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 85
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and shortly after, at Murfreesboro, was ex- changed. His regiment was then ordered to Chicago, where it did guard duty until the spring of 1863, when it rejoined the army of the Cumberland, taking part in the battles of La- Vergne, Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge, and Lookout Mountain. In 1864 the regiment ac- companied Sherman on his march through Georgia, being engaged at Dallas, Dalton, Snake Creek Gap, Buzzard's Roost, Ringgold and Resaca.
While charging down a rocky hill at Resaca, March 14, 1864, Mr. Rector had the misfortune to fall, injuring his back so severely as to neces- sitate his removal to the hospital at Nashville. where he remained for several months. As soon as his strength would permit, he was given work . as assistant to the surgeon in charge of the Cumberland hospital, and in that capacity he continued to serve until mustered out in June, 1865. He was at once appointed a clerk in the Nashvile postoffice, and filled that position for ten years. While there he matriculated in the Nashville Medical College, graduating there- from in April, 1874. A year later he settled in Smithville, Ark., where he was in active prac- tice until 1889. Meantime he took a post-grad- uate course in St. Louis. In 1889 he removed to Johnson City, Kans., and while there served as a member of the board of pension examiners, of which he was president for three years.
Believing that the young and growing terri- tory of Oklahoma presented a broader field for the exercise of his talents and energy, in Au- gust. 1889, Dr. Rector came to Hennessey, and to-day enjoys the distinction of being the pio- neer physician of Kingfisher county; while his thorough equipment, obtained through years of patient study and successful experience. have insured for him a professional standing and suc- cess second to that of no other practitioner in the county. Trusted by his patients. he is held in no less high esteem by his professional breth- ren. He is one of the charter members of the Oklahoma Medical Society and the Central Oklahoma Medical Association. His opinion and advice carry great weight. He is medical examiner for eight life insurance companies and is county superintendent of health. As a citizen, he is public-spirited and progressive, and has done nuich for the development and improve- ment of Hennessey, having erected many build- ings for residence and business purposes, among them being his own well-appointed office. So- cial and genial in temperament, he has con- nected himself with several organizations. among them the Masonic fraternity, the Knights of Pythias and the Grand Army of the Republic. He is a charter member of Coronado Lodge No. 9. A. F. & A. M., at Walnut Hill, Ark., in which
S. R. Cotton
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he was made a Mason. He is also connected, as a charter member, with the Grand Army post at Hennessey.
Reference has been made to his marriage, which was solemnized at Avon, Fulton eounty, Ill. His wife was Mary R., daughter of Joel H. Beadles, who was born in Harrodsburg, Ky., and migrated to Illinois in the early days of the state's history.
D. R. COTTON. During the ten years of his . residence in Guthrie, Mr. Cotton has been very active in promoting the growth an 1 prosperity of this thriving city, and with true patriotism has seconded every movement for its permanent improvement. In all his business dealings he has been upright and honorable and richly deserves the high respect which is cordially aceorded him by every one.
He comes from a well-known and sterling old southern family. His grandfather, James Cot- ton, who fought for the rights of the United States in the war of 1812, was born in Tennessee, but early in the history of Indiana he removed to Park county, where he eleared a farm of seventy acres in a heavily timbered section. J. S., father of D. R. Cotton, was a native of the Hoosier state, where he spent his entire life, his age at death being fifty-eight years. He not only was engaged in agriculture, but also was occupied much of the time for years in con- tracting and building, in which line he was suc- cessful. He enjoyed the esteem of all who knew him, and for some fourteen years he acted in the capacity of justice of the peace at Har- veysburg. Politically, he was a Democrat, and fraternally a Mason. His widow, who bore the maiden name of Margaret Watts, was born in Indiana, and now in her declining years makes lier home with our subject. Her father. David Watts, was a native of Miami county, Ohio, and was one of the early settlers of Indiana. He died at the advanced age of eighty-five years. Only three of the nine children of J. S. and Margaret Cotton survive. Michael is a farmer of Indiana, and Joseph F., of Guthrie, is in the employ of our subject.
The latter was born in Harveysburg. Ind .. November 23. 1851, and was reared on a farm. lIc early mastered the carpenter's trade under the instruction of his father, with whom he worked until that parent died, in 1878. Sinee that time he has been in business on his own account, and, like his father before him, he gave a portion of his time to farming, and in connec- tion therewith also took and executed building contracts in the vicinity of his old home. In 1884 he located in Pomona, Kans., where the growing town assured him of plenty of em-
ployment at his ehosen calling, and for six years he managed a farm at the same time in the neigh- borhood.
