lifetime, es- pecially during his residence in Missouri. He was a farmer and judge, and one of the earliest settlers in Caldwell county. One township in the county was named after him. Originally a Union man, when his state seceded he went with it.
When twenty years of age Thomas Davis was united in marriage with Almeda M. Craver, a daughter of George W. and Sarah E. (Gump) Craver, natives, respectively, of Maryland and Ohio. After his marriage Mr. Davis remained on a farm for two years, then sold out, and en- gaged in the grist and saw-mill business for a year. After disposing of his mill he undertook the general merchandise business for two years, and in the panic of 1873 lost nearly all that he had in the world. He subsequently undertook farming and stock-raising in Missouri for about three years and met with gratifying success. Not content with the location as a permanent place of residence he went to Hodgeman county, Kans .. where he bought land, and began farming with the brightest prospects in store.
An unforeseen calamity overtook him in 1885. when a blizzard swept away much that he val- ued. During the progress of the blizzard Mr. Davis and others took possession of the coal on the Santa Fe Railroad, which was the means of keeping many from freezing to death. After this severe loss he was somewhat disillusioned as far as farming in Kansas was concerned, and the following spring sold his remaining stock and land and bought an hotel in Greensburg, of the same state. After a year's experiment he sold out and went into the stock business on Medi- cine river, where he did well, and where things began to look up a little. This ranch was event- ually sold and the cattle shipped to the Kansas City market. He then took contracts for street grading, and was successful for a year, when he sold his outfit and went to Texas, buying a ranch, upon which he lived until the opening of Oklahoma. Mr. Davis made the run with the thousands of others who saw the possibilities of the undeveloped country, and located on a claim,
525
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
which he at once began to improve. At his house was held the first quarterly conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South in this part of the territory. Services were also held at his home until after the erection of the church. After the expiration of two years he sold his ranch in Texas, and bought more land near his home- stead and established one of the largest cattle ranches in the territory. He is one of the most progressive and prosperous men in the county, and is esteemed by all who know him. In na- tional politics he is a Democrat, and takes active interest in the undertakings of his party. Since its organization he has been a central commit- teeman in Oklahoma county.
W ILLIAM W. FITZPATRICK, a prosper- Ous farmer and prominent citizen of Logan county, is located on the northeast quarter of section 23, township 18, range 2 west. He was born near Shelbyville, Ill., June 2, 1860, and is a son of Joseph and Martha M. (Reed) Fitzpatrick. His father was a general farmer and stock-raiser, and of a migratory disposition that induced him to see considerable of the coun- try in several directions. When William W. was about fourteen years old, began a series of changes from Illinois to Kansas, thence to Ar- kansas, where they lived for eighteen months, later returning to Kansas, where the father bought school lands, upon which they lived until the opening of Oklahoma.
William W. Fitzpatrick assisted his father in the work of the farms upon which they located. and acquired at the same time a fair education. When twenty-one years of age he rented a farm on his own responsibility, and to facilitate the progress thereon was married August 15, 1881. to Ella Shearer. of Cowley county, Kans., and a native of New York. Mrs. Fitzpatrick died in 1883 and left a daughter. Iva Edna. now the wife of Ottis Potter, of Mulhall, Okla. Mr. Fitz- patrick married a second time, his wife being Mrs. Louise E. Kelly. nee Belless, of Fulton county, Ill., where her marriage to Robert Kelly was solemnized. They had one child, Bessie R. Nelly. Mr. and Mrs. Fitzpatrick are the parents of three children: Kingman B. and Dorothy J .. who were born in Cowley county, Kans., and Josephi William, who was born in Oklahoma. Mrs. Fitzpatrick is a daughter of Amos and Mary J. (Asbelb) Belless, of Fulton county. Il1. The former was born in Indiana and the latter in Fulton county. They became prosperous farmers in Illinois. The Belless family is of Pennsylvania Dutch descent, while the Asbell family came from Ohio and is of Scotch de- scent.
