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 26
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terity he left the priceless heritage of an un- blemished name and record.
The birth of Henry Griswold occurred Febru- ary 8, 1847, on the parental homestead near Hartland Center, Livingston county; Mich. He has seven brothers and sisters living, and ong of the number, Elisha, now proprietor of a hotel in Hawley, Mich., was a member of the Third Regiment of Cavalry during the Civil war. When he was in his fourteenth year our subject re- moved with the family to Springfield, Mich., where his educational advantages were better than he had formerly received.
When war was fairly entered upon by the con- tending factions in the land, Mr. Griswold was eager to respond to the call of the president, but his youth was against him. During the early years of the war he regularly tried to enlist in the ranks whenever an opportunity afforded, but each time his father refused to allow the lad to go. His continued enthusiasm and persistence at last bore fruit, for his father finally consented to his enlisting, and in 1864, though he was but seventeen, he became a member of Company A, Sixth Michigan Cavalry. After being mustered into the Union army at Jackson, he proceeded to City Point, Va., and participated in the famous siege of Petersburg, under the leadership of General Custer. The Sixth Michigan Cavalry took a very important part in the Shenandoah Valley campaign, and until the end of the war was almost constantly engaged in action. When the last decisive battles had been fought the regi- ment was mustered out at Benton Barracks, near St. Louis, Mo., in June, 1865.
Returning home, Mr. Griswold resumed his interrupted studies and attended school for two winters, in the meanwhile assisting his father, who at that time was especially interested in raising hops for the markets. In 1869 he went to Lapeer, Mich., where he engaged in the livery business. He was quite successful, and for two years he carried on the business. Then disposing of it and going to Linden, same state. he was occupied in the same calling for another year. Subsequently he was the proprietor of a hotel.at Yale, Mich., for ten years, conducted a hotel in Midland county. Mich., for a period, and later built the Griswold House at Averill, Mich.
Having leased his hotel at Averill. Mr. Gris- wold came to Oklahoma, arriving in the territory June 7, 1889. He located a homestead in An- telope township, Logan county, and, having made improvements on the place, he also pur- chased an adjoining quarter section of land. His son owned another tract of similar extent, and together they engaged extensively in raising cot- ton and wheat. At the end of seven years our subject went to Guthrie, and, in partnership with his son, carried on a grocery and general mer-
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chandising business. When a favorable oppor- tunity presented itself, they sold out, and our subject again turned his attention to the livery business. He owned one establishment on Sec- ond street, and in 1900 bought another, this be- ing situated on Oklahoma avenue. The first- mentioned barn had accommodations for from forty to fifty horses, while the other housed eighty horses. A general livery, sale and board- ing business was carried on, and the liveries were the largest and best equipped in the city. Janu- ary 1, 1901, he sold the livery business and now engages in the cab and transfer business. Mr. Griswold owns a quarter section of valuable land in Lawrie township, on the Cimarron river.
While a resident of Michigan, the marriage of Mr. Griswold and Elizabeth Fair, a native of White Lake, Oakland county, was celebrated. They have one son, Charles H., who is a grad- uate of Alma (Mich.) College, and is now a resi- dent of Guthrie. He is a young man of marked ability and promise, and for two years held the responsible position of private secretary to the United States marshal at Muscogee, I. T. He is identified with the Knights of Pythias, the Order of Red Men and Woodmen of the World. Like his father, he is a Republican of no uncertain stripe. Mrs. Griswold's father, James Fair, was a native of Scotland, and in 1835 came to Amer- ica and settled in Genesee county, N. Y. He was one of the "forty-niners" in California; after making one trip home he returned to the Pacific coast, and in 1891 died in Grass Valley, Nevada county, Cal. Much of his mature life was spent in the mining region, where he obtained high remuneration, as he was an expert machinist and mechanic, having mastered the trade in his na- tive land.
JOHN EILERTS. A citizen from other shores who has ably assisted in the growth and development of his adopted town of Nardin, in Kay county, Mr. Eilerts was born in Germany in 1837, and is a son of John and Mary Eilerts, natives of Germany. His father was one in a family of eight children, and was reared on the home farm in his native land, and, with his par- ents, came to America in 1846. They went to Cairo, Ill., thence to Beardstown, Ill., and until the war broke out the son John led a practically uneventful life, very much like that experienced by other farmer lads. In 1862 he enlisted at Jacksonville, Ill., in Company A. One Hundred and First Volunteer Infantry, and participated in the battles of Missionary Ridge, Dallas, Re- saca, Buzzard's Roost, Peach Tree Creek and Atlanta. At the latter-named siege, Mr. Ellerts was wounded. July 22, by a rifle ball, which passed through his right shoulder. He was im-
mediately removed to the field hospital, and then to Chattanooga, going later to Springfield, III., where he was discharged in August of 1865. His hospital experience covered a period of six months.