In the spring of 1890 he eame to Guthrie, where he found a demand for builders, but late that year he went to Texas, and for a year and a half was employed in Fort Worth and other Texas towns. He then returned to Guthrie, which he foresaw was destined to become one of the foremost cities of the great southwest. Establishing a shop at No. 105 North First street, he. soon earned the reputation for skill and reliability which he now possesses, and lias been given numerous large and important eon- tracts. Among the many buildings which he has erected, the Lyon block and the Winfield Smith and Pitts business blocks may be cited. as well as that of the dormitory at Langston Col- lege, and the Congregational dormitory at Kingfisher College. Many beautiful residences in Guthrie and locality stand as evidences of his genius in building comfortable and attractive homes for the people. His own house is pleas- antly situated, being located at No. 116 West Cleveland street.
In his political attitude Mr. Cotton is quite independent, as none of the great parties exactly express his views on the great questions before the people of this country. He is an Odd Fel- low, belonging to the lodge at Guthrie. Reli- giously, he believes in the simple principles of primitive Christianity, as practieed by the disci- ples of the Master, and therefore holds member- ship in the Christian Church.
C LIVER N. RATTS. Certainly many of the fortunate owners of Oklahoma farm land are doubly entitled to it, owing to the long and hard contests and struggles through which they have gone in order to have a clear title to the property. One of the number whose life of late years has thus been hampered is Oliver N. Ratts. now dwelling in peace in Mus- tang township, Oklahoma county. He possesses the respect and good will of the entire commu- nity, and is now rapidly amassing a competence.
A native of Clark county. Ind., Mr. Ratts was born January 16, 1847. His parents were Fran- cis and Malinda (Work) Ratts, natives of North Carolina and Pennsylvania, respectively, and the latter a daughter of Samuel Work, who came of an old family in the Keystone state. The youth- ful days of our subject were quietly passed on his father's farm in the Hoosier state, but soon the storms of war began to gather, and every school- boy eagerly watched the approaching crisis.
In 1862, when but fifteen years of age. Oliver N. Ratts enlisted in the defense of the Union. and for three months served in the ranks of the
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Fifty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He then became a private of the Seventh Indiana Cavalry, and took part in innumerable skir- mishes and battles with the Confederates. Among them were the following-named ones: Forkadeer River, Hollow Spring, West Point, Tupelo, Meridian, Pontiac, Oklona, Egypt Sta- tion, Ripley, Guntown, and Price's Cross Roads. Though he was in the thickest of the fight at many points, he was fortunate in, escaping in- jury, save once, when his horse was shot under him, and, in falling, broke the leg of the rider. The enemy happened to be retreating at that unlucky moment, and thus he was not captured, but fate was to be against him in the end, for after he had recovered and again was waging warfare with the enemy in the Sturgis raid, he fell into the hands of the boys in gray. He was sent on the cars to Andersonville Prison-that most terrible place of the American Civil war. His outer garments were removed and given to his jailers, and, clothed merely in his shirt and underdrawers, he lived, or, rather, existed, for six months and a half -- the term of his imprison- ment. He was in such crowded quarters that he was allowed a space of eighteen inches by six feet only in which to sleep. But words are wholly inadequate to describe the horrors of that "foul prison hell," as it has often been termed by those who experienced its horrors, and they need no Dante to portray to them "In- ferno."
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Needless to say, Mr. Ratts' health was seri- ously undermined by his prison experiences, and when he was at last exchanged he was quite an invalid for months. He remained in Annapo- lis, Md., until he was able to travel, when he returned to his old home, on a thirty days' fur- loughi, and then was sent to Camp Chase, Ohio. When he had recovered sufficiently to warrant lis return to his regiment, he joined it in Memphis, and then went on a campaign into Mississippi. Going back to Memphis, he was sent to Alexandria, La .. and. though the war had, by this time, been brought to a close, trouble was threatening on the borders of Texas. and he was sent into that state, under the lead- ership of General Custer. Twelve companies of the regiment were consolidated into four. on account of the losses sustained. It was ex- pected that Maximilian's forces were planning an attack on the outlying territory of the United States. When it was seen that such was not the case, and peace had virtually come to dwell with our people once more, the regiment was dis- banded, and Mr. Ratts received his discharge September 19, 1865.
