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 42
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In his early manhood, Mr. Bowyer married Madora Hickman, and seven children were born to them. The eldest, Charles E., died at the age of five years; Samuel H., Walter B. and James T. are in Kansas, while John S. and George T. are residents of this territory. Grace B., the only one of the family not born in Vir- ginia (her birth having occurred in Kansas), is living with her mother in Blackwell, Okla. In 1800 Mr. Bowyer and his wife were divorced. and in July, 1893, he married Anna, daughter of James and Jennie Treaster, of this territory. They are now living upon property which she bought in the fall of 1889. The place is in the southwestern part of section 24, township 18, range 2, and is well improved with a new house. well-built barns and fences, an orchard, and other essentials to a model homestead. Lost creek, which runs through the farm, affords an
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abundance of water for the fields and live stock, and adds much to the value of the place.
Two children blessed the union of Mr. Bow- yer and wife, Anna. One died when an infant, and the other, a promising little boy, Lester Ross, died when he was fifteen months old. Mr. and Mrs. Bowyer are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and take an active interest in religious and benevolent enterprises.
Though his parents and himself were natives of Virginia, and he was reared in the South, Mr. Bowyer always was opposed to secession, and when the Civil war began he espoused the cause of the Union. In 1862 he enlisted in Company E, First Virginia Light Artillery, served at the battle of Winchester under the leadership of General Cook, and took part in a number of important engagements and cam- paigns. He was honorably discharged at Wheel- ing, W. Va., in June, 1865. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, being con- nected with the post at Perkins. His first pres- idential ballot was cast for General Grant, and since that time he has faithfully supported the nominees of the Republican party. When a resident of Elm Grove township, Payne county, Okla., he held the office of township treasurer for two years.
J. R. CARTER. It is doubtful if many in the county have more nearly realized their ex- pectations in regard to the possibilities of life in Oklahoma than has Mr. Carter. His well-conducted farm located on the northeast quarter of section 33, township 18, range .I east, Payne county, bespeaks industrious and progressive methods, thrift and enterprise. The buildings are in every way worthy the ambition of their owner. A windmill, good fences, or- chard and modern labor-saving devices and im- provements add to the value of the property.
A native of Grundy county, Mo., Mr. Carter was born in 1840, and is a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Turner) Carter, natives of Tennes- see. His paternal grandfather was a large land- owner, and served with courage and distinc- tion in the war of 1812. Joseph Carter was one of the very early settlers in Missouri, going there about 1829, and was, during the years of his activity, engaged in farming. He is now living in Kansas. His first wife died about eighteen years ago.
The early years of J. R. Carter were spent in Missouri, and in 1861 he went to Iowa. In 1862 he enlisted in Company H, Thirty-fourth Iowa Infantry, his departure for the war ren- dered doubly interesting from the fact that his brother James accompanied him and served in the same regiment. They fought at Vicksburg,
and then went to Arkansas and took five thou- sand prisoners to Fort Douglas. In 1863 he was at Pilot Knob, Mo. Among the battles and skirmishes in which he participated were the following: Vicksburg, Arkansas Post, Pilot Knob, the siege of Vicksburg, the Black River engagement, Fort Esperanza, the Red River canı- paign, Forts Morgan and Gaines, Forts Selma and Blakeley. He was discharged at Houston, Tex., in August of 1865, and his brother, James, was discharged in St. Louis, Mo., February 25, 1863.
After the cessation of hostilities, Mr. Carter returned to his home in Iowa and engaged in agricultural enterprises until 1887, at which time he removed to Hamilton county, Kans., where he lived until the opening of Oklahoma. In 1868 occurred the marriage of Mr. Carter and Rebecca J. Johnson, a daughter of John and Nancy Johnson. Of this union there are three children, of whom Mrs. Carrie M. Keller has one child, and lives in Iowa; Mrs. Lizzie M. Carr is the mother of one child, Frank; Frank married Miss Carr, and they have one child, Lowell Fay.
In June of 1889 Mr. Carter took advantage of the prospects in the newly opened territory, and settled on the claim located on the northeast quarter of section 33, township 18, range I east. In politics he is a Republican, and has held several township offices. He is a charter mem- ber of the Grand Army post at Marena. Mrs. Carter is a member of the Baptist Church, as are her two daughters.
