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 16
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In 1860 Mr. Corn married Lizzie Warren, of Macon county, Ill. She was a daughter of Michael and Elmira (Wood) Warren, the former a native of Glasgow. Scotland, and the latter of Franklin county, Mass. The father was brought to America when he was three years old, and the family settled in the Bay state. Mrs. Corn, who was born in Ashfield, Mass., accompanied her parents to Geneseo county, N. Y., when she was in her seventh year, and later her father, who had been a carriage manufacturer, bought a farm near Rushford, N. Y., and there passed his last years. In 1859 Mrs. Corn went to Illi- nois, where she formed the acquaintance of her future husband. Myra, the first child of this sterling couple, was born in Macon county, and is now the wife of Henry Johnson, of South Bend. Wash .: they have two children. Bertha and Nina. Charles M., the only son of our subject, resides at Neosho Falls, Kans .; he mar- ried Belle Neighberger, and has two sons. Luther and Leo, Lettie A., youngest child of
our subject, was born in Jefferson county, Kans . and at present resides on a farm two and a half miles southwest of Seward. To herself and hus- band, Thomas Hopewell, one daughter, Vesta, was born, in Seward township.
M ARTIN L. EBERHART, agriculturist, carpenter, and an all-around enterprising man, is living on the northeast quarter of section 3, township 17, range I, Logan county. He was born in Spring Hill, Fayette county. Pa., March 21, 1837, and is a son of Frederick and Sarah (Monroe) Eberhart. His paternal great-grandfather, who was a glass blower, came from Germany during the last half of the eight- eenth century, and, upon settling in Pennsyl- vania in 1785, established the first glass factory west of the mountains. The paternal grand- father, Martin Eberhart, for whom our subject was named, was born in Pennsylvania, and be- came an adept in the boot and shoe making business. His son, Frederick Eberhart, was a carpenter by trade, and as such became well known. He died at the age of forty-five years, in Fayette county.
When a boy, Martin L. Eberhart was nat- urally trained to adapt himself to his surround- ings, and, as naturally, learned the carpenter's trade. He handled tools when they seemed cumbersome to his little hands, and when he had to stand on a platform to reach the bench. Eventually he became an expert, and practiced at his trade for many years in his native county.
With the call to arms in 1861, he enlisted in Company G, Eighty-fifth Pennsylvania Volun- teer Infantry, and participated in the battles of Williamsburg, Seven Pines and Fair Oaks, be- sides many minor skirmishes. He was seven days in front of Richmond in the retreat to Har- rison's Landing; at Newbern, N. C., to Golds- boro, where they tore up the railroad tracks and destroyed the bridge; next was sent to Charles- ton, S. C .; then ordered on board a war vessel, the Island City, where he worked several months in the capacity of carpenter. He also served for a time as a conveyor of important dispatches. After the return to his regiment. he went to Fortress Monroe, Va., and from there marched under General Grant to Petersburg. where he was honorably discharged from duty. His war experience was remarkable for the vari- ety of his duties during the campaign, as well as for the fact that during his entire service he was neither wounded nor captured.
December, 1864. found him again in his native town, working at his trade, which he continued after removing. in 1880, to Pratt county, Kans. He was foremost in the throng at the time of the memorable rush to Oklahoma, April 22,
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LA FAYETTE NORRIS, Garfield County.
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1889), but did not succeed in pre-empting a claim. In November of the same year he bought out another party who was anxious to sell. His land was in a particularly discouraging state, a large part of it being composed of river bottom, and the rest covered with brush and timber. That the arduous effort required to reduce it to a state of order and utility was not unavailing is demonstrated by the fact that at the present time he has one of the best farms in the locality, with good barns, a commodious house, and am- ple outbuildings. His orchard contains five acres and the output includes many varieties of fruits.
Mr. Eberhart is a believer in Republican prin- ciples, but has no political aspirations. He was a member of Craft Lodge No. 339, A. F. & A. M., at Greensboro, Greene county, Pa., until it dis- banded.
May 1, 1866, Mr. Eberhart married Caroline Black, of Fayette county, Pa., a native of Greene county, that state. Mrs. Eberhart died October . 19, 1897. Of this union there are three children: Alice, Mrs. P. O. Robinson, who has three chil- dren and lives near Alva, Woods county, Okla .; William, a painter by trade; and Phalarrus, who is married and lives on and works the home farm.
