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 32
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In Knox county, Ill., Mr. Annis was united in marriage with Sarah J. Porter, a native of Illi- nois, and a daughter of Otis Porter, a merchant in Knox county. Of this union there have been six children, viz .: Frank, Orva, Allic, Roy, Jesse and Nellic.
. H. G. BEARD. The history of Shawnee and Pottawatomiecounty could not be written without giving a prominent place to the subject of this article. To him must be given the credit of contributing largely to the estab-
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lishment and organization of Shawnee, and se- curing the Choctaw Railroad, that great factor in the development and prosperity of this terri- ยท tory. His public spirit and patriotic interest in everything pertaining to the permanent welfare of this county and territory is remarkable, for on how many occasions has he sacrificed his per- sonal interests to the general good! His inti- mate associates, who have reason to know, are, necessarily, among his most enthusiastic ad- mirers, and never weary of singing the praises of one of the parents of Shawnee.
Born in Sweet Springs, Mo., March 16, 1866, Mr. Beard is in the prime of manhood. His parents, Alfred B. and Catherine C. (Gee) Beard, were natives of Illinois. His grandfather, Thomas Beard, a native of Tennessee, of an old and prominent Virginia family, which contribu- ted soldiers to the Revolutionary war, located in Marion county, Ill., at an early day. Grand- father John Gee, who came of an old eastern family, was born in Green county, Ky., and died upon his homestead in Illinois. For over three years, during the Civil war, Alfred B. Beard served in Company I, Fortieth Illinois Infantry. For several years he conducted a farm near Sweet Springs, Mo., in 1869 settled in the neigh- borhood of Fredonia, Kans., and in 1890 came to Oklahoma. For a year or so he carried on farming in the county of that name, and in 1891 located a claim four and a half miles northwest of Shawnee. Living there until 1900, he then became a resident of Roff, I. T. Fraternally he is connected with the Grand Army of the Re- public. His two daughters, Mrs. Lola G. Wilson and Mrs. Laura B. Spears, live in Roff, I. T. One son, Hershel, is deceased, and of the other sons, John W., who was a sergeant in the First Oklahoma regiment during the late war, now resides at Ada, I. T .; Lyman F., who was a cor- poral in the famous "Rough Riders" regiment, and took part in the celebrated battle of San Juan Hill and in the operations around Santiago, now is engaged in the real estate business at Ravia, I. T .; Claude R. is at the head of a livery business at Henrietta, Creek Nation, I. T .: and Ollie is a student at the Territorial University at Norman.
The youth of H. G. Beard was spent in Fre- donia, Kans., and when twenty years of age he went to Missouri and Nebraska. On the day of Oklahoma's opening he came with the multitude of home-seekers and engaged in a wholesale produce and commission business on Grand ave- nue, in Oklahoma City, until September, 1891. At that time he located a claim for Miss Etta Ray, whom he afterward married. This claim occupied the subsequent site of Shawnee. His brother John and sister Lola also filed claims to quarter-sections of land in this immediate neigh-
borhood, their property adjoining. Mrs. Beard's claim was proved up after her marriage.
In order to secure the Choctaw Railroad, H. G. Beard gave to it one hundred and twenty acres, and his brother John one hundred acres, of their respective quarter-sections. Previously he had named old Shawnee, and had served on the first board of county commissioners of Pot- tawatomie county (until the first regular elec- tion) under the appointment of Governor Steele. Many essential undertakings were carried out, the townships named and the bridge across the North Canadian, on Beard street (called in honor of our subject) were among the things accomplished in that brief period.
H. G. Beard and M. J. Bentley conceived the idea of founding Shawnee, and, having agreed upon the name and made a few preliminary prep- arations, enlisted the services of J. T. Farrell, surveyed the town site, and on September 29, 1892, the plat was approved by Secretary Noble. Finding that the other people of this locality were too conservative to take any initial steps, Mr. Beard, with the energy and determination of youth, and characteristic of him . especially, forged ahead. For six years or more he was actively engaged in the real-estate business and built a large per cent of the residences and business blocks erected here in the first period of the town's existence. It is certain that one or more buildings put up under his supervision are to be found in nearly every block in the business portion of the place. For the past three years he has carried on a thriving business in hardware and implements, and at the same time is the local agent for leading manu- factures of wagons and carriages; for the Buck- eye harvesters, the Advance threshers and Mo- line plows, and carries a full line of plumbing material. His place of business is centrally sit- uated at the corner of Broadway and Main.
