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. 2 > Part 10
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 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99
By his ballot Mr. Williams supports the men and measures of the Republican party, and has filled the office of school director since coming to Norman. He is a trustee and prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of this place, and, having been initiated into the mysteries of the Masonic order at Gordonsville, Ky, he now holds membership in Lodge No. 5, A. F. & A. M .; and Chapter No. 24, R. A. M. He also belongs to Albert Carter Post No. 5, .G. A. R., of Norman, of which he is past com- mander, and past junior vice-commander of the Department of Oklahoma. He is as true to his duties of citizenship in days of peace as avhen he followed the old flag to victory on southern battle-fields.
H ON. R. B. SHANNON. Few men in this western country have lived a life of such varied usefulness as has Mr. Shannon. From the beginning of his residence in Okla- homa, in 1800, he has made his impression upon the agricultural, spiritual and political growth of the community in which he has lived. Born in Dade county, Mo., March 18, 1859, he is a son of Joseph and Martha (Shunk) Shannon, the for- mer of whom came to the United States with his parents when but a small boy, settling first in C'anada, but later going to Pittsburg, Pa., where the parents died.
682
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
When the Civil war began, Joseph Shannon, then a resident of Dade county, Mo., enlisted in Company G, Fourteenth Missouri Cavalry, and was killed by bushwhackers in Missouri near the town of Limestone. He was a mechanic by trade, and for several years worked in the rail- road roundhouse shops at Pittsburg, Pa., but after removing to Missouri became extensively engaged in farming and stock-raising. His wife was born in Pennsylvania, of German descent, her paternal grandfather having come with two brothers from Germany and settled in Pennsyl- vania before the Revolutionary war. Her father was an own cousin of ex-Governor Shunk, who occupied the gubernatorial chair of Pennsylva- nia about 1840. Joseph Shannon and his wife were the parents of three children, namely: Anna, who died in infancy; Andrew C., a resident of Washington, D. C .; and R. B., the subject of this article.
After the death of Joseph Shannon his widow took the family to Brownsville, Pa., but a year later settled in Ohio, where they spent two years. Another change was made in 1867, when they went to Bath, Ill. Remaining there one year, they then returned to Brownsville, where they spent a year. The following three years were spent in Uniontown, Pa. There Mr. Shannon studied in the soldiers' orphan school, and later he was a student in the Southwest Normal School of California, Pa. Thus equipped, and with nat- urally keen powers of observation, and a fond- ness for reading and other means of acquiring added information, he was well fitted for the numerous responsibilities which later fell to his lot. In 1878 he went to DeKalb county, Mo., and soon afterward bought a farm, upon which he lived until 1890, meantime devoting his ener- gies to farming and stock-raising.
Not content with the prospects of a perma- nent residence in Missouri. Mr. Shannon saw in the newly opened territory of Oklahoma far greater opportunities for usefulness and all- around enterprise, and, with the view of better- ing his condition, purchased the farm upon which he has since expended so much thought and care. It is located on the southwest quar- ter of section 23, township 15, range 7, King- fisher county. In January, 1891, he began to make improvements, and to place one hundred and ten acres under cultivation. The farm is now one of the finest in the township, with the most modern and improved appliances, on which he has a fine orchard, with apple, peach, apricot, cherry and pear trees. In addition there is a vineyard. In 1800 Mr. Shannon increased his possessions by the purchase of one hundred and sixty-four acres of land in Rock Island town- ship, which is largely devoted to the raising of steck, his specialty being heavy draft horses.
The home farm is given over to general farming and wheat-raising.
