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 46
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On the 9th of December, 1890, Mr. Riley be- came a resident of Oklahoma City, where he has since engaged in the real-estate business and loaning money. He has erected residences and business houses. In connection with Mr. Will he built the State National Bank building, is also part owner of the Masonic Temple, and, be- sides his city property, owns several farms. He is interested in the Oklahoma City Live Stock Company, the capital stock of which is $50,000, and of which he is secretary and manager. The company has large stockyards, covering one hundred and twenty acres, and is doing a success- ful business. Mr. Riley was one of the incor- porators of the State National Bank of Okla- homa, of which he has since been a director, and was also an incorporator of the St. Louis & Oklahoma Railroad, now a part of the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad, of which he was a director from the start until its completion. For the benefit of the Frisco Company he gave a piece of property, which is now worth $3.500, and his aid is never withheld from any enterprise which he believes calculated to prove of public benefit. He is eminently public-spirited and progressive, and at all times has the good of the community at heart, his abilities being exerted to make the city of his adoption rank among the best in this section of the Union.
As a Republican Mr. Riley takes an active in- terest in political affairs, but has never cared for the honors or emoluments of public office. . He has, however, served as assessor of the city four years, and alderman of the first ward one term. but refused longer to accept both positions. He was made a Mason at Perrysville, Ind., and is
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now a prominent member of Oklahoma Lodge No. 3, A. F. & A. M .; Oklahoma Chapter No. 7, R. A. M .; Oklahoma Commandery No. 2, K. T .; and India Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He is also a member of Grant Post, G. A. R., and his wife belongs to the Woman's Relief Corps, and the Methodist Episcopal Church.
M. L. McCONN. D. D. S., known as the father of the Oklahoma Dental Associa- tion, is one of the most able exponents of his profession in the west. Although at the present time Shawnee is profiting by his experi- ence and skill, he has been prominently identi- fied with several different localities, and has continued to steadily advance to the prominent . ,position now unanimously accorded his com- prehensive grasp of the best tenets of dental art.
Of sturdy Scotch ancestry, Dr. McConn was born in Cambridge, Ohio, in July, 1842. His father, Thomas, was born in Scotland, and at an early age was deprived of the care and af- fectionate interest of his father. A refuge for his lonely boyhood was found in a horse fancier, who gave him a home, and trained him to ride and appreciate the noble animal, horse. He later engaged in the peaceful occupation of farming in Guernsey county, Ohio, and was a pioneer of that locality, where he subsequently died. His wife, Jane (Roberts) McConn, was born in Connecticut, a daughter of John Rob- erts, a farmer of Virginia, who lived and died in his native state. His wife died in Ohio. The eight children born to this couple all attained maturity, and five are still living, Dr. McConn being the youngest. One son, Thomas, served during the Civil war in an Ohio regiment, and Robert and John were among the gold-seekers of 1849, who crossed the plains to California; George Washington is a merchant in Ohio; Wil- liam is a clergyman in the Presbyterian Church, and Thomas V. is in Arkansas City.
After a youth spent in Cambridge, and an education acquired at the public schools, M. L. McConn came to Iowa in 1862, and began the study of dentistry with Dr. Allender, of Bloom- field. He subsequently practiced with him for four years, and then began to practice for him- self in Decorah, Iowa. After five years he re- turned to Bloomfield and remained for two years, and in 1885 settled in Arkansas City. In 1889 he located in Purcell. I. T., and enjoyed a season of uninterrupted success until 1803. when he located in Oklahoma City. In an office on Main street he conducted a large practice until the opening of Shawnee, when he settled within her promising borders as the first representa- tive of the dental profession. His office was at
first in a small building on the site of the present brick structure, which is the Oklahoma State Bank Building, on Main and Union avenue.
Dr. McConn was married in Cambridge, Ohio, to Catherine Burt, who was born in the vicinity of Cambridge, and died in Decorah, Iowa. A second marriage was contracted by Dr. McConn in Shawnee, his wife being Viola Harden, of Ohio.