After the war, Mr. Eilerts settled in Jackson- ville, Ill., where he undertook to learn the trade of carpenter, and later engaged in the general merchandise business in the same city. In 1880 he removed to Newton, Kans., and bought a farm upon which he lived until 1885, when he removed to Whitewater, Kans., and opened an- other store of the same kind, that of general merchandise. He continued in this line of occu- pation in Whitewater, where he was eventually burned out. In February, 1898, he came to Nar- din, Okla., and at once identified himself with the permanent growth of the town by purchasing property, upon which he erected a store, and put in a complete line of general merchandise. He has since yielded to the growing demands of the community, and built a larger place, 24x70, in which to conduct his affairs. The original place was 24x60, and is now rented to other parties. Mr. Eilerts has also put up a fine residence, in which he lives, and is the owner of two other dwellings, which are rented, and in Whitewater, Kans., he owns a store build- ing.
The first wife of Mr. Eilerts was formerly Olive Malott, who was married to Mr. Eilerts in 1859. Of this union there have been three chil- dren: Dollie, Fannie and Mary. Mrs. Olive Ei- lerts died in 1868, at Jacksonville, Ill. Mr. Ei- lerts married, in 1870, Augusta Snow, and their three children, Charles, Walter and Stella, are living at home. A Republican in politics, Mr. Eilerts' first presidential vote was cast for Stephen A. Douglas, who was the playmate and school-fellow of his youth. In 1900 Mr. Eilerts was elected mayor of Nardin. He is a member of the Reformed Church, but as yet they have no place of worship in his adopted town. A member of the Masonic order. he is associated with the Whitewater (Kans.) Blue Lodge, and was connected with the Odd Fellows of the same place, in which he passed all of the chairs. but he has since transferred his membership to 'the Deer Creek Lodge, in Oklahoma.
SCAR LEHMANN, a successful farmer of Harrison township, Kingfisher county. is a native of Prussia, Germany. He emi- grated to this country in 1888, settling in Lan- caster county, Neb., where he was employed by the month on farms. In 1892 he came to Oklahoma, where he bought the southwest quar- ter of section 18, in Harrison township. The land was unimproved at the time, and he made
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D. B. COONS, Kingfisher County.
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general improvements for wheat farming, cattle and horse raising.
September 9, 1897, Mr. Lehmann married Amelia Stage, who is also a native of Germany. She came to Oklahoma in December, 1892, set- tling on the southeast quarter of section 19. One year later she erected a good-sized house on her property, and in that house she and her husband live at the present time. Since their marriage they have farmed three hundred and twenty acres, two hundred and fifty acres of the land yielding a fine crop of wheat. They own twenty-five head of cattle and also several horses. There is a good orchard and vineyard on the place, and Mr. Lehmann manufactures considerable wine.
Mr. and Mrs. Lehmann have been untiring in their efforts to succeed. They began farming in Oklahoma with limited means, and by careful management they have prospered, and to-day are classed among the substantial citizens of the community in which they reside.
D. B. COONS, who owns a well-improved homestead on section 22, Cimarron town- ship, Kingfisher county, has risen to a position of affluence within a few years by ener- getic, well-directed efforts. He enjoys the es- teem of a large circle of neighbors and friends, and loyally discharges every duty devolving upon him as a citizen.
The paternal grandfather of our subject was Daniel Coons, a native of Germany, who at an early day crossed the Atlantic and founded a home in Bedford county, Pa. After clearing his land he engaged in its cultivation until shortly before his death, and lies at rest on the old burial ground on his own farm. His son, Daniel, was born on that homestead, and after his marriage the latter soon removed to Alle- ghany county, Md., and for a number of years was numbered among the enterprising farmers of that locality. He departed this life on his old home place, at the advanced age of seventy-two years. His fine farm, which was situated in the vicinity of Frostburg, comprised half a section, which was transformed by the owner from a wil- derness into a fertile, valuable plantation, one of the best in the state. Actively associated with all local progress, he was looked up to with respect, and was considered an influential factor in the Republican party. His wife, whose name in girlhood was Rachel Bucey, was a na- tive of Maryland, and of their eight children two are deceased and five still reside in Mary- land.