The parents of our subject had removed to Mattoon, Ill., in the meantime, and after mak- ing them a long visit, he went to Saline county,
Kans., and pre-empted a farm, which he soon sold. He then became a resident of Cowley county, Kans., and took up a tract of land be- longing to the Osage Indian Trust. He was fairly successful in his enterprises, and yet, be- lieving that he could do better in Chase county, he removed to that section, and, in addition to general farming, handled live stock to some ex- tent. Later he lived in Butler county until April 22, 1889, when he came to Oklahoma, and lo- cated his present homestead in Mustang town- ship. For years he had to fight for his rights in the courts, and at last, after decisions in his favor had been made six times, he was left in quiet possession of the property. The soil is exceedingly fertile, and gratifying results reward the industrious farmer. He raises a general line of crops and also deals in live stock, which he raises and feeds for the markets.
For a wife, Mr. Ratts chose Emma, the daugh- ter of Solomon and Susan (Steiner) Bucher, na- tives of Ohio. They have four children, namely: Nina Pearl, who became the wife of John Tay- lor, of this county; Mollie May. Junias W. and Chester A. While taking a patriotic interest . in the welfare of his community and country. Mr. Ratts does not devote much time to politics, and at the elections uses his ballot for the nomi- nee and measure whom he deems best qualified to meet the needs of the people.
S TERLING PRICE RICHARDSON. This popular and influential citizen of Hennes- sey, who is one of the oldest and most con- servative bankers of the territory, was born near Keytesville, in Chariton county, Mo., April 21, 1861. His paternal grandfather, Elijah, was a Kentuckian, having first seen the light of day on a plantation near Lexington, in that state. He migrated from the Blue Grass state to How- ard county, Mo., and there his son, Daniel, father of Sterling Price Richardson, was born near Boonesboro. Daniel grew to manhood on the paternal farm, and then removed to a farm of his own, in Chariton county, the birthplace of his son, Sterling. He was a man of fine native intelligence, great energy and earnest patriotism, and served in the Union army during the Civil war. In 1883 he removed to Kingman, Kans .. where, in addition to conducting a farm, he en- gaged in business as a banker. In 1889 he went to the Willamette Valley, in Oregon, and in May of the following year settled in Hennessey. Okla. Here, in June, 1891, he founded the Farm- ers and Merchants Bank, which was at first a private institution, but was subsequently incor- porated, he being elected its president. He dis- charged the duties of this position with fidelity and sound judgment until his death, in June,
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1893, at the age of sixty-six years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary A. Cuddy, was of Irish lineage, but was born near Abing- don, W. Va. Her father, James, migrated to the west while she was yet a girl; crossing the Blue Ridge mountains, he made his home for a time in Ohio, and thence removed to Chariton county, Mo., where Daniel Richardson wooed and won his bride. Mr. Richardson was twice married, and had three children by his first union, two of whom are living, one in Kansas and one in Missouri. Sterling was the elder of the two children of the second marriage, his sis- ter, Emma F., being now Mrs. Vance, of Wau- komis, Okla.
Between the years 1883 and 1891, Mr. Rich- ardson's life was full of changes. In 1883 he left the homestead to become a bookkeeper in a bank. After three years in the same bank, he was made assistant cashier of a bank at Greens- burg, Kans. Returning to Kingman, he ac- cepted a similar position in the Kingman Na- tional Bank. In 1888 he became a bookkeeper for the Kingman branch of the Jarvis Conklin Mortgage Trust Company, and in 1880) removed to the Willamette valley, in Oregon, and became a bookkeeper for Ladd & Bush, bankers, of Salem. The next year he joined his father in Hennessey, and aided him in organizing the Farmers and Merchants Bank, becoming cash- ier, which position he continued to fill after the incorporation of the institution. He is the old- est banker in the city. Under his wise and care- ful management, the institution has greatly pros- pered. In December. 1899, he founded the first bank at Okeene, of which he was made presi- dent.