L A FAYETTE NORRIS, one of the most prominent farmers of Garfield county, is a gentleman of educational attainments. He has contributed many articles to different publications, showing deep thought, a versatile mind and literary ability. In addition to this, he is an ordained minister, and has been an en- thusiastic Christian worker for years. He owns an improved farm on the southwest quarter of section 31, Hobart township, where he has been successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits and stock-raising since 1894.
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Mr. Norris was born in Erie county, N. Y., April 12, 1834. The family is of English extraction, two brothers coming to this coun- try, one locating in New Hampshire, and the other going south. Benjamin Norris, the grandfather of our subject, was probably born in New Hampshire, and at an early age moved to Vermont, where he followed farm- ing. He was a member of the old Whig party. John Norris, the father of our subject, was born in Vermont, and migrated from the Green Mountain state to Erie county, N. Y., about 1814, when a comparatively young man. In 1838 he moved to Marshall county, Ind., where he cleared a farm from the timber- land, meantime experiencing all the hardships of pioneer life. In that county he died at the age of sixty-three years. He was a farmer and a hard working man all his life. During the war
of 1812 he served with a Vermont regiment, and accompanied the army to Canada. In poli- tics he was a Whig. He married Lydia George, who was born in New Hampshire and died in Indiana, aged fifty-six years. She had a brother, Dr. Asa George, who was a prominent physician near Burlington, Vt. Her mother was a Miss Wortley, descended from the nobility of Eng- land. Fifteen children were born to her, five of whom died in childhood. The ten who at- tained maturity were named as follows: William G., who died in Chicago, Ill., aged eighty-three years; James, Jane, Lorrain, Ransom H., and Melinda, all of whom are deceased; Asa W., a farmer and stockman of Mitchell county, Kans .; Alma L. and Henry Harrison, both deceased; and La Fayette, our subject.
La Fayette Norris was an infant when his parents located in Marshall county, Ind., and there he grew to manhood on the frontier. He attended the common schools and South Bend high school, and also studied in Cass county, Mich. He then taught school for one term in Marshall county, Ind., for a time in Michigan, and in 1856 went to Black Hawk county, Iowa, where he taught one term. He also followed his trade as a carpenter and joiner and owned a small farm in Delaware county, Iowa, where he remained some eleven years, teaching school and farming. In the spring of 1874, going to Buchanan county, Iowa, he purchased a farm of three hundred and twenty .acres, and for twenty years lived there, engaging in stock- raising, and later in dairying. In 1894 he sold out and came to Oklahoma, buying his present farm of the gentleman who first filed a claim, it being practically all prairie. During the fall of the same year he began to build his present house, and has since added to it, now having one of the finest and best-improved pieces of property in the county. He put one hundred and ten acres under the plow, set out a small vineyard and a good orchard of five hundred trees, consisting of apples, peaches, apricots, cherries, plums and almonds. Besides his home farm, he has a quarter-section of school land, on which he raises wheat and corn. He keeps about forty head of graded cattle, also hogs and horses, and has recently embarked exten- sively in the raising of the O. I. C. breed of hogs. He was one of the first to purchase lots in La- homa, where he erected a business house. A stanch Republican, he takes some interest in political matters. The nomination for the legis- lature was offered him in 1898. but he declined. He has served on the school board since com- ing to Oklahoma. The cause of temperance, of which he is an carnest advocate, has received his encouragement and aid. He contributes ar- ticles for publication, being a corresponding
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editor of the Herald of Life, published in Spring- field, Mass. He also edited and printed several articles, including two booklets: "Shall Mortal Man Be More Just Than God?" which was pub- lished in Massachusetts; and "What Is Death?" which was published in Enid.
In 1856 Mr. Norris was united in marriage with Harriet E. King. They became the par- ents of eleven children, five of whom died in childhood, the others being as follows: Florence A., wife of B. H. Bunn, a prominent politician of Rush county, Kans .; Ida L., wife of Charles Dicks; Eunice J., wife of A. H. Pearson, of Pasa- dena, Cal .; George S., of Garfield county; Asa W., a farmer of Hobart township, Garfield county; and Leonard H., of Fort Benton, Mont. There is also an adopted daughter, Mary A., who has been a member of the household since she was five years old. Mrs. Norris was born near Cleveland, Ohio, June 6, 1832. Her father, Jo- seph King, was born in New Jersey, of English parentage; and her mother, Nancy Starkey, was a native of Connecticut and of English par- entage. In the early '8os Mr. Norris began preaching in the Life and Advent Christian Church in Iowa, and has since engaged in evan- gelical work in Iowa, Kansas, Wisconsin, Indi- ana, Michigan and Oklahoma, holding meetings at various places. He is a member of the regu- lar order of ministers, and was ordained in Ty- lerville, Conn., in 1886.