S. F. COMBS. For the past nine years Mr. Combs has been the proprietor and man- ager of a general store at Perkins, Payne county, and is considered one of the most enter- prising citizens of this place. He served in the responsible position of treasurer of Perkins for six years, and was one of its first councilmen. To-day he is acting in the capacity of treasurer of this township, and, as ever, advocates all improvements consistent with the prosperity of this locality.
One of the pioneer couples of Macon county, Mo., was our subject's parents, B. F. and Eliza- beth Combs, who were natives of Lexington, Ky. Sixty years ago, when Missouri was looked upon as a western frontier state, B. F. Combs settled upon the old Macon county homestead, where his son, our subject, was born eight years later. During the Civil war the father served for over three years in Company H, Missouri State Militia, and when but seventeen years of age our subject volunteered his services also. and was assigned to Company C, Forty-second Missouri Infantry. He received his honorable
MR. AND MRS. S. P. DUCK, Payne County.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
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discharge from the army July 6, 1865, at the county seat of Macon county.
Resuming the agricultural duties to which he had become accustomed in his boyhood, S. F. Combs remained in his native place until he was in his twentieth year. Then, going west, he devoted about four years to the freighting busi- ness in Colorado and Montana. Having ac- cumulated a little capital with which to embark in business, he returned to his old home in 1871, and soon was united in marriage with Creola Stowe, daughter of James M. and Virginia Stowe, worthy citizens of Macon county, Mo. Mrs. Combs, who was a devoted wife and a val- ued member of the Missionary Baptist Church, departed this life at her home in this town, in July, 1894. The only child of S. F. Combs and wife, J. C., who was an aeronaut and slack- rope walker, and for some time was a deputy marshal, was accidentally killed by George Bankson, in Perkins, in 1895.
. For twenty years S. F. Combs was successfully engaged in a mercantile business at Sioux City, Mo., and earned the good-will and patronage of a large proportion of his fellow-citizens. Be- lieving thoroughly in the future of Oklahoma, he came to Payne county in 1891, and since that time has been numbered among our reliable merchants. In national politics he is a stalwart Republican, always having voted for the nomi- nees of that progressive party. With his be- loved wife, he long has been identified with the Missionary Baptist Church, liberally contribut- ing to the cause of Christianity. For twenty- nine years, while living in Missouri, he was con- nected with the Odd Fellows fraternity.
S. P. DUCK. Prominent among the early set- tlers of Ohio were the grandparents of the subject of this sketch. His tather; G. C. Duck, was a native of Virginia, but from his childhood until late in life he dwelt in the Buck- eye state. For a wife he chose Mary E. Hesser, whose birth had taken place in Ohio, and now, at an advanced age, she is living in Iowa, loved and revered. The father departed this life at his Iowa home about fifteen years ago.
S. P. Duck was born in Crawford county. Ohio, in 1836, and when a lad of nine years he accompanied the family to Indiana, there re- ceiving much of his education and training for the duties of life. Later he became a resident of Dallas county. Iowa, and, having learned the trades of a carpenter and millwright, he em- barked in business for himself upon attaining his majority. At the breaking out of the Civil war he was in Kansas, but soon returned to Iowa and enlisted in Company I, Fourth Iowa Cav- alry, at Winterset. Joining Curtis at Pea Ridge,
he spent the first winter under that general's leadership, and then was sent to Vicksburg to re-enforce Grant's army. His army life was long and arduous, as he took part in many notable campaigns and important battles. In 1865, when the war had been brought to a close, he was mustered out of the army at Atlanta, Ga.
Returning to Dallas county, Iowa, Mr. Duck was married, in the following year, to Miss S. J. Bailey, daughter of George and Eliza Bailey. The eldest child of our subject and wife is Frank Duck, well known as an enterprising young farmer of Payne county, and even better known as the generous citizen who donated forty acres of his farm to the Agricultural and Mechanical College. After the building was erected upon this beautiful site, he matriculated in the college and was graduated in its first class of graduates. He carries on a good farm of one hundred and sixty acres, situated in the southwestern part of section 14, township 19, range 2, adjoining the grounds of the college. His brothers, Ralph and Ed, are also making their own way in the world, both living in this territory. The elder sister, Mrs. Mary Eyler, resides at Ralston, Okla. The younger children are with their parents, and are named in order of birth, as follows: William W., Harry, Peter, Charles and Martha.