Mr. Shannon's field of usefulness was per- ceptibly broadened when, in 1893, he began to study for the ministry of the Advent Christian Church. He was licensed by the Missouri con- ference during that year, and in 1894 was or- dained at Paradise, Payne county. His present charge is the Clear Creek Church, Kingfisher county, and a church at Springdale, Garfield county. The Clear Creek Church has a mem- bership of sixty-five members, and the Spring- dale Church has forty-five members. Thirty of the members of the Clear Creek Church have been added since Mr. Shannon assumed the pastorate. In fact, he was one of the organizers of the con- gregation in 1894, for at that time there were but twelve members. Upon starting out in the work he held meetings in different schoolhouses, with the result that sixty-three identified them- selves with the church. He has been instru- mental in organizing other congregations, nota- bly the Dunlap Church, north of Kingfisher, which entered upon a flourishing career in 1895. In 1898, during a pastoral evangelizing tour, he organized the Antioch Church, in the Creek Na- tion, with a membership of twelve, which has since been increased to forty-five. He has ac- complished great and lasting good through his ministrations, and by his influence many have been led from wild and riotous living to good- ness and charity. During his years of service in the church he has married eighteen couples, bap- tized one hundred and forty-seven persons, and admitted probably twice that number to the church. In September, 1900, he was elected president of the Advent Christian Conference of Oklahoma and Indian Territory, and was at the same time elected territorial evangelist for the same region. He is a delegate-at-large to the General Western Conference, to be held in Mendota, Ill., in August, 1901.
In 1880 Mr. Shannon married Ida E. Healey. who was born near Plainfield. Mass .. in 1850. Of this union there are two children. Archie C .. born December 16, 1882; and Maude E., August 2, 1884. Mrs. Shannon is a daughter of Jona- than E. Healey. a direct descendant of Jonathan Edwards, the first president of Yale College. The Healey family were among the prominent liter- ary fraternity of the early New York state days. Mrs. Shannon's mother was formerly Susan E. Hastings, and was a cousin of H. L. Hastings, of Boston, a literary man and author.
With the political undertakings of his county Mr. Shannon has been identified as an advocate of the People's party. He has been greatly in- terested in education and has served on the school board. In November, 1806, he was elected to the fourth general assembly on the
£
------
B. W. MURPHY, Logan County.
£
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Oh 685
fusion ticket for the term of 1897-98, and he has been active in legislative work. In 1897 he was one of the committee jointly from Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas appointed to visit Galveston and secure better transportation over all railroads in the southwest.
B. W. MURPHY. One might travel over many states in the Union and meet with few farms as complete in detail, equip- ment, and as scientifically managed as is the claim of B. W. Murphy, of Logan county. Situated on township 19, section 12, range 4 west, it is the pride of its owner and his industrious wife, and of the community in which it is located.
Born in County Cork, Ireland, B. W. Murphy is the son and John and Johanna Murphy, who came from Ireland in 1880, and settled in Ma- coupin county, Ill. There Mr. Murphy contin- ued in the line of work which had engaged his attention in the old country, namely, that of farming. For five years he also engaged in rail- road construction in Illinois and Nebraska. He then turned his attention to farming in Mont- gomery county, Ill., for five years, having at his command a rented farm of five hundred and twenty acres. The land required a great deal of ditching, and he knew of instances where the land had more than doubled in value through the introduction of these same ditches.
Mr. Murphy came to Oklahoma in 1890, and brought with him two carloads of the most im; proved machinery with which to improve his claim. He had previously been here to look over the country and filed a claim. To his orig- inal claim of one hundred and sixty acres he has since added five and one-half other quarter- sections in the township, making, in all, one thousand and forty acres of choice land. Mr. Murphy rents out considerable of his property, and the home land is by far the best improved. On it there is a barn, 54x52 feet in dimensions : a cow stable, 14x20 feet; a fine granary, 14x46 feet; machine building, 32x20; a hog shed, wind- mill, and by far the finest farmhouse in Logan county. This house was constructed in 1899, and has all modern conveniences, including hot and cold water. The farm is given over to the culti- vation of wheat and the raising of hogs and cat- tle. The wheat crop has varied considerably. Five hundred and thirty acres were sown in wheat in 1895, but the crop was a failure and the wheat was never cut. However, two years later. he was fortunate, as he threshed ten thousand bushels. In 1898, ten thousand five hundred bushels were threshed; in 1809. twelve thousand bushels; in 1900 the crop was light, owing to damage by hail.
In 1888 Mr. Murphy married Catherine
Creigh, of Chicago. To this union were born three children, one of whom, John Francis, died at the age of five years, nine months and twelve days. The others are: Gabriella, five, and Bar- tholomew F., three years of age.
Politically, Mr. Murphy is a Democrat. With his family, he is connected with the Roman Catholic Church. Fraternally, he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America at Mar- shall. He holds a policy in the Mutual Life In- surance Company of New York. In his youth he had excellent educational advantages, which he has supplemented by constant reading along many broadening lines. His children will be given every possible advantage, as he believes in education and intellectual development. He interests himself in all that pertains to the wel- fare of the community, and is held in high es- teem for his many excellent traits of mind and character.