D. B. Coons was born in Bedford county, Pa., in 1845, and in infancy was taken to Maryland, where he grew to manhood. For thirteen years
after arriving at his maturity he carried on one farm in Alleghany county, and amassed a com- petence, owning four lots and a good residence property in Frostburg. At last he decided to try his fortunes in Kansas, and in 1884 located in the western part of the state, where he car- ried on a farm and dealt extensively in cattle for several years. He purchased a homestead in Gray county and resided there for about two years, but, owing to the drouth which pre- vailed at that time there, he lost heavily, saving but little from the wreck.
On the 22nd of April, 1889, Mr. Coons started from the "Big Camp" at Buffalo Springs and made the race into Oklahoma, securing his pres- ent property. As he did not have sufficient means with him for filing his claim and for mak- ing necessary improvements upon his place, he commenced working for others, putting down wells and performing various kinds of labor, and during a portion of the summer was employed in Kansas. In September he returned with his family and the ensuing winter they dwelt in a dugout. The first autumn of his residence here he planted a crop and commenced making ma- terial improvements upon his farm, which he soon reduced to a high state of cultivation. He raises a fine crop of wheat and corn each season, and is making a success of every department of agriculture. A large, well-kept orchard and a good vineyard provide an abundance of fruit, and the two excellent wells of water are not the least important features of the homestead. In 1899 a convenient house was erected on the place by the owner, and thus each year he is add- ing to the value of his farm.
Mr. Coons is a Republican of no uncertain . stripe, and fraternally he has been affiliated with the Odd Fellows order for the past thirty years. Though in no sense an office-seeker, he believes in meeting his duties as a citizen, and when he was the choice of his friends for constable, he loyally discharged his obligations as the incum- bent of that position. For several years he has taken an active part in the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he is a member.
In Ohio, Mr. Coons married, in early man- hood, Miss Mattie Bucey, who died a few years later in Maryland. Subsequently he married Miss Cora E. Hulvey, of Frostburg, Md., and five children bless their union, namely: Charles, Maude S., Olive E., Gladys and Zuda.
G EORGE L. LAGE. To a sturdy Dutch an- I cestry Mr. Lage is indebted for many of the fine and cleanly traits of character which have to such an extent aided in his sub- stantial rise in life. Though, practically speak- ing, a young man, he has, nevertheless, an abid-
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ing place in the estimation of his fellow dwellers in Blackwell, who appreciate his honesty of pur- , pose and sincere devotion to the best interests of the community.
A native of Kalamazoo, Mich., where he was born in 1870, Mr. Lage is a son of Steven and Jane Lage, natives of Holland, and born at Amsterdam. Steven Lage married after coming to America, and attained considerable promi- nence in Kalamazoo. where for a time he served as county clerk. His useful life terminated in 1886. His wife is still living in Michigan. George L. spent the first eighteen years of his life in Michigan, and was fortunate in receiving excel- lent educational advantages in the publicschools. At the age of eighteen he embarked upon an independent enterprise, and engaged in the drug business at Menominee, Mich., for two years, going thence to Ishpeming, of the same state, where he continued his former occupation until 1893. After the opening of the Cherokee strip he came to Oklahoma, and in May of that year located in Blackwell, where he has since con- tinued to reside.
December 1, 1895, Mr. Lage was appointed assistant postmaster under Dr. Padon, and in 1898 was made postmaster of this town. At that time the office was of the fourth class, but has since progressed to the third class, and he re- ceives the comfortable salary of $1.700 a year. This responsibility was assumed by Mr. Lage at the age of twenty-eight, and, as far as known, he is the youngest to hold such a position in the territory. He is emphatically qualified for the office, and has the reputation of never having to ask a name a second time. In this regard he has a truly remarkable memory.
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Mrs. Lage was formerly Nellie Watts, who was married to Mr. Lage in January of 1896, and who is the daughter of D. C. and Mary Watts, of Independence. Kans. One child is the result of this union, Harold R., who is three years of age.