In 1878 S. P. Duck went to Butler county, Kans., and pre-empted a farm, which he contin- ued to cultivate with fair success until this sec- tion of Oklahoma was opened to settlement, when he made the race for a claim, starting from the northern line. He was fortunate in securing a tract of good land, in the southwestern part of section 15, township 19, range 2 east. Two wells and an abundance of running water render this one of the most desirable farms in the commu- nity, and the ten-acre orchard which the owner planted some years ago is beginning to yield abundant harvests.
Mr. Duck is heartily in favor of good schools, and uses his influence on behalf of all public works of improvement. He belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic and is connected with the Stillwater lodge. In political affairs he is a Populist. .
JOSEPH A. EMERSON, a practical and つ prosperous farmer of Cherokee township. Payne county, is a native of Massachusetts. of which state his family has long been promi- nent. His paternal grandfather, Captain Emer- son, was a hero of the Revolutionary war, and his parents were Joseph and Elizabeth (Brig- don) Emerson, who 'spent their entire lives in the Bay state.
The birth of Joseph A. Emerson occurred in Massachusetts in 1853, and when he was four
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years old death deprived him of his loving father's care. When in his fourteenth year, his mother was called to her reward, and from that time onward the lad was dependent upon him- self. His success in life is thus the more worthy of praise, for his early advantages were meager, and he was obliged to fight a hard battle with fate ere he rose to a position of means and influ- ence. One of his brothers is a physician, lo- cated in Winfield, Kans .; another, Edward, is a representative merchant of Davenport, Iowa, and is a Mason of high standing; a third, Fred- erick A., is a merchant in the vicinity of the old family Massachusetts home; and Maria, the only sister, died at Palatka, Fla.
For twenty-two years Joseph A. Emerson dwelt in his native state, then deciding to leave the beaten pathway pursued by so many genera- tions of his ancestors. It was a quarter of a century ago that the young man cast in his lot with the people of Hutchinson, Kans., and at the end of a year he became a citizen of Cowley county, same state. Reared as a farmer, he al- ways has given his attention to that calling, and has met with deserved success. In 1890 he came to this territory, and for the past ten years has owned and carried on a fine farm occupying the northeast quarter of section 13, township 19, range I east, Payne county. The land is rich and productive, the Stillwater creek running through the farm.
Fourteen years ago the marriage of Mr. Em- erson and Miss Florence Hughes took place in Kansas, where the bride's parents, Albert and Emeline Hughes, natives of Ohio, were then re- siding. Seven children bless the union of Mr. and Mrs. Emerson, namely: Joseph Edward, Myrtle, Winnifred, Mary M., Edith, Caro and Emma, and all of them are at home, the elder ones attending school.
Mr. and Mrs. Emerson were instrumental in the organization of the local Baptist Church, and are active in all good works of benevolence. He cast his first presidential ballot for Hayes, and since that time has been a firm Republican. He is a member of the Knights of the Macca- bees, associated with the lodge at Stillwater. For some time he has served as a justice of the peace in his own township, and here enjoys the esteem of all his neighbors and acquaintances. .
O RLANDO M. EYLER. One of the pio- neer merchants of Stillwater, and one of her most active and progressive citizens is found in the subject of this review. The serv- ices which he has rendered in an official capacity to this community cannot be overesti- mated, and in commercial lines he has strength- ened the standing of this city in the esteem of
the outside world, as well as of its inhabitants.
Mr. Eyler is a worthy representative of the American citizen, of German extraction. His father, George Eyler, was a native of Hesse- Cassel, Germany, where he served in the gov- ernment army for five years. His father, Lut- ther Eyler, was a potter by trade, and from him he learned the business in his native land, and followed, the calling, intermittently, throughout his life. A young man, he came to the United States, and, after living at Ripley, Ill., for a period, bought a farm in Schuyler county, same state, and, building a factory, carried on the manufacture of pottery, also running his farm. After a long and useful life, covering eighty-two years, he died, September 29, 1897. His faithful wife, whose death also took place in Illinois, bore the maiden name of Cynthia Study. She, too, was of German descent, and, with her father, David Study, was a native of Pennsylvania.