A few of the numerous concerns in which Mr. Beard is interested will be briefly mentioned, as the limits of this article do not permit a com- prehensive review of all of his enterprises. One of the organizers of the Bank of Shawnce, he served as a director and vice-president for some time, and since March, 1898, when it was in- corporated as the First National Bank, has been a stockholder merely. Of the Draper Casey Furniture Company, of Main street, he is the president. One of the incorporators and orig- inal stockholders of the First National Bank of Roff, he now is the vice-president and a di- rector of the same. The new Frisco line, or the St. Louis, Oklahoma & Southern, from Sa- pulpa south through the Creek, Seminole and Chickasaw Nations to Denison and Sherman, Tex .. was stanchly supported by Mr. Beard, who is a director of the company, and is the president
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
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of the Town Site Company. Among the many towns which he has located are: Okmulgee, Henrietta, Holdenville, Ada, Roff, Ravia, Oak- land and Woodville.
Always an enthusiastic worker in the ranks of the Republican party, Mr. Beard, nevertheless, is not an aspirant to political honors. Of the Shawnee Club he is a charter member, and in the fraternal organizations here belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and to the Woodmen of the World. He was the president. of the first board of trus- tees of Shawnee, and in January, 1891, was ap- pointed as enrolling and engrossing clerk of the territorial council, the first .to occupy that position in this future state. The city high school here is erected on a tract of thirteen acres which he and his wife contributed as a park to Shaw- nee.
In Oklahoma City, the marriage of Mr. Beard and Miss Etta B. Ray took place in 1891. A na- tive of Illinois, as also was her father, Philip H. Ray, she was reared in Kansas and received a liberal education. Mr. Ray, who held the rank of first lieutenant in an Illinois regiment during the Civil war, has made agriculture his chief business in life, and since September, 1893, has resided upon his claim two miles from Perry, Okla. In all of his wide and comprehensive undertakings, Mr. Beard has found an excep- tionally able assistant in his wife, whose judg- ment and sympathies are broad and well- founded. In religious faith a Methodist, she is identified with the Shawnee Church. Mrs. Beard's home is adorned with several handsome paintings, her own handiwork, she having a natural aptitude for such work, without taking any lessons of consequence.
A. E. NELSON. Few men who have seen but thirty summers have risen to as great a degree of success in the business world of Shawnee as has A. E. Nelson, who has deal- ings with many large firms in England and in the states of New England. Perhaps from some of his "Yankee" ancestors he inherited the enter- prising spirit which he manifests: at any rate, he neglects no strictly legitimate means of pro- moting his commercial success. and at the same time has established an enviable reputation for fairness and justice.
Nacogdoches county, which once embraced about half of Texas, numbered among its earliest white settlers the grandfather of our subject, Capt. A. A. Nelson, who was an associate of the renowned Sam Houston. Born in Port- land. Me., he followed a sea-faring life for many years, being connected with the coasting trade of New England. Having become a practical
surveyor and civil engineer, he came to the west in the early part of the nineteenth century, and assisted in the work of surveying Nacogdoches county, thenceforth his place of abode. During the Civil war he joined the Confederate army, for he had so long resided in the south that his sympathies were with her, and thus it was that he won his military title. His life was a long and useful one, ending when he was in his eighty-ninth year.
Dr. George A. Nelson, born in Nacogdoches county, Tex., in 1850, passed away at his home in Terrell, Tex., in 1899, and is survived by his wife, whose maiden name was Emma Mattox. She was born in Georgia, and accompanied her father to Nacogdoches county in her girlhood. Dr. Nelson received his professional education in the Louisville Medical College, and, after obtaining his degree, returned to his native county, where he practiced for some time, finally locating in Terrell.