As a railroad constructor, Mr. Murphy has no peer in Oklahoma. His services as such are in demand during the winter time, when his farm duties permit of a little leisure. He is especially appreciated by the Santa Fe Company, who call upon him in an emergency when there is a par- ticularly difficult piece of grading to be con- structed. In a prominent way he has been iden- tified with the construction of the Oklahoma & Eastern Railroad through the territory, and did considerable construction work on the same near Ripley. In Nebraska he was connected with the famous railroad contractor, John Fitz- gerald, on the Burlington & Missouri Railroad. In Illinois he was employed on the Litchfield & Springfield Railroad, where he earned a reputa- tion for business ability and efficiency. He was also a contractor on the large ditch in Christian county, Ill., an exceedingly difficult piece of work. On one quarter-section alone the taxe- were $1,400. All of this work fitted Mr. Murphy for the occupation of an agriculturist on a large scale. His success in Logan county has stimu- lated others to activity along similar lines. In addition to bis railroad and farm interests. he has an interest in four mines at Electric Springs. Ark., all of which promise excellent returns for the near future, as they are situated in the heart of the rich zinc and lead mines.
J OHN DeLOUIS BEEMAN, proprietor and publisher of the McLoud Sunbeam, at Mc- Loud, was born in Kendall county, Ill., May 12, 1860, and is a son of John A. and Amanda S. (Platt) Beeman. The youth of Mr. Beeman was an industrious one and filled with the enterpris- ing ambitions which have since been wisel turned into journalistic channels. In the York ville public schools he received a good educa-
.
686
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
tion, which has since been supplemented by re- search along many lines and keen observation of men and events.
As a preliminary to independence he learned the painting and paper-hanging business, and when quite young evinced deep interest in poli- tics and the general happenings of the day. In 1880 he removed with his parents to Osborne county, Kans., where the family lived on a farm for a couple of years, after which he went to Covert and established the Farmers' Aid, a weekly publication devoted to the agricultural interests of the community. The enthusiasm of the editor of this periodical was somewhat damp- ened at the end of two years, owing to repeated crop failures, and, in the hope of benefiting his prospects, he removed to Oklahoma City. After . a few months he went with his brother to Choc- taw, and established the Choctaw News, which was later sold, and he came to McLoud and started the Sunbeam.
Conditions here were from the first favorable to the project of Mr. Beeman, the more so be- cause at the time there was no other paper be- ing printed, and also because the town was the center of a thriving agricultural region. He seems to have grasped the requirements of his readers and to be able to supply them with the kind of information they are looking for. His bright paper has a growing circulation and a large advertising department.
In Osborne, Kans., January 13, 1884, occurred the marriage of Mr. Beeman and Eva L. Savage, of Osborne, and a native of Forest City, Mo. Mrs. Beeman is also gifted with journalistic tal- ent, and is happily associated with her husband in his work, ably filling the position of local edi- tor of the paper. To Mr. and Mrs. Beeman have been born four children. Bert, Lee. Grace and Earl. The first three were born in Kansas and the last in Oklahoma.
Mr. Beeman is devoted to the Republican party, and has filled several offices within the gift of the people, including that of city clerk for one and a half terms, and clerk of the school board for two and a half terms. He is fraternally associated with the Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica, and in McLoud Lodge No. 7829 has served as clerk. He is also a member of the Home Forum and the Modern Tonti.
J. H. PATTERSON. Endowed with the traits of character which go to make the founda- tion of business enterprises and build up localities of exceeding possibility, Mr. Patterson represents the type of self-made men who are creditable acquisitions to the localities in which they elect to reside. It may be truthfully said that from the acquisition of an education to the
later successes in a business way, he has been practically unaided, and has built upon what would have meant discouragement to many less stout of heart. As a general merchant in Keo- kuk Falls, he has received the appreciation and patronage due his painstaking, conscientious methods of conducting business, and has thus been enabled to amass considerable worldly goods, including the store and residence prop- erty. He also has a lease of land in the Seminole Nation, where he conducts large general farming and stock-raising enterprises.