Mr. Richardson is one of Oklahoma's most successful business men. Keen insight, sound business sense and inflexible integrity have made him a recognized power in the commercial life of the territory, while his genial, generous na- ture and frank, unassuming manners have won for him hosts of friends. He is a Mason of high degree, being past senior warden of the Okla- homa grand lodge, having sat in the first session of that body, at Oklahoma City. There he was elected junior deacon, and was afterward ele- vated to the senior wardenship. He is. also a member of the Guthrie Consistory. He is con- nected with the Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America.
While residing in Kingman, Kans .. Mr. Rich- ardson married Miss Augusta Guest, whose birthplace was Northamptonshire, England. Her father, William C. Guest, crossed the ocean and settled in Buffalo, N. Y., where he is now a prosperous manufacturer of flour. There Mrs. Richardson was educated, graduating from the high school of that city. The three children of
Mr. and Mrs. Richardson are Bessie V., Asahel D. and Maurice V. The family attend the Chris- tian Church, of which Mr. Richardson is a lib- eral supporter and consistent member, and in which he has served as trustee and as chairman of the building committee. He is a Democrat in political creed. While averse to office, he has sat in the city council and served as city clerk, with great acceptability to his constituents and the community at large.
J. H. RIGGS. Though in no wise a politician or office-seeker, J. H. Riggs was elected by his Republican friends to the responsible position of county commissioner of Garfield county, and has closed his two years' term. As was confidently expected of him, he has fear- lessly championed many needed improvements, and has ever acted in the best interests of the people, who duly appreciate his labors on their behalf.
It is believed that the Riggs family is of Eng- lish descent. His paternal grandfather was a native of Kentucky, and removed from that state to Indiana at a very early period in its history. Our subject's father, James J. Riggs, was born in Lawrence county, Ind., in 1818, and in 1858 he settled in Harrison county, Mo., where a few years later he served in the state guards. There he became the owner of three hundred and fifty acres of choice farm lands, and devoted con- siderable attention to the raising of live stock. He departed this life when in his fifty-ninth year, mourned by a large circle of friends and associates. His widow, whose name in girlhood was Priscilla Inman. was a native of Indiana. and her death occurred in 1803, when she was seventy years of age. Four of their ten children survive.
J. H. Riggs was born on his father's farm in Lawrence county, Ind .. in 1853, and grew to maturity in Harrison county, Mo. He was mar- ried at twenty-two years of age, and rented farms in different parts of the county until he went to Saunders county. Neb., where he purchased land and dwelt for about a year.
On the 14th of September, 1803, business found Mr. Riggs in Hennessey. He had no inten- tion of entering the race for a home, but finally vielded to the prevailing fever, and on Saturday, the 16th, came from the southern line into Gar- field county and secured a claim in Skeleton township. Caring little for it, as his business in- terests were then elsewhere, he gave up the property and returned to his Missouri home. In the following spring he rented the eighty-acre farm which he owned in Missouri, and, coming back to this county, bought the southeastern
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quarter of section 2, township 21, range 6- hiis present home place. After he had made preparations for their comfort, he had his fam- ily join him in the autumn. At first they lived in a small house, 12x12 feet, but the fall of 1894 saw them installed in a convenient house. The same fall he planted his first crop, and soon had placed eighty acres under the plow. He set out about four hundred peach trees, a fine vari- ety of apple and other fruit trees, making wells and other needed improvements. He has been successful as a raiser of wheat and cereals, and also has dealt in cattle and live stock.
A quarter of a century ago Mr. Riggs mar- ried Miss F. E. Roush, a native of Indiana. They are the parents of five children, namely: Minnie, wife of G. N. Tiggart: Nola D., wife of John Morris; Clara B., Priscilla E. and Charles E.
Mr. Riggs is a charter member of Lodge No. 19. A. H. T. A., and was a member of the first school board of his district, also acting as its secretary for four years. The first Sunday- school organized in this locality was founded at his house in the spring of 1895, ever since which time he has officiated as superintendent. His wife and daughter teach classes and greatly aid in the work, and in the Baptist Church, to which they belong, he has been a deacon for several years. He also is president of the Township Sunday-School Union, which comprises Hack- berry, Osborne, Flynn and Skeleton townships. They are deeply interested in the work of up- lifting humanity, and contribute liberally of their material means and of their time and earnest labors.