The birth of A. E. Nelson occurred in Nacog- doches county, May 16, 1870. He is the eldest of seven children, all of whom survive. In his boyhood he attended the public school of Ter- rell, and at the age of sixteen embarked upon his business career. For several years he was employed by the firm of Bateman & Wither- spoon as buyer of cotton, and subsequently he was with other houses in the same line of busi- ness, becoming well known throughout the cot- ton-belt of Texas. In 1893 he settled in Ard- more, I. T., and for the ensuing four years made his headquarters at that point, transacting a large trade in cotton. Since 1897 he has lived in Shawnee, where he is not only the pioneer in his calling, but also is the most extensive shipper of cotton in this locality, his trade ex- tending for a long distance along the Choctaw and into Indian Territory. His shipments are to mills in England and New England, and, as well known, the products of these plants fre- quently find their way into the markets of the far east, even entering into competition with the printed cotton goods of China in the Celestial Empire. This enterprising young man was one of the most active in the organization of. the Cotton Compress Company, and belongs to the board of directors, also serving as vice-president. This is one of the finest plants in these terri- tories, and is one of the best-paying compresses in the entire country. He also conducts a whole- sale grocery business at Holdenville. I. T. In addition, he is vice-president of the Citizens Bank of the same place, and is a stockholder of the National Bank of Ada, I. T. He owns a half interest in the Shawnee Lumber Company, and is vice-president of the Pottawatomie County Fair and Blooded Stock Association.
While in Purcell, Mr. Nelson married Miss
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Russia Grayson, who is a native of Alabama, and two little sons have blessed their hearts and home, namely: A. E., Jr. and J. G. Mrs. Nel- son's father, A. J. Grayson, a retired merchant, resides on a homestead near Shawnee. Reli- giously, Mr. Nelson and wife are Presbyterians. He is a charter member of the Shawnee Club, and is actively interested in all local affairs. In political preference he is a Democrat.
S AMUEL MAURICE BARNES, M. D. On .the paternal side the Barnes family is of English descent. The great-grandfather of Dr. Barnes, Robert by name, crossed the seas from his native land and settled in New England during the last century. He later identified him- self with the commercial life of Georgetown, D. C., and served with courage and distinction during the Revolutionary war. The next in succession, his son, Samuel T., was born in Georgetown, D. C., and removed to Columbus, Ohio, where he was engaged in mercantile pur- suits. He later retired from business life and entered the ministry of the United Brethren Church, and served in his capacity of pastor of a church in Lawrence, Kans .. until his death.
Samuel Maurice Barnes was born in Lawrence, Kans., November 6, 1869, and is a son of J. T. Barnes, a native of Columbus, Ohio. j. T. ' Barnes became interested in the mercantile busi- ness in his native city, and in 1868 removed to Lawrence, Kans., where he engaged in the in- strance business, continuing the same occupa- tion after his removal to Beloit, Mitchell county, in 1880. The mother, formerly Elizabeth Wil- son, was born in Tennessee, and is a daughter of Samuel Wilson, born in the east, and of Scotch-Irish descent. He was a successful planter in Tennessee, and in 1849 contracted the gold fever and started across the plains for Cali- fornia. He took the southern route, and some- where on the vast stretches of western prairie met a fate which has ever been surrounded with mystery and uncertainty. His wife, Elizabeth (Curtis) Wilson, was born in Nashville, Tenn .. where she is living at the present time, aged ninety years. She is a member of the Presby- terian Church. Of her three sons and two daugh- ters, Samuel Maurice is the oldest. John H. is in the navy department at Washington, D. C .; James L. is a census deputy at Washington, D. C .: Alla M. is the wife of Prof. Foster of Weiser, Idaho: Mabel E., Mrs. Harvey, is living in Be- loit, Kans.
Until 1880 S. M. Barnes was reared in his na- tive city of Lawrence, Kans., after which his education was carried on at Beloit, of the same state, and situated on the frontier. After finish- ing the public schools he graduated at the high
school in 1887. He then entered the pharma- ceutical department of the University of Kansas for a year, and in 1888 began to study medicine in the medical department of Howard Univer- sity, Washington, D. C., from which he was graduated in 1891. For a year he practiced his profession in Washington, and in 1892 associ- ated himself with the larger possibilities of Okla- homa, and settled in Stillwater, Payne county, where he engaged in a general medical and sur- gical practice. With the political undertakings of his locality he became prominent, and was appointed coroner of Payne county in 1898. In June of 1897 he was appointed a member of the United States Pension Board, upon which he is still serving, and of which he is president.