Upon the farm which had witnessed the untir- ing efforts of his father, J. H. Patterson was born in Cass county, Tex., April 14, 1862, and is a son of J. F. and Sallie (Stewart) Patterson. His father was a courageous soldier in the Civil war, and was killed in Georgia the same year that his son was born. The youth grew to the age of twelve in his native county, and received the education afforded at the public schools and such information as he could derive from the perusal of books between the arduous duties of the farm. At the age of twelve he began to work out on the surrounding farms, and when sixteen began with his mother to raise horses and cattle. In the meantime his desire for education amounted to a passion, and all of his earnings up to his twenty-first year were devoted to the furthering of this desire.
At the age of twenty-two years Mr. Patterson was united in marriage with Mary Barnwell, of Bosque county, Tex., and a native of Georgia. After his marriage he engaged in farming on the Brazos river, in Texas, and after two years took a contract for logging lumber in Cass and Bowie counties. This proved to be a very wise and profitable decision, for in sixty days he cleared $1,600, and during the year and a half in which he was engaged in the same occupation cleared about $5,000. A subsequent venture was con- ducted in Bright Star, Ark., where his general merchandise business for a time met with grat- ifying success, but unfortunately terminated with considerable loss through a disastrous fire. The only relieving feature of the disaster was the collectable insurance of $1,600. He was soon after appointed deputy county and circuit clerk. and served until the defeat of the county clerk.
Somewhat disillusionized with the prospects of a continued life in Arkansas, Mr. Patterson decided to avail himself of the new and untried conditions existing in the newly-opened terri- tory, and opened the general merchandise busi- ness at Keokuk Falls, in which he has since been successfully engaged. He has become a neces- sary feature of the town, and, while catering to the demands of a constantly increasing popula- tion, takes an active interest in the general wel- fare of the town. Though a firm believer in the
687
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
doctrines of the Democratic party, he has never entertained political aspirations, being content to devote his entire time to the management of his business. To Mr. and Mrs. Patterson have been born three children, Roger M., Mamie and Henry B. The first two were born in Texas and the last named in Arkansas.
E DWARD C. NICHOLS. On New Year's Day, 1901, Edward C. Nichols, senior part- ner of the firm of Nichols & Larsh, hard- ware merchants, celebrated the ninth anniver- sary of his residence in Tecumseh, during which period he has been numbered among its most enterprising citizens. Though he has been asso- ciated with many local industries and movements which have materially benefited the place, per- haps the most notable service he has performed was that of assisting in building the railroad. As is known far and wide, he did not rest until this great work was accomplished, and in company with Messrs. Lewis, Rains, Phaup and Clay, or- ganized a company and built the five and a half miles required between Tecumseh and the junc- tion, and, moreover, equipped the little line. As he was almost three-score years old at the time of undertaking this great enterprise, the more credit certainly is due him, for few men of that age em- bark in works of magnitude and importance.
The birth of E. C. Nichols occurred in Essex county, N. Y., September 3, 1839, his parents being Rowland and Betsey (Durand) Nichols, agriculturists. The boyhood days of our subject were passed on the farm and his education was completed in the Keeseville Academy. Later he taught school for six months, and in the spring of 1860 went to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama. He had previously mastered the mar- ble cutter's trade, and, after mining in Trinity county, Cal., for about five years, went to Sacra- mento, where he worked at his calling, and for nearly three years was foreman for John L. Grant. Later he conducted the Van Trees House at Rockland for two years, and for a short time was the proprietor of a railroad hotel at Sacra- mento. His next home was in Chico, where, in partnership with a citizen, he embarked in the marble business, and was thus engaged for several years, meeting with success in the venture. In 1888 he went to Texas and bought twelve hundred and sixty acres of land in Cook county, on which property he went into the live stock business. When he found a favorable op- portunity to dispose of his stock he did so and became a hardware merchant of Gainesville, Tex.
As previously stated, Mr. Nichols came to Te- cumseh at the beginning of 1892, but it was not until the following fall that he removed his fam- ily to this place. At first he was a member of the
firm of Nichols & George, and soon built up a large hardware trade, also dealing, as at present. in farm implements, wagons and carriages, wind- mills, pumps, etc. In the great fire of May, 1900, the firm lost almost all of their stock, but re- ceived all of the insurance claimed. A substan- tial two-story brick building, 25x140 feet in di- mensions, is now being erected for the firm, the entire space to be occupied by the different de- partments of the extensive business.