At the opening of Oklahoma. William Fitz-
patrick and his father made the famous run, the father securing land on section 24, where he lived until his death, March 12, 1899, at the age of seventy-eight; his wife, aged sixty-one, sur- viving him but eight hours. Less successful than his father in pre-empting a claim, William W. was obliged to purchase the land on which he now lives. While breaking it and preparing it for the seed he lived in his wagon, later re- turning to Kansas to bring his household posses- sions, and upon his return continuing to live in liis wagon while cutting hay for the cattle. The family arrived on the new claim in October. and. pending the erection of a box house, 12X14 feet, were located in a tent. From small di- mensions his house was from time to time en- larged until it is now of comfortable size. There is an excellent orchard on the claim, the output of which numbers a variety of fruits.
Mr. Fitzpatrick is a believer in the principles of the Democratic party, but is willing for others to fill the offices within the gift of the people of the community. Himself and family are helpful members of the Christian Church, of which he is a deacon, and was one of the organ- izers and builders of the church at Antioch. He is a member of the U. P. & D. A. of Okla- homa.
H 1 ON. MARTIN GARBER. Though he has passed the seventy-first anniversary of his birth. Martin Garber, of Garber, Garfield county, is as active and enterprising in business affairs as many men of half his years, and the sin- cere interest which he maintains in the develop- ment of this section redounds greatly to his credit. For more than four decades he has been a member of the bar, and for many years he was prominently associated with public positions of honor and responsibility, gradually rising in the esteem of the people.
The paternal ancestors of our subject were natives of Switzerland, and his grandfather, Mar- tin Garber, accompanied by four brothers, came to America in the latter part of the eighteenth century, and all of them settled in the Shen- andoah Valley, in Virginia. They were mem- bers of the Dunkard, or German Baptist. Church. and all of the brothers occupied the pulpits of their neighboring churches on many occasions. as they believed themselves called upon to preach. In fact, they were practically the found- ers of their denomination in Virginia.
Our subject's father, who also bore the Chris- tian name of Martin, was born in the Old Do- minion. and lived in Rockingham county until 1836. when he went to Ohio. He was profitably engaged in farming and stock-raising there, and finally departed this life at his home in Shelby
1 526
PORTRAIT AND . BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
county. He was survived by his wife, who died in Iowa, when in her sixty-ninth year, and of their ten children, all but three are yet living. She was Magdeline, daugliter of John Mohler, who was the owner of Weirs Cave, in Augusta county, Va., which great natural curiosity is still in the possession of the Mohler family.
Martin Garber, of this article, was born in 1829, in the vicinity of Weirs Cave, Va., and was seven years old when he accompanied his parents to the neighborhood of Bellefontaine, Logan county, Ohio. He attended the public schools of that place and of Springfield, Ohio, and at the age of twenty-two went to the northeastern part of Iowa. He entered a large tract of land in Clayton county and supervised its management for a period. In 1852 he commenced the study of law, and in 1858 was admitted to the bar, subsequently engaging in the practice of his profession at Elkport and Elkader, Iowa. In the meantime, he went to Nevada county, Cal., where a brother was living, and for the ensuing seven years he remained on the. Pacific coast. For five years lie followed mining operations in the gold fields, and later he joined his brother and embarked in the cattle business in the north- ern part of California, and a town-Garberville- which he founded was named in his honor. In 1868 he returned to Iowa.
In 1869 Mr. Garber was elected to the office of auditor of Clayton county, a position he filled to the entire satisfaction of all concerned for eleven successive years. He then was fur- ther honored by the people, being elected to represent the Fifty-seventh district in the Iowa state senate. During the four years of his service in the legislature-from 1880 to 1884-he intro- duced several bills of which he was the author, and was actively connected with many of the committees. Upon retiring from his position he was soon appointed to the office of deputy revenue collector for the United States in the Dubuque district, his headquarters being at Du- buque. He was the incumbent of that position under the Arthur administration, until July 4. 1888, when President Cleveland gave the office to another. Resuming his interrupted law prac- tice in Elkport. Mr. Garber continued to devote his attention exclusively to his clients' interests for five years.