C HARLES W. ROBERTSON. This enter- prising young agriculturist of Springer township, Oklahoma county, is the eldest child of John L. Robertson, one of the first (and present) commissioners of this county. (See hiis sketeli, which appears elsewhere in this work.) Charles W. Robertson possesses many of the sterling characteristics of his honored father, and has equally at heart the welfare of the people, though he has kept to the quiet. re- tired walks of life.
Now in the prime of early manhood, Mr. Rob- ertson was born in Johnson county. Mo .. No- vember 30. 1867. His paternal grandfather, Wil- liam J. Robertson, a native of Scotland, was one of the first white settlers in Greene county, Mo., as he located on that frontier in 1838. and since that time his posterity has been associated with the development of the west. The original tract of five hundred and twenty acres which he received from the government has never left the hands of the family, and, in fact, bis widow.
though in advanced years, controls the property, and still dwells on the historic old place.
When he was in his fourteenth year, Charles William Robertson removed to Montgomery county, Kans., where he grew to maturity in the parental home. Following his father's for- tunes, he came into Oklahoma in its pioneer days and assisted materially in the development of two farms. In 1892 he made the race into the Cheyenne and Arapahoe country (now Cus- ter county) on the 19th of April, when the land was thrown open to settlers, but was unsuccess - ful in his efforts to secure a good tract of land. Then when the Cherokee strip (Pawnee county) was opened, September 16, 1893, he again made the race, and later bought and sold some prop- erty in that locality. In 1892 he purchased one hundred and thirty-nine acres in the "Seven C. Flat," on the northeastern quarter of section 35, Springer township, on the North Canadian river. Ninety acres have been placed under the plow, and abundant harvests of wheat are grown here, fully twenty-five bushels to the acre. The proprietor keeps a good grade of horses and cattle, and makes a specialty of raising Poland- China hogs. He has made good improvements. and the well-kept orchard yields large harvests of fruit of the standard varieties. A fine well of pure water and a comfortable house add to the desirability of the farm. and everything about the place is kept up in a thrifty manner.
111 1899 Mr. Robertson married Maud Mc- Ewen, daughter of Emmet C. McEwen, one of the early settlers in the "Seven C. Flat." This worthy couple are interested in all local prog- ress, and are favorites in the best society of the neighborhood. Mr. Robertson has contributed towards the upbuilding of the schools, and has taken special interest in the subscription school just west of Edmond. Like his father, he is a Democrat, strong in the faith of his party. Fra- ternally, he is connected with Edmond Lodge No. J. A. F. & A. M .: Cyrus Chapter No. 7. R. A. M .: and Oklahoma Commandery No. 2. K. T., of Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Consistory. of Guthrie: and in the Knights of Pythias was identified with the Edmond Lodge No. 4. now' defunct.
J AMES H. THURMAN. M. D. This rising young physician and surgeon, of the new town of Munger, is rapidly growing into the favor of the public. and, because of his long and thorough preparation for his chosen life's work. he is richly deserving of success. He has always been a great student and a searcher in the realm of science, with the result that he is unusually well posted in medicine and all of its related branches.
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JOHN B. LINDEN, Enid.
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A native of McMahon county, Tenn., Dr. Thurman was born during the Civil war, in 1863. When he had reached his thirteenth year he ac- companied his parents, John and Sarah (Ramey) Thurman, to Oregon, where they were interested in the cultivation of a fine farm for four years. In 1879 he entered the schools of Whitewright, Tex., and later he pursued his studies in the American Health College, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Having determined to devote himself to the heal- ing art, he then went to St. Louis, Mo., where he pursued a thorough course in the Medical Col- lege, and was graduated with the degree of Doc- tor of Medicine in 1892.
Coming direct to Oklahoma, Dr. Thurman commenced his professional career as a country physician, his home being in Crutcho township, Oklahoma county. When he had obtained a foothold in the regard of the people, he was called far and near, and in the pursuance of his duties suffered the many hardships and the ex- posure to inclement weather which the pioneer circuit rider has to endure. At length, wishing to further fit himself in special branches, he went to St. Louis, where he spent three years in the College of Physicians & Surgeons. Being grad- uated in the post-graduate class in that institu- tion in the spring of 1900, he returned to his old home. Removing his household effects from the homestead in Crutcho township to Munger, the new town situated on the 'Frisco Railroad, he now is engaged in general practice here, with special reference to difficult surgical cases. In partnership with another citizen, he owns a well- equipped drug-store here. the firm name being Thurman & Field.
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