One of the most ambitious undertakings of Dr. McConn was in connection with the organ- ization of the Oklahoma Dental Association, in the interest of which he has worked uninter- ruptedly, and of which he has been president for two terms. It is doubtful if any one in the same line of work keeps more accurate account of the improvements in the mechanical and other de- partments of his profession, or contributes more towards raising the standard and adhering to the best principles already established. In 1899 he served as delegate to the National Dental Association at Omaha, and has been signally marked for especial appreciation on other occa- sions. In national politics he is a firm believer in the principles and issues of the Republican party as laid down by Abraham Lincoln, for whom he cast his first presidential vote. He is a devoted member of the Presbyterian Church, and con- tributes generously towards its support.
J JOHN LINDSEY ROBERTSON, who is now serving in the responsible position of commissioner of Oklahoma county, and as one of the first to act in this capacity in this county, soon after its organization, has made a creditable record, and is justly popular with the people, whose interests he has deeply at heart. Pre-eminently a self-made and self-educated man, his material success has been well earned and proves an inspiration to the rising genera- tion.
In his childhood, William J., father of J. L. Robertson, accompanied his father, Thomas J. Robertson, to the United States from his birthplace in Scotland. He was reared in Tennessee, and in 1838 went to live beyond the Mississippi, then on the frontier. Taking up five hundred and twenty acres of govern- ment land in Greene county, Mo., he spent the rest of his life in cultivating the prop- erty which, since his death, has been owned by his widow, Mrs. Mary A. (Lotspeich) Robertson. She is of German parentage, and was born and reared in Sweetwater, Tenn. The husband was in his seventy-fourth year at the time of his demise, in 1879. Two of their eleven children died in infancy. Of the others, Charles L., a farmer, lives on the homestead adjoining the mother's farm. Mary E., wife of Charles A.
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Young, lives in Greene county, Mo. Nancy Car- oline, wife of Morris Grant, is a resident of Polk county, Mo. Armelda, wife of Joseph Potter, resides in this county. Mary J. married Joseph Gilmore. Sarah C. is Mrs. A. D. Murray, and Martha F. is Mrs. M. F. Phillips, of Labette county, Kans.
The birth of John L. Robertson, the fourth child of his parents, occurred November II, 1843, in Cass township, Greene county, Mo., and when old enough to aid in the manifold tasks of the large homestead he assumed many duties rightly belonging to older shoulders. His educational opportunities were practically nil in his youth, as he was unable to read, write or deal with figures, even at the close of his long army life. Having been brought up in the south, as his father before him also had been, it is not strange that he firmly believed in the doc- trine of states' rights, and, with the enthusiasm of the young, was among the first to offer his life, if need be. for his principles. On the 25th of March, 1861, he enlisted in Captain Camp- bell's Company of Confederate Cavalry, and served four years and twenty days. For gal- lantry displayed at Mount Elby, Ark., where he led a skirmishing line across an open field three-quarters of a mile under heavy fire from infantry and artillery forces, which killed about half of his comrades, he was commissioned cap- tain. For the ensuing two years he served in that office, in Shelby's Cavalry, and was with General Price when he went on his famous raid into Missouri and Kansas, fighting in the battles of Lone Jack and the Big and Little Biue. Later he was detailed as a recruiting officer in the field, organized four companies and led them to the front. Twice he was wounded during a charge on a fort at Buffalo, Mo., once, when with Price, he was retreating from Fremont, again at Prairie Grove, and on another occasion was cut across the head with a saber. January 12, 1862, he was captured on Big Flat, during the retreat of Price, and at the end of thirty days was paroled, and went home, only to resume his place in the ranks as soon as his exchange could be effected. As an example of the way that families were divided by the cruel war, it may be said that our subject's only brother. Charles L., was in the Union army, a member of Captain Perkins' Company of Infantry, assisted to built Fort No. I, at Springfield, Mo., and was sta- tioned there during the war. It so happened by the decree of fate that our subject was with a force of soldiers ordered to make an attack upon that fort, and vainly requested that he might be relieved of his unhappy duty. Once, when in desperate straits, he, with forty-one of his comrades, left the firing line rather than surrender to the enemy. On the way from Mex-
ico to Shreveport, La., where they finally sur- rendered, under the leadership of Captain Rob- ertson, they fought the Comanche Indians, in the Wichita Mountains, sixteen days, and. for twelve hours, in Moccasin Gap, were surrounded by the red men. It was a brave and terrible fight that the little band of white men made, and at last they won the victory, literally cutting their way through, fully one hundred Indians- being killed.