The Lage residence is one of the prettiest and most comfortable in the eastern part of the town, and bespeaks the taste and advanced ideas of the family who occupy it. Considerable of the time and thought of Mr. Lage is devoted to his church interests, which constitute no small amount of responsibility. He was the organizer of the Presbyterian Church in the town, and is now an elder in the same. The organization was effected in 1896, and the building erected in 1808, and was largely owing to the untiring ef- forts of Mr. and Mrs. Lage. From the first Mr. Lage has been superintendent of the Sunday- school, and has one of the best and largest classes in this section of the country. Frater- nallv, he is associated with the Masonic order at Blackwell, of which lodge he is senior deacon,
and he is connected with the Eastern Star and the Maccabees. An active and broad-minded politician, his opinions are on the side of the Republican party, and he was a member of the territorial committee at Guthrie which nomi- nated D. T. Flynn as delegate to congress.
T HOMAS G. O'KEEFE, who has been en- gaged in contracting and building in Okla- homa City since the spring of 1893, has in that time erected some of the finest and largest business blocks in the city. He has a thorough understanding of the business in all its details. and, being possessed of an unusual amount of energy, has pushed rapidly to the front ranks of the leading business men of the community.
Mr. O'Keefe was born in Sacramento, Cal., November 17, 1868, and is a son of Patrick and Mary (Milrick) O'Keefe. His father went from New York to Missouri at an early period, and then crossed the plains by ox teams to Califor- nia, where he engaged in contracting and build- ing. He had learned the trade of a bricklayer while in New York. He became superintendent of the state penitentiary in San Quentin, and later followed contracting in the mining regions. In 1872 he became superintendent of the state penitentiary at San Francisco, and is now serv- ing as inspector of sewers in that city. He mar- ried Mary Milrick, who died in 1891, in Cali- fornia. They were the parents of thirteen chil- dren, of whom two sons and four daughters are now living. Three of the daughters reside in Oklahoma.
Thomas G. O'Keefe was reared in San Fran- cisco, and received his education in the public schools. He began to learn the bricklayer's trade at the age of thirteen years, serving an ap- prenticeship until 1887. In the fall of that year he went to Los Angeles and followed his trade until 1890, between that city and San Diego. He then worked at Ogden three months, and in July, 1890, went to Denver, Colo. He followed his trade there, at Pueblo, and in the mountains until 1892. In the fall of that year he went to Dubuque, Iowa, thence to St. Louis, where he worked at his trade, and also contracted and built the Blackman & Post Pipe Works. In Febru- ary, 1893, he located in Oklahoma City; where he has since been engaged in contracting and building on an extensive scale, emploving from one hundred to one hundred and forty men during the busy season. Among the many buildings which he has erected may be men- tioned Milner's store; St. Anthony's Hospital: Alton-Davis wholesale house: high school build ing, now the largest in the territory; Carnegie Library Building, one of the finest buildings in the city; Oil Mills; Oklahoma City Mills and
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: Elevator; and the basement of the Webster school building, in the fourth ward. He has been a very active member of the Conimercial Club since its inception.
At Fort Worth, Tex., Mr. O'Keefe was joined in marriage with Mary Kennedy, a native of Ripon, Wis. In politics he is a supporter of Democratic principles.
R W.SOUTHARD, M.D. After about a quar- ter of a century devoted to his profession, Dr. Southard has practically retired from active cares. The confidence which he has shown in Perry's future has been manifested by his frequent investments in city and local property, and for some time he has been more interested in improving and selling real estate than in any other enterprise.
Dr. Southard is a worthy scion of two fine old eastern families, two of his great-grandfathers having been heroes of the Revolutionary war, and both of his grandfathers having been sol- diers of the war of 1812. The Southards trace their lineage through several generations in this country, through a number of generations in England, and finally back to Normandy. The great-grandfather of our subject, on his father's side, was Henry Southard, a native .of Long Island, where many generations had lived. He removedto New Jersey with his father at the age of eight years, and during the war for independ- ence enlisted and served as wagon-master of the New Jersey forces, under General Gates. Sub- sequently he was elected to the legislature of his state, and served for fifteen successive years in that honorable body. By a coincidence, he was once elected to congress at the same time that his son, Samuel Lewis Southard, was elected to the United States senate, representing New Jer- sey. He passed much of his long life at Basking Ridge, N. J., and died when in his ninety-seventh year. The doctor's paternal grandfather, Mica- jah Southard, removed from his birthplace in New Jersey to North Carolina, after taking an official part in the war of 1812, and he, too, attained the advanced age of ninety-six years. For a long time he was interested in the wagon transportation business to the south, and later he carried on a farm near Knoxville, Tenn., and to. some extent engaged in mercantile enter- prises.