In 1893 our subject came to Oklahoma. and, after residing in Guthrie, and buying and in- proving real estate there, much of which he still owns, he came to Garfield county, September 16, 1893. Making the race for a claim. lie se- cured one, as did also his son-in-law, Dr. Taft. and two sons and two daughters, the land which they chose being situated in the eastern part of the county. Soon afterwards the town of Gar- ber was founded by him, and a post-
office was secured in the course of time. In connection with general farming, he has been interested in a mercantile business at Garber, being associated in partnership with his two sons, M. C. and B. A. Garber. In 1899, when the railroad was constructed through this sec- tion, it became advisable to make a change in the town site of Garber, and the organization known as the Garber Town Site Company was formed, a new town laid out and improvements made. Our subject lias been deeply interested in the upbuilding of the place, and has been oc- cupied, as formerly, in merchandising and also has practiced his profession to some extent.
In political matters Mr. Garber has always been a true-blue Republican. Two years ago he was prominently mentioned as a candidate for congressman, but has practically retired from the political field. He is United States commis- sioner, and at this writing is taking final proof for claimants of public land. Both he and his son, M. C., are notary publics at present, and their multitudinous interests keep them ex- tremely busy. While in California he joined the Odd Fellows order, and for years he has been identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
December 4, 1856, Mr. Garber married Lucy A. Rife, who was born in Ohio. Their eldest child, Martha A., is the wife of Dr. O. D. Taft of this place; Estelle is the wife of J. E. Corlett, an attorney of Elkader, Iowa; and Mary E. is the wife of Rev. T. A. Edwards. Florence re- sides at home with her parents; Milton C., who was graduated in the law department of the Iowa State University, is an attorney and merchant of this place, and Burton A., also engaged in business here. is a graduate of a commercial col- lege at Fayette, Iowa.
S AMUEL T. CAMPBELL, M. D .. who is known as a leading physician of Crescent City, was born in Benton county. Mo., and is a son of George W. and Susan H. (Fowler) Campbell. His childhood was passed on his father's farm in Missouri, where he was early tauglit the various means of occupation incident to the life of a progressive and industrious agri- culturist.
Front the start he displayed an eager desire to do something worth while in the world, which ambition was fostered by his parents, who gave him every educational advantage in their power. In Warsaw, Benton county, Mo., he studied in the public schools, later attending a business col- lege at Sedalia, Mo. ITe determined to take up the study of medicine, feeling that this particular branch of science would most readily conform to luis aptitude for application. Consequently the
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Oh 529
Kansas City Medical College was chosen as the field for study in this line, from which he gradu- ated in 1898.
Dr. Campbell was married May 31, 1899, in Guthrie, to Miss Stella Rexroad, a daughter of William H. and Lucy I. Rexroad.
Dr. Campbell first took up his residence in Crescent City June 5, 1899, and, owing to his study along medical lines and his success in treating disorders, he has won the appreciation of the community in which he lives. While en- tertaining broad and liberal views regarding the politics of the administration, he leaves the run- ning of the political wheels to others, believing that his profession requires all the time that he can give to it. He usually votes the Republican ticket. Fraternally he is associated with the Modern Woodmen of America, at Crescent City.
O RMAN G. WELLS. While Mr. Wells permanently took up his residence in the territory in 1889, his experience in this section of the country dates back considerably further than that of many, he having first come here in 1860. At the time the general aspect differed greatly, as the Indians were being con- centrated from the various agencies.