Subsequent to his surrender, Mr. Robertson resided in Marshall, Tex., until September 12, 1865, when he returned to his native state. Dur- ing the next few years he was connected with the agricultural interests of Callaway, Lafay- ette and Greene counties, Mo., and in 1870 went to Montgomery county, Kans. There he bought two hundred and forty acres, and for eighteen years was successfully engaged in general farm- ing and cattle raising. In December, 1888, he rented his homestead, and, taking his family to Dade county, Mo., left them there while he made the run into Oklahoma. He visited the chief towns, and in Oklahoma City met an old friend. W. J. Ladd, who was holding two claims on Bluff creek, and one of them he gave to our subject. The latter at once began making im- provements upon the place, and in the autumn sent for his family. After residing there about three years he sold out for $2,500, and then bought some practically raw land, the property now, owned by his only son, Charles W. Rob- ertson, in Springer township. While he lived upon the place he made substantial changes, thus greatly increasing its value. In 1896 he bought the northeast quarter of section 35, township 14, range 4 west, a partially improved place, and lived there two years, then selling, and in its stead buying the property which he still owns -. the northwest quarter of section 13, Choctaw township. This homestead is specially adapted to the raising of cotton and oats, and about one hundred acres are under cultivation. The new owner planted about five hundred fruit trees and two hundred grape vines, which now are in a promising condition.
In addition to his fine farm, Mr. Robertson owns some property in Bristow, Creek Nation. and in Arapahoe City, in the Cherokee and Arapahoe Nation. In ISO1 he made the race into Iowa county; two years later joined in the race into the Cherokee and Arapahoe country, and later went into the Cherokee strip, where he took up a whole block in the town of Pawnee, and, after fencing it, proceeded to erect some buildings, which, one by one, he finally soid.
In political matters Mr. Robertson is actively in favor of the Democratic policy. In 1800 hc was elected as county commissioner from Spring Creek township, at the first general election held
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HON. DICK T. MORGAN, Perry.
MRS. ORA H. MORGAN, Perry.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
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in Oklahoma, and served two years. Again, in 1898, he was elected commissioner, and is tak- ing an honored part in local affairs. During his first term he met the city council of Okla- homa City and secured a lot, 100x170 feet, on which a city and county jail was to be erected. Then he was very ac- tive in the work of its construction, and in 1802 was sent to St. Louis by Judge J. C. Clark, to purchase cells for the new jail. Finding that he could buy them cheaper in Cincinnati, he proceeded to that city, and thus, by care and judicious expenditure of the funds entrusted to him, saved the county $438. He also placed the first county bonds of $75,000, which, in the spring of 1900, the board of commissioners re- funded, thus saving the county $15,000, and re- ducing the interest from seven per cent to five per cent. During his first term Mr. Robertson was the author of a petition by means of which a public highway was condemned, and thus the present ice-plant for the county jail was afforded a suitable site. In the period between his terms of office seven bridges were built in his own (the first) district, and at present there are twenty-one substantial bridges in the same boundaries, and, in addition to this great work, four of the others have been carefull repaired and strengthened all without increasing the amount of the people's taxes. Always interested in ed- ucational matters, Mr. Robertson has been an efficient member of the local school board, and under his auspices several schoolhouses have been built, a number of them for the colored class. He belongs to the Horse Protective As- sociation and is a charter member of Lodge No. 154, at present acting as its president.
In October, 1866, Mr. Robertson married Phoebe E. Crouch, who departed this life in 1898, leaving four children to mourn her loss. Charles W., of Springer township, is represented elsewhere in this work. Charlotte J. is the wife of John S. Tye, of Bristow, I. T .; Daisy is at home with her father; and Sarah Ellen is the wife of Edward Alward, of Luther township. September 6, 1900, Mr. Robertson married Maud B., widow of Henry E. Athey, and daugh- ter of Levi and Phoebe Bartlett, of Marietta, Ohio, where Mrs. Robertson was born. She is the mother of three children, Ada, Earl and Phoebe Athey.
H ON. DICK THOMPSON MORGAN. By common consent recognized as a domi- nant factor in all matters coming within the scope of his profession. in the social, intellec- tual and political life of his community, Hon. Dick T. Morgan, of Perry, needs no introduction
to the people of Oklahoma, and is widely and favorably known in the middle west. A history of his busy and useful life cannot fail to serve as an inspiration to the rising generation, and will be perused with much interest by his nu- merous friends and acquaintances.