The youngest of four children born to George and Cynthia Eyler, O. M. Eyler is a native of Rushville, Ill., his birth having occurred April 19, 1852. He has two brothers living, Francis M., who is a carpenter of this city, and Simon P., who resides in Galesburg, Ill. Reared upon a farm, O. M. Eyler became thoroughly familiar . with agriculture, and remained at home, reliev- ing his aging father from most of his cares, until he was in his twenty-third year. Then, feeling the necessity of embarking upon an independent career, he carried on farms for himself for ten or eleven years in Illinois.
Fifteen years ago Mr. Eyler came to the west, and, settling in Dighton, Lane county, Kans .. assisted in the organization of the then new county, and helped to lay out the town men- tioned. For two years he was the proprietor of a meat market there, then carried on a farm for eighteen months (as he had located the claim), and later he resumed the butcher's busi- ness at the county seat. In September, 1889, he came to Stillwater, bought a lot and built a small store, 14x28 feet, built of cottonwood lum- ber. Putting in a stock of groceries and meats. he started in business, and has continued here ever since, though for nine years he has dealt exclusively in groceries and boots and shoes. Six years ago he built a substantial brick struc- ture on this site, 25x80 feet in dimensions. In 1900, just before the railroad was built through Glencoe, he built a store there, and, having stocked it with a good line of groceries and hardware, placed his eldest son, Charles Fred, in charge of the business.
In 1875 the marriage of O. M. Eyler and Miss Phena L. Miltenberger took place near his birth- place, Rushville, Ill. She was born in Ohio, in which state her father, Jacob Miltenberger, a native of Germany, lived until he removed to
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Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Eyler have three sons and two daughters: Charles Fred, George and William, all of whom are in the employ of their father; Clara, who is a milliner of Stillwater; and Dora L., who is a clerk in her father's store.
In 1890 Mr. Eyler was elected to the school board, and served in that body for seven years, always acting as treasurer of the same, and dur- ing these years all of the school buildings of the city were built, and the system placed on a good basis. In 1891 Mr. Eyler was elected po- lice judge, and was re-elected three times, and for four years of this period also acted as justice of the peace of this township. Since he left that office he has been a member of the board of city aldermen, for two terms acting as its president. Then, elected as a councilman from the fourth ward, he has been the president of the same and chairman of the ordinance com- mittee, besides being a member of the commit- tee on finance and others. For two years he was the chairman of the Democratic county central committee, and in 1898 was a candidate for probate judge, but was defeated on account of the fact that the votes were divided among three candidates. He belongs to the Woodmen of the World and to the Fraternal Aid Associa- tion. He is a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and served on the building committee
W ILLIAM B. COOK is one of the most notable examples in Oklahoma of a man who has accomplished much from a small beginning. With the keen understanding of a practical and substantial business man, he fore- saw the results of constant application, and of the development of the resources in this wonder- ful country, and has thus forged ahead to an enviable prominence in the community of Rip- ley.
For the first fifteen years of his life Mr. Cook lived in his native state of Kentucky, where he was born in 1867. He was reared to an agri- cultural life, and had an excellent home training, as well as fortunate opportunities at the public schools. With his parents, he sought the larger promise of the west, and settled in Benton county, Ark., where they engaged in general . farming until the opening of Oklahoma. Their first introduction to the new country was on the opening day, when they located on a claim near Clayton, Payne county, which was proved up on and improved. Not entirely satisfied with the location, the family disposed of their farm in No- vember of 1899. and bought the quarter-section of land where Ripley now stands. This is the southwest quarter of section 20, township IS, range 4, and has proved a profitable and satis- factory investment.
With rare generosity, Mr. Cook was instru- mental in starting the prosperous little town of which he is so valued a citizen, for he gave three-quarters of his land for the site of the place. The remainder was divided up into lots. and he has since sold $10,000 worth, and has about five hundred lots left. The original cost of the farm was $2,000. Nor have Mr. Cook's efforts been solely confined to mapping out and selling land, for he has built extensively, and has three store buildings, an office building. hall, and, besides, owns a quarter interest in the bank building, a fine stone structure, which is a great credit to the town, which benefits by its possession. The contrast between his en- trance into the territory and his position at the present time is decided, for he came on foot. and was forty dollars in debt, after buying his farm. He did not own a horse or cow, or any incidental to aid in the first efforts to earn a living, and for four years carried on his house- keeping enterprise within the circumscribed walls of a dug-out.