J. H. DRAUGHON. Of the many who have come from the east and transferred their allegiance and wide business experience to the promising productiveness of southern Okla- homa, none is better fitted by natural aptitude and inclination to further the growth of a prac- tically undeveloped locality than is Mr. Draughon. In the history of states and terri- tories Oklahoma has already surpassed the ex- pectations of all who have judged her possibili- ties by previous standards, not only as to the enormous increase of population, but also as to the infinite variety of her resources and the multiplicity of her enterprises. As president of the Oklahoma Round Bale Cotto: Company Mr. Draughon has anticipated and taken advan- tage of an opportunity of large dimensions, in the furthering of which he is doing business in several towns of the territory, and on a larger scale and with more complex responsibility than most men would care to assume.
The ancestors of Mr. Draughon came from a country whose sons are noted for their perse- verance and high character. The paternal great- grandfather emigrated from Wales and settled in North Carolina. There the grandfather, Miles, was born and in time became a prominent
planter in Robertson county, Tenn., where he died about 1820. He was a courageous soldier in the war of 1812. The next in succession, Wil liam W. Draughon, was born in North Carolina and in the earlier part of his life was a farmer. He subsequently went into the hotel business and was proprietor of the Waverly Inn, at Waverly, Tenn. He died while on a visit to Canton, Miss., in 1843, and at the time was thirty-eight years of age. His wife, the mother of J. H. Draughon, was formerly Cassandra Murphy, born in Pittsylvania county. Va., and daughter of James Murphy, born in Waterford. Ireland. James Murphy was a merchant tailor by occupation, and when sixteen years of age went to Philadelphia, and later settled in Pittsylvania county, Va., where he became a planter on a large scale. He later removed to Robertson county, Tenn., where he continued his agricul- tural enterprises, and where he died. Mrs. Draughon became the mother of seven children, and died in 1872. One of the daughters, Adeline, is now Mrs. Littie, of Waverly, Tenn .; Mar- garet died in Tennessee; Henry C. is in the lumber business at Davis, I. T .; Sallie is Mrs. Moseley, of Greenfield, Tenn .; and Cassandra died in Tennessee.
A native of Waverly, Tenn., J. H. Draughon was born June 12, 1843. The first years of his life were spent in his native town, and there he received the education of the public schools. He early developed habits of thrift and industry, and in 1857 engaged as a clerk in Dresden, Tenn., continuing the same occupation after re- moving to Hickman, Ky., in 1858, and later in Christmasville, Tenn., 1859-60. In 1861 Mr. Draughon enlisted for the war at Memphis Tenn., in the Memphis Independent Dragoons, and served in Missouri and Tennessee for sixty days. He then re-enlisted in Company C. Twenty-second Tennessee Infantry, and six months later was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant, and eight months later was made first lieutenant. At the battle of Shiloh he was wounded in the right hand. He was captured at Dresden, Tenn., but subsequently paroled.
In the spring of 1864 Mr. Draughon went to . California by way of Panama, and after a visit to San Francisco went to Virginia City, Nev .. and became bookkeeper for the grocery and toll road firm of Tillon & Geiger. After eight months he returned to his home in the east. via San Francisco and Panama, and in the fall of 1864 took a business course in Bacon Com- mercial College, at Cincinnati. In the spring of 1865 he again undertook clerking in Paducah, Kv .. and after a year went into the general mer- chandise business in Waverly, Tenn. While there he was united in marriage with Alice Spencer, of Waverly, Tenn., in 1866. In 1868
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he located in Gardner, Tenn., and for two years was successfully interested in the dry-gcods business and continued the same after removing to Forrest City, Ark., in 1870. In 1873 a differ- ent mercantile enterprise was entered upon in Texarkana, Tex., and with the firm of Buchanan & Co. he became interested in the lumber busi- ness. This was carried on in connection with ·the dry-goods business, under the firm name of Hakes & Draughon.
The firm was dissolved after two years, and Mr. Draughon engaged independently in the dry-goods and lumber business, with gratifying success. While living in Texas he attained to a prominent position in the community, and among other interests which he materially ad- vanced the organization of the First National Bank of Texarkana was one of the most ambi- tious. For ten years he served as president of the bank, and the institution was conducted in such a manner that it ranked among the most reliable of its kind in the state. He was the sec- ond mayor of the place, and was an alderman for six years.