The Morgans are of Welsh descent, but the branch to which the subject of this article be- longs has been identified with this republic since its early colonial days. His great-grandfather Morgan was a hero of the war for independence, and grandfather, William Morgan, born in Virginia, was a pioneer in Kentucky and of In- diana. His son, Valentine, father of Hon. D. T. Morgan, was born in Bourbon county, Ky., and from his fourteenth year until his death, in his sixty-sixth year, was a resident of the Hoosier state. His homestead was situated near Terre Haute, and, as he was very enterprising and successful, he owned upwards of five hundred acres of valuable farm land in that section of the state. For a wife he chose Frances Thompson, who is yet living on their old homestead, now in her eightieth year. She is a native of In- diana, in which state her father was an early settler, his former home having been in Ohio. All but one of the ten children born to Valen- tine and Frances Morgan lived to maturity, and eight are yet living. Two are in Oklahoma, one, Fred R., being engaged in the practice of law at Guthrie. Cassius H., ex-member of the Indiana legislature, and Harry L. are occupied in farm- ing near the old homestead. Rev. C. B. Morgan is a minister of the Baptist Church, in Chadron, Neb. T. R. Morgan, who was postmaster of Pulaski, Tenn., during Garfield's and Arthur's administrations, died in 1884. Laura, wife of C. F. McDonald, a stockman of Lane county, Kans .; Lucretia, wife of J. H. Morris, an attor- ney, of Pulaski, Tenn .: and Flora B., wife of John Fuqua, a farmer of Vigo county, Ind., com- plete the family.
The birth of Hon. Dick T. Morgan took place near Terre Haute, Ind., December 6, 1854, and his boyhood was spent in the quiet pursuits of a farmer. His elementary education was acquired in the "little red schoolhouse" of his district, and in the Prairie Creek high school. In 1872 he entered the Union Christian College at Merom, Ind., where he was graduated in the Centennial year, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. In 1879 his Alma Mater conferred upon him the degree of Master of Science, and in the mean- time he had held the chair of mathematics in the college for one year, and had been superin- tendent of the high school of Hagerstown, Ind., for two years.
In his leisure hours Mr. Morgan had pursued legal studies under Col. Thomas Nelson, of Terre Haute, and Judge I. N. Pierce, and in
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the autumn of 1879 entered the senior class of Central Law School, of Indianapolis. He car- ried off the honors of his class, delivering the valedictory and receiving the degree of Bache- lor of Laws in 1880. Ilis initial practice was in partnership with N. G. Buff, of Terre Haute, with whom he remained until 1886, and during the last two years also was editor of the daily "Courier," a paper of wide circulation.
The same year that witnessed Mr. Morgan's graduation in the law school saw his nomination and election as a representative from Vigo county to the general assembly of Indiana. In that honorable body of legislators he was the chairman of the committee on education, and was a member of several other committees. He also attended the extra session of 1881, and though, with one exception, he was the young- est statesman in the house, he was chosen as one of two to make the nominating speech in the presentation of General Harrison's name for election to the United States senate. In 1884 Mr. Morgan was the Republican candidate for state senator, but his entire district, with the state, gave a majority to the Democratic candi- dates.
Fourteen years ago Mr. Morgan came to the west, and, while waiting for Oklahoma's open- ing to settlement, he was engaged in the practice of law in Garden City, Kans., and was local at- torney for the Santa Fe railroad. April 22, 1889, he located in Guthrie, where he was in part- nership with Hon. J. L. Pancost until Sep- tember, 1893, when they came to Perry, and it was not until January, 1899, that the firm of Morgan & Pancost was dissolved by mutual consent. Mr. Morgan is a prominent member of the Territorial Bar Association. A specialty has been made of cases relating to lands, and, having become an authority on the subject, he compiled a work which has found a place in all of the leading law libraries of the territory and in thousands of the people's homes. It is pub- lished under the title of "Morgan's Manual of U. S. Homestead, Townsite and Mining Laws," and in 1900 the fifth edition was issued. The first appeared in 1891, the second in 1892, the third and fourth in 1893, and the fifth this year, each edition being fully revised and brought up to date. Over twenty thousand copies of this work have been sold. In 1897 "Morgan's Digest of Oklahoma Statutes and Supreme Court De- cisions" was published, and, like its predecessor, the volume at once found favor with the general public and members of the legal profession, and is extensively used as a book of reference. The territorial legislature provided for the purchase of this book for county and township officers.