Dr. Barnes was one of the organizers of the Territorial Medical Association at Oklahoma City, and is prominently associated with all med- ical matters of his town and locality. With the cause of education he has shown a vital interest, and has served as a member of the school board. A Republican at all times, he is yet not an office- seeker, preferring to devote all of his time and attention to the duties incident to his chosen life-work. Fraternally he is associated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a member of the Encampment and the Fraternal Aid.
In Washington, D. C., occurred the marriage of Dr. Barnes and Josie D. Alderman, born in Marysville, Mo., and a daughter of A. H. Alder- man, who is now in the pension department at Washington. He is a veteran of the Civil war, and served in an Ohio regiment. To Dr. and Mrs. Barnes have been born three children, Elsie, Marion and John Maurice. The doctor has niade many friends since coming to Still- water, who appreciate his many excellent traits of mind and character, no less than his skill and reliability in the domain of his professional life.
R. C. MORTON. a prosperous farmer liv- ing in Kingfisher township, Kingfisher county, is one of the representative citi- zens of his community. He takes an active part in all affairs pertaining to the good of the county, and is looked upon as a thoroughly reliable man.
Richard Morton, the father of our subject, was born in Clinton county, Ohio, and is of Scotch-Irish descent. He spent most of his active life in his native county, where he farmed and dealt largely in buying and selling stock. For the past ten years he has resided in High- land county, Ohio, and is now retired from active cares. By his marriage to Lucinda Ruble, who died when our subject was a small boy, he had eight children, namely: William, a physician of St. Paul, Minn .; Sarah Jane; Cynthia; James, an
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attorney in Wilmington, Ohio; John H., who re- sides in Missouri, and is a dealer in cattle; R. C., the subject of this sketch; Elizabeth, Mrs. Elihu Thomas; and Mary Bell, deceased, who was the wife of Freeman Stevenson.
R. C. Morton was born in Clinton county, Ohio, where he attended the common schools. At the age of twenty-one he went to DeKalb county, Mo., and for several years carried on general farming. In the fall of 1890 he came to Kingfisher county, - Okla., and began farming the south half of the southwest quarter of section 10, and also the north half of the northwest quarter of section 10. At that time the land was raw prairie, and Mr. Morton at once bogan many improvements. He put one hundred acres under the plow for wheat farming. His family followed him to this county in the fall of the same year, and they occupied a house 14x16. With their assistance he has gradually increased his possessions, and through careful manage- ment and hard work has become one of the leading farmers in the county. He has a good grade of cattle, an orchard, and a small vine- yard.
In 1877 Mr. Morton was united in marriage with Elizabeth McCartney. They are the parents of eight children, as follows: Frederick R., a graduate of Kingfisher College, and now attend- ing the Commercial Business College in Wich- ita; Hubert, Kendal, Lillie May, Mabel L., El- mer R., Viola E. and James Clyde. Mr. Morton is a Democrat in politics, and takes an active interest in party affairs. He has served as town- ship clerk and justice of the peace, and also has been a member of the school board. He and his oldest son are members of Lodge No. 2. A. O. U. W. He holds stock in the Farmers elevator and in the Kingfisher Union Hall Cemetery As- sociation, having been one of the organizers of the latter.
S.' E. KNIGHT, M. D. From William the Conqueror down through the splendid his- tory of England's triumphant progress, the Knight family traces its descent. The latter- day members of whom there is authentic ac- count have distinguished themselves in the in- tellectual world, and have been associated with the march of progress in their respective local- ities. The first from the Albion isle to join their fortunes with those of the settlers in the eastern United States became tillers of the soil in far-off Maine, and here the paternal grand- father was presumably born, and. with his brothers, served in the war of 1812. his de- scendants in America having previously fought with courage and distinction in the Revolution- ary war.
A native of Biddeford, Me., Dr. Knight was born July 21, 1864, a son of Daniel Sanborn Knight, who was born in Saco, of the same state. Daniel S. Knight was descended on the maternal side from the Sanborns of Massachu- .setts, whose ancestors are almost lost in the shadowy past of England. During the years of his activity he was a prominent educator in the east, and is a graduate of Bowdoin College. For some years he was superintendent of schools in New York City, following which he engaged in the same line of occupation at Mat- toon, Ill., and later transferred his interests to California, where he was active in educational work. His superior methods of instruction met with their merited appreciation, and his life work has been attended with gratifying 'success. From California he returned to.his native state on the Atlantic coast, and is now living with his son in Enid, having come here in 1899. After an active life, he is now retired. His only brother, Albert, was killed at Gettysburg, Pa.