In 1888 Mr. Draughon sold out his dry-goods and lumber interests in Texas, and bought an interest in the Sulphur Lumber Company, at Sulphur Station and Buchanan, Tex. He was elected president of the concern, and under- took the management of their large interests. The firm had mills at Sulphur Station and Bu- chanan, and did the most extensive business in their line in the locality. In the meantime he had continued the presidency of the bank at Texarkana, but in 1890 resigned the responsi- bility in order to devote his entire time to the lumber business. The company shipped lumber to Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Colorado, and the mills had a capacity of two hundred thousand feet per day. In 1893 Mr. Draughon disposed of his Sulphur lumber property and moved to what is now Draughon, Ark., where he bought a sawmill and engaged in the mantt- facture of lumber. His mill had a capacity of seventy-five thousand feet. In the meantime he founded the town, and worked ardently for its improvement and growth. The location of the village was desirable, it being on the Cotton Belt Railroad.
In 1896 Mr. Draughon took up his residence in St. Louis, Mo., and engaged in the general commission business, under the title of the Draughon Commission Company, which con- tinued its successful career with him as president until he sold out in 1898. Still in search of the best possible conditions, he decided to identify himself with Oklahoma, and in 1898 located in Shawnee, and incorporated the Round Bale Cot- ten Company, which has since assumed such large and successful proportions. The plant in
which the company conducts its affairs was con- structed in 1898, and in 1899 plants were built at Shawnee, Tecumseh, McLoud, Chandler and Stroud, Okla., and at Bristow, I. T. They are all large, and erected with a view to a constantly increasing capacity. The present capacity is thirty-five thousand bales during a season. In all the plants the American Cotton Company's press is used, and steam is the power employed. The cotton is compressed and baled and shipped principally to St. Louis.
Mr. Draughon has been twice married. The first Mrs. Draughon died in Texarkana, and left three children, of whom Mrs. Addie Gallagher is a graduate of Maryville Convent, South St. Louis, and lives in Mena, Ark .; Alice is also a graduate of Maryville Convent, and is now Mrs. Peoples, of Oklahoma City; J. W. is secretary and treasurer of his father's company. The sec- ond marriage of Mr. Draughon occurred in Cass county, and united him with Anna Northen, a native of Georgia. Of this union there are three children, Harris, Jack and Pearl.
With social and fraternal organizations in Oklahoma and elsewhere Mr. Draughon is vari- ously interested. As a Mason he is interested at Waverly, Tenn., and at Texarkana, and he was made a Royal Arch Mason at Huntingdon, Tenn., and is now with the Texarkana lodge. He is also connected with the Knights Templar at Texarkana. In politics he is affiliated with the Democratic party, but has never been an office-seeker. He was one of the organizers of the Commercial Club. At this writing he is vice- president of the Cotton Ginners' Association of Texas, Indian Territory and Oklahoma. With his son. J. W., he has recently purchased the plant of the Shawnee Electric Light and Power Company.
JOSEPH P. FOUCART, a prominent archi- tect and builder of Guthrie, was the first of his profession to locate in Oklahoma. He received excellent training in this line of work, which, with his long years of practical .experi- ence and his superior natural ability, places him in a high rank among the architects in the terri- tory.
Mr. Foucart was born in Arlon, Belgium and is the son of John Pierre and Katherine (Mater) Foucart. He comes of a prominent French family, whose ancestry is traceable by the records back to the year 1560, showing it to be an old patrician family of Curgies, near Valenciennes. His grandfather, Domnick Fou- cart, who was born in Valenciennes, France, and was an agriculturist, served under Napoleon in the French army, being the first non-commis- sioned officer of the One Hundred and Eighth
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Regiment of infantry. He served at Dresden in the Saxony-Russian campaign, and afterwards took part in the battle of Waterloo, where his brother, John, a captain of the Fourth Hussars, was killed. He was born in 1780 and died in 1864. John Pierre Foucart was born in Carig- nau, Ardennes, France, and was a farmer by oc- cupation. Removing to Belgium, he died there in 1890, aged seventy years. He married Kath- erine Mater, who was born in Beckerich, Bel- gium. Her father, Francois Joseph Mater, was born there in 1799, and was of French descent. Mrs. Foucart died in 1898, at the age of seventy years, leaving five children, of whom our subject is the oldest and the only one who located in this country.