Born April 5, 1841, in Goodhue county, Minn .. Mr. Wells is a son of James and Jane (Graham) Wells, the latter of whom is a civilized hali-breed Sioux Indian. James Wells was born in New Jersey, and first came west with the soldiers com- prising the regiment in which he had enlisted. and on duty at Fort Snelling, Minn .. holding the commission of lieutenant. Eventually he resigned his post at the fort and went into In- dian trading on Lake Pippin, and was killed by the Indians near Clear Lake, Iowa, during 1862. He was quite a prominent man during the years of his activity and was a member of the legisla- ture of Minnesota during two terms. Subse- quently he engaged in exploring and accompa- nied several parties into the far west. At the time of his death at the hands of the Sioux In- dians his son. Aaron C .. was captured, but event- naily escaped with the help of an Indian, who had been a friend of the family. James Wells was instrumental in making the Sioux treaty in Minnesota, and took the Indian delegation to Washington to cede their land to the govern- ment. He was married to a half-breed Sioux. who became the mother of ten children: Sarah. the widow of J. E. La Croix; Alfred, who died from the effects of wounds received at the battle of Shiloh, during the Civil war: O. G .. a farmer in Oklahoma: Mark Wells, an interpreter at the Crow Creek Agency, in South Dakota: Eliza- beth, now Mrs. Carrier, of Chicago. III .: Wal- lace, a farmer at the Crow Creek Agency: Lucy,
the wife of Leon Du Lac; Philip, who is at the Pine Ridge Agency in South Dakota, and was the interpreter at the battle of Wounded Knee, S. D., when Sitting Bull was killed; Aaron, who was captured at the time his father was killed, and was chief of police at the Standing Rock Agency when Sitting Bull was killed; and Agnes, now Mrs. Thomas Reedy, of Standing Rock Agency. N. D. Mrs. Wells died at her old home in Minnesota. The home place is still in the possession of the family and is owned by Lucy Du Lac.
O. G. Wells was reared in Rice county, Minn., at the trading post, and his earliest recollections are associated almost entirely with the red men of the reservation. In 1860 he started for the south and joined the troops at Fort Leaven- worth, going with the cavalry as currier. After a short residence in Oklahoma in 1860, he went through with General Warren to Fort Sill, where he left the army and started on a prospecting tour with a party who were headed for Califor- nia. Soon after he joined an English game com- pany and went to South America, from there taking a vessel for San Francisco, and gradually working his way back east to northwestern Texas, arriving there when the war broke out, although at the time he did not know it. He started out again, intending to go to Minnesota, but upon reaching Burlington, Iowa, enlisted in the First Iowa Artillery, and served with the western army for three years, under General Curtis. He participated in the battles of Pea Ridge, Cotton Plantation, West Plains, and up to the siege of Vicksburg. He was seven times wounded, but only once seriously, at which time his skull was broken, to which a scar at the present time bears testimony.
After the war Mr. Wells engaged as an Indian scout, and was assigned first with Custer, but when that unfortunate and gallant general went north. Mr. Wells joined Mckenzie's army against the Cheyennes, Crows and Comanche Indians, through Kansas, Texas, Colorado and New Mexico. He was engaged in the scout- ing business for seven years, and became familiar with all of the southwest territory. During these years of adventures with the Indians he made an expedition to the Arctic region as a member of Comstock's party, and spent six months in the frozen north. During the winter seasons when the Indians were quiet and engaged in keeping themselves warm, he made trips to the Pacific coast at two different times, and brought back with him rare specimens of animal life for taxidermists, and he has in his possession an un- known animal five feet long and twelve wide at the crown, and with a nose resembling that of an alligator.
In 1866 Mr. Wells went again to South Amer-
530
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
ica via Cuba to the Amazon river, and from there to the Pacific, where he joined a sealing party headed north. For several succeeding years he interested himself in piloting cattle men and exploring parties through the Indian Territory and down into Texas, Mexico, and up into Colorado. He had at the time a herd of cattle, and owned Skeleton ranch, situated where North Enid now stands. In April. 1889, he made the run into the territory, and located on his present claim, having the advantage at the time of knowing the country. After a year's residence on the claim, he proved a soldier's right. The land is now well improved, about fifty acres being under cultivation, and devoted to general farming and stock-raising.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.