In 1869 Mr. Nichols and Miss Amelia Lang- enbeck were married in Santa Cruz, Cal. She is a native of Boston, and was a pioneer on the Pacific coast. Four children were born to this estimable couple, namely: Edward, who is a successful hardware merchant at Stroud, Lincoln county, Okla., and owns and occupies a large store building; Emily, who married E. B. Mundy, ex-county attorney and a lawyer of Te- cumseh; Herbert, a member of the class of 1901, Spaulding College, of Kansas; and Edna, who is at home.
Politically Mr. Nichols is a Republican, but not an aspirant to public office. On one occa- sion, when elected treasurer of a township, he refused to qualify or serve. While in Chico, Cal., he was initiated and since has taken thirty-two · degrees in Masonry. He belonged to Chico Lodge No. 11, F. & A. M .; Chico Chapter No. 42, R. A. M .; Chico Commandery No. 12, K. T., and occupied many offices in these organ- izations. His thirty-second degree was taken at Charleston, S. C., and he now belongs to the Tecumseh lodge. While in Santa Cruz he filled all the chairs in the Odd Fellows' lodge. In the financial sense of the word, Mr. Nichols is self- made, for he arrived in California with only twenty-five cents, and has reached a position of affluence by indefatigable efforts. His residence is upon the quarter section of well cultivated land which he owns, adjoining the corporation limits of Tecumseh. A fine fish-pond and many other unusual features add to the value and desirability of the place.
JOHN GORDON BROWN has been identi- fied with the interests of Crescent City and vicinity since 1801. He was born in East Tennessee, and is a son of Jesse C. and Nancy (Parker) Brown, who were also natives of East Tennessee. When a child he accompanied his parents to Hickory county, Mo., where they set- tled on a farm and became successful agricul- turists. The father was a blacksmith by trade. at which he worked during the winter and de- voted his summers to the management and car of the farm. They were prosperous, industrious people, who were highly thought of by their neighbors and associates.
1
688
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
In 1852 the family went to California and re- mained there for a year, but not realizing their expectations they returned to Hickory county, remaining there until the breaking out of the Civil war. Mr. Brown's experiences during the war would have been disappointing to a man in search of adventure, for he was not in a single battle, nor was he wounded, captured or laid up in the hospital. He enlisted in Robinson's bat- talion, under Captain Williams, and served for ninety days. At the expiration of his term of service he returned to his home in Hickory county, Mo., later remained in Illinois for one year, then back to Missouri for a year, next to Arkansas, thence going to Adrian county, Mo., where he remained for seven years, until 1891.
In 1891 Mr. Brown came to Oklahoma and located on the northeast quarter of section 7, township 17, range 3 west, Logan county. At first his conditions were of the crudest order, and his land in a particularly wild and discour- aging state. He lived for a time in a dugout, but in 1892 built a comfortable and commodious house. He has one hundred and fifty peach trees and as many apple trees; his claim is fenced in, has running water and a living spring. One hundred acres are plowed and cultivated and sixty acres are used for pasture.
Mr. Brown was joined in marriage in 1861 to Eliza Creed, a daughter of Austin and Rebecca Creed, of Hickory county, Mo. Her father is dead and her mother is living in Sumner county, Kans. There have been five children born to this couple: William, who is an enterprising storekeeper in Crescent City, Okla .; Robert, a farmer in Kay county, Okla .; Jessie, who is the wife of Jesse Austin, a farmer living in Kay county; Joel C., who is living at home and is a school teacher; and Napoleon, who married Liz- zie Kiel and resides at home. In politics Mr. Brown is a Democrat at all times and under all conditions and circumstances.
L UCIEN E. RISK. Of the many promising journalists who have found a field for their abilities in the newly opened territory, none is more worthy of mention than Mr. Risk, who, beginning at the bottom round of his profession. has already given many evidences of the wisdom of his selection and of his peculiar aptitude for the work at hand. As editor and publisher of the McLoud Herald he has evinced a breadth of mind and capability for filling the requirements of an up-to-date paper which is a source of grat- ification to the members of the community in which he lives.
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.