Reuben Southard, M. D., father of the doctor, was born in New Jersey, of which state his father was a native, though his mother was of North Carolinian birth. In his carly manhood, he, too, chose for a wife one of the daughters of North Carolina, Miss Sarah Ballon. Her father, Stephen Ballou, who was of French- Huguenot stock, and was a native of Massachu-
setts, was an officer in the war of 1812. He became a wealthy planter of North Carolina, and there died. Dr. Reuben Southard was grad- uated and received a degree in a medical col- lege, but never devoted himself to his profes- sion. Instead, he was interested in farming in Tennessee, and conducted numerous business enterprises in different parts of that state. He lost a fortune by assisting in the construction of the Eastern Tennessee & Georgia Railroad, one of the first railroads built in the south. He died when eighty years old.
Thesubject of this sketch was born September 12, 1837, in Knoxville, Tenn., and reared in that vicinity, obtaining an excellent education, and completing his literary studies in Athens (Tenn.) College. In 1855 he went to Edina, Mo., where he took up medical studies under the super- vision of an uncle. In 1876 he was graduated in Hahnemann Medical College, in Chicago, and resumed his practice in Maquon, where he en- joyed the esteem of his professional brethren. as well as the confidence and patronage of the public. Since September 16, 1893, he has been engaged in practice in Perry. He owns a well- improved claim situated two miles north of the town, and here he also owns considerable resi- dence and business property.
In Knox county, Ill., Dr. Southard married Miss Eveline Housh, a native of that locality. Her father, David Housh, was an Indianian, and an early settler in Illinois, where he was a farmer and merchant. David, eldest son of the doctor and wife, died at the age of eleven. The next son. Horace G., is a general trader at Perry, and Jacob O. is with the Swift Packing Com- pany's plant at Amity. Mo. The two daughters are Mrs. Virginia Coffman. of Kansas City, and Mrs. Roberta Berry, of Chicago.
W ILLIAM L. STALNAKER. The ances- tors' of the Stalnaker family in America located in Virginia, and in that state, from which so many noble and capable lives have gone forth to aid in the upbuilding of promising localities the country over, lived the paternal grandfather Stalnaker, who fought with courage and distinction in the war of 1812.
William L. was born in Virginia in 1834, as were his parents, S. G. and Fannic (Bush) Stal- naker, whose years of usefulness were spent within its borders, where their death sui se- quently occurred. Their son, William, received an excellent home training, and was reared to a knowledge of the best way to conduct a farm. as well as in the studies taught at the district schools. Upon assuming independent control of his fortunes, he left his home in 1858, and settled in Madison county, Ill., where for eight-
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een years he engaged in farming and stock- raising, with the exception of the three years spent in the army.
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With the opening of hostilities, Mr. Stalnaker enlisted in Company F, One Hundred and Sev- enteenth Illinois Infantry, at Edwardsville, and took part in many of the important battles of the war. He fought at Vicksburg, Red River campaign, Nashville, and Mobile, and was hon- orably discharged at Camp Butler, Ill., August 5, 1865. After returning to his old home in Madison county, Ill., he remained until 1876, when he removed to Kansas, and lived upon a farm which he purchased. At the opening of the Cherokee strip, September 16, 1893, he located upon the northwest quarter of section 22, town- ship 25, range 2 west, Kay county, which he at once began to improve, and which is now ready to prove up. Ninety acres are broken and under cultivation, and good houses and outbuildings erected. Mr. Stalnaker has also built himself a handsome residence in Tonkawa, and owns the business block in which the postoffice is located.
In national politics Mr. Stalnaker is affiliated with the Republican party, and cast his first presidential vote for Buchanan, since which he has never failed to vote the Republican ticket. He was at one time committeeman of Owens township. May 17, 1898, he was appointed post- master of Tonkawa, a position which he has since creditably filled. In fraternal fellowship he is associated with the Masonic order. which organization he joined in 1874. For years he has been secretary of various lodges, and at present is a member of the Blackwell Lodge. Himself and wife are members of the United Brethren Church.
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