The mother of S. E. Knight was formerly Ellen F. Smith, a native of Elmira, N. Y., and a daughter of William E., a farmer of New York state, who removed to Charleston, Coles county, Ill. He married Fenetta Bacon, a lineal de- scendant of Lord Bacon, and who died in Cali- fornia. She was the mother of five children, two of whom are living, the daughter, Nellie M., having studied to be a trained nurse, and now living in Portland, Me. Her brother, S. E. Knight, passed his childhood days in Biddeford, Me., and studied diligently at the public schools under his father's preceptorship. When four years of age he went with the family to Califor- nia, returning at the age of seven. Previous to graduating from Bowdoin College in 1888. he had graduated from Fryburg Academy in 1884. From his alma mater he received the degree of A. B., and in 1891 that of A. M. In 1888 he began the study of medicine in the medical de- partment of Bowdoin College, and after a year went to the Portland .Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1891. Returning to Bowdoin College, he took the degree of M. D. in 1802. Further research was then made at the Boslow Polytechnique, and at the New York Post-Medical College, and specialties were studied under Dr. Munde.
Dr. Knight began the practice of its profes- sion in Boston, Mass., in 1804, subsequently going west to California, where he practiced in San Francisco until 1895. and then located in Cripple Creek. He ministered to the needs of the sick and wounded during both of the terrible fires that devastated that town. and lost his all of worldly possessions. Owing to the arduous work and constant strain and responsibility, which brought on
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pneumonia, Dr. Knight's health gave out, and he was obliged to leave a large and remuner- ative practice in order to recuperate under changed and less severe conditions. In 1897 he located in Topeka, Kans., and made a specialty of surgery and the diseases of women, and in 1899 changed his field of usefulness to Enid, where he has since lived.
In Topeka, Kans., Dr. Knight married Lillie Magill, a native of Little Falls, N. Y. In politics Dr. Knight is affiliated with the undertakings of the Republican party, and has never swerved from his allegiance thereto. In addition to his other duties he has served as medical examiner for several insurance companies. August 23rd, 1900, he was appointed by the territorial super- intendent of the Board of Health to the office of county superintendent of Board of Health. He is also a member of the United States pen- sion board of examiners, of which he is treasurer. It would seem that the doctor has been able to realize his expectations in regard to life in the territory, for his practice is far-reaching and lu- crative, and his home one of the pleasantest in his adopted town.
OHN R. CLARK. The memory of Mr. Clark as associated with Stillwater extends from unplatted fields to its present condition of prominence among the towns of Oklahoma. During all the stages of development, and the controversies incident to the introduction of col- leges, railroads, and general institutions, his name is inseparably interwoven with the most ambitious of the schemes for growth, and with the most generous contributions for their pro- mulgation. 'As a lawyer, real-estate agent, edit- cator, politician, and enterprising citizen, his influence has been extended and his judgment prized. As one of the organizers of the Kansas & Oklahoma Central Railroad in 1892. he accom- plished an almost incredible amount of work, and effected the survey from Coffeyville, Kans., to Vernon, Tex., via Stillwater. His charter was sold to the Eastern Oklahoma road, and is now all over the county. In the early days Mr. Clark contributed more than $5.000 towards this enterprise, until he could no longer carry the responsibility. Of the ten members of the organizing committee, but two or three were from Stillwater.
Had it not been for Mr. Clark's untiring ef- forts. it is doubtful'if the Agricultural and Me- chanical College would ever have been located in Stillwater. He spent four months over the question, and the fight was long and bitterly contested. At the time that he was appointed a member of the board of regents the founda- tion of the college had alone been built, and to
his push and determination is due the later com- pletion of the structure. He was president of the board on contracting and building. The original public school fund of the town came from Mr. Clark's salary as a member of the first council, which salary he turned over to the school board, and which constituted the nucleus of the first fund in the territory. A building was rented, and Mr. Clark's brother taught the first school here.
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