The marriage of Mr. Cook and Zerilda C. Neugent occurred in September of 1889. Mrs. Cook is a daughter of Thomas N. and Margaret Neugent, of Kentucky. Of this union there are six children, viz .: Bessie, Nellie, Della (twins), Carl, Gertie, and Ripley. The children are all living at home. Ripley was born in the terri- tory after the town was started, and was named in its honor. The city was originally named for Mr. Ripley, the president of the Santa Fe road.
In political preferment Mr. Cook is a Demo- crat, and invariably votes the Democratic ticket. He is not an office-seeker, although he has been prominently identified with the undertakings of his party. With his wife, he is a member of and an active worker in the church, and a con- tributor to religious and charitable movements.
B ARNEY BRIXEY. For the past ten years Mr. Brixey has been nunibered among the industrious, upright citizens of Payne county. His present home is situated upon his weil-improved farm in the northwestern quarter of section 26, township 18, range 2. He is deeply interested in everything relating to the improvement of this vicinity, and he warmly champions good schools and teachers, knowing that a liberal education is the best weapon, hut- manly speaking, for the battles of life. IIe is making a point of giving good advantages to his children, who are rapidly taking honored places in the community.
Among the earliest settlers of Missouri were William R. and Annie (Henry) Brixey, parents of our subject. They were natives of Tennes- see, whence they went to Missouri about 1838.
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For many years they were occupied in agricul- tural pursuits in that state, for a period owning a farm in Webster county, where the mother departed this life. The father died in Howell county, same state.
Barney Brixey was born in Webster county, Mo., in 1841, and was reared to maturity there. In 1862 he volunteered in the Federal army, being assigned to Company F, Sixteenth Mis- souri Cavalry, and served throughout the re- mainder of the Civil war. His duties were chiefly in Missouri and Arkansas, where border war- fare was especially fierce. On one occasion he was badly injured, his horse falling upon him, and, indeed, he never completely recovered front the effects of that accident. Returning home, after he had been honorably discharged, he resumed the duties of a farmer, and it was not until 1890 that he left his native state to cast in his lot with the pioneers of Oklahoma. He ar- rived in Stillwater July 12, and purchased a farm situated south of that town. This property he subsequently gave to his eldest son, C. T., and in 1891 bought the homestead where he now re- sides and has made his home for nine years. Here a well-kept orchard and vineyard, which were planted by him several years ago, are yielding bountiful harvests each season. Good buildings and other improvements have been made upon the farm, which is considered a model one in every particular.
In 1867 Barney Brixey married Priscilla A. Childress, who was a native of Alabama, and a daughter of R. L. and Hannah Childress, re- spected citizens of Missouri. Mrs. Brixey was called to her heavenly home in 1896, and left seven children to mourn the loss of a faithful mother. The eldest, C. T., who is married and has three children, now lives in Arkansas; Sam- uel and Walter are also married and live in this territory. John T., the third son, enlisted in · the First Oklahoma Regiment during the Span- ish-American war, served in Captain Lowery's company, and at the close of hostilities was given an honorable discharge. Mrs. Ollie B. Johnson, of this county, has one child. Ora C. and Aaron R. are at home, aiding their father in the work of the house and farm. November 23, 1899, Mr. Brixey married, for his second wife, Henrietta J. Harson, of Indianapolis, Ind.
For two years Mr. Brixey acted in the capac- ity of assessor of his township, but he is not an aspirant to public office, by any means. In na- tional politics he uses his franchise in favor of Republican nominees. For years he and his wife held membership together in the United Brethren Church, and he continues to play an important part in the support of the denomina- tion. While in Missouri he was identified with the Odd Fellows order, and for a long time
has been an enthusiastic Grand Army man, now belonging to the Perkins Post.
C HARLES DONART. The public spirit and enterprise which Charles Donart has always manifested made it a wise move on the part of his neighbors and friends when they favored him for the responsible office of county commissioner, a position which he held to the satisfaction of all concerned for two years of the period when he resided in Garfield county, Kans. Since coming to Payne county he has been one of the trustees of Stillwater township for two terms, and also served as assessor of this district for two terms. Politically he uses his franchise in favor of the Democratic party.
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