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As previously noted, Mr. Morgan is a great worker in the Republican party, and since com-
ing to this territory has played an important part in the organization and success of the same. He was chairman of the first convention of the party held in Oklahoma, and in 1900 was favor- ably mentioned as a candidate for congress, but withdrew his name in favor of Mr. Flynn. In the religious sphere of activity, Mr. Morgan is as interested and efficient a worker as in other departments of human endeavor. For ten years hewasthe president of the territorialorganization of the Christian Church, known as the Oklahoma Christian Missionary Society, and in the Territo- rial Sunday-School Association he has occupied a like office, and now is one of the directors. His wife, also known far and wide, has been espe- cially successful in work among the children, and is the superintendent of the primary depart- ment of the Sunday-school organization of the territory. For some time she has been in charge of the department devoted to primary work in the Territorial Sunday-School Journal, and is one of the most popular members of its editorial staff. Mrs. Morgan is a graduate of Union Chris- tian College, of Merom, Ind., where she ob- tained the degree of Bachelor of Science, and possesses unusual literary ability, and is an ac- knowledged leader in the best circles of her home community. Mrs. Morgan has also been prominent in missionary and temperance work.
Turning backward a leaf in the history of D. T. Morgan, it should be stated that his mar- riage to Miss Ora Heath took place in Merom. Ind., May 30th, 1878. She was born near Cov- ington, Ind., in which locality all of the mem- bers of the parental family, save herself, are still living. Her father, Rev. A. R. Heath, was born in the Hoosier state, his ancestors having emi- grated from England. He was one of the found- ers and for many years the secretary and finan- cial agent of Union Christian College, at Merom. with which institution he was connected for many years. Then resigning, he resumed his pastoral labors in the Christian Church, and now is living retired upon the fine old homestead near Covington, which he inherited from his father. His wife, the mother of Mrs. Morgan, bore the maiden name of Mary Maxwell, and. Indiana was her birthplace, also. Their two sons, H. L .. and Evan W., reside in Covington, the former being a merchant and the latter an attorney. The elder daughter. Della, also makes her home there. The family has borne an important part in the history of that portion of the state, having been identified with it from pioneer days.
Mr. and Mrs. Morgan have had but one child. a son, Porter Heath Morgan, born at Terr Haute, Ind .. October 12, 1880. He entere 1 Oklahoma University in September, 1806, where he remained for four years. Afterward he en- tered Drake University, at Des Moines, Iowa,
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where he is now (1901) a junior in the regular college course.
E. CARY PEARSON. One of the successful and popular business men of Stillwater is Mr. Pearson, who has conducted a bakery and confectionery store here for the past eight years. He is thoroughly acquainted with his trade in all its details and gives the public satis- faction. A true patriot, he is interested in local progress, and in national affairs uses his fran- chise in behalf of the Republican party.
The father of our subject, Enoch Pearson, was of English descent, and possessed an excellent education. He was born in 1801, either in Vir- ginia or Pennsylvania, entered the government service as a civil engineer when a young man, and devoted some years to surveying. He also was well known as an United States agent to one branch of the Miami Indians, in Indiana. For 'years he lived near Wabash, Ind., and passed his declining days in Huntington county, Ind., his death occurring in 1869. For a wife he chose Mary Pearson, who was born on her father's large homestead in Miami county, Ohio, and who departed this life in 1865. Her parents were natives of South Carolina, and became the owners of large and valuable tracts of land at Tippecanoe City, near Dayton, Ohio. They were members of the Society of Friends, to which faith she also adhered.
Cary Pearson was born in the same house as his mother had been, his nativity taking place March 14, 1858. He had eight brothers and sisters, five of whom lived to maturity. Cather- ine died in 1894 in Huntington county, Ind., and Robert, who resides in that locality, is a hero of the Civil war, having served in an Ohio regi- ment. James is a farmer near Tippecanoe, Ohio, and Mrs. Minerva Hubbard lives at Darlington, Ind. Thomas, the youngest of the family, has been associated with our subject in business here since 1893.
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