J. P. Foucart was born November 14, 1848, and received his early education at his native place. After completing his classical studies in the Royal Atheneum, at Arlon, he took a thor- ough course in a civil engineering and archi- tectural school of Ghent, from which he was graduated in 1865. For four years he was as- sistant engineer for a railroad in Belgium, and in 1869 went to the mines at Longwy, France, as mining and civil engineer. At the breaking out of the Franco-Prussian war he entered the Tenth Regiment of Artillery, Fifth Battery, of the French army, and served in the Franco- Prussian war. At the battle of Sedan he was taken prisoner, but made his escape on the fifth day, returning to Longwy. He was there a non- commissioned officer of the fortress until its surrender, January 23, 1871, when he was again taken prisoner. Three days later he made his escape to Belgium, where he remained until March, 1871. After the treaty of peace was signed, he rejoined his regiment and was honor- ably discharged.
In 1872 Mr. Foucart superintended the build- ing of the castle of Mr. Roussile, at Castle of Vière, Belgium, which was constructed at a cost of $400.000, and required two years' time. In 1875 he entered the service of Mr. Govaerts. the private architect of the king of Belgium, and superintended the erection and arranging of the winter garden of the king at Lacken. He then superintended the building of the Grand Central hotel of Brussels, and, in 1877-1878, the court- house of Charteroi, Belgium, at a cost of $328,- 000. In 1870 he superintended the erection of Pouhon at Spa. a watering place of Belgium, the cost of which was $80.000. In 1880 he went to Paris as chief draughtsman for drawing the details and finishings of the new city hall of Paris, which cost $16,000,000. Later he engaged in business for himself as architect and super- intendent of building until 1888, when he came to America. After three months in Texas, he went to Kansas City, where he remained until
the opening of Oklahoma, settling.in Guthrie in June, 1889. He has since followed his profession here and has met with success, among the many buildings erected by him being the following: Alva Normal School; Library Building; Agri- cultural and Mechanical College, at Stillwater; public school at Pawnee; the dormitory to the college at Kingfisher; Victor block; Lyon block, the finest in the city; Royal Hotel; the State. Capitol building, and other structures. He has his office in the Victor block, on the corner of Harrison and First streets.
Mr. Foucart was married in France to Hen- rietta Jacques, who was born and died there. Two children were born to them: Pierre Julian, a pharmacist in Paris, France; and Mrs. Marie Julia Toyé, of St. Louis. Mr. Foucart was again married in Paris, in 1885, to Mary Philomène Jacquart, née Coen, widow of John Charles Jac- quart. During his residence in France, Mr. Foucart was made a Mason. He is also a mem- ber of the Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Uni- form Rank, and the Order of Elks, of which he is secretary in the local lodge. In each of these orders, except the last named, he is a past offi- cer. He is a member of the Sons of. Hermann. the Guthrie Commercial Club, and the Guthrie Gun Club. In politics he is a stanch Republican and was city engineer from August, 1898, until August, 1899, when he resigned.
W ILL TAYLOR HALES, one of the lead- ing citizens of Oklahoma City, and for- merly a member of the board of educa- tion, representing the fourth ward, has made his home here for the past decade. His influ- ence has been cast on the side of progress and advancement along all lines, and, in conse- quence, he is highly esteemed by his associates and neighbors.
Mr. Hales is a worthy scion of a fine old southern family. His grandfather, James Hales. was the owner and manager of a large plantation in Tennessee, whence he removed, in later life. to Arkansas, and there also engaged in agricul- ture. His son, Jesse, father of our subject, was born on the old Tennessee homestead and ac- companied the parental family to Lawrence county, Ark. When he arrived at maturity he went to McDonough county, Mo., where he en- gaged extensively in farming and stock-raising until shortly before his death, nine years ago. Prior to the Civil war the conviction that s'av- ery was a deep and deplorable evil fixed itself in his mind, and, though his father and brothers owned slaves, he would not follow their example. They gave their sympathy and personal aid to the Confederacy when the war came on, but he. with his eldest son, Anderson, enlisted in tl
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J. D. SCARBOROUGH Waukomis.
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same regiment of Missouri troops and fought throughout the war on the side of the Union. The son departed this life in Missouri in 1893. The mother of our subject, Mrs. Martha J. Hales; daughter of Lemuel Beasley, was born in Lawrence county, Ark., where her father was a farmer, and she is yet living in Neosho, Mo. Five. of her nine children have passed to the silent land, and the others all reside in Oklahoma City, namely: J. L., George, Will T., and Mrs. Hattie Johnson.
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